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think spring

We still have a bit of snow on the ground here in New Jersey, and still have to get through March... but, spring should be right around the corner! However, we always seem to get a snowstorm or two in April... Today's card features Lockhart Stamp Company Bouquet, to keep my thoughts of spring from vanishing!! Image was stamped in black ink on white cardstock, main image colored in with markers. Flowers were simply colored in with one light blue, then detailed with a little darker blue. The pink buds were just dotted with a coral marker - easy image to color in quickly! Memory Box Blue Poppy card base, and matching cardstock was used for the small light blue strip. I stamped the long floral rose image and trimmed to the size needed. The blue buds and the buds on the light blue strip were colored in with a glitter pen. Thank you for stopping by!

stamps: Lockhart Bouquet,Thanks a Bunch sentiment and Millinery Rose Ribbon paper: Memory Box Blue Poppy and cotton candy, Papertrey Ink white, patterned: The Crafter's Workshop ink: Palette pad in Noir Black accessories: Copic markers, Atyou clear glitter pen, 5/8" light blue polka dot ribbon, sewing machine and thread, paper piercer and mat, pinking shears, Tim Holtz ruler (temporarily out of stock -more due by mid-March..hopefully!!).

bebe on the way!

Volunteering at the book fair for the school this week - not much time so I must make fast cards! Happy news today - I found out a friend is expecting! Lockhart sweeeeeeet ice cream and pickles image was stamped on white cardstock and colored with markers. I outlined everything with my favorite BV31 pale lavender so it would make the images 'pop'. I used a Tim Holtz trick for this one! I cut the white cardstock to the size I wanted, then realized I wanted the 'congratulations' really low - there was not enough room for the stamp-a-ma-jig to 'grab' the cardstock. So, using Tim's trick to make grungeboard 'hold still' (see his step 8), I took a glue dot (a mini one) and placed it on the back of my white stamped piece, then stuck it to my non-stick craft sheet. Presto! It held in place for me to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig! This layout and stamp usage was inspired by Trudee Sauer's post here - her card is absolutely gorgeous!!!!!

stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company paper: patterned: retired Crate paper, white: Papertrey Ink; green cardstock and folded card base - key lime from Memory Box ink: Palette pad in Noir accessories: Copic markers, white 5/8" polkadot ribbon, celery eyelet: Impress

studio clothesline

Folks that visit the house that do not stamp, always ask why I have a clothesline in my studio window. Only you guys would understand. :) I use this to dry anything that gets wet - whether I misted it with water, Ranger Adirondack sprays, Glimmer Mist, and so forth. It is just white cotton twine (like what you're supposed to use to tie up turkey legs but I have yet to use it for that - lol) strung between two 3M plastic clips (Wal-Mart!). The clips come with adhesive strips that come off cleanly when you want to take them off. The round ornament is a glass ball that I covered with polymer clay cane slices. The square ornament I made from a box template using Serendipity letters (N, O, E, L) and their stamps. Thank you for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful week!

baby congrats

The first time I saw scalloped notecards was in a magazine - and I found some for around $8 for 10. Super nice notcards, but pricey for me. Michelle Wooderson came up with the idea of using a Spellbinders Nestability die and making custom ones! Thanks Mish, and thank you for the wonderful directions too!!! A family member of ours is having a baby boy - so I used that excuse to play with Mish's directions on how to make one of these....Well, they are easy and fun and the results are incredibly professional. I love it when I am able to make something that is less expensive than what is manufacturered, and still look professional. Seriously - it looks like I bought these and paid bookoo bucks for them! I used a Memory Box notecard in Blue Poppy - these notecards from Memory Box are white on the inside and a color on the outside. Their cardstock sheets are this way too. Quality product in both look and feel. Following Mish's directions I ran the Blue Poppy notecard and scallop die (their largest one) through a Cuttlebug, and used a small piece of white polka dot ribbon at the top fold. I then die cut a circle from polka dot paper and adhered. I punched another Nestability circle from white cardstock and stamped Lockhart Stamp Company's baby carriage, coloring in with Copic markers. I also used a Krylon Leafing pen in silver to edge the white circle. I'd recommend doing this edging first, and letting it dry, because if you do all the work coloring in and smudge it w/the leafing pen...oh does that hurt... :) :( I used a marker to make the dots on the blanket to mimic the dots in the patterned paper & ribbon. Dang I love dots!! The stamped circle was mounted with dimensionals. Thank you for stopping by & hope you have a wonderful weekend! polka dot paper - The Crafter's Workshop, white cardstock - Papertrey Ink; Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger);

for the love of birds

I love birdies - all kinds! Even the male cardinal that keeps pecking my transom windows - he has for the last three years... he pecks at the all the shiny silver parts on my neighbor's car, he pecks at the solar lights along the path out back...but, I do respect what he thinks he is doing (com'mon - after three years you'd think he would know it is his reflection!!) and appreciate him being there, although not at six in the morning... :) I teased him one year and put a fake cardinal bird from Michaels in my front door wreath - he pecked the fake eyes out and pulled it OUT from the wreath - I found the fake bird on the ground! LOL! I've tried putting beanie babies in the transoms (it really made guests ask funny questions - ha ha!....nothing works....I'm going to have to fashion fake cobwebs on the window insides somehow I think.... :) Anyhow, Memory Box has a line of paper just out called Aerial. Size and scale is perfect for a wide range of ideas....well, it arrived and I saw the cover of the 6x6 pad, and I started drooling! I saw these finished ornaments in my mind right away! These finished ornaments are heavy - too heavy to be worn as pendants. So I decided to liven up my door handle of my studio (the rub on 'inspiring' was from an Uppercase Living party). They use two 2" x 3" pieces of beveled glass. I collaged the birdie Aerial paper with 7gypsies papers, vintage dictionary snippets and white mulberry paper. The chandelier pieces are vintage and from an estate auction over in Pennsylvania. May Arts and Martha Stewart ribbon, Swarovski crystals and all sterling silver wire and components. The middle ornament has a Swarovski crystal adhered to the outside of the piece with Glossy Accents. The pendant on the left uses 1" x 1-7/8" pieces of glass. All pieces were created by sandwiching collaged art between two panes of glass, taping, soldering, attaching jumprings. Soldering is addictive for me - I think I could solder for days and never get over how amazing the transformation is. It's like heat embossing! LOL! Thank you for stopping by!

bandana technique

Ellen Hutson told me about a stamping method called a 'bandana technique'. I googled it, and found Robin Beam's blog that detailed how she developed this technique. These monogrammed pendants were created as gifts utilizing this technique. Ellen stated this technique was a hit at the Ranger booth at CHA last week, as they utilized Ranger's new White Opaque Pen (StarLitStudio will be carrying this as soon as it ships!). Using a white gel pen I had here from Signo, I mimicked the technique. The dots were difficult to do with the Signo pen, and the coverage was not consistent. My hopes are Ranger is going to answer wishes for a 'quality, reliable, white opaque pen!'. We'll see once it gets here. I created background paper by dragging the glass droppers from various Distress reinkers (Peeled Paint, Dusty Concord and Scattered Straw) on a non-stick craft sheet, then misting generously with water. Holding a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of white cardstock (papertreyink.com) I pressed the cardstock down onto the inked craft sheet, and spun the cardstock ninety degrees. Messy? YES! But fun..... :) Next, I lifted the cardstock off and hung on my studio clothesline to dry. I did this three times with three sheets of white cardstock before all the ink was used up. Once dry I ironed them flat. You could iron them immediately or use a heat tool, and not wait to air dry, but it was after one o'clock in the morning when I did these, so I hung them to dry and started again in the morning... ;) I chose Lockhart's Millinery Rose stamp, because I think it is a nice, flowing, whimsical flourish. The rose flourish was stamped with Archival Ink in Jet Black (Ranger), then I outlined parts of the stamped images with the opaque pen: doodling, adding hearts, dots and generally being silly and non-conforming - it was fun, and the effect...dramatic! The monogram (Hero Arts) was stamped with the same ink, then centering the monogram I punched it out using a square punch. I sandwiched the monogram square along with another decorated square for the back (Prima flower and vintage dictionary snippet, and one of the rose flourishes for the Prima center!) between two panes of glass, taped, soldered and added jump ring and crystal embellishments. Soldering how to post here. Thank you for stopping by!

peachy paperweight

What a peach of a paperweight! A detailed how-to for this simple but delightful gift is in this post. Lockhart Stamp Company offers various fruit images - the cherries and peaches are two of my favorites! They are not only fun to color but easy to color - use a lighter marker for the whole peach than a slightly darker to accent each peach - done. :) To create, simply stamp image, color with non-bleeding markers (I used Copic), then dispense a layer of Glossy Accents or other similar adhesive onto the glass disc back. Using your finger smear adhesive completely over back of glass disc and adhere stamped image. I use an old, plastic card (or an old credit card) to squeegie/swipe out any air bubbles between the glass disc and the piece of cardstock, or use your fingers and keep an eye on the image for any bubbles. Use baby wipes to periodically clean your fingers of the adhesive and to wipe the glass. Adhere cork or felt to the back with Glossy Accents or the same adhesive used previously. Done! These also make excellent magnets - Adhere four classic-style magnets (Michael's Craft Store).

Source for jumbo glass discs - www.wholesalersusainc.com.

sweet ride

Oh the love of vintage cars...this stamp is one of those that fits the bill when I need a quick masculine card! The verse and vintage car images are from B Line Designs. Into a Mini Mister, I placed a dropper full (not just a drop) of Brushed Corduroy Distress reinker, about 1/8 of a teaspoon of Gold Perfect Pearls, and filled the tiny container to about 3/4 full with water. Shook to incorporate the products, and misted this mixture onto a standard office tag. I'm impatient sometimes, so I ironed it flat with a craft iron and did not wait for it to air dry. Distress various torn Tim Holtz and 7gypsies papers and collaged them onto the tag, then stamped cars and sentiment with Archival Ink (Ranger) in Jet Black. Inked edges using a blending tool and a Walnut Stain Distress pad. I used a Pesto Adirondack pad and stamped 3 autos image at random onto a Pea Pod folded card (Memory Box) and blended the edges too. Added striped ribbon and a Making Memories brad that to me, looks like an old tire! :) Inside the card - I spent some time on the inside of this one. Normally my card insides are not this fancy. ;) (sentiments: Penny Black & Stampin' Up!) Thank you for stopping by!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Arturo cards are fine, luxurious stationary from Italy, available in delicious hues from Ellen Hutson, LLC. Here, I've paired lavender Arturo cards with a folk heart design from Lockhart that reminds me of the Pennyslvania Dutch influence I had while growing up. Where I grew up, near Kutztown, PA, hex signs were common on sides of barns. This image from Lockhart reminds me of that happy place from when I was young. :) By changing the sentiment, this design could be used for a wedding card, anniversary, thank you, or in my case - a Valentine's Day card! It is simple enough for mass production as well. To hide the seam of the lavender polka dot sheer ribbon, I adhered it first, meeting the ribbon ends at the front center of the card front and layering the oval pieces on top. The heart image was stamped with Palette ink in Noir Black, then colored with Copic markers. I used my fave BV31 pale lavender to outline the whole image to make it 'pop'. Image was then punched with a Marvy oval punch. The scalloped oval was punched with a Marvy scallop oval punch using Lavender Memory Box paper. Using a 1/16" hole punch I zapped the scallop oval at every loop, mounted layers with dimensionals. Sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. Thank you for stopping by!

dragonflies love flowers

This idea idea will be part of a Mother's Day class of mine in April. This idea of a pen with a faux silk flower was inspired from the book Pretty Little Things by Sally Jean Alexander. I adapted her idea to suit clear plastic tubing from Home Depot or any similar store. The size tubing I used, located in the plumbing department, is 3/8" x 1/4". This measurement means the outside of the tubing is 3/8" in diameter and the inside is 1/4". The bundle of tubing was 10 feet total for around $5. I cut the tubing to 5-1/2" - just long enough for a nice, graceful pen. This size tubing allows a Bic stick pen to fit perfectly - nice and snug - into the tube! The beauty of this is, if you are in love with your pen when the ink dries up you can remove the old ink barrel and insert a new one! :) Here's my steps: After cutting the tubing I stamped the adorable Lockhart dragonfly randomly onto white paper - roughly 1-1/4" x 5-1/2". The paper I used was the white backing of a printed decorative paper - not cardstock. Cardstock is too thick and too heavy to curl nicely into a tiny tube. I colored in the little dragonflies with markers, then rolled up the stamped paper nice and tight around a skinny dowel (you could try a paintbrush too) and inserted it into the plastic tubing. Using wirecutters I removed the ink barrel and nib from a Bic Stick pen, and inserted the barrel & nib into the plastic tubing. No need to glue - the fit is perfect. The nib will push a bit of the stamped paper out the opposite end of the tubing. Trim paper flush with tubing using scissors. Next I put a dollop of E-6000 adhesive (you could use any strong industrial cement/adhesive) into the opposite tube opening and inserted a faux flower with stem trimmed to about 1/2". Allow to dry, then stamp the flower petals and add vintage silver glass glitter. Again, the idea for dressing up the petals is from Sally Jean Alexander. I am going to try varying the length - making my next pens longer or shorter, or use plain text weight (think computer printer paper weight) patterned paper like the rose pen below! Thank you for stopping by!

winner!

