I'm BAAAAAACK!

HELLO!!!

I have been a bad blogger and have not been around here in almost a month! It has been a busy month!

I had a class that I had to get ready for, then I had a craft show to get stuff ready for, and then, of course, I had Christmas gifts to get ready for friends and family. All fun stuff, but it did take me away from creating and posting on the blog.

But I'm back! What better way to start than with a Stamping 411 challenge? This came together rather quickly. I need several thank you cards for some gifts I received. One of my good friends from work gave me a pack of patterned paper, and I wanted to use some to make her a thank you. That's in the center (non-SU). However, I used Melon Mambo underneath that and strip of the retired Kiwi Kiss. The flower is Melon Mambo with Regal Rose. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Early Espresso.

Holiday Craft Fair! Come shop!

I just wanted to give everyone a shout out about a Holiday Craft Mart that I will be participating in. The date is this Saturday, December 4th. It is from 9 am to 4 pm at the First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg (that's the big church on West Diamond Ave in Gaithersburg, right across the street from the Londonderry apartments). There should be a large variety of holiday items and hand crafted art available and no cost to get in! I hope to see you there!

Take THIS Bed Bath and Beyond!

I haven't done much to post lately because I am getting ready for my class (next Friday or Saturday if you are thinking about coming!), and I am also getting ready for a holiday craft show so I am trying to get some "stock" together. BUT I was looking through some junk mail this weekend and I saw this piece of artwork from B B and B....

I REALLY like it, but $29.99 per panel? I don't think so. I decided I could easily make my own and here is my final product...

I LOVE how it turned out! I am so proud of it....

Thanks for looking...

Co-Workers, and Stocking Stuffers, and Secret Santas... Oh, My!

I am super excited to bring you the things we are going to make for my November class. The last class that I will offer this year, and it's just perfect for the holidays! I will offer the class on Friday, November 19, from 4 pm on or Saturday November 20th all day long. Let me introduce you to all the projects...

This class will be sort of a-la-cart. If you love something, you can make as many of those things as you'd like. If you don't like something (which I seriously doubt) skip it!

All of these projects are great small gift ideas. Perfect for a co-worker or mail person. They would also be great for a stocking stuffer or even your secret Santa. In addition, they all are very quick projects to make (the first one will take less than 5 minutes), and they are very budget friendly. Read on for more details...



The first one is this aluminum snowflake Christmas tree ornament. In the center of the snowflake, you'll place a rhinestone in the color of your choice. Then you'll tie a ribbon around the snowflake (so you can hang it on the tree). Finally, you'll back the snowflake with a snowflake embossed paper. It's a perfect way to present the gift.

You get to choose the colors (which you can customize for the person you are giving it to), and the best part? Only $2.00 per ornament!

Next, there are two different sized and type of pads/notebooks for the second option for this class. There is a shorter wider little spiral notebook.

There are many different colors and patterns to choose from. These will be first come, first served. I will have a variety of options available for you to choose from; all of the options are sure to please and will be something that your family and friends will love because they are so cute and handy, too. Each one is $5.00 no matter which size you choose.

Here's a close up of the one with snowflake on it... What you can't see is the smootch spray on the snowflake. That spray makes it all sparkly and pretty-ful!

Here's a shot of the long tall notepads. We also made this notepad a few months ago in one of my classes. It is back by special request. This time, there is a holiday/winter flair available. But, again, lots of color options to choose from...

Finally, this is the third thing that will be available to make at the class. I have these cute little stretch gloves, and you'll add toppers to them to make a sweet little gift. Once again, the colors vary (of both the gloves and the matching paper): first come, first served. These are sure to please, and oh-so-cute, but what you'll love even more is that it is only $5.00 for each pair of gloves.


There are pink gloves, purple stripped gloves, all brown gloves, white gloves, and the list goes on.

