Monday, January 30, 2012

Flower Fest minis

I found a cute set I forgot to post a long time ago. I used the Flower Fest set to make a few 3x3 cards. I don't know what it is about this size, they are just fun to make. The stamp designs work so well for these tiny treats.

Here I used the Melon Mambo embossing powder - great for a pop of color on dark card stock.

Tempting Turquoise butterfly! Yellow bling from my stash, and the result of a "creative opportunity" - I had stamped the sentiment directly on the card and it was SO crooked! Magic coverup!

I just love this little rose. More of the colored embossing powder, and a little pop of textured Wild Wasabi.

Here they are, all in a row! A fun gift for a friend.

Becca

Supplies used:
Stamp Set: Flower Fest, Bold Blossom (retired)
Card Stock: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Versamark, Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, Early Espresso, Staz-On Jet Black
Other: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Large Scalloped Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Scalloped Edge Punch, Melon Mambo Embossing Powder, colored rhinestones, 3x3 mini envelopes

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Triple Treat for Sale-A-Bration

It's here! It's here! It's really here! Sale-A-Bration - the most wonderful time of the year. :) Today I am showing a card my friends and I designed for stamp club. I don't post these most of the time but I am going to start, because we sometimes have flashes of absolute brilliance and the results should be shared!! Anyway. After some fussing and giggling and rolling of eyes, this is what we came up with:

Some tips. We decided not to use the very center of the Triple Treat Flower stamp, instead taking 2 layers of the second shape and spinning them. Once the flowers were stamped and punched, we stacked them carefully so they lined up on the Crumb Cake base and then pierced the hole for the brad. Since it's a large brad, we made a double-width hole to accommodate the wider legs. Once the brad was attached, we could spin the flowers and they wouldn't be wonky. The little Love tag is stamped in Pool Party on Very Vanilla and punched with the Jewelry Tag Punch, then adhered between the two 5 Flower Punch layers. I like it. The colors in the Everyday Elegance Designer Series Paper seem so different, but they really do work well together.

Here is a slightly different interpretation. We put out the containers of brads from the Everyday Elegance Brad & Ribbon pack and let the girls pick the ones they liked.

I like them both. Of course, we don't send anyone home without matching envelopes for their cards. Wow, do I love this paper. I have a feeling it's going to see a lot of action at my craft table. I made a resolution to make at least one One Sheet Wonder set per month this year and keep going on notebooks and Christmas cards so I can contribute more to the church bazaar. It's the main fundraiser for our women's board, and since I am so heavily involved with the board I like to participate as much as possible in making us some money!

Have a great Sale-A-Bration! I know I will!

Becca

Supplies Used:
Stamp sets: Triple Treat Flower (a la carte stamp), Tiny Tags
Papers: Everyday Elegance DSP, White, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede, Pool Party, Poppy Parade
Other: Calypso Coral ribbon and Everyday Elegance Brad (brad & ribbon pack), Jewelry Tag Punch, Lace Ribbon Punch, Fancy Flower Punch, 5 Petal Flower Punch, Paper Piercing Tool, Paper Snips, Dimensionals

Friday, January 27, 2012

Up & Away Valentine

I found a really cute Valentine pocket made from the Petal Cone Die on the Stampin' Connection website. I took a crack at it and it was a DUD! I spent a lot of time on it, too. It was heart shaped, it was red, it had silver embossing, it had a ruffly edge at the top - and I couldn't stand it. I am always so disappointed when I can see something in my head and I just can't make it work on paper. Sigh. Anyway, my friend had given me the Up, Up & Away set to see if I could make anything cute with it. Well, I may have succeeded! We made many of these for January stamp club.

So simple - and it will be REALLY CUTE stuffed with tissue paper and a special little Valentine gift. To make this cute pocket, simply cut a 8.5x11 sheet of white card stock in half and run each half through the Big Shot using the Petal Cone Die. Make sure you stamp on the side that does NOT have score lines on it. Take the scalloped half circle and use it as a mask to sponge your "clouds" using Bashful Blue ink. Maybe try it out on a scrap first - we found some people had trouble making dark enough clouds, and some sponged so much that they had no white left and it was hard to tell there were shapes! Stamp the basket and tail, sentiment and seagulls. Use markers to color the sentiment - Poppy Parade first, black last - and huff a LOT before stamping. (The black seems to dry faster than the red.) Stamp the balloon in Concord Crush on the waste from one of the cones and trim it out. Adhere with dimensionals. Punch a heart from Poppy Parade using the smallest shape from the Heart to Heart punch and glue it onto the balloon. Stamp the clouds on more of the waste, trim out, and adhere. Fold over the edges of the hearts, and adhere one at a time. It can be difficult to control how the shapes line up if everything is glued at once. I found that my hearts made kind of a natural curved pocket.

