Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Crafting with Judy

Last week when I went over to Judy's we started out with lunch - a wonderful selection of little bites.  Very festive and tasty.

We then went to the craft room to make some cute little boxes that Judy had found while browsing on splitcoaststampers.com.  Each little box holds four of the Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares.  I had been hoping to make a bunch of them before Christmas and use them as table favours but time got away from me and I didn't get them done. 

Here are the two boxes I got done.



Supplies
Stamps - Tags Til Christmas
Ink - Cherry Cobbler
Card Stock - Pear Pizzazz; Very Vanilla; Jolly Holiday DSP
Other - Ornament Punch; Corner Rounder; Dimensionals; Sticky Strip; Basic Pearls

We ended up making one box each - so I would know how to do them at home.

We then moved on to the Faux Shadow Box Frame I showed you in THIS post.   Judy punched out all the little bits for hers but our afternoon came to an end before we completed the project.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Another Stampin' Up! Video - Fortune Teller Gift Basket

Here is another cute little project presented by Stampin' Up!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Quick Project - Stampin' Up! Video

I don't have anything of my own to share so thought you might like this quick little project.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Decor Blocks

Last year I purchased a few sets of four 3" blocks from Stampin' Up! fully intending to decorate and display them.  It didn't happen - for one reason or another the blocks and the Decor Elements vinyl I had bought never saw the light of day - until now!  I needed a little gift for a chinese auction I will be participating in on Boxing Day. 

I pulled out a set of blocks and the chocolate Holiday Mix Decor Elements (unfortunately this item is no longer available).  I decided to use some of the papers from the Deck the Halls DSP pack.

I have seen others decorate some of the panels with photos - I decided to leave all but the front panels plain.  I cut the bottom 3" from one of the sheets of DSP (I love the poinsettias) and used that for the front.  The other sides are covered with a more subtle pattern from the package.  I distressed all the edges and sponged them with Soft Suede ink.  I applied the vinyl Decor Elements and they were done!  I thought about spritzing them with a mixture of shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol but decided against it.  I may change my mind, but for now I really like them the way they are.  I have also decided to keep them for myself!



Supplies

Ink - Soft Suede
Card Stock - Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper
Other - Decor Blocks; Holiday Mix Decor Elements (retired)

Friday, December 17, 2010

"Skinny Bag" Treats

In addition to the snowflake tealight holders that have been featured on many craft blogs in recent months there have been a lot of posts displaying candies (mostly M&M's) packged in "skinny bags".  I purchased some of the bags a while ago (http://www.clearbags.ca/) and then a couple of weeks ago I found the Christmas M&M's that I wanted so I was ready to start.

Although initially I found it a bit of a challenge getting the candies into the bags (they measure 1" wide by 8" tall) I finally got some made.  So far I have only completely finished one of the bags, it shouldn`t take long to get the rest done.

I should have waited to take a photo of a bunch of them together, but here is my one lonely "Skinny Bag" treat.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

My Digital Studio Downloads

I don't have anything new to post - I have not been feeling well so have not been doing much crafting.  I have been doing a bit of baking and trying to finish crocheting a baby blanket. 

These are a few of the recent My Digital Studio downloads.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Penguin Pyramid

Ever since Stampin' Up! introduced the Two Step Owl punch there have been many posts demonstrating the very cute owl and other characters made with the punch - ghosts, reindeer and penguins!  I have been experimenting making penguins and then one day I visited Connie Babbert's blog and saw THIS card.  I loved it!  My goodness who wouldn't.

I decided this would be on the list of cards to make with Judy.  Today was the day!  We made two changes - the first change we made was to the hat on the top penguin.  Connie had stamped the hat image from Jolly Bingo Bits which I don't have.  In any case we wouldn't have done that anyway - it involved cutting around a small image.  I am sure I have said before that is something neither Judy nor I enjoy.  I had seen somewhere that a hat could be made using the wing from the Two Step Bird punch so that is what we did.  We trimmed it with a scrap cut with the Scallop Oval punch and the pom pom is from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch pack.

The second change we made was to lightly stamp snowflakes on the Bashful Blue panel using Whisper White craft ink.


Stamps - Jolly Old Saint Nick; Serene Snowflakes
Ink - Bashful Blue; Basic Black; Whisper White craft
Card Stock - Real Red; Whisper White; Basic Black; Bashful Blue; Pumpkin Pie
Other - 1/8" Real Red Taffeta ribbon; Large Oval, Scallop Oval, Two Step Owl, Two Step Bird and Itty Bitty Shapes punches; Square Lattice embossing folder; wiggly eyes; Stampin' Dimensionals.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Another Patty Bennett CASE

I love Patty Bennett's work and thought THIS card would be a good one for Judy and I to make tomorrow.  I don't often select non standard size cards but this one really appealed to me.  The only change I made was to use two of the stamps from Delightful Decorations (Patty used an image from Tags til Christmas and one from Delightful Decorations) and I added a pearl embellishment.

The finished card is 3 x 6 so you can make four of the base cards from one 12 x 12 sheet of card stock


Supplies
Stamps - Delightful Decorations; Four the Holidays
Ink - Old Olive; Cherry Cobbler; Old Olive marker
Card Stock - Old Olive; Very Vanilla; Jolly Holiday DSP
Other - Basic Pearls; Stampin' Dimensionals; Ornament Punch

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Dasher

As I said a couple of days ago, I had planned on making THIS card for my playdate with Judy last Monday but ran out of the Cherry Cobbler seam binding.  I had already planned next weeks projects so I "lifted" one of them for this week.

I had signed up for Dawn Olchefske's 12 Weeks of Christmas and when I received the week 1 newsletter I instantly knew I had to make at least one - it uses Dasher and the Northern Flurry embossing folder along with Shimmer Paint!  What more could you want!  You can visit Dawn's blog HERE.

It doesn't show up well in the photo, but we spritzed the image panel with a mixture of Shimmer Paint and rubbing alchohol.  We also left off the ribbon in the upper left corner - we actually prefer it without.


Supplies
Stamps - Dasher
Ink - Soft Suede
Card Stock - Soft Suede; Very Vanilla; Real Red
Other - Basic Rhinestones; Shimmer Paint and Rubbin Alcohol; 1/8" Real Red Taffeta Ribbon; Northern Flurry embossing folder

Friday, December 10, 2010

Peaceful Season and Deck the Halls

This is the second of four cards I did with my sister and my nieces on Sunday.  Sherida Giddings had given me one that she had made and knew it would be perfect for our get together.  It was really fun to see them working with the Designer Series Paper.  Although I used the same side of the paper as Sherida had on both of my cards, some of the others used the flip side and changed the orientation of the card to landscape.  I liked the card so much I added it to the "roster" for Judy and I to make last Monday.

Here is the card.  Unfortunately Sherida does not have a blog so I can't direct you to the original.

  

Supplies
Stamps - Peaceful Season (Level 2 Hostess Set)
Ink - Crumb Cake; Cherry Cobbler
Card Stock - Crumb Cake; Cherry Cobbler; Deck the Halls DSP
Other - Two Tags die for the Big Shot; Crop a dile; Jumbo Eyelets; Crumb Cake 3/8" Taffeta ribbon (retired);  Linen Thread; Sponge Daubers

We actually did five projects - four cards (2 of each design) and some of the Santa Punch art notepads.  Click HERE to see my previous post with the notepads.   In addition to the card today and the one I posted a few days ago we made THIS card that I had done with Judy last week.  The fourth card was the 3D Ornament card I had posted HERE that I had also planned on making with Judy this week - that has to go on the back burner for now - I lost track of how much of the Cherry Cobbler seam binding I had already used and I had just enough to complete our projects on Sunday. 

We had a great afternoon.  My sister and her girls made a great lunch; we did our crafts and had a lot of good laughs.  We all agreed that we needed to do it more often.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Faux Shadow Box

Anyone who follows Nancy Riley's blog (iStamp by Nancy Riley) will know that her creativity has had to take a back seat these past several months.  Yesterday she was back with a fantastic shadow box project.  You can see it HERE

I knew I wanted to make one, but was housebound and couldn't get out to buy a frame.  I wanted to do it right away so I searched around until I found a couple of artist canvases in my craft room.  Happily I set to work adapting Nancy's creation to the supplies on hand.  I decided to use the smaller canvas - about 8" x 10". 

I used the same papers as Nancy but had to reduce the number of squares to accommodate the smaller size canvas I was using.  Overall I am really pleased with my version and think it still maintains the "flavour" of the original.


Supplies
Card Stock - Basic Black; Blushing Bride; Naturals White; Garden Green, Real Red; Baja Breeze; Candy Cane Christmas Specialty DSP
Other - Candy Cane Buttons; Line Thread; Small Felt Flurries (retired); Brights Buttons; Two Step Bird Punch; 1/2" Circle Punch; Rhinestones; Rhinestone Brad - Circle Fire; Filigree Brad; Five Petal Punch; Boho Blossoms Punch; Stampin' Dimensionals; Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon; Real Red Polka Dot Ribbon (retired); Stickles (nonSU); Sticky Strip; Linen Thread

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Season of Friendship

It has been quite a long time since I used the Season of Friendship stamp set so when I saw THIS card posted by Patty Bennett I kew it was time to dust it off.  I don't have the Seasonal Sentiments stamp set that Patty used, however I do have My Digital Studio and had recently purchased the download for that set.  It turned out great!  Initially when I selected the stamp, it was very large so I just resized it to the approximate dimensions of the "real" stamp.

My sister and I had planned a stamping afternoon with her two daughters on Sunday so I added this fun card to the "program".  The only change we made was to add some Stickles along the edges of the "snowbanks" and in the centres of the snowflakes.  My photo does not show that - I took a picture of the wrong one.  I didn't want to risk smudging the stickles when I packed up to go home.

So here is my version of Patty's card.  We each made two of the card and I have to say that when we all finished there was a chorus of OOH's and AAH's!


Supplies
Stamp Set - Season of Friendship; Seasonal Sentiments (MDS)
Ink - Cherry Cobbler; Early Espresso; Baja Breeze
Card Stock - Whisper White; Baja Breeze; Candy Cane Christmas DSP
Other - Stickles (nonSU); My Digital Studio

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Roofing Materials in the Stamp Room?

Over the last several months I have seen a lot of crafters posting photos of tealight holders made using the Snowflake die for the Big Shot and roof flashing.  Initially, although I thought they were very pretty, I wasn't going to make any - I was pretty sure I would end up cutting myself.  I did get in touch with a couple of people and they assured me that the cut edges were not sharp so I headed out to one of the local building material stores and bought a roll of the flashing.

I made five sets for my parents - each tealight holder uses two of the snowflakes.  My sister cut out enough to make 10 sets.  I have a bunch cut out and just have to put them together.  Although the photo shows this set using battery operated tealights, they are safe to use with "real" candles.  They are just so pretty when lit!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Jolly Holiday

I saw this card when I was browsing the internet a few days ago - unfortunately I didn't mark down the source.  I will update my blog when I figure out where I saw it.   I added a few dots with my white signo gel pen but otherwise it is a very close copy of the original.

This is the second card that I have prepared for Judy and I to make today.  We ended up not getting to this card - we had a lot of catching up to do and only got to two of the planned cards.


Supplies
Stamps - A Cute Christmas; Short and Sweet
Ink - Cherry Cobbler; Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive Markers; Jet Black StazOn
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler; Old Olive; Very Vanilla; Jolly Holiday DSP
Other - Old Olive 5/8" Satin Ribbon; Regals Button (Cherry Cobbler); Scallop Trim Border, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle and 1 3/4" circle punches; 1/2" corner rounder (non SU); dimensionals

Sunday, December 5, 2010

I "Built" a House

One of the benefits of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is the opportunity to pre-order items from upcoming catalogues and promotions.  When the pre-order period for the Holiday Mini Catalogue opened on August 1 I ordered the Design-a-House.  The house pieces are in the kit (along with that little brass door knob).  The idea is to decorate and embellish as little or as much as you want.  My house arrived, I put it on a shelf, took it out a couple of times and then finally a couple of days ago I decided I was going to do it!  I have seen some that are much more elaborate and some that are a little simpler.  Overall I am really pleased with my little house and am thinking of buying more before the catalogue sales period ends on January 3.

I used one of the patterns from the Deck the Halls DSP pack for the walls and added a few accents of soft suede.  I knew I wanted a red door and roof.  I put vellum behind the windows and although it doesn't show up in the photo the battery operated tealights inside give a really nice warm glow.

I added a few trees cut with a Sizzix die (non SU) and a cotton ball in the chimney.  While looking through a cupboard I found the little Santa Claus and think he looks quite cute sliding down the roof!


Saturday, December 4, 2010

3D Ornament Card

This is one of the cards Judy and I will be making on Monday.  I had seen it while browsing some of the posts on Stampin' Connection and knew that I wanted to make a few myself.  You can link to the original HERE.  The original had a layer of Crumb Cake card stock and one of the images had been stamped with Crumb Cake ink - I decided to stay with a red and white card.

I like the little bit of paper piercing in each of the corners and the three little pearls below the ornament. A fairly clean and simple card with a bit of a punch.  You can't really tell in the photo, but the white card stock is the Stampin' Up! Shimmery White.


Supplies
Stamps - Tags til Christmas; All Holidays
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler; Shimmery White
Ink - Cherry Cobbler
Other - Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding; Dimensionals; Basic Pearls; Gold Elastic Cord (retired); Ornament Punch; paper piercer; Mat Pack

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Another Frame

I really liked the frame I had made last month (HERE) and decided to make one using up some of the Sending Love Specialty papers from the 2010 Occasions Mini.  I think it turned out really well - I ended up making two the same and I might make a third.  They will make great gifts for parents of little girls.

Although the paper already has glitter accents, I also spritzed it with a solution of Frost White Shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol for some added shine.  It is amazing how quickly these go together - a few pieces of paper, some ribbon, a brad and  you are done.


Supplies
Paper - Sending Love Specialty Designer Series Paper (retired); Pink Pirouette (to cover the back)
Other - Crochet Lace trim; Sending Love Real Red Epoxy Brads (retired); Anywhere Glue Stick

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Candy Cane Christmas

Last week Andrea Walford posted THIS card and although I do prefer more traditional colours for  Christmas cards I really liked it.  This was one of the cards Judy and I made on Monday afternoon when we got together.  

We did change a few things - instead of using Basic Black ink for the greeting we used Pear Pizzaz.  We also decided to have a bit more of the pink satin ribbon showing - you can hardly tell on Andrea's that there is any ribbon at all.  We used some of the little felt flurries (available on the clearance rack) and retired pink epoxy brads.


Supplies
Stamps - Bells & Boughs
Ink - Pear Pizzazz
Card Stock - Gina K Luxury White 120 lb; Pear Pizzazz; Pretty in Pink; Whisper White; Candy Cane Christmas DSP
Other - Little Felt Flurries; Northern Frost Decorative Strip Die; Pink Epoxy Brads (retired); Square Lattice Embossing Folder; Scallop Oval Punch; Dimensionals; Pretty in Pink 5/8" satin ribbon

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Jolly Holiday and Peaceful Season

I love the simplicity of this card.   I had seen THIS card and decided to change it a bit for Judy and I to make.  I added some ribbon and a few coloured rhinestones.  Judy had told me that the Basic Rhinestones could be coloured using Sharpie markers.  I love them.

This is one of the cards Judy and I made yesterday afternoon.



Supplies
Stamps - Four the Holidays; Peaceful Season
Cardstock - Old Olive; Very Vanilla; Cherry Cobbler; Jolly Holiday DSP
Ink - Old Olive
Other - corner rounder; scallop trim border punch; cherry cobbler seam binding; basic rhinestones (coloured with red sharpie); paper piercer and mat pack

Monday, November 29, 2010

Holiday Stamp Camp - 7

This is another one of the projects from the Holiday Stamp Camp - it's a snowglobe!  I love snowglobes and am glad I finally made this card.  I hope to make a few more.  That is water in there and it doesn't leak!  You can see the glitter puddled like a snowbank under the snowman.  It really swirls around like a blizzard when the card is shaken.


Supplies
Stamps - A Cute Christmas
Cardstock - Whisper White; Baja Breeze; Candy Cane Christmas DSP
Ink - Jet Black Sazon; various markers
Other - Circle Sweet Treats cups; Northern Frost decorative strip; rhinestones; dazzling diamonds; medium acetate sheet; silver tinsel trim


Sunday, November 28, 2010

Inspired by Andrea Walford

Judy and I had seen THIS card posted by Andrea Walford and really liked the colours and the layout.  Unfortunately neither one of us is very fond of cutting out shapes - we love our punches!  I sat down one morning and taking Andrea's layout made a card that was similar but used a punch.  I was pleased with the result so used it as the third card for my play date with Judy last Tuesday.
We did two versions - one using Old Olive satin ribbon and one with Pear Pizzazz stitched poly ribbon.

Here it is with the Old Olive ribbon



This one uses the Pear Pizzazz ribbon.


Stamps - Four the Holidays
Ink - Cherry Cobbler
Cardstock - Pear Pizzazz; Very Vanilla; Old Olive; Jolly Holiday DSP
Other - Ornament Punch; Scallop Trim Border Punch; Ribbon; Dimensionals

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Holiday Stamp Camp - 6

I can't believe that I have still not completed all of the projects from the Holiday Stamp Camp hosted by Sherida Giddings and Trina St. Michael in September.  I made this card with Judy on Tuesday. 

The original had several spirals of snowflakes on the inside - we decided not to do that and just stamped a few snowflakes on the inside layer.  This card really sparkles!


The vellum layer was embossed with the Northern Flurry embossing folder and was adhered to the base card with mini glue dots.  We used the largest rhinestones to cover where the glue dots showed through.  The "tag" is multi-layered.  We used the decorative label punch and punched out one label from Whisper White and one from cardstock vellum.  The vellum label was embossed using the Northern Flurry folder.

Supplies
Stamps - Holiday Happiness
Ink - Marina Mist
Cardstock - Marina Mist; Whisper White; Vellum Cardstock
Other - Basic Rhinestones; Marina Mist 5/8" Satin Ribbon; Northern Flurry Embossing Folder; Decorative Label Punch; Large Oval Punch;Scallop Oval Punch; Mini Glue Dots

Friday, November 26, 2010

Toolbox Gift Card Holder

Last week I saw a very unique giftcard holder while I was browsing the internet.  It looks like a toolbox!  I need something to package a gift card for my Dad's birthday so I decided that would be the one.  I purchased the tutorial and started crafting.

Is it not the cutest thing!


Here is the view of the inside. 


You can see the original by clicking HERE.

Supplies
Card Stock - Real Red, Basic Black
Other - Clips Assortment, Basic Black Brads

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Motorcycle

My niece's fiancé will be celebrating a birthday soon so I decided to make him a card using the Motorcycle stamp from the SU Summer Mini catalogue.  Too bad it did not carry over to the main catalogue.

The motorcycle was stamped using black craft ink and then heat embossed with black embossing powder.  Before stamping the image I sponged the background using Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz.  The black panel was put through the big shot and the lattice embossing folder to add a little texture.


Supplies
Stamps - Motorcycle, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock - Poppy Parade, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Love Letters DSP
Ink - Basic Black Craft, Basic Black Classic
Other - Black Embossing Powder, Designer Label Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Dimensionals, Basic Black Brads, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Stampin' Sponges

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Snowman

I have seen a lot of snowman cards this season, but this one really caught my attention.  You can see the original HERE.

I changed the background from Crumbcake to Bajja Breeze and rather than using the Snowflake punch I used the Snowflake #12 sizzlit.  Other than that it is all the same.

This is one of the cards Judy and I made on Tuesday when we got together for our weekly "play date".


Supplies
Stamp Set - Four the Holidays, Serene Snowflakes
Card Stock - Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Ink - Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Basic Black marker, Whisper White Craft
Other - Ribbon (retired), 2 1/2", 1 3/4" and 1 1/4" circle punches, Basic Black Brads, Dimensionals, Snowflake #12 Sizzlit

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Candy Cane Christmas

A couple of weeks ago Becky Roberts posted a photo of projects from her Candy Cane Christmas Stamp Camp HERE. The card with the ornaments caught my attention and I decided to CASE it. I actually ended up making twelve of them! So many little bows and knots!


Supplies
Stamp Set - Tags til Christmas, Christmas Greetings
Card Stock - Baja Breeze, Real Red, Whisper White, Candy Cane Christmas DSP
Ink - Real Red
Punches - Ornament, Dotted Ribbon
Other - Silver Elastic Cord (retired), Basic Rhinestones, Tasteful Trim for the Big Shot, 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Monday, November 22, 2010

Deck the Halls - Day 7

This is the last of my posts (for now anyway) using the Deck the Halls DSP.  I am still thinking of ordering more and maybe more of the musical cards.


Supplies
Stamps - Bells and Boughs
Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Gold Encore
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP
Other - Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Scallop Oval punch

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Deck the Halls - Day 6

Hope you are not tired of seeing the Deck the Halls DSP!  This is the second standard sized card I made using papers from the Deck the Halls package.  I love the pearls in the corners!


Supplies
Stamps - Bells and Boughs
Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Gold Encore
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP
Other - Always Artichoke Seam Binding, Basic Pearls, Decorative Label punch, dimensionals

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Deck the Halls - Day 4

I was so enjoying covering the musical cards with the Deck the Halls DSP I decided to make a few standard cards with it.  The photo below is at a funny angle but that is the only way I could get the glitter in the centre of the flowers to show up. 


Supplies
Stamps - Bells and Boughs
Ink - Always Artichoke, Encore Gold
Card Stock - Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Other - Scallop Oval punch, Stickles

Friday, November 19, 2010

Deck the Halls - Day 3

Now I am back on track - I just noticed that when I pre-posted Day 1 and 2 they were out of order. 

This is another of the musical cards - I made a total of five - using the Deck the Halls DSP.


Supplies
Stamps - All Holidays
Ink - Cherry Cobbler
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Deck the Halls DSP, Very Vanilla
Other - Always Artichoke Seam Binding, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Deck the Halls - Day 1

When I first saw the Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper in the Holiday Mini Catalogue I ordered it right away.  Then when it arrived I didn't know what I was going to do with it.  I have seen several projects through my daily blog surfing and on Stampin' Connection and have now used almost the whole package and may have to order more!

The next several days will showcase cards I have made using that DSP.  Some of them are the musical cards available in the Holiday Mini - I chose the ones that are already recorded with an instrumental version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  I have previously posted one of the musical cards and it used this same paper.  You can see that card HERE.


Supplies

Stamps - Bells and Boughs
Ink - Cherry Cobbler
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP
Other - Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals, Decorative Label Punch, Antique Brads, SU pre-recorded Musical card

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Deck the Halls - Day 2

This is another of the musical cards I made using the Deck the Halls DSP.  I made two of these that are pretty much identical.  On the second one I changed the position of the sentiment and used a different brad.


Supplies
Stamps - Bells and Boughs, Encore Gold
Ink - Cherry Cobbler
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP
Other - SU pre-recorded Musical card, 5/8" Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Antique Brad, Scallop Oval Punch

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Crafting with Judy

Yesterday afternoon Judy and I had a pretty busy time crafting.  We made 2 cards each of three different designs.

The first one is a CASE from the current Stampin' Up! Hoiday Mini Catalogue - page 15.  Although we both have Tags til Christmas we used Delightful Decorations for the focal image and used a greeting from the Level 2 Hostess Set Peaceful Season (page 5 of the mini).

Supplies

Stamps - Delightful Decorations, Peaceful Season
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Other - Basic Rhinestones, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scallop Squares Duo die for the Big Shot, Ornament Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Polka Dots Embossing Folder




The next card was inspired by Heather Summers' post HERE.   I do like Heather's sample, but I decided to simplify the ribbon treatment a little bit and I am very pleased with the result.  Instead of using the Very Vintage wheel to create the backgroud we used the snowflake stamp from Winter Post. 

Supplies

Stamps - Winter Post, Christmas Greetings
Card Stock - Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red
Ink - Chocolate Chip
Other - Linen Thread, Chocolate Chip Wide Striped Ribbonn (retired), Chocolate Chip button (retired), Scallops Squares Duo die for the Big Shot, Stampin' Dimensionals





For the last card I was inspired by a card posted by Sandi McDonald on Stampin' Connection.  Unfortunately there was no website listed so I cannot direct you to the original.  Our version is pretty close although we did use a different selection of DSP from the Deck the Halls package and changed the stamps used for the ornament and the sentiment. 


Supplies

Stamp Set - Delightful Decorations, Contempo Christmas, Lovely as a Tree
Card Stock - Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler
Ink - Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler
Other - Ornament Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Pearls

Monday, November 15, 2010

Inspired by Heather Summers

Last week I went over to my sister's place to do some die cuts for her to do crafts with her 4 year old grand daughter and another little girl - she is the daycare provider for both of the girls.

We cut out a blizzard of snowflakes using the Northern Frost Decorative strip and the Snowflake # 2 die.  We also cut out a forest of Christmas Trees using the Sizzix Tree die.  We did stars as well as the little bird from the birds and blooms sizzlits set.  We also punched out a bunch of ornaments.

Although I didn't take a photo we also cut out enough snowflakes from aluminimum roof flashing to make 10 really cute candle holders.

After we put the big shot away we started making some cards - it was a very busy afternoon!  A few of the cards we made are ones I had posted before but I don't think I have posted this one.   It was inspired by THIS post on Heather Summers' blog. 


Supplies
Stamps - Jolly Old Saint Nick
Card Stock - Garden Green, Real Red, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Candy Cane Christmas DSP
Ink - Jet Black Stazon
Markers - Basic Black, Real Red, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green
Other - Scallop Trim Border punch, Blender Pens, Dimensionals, Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Candy Cane Christmas Designer buttons, Glue Dots

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Makin' My Lists

Every year around this time I start to make lists and often it is just on little bits of paper on my desk that end up getting lost (tossed in the trash!).  This year Judy found the cutest idea for altering an inexpensive note pad that you can find at an office supply store or one of the big box stores so I decided to make a couple for myself.  You can find the inspiration by clicking HERE.  It is the third photo on that day's post. 

I decided to use some of the products from the Holiday mini - Candy Cane Christmas DSP, Glimmer Brads, Silver Tinsel and the Tasteful Trim die for the Big Shot.  I created the little label with My Digital Studio and punched it out with the Modern Label punch.  I thought about tying bits of ribbon on the coils, but decided I was fine with the way they look.

Hope you like them. 

 
Supplies
Card Stock - Real Red, Blushing Whisper White, Cane Christmas DSP
Punches - 1 3/8" Circle, Scallop Circle, 1 1/4" Square, Word Window, Modern Label, 1/4" Circle
Other - Tasteful Trim Die for the Big Shot, Glimmer Brads, Silver Tinsel, 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, My Digital Studio

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Heather Summers' Fundraiser - Final Project

The card today features a stamp from A Cute Christmas along with the Holiday Happiness set.  The card is so cute with the little stockings hanging on the tree, but I sure wish SU had a coordinating punch!  Cutting is definitely not my strong suit and these stockings were small and then there was the star and the ornament! All the cutouts are adhered with dimensionals.  Lots of layering and paper piercing.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Heather Summers' Fundraiser - 4

One of the designs included in Heather's fundraiser was a gift card holder.  So cute - it is like a matchbook.

Here it is closed -


And here is the inside

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Thank you to all the brave men and women who have served our country (now and in the past).

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Heather Summer' Fundraiser - 3

This is another of the cards included in Heather's fundraiser kit.  When I made the second one (I mentioned before that the kit had supplies to make 2 each of all the designs) I reversed everything so the ribbon treatment was on the left.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Deck the Halls Picture Frame

Using Jo-Ann Pullen's beautiful Deck the Halls Picture Frame HERE as inspiration I made my own version . It is a hybrid project. I used the Deck the Halls DSP for the left side of the frame but used My Digital Studio to create the image for the right hand side. I chose an 8 1/2 x 11 page and whisper white background. I then chose the Christmas Collage stamp and used Soft Suede ink at 73% opacity. The stamp did not fill the entire space so I copied and pasted to ensure the whole page was covered.

I printed it out onto Very Vanilla cardstock and then coloured in the holly, berries, bells and poinsettias with my markers and blender pens. Using the Merry Christmas stamp from Bells and Boughs I stamped the greeting with Cherry Cobbler ink in the space at the top of the image.  I stamped it off once so I would get a fainter image.  I used the Tea Stain ink from the distressing kit on all the edges before spritzing the entire project with a solution of Isopropyl alcohol and Champagne Mist shimmer spray.  I applied the Chantilly ribbon trim over the seam between the DSP and the "stamped" image.  I also applied the same lace to the outside of the frame to cover the raw wood.  Tied a double bow, added an antique brad and it was done.  I also covvered the back with a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  I applied stickles to the holly berries and the centre of the poinsettias.


Supplies
Stamps - Bells and Boughs
Card Stock - Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Deck the Halls SP
Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand
Other - Antique Brads, Chantilly crochet trim, blender pens, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, My Digital Studio, Frame (nonSU)

Monday, November 8, 2010

Snowflakes on Brushed Gold

This is one of the projects I have ready for Judy and I to make today.  I saw it on THIS BLOG one day when I was roaming around on the internet.

Although very elegant looking, it is a pretty simple card to make.  I love the brushed gold cardstock and it has been ages since I had my gold ink pad out.  I almost forgot I had it!


This card uses two embossing folders.  I ran it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots folder and then with the Northern Flurries folder.  Add a few rhinestones and a bit of ribbon and you are done!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Holiday Stamp Camp - 5

I a slowly getting the projects fromm September's Holiday Stamp Camp (hosted by Sherida Giddings and Trina St. Michael) finished.  This one is a hot chocolate holder.  Inside there is a pocket to hold a packet of hot chocolate and on the other side a place to write a little greeting.

The DSP is from the Candy Cane Christmas Specialty paper pack.  Can you see the glitter on the red stripes - it was already on the paper!  The stamp used is from Perfect Punches.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Heather Summers' Fundraiser - 2

Today I decided to post the tags I made from Heather's fundraiser kit.  These are made using the Two Tags die.  Pretty quick and easy.  I used gold cord instead of the included ribbon on the left hand tag because I stamped the tree and greeting too high up on the tag.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Heather Summers' Fundraiser Projects - 1

Last month Heather Summers held her annual fundraiser supporting GI Cancer in honour of her dad.  I signed up for the kit to go.  For the registration fee I received the stamp set Holiday Happiness and the supplies to make 2 each of the six projects.  So I ended up with 6 cards, 2 gift card holders and 4 tags.

All of the designs used the Holiday Happiness Stamp Set as well as the Jolly Holiday DSP.

This is the first card I made - I probably should have used my Stamp a Mig!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Musical Cards

In the Holiday Mini Catalogue, Stampin' Up! is offering cards with sound.  There are two options - one allows you to record your own greeting (up to 10 seconds) and the other is a pre-recorded card that plays and instrumental version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  The cards are plain white so that they can be decorated and embellished.

I have purchased several of the cards and hopefully will have them all decorated and ready to mail in time for Christmas.  This one was very easy.  I covered the card with Cherry Cobbler card stock and then layered on some DSP from the Deck the Halls package.  Before adhering that layer to the card, I created a double bow and adhered it to the DSP.  I stamped the greeting onto Very Vanilla card stock and punched it out with the Decorative Label punch.  I also made a mat by punching out two of the Decorative Labels in Cherry Cobbler and then trimming and layering them.  I saw a video on Angela McKay's blog HERE showing how to do this.



Supplies
Stamp Set - All Holidays
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler; Very Vanilla; Deck the Halls DSP
Ink - Cherry Cobbler
Other - Stampin' Sound Pre-recorded card; dimensionals; Always Artichoke 1/2" Seam binding

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Gift Card Holder - updated

When Judy and I attended the Holiday Hoopla event one of the projects was a cute little gift card holder.  I recently saw a very similar one (same colours but different punch and stamp set) that added a little bit of ribbon.  I had to try it so I added some Very Vanilla  1/4" grosgrain ribbon to the gift card holder I had made.  I really like that little addition.  It adds just a little something to the overall look of the holder.


You can see the project without the ribbon in THIS post.