One Layer Thank Yous

Believe it or not I've had my goodies from the new catalog for over a week...and today was the first time I pulled them out! This set was super easy to make and took me maybe 20 minutes to make all 4 cards. I am putting these in the bags of those who recently ordered off of me as a little thank you. 

The circle was made by cutting the second biggest circle out of the Coluzzle and using it as a mask. Baja Breeze ink was sponged around it leaving the center white. With the mask in place I stamped the image from the new Asian Artistry set (available Wednesday!!!) twice so that everything would stay in the circle. *Tip* Some of my grassy strands didn't stamp the whole way on the bottom because of the mask. To finish them, I simply dipped my blender pen in the lid of my black ink and created my own out to the circle edge. The grass was colored with Old Olive, the flowers with Melon Mambo, and the dragonfly with Crushed Curry (the last two are part of the new In Colors...also available Wednesday!). Easy peasy! :)

Punch Pal Piggy

Oink! Oink! That's "Happy Birthday Mom" in Pig! haha Why am I making a pig reference for my mom's birthday??? Well she LOVES pigs! She's collected them my whole life, so it was only appropriate for me to make her a pig-related birthday gift! This little guy was made using the large oval punch and coluzzle. I love his little piggy tail on the back! Inside holds a gift certificate. I made this a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to post it, but I know she reads my blog and didn't want to ruin the surprise!

Stamps: Sanded Background

Paper: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Basic Black Cardstock

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Coluzzle, Large Oval Punch, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Ribbon, Chocolate Chip SU Marker, Mat Pack, White Gel Pen, Small Craft bag, Sponge

For Top Note Bag:

1. Cut two Top Notes from Chocolate Chip using the Big Shot. Stamp Sanded BG stamp using Chocolate Chip ink.

2. Cut craft bag to fit inside the Top Notes. Attach one to one of the Top Notes.

3. Use the large oval punch to punch a handle in the Top Note and through the bag.

4. Adhere other Top Note to other side of bag. Line up oval punch with previously punched one to punch through the other Top Note. Tie handle with Chocolate Chip ribbon.

For Punch Pal Piggy:

1. Cut out two ovals using 4th largest circle on Coluzzle on Regal Rose cardstock. Also punch 3 ovals using large oval punch.

2. Sponge around edges using Chocolate Chip Ink.

3. Line up mat pack in the center of one of the 3 ovals to create snout. Color two with Chocolate Chip marker.

4. Free hand cut two half ovals out of Whisper White and two half ovals out of Basic Black to create eyes. Use gel pen to draw highlights. Adhere to back of snout.

5. Use dimentionals to attach snout to largest oval.

6. Take the other 2 ovals and fold the tops down to create ears. Adhere to back of largest oval and adhere to Top Note bag.

7. Take a small strip of Regal Rose and wrap around a pencil to create curly tail. Adhere to other large oval. Adhere to back of Top Note bag so that it lines up with the head on the other side.

Flower Fancy Invites

I made these a long time ago and realized I never posted them! These were invitations for a baby shower/ mother's day luncheon for the wife of one of my co-workers. The colors of the baby's room is purple and green and they wanted a flower theme. This was one of the first card sets I made after I became a demonstrator. I might have to dig back in the vault and show you some even older stuff :)

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Lots of Thoughts

Paper: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant

Ink: Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Old Olive, Basic Black

Accessories: Ribbon (non-SU)

Total of 20 invites.

The ribbon looks different in this photo of the group...but it was dark like the first image.

4th of July Top Note Box

With 4th of July being next week, I thought I should pull out some patriotic colors and see what I could come up with. I have been wanting to try one of these top note boxes so that's what I decided to make. There was no stamping involved in creating this which was kind of strange. Let me know what you think!

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White Cardstock

Accessories: White Gel Pen, Mat Pack, Big Shot, Top Note Die

The tutorial for the box can be found here. The stripes were formed by cutting 1/2 inch strips of Whisper White and laying them over the Top Note Die. The stars were created using a gel pen and the mat pack.

