Happy Leap Day 2012 !

A really old card I made a friend.

 The frog "jumps for joy" revealing "HOPPY FOR YOU"

I am sorry that there are no
step by step photos to share since I made this so long ago.
I was surprised I even had a photo of it !
I'm not even sure of what this technique may be called
to show you where to find directions.

As best as I can recall, here is basically how it was made:
 I stamped and colored the front of the card with the Unforgettable stamp set from Stampin' Up!.
I then used an Xacto knife and straight edge to cut out the tall thin window in the front of the card.
I layered another piece of white card stock behind it and stamped the word stamps through the opening.
I would have cut a thin strip of card stock to slip between these two card fronts
( I glued along the edges of the two fronts leaving an opening for the strip to fit).
I stamped, colored and cut out the frog then attached it to from the front of the card through the opening onto the strip with a dimensional (pop dot).
Pull the strip to make the frog jump and reveal the message.

Thanks for looking =) 

Thanks Coach - Basketball spinning element card

 I made this card for the basketball coach in 2007. It has a spinning basketball that starts at the right side of the card covering the "thank you" then it makes a basket on the left side of the card. It took quite a while to figure out how to make it work as I envisioned and I am sorry to say that I have no pattern or step by step photos since I made it so long ago.

Most stamps, all inks and card stocks are from Stampin' Up! I used the Have A Ball stamp set (retired) and a stripes background stamp (also retired) from Stampin' Up! Unknown manufacturer for the clear alphabet set as well as a Snap Stamps alphabet set. White acrylic indoor/outdoor paint and acetate to create the basket.

Instructions for this type of spinner card can be found here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/spinner_card/

Thanks for looking =) 

Thanks Coach - Bowling gatefold card

I made this Thank You card for a bowling coach recently. It is a large card, the finished size is 6" x 8 1/2" .  I made it extra large for the nearly 30 bowlers to have enough room to sign.

Start with an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white card stock. Follow the diagram below to score and cut. I used the largest circle on my Coluzzle to cut the bowling ball and made my own bowling pin pattern. Make a complete bowling ball and bowling pin from Whisper White card stock then trace them onto the card front . Keep these to finish as the bowling ball and bowling pin to be glued to the card front.

The sort of marbled look on the bowling ball was achieved by drizzling several colors of acrylic craft paint onto a piece of acetate, swirling them together then smooshing the card stock onto it. I worked it a little bit with the brayer. You could make marbled look paper using ink refills for stamp pads and shaving cream. I chose to use my paints because I have so many and they are much cheaper than ink refills.

The holes on the bowling ball were made with black card stock cut with a 1/2" circle punch and a 1" circle punch that I trimmed down (would have been nice to have a 3/4" !). I would have preferred to punch through the bowling ball and adhere black card stock to the backside, but my punch wouldn't reach far enough (and I didn't have a 3/4" punch). I suppose I could have tried to cut them by hand with an Xacto knife...........

The bowling pin stripe was made by sponging on Real Red and Cranberry Crisp inks from Stampin' Up!. I made a mask with the wide oval punch from Stampin' Up ! and sticky notes. I also sponged on a little bit of Going Gray around the edges of the bowling pin

I drew horizontal lines across the center piece of the card to simulate the wooden boards on the lane.

"Thank You" is from the Much Appreciated stamp set, Stampin' Up.

"Coach" is an unknown clear alphabet set. I used Snap Stamps to make the name.

I stamped the outside of the envelope with the Have A Ball (retired) stamp set from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for looking =) 

Valentine's From Friends

Thank you, Margy =)

Just love all the bright colors !

The inside was jsut as cheery cute.

Thank you, Brenda =)

Awww, what a cute little cupid and yummy colors!

Blossom Punch Four Leaf Clover

Four leaf clover created with the new Blossom Punch from Stampin' Up!

Most all items used were from Stampin; up! although many are retired.

Blossom punch - cut off a portion to create the clover

Glossy White card stock

Twist Spectrum ink pad

Brayer

Green Galore card stock

Bermuda Bay card stock and ink

Daffodil Delight card stock

Stripes embossing folder - to create background on the Green Galore card stock

Yellow organdy ribbon

Metal edge tag - edge colored with a green Sharpie marker

Mystic Mint glitter

Clear drying liquid glue - brush on clover then sprinkle with glitter

Black chisel edge Sharpie marker - run along the edges of card stock to create a "faux black card stock layer"

Paper Piercer 

Stamp image from the "Kiss Me" retired stamp set

Thanks for looking =)

Glittery Heart & Organdy Ribbon Candle Wrap + Tips

I love making something special to wrap around otherwise boring jar candles, the ideas are limitless ! I used to make them every Christmas season to donate to the elementary school holiday bazaar that I was chairwoman of. They can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like to make and can be made out of so many different items. They always sold well, especially those that had the poem attached for teachers.