Catherine said... WOW, those are fun free stuff =)i love his distress inks.Thanks for the chance! Catherine I'll be emailing you to get your shipping address! I will have more of these in the future for you all - thank you & have a great week!

free stuff

These goodies need a loving home. :) . The only item not pictured but included is a full, sealed, 50 yard spool of May Arts white 3/8" polka dot sheer ribbon! I will be teaching a class tomorrow (Monday) and will be checking back Tuesday morning and will post the winner Tuesday afternoon. Please leave a post (one post per person please) and if there is not a link to contact you please leave your email addy. A random number generator will be used. If you post, please let me know what your favorite t!m product is, and if you'd like to, tell me why it's your fave! Winner will be picked Tuesday afternoon, February 12th. Thank you and good luck!!!

contest closed - winner posted in above post & thank you!

gift ensemble

It's been a while since I played with Stampin' Up!'s stamps. Their images held a back burner for me for years, due to their restrictive angel policy - which was lifted a few months back. Yippie! This gift set was created for my husband's co-worker who fell and broke her leg and can't return to the office for a few more weeks. Although I would not mind being caged in my house for a few months, I can completely understand how this would annoy others who like to get out and about. I'm telling you all now - I'm going to be one of those grey-haired ladies that never, ever, leaves her house. Give me delivery service and the UPS man. I'm good. LOL! The gift box with clear lid - this gives your handmade cards a very professional presentation they deserve. The boxes fit seven envelopes and six cards (love giving an extra envelope for potential mistakes in addressing). I found these gift boxes at Nashville Wraps. They do not arrive flat, so prepare a big spot to store them - lol... For the interior of the box I created an elongated rectangle spacer from a piece of white cardstock. This stabilizes the cards and envelopes inside the box and allows for a custom fit of the contents. The bookmark featured in this photo is from this post. Thank you for stopping by! flower stamps - SU, thanks sentiment - A Muse, interior verse - Verses Rubber Stamps; Memory Box pre-scored cards, envelopes and paper, SU decorative paper, dimensionals and scallop circle punch; Adirondack inks (Ranger); May Arts satin ribbon; brads; Prima flowers.

you made my day

Hero Arts new 2008 stamps are out - this one sang to me (pardon the pun)...

I like cards that make me happy. And I like this birdie in blue, cuz my grandma loved birds and this color blue too! Makes me think of her. I find I am using eyelets more now that I've got the hang of the Crop-a-Dile. :) Brown and olive waterbased markers were applied to the stamp; image was then stamped onto a piece of white cardstock. Layered onto card - easy peasy!

cardstock: Memory Box, Papertrey Ink; Archival Ink - Jet Black (Ranger); Copic Markers; eyelets and olive and brown markers - Stampin' Up; metal rimmed tag (Staples); circle punch -EK Success; olive May Arts ribbon.

bookmarks - simple to exotic

Bookmarks make great gifts - and if you have soldering materials, great! If not - that's great too! Check this out: use those metal rimmed tags to create unique embellishments and simply wire them onto a shepherd's hook bookmark. Add some beads if you like! The butterfly image (Hero Arts) was stamped onto a piece of white cardstock scrap in black waterproof ink. I smeared a layer of Glossy Accents onto a small, clear, flat-backed marble and mashed it down onto the stamped butterfly. Allow to dry (Glossy Accents dries FAST - like seconds) then cut around the glass marble. Next I used copper tape and taped around the marble, sealing the cardstock backing. I added more tape on the back of the marble, so when I added solder the whole back looks nice and shiny! I added a jumpring when I added the solder. For the monogram L: This piece is what started all of this bookmark business. My husband's co-worker fell and broke her leg, and he asked if I would make her something and send it to her. So I figured a box of thank you notes and a bookmark - her name begins with L, so I stamped an uppercase L (Papertrey Ink - Trajan Alphabet) on a piece of 1" square white cardstock scrap in black waterproof ink, and sandwiched it between two 1" square pieces of glass. Taped edges and soldered, adding a jumpring. Now, if you are asking, "Hey Cindy! I don't solder but like the general idea!" Well, I came up with an idea for using one of the million metal rimmed tags I have (OK it is really not a million, it just looks like a million tags to anyone of the male species that sees them and does not stamp - lol). I love this tiny cupcake image (Lockhart Stamp Company) but wanted it to have a three-dimensional cherry - so sandwiching it between glass was not an option. Stamped cupcake image onto white cardstock scrap, and punched out using a circle punch so it would fit neatly inside the metal rimmed tag. Adhere inside metal rimmed tag and punch attachment hole. Colored in using Copic markers, then used the Copic markers to color a pearl embellishment. Note how I used my fave B31 pale lavender to make the whole stamped image pop. I glued the tiny colored pearl over the stamped cherry using Glossy Accents. I didn't want to rely on the adhesive backing of the pearl knowing this bookmark was going to get knocked around and probably knocked off. So, by using Glossy Accents, it would take a 5yr old a few seconds to peel it off. lol... Thank you for stopping by!

sparkle cupcake

Nothing sparkles quite like vintage German glass glitter - this cupcake image uses sparkle-y pink colored glass granules to create a focal image with impact! This template is from the last issue of The Stampers' Sampler magazine. Easy template - quick card with a nice glittery effect. To create the cupcake, I created the template on the card base using Basic Grey's Two Scoops Swirl paper. Stamped Lockhart cupcake once on a circle of white cardstock and once on a piece of white cardstock scrap. I colored in the cupcake bottom portion on the circle cardstock, and placed a dimensional on the icing part to show off the raised icing layer. Then I cut out the icing part only on the cardstock scrap. Using a tiny Xyron machine, I ran the icing portion through the sticker machine, creating a layer of adhesive over the top of the image. Using tweezers, I dipped the icing into the pink glass glitter, avoiding the cherry part so I could attach a crystal there later. The glitter sticks so nicely to Xyron tape. I edged the bottom of the card front with a glue pen then dipped it into a line of the pink glass glitter for even more sparkle! Thank you for stopping by! I am having a give-away this week and am scooping up merchandise today! I returned from my mother-in-law's funeral down in Georgia yesterday. She passed away due to breast cancer. Thank you to those that sent cards and emails; I will close with a funny story: My MIL was 84, and had lots of elderly girlfriends. My MIL looked fabulous in the casket - almost radiant. The man that does the preparations - his name is Larry. Larry is very, very good and is well known in the community for his amazing funeral preparation of the body. Anyway, one of my MIL's elderly friends came up to me as I was standing beside the casket. This little lady turned to me and said in a sweet Southern accent, "Oh she looks so beautiful! I told my kin when I went if Larry wasn't available to just cremate me." I laughed so hard through the tears!! Best wishes for a wonderful week ~ Lockhart Cupcake, Lockhart Happy Cupcake Day sentiment; Stamper's Select white cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Two Scoops decorative papers; Copic markers; Archival ink in Jet Black (Ranger); Swarovski crystal; Pink Cameo German glass glitter; tiny Xyron sticker machine (Wal-Mart); Nestabilities; dimensional (stampin' up)

more lavender...a clip this time!

The closest Target store to me is about 35-40 minutes, so I don't go very often...but when I do I have a looooong list! The first thing I hit is their dollar spot - I found a package of two big plastic clips with a nice magnet backing for $1. I'm always looking for nice yet easy and inexpensive gift ideas for teachers, neighbors, friends... and I saw potential to collage the front of these big clips! Lavender image was stamped and colored, edges distressed & inked. A small strip of lavender cardstock was stamped with just the word 'lavender', trimmed with scissors, distressed & inked. The entire stamped image was outlined heavily with Copic marker BV31 to make the image 'pop' (just like the soldered piece in the previous post). Each layer of this collage was distressed with a Tim Holtz paper distresser. It gives a wonderful, raw, aged look to your projects, especially if you ink the edges afterwards! The colored image was matted on a piece of lavender cardstock (edges distressed too). The clip was traced on a piece of taupey-olive cardstock, then cut out. Edges were sanded, distressed, then I crumpled the whole thing up in my hands. Flattened out, then swiped the surface with a Distress pad (Vintage Photo) then blended with Tim Holtz's ink blending tool. Taupey-olive layer was adhered to the clip, then the matted image was adhered with dimensionals. Since I distressed the edges of the taupey-olive layer, the 'fit' of my clip pattern was much more forgiving than if I had left the edges plain and untouched. It looks like a perfect fit when in reality it was not such a neat job before I distressed the edges! :) Olive ribbon was tied into a bow around the clip, then the bow and tails were hit with a heat tool to shrivel the ribbon and give it that nice, vintage look! Thank you for stopping by! Lockhart Lavender image; Palette Noir Black, Distress Vintage Photo; white cardstock - Papertrey Ink, taupe/olive and lavender cardstock - Stampin' up; Target big clip; Copic markers; olive sheer ribbon; heat tool; Tim Holtz distresser; Tim Holtz ink blending tool.

joy of lavender

A window ornament features Karen Lockhart's lovely lavender bouquet. Image was stamped and colored, edges distressed & inked. A small strip of lavender cardstock was stamped with just the word 'lavender', trimmed with scissors, distressed & inked. The entire stamped image was outlined heavily with Copic marker BV31 to make the image 'pop'. Sandwich layered paper art between glass panes, tape and solder. More info on soldering in this post. For soldering inspiration, I recommend Pretty Little Things by Sally Jean Alexander. Glass treasure bottle was partially filled with dried lavender blossoms then capped with a cork featuring a handy screw eye. Swarovski crystals were strung on sterling silver wire, serving as a sparkling detail while connecting the glass vial to the soldered art piece. More sterling wire was constructed into a hanger and soldered into place. Sheer olive ribbon was tied into a bow around the bottle neck and the wire hanger unit, then zapped with a heat tool to create a vintage look. May the beautiful scent of lavender fields fill your world! Thank you for stopping by! Lavender image - Lockhart Stamp Company; Palette Noir and Distress Vintage Photo pads; Copic markers; white cardstock - Papertrey Ink, other cardstock - Memory Box Papers; glass bottle, ribbon, austrian crystals, sterling wire, Silvergleem solder; soldering tools, wire tools; heat tool.

cherries paperweight

Functional and sweet! 2-1/4" diameter, clear, flat-backed, glass discs were found online here. If you are going to create a bunch of these having a 2-1/4" circle punch on hand makes these stress-free. But you can always trim the cardstock and cork easily by hand. Assemble materials. I punched the cork sheet too (or, you could use felt). Color in stamped image with markers. I added a touch of glitter with Atyou glitter pens from Copic. The whole image is outlined in BV31 to make the image 'pop'. If you use water-based markers or stamping ink for this technique they will bleed. Copic markers are alcohol based. Dispense a layer of Glossy Accents or other similar adhesive onto the glass disc back and using your finger smear completely over back of glass disc and adhere stamped image. I use an old, plastic card (or an old credit card) to squeegie/swipe out any air bubbles between the glass disc and the piece of cardstock. Finish sealing cardstock edges to glass disc using your fingers, and keep a few baby wipes handy to periodically clean your fingers and the glass. Adhere cork to the back with Glossy Accents and presto ~ instant gift! These also make excellent giant magnets - Adhere four classic-style magnets (Michael's Craft Store). Lockhart Cherries; white cardstock - Papertrey's Stampers Select; Copic markers & glitter pens; paperweight kit; Glossy Accents - Ranger; cork sheet (Michael's Craft Store).

what a pair!

Two cards, same stamp and layout, different accessories & paper. Every time I pick up this sock stamp I hear in my head Phoebe Buffay singing the tune 'Smelly Cat' from the TV show Friends...I have no idea why the coorelation of that song and this stamp exists, but it does...I actually have to put the stamp back on its shelf for the song to go away - lol... I needed a card for my sister-in-law, whose home we invaded, I mean stayed with, during the recent holidays. The line, 'guests, like fish, start to stink' went through my head while thinking up a clever card to make for her. I saw this stamp, heard the song, and the card came next... :) I composed the card front verse and the interior sentiment in Microsoft Word. The template can be found here - the beauty of this template is one can print it onto cardstock, cut in half (two pieces - 8-1/2" x 5-1/2") and use the bottom portion as is for a card base! Interior sentiment is already in place for an A2 size card (4-1/4" x 5-1/2"), portrait layout. Cut the sentiment at the top out for the card front and use in the desired location. If there are leftovers, I always try to use a small piece of patterned paper inside the card to tie in the inside with the outside. Image was stamped then colored, pierced at the corners to mimic the diagonal pattern in the stamp image. Sock image was matted then mounted with dimensionals. Thank you for stopping by! card on left: Lockhart Warm Socks, 'sole mates' sentiment - A Muse; Palette pad in Noir Black; Copic markers; 7gypsies Karachi paper, corner nipper & olive cardstock (SU); piercer, awesome pad; piercing template - SU; dimensionals. card on right: Lockhart Warm Socks; Chatterbox paper, white Papertrey cardstock; Palette pad in Noir Black; Copic markers; olive ribbon; fish skeleton; brown linen thread; piercer, awesome pad; piercing template - SU; dimensionals.

Pear Pen

t!m Holtz outlines this tutorial in his book, distressables 2. Using strips of cardstock around toy block beads, then gluing into a stack and inserting a bic stick pen...viola! A clever gift you won't want to give away! Step 1: assemble materials.

Step 2: Stamp Lockhart Pear repeatedly on a piece of white cardstock.

Step 3: Color in some pears with the gold leafing pen, layer others with brown Copic markers.

Step 4: Continue coloring using the green Copic markers. Outline all pears in BV31 (pale lavender) to make them 'pop'. Step 5: Cut colored, stamped cardstock into 2-1/2" wide pieces by approx. 5/8". Fold around blocks, adhering with a strong adhesive, leaving drilled holes open. I used Crafter's Pick Ultimate! glue - it is a waterbased superglue. You could use Mod Podge or Elmers too. Ink all edges of covered blocks with a Distress pad. I alternated two Distress pad colors here (Antique Linen & Peeled Paint). Step 6: Adhere all covered blocks together with adhesive, aligning holes, and allow to dry. Use a pair of wire snips to carefully remove the ink barrel from the Bic Stic pen. Use the wire snips to remove the open end (about 1/4") of the barrel without ink. This will allow the pen to fit nicely into the altered block sheath.

