More Old Scrapping!

I'm cleaning out my office and came across the second of these pages. I had done that one about 2 years ago to use one of the Simply Scrappin' Kits. So, I pulled out the 8x10 of Sienna's portrait session and made up some 12x12 pages for her!
I have So Saffron bases, and then everything is mated on Certainly Celery card stock. The stickers all come from the Friends & Flowers Simply Scrappin' Kit, which was a hostess kit that year. I added some Celery grosgrain ribbon and a couple pieces of Hodgepodge Hardware, and stamped the title in my Taffy Alphabet. Pretty simple, but she got two more pages done for her books! (just a bit late...)

Be Inspired #12

I love these challenges because it motivates me to stamp RIGHT NOW. I saw Beate's inspiration piece and knew it was the kick-start I needed to get going on Mother's Day cards. They SHOULD arrive in time if I mail them in the morning.....right?? Anyway, this one is for my MIL because she rarely checks my blog. :)

I used the retired (and for sale below!) Best Blossoms set, because I've used these leaves this way before. I have a Mellow Moss card base, so I used Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke ink for the leaves. For the flower image I stamped on Whisper White card stock and layered that on Apricot Appeal card stock. The flowers are stamped with the Rock & Roll technique, with Apricot Appeal and More Mustard ink. Then I used my also retired All Year Cheer II set for the Mother's Day words. I only inked up the word Mother, with Mellow Moss ink. Then I cut around this piece from my Hodgepodge Hardware set to frame the word. I tied White Grosgrain ribbon around the main image, and knotted it around the Hardware piece! I am really happy with how it turned out!

** As a note, Stampin' Up! just announced that the Hodgepodge Hardware finishes currently in the main catalog are retiring this summer with the new catalog. Now, I don't know...but that sounds to me as tho they'll have other, new finishes to "replace" these. **

Which Disney Princess Are You?

I'm laughing more at this one than at the Jane Austen character- that one was almost right on, this one...what?! You Are Pocahantas! Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement. Which Disney Princess Are You?

More wedding cards!

Here are two more wedding cards. I made these the other night. We have truly, 5 wedding announcements sitting here! Some of them get "old" cards and some get brand new! Here are the new ones.... This was really kind of hard because I don't have "wedding" sets in my house! So here I used Daisy Crazy for the main image. That is stamped on White card stock with Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Rose Red and Elegant Eggplant. Then its matted on Chocolate Chip to tie in the lovely Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon. I even used a Ribbon Slide from the new Hodgepodge Hardware in the mini! Then the card base is Rose Red. I stamped the greeting in Chocolate Chip ink and I used the 2-Way glue pen to adhere the Dazzling Diamonds glitter! Not incredibly "WEDDING-y" but it works for the couple. This one seems more like a wedding card. I used a Groovy Guava base, Chocolate Chip card stock for the mats, punched the squares out with the 1 3/8 inch square punch, made my own tag (which is why its un-even...). The hearts are stamped with Guava and Real Red ink. The greeting is stamped in Real Red and the edge is sponged in Guava. I tied a little bow with the same Chocolate taffeta ribbon, and now everyone knows why I don't do bows! ha ha!

Weekend Sketch Challenge #46

I got to stamp just for fun today! I really needed it between having a sick girl 4 different days this week (yes, separate days!) and working on all my projects... I feel like I'm in the middle of 300 projects, even tho I'm sure its closer to just plain 5. LOL! So stamping JUST to participate in this great sketch challenge of Beate's was so nice! I really liked this sketch too! Here's my take:

I kept with the long, narrow card in the sketch. I used a 6x6 piece of Certainly Celery card stock and folded that in half. Then I used the recently retired Merci set for the main image, because it was already stamped! Plus it fit perfectly! I had stamped it with Chocolate Chip ink, so I layered the image on a mat of Chocolate Chip card stock! I colored it with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Blender Pens. Then the brown strip for the greeting was what I cut off the bottom of the mat to make it fit the card. I cut a white piece for the words from the Sending Happy Thoughts Simply Sent Kit, and stamped that in Regal Rose. I added a Celery brad to finish it off, and popped the strip up on Dimensionals. Enjoy!

Be Inspired Challenge #11

You take the time you have...and I have midnight. My daughter got sick today and has had flu symptoms. Imagine my joy. She's fallen asleep 4 times on the couch since about 345 this afternoon, so I'm FINALLY getting a chance to make my card from Beate's inspiration piece. It looked like a fun party kind of card, so here's this little birthday bird from Pun Fun. Then I used some already punched bright circles and did a few more. I framed the bird in a black square because he definitely needed colored. I used my Pumpkin, Orchid and Turquoise ink pads with blender pens to color him. The circles are Orchid Opulence, Green Galore, Pink Passion, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise.
Annnd now that I'm looking, mine is the same basic idea as Charmaine's! Good for me! haha!
I'm going to bed now, in my nice clean sheets- the one thing I got done today that was in my original plan!

A sucker for a sale...

