SWEET MINI BOOK

Good afternoon stampers! Sorry I am a little late with this one, but today is my birthday and I spent the morning doing NOTHING but drinking coffee and watching some of my shows that I needed to catch up on, lol! I love being lazy every once in awhile BUT then I get restless and need to get back to it, lol! I am spending the afternoon stamping, and then out to dinner with the fam :-) I am excited because we are going to the Japanese Steakhouse, one of my all-time favorite places to go! But before all that, I wanted to share a sneak peek at my mini of the month! You see, every single month I offer a mini book class of some type - I try and change it up to keep it fresh and exciting! This month we are going to do a paper bag book with with some super fun elements like 3d pages :-) I am hoping that they all love it as much as I loved putting it together! I am going to share just the cover; I will share the whole mini at the end of the month once the class has been held. I want them to see it first*wink*
For this mini, I am using the Enchanted Designer Series Paper that you can receive FREE as a SALE-A-BRATION choice with a $50 order - yep, FREE! It's is BEAUTIFUL - easily my favorite paper right now!! I just love all the colors and patterns in this pack, and I can't believe it's FREE!! There are lots of pretty details in this mini - I love to use my Big Shot and all the fun embellishments and of course the STAMPS!!!

I played with two of my favorite new dies to make things for this cover.  The first one is the XL Designer Rosette Die, which I used to make the fan! I just love the versatility of this die, there is sooo much you can do with this one! I have enjoyed experimenting with this one, and coming up with all kinds of cool projects and elements for my cards, books, and scrapbook pages! Such a wonderful die! It is located in the Occasions Mini, and was one of the first things I ordered, lol!

Here is a close-up of the fan that I made using the die. What I loved about it is I can make it as big or as small as I want just by the paper size that I use. So cool! And, isn't that paper just sooooo yummy??!!! Remember, it's FREE, LOL!!!! I used some super cute Lucky Limeade Ruffled ribbon to the bottom to hold the fan together, and I just think it gives this cover the WOW! factor is deserves :-) Plus, it looks purdy, heehee!!!
The second die that I used is called the Elegant Bird Bigz Die and it is just that - elegant! I love this bird; I actually squealed out load when I first saw it in the Mini, and yes, it was also on my first order, lol! Not only does it dress up ANY project that you make, but there are TONS of different projects you can use this die with as well! It is one of the things I love about the Big Shot - there are limitless creative ways to use all the fun dies and folders you can get! See how cute it turned out??!! I did stamp some on the bird, and I used Lucky Limeade Card stock as well as some more of the Enchanted DSP for the wing. I also added some pretty ribbon and bling because well, I LIKE it :-)  I had such fun putting this mini together - the inside pages are full of all kinds of different techniques and elements that everyone is sure to be happy with! It makes a great gift, OR you can keep it to yourself as I tend to do, lol! I always have good intentions to give them away, but then I fall in love with them and I don't want to part with them....so now, I make two so I have one to keep :-) If you like what you see here and would like to order it for yourself, you can do so in my online store OR you can email me and I will be happy to place your order for you! Remember, the patterned paper you see here can be yours FREE with your order of $50 or more - what a great deal!!! So, now I am off to stamp some and then get ready for my birthday dinner! I am excited to be going out tonight - no cooking for ME, LOL!!! Have a wonderful day and don't forget to make time to be creative, it's good for the heart!!!
Mini Cover Recipe:
Paper - Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Naturals Ivory card stock, Enchanted Designer Series Paper(SAB item)
Inks- Lucky Limeade, Pool Party classic inks
Stamps - Elementary Elegance, Fresh Vintage (both sets are Sale-a-Bration sets), Petite Pairs(sentiment)
Tools- Big Shot, Elegant Bird Bigz Die, XL Designer Rosette Die, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, 1 1/4 inch and 1 inch Circle Punches, Scalloped Square Die, Crimping Tool, Dimensionals
Accessories - Victoria Lace Ribbon, Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon, Whisper White Thin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Basic Pearls

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Good morning stampers!! I have to say, this is my favorite time of year - I just adore Christmas! All the fun decorations, the baking, the presents, the music, the family and friends, I love it ALL!! I especially love to create fun gifts and cards for all the special people in my life! I tend to make sooo much more than I ever could use, but boy, is it FUN!  And, we have such fabulous holiday items in our Holiday mini this year that well, I went a little crazy with it and had to have it all, lol!!! So, I thought I would share a fun little craft that we made during my Santa's workshop classes - it is a box filled with fun Christmas tags to use on all your special gifts! I actually saw this idea somewhere and tweaked it somewhat to make it my own and I love how it turned out!!! The box itself is made of chipboard and then covered in Cherry Cobbler card stock - we also did that with the drawers to this cutie will last for lots of seasons in the future! The top and bottom of the box are 6x6 in size, and then the drawers were cut using the Matchbox die for the Big Shot, lined up with the edges of the box, and sticky taped down. The top of the box has two more layers, one of Old Olive card stock and then another using the Letters to Santa Designer Series paper - looooove it!!! The image is also layered - the base layer is Early Espresso card stock and then the image is stamped on Naturals White card stock. This pretty tree comes from the Christmas Lodge stamp set, available in the Holiday Mini (but only until the 3rd of January so you better get is soon!). I love this tree because it is a nice, big image which makes a great focal point! We used the Old Olive, Early Espresso, and Cherry Cobbler stampin' write markers to color in the tree and then stamped it, making a beautiful watercolor effect that gives this box a wonderful vintage look!

