Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous day. I have a quick post to share with you tonight... a little Valentine's love I left in the teacher's lounge (at the kids' school) today  :} 

I simply covered a can of coffee with some Twitterpated DSP and card stock. The cute little coffee cup stamp is from one of the stamp sets you can get for free right now during Sale-a-Bration  -- Patterned Occasions (w:129621  c:129624) 

I used the 3-1/2" Circle die to create the perfect background to cover the lid. The heart Embosslit and Punches made it easy to add pretty details. If you don't already have the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, add it to your cart - it has 24 greetings to cover almost every occasion! 

How about a bonus project tonight??? Here's the Valentine card Aaron chose for his teacher:

He likes the images from the Up, Up & Away stamp set... but what kid doesn't like baloons??? 

 Thanks for dropping by!! Love ya... mmmmwaaah!  :} 

Mini Scrapbook album

Today I have another pretty little project from my recent "Three in 3D" class... a mini scrapbook album! This album is perfect for scrapping a small event, sharing a few photos and notes with a friend, or a lovely Mother's Day gift. And what grandmother wouldn't love to have one of these in her purse???

This is the front of the album, which is tied closed using Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. After stamping the sentiment from the Language of Friendship stamp set in Bravo Burgundy ink, I punched it out using the Extra Large Oval punch, and layered it onto Old Olive card stock punched using the Decorative Label punch. Three Old Olive brads add some nice detail, while a layer of More Mustard card stock - die cut using one of the Framelits in the Labels Collection and sponged on the edges - pulls it all together.

Inside, three coin envelopes (3-1/8"x5-1/2") make the pocket-pages of the book. The Bravo Burgundy card stock on the front and back are cut 1/4" larger than the envelope measurements to help protect the edges of the album from getting squished.

The coin envelopes are glued end-to-end, with the flap trimmed from the last envelope. After adhering the layers of Paisley Petals DSP, I used the 1-3/4" Circle punch (old "whale" style) to create a notch in the front of each pocket.

I created three "pages" to pull out of each pocket, where photos and journaling can be added to both sides. Don't those Paper Daisies add a cute touch???

Whether a mini album or larger scrapbook pages, traditional or digital, I hope you find some time this month (May is National Scrapbooking Month) to preserve and share your favorite memories. Feel free to contact me if you need project ideas or product recommendations. Happy stamping!!  :}

Birthday Wishes

I love any birthday stamp set that includes text for belated birthday wishes... I am often late getting my cards mailed out! The Happiest Birthday Wishes Hostess stamp set has ten great text stamps for people who are organized and punctual, plus one text stamp for people like me  :}

I made this card for a friend (whose birthday is today) using the Saturday Sketch Challenge 243. I consulted the stamper's best friend - The Color Coach - for my color combination: Bravo Burgundy, River Rock, and Baja Breeze.
While I was mulling over which background stamp I wanted to use, it dawned on me that I haven't used my stencils in a long time. So, I used the floral image stencil from Elegant Trio, a Sponge Dauber, and Baja Breeze ink. Stenciling tip: pounce the dauber; don't rub or the stencil pieces will move and ink will be where you don't want it to be. I stenciled right onto a piece of Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper. At the bottom I added another strip of Paisley Petals DSP and a piece of Baja Breeze card stock (punched with the Scallop Edge Border punch; stamped with the swirly background from Creative Elements).

The Baja Breeze Seam Binding adds a nice, soft "feel" to this card. For the butterfly focal point, I die cut Bravo Burgundy card stock and Vellum Paper using the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die and the Big Shot. After dry embossing the card stock butterfly using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder, I adhered the butterflies together with two mini Glue Dots. They are attached to the card with Dimensionals. A string of Basic Pearls adds the final touch to this special card.

 Now, I could have just gone ahead and stamped my greeting inside, but this card was too pretty to leave the inside plain. So, I added another layer of the Paisley Petals DSP, which I cut so that I could include that pretty floral image in the corner. Then, I stamped my belated birthday greetings in Bravo Burgundy ink... oddly enough, this ended up being the only stamping on this card.

