Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I hope you all have a fun and wonderful Holiday Season!

For my family's cards this year, I used the Candlelight Christmas DSP and the Snow Flurry Bigz Die.

Each card was a little different.  This was one of my favorites.  I like the elegance of just the two colors-Early Espresso and Very Vanilla, with a hint of sparkle from some Shimmer Mist.  A great alternative to black and white.

Happy Holidays!

Taking a break from Christmas, sort of..

It's been a bit of Holiday overload the past few days, company Christmas parties, making cards, baking cookies, decorating, etc.  So, I decided to take a break and work on some non-holiday themed gifts.

Here are a couple of cards that will be going into a stationary set for a relative's gift.

One of my new favorite color combos is Midnight Muse and Pool Party.  They are so soothing and make me feel more relaxed just working with them.  Getting rid of some of the excess stress is always a good thing during the Holidays

I lightly sponged a 2" high strip of Whisper White with Pool Party.  Using Pocket Silhouettes (retired), I stamped the wildflowers in Pool Party and then Midnight Muse on top of that.  The edges were sponged with both ink colors. 

The sentiments on both cards are from the set Warmest Regards (retired).  These are very quick and easy cards to do, they don't use a lot of supplies, and you could use any color combo and sentiments on them.  So, if you need any last minute gifts you could make a set in about 20-30 minutes.

Happy Holidays!

Stamps: Warmest Regards, Pocket Silhouettes
Paper: Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Midnight Muse, Pool Party
Misc.: Modern Label Punch, Sponge, Dimensionals

Paper Scraps and Craft Shows

If you're like me, you have a nice little stash of paper scraps.  Well, in my case it's a rather large stash.  As you may have read in previous posts, it's an ongoing challenge for me.  I will get it cleaned up and organized and then when I start getting into craft fair mode or making larger projects, it just takes on a life of its own.

This year I was a little better about putting together projects were I would use up more of the scraps, or better yet, not have as many to add to the pile.

These emery board holders make great little stocking stuffers and sold really well at the craft fairs.  And, I was able to use up a bunch of scraps on the embellishments and even the holders as well.  I saw the idea on this blog a while back, but this is the first time I have made any.  Very simple and easy to do.

The paper for the holder measures 3" by 5",  On the 5" side score at 1/4"; on the 3" side score at 1" and 3".  Fold and seal.  I used a 3/4" circle punch to make the half circle cut-out at the top. 



The next item is a money/check holder.  The inspiration came from this.

The finished outside holder measures 3 1/4" x 7 1/2", and the inside slider measures 3 1/8" x 7 1/2".  You could trim the slider down to 7 1/4" tall, but I like out it peeks out of the top a bit.

I used SU's slit punch (retired) on the bottom of the slider.  Coupled with the circle at the top, the money or check will stay securely in place.  I added a piece of card stock on the back of the slider piece so that a message could be added for the recipient.

I was able to use up more scraps for the embellishments on these.  They were also a big hit at the craft shows.

When I wrote this post and added the link to the inspiration pic for the money holder, I was not able to access the blog anymore that she mentioned had the directions.  I will post a tutorial later this week.

Hope you all have a great day!

Blue Green Matters

I finally did it!  I have been wanting to do some mixed media pieces for a long time and this summer I finally accomplished that goal.  What finally pushed me to work on a piece was the need to purge my supplies.  Like many crafters, I have an over abundance of products that have been accumulating over the years.  After selling several items at a recent craft garage sale, I still had more than I really have space for.  So, with three craft fairs looming quickly in my future, it was time to buckle down, start creating and get rid of {use} the excess supplies.

Even though most of my projects normally use more than one medium, such as paper, ribbon, ink, or metal, I have never really considered them to be "mixed media" pieces.  They are cards, scrapbook pages or 3-D projects.  To me, mixed media is all the other stuff.  The items that are too heavy for a card or page, the pieces of junk laying around from other crafting or household projects.  The products you purchased to work on a specific project and now can't believe you bought, or even remember what you were going to do with it.  These things can be torn, broken and altered to work in mixed media pieces, along with all your favorite items.


I found some wonderful odd sized canvases on sale recently and bought a few.  I sometimes struggle with the squareness of the most popular style.:)  This one is 4" x 12" and was perfect for what I had in mind.