Then, we added some Dazzling Details to make the tree look like it had hundreds of pretty lights on it - check out the close-up here! Doesn't it look fabulous, all sparkly and twinkly??!! I swear, this made the whole box for my stampin' ladies -they just loved it!! We added a pretty Cherry Cobbler button from the Regals designer buttons group, which we threaded with Cherry Cobbler twine. We tied a knot and then distressed the ends to add to that vintage look. The sentiment is also from the Christmas Lodge stamp set, and it is stamped in Early Espresso on some Old Olive card stock, then adhered to the box. And, of course we needed to have a little more bling so we added a rhinestone to the top of the tree and to the sentiment to give it that extra WOW! factor. Now, for the drawers! There are four drawers on this box, one on each side. As you can see from the picture, they can slide in and out, and they are easy to open since each one has a large brad that acts as the drawer pull. Each drawer can hold up to 20 tags and pieces of twine, but we did eight for each drawer, all in different shapes, colors, and styles so there is something for every present that gets wrapped and put under the tree! I am not going to name each and every stamp set we used to make the tags, but if you have a question about any of them, feel free to email me and I am happy to answer you! We had a blast making this Christmas box, and I am sure it will be put to good use over the next few weeks *wink* I know I have used all the tags and made some more :-) If you like any of these products and want some for your very own, you can order them in my online store or contact me and I will be happy to help you place your order! Now, I am off to bake a birthday cake for my sweetheart who turns 44 today - yep, he has finally caught up with me, lol!!! For ten months I am older than him, a fact he never lets me live down :-) I hope you all have a fabulous day and take some time out to be creative!!!
Box Recipe:
Paper - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Naturals White card stock, Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper
Inks - Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Marina Mist stampin' write markers and classic stampin' pads
Stamps - (image and sentiment) Christmas Lodge
Tools - Matchbox die, Big Shot, Ornament Punch, Designer Label Punch
Accessories - Regals Buttons, Dazzling Details, Cherry Cobbler twine, Basic Rhinestones
 

MAD BUSY BUT STILL CREATING :-)

Good morning stampers! I have been a bad blogger lately, but I cannot seem to find enough hours in the day to get everything done that I need to do!! I have been teaching a lot of holiday classes lately as well as finishing up some of my own Christmas projects so there is a lot of creating going on! I thought I would share another fun project with you today that we made in my Santa's workshop a couple of weeks back.  This is a jar that is filled with all the ingredients you need to make a wonderful mint hot chocolate, something we have each and every year, and that we all look forward to as the weather gets colder! We used some of the holiday fabric called Candy Cane Christmas - the patterns are so fun and festive, they make me smile! We cut a piece out using the Scallop Circle Bigz Die on the Big Shot - it fits perfectly for these little pint jars! We placed it over the inside ring of the lid, pulled it tight, and then screwed the lid back on - super cute, right??!! We then added a punched flower created from the Scallop Circle punch and the 1 3/8 inch Circle punch with a Holly Berry Bouquet Real Red button. To Top it off, we threaded some Whisper White twine through the button and tied a cute little bow - simple but oh so cute!! We then wrapped the lid with some of Baha Breeze Seam Binding ribbon that is attached using Red Sticky Tape - have I told you how much I love this stuff??!! My customers and friends tease me about my obsession with this tape but it is a wonderful adhesive and I keep myself well stocked with it, lol!! The tag is made using the Two Tags die on the Big Shot and Real Red card stock. The sentiment is layered with Baha Breeze card stock punched out with the Designer Label punch and then the sentiment itself is from the Sweet Season stamp set, which has some super cute stamps that are perfect for gift giving. We stamped it in Real Red classic ink on Naturals White card stock, then punched it out with the Wide Oval punch. It is attached to the jar with some twine that is threaded through the ribbon and then tied in a knot, then trimmed close to the knot so it does not show too much. The inside of the tag has the typed out recipe and directions on how to make this yummy chocolatey treat! This little gift item was a huge hit at the workshop - but nobody wants to give them away, lol! They ARE darling, and look great on the kitchen counter :-)  I hope you like this little treat, and find some time to make some of your own handmade gifts this year - they are always the most well received! Who wouldn't want to receive something as totally cuts as this?? *wink* I will be making several more handmade gifts this week as I get things ready for my husband's staff and our friends. If you like the items that were used on this project, you can purchase them in my online store or contact me and I will be happy to take your order! Now, I am off to get my many errands done so I can come home and play in my stamp room - yippee!!! Have a wonderful day and check back tomorrow for another gift idea that you are going to love!!
Jar Recipe:
Paper - Real Red, Baha Breeze, Naturals White card stock
Inks - Real Red classic ink
Stamps - Sweet Season
Tools - Big Shot, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Two Tags Die, Wide Oval punch, Designer Label punch, Red Sticky Tape, Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8 inch Circle punch
Accessories - Holly Berry Bouquet buttons, Baha Breeze seam binding ribbon, Whisper White twine, Candy Cane Christmas fabric

HO HO HO WALL DECOR

Good morning Stampers!!! WOW!! Another VERY busy week and weekend as I had five events that I had to prep and teach! It was a whole lot of fun though!!! One of my really big events for the holiday season was this past Saturday when I held my annual Santa's Workshop where we did four great holiday gifts!! We had a BLAST!!! The ladies loved the projects, which of course made ME happy, and I was thrilled to see them enjoying the day! Lots of laughing, holiday snacks, and delicious hot cider! I have the BEST friends - thanks to my good friend Shelly who owns a local nursery in the area, we had a wonderful space to hold our class - it was soooo much fun!!! I want to share the projects with you this week starting with the HO HO HO wall hanging we made! This is sooo super cute and I have mine already hung up with the rest of my Christmas decorations, lol! It was hard to get a good picture of the whole thing so I did the best I could - I will share with you each square separately so you can see how we put this together! We used lots of fun and festive holiday products so everyone got to play and explore fun options! The three squares are made of chipboard and then covered with Letters to Santa Designer series paper, both of which were cut on the Big Shot using the Scallop Square die. We attached all three squares to some Cherry Cobbler wide grosgrain ribbon, making a looped handle at the top, which is secured with an antique brad with a pretty snowflake on top. The snowflake was made using our fabulous silver glitter paper and the Snowflake punch (I will say that punching out the silver glimmer paper with a punch was a challenge - you need to do it slowly and definitely one at a time, but totally worth it as you can see!)