If you are like me and do not have any glitter paper or a scalloped edge heart punch, you can make your own. It takes a bit of time and patience, but works great in a pinch! I'll share my tips on how to "fake" both supplies.



To make the glittery heart, punch a heart shape (I used the Full Heart from Stampin' Up!) out of red card stock. Generously cover with glitter glue. Set aside to dry.



To make the scalloped edge heart, you will need several circle punches. I used twenty 1/4" circles to go around this Full Size Heart Punch from Stampin' Up!. You will need to play around with the number of circles and the size of the circles depending on the punch shape you wish to make a scalloped frame around. Be sure to lay out the pieces first (you may want to work with scrap paper first) before starting to glue because is some cases this technique won't work well. It worked perfectly with the two punches from Stampin' Up!

After the glittery heart is dry, flip it upside down. Run a thin line of clear drying liquid glue around the edge of the heart, just enough for the edges of the circles to cover. Carefully place each circle half off the edge of the heart shape and right next to each other. You could very carefully flip the heart over while holding it between your fingers to check progress, just be sure not to move the circles unless needed.



After you have all of the circles glued in place, set it aside once again to dry.

Obviously if you have the correct glitter paper and heart punches (unlike myself) you could make this much quicker ;)

Embellish as you wish and attach to a bow wrapped around the candle jar. I made a little tag with a scrap of shimmery paper and a stamp image from the Stampin' Up! set A Happy Heart. It was stamped with Real Red classic ink. Trim the tail with a pair of scissors. Slightly bend the strip between your fingers to give it a little more dimension if you wish then glue onto the large glitter heart. Add a tiny heart (from the Heart To Heart Punch from Stampin' Up!) and a rhinestone.



Never leave a candle burning unattended and remove the decorative band before lighting !

Thanks for looking =)

Punched Hearts and Wire Candle Wrap

I love making something special to wrap around otherwise boring jar candles, the ideas are limitless ! I used to make them by the dozens every Christmas season to donate to the school holiday bazaar. They always sold well, especially those that had the poem attached for teachers.

Here is another wire wrapped heart project I made some time ago, an ornament. You could even wrap a single heart or two as I did on this candle wrap and attach it to the front of a card.

Instructions:
Punch out several hearts from decorative paper. I used two sided designer paper that was a Hostess item from Stampin' Up! I also punched the same number and sizes of hearts from lightweight cardboard. Lightly coat the card board with clear drying liquid glue then attach the paper to it. Set aside to dry.


Once dry, I lightly sanded the edges of each heart with fine grit sandpaper to expose a little bit of the white core of the designer paper. You could sponge ink on the edges instead of sanding.


Glue smaller hearts or other embellishments on top of larger hearts if you'd like. Set aside to dry.

After all of your hearts are decorated and dry, you will now work on wrapping each one with wire. I can not tell you how much wire you will need, it depends on the size of the jar and hearts you are wrapping as well as how many wraps and loops you make in the wire. I used fine gauge wire from Stampin' Up! ( Wire Works from several years ago) on a small spool and just kept it attached to the spool as I worked. Use whatever method works for you to attach the wire to the backs of the hearts. I used small pieces of sturdy clear packing tape.


Be sure to keep the candle you are making the wrap for nearby so you can check your progress to see how many hearts or how much wire you need as you work.


This type of candle wrap can be made out of many different shapes and items including letters, beads, wooden trinkets, etc. for many different holidays.



Never leave a candle burning unattended and remove the decorative band before lighting !


Thanks for looking =)

Cute New Boots

We've had nothing more than a dusting of snow so far this winter - but may see some Monday if the predictions are correct!

I am NOT fashionable, not in the least. These boots are sooooo not me, but they are cute and they were a bargain at  $12 (normally $40).  Plus, they lace up so I can get my feet in them easily. No more wearing little kid snow boots for me, not that it mattered when shoveling the driveway or playing in the snow.  Then again, I'm not sure if I will wear them to play in since they don't seem very functional, just fashionable. Lightweight, non waterproof fabric tops, the bottoms aren't very grippy

and no arch support or cushiony insole. Why did I buy these ?!?

