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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I really need to post some artwork here...

...but I've been so darn busy with Christmas prep that there just hasn't been enough time.

I did find this while I was taking a few seconds from my busy day to do a little blog visiting and thought you might like it:

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.
I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.
Could it be cardstock or chipboard or lace?
"Or a Cricut," I said, with a smile on my face.
And that's when I heard him, "Hi Santa!" I said.
"You know....good little girls should be in their beds."
"I know I should Santa, and now I've been caught.
But I was just so excited to see what you brought."
"Well, let's take a look in this room where you work."
He shook his head quickly, and left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear...
"You've got enough crap, I'll see you next year!"

I found it on Sharon Harnist's blog. She's UBER creative and has been doing a series on inchies - you should check it out!

Happy Stampin'!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

A card for my honey!

My blogging buddy Ilina stamps and colours the cutest little Elzybells. When I saw hers, I knew I just HAD to have some of my own!

I haven't the foggiest where to buy them and to be perfectly honest with you I have enough stamps that haven't seen ink since I bought them that I REALLY don't need to buy any more...don't worry if you're reading Caroline...you're still my girl!

Ilina was kind enough to stamp me some cute little Elzybell images and I set right to work when I got them and made this card for my hubby!


I used my SU markers and water blender to colour them in...I think I need the SU blender pens because I wasn't 100% happy with the water pen.

I mounted Elzybell and her friend on Real Red cardstock and then adhered them to a Whisper White card.

Inside I wrote: "When it's raining outside, you're the only one I want sharing my umbrella". (all together now - AWWWW!) Of course Scott wanted to know if it was raining love why you would want to hide from it...such a guy! Good thing he is so darn cute - LOL!

What do you think???

Happy Stampin'!

P.S. If you're in Canada, check out my other blog here for some blog candy!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

It's all about the packaging! - Part IX

Stepper Boxes! These are SO cool! My SU demo (who is just THE BEST!) showed me how to make them...and I can't get enough!!!

I used the new Ski Slope DP on these (must order MORE!!!) and just love them! The one I made in class, I'm keeping for myself...the others I'll part with - for a price - LOL!

Here's the boxes closed:


And here's one open:


What do you think???

Happy Stampin'!

It's all about the packaging! - Part VIII

I was shopping for ribbon the other day at what myself and some of my friends call "the ribbon store". It's not so much a ribbon store as it used to be and has evolved into more of a packaging store and has started carrying some food stuffs.

When I spied the hot cocoa, I know JUST what I wanted to do with it! I bought the whole box which is a perfect display to use at the fundraiser!

I cut pieces of Close to Cocoa (how appropriate!) to 6 1/4" X 6 3/4" and scored them at 3 1/4" and 3 1/2". The cocoa is adhered to the inside of the package to prevent it from slipping out (as I didn't have the foresight to make a "bottom" for my folder). I cut a piece of Au Chocolat to fit the front of the package an on it mounted "Your friendship warms my heart" (from the Espress Yourself stamp set) stamped in Close to Cocoa on Very Vanilla. The sentiment was mounted on Close to Cocoa and again on Very Vanilla pieces cut with my Quickutz Revolution before adhering to the front of the package. The ribbon goes underneath the Au Chocolat piece and around the back to be tied on the right of the packaging.


What do you think?

Happy Stampin'!

It's all about the packaging! - Part VII

First, my apologies for the lengthy time between posts. As you may have heard I have been just a teeny tiny bit busy crafting like a crazy person for my hospital fundraiser. Off to the right there, there is a donation button if you'd like to make a contribution.

I can't believe there are only 26 days till Christmas - WOW and YIKES!!!

Here's something I made by special request. I don't often take requests because it often becomes "work" when you are trying to meet someone's expectations. I don't stamp for "work" (though I do sell my cards), I stamp because I enjoy it. Once it becomes work, it's no longer fun - remind me to tell you about the rabbits one day...

This request was made by one of the ladies at the hospital who often buys my cards. She was looking for cards to give to a teacher - teacher note cards. I found a Bella that I thought was just PERFECT! Of course, I had to make packaging to go with it - LOL!