Step 7: Cut a square of stamped, colored cardstock to approx. 5/8" square to cover the hole in the top of the pen and ink edges. Affix with glue.

Step 8: Stand pen upright and ink wood opening with Distress pad. Paint inside open hole with glue and insert pen barrel, pushing firmly into glue and allow to dry.

Step 9: Coat pen with a thin coating of MicroGlaze. MicroGlaze makes the entire pen (both wood and cardstock) waterproof, impervious to fingerprints and so forth! Find a spot for the pen to dry - the inside of a ribbon spool works great - once dry buff with a clean, soft cloth. I had a bit of leftover stamped & colored cardstock, so I created a card to match (see pic at top of this post). This pear image from Lockhart is one of my favorites. I created an oval mask from cardstock and used a Copic airbrush system to create the lime halo. Stamped image, colored with Copic markers. Gift and card? check! :) Thank you for stopping by!

Lockhart Pear image; white cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Archival Ink in Jet Black (Ranger), Distress ink pads in Antique Linen and Peeled Paint (Ranger); card uses Pears in bowl image from Lockhart, Memory Box card in Granny Smith, black cardstock (SU), Nestabilities dies, black brads, Copic airbrush system.

inchies - as magnets

You've seen these inchies solo in this post back in November. I've adapted them for a practical purpose - magnets - the card can be sent, and the receiver can remove the inchies for their own use! For this card, I used a Memory Box card front, and adhered a piece of decorative script paper, edges distressed, inked with a Distress pad, and an eyelet. Don't throw away your boxes! I found this tiny corrugated cardboard by peeling apart the layers of a little box that was shipped to me. What a wonderful texture! I tore the edges, and inked the edges and surface with a Distress pad and adhered over the script paper.

I mounted the inchies onto chipboard, then adhered a ProMAG magnet to each back. ProMAG makes a magnet that is intensely strong, and is sold in packs of 4 at Michaels Craft Stores and other craft/hobby stores. They are about 1/4" thick. On the corrugated cardboard I adhered smaller magnets (Basic Grey) to keep the height of the inchies projecting away from the card down.

I would ship a card like this in an envelope, then place the card/envelope unit inside a bubble wrap shipping envelope. Thank you for stopping by!

Pear image - Lockhart Stamp Company, French script - A Country Welcome; Memory Box card/envelope in Moss; patterned script paper - 7gypsies 6x6 classic paperie pad, found corrugated cardboard; Distress pad in Antique Linen - Ranger; ProMAG magnets; Basic Grey magnetic snaps.

Madison's notebook

Birthday gift notebook (see this post for directions) with quick purse card. The purse card holds a Borders gift card (held in place with a mini Glue Dot); this gift is from my 5yr old daughter to a schoolmate for her birthday. Directions for Purse card:

1. I used this template from Stampington, and cut the cardstock or decorative paper at 4-1/4" x 8", then scored at 3" and 6". I omitted the explosion interior feature of this template.
2. For the measurements of the side cuts or angles, looking at the template, I marked in 3/4" on each side along the top.
3. Fold up 2" section and fold down 3" section, and cut from top corner to mark, both sides, through all 3 layers.
4. Open purse, hold purse according to template. Mark in 1" along each side along the bottom and cut to score line - aligning the first angle cut up with your cutter. The cut angle will meet up perfectly.
5. Looking at the template, trim a scant 1/16" from the top of the purse so it lays nicely.
6. Add ribbon, beads strung on wire, and so forth for the handle; adhere under flap.

I used a 1/2 piece of a velcro circle as a closure. Thank you for stopping by! Oval stamp and monogram - PaperTrey Ink; My Mind's Eye patterned paper, white cardstock - Stampers Select, bunny strip - source unknown; Olive and Rose ink pads - Stampin' Up; Swarovski crystals; faceted crystals - Michaels Craft Store; ribbon - Stampin Up.

altered clothespin

This clothespin lives on my kitchen desk - it sits upright just like in the photo - and it holds coupons that I or my dear husband might use - like Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks gift cards, and so forth. I put them in here so I can find them quickly if my desk is piled with papers. :) I covered the clothespin with the patterned paper cut to size, and adhered with Mod Podge. Sanded the edges with a sanding block then swiped a Distress pad in Vintage Photo along the edges, then blended. All elements were securely fastened with E-6000. Since the photo (mounted on a black cardstock mat) can be changed out at a whim, one could also insert a poem or favorite verse in the silver binder clip. Teeny heart inside silver mini frame was hand cut and tied to the skeleton key above. The silver frame unit is stabilized with a dimensional. Thank you for stopping by!! 4-3/4" high wooden clothespin; 7gypsies Somme Blanc script paper; silver frame; silver binder clip; E-6000 industrial cement (Michaels); brown linen twine, skeleton key, pearl droplet, Vintage Photo Distress pad, Mod Podge, sanding block, blending tool, dimensional.

5x8 notepad portfolio - directions

This post contains detailed directions for creating the 5x8 notepad portfolio in today's post as well as this post 2 days ago. The template can be found here. File has been updated to a .pdf - hope this one is better for everyone to view. :) Step by step instructions are detailed here. I'm using a sheet of double sided cardstock paper from Stampin' Up. Stampin Up brand cardstock is the lightest weight double sided cardstock I would use; I prefer a thicker cardstock weight for these portfolios. Directions will also include how to create the pen loop. The depth of this template is 1/4" - the depth of the Staples 5x8 notepad. Sometimes you can find notepads in thicker depths; if that is the case just adjust the 1/4" in the template to suit your need. Step 1: using the template as your guide, cut along solid lines, and score on dotted lines.

Step 2: Trim the pen insert piece to fit inside a clear pen barrel. I am using a RSVP pen from Pentel, purchased by the box at Staples. Score and adhere the top flap cover of the notepad (see lower right in photo above). You'll need to measure how much to cover of the notepad front; the notepads from Staples are 1" and 1/4" thick and 5" in width, so I scored at 1" and 1-1/4" and adhered. Cut away the areas around the bottom flap that creates the inside pocket, as shown. Angle the cuts and you'll have a neater look. Step 3: Cut strips for the left front flap using the triangle piece. I like to use a 3/4" width but this is strictly personal preference. Step 4: Adhere bottom flap of pocket to inside of right front flap. I'm using a Scotch ATG 714 tape gun here. It contains 1/4" wide tape. I purchased mine and the refill tapes from http://www.framingsupplies.com/. Step 5: Apply adhesive to the 1" flap of right front flap/pocket. Step 6: Firmly adhere 1" flap of right front flap/pocket to back of notepad, aligning cardstock with bottom of notepad. Step 7: Apply adhesive to 1" wide area of left front flap. I'm using a Scotch ATG 700 here - it holds a 1/2" width tape - source for gun & tape: http://www.framingsupplies.com/. Step 8: Firmly adhere 1" flap of left front flap/pocket to back of notepad, aligning cardstock with bottom of notepad. Step 9: Use a piece of 5x8 cardstock in a complementary color for the back & adhere in place. Align solid cardstock piece with bottom of notepad. Step 10: Go back to the 3/4" wide paper strips from step 3. I prefer to use the reverse paper to show contrast. Apply adhesive to the back and adhere to left front flap edge. Trim flush.

Step 11: These following steps will explain how to create a pen holder - these steps are purely optional. If you wish to omit these, proceed to step 14. Create a 'closure cardstock unit' that will serve as the focal point for the journal front. You can use scrap cardstock that coordinates with the notepad, or you can use the upper right cardstock segment from step 1. I did here, using a piece of medium weight chipboard coaster, followed by a piece of dark brown cardstock, then the patterned paper piece, trimmed to the size I wanted. When the time comes, you will only be adhering the left back side of the closure cardstock unit to the front of the left front flap. Step 12: Select ribbon for the pen holder - I am using a 1.5" wide twill. Apply adhesive to the back of the left side of the closure cardstock unit, apply ribbon, and lay pen on top of ribbon to measure the barrel for a nice fit. Then place more adhesive on top of the ribbon (this step is shown in photo). Step 13: Hug ribbon around pen barrel, and adhere firmly to adhesive. Remove pen and apply a generous amount of adhesive on one side of closure cardstock unit. Adhere to left front flap only. Step 14: Basic Grey magnets - awesome closure for this style notepad! You'll need two - a positive and a negative. Step 15: Peel off liner on one magnet, exposing adhesive. I like to reinforce these magnets, so I placed a drop of Glossy Accents on the back of the closure cardstock unit and adhered magnet, sticky side down.

Step 16: A tip: to avoid waiting for the glue to dry, place a scrap piece of paper over the first magnet, then click the second magnet into place. Peel off protective paper from second magnet, apply a drop of Glossy Accents to sticky side.

Step 17: Slowly close left front flap and push second magnet into place wherever it lands. Gently lift paper scrap with left front flap. Discard scrap and push both magnets down to ensure bond. Allow Glossy Accents to dry (a few minutes) with portfolio open (magnets not touching).

Step 18: Embellish closure cardstock unit on front, insert pen and viola! There are tons of variations for these - think outside the box: use a post-it holder for the closure cardstock unit, or a metal tin like I did in the previous post mentioned at the beginning of this toot. Happy New Year & thank you for stopping by! ornate bird: Hero Arts; SU olive ink & paper.

5x8 notepad with surprise clasp

**I am working on the diagram for this notepad cover and hope to upload it later tonight or tomorrow with complete directions. It will be detailed to take the guesswork out for you, so I'm going to make it another post.** This notebook idea was originally from my friend Kookie. I adapted the measurements so it only uses one sheet of double-sided 12x12 cardstock quality paper! For these notebooks, which were a big hit for teacher gifts last year, I use a Basic Grey magnetic snap closure. One would adhere two magnets in their designated spots, and that would suffice to keep the flap closed. However, for this notebook, I only used one of the pair of magnets - the small, sliding-top tin serves as the second magnet! I also substituted a piece of Stampin' Up! Wasabi Green for the smaller flap, versus using the remainder of the Crate double-sided cardstock paper. Inside the tiny tin I enclosed small binder clips, something I always use. The tiny pen is perfect - I found these at Staples in colorful packs 10. This gift is for our neighbor (he's 10 years old) that brought in our mail, newspaper, and packages that arrived while we were out of town for the holidays. Having great neighbors like Kevin watching out for us makes a vacation more fun and less stressful - for sure - and he did an awesome job!! Thank you Kevin!! I used one Copic marker for the water - B41 powder blue. All other color details were a glittery finish from Copic Atyou Glitter pens, and got this idea from Debbie Olson in her post here - amazing! Again, the template will be uploaded tonight or tomorrow, and best wishes for an awesome 2008!! materials used: Lockhart Itty Bitty Fish, Crate Hopscotch, SU wasabi, white cardstock (Papertrey ink Stamper's Select) mini tin, Copic blue marker, Copic Atyou glitter pens, Nestabilities Petite Circles small & large, Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, pen from Staples.

simple sympathy

I will be doing a class with this simple technique next month. No coloring - speedy and simple with a clean look and feel. I've mentioned it before: it is an interesting yet sad fact that I create and sell more sympathy cards than any other type of card. More folks, myself included, are prone to send a card as it sends a message: I care. I am thinking of you in your time of grief. I am grieving with you. For this card, my very dear friend Loretta lost her mother, and I wanted to make a card and think of her and her wonderful family while I was making it, versus sending one from my stash. I think making a card while thinking of the recipient makes it more special, and I wanted this one to be special. Image and verse were stamped onto a scrap of Stampers Select white cardstock, then punched and embossed with a Nestability die. Added two gold brads. Mat was also punched & embossed. Adhered brown cardstock mat to card base, then ribbon, then stamped image was adhered with dimensionals. I would call this a standard Valerie Stangle style and layout - due to the clean look and feel to it. Wishing you the very best ~ today and in the New Year ~ Lockhart Cottage Flowers, Penny Black sentiment, Memory Box card base in Hyacinth, Stamper's Select white cardstock (Papertrey Ink), Latte Adirondack ink and Coffee Archival ink (Ranger); 5/8" May Arts sheer gold ribbon with gold edge; Nestabilities; gold brads; dimensionals.

Hero Arts Gratitude

I received a complimentary copy of the Dec/Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Take Ten Christmas Eve! This card is in there somewhere - it was a design challenge and I used all Hero Arts stamps. Hero Arts has amazing collage stamp images. For this card, I used a Key Lime Memory Box card base that has a white inside. directions: stamped collage image with Archival Black ink (Ranger) onto Archangel (Basic Grey) patterned paper and again onto Key Lime card front. Stamped Play Print to card front with Archival Black ink. Trimmed stamped Archangel paper into diamonds & matted onto black cardstock. Applied Tattered Rose distress ink using DTP (direct to paper technique) onto a strip of Stamper's Select cardstock and stamped Dot Flourish on card front. Adhered diamonds to rose cardstock strip and attached silver brads. Adhered unit to card front. Wishing a Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones ~ ! Hero Arts Collage Gratitude, Play Print & Dot Flourish; Key Lime Memory Box card base, Basic Grey Archangel paper, Stamper's Select cardstock (Papertrey Ink), SU black cardstock; Archival pad in Jet Black (Ranger), Distress pad in Tattered Rose (Ranger); silver brads.

vacation journal...now!