All of the plants that are poking up around here may soon be covered in snow.
Of course if the weather forecasters are wrong about Monday, it seems by the time we see any snow here these boots will be out of style. Not that I care, after all I am not in style ;)

Signs of Spring - already ?!?

                                        

I noticed several plants poking up through the ground the first of the month. I went to take a closer look and discovered they are really sprouting up, in fact it looks like some are going to bloom before long ! This winter has been unusually mild here with barely a dusting of snow so far. Bitterly cold days have been few and far between. Global warming? 

The Groundhog did predict 6 more weeks of winter weather, so maybe we will see a real snow day yet.

              

hyacinth

 columbine

 mums

hollyhock

daylily 

hosta

Quilled Heart Card

All supplies used on this 4" x 4" card were from Stampin' Up!

Quilled heart is a scrap of Regal Rose card stock ; I stamped it with Whisper White craft ink

Various Soft Subtles card stocks

Full Heart and Heart To Heart punches

Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing folder 

Stampin' Pastels (chalks) to rub color onto the embossed stripes

Image is from the stamp set Loving Hearts and stamped with Regal Rose ink

Paper Piercer tool 

Thanks for looking =) 

Chalked Hearts Card

Make a simple stencil by punching through a piece of scrap paper.

You can then stencil through the cut outs with chalks, inks, etc.

TIP: If you only want to stencil part of a punched image from a multi image punch, 

mask off the portions you don't want ink/chalk to get through with sticky notes. 

Card stock - scraps, manufacturer unknown

Organdy ribbon scrap, manufacturer unknown

Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, Stampin' Up!

Almost Amethyst ink, Stampin' Up!

Hearts are made with Stampin' Pastels (chalks) rubbed through a simple stencil I made with the Heart To Heart punch from Stampin' Up!

Tiny heart in middle of bow is punched from the same heart punch; I covered it with Crystal Effects (which were not totally dry when I took the photo so it still looks white, not clear) to make a sort of faux brad look

Eyelet Border Punch from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for looking =)

Cat Sympathy Card I Received

I received this sweet card in the mail yesterday from an email pal. 

This beautiful stamp image looks quite a bit like Ringo cat.

 I just love it and have it sitting on my desk.

The sentiment inside reads:

sunny sills,

and catnip treats

light to chase

and friends to meet

soft, warm laps

and petting hands

safe with God

in cat heaven

sniffle........ 

Thanks so much, Margy.

eek - lizard tail!

So I was going to clean the cat box the other day and jumped  -

probably the highest I've jumped in years:

there was a pretty good sized lizard tail on the floor, blech !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lizards that hang out around our house always freak me out. I know they won't hurt me, but they are just so darn speedy and remind me of snakes!

For whatever reason there has been one (or multiples?!?) inside the house this past year.

I guess since we had the large tree just outside cut down that they lived in they decided to take up residence in our house.

I've actually seen two of them in the house, one I was able to get outside after Kitty caught it in the dining room. The other got away from her/me in the basement last fall which is where this tail was found. I can't imagine it finding enough food to eat inside to survive this long. Then again, it is the creepy dungeon of a basement, maybe it is able to find enough spiders (eek again!) or whatever. I should hope that there are not nearly enough bugs in the house though to keep a lizard alive, maybe it has discovered cat food ?

Yep, the skin that was found on the pot in my base kitchen cabinet in December must have come from the lizard (I found out that they do shed their skin like snakes do). There is a gap in that cabinet, it has an opening to the floor that connects to the cabinet with the water pipes and drain that go to the basement, so theoretically the critter could crawl up that way. THAT freaks me out, too; I'm still cautious when I open it up at times. I'm also on alert whenever I hear a noise or think I see something out of the corner of my eye while in the craft dungeon.

Paranoia !

If critters (or parts of) creep you out and you are squeamish at the sight, don't look.....

ick

now I wonder where the rest of it is............

Suspended/Spinning Heart Card TUTORIAL

 This is the first time I've made something like this!

All supplies used were from Stampin' Up!, several of which are now retired.
Perfect Plum card stock
Pale Plum card stock
Whisper White card stock
Old Olive card stock
Vintage Violet classic ink
Pale Plum organdy ribbon
Full Heart punch and coordinating Movers and Shapers heart die
5 Petal Flower punch
Square Lattice textured impressions embossing folder
Tulip Frame "              "              "              "
Flexible Phrases stamp set
clear fishing line / thread / floss
double stick tape


Using the Movers and Shapers heart die, cut a heart out of the two plum card stocks and front of the Whisper White card stock card. TIP: you may wnat to adhere all three pieces on top of each other with removable tape to hold them in place. Run them through the Big Shot die cutting machine all at one time (be sure they are aligned as you want them to be!). This way the hearts will be centered and lign up with each other as you want on each piece.