I LOVE the quote; and it is in stamp form-sweet!  It's become my mission statement over the past few months.  Even though I had an idea, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to execute it so there was a lot of trial and error to complete this project.

First I prepared the canvas by covering it with a layer of white Gesso.  The green background is a mix of green paints and reinker, as well as a little yellow reinker.  Once I reached the desired color, I dry brushed it onto the canvas.  For the splatters, I took Broken China Distress Stain with a q-tip and Vintage Photo Distress reinker with the eyedropper from the bottle to place spots where I thought they looked good.  It took a couple of tries, I wiped off and painted over some with white acrylic paint.

I stamped the quote with Black Archival ink and then covered the entire piece with Glue and Seal.

For the hearts, I glued some scraps of paper from the Vintage Shabby Paper Stash on a thin piece of cardboard.  It was actually the cardboard sheet that comes in the DSP packages from SU, and cut them out with the movers and shapers Mini Heart die.  I inked the edges with Broken China Stain and Silver paint and then sealed them.  I inked up words of things that matter to me, from Tim Holtz's Chitchat stickers and then placed them on the hearts.

After I placed the tissue tape on the canvas with the Glue and Seal, I lightly covered it with some white acrylic paint, wiping off where it covered too much.  I then sealed the hearts unto the canvas.  One nice thing about the Glue and Seal is that it doesn't take very long to dry.  If you are really impatient, like me, you can use your heat gun to help it along.

The frame is SU watercolor paper.  I cut the shape using the Label framelits.  I first inked the piece with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, then randomly covered areas with Gold Dabber paint.  It looked too bright so I added some Tarnished Brass crackle paint and once that dried I rubbed in some Black Soot Distress Ink using my finger.

The paper flowers were colored using Broken China Stain and self adhesive pearls were used for the centers.  Again, I used Glue and Seal to adhere the frame and flowers to the piece.  The entire canvas received one more coat to seal everything giving it a durable finish.  And that was it.  It took me WAY longer to design the piece than to get everything on there once I decided what I wanted.

I really like how it turned out.  What do you think?



Supplies
Ink: Broken China and Peeled Paint Distress Stain, Black Soot, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, and Vintage Photo Distress Pad and Reinkers (Time Holtz), Black Archival (Ranger)
Paint:Silver and Gold Dabber (Ranger), Tarnished Brass Crackle, (Tim Holtz), Key Lime (Making Memories), White Acrylic (KaiserCraft)
Paper: Vintage Shabby Paper Stash (Tim Holtz)
Stamp: Matter Most (Stampers Anonymous-Tim Holtz)
Misc.: Basic Pearls, Labels Collection Framelits, (Stampin' Up!), Floral Embellishments (Recollections), Movers and Shapers Mini Heart Die (Sizzix-Tim Holtz), Nostalgic, Journyman, and Symphony Tissue Tape, Chitchat Stickers (Tim Holtz) Glue and Seal (Ranger), Canvas, Gesso (Local Craft Store)

Still Gluing Away

I am still working with the Distressed Glue technique that I used in the previous post.  It really is a lot of fun and so easy to do.

Since the leaves are already changing here and Fall is my favorite time of year, I decided to use my new Autumn Accents Bigz Die.  I love the oak leaf on the die and this technique gives some great depth and interest to the piece.

Instead of using my finger to move the glue around, this time I used a dry brush which made things a little streakier..  I really like the effect and the detail it gave to the leaves.  I also like using sponge daubers, as you have more control over the depth of color as well as placement, than with a sponge.

To define the acorn a little better, I used my stylus to create definition between the cap and the nut.  The distressed glue technique was used only on the cap and them sponged with Early Espresso, while the nut was sponged with Soft Suede.  I tied it up with some linen thread and popped it up on dimensionals.

The color combos for the leaves are:  More Mustard and Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit and Gumball Green, and Pumpkin Pie and Raspberry Ripple

Since the leaves are so "polished" and bold I wanted to give the card some texture, so I Inlaid Embossed the mat piece.  I stamped the sentiment on Very Vanilla and punched it out with the Modern Label punch using the technique I showed in this post.  I adhered that to the Early Espresso mat piece then ran the whole thing through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  It makes it look like the sentiment was "inlaid" into the Early Espresso.

