Crafting with Fabric

Once December is here I usually find myself pressed for time but trying my best to pay it forward and show my appreciation to friends and family. It's always a challenge for me to give something to all the special people in my life, but with just a few minutes even store bought treats can be transformed into something more personal to give. These are both super quick, inexpensive, and easy projects.

I used a Big Shot Die with felt to make this small gesture seem BIG!
The words are inked in different colors with markers before stamping.

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Tags Til Christmas

PAPER - Whisper White

INK (markers) - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive

OTHER - Red Felt, XL Scallop Circle Die, Square Scallop Punch, Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Crop-a-dile, Gold Cord

For a larger gift, you can decorate simple lunch sacks with your stamps or stencils.

I used a Jumbo Wheel to add a whimsical background before adhering an embossed snowman tag. The "ribbon" is a strip cut from our new Designer Fabric featured in the Holiday Mini.

Make sure you load the bag before you tie the ribbon on. If you don't have time to make homemade cookies, rum balls...etc. Try putting the pre-measured dry ingredients together in a baggie to give. Just tuck an altered version of the recipe in there too so your recipient will know how much of the "wet" ingredients too add and how to bake it.

I just folded the top of the bag down about an inch, used a small circle punch to make three holes across the top of the bag, then threaded the ribbon through...

Lay the ribbon on your work surface and set the bag on top of it (flap side down) centered over the ribbon. Push the ribbon through the holes on the ends from the front to the back. Then push both ends from the back to the front through the center hole and make a bow!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Tags Til Christmas, Whimsy Jumbo Wheel, Four The Holidays
PAPER - Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Real Red

INK - Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pacific Point

OTHER - Baskets and Blooms XL Die, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Candy Cane Christmas Designer Fabric

Snowglobes and Glitter, How Can I Go Wrong?

I totally adore snowglobes and this little guy is available a la carte! The stamp is called Sweet Snowglobe, it comes with a wood mount block and it's only $8.95 (item no. 120868). I actually used it with the Sweet Treat Cups to give it dimension and create a display worthy scrapbook page full of bling!

We've had so many overcast afternoons, that this photo doesn't do it justice, but it's truly fantastic in person! If you click on the image you can zoom in and see it larger. :)

I started by sponging around the edges on a square piece of Crumb Cake card stock with Early Espresso ink, then I used Shimmer Paint to stamp snowflakes all over the background and followed up with a nice layer of Smooch Spritz. The inside of the snowglobe has Smooch (AKA fun in a bottle) painted on the "snowy" parts, and I filled it with Dazzling Diamonds.

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Jayne's Type Alphabet, Sweet Snowglobe, Serene Snowflakes

PAPER -Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip 12x12 Textured Card Stock

INK -  Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler

OTHER - Smooch Pearlized Top Coat, Smooch Spritz, Shimmer Paint, Circle Punch, Top Note Die, Sweet Treat Cups, Stampin' Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds

Now see what you can create with this super simple layout, here's the sketch:

Charming Gift Idea

With the Simply Adorned Charms and Chains you can give something handmade and they're really sweet. The 1x1-1/4" Charm and 24" Chain (pictured above) is on promotion for 20% until December 16, 2010! It's a bundled gift set that also includes Charming pictured below for the special price of $39.88. Use item number 124076 to get them all together. If you place an online order for a Simply Adorned Charm, I'll personally create you a Winter insert like mine below. All you have to do is order this or any of the Simply Adorned Charms in the month of December. But remember, you only have until 12/16 to get the promotional price for the set.

Charming wood mount stamp set - item no. 116519    $19.95

I've had my 1x1" charm for a while now, but had not even removed it from the box until my recent purchase of the Vanilla Pearl Bauble and the 34" chain. I made the snowflake image for the beveled side and my monogram is on the other side. I hear that's what our co-founder and CEO Shelley Gardner did with her's too! :) You can see more Baubles in the Holiday Mini Catalog, they're only $3.95...I think I'm going to need them all! lol

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Serene Snowflakes, Circle Circus, Jumble Alphabet

PAPER -Bashful Blue

INK - Bashful Blue, VersaMark, Marina Mist Marker

OTHER - Silver Embossing Powder, Color Spritzer Tool

I'm cooking up a nice "Valentine's" version as we speak, I plan to make seasonal inserts to switch out. And now that I think of it, why stop there? I'll be making much more than that since they are just little 1x1" squares...so easy to update and change on a whim! I have a feeling I've just found my new favorite necklace.

