Skater Girl aka Build a Bear :)

Wow! It's amazing how fast time can get away from you when you are busy! Yesterday was the first time all week that I've been able to get into my stamping room!

This month marks my skater girl's anniversary :-). She got on skates for the first time in her life in October 2 years ago. She could hardly stay up on the skates! The owner of the rink saw her struggling and came over and told my husband and I about the beginner skate classes. We asked our daughter if she was interested in taking the classes and she breezed through all three levels and made it onto the Artistic Skating Team by that January. She just completed her first year of competition in August. The skate year starts in September each year. She won three 1st place medals at the Regional Championships in June. This earned her three places at Nationals. At Nationals, she came in 15th place in the nation in Figures, 13th place in Loops, and 8th place in the combined events. Not bad at all for the 1st year at Nationals! Since this is her anniversary month, I wanted to make her a card and we got her a cake to celebrate. Below is the card and the cake :-).

If you guessed that I used the Build a Bear dies, you would be 100% correct! I had to make some adjustments to the die cuts to make the skate dress. All the members of the team wear black velvet dresses or pants and shirt (for the guys). Each dress or shirt has the initials K.P. on the left side below the shoulder in swarovski rhinestones. The K.P. is in honor of Kyle Peck, the son of our world class coach (John) in Chicago. Kyle was hit by a car at the World Championships in Rome and was killed. He was only ten years old. It makes me very sad every time I think of this. Since then, all of John's (Kyle's Dad) skaters wear black (John's favorite color) and the initials K.P., to honor Kyle. My daughter even has KP on her Nationals jacket to honor Kyle. So now that you know why the skate dresses are black, the skirts also come down to a point in the front and a slightly longer point in the back of the dress. This is standard for roller figure skate dresses. Just so you know, the dress bottom of the skater on the card is not wearing swimsuit type  bottoms :-). She is wearing her dress in the points that skate dresses have. I used a pearl on the left shoulder to represent the KP because that sure wouldn't fit on the little skater in rhinestones! For the skates, I die cut them in Whisper White and then with a VersaMark pen, I colored in the very bottom of the shoes and heat embossed the bottoms in silver embossing powder. The plates on skates are silver, but my daughter pointed out that I could have done the very bottoms of the shoes in brown to match the heel and sole on the bottom of the boots. Just didn't think of that, lol! The wheels are done with a Whisper White 1/4" circle punch with a 1/8" Silver Glimmer Paper circle punch. Figure wheels are white so that's why I used white for the wheels :-D. For the skater's head, I used a 1 3/8" circle punch and for the hair I used a 1 1/2" circle punch. I punched out two circles first in Early Espresso and discarded the circles. Then I came back in with my punch and punched again twice, so I had the shape of the hair. My daughter actually wears this hair style. The floor is done in More Mustard and I stamped the Wood Grain background stamp on it in More Mustard ink. I sponged the very top of the floor piece in More Mustard to give the floor a little more depth on the card. The inside is stamped with, "Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams," from the Word Play stamp set. So there ya' have it... my little skater girl Build a Bear. My real little skater girl LOVES this card! What more could you ask as a Mom :-) ? Have a great weekend!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Silver Glimmer Paper, Blush Blossom (retired- please contact Stampin' Up! and ask them to bring this color back :-D )
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard, Marina Mist, Blush Blossom (retired)
Markers: Early Espresso, Basic Black
Dies: Build a Bear, Beary Essentials
Punches: Modern Label, Word Window, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/2" Circle
Other: VersaMark pen, Basic Pearls, Pretty in Pink Stampin' Pastels, white crochet thread for the shoe laces

Build a Bear Pilgrim

Surpise! A Sunday post! :-) I wanted to get this one posted early so I could participate in the SUO Challenge before it was too late.

If you've followed my blog for a while, then you will recall how much I love my Build a Bear dies that are exclusive to Stampin' Up! It's been some time since I've pulled them out, so I pulled them out a couple of days ago with a little Pilgrim in mind for a Thanksgiving card. I also wanted to participate in one of the challenges over at SUO Challenges. The challenge for the week was to use leaves, so I pulled out a few sets that have leaves, and this is the end result...

