Beautiful Bags

I've asked my friend and fellow demonstrator Kim to guest blog today.  She sent me a picture of one of these bags I loved it and asked if she would write up a little about it and let me put it on my blog.  These bags are so pretty!!  Enjoy!!! 

 

A couple months ago, Ruth and I were talking about the new Stampin' Up! set called "Regarding Dahlias" and what a cute set it was. Shortly after that conversation, Ruth sent me a link to a video using that set and she commented "Great, now I HAVE TO have this set". Once I saw the video, I knew I needed to recreate these adorable bags! Rather than try to explain HOW to do this project, I'll just include a link to the video that Ruth originally sent me. It's a great video that gives step-by-step instructions.

I didn't have a leaf that I liked as well as the one they used in the video, so instead I just centered my dahlia on the bag. I am really happy with how they turned out. These are for a group birthday at the office where I used to work, so instead of the "hello you" tag, I switched it up to be a birthday greeting. I tied my bags shut with the natural ribbon and then added little safety pins and some twine. I love how they came out ... and I hope the recipients love them too! 

Thanks Kim!!!  I love them too!!!  I'm still waiting for mine ;) I still don't have that set :(  but it's on my list! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

An Accidental Color Combo

It was a happy accident but still a color combo that might never have been!  In my last order I had lots of cardstock to restock.  So I had it all sitting on my desk waiting to be put away.  Somehow stacked up in the same pile were Strawberry Slush, Pool Party, Crushed Curry and Island Indigo.  They looked so pretty all together that I made myself a note and said I'm making a card with these colors!  So here it is.  I still love them together!  Since I'm not a huge fan of Crushed Curry I'm pretty sure this would have never happened on it's own. 

I used the Background set Pleasant Poppies and stamped it 5 times.  Once on the DSP, then once each on the 4 colors.  Then I cut out the flowers.  I know for some people they hate to cut out an image, I don't mind it.  I think it's kind of fun!  All the buds are glued down with tombow, the flowers are all popped up with dimensionals.  To finish it, I just used a Garden Green maker for the stems.  So pretty!!!!  

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Toil And Trouble

I'm happy to report that Logan's illness was short lived and only he got sick.  Thank goodness.  We're still not sure if it's something he ate, or just some 24 hour bug that fortunately he didn't spread thanks to being quarantined and the use of a lot of Lysol in this house :)  I seriously have a problem when someone in the house is sick.  Short of spraying them, I do spray everything.  Everything they touched, that touched them, that they looked at.  Usually I'm not too concerned about germs, but when someones sick-watch out!  I turn into crazy germ-a-phobic lady!  But we're all sanitized, healthy and ready to get back to life!  I have one last Halloween treat for you today. 

Last week when I borrowed Halloween Hello from my fellow demonstrator and friend Nichole, I also borrowed this one, Toil and Trouble.  I didn't think I'd use it.  But then thought it would make cute teacher gifts.  I embossed the greeting part in Black on Perfect Plum then stamped the skeleton and crow in Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant.  Because the skeleton is tone on tone, he's a little harder to see in the picture. 

I made cute little envelopes to put the candy in with the new Envelope Punch Board--it's AMAZING!!!  I used 6x6 pieces of DSP and followed the instructions for a 3x4 inch envelope.  Turns out it worked perfectly!  I bought some Kit Kats and Hershey bars, both fit well!  Here's a tip though, I placed the candy in the envelope before gluing it.  I didn't want to glue it too tight that the candy wouldn't fit.  This way I glued it around the candy ensuring a perfect fit!  I finished them with some burlap ribbon and bakers twine.  Love that look!  I think they're really cute!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

It's Going Around

Some kind of bug is going around.  Logan came home from school sick.  Not sure what it is though, perhaps just something he ate. He didn't have a fever but was clearly sick.  So needless to say I have nothing today :(  I have a bunch of projects half finished, but that doesn't count I suppose.  Check back next week, hopefully Logan will be recovered and no one else will have caught it! 
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Halloween Hello

Halloween is one week away!  I'll be glad when it's over.  Logan loves to dress up, Megan is having a little trouble understanding the concept of Halloween.  But that's ok.  They're cute, she'll get it and it will all be over soon.  But I did have to scramble this year for some Halloween treats for their classrooms.  I didn't have a single Halloween stamp.  Nothing!  Guess I don't do a lot of stamping for Halloween.  I thought of being really cute and making little bat owls or pumpkin owls with the owl punch.  But the thought of making almost 40 of them wasn't going to happen!  So I reached out to my fellow demonstrators.  Thankfully my friend Nichole let me borrow a couple sets.  THANKS NICHOLE!!! 

