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