MORE CHOCOLATE TREATS!

Good morning all!! As promised, I am going to share the other two projects from our Chicks and Chocolate class last week! Such fun, I really do love my job :-)  This first one is a fun little project - I have seen all kinds of variations of this all over the web so I thought I would create my own and for the most part, I am happy with how it turned out! I made a little sling for the test tube that seems to work wonderfully!  I did a fall theme for this one - wouldn't these be cute as little place holders on the Thanksgiving table?  I mean hey, chocolate is good for every occasion, right?  No, the tube is not from SU! we don't carry these, I actually ordered them from some craft company I had never heard of, but they were inexpensive and got here fast so I was happy! The tube is filled with fall m&m's and decorated with our yummy wide striped Early Espresso ribbon. We used the beautiful Autumn Spice Specialty paper you can find in the Holiday mini - love, love, love this paper! And, I broke out the crimper tool and ran some Wild Wasabi through it to give a fun texture for this background piece! The sentiment is from the Day of Gratitude stamp set which is also in the Holiday mini and is a gorgeous set for all your fall projects! The sentiment piece was run through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder which really makes it stand out!!  Of course, no project is finished without adding a purdiful button - love the new buttons we have, they are sooo fun! Added a twine bow and done! All the tools and such can be found in the recipe listed below! Isn't this fun??! This went over as a huge favorite at the class!
Card recipe:
Paper - More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla card stock, Autumn Spice Designer Series Paper
Inks - Wild Wasabi classic inks
Stamps - Day of Gratitude stamp set
Tools - 2 1/2 inch circle punch, 2 3/8 inch scallop circle punch, 1 3/4 inch circle punch, ticket corner punch, crimper tool, paper piercer, Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder
Accessories - Brights designer buttons, hemp twine, Early Espresso narrow ribbon, Early Espresso wide striped ribbon

This next project I shamelessy CASED from my good friend and upline Kimberly VanDiepen - the girl has mad talent! These are sooo stinkin' cute and would look fabulous hanging from a little halloween tree (which is where mine are now, LOL!)  I had a hard time taking a good picture of this but you get the idea anyway.  It's a little cone made from the super cute Wicked Fun Designer Series paper.  The top of the cone has a ribbon treatment made with Basic Black satin ribbon - looks fabulous! The main image is from the Halloween Hoot stamp set - I could not resist giving her green warts, LOL!  Once stamped, we ran her through the Big Shot using the Spider Web embossing folder.  The outside of the image is our new waffle paper, which is found in the holiday mini and comes in four different colors - sooooo fun to play with!! I just cut a strip, went around the back of the circle, and when I was done, took my paper snips and cut little fringies into it!

There is a little piece of Old Olive card stock punched from teh Modern Label punch that makes a loop at the back of the cone so you can hang it - it is attached with a glimmer brad but you can't see it here *sniff* Here is another angle of the project to give you a better idea of what it looks like!  There, now you can sort see it, LOL!!! We filled our cones with rolos (of course, with my kids around, those are long gone!) which fit perfectly! Super fun project - thanks Kimberly :-)  So, that's it - all four projects we did at Chicks and Chocolate! Fun class, and I have another one scheduled this month so if you are local and want to come and have some fun and eat chocolate with me, give me a call!! And, if you are drooling over some of these products used here, check out the recipes for the descriptions, and head on over to my online store where you can get them right now! Questions? Contact me as I am  happy to help you out! Now, off to finish up a couple of class projects I am working on so a full day of stamping today, whoohooo!!! I hope all of you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by, I love when you do! Leave me a comment so I know you were here - I would love to visit you as well! Until, tomorrow, Happy Stampin'!
Cone Recipe:
Paper - Whisper White, Old Olive card stock, Wicked Fun Designer Series Paper
Inks - Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black classic inks
Stamps - Halloween Hoot stamp set
Tools - Big Shot, Spider Web embossing folder, Modern Label punch(paper hook), 2 1/2 inch circle punch
Accessories- basic black waffle paper, basic black glimmer brad, basic black satin ribbon