So...I stamped the Bella using Memento Ink by Tsukineko on Whisper White and coloured her in using a variety of Copic Ciao's and Tombo markers. The image was mounted on Soft Sky DP and then again on Whisper White before being attached to a Buckaroo Blue card base.

The box is made of a Buckaroo Blue base and acetate top. I tied the box with some ribbon that I had from I don't know where - LOL!


What do you think???

Happy Stampin'!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

And again...MORE BLOG CANDY!

Joyful Stamper is giving away some goodies to celebrate 10,000 hits - WOOHOO!!! Check it out!

Happy Stampin'!

More Blog Candy Alert!

Head on over to Holly's blog and see what's up! Pay attention though...read the whole post!

Happy Stampin'!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

It's all about the packaging! - Part VI

The best for last...or at least one of the best. I looked around my crowded crafting area (read: Wherever there's space to put something) and found something else that I need to photograph.

For now, there's this:


This one is from Becky's Blog too. For $3.95 you get a full colour 20-page tutorial with step by step instructions - too cool!

I used the "Thanks a Latte" set again for this one and plan to make the homemade hot cocoa mix to put in these. I want to wait till the day before the fundraiser so nothing gets disgusting (spoiled). These little milk cartons were SO fun to make!

There is a free tutorial here on SCS, but the boxes don't look quite the same. At any rate, these things are TINY!!! But so fun to play with!

What do you think???

Happy Stampin'!

Blog Candy Alert!!!

Go here now!!! Korin is giving away some yummy blog candy today!

Happy Stampin'!

It's all about the packaging! - Part V

When I found this little box, the description said it was a "Popcorn Box". The first thing that came to mind was the original Cracker Jack box - LOL!

This was was really easy to make and just SO cute!!! The notes inside are about 2" X 3" and the box holds four notes and four envies (custom made).

I used Very Vanilla and some older DP leftover from another project to make them up. The image is from "Wishing you Cheer". Really easy and would make a great small thank you gift.


What do you think???

Happy Stampin'!

Monday, November 17, 2008

It's all about the packaging! - Part IV

I was blog hopping the other day and one thing led to another...don't ask me where I ended up and how I got there, because I have NO idea!

But there were pretty boxes...pretty acetate boxes...and I thought to myself: "Self, you can make something like that". And so I did.

I designed these to go around four standard (A2) cards. The top and bottom of the acetate are open and then I topped and bottomed it with DP:


The first one is the same design (but different colours) as the cards I made for DH and the second is a different design using the Season of Joy stamp set.

These are two sets of small note cards/gift enclosures. The bottoms are made with cardstock and lids are acetate. I used Season of Joy and Mini Mates on these too.


O.K., that's it for today...there will be more tomorrow as I still have one more "packaging" to share with you.

Hope everyone had a fantastic day! Happy Stampin'!

Oops! Almost forgot!

DD has a doctor's appt. downtown, so I am off to that...will pick up where I left off with "It's all about the packaging - Part IV" when I get back!

Enjoy your afternoon!

Happy Stampin'!

It's all about the packaging! - Part III

Some more fun packaging! Some may have seen this over on SCS. The instructions for making the small magazine holder are over on Becky's Blog. Instructions for the big magazine holder (to hold standard A2 cards) can be bought along with Becky's 12 days of Christmas tutorials...or you can do some quick math and make your own)...that's what I did - YAY!

So, this is the original size and completely adorable (if I do say so myself):


I used Mellow Moss cardstock for the magazine holder and cards and used DP for the Office line from last year (or was it the year before) to decorate the box and for the card front. The sentiment was punched with the 1 3/8" punch and then I used my Coluzzle to cut the larger circle. The pretty little Prima flower is attached with a silver brad.

This is one of the full size magazine holders:

For this one I used Blue Bayou and Soft Sky. The image was stamped in Soft Sky and the sentiment in Blue Bayou. I used DP from some older Chatterbox Winter paper that I had to wrap around the magazine holder. I used my Snow Swirled set for the stamping.