Yesterday I mentioned I went shopping. Yeeeahh... I went to the bookstore to buy myself a CD I wanted last year for Mother's Day, that I am now getting THIS year for Mother's Day. The helpful sales person handed me a flyer for their two-day sale and I like to browse their super cheap section anyway. Yikes! I walked out after tripling my sale!! And here's the other confession...!
I started scrapping in 1996 or 97. I used to haunt scrapbook stores looking for anything 'perfect'. Since starting my Stampin' Up! business, I haven't even stepped into a store for scrapbook supplies!!! Except...that I found a nice 12x12 album for $4 at this same bookstore in February. And then yesterday I found a boy and a girl scrapbook kit- album, stickers, rhinestones, paper, etc- for $10 each, valued at $50. OK FINE, I'll get that too!!! I bought the kits for the albums, and its totally worth it. Oh, and the boy kit came with a sticker that said this: "Of all the animals the boy is the most unmanageable." Couldn't resist that one! But I haven't spent any money on "other guys" no matter how much I've liked them. I usually have great self-control with money and hardly ever spend it on ME. There's always too much the kids "need" and want for me to justify money for Mommy. And if I'm going to buy it, I may as well buy it from myself! Not only do I like the discount and the commission, but I only demo what I can sell, so why own other products if I can't demo it? So that is my reason. And HERE is my first non-SU purchased page since I started the biz. (I have made pages with non-SU products because I have a big box full of stuff over there from my pre-biz days.) I was really happy with this paper from the boy pack. I really don't like letter stickers, that was my biggest reason for buying ABC sets, I get sooo tired of accumulating "q" and whatever other not-used letters. But these worked great for this page. I used my retired Buckaroo Blue card stock for the photo mats! Its a darn close match! He likes the pages too, so yeay!
But you want to know what else happened with sales yesterday? At the beginning of April I signed up with Kidvantage at Sears because my son has torn thru 9 pairs of jeans this winter. Um, make that 10. Friday he ripped the knee on one of the jeans I bought THIS MONTH. So we went all the way to Sears to replace them. That's all we were doing. But....Burt noticed a major buy-one-get-one-free sale throughout a lot of the store.... I got 3 new shirts and 2 new pants!!! YEAY!!!! Burt doesn't agree with the "ignore mommy" money philosophy, but he has to convince me...that did it! Dang sales! I don't even want to think about how much extra we spent yesterday..............

Weekend Sketch #45

"Never do today what you can put off til tomorrow"...is that how it goes? That's where I'm at! I have a number of big projects I need to get done, oh and things like laundry and cleaning bathrooms, and I always procrastinate that!!! So on this long, not so great day, I've gone shopping, played a game with Hunter, and I thought I'd join Beate's sketch and try some soft, soothing colors. I ended up really liking the combo I used a while back with Bordering Blue and River Rock so I did that again today!

I used Bordering Blue card stock for the base, and a big chunk of River Rock card stock. I put a strip of River Rock double stitched ribbon for the rectangle along the bottom, and I even used some of my very hoarded Hodgepodge Hardware! I stamped the image and the greeting in Close to Cocoa and added a bit of paper-piercing. I am happy with the result- what do you think?

The Process of a Glittery Page!

I just got my latest order! It included the Sticky Cuts letters (found at the top of pg 186) and the new Chunky Sprinkles Glitter from the mini catalog. I think I really like the sticky cuts letters. I LOVE the idea! And I’m glad I ordered them so I know what they are! You know the Sticky Strip adhesive (bottom of pg 186) that is great for boxes and 3-d stuff? Yeah, its just letters and numbers die-cut into that exact stuff, complete with the super-static-y red part…
The instructions say to peel off the back part and firmly press it onto your project before adding glitter or beads. (I don’t have beads) I read something another person experienced that made sense to me...if you wait and add your glitter to your entire project, then everything ends up sparkly. So I added glitter FIRST. …annnd now I’m thinkin’ there’s a REASON they say peel off the back first! Otherwise you are wrestling with a double-sided-sticky-glittery mess that wants to stick to itself! It is VERY hard to put onto your project at this point...! HMM. I may end up with a love-hate relationship with these lovely sticky cuts letters… I’ll get back to you on that as I play more. I still really love the idea of them. I’ll just have to find a way to make them work for me. Maybe just on one-layer projects...
And the chunky glitter is actually "chunky". You can pick up each little sparkle by pressing your finger on it and put it back in the little cup! hardly a mess! Love that!!!
So here's my finished page. What do you think?
Recipe: Barely Banana 12x12 base, Hostess Prints DSP (pretty in pink), Berry Bliss DSP, Sticky Cuts, Chunky Sprinkles Glitter

"Cards For Troops" Event!

Sunday, a woman at church asked if anyone would like to write to her son and his buddies who are serving in Iraq. Since then, I have organized a card-making event to do exactly that. Tomorrow I'm going to tape flyers to every door in this neighborhood and the next and hope for the best.