Holiday Cards

There are from the two workshops I did last month. I really love the Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper, and have used a piece on each of these cards. It's such a great color combo too!

The one on the left has an embossed silver tree in the background...much cuter in person. The ornaments are stamped, gently watercolored and trimmed out. Then I "hung" them on the little branches, and of course put a star on top! :) I made it using only one stamp set, Holiday Happiness.

The center card has an embossed background using the Sizzix Big Shot. And the punched ornaments have hand drawn strings.

The last card is my favorite. I put Smooch on the wreath so it shimmers in all the right spots. The sentiment is edged in Old Olive ink and popped up on a Dimensional, and I just used a ruler and my green and red markers to add some interest and balance it out with a few lines in the corners.

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Holiday Happiness, Tags Til Christmas, Delightful Decorations, Northern Hearts (hostess), All Holidays

PAPER -Jolly Holiday DSP, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

INK - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, VersaMark

OTHER - Silver EP, AquaPainters, Red Seam Binding, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Ornament Punch, XL Decorative Label Punch, Smooch Pearlized Top Coat, Stampin' Dimensionals, Green Satin Ribbon

Simply Amazing!

Starting today and running through the end of the month you can sign up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for only $87.50. Even if you have no plans of running your own crafting business, this is an amazing deal for all the items you will receive! Did you know that many demonstrators sign up as a hobbyist? What that means is you can enjoy the demonstrator discount for your self without the added pressure of holding classes and workshops, but let me tell you, that part is actually really fun! Contact me anytime if you would like to know more about this opportunity. I'd be happy to talk you through what signing up would mean and help you decide if it's right for you!

Click on the flyer to enlarge

Wickedly Fun

One of the Stamper's Club projects for October was this little paper coffin. The paper itself is to die for and using some in this way was really fun! I have plenty left to make a super cute scrapbook page, and I'm sure I'll have no problem coming up with other projects to use it for as well. It's called Wicked Fun and these first  pages below have "fuzzy" raised images, the bats are my fav!!!

 The rest of the paper pack is double sided...

I found the coffin pattern through Family Fun. They send me emails with recipes and other fun craft ideas that almost always get my wheels turning! :)

It's not too difficult to assemble, but I recommend using Sticky Strip to hold it together since the double thickness of the card stock layered with DSP will add additional stress to the flaps that hold it together. I used one 12x12 sheet of DSP for the inside of the box. One side of the paper in the bottom of the coffin and the reverse (a purple stripe) on the inside of the coffin lid...looks AWESOME!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Baroque Motifs, All Holidays

PAPER -Basic Black, Wicked Fun DSP

INK - Whisper White Craft

OTHER - Chalks, Sticky Strip

Punch Pumpkins

Don't you love things that are easy? These little pumpkins are just that. All you need is an Oval Punch and you can make one in 20 seconds! I did two different sizes here, and I just used the flat side (not sharp) of my scissors to curl a strip of card stock and make the vines. This is what we're doing at Ladies Night this Thursday...you should come! Read HERE for more details.

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Jumble Alphabet, Day of Gratitude

PAPER - Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

INK - Pumpkin Pie Craft, Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, More Mustard

OTHER - Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Green Satin Ribbon, Color Spritzer Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals

Pssst, a new promotion started today!
Handmade Holiday

Getting in the Spirit of Things

Halloween is my favorite holiday! My whole house is decked out in true fashion this year because I convinced my 9 year-old to have her party (she was born on 9/25) in October and make it a costume-birthday party! Also with everything out this year, my oldest is inspired to have her own shin dig too; she's never had a costume party and we might as well make the most of it all! :)
The photo above is a small representation of my Spooky Town. I have the whole village set up on the dining room table and you might recognize the paper I used as the backdrop. Yup, it's the packing material you get when a Stampin' Up! order arrives via UPS! hee hee

This is the cake I made her. Using these cookies as tombstones was not my original idea, but the way I saw them they had "RIP" and things like that written on them. Cute, but I wasn't going to do that on a birthday cake. I also crushed up a bunch of Oreos for the top of the cake. It tasted even better than it looks!