Supplies
Stamps: Day of Gratitude (sentiment)
Ink: Early Espresso, Gumball Green, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Raspberry Ripple, Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit
Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Misc.: Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Autumn Accents Bigz Die, Big Shot, Modern Label Punch, Linen Thread, Scotch Quick Dry Glue, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals


I LOVE the background on this card!  This is a piece I created when I was initially playing around with the technique.  I used my finger to move the glue around on this one.

The colors are Pool Party and Midnight Muse.  So awesome together.  I actually don't think I will be keeping this as a card.  I thought about placing a single word sentiment in the upper right corner, but I really don't want to cover up anymore of the background.

I am thinking about framing it and/or using it in a mixed media piece.  What do you think?  What would you do with this background and silhouette?

Speaking of mixed media...I will be sharing some pieces I have been working on pretty soon.  I am very excited about the pieces I have created and how this art form has expanded my creativity.


Supplies
Stamps: Just Believe
Paper: Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Midnight Muse, Pool Party
Misc.: Scotch Quick Dry Glue, Sponge Daubers

Fun Distressed Glue

I found a cool new technique on SCS a few days ago.  Well, it's new to me anyway.  It's called Distressed Glue and is a lot of fun.  You can use it on small pieces or make really interesting backgrounds.

My youngest niece is very much a girlie girl, and her favorite color is pink.  So, for her birthday card I used Pretty in Pink and Rich Razzleberry to make a background using the technique.  I wasn't that thrilled with it when I was done, so I used the Floral Frames Framelit dies and the Daydream Medallions stamp set to turn it into a flower.  The leaves are from the Autumn Accents die in the Holiday Mini catalog and were colored with Old Olive using the same technique.

This even falls into the quick and easy category.  The technique only takes a couple of minutes to do and the card itself is pretty straightforward. 

After creating the background, I stamped the Medallions in Rich Razzleberry and used the framelits to create the flower by simply layering three pieces and holding it together with a Clear Rhinestone brad.  The leaves were adhered with glue dots.

The flower still looked a little blah on its own, so I jazzed it up a bit with some Victoria Crochet trim looped behind the piece.  The sentiment is from Int The Stars (retired) and is stamped in Rich Razzleberry.  There you go, easy!


Supplies:
Stamps: Daydream Medallions, In The Stars (retired)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Ruch Razzleberry
Misc.: Floral Frames, Framelits, Autumn Accents Bigz Die, Big Shot, Victoria Crochet Trim, Scotch Quick Dry Glue, Clear Rhinestone Brad, Mini Glue Dots, Sponge Dauber

Primrose Inspiration

I made this card for a Big Shot card swap. I wanted to break in the new edgelits I just bought, but needed some inspiration.  I found it on page 83 (far right sample) of the new Annual Catalog.  I just tweaked the layout a bit and used a different stamp set.

I didn't have any of the new DSP yet, so I made my own by stamping and  using My Digital Studio (MDS).  I'm not really a digital crafter, but the MDS program has come in handy several times to fill a gap in my traditional crafting.

For the patterned paper that I ran through the Big Shot with the edgelit.  I stamped Pretty in Pink cardstock with Primrose Petals ink.  The stamp used is the medallion from Artistic Etchings.


This is what the paper looked like before die cutting.

 
I printed the Textile pattern in So Saffron on Very Vanilla cardstock, then simply cut it to the size I needed.

To give the card a little more depth and interest, I ran a piece (4" x 5.25") of Soft Suede through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then sponged it in Soft Suede.

The final Big Shot piece is the sentiment which I stamped in Soft Suede and then used one of the Apothecary Accents Framelits to cut out.  I popped it up on some dimensionals.  I love framelits.  It's so easy to create a cute accent or focal point with them.  And, I use up more of my scraps since I can easily align them over a stamped image before cutting.  Saves so much paper!!


Stamps: Field Flowers, Artistic Etchings,
Paper: Primrose Petals, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, So Saffron Textile DSP-MDS
Ink: Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Soft Suede, So Saffron
Misc.: Adorning Accents Edgelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Victoria Crochet Trim, Dimensionals, Sponge

Accidental Design

This card was one of those happy accidents that some times occurs during the creative process.  You know the ones, like when you are trying to do something totally opposite of what you end up with, or have no clue about what you want to make in the first place.

