Birthday Sketches

 As promised, I said I would post the projects we made at the Downline Fun Day.  Here is one of my favorites.  I have so much Washi tape and wanted to show them how to use it in a different way, so I cut two pieces Vellum Cardstock and had them tape 3 sides and punch out different shapes of confetti and pour into the pocket, and then tape the 4th and final side to hold it all in.  I had them use their SNAIL just around the Washi tape so that you couldn't see the tape through the vellum to attach to the card.  The card itself is a base of Whisper White layered with a piece of Bermuda Bay and then layered with Raspberry Ripple and a strip of Birthday Basics wrapped with a piece of Summer Starfruit Stitched Ribbon.

I stamped the Birthday Cake and Happy Birthday cake in Black Stazon onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  I left it without coloring because I like that the focus is on the color of confetti in the pocket.  However, I had them stamp with Stazon in case they preferred to color it. (Note: I did color the candle flame).  Stay tuned for the next project we made.  Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Downline Event Gifts

 Today my downline FINALLY all were able to get together for a fun day of stamping and goal setting, and eating of course.  I have a small team, but love them all! Along with some fun projects we stamped and they took home, I always try and make things just for them to show my appreciation for them hanging around and being a part of the team. I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE the new wood mount stamp cases! I cannot tell you how many things run through my head as to what can be done with them.  So, for them I stamped some Whisper White cardstock with the stamp set Polka Dot Pieces in Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, and Island Indigo ink.  I then inserted it into the front plastic and made a belly band from the Prints Pack DSP using Island Indigo(chevron pattern) and wrapping with ribbon and tying a bow, and then stamping one of the images from the stamp set "I AM" from Convention 2012 in Melon Mambo onto Whisper White cardstock and using the Labels Collection dies to cut it out and mount it onto a Crushed Curry layer.

 I stuck inside some goodies inside of course there's always got to be CHOCOLATE!

 I also gave them one of our paper bags from the Tag a Bag Bundle, in which I folded up the bottom and stapled and decorated with a Paper Doiley, some Etcetra DSP and wrapped to hide the staples with Pool Party Seam Binding ribbon and finished off with a Very Vintage Button tied with some Calypso Coral Bakers Twine.

Here's a closeup of the bag(oops, one of my staples is showing) ....I put some instant coffee and Chai Tea bags inside. Stop back by this week to see the projects we made!

Stylin' Stampin' Blog Hop/FAVORITE TOOL!

Thank you so much for joining us for the September Stylin' Squad Blog Hop! This month we are focusing on the tools of the stampin' trade.  Specifically, each of our favorite stamping tools.  It's amazing the kinds of tools that have been created to help us along in our paper crafting addictions.  This month's blog hop will showcase many of the Stampin' UP! tools that are now available to us in the 2013-14 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog and Holiday Catalog and even a couple of products that are so new that they aren't in either catalog!  We hope you enjoy seeing how we use the old and the new tools and are inspired to come up with your own great projects!

I chose the NEW Envelope Punch Board! 

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=133774

I decided to make this Mini Album!  I used the Epic Day DSP pack and stickers because I am heading off to San Diego today for the  SU! Getaway and thought this would be fun to put some momentos  and photos in of our trip!

Here are some of the inside pages.  The DSP actually covers little pockets behind them, and if you watch the video on how to make this, you will see them and understand where they are.  It was really difficult to write out instructions, so I linked the video below.   I chose this tool, not only because it's so versatile, but who doesn't get frustrated when making cards and odd sized ones at that, and don't have an envelope to fit it.  This tool has the measurements for 66 DIFFERENT sizes!  So, if you don't have one ordered already, you should, contact me today or order online!

http://wermemorykeepers.wordpress.com/2013/08/07/create-a-mini-book-using-the-envelope-punch-board/ 

Here is the video I learned this from...HAVE FUN and go make one!

Oh! and don't forget...go check out the rest of the BLOGGERS, showcasing their favorite tools from Stampin' Up!

http://www.craftsmashup.blogspot.com/

http://www.stampininthesun77.blogspot.com/

http://www.stampinwithtonya.blogspot.com/

http://dawnscreativechalet.com/

http://www.stampindj.blogspot.com/

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stinkytofu/blog

http://www.rydenkim.blogspot.com/

http://jkcards.wordpress.com/

http://stuckonstampin.blogspot.com/

http://www.nwstamper.com/

http://craft-somniamomma.blogspot.com/

http://stampinfunwithdiana.blogspot.com/

http://www.happy2scrap4life.blogspot.com/

http://mamasanity.blogspot.com/

San Diego Swaps!

 It wouldn't be a Stampin' Up! Event at all, even a Getaway Trip, without card swaps! So, for this one I had to make 19 swaps to share with 19 other ladies!  At Convention, someone showcased a gift card holder and I fell in love with it, so I ventured out to make one and fell in love with making it so this is what I decided to make for all the achievers!