CHICKS AND CHOCOLATE

Hi all!!! Sorry I let a whole week go by with no postings but I had an event EVERY DAY last week and I just barely had time to pee, LOL!! Soooo, I thought this week I would make up for it by sharing everything we did last week in classes and workshops *wink* Last Thursday night we had Chicks and Chocolate night at my house- sooooo much fun! The projects are all ones that center around chocolate - stamping AND chocolate all in one event, does it get any better than that??! I think not........heeeheeee! We did four projects, two of which I am going to share with you today. This first one was really fun to make  - it uses my favorite die for the Big Shot:  the Top Note! I swear, I reach for this one time and time again, it is sooooo fun to play with! I have made these for several years for all the craft fairs I attend during the holidays and they are very popular! I am sure there are lots of different ways to do these but this is how I do it!  This cute little pouch uses three top notes to make - two solid bases cut out of Cajun Craze card stock, and then one trimmed to nest in the front which is Very Vanilla.  We stamped the Very Vanilla card stock all over in Cajun Craze classic ink with the pumpkin from the Paisley Prints stamp set - totally cute! Then, we ran it through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  The cute little sentiment and pumpkin face (isn't he CAUTE??!!!) is from the Got Treats stamp set which I love because it has the best sentiments for all the holiday goodies we all love to make and give away (well, I do anyway, LOL!)  We layered the two sides together, punched holes at the top and bottom using the Crop-A-Dile and tied them all up with some Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.  This makes a pouch that you can add a special treat, which we did of course - hazlenut and chocolate biscotti, YUM!!!!  Super easy but a wonderful treat for someone you want to make smile! 

This second project is a cute little treat purse that you can find tons of variations on all ove the internet! This is my little version- I wanted to use some of the cute little mini treat lunch sacks that we have in the Holiday Mini and this is what I came up with!  The base of  this cute little purse is made using Wild Wasabi card stock, which I have decided is a great Halloween green! We layered it with some of the yummy Wicked Fun Specialty paper - I just love those fun stripes! We punched along the edges using the Scallop Trim border punch on both top and the bottom - you can see the top piece when the purse is open.  Then, we made a cute strip of trip using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch - looooove it!!!! It looks like pretty paper ribbon and is soo cute :-)  The sentiment is from the same Got Treats stamp set, and is punched out using the Curly Label punch then mounted on Basic Black card stock and trimmed around to give it some layering.  The purse handle is a piece of basic black thin ribbon and then we added a fun little bat using the new bat punch!

 Here is a photo of what the inside of the purse looks like - we cut the mini lunch sack from the top since I wanted the scallops to show.  It can hold any type of chocolate that is somewhat flat OR you can use it for a fun gift card!  We had a lot of fun making these little treat holders....and eating the chocolate, LOL!!! If you would like to get some of these fun items and make some of your own, visit my online store where you can place an order! Have questions?  Contact me, I am happy to help!!  Tomorrow I will share the other two that we made! Until then, have a wonderfully fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK....

a lot like Christmas!! Seriously, I went into Kohls the other day, and the entire back of the store is all Christmas already....I mean, what happened to all the holidays in between? No wonder people feel stressed,t they think they are behind and forget it's only September, LOL!  I have not started my Christmas shopping yet - that starts next month.  However, I HAVE started on my cards and so have my customers - we just did a really fun Santa in September class which was great! We each got 15 cards done, whoohoo!! This one I am sharing today is one of five designs we made.  Isnt' it purdy??!! I think Crumb Cake is the perfect base for just about anything and I am loving it here! The stamp set we used is called Peaceful Season, which is a Hostess Level II set in the Holiday Mini. I was fortunate enough to receive this set FREE when I went to Convention - how cool is THAT??!!  Love Stampin' Up! and how they spoil us demos :-)  This is a beautiful stamp set, I love how elegant it is, especially the sentiment stamps!  I paired the stamps with the Deck the Halls designer series paper as well, looks great together! And, check out that ribbon - it is the new Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon, also found in the Holiday Mini: it also comes in Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke and is soooooo pretty and easy to work with! This card came together quickly but really turned out very elegant! If you are interested in ANY of the items used to make this card (and you KNOW you are, LOL!) you can purchase them from my online store OR you can send me an email and we can put the order in together! :-)  Now, I am off to put the finishing touches on my workshop tonight but I will be back tomorrow  to share the cute project we are making - sooo spooky, heehee!  Have a fabulous day and thanks sooo much for stopping by and leaving me some love!!!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla card stock, Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper
Inks - Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler classic ink pads
Stamps - Peaceful Season Level II hostess set (holiday mini)
Tools - 3/4 inch circle punch
Accessories - Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, pearls

FROSTY IS COMING TO TOWN!