Our club ladies loved these valentines and they had a blast sponging the night away. Do you have any other fun ideas using this die?

Happy V-Day!

Becca

Supplies used:
Stamp set: Up, Up & Away
Card stock: White, Poppy Parade
Ink: Basic Gray (gulls, basket, clouds), Bashful Blue (sponge), Concord Crush (balloon, tail), Poppy Parade (marker), Basic Black (marker)
Other: Petal Cone Die, Stamping Sponges, Paper Snips, Heart to Heart Punch

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Notepad Holdouts

I realized I didn't show these other notebooks I had covered for the church bazaar. Just a little fun post, just because. :)

Owls with sparkles...

Flowers and a sage quote...

Cute houses...

I pretty much left this paper alone, just highlighting a few spots with glitter...

Shiny hearts (not the greatest pic but they are so shiny they just glare otherwise)...

And a sparkle-edged surfboard!

The best part is, they all sold!! Yahoo!
Becca

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Bright butterflies

I needed to use my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I'd used it before, but for subdued projects. I needed something bright and punchy. Something Razzleberry. Yes.

I wanted color! It is winter, it is drab, it is cold, and I needed some color and pop to pick up my day. I just love the embossed pattern. It's gorgeous. I need to use it a lot more. Anyway, I used all the brightest colors I could handle to bring a little spring into my craft room.

I colored the butterflies from Kindness Matters and cut them out, then popped them up on a Designer Label Punch Melon Mambo shape, matted on Pumpkin Pie. The trimming is closer than it looks - the angle gives a peek at the bits of dimensionals holding them on. I will say, those little antennae are hard to cut around, even with sharp little Paper Snips!

I love the Early Edition paper. A little snippet mounted on Pacific Point is a fun "edition" (ha ha) to my card. I know there is no sentiment - I have no clue what I'm going to use this card for. I'll find a reason to give it, though. I might make a set now that I have this one done. It was in my mind for a LONG time.


Would this cuteness brighten your winter doldrums? :)

Becca

Supplies used:
Kindness Matters stamp set
Card stock: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Early Edition Designer Series Paper
Ink: Staz-On Jet Black; markers - Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Color Spritzer, Paper Snips, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Designer Label Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Sweet!

I needed a birthday card, I needed one fast! My daughter's friend's birthday was UPON US and she told me she wanted a card, oh, about 10 minutes before we needed to leave the house. My stash held nothing that looked right for this girl. I had to make something. Well, I found a package of brightly colored foam stickers in the shape of goodies - lollipops, ice cream cones, wrapped candy. I also found some Bo Bunny paper I had picked up at a little scrapbook store last year. It was perfect. I started cutting and gluing and glittering. Here is the result... How did I have time to photograph the card and still leave 10 minutes later? Well... we were late. :)  But not very.

I accented the cute printed paper with a little Stampin' Up cardstock - Pacific Point here, large scraps found in my folder that were already crimped! Lucky! I outlined the shapes with Stickles and smeared some more around on the white background. (This was before SU came out with Dazzling Details, which I now have...) I figured if I could be careful in my application, it would dry by the time we reached our destination. 

Strips of Melon Mambo, Green Galore (retired), and Yoyo Yellow (also retired) finished off the bottom of the scene. It's simple, but cute. The birthday girl (she was turning 14) loved it. Seems like if it's any kind of juvenile birthday card, I gravitate toward bright colors!! Proving once again that I CAN throw together a fast and cute card. No stamps required.

Sparkly!
Becca :)

Monday, January 23, 2012

Sale-A-Bration Vintage Hello

Welcome, Sale-A-Bration 2012! I printed out all of the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Papers from this year's Sale-A-Bration My Digital Studio CD. My husband had a fit. :) It kind of used a lot of ink and took FOREVER to print all 12 pages, but now I can play with them all and not worry about using too much or screwing it up, because I can print more! Friday night I started cutting, and on Saturday morning I layered and tore and stamped and glued and punched and threw things in the garbage and finally came up with something I liked. All while watching a marathon of The Vanilla Ice Project on DIY. And I loved every minute.

And I like this card, too. It has a vintage feel without being too heavy and funky. I used 3 DSP designs. I found an arrangement I liked, then ripped the side of the Pool Party strip and glued the coral piece under the torn edge, then layered the wallpaper design on top. A medallion from that paper is lifted up for interest. Since I printed on regular 20# white copy paper, I backed up the "popped" design on a bit of white card stock for stability, then trimmed and adhered with dimensionals.

I punched 2 strips using the Lace Ribbon Punch - Calypso Coral and Poppy Parade. I cut them in half, intending to use the strips on both sides of the designer paper. Then I changed my mind and only used one strip. I cut out the center design and glued the outside edge of the Calypso Coral strip under the Poppy Parade.