I made a photo journal of my kids for my mother for Christmas. Pics of her grandkids...I hoped for sure it would be a hit with her. So, I had extra prints made of select photos from the last few months, most of which included a family vacation we took in July. Great pics - beach, kids all had a little tan, smiles galore! I made the pages and did journaling - all in my handwriting. It really looked good. Now was time for the fun part - the journal cover! I had it set aside to work on Christmas Eve morning as my mom was set to come over around 1pm. Well, as you all can probably relate, time got away, and before I knew it...1pm was creeping closer - I had only a little time....I made myself sit down at my desk and immediately picked up this adirondack chair image from Lockhart stamps. I had been wanting to play and color with it, so I figured...why not!? It was a vacation journal and knew it would work perfectly. I love these BoBunny papers - so vintage and perfect for this - pulled Copic colored markers that coordinated with the papers. Stamped the image on a shipping tag with a Palette Noir pad - the tag had been swiped with Distress Antique Linen and edged in Distress Vintage Photo. I used Glaze pens over the Copic markers for the grass, flowers & flower centers. Added ribbon and a big Prima flower. It was done...and before mom arrived... And she loved it...and that's all that matters. :) Lockhart Adirondack Chair stamp; 7gypsies 5x7 journal, BoBunny papers; , Copic markers; shipping tag (staples.com); May Arts ribbon; Prima flower, big brass brad (staples.com), small black brads; Glaze pens.

mini pendant

I made this for my sister-in-law, Nancy, and am thinking of making one for me for the lapel of my heavy winter coat! The microscope slides (I buy mine from http://www.microscope-depot.com/) used for this project are not the standard 1x3, but a bit smaller: 1"x1-7/8" (24mm x 50mm). This Lockhart bud vase stamp is perfect for this size microscope glass. For those that know me, I am afraid of heights and cutting glass...so these pre-cut slides are a blessing for me! For my soldering tool, I used a butane powered soldering gun from Lenk - no cord to get in the way! For a little more information on soldering, please refer to my post here. Stamped image onto white cardstock, colored in with Copic markers, soldered & bam! Instant gift. Hope Aunt Nancy likes it! Happy Holidays everyone!! Lockhart bud vase stamp; Papertrey Ink white cardstock; Palette Noir pad; Copic markers; soldering equipment (iron, solder, flux, copper tape - see post); headpin, Swarovski red crystal, Bali bead, bead cap, closed jumpring (all sterling silver components).

all-occasion cards

I am huge fan of Leslie Miller. She has an amazing blog here, and within this incredible site is an amazing tote bag, complete with tutorial...perfect for a stack of cards & envelopes for gift giving! My mission: to create 2 sets of 'generic' cards, suitable for most all occasions, in a gift tote suitable for gift giving. Leslie's tote idea came to the rescue!!! This Lockhart butterfly is ideal for all happy occasions: birthday, thank you, thinking of you, and so forth. EASY to color - that is what I love - looks hard and time consuming, but here is my shortcut trick - color in whole image with details (like the wings) with one light color, then go over the image with darker markers in the areas that need details. I used 4 colors for the butterfly, pulled from the colors used in the patterned 7gypsies paper. Quick, simple swipes of color were applied in the lower wings - fast & finished in a jiffy. BV31 - pale lavender Copic marker outlines the whole image, making it pop. Since I needed to include sympathy cards, I cased my sympathy design with Prima flowers and brad centers. I included five of each design for a total of ten cards, plus envelopes in each tote, so I increased Leslie's bag depth from 3/4" to 1-1/4", and used 12x12 cardstock paper. Oval punches (Nestabilities) were stamped, colored, then edges distressed with a Distress pad in Antique Linen and an ink blending tool. I punched scalloped ovals too to mat each image. White cardstock (Papertrey Ink) was stamped with a Lockhart butterfly with Palette Noir, the colored in with Copic markers. Machine stitching on the top borders adds quick & easy details! Thank you for stopping by!! Lockhart Butterfly image; 7gypsies patterned paper (Masai & Asmara), SU light blue, brown, real & ruby red cardstocks; Copic markers, Distress pads in Vintage Photo (outside edges of bag) & Antique Linen; white cardstock from Papertrey Ink, eggshell cardstock from Ellen Hutson; ribbon from Martha Stewart (Michaels) SU & May Arts; large eyelets - We R Memory Keepers; inverted corner rounder - EK Success; pinwheel eyelet collar (on red flower under brad) - Bonnie's Best.

Primrose & Lavender pendant

I read somewhere that if you can use a hot glue gun you can solder. I can attest this is true. I have fond early childhood memories of my father, bent over a circuit board with a soldering iron in his hand. I remember the smell, and his arcane ability to mend and create. I treasure that. If you are just starting out soldering, I recommend Simple Soldered Jewelry & Accessories by Lisa Bluhm. This post will show shading using Copic markers, soldering and attaching jewelry components! Being able to incorporate soldering with rubber stamping and paper arts produces objects of affection for me. Here are the steps I took to create a simple pendant. Copic markers: 0 - colorless blender, R00 - pinkish white, R02 - flesh, R05 - salmon red, V17 - amethyst, BV04 - blue berry, BV31 - pale lavender, YG95 - pale olive, YG97 - spanish olive, E15 - dark suntan, Ranger foam blending tool, Lockhart Primrose and Lavender dress image; Palette pad in Noir, Distress pad in Antique Linen, paper distressing tool. The next 3 photos will show how to shade using Copic markers: Step 1: Stamp image with Palette Noir onto white (Papertrey Ink) cardstock. Cardstock piece measures just shy of 1" x 3", which is the measurement of the microscope slides I'll be using later. This particular Lockhart image is a breeze to color - I just dotted the lavender with BV04, and lined the stems with YG95. Colored in the Primrose with the very pale R00. Step 2: Take R02 and add near the base of the primrose. Step 3: Swipe YG97, R02 and E15 onto a CD or other non-porous item to serve as a palette. Use 0-colorless blender to pick up these colors and add a hint of the hue to the stamped image. This technique is done the same way one would use waterbased markers and a blender pen. Step 4: Stamped image complete. Blender pen and YG97 were used to fill in between the stems. E15 & blender pen were used on the hanger. Note the BV31 that outlines the whole image - making it pop. Step 5: Small scale patterned paper is a must - I used a sheet from 7gypsies Maison 6x6 paper pack - picked words I liked on the paper and trimmed from sheet, tore edges, used the paper distresser & inked with Antique Linen and a foam blending tool. Adhere to stamped image and ink edges too. When inking the edges, don't forget the copper tape will conceal the immediate edges, so when blending, blend inward quite a bit so it shows in the final piece. Step 6: Don't forget the back! Sign the (just shy of) 1" x 3" sheet of decorative paper and date. I inked the edges here too. Step 7: Gather your soldering items: soldering gun/iron, jumprings (I use soldered closed jumprings, sterling silver metal, from firemountaingems.com), 2 clamps, lead-free solder, waterbased flux, two 1x3 microscope glass slides and copper tape. With exception to the jumprings, these items are inexpensive and available at stained glass shops and at major home improvement stores. I use a very moist sponge to clean the soldering iron tip and as a barrier to prevent the tip from accidentally slipping through the holder and burning my worksurface. I used 1/4" wide copper tape for this project. You can use a wider tape if you prefer; it will simply cover up more of your art. For thicker glass I use a wider tape. Step 8: Using a cleaner (I'm a big Method fan) and a clean paper towel, clean the glass very well. Touch the glass sides minimally until the copper tape is on, and do not touch the glass surface. Sandwich the stamped artwork (front and back) between the two glass panes, and apply copper tape. Step 9: After copper tape is applied I burnish with my fingers. I do not use a bone folder, as I've cracked the glass doing it this way - I'm too rough and push too hard. Make sure the copper tape is well affixed to the glass slides. This is key, so the flux does not creep underneath, causing the tape to pull away. Step 10: Apply flux (I use a cotton swab) and set up the slide using the clamps to hold it upright. You'll need this setup to apply the jumprings. Step 11: Continue and finish soldering attaching jumprings (see step 12). When I first started soldering, I used the tinning technique - which means you pick up a bit of solder with the iron and 'paint' the solder along the flux-lined copper tape, touching the soldered-covered iron to the art piece. Tinning produces a very fine, thin line of solder. What I like to do now, to achieve the chunky look, is to hold the solder coil in one hand and the iron in the other, and form a 'bridge' of solder onto the art piece. The same 'bridge' can be achieved by getting a big chunk of solder on the iron and swipe the piece, but not letting the iron touch the piece - there will be a 'bridge' of solder between the iron and the piece. Not gonna lie here - it takes practice. But heck, it is FUN!! Step 12: When mounting the jumprings, remember the bottom jumpring should be applied like this one - facing you. The charms will lay better. The top jumpring, that houses the cording, chain, etc., should be the opposite of this - so the cord will lay flat. If this does not make sense look at the jumpring placement of the finished piece. Step 13: Wash your piece with Oxy Stop. It will stop the oxidation of the solder and generally clean your piece. I go over it with Method cleaner too, and wash my hands. Next step: jewelry! Step 14: This pendant incorporates simple jewelry-creating techniques. I learned these online and from books. Here is a good site for the simple wrapped loops I created here. If you are starting out, you'll be confronted with a ton of tools. All you really need is a pair of wire cutters, flat-nose pliers and round-nose pliers. Sure you can get the other fancy tools later but for starting out these are what I recommend. I used sterling silver headpins; all jewelry components and tools were purchased from http://www.firemountgems.com/. Finished pendant. I left the resolution high on these pics so you can see details. Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did creating it!! :)

organizing Crackle Paint

Crackle Paint - it is the latest craze (sorry for the pun...) from Tim Holtz and the fabulous folks at Ranger. Paint once and when it dries...it produces a wonderful crackle effect. From the side, individual colors are fairly easy to identify, and very easy if you are familiar enough with the Crackle Paint colors Ranger offers (there are 24 colors). They are also labeled on the side as to the color. However, from the top, which is how I store these (in sterlite drawers from Wal-Mart), they are black and unidentifiable. Not good. If I am to use something I must be able to find what I am looking for...and quickly. One morning in the shower (A.K.A...idea central) I came up with this idea. Got the kids on the bus and did this: Circle printing link how-to is here (please scroll down to Bob Buckland's post to 'B. for your circular text'), but a MS Word document with circle printing all done for you is here. After circle printing all 24 colors onto one sheet of white cardstock, I punched them out with a 1-1/4" circle punch. Adhered to respective paint containers with Glue Dots. I opened each container and dabbed a tiny bit of paint onto my finger, then swiped it onto the center of the punched circle. Easy to find what I'm a-lookin' for now...!

Butterfly tag trifold

I have a neighbor down the street named Alice that just loves butterflies. I admire Alice greatly - Alice runs. Not jogs - but RUNS. She ran the NYC Marathon this year - and came in 23rd for her age group. She is amazing to me! Alice has these bushes called 'butterfly bushes', and in the warmer months here in NJ they attract some incredible butterflies...and often they flutter down to my house - sheer enjoyment! The bushes are pretty too - I should plant some in the spring! Every time I see a butterfly stamp or image, I think of Alice! This card is an A6, measures 4-5/8" x 6-1/4" when folded. Opened it measures 11" wide and 6-1/4" tall. To make it easy, I take a 12x12 sheet of cardstock (patterned MME used here) and cut it at 6-1/4". Then I chop off 1" from the 12" side to make it 11" x 6-1/4". Then, along the 11" side I score in 3" on one side and 3-1/2" on the other side. Added a distressed edge band using the leftover 12" x 5-3/4" MME paper (trimming to height desired). Then, since I love creating a mess, I spritzed a walnut ink solution onto a shipping tag. Allow to dry. (and clean up...lol) I used a JulieHRR technique, of taking a new pencil, with a new eraser head, and using the eraser head as a stamp to create the neat, little stamped circles in Adirondack Ginger. The little butterfly image is from Papertrey Ink (stamped in Pesto). Large, script butterfly image (My Sentiments Exactly) was stamped (Vintage Photo Distress), cut out and edges inked (Peeled Paint Distress). Wings were mounted with pop-dots but body was firmly adhered to the tag. Domino body was created using Tim Holtz's Alcohol Inks (Pesto, Ginger, Lettuce, Denim), stamped with a collaged image (Stampers' Anonymous - Artful Mosaic) in Archival ink, then edged with a Krylon 18kt gold leafing pen. Swarovski crystal dotted the center. Adhered domino to butterfly body area with E-6000. I left the resolution on the photo pretty big in case you want to view the domino in more detail. These are so much fun to do, and fast too. If you wanted to, you could put a pin-back on the back of the domino, and mount it with a glue dot to the butterfly body. The recipient would have a gift and a card... :-) Thank you for stopping by! Hope you are warm where you are - it's supposstah snow tomorrah! :-)

