Winter Window

A while back I ordered the Stampin' Up! Movers and Shapers die- love, love, love it! BUT, I wanted to cut out a window that looks like a real window, lol! So, I ordered the four square window die :-). I had in mind a card with a window that you can see through, so I really needed it ;-). And here is the card that I made with my four square die.....

I die the window in the card front first, then I die cut the frame of the window. I used my Eyelet edge punch to create the curtain valance from vellum. The wallpaper was stamped first with Mellow Moss Classic Stampin' ink and then colored in with Stampin' Write markers: Real Red and Old Olive. Now of course, there has to be snow on the windows :-) so I used some clear glue and Dazzling Diamonds. You can click on the photo with your mouse for a larger view of the window so you can see the 'snow' better.

The edges of the window frame are inked with Creamy Caramel and the edges of the card base are inked with Mellow Moss. I added a little holly die cut to the window. As you can tell, you can see the snowmen 'outside' when you look through the window of the card.... and when you open it..............

It's snowing outside!!! Ah, just the weather snowmen love ;-). Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Blessings!
Barb

The supplies I used to make this card are:

Stamps: The More the Merrier, Sprinkles
Card Stock: Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Whisper White, vellum, gold poster board
Classic Stampin' Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Mellow Moss, Bordering Blue
Stampin' Write Markers: Real Red, Old Olive, More Mustard, Going Gray, Bordering Blue
Punches: Eyelet Edge
Dies: Curly Label Movers and Shapers, Four Square, Beary Merry
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, Gold embossing powder

Get Well Soon

This card was inspired from two sources- the band aid from Andrea Walford's project here and the little mouse from here. I gave my little mouse a mouth with a slight pout ;-). To make this card you will need the following supplies:

Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Card Stock: Blush Blossom, Basic Gray, Going Gray, Pink Pirouette (retired- you could use
Pretty in Pink), Pale Plum, Basic Black
Paper: Old Olive Designer Series Paper
Classic Stampin' Ink: Blush Blossom and Whisper White Craft ink
Punches: Ornament (Basic Gray- head)
1" Circle (Basic Gray- ears and paws- punch 4, punch 1 from Going Gray for face)
3/4" Circle (Pink Pirouette or Pretty in Pink- inside of ears- punch 2)
1/4" Circle ( Pink Pirouette or Pretty in Pink- nose)
Tear Drop (Basic Black- eyes)
Hear to Heart (Pale Plum- the small heart)
Corner Rounder (to round corners of the band aid)
Accessories: Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Journaler marker, White
Gel Pen

Cut card base from Basic Gray 4.25" x 5.50". Layer Old Olive Designer Series Paper (4" x 5.25") on top of card base. To create the band aid, cut Blush Blossom 1" x 3" and corner round the four corners. Cut a 1" x 1" square from Blush Blossom. Ink the edges of the 1" x 3" strip and the 1" square with Blush Blossom. Use the Mat Pack and the Paper Piercer to pierce holes in the 1" square for the center of the band aid. Add Stampin' Dimensionals to the back of the 1" square and adhere in the center of the 1" x 3" strip. Adhere the Pale Plum heart to the center of the pierced square. Punch out the parts for the mouse. Ink the edges of the ears, head, face (Going Gray), and the paws with Whisper White Craft ink. Do not ink the pink for the insides of the ears or the pink nose. Adhere the pink circles to the ear circles and adhere to the head. Adhere the eyes and add white gel pen lines as in the photo. Adhere the pink nose to the Going Gray circle for the face and draw the mouth with the Journaler. Add a Stampin' Dimensional to the back of the Going Gray circle and adhere to the head for his face (see photo for placement). Next, adhere the mouse head to the card front and adhere the band aid underneath. Lots of adhering going on here, lol! Now you will just need to adhere (there is that word again :-D) the paws on top of the band aid. Stamp your sentiment in Basic Gray and you are done, well except for the inside of the card :-D.

Now that I have the card in front of me while I am typing, I was thinking that it would be cute to add a little Pretty in Pink Stampin' Pastel to his little cheeks. He would look like he has a little fever :-(. Tomorrow I will be posting another Christmas card, so please be sure to stop by. Have a super wonderful weekend everyone and thanks for coming to visit!

