I Was Helping Batman

 I had a friend who had a birthday, that I was late in sending a card for so I made this one.  I saw a card similar to it on Pintrest, I still have a few of these Batman owls on my desk from the Superhero craft weekend months ago :)  I thought this would be the perfect card!  The greeting is printed on vellum, then trimmed down to fit on a card.  I sponged some Daffodil Delight on the white cardstock behind Batman. 

The Batman owl was already premade but he's easy to recreate.  Punch 2 owls one in Smoky Slate and one in Black.  The black one you cut the top and bottom off.  Add a scrap of Daffodil Delight for the belt and Use the XL Oval for the cape.  Attach eyes and beak as normal.  So cute!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Vivid Vases

I know you're probably hoping for a fun sneak peek at some new stuff, and don't worry it's coming I promise!  Next week will be a Christmas treat with sneak peeks of all new stuff coming in the Occasions and Sale a Bration catalogs.  I have a couple other cards to share this week that aren't sneak peeks but really cute cards!!  This one I just love love love love!!!!!!  There's isn't anything about this card that I don't love!  The brick wall embossed background the glimmer paper the flowers.  It's all a keeper!!!!

To make those three vases stand out I water colored them and cut them out.  I attached them with dimensionals and added Crystal Effects over them to make them glossy.  They're so pretty!!!!  I just love them!!!!

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

Customer Appreciation Highlights

All year long I host classes.  Once a year, in December I do my customer appreciation.  Of course I appreciate my customers all year but this is the class made for them!  There's no fee for this class, everything is free, just my way of giving back.  Everyone got a pretty mug for their hot cocoa.  The mugs were bought from the dollar store and I tied some gold ribbon around the handle.   

 I also went all out baking for this class!  I made fudge and some decorated sugar cookies.  Everything was was very popular, I didn't have any leftover cookies and most of the fudge was gone too :)

Finally to treat my guests I had a big hot chocolate bar!  There was pretty much anything and everything you might want to top or mix into a cup of hot chocolate. 

In addition to the syrups and whipped cream there was also marshmallows, candy canes, mints, chocolate chips.  Oh my!  This was my last class of the year.  As much as I love my classes I'm looking forward to a small break between this one and my Sale a Bration camp in January.

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

Blushing Bride Glimmer Balloons!

 This was the 4th card that my guests got to make at my class.  This new set in the Occasions Catalog called Balloon Celebration is a MUST HAVE!!  OMG, it wasn't on my original wish list but I'm so glad I got it!!!  The images are so pretty and soft, like watercolored images.  And they all can be stamped together for a fun collage type look.  I just love it!  I used some softer colors for this card, Soft Sky and Perfect Plum. 

I also used a new Balloon Punch!!!! Yay!!!  It punches 2 different sizes of balloons, so fun!!!  To add a little sparkle to this card I used the NEW Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper.  Oh my goodness this paper is soooooooo pretty!!!!  I'm in love!  This set will be lots of fun to play with!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Customer Appreciation

December gets soooooo busy for everyone!!  I like to use my December class time as a time to thank my customers for all their support over the last year.  For a few years now I've set aside my December class as a customer appreciation class.  This class is free, everyone who comes gets to make 4 simple cards.  It's a nice break from all the other business of life in December. 

The cards are all pretty simple, but so fun and cute!  This year my customer appreciation class was so much fun!!!  I'll have more pictures later this week but there were lots of activities to keep us all busy.  I started with a food drive for a local children's home here, El Ranchito de Los Ninos. If you're not familiar with them they are an alternative to foster care where brothers and sisters can grow up together when living with their biological families isn't an option.  Their agency receives zero federal or state funding and relies solely on donations from caring people in the community.   I asked everyone attending to bring a little something for them. 

I also had a hot chocolate bar (more on that) and lots and lots of sneak peeks from the new Occasions Catalog and Sale a Bration catalog.  All in all it was a really fun class.  The 4th card they got to make was using some new products from the Occasions catalog, I'll share that tomorrow!  

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Sneak Peek: Balloon Builders

 There's this new awesome stamp set in the Occasions Catalog called Balloon Builders.  It's like punch art stamping!!  The stamp set includes lots of different shapes of balloons and you use them to 'build' your own creations.  So cute!!  I LOVE all the samples in the catalog, I'll be CASEing them all!!  This one wasn't in the catalog, and it was the first thing I thought of with this set. 

These little pups are just adorable and it was so easy and fun to create them!!  I used a couple different browns on the dogs (Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip).  The girl dog I added a bow and the boy dog got a bow tie.  Super cute, so much fun!!!  I can't wait to play with this set more!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

November Paper Pumpkin

 It's about time for the December Paper Pumpkins to begin going out.  I look forward to these kits every month.  They're so much fun to complete and they made great gifts!!  Did you know you can buy a gift subscription to Paper Pumpkin for anyone?  They make great Christmas gifts!  November's kit were fun Holiday cards.  Logan made a few with me too! 

