Encre, papier, ciseaux

Gift Ideas - Domestic Goddess Set

These are some of the projects we made at my Gift Ideas class. We decorated the card box using patterned paper and the pattern included in the kit for the lid. I was concerned that the lid would be a tight fit if I covered the rest of the box with paper as well, so I die-cut rickrack using the Tasteful Trims die. I added the Big Shot adhesive sheets on the back of the paper before die-cutting it, to make it easier to add the rickrack on the box. I threaded a button with ribbon and added it on front, then added the metal frame and slipped a piece of matching paper in it.

I used paper from the same pack to cover the divider as well. You could use the box to give someone a set of cards or use as a recipe box. Since I'm not much of a cook myself, I plan on using the box to organize my receipts.

The second part of the gift uses the Decor Elements wooden blocks. One of them was decorated with family pictures, and I added our family initial on the top of the block. Although I love to use dimensional adhesive when I decorate my projects, I chose to glue to letter flat so that I can stack my blocks if I want to (I want to print more pictures and decorate the other blocks with them).

For the second block, I wanted to make a calendar. I looked everywhere on the Internet for free calendars and couldn't find anything ready to print in French, so I gave up and made my own version in Word. I used the RGB codes to match the headers with my patterned papers. Those are quick and easy to do, they are inexpensive and make a useful gift for the hard-to-shop-for men in our life.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Letter It
Designer papers: Domestic Goddess
Cardstock: Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze
Accessories: Sanding blocks, button, Pool Party ribbon,
Tasteful Trims die, Big Shot Adhesive Sheets

 

Christmas Ride

This card was made for a colleague who requested a special Christmas card for her grandson, who loves truck. Didn't have to think about my inspiration long and I went straight for the Loads of Love set. I added the tree in the trunk and  the gifts in the cab. The rest of the card was put together with the use of a leftover paper and embellishment kit I had put together for an event. Everything was already color-coordinated, so putting this card together was really quick.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Des tonnes d'amour (Loads of Love)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, watercolor paper
Designer papers: Holiday Happenings
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Rose Red, Versamark
Accessories: Pewter embossing powder, Oval die, Old St. Nick rub-ons, rhinestone, pearls,
felt snowflakes, die-cut tab, Baja Breeze ribbon, buttons, silver mini brads,
blending pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Inkspirations #97 - Poinsettia Girl

  
 
  
 
 

This week, I decided to put some mileage on stamps that hadn't been used in a while and use papers that had been sitting in my stash for a while. I found an old piece of shimmery Holidays paper from KI Memories that I bought when I first started scrapbooking and used a square on my card and the rest to make a matching envelope. My main image was colored with Prismacolors and Gamsol and die-cut with an oval die. Since the little girl has some holly leaves on her dress, I used the Stocking Accents die to create a matching holly leaves accent. I dug out some old SU! buttons (before we had our lovely Designer buttons) to make the berries.

The border was created with the Lace Border punch, underneath which I glued 1-in. Circle of Regal Rose cardstock, and then I added pearls in the middle of each flower/snowflake. The background piece was wheeled with the Music Notes wheel and embossed with clear powder, and to finish it off, I added a white rub-on from the Old St. Nick rub-ons pack at the bottom.

This card was a special request from a coworker for her daughter's English teacher. This time, I made sure to select something that would appeal not only to the teacher herself but to the six-year old who would be giving it to her. You see, last time my coworker requested an English card at the end of the school year, I created something in black and white with just a dash of Cherry Cobbler and went with a shabby chic style. I loved it and thought the teacher would too, and my coworker loved it as well. But the six-year old daughter... not so much. In retrospect, I should have known and kept my target audience in mind when making the card, which is exactly what I did this time around!

 

 

 
Color Combo: Riding Hood Red + Regal Rose + Green Galore

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pia Puddington (Stamping Bella), Music Notes wheel (SU!)
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Green Galore, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Designer papers: KI Memories
Inks: Versamark, Basic Black
Accessories:  Old St. Nick rub-ons, Clear embossing powder, Corner Rounder punch,
Stocking Accents, Lace Ribbon border punch, Buttons, Pearls, Circle punch,
Prismacolor pencils, Stumps, Gamsol, Oval die

 

Cheers to 2012

I have had a mile-long list of things to do and have been stressed out about it lately, so yesterday, I decided I would take some time to relax and make a card just for fun. I'm telling you, there's nothing like stamping therapy! I played some Christmas CDs on my computer and for a couple of hours, got totally lost in coloring, cutting and embellishing. Pure bliss!