I used three stamp sets and a couple of retired Build a Bear dies to create my Pilgrim. His hat is actually made from the Large tag punch and the Large Oval punch, with a few alterations to the punched shapes. Please see below for the list of supplies that I used. Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day today!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Basic Black, Early Espresso, Blush Blossom (retired)
Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Basic Gray, So Saffron, Blush Blossom (retired)
Stamps: Falling Leaves, Season of Friendship, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Dies: Build a Bear- Bear, Beary Essentials, Beary Christmas (retired), Beary Girl (retired), 
Punches: 1 3/8" Circle, Large Tag, Large Oval, Boho Blossoms, 1/4" Circle, 1/8" Circle
Other: Stampin' Pastels- Pretty in Pink

Stampin' Celebration Challenge #47 Number Two :-)

This is the second card that I made for the Stampin' Celebration challenge. I was invited to be a Party Guest Designer this week, so when I made my card for the challenge, I made another one :-). For the inspiration photo, see my post below this one or hop on over to Stampin' Celebration so you can play too :-).

I chose only one part of the inspiration photo for the elements on my card to make a child's card. I used some of the colors in the stripes around the lion and made the stripes on a base of Pear Pizzazz. Even though the inspiration photo showed most of the lion's body, I decided to just make his head with some punches. Since there are several circle shapes in the inspiration photo, I used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder for those :-D. 

Since the lion has on a party hat, I stamped 'Happy Birthday' from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. I really like the size of the sentiments in Teeny Tiny Wishes- they fit in teeny tiny spaces :-). Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day today!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Peach Parfait-119794, Pear Pizzazz-119795, Whisper White-100730, So Saffron-105118, Marina Mist-119682, Chocolate Chip-102128, Very Vanilla-101650, In Color Hostess Level One Designer Series Paper-121028

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370

Classic Stampin' Ink: Chocolate Chip: 100908

Stampin' Write Markers: Chocolate Chip-100071, Pretty in Pink-100045

Punches: 1" Circle-119868, 1/2" Circle-119869, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack-118309, 1/4" circle

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots-117335

Other: Stampin' Dimensionals-104430

Build-a-Bear Workshop Thank You's

Have I ever mentioned that I love my Build-a-Bear dies? They are NOT just for kids :-) ! If you loved playing with paper dolls when you were little, you will love playing with the Build-a-Bear collection of dies, lol! The Build-a-Bear collection of dies are great for scrapping those photos from Build-a-Bear Workshop, but kids love cards made with them, and so do grown ups ;-). Not only are there dies in the collection, but stamps as well.

I made a set of thank you cards yesterday with my Build-a-Bear dies. This year's Idea Book & Catalog brings us some new clothes for our bears, 'Beary Dressy'. I just love this little outfit- too cute!! This dress reminds me of the little sun dresses my girls wore when they were little.

Sponging ink around your bear, the clothes, and adding a little bit of Stampin' Pastel to the cheeks give your little bears depth and character. You can also use some of your other dies with the bears, such as the small butterflies from the 'Beautiful Wings' embosslit. Perfectly sized for little bears :-).

I mentioned that Stampin' Up! also offers stamp sets in the Build-a-Bear Workshop collection. One of the sets is a collection of Beary cute little sentiments, lol!

If you layer a sheet of card stock and a sheet of Designer Series Paper on your die and roll them through at one time, you will be able to mix and match pieces to get different looks for your bear's attire. I didn't do it on these cards, but usually, I add 'Crystal Effects' to my die cut buttons to make them shiny. Bears and buttons just seem to go together, don't ya' think :-) ? Okay, that's my post for today. Have to start school with my daughter. Have a wonderful day today!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Beary Nice Wishes-118050

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, Whisper White-100730, Certainly Celery-105125, Very Vanilla-101650, Basic Black-121045, Bashful Blue-105120, So Saffron-105118, Old Olive-100702, Pawsitively Prints I (retired- but there is a Pawsitively Prints II- 117396- in the new catalog- whoo hoo!)

Classic Stampin' Ink: Pink Pirouette-111838, Bashful Blue-105209, So Saffron-105213, Old Olive-102277

Dies: Bear-117977, Beary Dressy-119986, Beary Lovely-117987, Buttons #5-113440, Beautiful Wings embosslit-118138

Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder-119976

Back to School ideas

I know it's probably a little early to be thinking about going 'back' to school when most schools aren't even out for the summer yet... BUT, for teachers or moms who like to get a good head start, this project is for you ;-).