Blessings!
Barb

Cute Little Snowman :)

Another punch art card- this time a sweet little snowman bringing Christmas greetings :). These little punch art projects are super easy to do. For this card you will need:

Stamps: Best Yet (Hostess Level One- retired) You can use another sentiment
Card Stock: Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Only Orange, Basic Black, Going Gray
Paper: Brocade Blue Designer Series Paper (Hostess Level One- retired) but you could use
Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper
Classic Stampin' Ink: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Whisper White Craft
Punches: Ornament (Whisper White- head)
3/4" Circle (Whisper White- hands- cut 2)
1/4" Circle (Only Orange- nose)
Small Tag (Basic Black- hat)
Word Window (Basic Black- hat brim)
Tear Drop (Basic Black- eyes)
Dies: Matchbox labels in Real Red and Whisper White
Beary Merry- holly leaves in Old Olive and berries in Real Red
Accessories: Clear glue, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Regal Rose Stampin' Pastels, Black
Journaler marker, White Gel pen

Cut card base from Real Red 4.25" x 5.50". Layer Old Olive mat ( 4" x 5.25") on card front. Layer the Brocade Blue or Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper (3.75" x 5") on the Old Olive. To create the snowman, punch out the parts listed above in the supplies. Ink the edges of the head and the hands with Bashful Blue. Add a light touch of Regal Rose chalk to create rosy cheeks on the face. Adhere the eyes and the nose, then draw on the mouth. Add some white to the eyes with the white gel pen (refer to photo). With the Whisper White Craft ink lightly brush the edges of the hat pieces on the left side and across the top. Adhere the Small Tag punch hat to the back of the snowman's head. Then adhere the Word Window brim to the front of the hat. I used the Small Tag punch to create the hat band from Going Gray. Line up just about an 1/8" inside the squared part of the Small Tag punch and punch out the hat band. Adhere that above the Word Window brim. Die cut the labels from the Matchbox die. Stamp your sentiment on the Whisper White label in Old Olive and layer/assemble the label. Adhere the snowman head to the card front, then adhere the Matchbox label, then the snowman hands so he is holding his sign. Ink the edges of the Old Olive holly leaves with Old Olive Classic Stampin' ink and adhere the leaves and the berries to the hat band. Add some clear glue to the edges of the hat, hat brim, the side of the snowman face, and on the tops of his hands and sprinkle on some Dazzling Diamonds (click on photo for a larger view to see placement of glitter). You can add a little die cut snowflake as a small embellishment if you would like :). And that's all there is to it! Wasn't that easy?

Hope you all have a wonderful day today! Come back tomorrow for another punch art project :D.

Blessings!
Barb

Santa's Reindeer

Awwwww! Isn't he cute?!!! :D This cute little reindeer was inspired by more than one reindeer I have seen blog hopping. You take a couple of ideas and then you add your own little extras to it :), but I believe that the original idea for this type of punch art reindeer came from Jackie Topa, who created the 'Singing Reindeer'. So, I am sure if you do any blog hopping at all, you have seen different versions of the reindeer and this one is just my alterations to the ones I have seen :).

To make this card you will need:
Card Stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Basic Black
Stamps: Santa's Lineup wheel, Best Yet (retired hostess set) - you can use another sentiment
though if you don't have Best Yet
Classic Stampin' Ink: Read Red, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa
Punches: Wide Oval (head- Close to Cocoa)
Ornament (body- Close to Cocoa)
Small Oval (tummy- Creamy Caramel)
Boho Blossoms (reindeer hair- Creamy Caramel)
5 Petal Flower (ears- Close to Cocoa)
1/2" Circle (nose- Real Red)
Word Window (arm and hoof- Close to Cocoa, Basic Black)
Tear Drop punch (eyes- Basic Black) {non- Stampin' Up!}
Dies: labels from the Matchbox die- Real Red and Whisper White
holly from the Beary Merry die in the Holiday Mini- Old Olive for leaves, berry is a
red rhinestone
antlers from the Swirls Scribbles Sizzlit die- Creamy Caramel- cut 2
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, clear glue, red rhinestones in two sizes, white gel pen,
Stampin' Write Journaler- black, Real Red chalk from the Stampin' Pastels

Cut your card base from Real Red card stock- 4.25" x 5.50". Ink up the Santa's Lineup wheel with Real Red and roll over the Whisper White card stock mat twice to create the background for the reindeer. Adhere the mat to the card stock base. Punch out the shapes as listed above in the supplies for the reindeer. Ink the edges of the body parts with Close to Cocoa, except for the antlers and the nose. Assemble the reindeer, add details to the face, eyes, and ears and trim off the bottom of the body to fit the reindeer on the card base. Die cut the labels from the Matchbox die and stamp the sentiment with Old Olive. Cut 1/4" strip from Real Red for the sign post. Adhere the reindeer and the sign to the card front. Add tiny red rhinestones to the corners of the sign and the larger red rhinestone where the sign meets the post. Ink the holly leaves with Old Olive and adhere one on each side the rhinestone berry. Add some clear glue to the top edges of the antlers and the sign and sprinkle on Dazzling Diamonds. You can click on the photo to see a larger version of the card so you can see the placement of the Dazzling Diamonds on the antlers.

I have been playing with a few punches (they are so fun!), so will be posting more cards over the next few days. Be sure to come back tomorrow :) !