And here is another:


I have to go back and check, but I think this was a sketch challenge a couple weeks ago. I'm pretty sure I flipped (so the smaller piece of DP was at the bottom). I just LOVE the tiny Merry and Bright set and use it quite a bit...which reminds me...I need to make more tag sets, like the one here.

The DP is from the Winter Brights Kit and the CS is Bashful Blue and Wild Wasabi. The images are stamped on Whisper White.

Now...I'm off to make lunch, but will be back later with more.

Until then...Happy Stampin'!

It's all about the packaging! - Part II

I knew that I wanted to make some small boxes for the hospital fundraiser that I'm doing with my friend and SU Demo Caroline and I remember that I when I first started collecting...uhhh...stamping, that I had ordered a series of boxes, bags, tags, etc...in the pastel colour family. I've come to realize that I'm not much of a pastel person, but ya gotta use the stash, right???

I had fun making these, again using papers from the Winter Brights Kit from last years. Again, not stamping, just paper and stickers.


Then I made these:


I used the Thanks A Latte (retired) stamp set and stamped in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla. The DP is from Au Chocolat (also from last year) and I'll show you another project later that allowed me to FINALLY use of the last of it - WOOHOO!!!

I used my Revolution to cut out the scallop and adhered it to the box. One side of the box has the cup (stamped just one from the border stamp) and the other side has the sentiment.

For these, I'll probably include a small bag of homemade hot cocoa mix.

The ribbons on both sets of boxes don't actually hold the boxes closed, they are just there for decoration.

What do you think???

Must go get my son at the bus stop, but I will be back in a little while with MORE!!!

Happy Stampin'!

It's all about the packaging!

Ever since my kids were old enough to eat Tim Horton's (and particularly the little one, since they are his favourite treat), I have wished for a template that would allow me to make teeny tiny Tim Horton's TimBits Boxes (say THAT ten times fast - LOL!). I can pretty much come up with a lot of stuff on my own, but that one just eluded me...until the other day.

I was browsing SCS "Anything but a card" gallery and there it was! The TimBits box...and a template! You can download a PDF of the template here.

I was giddy with excitement I tell you! Just ask my DD...when I get REALLY excited about something, I get this funny laugh thing going that sounds almost like a cackle. DD does it too...it's genetic - LOL!

I carefully cut out the template, traced it onto Wild Wasabi CS (left over from Winter Brights Scrapping Kit) and went to work. What fun! This is the result:


Are these not two of the cutest boxes you have ever seen? I figure they would be perfect for jewelery gifts, gift cards, etc...I just LOVE THEM!!!

No stamping on these ones...just some DP and CS from the Winter Brights Kit and some stickers too...SO fun! Go make one!!

Happy Stampin'!

For my DH

I was making little note cards the other day, using the cards that I got when I ordered the "Three for You" punch set LAST YEAR (yes, I know...don't remind me about the fact that I have too much stuff!) and decided that I should make one for my DH too.

You see, he's pretty awesome! If it weren't for him being the man that he is, I wouldn't be able to stay home full time and raise our kids/craft like a crazy person. And even at the end of the day...after working 8 hours and commuting an hour and a half each way (he takes the bus, so we can save on gas) he still makes time to play with the kids because he knows that by 7 p.m. I'm pretty much DONE! He's my rock and the light of my life...and really I should be making him WAY more cards than I do!

So, I made him this:


I used the So Saffron note cards, the So Saffron DP that came in that little pack of 6 X 6 last year (it's all gone now! I finally used the last of it - WOOT!), some Whisper White and some More Mustard. The image was coloured using my Prismacolour pencils.

I can't (once again - don't laugh!) remember the name of the stamp set, so if you know what it is, please do let me know!

Let me explain why I don't know the names of some of my stamp sets...you see, when I first started collecting...uhhh...stamping...I would mount all my stamps, attach the pictures to the other side of the block and toss the sheet. See the step I missed there? YEP! I didn't add the label to the outside of the box for the stamp set. I always figured it was just a label so that SU would know which sticky sheet to put in with which stamps. I know, I know...I told you not to laugh!!!