I often start a project by pulling out something that I haven't used for a while. I just hate for my stuff to sit around doing nothing. As I was taking a mental inventory of stuff I haven't used for a while, my Bag with Scallops die came to mind and there it stopped, lol! I made another mental inventory of my colors of card stock to see what color I wanted to use and stopped at Kraft, which was a ways down the list! Ah ha! Light bulb moment! I thought it would be so cute as a paper lunch bag! Where are paper lunch bags used the most? Kids taking their lunches to school, of course ;-). So I pulled out my First Day stamp set and went to work. This is my new lunch bag, sponged with Soft Suede ink, perfect for little surprises for the first day of school.

These would be great for teachers to make to welcome their new class and possibly put little things like those cute little erasers in it. They would also be a nice little ice breaker for a student starting a new school or just to introduce themselves to new classmates as they start a new grade. To go with the brown bag special, I made a matching bookmark. Kids can write their names on the stamped paper at the bottom and the teacher could laminate the bookmarks after wards, making a sturdy bookmark and also a little keepsake of the child's handwriting for mom to keep forever ;-).

The paper stamp is part of the First Day stamp set. I just used markers in Tempting Turquoise for the lines on the paper, Real Red for the margin, and black for the words on Whisper White. I used other stamps in the set to stamp 2nd Grade on the paper. You could stamp any grade from 1st to 12th, so this is a set that could be used for a looooong time. I made a First Day of School mini scrap book with this stamp set and it could be paired with this paper bag and bookmark easily.

The brown lunch bag could be used for office workers or other jobs where people bring their lunches in brown paper bags and filled with chocolate or whatever you want to put in it. I just used a glue dot to close the top of my bag, so it's easy to open, but stays closed. I hope you'll make some of your own brown bag specials with this great die. It was a lot of fun! Have a great day today and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: First Day- 120051 (wood mount- 118521)
Paper: Kraft- 102125, Whisper White- 100730, Brilliant Blue-100721, Real Red- 102482
Classic Stampin' Ink: Soft Suede-115657
Stampin' Write Markers: Tempting Turquoise- 100058, Real Red- 100052, Basic Black-
Dies: Stars #2- 113461
Punches: 1" Circle- 109046, 1 1/4" Circle- 104403 100082

First Day of School Mini Book

I love the Summer Mini stamp set First Day, it's too cute! I wanted to make a little scrap book using the set for my grandson when he goes back to school in August. To make the mini book, I used the Movers and Shapers Curly Label die. The die makes a 4.25" x 5.5", 5 page, card sized scrapbook using one sheet of card stock. You can add as many pages as you like, but I generally stick with one sheet of card stock to make my books. One of the things that I like about the Movers and Shapers Curly Label die is that it not only cuts out a window in the card stock anywhere I want it to be, it also adds a decorative dashed line around the die cut. I used Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White for the main parts of my book. As you can see in the photo below, I stamped inside the window of the cover.

Inside Cover and page 1

Pages 2 and 3

Pages 4 and 5

I created a black board for the last page of my mini book using some Basic Black card stock and a strip of Textured Soft Suede card stock. The letters are die cut from Whisper White and the chalk is the lower case letter L. To color the little bookworm, I used Watercolor Wonder crayons and a blender pen. Look how cute he is....

Ya' gotta love him! This little guy just makes me smile :-). I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Wishing you a wonderful day today!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: First Day- 120051 (wood mount- 118521), Tart & Tangy- 111541
Paper: Real Red- 102482, Whisper White- 100730, Basic Black- 102851, Tempting Turquoise- 102067, YoYo Yellow- 102824, More Mustard- 100946, Pretty in Pink- 100459, Apricot Appeal- 105124, So Safrron- 105118, Soft Suede Textured- 115719
Classic Stampin' Ink: Pacific Point (available in July), Real Red- 103133, Tempting Turquoise- 100814, Soft Suede- 115657
Watercolor Wonder Crayons: Bold Brights- 16695 (Green Galore, Glorious Green, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red), Neutrals- 106746 (Going Gray)
Dies: Stars #2- 113461, Billboard Letters- 114510, Movers and Shapers Curly Label- 114506
Punches: Word Window- 105090, 1/8" circle
Other: Silver embossing powder- 109131, 1/8" white grosgrain

Build a Bear Fourth of July

It's National Scrap-booking Month- whoo hoo! To celebrate, I made an 8x8 page for my Fourth of July scrap book using a new stamp set in the 2010 Summer Mini - July Fourth. I started out with Night of Navy for my page and stamped one of the fireworks with Versamark ink, then heat embossed with gold embossing powder for my background. I also added a die cut Build a Bear dressed for the holiday :-).

