Every once in a while...an idea hits me

So I have an Open house on Sunday and in typical procrastination fashion I am just now figuring out what to have my customers do for a make and take...

So trying to make it easy I came up with this card. Only the card isn't so easy...see first you stamp the scallop in So Saffron...and punch out the center with a 1" circle punch...then stamp the scallop again with Rose Red...layer the Saffron inner circle on the Rose Red Scallop and add a clear button which is backed by Designer paper and threaded with some natural thread.

So to make it easier and quicker for my customers I went ahead and stamped a bunch of saffron scallops and punched out the center...

BUT that left me with a bunch of stamped scallops...so I used my scallop punch to punch them out...now I have a scallop with a hole in the center...what to do with them...what to do with them.....

Thinking thinking thinking....humm I have lollypop sticks...some Valentine Hershey Kisses and a tin bucket from the Target $1 spot bought a year ago...

So this is what I came up with...

The tin has a Rub-on (from the SU SAB rub-ons) - went down very easily and adds a very nice touch to this simple $1 tin - don't ya think?

Next I punched a 1 3/8 circle out of coordinating cardstock and a 1 1/4 circle out of designer paper...used that to back the scallop so ti showed through the hole...I attached a lollypop stick using basic tape and added a Hershey kiss in the middle (used Craft Glue Dots) - tied some wide green gingham ribbon to act as leaves...

I also had some floral foam (cause a crafter has a little bit of everything) stuck that down inthe tin and stuck my Hershey pops down into the foam at differing heights...

Covered the foam with some Green Galore paper that I ran through the crimper and then cut in small slivers...

Personally I think this is simply ADORABLE...what about you?

Back to Simplicity....

Now granted I haven't been doing this craft blog thing for very long...and I am no where near talented as other crafters with blogs...but I do what i can...

As I have mentioned before at my core I am a simple stamper...I like clean lines...

So when I got my NEW Stampin' Up Set "A Little Birdie Told Me" - it just screamed out for some simple cards....

and this is what I came up with....

So FREAKIN CUTE...and how much time did it take me...practically NONE at all...

I grabbed an SU white folded notecard (LOVE THOSE THINGS) - my set and my black stamp pad.

Now the half oval stamped in Going Grey under the birdies feet is a stamp from ALL THAT SCRAPS - you can find it HERE . I bought it with it already mounted on wood because I had a "feeling" that I would be using it alot... BUT if you don't have an oval or half oval stamp - let me tell you what you can do if you have the SU Oval punch...simple punch an oval out of scrap paper...then put it on your card and use a sponge to sponge in an oval to anchor your image.

I simply used a blender pen and some ink (I like to take my marker and scribble on a CD case and then pick up the color) to color in the birdies and the umbrella - I also added white dots to the umbrella with the Signo white gell pen.

Added a piece of SU gigham black ribbon and BAM...a super cute clean line card that only takes a few minutes to do...

And what I like best about this card is that it is very easy to switch out - need a bithday card - well change out the "under the weather" for the "celebrate" stamp and add the hats on the birds...many different possibilites with one little set, a pack of notecards, a roll of ribbon and a few markers....

My first tutorial...Watercolor Sparkle

Well at least on my blog...I actually have a tutorial over at SCS...Stamping on Candles

But this one...well I am not sure if I came up with it - I do know I discovered it myself soon after getting my Water Color Crayons and having an "accident" while crafting...I accidently grabbed the Versamarker instead of my Aquapainter

I have used this particular technique ALOT when I do swaps because I personally feel it is a little beyond ordinary...

So I give you - Watercolor Sparkle...(hey if anyone can come up with a better name let me know)

So what do you need....


Watercolor Crayons
Versamarker
Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder
Permanant Ink (I used Basic Grey)
Stamp set with open design
Embossing Gun
and of course Cardstock




Stamp your image using a permanent ink











Use Watercolor crayons to add color to the stamped image - it doesn't have to be fully colored in...in this case I used a lighter yellow (So Saffron) in the middle, a rose color (Regal Rose) ringing the yellow and finally a Coral (Cameo Corel) on the outside






Use your Versamarker to blend the crayon together - I work from the middle out using circular strokes







Dump your Iridescent Ice EP on the image...you want to do this fairly quickly after you have blended your colors with the Versamarker. Shake or tap off any excess - the EP will only adhere to the areas you have used the versamarker on.

