55 and counting!

For any of you who DIDN'T know, this is Teacher Appreciation week! :) and how I do appreciate Bryn's teachers VERY much.  I am involved in the PTO for his school, and this year we decided to make gifts to give all the teachers and staff at West Valley School during Teacher appreciation week.  In the PTO meeting, guess who they all turned and looked at for heading up the gift creating campaign? :)  Yep!  You guessed it.  Me!  And, I was gladly up for the job, provided I had a little help putting them together.

The volunteers to help with the project, were a little on the sparse side, and I was feeling a teeny bit overwhelmed before I had even started.  Then low and behold, my wonderful, super crafty friend, Leah, (whose children don't even go to West Valley!), came over and spent the entire afternoon cutting out purses and gluing them together. When she left, the purses were all cut out an mostly assembled and I was feeling like I really could pull it together.  What a great friend!!!

There are 55+ teachers/staff at the school, so it was a bit of craftiness to put them all together.  We are giving out little gifties on Monday, Wed, and Friday of this week.  Here are the Monday ones: Decorated water bottles with a little hand stamped tag and a pouch to hold a Crystal Light packet.

The tag measures 2 1/8" by 11 and scored at 2 1/4" and 8".  Then, simply fold the bottom scored part up and adhere with brads on either side, and use the 1 1/4" circle punch to punch the hole in the top flap to go over the water bottle.  I cut strips of designer paper 1 1/2" x 12" to put around the bottles and adhered with sticky strip.  Easy embellishments using the large and small butterfly punches layered together.  Simple gift, but definitely brought a smile to every recipient!

 Today's gift, was a little purse (using the SU purse die) with a chapstick inside that was donated by my generous boss, Connie Small, DDS.  I used Pretty in Pink card stock here -- a color that is soon to retire, and embellished the fronts of the purses with a little rossette -- from the rossette trim in the spring mini catalog -- simply snip off a rossette, dab its petals on an ink pad, and you have an instant classy embellishment.

 For the guy teachers, we made this "manly version".  Simple tri-fold with a section of designer paper on the front and back, and a star embellishment.  Sorry the photo isn't better...

I somehow missed taking a photo of the Friday giftie -- it is a pint jar filled with mulit colored salt water taffy (courtesy of Costco).  I punched out a circle of designer paper (using my 2 3/8" circle punch -- which fits perfectly on a narrow mouth jar lid, just FYI) and adhered that to the top of the lid, then tied a cute stamped tag around the top with colorful ribbon.  Another PTO person is delivering those, as I am working on Friday, so she came and hauled them all away -- thus no photos -- sorry!  I feel glad to have them finished, but is sure was rewarding to see the smiles on their faces as we went from class room to class room delivering our gifts.

To all you teachers out there, THANK YOU!!! for all you do for our children!!!

If you haven't checked out the retiring stamps and accessories, take a look!  There are some fabulous goodies on sale while supplies last.

Happy stamping and crafting to each of you!

Going, Going, Gone! Card Buffet!

Tis' the season where Stampin' Up! retires a bunch of stamps and accessories to make room for new treasures soon to be released in the new catalog -- June 1st.  I always feel compelled to give my favorite sets a final debut!  I am having my "Going, going, gone! card buffet" on Saturday, May 18th at 10 am, and here are the treasures there will be to choose from.  These are easy cards to create -- 10 min or less kind of cards.  Click on the link at the bottom of this post to check out the stamp sets and accessories (some marked down to 40% off!) that are retiring, and get them before they're gone!

This first card features the single stamp -- Quint-Essential Flower -- for $8.95.  It coordinates with the 2 3/8" and 1 3/4" scallop circle punches and 1" circle punch. Simply stamp in three colors -- here Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, and Old Olive -- and punch out with the punches.  Layer together using stampin' dimensionals, and you have a great, easy card.  Other retiring products used here, are the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, the Tiny Tags stamp set and Jewelry tag punch, and the polka dotted scalloped ribbon. 

 This cute little trendy vase with the flowers, is from the all occasion set -- "Button Buddies".  I simply colored the vase with a red marker, the flower stems with an Olive marker and punched out little flowers with the Itty Bitty punch pack.  Added some rhinestones and what a cute little card!  Other retiring products used here: Bashful Blue card stock and ink, and the sentiment -- from the Made for You stamp set.

 A topiary card made with the retiring "Circle Circus" stamp set -- and a variety of circle punches.  Super easy card, but a really fun effect.  For the flower pot, I used the decorative label punch.  Other retiring products used here: Certainly Celery card stock and ink, the "Friendly Phrases" stamp set.

 "Just Believe" stamp set is one of my very favorites!  So sorry to see it go...  Here I did a simple color blocking technique -- use your clear block, ink it up, and "stamp" it onto your white card stock panel.  Then stamp your image on top in a darker ink.  The background inks used here are Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze -- both of which are retiring.

 A simple sympathy card featuring "French Foliage" stamp set.  A lovely set for fall, of course, but also great for summer cards, too.  The lacy brocade embossing folder used on the little strip of Lucky Limeade card stock, is also retiring.  Boo!!!