Run the Pale Plum piece (4" x 5 1/4") through the Tulip Frame embossing folder. Adhere to the Perfect Plum piece (4 1/4" x 5 1/2" ) of card stock.

Using double stick tape, glue the ends of the fishing line / clear thread / floss to the top and bottom of the heart cut out on the front of the white card base. Mount the two plum card front pieces on top of this, lining up the heart cutouts.

Punch two Perfect Plum Full Hearts, run through the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. Lightly sponge on Vintage Violet ink to the edges of the hearts. Sandwich the two heart punches with the piece of fishing line / thread / floss between them.  Be sure to stick them down well with double stick tape (or your favorite adhesive).

Embellish the heart as you'd like. If you'd like it to spin, be sure that the embellishments do not catch the edges of the cut out heart opening on the card front. To make it spin, you would lightly turn the heart a few times and hold in place when you insert it into the envelope. When the recipient opens it, it should spin a few times !

I made a rose out of a thin strip of Pale Plum card stock. I ran it through my fingers a few times to lightly break the paper fibers making the card stock softer, easier to twist. I twisted the card stock as you would with a piece of ribbon to make the rose (I made ribbon roses this way many, many years ago; I'm sure tutorials can be found on the internet or in books and magazines). Two small pieces of Old Olive card stock were punched with the 5 Petal Flower punch to make the leaves. I curled two really thin strips of Perfect Plum card stock to make swirls. The strip of Whisper White card stock was lightly sprayed with shimmer spray. I then stamped images from the Flexible Phrases stamp set with Perfect Plum ink on it. Lastly I snipped the end off with a pair of scissors to make the "tails" then slightly bent it before adhering to the heart.

Tie a simple knot bow out of the organdy ribbon.

Adhere all pieces with your favorite adhesive; I used low melt hot glue.

Thanks for looking =)

BlackShadowCreations - Bakers Twine Collection Blog Candy To Win

Be sure to stop by a blogging friends site before February 29th for a chance to win a collection of EIGHT different colors of Stampin' Up! Bakers Twine !!!  See the post below on the BlackShadowCreations blog for more information. While there, take some time to peruse her wonderful gallery and be sure to leave her a few comments, too =)

http://blackshadowcreations.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-anniversary-birthday-party.html

Card Project 2012

Two oldies I came across while reorganizing the craft dungeon last month. 

They were both mailed out to birthday recipients in January.

All items used were from Stampin' Up!, several of which are now retired

Roses In Winter stamp set, retired

  

Bud Basics stamp set, retired

In 2010 I mailed out well over 100 cards to nearly all of my relatives plus my few friends. Last year I skipped it (I also did not make hand stamped Christmas cards for all of them) , instead I sent 365 cards to Operation Write Home. This year I decided I would send cards to friends and relatives again, but to less people (I don't think all of the young cousins really appreciated them anyway). The above two cards, as well as the previously posted cards last month, were sent out for birthdays in January.

All stamp images, inks and card stocks from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for looking =) 

Ringo

In October of 2006 Ringo kitty wandered into our lives, the tiniest little kitten we had ever seen. My young son found him all alone, hurt and hungry. After 5 years of giving us loads of love and laughter, constant companionship and keeping critters away, he wandered back out. We are heartbroken.

This is a quick page I threw together using My Digital Studio for the time being. I will eventually make a Memory Box for him, but for now I am still holding onto hope that he will return to us. Sadly it has been two weeks now, so it is not as easy ............... sniffle...............

I wish Stampin' Up! had cat and dog designer papers. Since they do not, I was able to make my own using My Digital Studio. I created two different 12 x 12 digital papers, exported them and saved tehm to jpeg then brought them back in to a custom folder I made in the My Digital Studio program folder. By doing these extra steps, I was able to paper fill the punches with the cat themed digital paper I created. 

MY DIGITAL STUDIO software
I started with a blank 12 x 12 page
Whisper White card stock
Textured background stamp, reduced opacity
home made designer papers with Cute Cats stamp set
Basic Black textured card stock
Basic Black scalloped dots ribbon
Stitching
Glimmer brads
Square and scalloped square punches
Just Perfect alphabet stamp
text box

Thanks for looking =)