Use your embossing gun to melt and set the EP






Finally put your card together...now you have a card with a beautiful, colorful sparkle image.











Side view to see the sparkle...





I have used the technique a number of times you can see samples

Sparkle Birthday

Ornament Card

Sparkle Butterfly

Sometimes I surprise myself...

So one of the things I love to do is make slider cards...for popcorn and hot cocoa.

This year I had a friend order some popcorn sliders for Halloween and she asked if I could make some for the Holidays...

Why of course!!!!

It also needed a place for a gift card and a To: From:

Not a problem - or so I thought...then I got to the nitty gritty...how to have a place for a gift card...how should I do a To: From: label...

Hemmed and Hawwed...hawwed and hemmed...tried a few different things that were a no go

THEN I finally came up with this...

The pouch itself is 6.5 inches tall and holds a small bag of microwave popcorn.

The front has a small card (3.5 x 4.25 folded) - inside the card is a small pcoket I made using designer paper - it will fit a standard gift card perfectly. The top half has a little decorated To: From: label.

The card is held closed with the scalloped circle. The circle is popped up on dimensionals on the bottom half.

It is hard to see in these pictures but I did use a bit of cinnimon Stickles in the centers of the flowers on the front stamp, the scallop and inside next to the Merry Christmas.

28 more days...

ACK......only 28 more days until Christmas!!!!

so every year I send out close to 75 cards....all handmade. In previous years I have taken part of lots of X-mas card swaps and sent those out - sort of fun sitting on my bed with all different types of Holiday cards surrounding me trying to "match" the card to the receiver.

This year time just got away from me and I didn't participate in any swaps...so I am on my own for creating holiday cards...something "easy", something "quick" but something "good" - and since I can't stand making more than 20 or so of the same cards...it means a few different designs....

Sometimes SIMPLE is better...

I love clean simple lines...what I love even better is quick, fast stamping too...

If you happen to peruse the isles of Target you will see a trend now-a-days with very simple notecards ... an image and a small saying on a basic folded white notecard and that's it...and for that you pay $2+... not me - I get them same look for a fraction of the cost (umm yeah I don't include the cost of my stamp set...)

Last year I made up a set of cards to show my customers that you don't need a whole lot of stamp sets to envoke different feelings in your cards...you can do fun, whimsical and elegant all in one. The two stamp sets I used to create my set were both from SU - Many Merry Messages and Holiday Tag Team -

I used only a handful of colors - Old Olive, Kraft and White for the cards themselves and then basically Black, Red & Olive for the colors with a little Saffon, Bashful Blue and Gray thrown-in

Next...I used the very cute SU Sell-a-Bration set - Very Punny (retired)...Can I just tell you to make this whole set took me LESS than 10 minutes...yes - I grabbed some SU notecards, the stamp set, my black stamp pad, some Black Gingham ribbon and a few markers and in less than 10 minutes I had this...

seriously simple and seriously cute

And last but not least...I won't say this is my best work...because it is far from it....and I was just trying to hurry up and get stamp and ink to paper to have a collection to showcase two SU sets - Year After Year and In My Thoughts - with these two sets you can easily make a card for just about any occassion - birthday, baby, graduation, wedding, friendship, holiday. I used Su notecards (gosh I love having them on hand), Watercolor pencils and Blender pens to color in...and various bits of ribbon...

So remember when you are stampin'...sometimes simple is better

A Threesome of Cards

I'll admit I am at the very basic sense a "simple" stamper...I am drawn to nice clean cards, ones with a layer or two, maybe an embellishment...so I have been trying to work outside of my "comfort" zone and branch out a little bit...

I got my new Green Grass stamps in the mail the other day and they were calling out to me to make them dirty...
I'll admit this isn't my usual style...This is more of a "Shabby Chic" look to me...but I do love the way it turned out...hard to see in the picture but the Live, Laugh. Love is embossed with Iridescent Ice EP to give it a bit of dazzle...

