THE Christmas Ornament....

The 3-D Christmas ornament on the front of the SU Holiday catalog, was a "must try" for me.  I had grand plans of making one for each and every one of my crafty friends, BUT..... they are really, really time consuming and I think I managed to create 6 of them.....  It features the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set with it's matching framelits, a LOT of time, a significant amount of glue, and even MORE significant amount of glitter, and several sticks of glue for your hot glue gun! :)  As much work as they are, the final result is stunning!  Well worth trying, all though you might want to start in July rather than November...  For a step by step tutorial, visit any number of You-tube videos out there right now -- such as this one. :)  Maybe someday when both of my kids are in school and I have endless amounts of time on my hands :), and I'm not working :), I'll do You-tube videos, too! LOL

I tried several different color combinations, including Baja Breeze with Navy, Pink Pir with Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green and Cherry Cobbler, and some Rich Razzleberry and Certainly Celery ones, which haven't been completed yet. :)  The one featured here is Pink Pirrouette and Cherry Cobbler -- made for my Seattle friend who has a fun display of pink ornaments from her late grandma.  I thought this ornament would go perfectly with her collection -- AND it's a nice change from the traditional red and green... 

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Belated Christmas inspiration!

Wow!  My last blog post was in October....  Guess that says just a little bit about how busy my life has been in recent months.  Barely time to catch my breath, let alone post to my blog.  However, today is the day to share some Christmas cards we did at my Christmas card Stamp-a-stack.  I tried to incorporate some new colors into the mix, like Soft Suede and the Champagne glitter paper.  This turned out to be one of the favorite cards we created.  It features the Snowflake Soiree stamp set from the Holiday catalog -- a MUST have snow flake set!

A friend inspired me to try a "white-on-white" Christmas card.  Of course, I couldn't resist adding just a little sparkle with the silver glitter paper!  LOVE that stuff!  So incredibly sparkly and THE SPARKLES DON'T FALL OFF EVERYWHERE! :)  This card also features the Snow Flurry Bigz die.  I love that it is a Bigz die so it can cut other fun stuff -- like felt, and glitter paper, and... and...  The sentiment is embossed in silver.

This card features the Scensational Season stamp set and matching framelits -- also from the Holiday catalog.  The designer paper is from the Candlelight Christmas pack -- GORGEOUS Christmas papers!

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a reindeer card, right?  Here is the little guy from the Joyous Celebrations stamp set.  We punched an oval out of a sticky note, centered the oval over the stamped reindeer, and sponged crumb cake ink into the oval to give him a "spotlight".  The designer paper here is also from the Candlelight Christmas pack.

The Ornament Keepsakes stamp set and matching framelits are super fun to make a tri-fold card with, using the ornament as the focal point on the front of the card.  AND, more dsp from the Candlelight Christmas pack.

Another idea I wanted to incorporate this year, was a folded Christmas tree.  The tree is made with a half of a circle cut from designer paper and folded into a "tree".  Here is a link to how to create it.

So, here is the holiday line up!

And here are some of the final creations!  Quite an impressive display of twinkles! Some guests created 20 cards each, and some created 10.

A very Merry Christmas to each of you!  I hope you've had at least a little time to do some holiday crafting...

Ribbit!

When my son was little, he ADORED frogs AND his orange crocs -- what a combo! One day, we were at the Ballard Seafest in Seattle, and I found this little hand-knit frog hat.  Of course, I bought it, and he wore it for several years.  These photos were of the first debut... and I've been dieing to make them into a layout that I could "see" in my head, using the grasses from the retired Inspired by Nature set, and the old slot punch to make cat tails. I embossed the grasses with clear embossing powder and Artichoke craft ink, so they're shiny in real life. Then, of course, a punch art frog -- which uses multiple SU punches -- some of which have retired.  The lilly pads are ovals punched from Always Artichoke card stock, with a little pie wedge cut out of one corner, and the leaf details drawn in.

I'd love to hear what you think! :)

Happy Srapping Thursday to you!

To My Club Members!

This weekend, I'm celebrating some incredibly special stampers and scrappers in my life -- my hostess club members for the past year.  They have encouraged me, inspired me, and most of all, become my friends!  A sincere thanks to each of them! 