Anyway, I know better now! But I still have about 6-12 unidentified stamp sets - *sigh*

I'll be back with more goodies! Happy Stampin'!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Gift Card Holder

Thursday was DD's 14th birthday (can someone, anyone tell me how that happened? YIKES), so that meant that this weekend is the weekend sleepover. Her best friend Heather is spending the weekend. Last night was tacos for dinner, today is shopping (that's what Lauren likes to do for her birthday) and tonight is fancy dinner and cake.

So, last night while the girls were making the tacos (nothing like enslaving your daughter and her best friend - LOL!) I was sitting in my stamping area (read: the dining room table) and thinking about what to do when my eyes happened upon the measurements for a gift card holder which just happened to be sitting under the stamp set that I used to make DH's Christmas cards. Again, I still can't remember the name of it, but it has 28 stamps and each saying has a little image to go with it (band aid + get well soon, two hearts + wedding wishes, etc...).

Anyway, I started thinking "tiny cards (gift card holders), tiny stamps...tiny cards, tiny stamps..." and the idea was born! I finished this one:


and will be working on others later on today or possibly tomorrow (since it's already 4 p.m. here).

I used Buckaroo Blue cardstock for the base and to mat the image which was stamped on Whisper White using sepia Versafine and sponged in Buckaroo Blue. I coloured the little possum with Prismacolor pencils.

The paper is from two different sets of DP that were retired last year.

The card itself is a piece of 4 1/4" X 7 3/4" piece of cardstock scored at 1 1/2" and 4 3/4". The DP on the front is cut to 2 3/4" X 4". The belly band on the is a piece of 1" X 8 1/2" and the DP attached to it is 3/4" X 8 1/2". The image is punched with my 1 3/8" circle punch and the mat was cut with my Coluzzle. I stamped the sentiment directly on the DP.

What do you think?

Supplies Used:
  • Stamps: Still trying to figure that out! - WOOHOO!!! It's Mini Mates! Thanks to SCS moderators for moving it to the right spot - now I know!
  • Ink: Sepia Versafine, Buckaroo Blue
  • Paper: DP from two different packs
  • Cardstock: Buckaroo Blue
Happy Stampin'!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Scott's Christmas Cards

Every year, I make cards for DH to give to his co-workers and this year is no exception. There is NO WAY I'm going to let my DH purchase cards - just NOT gonna happen!

These are the cards for this year:


They were mostly done last night until I couldn't find the right ribbon to attach to them and I went a little nuts. I mean geez! I could open my own dang ribbon store, so why is it that I didn't have the ribbon to match the cards - UGH!

This morning I went out and bought what I needed...as well as 100 yds of white organza so I wouldn't run out for a while!

I used more paper from the Winter Bright kit for these and the card bases are Wild Wasabi (of which I only have a few pieces left - WAAAAAHHHHH! Good thing my Kiwi Kiss should be here soon!).

I stamped the little images in Brocade Blue and Wild Wasabi...except I can't remember the name of the set because I never put the dang sticker on the clear case - UGH! So...if you know the name of the set, will you PLEASE let me know so I can write it on in sharpie? Thanks!

I punched the images out with a scalloped square McGill punch that I have had for AGES and adhered them to a piece of Wild Wasabi. The two pieces of DP on the front of the card are from the same DP, just flipped. The top piece is 4" X 4" and the bottom piece is 2" X 4" and they overlap in the middle. "Happy Holidays" is stamped on the inside.

I tied the ribbon on this afternoon and VOILA! Fourteen Christmas Cards.

Supplies Used:
  • Stamps: Can't remember, please tell me if you know!
  • Ink: Wild Wasabi, Brocade Blue
  • Paper: From Winter Bright Kit
  • Cardstock: Wild Wasabi
  • Accessories: Ribbon

So...ummm...how much do you think I should charge him??? LOL!!!

Happy Stampin'!

Criss Cross Apple Sauce...

O.K., not really. But do you remember that rhyme? There were some girls at the bus stop playing hand games the other day and it took me right back to my childhood when my sister, our friends and I used to do that. Such fun memories!