 

I found these little boxes of Halloween tattoos from Target.  Logan and Megan love the little tattoos so I knew it would be a hit.  Plus any non candy treat is always good :)  All in all they're pretty simple.  I wrapped the boxes with cardstock.  I let a little hang over the edge and made a flagged edge.  I love my little witch here.  I used a post it note to 'mask the moon' then I sponged Island Indigo and Night of Navy over it for the night sky.  The witch is stamped in Elegant Eggplant.  After doing 40 of these my fingers were stained blue!!!  2 days later after showers, dishes, kids baths, etc you can still see the blue....just a little :)  It was a messy job, but they're so cute!!!!  

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

25% Off

Help Stampin' Up! celebrate their 25th Anniversary with 25% off 25 stamp sets!!! You read that right, you can get 25% off!!!! Hurry though this sale is only good for one week!!! This sale ends October 28th!!!

Shop online to with this Hostess code W77HZPD6 and you could win even more!!! One winner will be chosen to pick any stamp set (not just those on sale) for free!!!! You can email me your orders to be entered too! But hurry, remember this sale is only good for one week!!!

Which 25 sets are for sale????  Head to my website to shop!!!

Autumn Thanks

I pulled out my Thankful Tablescape kit again for this card.  I saw this card and LOVED it so I wanted to make my own version.  I changed a few things, but that's what creativity is all about right, finding inspiration and making it your own.  This card is so fun and is the perfect card to send to someone on a lovely fall day. 

My favorite part of this card is the doily.  I used a sponge and some Cajun Craze ink to dye it.  It didn't take long at all and look at the dramatic difference it is from just white!!!  Why have I never dyed the doilies before!!!!??!??!?!  You'll be seeing A LOT more of this technique!!  I used white embossing powder for the greeting, and aside from the doily and button, everything else is in the Thanksgiving Tablescape kit.  Clearly this kit is for more than tabletops :) 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Gold Glimmer Paper

You may laugh when you find out where the inspiration from this card came from.  It was an iPhone commercial.  Yep.  I'll admit it.   I was a commercial that we saw over the weekend, probably during a football game.  They were advertising the new gold and white iPhone.  The colors looked pretty stunning together, for a phone I suppose.  So I thought I use that same idea and turn int into a card.  Well the only gold paper I have is gold glimmer paper.  That's ok, it just adds to the sparkle!  This card is very simple, there are minimal accessories, but with all the sparkle from the gold glimmer paper.  You don't need anything else!

 

White cards are always hard to photograph, glitter is even harder to capture that sparkle.  So you'll just have to image the glimmer, glitz and shine that this card has.  The greeting is from the Expressions thinlits in the Holiday catalog.  I used all 3 of the greetings and then pieced them together.  The 'thank' is from the 'thankful' and the 'you' is from all three, 'y' from 'merry', 'o' from 'love' and 'u' from 'thankful'.  I cut out all the words with the thinlits, cut the letters I needed, then used my tombow glue to make them one word.  I wonder what else I can spell with these 3 words........I hope you like this card as much as I do!!!

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Birthday Monkey!

Who doesn't want a monkey for their birthday?!  Especially one as cute as this little guy!  Last Friday was Megan's birthday.  She's 3.  Can't believe it.  She's 3.  We had just learned about monkey's in her zoo class that she's in once a week so I thought this would be a fun card.  I saw this card, super cute and used it as inspiration.  (I spent some time browsing her blog, her punch art is AMAZING!!!  If you have time look around!)  The monkey is made with lots of ovals and circles.  I thought the banana's in the tree was such a cute touch too! 

The leaves are stamped with the splatter from Gorgeous Grunge then sponged, cut and crumpled.  This card is really 'full' and so much more adorable in person.  These cards are always so hard to capture on camera.  I hope I'm giving you some idea of the detail and cuteness of this card :)  The tree trunks are just circles, sponged and stacked on top of each other.  I can't stress the importance of sponging when making punched art.  The depth and detail it adds makes a HUGE difference! 

The finished card is 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 plus a little extra from leaves.  The card is a trifold card and the monkey hangs in a window in the front panel.  Tell me that's not cute!!!!  There's plenty of room to write a message and it's just a fun fun fun card over all!!!!   

Here's the mess my desk became while making this card.  In the picture it actually doesn't look that bad.  It sure felt worse working around it all :)  I love making these super detailed cards, they're probably my absolute favorite cards to make!!!  While I still love the quick and simple cards, those cards are always needed, these cards are my favorite!!!  But it was defiantly a work in progress.  My monkey sat on my desk for 2 days half completed-no arms or legs, the entire card wasn't finished until Friday afternoon, after her birthday was half over!!  She loved it anyway!!

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Meet Theodore Billingston

It's time for our blog hop!!  You might have just arrived from Michelle's blog.  If that's the case welcome!  If not welcome still!!!  I hope you continue on with the hop!  This months theme is Thanksgiving.  We're sharing all kinds of projects that will inspire you this Thanksgiving. Today I'm introducing you to Theodore Billingston and his son Taddy Billy.  Logan thought they needed names so I named Theo and Logan named Taddy.  They're pretty adorable aren't they!!!?!! 

Theodore Billingston was inspired by this fun project that I came across on Pintrest.  I loved the little candy legs but I wanted something that I could pull out every year.  So instead of candy legs he has accordion folded legs, which are just tooooo cute!!!!! 

When I saw this turkey made with none other than the bow die in the Holiday Catalog I instantly put the bow die on my wishlist!!!  It wasn't there before, while I thought the bows were cute I really couldn't see myself using it much......then I saw this and my little brain started going!  I knew instantly I had to have it.  It WILL be used for so much more than just bows!!!  Though they look very complicated they're actually pretty easy to make (with the help of the bow die).  Their feathers are just half of the largest bow folded in half.  Theo has a total of 20, while Taddy has 9. 

Here's a close up of them.  They are just toooooo cute!!!!  They sit on little shelf's perfectly or you could make them the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving table.  SOOOOOOO cute!!!!    Now it's time to keep hoping on our blog hop.  Next up is Amber.

Here's the hop line up in case you get lost along the way. 

Ruth YOU ARE HERE!

Amber Wilson

Nichole Gonzales Jaramillo
Kay Jantz

Liz Kay

Carmelita Wasson

Cassie Rogers

Michelle Carrion

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Visit To Epcot

I had some time this week to work on our Disney Album.  I'm currently on Epcot.  We don't have a whole lot of picture of our visits to Epcot.  It rained horribly almost the entire time we were there, so I didn't get a chance for a bunch of pictures.  We did get some cute ones from our dinner at The Garden Grill.  It's such a fun restaurant!  It's one of the character dinning places there.  Logan loved all the visits from the characters, Megan blew kisses to all of them.  Make sure to check my blog tomorrow, we're having a fun Thanksgiving themed blog hop!!!! 

Batch Two

Here's the final two cards from my class.  This one is fun!!!!  We used one of the single stamps that you can buy.  This one I loved when it first came out, I bought it almost instantly and knew I'd use it at my class.  We use the Etcetera DSP, it's certainly not a DSP made for Christmas but the fun bold patterns worked perfectly for this card!  And who would have ever though Calypso Coral would be on a Christmas card!!!

Finally another one of my favorites!!  I love using vellum on Christmas cards.  I think people don't use vellum because they're not sure how to use it.  It's one of my favorites.  I think the key to using vellum is hiding the adhesive.  The vellum on this card is only glued down along the top where the torn border can hide it!  The bird is stamped in Island Indigo, but the vellum overlay gives it a softer look.  The greeting is embossed in gold--LOVE THAT!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!

Batch One

Here's the first two cards from my Christmas Card Class.  All the cards were a hit and I think (and hope) everyone had a good time!  I very rarely use 'traditional Christmas colors', I love using other colors, it really makes your card 'pop' in a sea of red and green.  This first card is so pretty in person.  There a little border of glimmer paper that really make the card sparkle!!!!  The seam binding knot is easy to do and completes the card!  If you wanted to step this card up a little add some rhinestones or pearls to your snowflakes.  So pretty!!!