I was sitting at my table trying to decide what to make for my VC roomie when I saw a piece of gauze that was left over from one of my daughter's school assignments.  That was an interesting project.  She needed to make bone marrow, moss, and fish oil.  Very fun.  Anyway, back to the card...

So there's this white square of gauze just lying there, as I go to pick it up and toss it in my "spare parts" jar, I see my bottles of Smooch Spritz out of the corner of my eye. Hmmm...wonder what would happen if I sprayed the gauze with some color.  And that was how it all came about. :)  Not so terribly exciting, but fun nonetheless.  I played around with other color combos too so you may see those in future projects.

This one uses Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch mixed with some Baja Breeze ink.  Once it was dry, I cut it to size and then started pulling on the edges to distort the square shape and get some fraying.

For the sentiment, I used the Modern Label punch and the technique I mentioned in this post.  "Hello" is from the set Happy Greetings (retired).  I stamped two of the more ornate flowers from Mixed Bunch in Baja on Whisper White and then used the Blossom punch.  The center of the flower is also from Mixed Bunch stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched with a 7/8" circle punch.  The 3/4" punch will crop it closer to the image, but I liked the look with the added ring of white.  To hold the flower together I used an Antique Brad.  Love those things!!

Since the gauze has layers, I used a liquid adhesive so that it would soak in, grab the fibers and bind it to the paper.  I didn't want it to separate and start pulling away from the cardstock later on.  The Baja mat piece was embossed with the Stripes folder.  All the elements were inked with Baja Breeze and/or Chocolate Chip.

How about you?  Do you like using unusual design elements, or do you stick to the tried and true papers and embellishments?

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Happy Greetings (retired)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze re-inker
Misc.: Blossom, Modern Label, and 7/8" Circle punches, Antique Brads, Metallic Brads, Log Cabin and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Misting Bottle, Gauze, Distresser from the Cutter Kit Tool, Sponges, Scotch Quick Dry Liquid Adhesive

Very Feminie Swap

For this swap we were to make very feminine cards.

I really like the designs in the Patterns Paper Stacks, they cover all styles from elegant to fun.  To dress up the DSP even more, I used one of the flourishes from the Vintage Ornaments stencils (retired) with Pretty in Pink ink.  Several punches were used on this card and I think they added some wonderful frilly detail.

For the flower, punch out 3 flowers with the Blossom punch from the Pretty in Pink DSP.  After lightly misting them with water, crumple them up into loose balls.  Let them set for a few minutes, then carefully unfold them and set aside until they are completely dry.  To speed the process, you could dry them with a heat tool.  Once dry, sponge the edges with Pretty in Pink.  The center of the flower used Raspberry Ripple and the Boho Blossom punch; and Gumball Green and the Itty Bitty Shapes punch, with a pearl.

Stamps: Four Frames, You’re a Gem

Paper: Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Pretty In Pink, Raspberry Ripple, DSP Subtles Patterns Paper Stack

Ink: Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Ripple

Misc.: Blossom, Decorative Label, Scallop Trim Border, Boho Blossom & Itty Bitty Shapes Punches, Victoria Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls, Vintage Ornaments Décor Stencil (retired), Dauber, Sponges, Dimensionals, Cutter Kit Distress Tool (retired)

Have a great day!

Roomie Kindness

I made this card for my VC* Roomie, Kristi.  A couple of her favorite color combos are Cherry Cobbler/Early Espresso/Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke/River Rock/Very Vanilla.  So I decided to mash them up a bit and came up with this.

I added a touch of Marina Mist to give it a little "pop".  Kindness Matters is such a pretty set; I really need to use it more often.  I used the Vintage Wallpaper folder to emboss the Always Artichoke piece, then distressed the edges and sponged the entire piece.

I had a bottle of Marina Mist shimmer spritz made up so I used a small paint brush and the spritz to paint the butterflies and add just a hint of sparkle.  The ribbon is Marina Mist Scallop Dots Ribbon just flipped over.  I grunged it up a bit with some Early Espresso.  The polka dots didn't really work for this card, but the color and style certainly did. :)

Stamps: Kindness Matters
Paper: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Marina Mist
Misc.: Marina Mist Scallop Dots Ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (mixed with Marina Mist ink), Distress Tool, Sponges, Paint Brush, Dimensionals

*You can learn more about VC Rocks by visiting our blog.

Make it a great day!