*I didn't have any candy to decorate or there would definitely be a treat inside!

Embossed Wedding Card

When I started this card I had all intentions of making it match the gift card holder I made last week; however, the little champagne glasses kept being too small for what I wanted to do, so I nixed that and decided to use the bride and groom stamp from the retiring To Have and To Hold. I also got to use my brand new set that came today Friends 24-7 (look for many more cards with this set in the near future!). I had been wanting this set for a while now and after Jen signed up under me, I earned a free set through SU's Stampin' Start program, so I knew right away which one I wanted to get. My sales for April, May, and June also qualified me for another free set which I get to pick out mid-July as part of the Consistency Counts promotion SU was running for Associates and Senior Associates...picking out free stuff is so hard...hehe

Now onto the card...

Stamps: To Have and to Hold, Friends 24-7

Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White Cardstock

Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Versamark

Accessories: Big Shot, Scallops #2 Die, Coluzzle, Clear EP and Embossing Gun, Pretty in Pink SU Marker, Blender Pen, Organza Ribbon

1. Score 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 piece of Basic Gray at 4 1/4 and fold on score line.

2. Cut Basic Black to 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 and Whisper White to 4 x 5 1/4.

3. Stamp the image from Friends 24-7 in Versamark various times on the Whisper White to create a background. Emboss with clear embossing powder.

4. Cut biggest scallop from Scallop #2 Die with Basic Black cardstock using Big Shot.

5. Stamp bride and groom onto Whisper White using Basic Black ink. Outline using Basic Gray ink and blender pen to create depth. Color flowers and tie with Pretty in Pink marker.

6. Use the 5th circle on the Coluzzle to cut out the image. Adhere to scalloped circle.

7. Adhere embossed Whisper White to Basic Black. Cut a piece of Basic Gray to 4 x 1 1/2 and adhere to upper third of Whisper White. 

8. Wrap White Organza ribbon around all three layers. Adhere entire piece to Basic Gray cardbase.

9. Adhere scalloped circle on top of Basic Gray strip.

10. Stamp sentiment in bottom right corner using Basic Black ink.

Wedding Gift Card Holder

Hi All! Today's post is for a simple gift card holder. It is super easy to make although it took me three tries because I'm terrible at stamping straight...especially when I'm stamping directly onto the cardbase. I really need to invest in a stamp-a-majig! haha It is a tad smaller than it looks in the picture. The end measurements are around 4 x 2 3/4. It sort of floats around in the envelope, so I might make a coordinating card for it to go inside? We'll see. It's also hard to tell from the picture that there is Crystal Effects on the Champagne and bubbles. It looks so cute in person :) Also, don't mind my Costco Membership card on the inside. I wanted to show what it looked like with a gift card and sadly I didn't have any.

Stamps: To Have and to Hold, Congrats

Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray

Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, 1 3/8 and 1 1/2 Circle Punch, Slit Punch, Creamy Caramel SU Marker, Blender Pen, Crystal Effects, Organza Ribbon

1. Score 4 x 6 1/2 piece of Basic Gray at 1 3/8 and 4. Fold on score lines.

2. Stamp sentiment in bottom left corner.

3. Use the Eyelet Punch on a piece of 4 x 3 of Whisper White and then trim to fit into the inside of the top flap. Adhere.

4. Stamp the champagne glasses and color with Creamy Caramel SU Marker. Use the Basic Gray ink pad and blender pen to create a slight shadow on the glasses. Apply Crystal Effects to colored area and let dry.

5. Punch out image with 1 3/8 circle punch. Punch out Basic Black circle with 1 1/2 circle punch. Adhere.

6. To create the band, cut an 8 inch piece of organza ribbon. Wrap around entire card and adhere with the Whisper White Circle. Punch another Basic Black circle and adhere so that the ribbon is sandwiched between the circles.