Cupcake birthdays

Birthday cards for girlfriends! The one with the big cupcake and the glitter makes me hungry for a scoop of icing right from the container...forget the cupcake... I just love a good sugar fix...lol... For the large cupcake, I stamped the image once onto white cardstock (circular Nestabilities die cutout), then again onto a piece of white cardstock scrap. Colored in scrap using Copic markers then cut out. On the die cut I only shaded the outside of the stamped image using BV31 Pale Lavender Copic marker, and adhered the cut-out cupcake with a dimensional. I use this pale purple marker (BV31 pale lavender) frequently for outlining stamped images. It literally makes them pop off of the page, and the pale lavender hue makes the easy shadowing appear natural. Matte Accents from Ranger was used on the cupcake liner, and a glue pen was used to outline the swirls on the icing. Sprinkled Hero Arts Prisma Glitter over the wet glue & allowed to dry. Acrylic red bauble droplet was added over the cherry. The patterned paper used here is from Scenic Route Paper. The opposite side is a really nice turquoise, of which I cut out a circular layer (under the white stamped layer). Scallop circle green layer is Stampin Up wasabi. Charm and brad add the desired sentiment and more layers to the card. Newer Lockhart image featuring stacked cupcakes takes instant dimension when the BV31 (pale lavender...again) Copic is shaded heavier on the right. A tiny Hero Arts red crystal was added over the stamped cherry image. bling! bling! :0) Lockhart images; SU wasabi, chocolate & guava cardstock, Papertrey Ink white cardstock, Scenic Route patterned paper-Charlotte; glue pen, acrylic bauble, Hero Arts tiny red crystal & prisma glitter; Copic markers, scallop scissors, May Arts 1/2" celery ric rac; pewter charm, silver brad, clear Glaze pen, Matte Accents.

simple snowflake

The snowflake image here is from Papertrey Ink's Snowflake Serenade set. Hectic holiday times often calls for simplicity...here is now I made this ever-so-simple holiday card: Start with a wide ribbon. I used 1.5" wide May Arts polka dot DD series in celery*. Fold down top of ribbon two times and sew directly to the card front. I actually ironed the ribbon folds in place first, as I did a bunch of these assembly-style. The series of tiered X-stitches is a style of topstitching available on my sewing machine. You can use any style top stitch you like and achieve the same thing. My five-year-old actually chose this topstitch style... :0) For the circle printing, my friend Kendra Weinstock introduced me to creating print within a circle format. Simple Scrapbooks has an article on this - Sept/Oct 2006 issue, page 100. There is a how-to written up here - please scroll down to Bob Buckland's post to 'B. for your circular text'. The circular text reads: "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." This quote is attributed to Hamilton Wright Mabie, and is one of my favorite quotes. Print out as many formatted circles onto white Papertrey cardstock as your margins allow. Stamp snowflake (I used Adirondack Lettuce) in center of text. Using a 1-3/8" circle punch, punch out all printed & stamped circles. Adhere each cardstock circle to a circular metal rimmed tag. Punch hole at snowflake center with 1/8" hole punch and insert gemstone brad. Adhere completed circle tag to ribbon on card front and violà! Hope you have a warm and happy day!! It is icy cold here, and snowing!! materials list: Snowflake Serenade set & white cardstock - Papertrey Ink; May Arts ribbon; circle metal tag - Staples; Adirondack ink in Lettuce - Ranger; MM gem brad; sewing machine *this item is a special order through StarLitStudio. Please contact me directly.

Favorite Fellas

Crafty Secrets has a fabulous masculine set called Favorite Fellas. I combined this new set with the 7gypsies new Pretoria paper line, and presto ~ instant masculine birthday cards! Makes the difficult task of my creating 'manly cards' very easy! Are masculine cards difficult for others to create or just me?? The black metal scallop running along the base of the card fronts is a new embellishment from 7gypsies, originally meant for the edges of your journal pages to protect them. Since they are unique I decided to put them on a card first instead of a journal. These metal pieces are 8" in length; I cut one for a complete card front (4-1/4") and the other, being 1/4" too short, I centered it and snipped the cardstock bottom corners at an angle (see 'tie one on' card on the right). Great way to use up something that would have just sat in a box. :0) Thank you for stopping by and hope you have a great day! materials list: Crafty Secrets Fabulous Fellas set; Palette Noir pad; Stampin Up burgundy pad (I watercolored his shirt); 7gypsies Pretoria paper line, Stampin Up burgundy, green & black cardstock; Copic BV31 marker (outlining) & R02 (flesh); aquapainter; 7gypsies scalloped metal edge; black brads; dimensionals (for the tie); twill tape; MM brad.

Truffle bag

Many neighbors and friends ask me to create things for others during this holiday season. It keeps me busy and outta trouble. :-D For this project, at the grocery store I purchased ten Lindt assorted truffles bags - they come in very nice bags, perfect for easy altering with a very simple template. Cut 12x12 patterned cardstock 4" wide x 12" long. These Lindt bags are ideal as you can get 3 of these from a single 12x12 sheet. Score this piece 5" in on each side. Cut piece of dark red cardstock 4" x 6", score 6" side in half at 3". Adhere short edges of all pieces, creating a triangle. Insert truffle bag, and use ribbon to keep the bag in place. I placed a piece of adhesive at the front center of the bag cover, where the solid & patterned papers met, adhered one ribbon end, wrapped ribbon around the package (hiding the paper 'seam'), adhering the ribbon end back at the front center. Since the angel embellishment will be covering the front adhering the ribbon this way makes the back look neater by hiding the ribbon 'seam' underneath the focal point. Stamp angel (when using Copics I prefer Palette Hybrid inks - used Noir here) and color in with Copics. For the glitter I used a Copic Atyou clear pen. Nestabilities dies were used to cut circles from colored cardstock. A silver brad adds a hint of metal to the piece. I love metal on projects! For easy personalization, I was given the names of the recipients of these gifts. I quickly typed them up in MS Word, used the font Zapfino, and printed them onto white cardstock. Cut apart and adhered under the angel embellishment. I will do this easy pattern for my kids' teacher holiday gifts this year! For more ideas, here is another I did two years ago. Thank you for stopping by! materials list: Lockhart angel; patterned paper: Basic Grey Figgy Pudding, Stampin Up Cranberry, Artichoke, PaperTrey Ink white; May Arts 1/2" white ric rac ribbon; Nestabilities dies; Copic Markers: YR23, YR24 (both-hair), R39, YG95, YG97, R20, R02 (flesh), BV31 (shadows/outline); 0 - blender; silver brad.

Inchies

Inchie (/'inch-ē): a 1" x 1" square piece of medium (e.g. cardstock, chipboard, fabric, and so forth) embellished as desired; typically used to convey a concept, idea, feeling or sentiment. Working at a small scale is both challenging and fun. At first I figured Inchies would be pretty much restrictive. I mean, ONE INCH square??? How can I work with a canvas THAT small?? Well I gotta tell you - these are addictive and downright fun. I had a blast going through embellishments and gathering product that I could use on these tiny art forms. And I was shocked at how many embellishments and product one can use on a little 1" x 1" square of cardstock. 6x6 or 8x8 pads of designer paper are perfect for Inchies - because the scale of the 12x12 paper has been scaled down. Artist should initial somewhere on the front of your Inchie; use them in groupings, solo (mount on chipboard & hot glue a tack on the back), create into magnets, or frame them as I did here with other elements. I heard about Inchies from Ellen Hutson - here is her post for more information about these one-inch-wonders. Ellen is giving away a limited number of free Inchie art pieces by Karen Lockhart with purchase - please see her site for details. Plus, Lockhart Stamp Company just released new images..... Any notes from this point on are details/product list on what I used on these - thank you for stopping by! Inchie photo top, L-R: All cardstock used from PaperTrey Ink (PTI); pear image is from Lockhart. top left Inchie: 'P' is from PTI; stamped in Adirondack Espresso, outlined in Micron brown .5mm pen; colored with Copic markers; DPT (direct to paper technique) used with Distress Peeled Paint. bottom left Inchie: 7gypsies Requiem Quad paper; Ranger Crackle Paint in Peeled Paint; small French script - A Country Welcome (www.addictedtorubberstamps.com); stamped with Archival Coffee pad & DTP with Distress Vintage Photo. top right Inchie: Ranger Crackle Paint in Shabby Shutters; Distress Peeled Paint & Antique Linen; vintage gold brad (Stampin Up); Copic markers. bottom right Inchie: Archival Coffee pad; Distress Peeled Paint; Copic markers. Framed Inchies: Pear image - Lockhart; small French script - A Country Welcome (www.addictedtorubberstamps.com); black cardstock - Stampin up; cardstock squares - Papertrey Ink; small jewelry tag - www.staples.com; red script paper - 7gypsies 6x6 classic paper pad; 1/8" May Arts stitched olive ribbon; celery bauble; lower case 'p': 7gypsies Sketchie rub ons; miniature key: 7gypsies; all tags were aged DPT with Distress Vintage Photo and/or Antique Linen pads.

Tag Curler card

I was not going to get yet another tool. Well, y'all know how that goes. Making Memories manufacturers a toy...oops I mean tool ...that squeezes metal tags around ribbon. The tool is fun and easy to use, and the tags are oh-so-cute. I store mine and all the tags in a Tim Holtz (BTW, he has a blog now! OMG!!! ) Cropper Hopper Embossing Ink box. Tags from open boxes are stored in glass-lidded tins (from Lee Valley Tools. I cut out the designs from the tag box packaging and keep it in the tins for quick & easy identification. Onto the project: boy birthday cards were on my to-do list. Here's how I created a couple real speedy-like. I just finished stamping 100 holiday cards and didn't feel like stamping - just playing with paper (I promise to show this years' holiday card ideas in a future post). Amanda Blu - critters paper (Archivers), 3/8" green stitched May Arts ribbon, Stampin' Up olive, black cardstock; PaperTrey Ink white cardstock; two large black eyelets & necessary setting tools, MM Tag Curler & tag. I used Nestabilities dies (rectangles & scalloped rectangles) from Ellen Hutson's store for easy stacking/layering. Step 1: Adhere printed paper. This is a standard Valerie Stangle layout. Tie length of ribbon around card and tie in a relatively tight knot. Val has an awesome tutorial on knot tying on her blog here. It does not matter where on the card you place the knot; you will be sliding it off anyway. Step 2: Slide the ribbon loop off of your card. Get your Tag Curler, insert tag, insert ribbon with knot smack dab where it will get all caught up in the curlin'. :) Step 3: Squeeze Tag Curler, encasing ribbon knot. Release. Slide ribbon loop back onto card, position in desired location. This is best done by slightly bowing the card, then slipping the ribbon loop back onto the card. Step 4: I mounted the black and white Nestabilities die cuts after I had the tag placed where I wanted it, to make centering easy-peasy. To affix the metal tag, I used a Glue Dot pop up style. Tweezers were used to handle the Glue Dot, as the minute the oils from your skin hit the Glue Dot it becomes powerless. That sounds very funny to me at the moment but it's true. Step 5: Finished card. Thank you for stopping by!

Keepsake box

Keepsake box for this project is from the folks at Prima Marketing - makers of those famous Prima Flowers. (One can purchase one here). School photos came home this past week, and they turned out better than usual. Our school takes two sessions of photos - one at the beginning of the school year for the yearbook, and a traditionally nicer photo (and subsequently more expensive - lol) closer to the close of the school year. I had wanted the children to all wear red, but alas, the eldest child, the fashion-conscientious ten-year-old, had other ideas. I do like her black shirt though, so from now on mom is conceding - she can pick her outfit. :) This particular box has a nifty feature - when one views the inside of the box lid, it is flat - if one pushes through one of the windows at the top of the lid the MDF insert cut to size pops out - very nice idea that speaks of quality in the piece and the manufacturer's consideration for a finished look (thank you Prima!). Measuring this lid insert, I cut a piece of ivory cardstock (Neenah brand, exceptional quality, from Ellen Hutson's store) the same size as the insert. Inserting the ivory cardstock in place inside the lid I traced the triple window openings in pencil, then adhered the school photos over the marks. I then measured each side of both the box and lid and cut 7gypsies papers (Montgomery and Veneto) to these measurements. Adhered with USArtQuest's Perfect Paper Adhesive and allowed to dry. Then the edges were inked with Distress Vintage Photo and blended with a piece of Ranger's Cut n' Dry foam. Mounted Provo Craft's photo box feet in place. For the lid, I cut a clear transprency to size, and placed it on top of the photos prior to inserting, to protect them from dust, fingerprints and juice from sippi cups....lol...

Halloween treat bags

I volunteered to make Halloween goody bags for my youngest's kindergarten class. The job: create 17 bags, and quickly! So I drew upon the infamous white paper lunch sack! Springboard idea is from page 88 of A Season of Joy, a Making Memories publication. May Arts makes a 1.5" wide polka dot grosgrain - I had a full spool here for another project and decided to use that. Pumpkin & black cardstock from Stampin' Up, 3" Marvy Giga scallop punch from PaperTrey Ink, Cuttlebug Spots & Dots embossing folder from eclectic Paperie, Marvy Jumbo cat punch, 8160 Avery address labels, glue dots. Begin with 2.5" x 5.5" strips of pumpkin cardstock, 7.5" strips of 1.5" wide ribbon; number of strips depends on how many bags you are creating, 6" x 11" white lunch sacks from Nashville Wraps, trimmed to 10" in height. Run two strips of tape (I used one of my ATG guns - my girlfriends and I call them our 'Charlie's Angels guns - LOL...) and affix a 7.5" strip of ribbon, concealing ribbon ends on wrong side of cardstock strip. Affix the cardstock/ribbon unit to the front of the white bag, aligning from the bag bottom. Insert goodies. Fold down bag flap until it meets the top of the cardstock/ribbon unit and score fold. Staple at sides. Punch cat from black cardstock and 3" scallop circle from pumpkin cardstock. Run scallop circle through Cuttlebug embossing folder. Print student names onto Avery return address labels (#8160) and adhere onto embossed circles. Adhere cat punch with a mini glue dot. Affix embossed circle unit to bag front, concealing top of ribbon and cardstock joint on bag front.