I hope you'll come and join me! You could get quite a few people crossed off your list before Thanksgiving and Black Friday! Think about that! Also can you imagine the pride you'll feel when the recipient of the gift is gushing about how cute it is is and you say, "I made that for you!"

Please let me know if you are coming over! I'd love to have you! Please RSVP with me to let me know that you are coming. You don't have to let me know what you want to make. I will have everything ready, you just come and choose what you like.

Hope to see you soon!

I Think I'm in Love!

This is my latest take on this week's sketch challenge for Stamping 411. I really like the sketch and this is my second stab at it. Here's my first. I have another idea, too, but I think I will stop here and try another challenge, too.

Anyway... I really am proud of how this turned out. I started with a base of Not Quite Navy. I added a layer of Crumb Cake. Then I used strips of this DSP I have. (Sorry... I don't have the name and don't want to take the time to find my old catty to find the name... it's retired anyway). I topped that with part of the top note in Very Vanilla (and idea I cased from Connie Babbert's card... SO awesome!) On that, I stamped the flourish from Elements of Style and used the sentiment from Vintage Vogue. I don't know if you can see it, but I put a tiny pearl in the center of the flower in the flourish. I used a vanilla ribbon and my cool, cool embellishment of the F (in navy) using the technique I saw on Splitcoast. I love it! Oh, there are also three pearls, in decreasing size in the bottom left corner.

Usually, I make two cards and change the second one up. In this case, I loved the first card so much, I changed very little. Most is the same, but the ribbon is in Crumb Cake and since it is thinner, I tied a bow. On this one, I stamped off the flourish first before stamping, giving me a more subtle flourish on my top note. I stamped the flourish all over the whole top note. I still have the baby pearl in the middle of the flower. See it?

I really, really love this technique. You cover your card stock with a dryer sheet (yes, I said a dryer sheet... used) and then rub in your dazzling diamond glitter. I tried to get a shot to show you how glittery it is, but the camera doesn't do it justice (I think my camera is pretty crappy though). Trust me on this one; it is be-U-tiful! I popped it up with pop dots on both cards!

Thanks for looking...

Seeing Double?

Yes, you are seeing double! I used Inspired by Nature to do this week's sketch challenge over at Stamping 411. It's a really cool sketch this week... lots of fun, ladies! Thanks! I've got some more ideas coming, too!

I will admit that I L-O-V-E, LOVE the Cottage Garden DSP. So when this Sunny Garden DSP came out, I quickly bought it. But, this is the first time I've used it. It has the same exact patterns as the Cottage Garden, but I don't love the colors as much. Maybe it's just me...

It is supposed to go with Daffodil Delight, but I liked it better with So Saffron, so that's what I put it with because I can! :) I started with a base of the saffron, then put a base of Peach Parfait. Then I used 4 one inch strips of DSP. I used my top notes die in saffron as a base for my cone flower. I colored the stamp with my markers. In this one, (which wasn't my first try at this...) the ink was spotty and not even, but it looked a bit distressed and I liked it! So I left it. I used 3 peachy/orange brads in a L-shape in the corner (because they'd have gotten lost on the background DSP!) I used Old Olive, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip ink on the stamp. I also used an olive ribbon. On this card, I popped up the top note piece.

On this edition of the card, I did mostly the same. However, this stamp was really my first, and again the ink was not even so I colored it in! I got a bright pop of color that way. I used a marker from a non-SU set I have, but the color was close to Poppy Parade, which I don't have. I do have some poppy sparkle brads that I added, and I had a hard time picking the ribbon. Nothing seemed right. I just got this crumb cake ribbon, which I thought tied in with the soft suede part of the flowers. I am not sure how I feel about it just yet, but I wanted to finish and post before bed. I keep making typos because it's past my bed time so I will just have to live with that ribbon.

Overall, I am happy with them....

Thanks for looking...

Tiling... on a card?!?

I loved this look! It's like tiling, but instead of being in a bathroom tiling around a toilet (always fun...) it's on a card! (For reals... that is much more fun than tiling around a toilet any day of the week!)