Here is the first square! Sorry for the pic being a bit blurry - I don't know what is wrong with my picture taking abilities lately :-(  Each one of the squares has a solid Old Olive square that is cut out using the Square Die for the Big Shot, rounding the corners with the Corner Rounder punch. We then stamped on this square in Cherry Cobbler ink with the fun stamp set called Merry and Type. Such a cute stamp set, love it! The letters were cut out using the Serif Essentials large letter dies for the Big Shot, using both Chipboard and the Silver Glitter paper. It gives the whole hanging a wonderful dimensional look without adding a ton of bulk to it. I did not want it to be too heavy as it does need to hang up and then fold away nicely to be used again and again! That pretty felt wreath is from our Felt Flurries pack that can be found in the Holiday mini - you get a lot of bang for your buck with this package since you get sooo many of each fun little holiday embellishment!

This is the second square on the hanging, which as the same solid square as the first one, along with the same letters for the sentiment! The stamp set that we used on this one is called Snow Much Fun and I have to say I thoroughly enjoy stamping with this fun set - the two snowman images totally make me smile! There is a short, fat snowman in this set as well, and the sentiments are just as cute as can be! For this square, we used the tall snowman and his birdie friends as well as the little snowball with the birdie on it - aren't they adorable?? They are both stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink as well. The holly leaves and the sweet little mittens are more of the cute felt flurries embellishments from the package - those mittens are just sooooo stinkin' cute! They actually come attached with a piece of string between them, just like we all had when we were little, lol! We just cut them off for this project, but they look just as cute strung together!

This is the third and final square on the hanging, again with the same solid square and the pretty lettering. The stamp is from the Merry and Type stamp set and is actually a pretty large stamp - we could not even get the whole stamp on here, cutting off some of the strings hanging down with the ornaments! I love this stamp, I think it is bold and really catches the eye! It is also stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink. We used even more of the felt flurries embellishments, adding in the really fun snowflake this time - I just love these!!! This was such a fun project to put together, and many of the ladies who attended told me this was their favorite of the four that we did! I have to say, I had a ton of fun designing this one too :-) If you would like to order any of the products you see here, you can order them in my online store or you can contact me directly, and I would be happy to place your order for you! Or, if you would like to book a workshop and make your very own fun projects with your friends, contact me and let's get you all set up! Now I am off to finish prepping for my fun workshop later on this afternoon - I hope all of you can find time to stamp in this busy time of year, I believe it is so good for the soul, and much cheaper than paying for therapy, lol!! Have a wonderful day, and I will be back tomorrow to share some super cute tree ornament gift card holders!

Wall Hanging Recipe:

Paper - Old Olive card stock, Letters to Santa Designer Series paper, Silver Glitter paper

Inks - Cherry Cobbler classic ink

Stamps - Merry and Type, Snow Much Fun

Tools - Big Shot, Serif Essentials Large Letter Dies, Scallop Square Die, Square Die, Sticky Tape

Accessories - Cherry Cobbler wide grosgrain ribbon, Felt Flurries embellishments

TIME FOR THE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN!

Happy Hump Day stampers!!! Yes, I know it has been awhile, but I had some personal family health issues to focus on as my family is always my priority! Although we still are dealing with what lies ahead, and know it is going to be a VERY long and bumpy road, we are going to walk it together!!! So, I though it was time to get back into some semblance of a normal routine (do we EVER have that??) and share something crafty!! I want to share with you the Christmas Advent Wreath I made and then turned into a class - I did three sessions and each session was really fun!! And, we all left with a great decoration too!  I did all the cutting and the sticky tape ahead of time so they could put it together and decorate it - the fun parts, lol! We started out with a flat wooden circle that I ordered from an online supply store as I wanted the wreath to have a really sturdy base. We wrapped that in Cherry Cobbler wide striped ribbon, leaving enough to make the hanger you see in the picture. So, from the back side, you don't see ugly wood, you see pretty ribbon :-) We then cut out a circle that fit the back side of wreath - we used the cardboard from the paper packs since you can't see it. Then, we covered that with the Cherry Cobbler card stock circle you see in the center - both are attached using hot glue since we never want it to come off, lol!!  The 24 boxes you see are made with the matchbox die for the Big Shot and the base is made of Cherry Cobbler card stock to ensure they are nice and sturdy for many years to come! The lids are made of patterned paper from the Letters to Santa Designer Series paper pack - such beautiful paper!! The bottom twelve boxes are sticky taped to the circle first, creating the base for the top ones. They are placed out diagonally around the circle in order to keep the circle shape since as you go around the circle, the angles change quite a bit - this was tricky, but everyone got it :-) The top boxes then were staggered in between every two of the top boxes, creating that awesome wreath look! Each of the top boxes have an Old Olive Ornament that was punched out with the Ornament punch and adhered to the box. The numbers on the box were cut out using the Medium Sizzlets alphabet for the Big Shot, and were cut using the Silver Glimmer Paper - looks amazing, all sparkly!!! Then, the ornaments were each adorned with tiny bows using some of the yummy Cherry Cobbler Quilted ribbon.  The numbers for the bottom boxes are on the inside of the wreath and correspond with each box, making sure 13 started to the right of box 12, keeping the sequence going. In the very center of the wreath, there is a Scalloped Circle of the Letters to Santa DSP that was cut on the Big Shot. A Whisper White circle was also die cut and nested in the center after it was stamped using the Christmas Postcard A la Carte stamp. It was stamped in Stazon, then colored in with Stampin' Write markers. For some fun accents, we added a snowflake and some of the holly leaves out of the super cute Stitched Felt package you can find in the Holiday Mini, along with the Holly Berry Bunch button we used in the center of the snowflake! To finish it off, we put Rhinestones on every other scallop, and added some Dazzling Details to the stamped image, making the whole project sparkle!! Everyone loved how it turned out - including me!! I am thrilled with this wreath and can't wait to start using it tomorrow :-)