I did some super fun  invites using the Fang-tastic Stamp Set (Vampire on some, and a Witch on others), and I also had some done with the Make a Monster Set...so cute. I'm sorry to say I can't share a pic today though, I guess I miscounted because we gave them all away!!!
This is Sydney, AKA Vampire Girl, with her graveyard cake...

...and now for something crafty using paper! ;)
This is an 8-1/2 x 11" scrapbook page using the new Waffle Paper as well as other goodies in the Holiday Mini...LOVE it!!! The spider web was done super easy using the Big Shot, and if you like the Designer Paper I used here, you will love the whole package, too! The spiders were done by trimming off select parts of snowflakes from a Sizzlits Die 4-Pack...yeah they only have 6 legs, but aren't they cute!?

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Make a Monster (for eyes), Fang-tastic (treat bags in background)*

PAPER - Pumpkin Pie, Waffle Paper Assortment 2*, Whisper White, Basic Black, Night Owl Designer Series Paper*

INK - Pumpkin Pie

OTHER - Textured Impressions Spider Web*, 1" Circle Punch, White Gel Pen, Snowflakes Set #2 Sizzlits Die 4-Pack (3 used)

*Items from the current Holiday Mini Catalog (Sale Dates 9/1/2010-1/3/2011)

A Page and a Smile

I created this sketch at the end of July and have been eager to use it ever since. Over the weekend I was feeling the need to pull out some photos and get a page done, and the cute photos I found were made for this sketch!

The page I did includes some super cute and sparkly paper from our last catalog and I had the WHOLE package unused. That's such a crime. I have a ton of paper to use up, so I'll be sprinkling old things with new things in my posts from time to time...especially when I'm scrapping!

Click on any image to get a closer look

Anyway I wanted to share some details about this page. First you may notice the unusual shape of the Chocolate Chip paper. It wasn't tricky to do it. I just traced a bowl on the wrong side of my 12x12 card stock and then used my paper trimmer to cut a straight line up to the edge of the "arch." After that I just trimmed it off with my scissors, lined it back up on the trimmer, and did the other sides.

The distressed paper piecing was something I've been wanting to experiment with for a while. I simply took some thin strips of Old Olive card stock that I had and I crumpled them along their edges and used snail adhesive to stick them down onto my page. Easy!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Broadsheet Alphabet, Short Order Numbers

PAPER - Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

RETIRED - Sending Love Specialty DSP, Barely Banana
INK - Real Red, Chocolate Chip

OTHER - Basic Rhinestones, Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Stampin' Dimensionals, Designer Label Punch, Scallop Trim Border

To see more pages done with this sketch visit the SBSC248 Gallery. Why not add yours? :)

Simple Gift Idea

The new Holiday Mini began this month and I am a BIG fan of paisley!!! So the first thing I ordered was this cute stamp set called Paisley Prints. It's a set of 5 with a leaf, a pumpkin, two different size hearts and a little Christmas tree! :) You can look at the mini on my website click HERE to download your own .pdf copy.
I guess I was inspired by the image in the mini, because the first project I did was a candle using 3 leaves in different colors, and that's exactly how they featured it. I honestly didn't remember the catalog version when I created mine...it must have been buried in my subconscious LOL. My club members really enjoyed making their "gift sets!"

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Paisley Prints, Day of Gratitude

PAPER - Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Confetti Cream (inside card)
INK - River Rock, Pear Pizzazz, Gold, Cajan Craze

OTHER - Hemp, 5/8" Crochet Trim, Gold Embossing Powder, Word Window Punch, Green Satin Ribbon

SU! Regional

Saturday was the SU! Regional Event at the Fort Worth Convention Center. I just had my 5th anniversary as a demo and amazingly I've never attended a regional event before. Well, let me tell you, you'll have to lock me up to keep me from attending another one. That was AWESOME! It was like an intimate version of convention, which I couldn't attend this year, so I'm not feeling as sad about it now. :)

We had 6 make-n-take projects to complete and there were lots of inspiring presentations to watch throughout the day. Business ideas, and fellow demonstrators that went on stage to show us their "workshop wows." I really love being part of the Stampin' Up! family!!!