Side Note: I have a pot roast cooking in the crock pot, yummy! The perfect meal for a rainy, cold day in Missouri :D. Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Blessings!
Barb

Wedding Samples

My friend Patty is getting married in January! Congrats Patty! Her colors will be red and white. Aren't those great colors for a January wedding? I will be adding some samples for her to see on my blog- I hope you don't mind :D. This first sample is a wedding invitation. It opens at the top, measures 4.25" x 5.50". Card base is Real Red, mat is gold (I used what I had on hand, but if she likes this one I will use Brushed Gold), and the embossed card front is Whisper White. The poinsettia flower is punched with the 5 Petal Flower punch and layered on the Little Leaves Sizzlit die- die cut from Old Olive.

Next I have some samples of wedding favors, all done in Real Red and Whisper White...

Pillow Box die with Tag, Small Tag, and Heart to Heart punches, Real Red 1/4" grograin ribbon.

Some Matchbox samples:

The tags are left blank in the samples, but will contain the happy couple's names and their wedding date :). Let me know what you think Patty and Angela :D. Hugs to you both! Have a great day everyone!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Build a Bear Polar Bear Christmas Card

For several days I had a polar bear on my mind, so I finally got around to creating him. I just love the Stampin' Up! exclusive Build a Bear dies- they are too cute! Since I had a request for a tutorial for this card, please read below for instructions :).

1. Cut a card base 7" x 10" from Night of Navy and score in the center so that your card base measures 5" x 7" folded. Cut a mat 4.75" x 6.75" from Certainly Celery. Cut Whisper White 4.50" x 6.50".

2. Die cut the polar bear from Very Vanilla and ink the edges of the bear with Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' ink. Ink the edges of the snout with Bashful Blue. Glue a scrap of Basic Black behind the face for the eyes, nose, and mouth. Add a little light blush to the cheeks with Regal Rose chalk. Adhere the snout to the face.

3. Die cut the bear's clothes from Bashful Blue (shoes from Basic Black) and ink the edges with Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' ink. Adhere the cuffs to the lower part of the sleeves on the jacket. Stamp the snowflakes on the bear shirt with Versamark and apply Iridescent Ice embossing powder and heat emboss the snowflakes. Thread gold cord through the holes in the shoes for shoe laces and tie in a bow. Adhere the clothes to the polar bear in the following order: shoes, pants, shirt, jacket.

4. To make the hat, punch out an oval with the Wide Oval punch from Bashful Blue and cut down one end of the oval to fit the bear's head. Hand cut the band of the hat with a scrap from the remaining part of the oval, rounding the ends. Using a stylus, emboss the curved lines in the cuff of the hat. Ink the edges of the hat pieces with Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' ink. Adhere the cuff to the hat and adhere the hat to the bear's head. Punch the small flower from the Boho Blossoms punch and ink the edges with Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' ink.

5. Add flat backed gold pearls to the bear's jacket for buttons and add Dazzling Diamonds to the sleeve cuffs and the pom pom on the hat. Set the bear aside to dry.

6. To create the snowy background scene, tear two pieces of scrap paper into hill shapes and place on the 4.50" x 6.50" Whisper White card stock. Do the right hill first. Ink around the edges of the scrap paper with Bordering Blue Classic Stampin' ink. Repeat with the left hill. Before you remove the masks for creating the two hills, stamp the pine trees with Old Olive Classic Stampin' ink. With a Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker, add the trunks to the trees. Remove the masks. Stamp one more pine tree in front of the left hill and add the trunk as you did with the other trees. To add a little more depth to the snowy scene, tear the shape of the right hill from Whisper White card stock. Ink the edges with Bordering Blue Classic Stampin' ink and adhere over the right hill. Next tear a foreground piece from Whisper White, ink the edges with Bordering Blue Classic Stampin' ink and adhere to the bottom of the Whisper White base overlapping the bottom edge of the right hill.

7. Create the sky with a scallop circle punch out and Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' ink. See tutorial for the sky here.

8. Adhere the Certainly Celery mat to the Night of Navy card base. Adhere the Whisper White snowy scene to the Certainly Celery. Add Dazzling Diamonds to the tops of the hills and the top of the foreground snow. Set aside to dry.

9. To create the sled, punch a tag with the Tag punch from Close to Cocoa card stock. Using an embossing stylus, emboss lines in the sled. Ink the edges of the sled with Close to Cocoa Classic Stampin' ink. With the Word Window punch, punch once from Chocolate Chip card stock and once from Going Gray card stock. Cut both Word Window shapes in half lengthwise. Adhere one half of the Chocolate Chip Word Window shape to the top area of the sled. Adhere one half of the Going Gray Word Window shape to each side of the sled, curved edges facing out. With a 1/16" circle punch, punch out two holes in the top of the sled and thread a piece of hemp cord through the holes and tie the ends in knots. This cord is the rope for the sled.