Here are some closer shots of the wreath as well as showing how the drawers open to put the treat inside!  I hope you enjoyed seeing this as much as I enjoyed designing it! I think made from the heart decor is the best kind, don't you?? I have made several home decor items this year that I will share with you over the next few weeks as we count down the days until Santa comes!! Christmas is my very favorite time of year, and I am so very excited as my oldest son will be coming home for the holidays as he transfers to Southern California for his first Marine Corps duty station. Yes, my baby is all grown up!! I still can't wait to hug his neck though, lol!!! I will be back tomorrow with some other super fun and cute projects to share, but until then, take some time to be creative, it makes for a better day!!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Wreath Recipe:
Paper -  Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Whisper White cardstock, Letters to Santa Designer Series paper, Silver Glimmer Paper
Inks - Black Stazon, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Marina Mist, River Rock Stampin' Write markers
Stamps - Christmas Postcard
Tools - Medium Sizzlets Alphabet, Scalloped Circle die, Clear Circle die, Matchbox die, Big Shot,  Ornament Punch, Sticky Tape, hot glue gun
Accessories - Basic Rhinestones, Cherry Cobbler Wide Striped Ribbon and Quilted Ribbon, Stitched Felt, Hollyberry buttons, Dazzling Details

A LITTLE SNEAKY PEEK :-)

Hi all!!! I hope you are having a fabulous week - I can't believe it's already Wednesday, this week is flying by! I have been super busy getting ready for yet another craft show, class, and workshop this weekend! And, I am still fighting this awful sinus infection, although I am hoping I am on the downhill side of it now. Sheesh - three rounds of antibiotics and it's STILL here! I don't have time to be sick, lol! I have a super cute Halloween mini book class on Friday night (if you are local and want to attend, I still have a few seats left) and so I thought I would give you a peek at the cover - I can't show you all the pages until after the class since they paid for it :-) I used the Pick Your Poison Designer Series Paper and the Piece of Poison stamp set from the Holiday mini - both are so much fun!! It's a 6x6 mini chipboard book, and has twelve pages chock full of fun images, embellies, and of course places to put those special Halloween pictures!  It is held together by metal rings decorated with lots and lots of our ribbon(not shown here). There are four images featured here from the stamp set including the title.  The spiderweb is stamped in Basic Gray classic ink and the spider is stamped over top of it in Black Stazon on Naturals Ivory card stock. That fun accordion flower was super easy to make using my Simply Scored, which you can also find in the Holiday mini.  If you don't have  this tool, you NEED one - it is soooo fabulous and opens up a whole new way of doing all your scoring quickly, and accurately! The skeleton is stamped in Black Stazon on Peach Parfait card stock that was distressed using my distresser tool, then sponged with black ink. The title is stamped in Black Stazon on Naturals Ivory card stock that has been sponged with Peach Parfait classic ink.  And, you know me and my pennants, I had to do it again, lol! It is mounted on dimensionals so give some added depth to the cover. The ribbon is Peach Parfait twill ribbon - love it!!! So, this is just the cover - imagine what is on the inside!! *wink* Once I have held the class, I will show you all the fun pages inside :-) If you NEED any of these products featured here (and you know you do heeheee!) you can purchase them in my online store or contact me and I will be happy to place the order for you!  And remember, you can still take this class if you are local, just give me a shout and I will reserve you a spot! Today is laundry day so I will be doing some fun crafty projects in between folding and putting away, lol! Have a wonderful day and make sure you take some time to be creative, it's good for the heart :-)
Cover Recipe:
Paper  Peach Parfait, Naturals Ivory card stock, Pick Your Poison Designer Series paper
Inks - Black Stazon, Basic Gray, Peach Parfait classic inks
Stamps - Piece of Poison
Tools - Simply Scored, Distresser Tool, 1 1/4 inch and 1 3/8 inch circle punches, dimensionals, sponge
Accessories - Peach Parfait Twill ribbon

MORE CHOCOLATE FUN!

Good Monday morning!! Well, so far so good, lol!!! I had a wonderful weekend although no crafting time BUT I think sometimes it's good to step away and do some other fun things like SHOPPING :-) Although I did some crafty shopping, heehee!!! Got some frames for Christmas presents - now just to get them done :-) Hopefully I will be able to share some of those soon! Today I am going to share another one of our chocolately projects we did in Chicks and Chocolate class last week! This is a cute little candy holder that has a cello bag full of treats inside! The base of this project is Concord Crush card stock and I have decided this is a PERFECT color for Halloween projects, lol! I love it paired with the Daffodil Delight card stock as it is here!  The flap of the holder is border punched with the Scallop border punch, and then Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon is threaded through the entire holder to keep it closed.  As you can see, there are several layers on the front, including a piece of very fun patterned paper from the Frightful Sight Designer Series paper pack.  It has bats all over it with spider webs, super cute!! The image is stamped on a 3 inch circle cut on the Big Shot and nests inside a 31/2 Concord Crush circle also cut on the Big Shot.  The image itself is stamped in Black Stazon and is from the House of Haunts stamp set - one of my favorite Halloween sets! The sentiment and bats are from the Wicked Cool stamp set, and pairs perfectly with the house! It is stamped on Daffodil Delight card stock, then punched out with the Modern Label punch.