Twila, her mom, Sally, Laura, Sherry, Barbara, Mary, Jena

After the Regional was over we went to Twila Mooneyham's house for an after party. She was MORE than generous with BBQ, treats, and even THREE projects for us to do while we sat around her kitchen table chatting. As we were finishing the bird (pictured below) I was floored when she said there were two more projects for us to do. WOW Twila, really? We had a GREAT time, but were truly exhausted driving back after a full day of fun. Thanks again Twila, you ROCK!!!

The paper bird we made is somewhat similar to one in our Catalog on p.173, although I honestly think this is a cuter version with the beak, eye, and ribbon detail. The one in the IB&C is more rounded and I checked the corporate website to see if there were instructions for their version, and they have a bird, but it's a little different. It's really cute too, so I'm sharing...see below. Twila found her template on another blogger's site that was her inspiration. We affectionately referred to our birds as Twila Bird while we were making them! lol Here's a link to her blog post about it. She doesn't give instructions, but she gave us each a template to take home, so I'll probably do one for a Future Ladies Night. I really like my "Twila Bird!" :D

Paper Bird (July 2010 Art Show)

(These are the instructions on the SU! Corporate Website)

1. Cut out bird body, tail, and chest from Very Vanilla card stock using this pattern (Other Pattern #13 from Pattern Library). If the link isn't working, email me and I'll send it to you!
2. Repeatedly stamp artistic circle image in Baja Breeze ink on bird body. Apply Crumb Cake ink to bird body using sponge dauber.
3. Pierce holes along edge of bird pieces using paper-piercing tool and Mat Pack. Sew bird pieces together using needle and thread. Spritz bird using  Color Spritzer Tool and Soft Suede marker.
4. Cut flowers from Baja Breeze textured card stock and Newsprint Designer Series paper using Big Shot and Island Floral Bigz die. Punch hole in center of each flower using 1/16" Circle punch. Layer  flowers, and secure with Antique brad. Adhere flower to bird.

 tweet tweet

Celebrations Par-tay!

I've been working hard on the invites for one of my little birthday princesses. Two of my three daughters have a birthday this month, so I'm up to my eyeballs in party planning! I ordered the super cute coordinating Celebrations Party Banner, and Party Hats for the first event and also the Quick Accents and matching Designer Series Paper to scrap the whole thing after the party is over. You should see the cute photos on page 52 in the catalog, there is so much you can do with these!


The first thing I did was punch out the party hats so I could use the leftover card stock on my invites. Who could let this super cute paper go to waste?

I had lots of leftover card stock after punching out the banner pieces too. In the catalog it simply says you get over 100 letters etc. with multiples of popular letters. I decided to take invetory and give you the specifics here.
The set includes 30 white brads for assembly and the following letters/numbers:
4 letter "A," 3 letter "B," 3 letter "C," 3 letter "D," 4 letter "E," 4 letter "F," 3 letter "G," 3 letter "H," 4 letter "I," 3 letter "J," 3 letter "K," 3 letter "L," 3 letter "M," 4 letter "N," 4 letter "O," 3 letter "P," 2 letter "Q," 3 letter "R," 4 letter "S," 3 letter "T," 3 letter "U," 2 letter "V," 3 letter "W," 2 letter "X," 3 letter "Y," 2 letter "Z,"and 2 party hats and 2 stars. It also has 2 of each number 1 - 9 and 1 zero.

After punching it all out I'm amazed by how much excess patterned card stock I have to play with, so I punched some stars from the various patterns to use on the insides of the invites too. Her birthday is Sunday and the party will be on the 25th. All I need to do now is finish typing up the details for the insides and put them together. My goal is to make sure they'll be ready to pass out on Monday when I bring cupcakes to share with her classmates. What 'cha think? I'm lovin' them!!! :)

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Party This Way, Short Order Numbers

PAPER - Real Red, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Bashful Blue
INK - Real Red, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz

OTHER - Star Extra-Large Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, White Gel Pen, White Thread