9. When the Dazzling Diamonds on the card base is dry, adhere the polar bear to the snowy scene, making sure that the back of the sled rope is behind the bear's hand (add just a bit of glue to the back of the hand to keep the rope in place). You want the front of the rope to be on the front of the bear's hand. Add some glue to the sled and adhere the sled in position on the card. At this point, you may add some Dazzling Diamonds to the top and left bottom side of the sled for snow.

Please let me know if you have any questions :). Supplies list following post. Have a wonderful week!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Stamps: Lovely As a Tree, Four the Holidays
Classic Stampin' Ink: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Bordering Blue, Close to Cocoa
Card Stock: Night of Navy, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Going Gray, Basic Black
Dies: Stampin' Up! exclusive Build a Bear Bear, Beary Essentials
Punches: Wide Oval, Boho Blossoms, Tag, Word Window
Accessories: Gold flat backed pearls, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, gold cord, hemp cord

Build a Bear Card for my Grandson

This is the card that I made for my sweet little grandson- yes, he is adored by all the family :-), and he does love to get mail too. He sometimes makes cards with me and he just thinks his grandma is so smart- uh huh, he knows how to rack up the brownie points ;-). So I always make him a special card for all the holidays. Since he makes cards with me, he knows that they take a little bit of time to complete and he appreciates them- who could ask for more? I am training him well :-D.

I used the Stampin' Up! exclusive Build a Bear dies to create this card for him. You can see the tutorial for making the sky background if you scroll down a bit on my blog and you will also find the instructions for making the pumpkin with the Wide Oval punch. This card measures 5" x 7" so that there would be plenty of room for my bear and for his Autumn scenery. I brayered the grass with Old Olive Classic Stampin' ink and the sky was done with the Scallop Circle punch. You can find a tutorial for creating the sky here. It's after midnight, so I am going to add the supplies list and go to bed :-) !

Blessings!
Barb

Stamps: Season of Friendship, Holiday Best (Hostess set)
Classic Stampin' Ink: Apricot Appeal (sky), Barely Banana (sky), Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Ballet Blue
Card Stock: Certainly Celery, Ballet Blue, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive
Paper: Pawsitively Prints Designer Series Paper
Dies: Stampin' Up! exclusives Build a Bear Bear and Beary Essentials
Punches: Wide Oval
Accessories: White DMC embroidery floss (shoe laces)

Card Class October 14, 2009

These were the cards that we did last night in class. The two cards and the matchbox project feature stamped backgrounds to make your own designer paper :). To make your own stamped background, choose one or more stamps and one or more colors of ink and begin stamping, either randomly or in a pattern on card stock or paper. For the first card, we used Whisper White to create our background paper and Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, and Old Olive Classic Stampin' pads. We used two stamp sets: Falling Leaves (115368) from the 2009/2010 Idea Book and Catalog on page 27 and Gifts of the Earth (116501) from the 2009 Holiday Mini on page 15. These are both GREAT stamp sets! Love them!

The inside of the card was stamped with the sentiment from 'Gifts of the Earth' and the edges were inked with Old Olive Classic Stampin' ink.

For our second card, we used the Wide Oval punch (112082) to create a pumpkin as our main element. You simply punch out three ovals from Pumpkin Pie card stock and ink the edges with Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' ink. Layer two of the ovals behind the center oval to create the pumpkin. Using the give thanks leaf stamp from the 'Falling Leaves' stamp set, stamp onto Old Olive card stock. Stamp the polka dotted leaf stamp onto Old Olive card stock and cut out the polka dotted leaf for the pumpkin and cut the give thanks leaf into the shape of a stem. Adhere the stem to the back of the pumpkin and then adhere the leaf to the front. Cut a square of Pumpkin Pie Designer Series Paper and ink the edges with Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' ink. Mount on Old Olive card stock. Take a strip of Old Olive Designer Series Paper and stamp one of the leaf stamps in a random pattern in Old Olive Classic Stampin' ink. Stamp the sentiment Grateful on a scrap of the Old Olive Designer Series Paper and punch out with the Word Window punch (105090). With the Modern Label punch (116630), punch out the label from Old Olive card stock. Adhere the sentiment to the label and adhere to your card front. Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy :D !

The inside of the card is the same as the card above, but we changed it up just a bit by stamping one of the leaves inside next to the sentiment.

For our final project, we created a cute matchbox to match the first card that we made. You need the Stampin' Up! exclusive Matchbox die (114890) to create the matchbox. I LOVE the matchbox die! There are so many things and so many themes you can use it for.... treat boxes for any holiday or occasion, wedding favors, small gifts, to hold small stocking stuffers, hang on your tree with a little surprise inside.... you can emboss them with any of the embossing folders, you can stamp them, you can add Designer Series paper, add cute little tags.... limitless possibilities I tell ya' ;-) !