The grass is just a torn piece of Old Olive card stock stamped with the 'Dot, Dot, Dot' stamp and Whisper White craft ink.

Here's a quick close up of my little Uncle Sam bear. These bears are just too stinkin' cute, don't ya' think :-D ? I am most likely going to use this page as a journaling page and the first page of my Fourth of July scrap book. (Hey, it never hurts to get a head start on those pages we'll be scrappin'.) I'll use the the photo mat for my journaling, but of course, it could be used for a photo too ;-).

Happy National Scrap-booking Month!!! Sending out a wish to you that you can get lots of pages scrapped this month :-D. Have a great day!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: July Fourth- 120063 (wood mount- 118523), Dot, Dot, Dot- 115332
Paper: Night of Navy- 100867, Old Olive- 100702, Real Red- 102482, Riding Hood Red- (returning in July), Not Quite Navy- 101722, Whisper White- 100730, Creamy Caramel- 102514, Chocolate Chip- 102128, Basic Black- 102851
Classic Stampin' Ink: Bravo Burgundy- 105214, Night of Navy- 102977, Creamy Caramel- 103220, Chocolate Chip- 100908. Also used Whisper White Craft Stampin' Ink- 101731
Punches: 1 3/4" Circle- 112004, 1 1/2" Circle, 1" Square, Word Window- 105090
Dies: Stampin' Up! Bear- 117977, Beary Essentials- 117978, Beary Girl- 117982
Other: White gel pen- 105021, Real Red brads- 106957, Regal Rose Stampin' Pastel- 105542, gold gems

Happy Bearthday Boy

I've been working on building up my stash of cards this year and decided I should add some children's cards. Little boys seem to like bright colors, so I chose Tempting Turquoise and YoYo Yellow. When using very bright colors, it's always a good idea to break them up with a place for the eye to rest. To that end, I used Whisper White as a mat between my colors. I don't make many male cards so I really need to work on more of those :-).

The Build a Bear Workshop line of products, exclusive to Stampin' Up!, includes some adorable stamps, along with dies for making cute, cute bears. I thought these two stamp sets would be perfect for a little boy card.

I stamped this cute little bear with Black Staz-on and colored him in with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a blender pen on watercolor paper. If I am going to color with my Watercolor Crayons directly on my card stock, I will normally use Whisper White or Very Vanilla. Both of these card stocks have a coating on them, making them perfect for coloring. Simply outline only the edges of your image with the Watercolor Wonder Crayon, and in a tight, tiny circular motion, pull the color into the center with the blender pen. Use gentle pressure so as not to pill your card stock. If I am going to color in my image by picking up the color directly from the crayons, I use watercolor paper. Watercolor paper is much more sturdy so it doesn't pill very easily. With picking color up directly from the crayon, you would use the same method of pulling in color into the center of the image, by starting your coloring on the outside edges of your image. To finish off my image, I used Bashful Blue chalk to color in the sky around the bear. I added just a bit of texture on the YoYo Yellow with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions folder. Easy peasy card :-)
Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by- see ya' tomorrow!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Beary Nice Wishes- 118050, Beary Best Friends- 118052
Paper: Tempting Turquoise- 102067, YoYo Yellow- 102824, Real Red- 102482, Whisper White- 100730, Watercolor paper- 105019
Classic Stampin' Ink: Real Red- 103133. Black Staz-on-101406. Blender pens- 102845
Watercolor Wonder Crayons: Bold Brights- 106695 (Brilliant Blue, YoYo Yellow, Glorious Green)
Earth Elements- 106696 (Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Old Olive)
Neutrals- 106746 ( Sahara Sand, Going Gray, Basic Black)
Dies: Stars #2- 113461
Other: Bashful Blue Stampin' Pastels- 105542, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions embossing folder- 117335

A Good Egg for Babies

I am late posting this morning from a busy weekend, but here I am, finally :). Over the weekend I was preparing for my stamp class this evening and I was working with the stamp set, 'A Good Egg' for Easter cards. I kept looking at that adorable little chick and thinking how cute it would be for a baby card. This morning I got up and made one for a baby boy and one for a baby girl to add to my card stash. I used my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a blender pen to color in the baby chicks. Lol! These little chicks just crack me up- they are so stinkin' cute!