The real fun part of this little holder is the inside - that's where the chocolate is!! Well, it is if your teenagers don't see the chocolate - no more in there now, LOL!!  This is a side view of the holder so you can see how it holds the treats. There is a medium cello bag secured inside the holder with red sticky tape, and because the cello bag has a resealable flap, this little treat can be refilled again and again (well, if you want *wink*) It actually holds quite a bit of candy and could hold a couple of mini chocolate bars, lots of m&ms, and of course the hershey kisses you see here! This is a wonderful little treat holder that makes a great gift for your kiddos or your sweetheart - I plan on making a bunch of these for Tony to take to work and hand out to some of his staff members.  Well, I didn't REALLY plan on it, he begged me to do it, heehee!! I can't resist that man so yes, I will do that for him! He only needs FORTY of them, ROFL!!! It will be fun to do and I can play around with different images and such!! I hope you like this cute little treat holder! If you like the products you see here, you can order them in my online store, or you can contact me and I will be happy to take your order for you! I will be holding another Chicks and Chocolate class for Christmas treats as well, so if you would like to make these fun holders with me and some other stampy friends, watch the calendar for the class listing :-) Now, I am off to the post office to mail out some cards to friends (love to send handmade cards) and get ready for the week! Have a wonderful day, and I hope you take some time to create something!! I will be back tomorrow with the last two chocolate treat holders! Until then, happy stampin'!
Treat Holder Recipe:
Paper - Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White card stock, Frightful Sight Designer Series paper
Inks - Black Stazon, Daffodil Delight stampin' write marker, Concord Crush classic ink
Stamps - House of Haunts, Wicked Cool
Tools - Simply Scored, Big Shot, 3 and 31/2 inch circle dies, Scallop border punch, Modern Label border punch, Crop-o-Dile, Red Sticky Tape
Accessories - Cello bag, Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon

CHICKS AND CHOCOLATE FUN!

Happy Friday!!! YAY!! I love Friday - it means I get to see more of my husband, lol! Not so much with the teenagers, they always seem to have a PACKED schedule and this weekend is no exception, lol! Although I don't get to spend much time with any of them this weekend as my son and my husband are playing in a golf tournament that starts tonight and ends Sunday night...but, I am glad they have that time together :-) As for my daughter, between football games, sleepovers, and festivals, she is gone all weekend, lol!  I don't have any classes or anything scheduled this weekend, so I am looking forward to a little "me" time! However, my week was full of fun events, which is why the lack of posting this week, heehee! Last night was my Chicks and Chocolate class so I thought it would be fun to share a few of the projects we did! We made a total of four projects all involving chocolate - always fun, right??!! Combining stamping and chocolate is one of my absolute favorite things to do :-) The first one was a really big hit with all the ladies - they kept playing with them, lol! It is a Halloween slider card made with a standard sized Hershey bar!!!! It was hard to get a good picture of this for some reason so I apologize for that BUT you can still get the gist of this project :-) The base of this cute little holder is Basic Black card stock, and we used a few different Halloween sets for the stamping! The bats and the spider web are from the Wicked Cool stamp set and is one of my faves because it has such fun, cute images like these!  The spider web is stamped in Basic Gray ink and the bats are in Stazon ink. We used Naturals White card stock to stamp on, and sponged the edges with Peach Parfait classic ink. The spider is from a set called Batty For You, and it is one I used every year when Halloween comes around! We actually stamped this image twice - once in Stazon, which we then punched out, and once in Cherry Cobbler where we punched out just the spider and popped it up on dimensionals over the other one so that the words still show! Doesn't it look cute hanging in that web, LOL??!! Both the Naturals White and the Peach Parfait card stock layers are border punched using the Scalloped Trim border punch.  Before adhering the White layer, we wrapped a piece of Black Extra Wide striped Grosgrain ribbon around it, and tied it in a knot - or, I like to call it the faux bow, heehe! Once that was done, we adhered the whole piece to the front of the slider pocket.

There is an inside pocket as well that I would like to show you - it was super hard to get a good pic of because when the slider piece is extended, it is REALLY quite long, LOL! Here again though, you can get the idea!  How this works is as you pull the Hershey bar from the pocket at the top, the slider sentiment slides out from the bottom! The slider sentiments piece is made up of the same Peach Parfait and Naturals White card stock combination, and the sentiment is from the Grateful Greetings stamp set - super cute sayings in this set, so fun and very versatile! This is such a fun project to make, and you can do this with all kinds of things, it does not have to be a chocolate bar (although I like the chocolate bars, lol!) You could add licorice, a gift card, or any type of gift that would fit and lay flat inside!! I definitely think this project was the hit of the evening, although there was a lot of squealing going on through each and every one we created, so I am thinking they probably liked them all *wink* I enjoy this class so much - always a fun one to teach, and the ladies always have a wonderful time eating chocolate, stamping, laughing, and just having fun!! I will be holding another Chicks and Chocolate class for Christmas treats so watch the calendar and come on over if YOU like chocolate and stamping!! If you like the products you see here in THIS post, you can order them in my online store OR you can contact me and I will be happy to place your order for you!!! Now, I am off to do some fun stamping (meaning just for me, heehee) and then to pick up my daughter and drop her at a friends house! Have a wonderful weekend, and I will be back tomorrow with another fun Halloween project we did in class! I hope you take time to create something!!!
Slider Recipe:
Paper - Basic Black, Peach Parfait, Naturals White card stock
Inks - Black Stazon, Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler classic inks
Stamps - Batty for You, Wicked Cool, Grateful Greetings
Tools - Scalloped Trim border punch, 1 1/4 inch and 1 inch circle punches, red sticky tape, dimensionals
Accessories - Basic Black wide striped grosgrain ribbon, Hershey chocolate bar

HOLIDAY MINI SPOTLIGHT SERIES - DAY NINE (SCROLL DOWN FOR PICS)

Good Monday morning ladies!!! I hope you all had a great weekend!! I have to tell you, mine was FABULOUS!! Yes, I took time off from blogging - I wanted to spend some time with my daughter this weekend!! Friday night was the Homecoming game and she had a blast! She was on the Homecoming Committee and worked very hard on the Freshman Float for the halftime show.  Well, for the first time in SIX YEARS, the Freshman Float TOOK FIRST PLACE!!!!  She was soooo excited - I was thrilled for her AND them!! She had two friends who stayed the whole weekend with us as their moms were at a Church Retreat so we did lots of fun things together! Movies, pizza, frozen yogurt, mall shopping, lunch out, ,etc. It was a great weekend! Tony was hunting and Tyler had to work, so it was just us girls :-)