These two cards are for a new blog I found (like I need more to check) called Skipping Stones Design. I really liked the sketch and just had to play. The artist who designed this sketch was a guest designer for them. She is Karen Giron and does the Sweet Sunday Sketches.

I have decided to do more sketches, to be a better (read more frequent) blogger. I want to be asked to be a guest designer/participant for some of these blogs I check out! I thought, "How am I gonna do that?" Ahhh... by regularly contributing and getting myself out there... duh! So that's what I'm gonna do! Starting here! I used Happy Moments on this card. I also used some patterned paper that I've had for approximately 20 years. It's not SU, but it's cute and all tied together color-wise, and it looked so good with my Wild Wasabi (what doesn't?) and Pink Pirouette. I had the idea after I saw the sketch and the designer's cards. When I finished, I thought it was a little busy for me, but cute, none-the-less.

On this one, I went with the straight up square. I like it! I also used Birthday Bakery. I haven't used it that much, but I do love it! Same colors, but I used all the SU pinks to color it in and the wasabi and celery to add in green accents.

The punch I used on the front is one I got at the local craft store. It rhymes with Cartha Fruewart. :)

I added a sentiment inside from It's Your Birthday and the cupcake from the gift tag stamp in Birthday Bakery.

Thanks for looking...

More Monsters for Halloween

Well... these will have to count as my Halloween decorations for this year. I've been pretty busy with family and church stuff to drag out all my Halloween stuff to decorate. But last night my hubbie got a vampire movie and this idea was born.

I used the basic idea from this earlier post. Then I just made my "monsters" more Halloween themed. I am not super happy with the way my jack o'lantern turned out, but it is kinda cute. I just drew out eyes, nose and mouth on black and cut those out for him. I used Pumpkin Pie and a scrap of Garden Green for the stem. I made a slit thought the top of the treat box and slid the stem through (leaving a wider base to hold in place and secured it to the back side of the flap).





I am much happier with my vampire box. Like I said, Victor got Daybreakers, a vampire movie last night. I was freaking out the whole time I saw it, and I have been pretty jumpy ever since. In classic immersion fashion, I decided to create a vampire to take away the "freak out" about vampires... I'll have to let you know if it worked.

I am not afraid of this guy. He was created with Basic Black. His eyes are Real Red on top of Elegant Eggplant and a black pupil in the middle. I used 2 petals from a flower punch (non-SU) to get the fangs and then punched out another tiny flower and cut the petals apart to get the tiny teeth in between. Victor recommended drops of blood, so I punched a scallop circle and cut out each scallop in V for the blood drops... still so much less scary than the movie...

Thanks for looking...

Motorcycle Mama!

I am really excited about these cards! I got this new embossing envelope and it reminded me of those metal truck toolbox things that dudes have. I got it because I thought it would make good guy cards, and really, who doesn't need more stuff to make a good guy card?

I got the idea to use the Motorcycle with this card when I was trying my first attempt at this week's challenge over at Stampin' Royalty.

I used a very light gray as a base coat. I then layered on Basic Black. On this card, I left the black alone. I used SU's circle brads. I cut out my Motorcycle in an oval from Natural White and put it on a bigger black oval. I cut open (well.... my husband cut open) an Arizona tea can and I ran the aluminum through my cuttlebug with this embossing plate for a very manly look! (Seriously... how cool is that?!? It's totally green and it looks so cool!) To go with the sketch more, I added a circle of natural white with the message "enjoy the journey" from the It's the Thought set stamped in Cherry Cobbler to add a little bit of color.

