Sunflower Favor

I have been using my Big Shot for many of my cards and favors, but for this one I went back to my electronic die cutting machine. I had purchased a new cartridge and wanted to use my Sweet Treat cups for something. How cute is this for a Mother's Day favor? After I cut out the flower (which was basically a solid scallop shape) I snipped between each scallop and highlighted those cuts with my SU! pastels. For the leaves I used a scoring board to emboss the leaves. As cute as this is, I wonder what else I can do with it--maybe use ribbon for the leaves? Have a great day!

Scallop circle Card

Many of my cards are girlie with the colors, ribbons, etc. This morning I made a card that can easily be sent to a male. Using the Big Shot scallop circle die from SU!, I folded a piece of Barely Banana cardstock. Since the Big Shot will cut thru two pieces of cardstock, I lined the cardstock up on the die so that the folded edge was slightly in from the scallop edge on the left side. In other words, I was not completely cutting out the die and leaving the two scallop circles attached. A couple of the scallops on the left side were not cut out, but I covered that with Night of Navy ribbon. I cut another large scallop circle, using only a portion of it on the front of the card. Using a variety of punches, I made and randomly adhered varying sizes of circle to both the front and inside of the card. I attached the completed card to a 4 3/4" x 4 3/4" square and rounded the corners. I like the way it turned out and will be making more versions of this card. As a reminder to you, since this card needs a square envelope, it also requires extra postage when sending it thru the US Post Office. Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Shimmer Paint

Stampin' Up! introduced Shimmer Paint in the Holiday Mini a few months ago. SU!made the announcement that Shimmer Paint is available and will be in the new Idea Book & Catalog when it comes out in the summer . So I got out my little bottle (which has been sitting on a shelf for a couple of months) and experimented with it. For this blue card I pounced White Shimmer Paint on Glossy white cardstock using crumpled up Saran Wrap. Once that dried, I rubbed (using a sponge) three colors of the SU! pastels on top of the Shimmer Paint. The effect is very nice and I will be trying this technique again. Another way to use the Shimmer Paint is to apply it directly to your rubber stamps. I used Elegant Eggplant cardstock and it showed up very nicely on the dark color. There is more experimenting to be done using the Shimmer Paint, but at least now I can say I played with it. I will be demonstrating this product at a future card class and I should have a few samples of other techniques to use with Shimmer Paint.

Top Note Versatility

In my previous post I used the same supplies but different cardstock colors to create two cards. In this post I used SU's Top Note die--an SU! exclusive die--in three diffferent ways. The Mambo Melon and Basic Gray card was made using the quilt technique--a very fun technique that we will be using at a future card class. The next two cards are versions of cards I first made more than a year ago at my upline's house. When we made those cards, I thought they were nice, but since I was not going to get a Big Shot, I did not think about them too much. (How things change!) I put those two cards in my "Idea Box". What is an Idea Box? Well, when I go thru my paper crafting magazines, if there is a card I like, I tear out the page. These pages, along with cards I receive and sample cards that I have made at meetings or get togethers go into a storage box. The other day I was sorting thru my Idea Box and came across those two cards that I didn't think too much about more than a year ago. Well, I did a lot of thinking about them earlier today and these photos show what can be done with current supplies and a little creativity. They are all pretty cards, but the Top Note purse is just too darn cute! You need double-sided paper. (I used paper from the Tea Party collection.) Cut a top note and fold over the top third. The points on the sides will show from under the flap. All you need to do is snip those points off. The flap covers it up. I used a rhinestone brad as a little embellishment. The purse handle is actually SU's white taffeta ribbon that I dyed using my Almost Amethyst ink pad. Gotta love that white taffeta ribbon. It can be dyed to match any of the SU! colors. And FYI: The Big Note die can be used in your Cuttlebug! I'm off to watch the ice skating on the Olympics. Have a nice evening.

Same Basic Card, Different Colors

I really like the Embosslits and Embossing folders from Stampin' Up! I used the Embosslit Butterflies and the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder for these cards. I am always amazed at how color can affect things. Here is a good example of that. The same cards, but one using Real Red and Bashful Blue and the other using Regal Rose and Whisper White. One more bold, the other more subtle and feminine. The Fundamental Phrases stampset has many great greetings but I find that I do not use it as much as I thought. I am leaving it on my scrap island now so that I will use it more often. By the way, Fundamental Phrases is double-mounted, so if you have been thinking about purchasing it, I just wanted to point that out. Enjoy the day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Think Spring!

