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!