Thanks for taking a minute to stop by - have a super day!!  :}

Shutter Card

Today's post is another card from my Fun Folds class - a Shutter Card.

It's difficult to see the awesomeness of this card in a flat photo, so I'm working on a video tutorial for the Shutter Card. But for now, I'll give you some quick measurements.
Start with a piece of card stock 5-1/2" x 12". Score at 2", 4", 8", and 10". The next step is to make two cuts, each 1-1/2" from the outer edges. The cuts run from the 2" score line down to the 10" score line. The last step to make the card base is the folding, which is a little tricky for me to explain through typing. I added Paisley Petals DSP to each section except for the middle, which I left blank to write my message. The birthday sentiment is from the Perfect Punches stamp set, and the floral image is from the Simply Soft Hostess stamp set (colored with classic ink and a Blender Pen).

I have one more (adorable!) card to share with you from the Fun Folds class, so be sure to come back tomorrow  :)

Vintage Love

I decided to add 1 more post for tonight ;)
This card is from my (February) Technique Tuesday class. I chose to add it tonight, because I actually started with Bravo Burgundy when I was choosing colors.

I ended up using 3 stamp sets (Broadsheet Alphabet, Friends Never Fade, and Ornate Blossom) and 4 colors (Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Soft Suede, and Concord Crush) on this card. The Bravo Burgundy layer is stamped in Bravo Burgundy ink, and then dry embossed using the Finial Press Embossing Folder and the Big Shot.
One noticeable element of the 'vintage' style, is that there are a lot of layers. In addition to the card stock, there is a layer of Newsprint DSP, as well as two punched pieces - Decorative Label and 2-1/2" Circle. A scrap of Crochet Trim pinned to the card stock with a Vintage Trinket fits in perfectly with any 'vintage' style project.

Bravo Burgundy

Well, if you were to ask me to choose 1 SU color I could live without... it would be Bravo Burgundy. It's nothing against SU... I've just never been a fan of burgundy. It might have something to do with an old '79 Malibu station wagon in that color... but that's another story for another day ;)
Anywho... I challenged myself to use this color on both a masculine and feminine card. I'm really pleased with my results :)

The "Sweet Set" colors are Bravo Burgundy, More Mustard, and Crumb Cake. Since this is a masculine card, I wanted a lot of texture. The layer of Bravo Burgundy is crumpled and distressed, then I applied ink directly from the ink pad to the card stock. The layer of Crumb Cake is dry embossed using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder and the Big Shot. Can you guess where the square background on the Very Vanilla card stock came from? I inked my clear block (size D) in Crumb Cake ink and 'stamped' it onto the card stock! No uni-taskers in my stamp room ;)
The images are all from the Autumn Days stamp set. Like how the hemp twine takes the place of ribbon? I even added texture to the hemp twine by tying knots along the length.
*Note: if you are going to try the knotted twine at home, it takes more than you think. I used a piece of twine that was double the width of the Crumb Cake card stock.


You might have noticed there was no post yesterday. That's because I will admit I was really struggling with the "Creative Combination" colors: Bravo Burgundy, River Rock, and Baja Breeze. I started playing with this color combo on Thursday, but it wasn't until Saturday night that I found my burgundy mojo. But once I found my stampin' groove, I was a happy girl. In the end, I actually love how this card turned out :)
I used the Clearly for You stamp set, which I got for FREE at Leadership :) The square with the birds was inspired by one of our Leadership Conference 'make & takes'.
Each section is a 1-1/8" square. I used a layer of Bravo Burgundy card stock (4" x 5-1/4") and squares of River Rock, Baja Breeze, and Very Vanilla card stock, as well as squares of First Edition DSP (121878 $11.95).
The birds are stamped in StazOn ink, traced with a River Rock marker, and painted with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (116806 $5.95) and an AquaPainter. The crown image was first stamped in River Rock ink. Then I 'inked' the crown stamp with the Shimmer Paint and a Sponge Dauber, and stamped on top of the previously stamped image. Baja Breeze Seam Binding and two sizes of the Basic Pearls (119247 $4.95) add the perfect feminine touch.