The design started with a Cat's Pajamas sketch. It had a long vertical band with squares on it and as I was trying to figure out what those squares could be and looking at my stamps, I thought that if I did a New Year card, I could use the squares to add the year! That was the starting point of the design. I wanted use black and white and I remembered about a B&W with sparkly patterns paper I had so I went hunting for it.

I wanted to use the silver glimmer paper from SU! to make the numbers. I used the Timeless Type alphabet dies to die-cut them but when I paired them with the paper, the color was off. Then, I remembered I have seen some people who shared on their blogs that they had sponged ink on the glimmer paper to change its color, so I pulled out my Basic Grey ink and darkened the paper. It worked perfectly - now the numbers match the shade of the paper beautifully.

For the ribbon bow, I overlayed two ribbons (black satin and polka dot organza) and a funky fiber and knotted them together. To mimick the sketch and the stamped image, I added holly leaves and berries that were die-cut out of grey cardstock using the Stocking Accents die. I used the perforating blade from the cutting kit to add a line in the center of each leaves and I lightly folded them in half to give them some shape so they wouldn't lie flat. I added rhinestones to the numbers and the stamped image, and a black glimmer brad at the top of the main panel.

Then, I used an envelope template and the rest of the patterned paper to make a matching envelope.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Make Merry (TCP)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Going Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU!)
Patterned paper: DCWV
Inks: Basic Grey, Basic Black, Wisteria Wonder
Big Shot: Stocking Accents, Timeless Type, Nestabilities
Accessories: Rhinestones, sponge, envelope template, Corner Rounder punch, markers,
black satin ribbon, white polka dot organza ribbon, black fiber, paper piercer and mat pack,
black glimmer brad, silver glimmer paper, Cutting Kit

 

Ornate Blossom

This is another older card I hadn't published yet. The background and main image were created using the Ornate Blossom single stamp. It was stamped in Cherry Cobbler on the background cardstock, but I used the Poppin' Pastels to give it color and shading on the main image.

The Poppin' Pastels technique is simple: you stamp an image in Versamark and apply pastels to your image using daubers or a Q-tip applicator. What I like best about this technique is that you can then use darker shades to adding shading to your image. As you can see, the blossom looks totally different here than it would stamped in ink.

The sentiment comes from the Curly Cute set and was embossed in gold powder.

 

 

Color Combo: Cherry Cobbler + More Mustard + Soft Suede + Very Vanilla

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Ornate Blossom, Jolies pensées (Curly Cute)
Cardstock: Cherry Blossom, More Mustard, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Inks: Versamark
Accessories: Gold embossing powder, Circle punch, Daubers, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

In Colors Banner

This card showcases the Pennant Parade set, matching punch and this year's In Colors collection. I also used the lovely Hand-Penned Holidays set to add the sentiment at the bottom.

If you look closely, you'll see the background was embossed with polka dots using a Texturz plate. The plates are larger and can therefore accomodate the length of a 6-1/2 x 3-1/4 in. card, whereas the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder would have been a smidge too short to cover the whole cardstock. It is important to remember to stamp your sentiment before adding the dry-embossing or else you'll have a bumpy surface to work on and will probably be missing part of the letters, ending up with a sentiment that's hard to read.

I used the mat pack and paper piercer to add a row of piercing on both ends of the sentiment, and added pearls to the pennants to mimick tacks holding the banner together. Now that we have the mini silver brads, those would also be a nice size for the pennants.

Finally, I used one of our long tall envelope and stamped it to match the card using the Pennant Parade set.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Notes manuscrites (Hand-Penned Holidays), Pennant Parade
Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade
Inks: Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Paper piercer and mat pack, Stampin' Dimensionals, Texturz plate,
White envelope, Pearl basic jewels, Pennant punch, Circle punch

 

November Tour de Freaks - Keep it Simple, Stamper!



 
 
 
 

Psst... If you are reading this post on October19th, please note that we are getting the tour ready and testing the links to make sure everything is working. The official tour begins on the 20th, so if you cannot make the whole round tonight, hang in there with us!