These were complete in 20 minutes!

sweet tooth

OK I'll confess. I have a sweet tooth. I love chocolate and candy to the point, that if I gave them up, I would probably lose about 20 pounds. But I won't. You only go around once (OK maybe some of us have been around more than once), and my self-professed love for sugar can not be denied. My mom tried to keep all refined sugar from me when I was a toddler. No potato chips. And TV was forbidden too. Oh yeah, mom sewed all my clothes too... she was a regular Martha Stewart to the point she even washed, carded, dyed (organic dyes too, like you had to ask), spun and wove clothing out of local sheep fleeces. I could spin wool and weave when I was eight. Those great wheels were no problem cuz I am left-handed. We did demos and exhibited at various local festivals. I loved our Louet wheel and we also had an Ashford style wheel too. Then one day, my Uncle Ned popped a piece of chocolate into my mouth while we were visiting him and my Aunt Ruth. I was two. I don't remember it, but my mom said my face lit up and she knew I was ruined. I love my Uncle Ned. Amid websurfing, I came across a kewl site: http://www.yummyearth.com/. Founded by two dads. They are based here in New Jersey (or Noi Joisey as we say here...and you must say it through the nose...lol) too. Two dads, wanting to find good candy for their kids. Healthy. No refined sugar. Sounds a bit like my mum. OK so I found these at my local grocery store here in Jersey. 23 calories each one. AND IT TASTES LIKE SUGAR. This is the best dang lollipop I have EVER tasted. I ordered the biggie lollipop kit from their website to give out at Halloween this year. "authentic true-fruit flavors and all seemed intrigued by their ingredients— truly unconventional for delicious candy—such as Japanese purple carrots for color instead of chemical color dyes; real fruit extracts instead of artificial chemical flavors; organic evaporated cane juice instead of yucky processed sugar; and organic tapioca syrup instead of synthetic high fructose corn syrup." OK so 'organic tapioca syrup' does not sound too terribly appealing. But these lollipops are incredible. Yummy Earth is being spread by word-of-mouth, but mine is closed around a Mango Tango pop right now...

winter theme ATC

A good friend of mine is hosting an ATC swap. An ATC is an Artist Trading Card - size is 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" (88mm x 61mm). The only rule of this swap was it had to be winter themed. I'm going to show you the progression of my idea: Winter. Here in New Jersey (where according to a recent poll, 49% of adults want to leave...me included..sometimes - ha ha!) Makes me think of bone-chilling cold, the once green leaves (which are now a sea of wonderful autumn colors!) are now gone, revealing the naked branches. I also think of the winter holidays, and the wonderful music that is associated with the holiday season. So, from those thoughts I came up with this: After much consideration I decided it needed a bit less 'blah!'. However, by March here in the northeast you are feeling 'blah!' and can't wait for spring, but that is besides the point. I don't want to depress the viewer of my ATC!! ha ha!! I then came up with this: Many steps to this ATC; please read only if you want the details of how this was made: 7gypsies Musique paper was painted with a wash of walnut ink mixture and allowed to dry. Ironed flat. DTP (Direct To Paper technique - take a ink pad in your hand and swipe the cardstock) and sponged Vintage Photo Distress pad on ivory Neenah cardstock base. Stamped tree branch images in Ranger Jet Black Archival pad and French script image with Antique Linen. Tear various 7gypsies papers, DTP edges of 7g Large Script and Musique only with Vintage Photo ink. Adhere to ivory cardstock base as shown. Spray white cardstock (I buy mine from Nichole Heady at http://www.papertreyink.com/) with Oyster Glimmer Mist. Allow to dry and iron flat. Punch three sizes of snowflakes from sparkley cardstock and set aside. Spritz a sheet of ivory Neenah cardstock with walnut ink solution and Glimmer Mist Aspen Yellow. Spritz tags too. Allow to dry and iron cardstock sheet flat. Stamp sentiment on sparkley (now vintage looking) cardstock with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and punch out using EK Success 1" punch. Wipe the now dry metal of tags with paper towel. Adhere stamped circles and smallest snowflake. Adhere rhinestone bauble to snowflake center. Set aside. Adhere larger, punched sparkley snowflakes to ATC collaged base and adhere larger baubles. Adhere metal rimmed circle tag. Using glue pen mimic snow placement on tree branches and dust with Prisma glitter. Allow to dry. Neenah off-white cardstock base, 7gypsies papers; tree branches stamp from All Night Media, French script and sentiment from Hero Arts; Distress pads in Vintage Photo, Antique Linen; Ranger Archival Jet Black pad; silver-rimmed tag from Staples (it looks gold in the pic but it's really silver - honest); EK Success 1"circle punch; two styles of EK Success snowflakes; glue pen; Hero Arts Prisma glitter, faceted clear bauble; larger clear baubles from Michaels Craft Store; Marvy tiny snowflake punch; Glimmer Mist in Aspen Yellow; Walnut Ink mix.

Halloween altered can

Warehouse-sized Electrasol tab can covered in Adams Family (Rusty Pickle) paper. Love this paper! Cardboard canister measures about 9-10 inches in height (about 25cm). Some containers are just meant to alter. This one will never house food, as it previously contained dishwasher tabs. So it's going to sit on a visible and previously naked shelf at the desk in my kitchen that was crying for something Halloweenie on it. Manila tag (Staples) drowned in walnut ink solution & hung to dry. Elements were sponged with Black Soot, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo pads (Ranger). Cat punch (Marvy), glass bottle (these will be in the store this weekend) partially filled with Crystal Shimmer fx (www.usartquest.com). Sentiment - Papertreyink, punched tag - Martha Stewart. Silver H - Making Memories; 3/16" black and orange gingham ribbon-May Arts. Black cardstock (Stampin' up) with torn edges wraps around body of container.

zbb with feet...and paint!

Here's my Z Becky Brown (http://www.zbeckybrown.com/) purse....with mini metal ball & claw style feet added! I used E-6000 to adhere the feet to the lucite purse. And lookie what a little bit of color can do: BEFORE: AFTER:

Behr Raked Leaves. Love it!

fancy feet

The rub-on verse reads, "There are many compliments that may come to an individual in the course of a lifetime but here is not a higher tribute than to be loved by those who know us best." The first time I spied these metal claw style feet was on a Z Becky Brown handbag that Tim Holtz altered. It was in an issue of Expression I think. OK I went and looked it up - it was their Jan/Feb 2005 issue - here's a link to the article. Scroll down to find Tim Holtz's sample! More about the feet later... BTW, I added the feet to my ZBB too, using E-6000. Dang I'm stylin' now baybee....! Back to the pic posted: the box was wood, naked and at Michaels, and with a nice hinged (two hinges!) lid with a nifty glass insert and a quality clasp. I felt sorry for the poor naked box on the store shelf so I brought it home. :) I talked to the box about dressing it up a bit. The box said he wanted to be orange, so I whipped out a spray bottle of Ranger's Adirondack Butterscotch color wash spray and spritzed him to death. He needed some blinggy so I spritzed him again with Harvest Orange Glimmer Mist. Then I wiped off the metal pieces and the glass with a dry paper towel. A Tostitos Con Queso dip jar lives in my studio - it has a heavy mix of walnut ink solution in it at all times. I like the Tostitos jar cuz it has a wiiiiide mouth. I use this jar to shove tags into then hang on my clothes line here in my studio (what room is not complete without a clothes line - HA!). I'm not a nut - it's a piece of string, hung on those plastic hangers that 3M puts out...I use spring-style clothes pins but gonna get these mod lookin' ones one of these days.... With a paintbrush, I painted the inside and lips of the box with the walnut ink solution. Finished by adhering a rub-on from 7gypsies Home directly to the glass top, some Basic Grey Motifica paper mounted inside the box to view through the glass (kewl effect) and a piece of 7gypsies Life Creme paper on the box inside lid to hide the underside of the Motifica paper (it's white).

Now....the FEET....the purrrtty feet! I used the tiny wood screws that come with the feet to mount these to the wood box. My little orange box is happy. :)

September cards

There are a lot of birthday cards for me to create for the month of September. This style card is a 'criss-cross' pocket design developed by Michelle Wooderson (her blog here); Mish's tutorial on Splitcoastampers ("SCS") is here (done by Beate Johns), done vertical - 'Cami style' (Cambria Turnbow directions here). I did six of these cards in a snap. Cut all cardstock, stamped everything at once, punched it all out - took about 1/2 hour I'd say to do all 6. If your birthday is in September, Happy Birthday!!!! Try adding a strip of leftover cardstock to the inside of your cards, or to the insert as shown here. Anything to keep the scrap pile from overflowing.... I had never created a criss-cross pocket card until I saw it on SCS and then on Mish's blog. They are indeed fun and habit forming! Hope you make one too!! Doodlebug Birthday stamps; Basic Grey Oh Baby Girl! patterned paper; Stampin' Up tag punch, celery & lilac cardstock, dye ink pads and markers; Palette pad in Noir Black; 1-3/4", 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches; 1-1/4" scallop punch; teeny tiny metal rimmed tags from a LSS in Wisconsin; CopicSpica glitter pens from Ellen's store.

Papertrey birdie

This card combines two of Nichole Heady's newest sets from Papertrey Ink. For the branch, I stamped in caramel ink, then took the large & small leaf images and stamped them randomly on the branch tips, using the second generation image (it's lighter) as well. Randomly punched circles on the branch, using a Fiskars 1/16" handheld punch. Inserted brads. Thanks Nichole, for spectacularly developing not only incredible sets but ones that we can use multiple colors easily! stamps: Papertrey Ink - Take a Bough & Believe sets, Hero Arts sentiment; , Chatterbox Chateau Stripe, Papertrey white cardstock; Stampin' Up caramel & olive dye pads, blue ribbon, caramel and chocolate cardstock; Palette hybrid pad in Burnt Umber; Copic markers; StarLitStudio celery brads; dimensionals; Ranger Glossy Accents.

Halloween portrait

This frame sits on a table in my foyer; I enjoy creating a collage periodically, changing it about every four months or so. The 7gypsies papers that arrived a while ago really gave me the urge to create another collage, and this was the result. The underlying element, or self-imposed rule for the collage piece in the foyer is it must have a fleur-de-lis in it somewhere. I simply love this symbol. To create a collage, I start with a foundation paper in the dimensions of the finished piece, then commence tearing an assortment of patterned papers that complement each other. Distress edges, inking with Distress Ink (Ranger) color of choice. 7gypsies papers, Papertrey Ink stamp (spider & sentiment); Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous (large skull & flourish); Palette Silky Obsidian pad, Ranger Archival Jet Black pad, Ranger Distress pads in Vintage Photo & Antique Linen, Fleur-de-lis & 3/4" round paper punches; antique brass large eyelet, lace (tea-dyed), Stampin' Up ribbon, black Magic Mesh, black brads.

switchplate cover

I was inspired by page 81 in the new Paper Crafts magazine Room to Room. 7gypsies Veneto and Alpha papers were used. First, remove switchplate. Trace switchplate onto wrong side of patterned paper, marking interior rectangles for the light switches too. Add 1" margin to outer lines and cut out. Carefully cut out small rectangles for the light switches. Using a Couzzle, choose an oval that best suits your particular light switch. Cut out on complementary patterned paper (7gypsies Alpha). Line up switchplate on top of oval and mark small rectangles for light switches. Neatly cut out small rectangles. Add rub-ons (Making Memories used here) or embellish as desired. Stitch around rectangle and oval, sponge and distress as needed. Adhere large rectangle piece over switchplate, using care to align small rectangle cut-outs with their respective openings, and mount to wall. Adhere oval (again, aligning small rectangle cut-outs) with glue dots, concealing screws. Thank you for stopping by!!

Altered Target Journal

Target stores have plain, sturdy, quality notebooks in their office supply aisle. They feature a colored binding and coordinating elastic closure, plus some, like this 6" x 6" one, feature a nifty pen slipped through a loop on the journal inside. I created this gift ensemble for a pillar of our community who is opening up her home tomorrow to various moms with children attending our local elementary school. She does this every year, and this is the first year my schedule has permitted me to attend. The small jar is a new Ball canning jar from their Elite Collection, also found at Target. This altered jar idea is from my good friend Michelle (see post below, she's standing, back row far right). The handmade Italian paper in the Florentine scroll is from a little store in Clinton, NJ called The Write Touch. Picked up a big sheet today (only a snippet of the sheet is shown in photo) and covered the notebook from Target and altered the Ball jar. Filled the jar with Choxie chocolates (Target). I do hope the hostess likes this - I am in love with this Italian paper! White cardstock from Papertrey Ink was spritzed with Solar Gold Glimmer Mist (allow to dry), stamped with circular word image then punched out and mounted onto gold rimmed tag. Layered Prima flowers and affixed with a 7gypsies crystal brad. Adhered completed tag to journal cover with red-line tape. Target spiral notebook & pen, Ball jar; Italian handmade paper; white cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Technique Tuesday Infinite Wisdom - Times to Treasure circle image; Archival pad in black (Ranger); Solar Gold Glimmer Mist; SU gold rimmed circle tag; Prima Forever Flowers #3; 7gypsies crystal brads; 2-1/2 Marvy circle punch

The Creative Retreat

Amidst an enormous apple orchard and forest of trees in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, is situated an incredible creative retreat center. White's Wildwood Retreat is one of the nicest places I have visited - here is a link: http://www.wwretreat.com/. Daily, I (online) chat with roughly 30 wonderful girlfriends. We are close, all over the USA and Canada, and we share so many incredible common bonds. This group of incredible and incredibly talented women is one of those special things in my life that I treasure and hold dear to my heart. Once a year, as many of us as possible, meet at the retreat center in Wisconsin for an elongated weekend. I call it 'My Yearly Creative Outing'. This photo represents 23 of those wonderful ladies that were able to come.