Anyway...here's the card I created for my Criss Cross theme:


I used pieces from the Simply Scrappin Kit that came out last year for Christmas called "Winter Bright". So many fun colours in there!

I stamped the snowflakes on Whisper White and then punched them out with my 1 3/8" circle punch. They were matted on "flowers" cut with my revolution. I also stamped the swirl on Whisper White for the card insert.

The red/pink card has Real Red ribbon attached to the front while the blue/green card has layered stickers from the Winter Bright Kit.

Supplies Used:
  • Stamps: Season of Joy (love, love, LOVE this set!)
  • Ink: Real Red, Wild Wasabi
  • Paper: From Winter Bright Kit
  • Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Real Red
  • Accessories: Stickers, Ribbon, Quickutz Die Cuts
Today, I will be finishing up the cards for DH's office and then working on today's LSC (a rectangle and a circle; just ribbon!) as well as attempting Beate's WSC, which you can fine here. So...there should be lots to look at in order to make up for not posting yesterday.

Be sure to let me know what you think!

Happy Stampin'!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

It's all Cammie's fault!

I was just minding my own business this morning when I decided to follow the MFT Blog Hop which starts here. When I came across Cammie's blog, I fell in love with her card and the idea so I decided that I had to use it to create a card today.

Today is ALSO Sketch Challenge Day over at SCS, so I had that to do too...not enough hours in the day and I had to wrack my brain to figure out how to use Cammie's idea and the sketch in one card.

Here's what I came up with:

I was going to stamp the cupcake on the front, but it didn't look quite right on a square panel. So I used the giant Prima flower from a can I've had for OVER A YEAR and hadn't yet opened (can you say too much stuff?)

I stamped the sentiment from the Crazy for Cupcakes set on the bottom panel.

So, the card itself is 5 1/2" x 11", scored at 4 1/4" and 8 5/16" (to allow it to close over the first flap). The bottom panel (yellow) is 4" X 4", the Chocolate Chip panel is 3 1/2" X 3 1/2" and the Purely Pomegranate panel is 3" X 3". The card base and the bottom panel are both from the same double sided piece of Imaginisce DP.

For the inside of the card, I stamped the cupcake in black Versafine and coloured it in using my Zig markers.

What do you think?

Supplies Used:
  • Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
  • Cardstock/Paper: Imaginisce DP, Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate
  • Ink: Chocolate Chip, Black Versafine
  • Accessories: Prima Flowers
Happy Stampin'!

CC191 - Pretty Red Kisses

Oops! I'm a day late with this, because by the time I got it done last night, there was no natural light to be had. And as every good stamper knows, natural light does a card good - LOL! So...I had to wait till today to get a good pic to put up on my blog and over at SCS.

I had no idea what I wanted to do for the colour challenge yesterday, especially since I only had one of the cardstock colours listed. I have ink in Ruby Red and Old Olive, but no CS...and I don't have pretty in pink ANYTHING, so it was a bit of a tough call on what I was going to go with.

We had the option of using Riding Hood Red or Ruby Red, so I went with both. I used Riding Hood Red for my mats and Ruby Red to colour in the flower. I used Old Olive to colour alongside the stem and cheated a little on the colours so I could colour it the water in my vase. Of course, thinking about it now, water really has NO colour, so it's kinda weird that we're always wanting to colour it blue...but I digress...I used Soft Sky (BTW, I am on the hunt for a Soft Sky re-inker as my pad is just about dry and when I ordered through my demo, SU was sold out...) and Blue Bayou to colour the water in the vase.

I first stamped the image in black Versafine (4 times...A-type personality, what can I say? It had to be straight!) and then coloured the flower in Ruby Red using my aqua painter and dabbing it right on the ink pad. There is some SLIGHT shadowing on the flower where I used a second "coat" of colour, but you can't really see it in the pic. I then coloured alongside the stem in Old Olive and coloured the water using Soft Sky adding a shadow with Blue Bayou.

My Whisper White piece of cardstock was a scrap from another project, so the size was already determined for me - good thing I liked it - LOL! It was 2" X 4 1/2" inches so I matted it on a 2 1/4" X 4 3/4" piece of Riding Hood Red, after attaching a piece of ribbon which isn't quite Old Olive, but close enough.