7. Punch two slits in the center panel about 1/4 inch in on either side for gift card. 

Lovely As A Tree Stationary Box

As promised...here is the completed Stationary Box for a boy. I'm really excited with how it turned out. While the faux stitching took FOREVER (just like cutting all the roses on the Bella Rose box), I think it really makes this set! The distressed look was created by running my finger nail down the edges of every layer. I was very excited that this set made it to the new catalog (even though it's not mine haha)...speaking of the new catalog. I saw it last night at Roberta's house and OMG you're going to die when you see the new stuff! I'm going to be so poor ;)

Anyway...here are the photos. Let me know what you think!

Closed

Open

Mini composition book

Two of the four cards

The grass is brayered and the clouds were sponged using a scalloped circle punch as a template

The other two cards

Bookmark

Post it Note Holder

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Great Friend, Sweet Little Sentiments, Sanded Background

Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze DSP

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Old Olive

Accessories: Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, SU Chocolate Chip Marker and White Gel Pen, Twine, Buttons

How Many M&M's?

I'm going to be using this at the party I'm doing this weekend. I'm not sure what the prize is going to be for the person who guesses closest, but it will most likely be either Stampin' Up product or a gift certificate. We have a whole case of these frap bottles from Costco so I can't wait to make more fun things with them! As you can see I caught the Summer Love color scheme bug again! haha I figured it will be a nice example of how the DSP, rub ons, and Great Friend stamp set coordinate. It's hard to tell, but there is a piece of Baja Breeze ribbon wrapped around the center (the oval is covering it in the picture).

Stamps: Great Friend

Paper: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP

Ink: Cameo Coral

Accessories: Summer Love Rub Ons, Scalloped Oval Punch, Coluzzle, 1 3/8, 1 1/2, and Scalloped Circle Punches

Will you...

Aren't these darling?? A co-worker of mine is getting married next year and asked me to make a card for each of the girls she wants to have in the wedding. I've actually been working on them for a while, but ran out of ink in my printer, then my oval punch was on back order, then...haha well really that was it, but it seemed like 100 things kept preventing me from finishing. I got ink and my punch was delivered and this is what I came up with! There are 9 total: 5 bridesmaid, 1 matron of honor, 1 maid of honor, 1 reader, and my favorite...1 flower girl!  I love the look of tall cards for elegant occasions like a wedding, but I thought it would be cute to make the flower girl's a mini version and use a full dress. It's also hard to tell from the pictures, but all of the dresses are embossed using Versamark and Clear EP (I colored the flowers on the flower girl's dress with a white gel pen). The templates for the dresses were hand drawn. The pictures didn't show up to clear on here...better ones are on my Splitcoast Gallery, screen name renaelindzey. Let me know what you think!

Stamps: To Have and to Hold

Paper: Whisper White, Natural Ivory, Creamy Caramel Cardstock

Ink: Versamark

Accessories: Embossing Powder and Heat Gun, Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Eyelet Punch, Ribbon

Clean and Simple Summer Love

This is another card that I will be demo-ing this weekend. I decided that I wanted to do a project using nothing but rub ons...well that didn't totally work since I used a stamp for the sentiment, but I guess I could have substituted it with one from the rub on sheet. This was semi-cased from Mary Fish. It would have been totally cased, however, I was doing it from memory, so mine looks different. I really love this color combination! When I was planning my Walk In the Park class last month it was the only color scheme I wanted to use! I would have to force myself to not reach for any of them for every card I made.

Also, I'm almost done with the Stationary Box for the boy and am really pleased with how it's turning out. It should be done within a day or so. The only clue I'll give you about it is LOTS of paper piercing! 