   

Welcome to our November Tour de Freaks! This tour is brought to you by the Control Freaks Stampers members and if you have been following the tour, you should have gotten to my blog by clicking on the link provided by the lovely Deb Currier on her blog. If you are just starting out, make sure to visit all twelve blogs that are part of the tour today by following the links provided at the bottom of each post. Our theme this month is K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stamper! With the Holidays fast approaching, keeping it simple is a great play to make sure everything on your crafting list gets done! I hope we can provide you with some inspiration for your Christmas cards and Holiday gifts! So without further ado, here are the fun projects I would like to share with you this month!

 

 

My first project: Christmas Cage

Project info: To me, simple rhymes with Simply Scrappin' kits. Everything you need is in there: cardstock, papers, assorted embellishments. The adhesive die-cuts include some cute holly leaves and berries, and I thought they would look awfully cute added to one of the cages from the Aviary set. To Keep It Simple even more, I pulled out my Page Maps card sketches to help design my card even more quickly. Looking at the sticky die-cuts sheet, I spotted some really small circle images that I thought I could line up to "hang" the cage from.

I then added a sentiment from the Four the Holidays set and I was done!

   

 

   



 

Supplies
Stamps: Aviary, Quatuor des Fêtes (Four the Holidays)
Simply Scrappin' Kit: Christmas Lane
Inks: Versamark, Soft Suede
Accessories: Corner Rounder punch, Pewter embossing powder

  

 

 

My second project: Movember Birthday 

Project info:  Isn't this birthday card just perfect for Movember? It was inspired by a card I saw in a recent Paper Crafts magazine, that I wanted to recreate using Stampin' Up! supplies. It is super simple, but it makes me smile every time I look at it. It uses the Many Mustaches set, which I embossed in black and handcut. If you wanted to save on time, you could do a set of four cards at once, using the different mustaches from the stamp. You would only have to stamp and emboss once to make your four cards.

The party hat was done with the Pennant Parade set and punched with the matching punch. The sentiment was pulled from the Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess set.

 

 

 

  

Color Combo: Poppy Parade + Tempting Turquoise + Daffodil Delight

 

Supplies
Stamps: Voeux multiples (Happiest Birthday Wishes), Many Mustaches, Pennant Parade
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise
Designer papers: Big Top Birthday
Inks: Versamark, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Black and White embossing powders, Pennant punch,
Circle punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

  

 

My third project: Christmas Tag

Project info: This is one of the tags I created for my Christmas Tags class. I like that it's simple but classy. Tags can really jazz up a gift or gift bag and get the person excited about receiving the gift even before he or she has unwrapped it. This one was made with the Contempo Christmas set and the tree was embossed with the pewter embossing powder (sold in the Holidays mini), which fits very nicely with the River Rock cardstock. The color combo came from the Color Coach.

 

   

 

   



 

Supplies
Stamps: Noël contemporain (Contempo Christmas), Confetti
Cardstock: Rose Red, Not Quite Navy, River Rock
Inks: Versamark, Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Circle punch, Scallop Ribbon punch, Pewter embossing powder,
Not Quite Navy taffeta ribbon, Crop-a-Dile, Bone folder

 

 

And now onto your next step on the tour, with Lisa Martz's wonderful creations!

 
  

New Year's Eve Fireworks

Today, I'd like to share a card I had submitted for publication that was not selected. What I like about this card is that it showcases how to get the most out of your stamps. The firework images are from a set called Canada Day (from 2010 Summer Mini), which I used on a New Year card. Just because the set was initially created for Canada Day does not mean it has to sit in a box the other 11 months of the year. This is exactly why I got this set, because I figured that fireworks would be a nice addition to my stamp collection that could be used for many a different occasion.

The stars were stamped in Versamark and embossed with Iridescent Ice powder. The fireworks were stamped in Whisper White and embossed with Iridescent Ice powder as well, and decorated with rhinestones.