Good morning all!  It's a beautiful day here in Northern CA! I just love when it starts to cool down, but the sun is out, there is a little breeze going - makes me HAPPY!!!  And, since I have lots of stamping to do today, that makes it even better! But first, I wanted to share another fun Christmas card with you - isn't this cute??!!! I just love snowmen, I collect them in all shapes and sizes and at Christmas, they are all over my house, LOL!  This little guy makes me smile - he is from the Jolly Old Saint Nick stamp set found in the Holiday Mini! All of the stamps in this set are adorable! I used the snowflake stamp and stamped all over the base of the card in Baha Breeze classic ink- love it! And, I had to use some more Candy Cane Christmas Designer Paper, it is soooo yummy and the colors are fun! I added a smidge of  Real Red card stock that I punched using the Eyelet Border punch - I love how it makes the card pop! My main image was soooo much fun to do - Frosty is stamped in Stazon, then accented with some Real Red marker.  I used my two-way glue pen and dabbed all over and around him, then covered the ground underneath his feet.  I then added the chunky white essentials glitter and voila! SNOW!!! Doesn't it look real?? I love this stuff and one of my customer said that now she wants to order it in all colors and use it on her nails, LOL!  Too too fun!  I finished it off with the sentiment and some Whisper White grosgrain ribbon and the card was done!!! Soooo much fun to make this one, we had a great time and everyone was tickled with this!  See something you just have to have from this list of goodies (I know you want it ALL, heehee!) Check it out - you can go to my online store and order whatever you want!!!   And, if you have any questions, just email me and I am happy to answer them!  I will leave you the recipe and then I am off to run a few errands and then home for some serious stamping! I just love my job!!!!  I will be back tomorrow with some fun things to share - see you then!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Baha Breeze, Real Red, Garden Green, Whisper White card stock, Candy Cane Christmas Designer Series Paper
Inks - Black Stazon, Real Red classic ink, Real Red and Basic Black stampin' write markers
Stamps - Jolly Old Saint Nick
Tools - Eyelet Border Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Designer Label Punch, Wide Oval Punch
Accessories - White Chunky Essentials Glitter, Two-Way glue pen, Whisper White narrow grosgrain ribbon

MORE CHRISTMAS!

Good morning all!! Whew! I had a VERY busy weekend! I taught classes and then had a craft fair all day yesterday so I am wiped out! Me thinks I need to add some time in there for me - LOL!!! Seriously, too much in one weekend BUT it was all fun! I did sleep for thirteen hours last night - can you believe it??!!! I went to bed at seven last night - that NEVER happens! I think my body was telling me something......but I feel GREAT today, heeehee! I wanted to share another one of the cards we did in my Santa in September class.  Isn't this a beautiful stamp set? I love the elegance this image has - makes me happy!! The background is actually stamped with the French Filigree background stamp in Cherry Cobbler classic ink and it looks really purdy with the Gifts of Christmas set we used for the main image.  And, in keeping with the vintage feel, we used the new holiday mini designer series paper Deck the Halls, which I just absolutely LOVE!!! A little Victoria lace along the bottom along with a bitty button and the card is done!  Simple but beautiful I think - they loved it and this is probably one of my favorite Christmas cards I have made so far! I hope you like it too! And, since I just know there are items on this cad you HAVE to have LOL!! Here is the link to my online store so you can order some of your very own!  I will leave you with the recipe as well so you know what everything is - I am off to get ready for my downline meeting tomorrow, then two classes and two workshops later in the week! Enjoy your Monday!!!!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla card stock, Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper (holiday mini)
Ink - Cherry Cobbler classic ink pad
Stamps - French Filigree background stamp, Gifts of Christmas stamp set
Tools - Scallop border punch, mat pack and paper piercer
Accessories - Victoria Lace Ribbon, bitty buttons