Here are a couple of the pics from this weekend - these silly girls were snapping pics of themselves all weekend! They were laughing hysterically as they took these but they actually got some cute shots and just look a those smiles!! They tend to look in the mirror a lot and take pics of each other - I don't remember ever doing this, but I am glad they do because it lets me see what they are up too, and I then I have some silly shots of her and her friends to put in her Freshman scrapbook - and yes, I plan on putting them ALL in there so she can look back and remember how much fun she had, and who she spent the most time with! I think these girls will be friends forever :-)

And, of course, here is the most beautiful girl in the world - and yes, I am biased because she is mine!!! I think she has a beautiful smile - it warms my heart to see it!!! She did tell me that she is "adorable" LOL! And yes, she is *wink* It was really nice to spend time with these girls, and listen to them tease each other, sing at the of their lungs, and laugh over everything and anything that happened! It made me happy that they included me as well, even though I know THAT won't happen very often so I better take advantage of it while I can, heeheee! It was just the BEST weekend - spending precious time with my daughter before she is all grown up and on her own is very important to me!!

So, if you have stuck with me this far, I will now share a project with you - I know that is why you stopped by, lol! This is yet another project I did using products from the Holiday Mini! It is a mini book class that I taught on Friday night while the girls were at the game - it gave me some girl time too :-) I used the Spice Cake Suite again - I know, I know! It IS a fall book though, so it worked out perfectly, heehee! I have already shared the cover in this post, so now I am going to share the inside pages! This is an accordion style book that folds up nicely for storage, but makes a beautiful display piece as well! I am going to show you all six pages plus the inserts, and then I will briefly tell you what products I used. I can't list everything for each page because it will be a book, and not a blog post, lol! Here are the pages listed in order:

These are the first two pages of the mini! Lots of detail on these pages - the leaves are cut out on the Big Shot using the Leaves #2 die, and then lightly sponged with More Mustard and Cajun Craze classic inks. The images are from the Always Thankful and Gently Falling stamp sets, both of which can be found in the Holiday Mini. The Spice Cake Designer Series paper is used throughout this mini, and you can see some of it here! If you noticed the More Mustard Scalloped polka ribbon loops sticking out of the top of the book, those are actually attached to the four insert pages that are included in this mini book.  Four fun pockets for more pictures, journaling, or memorabilia, - fun, right?!

These are pages three and four of the mini book and these pages each have a pocket for insert pages as well! The images on the left side of the book are from the Faith in Nature Hostess set - this is a beautiful stamp set that goes well with lots of different projects! The punched flower on that page was made using the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch, love it!! That yummy ribbon along the bottom of that page is the Pool Party Ruffled ribbon, which I love!! The image and the sentiment on the right side of the book are from the Always Thankful stamp set: there are such great images in this set I think they are ALL used in this mini, lol! The sentiment is punched out using the Decorative Label punch and then popped up on dimensionals. See that button? That is also from the Holiday Mini - there are four colors of these jumbo buttons in the Spice Cake Designer Buttons pack and you get four of each color!! I took some Spice Cake fabric and threaded it through the button, then tied a bow - I just love how the fabric frays and looks soooo good with these fall pages! The Early Espresso Wide Striped grosgrain ribbon is laid across the center of the page, and looks great with the colors of the paper!

These are pages five and six of the mini book, and the left had side has the last of the four pockets that contain an insert page. The pear image you see on that page is also from the Faith in Nature Hostess set. It is stamped twice, once directly on the page, and then again on some Naturals Ivory card stock.  The pear is cut out, then popped up on dimensionals over the stamped image on the page - looks great! The border along the triangle piece of the Spice Cake DSP is actually from the Lace Border punch - we just punched it out, then cut the lace border in half and snailed it to the triangle! The accordion flower was also made out of the Spice Cake patterned paper, and we added some Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, and a More Mustard flower designer button. On the right side there are images from both the Always Thankful and the Gently falling stamp sets. The ribbon down the edge is Very Vanilla thin grosgrain ribbon, and the border along the triangle of Pool Party card stock is punched using the Eyelet Border punch.

These are the inserts that are located in the four pockets of the mini - I only took a picture of two of them as the other two are identical to these. These were kept simple as too much embellishing here would have made it difficult to close the book and you want it to be able to lay flat if need be. The top corners are rounded using the Corner Rounder punch, and each insert has a piece of looped More Mustard Scalloped Polka Dot ribbon held in place with a Chocolate Chip jumbo brad. There is lots of room to add extra pics, or notes, or whatever you want!! So, that is the book - isn't it fun??!! This book IS available in a kit so if you would like to make one of your own, please contact me and I will mail it out priority flat rate straight to you! Cost of this is $45(plus 4.95 shipping) and you receive everything you need including directions for putting it together! If you want to purchase the items you see here, you can place an order in my online store, or contact me and I will be happy to place your order for you! I hope you enjoyed this super long blog post - if you hung with me to the end, you are a ROCK STAR, lol!!! I will be back with a cute Christmas project using Holiday Mini products for my last product Spotlight post! Have a wonderful day, and I hope you take the time to create something!