Before I glued down my designer paper panel, I stamped the tiny bird image from the Elementary Elegance stamp set (also Sale-A-Bration) onto the Lucky Limeade background. Once I had the panels in place, I moved on to the sentiment. I chose Hello, also from Elementary Elegance, stamped in Soft Suede on Pool Party, and punched it out using the Designer Label Punch. To make the label stand out, I ran my Limeade marker around the edge several times. I also stamped off the crown from Artistic Etchings in Soft Suede and added it to the left of the greeting. The tiny butterfly is from Elementary Elegance, in Limeade. I spritzed the piece with Soft Suede and Limeade markers.

Another look at the greeting panel - you can see the little bird and butterfly, as well as the crown, are part of the "wallpaper" design.

What do you think? The colors in this paper set seem so off the wall but really they are nice together. I wanted to smash a few different DSP's together on a club card my friends and I were designing but they thought I was CRAZY. I'll post that card soon so you can see how the compromise turned out. :) I will tell you something I learned from this project. I usually print My Digital Studio DSP's on card stock. This time I didn't want the bulk, since I knew I was going to layer several prints, so I used copy paper. I need to buy a package of heavier paper for this purpose. I think a 32# color copy bond will work well. Copy paper, once it has been inked so completely, tends to curl when you want it to be flat. Plus, it is almost floppy and that doesn't really help me line it up straight in my paper trimmer. Just a few drawbacks to printing on regular paper. When I print scrapbook pages or special documents, I do use card stock as it is going to stand alone and get flipped back and forth, so it needs the heavier weight. For cardmaking, I don't necessarily need that heft. I'll let you know how it goes when I find just the right printing paper.

Reminder - Sale-A-Bration starts TOMORROW!! and runs through the end of March. Earn one free item from the special catalog with every $50 purchased, and even more when you hostess your own workshop. I know I'll be building my collection... Thanks for looking!!

Becca

Supplies used:
Stamp sets: Elemetary Elegance, Artistic Etchings
My Digital Studio: Everyday Enchantment DSP
Card Stock: Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Whisper White (under popped element)
Ink: Versamark, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede
Other: Lace Ribbon Punch, Designer Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Flirtatious "Bugle" hanging

So, I was perusing my Google Reader and came across this post. Haley's mom had made her the cutest little wall hanging. She called it a wreath but for some reason I believe a wreath has a hole in the middle. :) Anyway it grabbed me so completely I had to make one right that very minute. So I looked into her links and found a little tutorial here that uses the project as a gift card holder. The original post is where I got the idea to call these shapes bugles - don't they kind of look like the little cracker snacks?



Oh... this post is going to be photo heavy, and it's the longest one I've ever written. I'll show you what I did and tell you what I will do differently next time I make one of these cuties. OK. I made mine with Flirtatious Designer Series Paper. I am SO bad at using my stuff. I buy things thinking they are so pretty and I will make this and that and the other thing with my supplies - and then I freak out when I think about actually cutting into a great piece of paper or anything else that is consumable. I've got to get over it! Anyway this appealed to me because it isn't very big - it uses 14, 2.5" square pieces of paper. That's all. I can do that. Here is my finished project, you can see it isn't huge by any means as I am holding it in my hand:

And here is how I made it. First, I cut my 14 squares of designer paper. I determined which papers had 2 sides that I wanted to feature and which I would only use on one side. I think you can see having yellow and orange centers wasn't in the plan! Then, I started rolling. I rolled each piece around my finger to give it a little curl, shaped it into the "bugle", applied Snail adhesive, and stuck it together. Here is what I would NOT do - I flattened the tips of the cones. Leave them the way they are.


After I finished shaping and gluing the cones, I laid them out to find a pattern I liked.

I used the Large Scallop Circle Punch to make the base of this project. I marked the circle so I could ATTEMPT to use it as a guide to place the cones. Note, I said ATTEMPT. It kind of worked but not like I had expected. Anyway, I used my hot glue gun to attach the cones to my circle base in the design pattern I had laid out. (I love this tiny silicone mat - the inevitable glue drips come right off with zero effort. I got it on clearance but I bet you can find one if you look.) 


And that is half of it. I tried to make sure the pieces were snugly settled next to each other but I did end up with tiny gaps, which made the final cone difficult to get into place. It's a little snug. :) Here are all the cones in place - front and back views. I went around the tips a couple of times with my glue gun to make sure they won't go anywhere.

I thought I would continue copying the inspiration piece and use a fan fold medallion as my center. That didn't work so well - first, I used a 2x12" strip, glued the ends, and realized the furthest it would spread was not far enough. It could maybe be a tall doll house lamp shade. I cut off the glued peak, cut and scored another strip, and made a bigger circle. It was way too big. And I hated it. I had my heart set on using the laser cut doily from the DSP but I didn't like it with the medallion, so I will use that for another purpose. FYI - no need to use a perfectly cut circle for the back side of a medallion!!