I usually stick with the original plan for the Paper Pumpkins, sometimes I pull out my kits when I'm not feeling terribly creative but still want to craft.  You can sign up for Paper Pumpkin here. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Take A Breather

This is the final card from craft weekend and I think, after much thought this one is my favorite.  I wasn't really sure where I was headed with this card but I went along with it, I'm so glad I did.  I started by watercoloring the submarine and the background.  Both are done on watercolor paper.  If you're going to do lots of watercoloring you really have to use the watercolor paper.  The submarine is pretty straightforward coloring, I used Crushed Curry and Delightful Dijon.  The background is soooo pretty and really easy!  I started by making sure my paper was pretty wet, not soggy or dripping but wet enough that the color would move freely.  Once you have a layer of water on your background you can add color, I just smooshed my ink pads on a large clear block and I used a large wet paintbrush to pick up the color.  I used Tempting Turquoise and Bermuda Bay.  Just add a little color here and there, the water already on your paper will move the ink around you don't have to do much, in fact the less you do the better it looks.  You can let it dry on its own or hit it with a heat tool.  I used the heat tool for mine because I was impatient.  Finally I added some 'flicks' of color by picking up more color with a wet brush and 'flicking' it on the paper.  You get a fun splattered look. 

The really fun part of the card, the submarine goes up and down!!!!  Isn't that adorable!!!!!?!?!  I just love it!!!  I love the greeting I added too, perfect for a friend who might be a little over stressed.  The front says "Take a Breather"

The inside is come up for air.  So cute!!!!  This concludes all the cards I made at craft weekend way back in November!  This is my favorite, do you have a favorite, let me know in the comments I'd love to hear what you love! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Reindeer

Christmas is just around the corner.  If you're still in need of a few Christmas card ideas I have a really adorable one!  This sweet deer has become a favorite of mine for nearly any occasion!  He's so cute and he's so much fun to color!  If you've missed him in the catalog, he's in the baby section in the Made With Love Set.  

I generally cut him out but if you didn't want to do the fussy cutting you could easily mask the baby greeting and use him for anything!  I love the blushing bride trees on this card!!!  I love using non traditional colors for Christmas cards, plus it's so subtle that your attention stays on the reindeer.  The front of the card (under the watermark---oops!) says 'All Is Calm' also from the Wonderland set with the trees.  Inside the card........ 

.....it says 'All is bright"  this little reindeer has a sparkly bow and nose, thanks to the Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details.  I wish the glitter showed better in the pictures.

What a cute fun card right!!??!  I just love it!!!  I have one final card from craft weekend tomorrow!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!! 

Miss Ewe

We're down to the last 3 cards from craft weekend and they happen to my my favorite three!!!!  This card is sooooo cute!!!  I was inspired by a card on Pintrest, that I can't seem to locate.  I just love all the sheep stamped over and over with one empty spot.  So sweet!!!

I used my blender pen and Pool Party ink and lightly outlined all the sheep.  I love the subtle blue and I think it makes them 'pop' a little. 

Thanks for looking see you soon!!!!

Gumball Shaker

Of course Pintrest is a huge source of inspiration for me, I saw a gumball machine shaker card and I was excited to try it.  Shaker cards are interesting.....too much filling, it doesn't shake, too little it looks empty. I've been on the too much side, so for this one I scaled back my shaker filling and unfortunately I think now I'm on the too little filling side.  Shaker cards....they're a mystery!  

The card is cute, and there's still plenty of gumballs to shake around but I think if I did this card again I'd add a few more more shaker pieces.  The base of the shaker card is from the Sparkly Season set in the Holiday Catalog.  Circle framelits make up the shaker area.  I'll keep making shaker cards, I gotta perfect the 'filling' sometime! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Glitter + Monogram

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm a pretty big fan of the glitter paper, I'm actually really sad to see the black retire with the Holiday Catalog.  The black has become my favorite!  I'll probably still continue to use it, at least until I run out :( I made a couple monogram cards for friends throughout the weekend.  Usually a glittery card would just show up on their table while they were away :)  I decided I also needed one for myself.  

The card is soooooo sparkly!!!  If one was so inclined a set of glitter monogram cards would be pretty quick to make :)  I love the addition of the silver thread too!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Floating Butterfly

This card wasn't planned....really are any of them?  But I was showing a few people how much I love the Precision Plate for the Big Shot and we decided to cut out this intricut butterfly.  The precision plate works great and these detailed dies just pop right out!  I love mine!!!  After I showed how easy it was, I was left with a butterfly.  I decided to go with it and make a 'floating butterfly' card. 

The butterfly is glued down on a window sheet so it gives it a 'floating' look.  I also cut out a second butterfly and glued it on the inside of the card directly behind the butterfly on the front.  That way you never see adhesive or anything else.  I added a little black glimmer paper, because....glitter is always better!  I love this card!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!