On this one, I used a really cool rough brick wall embossing plate to emboss my black layer that's underneath. Then I used my platinum all purpose ink from SU (which is really messy- FYI) and a sponge and inked up the embossed background to bring out the pattern a bit more. Instead of brads at the bottom like the sketch, I used my "screw" brads in the four corners on my aluminum embossed panel. Then I used my 1" and 3/4" punches and punched more aluminum (bonus: the can sharpens the punches!). On the 1" circle, I used my stazon to stamp Happy Birthday from the Vintage Labels set and added a mini black brad. I popped that up with pop dots and put the second 3/4" circle under that one a bit

This one is also very similar. This time I embossed the black with an embossing folder that has rough edged lines (all the rough backgrounds just struck me as very manly). On this one, I added 3 square silver brads that I've had forever and never used. Then I punched a 1" circle and used a set of rub-ons that I've also had forever. I put "Treasure" on this one.

The insides of all three are empty. Nothing fancy inside for dudes. These cards are all man (and I think my mojo's back!)

Thanks for looking...

Monster Madness!

I knew I had to make these CA-UTE monsters when I saw them...

I gotta give the credit to this amazing lady, Sarah. She is amazing and I love her ideas AND her generosity. She posts very clear directions for how to make lots of things. Frugal people like me appreciate you, Sarah. You rock!

I made a few different ones. Luckily, I just ordered some 12 x 12 paper from the clearance rack on Stampin' Up (what deals!) That gave me lots of color options. This is Melon Mambo with her eyes a Perfect Plum. I used scraps of white for the teeth and scraps of white and plum for her flower embellishments. I tied a purple bow at the top of her flap.






Here is a side view of the box. It is so cute for a little gift.... OR... I filled this blue boy over here with candy for my nephew. He LOVED it. On this guy I used a retired piece of Bermuda Blue and Real Red for his eyes. I used the red and black for the spots all around him.

I kept the flaps closed on them by using a small piece of adhesive Velcro.

I was thinking of offering my first ever kids class and teach the little'uns to make the monster boxes. Whatta think? Good idea or no?

Thanks for looking...

Sketch Challenge Struggle

My inspiration for this card is the sketch challenge over on Stampin' Royalty. I gotta tell you, I was STRUGGLING with this one. It could be because it is the end of the quarter so my grades are due soon and I have tons of papers to grade, or maybe that everything at school is making me crazy on every level, but the bottom line is, I think I've misplaced my mojo...



I was determined to find it so I used the sketch from the ladies over at SR and this is my creation. I don't love it (see... my mojo is missing still). But, hey... I got to spend sometime on ME today (well...yesterday) when I made it.



So... I chose to turn the sketch on its side. I used the Season of Friendship and Day of Gratitude stamp sets. My base is More Mustard. I used my oval template to cut out an oval on a Natural White card stock and put that on the next biggest size oval of Early Espresso. Then I put that on a square of Cajun Craze. I used my boho blossoms punch to punch out a bunch of mustard, espresso, and cajun "leaves" and there's some Red Ridinghood leaves in there, too ('cuz I LOVE the red leaves on the trees... ). I finished it off with a few leaves from the Day of Gratitude set in Chocolate Chip and Red Ridinghood.



I am also working on getting more inside my cards, so here's my inside. The message from Day of Gratitude and another red leaf (remember... they're my favorite!)

Thanks for looking...

ALLLLL ABOARD!!

I fell in love with this set from the moment I saw it. I got it over a year ago (I think), and today was the first day I inked it up! WHAT? I know...

So when I saw this challenge over at Stamping 411, I decided to finally use it. I was inspired to use the colors because of the ribbon. This is one of those cards that after I decided to use the Boatloads of Love set, I looked at my ribbon wall and saw this unopened roll of ribbon. As my luck would have it, Pacific Point and Tempting Turquoise matched it almost perfectly!



I stamped the boat on Whisper White with my stazon, and I used the markers to color in the boat. Then I layered that on a piece of turquoise.

Next, I used an embossing folder and embossed the bottom part of the larger piece of white. I don't know the offical name of the embossing folder, but looks like waves to me. I used a sponge brush to lightly dab on some pacific point onto the embossed image.

Next I added the ribbon and then put that onto a Pacific Point based.