After we stamped and put together our matchbox, we stamped one of the leaves on Very Vanilla card stock and punched a little tag out with the Small Tag punch (108264) from the Very Vanilla card stock and the Tag punch (105934) from Chocolate Chip card stock. We punched a hole at the top of the tag and threaded through some hemp cord. Tied the hemp cord into a knot about a half inch from the top of the tag. We then wrapped another piece of hemp cord around our matchbox and tied the tag into our knot. To finish, fray the ends of the hemp cord. Just so ya' know, these matchboxes hold four Hershey Nuggets perfectly! :D. If you cut strips of Designer Series Paper into 1" x 3" strips, you can wrap the paper around the Nuggets for a suh-weet presentation :-D

Did you notice that both cards use the same layout? You can use the same layout on a series of cards and change the look of each one of them simply by changing stamps, card stock colors, and Designer Series Papers. This weekend I will be posting two cards on which I created a scenic background, so please check back- they are both so cute :-) !

Blessings!
Barb

Details:
Stamps: Gifts of the Earth, Falling Leaves
Classic Stampin' Inks: Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Pumpkin Pie
Card Stock: Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Dusty Durango, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip
Designer Series Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
Dies: Matchbox
Punches: Wide Oval, Small Tag, Tag, Modern Label, Word Window
Accessories: Hemp cord

Deal of the Week

Each week this month Stampin' Up! is offering a 'Deal of the Week'! You can score some great items and save money too! This week the 'Deal of the Week' is...

1. Flower Burst Embosslits die (114515) - regularly $11.95- on sale this week only for $5.99
This die not only die cuts the flower, it embosses it at the same time.

2. Perfect Setting Bigz XL die (115961) - regularly $42.95- on sale this week only for $25.99
This is the die to get for your Holiday table settings :)

3. Pop Up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die (116760) - regularly $39.95- on sale this week only for
$25.49. With this die you can make cake pop ups for the inside of your card. Perfect for wedding and birthday cards!

These dies are on sale starting today, October 12, 2009 until October 19, 2009 at 9:50 AM Mountain Time. If you have been thinking about getting any of these awesome dies, now is the time to do it :) . If you would like to order, you can order through the link to my store on the right sidebar or you can contact me and I would be happy to place the order for you. I'll be back later with a card project for you. Have a wonderful week everyone!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Gotta Love Autumn

I love Autumn. Some days are just made for hunkering down in your jammies and creating. Today is very rainy where I live. We have gotten five inches of rain since last night! That is LOT of rain! I got up this morning and started my crock pot filled with everything needed for a beef stew. It smells sooooo good! I don't know if I will be able to wait for dinner before dipping into it, lol! I hoped it would stop raining long enough for me to get out and tend to the animals, but it didn't. Off I went out into the rain to let out my chickens and ducks, feed and water them and the horses and came back in soaked to the skin! The chickens don't like the rain much, but the ducks were in seventh heaven! Out they ran as fast as they could and jumped into their little swimming pool. I saw them later in the morning and they were out in the rain running around and having a grand time! Ahhh, to be like a duck :D.

This card is not a newly created today card :). I made this one a couple of weeks ago. I used my brayer and Old Olive Classic Stampin' ink to create the grass and Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' ink to create the background for the sky. Then I sponged more Old Olive over the top to shade the grass, sponged Close to Cocoa to create the path, and very lightly sponged Night of Navy for the sky. As you can tell, I also sponged a bit of Old Olive on the edges of my card. I used the tree in the 'Branch Out' stamp set as a focal point for my scene. 'Branch Out' is currently on the Dormant List and there is no guarantee that it will make it into the 2010/2011 catalog next year. It's a great set with 8 images in it, so if you would like to order this stamp set, the product number for it is 113200. This set can be used for every season, not just for the Autumn. You can order it through my online store link in the right sidebar or call/email me directly and I can order it for you if you'd like.

Below you will find a list of all the supplies that I used to create this card. Hope everyone is staying dry and cozy! Autumn has definitely arrived where I live! We've even had to turn on the heat for a couple of nights!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Branch Out (on Dormant List but still available), Sentiment- God's Beauty (retired hostess level one set), Stitched background stamp (retired)
Card stock: Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Dusty Durango
Punches: Modern Label

Little Pocket Card

Here is a sweet little pocket card for a quick thank you, best wishes, happy birthday, whatever else you need card :). It's a quick card to make too. You can change it up with the seasons or the occasion, using seasonal/occasion embellishments and papers. For the outside of my card I used So Saffron card stock and So Saffron Designer Series Paper. I used the Buttons die in my Big Shot to create the Bashful Blue buttons. The flower was done with the 5 Petal Flower punch, punching one flower from Pretty in Pink and one flower in Certainly Celery for the leaves. Add a little dimension to the flower with Pretty in Pink Classic Stampin' ink and a sponge dauber.

Inside, the card opens up to reveal a little pocket. The pocket is perfect for slipping in a tag, a gift card, or even cash. I made my tag with a Sizzix tags die in Bashful Blue and Whisper White. I accented the tag with a flower punch from the Boho Blossoms punch and rounded the corners.