 I put Crystal Effects on the little blue leaf to give the card some dimension.

 "Sweet Floral" is a lovely background stamp.  Here I simply inked the stamp in Riding Hood Red ink (a retiring color) and stamped it on the same color card stock -- added pearls to the flower centers, and a sentiment from the also retiring "Punch Pals" stamp set.  Added a butterfly punched from designer paper, and some ribbon.  Easy peasy, but lovely just the same.

 "Elements of Style" stamp set takes Vintage to a new level.  Here I stamped the floral branch image on a Labels framelits die cut, used a sponge dauber to add some Marina Mist ink to the flowers, layered it on a strip of dsp from the poetry print pack, added some crochet trim, and some Crystal Effects to the flowers -- and punched out the sentiment.  Done!

This final card features the retiring Build a Blossom stamp set and the matching Blossom Petals builder punch.  Of all the things retiring this year, this punch makes me the saddest.  I use this punch ALL the time -- for leaves, fancy flowers, you name it.  So versatile!  Sob!  Anyways, I simply stamped the petals on Baja Breeze card stock, punched them out, and created the focal flower by adhering the petals to a punched circle using Tombow multi glue. 

Hope this inspires you to do some crafting, too!  Hop on my website and see what retiring treasures YOU can't live without.

Happy Sunday!

Birthday Bash -- cards by the dozen!

I recently did my first "Birthday Bash" card class -- you could choose any 8 cards for the $15 class fee, and then make as many extra cards as you wanted for $1.25 per card.  The idea was to make enough birthday cards for the whole year featuring everyone on your birthday calendar.  Here are some of the cards there were to choose from:

 A Pinwheel card of sorts -- you start by layering two 2 5/8 x 2 5/8" Midnight Muse card stock squares on top of each other as shown.  Next, punch out 4 squares each of designer paper with the 1 1/4" square punch and layer them in an alternating pattern over top of the first two squares you laid down -- put a brad or button in the middle where all the little points come together, and you've got an easy, but wow card!

 Simple masculine card using the Harvest Blessings stamp set and the window frames framelits.  I embossed the Crumb Cake card base with the Hexagon embossing folder from the spring catalog.  The Dotted Scalloped Ribbon punch adds just a little decorative border underneath the designer paper (from the Poetry Prints stack in the spring catalog).

 This Angry Birds card is a case of a card I saw on Pinterest.  Chevron embossing folder for the background, and various SU punches for all his parts.

 This is a case of a card I saw on Mary Fish's blog -- great little card for a teenager.

 Simple cupcake card using the cupcake punch in it's traditional way.

 Hello Kitty card -- cased from an idea I saw on Pinterest

 Ultra simple trifold card

 Perfect for your grandma kind of card -- featuring the Everything Elenor stamp set.

 A card featuring the Secret Garden and matching framelits (in the spring catalog) -- another case from a card I saw on Mary Fish's blog

 Simple layered butterflies -- check out the mini butterfly punch available in the spring catalog!  Layers perfectly on top of the larger butterfly in the current catalog.

Ice cream cone card using the cupcake top as the ice cream scoops.  The cone is made using the Pennant Parade stamp set and punched out with the Pennant builder punch.  The embossed cloud background is the cloudy day embossing folder from the spring catalog.

Hope this inspires you to do a little crafting this weekend! :)

THE cutest Easter Bunny on the planet!

For my last scrap booking class, I wanted to do an Easter layout -- so I searched the web for some cute new Easter ideas and ran across this adorable Easter Bunny and the little "hatching chicks" on Pinterest.  Just too cute not to share, so here they are!

The bunny is made with a huge pile of punches and Basic Grey, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, and Very Vanilla cardstock.  Here is the list of punches: the head is the ornament punch, the body is the 1 3/4" round punch, ears -- large oval punch and retired small oval punch, feet -- large oval punch, hands -- large petal from the petals builder punch, cheeks -- current small oval punch, eyes -- current small oval and the owl punch, nose -- owl punch.  The little chicks are the 1 1/4" scallop punch with the owl punch used for the eyes, and the beaks a folded triangle of pumpkin pie card stock punched with a petal tip from the petals punch.  For their little tufts of fluff on their heads, I took a little piece of Daffodil Delight seam binding and attached it to the back, then unraveled the end to look fluffy and trimmed it to the look I wanted.  The egg shells -- punch some wide ovals out of Melon Mambo, Wisteria Wonder, and Bashful blue card stock that has been pre-embossed with the square lattice folder.  Cut them free hand in a zig zag pattern and stick the little chick inside one of the halves. 

For those amazingly sparkly Easter eggs, I used one of my favorite Glitter Magic techniques -- simply apply the Big Shot multipurpose adhesive sheets to your favorite designer paper -- here I used the Tea for Two pack from the Spring catalog -- punch out your eggs using the wide oval punch and current small oval punch, burnish the egg a little with a bone folder so your adhesive sticks really well, peel off the adhesive backing and dump dazzling diamonds glitter to the sticky surface, shake off the excess and you have a lovely sparkly Easter egg.