Adrift at Sea

I really like this set for masculine projects, however I always seem to struggle with how to make all the pieces work together on a card.  Basically feeling a little lost and adrift.:) 

The base of the card is a new In-Color called Midnight Muse which will be available for purchase on June 1st!  I stamped the globe and compass randomly on the Cherry Cobbler piece using it's respective ink.  The ledger was stamped with Early Espresso and then "aged" by rubbing So Saffron over the piece and sponging the edges with Early Espresso.

I stamped the anchor on Very Vanilla using Midnight Muse.  After cutting it out, I sponged it with Early Espresso.  To give the card a little more texture and depth, I wrapped the Hemp twine around the anchor and adhered it to the card using mini glue dots.  The Cherry Cobbler and Bashful Blue pieces were also distressed and sponged with their respective inks.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Pennant Parade
Paper:Midnight Muse (new In-Color), Bashful Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Midnight Muse, So Saffron
Misc.: Natural Hemp Twine (retiring), Distress Tool from Cutter Kit (retiring), Sponges, Mini Glue Dots

 Have a great day!

Baby Shower Ideas

This past week I worked on some Baby Shower favors and centerpieces for a co-worker's daughter.  We had and extremely tight budget to work with so it was definitely an experience.

The favors were straightforward enough and turned out pretty cute-I think.  Pastel was the color theme of the party and they know the baby is a girl.    They are so excited. :)  After showing my co-worker some samples of what we could use for the favor boxes, she settled on the Fancy Favor Box {one of my favorites}, with pink and white as the colors.

I used the the two smallest dies from the Label Collection Framelits to cut out the little hand print from Baby Prints and the mat behind it.  By using the stamp set in the clear mount version, I was able to position the stamps on the block so that I only had to stamp once on each of the boxes.  It was much easier and quicker than going back and forth between stamping "it's a" and then "girl".

The hand print and words were stamped in Blushing Bride and the mat framelit piece was also sponged in the same color.

Stamps: Baby Prints 
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Ink: Blushing Bride
Misc.: Label Collection Framelits, Fancy Favor Box Die, Big Shot, Clear Mount block E, Sponges


The centerpieces ended up being a bit more challenging.  One of the original ideas I had shown her was this topiary set I found on Social Couture.  However, after pricing out the number of vases needed, and surprisingly the cost of styrofoam balls, I was going to be WAY over budget.  So, my friend Valerie pointed me in the direction of this tutorial  from Evelyn Kate Designs.  It was a hit with everyone, so off I go to make 20 centerpieces.  Yikes!!  Who knew paper flowers could get so involved. :)

Large Topiary ~ a little over 12" in diameter

Medium Topiary ~ about 8" in diameter

Small Topiary ~ between 5" and 6" in diameter

I had to enlist my daughter's help with them as I was running short on time.  I learned some valuable lessons on what to do, and not do, for working with clients in the future.  I really need to let go sometimes-perfection, although nice, isn't always necessary.:)

In the end the items were completed on time and the client was happy; which is all that really mattered.

Supplies: Tissue Paper, Spray Paint, Baskets, Organza Ribbon, Wood Dowels, Wood Skewers, Wire, Floral Foam, Hot Glue Gun and glue, River Rocks (for weight)

Make it a great day!

VC Rocks-Have a Heart-Blog Hop

It's that time of year again...where those of us that can not attend the SU annual convention create our own convention fun ~ virtually!

If you don't know what VC Rocks is, please check out the VC Rocks Blog for more info and to see the entire list of blog hop participants in case of broken links. There is some wonderful additional art work on the site as well.

If you are following along the hop from the beginning, you should have come from Robin's site-Robin's Craft Room.  What a great doodling project!

I have done two cards for our Have a Heart Hop featuring sneak peaks of the new 2012-2014 In-Colors that will be available June 1st!! This color combo is not one I would normally choose to do, but it looked very intriguing on the Color Coach chart for the new In-Colors so I gave it a try.

Since the color combo was very bold {at least for me :)}, I kept the card itself pretty simple.