The baby chicks are popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

I left the inside plain, but I used two sentiments. One of my favorite baby sentiments comes from the stamp set, 'God's Blessings'. It says: "A baby is a gift from Heaven above, bringing joy down to earth, filling hearts full of love." I paired it with another sentiment from 'Well Scripted', which is "Congratulations." And here is the baby boy version....

The 'Perfect Polka Dots' Textured Impressions embossing folder is great for so many different kinds of cards, but it really lends itself well for baby cards. Hope you are having a great day so far and wishing you a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: A Good Egg- 114974, Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370, God's Blessings- 114972, Well Scripted- 118601 clear mount & 117072 wood mount
Paper: Whisper White- 100730, Barely Banana- 102701, Pretty in Pink- 100459, Bashful Blue- 105120, Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper- 118401, Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper- 112151
Classic Stampin' Ink: Pretty in Pink- 101301, Bashful Blue- 105209. Black Staz-on- 101406, White gel pen- 105021, Blender pen- 102845
Watercolor Wonder Crayons: So Saffron- 106698, Barely Banana- 106697, Only Orange- 106695
Punches: Scallop Circle- 109043, 1 3/8" Circle- 104401, Word Window- 105090
Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots- 117335
Other: 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon in Pretty in Pink- 109032 & Bashful Blue- 109029, Stampin' Dimensionals- 104430

Ahoy Matey!

My grandson is turning eight years old on Friday (where did that time go? I swear, he was just a baby a few days ago!) and he is having a pirate party this year. Grandma (aka me) is baking him a pirate ship cake with some pirate cupcakes to go with it. You know I had to make him a pirate card ;-) ! To make the pirate, I turned to the Build a Bear Workshop dies. They are great dies to have on hand because you can make more than just bears with them. I used the Ornament punch for the pirate's head and head scarf. The little tie on his head scarf is the little heart from the Heart to Heart punch. The white polka dots were done with my gel pen.

His pirate clothes are indeed the little bear clothes die, but I cut his clothes on the sleeves and the pant's legs to make them raggedy and more like a pirate. His little neck scarf was once upon a time little bear shoes and a little bear shirt cuff :-). His ship is also made with the Ornament punch and the Small Oval punch. And you thought you could just make ornaments with the Ornament punch :-D.

Awwww! He even has a pirate earring and an eye patch! The earring was made by punching an 1/8" circle punch into a scrap of Crushed Curry and then I used a 1/4" circle punch to punch around the first hole. I cut a little slit near the top of the earring so I could layer it front and back, creating his little ear. Highlights on his eye patch and his eye were done with a white gel pen. This cute little pirate was so much fun to make and my daughter (mommy to grandson) assures me that he will love it ;-). I hope he does! I will be making him a pirate birthday banner with my Pennant die that I got for Christmas from one of my other daughters and I haven't even used it yet. This is a great time to use it- can't wait to make that banner!

If you don't own the Build a Bear dies yet, you really do need them!!! They are not 'just' for bears, lol! Wishing you a wonderful week and hope you are having pretty Spring weather where you live. Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Blush Blossom- 103318, Real Red- 102482, Close to Cocoa- 101341, Chocolate Chip- 102128, Soft Suede- 115318, Apricot Appeal- 105124, Barely Banana- 102701, Crushed Curry- 115319, Old Olive- 100702, Whisper White- 100730, Very Vanilla- 101650, Basic Black- 102851, Ballet Blue- 100613
Classic Stampin' Ink: Apricot Appeal- 105218, Creamy Caramel- 103220, Bashful Blue- 105209, Barely Banana- 101170, Chocolate Chip- 100908
Stampin' Pastels: Cameo Coral (color on pirate's cheeks)
Punches: 1" Circle- 109046, 1/4" Circle, 1/8" Circle, Ornament- 116794, 1" Square, Heart to Heart- 113694, Scallop Circle- 109043 (to make clouds), Small Oval- 107304
Dies: Build a Bear Workshop Bear- 117977, Beary Essentials- 117978 (bear clothes), Birds & Blooms Sizzlits- 113485
Other: Black Journal Marker- 105394, White gel pen- 105021