December 8, 2010

Christmas is the theme challenge this week over at Stampin' Royalty this week. I made these for a friend at church. She chose kids from the Angel Tree at church who asked for gift cards. She wanted a cute way to present the gift cards and saw a picture of a gift card holder I did about a month ago. :) This was a good way to use up some retired ribbon!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Sparkly & Bright

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Whisper White

Tools: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Northern Flurries EF (I emboss after scoring/cutting), corner rounder

Embellishments: Real Red Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon, other SU! ribbon from a previous Holiday Mini :)

Here is a downloadable instruction sheet/template. It's small, but you can zoom in on it. Please feel free to "Save Image."
Thanks for clicking over to my blog today.

November 30, 2010

Well, I bid farewell to November and say hello to December with a few Christmas cards I made last week but didn't have time to post. These cards will be for sale at a "Handmade" Open House this Friday!

This first one uses a retired set, it was a Hostess Set in last year's mini catalog (I'm pretty sure). This was very easy, but looks SO pretty with the Iridescent Ice!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Printed Pines

Ink: VersaMark, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake

Tools: Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Big Shot, Top Note die, Petals-A-Plenty Embossing Folder

Embellishments: 3/8" Old Olive Taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls

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This card is copied from a sample I received in a card swap. She had used Bravo Burgundy card stock for the card base, Very Vanilla for the Top Note; then stamped the block stamp in Bravo Burgundy ink and hand cut the tree stamped in Bravo Burgundy ink on Bravo Burgundy card stock. Nice, if you want monochromatic. I, however, wanted a little more interest. I spiced it up with more color and added rhinestones!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Season of Joy

Ink: Old Olive, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Tools: Big Shot, Top Note die, 3/4" Circle punch

Embellishments: Basic Rhinestones, 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon

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And, lastly, I had to try the Paper Tree technique. I first saw this on Connie Babbert's blog. Follow the link, she had a PDF with a template to download. It takes a bit of trial and error (at least it did for me!) and I think I will do a smaller circle next time. But it is certainly fun and looks great!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Come to Bethlehem

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive (sponged)

Paper: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, retired Old Olive DSP

Tools: Circle Scissor Plus, Big Shot, Petals-A-Plenty Embossing Folder, label from Matchbox die

Embellishments: Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for clicking over to my blog today!

November 25, 2010

Make & Take for my next workshop:

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Come to Bethlehem

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake

Tools: Big Shot, Petal-A-Plenty Embossing Folder, Label from the Matchbox die, tearing edge, distressor tool

Embellishments: Basic Rhinestone

Thanks for clicking over to my blog. Happy Thanksgiving!

November 12, 2010

**Just Add Ink challenge card is second in this post**

Well, I was going to make a mitten Christmas card, but none of my Christmas-y sentiments seemed to compliment this set (and I'm not so fond of "have a cute Christmas" which is the sentiment contained in the set). It then turned into just a winter card. :) The card features the paper buttons and also the spotlighting technique. (Stamp the image on a separate paper, punch out a portion and pop that up on the main image. I also like to add a second, colored circle underneath, as you can see.) I love these colors together!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: A Cute Christmas, Apple Blossoms

Ink: StazOn black, Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze

Paper: Crumb Cake, Candy Cane Christmas, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette

Tools: Big Shot, Top Note die, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, 3/4" Circle punch, 1" Circle punch, 1/2" Circle punch, Crystal Effects, 1/16" hole punch, dimensionals, Blender Pens

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Next, I have another Candy Cane Christmas card... literally! :) I made it for the Just Add Ink Christmas Card challenge. This candy cane die is a Sizzix die I bought via eBay 2 years ago and haven't used much since completing the project for which it was purchased. But the striped sheet in the Candy Cane Christmas DSP pack just called for it to be pulled out of the drawer! I used the "have a" and "Christmas" parts of the "have a cute Christmas" phrase, but then used the "sweet" from Sweet Scoops. I thought it appropriate for the candy canes!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: A Cute Christmas, Sweet Scoops

Ink: Real Red

Paper: Real Red, Candy Cane Christmas DSP, Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Tools: 1" Circle punch, 1 1/4" Circle punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch, Big Shot, Sizzix candy cane die, Embellishments: 1/8" Real Red Taffeta ribbon, Jumbo 5/16" Neutrals Brads Silver, Real Red brads, glue dots, dimensional

Thanks for clicking over to my blog today!

My First Mojo!

Mojo Monday is one of those sites I see mentioned all over SplitCoast and blogs, but I had never participated in a challenge from them. Until this week, that is! Their sketches are a little more involved than I usually get with my cards. We'll see if I do some more with them in the future... :)

This weeks challenge led me to make a Christmas card.

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Season of Joy

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Marin Mist, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Sweet Pea DSP, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Very Vanilla

Tools: paper piercer and guide, Large Oval punch

Embellishments: 3/8" Old Olive Taffeta ribbon

Thanks for clicking over to my blog today!