I wanted to keep the color scheme simple and elegant, so I paired black and silver together, with a grey taffeta ribbon tied at the bottom. The sentiment is a white-rub-on from the retired Holiday Happenings rub-ons pack. The white polka dot border is also a rub-on.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Canada Day
Cardstock: Basic Black, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Inks: Versamark, Whisper White
Accessories: Rhinestones, Basic Grey taffeta ribbon, Holiday Happenings rub-ons,
Iridescent Ice embossing powder

 

Inkspirations #96 - Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

  
 
  
 
 

I can't help but think of Charlie Brown ever time I look at this bare little tree. Which is exactly what makes the charm of this set! This set has been on my wish list from the moment it came out in the catalogue and I was lucky enough to score it for free during last Sale-a-Bration. (BTW, if you'd like to score some wonderful sets for free yourself, it is not too early to pick a date to host your own workshop after the Holidays! SAB will be starting on January 24th, 2012, so call or e-mail me to pick a date!) 

The ornaments were stamped separately on Whisper White cardstock and handcut, then popped up with Dimensionals. I added Dazzling Details on some of the ornaments. Be warned if you use it directly on the ink that it can change the color. That's what happened on the striped ornament, but I didn't mind it. I did go back and stamp another ornament again because I didn't like how the ink had bled.

The snowflake and sentiment are from the Old St. Nick rub-ons pack, which is available in the Clearance Rack.

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Happiness
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Designer papers: Basic Grey
Inks: Soft Suede, Real Red, Bashful Blue
Accessories:  Ribbons, Mini jingle bell, white baker's twine, Holly Berry Bouquet button,
Dazzling Details, Washi tape, Snowflake embossing folder

 

Christmas Lane Simple Stocking

I decided I wanted to make a series of simple cards based on the Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' kit. This is the first card that was born out of that project. All of the pieces come from the SS kit, except the stocking, which was stamped with the Stitched Stockings set, and the sentiment, stamped with the Petite Pairs set on one of the sticky die-cuts from the kit. I added a silver mini library clip on the tag and a piece of scallop polka dot ribbon, which I used backside up so that the polka dots are hidden.

I strongly encourage you to get this Simply Scrappin' set to help you put together beautiful Holidays cards really in a snap. Did you know that there's only six weeks left before Christmas? I'm trying not to think too much about it as there is still a mile-long list of things I would like to get done before then...

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Stitched Stockings, Quelques lignes (Petites Pairs)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Simply Scrappin' Kit: Christmas Lane
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Mini library clip, Cherry Cobbler scallop ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Snowflake Shaker

Today, I am sharing an idea on how to use the shaker box dimensional rings that are sold in the Holidays mini. Instead of using them on the front of my paper, I used it on the back to create a window look.

I started out by punching the snowflake shape out of the polka dot patterned paper. Then, I punched a 2-1/2 Circle out of scrap paper and used the empty circle on the paper as a guide to add piercing around the snowflake. I then glued a piece of windowsheet underneath the punched snowflake, and I added a polka dot brad in the center of the snowflaker. I then added a shaker box ring around the snowflake, underneath the paper. I flipped the paper face down on the table and I filled the shaker with mica flakes.

Tip: The mica flakes can be very static-y so instead of pourring them right out of the container, I prefer to use a small spoon (the little plastic spoon they use for tasting at ice cream parlors are perfect for that) to add the flakes on my project. Less mess that way!

 

I then peeled the backing off and glued a second piece of windowsheet on the back on the shaker to close it off. Adding the second windowsheet will make your job much easier when centering your panel on the card base. If you left the shaker box open on the back, you would have to leave the paper face down on the table and try to center your card base directly on it. Adding the second piece of windowsheet allows you to close the back of the shaker and move the sheet around and place it properly on your card.

I rounded the paper corners with a punch and I stamped my sentiment at the bottom, adding a few pearls to it. I then hung two mini jingle bells on a piece of white baker's twine and twisted it around the brad in the center of the snowflake.

Tip: The trick to adding the twine to the mini jingle bells is to use a needle threader. Otherwise, you'll just end up pulling your hair out! (Ask me how I know...)

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Notes manuscrites (Hand-Penned Holidays)
Cardstock: Wisteria Wonder
Designer Paper: In Colors Designer paper pack
Ink: Wisteria Wonder
Accessories: Snowflake punch, Mini jingle bells, White baker's twine, White envelope,
Pearl basic jewels, Windowsheets, In Colors polka dot brad, Paper piercer,
2-1/2 Circle punch,Mica flakes, Shaker Box dimensional ring

 

Halloween Owl

I knew I really wanted this hostess set when I first saw the Holidays mini. I managed to bag a copy for myself, but it took a while before I had time to make a project with it. This is what I came out with a few weeks ago. The color combo was inspired by the cover of the latest Creating Keepsakes magazine.