Stamps: Sweet Little Sentiments

Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral Cardstock

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Summer Love Rub Ons, Ribbon

1. Score 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece of Whisper White at 4 1/4 and fold on score line. 

2. Cut three 1/2 inch square of Baja Breeze and adhere to cardbase.

3. Cut four 1 1/2 inch Cameo Coral squares and four 1 1/4 inch Whisper White squares. Adhere.

4. Apply Summer Love Rub Ons to Whisper White squares.

5. Stamp sentiment.

6. Use your paper trimmer to put two score lines above and below the sentiment (see close up)

7. Tie Baja Breeze ribbon in a bow and adhere to card.

Bella Rose Stationary Box

You may remember this post of the Stationary Box I made for our Administrative Assistant at work. After seeing it, one of my co-workers asked if I would make her two to give to kids she knows that are going off to college. This is the first one I made. All the embellishments were made by cutting roses from the design in the Bella Rose Designer Series Paper. Surprisingly, one sheet of the rose design is all it took to make the box and it's contents (with each rose having two layers), however, it was very time consuming. I am very pleased with the outcome, though, so it was well worth it! The second one is for a boy, so that one might be a little more challenging. I'll post it when it's finished.

Let me know what you think!

The outside

Opened up

Two of each design for a total of 4 cards and envelopes

Mini composition book

Two bookmarks

Post-It Holder

(Tutorial can be found here)

Stamps: Sweet Little Sentiments, Great Friend

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White Cardstock and Bella Rose DSP

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Big Shot; Scallop #2 Die; Colluzle; Ribbon, 1 3/8, 1 1/2 and Scalloped Circle Punch; Dimentionals 

Simple Anniversary Card

This is a very simple card, with minimal stamping, that I made for someone who needed an anniversary card. When I first started making cards, there was a flower on EVERYTHING! Ever since I started stamping though, my flowers disappeared. I had some leftover ones from a set I bought at Michael's and decided to give a stab at dying the flower to match the Baja Breeze in the DSP. Super easy! I might have to buy the Pretties Kit with my next order now! :)

Stamps: Congrats

Paper: Natural Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze Designer Series Paper

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze

Accessories: Eyelet Punch, Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Sponge Dauber, Flowers, Brad, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer

1. Score 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 piece of Natural Ivory at 4 1/4 and fold on score line.

2. Cut DSP to 1 1/2 x 5 1/2. Cut Chocolate Chip to 2 1/2 x 5 1/2 and punch the Eyelet Border along the bottom. 

3. Use your mat pack and paper piercer to pop in a line across the top of the DSP (not really visible in the picture). Layer DSP onto Chocolate Chip.

4. Stamp sentiment in bottom left hand corner using Chocolate Chip ink. Adhere to card base.

5. Use your mat pack and paper piercer in the top corners (5, 4, 3, 2, 1).

6. Attach ribbon to card base slightly above DSP. Use Sticky Strip to attach the knot of the ribbon to the card. 

7. Use a sponge dauber and Baja Breeze ink pad to dye the bigger of the white flowers. Attach flowers using a brad.

8. Attach the flower to the knot in the ribbon using Sticky Strip.

9. Stamp second part of sentiment inside using Chocolate Chip ink.

Another Wedding Invite

Happy Friday! I thought I would dig into my picture vault and show you another sample invitation I made last year (before I was a Stampin' Up demo...so none of the supplies are SU). The theme was Fairy Tale. I was really pleased with how they turned out! The stamp is from Michael's and was actually huge (3x4 inches-ish), which wasn't going to work with the wording. So I stamped it onto a piece of white cardstock and scanned it onto my computer. I then resized it and then added it to my Word document with the text. For the response card, I did the same thing only watermarked it. It was the easiest stamping I ever did! :)

And I love how a project that was mass produced looks when it's done!

Click here for more wedding invitation samples!

Wedding Invitations

Here are two samples of wedding invitations I have been working on. I like to give the bride a choice of a few different ideas. Her colors were purple and green and she chose the shades from the Idea Book & Catalog. Here is what I came up with for her:

The response card is post card size, and does not require an envelope.

The second set is a pocket invitation (I cased the dimensions from an APEX swap I received!).

*Note: The purple card is the response card and would be secured using the slit punch, however, mine hasn't come in yet, so we'll just pretend for now!

She liked both and ended up coming up with her own idea of using the belly band from the pocket invitation to hold together the flat invite and response card. I will post pictures when I get one made! :)

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree

Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive

Ink: Versamark, Old Olive

Accessories: 1 1/2 and 1 3/8 inch Circle Punches, Elegant Eggplant Ribbon

Click here for more wedding invitation samples!