Here is what we're making: a tote from an 8 1//2 x 11" sheet of the 2012-2114 In Color card stock, and a set of 4 cards to go inside.  Take a look!

To make the tote, stamp your desired design on your full sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" card stock.  (Here I used images from the Lacy and Lovely stamp set.)  Next, score the 8 1/2" side at 1 1/4" in from each long side.  Rotate card stock 180 degrees and score at 4 1/2" and 6 1/2" using the Simply Scoring board.  On the 11" sides, cut on the score lines right to the 1 1/4" score lines on each sidef -- this part will be the bottom of your tote.  Fold the "bottom tabs" to the inside, and attach the sides with some sticky strip.

The handles are a 1 x 12" strip of the coordinating In color DSP.  To make the decorative ends, slide just the end of your handle into one side of the Decorative Label punch, while holding the punch upside down.  I then attached the handles with some basic gold brads.

To make this flower, use the Blossom Petals punch, and punch out 16 petals using the long skinny leaf.  Curl the petals around a pencil or piercing tool.  Punch a circle out of a coordinating pc of card stock for the flower's base -- put a healthy amount of Mono Multi glue (the stuff with the green lid) on your circle.  Add four petals at right angles to each other, then add a petal in between each of those, so you now have eight petals as your base.  Let dry a little, then add more glue and attach 8 more petals, spacing them in between your base petals.  Stamp and punch out your center and use that to hide the multitude of sins. :)

The cards are quick and easy -- using the Summer Sillhouettes stamp set.  I used the coordinating inks -- Gumball Green, Razzberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, and Midnight Muse.  I also incorporated my (new to me) Pappillion Potporie stamp set, and the coordinating butterfly punch. And, of course, nothing is complete without some bling!!!.....

Happy Monday to all of you!

"BOO!" to you and you!

I saw this super cute Halloween card on Dawn Olchefske's blog, and immediately thought of using my brand new, completely adorable, Owl Occasions stamp set.  I am generally not a "cutesy" stamp image type person, but for some reason, this little owl just speaks to me.  I can see using it for tons of different things -- from Halloween to Christmas cards to birthday invites for my little Sabina... So, I added this card as a bonus project at my last techniques club.  It's a simple masking technique using a sticky note, white glossy paper, and sponges.

Start with a glossy white card stock panel -- 4 x 5 1/4".  Take a strip of Basic Gray card stock, about 2" wide, and score on your simply scoring board at every 1/2" (or simply use your rossettes die if you have it).  Then lightly fold the fence on each score line and sponge the fold area with black ink.  Accordian fold your fence into a stack, and snip the end into a point to make the top of the fence -- you will have to do just a few layers at a time.  Unfold, and there is your fence.  Lay your fence on your white glossy panel to give you a guide where to stamp your branch and owl.  Stamp your branch in black stayzon ink, so the tip of the branch is right by where the top of the fence will be.  Next, stamp the owl.  Let dry a little, then punch out a sticky note with the 2 1/2" circle punch, getting as much of the sticky part of the note as possible.  Stick your circle over your owl where you want your "moon" to be.  Use Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and Cajun Crazy inks to sponge around the circle creating the night sky look.  Start with Sponging the Daffodil Delight -- working from the sticky note circle out.  Next add pumpkin pie ink -- working from the outside in to keep from getting stark color lines.  Last, add Cajun Craze ink around the outside edges, moving your sponge in a circular motion to give you a smooth result.  The reason you use glossy paper for this technique, is because it absorbs the ink differently than plain Whisper White.  Now, remove your sticky note and you have a perfect moon.  Attach your fence, tie a length of the polka dotted black scalloped ribbon around the bottom, add the little "Boo!" tag -- made with the Tiny Tags set and the jewelry tag punch and some linen thread, and you have a darling Halloween card! 

Oh my!  I almost forgot!  The little googly eyes are a new product from the Holiday catalog -- get 50 adhesive backed googly eyes for $2.50.  Just peel and stick.  They just make the little owl SO much cuter.  AND they will be perfect for YOUR Halloween treats this year.