Swaps start out with the planning of course, which is the fun, yet overwhelming part because you want to give something that just WOWs them, then there is the preparations, and here are my photos of my journey to the finished product.  All my layers cut and scored ready to assemble.

I cannot get enough of this Bow Making Die for the Big Shot! LOVE IT!  I really couldn't have made this many bows if I had to cut them by hand.

Here are all my swaps together, FINISHED!

Here is the outside!  I used LOTS of stuff from the Holiday Mini catalog!

And here is the inside when you open it, the insert comes right up with the tab to hold the gift card or secret message!  LOVE IT!  Mike and I leave on Thursday morning at 4am to catch our flight out to San Diego, and I must say, I am really looking forward to a new place to visit! Don't forget to look on THURSDAY at my blog for the Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop featuring each or our FAVORITE paper crafting tools from Stampin' Up!

Magnetic Board Fun!

 I was asked to put some handmade goodies in a store recently here in our little town, and these are one of the things I made for selling.  You might wonder what the base of this magnetic board is, well, if you guessed a stove burner cover, then you are right!  I traced it onto Gingham Garden DSP and cut it out, sanded the edges and Mod Podged it on.

 I have a HUGE array of retired embellishments in my stash and thought what a great way to use them up! These buttons were some of my favorites and I hoarded a whole bunch.  Happy to finally use them. I threaded some white cardstock through them and hot glued a magnet onto the back of each one.

I wanted to add some more subtle decoration onto it, so I punched out some flowers from Daffodil Delight and then a scalloped Melon Mambo, slit in between each petal, and a punched out circle to the centers and hot glued them onto the front.  For the ribbon for hanging, I used my Cropidile and punched holes in the top and threaded some Satin Ribbon for hanging.  I will have a couple more projects to share in the next few days having to do with magnetic boards and frames.

Maple Leaf Joy Fold Card

Good Wednesday to you! I hope all you that have children, have had good experiences with getting those little ones (and big ones) off to school this week.  Not sure how I feel every year, bittersweet pretty much comes to mind as my nest is dwindling all the time, down to 2 from 4 at one time...ugh.  Anyway, on to the post.....
This card was one of my finalists for my Fancy Folds 2 class coming up, and as much as I love doing this technique, it was just not what I wanted to show them, so it got ousted and put here to share with you all.
You can find a tutorial here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/joy_fold_card/ and see how simple it is.  I started with a Crushed Curry base and layered it up with Early Expresso and Very Vanilla Cardstock and then the DSP is from the pack Sweater Weather in the Holiday Mini.  I cut it all according to the directions and then stamped the Maple Leaf stamp, also a Holiday Mini item, in Early Expresso and then the acorn in Cajun Craze and sentiment in Crushed Curry from the stamp set Truly Grateful(Holiday Mini)onto the Very Vanilla.  I stamped one more acorn and punched it out using the 1" Circle punch and layering it onto the Cajun Craze 1 1/4" circle and up with a Dimensional, it serves as the "closure" for the card front.  That's how simple this card was! Think of all the different combinations you could use! I hope you have a wonderful day, I'm heading into my stamp room this morning and working on cards for my September classes!

LaLaLoopsy Birthday!

Jenna has a birthday party to go to today and I just love making cards for little girls because it makes me think a little bit harder since I tend to go for the butterflies all the time, this one I thought I could do something different, something I don't do a lot of and that's the punch art.   I wanted to make this LaLaLoopsy card for quite awhile, and so this was the perfect time to make it.  I started by layering Crushed Curry and Whisper White cardstock that I ran through the Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder onto Melon Mambo base. For the doll, I punched her head out using the 2 1/2" circle punch with Blushing Bride cardstock and then punching another partial one out of Pumpkin Pie cardstock for her hair.  The curls I made by cutting thin strips of Pumpkin Pie and twirling around a wooden skewer and glueing it to the sides of her head.  For the barrettes, I used the Small Heart Punch and punched out four hearts and glued them end to end to make the "butterfly" look of her barrettes and then added a Large Rhinestone to the center and down on her ponytails to cover the separation of her ponytails and hair.  To finish her face, I added two Black Glimmer brads and used my Black Journaling marker to do her little eyelashes and mouth and a pencil eraser dipped in Blushing Bride ink pad for her cheeks.  Her dress is made from the gingham print piece of DSP from the pack Gingham Garden and the trim is used from Island Indigo punched across the bottom with the Scallop Edge Punch and adding a string of Basic Rhinestones to the hem. Her tiny arms are made from the Word Window Punch and layered just behind her dress.  I stamped the sentiment from Bring on the Cake in Basic Black onto Melon Mambo and punched out using the Wide Oval Punch and popped up with Dimensionals.  And of course, I had to add some more glimmer to it because she is afterall a little girl, so I ran the Silver Glitter Paper through the Big Shot using my Typeset Alphabet die(they also come with a set of numbers!!!).  I didn't have a chance to get her a gift, so we stuck some money inside and I hope she enjoys it as much as I did making it!