Stamps : Dream Come True (Green Grass Stamps), Cheesecloth (SU), Canvas (SU)

Paper: Cranberry (SU-retired), Designer Paper (SU-retired) Chocolate Chip (SU)

Accessories; Ribbon (SU-retired), Primas, Rhinestone Brad (SU)

This next card was done because I wanted to try and give those great Criss-Cross cards I saw on SCS a whirl. Like the last card I delved into my retired Stampin' Up stash. Some of the elements I used here were the SU scallop punch with holes punched in the scalloped edges (1/8th hole punch used) - the heart is cut out and raised up on SU dimensionals. I used Snap Stamps on the front to spell "You are my" - and see that pink little prima...that is a self adhesive Rhinestone...cute no?

Stamps: Dream Come True (Green Grass Stamps), Snap Stamps (Karen Foster) Heart stamps (SU-retired) Season of Joy - swirl (SU)

Paper: Kraft (SU), Carribean CS (SU retired) Loves Me Paper (SU retired)

Accessories: Prima, Ribbon (SU retired), Scallop punch (SU) 1/8 hole punch (SU) Round Tab Punch (SU)

And of course I have to make a quick simple card - grabbed a SU Notecard and went to town in about 2 minutes...the flower is from set - Papertrey Beautiful Blooms stamped in 3 different colors across the front...used Basic Grey for the inner part of the flower and for the saying. I did add a bit of bling in the form of Stardust Stickles in the center dots of the flower.

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms (Papertrey), Dream Come True (Green Grass Stamps)

Paper: SU Notecard

Accessories: Stickles

O' Christmas Joy

So I saw THIS beautiful Bind-it-All book over at Danielle's site Fat Cat Stamper - (go check out her work - FAB-U-LOUS)

Anyway I loved the look of her book and said hummm....I would love to do something similar - so here is my version....

Paper - Dashing (SU), Vanilla (SU) Real Red (SU) Old Olive (SU)
Main Stamps- Season of Joy (SU), Merry and Bright (SU) Joy stamp (unknown)
Accessories - Bind-it-All, Scallop Punch (SU), Round Tab Punch (SU), Jolee flower stickers, Rhinestones

Also...my other half is leaving for a business trip tonight for 3 days...which means once the kiddies go to bed it will be time for momma to play.... who has time to do laundry when there is so much stamping to be done :)

Beauty in Clearance Items....

I am a sucker for Clearance items...every time I go into a Target I HAVE to whip past all the end caps to see what is on Clearance for that week...some weeks they have nothing I want...other weeks it seems I have timed my shopping trip just right and the Clearance Gods have smiled down upon me...

I found this little tri-frame buried under a bunch of a other Clearance Items - the cost was .25 cents...I rummaged some more and came up with 2 others. They were orginally marked at $3.99

for $3.99 nope would not have bought them...but for a quarter....I figured I could use them for something at some point...

It was very simple to throw together this for a friend.

I used Both Way Blossoms (SU-retired) and Snap Stamps (Karen Foster) colored in using Watercolor Crayons (SU) and added some sparkle with a Stardust Clear Glitter Pen (Sakura)

BOO to you

How appropriate I begin posting to my blog on Halloween...

Hopefully you will enjoy what I have to offer and come back time and time again :)

This is the first year I have really made something for Halloween

So for today I give you...

A fun BOO book....

Covers are 4x4 medium weight coasters covered by some Halloween paper that caught my eye at my local LSS...rest of the paper is SU WW and Lilac.

BOO is done with SU BIG DEAL alphabet using Pumpkin Pie ink and

to you - Karen Foster Snap Stamps

and the EYES...those delicious large Googly EYES...from a big bag of googly eyes...that I got at the Dollar Tree...a huge bag of eyes for $1...really you can't beat that

Inside pages are 3.75x3.75 with rounded corners...in colors of Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore and Lovely Lilac

I used my oh so fun Bind-it-All with a 3/8 O wire to bind it all up and tied various ribbons from my stash...

Keep checking back...more to come