I'm going to charge $1 per card and have a variety of pre-cut cards ready to be stamped and assembled. The fee will help cover the supplies, provide envelopes and possibly postage costs. We'll make cards to write messages for the soldiers but we'll also make cards for them to send home to their families.

Here is a card I thought could work both ways. I used Not Quite Navy for the base and wheeled Matey's Map in Chocolate Chip ink on Sahara Sand card stock. I colored it with my watercolor pencils- no blending, just coloring. Then I used Sahara Sand and my Word Window punch for the greeting, which I stamped in Not Quite Navy. I think its a good masculine card for them to send AND receive! Here's hoping for a great turn-out!

Punch Class Details (LONG!)

As promised, I am posting details on the punch class cards. You can still buy the supplies for $15, if you wish you could have come! LOL!

The Apple and Purse post is here. For the Apple card, I used the Round Tab Punch and Very Vanilla card stock to make the apple cores. I used the 1 3/8 inch circle punch on the Real Red and Certainly Celery tab-punched pieces to make the top and bottom of the cores. We used the tiny flower from Priceless for the seed part, stamped in Basic Black. The cores were mounted on black card stock, which was wrapped with Real Red grosgrain ribbon. That was mounted on a piece of Vanilla card stock, and we stamped the Canvas background stamp on that in Red. All of THAT was mounted on a Real Red base! For the Purse card I used River Rock for the base with a layer of Whisper White card stock. We sponged Pretty in Pink ink on the edges of the white. The purse was made of River Rock and Pretty in Pink card stock with the 1 3/8 inch square punch, 1 3/8 inch circle punch and 1 1/4 inch circle punches. We stamped the River Rock pieces with the Canvas background stamp using Pretty in Pink ink, which made for a subtle woven look. Then we added a small piece of River Rock double-stitched grosgrain ribbon and a Fire Square Rhinestone brad. I stamped "sparkle" from the Warm Words set.

The Film-Strip card is found here. I used More Mustard for the card base, then a strip of black card stock. To make the film look, we used the Spiral Punch. Then we stamped animals from Wild About You in So Saffron, Ballet Blue, More Mustard and Wild Wasabi and punched them out with the 1 3/8 inch circle punch! So easy!

Here is the Space card! This one was a big hit! I did the card base using Bordering Blue, with a square of Basic Black. Then the planets were punched from Barely Banana, Ruby Red, Gable Green and Bordering Blue. I used the 1 3/8 inch circle punch, the 1 1/4 inch circle punch, the 3/4 inch circle punch and the Large Oval punch! Then we stamped over the planets using the speckly stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds, and added the cool rocket from Pun Fun to the side!

I just posted the Frog card but here is the fast link. This one has an Apricot Appeal base, and a rectangle of Bashful Blue wrapped with White grosgrain ribbon. The frog and lily pad is punched from Wild Wasabi. I used the Large Oval, Small Oval, 1 3/8 inch circle, 1/2 inch circle, 1/4 inch circle and Horizontal Slot punches. I used my Always Artichoke marker, Wild Wasabi and Bashful Blue inks!

Now for the new stuff!
This flower card has a Close to Cocoa base, a Not Quite Navy front and the petals are More Mustard and the center is Close to Cocoa. I used the Small and Large Oval punches and that 1 3/8 inch circle. We swiped the edges of the petals in Close to Cocoa to make them more defined, added two silver brads and stamped the center with that same stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. This Butterfly card uses a So Saffron Base and a square of Bashful Blue. The butterflies are punched with the Word Window punch using the Saffron Prints paper. The bodies of the butterflies are the Horizontal Slot punch with Certainly Celery Card stock. Then we used the Celery marker to add the antennae, and Celery ink for the Happy stamp. Finally this Ladybug card! A Rose Red base with a Whisper White front and a piece of Black Gingham Ribbon around the edge. I punched Rose Red and Basic Black circles in the following sizes: 1 3/8 inch circle, 1 1/4 inch circle, 3/4 inch circle, 1/2 inch circle, 1/4 inch circle. We used a pen to add the dots. I don't have a greeting on here yet, but I'm sure I'll add one and send it to someone!
So there is my class!

Be Inspired Challenge #10

I loved Beate's choice for the inspiration piece. Pretty, soft, spring-y colors! I wanted to do the baby-wipe technique to keep the softness there, so I needed a bold flower image. I picked Sending Happy Thoughts for that. I think it made a tropical looking card! I used Soft Sky for the base, a very thin layer of Chocolate Chip card stock for the mat and then Whisper White for the main image. I used Barely Banana, So Saffron and the retired Buckaroo Blue ink refills dripped onto a baby wipe to be used as my ink pad. The only *thing* is you have to clean the stamp each time, which gets tedious. I paper-pierced two rows on the White sheet and put that part at the bottom. (Had to play with my new Mat Pack that I FINALLY got!) Then I tied some White Grosgrain and stamped a greeting from the retired Happy Harmony set, in Chocolate Chip ink.