Inside, I added the sentiment "friend-ship." I punched it out with the word window and layered that on a turquoise scrap that I punched out using the modern label punch.

I made a second one, too, but that's for a special occasion, and just in case the person I'm giving it to actually reads my blog (which I do highly doubt... but that's okay...) I am not going to post it. I'll let it be a surprise...

Thanks for looking....

Grateful for Time To Create!

I am falling in love with this set! I so didn't even like it when I first saw it, but when I went to the regional conference for Stampin' Up, this is the set we got for "free." While we were there, we got to see lots of cool samples of the card, and as freebie from regionals, I have seen lots of ideas on the blogs that I check out.

One of the blogs that I check out on the regular is Stamp & Scrap with Frenchie. And she is awesome! She's got some great ideas and she makes videos so that you can really see and understand how she does things. I love her!

I, as usual, had to switch stuff up a bit. I did make the big medallion/flower thing the way that Frenchie did. Great technique using a sponge to take off some of the green and then I added on some Rich Razzleberry. I used Chocolate Chip ink for the sentiment and a Chocolate Chip satin ribbon. I really love how it turned out. I also used some green pearls that I found at a scrapbooking convention I went to.

This is another technique Frenchie shared. She used versamark and then used stampin' pastel chalks to color on top of the stamped image. I swear, I watched her video and she was rubbin' a cotton ball with the chalk on it over the image, so that's what I did and it looks pretty smeared. (She did the same thing with white craft ink, and I smear that without rubbing anything over it so I don't think I'll try that.)

So I did one by sponging ink on the stamp itself, and one by rubbing chalk on the stamped image that was versa marked.

I really like Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant together. I again used a green pearl in the center of flower/medallion (what do you call this thing anyway?) I had the eggplant colored ribbon.

Here's the smeared chalk one. Mine did not turn out anywhere nearly as nice as Frenchie's. Oh well. I tried it. Next time, I will only dab the chalk on, not rub it in.

I did put the flower from this set on the inside, in eggplant.

I hope you like them! Thanks for looking...

Swap time, Baby!

I recently (today) attended my first Stampin' Up regional! It was so awesome!

I made 115 things to swap. I didn't know if I made too many or not enough. After attending, I would say that next time, I might make 150 or 175.

I got some amazing swaps from others and want to pass on the information (for you stampers, it's the "recipe") for my swaps.

I made 51 little tea light candles. Super easy. Follow the directions to make them from my entry here. I used the Tags Till Christmas and Berry Christmas stamp sets. I used Red Ridinghood, Garden Green, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist and Wild Wasabi. When I did the little snowman, I took off the "to" and "from" and before the wax dried, I sprinkled a bit of dazzling diamonds to make it blind. So fun!

For this 2 ornament card, I used the ornament punch (of course!) I also used the Tags Till Christmas, Peaceful Wishes, and Delightful Decorations stamp sets. The colors are Real Red, Garden Green, Always Artichoke, and Whisper White. In addition, I put in the silver elastic cord. On the green ornament, I also have a diamond bling right in the middle. Then I popped up the red "Joy" ornament. Of course, I couldn't make them all the same. I had to change which was on the right, which was on the left, which one hung lower than the other one.




I didn't want to do all holiday cards, so I came up with this fun one. It starts with a base of Crumb Cake. Then there is a layer of Pink Pirouette. I used the new decorative label punch and punched out a label in Pear Pizazz. Then I stamped the stems and leaves from the Just Believe set in Wild Wasabi (I don't have Pear Pizazz ink!) on Very Vanilla and punched that out with the decorative label punch. Finally, I used all the words from In a Word set for the sentiment.










This is my non-traditional Christmas card! I used a base of Wild Wasabi, a square of Certainly Celery (with one end punched with the scallop edge punch), and a short strip of Rose Red.

I used the Perfect Punches holiday sentiment on white. I inked the stamp with celery. I wiped off the words with a baby wipe and re-inked the words with Rose Red.