SANTA IN SEPTEMBER

Good morning all!!! I hope you are having a fabulous week! I am, but just very busy, LOL!! I love it though - keeps me out of trouble *wink*  I wanted to share one of the cards we made in my Santa in September class last week - I love having these classes because it helps get all the Christmas cards we all need DONE before the holidays so there is no mad scramble in December, lol!  We made five cards in all so I will share some more with you all tomorrow.  This first one is definitely not yoru traditional colors of Christmas but I think it is super cute all the same! It uses the stamps set Greeting Card Kids, which has adorable images for several different holidays and they are sooooooo stinkin' cute - they bring back the old fashioned feel to holidays that seems to be missing sometimes.  Look at that little one - isn't she just as sweet as can be??!!  I paired her with the Candy Cane Christmas designer paper from the holiday mini, which pretty much dictated my colors of Baha Breeze, Garden Green, and Blushing Bride along with some yummy Real Red! I love all these colors but would not have thought of putting them together myself - Stampin' Up! is amazing that way :-)  The background is embossed on the Big Shot using the finial press folder - love it!! I colored my little cutie in with Stampin' Write markers, then added some dazzling diamonds underneath her for the snow effect.  And, of course I had to have some ribbon and a yummy button with some bling to top it all off! The ladies loved this card and I love how it turned out! If you see something on this card you have to have (I know you do, LOL!) you can order from my online store and it will come straight to your door!  So, today is dedicated to prepping for class tomorrow night and working on some projects for the Harvest Festival this weekend - lots going on around here, LOL! Have a fabulous day and I will be back tomorrow to share another fun card we made in class! Till then - Happy stampin'!!!!
Card Recipe: 
Paper - Baha Breeze, Garden Green, Blushing Bride, Real Red, Whisper White card stock, Candy Cane Christmas designer series paper
Inks - Stazon, Stampin' Write markers (Baha Breeze, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Garden Green, Basic Black) Real Read Classic ink
Stamps - Greeting Card Kids
Tools - Big Shot, Finial Presss embossing folder, Scalloped edge border punch, ticket corner punch, word window punch
Accessories - Real red 1/8 inch ribbon, Garden Green designer button, rhinestones, dazzling diamonds, liquid glue

IS THERE SUCH A THING....

as a witch owl??!! LOL - there is now!!! I wanted to make a fun card for this week's sketch challenge over at Stampin' Connection, using my owl punch and some of the fun new Halloween stuff we have! So, this is what I came up with - a witch owl, heeeheee!!! I think she is cute if somewhat awkward in shape :-)  I made this a square card - this is usually my favorite size but I have not been making as many this way because it seems to mail them is not as fun! I learned that the hard way by doing almost all my Christmas cards this size last year, ugggghhhhh!!! But, for this one it had to be a square card and I love it! I used my fun stamp set called Wicked Cool - I cannot get enough of those fun witches feet, lol! And, I love bats - I stamped them all over the background as well as on the main image - too too cute, right??! And, I broke out my Big Shot, cutting a scalloped square from the Nite Owl Designer series paper found in the main catty. Super cute - there is even a piece in there with fuzzy black circles on it that would make great spiders, heehee! Then, I used my scalloped circle and my regular circle dies, which formed the main image.  And, since no card in my mind is complete without SOME ribbon, I added some Basic Black satin ribbon - can you say YUM!!!  Loooooove it!!!! I also played with my new border punch called the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border - isn't it fun??!!! I love how it can be used like ribbon.....there is no such thing as too much ribbon, right??!  I had sooo much fun making this card - it just makes me happy! And, I will be stamping away the day as I get ready for class on Friday and a big craft fair on Sunday! If you are local, come on over to Durham where the Harvest Festival will be going on and stop by and see me! You don't want to miss out on my make n' takes *wink*  Thanks so much for stopping by and if you have to have any of the things I used on this card (you KNOW you do, LOL!) go on over to my online store where you can place an order with me fast and easy!  Be back tomorrow with some of my Santa in September cards we did in class - such fun!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Pumpkin Pie, Basic Gray, Whisper White card stock, Nite Owl Designer Series Paper
Inks - Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie classic inks
Stamps - Wicked Cool
Tools - Big Shot, Scalloped Circle, Scalloped Square, and Circle Bigz Dies, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Owl Punch
Accessories - Basic Black satin ribbon