DREAMIN TAKE TWO

Good morning all! I hope you are enjoying your weekend whatever you are doing :-) Today Kayla and I are going to repaint/redecorate her bathroom - she wants a very pale purple and gray - sooooo pretty! Right now it is a gold color and decorated in sea life so it will be a big change, lol!  I will take pics when we are done - everything has already been taken out of it, but I can do the before and after I think *wink* She is very excited, so I am excited to be doing it with her!! But, I did promise to share with you the male version of the Dream Canvas I shared yesterday - this one is of my son when we were in Fort Bragg.  He was standing on this huge rock formation just looking out at the water, and I had to take the picture! I LOVE how it turned out, shows Tyler's contemplative side, which we don't see very often as he is a big jokester :-)  As you can see, the layout is very similar to the one I did of my daughter, just a few things moved around to accommodate the picture, and of course the colors are different -more masculine! The letters are cut out on the Big Shot with the Serif Essentials alphabet but this time using Soft Suede and the Brushed Gold card stock - love it! The lace border is also cut out in the Brushed Gold, and added to the border of the pic, which really draws your eye to it!  The patterned paper is Beau Chateau, but the negative sides of the paper are used as they have a more masculine look and feel to them.  The ribbon is Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon with an overlay of Soft Suede Taffeta - yummy combo!!! The stamp set used is called The Open Sea - fitting, right??  I stamped the ship and the compass in Versamark, added gold embossing powder, and heat set them with my heat gun. Then, I just cut them out and popped them up on dimensionals.

Here is a close-up of the ship so you can how nice the embossed gold looks - I love it!  The chipboard is from my stash and is sponged with Soft Suede classic ink.  There are bitty buttons down the side of the lacy ribbon border, and then some Early Espresso twine on the side to give some visual interest.   I love how this one came out too, and will have to decide where I want these two to hang because they need to be seen, lol! I hope you enjoyed seeing both versions of this canvas, and if you love the products and want them NOW, you can order them in my online store or contact me and I will be happy to help with an order *wink*  I will be teaching a similar class in September so if you are interested in making a canvas, watch for the schedule and get signed up because this class always fills!!  Now, I am off to put on my painting duds and get to painting with my daughter!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend - be back on Monday with something cute to show you, but until then, STAMP SOMETHING :-)
Canvas Recipe:
Paper - Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Brushed Gold card stock, Beau Chateau designer Series Paper
Inks - Soft Suede classic ink and Stampin' write marker
Tools - Lace Border punch, Eyelet Border punch, Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Versamark, Big Shot, Serif Essentials Alphabet
Accessories - Early Espresso bakers twine, Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon, designer buttons, bitty buttons, chipboard

DREAMIN'

I can't believe it is Friday night already - Sheesh!! I promise I have not forgotten about all of you, I just have been working on projects that I cannot share just yet, but will soon :-) I have been in my stamp room most of the week working away - don't you feel sorry for me, lol??!!  I LOVE my job, so much fun!! My stamp room is not looking so pretty right now, but I made lots of pretty things IN it *wink* And, I want to share one of them with you - it's the Canvas from the Vintage Summer Canvas class I taught last week.  It is one of my favorite classes to teach, I just love watching people get so excited about the piece of art they have created! I have these hanging all over my house, and they sure do make beautiful gifts as well!  I actually am going to share two versions because I did the male version and the female version so my customers could choose depending on the pics they brought! I will share my male version with you tomorrow!!  This first one is of my daughter - this is on the ship tour we took in the Harbor when we were in Annapolis this past May. I just loved capturing her in this moment - my heart melts when I look at this because I can still see my little girl in there underneath all that teen attitude, lol!  We used the Beau Chateau Designer Series paper, sooo pretty and perfect for this project! We also used some of the brushed silver card stock and punched a beautiful lace border for the picture using the Lace Border punch! The letters were cut using my Big Shot and the Serif Essentials Alphabet - they are mirrored letters using Blushing Bride and the Brushed Silver card stock and they look fabulous together!! That pretty little journaling note is one of the many that you can get in the new Beau Chateau Side Notes pack - you get TONS of different choices, and they are all soooo pretty! I did very little journaling, just enough to remind me of where she was that day.  My customers really liked the journaling addition as it is the first time we have really done any journaling on our canvases so I may have to keep doing that :-)  The stamp set we used is called Creative Elements and I am totally in love with this set, it has so many beautiful images in it, and they all scream vintage!! We used the butterfly and the pretty flower, both which we stamped twice, cut out, and popped up! The flower is actually trimmed to the inner piece on the second layer and then a pretty vintage brad is added to the middle, making it really dimensional.  To finish off our canvas, we added a lace border with Victorian Lace ribbon and Marina Mist satin ribbon, which we layered together and then added buttons to give it some depth.  Lastly, we created a beautiful flower out of the Beau Chateau fabric and the Flower Folds die on the Big Shot - lots and lots of layers, but it really came out gorgeous!

 Here is a close-up shot of how pretty this flower really is!!I just love how all of our products coordinate to make gorgeous creations - and they mix and match so well that they are all fun to play with!   I loved all the beautiful canvases - no matter whether they use the same stamps or colors, the pictures make them each unique so it is always fun to see everyones finished projects! I am excited to share my male version - I think you will love that one too *wink* If you love the products you see here and want them all for your very own, you can order them all in my online store or contact me and I will be happy to take your order for you! And remember, right now is our big paper pack sale - buy three, get one free so it is a PERFECT time to stock up on all of our beautiful papers!  And now, I have to go and pretend I am cold because I am stamping Christmas cards for a Stamp a Stack on Monday -  very hard to do August in California :-) I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I will be back tomorrow with the other canvas to share but until then, stamp something!!
Canvas Recipe:
Paper - Marina Mist, Blushing Bride, Brushed Silver card stock, Beau Chateau Designer Series Paper
Inks - Marina Mist, Blushing Bride classic inks, Soft Suede Stampin' Write marker (journaling)
Stamps - Creative Elements
Tools - Big Shot, Serif Essentials Alphabet dies, Flower Folds die, Lace Border Punch, Eyelet Border Punch
Accessories - Victoria Lace Ribbon, Marina Mist Satin Ribbon, Beau Chateau side notes and fabric, vintage brads, designer buttons 