Things have been busy here. My husband's aunt died last week, so we were able to have an unexpected visit with John's mom, sister, brothers and sister-in-law. They came from Phoenix and North Carolina so we had a sleep-over for a few days. As sad as the reason for the trip, we had a great time with each other. And then today is a big day--it's our 36th wedding anniversary! How quickly the years have gone by. And just a few minutes ago, my son came home with a cake from my very favorite bakery--Deerfield's! It is delicious.

I went to my scraproom to put away Valentine items and as I was putting the Sending Love Designer Paper away, I saw the pink and decided I would make just one card. (And you know that you never make just one card! Like I have mentioned before, I go down into my scraproom and it just sucks me in!) I did make a couple of cards, but I wanted to share this Easter card. I have had SU's Heat & Stick powder for quite some time, but never used it. I stamped the greeting using Pretty In Pink craft ink and then added the Heat & Stick powder. As soon as it melted I added the Dazzling Diamonds. I am not fond of using glitter because of the fact that it gets all over. But what I do like is that the Dazzling Diamonds is not coming off the card since it was heat set into the Heat & Stick powder. Definitely a product I will be using more. Have a great day.

Great Class!

The After School Enrichment program was a lot of fun. Eight girls attended, ages 9 & 10 plus a 7 year old. The girls did a great job with their projects and I would have loved to have more time with them. The little 7 year old was so delighted when she would complete something. She was smiling from ear to ear during the entire session. If I could have taken a pic and posted it on my site, I surely would have done so. But without parental permission, that just isn't allowed. My friend, Regina helped me so we were able to do 5 projects in an hour and 45 minutes. FYI: If anyone reading this blog lives near me, I do have a child's class here at my house for kids ages 9-12, usually scheduled during no school days/school breaks. This test tube is scheduled for my next kid's class on February 26th. If your child would be interested, give me a call or send an email for details. Have a great day and find yourself some stampin' time.

Earthquake Morning!

It is 4 in the morning and this loud noise causes me to jolt upright in bed. It sounded like a gunshot or a sonic boom--very close to where I was sleeping. Then my husband wakes up and I ask him if he knew what that was? He said it must have been the wind. But I knew it was more than wind, just not sure what it was. I heard a dish rattle and I thought that maybe some ice cream dishes that were in the sink fell over. So we both got up. He went to the garage, I went to the kitchen--no, dishes still where they were and nothing out of place around the outside of the house. So we go back to sleep for a few more hours. When our morning begins, we have our coffee, read the paper and then I come to check my emails and turn on news. It was an earthquake that woke us up at 4 AM! Can you believe it? 3.8 on the scale, which they say isn't very strong, but it sure was loud and strong enough to jolt me up! And by the way, the dishes I heard~~actually a display dish on a plate stand in the dining room. The rack collapsed and the plate fell onto the table. Nothing broke, but there was enough movement to cause the rack to move and collapse. Yesterday lots of snow, today an earthquake!

Bright & Cheery

Since getting home from Florida, it has been a little gloomy around here. No better time to make a bright and cheerful card for someone. Red cardstock and a package of Pink Flamingo Designer Paper were on my island, so I decided to see what I could do with it. On my bulletin board was the "Love You Much" card that I made a while ago using melon mambo and the scalloped envelop die. There was my inspiration! Change the colors. Use butterflies instead of hearts and you have a bright and cheery card to help chase away the gloom. Now how easy was that?

After School Enrichment

I have been asked to once again participate in an after school enrichment program at a local elementary school. Of course I said I would. It is very "enriching" for me to see the excitement and sense of accomplishment as the children complete their projects. We will be doing a number of things, the first of which will be the heart treat cups. Birthday cards are always a hit at the after school programs, so we will do a couple birthday cards. This card, using Lovely Lilac cardstock, is a little on the girlie side, so I also have Pumpkin Pie card bases for the boys should they not want Lovely Lilac. Hope you have a great day.

Stampin' Time Sunday

Just a reminder to let me know by February 4th if you will be attending this event on February 7th. Here is a photo of the Top Note quilt card that we will be making. In addition to this and additional cards, we will be making matchbox gift boxes, post-it note holders and more. Hope to see you soon.