These are a few of my favorite things!

Bryn is back in school, and life is taking on a consistent routine once again, and I've been itching to get back to my neglected scrap booking, as I have SOO many photos that will make some amazing layouts....  For my border swap last month, I decided to go with the theme "these are a few of my favorite things" as I was envisioning a special layout commemorating Sabina's many favorites.  I was so pleased with how it came out!  This little munchkin is passionate about life and chocolate, fancy dresses and snow cones, her polka dotted boots and her "power suit" (a costume I made for Bryn's birthday party to look like the Wild Krats creature power suits), her sun glasses and "pony",  AND, unfortunately, her binky and THE purple blankie.  It was so much fun to make a collage of her favorite things....  She is such a special little star in our lives.

Many of the elements used on these pages, are retired -- such as the DSP, fabric, etc.  For the chipboard letters, I tried something I hadn't done before -- adhering fabric (here the retired Springtime Vintage) to chipboard using the Multipurpous Bigshot adhesive sheets, and then cutting them out with the retired Serif Essentials alphabet dies.  The look is so neat -- you have that fabric, textured look on your title letters!  There is also a beautiful rolled fabric flower that I added to this layout later, using a strip of fabric -- rolled and twisted around in a circle.  The rolled flowers and a fabric-covered chipboard title are free make n takes you can do at my upcoming Fall Scrapapalooza on Sept 22nd.  Whoo hoo!

Happy Scrapping to you, too!!!

Poppies in the Spotlight

Happy Saturday to you and yours!  Today I have another card to share with you that we are making at my upcoming techniques class next Friday, featuring the "spotlighting technique", and also the new "Pleasant Poppies" background stamp from the catalog.  I LOVE poppies -- they are one of my most favorite flowers, so this stamp was amongst the first on my "must have" list.  However, the summer has been busy and I have just recently finally had a chance to play...

The "spotlighting technique" basically means you choose a portion of a line art type image to "spotlight" -- you punch that part out (or die cut it) and color it to make it "pop" and stand out from the background.  Once you die cut or punched the section to be "spotlighted", you position it on your project to line up with the card base stamped background image -- see how the poppy stems line up in the photo?  I also put the spotlighted part up on dimensionals for even more popping effect. So, that's all there is to it!  For this card, I first cut out a white panel using my new window frames framelits, stamped the background with the En Francias stamp in Crumb Cake ink, then stamped the poppies in Basic Black ink over top.  I stamped the poppies again in Stayzon Black on a scrap of water color paper, making sure to stamp the section of the stamp I wanted to "spotlight".  I then colored my poppies with water color crayons and an aqua painter, let it dry, then punched it out with a 1 1/4" circle punch, layered onto a 1 3/8" circle punched cherry cobbler circle.  The card base is Crumb Cake, folded vertically, and embossed with my new favorite embossing folder -- Lacy Brocade embossing folder -- from the Holiday catalog.  Another cool feature about these framelits, is that you can layer a square underneath to add another "layer" -- see the Cherry Cobbler square layered underneath the poppy stamped focal point.  It adds a pop of color without adding a whole other framelit die cut.
Last, but not least, a strip of embossed black and a section of cherry cobbler scalloped dotted ribbon finishes the card perfectly!

I hope you'll stamp today! :) and pull out a treasure that's been collecting dust all summer while you weeded your garden, and played with your kids at the park for hours on end... :)

Don't forget about the ribbon special this month -- get a FREE roll of the 3/8" stitched satin In Color ribbon with every $40 purchase during the month of September.  AND, if you haven't signed up for my Fall Scrapapalooza happening on Sept 22nd, you just GOTTA come.  We have a bunch of fun door prizes, a raffle basket full of fantastic prizes, AND lunch and dinner -- all for the low price of $40.  Register here: http://www.meetup.com/Flathead-Valley-Stampers/events/74300762/

Glitter Magic Fall Leaves

Happy Labor Day to you and yours!  The kids are dancing to music, so I am going to drink my morning coffee and post to my blog!  Yippeee!