Here is the tag pulled out of the pocket. Since I haven't decided which occasion I will use this card for, I am leaving the tag blank for now. When I need it, I will just need to stamp a little sentiment on the tag and slip it into the pocket. These would be great little cards to make up ahead of time in several colors/themes so you have them on hand when you need a quick card :).

Wishing everyone a blessed day! Thanks so much for stopping by to visit my little corner of the web :).

Barb

Supplies:
Card Stock: So Saffron, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery
Paper: So Saffron Designer Series Paper
Punches: Corner Rounder, 5 Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms, Scalloped edge
Dies: Sizzix tags, Sizzix Buttons
Inks: Pretty in Pink
Accessories: jute

Adorable Little Elf

I recently visited Andrea Walford's blog and discovered an awesome video tutorial for making an elf's head from the Stampin' Up! Ornament punch in the Holiday Mini. He is soooo cute! You can find Andrea's video tutorial here. I really liked Andrea's elf head as soon as I saw it, so I set out to make my own. While I was making his head, I was thinking that I would sure love for him to have a body. Soooooo..... I pulled out my Build a Bear Workshop 'Bear' die to see if the bear's body would fit his head. And it is the perfect size- whoo hoo! His clothes are die cut with the Build a Bear Workshop 'Beary Essentials' die. Even if you don't have small children, you still NEED the Build a Bear Workshop dies so you can make little cuties like this elf ;o). Lol!

There is also a Build a Bear Workshop die with a Santa suit and clothes for Mrs. Claus, or should I say Mrs. Claws (uh huh- pun intended)? These dies are available right now in the Holiday Day Mini, along with other wonderful new stamps and products.

If you go to Andrea's blog to view her tutorial, you will notice that I added ears to my elf's head. I used the Five Petal Flower punch to make his ears. Instead of using a pom pom for his hat, I used the smallest flower in the Boho Blossoms punch. Whisper White card stock is cut at 4.25 wide and torn across the top to create the snow. I inked the edges of the snow with Bordering Blue Classic Stampin' Ink and added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter for sparkle. I stamped two of the trees from the Patterned Pines hostess stamp set on Old Olive card stock with Garden Green ink and cut them out leaving just a smidgen of a border around the trees. Easy Peasy!

I made a girl elf today so will be posting that tomorrow as soon as I get her onto a card. Have a wonderful day!

Blessings!
Barb

Details:
Stamps: Patterned Pines (hostess set Holiday Mini 2009)
Card Stock: Old Olive, Real Red, Blush Blossom, Whisper White, Basic Black, Night of Navy
Paper: Sale a Bration 2009 -no longer available :(
Classic Stampin' Ink: Garden Green, Bravo Burgundy, Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose, Bordering Blue, Tempting Turquiose; Black Stampin' Write marker
Punches: Ornament, Five Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms
Dies: Build a Bear Workshop Bear and Beary Essentials
Other: white gel pen, gold cord, Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Build a Bear Workshop

Stampin' Up! introduced the new Build a Bear Workshop dies in the Holiday Mini 2009 and they are sooooo cute! My demonstrator order arrived yesterday so my 15 year old daughter and I decided to play last night. My daughter LOVES Build a Bear Workshop and she has more than one bear from our three trips 150 miles away from our home to visit Build a Bear. Yeah, her Daddy loves her very much :o). She has been creating and crafting since she was old enough to hold a crayon in her little hands and often times she sees things 'out of the ordinary' in the ordinary. Sometimes it just amazes me the things she sees in ordinary objects. When we were making our bears, she saw puppy ears in the backpack of the 'Beary Boy' Sizzlet!!! Who would have thought you could use the 'backpack' to create a puppy from your Stampin' Up! Bear?! Below is her Build a Bear Workshop puppy with her Build a Bear 'die cut puppy'.

And here is a close up of her patriotic die cut puppy. She used the star stamp from 'Snow Buddies' to stamp the stars all over her puppy. She used Brilliant Blue and Read Red Classic Stampin' ink. She shaded the edges of her puppy with Going Gray Classic Stampin' ink. The puppy's nose is Real Red card stock and her body is Whisper White card stock and mounted on mat board. She trimmed off the sleeves from the shirt and the legs from the pants on the 'Beary Essentials' die to create the swim suit. Isn't she cute?

The last visit we made to Build a Bear Workshop turned into a family affair, lol! My very sweet husband asked me if I wanted to get a bear too. I must confess that I really did want the limited time 'Autumn Hugs' bear :D. That bear is just too cute! I had a tiny little leaf stamp in my 'Lovely As a Tree' stamp set, so I used it to stamp the little leaves on her body in Pumpkin Pie and then colored them in with my Summer Sun marker. I inked the edges with Creamy Caramel Classic Stampin' ink and she is die cut from Very Vanilla card stock. Her clothes were created with the 'Pawsitively Prints' DSP and Whisper White card stock for her shirt. She was also mounted on mat board.