The wreath was colored with markers and stamped on Crumb Cake cardstock. I punched the center out using the three-way flower punch and the outer part of the wreath using our scallop circle punch.

The owl was stamped in Soft Suede on Whisper White cardstock and then again on So Saffron and Pumpkin pie cardstock to paper piece the mask, beak and Halloween bag. Isn't this owl just awfully cute? I think the set is worth getting for this stamp alone (although the other pieces are all equally cool). By the way, did you notice that all of the pieces from this set can be used with our punches? I used the owl punch for the owl and the Banner punch for the banner with a little heart image.  

The sentiment also comes from the same set. I used a marker to ink it up and omit the snowflakes on the top and bottom scroll to stick with the autumn theme. I added rhinestones in the empty space instead.

Tip: Use your Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to stamp an image or sentiment twice and create a shadow look. Stamp your image in a pale color first, wash your stamp and then using the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, place your image slightly to the right of the first stamped image and stamp again in a darker color.

The patterned papers all come from the Just Eat Cake DSP pack. The striped paper was die-cut using the Two Tags die and I placed the wreath at the top of the tag. Instead of cutting the bottom off, I folded it inside the card and embellished the inside using the banner stamp again. I also used the negative space punched out of the center of the wreath to decorate inside the card as well.

Tip: Always decorate the inside of your card and matching envelope while you are making the card. Use the paper and cardstock scraps available or an image from your stamp set to decorate or trace and cut an envelope out of a sheet of matching Designer paper. I find that people really love the polished look an envelope gives and if you decorate it while all of your supplies are out, it will only take an extra minute (as opposed to trying to make a matching envelope later).

The hearts on the banner were covered with Crystal Effects and I pourred gold fine glitter on one of them. The banner was "held" in place using glimmer brads from the In Color pack (Peach Passion).

To create my polka dot background, I mounted a circle piece of rubber that was die-cut from the center of another stamp. I thought for sure it was the center of the wreath from the hostess set I used on this card, but looking back on it, the die-cut center of a wiggly shape. So I'm drawing a blank as to which stamp it was, but surely, it was a circle image with an empty center and instead of throwing the piece of rubber away, I kept it and mounted it on a spare wooden block to turn into a new polka dot stamp! So green of me...

  

  

Color Combo: Peach Passion + Wild Wasabi + So Saffron + Crumb Cake

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Meilleurs voeux (Warmest of Wishes), circle
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Designer papers: Just Eat Cake
Inks: So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede, Peach Passion
Punches: Banner, Scallop Circle, Triple Use Flower, Owl
Big Shot: Two Tags die
Accessories: Gold glitter, Crystal Effects, glimmer brads, So Saffron taffeta ribbon,
Markers, Crumb Cake envelope, Daubers, Rhinestones

Warm Cup o' Hot Chocolate

This card was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday sketch (#214) and an old sheet of patterned paper I decided I wanted to use. The cups and marshmallow pattern is the front and the blue with snowflakes is the back of the same sheet. I looked at my stamps to decide which image I could pair with it and landed on the Tiny Teacup stamp I received during SAB and had unfortunately not inked up until today. (I know - yikes!)

The pattern on the paper also includes candy canes, so I used the Stocking Accents die to die-cut a candy cane out of the gorgeous sparkly striped paper from the Holly Berry Bouquet DSP pack. Then, I layered two bows made out of the Vanilla velvet and the Cherry Cobbler quilted satin ribbons that I held in place with a wasabi button from the Holly Berry Bouquet pack and a piece of Early Espresso baker's twine, complete with a cute mini jingle bell, of course!

The banner at right was cut out of the wasabi polka dot paper from the Just Eat Cake DSP pack and embossed with the Snow Burst embossing folder. (Notice how I used the debossed side of the folder for a different look?) I'll draw your attention to the mini button brads I added at the top of the banner. Those are found in the Trinkets pack and they are awfully cute! I know a lot of people have not noticed them in the catalogue, but they are worth a second look (find them on page 197 of the catalogue). They come with safety pins as well, which are great to pin in ribbon bows or to hold a little tag in place on a button. But I disgress...