This next card was inspired by my fellow demonstrator Cassie at our shoebox swap.  She did a card similar to this I LOVED it and knew it would be part of my Christmas card class.  I used different colors on mine but it's very similar.  I love the ruffled ribbon on the side.  This card was so quick to put together!!!  I love this card.  These colors are so beautiful together!!!!  Thanks Cassie for the inspiration!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Birthday Birds

Happy Monday!!!  We sure had a busy weekend!  It was a long weekend for the kids, no school Thursday or Friday for fall break.  But we're back to schedule today.  I know you stopped by today hoping to see the cards from my Christmas Card Stamp a Stack.  Don't worry, they're coming.  The pictures I took didn't come out well, so I wanted to retake them in natural light.  I'll do that today.  They'll be up tomorrow and Wednesday.  Today though I have a great card!!!  This technique is AMAZING!!!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!!  I have no idea if I did it correct but I sure love the results!!!  I think it's called the tape technique, not sure though....don't quote me on that.  I've seen this done on cards all over the place though.  So I thought I'd try it.   

 

I got this look by using some of our washi tape and ink!  Again, I have no idea if this is the 'correct' way, it's the way I did it and it seemed to work.  For this card I used Smoky Slate, So Saffron and Daffodil Delight.  I used a piece of washi tape (any washi tape will do).  I put the sticky side down on the ink pad.  Pulled it up and pressed it into my cardstock, peel the tape off and you're left with this fun funky background.  Of course I used a different piece for each color.  Once the card was done I needed a custom envelope!  I used buttons and bakers twine to hold it closed.  Isn't it cute!!!!?!  Love it!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Chocolate In My Pocket

Well not in my pocket, that could get messy.  But definitely chocolate in the cute pocket cards!  All my class attendees will get one of these cute chocolates tomorrow.  They were so easy to make.  The size of the card is 3 1/4 x 4 1/4.  The DSP is a 3x6 piece of cardstock, scored at 1/2 and 2 on the 6 inch side.  Fold into a pocket, and fold the 1/2 side down for a contrasting border and that's it!!!  Mount it on a piece of cardstock.  Really that's it!!!!

I added a little tag, some ribbon and I was done.  I made about 20 of them in about an hour.  These are cute gifts for ANYONE!  I wrapped the chocolate in some more DSP, I wanted some contrasting colors so each chocolate bar is a different color then the pocket card.  Does that make sense?  I'll have lots of highlights from my class next week, including all the cards Yay!!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Kids And Stamps

I let Logan and Megan loose in my stamp room on Tuesday.  They wanted to make cards for their Grandpa who's birthday is Saturday.  Aside from opening ink pads and cleaning stamps I didn't help at all.  I have a pile of precut cardstock (all retired colors) so that they don't need help with that, they can just pick the colors they want and go.  Megan looks so happy stamping.  Logan is busy cutting, he had an idea in mind and went with it.  Megan I think just stamped. 

Here's Megan's card.  I hope Grandpa likes his pink card :)  She doesn't understand that not everyone is as big of fan of the color pink as she is.  She used the A Fitting Occasion stamp set.  These are perfect for her.  Lots of stamps perfectly sized for her hands. 

Here's Logan's.  The only thing I helped with was punching the circles.  He couldn't quite use the punch and hold the cardstock, his hands need to be slightly bigger.  I hope you enjoy these sweet little cards. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

One More Trick

Yesterday I shared how to make your own custom black rhinestones.  Then I got to thinking, well what if I want a rhinestone in another color???  Well I assume you could color them with any color sharpie, though you can't guarantee that the colors will coordinate well.  So I wanted to make a rhinestone in another color that would coordinate with our Stampin' Up! colors.  I did it!!  It was super easy too!!!

Unlike the sharpie technique, this took a while to dry so plan ahead.  I used a small drop (about the size of a dime, maybe even a little smaller) of Crystal Effects then I added a drop or two (depending on how dark you want it) of reinker.  Mix it up and then just paint it onto your rhinestone with any old paintbrush.   You'll have enough to do multiple rhinestones.  So paint up!  Set aside to dry and then use as usual.  Isn't that cool??!  I love it!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Is It The Weekend Yet?