Gift Card Holder

Here we go. I've got a tutorial on how to make a gift card holder. I've done the trial and error for you! :) Just read, look over the pics, jot down measurements and you'll be turnin' out gift card holders like crazy!

In this first picture you can see one finished holder with a card in it! You can also see that I started with a 5x5" square piece of card stock.

Then I scored one side at 1 3/4" (I use my stylus to score right on my paper cutter, after rubbing a piece of wax paper on my card stock for smooth scoring!)

Then I turned it so the scored line is toward the bottom of my cutter.

My paper cutter also has measurements up 3/4" on the other side of the blade. Conveniently, I am using 3/4" as my next measurement. I scored from the bottom up to the line I already scored. Then I cut from the top down to my scored line.

I flip it and do the other side (scoring from top down, cutting from bottom up now that it's flipped).
So, I now have this:

I cut at an angle between the scored lines at each corner, like so:

And also cut the corner at the bottom so you have tabs. You end up with this:

At this point I put mine in the Big Shot with the Northern Flurries Embossing folder. I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock 3"x3 1/4". You can stamp whatever you'd like on this piece. The one pictured at the top has "Just For You" and a snowflake. The one at the bottom is embellished with a ribbon and has no words on it. I rounded my corners then adhered this white piece to the almost-square part of the scored, tabbed piece. (I forgot to take a picture of this, so I pulled it back apart, hence the tears on the tabs! Oops)

Next, I folded the tabs in and put adhesive on the tabs as shown in the next picture.

Then with the tabs folded in, you fold up on the other, longer scored line, press, and voila! a gift card holder.

This is SUPER quick and easy. After having nailed down the measurements, I can make one in about 2 minutes! A gift card is an "easy" gift and this is an easy presentation for it, but they'll never know that because it's so cute!

Thanks for clicking over to my blog today! Please let me know if anything is unclear for if you have further questions!

(PS - sorry about the 2 pictures that won't enlarge. You can pretty much see what you need to in the small version.)

September 1, 2010

Happy September! And Merry Christmas! :)

The challenge on the Stampin' Royalty site this week was no challenge at all: use pearls and/or rhinestones. Well, I don't have rhinestones, but I have the Basic Pearls from SU! and I LOVE THEM!!! There are 3 different sizes of pearls and 3 small strings of pearls; all have adhesive backing. They make for quick, easy and elegant embellishment.

My living room is black, red and gold. This will fit perfectly in it and sit nicely on a shelf or in one of my shadow boxes. This frame was on clearance at Walmart for $1.50!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Delightful Decorations, Come to Bethlehem

Ink: VersaMark

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Tools: Big Shot, Texturz Background 1, Ornament punch, Gold EP, heat tool

Embellishments: Basic Pearls, 5/8" Satin Ribbon Whisper White

Thanks for clicking over to my blog today.

August 23, 2010

It's time to start thinking about Christmas cards!!! :)

I made this card for the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge #165.

In just a couple weeks, I am participating in a Christmas-themed card swap with fellow demonstrators. (Card swaps are awesome: you come up with a card and make one for each participant; then you swap your card for their card and all participants then have a excellent assortment of cards!) This is one that I'm considering, but I haven't decided for sure what card I want to make for it. I've come up with a few other good options! The tab with "Merry Christmas" was cut with the Big Shot. However, there is a punch almost exactly like it in the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog called Decorative Label. (I'll be ordering that soon for sure!)

Below is a picture of the inside.

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Come to Bethlehem

Ink: Not Quite Navy, VersaMark/VersaMarker

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Brushed Silver, Whisper White

Tools: Big Shot, Top Note die, Matchbox (labels) die, Elegant Lines EF, Circle Scissor Plus (3.75" and 3.5" circles), Silver Embossing Powder, heat tool

Embellishments: Basic Pearls

Thanks for clicking over to my blog!

August 19, 2010

I made these cards for the Just Add Ink challenge to use Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake (Kraft) and Real Red. This combo easily lends itself to Christmas projects. But since that was quick to come to mind, I wanted to go farther and do a non-Christmas one, too! This Christmas card uses an embossing folder from the 2010 Holiday Mini, active Sept 1st!

Supplies for Christmas Card:

Stamps: Sparkly & Bright

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, VersaMarker

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Crumb Cake

Tools: Big Shot, Top Note die, Northern Flurry EF, glue stick
Embellishments: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 1 1/4" Wide Striped Grosgrain Ribbon Chocolate Chip (color retired, ribbon available in other colors)

Supplies for Thank You Card:

Stamps: Punched Posies, Occasional Quotes

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red

Paper: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip textured

Tools: Big Shot, Top Note die, 3/4" Circle punch, Word Window punch, 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon Chocolate Chip, Sending Love Epoxy Brads in Real Red (from the last Occasions Mini)

Thanks for clicking over to my blog today!