I stamped the cup image three times in different ink colors, handcut them and stacked them up. The background circle was die-cut out of patterned paper, covered with Versamark and then I pourred Iridescent Ice powder over it and heat-embossed to give the paper a sparkly finish. A couple of snowflakes and sentiment rub-ons from the Old St. Nick rub-ons pack (which is available in Stampin' Up!'s Clearance Rack)

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tiny Teacup
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Designer Paper: Imaginisce, Just Eat cake (SU!), Holly Berry Bouquet (SU!)
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Oval and Circle dies, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Vanilla velvet ribbon,
Cherry Cobbler quilted satin ribbon, Stocking Accents die, Holly Berry Bouquet buttons,
Old St. Nick rub-ons, rhinestone, Snow Burst embossing folder, Trinkets,
Early Espresso baker's twine, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Candy Cane Christmas

Today's card combines two challenges: The Cat's Pajamas' challenge to use one of their images showcasing some kind of food on it and Verve's November sketch #2, found on Splitcoast Stamper. I looked at my Christmas TCP stamp sets and found this cute penguin holding a candy cane that hadn't seen ink yet. Then, I pulled out some paper scraps from my stash to match and created this card based on the Verve sketch.

What makes the image so pretty in real life is the shimmer from the Pearl Ex I added to all of my coloring. I bought all of the Pearl Ex kits SU! was carrying before they retired and unfortunately, I'm barely ever using them now that I cannot demo them anymore. I used a blending pen to color the image with the Pearl Ex (over markers).

You'll notice I used one of our felt embellishments (the snowflake), Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, the Top Note die for the background piece and our Baja Breeze seam binding. I used two pieces of ribbon to make the bow so that it would look fuller. The sentiment comes from the retired Voeu des Fêtes set.

We had our first snow today! It stayed on the ground for a couple of hours before turning into puddles, but it put me into the Holiday mood! Which is great because I have a ton of cards to make and get ready to send out, so I need the inspiration.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Penguin Christmas (The Cat's Pajamas), Voeu des Fêtes (SU!)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Designer papers: Imaginisce, Chatterbox
Inks: Black, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Felt accents (SU!), snowflake punch, button, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine (SU!),
blending pen, Pearl Ex, Nestabilities die, snowflake border punch, Baja Breeze seam binding (SU!),
snowflake embossing folder, Top Note die (SU!), Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!), markers

 

Inkspirations #95 - Jolly Snowman

  
 
  
 
 

For today's card, I wanted to use the "Noel" tag from the Holidays mini hostess set and I decided to pair it with the snowman from the Button Buddies set. For my colour combo, I knew I wanted to use Bashful Blue since I had buttons in that colour, so I pulled out my reference list of old cQc colours combo and found one that used this colour.

I kept the card simple because this will be Card #4 for my Button Buddies class (keep a close eye on my class schedule to register for a place if you're interested in making your own sample). To make the sentiment complete, I inked part of a sentiment from the Many Merry Messages set with a marker and added it to a strip of Always Artichoke cardstock.

The Old Olive designer paper comes from the Brights paper pack and the blue cardstock was embossed with the Northern Flurry embossing folder. I embellished the snowman with a deep red brad from the Royals pack and I added two mini silver brads to the button before gluing it on the snowman. I love those mini brads, they are a great size for small detailing on an image! I also added a rhinestone on the L of Noël, and I finished the card off with a white brad and a knot of Olive polka dot scallop ribbon.

 

 

Color Combo: Bashful Blue + Old Olive + Always Artichoke + Bravo Burgundy 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Button Buddies, Meilleurs voeux (hostess), Nombreux voeux joyeux (Many Merry Messages)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke
Designer papers: Brights Designer pack
Inks: Night of Navy, Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive
Accessories:  Designer button, mini silver brad, Royals brad, 3/16 white brad,
Old Olive polka dot scallop ribbon, Northern Flurry embossing folder,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestone basic jewels

 

November Creative Crew #4 - The Beekeeper

This is the third project I created for the Creative Crew gallery on Splitcoast Stampers. You can see my original post with the challenges details here.

I'm leaving Christmas behind today and sharing something I haven't shared in a little while, now - a scrapbooking page! My scrapbook album tends to get pushed on the backburner in the fall, since I have a ton of cards and gifts to get ready. The CC challenge was a great excuse to get a page done in between the rest.