I am standing, long blonde hair, center back. Heather Nichols, our organizer, (or 'Pine' as we call her - her blog is here) took this amazing photo. Pine is standing, far left. You may recognize many, many creative people in this photo - it is truly an incredible weekend and an honor for me to attend. This year I took my holiday cards to work on, and talk, laugh, eat, drink, create and share. It is a magical time. This year, Pine asked if I would teach a class at the retreat. First subject that came to mind was Ranger's Melting Pot! I have taken several classes with Suze Weinberg here in New Jersey, and I hope I lived up to Pine's and everyone's expectations. (That's me with Tim Holtz's denim apron on!) I demonstrated how one can bake polymer clay in the Melting Pot (actually I learned that from a Tim Holtz DVD...), and I showed how to create patterned paper buttons with Ranger's Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE for short) and a non-stick mini-muffin pan, UTEE donut pendants with a non-stick mini doughnut pan, relief stamping with UTEE, and 'river rocks' from black UTEE puddles and Frozen Opals. Then I demonstrated Rangers' Mold & Pour - a two part silicone material that when combined and molded on an object, can withstand the heat of molten UTEE (the molds can actually withstand heat up to 800 degrees - that's kiln temperature). There is more information on Mold & Pour here. After I finished the demo, the ladies created works of art using the supplies I had brought - adding wire, delicate miniature beads to their UTEE creations...oh what a wonderful time it was!! Thank you ladies, for an incredible weekend!!! Can't wait until next year!!!! (all photos used with permission from Heather Nichols, Pinefeather)

Happy Birthday Jayne

I have a dear neighbor whose birthday is coming up - inspiration for her card was drawn from Nichole Heady's card and Taylor VanBruggen's card. For Taylor's card, I loved the simple and clean layout of her Noel card and wanted to remember it - so I made a quick sketch in my idea book. My idea book is a simple, hardcover book meant for journaling. I make simple sketches in it when I come across a layout, color combo (using circle punches of cardstock), unique embellishment, or paper crafting tip/trick I want to remember and refer back to. Pretty much everything I do is from some source of inspiration, so I make a note in the margin of the source.

The fabulous Tres Jolie paper and velvet brads can be found at one of my favorite stores from Joy and Daisy - http://www.eclecticpaperie.com/. Thank you, Lana, for the ribbon!

card size: A2; Tres Jolie 'Just Perfect', SU rose red cardstock; Papertrey Beautiful Blooms set; SU rose & brown inks; Martha Stewart ribbon; Maya Road clear flower; Making Memories velvet brads; Marvy oval and scallop punches.

coaster notebook

I gifted this coaster notebook to my 10yr old daughter. I have Valerie Stangle to thank for inspiring me to create this. Valerie sent me the most beautiful coaster book and coordinating card (image here) that totally inspired me to make one....and what Val says is true - they are fast and fun! To create this, I took 4" heavyweight chipboard coasters, covered them with Perfect Paper Adhesive (www.usartquest), which is a white, archival, clear-drying glue (think Elmers but archival), and stuck 4" squares of the Cheeky stripe to it. Smoothed out surface with an old credit card to rid the glue layer of trapped air bubbles & allow to dry (few minutes). Instead of trimming the rounded corners with scissors, I took a new emery board (Wal-Mart) and sanded the corners and sanded any overhang on the sides away - fast, a tad messy, but it yields nice, soft, neat edges and corners quickly. I stamped the cute birdie from Hero Arts onto a piece of white cardstock in Palette Black Noir pad, and again on pink MM Cheeky paper (it has a faint white design in it, adding interest to these little wings). Cut out wings on the pink paper and adhere to the stamped white image. Colored in image with Copic markers, blended, then punched out with a 2-1/4" circle punch (McGill). Adhere to jumbo metal rimmed tag (www.impressrubberstamps.com). Added strip of coordinating Cheeky tape, starting at the front center, wrapping around the back of the coaster. The seam is on the coaster front, which is then hidden by the jumbo tag. Assembled covers and pages (standard text weight/computer paper) and used the Zutter binder. Dang that Zutter is amazing!! You can get a Zutter and all the accessories at www.eclecticpaperie.com. Finished with a binder clip and a bow from my SU grosgrain stash. finished size: 4" square. Hero Arts Decorative Birds; Making Memories Cheeky paper & tape; Copic markers; large metal rimmed tag; circle punch; Zutter binding system.

grateful charming soul

Card layout is from the new 2007-2008 holiday mini catalog from Stampin' Up. Copic markers were used to color in the image; the Copic blender pen was used to remove some color to create shadowing. This thank you was created for a neighbor for a sweet favor, who has the most beautiful flower gardens that I just adore. I was not blessed with a green thumb by any stretch of the imagination...and I strongly admire those that are able to grow such wonderment. finished card size: A6; American Art Stamp; Penny Black sentiment (card front); Impress Rubber Stamps (thank you-card inside); Making Memories striped & pink paper, SU light blue, Papertrey white; Palette Noir & Burnt Umber ink pads, Copic markers; corner nip punch (SU); copper brads; May Arts brown polka dot sheet ribbon.

baby cards

Ellen Hutson has an online shoppe - http://www.ellenhutson.com/ - and sells wonderful paper piecing templates. I bought a couple and tried them out...needing baby cards I created these two rapidly...and since they are to be hand-delivered I decided to make them square. 'congratulations' sentiment is from Impress; cute baby diaper pins are Jolee's By You. White cardstock is from Ellen's store too - fabulous Neenah brand...a sheer joy to work with! I recommend Ellen's paper piercer - it is a precision instrument and far better than any I have tried (Making Memories & SU are the two brands I have used). When piercing, I recommend continuing the length of the design across the entire card front, even if a portion of the pierced area will be disguised by a design element. The reason for this is one will see the piercing design on the card inside, and I think it looks better if the design piercing line is complete when viewing the inside of the card...I didn't do this on the first one, and ended up stamping a little flower on the 'bare spot'. :)

finished card size: 4-3/4" square (envelopes - good deal on 5" square envelopes at www.clearbags.com).

ATC swap

This is an ATC - something I have not done in about five years...an ATC - Artist Trading Card. An ATC is a mini card - measurements are 2.5" x 3.5". I did ten of these - the stamp image (Hero Arts) was a gift from my friend Lana Lepinski a while back; ATC base is ivory cardstock; floral image is Rubber Stampede. I stamped the Hero Arts image onto ivory cardstock, tore then distressed the edges with Distress Pad in Vintage Photo (Ranger). I then collaged the ATC base first using 7gypsies papers and the Hero Arts stamped image. Then I inked up the floral image with purple and olive Stampin' Up markers, spritzed with water and stamped onto the collaged surface. Stamped again using Ranger Archival Jet Black pad. Added black 7gypsies paper strip at base. Dabbed upper floral area with a 1x1 Perfect Medium (Ranger) pad, then heat set one layer of clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (known as UTEE - it's a chunky embossing powder, available at most craft stores). While warm, I dabbed a bit of gold Perfect Pearls into the warm UTEE to give the appearance of a glow from the sun. I then layered a piece of mica, punched 2 holes through all layers (including the mica) with a 1/16" hand-held Fiskars hole punch, and threaded 2 antique gold brads through the holes. I trimmed the sides of the mica flush with the ATC base. I finished the back with a piece of black cardstock the same size as the ATC. Signed, numbered & dated.

Sympathy

Scraps. I have a love/hate relationship with printed paper scraps. I try to use them up as quickly as possible, because after a few months they just accumulate and take over if not tended to regularly, kinda like weeds in a garden. If they accumulate beyond reason I put them in a bin for my kids to use for their crafting projects... So to use them up I perodically take two patterned paper scraps that I would not normally put together, and line them up in pairs and use them up! This stamped image from Christine Adolph is an incredible image - versatile enough to use for just about any occasion. This particular card is a sympathy card. card size: A6; Christine Aldolph for Stampington & Company rubber stamp image; SU thyme cardstock; Anna Griffin and 7gypsies printed papers; Making Memories spiral clip; navy SU grosgrain ribbon; May Arts ivory gauze ribbon, Olive Vine, Solar Gold and Oyster Glimmer Mist (http://www.mytatteredangels.com/); SU olive and navy markers.

Lavender Love

A few days ago, my 4yr old daughter picked a few flowers outside and did what I remember doing to my mother when I was little: "Here Mom, I picked these for you!". So what does one do with these floral treasures? One word: Microfleur. An Australian flower press that performs in seconds what usually takes weeks. More info here: http://www.microfleur.com.au/; I purchased my units from http://www.marcopaper.com/, based in Ohio. They come in 2 sizes: 5" and 9" square. Retail is around $35 for the 5" and $50 for the 9". I use both sizes but if I had to only purchase one I would purchase the larger size - it is ideal for drying ferns. A Microfleur unit comes with a top and bottom plastic unit, plastic clips, 2 felts and 2 cotton sheets. To use a Microfleur, take one of the two plastic squares, layer one of the two felts, then one of the two cotton sheets, then the item(s) to be dried, then the cotton sheet, the felt and the plastic unit. Clip together. Nuke for about 45 seconds (depending on the size and quantity of the plant material). Carefully remove dried item and place on a piece of white cardstock for a few minutes. This allows the flower/leaf/etc to fully 'harden' or dry off completely. Presto! You have a dried flower! I recommend using PPA (Perfect Paper Adhesive from www.usartquest.com) for adhering dried elements - PPA has a UV protectant and is archival. card directions: Press flower in Microfleur. Spray Evening Primrose Glimmer Mist (www.mytatteredangels.com) on a piece of white cardstock and allow to dry. Tie dried flower with 3/8" silver organdy (Stampin' Up) ribbon. Using heat tool, age/slightly melt organdy ribbon ends. Stamp harlequin image (Stampers Anonymous) on white (now purple) glimmer misted cardstock and adhere dried flower using Perfect Paper Adhesive (www.usartquest.com) and allow to fully dry. Mat with black cardstock and set aside. Repetitively stamp harlequin diamond image vertically and circle yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever image (both - Art Warehouse) with Perfect Medium (Ranger - or use a VersaMark pad) on lavender card base (Stampin' Up). Stamp harlequin diamond image in Adirondack Cool Peri (Ranger) on white cardstock and cut out. Stamp 'love you' (Art Warehouse) on diamond center. Mount onto card base with a glue dot. Mount dried flower unit to card base. Using a fine needle and quilting thread (stronger than regular sewing thread), attach key and lock to ribbon knot and tie securely in place.

finished card size: A2.

Father's Day 2007

No stamping, but loved how this turned out. This is my creation for my dear husband from me and the children. I drew a grid on the back of the white cardstock at 1/2" intervals, then punched with an anywhere 1/8" hole punch at every intersection to resemble pegboard. Brads hold some of the tools (http://www.orientaltrading.com/) in place; for other tools the brad is strictly for decorative purposes and held in place with a glue dot. Sentiments are from 7gypsies Fatherhood stickers, mounted on 7gypsies sticker foam pieces. card size: A6; caramel, black and white cardstock; 1/8" anywhere hole punch, ruler, pencil, 7gypsies foam pieces, 7gyspies stickers, 1-3/8" circle punch, black brads.

a little note

Give me a Distress pad any day - and I am a happy girl!! :) Olive layer was created by swiping Distress pads on the surface, spritzing with water until very wet, crumpling, ironing flat, spritzing with Olive Vine Glimmer Mist and ironing again. Distress all edges with a paper distresser, then DTP with Vintage Photo Distress pad. Stitch central image, then zig zag stitch stamped sentiment. Card size: A6; Crafty Secrets Bird Notes stamps, Hero Arts French script; DCWV paper (sentiment is stamped on this paper - called Once Upon a Time Print), 7gypsies papers, ivory, burgundy cardstock - SU; Distress pads in Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, Shabby Shutters & Peeled Paint; Olive Vine Glimmer Mist (www.mytatteredangels.com); antique gold brad; black brad pinwheel (www.coilconnection.com).

Fathers' Day

I love this card but this concept is not my idea. This is a CASE of a Papyrus brand card I saw at Border's bookstore yesterday. Simple. Easy. I used sheets from 6x6 pad of Morocco Journey - these sheets are the same design as their 12x12 counterparts, only 1/4 th in scale. Perfect for these little ties. I created a tie template from white chipboard (a coaster remnant), then traced the tie pattern onto the wrong side of three different patterned papers. Cut out, fold over the wire hanger (18 gauge wire from Wal-Mart) and adhere. I positioned a mini glue dot on the back of each tie near the top and also near the base of each tie. Adhered unit to card base, then placed a teeny tiny dot of white clear drying glue on the hanger where the end coils around the hanger hook and press against card base firmly. To create the wire hanger just use a pair of needlenose pliers and wire color of your choice and form to the size desired. You may want to draw a hanger template on a piece of paper and use that as your guide, aligning the wire against your sketch periodically to ensure correct proportion. I used 18 gauge wire for this card. Card size: A2; Father's Day sentiment - Rosie's Roadshow; SU caramel cardstock; Ranger Archival black pad; 7gypsies 6x6 Morocco Journey patterned papers; black wire.

journal madhouse

I have been cranking out journals this entire weekend - here is a selection. The one above is a 7gypsies 7x7 journal, covered with some of their new line of papers - Napoli. These are here and will be listed shortly in the store. Tag is DMD Industries - sprayed with something new called Glimmer Mist in Olive Vine. I purchased Glimmer Mist from www.mytatteredangels.com - and have fallen head over heels in love with this product!! It adds quite a bit of shimmer to the surface, and I sped up the dry time utilizing a hot craft iron. The organdy ribbon was aged using a heat tool. Papers and edges were aged using a paper distresser and Ranger Distress Pads in Antique Linen and Vintage Photo. journal, journal handle, book corners, knob, paper, 'divine' stamp - all 7gypsies. Beads - unknown; linen thread - SU; 'Memories' sentiment - The Angel Company; fleur-de-lis brad, metal oval label holder - StarLitStudio. Harlequin stamp - Impress; floral stamp - Rubber Stampede.