I was mad. I had been so careful, using the Regal Rose Brights DSP cut so the pattern would flow over the ridges instead of along them, and I had measured... but not taken into account that the whole thing would DOUBLE and I didn't need to add a full quarter inch. Live and learn, and then remember you are blonde and will probably do it again and life will go on. I had to walk away for a bit. I thought about using tissue paper and making a fluffy layer behind the doily. Hated that too. One other option - punched strips of white copy paper with my Scalloped Edge Punch, crimped, spritzed with ink, crumpled and arranged and placed... hated that, too. Sigh. THEN I remembered the doily Sizzlit I had cut a few days before. It was perfect. It fit the "theme" and since it was white, I could spritz it with markers to match the little cones.


Once I had the Pumpkin Pie doily in place, I spritzed again with matching ink. Then I punched 3 Pretty in Pink scalloped circles and stacked them so the doilies would lay into the wreath's shallow center. I stacked 2 dimensionals between each circle.

I ran hot glue around the edges of the bottom circle and set it in place. Love!!

It was so cute! However, it needed a little something - and I knew just what that would be. Butterflies, of course. I cut several using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit and arranged them around the center. I used Dazzling Details to accent the large one.

I love it. I'm going to attach a ribbon loop to the back to hang it in my Create Escape craft room. It makes me so happy! It's so girly! AND it only used a little bit of designer paper, so I didn't sweat too much cutting it up. What do you think? You can totally do this, I know it!

What I learned: don't flatten the tips, make absolutely sure the cones are flush against each other as you glue, and KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PUTTING IN THE MIDDLE! Yes, I'm making more of these. They are just too fun.

A bit of business before I go (thanks for hanging in there!) - Sale-A-Bration starts tomorrow! Get a free item from the exclusive SAB catalog for every $50 you spend, and special bonuses for hostesses - through the end of March.

Becca

Supplies used:
Designer Series Paper: Flirtatious
Card Stock: White, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder
Ink (markers): Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder, Pumpkin Pie
Big Shot, Paper Doily Sizzlits Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Large Scalloped Circle Punch
Snail, Stampin' Dimensionals, Hot Glue Gun

Saturday, January 21, 2012

What I made for Christmas...

Since I've been MIA for so long I thought I would share the little project I made for the kids this Christmas. Money has been very tight and we decided in the interest of making sure they got something they really wanted for Christmas, we would give them cash. Well, I am not one to just fork over the bucks. I thought maybe we could do something corny like wrap up a bunch of ones in different packages, but I didn't have that kind of time or inclination. So, I made little cones to hang on the tree. Unfortunately my camera didn't want to cooperate so the pictures don't do them justice, but you will get the idea, I hope. I used the Petal Cone Die, Pinecones and Poinsettias set, and Tiny Tags to create something special.

I embossed the filigree stamp using Champagne Versamark ink (non-SU) and clear embossing powder. It turned out darker than regular Versamark and gave some sparkle to the design. I made 4 of these, so I ran the Big Shot many times to cut the layers. 2 Kraft, 2 white, 4 Real Red. I measured and cut smaller pieces to get the smaller white and red parts without a bunch of waste. I layered these all the way around the cone, all 4 sides. The red scalloped edge was left intact on the front and back, but on the sides I trimmed them down so I could adhere the flaps down with Stampin' Dimensionals. I only glittered the front, using Champagne Glass Glitter. I did embellish the sides and used the back to write names. On the sides (BAD CAMERA!), I stamped the little holly image in Real Red and Wild Wasabi onto white cardstock, coated with a sponge dauber dipped in Champagne Shimmer Paint, and punched it out with a 1/2" circle. It was cute, I promise! The pinecone was colored and stamped with markers - Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi, Real Red. I stamped the Christmas banner in Espresso and trimmed it out. The Merry sentiment is from the Tiny Tags set and I used half of a white banner from the cone die cut, embellished with a tiny silver brad, curved with a bone folder, and glued into place. I had some ivory ribbon in my stash, which I secured with 3 glue dots on each side.

To keep the cones from jumping off the tree, I weighed them down with some M&M's. I folded the money in half and put it in a 3x3 envelope, then put that into the cone. Gosh, my kids love getting cash for Christmas!

Since I had such a horrible time getting a decent pic, here are a couple of "alternates" just for fun in sepia and black & white! :)



Thanks for looking! I will do my best to share some more fun stuff soon. I have been stockpiling. :)

Becca

Supplies used:
Stamp sets: Pinecones & Poinsettias, Tiny Tags
Ink: Versamark Champagne, Early Espresso, Real Red, Wild Wasabi
Other: Petal Cone Die, 1/2" Circle Punch, Paper Snips, Clear Embossing Powder, Champagne Shimmer Paint, Champagne Glass Glitter, Silver Mini Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip