Flip/Tag Album

My grand niece's birthday is coming soon and for the last two years we had taken her to Build-a-Bear Workshop so she could choose and make her own bear. I decided to keep that up this year, so on Friday we headed out to the mall to get her bear. This year her mum and little brother (he is two) came with us. She is turning seven and I am not sure how many more years she will want to do the Build-a-Bear excursions!

We had a lot of fun - Sabrina chose a polar bear. It was so cute. After she chose her 'skin' we picked a sound - so now when she presses the bear's paw it roars - and then stuffed the bear. Before closing up the bear we added in some little hearts. Then we headed to the 'bathing station'. At this point Owen wanted to help. It was too funny - he hijacked the bear! He just fell in love with it and wrapped it's four paws around himself and hugged it close. So, off Sabrina went to make another bear! She chose the polar again and went through all the steps.

When it was time to choose the clothes there was so much to choose from. Sabrina recently signed up for brownies, so she chose a Brownie Uniform (complete with the sash for badges). We also picked up a couple of little shirts and a skirt. Owen picked a Dracula costume for his.

Then of course the 'births' had to be registered and a birth certificate produced. It was a wonderful time and both kids really enjoyed it. The adults questionned who had more fun - the kids or us!

When we were done we headed out for lunch and then home.

I wanted to make some kind of little scrapbook for Sabrina that would double as her birthday card. I have seen several versions of Flip Albums and Tag Albums so I just adapted what I saw to what I needed. I knew it was not going to fit in any of the envelopes I have (the finished size is 4 x 6 and about 3/4 inch thick), but I did have some DVD tins in my craft closet so pulled out one of those and did a tiny bit of decorating on the cover. Yes, I am kind of regretting that I have not invested in any of the new Stampin' Up! Build-a-Bear stamps or dies! They would have been so fun to have for this project.

Here it is open, with the card/album inside. The bow at the side of the book holds it closed.

Here is a view of the album open. The pages are embellished with punched stars, hearts, Felt Flowers, rhinestone brads

Recipe:

Stamp Sets - Voila; Crazy for Cupcakes; On a Pedestal

Ink - Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry Markers; Gold Encore

Card Stock - Chocolate Chip; Melon Mambo; Pumpkin Pie; Sweet Always DSP (retired)
Other - Ribbon - Melon Mambo Polka Dot; Large & Small Star punches, circle punches, glitter glue, clear embossing powder.

To see a video on how to make one of these albums click HERE. The video demonstrates 3 pages, I adapted it to make 4. I also decorated the inside front cover and the inside back cover was used for the birthday greetings.

Another Dasher Card

I love this little stamp. I forgot to put a greeting on this card, but I am not sure if I will put one on the outside. I like it just as it is. Not sure if you can see it, but I used one of the Stampin' Up! Texturx plates on the real red layer. I even spritzed it with alcohol as I have seem some people do. I think it made the impression a little deeper. I saw THIS card and really liked the layout and colours so I CASE'd it. I used the same colours and layout, but changed the stamp set and used a different Texturz plate (it is actually the other side of the one used in the original card). Hope you like it! Recipe:
Stamp Set - Dasher
Card Stock - Soft Suede, Real Red, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa DSP
Ink - Soft Suede
Other - Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon

Delightful Decorations

Most of the cards I make are pretty standard in size - 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 . This card is 3 x 6, but when I make more I will be adjusting the size to 3 1/4 x 6 1/2. It will fit better in the SU small open-end envelopes.

The inspiration for this card came from Heather Summers - she is currently running an online class - Simply Holidays 2009. She creates the most amazing projects.

As I have said in previous posts I want to use up some of my retired DSP and card stock. This card does just that. The card stock, DSP, and one of the inks are all retired. I used nonSU gold cord, but will be changing that to SU's gold elastic cord as soon as I receive my order.

I will be making more of these ones - I think I made need to add a greeting in the bottom right corner, but I am not sure right now. I used the small snowflake stamp from Snow Swirled and Riding Hood Red ink on the card base to add a little interest - I probably could have used an embossing folder or Texturz plate. I have not done the envelope yet, but I will be stamping one of the ornaments on the front and the little round 'Merry Christmas' that you can see in the middle of the ornament on the back flap.



Recipe:
Stamp Set - Delightful Decorations, Snow Swirled
Card Stock - Riding Hood Red (retired), Holiday Treasures DSP (retired), Whisper White
Ink - Riding Hood Red (retired), Old Olive
Other - Alpine Ribbon (retired), Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Cord (nonSU), Ornament Punch

Christmas Cocoa DSP

This is the 5th project presented by Heather Summers in her Simply Holidays - 2009 online class. One of the designs in the Christmas Cocoa DSP package is a very elegant one with flocked snowflakes on it. Heather has adapted this to make a working clock! The base of the project is an artist canvas and there is card stock and the DSP layered on top. She is brilliant. This is meant to be a photo display as well - I have not added those in yet, but they will be mounted on the 3 squares of soft suede card stock. I used up some of the felt flurries I had purchased last year. I need to work on the bow a little bit, but I am very pleased with the result.



Recipe:
Card Stock - Soft Suede, Christmas Cocoa DSP
Other - Felt Flurries (retired), Gold Brads, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Join in the Cheer sizzlit decorative die for the Big shot, Clock Works and Artist Canvas

Here it is with photos of my nephew's three children and I fixed the bow. Will this not make a great gift for my nephew and his wife?

World Card Making Day

Saturday, October 3 was World Card Making Day. I did make a card but forgot to post it so here it is now. My niece is having a baby girl in mid January. I had been tidying my craft room and came across some Pretty in Pink patterned paper and a set of Sizzix embossing folders with a baby theme. The tidying came to an abrupt halt and I started pulling out paper, ribbon and stamp sets. This is the card I finally came up with. The card is referred to as a 'Joy Fold' card - I made some a few years ago and decided that is what I would like for this little card. I stamped the image twice on Whisper White CS. On the first one I cut around the centre panel so I could then mount it onto a Pretty in Pink scalloped circle. I cut out only the 'Sweet One' line from the second image and mounted it to the first one with dimensionals. Everything was then adhered to the card with dimensionals.

In this picture you can see how the card opens. Hopefully you can also see the embossing on the Whisper White panel. I used a computer generated greeting on the inside of the card.

Recipe:
Stamp Set - So Many Scallops (retired)
Card Stock - Pink Pirouette (retired), Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink Patterned DSP (retired)
Ink - Pretty in Pink
Other - Ribbon - Pink Pirouette (retired); Scallop Circle Punch, Stampin' dimensionals, Sizzix embossing folder, Stardust Gel pen

Directions for the Joy Fold card can be found on Splitcoaststampers

Hope you like my card and have a great day!

Thoughts & Prayers - Anniversary

My niece and her husband are celebrating their first wedding anniversary so here is the card I made for them. I had seen THIS card and knew that I wanted to CASE it. I had to go out and buy the Martha Stewart butterfly punch - it is so cute and has the large and small butterflies on the same punch. You can very faintly see the texture on the white background panel - I used the SU Perfect Details Texturz Plate. I have seen suggestions to spritz the paper with water or rubbing alcohol to get a deeper impression - I did not have either in my craft room so ended up with a very delicate looking impression which is fine with me.



This is a bit of a close up showing the shimmery white CS I used. As always, pictures do not do the shimmery paper justice. It is really pretty IRL.

All of the card stock and inks used are Stampin' Up!, but the punch, half pearls and the stamp used for the greeting are not.

Recipe:

Stamps - Thoughts & Prayers, nonSU greeting

CS - Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette (retired), Shimmery White

Ink - Rich Razzleberry (stamped off once)

Other - Ribbon - Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot, Crystal Effects, nonSU half Pearls, Nestabilities, Perfect Details Texturz Plate, Big Shot

More Birthdays and a Santa

I totally missed a very good friend's birthday in August. Her birthday is the very same day as my youngest son. I was talking to her a couple of days ago and wished her belated birthday greetings, but I wanted to send her a card with a note inside. I was not sure which stamp set and which layout I should use, but I was visiting the various blogs I love and when I opened Patty Bennett's I knew I had found the card. You can find Patty's card HERE. You will see that Patty used the Scallop Oval Frame die for the Big Shot. I do not have that die, but I do have Nestabilities so I used them. My image panel is smaller than Patty's, but the overall feel of the card is there. I love the way she used the new ornament punch to make the vase.
Recipe
Stamp Sets - Charming, Best Yet (retired)
Card Stock - Dusty Durango, Old Olive
Ink - Dusty Durango Classic, Old Olive and Dusty Durango markers
Other - Ornament Punch, Ribbon is from the Mistletoe Ribbon Originals set.

The stamp set (Charming), Ribbon and the punch are available in the Holiday Mini Catalogue.

This card is also for a very good friend. His birthday was September 26. I know he won't get the card on time, but I had totally forgotten his birthday as well. His wife is the friend for whom I made the card above. I feel awful, but know that they both understand. I will however make sure I don't forget their birthdays in the future.
I am really liking that beer mug in the Cheers to You set. I especially like using Liquid Appliqué to make the foam and crystal effects to make the mug look like glass. I even used some of my very carefully hoarded Kraft corduroy buttons! I was going to put a greeting on the front of the card, but it just made it look too busy so I left it alone.

I struggle with masculine cards, but I am really pleased with how this one turned out.

Recipe
Stamp Set - Cheers to You
Card Stock - Kraft, Always Artichoke, Manchester DSP (retired)
Ink - Black Stazon, So Saffron Marker
Other - Kraft Corduroy Buttons


This is my first attempt at Heather Summer's punched Santa. It was the final creation on her Simply Punches - Holidays on line class. I am pleased with how it turned out, but know that my next attempt will be better. Can you believe it is all punches? I won't list them, but you can probably guess what most of them are.

Recipe
Stamp Set - Christmas Greetins
Card Stock - Real Red, Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Brushed Gold

Have a good day!

Christmas Cocoa Stamp Camp

Andrea Walford has done it again! Each time she releases one of her class planners I say it is my favourite. Andrea is having a Stamp Camp in Cambridge, Ontario on Saturday, November 7 where you can spend the day making these 12 cards and matching tote. I live too far from there to be able to attend, but she has made the instructions available to fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators in the form of a class planner and is also offering it as a Stamp Class by email. You can find out more by visiting Andrea's Blog. This is the photo showing the 12 cards and the tote. There are 4 card designs - the participants will make three of each design.

I did not have on hand all of the stamp sets that Andrea uses, but I wanted to make the cards as soon as my planner arrived in my InBox so I had to make some adjustments (both to my cards and to my Wish List).

For the first card, Andrea used a beautiful stamp set - Scenic Season - page 35 in the current Stampin' Up! catalogue. I do not have that set, but I did have a nonSU stamp that I thought would be perfect. You could probably use Lovely as a Tree as a substitute, but I liked the look of the little village. I also used a stamp that is available in the SU Holiday Mini Catalogue (Sept 1 to Jan 4). Don't you just love Santa and his reindeer flying over the village? The real red CS layer should have been scalloped - I forgot to do that.


Recipe:
Stamps - Wandering Words (page 16 in the mini catalogue); nonSU Stamp
Ink - Soft Suede
Card Stock - Real Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa DSP
Other - 2 way glue pen and dazzling diamonds (I used my Stardust Gel pen)

The original instructions for this card call for the Serene Snowflakes stamp set in the Holiday Mini. I do not have that set so substituted the retired The Snowflake Spot. I also used glitter glue instead of the 2 way glue pen and dazzling diamonds glitter.

Recipe
Stamp Set - The Snowflake Spot (retired)
Ink - Soft Suede, Sahara Sand
Card Stock - Soft Suede, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa DSP
Other - dimensionals

The next card also has substitutions - I don't have Tree Trimmings (page 28 in the SU catalogue), so I decided to use Delightful Decorations and it's coordinating punch. I think perhaps I should have used only one ornament, but I am very pleased with my card. I do not have the gold elastic cord available in the Holiday Mini so I used some non SU gold cord that I had on hand.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the DSP is flocked.

Recipe

Stamps - Delightful Decorations

Ink - Real Red, Soft Suede

Card Stock - Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa DSP

Other - Ornament Punch, Glitter Glue, Gold Cord


This, I think, is my most favourite of the cards. When I first saw this cardinal stamp set last year I was not sure if I wanted to buy it - I am not very good at colouring. My husband really wanted me to get it, so who am I to say no. I love the stamp set! I have used it on tumbled tiles and coloured it in. The lines in the stamp give some natural shading so it is not so bad to colour in. I have also stamped and embossed it on vellum and then coloured it on the back of the vellum (stained glass technique) and was very happy with those results. This by far is the best - I just stamped it and I was done! Andrea's notes say to colour the berries red (I did not read that part so did not colour them). I also forgot to adhere the image panel with dimensionals.

Recipe

Stamp Set - A Cardinal Christmas

Ink - Soft Suede, Real Red

Card Stock - Soft Suede, Real Red, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa DSP

Other - Gold Brads



Have a great day!

Christmas Swap

This is what I have made for the second spot I signed up for in the 3 x 3 Christmas Swap. I really liked the little flowers Judy and I had made using Paula Goff's tutorial and thought they would be perfect on a 3 x 3. I am glad I decided to stamp the poinsettia image from the Patterned Pines set in the two corners. I only had to make 9 so it was not too time consuming. In fact, I had them all done in a couple of hours. These could very easily be used as tags, or mounted on a standard card base.


Recipe:
Stamp Set - Patterned Pines (Level 1 Hostess Set - Holiday Mini)
Card Stock - Real Red, Garden Green, Whisper White
Ink - Real Red and Garden Green Markers
Other - Gold Brad, Dimensionals, 5 Petal Punch

Tutorial for Poinsettias can be found here - Inking Addict

Thanks for stopping in.

Let's get organized

This week Judy and I got together on Tuesday rather than our usual Monday. After a lovely lunch of spinach salad and quiche we made 'Inventory Wallets' to help up keep track of our Stampin' Up! card stock, inks, markers, etc. I purchased the tutorial from Card à la Carte. It was great - detailed instructions including the inventory pages. We just had to print and cut them following the detailing cutting guidelines.


Recipe:
Stamp Set - Charming
Card Stock - Soft Sky, Blue Bayou (both retired)
Ink - Blue Bayou (retired)
Other - Modern Label Punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/2 circle punch, 1/2 circle punch, scallop circle punch, Build a Brad, Silver brads

Here is a quick look at the inside front cover and the first page - notice the Wish List (empty now, but for how long?). The rest of the pages are organized by the SU colour families.

Thanks for looking.

Final Card - September Birthdays

This is the last card I have to make for the September birthdays in my family. In real life this shows up much better. I stamped the 'grove' of trees from the Lovely as a Tree set with Always Artichoke ink onto the same colour card stock. I then went over the branches with my Stardust glitter pen.



Recipe:
Stamp Set - Lovely as a Trees, Happy Everything
Card Stock - Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze (retired), Manchester DSP (retired)
Ink - Always Artichoke
Other - Gold Brads, Stardust Gel Pen

Another Birthday Card and a Christmas Swap

Here is another card for a September birthday. It is going to be late to the recipient who does not live in my city, but it should still get there in September (I hope!). I totally CASE'd this card - the only thing I changed was to leave off the greeting on the front. You can see the original card HERE The greeting is on the inside of the card.

Recipe:
Stamp Set - Razzle Dazzle, It's Your Birthday
Card Stock - Kraft, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede
Ink - Versamark, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede
Other - Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/2 circle punch, dimenstionals

I decided to participate in another swap. For this one, for each spot, we have to make 9 3" x 3" squares with a Christmas Theme. I have signed up for two spots. This is my submission for the first swap. I am going to have to get the silver elastic cord from the mini catalogue to complete my swaps - they need to have a little bit of a bow around the neck of the ornament.

Recipe:
Stamp Set - Delightful Decorations
Card Stock - Real Red (Textured), Soft Suede, Whisper White
Ink - Real Red
Other - Petals a Plenty embossing folder, Ornament Punch, Clear Circle Rhinestone Brad

Thanks for stopping by.

More Birthday Cards

As I said in my last post - we have a lot of birthdays in September. Here are some more - I think I still have one to go.



Recipe:
Stamp Set - Charming, Teenie Tiny Wishes
Card Stock - Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink - Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry
Other - Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Stickles


Recipe:
Stamp Set - Sweet Stems, Sincere Salutations
Card Stock - Old Olive, Rose Red, Whisper White, Raspberry Tart DSP (retired)
Ink - Basic Black, Old Olive, Regal Rose
Other - Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4 inch circle punch, stickles


Recipe:
Stamp Sets - A Light unto My Path (retired), It's Your Birthday, Winds of Grace
Card Stock - Soft Sky (retired), Blue Bayou (retired), Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink - Blue Bayou (retired), Soft Sky (retired), Real Red, Going Gray, Real Rust, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, So Saffron, Stardust Gel Pen


Recipe:
Stamp Sets - Manhattan Floral, Sincere Salutations
Card Stock - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel
Other - Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch



Recipe:
Stamp Set - Razzle Dazzle, Teenie Tiny Wishes
Card Stock - Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry
Ink - Versamark, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry
Other - Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Circle # 2 die for the Big Shot, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Paper Piercer

September Birthdays

We have multiple birthdays during the month of September. I have started making the cards and here are the first three.

This card is for my brother-in law. I really enjoyed using the Cheers to You stamp set. See below to see a close up of the crystal effects I used on the beer mug, and the Liquid Appliqué for the foam. How fun is that? Recipe:
Stamp Set - Cheers to You
Card Stock - Baja Breeze (retired), Always Artichoke, Whisper White
DSP - Manchester (retired)
Ink - Black StazOn, Baja Breeze (retired), Summer Sun
Other - Crystal Effects, Liquid Appliqué, Styled Silver Hodgepodge

In the picture you can see where I used Crystal Effects. Don't you love how the Liquid Appliqué puffs up and looks like the foam on a glass of beer?

I made this next card for my niece. It is interactive - see that little bit of ribbon - well see the photo below to see what happens when you pull on it.

A tag pops out. Is this not clever? I saw this card HERE and knew I would have to CASE it!

Recipe:

Stamp Set - On a Pedestal

Card Stock - Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

DSP - Rose Red (from Patterns Pack)

Ink - Melon Mambo, Black StazOn, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun
Ribbon - 1/4 inch chocolate chip (retired)

This card is for my niece's daughter. No picture, but on the inside it says celebrate one cupcake at a time. I punched one of the cupcakes out with the 3/4 inch circle punch and popped it up with a dimensional. I also stamped one of the cupcakes on the inside of the card. I used nonSU rhinestones to embellish two of the cupcakes; dazzling diamonds glitter on two and crystal effects on one.

I used my ScorPal to score some lines to add a little bit more interest. Stamp Sets - The More the Merrier (level III Hostess set); Sweet Little Sentiments

Card Stock - Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper Whit

Ink - Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery

Ribbon - Melon Mambo Polka Dot

Other - Dazzling Diamonds, Rhinestones, Crystal Effects, Word Window & Modern Label punches.

Another Character from Heather Summers' Simply Punches - Holidays

This is the latest project I have made following the directions on Heather's online class. The little elf is made from punches! Heather's card had punched circles on the base card - I decided to use up some of the retired Dashing DSP that I had on hand. I think it works very well. The elf if adhered to the card using dimensionals. Stamps - Four the Holidays
Card Stock - Real Red, Old Olive, Blush Blossom, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla
DSP - Dashing (retired)
Ribbon - Real Red 1/2 inch grosgrain

Tulipe Die for the Big Shot

Up until now I had only over used the Tulipe die to make antlers for a punched reindeer face. Angie Juda shared this technique on her blog. See the video HERE
I was looking at Caroline Lebel's blog a few days ago and saw a card using the Tulipe die and Razzleberry Lemonade DSP - you will have to scroll down to the September 4, 2009 entry. I don't have that DSP, but I still have some of the retired Raspberry Tart so decided to team some of that up with Rich Razzleberry card stock. My finished card is 5 1/2 by 5 1/2. I cut the white base card (non SU 120 lb) to 5 1/2 X 11 and scored it at 5 1/2. The next layer is cameo coral cut to 5 1/4 x 5 1/4. The dsp and the Rich Razzleberry were both cut to 5 x 5. I ran the Rich Razzleberry through the Big Shot using the Tulipe die. I then assembled the layers. I swirled some Tombow glue on the DSP and sprinkled on some dazzling diamonds. Hope you like it.

Marjorie

Another Bell

I used the punched bell to decorate a box I had cut out using the Big Shot and the Box #2 dies. Would these not make a really cute table favour for Christmas dinner or pre-Christmas parties and gatherings.

More Punchies

More creations from Heather Summers' online class - Simply Punches - Holidays.

The card on the left is my version of Heather's reindeer peeking around a tree. I only did the head and used a nonSU punch for the antlers. Heather used pieces of the SU Jumbo Snowflake punch for her antlers and it is so cute. The head is made using the large oval punch; 1/2 inch circle punch for the nose and eyes; 1/4 inch circle punch for the eyeballs. My reindeer has no visible legs - the original does have them, but I could not make them work, so I have only the head peeking out. The tree is made using the Scallop Circle #2 die for Big Shot. It is cut into segments and then layered. I used the small star punch for the tree topper. The decoractions on the tree and the reindeer's nose use Xmas Red stickles glitter glue. The base card is Soft Sky (retired) and although they don't show well in this photo, there are snowflakes that have been stamped using Whisper White craft ink. The edges have also been sponged with White. The 'snowbank' is two layers of Whisper White CS that have been embossed using a snowflakes embossing folder (non SU). It is finished with a greeting from the Teenie Tiny Wishes stamp set and a piece of real red ribbon. The images were adhered to the card using dimensionals.

I love this tag! Who would have thought you could make a bell decorated with holly using punches. Heather Summers, that is who!

The bell is made using the wide oval as well as the large and small oval punches. The holly leaves are also made using the small oval punch. It is then further punched with 'bites' from the 1/2 circle punch. The berries are punched with the 1/4 inch circle punch. Heather's tag was made using the Two Tags die for the Big Shot(exclusive to SU). I don't have that die so I improvised. I punched a scallop circle and cut a piece of matching CS the same width as the punched scallop. I adhered half of the scallop to the top of that CS. When the bell was attached the seam is covered. The corners of the CS were rounded. Little highlights were added to the berries and the bell using the white Signo Gel pen.

Five Petal Punch

A few weeks ago when my friend Judy and I got together we made our own flowers to embellish our cards. Using the Five Petal punch we followed the directions on Paula Goff's blog.

A very cute and easy project to ensure you have flowers that match your card stock and DSP.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! except for the green brad.

CS - So Saffron, Certainly Celery

DSP - Delicate Dots (retired)

Stamp Set - Happy Everything

Punchy Snowmen

I am participating in an online class hosted by the amazing Heather Summers. All projects use Stampin' Up's punches and are holiday themed. One of the projects was for these cute snowmen using the wide oval punch. I am not sure I am completely happy with my choice of DSP, but overall I am pleased with the card. I was able to use up some retired CS, DSP and felt flurries (the snowflakes). Hope you like it.
Marjorie