The challenge was to turn the library pocket concept into a full page. I looked through my pictures for something that would work and when I found those pics that were snapped before a concert, I thought I could use the pocket to slide the tickets and set list in. Perfect!

Those are old pictures - I can't believe they go all the way back to 2005 (as per the ticket date) and hadn't been scrapbooked yet! I could never really find the right sketch or inspiration for them, and I am glad I waited because the Pocketful of Posies DSP worked beautifully with them. Tori's tour was for her Beekeeper album and if you look closely at the bottom paper, it looks just like beehives! I handcut the bottom following the hexagon shapes and I added colorful brads in the bottom row. The top was punched with the Scallop Edge punch and turned over to reveal the backside of the paper. I punched holes and threaded a piece of Wisteria Wonder ribbon, then added pearls in between.

The title was created in parts with the Big Shot (Timeless Type and Simple Numbers dies) and in parts with stamps (Empire Alphabet Lower and Letter It). The first letter was handcut and glued in one of our big Spice Cake buttons. The "Os" were decorated with a In Color polka dot brad and a Designer button, and I also added Dazzling Details on the white rain drops printed on the background paper.

The paper strip I was left with after using the Scallop Border punch on the pocket was glued at the top of my page and held in place with mini silver brads. (Have you noticed those in the catalogue? They are new and they are great! They're smaller than our regular brads and fit in every tiny little nooks.)

Finally, I created a tag on which I handwrote my journaling on one side and printed the set list from the show on patterned paper that I glued to the other side.

Hope you like this one as much as I do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Empire Alphabet Lower, Letter It
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Wisteria Wonder, More Mustard, Rich Razzleberry,
Elegant Eggplant, Pocketful of Posies DSP, In colors DSP
Big Shot: Simple Numbers dies, Timeless Type dies
Accessories: Dazzling Details, Spice Cake button, Pearls, ribbons, brads, button, white gel pen,
Curly Label punch, Scallop Edge punch, mini silver brads, Corner Rounder punch

  

November Creative Crew #3 - Noël

This is the third project I created for the Creative Crew gallery on Splitcoast Stampers. You can see my original post with the challenges details here.

This fancy fold card is called a Quarter-Fold card. The design is quite easy and to keep it closed, you fold the sides like you would a cardstock box, tucking the last panel underneath the first one. Of course, this kind of card is super easy to do when you have the Simply Scored tool, as I'll demonstrate at my upcoming class this Friday where we'll be making this project together. (There's a couple of open spots left, if anyone's interested.)

The beautiful papers used are from the Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' kit (found in the Holidays mini). I paired them with the beautiful silver glimmer paper to create my letters, which were die-cut using the Big Shot and the Simple Letters dies. Then I used various embellishments (trinkets, ribbons, brads, mini jingle bells) to decorate each letter panel. I also used the paper piercer and mat pack to add rows of piercing between each panel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Papers: Cherry Cobbler, Christmas Lane SS kit, Lucky Limeade,
Soft Suede, Silver glimmer paper, Whisper White
Big Shot: Simple Letters dies
Accessories: Mini jingle bell, safety pin (trinkets), ribbons, brads, paper piercer and mat pack

  

November Creative Crew #2 - Letters to Santa Easel Card

This is the second project I created for the Creative Crew gallery on Splitcoast Stampers. You can see my original post with the challenges details here.

The second challenge was to do an easel card using the Letters to Santa DSP or color scheme. I had some Designer papers leftover from a class as well as some matching sticky die-cuts, so I pulled them out to make this project.

I thought the Something for Christmas stamp would make a nice focal point, so I inked it with markers, stamped in on Whisper White cardstock and matted the image with a Early Espresso piece of cardstock punched with the Scallop Trim border and corner punches. I had some Cherry Cobbler polka dot ribbon I wanted to use on the card, so I decided to hang my image from it and add a vintage brad (the whitewashed ones are my favorite because they look like snowflakes!) in the center of the bow.