FRAME GIFT SET

Happy Monday stampers!!! I woke up this morning full of ideas and headed straight back to my craft room, lol! I love days where I have nothing planned so that if I want to play all day, I can *smile* and today is one of those days!! Of course, it IS a beautiful day outside so I may have to go out for a little while and maybe hang out with the kiddos by the pool, lol! However, first I am stamping :-)  I wanted to share with you the frame gift set we made in class the other night!  We used the new Flirtatious Specialty Suite designer series paper - I love the fun, bright colors of this pack, it makes me happy! We started out with an unfinished wood frame and using Sticky Strip, adhered the patterned paper to the frame.  There is no glass on this frame which I like so that the center can have some 3d items if you want. The yellow circles are punched from a sheet of DSP and popped up on dimensionals with some pretty rhinestones added to the center - love it!!! We used the stamp set Precious Butterflies, a hostess set that is absolutely gorgeous and definitely a favorite of mine :-)

 

The pretty butterflies on the frame are cut out using the Beautiful Butterflies Big Shot die, then embossed with the Finial Press embossing folder (the same one is used on the main images for the card).  Across the bottom of the frame and the side of the card you can see the pretty Lace Border punch was used on some patterned paper - doesn't it look wonderful??! I really like the effect of using this new punch on the patterned paper - it really makes it pop!  It's just soooooo pretty!!!  And, of course we had to add some of the gorgeous pearls to make our butterflies all girly to match the frame - love those!!

And, on the frame, my favorite part is the flower - it is made out of the YUMMY Flirtatious fabric! We used the Flower Folds Big Shot die and created a beautiful embellishment! Here is a close-up picture of just the flower so you can see how pretty it turned out! It is really full and fluffy IRL! The center is a button from my collection - they were allowed to pick whatever they wanted from my big button jar, even if it is retired, which I think this one is (uh, oh!)  I love it though - so I don't feel too too bad about it, lol!

 The BEST part of this frame is of course the picture in the middle! The beautiful girl on the left is my daughter and the other beauty is her best friend Jordyn - these two are joined at the hip, I swear - they spend pretty much every waking moment together, lol! This was taken at the American Idol concert - I just made it black and white so I could do any color I wanted on the frame *wink* This is one of my favorite pics of the two of them - they are both smiling and look like they are really having a lot of fun!  I know I didn't talk to much about the card, but all the products used on the frame were also used on the card, with the exception of the flower - I did this so if my customers want to gift this frame to someone else (they all said they were keeping it though, lol!) they had a matching gift card to go with their pretty gift!  I will leave you with the recipe for this and then I am off to stamp! I am so excited to play today - I just know I am going to come up with something fun, cute, and wonderful to share with you later on this week - lol!! If you like any of the products that I used in these projects, you can order them in my online store OR contact me and I will be happy to place an order for you! Or, if you would like these products FREE, why not host a workshop? Contact me now and let's get you set up with your very own afternoon of stamping fun :-)  Have a wonderful day and I will be back soon with another fun project to share :-) Until then, go STAMP SOMETHING!!!
Frame/Card Recipe:
Paper - Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder, Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla card stock, Flirtatious Designer Specialty Designer Series Paper
Inks - Wisteria Wonder, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Concord Crush, Regal Rose class inks
Stamps - Precious Butterflies (hostess set)
Tools - Big Shot, Flower Folds Die, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Finial Press embossing folder, Lace Border Punch, Designer Label Punch, 1 inch Circle Punch
Accessories - Basic Rhinestones, Basic Pearls, Daffodil Delight Wide Striped grosgrain ribbon, Daffodil Delight narrow grosgrain ribbon, Buttons, Whisper White Twine

HAPPY FRIDAY - IT'S FLIP FLOP TIME :-)

Happy Friday everyone!! It's hot but beautiful here in sunny California - definitely going to be some pool time for me today :-)  I love the summer, I hardly ever wear shoes except for maybe my flip flops so this card I am sharing today is perfect - it SPEAKS to me, heehee! This is another one from my stamp camp this past week - we had such a great time!  We used a fun set from the Summer Mini called Sunny Fun and it has such cute and fun images in them - like these flip flops!!! Don't you wish you owned a pair like these??!! LOL - we had a great time decorating them, everyone kind of did their own thing by either coloring or blinging or whatever they wanted to do! Some people even took them home and added a bunch of stuff - love that, it tells me they really liked the card!!! The patterned paper is from the main catalog and we have to say goodbye to it in six days! It is called Lap of Luxury and I used the heck out of this this past year - just love the colors, patterns, everything about it! The color combo for this card is one of my favorites: Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, and Concord Crush with some Very Vanilla - YUMMO!!!!  The flower was made using our new three-way punches - can you believe one punch can do three different designs???! Talk about getting more bang for you buck - I totally LOVE these!!! We actually used both of them and layered them together! They are called the Doily Triple Layer punch and the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch, and they can both be found in the Summer Mini! And, of course no flower is complete without some bling so we added a rhinestone to make it pop!  Totally fun and easy to put together, this card makes me smile!!!!  If it makes YOU smile, and you want the products used here, you can shop in my online store or email me directly and I will be happy to place your order for you! Remember, the main catalog items are retiring in SIX DAYS, so don't wait to put that order in - get it now before it's gone!!! I am going to be stamping today and getting my class schedule ready for July - can you believe it is almost July already?? Time sure does fly by :-) I hope you have a wonderful weekend planned that includes some creative time and family time! Enjoy - and, until tomorrow, Happy Stampin'!!!!
Card Recipe
Paper - Blushing Bride, Concord Crush, Very Vanilla card stock, Lap of Luxury Designer Series Paper
Inks - Concord Crush, Blushing Blossom, Going Gray stampin' write markers and classic ink pads
Stamps - Sunny Fun
Tools - Eyelet Border punch, Doily Triple Layer Punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch
Accessories - Basic Rhinestones