I have been enthralled with my "glitter magic" technique idea, and had this vision in my head of a crisp, frosty cold morning, where you step outside and the leaves are covered in frost, and the sunshine hits the leaves creating a sparkling wonderland.  Can you picture it?  So, HERE is my creation -- a card we will be making at my upcoming techniques club featuring the "Glitter Magic" technique -- see this post for all the details of how to create this look: Glitter Magic Incorporated

This card also features a cool way to use your framelits to create a fun-fold card.  I saw this idea on Alisha Linn's blog, and thought it was brilliant.

Here I've used the new Window Frames framelits from the Holiday mini catalog.  I love the fact that they are a more "squarish" shape, lending themselves perfectly to many different applications.  So, to create this effect, take your 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" card base, and score the long side at 4 1/4" and 6 3/8".  Fold the card in half as for a normal card, on the 4 1/4" score line, and on the 6 3/8" mark, fold that layer back towards the "backbone" of the card.  Now, to cut the cool half framelit out, get your Big Shot framelit sandwich ready, and line the 6 3/8" score line up with the very front EDGE of your lower cutting pad -- so most of your card is hanging off the cutting pad -- only that scored half of the front panel is on your bottom cutting pad.  Now, place the framelit on top, lining up the center point of the top and bottom of the framelit (in this case the tips of the points) with that same score line, and cutting pad edge underneath.  When you run it through the Big Shot, because part of the framelit is "hanging off" the bottom cutting plate, it won't cut through that part -- only through that front half.

The rest is pretty self explanatory.  I added an Island Indigo framelit  die cut (embossed with the Fancy Fan folder), matching it up exactly with the partial framelit cut out on the card front, so the card can open and close easily.  For the leaf focal point, I stamped Fall leaves from the French Foliage stamp set in Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, and Cajun Craze inks on a Very Vanilla framelit die cut.  I then adhered my multipurpous adhesive sheet to the front, burnished it well, peeled it off, and covered it with glitter.  Ta Dah! a glittery crisp fall leaf card!  Perfect for a Thinking of you or Sympathy card.

I hope you'll give this technique a try with your framelits -- any of them will work for this project!

Remember, during the month of September, get a FREE roll of 3/8" stithched satin ribbon with every $40 purchase.  Whoo Hoo!  LOVE this ribbon. :)

Glitter Magic Incorporated!

As all of you know, I love glitter and bling! so this technique was right up my alley.  I don't even know what it's called, or if it has a name, but I call it "Glitter Magic"! 

Just look at how those lovely stamped flowers sparkle!  Speaking of flowers, these are from the new stamp set, Summer Sillhouettes.  I just LOVE this set -- it's a two-step stampin' set, but it's not "complicated" to line up the images -- i.e. no stamp-a-ma-jig required!  Just stamp and go.  This branch that I stamped here, would be lovely embossed in white on Crumb Cake card stock for a fall look, as well, or on a masculine card to look like branches....  I have lots of ideas in my head for this set!
Anyways, I digress!  For the card at hand, stamp the stems and flowers on a Whisper White panel in Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, and Daffodil Delight inks.  Next, cut a pc of the Big Shot multipurpous adhesive sheets to the same size as your Whisper White panel.  Peel the liner off your adhesive pc, and press it straight down onto your stamped image.  Next, burnish over the top well with your bone folder -- this will make the adhesive all stick to your image and not leave you with empty glitter patches.  Finally, peel off the other liner to this double sided adhesive, being careful not to stick your fingers to it or you will pull adhesive off your image -- dump tons of Dazzling Diamonds glitter onto your sticky panel, shake off the excess, and turn it face down on some scratch paper and burnish the back side a little to get that glitter "well stuck".  That's all there is to it! Another wonderful aspect of these sheets, is that you can punch through them with your punches.  So, try stamping a gorgeous ornament, or a snow flake, apply your adhesive, and punch it out! peel off the liner, and add glitter, and you have a dazzling focal point for a card or page.

Other uses for this adhesive include adhering DSP to chipboard, adhering fabric to cork to cut out coasters, or attaching ribbon to a card or page -- just lay your ribbon on a strip of the adhesive, and then peel and stick.

Hope you will feel inspired to try some Glitter Magic yourself!