I stamped the sentiment in Ruby Red on Whisper White and cut it out using my Coluzzle oval. I matted it in Riding Hood Red, again using my Coluzzle to cut the oval and attached it to the card using dimensionals.

This is one of only a handful of cards where I haven't used an SU image!

I showed it to DH who wasn't in love with all the white space, but I think that's its best feature!

What do you think???

Supplies used:
  • Stamps: Flower image (Bella Stamps) and Sentiment (Hero Arts)
  • Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, Old Olive
  • Cardstock: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red
  • Accessories: Ribbon, Dimensionals
Happy Stampin'!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Basic Pirouette - CC 188

While waiting for Emily to upload the Colour Challenge for today, I decided to check out some older colour challenges to keep myself busy (read: from stalking the board).

I came up with this one from a few weeks ago:

About a year ago, I was reading one of my many stamping/scrapbooking magazines and came across an article showcasing black and white cards. The article went on to explain that with a black and white card base, you can create a card for just about any occasion. They were right too! Last year for Scott's parents 50th wedding anniversary, I took a black and white card and added a gold die-cut "50" to the front and before you know it, I had a perfectly elegant 50th anniversary card.

The card base I chose today had a darling little buckle on it from Maya Road. I had to pry that up to be able to add the piece of Pink Pirouette (3 1/2" X 4 3/4") underneath it.

I then stamped "Miss you" in black Versafine on Whisper White. After punching it out with the small tag punch, I sponged the edges with Pink Pirouette and adhered it to the card front. Then I tied a ridiculously small ribbon into a bow and added it and some stickles for the final touch.

Be sure to let me know what you think!

Supplies used:
  • Stamps: Taggers Dozen
  • Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
  • Ink: Pink Pirouette, Versafine Black
  • Accessories: Ribbon, buckle (Maya Road)
Happy Stampin'!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Monday's Challenge - Circle Medallions

This:



led to this:


Thanks to Becca for the Tutorial and thanks to Lynn for this weeks Technique Lovers Challenge!

I first had to go out and acquire a "Corner Adorner" because would you believe that I didn't have one? I know - SHOCKING! I was REALLY wanting the heart one that Becca used in her tutorial, but it seems Michael's has had a run on those...think everyone beat me to it??? So, I settled on the one in picture...not a bad choice, but I'll be on the lookout for the one Becca used to add to my collection next.

When I got home, I couldn't wait to play! I had to move quick mind you, because daylight savings time ended yesterday and there are just not that many hours of good afternoon light to be had anymore - sigh. Guess that means I'll just have to drag my butt out of bed that much earlier to get creating!

The first thing I did was cut and create my template as per Becca's instructions...unlike Markie's Mom who said she was just too lazy to do it that way - LOL!

I had to punch the circle with the corner punch twice. because the first time I did it, it wasn't quite lined up the way I wanted it...and as anyone who has known me for any length of time knows, I am nothing if not an "A" type personality! The second time I punched it, it turned out PERFECTLY!

Then I cut out a Very Vanilla circle the same size as my medallion and stamped the poppies from the Oh So Lovely set in Basic Grey. I then took my aqua painter and dabbed it on my Ruby Red stamp pad to colour in the poppies. I used Old Olive to colour in the stems.

I then adhered the medallion on top of the piece of Very Vanilla. Both pieces were then adhered to a 3 1/2" X 4 3/4" piece of Groovy Guava before being adhered to a piece of 4" X 5 1/4" piece of corner punched and rounded River Rock which was placed on the corner rounded Very Vanilla card face.

And there you have it, a medallion card.

Supplies Used
  • Stamps: Oh So Lovely
  • Ink: Basic Grey, Ruby Red, Old Olive
  • Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Groovy Guava, River Rock and a Bazzill Cardstock that very much resembles Ruby Red
Hope you had a stampin' good day!

Handstamped from the Heart

In an effort to start up a small card making business, I'm going to be showcasing my stamping here.

Thanks for stopping by!