Backyard Before and After

I thought I'd take a second today to show you what has been taking over my stamping time! When Joe and I moved in 2 years ago, we knew that the barbeque pit would be one of the first things to go (it didn't look as bad as it does in the picture though...Joe had started demo-ing before I was able to get a picture). We had never done anything like this, but we watch enough HGTV and DIY Network that we decided to do it all ourselves. Joe drew up everything, then he and his dad got to work! 

This is what it looked like before:

And after...didn't he do a great job??

Side view

Arial view 

These pictures really don't do it justice! Everyday when I go outside I forget that it's my backyard! We still have a few more things we've been doing (staining the deck, planting more flowers, etc), but once it's all finished I will have more time to get back to stamping! 

Hostess Favors

Hi All! Sorry I've been so inconsistent recently. Joe and I have been doing A LOT of work in our backyard...so that has sort of hindered my stamping time! My post for today shows two little goodie bags I'm going to be using for a party I have on the 20th. I'm most likely going to give one to the hostess and raffle the other one off as a door prize. I might also make a post it note holder to match and throw that in. 

Both bags contain a mini note kit which has two stamps, a Chocolate Chip Stampin' Spot, 4 notecards, and 4 envelopes. Both of these sets are on the Last Chance list, so make sure to place an order before the end of the month if you are interested in these kits. The tags were made using the Great Friend stamp set (I haven't used it in a while so I didn't feel bad posting yet another project with it). The colors are Bordering Blue with Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss with Baja Breeze. I am working on some wedding invitations and a few card sets right now...so watch for them soon! 

Ice Cream Cone Birthday

Isn't this adorable?? According to Joe, this is the cutest card I've ever made! I received my latest SU order yesterday and couldn't wait to play with my Crystal Effects! I've seen the idea of ice cream cones on SCS and decided to try it for myself! I had also seen the cone made using Big Shot texture plates, but since I don't have the texture plates, I decided to improvise and use a crimper. I think it worked! :) I also wish I would have moved the sentiment up a little bit, but oh well!

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, and Kiwi Kiss Cardstock, and Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Crimper, Scalloped Circle Punch, Buttons, Ribbon, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Sticky Strip, Chocolate Chip Marker

1. Score 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock at 5 1/2 and fold on score line.
2. Adhere 4 x 5 1/4 piece of DSP.
3. Use your Big Shot to cut out a Top Note in Pink Pirouette. Do the same with the ribbon and adhere it to the pink Top Note using Sticky Strip.
4. Punch three scalloped circles and cut off half of the scallops to form the top of the "scoop". Adhere together as shown.
5. Run 3 x 1 1/2 piece of Creamy Caramel through a crimper twice in two different directions to form checked pattern. Cut into a triangle and adhere to ice cream pieces.
6. Use SU Chocolate Chip Marker to free hand draw fudge topping. Apply Crystal Effects and let dry.
7. To make the cherry I traced around a button and cut it out, but a 1/2 inch circle punch would work too. Cut a little divit in the top where stem will come out. Cut stem out of Kiwi Kiss and attach to cherry. Adhere to ice cream cone using Sticky Strip.
8. Adhere ice cream to card base.
9. Stamp sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink in bottom left corner of Top Note.
10. Cut small slivers of Kiwi Kiss cardstock and thread through buttons. Adhere buttons.

APEX Wedding Theme Swap

These lovely cards and gifts arrived yesterday! I couldn't wait to open the box. These were from the APEX swap that I qualified for through Meg Loven (I made the cake favor boxes as my swap). Meg has more details about who made each card/gift on her blog. I will definitely be CASE-ing some of these for a few wedding cards I have to make! I am working on a set of "Will you be my bridesmaid" cards right now and they incorporate the "dress" look. Too bad I didn't get these first, because I like yours better! Thanks ladies!

Cards and invitations:

Favors and boxes:

Click here for more wedding invitation samples!