Recipe:

1. Create a standard {4.25" x 5.5"} card base from Basic Gray cardstock and stamp your sentiment in the bottom right corner.  The one I used is from Loving Thoughts and is stamped in Basic Black.
2. Cut a piece of Summer Starfruit (new IC) to 3" x 3.25" and sponge the edges with its respective ink.
3. Cut a piece of Primrose Petals (new IC) to 2.75" x 3".  Punch a heart out of the center of the piece using the Full Heart Punch.  Sponge the edges with Primrose Petals ink, including around the cut out heart edges.
4. Punch a heart from a scrap of Pink Pirouette cardstock.
5. Run the heart through the Big Shot using the embossing folder-Vintage Wallpaper.  Sponge the edges, and the raised embossing, with Pretty In Pink ink.
6. Place pink heart in center of Summer Starfruit mat.  Use dimensionals to pop up the Primrose Petal piece over the heart.*
7. Add three small pearls to bottom right corner of the heart piece and adhere to card base in upper left corner.

*Helpful Hint:

To make sure that your punched heart is centered under the cutout heart, center the Primrose piece on the Starfruit mat-NOT using any adhesive.  

Put adhesive on the back of the punched heart and place inside the negative space of the Primrose piece. 

Once the heart is adhered, remove the Primrose piece, add dimensionals and reposition it on the Starfruit mat.

Supplies
Stamps: Loving Thoughts
Paper: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit (new In-colors), Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray
Ink: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
Misc.: Full Heart Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Sponges


For the second card, I went from bold and simple to muted and vintage.  I also used the Color Coach to choose the combo for this card as well.  Raspberry Ripple (new IC), Pretty In Pink and Old Olive;  I added Soft Suede as the base.

Recipe:

1. Create a standard card base {4.25" x 5.5"} using Soft Suede cardstock.  Sponge the edges of the card with Soft Suede Ink.  Also drag the sponge across the top of the card a few times to add a little depth.
2. Tear a piece of First Edition Specialty DSP from the corner, leaving the two outside edges un-torn.  I sponged ink on this piece in Soft Suede, Old Olive and Pretty In Pink.  Adhere to card base.
3. Cut a piece of Raspberry Ripple approximately 3" x 3.25" and punch a heart from the center of this using the Full Heart Punch.
4. Center the second to smallest framelit from the Labels Collection over the negative heart space and run through the Big Shot.
5. Punch a heart from a scrap of Pretty In Pink.  Place this inside the negative space of the Raspberry Ripple piece.  Emboss the pieces using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and the Big Shot.  Sponge both pieces with Raspberry Ripple and Soft Suede ink.
6. Using the next size larger framelit, cut a piece of Old Olive cardstock.  Sponge with Old Olive and Soft Suede ink.  Layer under the Raspberry Ripple and Pretty In Pink die cut.
7. "Age" a 7" piece of Victorian Lace Ribbon by sponging it with Old Olive, Pretty In Pink and Soft Suede ink.  Tie in a bow, trim and fray the ends.
8. Stamp a sentiment from Tiny Tags on Raspberry Ripple, punch out using the Jewelry Tag Punch.  Sponge with Raspberry Ripple ink.  Use the paper piercer to make a hole in the top of the tag.  Thread with Linen thread and pin to the lace bow using a Vintage Trinket safety pin.
9. Stamp sentiment on card base with Soft Suede ink.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tiny Tags, Wings of Friendship (retired)
Paper: Raspberry Ripple (new In-Color), Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Soft Suede, First Edition Specialty DSP
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Soft Suede
Misc.: Full Heart Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Victoria Lace ribbon, Sponges,

I hope you enjoyed my projects and find some inspiration in them.  The next stop on the hop is Dawn's site-Stampin' At Dawn.  She has a really cute project waiting for you.



   

And The Winner Is...

Sorry for the delay, we were having some technical issues.  But without further ado, the winner is...

Carolyn S.

Congratulations Carolyn!!  I hope you will enjoy the goodies and will like the few extra surprises thrown in.

I want to thank all of you for stopping by my blog, and thank you for the birthday wishes and wonderful comments.  A couple of them made me tear up a little. 

Make it a Great Day!!

One of the Few

As I patiently wait for my order of new catalog sneak peak products to arrive, how about a sample for one of the sets that will be carrying over into the new catalog.  Since this was a swap for a demo meeting, all items on it had to be product that would be in the new catalog.