The title is made with the Lovely Letters alphabet and postage stamp punch.  Easy peesy.

Enjoy your Saturday, and if you haven't seen all the fun specials going on right now, be sure to check them out on my website -- just click the link below. :)

Sunburst Technique and a NEW stamp!

I have one more lovely project to share with you today.  I have been fascinated with the "sunburst technique" lately, and just had to try it for my last Hostess club class.

For the card, I started with a 4 x 5 1/4" piece of card stock -- any color is fine as you are going to cover it up with the designer paper.  Next, cut some designer paper of your choice into pie shaped wedges -- I found it easiest to start with a 6x6" piece of designer paper and then cut it in wedges with my paper cutter.  You can use a bunch of scraps, too -- just cut them into wedges.  Here I used designer paper from the Tea for Two designer paper pack from the spring catalog.  Apply adhesive all over your 4 x 5 1/4" piece of card stock -- then add your paper strips.  I started by putting the diagonal strip across the center of the card first and then built the rest of the way around from there.  Don't worry about pieces hanging off, as you will just trim the edges when you are done putting your pieces on.  The central image, is also a new single stamp called Botique Blossom and is only available through March 31st -- visit my website for more details.  I stamped the flower in So Saffron ink, then colored the stem green with an old Olive marker, and then dipped a sponge dauber in Calypso Coral ink and added coral ink to the center of the flower and the tips of the petals.  Next, huff on the stamp to re-moisten the ink and stamp on some white card stock.  I then cut it out with the window frames framelits.  Adhere the paper strip background to a folded So Saffron card base.  Add your stamped flower image and it's frame to the front right corner and trim off the excess that hangs off the edges.  That's all there is to it!  A perfect way to use up a bunch of scraps of DSP.

I also did this technique for a scrap book class I recently did -- for this one, I used the free Sale-a-bration designer paper available for free right now with a $50 order.  For this technique, I left some space between the paper strips to let the background paper show.

So, dig out those dozens of scraps of designer paper that are taking over your craft space, and give this sunburst technique a try!  You'll be surprised at how easy it is and how lovely the final result!

Spring/Easter stamped candle

Happy Thursday!  Today I'm sharing a simple, yet awesome, project that you can adapt for any holiday or occasion -- a stamped candle!  This is one of the projects we made in our recent stampers' hostess club.  It was, by far! the most popular project.  So, without further ado, here is what we were creating!

Those little bunnies on the candle on the right, are a new little single stamp called "Ears to You" that is available only through March 31st -- check out my website to see how you can aquire this adorable little stamp!  On the stamp, there is the words "Ears to You" under the bunnies, but I separated the words from the stamp so I could make it a little more versatile.  For the candle on the left, I used stamps from the new set -- Secret Garden -- available in the new Spring catalog.  It also has a set of matching framelits that you can use to die cut all of the images.  Lovely set with many possibilities!

To make the candle, start with a sheet of white gift tissue.  Ink up the image of your choice -- for the bunnies here, I colored the different bunnies with markers to create a triage of color.  For the flowers, I used several different ink colors -- Primrose Petals, Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, and Real Red -- and stamped the images in a line on the sheet of tissue paper.  Now, cut fairly closely around the margins of your stamped tissue images.  Lay your stamped tissue pieces over you candle in the location you want them to be.  Drape a sheet of waxed paper over your images/candle and wrap the ends of the waxed paper to the back of the candle and hold the ends together tightly with your hand -- try to be sure there are no wrinkles in the waxed paper covering your stamped images.  Now, take a heat gun and gently heat the images through the waxed paper -- you will start to see your stamped tissue images melting into the side of the candle.  Heat just enough to melt the images in.  When finished, gently peel off your waxed paper -- if a couple spots weren't all the way melted in, replace the waxed paper and re-heat a little.  That's all there is to it!  So simple, but so versatile!  Think Christmas gifts for co-workers, decor pieces for a themed party, holiday decor, etc.

For the base of the candle, I used a strip of Pool Party or Primrose Petals card stock -- 11 x 1 1/2" and a coordinating 1" strip of designer paper from the More Amore dsp pack from the Spring catalog.  I punched the top edges of the card stock with the scallop trim border punch, and attached the strip of DSP over top.  I then adhered the entire piece to my candle using sticky Strip.  Some ruffled Pool Party ribbon and Primrose Petals stitched satin ribbon completes the look.

Hope this inspires you to create your own lovely Easter centerpiece!  I put my candles on a long narrow tray with sparkly Easter egg filler around them.  They look stunning, if I must say so myself.:)

Sale-a-bration is almost over -- ends on March 22nd -- so if you haven't gotten your Sale-a-bration FREEbies yet, be sure to hop on over to my website and see what you can get for free this year -- a free item with every $50 purchase -- AND, in addition, a free pack of silver glimmer paper with a $150 or more purchase.  Whoo Hoo!  LOVE that silver paper.

Have a wonderful crafty day!