It's super simple, but sweet none-the-less.





This poinsettia card was actually the first one I made for the swap. I started with a base of River Rock. I topped that off with Red Ridinghood that has been embossed with the Petals embossing folder (I don't remember the whole name). I topped that with a strip of Always Artichoke that I punched down the edges of both sides with the edge punch. Then I punched two five petal flowers and used my bone folder to break down the fibers in the paper, which makes the ends of the paper curl up a bit. I used silver or gold glitter brads and the sentiment from Occasional Quotes in either silver or gold ink (depending on the color of the brad in the flower). I also inked up the edges of the petals in the gold/silver ink.

Since I can't do all of them the same way, I positioned the strip of artichoke in a bit of a different place on each one. On the silver, I went right down the middle. With the gold, I shifted the placement over to the right a little bit.

If you got my swap card, I hope you're happy with it! You can email me with questions if you have any.

Thanks for looking....

My Sweet Muffin Babies!

Just wanted to share this picture my husband took of me and these sweet muffin babies... We were snuggling together before bed! How sweet are they?

You sent flowers... I send a tree...

I made these for my grandmother to give as thank you cards for the people who sent flower arrangements for my grandfather's funeral. The funeral home gave her some, but there were plain and not nice at all. So I told her I would make her some. This is what I came up with. I made them small sized to fit in the envelopes they gave her.

These have a base of Bashful Blue with a layer of Brocade Blue under a layer of Night of Navy. Thank You is in Night of Navy ink. I used my markers to color in all the trees and birds, but I used watercolor crayon (Bashful Blue) and blender pen.

Thanks for looking...

Some Will Like it Hot!

They will really love it how when they light these CA-UTE candle sets! I love it and love Tanya over at Tinkerin In Ink with Tanya! Thank you for sharing your great idea with me! You rock!

I started by playing of Tanya's fall themed candles and made this. It is a sweet fall/Thanksgiving set. It is in More Mustard and Close to Cocoa. I used Give Thanks set and The More the Merrier sets. I stamped leaves all over both parts of the set (the box bottom and slider drawer. I actually colored in the stamp with my close to cocoa, more mustard, and pumpkin pie markers. I also colored in the acorn only from the give thanks stamp and stamped that all over with the leaves. I also stamped both on the front piece along with the sentiment. I used twine ties on each end. I used 4 different images for the candles all relating to a fall theme.

I am so impressed the these. Super easy! This fall one took me the longest because I had to keep coloring in the three leaves on the 3 leaf stamp. The other two I made went together in a jiffy (did I just say "in a jiffy?") and I am super happy with that!







The second project I made was this Christmas candle one. I used Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, and Whisper White. I used a ton of stamp sets because I wanted lots of different snow flakes (Christmas Greetings, Serene Snowflakes, Christmas Punch, Pattern Pines were used). I stamped big silver snowflakes on everything, inside and out. I stamped a medium sized snowflake in Ballet Blue, and small snowflakes in Bashful Blue (and in the end I stamped the smallest snowflake in Bashful Blue ink that was stamped off once. The candles have 2 different snowflakes in both Bashful Blue and Ballet Blue (2 of each). I thought this would be a great gift to some folks (office secretaries, my hair dresser, mail person, etc.)

This is the last project that I did. I wanted a more general gift, a gift in a pinch, a birthday gift, a little something for hostess or friend who needs a little pick-me-up.

Here I started with the Live Like You Mean It set. I wanted to do pink and green. Both the colors I ended up with are retired. I used Green Galore for the box and accented with Pixie Pink and Whisper White. On both pieces I stamped the outlined flower in pink on the green. I put the whole solid flower on the front along with the sentiment. I also used pink ribbon and pink brads. The flowers are also on the candles. I love how it looks and can't wait for an opportunity to give it to someone. (I think I have a person in mind. She's someone at work who handled a big issue for me last week, and I want to let her know how much I appreciated her help.) I hope she likes it.

Thanks for looking...