And here is my little die cut 'Autumn Hugs' bear with the real 'Autumn Hugs' bear from Build a Bear Workshop. So there ya' have it- you can use the tiny stamps that come with some Stampin' Up! stamp sets to create little die cut bears that look just your child's 'furry' Build a Bear Workshop stuffies ;o).

The little die cut Build a Bear Workshop bears were so much fun to make! I know we will be making many more, and if I know my daughter, she will have a die cut bear to match every single one of her 'furry' Build a Bears :D. Happy Wednesday everyone!

P.S. You can use repositional stencil adhesive on the backs of the clothes so they be removed and reused.

Blessings!
Barb

Details:
Stamps: Lovely As a Tree, Snow Buddies (hostess set in Holiday Mini 2009)
Ink: Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Going Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Creamy Caramel Classic Stampin' ink
Summer Sun marker
Card stock: Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Real Red, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Pawsitively Prints DSP (Holiday Mini 2009)
Dies: Stampin' Up! Bear, Beary Essentials, Beary Boy Sizzlit, Beary Girl Sizzlit

Sweet Centers Stamp Set

Introduced in the new Holiday Mini 2009 is the Sweet Centers stamp set and the Sweet Treats cups. Sweet Centers is a GREAT set! There are six stamps in the set: hot air balloon bottom (as shown in the sample above), ornament top (see third sample), I Love You heart, Eek You're Sweet, a flower petal to create a flower (see Just Buzzin' By sample below), and leaves for the flower. Combined with the Sweet Treats cups, this stamp set is perfect for making little treats for kids, co-workers, friends, Christmas stockings, etc. You don't have to add treats either- you can put buttons, little die cuts, confetti, ribbon, whatever you want in the Sweet Treat cups! In my samples I used M&M's- ya' gotta love em' ;0).

Remember the Scallop Circle punch skies that we did? I did a Scallop Circle sky on my hot air balloon treat card, but on the treat card below, I just used a sponge dauber and a little Bashful Blue Classic ink on Whisper White card stock. I inked along the edges of the card stock, bringing in some of the ink toward the center. Easy Peasy! The one thing that you NEED to know about the flower petal in 'Sweet Centers' is that the 1 3/4" Circle punch does NOT reach the center of the 'stamped' flower. To get around this, I used the circle in the 'Holiday Windows' Movers and Shapers dies set and die cut the circle first in the center of my card stock. After my circle was die cut, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the individual petals. To get a nicely even set of flower petals, stamp the first petal north, the second petal south, third petal east, fourth petal west. Then stamp in between the north, south, east, and west petals...... and then.... drum roll please!.... you have a pretty flower :D.

As soon as I saw this flower in the 'Sweet Centers' stamp set, I knew that I wanted to make a sunflower, and what goes better with sunflowers than little bees? Nothin' I tell ya'! So I pulled out my 'Just Buzzin' By' stamp set- don't ya' just love these little bees? They are soooo cute!
Okay, so now onto Christmas! It's my most favorite holiday :D and my girls all take after me on that, lol! But getting back to business..... I used the ornament top in 'Sweet Centers' to create the little Christmas card below. I stamped the ornament top in Old Olive, and not removing my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped over that with gold ink. These would be cute for stockings, don't ya' think?
Because I know that the card has to be taken apart to get to the candy in the Sweet Treat cup, I just use one 4.25" x 5.5" sheet of card stock and a mat with the Sweet Treat cup behind the mat. I'll be back later on in the week with some samples using 'Sweet Centers' without the Sweet Treat cups. Yep! It's just as great a stamp set without the Sweet Treat cups ;o) !

Just in case you didn't notice :o), I have a link on the right side bar of my blog to my Stampin' Up! online store. There you can purchase any of the stamp sets or supplies that I use on my cards or scrap pages- and you can shop 24/7- and have it delivered right to your door- can't beat that! Lol! Have a great weekend!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Details:
Hot Air Balloon Card- Stamps: Sweet Centers (116521); Ink: Bashful Blue, Regal Rose, Rose Red Classic Stampin' Ink; Card Stock: Regal Rose, Whisper White; Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle punch, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Scallop Circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Sweet Treat cup

Just Buzzin' By- Stamps: Just Buzzin' By (113228), Sweet Centers (116521), Cheep Talk (113204); Ink: Bashful Blue, YoYo Yellow, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Ink; Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, YoYo Yellow; Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle punch, 1/4" circle punch, Sweet Treat cup, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Stampin' Write Markers-Blush Blossom, YoYo Yellow

Christmas Ornament- Stamps: Sweet Centers (116521), Four the Holidays (116921), Christmas Punch (115366- Hostess set); Ink: Old Olive Classic Stampin' Ink, gold pigment ink; Card Stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Old Olive; Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle punch, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Sweet Treat cup

Making Skies- Part 2

I had one more sample for my sky cards to show you so had to add it to another post because I can only load five photos at a time. To create the sky on this card, I used Very Vanilla as my base. I daubered on Apricot Appeal Classic ink, followed by Pale Plum and then a 'very light' touch of Regal Rose added here and there.