This Saturday is my Christmas Card Stamp a Stack.  I love this class and I'm right in the middle of my finishing touches, then I'm done!  Whew!!!!  I won't be able to work on Thursday or Friday so my deadline to be done is WEDNESDAY!  Yikes that's tomorrow!  I'll be done though!  Today's card is really fun in real life, it didn't photograph all that well, but it's pretty stunning in person.  I LOVE the gold embossed on the black and white.  Doesn't that look amazing!!!  The Rich Razzleberry flower just pops on that background. 

Did you check out that awesome black rhinestone??  No, sadly SU doesn't sell black rhinestones.  But we do sell the tools (at least half of them) to make your own black rhinestone.  All you need is a rhinestone (stating the obvious here) and a black sharpie.  That's it!  You just color the rhinestone with the black sharpie and you have an instant black rhinestone.  Pretty cool huh!?!?

So this is my life this week.  No desk, all for a good reason though.  I'm getting packed up for my class.  Yay!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Pumpkin Season!

 Are you fan of pumpkin season?  You know what I mean.  Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin candies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cakes, pumpkin breads....should I go on....no you get the idea.  It's pumpkin season, that means lots of cooking, baking and more.  But first you need your pumpkin!  That's what we did this weekend.  Logan and Megan have a friend who had his birthday party out at a local pumpkin patch, Mcalls.  This isn't your normal pumpkin patch.  This one has hay rides, corn mazes, tons and tons of activities for kids, a country store and so so so much more!  So it's a good place for a birthday party.  So in keeping with the theme of the party this is the card I made. 

 

Now I'm a little biased but I think this could just be the sweetest pumpkin card EVER!!!!  I used the circle framlits, the largest pumpkin opens for the card.  Then I cut another one the same size, cut it into 3 pieces and embossed and sponged them...of course with different folders.  I thought it still needed more so I made 2 smaller pumpkins, and embossed them with different folders too.  So cute!!!!  This is a HUGE week.  I'm down to the final days of my Christmas Card class.  I'm happy to say that things are running close to on schedule.  I'm really excited!!

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Swaps! Swaps! Swaps!

I promised to share the swaps from our meeting this week.  They're great this month, as usual!! Here they are!  Our theme was DSP, you'll see DSP featured on all of them.   

 

This is Carmelita's.  Love this, I didn't ask how long it took, I'm sure a while :)

This is Amber's.  This card is so sparkly I love it!!!!

This is Karen's.  She used lots of punches and she used MDS for her greeting. 

This is Kim's.  LOVE the colors on this card.  It's so bright and fun!!! 

This is Cassie's.  I love this card.  The colors go so nicely together. 

This is Kay's.  I love black cards.  Black and really any color make such a classy, elegant card. 

Finally this is Nichole's.  I love the stitching on the top of this card.  So fun!!!

 

That's it for me, have a great weekend.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Better Get Better

As we head into the cold and flu season...it's coming :(  I thought for my 3 minute demo I'd share a cute gift that would brighten any day! These little 'nurse owls' are ALL over the internet and Pintrest.  I'm not sure who the original creator is, but they're sure cute!!!  The owl is simple put together normally, then you just add an adorable little hat using the vest of the owl, just upside down.  That's it!  It's THAT easy!!!  I used one of the little flower punches from the bitty punch pack for the cross on her hat. 

This is a sweet little box that hold a small package of tissues.  ADORABLE!!!  The tag on it, though you can't see it through the ribbon says 'better get better' from the "A Dozen Thoughts" set.  The box is super simple to put together a few score lines and you got it! 

The box is a 4x11 piece of cardstock.  On the 4 inch side score at 1 and 3.  On the 11 inch side score at 2, 3, 7, 8.  You'll need to mark the 5 inch line either gently with the score tool or lightly with a pencil.  Starting on the side with the 8 inch score line you'll cut along the 1 and 3 inch score lines until you get the 5 inch mark.  That will leave you with the top of your box to fold over.  The rest of the box goes together, just like any other box.  It's super cute and would be a great gift for anyone feeling a little under the weather :) 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!