Well, it was a little hard for me to find a stamp set that I could still use.  Out of the several hundred (yes, you read that right) SU sets that I own, I only have 26 sets that will be in the new catty.  Granted, that is still a good number of sets to work with.  But, 4 are Holidays, 3 are sentiments with no images, 2 are alphabets, and 3 were sets I earned free that weren't necessarily my style.  Now I am down to 14.  Still a decent number, but I had challenged myself to use a set that I had either never used or had only been used once or twice.  That didn't leave me a lot.  To top it off, almost all of the embellishments and ribbons that I own are retiring.

I do want to say though, that having the limitations actually made me think more creatively.

The color combo is Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette and Certainly Celery with Early Espresso thrown in as an accent or "grounding" color.  The stamp set is Fabulous Florets.  I stamped the leaf/stem in Certainly Celery and then stamped the small flower in Early Espresso on Pink Pirouette.  I cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals.

The celery piece was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  To give a little feminine charm to the card I punched the Early Espresso mat with the Scallop Trim Border Punch.  All of the pieces were sponged with their respective inks.  The focal piece was lightly sponged with Early Espresso and then I re-sponged it with Pink Pirouette. 

I wanted to use the Happy Birthday from Bring on the Cake, but the stamp was too big for the Modern Label punch.  So, I used MDS to create the sentiment in the size I needed, printed it on Baja Breeze and then punched it out.  That was then popped up on dimensionals also.  To add just a touch of bling, I placed two small pearls on the sentiment.

ETA:  How about some Blog Candy!!

I thought I would celebrate my birthday today and Mother's Day tomorrow-crafter's style-with some blog candy. :)

 

It's kind of a weird mix of items, but I have been cleaning out my craft room and of course finding multiples of some items.  Plus it's FREE stuff. :)  Included in the package are: 4 gift card holders, Red Riding Hood wide striped ribbon, Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, a package of Carousel Notes, Pumpkin Pie Corduroy buttons, Blooming With Happiness stamp set, Deck the Halls Fabric, a covered notebook, and Butterflies and Rings Sizzix Die.

But that's not all...

What's a celebration without a few surprises!  The winner of this Blog Candy will also receive a few surprise goodies in the package. Party!!!

For a chance to win, just leave a comment below telling me what your favorite birthday or Mother's Day present has been.  Leave the comment by midnight Sunday, May 13th.  The winner will be selected by Random.org on May14th and posted that evening.  If there is no contact info with your comment, I will have to move on the next person.

Good Luck and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!!


Make it a great day!

A Charming Farewell

This adorable little set is on the retiring list and will no longer be available after May 31st.  Charming was originally marketed to coordinate with Stanpin' Up!'s Simply Adorned jewelry line.  However, it is a great set for adding little details to a scrapbook page or even being center stage on a card.

The patterned paper for the focal point is from the Beau Chateau DSP.  I stamped the script image from Charming in Early Espresso.  I didn't want it to be to dark or bold so I just barely touched it to the page.  The flower was colored with Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz markers.  The Pear Pizzazz mat behind the flower is from the 2010-2012 In-Color Patterns Designer Paper Hostess Pack, which is currently on the Clearance Rack (while supplies last).

All of the cardstock/paper pieces' edges were sponged with their respective ink colors.  The focal point was first sponged with Blushing Bride and then lightly sponged with Early Espresso.

I didn't want to use just a plain rectangle for the word Create, but I didn't have a punch that would make the right size decorative piece needed.  So I created my own...

Cut a strip of paper just a hair less than 5/8" of an inch wide.   Stamp the word or phrase of your choice.  Turn the Modern Label Punch upside down and place the strip of paper through the punch from the "top"

Like this...

Line up the paper, and then punch.

For the other side, place the strip of paper through the punch from the side making sure that the image is pointing up out of the punch.

Again, line up your paper and then punch.

Viola!

I added some small pearls and then popped it up on dimensionals.  You can use this same punching technique to make a longer label too.

Stamps: Charming (retiring)
Paper: Blushing Bride (retiring), Early Espresso Textured (textured cardstock is retiring), Pear Pizzazz Belle Chateau DSP (retiring), 2010-2012 In-Color Patterns Designer Paper Hostess Pack (retired, but currently in Clearance Rack) (retiring),
Ink: Blushing Bride Pad and Marker (retiring), Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz Pad and Marker (retiring)
Misc.: Modern Label Punch, Basic Pearls, Pear Pizzazz Pleated Ribbon (retiring), Dimensionals, Sponges

Have a great day!