Details:
Hot Air Balloon- Stamps: Sweet Centers (116521); Ink: Bashful Blue, Rose Red, and Regal Rose Classic inks; Card Stock: Whisper White, Regal Rose; Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/4" Circle, Modern Label, Word Window; Accessories: Sweet Treats cups, sponge daubers, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Sweet Thoughts- Stamps: Wandering Words (116507); Ink: Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip Classic inks; Card Stock: Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Whisper White; Punches: Heart to Heart, Tag, Small Tag; Accessories: Crimper, sponge daubers, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponges for inking the grass

Trees- Stamps: Lovely As a Tree (115026), Country Morning (Hostess set- 115334); Ink: Bordering Blue, Apricot Appeal, Regal Rose, Mellow Moss, Old Olive Classic inks; Card Stock: Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Whisper White; Accessories: Sponge Daubers, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Season of Frienship- Stamps: Season of Friendship (111776); Ink: Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana, Only Orange, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip; Card Stock: Apricot Appeal, Only Orange, Whisper White; Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge daubers

Thankful- Stamps: Falling Leaves (115368), Wandering Words (116507); Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pale Plum, Regal Rose, Perfect Plum, Only Orange; Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum, Apricot Appeal; Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge daubers

Technique Class- Making skies

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some projects I have been working on. On Monday night my Technique Class learned how to make skies with the Scallop Circle punch. This is a fun, quick, and easy way to make skies. You can make pretty blue skies as shown in the Hot Air Balloon card above or you can add a bit more color to make dramatic skies that reflect mood as you will see in the samples below. For our first card in class, we made the Hot Air Balloon with a Sweet Treat cup and the Sweet Centers stamp set that is available in the Holiday Mini. Pink M&M's- yum!!

For our second card, we used the 'Wandering Words' stamp set, also in the Holiday Mini. We stepped it up a bit to make the sky a little more colorful by adding some Barely Banana Classic ink highlights. We made faux grosgrain ribbon with the crimper.

I love to finish off the inside of my cards. I don't think a card is really complete unless the inside is all nice and pretty too :D. For the inside of our card, we inked the edges of the Whisper White card stock with Bashful Blue Classic ink. We punched out the tag shapes from Bashful Blue and Whisper White and inked around the edges of the Whisper White tag with Barely Banana Classic ink. Layered the two tags together and added a heart from the Heart to Heart punch. Viola!
I had some samples made up to show my class members some other sky color combos. On the Lovely As a Tree card below I used Bashful Blue, then added a touch of Apricot Appeal and finished off with Regal Rose. What you will want to remember is to add ink lightly and add more as you need it.
My next sample has an Autumn evening mood to it. For this sky I used Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, and a very, very, very light touch of Only Orange.
Would you like to know how to make a sky like these :D ? It's easy peasy! Get a scrap of Whisper White card stock and the Scallop Circle punch. Punch out one Scallop Circle. You will use the punched out shape as a mask. Start at the bottom and work your way up- very important to start from the bottom ;o). Lay your Scallop Circle shape on top of your Whisper White card stock where you want your bottom clouds to start. Take a sponge dauber, dab the tip of the sponge dauber into Bashful Blue ink (or whatever color you choose) and with a circular motion, very lightly sponge the ink onto the Whisper White card stock and over the edges of the Scallop Circle mask. You can go all the way around the Scallop Circle, but you will get a more realistic sky if you only go around part of the circle. Lift up the Scallop Circle, place down on your card stock in another area- somewhere near the first cloud shape that you did. Alternating the height of the placement of your mask also helps to make a more realistic sky. Repeat inking the sky using the Scallop Circle as a mask and work your way up to the top of your card stock. Once you are happy with your Bashful Blue and white cloudy sky, you can add a little more color. You will want to use your other colors 'lightly'. You can always 'add' more ink to make it darker if you want. I generally start adding my other color to the undersides of my clouds to start with. You will want to try to stay as much as possible on the white part of the underside of your clouds so you don't get any funky colors going. Although, sometimes the funky colors make dramatic skies too ;o). After you ink the undersides of your clouds, you can add a little color to the top sides of the clouds as in my Lovely As a Tree sample above. You will not want to completely cover up the white edges of your clouds. So there you have it! Wasn't that easy?

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello, and welcome to my Stampin' Up! blog. I am an independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, so if you are looking for Stampin' Up! products and inspiration, you have come to the right place :D! I will be back over the next few days adding some projects that I've been working on. I hope you will add me to your favorites list and come back often :). Have a great day!

Barb