At the bottom of the card, I added a chipboard ornament that was die-cut using the Stocking Accents die. Covering a piece of chipboard with Designer paper is super easy when using the Big Shot and the dies, because you simply die-cut the same image out of paper and chipboard and glue the paper in place. It fits perfectly and no sanding is required! The center of the ornament was created using circle punches and the star image from the Delightful Decorations stamp set. I added a ribbon bow on the ornament and a piece of matching taffeta ribbon along the edge of the top part of the card, to make it look like the ornament was hung in place.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Pour Noël (Something for Christmas)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Early Espresso
Designer papers: Letters to Santa
Inks: Versamark, Early Espresso
Big Shot: Stocking Accents
Punches: Circles, Scallop Trim border and corner
Accessories: Letters to Santa Quick Accents, Chipboard, Markers, Clear embossing powder,
Pearl basic jewels, White envelope, Cherry Cobbler scallop ribbon, Vintage brad,
Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

November Creative Crew #1 - Ho Ho Ho

The November Creative Crew projects are up in the Splitcoast Stampers gallery! Here are the details of this month's challenges if you want to play along.

 

CCREW1111CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM – Catalog Focus: Make a tall/long card (at least 6-1/2” x 3-1/4” which fits SU!’s small open-end envelopes on p. 182 of the IB&C. You may CASE any of the tall/long cards in the IB&C. Change at least 2 elements of the CASEd card, keeping the same layout. Please tell us which project you CASEd. Here are some pages in the IB&C that have tall/long cards: 24, 31, 43, 52, 82, 108, 141, 142, 146, 167.

CCREW1111DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM – DSP/Color Focus:
Make an easel card using Letters to Santa dsp or 3 of these colors: riding hood red, old olive, marina mist, early espresso, blushing bride and whisper white. Here’s a tutorials from Resources on easel cards:
Splitcoaststampers - Tutorials

CCREW1111HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM – Holiday/Seasonal Focus:
Make a quarter fold Hanukkah, Christmas or winter card. The tutorial for the quarter fold was written by our very own Jana O’Brien and can be found here:
Stamp on This: Quarter Fold Card

CCREW1111SF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM – SB inspiration focus:
Using the pocket card template, transform your scrapbook page into a pocket scrapbook page. The tutorial for the pocket card is found in Resources:
Splitcoaststampers - Pocket Card Project Tutorial by Beate Johns

 

 

Today's card was made for the long tall card challenge. I love this format! We sell the long narrow envelopes to fit this size and they're a nice departure from the regular-sized cards. The spark of inspiration behind this one came from leafing through a magazine, where I saw a card with a Christmas sentiment at the end of which the designer had added a white Santa mustache. I thought, "Hey, we have one of those our stamps, now!" so I pulled out the Many Mustaches stamp, embossed it in white on white cardstock and hand-cut it. Then I added some snowflakes in the background using the Serene Snowflakes set and added some die-cut letters from the Timeless Type die set.

The colors were pulled from the Color Coach color suggestions. I really like how it turned out. So cute and fun!

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Many Mustaches, Serene Snowflakes
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Old Olive
Inks: Riding Hood Red, Versamark
Accessories: Baker's twine, envelope, white embossing powder, Corner Rounder punch,
Timeless Type dies, Designer button, Mini jingle bell, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Inkspirations #94 - On Cloud Nine

  
 
  
 
 

This is the final card I have to share from my stamping session with Brandi. This cute stamp set immediately caught my eye. It also had a super cute doodled rainbow that I wish I would have had time to play with, but that'll be for next time, I guess.

There's lots of layering on this one, but the putting together is quite easy to reproduce. I started by die-cutting the oval out of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the clouds in Bashful Blue. I didn't bother with masking since I knew I wanted to paper piece the balloon and could therefore hide the clouds. I stamped the balloon three times: once on my oval die-cut, a second time on the patterned paper and the third time, I only inked the pennants with a Melon Mambo marker and stamped them on a scrap of white cardstock before paper piecing it to the balloon.

The colour combo was really close to the colours used in the hostess paper pack, so that was the starting point of my card. I added some polka dot scallop ribbon and a button held with baker's twine on the bow. The sentiment, from the You're a Gem set, was punched with the smallest oval punch.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mon trésor (You're a Gem), Sunny Happy Skies (Unity Stamps Co.)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo
Designer papers: Rocaille d'antan (Hostess)
Inks: Bashful Blue, Elegant Eggplant
Big Shot: Scallop Squares die, Ovals die
Accessories:  Markers, Polka dot brads, Button, Baker's Twine, Old Olive polka dot scallop ribbon,
Small Oval punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Pearl Basic Jewels