Journal on left - covered notebook from Target using 7gypsies papers, Glimmer Mist in Solar Gold; Journal sentiment - Quietfire Designs. 7gypsies brass key; lock charm - unknown.

Journal on right - Christine Adolph for Stampington image; glimmer mist in Evening Primrose and Blushing Rose. 7gypsies paper covers a journal from Staples.

Hero Arts birdies

I am smitted with Hero Arts new line - this set, called Decorative Birds, comes in a package of four absolutely darling line art birds. This layout is from an old Stampin' Up catalog. A Muse happy birthday sentiment. Card size - A4; Hero Arts Decorative Birds; A Muse sentiment; SU celery cardstock & decorative papers; Palette Noir Black pad; Copic markers; silver brads, May Arts 1/8" ribbon; twill (twilltape.com); button.

May birthdays

I have a bunch of friends' birthdays in the month of May...and created this card so I could mass-produce them. This layout is based loosely from a layout in an old Stampin' Up Stampin' Success issue. The pristine white, heavy-duty tag: these are readily available at Michaels' Craft Store or any general craft store. I love the quality of these tags (from DMD Industries). These tags also take walnut ink solution very well for those moments when I just need to distress something.... :) Paper and stamp set (Paper Salon) is from www.eclecticpaperie.com - Joy and Daisy's shop - incredibly speedy shipping and awesome service!!! The decorative edge punch is new from Martha Stewart's craft line. Her punches are very nice, as is the glitter. Clever storage/display of the punches, allowing one to store them vertically and view the image on the top front of the punch. Very clever Martha. :) Clear floral sticker over stamped image is from Ellen Hutson's store - oh such fabulous items she carries!!! Interior sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamp Company. card size: A6; Paper Salon Small Talk set; Palette Noir pad; Copic Markers; celery cardstock, DMD large white tag, Charlotte Shirley Floral paper from Paper Salon; circle punches, Martha Stewart floral border punch; celery brads;3/16" May Arts red gingham ribbon; Creative Candy floral sticker.

Alcohol Inked Dragonfly

Stamp alcohol inked glossy cardstock section with dragonfly image. Using circle punch, punch stamped round element and interior section as well with smaller circle punch. Reserve interior, smaller circle. Stamp image again onto rust cardstock then mount onto black cardstock. Line up stamped, alcohol inked glossy cardstock layer and adhere to rust layer. Punched evenly spaced 1/16" holes and intall black brads. Cover ivory card base with script paper, add ribbon then stamped layer unit.

Card size: A6; dragonfly image (Stampers Anonymous); black Palette Noir pad; Adirondack alcohol inks in cranberry, butterscotch, denim, and pesto, Adirondack blending solution; rust, black and ivory cardstock, glossy cardstock; Small Script printed paper (7gypsies); circle punches; cranberry May Arts ribbon; black brads.

Magenta birdies

I fell in love with these birdies - and the paper! Paper is Basic Grey and is from Joy and Daisy's store - www.eclecticpaperie.com. Fabulous selection, fabulous prices and super-fast shipping! Birdies were stamped on a piece of Arches watercolor paper, then watercolored with Adirondack dye based reinkers in Lettuce, Cranberry and Stonewashed. A faint wash of Slate created the shadowing around the birdies. Oval shiny gold picture frame hanger added interest and a bit of cotton twill ribbon gave it a homespun feel, adding to the whimsical feel of this card. card size: A6. Magenta birds image (L.0477); Basic Grey bird patterned paper (Phoebe), Arches watercolor paper, black and brocade blue cardstock (SU); Adirondack dye reinkers in Stonewashed, Cranberry, Slate and Lettuce; circle punch, picture frame hanger, brads.

Leonardo - Horseman

For a while now, Stampington has a line of rubber stamp images based on sketches of Leonardo da Vinci. When I was a young girl, a neighbor of ours, Charles Dent, built a geodesic dome studio on his farm. His goal was to recreate Leonardo's Il Cavallo - The Horse. The Rennaisance was always my favorite time period in my Humanities courses, and this line of stamps takes me back to a point in my life that exudes treasured memories. The decorative paper is Jenn Starr for Zsaige - I had the priviledge of meeting Jenn Star here in New Jersey two weekends ago for a paper arts class - she is a great teacher and I enjoyed her class immensely. This is a masculine-themed birthday card - interior verse (Impress Rubber Stamps) reads 'the very best on your special day; happy birthday'. Photo punch is mounted with dimesionals. Technique: on white cardstock stamp image with waterproof ink & heat set if needed. Smear Distress pads and spritz with water. Crumple & iron flat. Smear again with Distress Pad (Antique Linen) to emphasize crumples. card size: A6; card base cardstock - Marco Paper, patterned paper - Zsaige. Impress Rubber Stamps sentiments. Distress Pads in Faded Jeans, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo; Archival pad in Jet Black. Craft iron, Melt Art craft sheet, EK Success photo corner punch, dimensionals, vintage brass brads, dimensionals.

Three words: Valerie Stangle layout! Love this layout of hers - I used it frequently, or if I'm in a creative slump it always perks me up! New Doodlebug Birthday clear stamps. I never would have purchased clear stamps - but the ability to align elements quickly and accurately is soooooo appealing! Card size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5"). Doodlebug Birthday & Hero Arts (sentiment) stamps; Palette pad in Burnt Umber; Me & My Big Ideas printed paper, aqua, brown & pink paper from Stampin' Up!; May Arts ribbon, Copic markers; silver brads; dimensionals.

Faux Ribbon

Papertrey Ink has a new set out called Faux Ribbon - AMAZING set!! Here is what I call a '2-minute card'. Yep - took 2 minutes to create. Michelle Wooderson and Heather McNally layout. Finished card size: A2. Papertrey Ink Faux Ribbon set; 7gypsies Latium paper, SU thyme & burgundy cardstock; Adirondack Espresso, Pesto and Raisin pads; circle punches; gold brads.

Feelin' Funny!

Rosie's Roadshow stamps - these adorable little stamps are like building blocks...the duck is one image, the broom another....so much fun!! I doodled the clouds and the 'swishing' through the air... finished card size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5") stamps: Rosie's Roadshow; Ranger Archival jet black pad; Adirondack pad in Espresso; cardstock - Marco paper; Crate printed paper; circle punches, SU word window punch; May Arts ribbon; Copic markers.

American Art Stamp

I fell in love with this image from American Art Stamp (www.americanartstamp.com) - clowns in white face bother me somewhat, but jesters are absolute pure fun!! This image was designed by Karen Stolper. I used markers by Copic to color in and add shadowing around the stamped image. Copic markers leave no tell-tale 'lines' when coloring in images. I love that. I also love that Copic carries very pale colors - I use these pale colors to add shadowing to stamped items - my favorites are W2 (warm gray no.2), BV31 (pale lavender), B41 (powder blue), BG10 (cool shadow) and R00 (pinkish white). The blues and lavenders really add an air of natural shadow to any image, but I love the pale lavender on this particular one. The other thing I love about Copic markers is their vast selection of flesh tone hues. They have hues from every shade from my skin as a baby, my skin right now, my skin with a tan, my skin when I have sunburn, my skin when I have a really, really niiiiiice tan....you get the picture...and hair tones - don' git me stahted! LOL!! finished card size: A6 (4-5/8" x 6-3/8"). Interior verse reads "...a birthday full of delightful surprises ", from Impress Rubber Stamps (www.impressrubberstamps.com). Valerie Stangle layout. rose and white cardstocks (SU), silver brads (StarLitStudio), American Art Stamp image, verse stamps from Impress; printed paper - unknown; Palette pad in Noir; Adirondack pad in Espresso.

Brad organization

Finding what I need quickly makes me more efficient. When I am efficient I don't get frustrated, which makes me happy - so being efficient makes me happy - :) I love brads. Period. I don't know quite what it is but something about brads on a card makes me swoon...wierd, eh? :-D Some brad colors I use a ton of and as a result maintain a large stockpile: silver, gold, white, brown, etc. I store these large-quantity brads in glass-lidded tin containers called watchmaker tins, found at www.leevalleytools.com. The ones pictured here are about 2" in diameter. The see-through drawer I store these nice tins in is above eye level (when seated - I sit when I stamp), so the nice glass lids do me little good. So one day, out of frustration from reaching up and grabbing the wrong color....yet again...., I took a 1/16" hand-held hole punch, and punched four holes equidistant from each other (north, south, east and west on the tin) and inserted brads along the tin sides. Now I can see from the top and sides what color and size brad is in each container. I also punched the new 7gypsies brad tins too with this method.

Bridal shower invite

I submitted several styles of bridal shower invitation samples to a client, not knowing what direction she wanted: traditional, contemporary, elegant, whimsical. I was provided with only the bridal colors: red and ecru. After this sample was approved I was told, to my incredible luck, that the bride-to-be will be wearing a sleeveless dress similar to Emily's Sposabella. Thank you to Joy and Daisy at Eclectic Paperie for having the Crate 'Snowing' cardstock available!!! The dress is outlined in a very pale blue Copic marker - #B41 - Powder Blue. Outlining anything in white, when the image itself is stamped on white cardstock, will allow the white to 'pop'. I learned this from the ultrafabulous and incredibly talented JulieHRR. The bridal bouquet is Christmas Red Stickles, and the base of her dress is Star Dust Stickles. The 'you're invited' sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. The bride's hair is highlighted with a clear Glaze pen. The top edge of the Crate Snowing cardstock was gently distressed with a Tim Holtz paper distresser, then nipped at the lower corners with a ticket corner punch from Stampin' Up. Fabulous Valerie Stangle layout. Finished card size: A2 (4-1/4" x 5-1/2") Sposabella - Stamping Bella; sentiment - Papertrey Ink; Palette Noir pad; white and celery cardstock; Copic markers; clear Glaze pen; Stickles glitter glues in Christmas Red and Star Dust; paper distresser; ticket corner punch - SU.

Watercolor stamping

I have discovered that emergency gifts often turn out better than if one tried to plan a gift. When I refer to 'emergency gift' - I am referring to those last-minute gifts that one would create in minutes, simply because one lacks TIME. Well, this gift was one of those. I took a large Fabriano notecard and created a holder for six smaller, stamped Fabriano notecards and six envelopes. These larger Fabrianos are new to the store: they measure 6-3/4" x 4-1/2" folded - they are a nice, big size. I scored the open end one side of the large card in one inch, then stapled the card together on each side, just below the score mark. Position the top part of the staple on the back of the folded card, and the 'teeth' part of the staple on the card front, so the 'teeth' are hidden under the flap! This idea is from Her Royal Rubberness, JulieHRR. Fold the 1" flap down to conceal the staple 'teeth'. Nice, easy pocket card. I then tied a length of 3/8" sheer olive May Arts ribbon around the pocket and on top of the 1"fold to anchor it down, then inserted the stamped smaller Fabriano notecards & envelopes into the pocket created. Now, for the six notecards: I stamped each with a floral image from Stampin' Up's Petal Prints set. Using the brushstroke side of dye based markers, ink up the rubber. Spritz inked rubber once with water, stamp onto Fabriano card front twice, so you achieve two generations - one full strength and one slightly lighter, one image slightly askew from the other. Immediately heat set the pools of color with a heat tool. In my opinion, heat setting gives a more realistic watercolor effect than if you allow the stamped image to air dry. Next, I inked the stamped flowers with Perfect Medium (you could also use VersaMark) from Ranger, then sprinkled on clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). Using a fine, dry paintbrush swipe away any UTEE in areas undesired. Heat set until melted & allow to cool only a few seconds. Using UTEE will provide a 'raindrop' effect on the petals. A finer embossing powder will not yield this desired result. I learned this from Susan Pickering Rothemel of USArtQuest.

Lastly, using a dry paintbrush and gold Perfect Pearls, I highlighted the tips of the flowers, allowing the warm UTEE and excess Perfect Medium to grip the Pearls. This gave the effect of sunshine and a glowing aura around the blossoms.

Perfect Pearls products contain a binder so it is not necessary to apply a fixative. Please use caution to avoid this product from becoming airborne. This same watercolor & highlighting stamping technique was also performed on the large Fabriano pocket. Fabriano notecards - one large and 6 small, 6 small envelopes; SU floral stamp, Hero Arts sentiment; Perfect Medium pad, Archival pad in black (both from Ranger); SU markers in amethyst, eggplant and olive; fine spritz bottle w/water; May Arts ribbon, staples & stapler, clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.

American Art Stamps

This wonderful image from American Art Stamp (www.americanartstamp.com) was designed by Karen Stolper. Interior birthday wishes stamp is from Inkadinkado. Love these papers from Making Memories Anthology collection - very fresh, and has gotten me into the 'spring is here' mode! Layout is from my friend Kookie - thanks Kookie! finished card size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5") 'Bouquet' image-American Art Stamp; 'birthday wishes' sentiment - Inkadinkado; Making Memories Anthology papers and brad (other brads pictured); Palette ink - Noir; banana & chocolate cardstock; Copic markers.

Butterfly Kisses

Is this a FANTASMIGORICAL set or WHAT!!?? Butterfly Kisses, available from Papertrey Ink. Nichole Heady has simply outdone herself. Versatile. Superior quality. Ease in use. Sets like this make me want to stamp again! This paper is from my friend Joy's store and her friend Daisy - Eclectic Paperie. This fabulous Chatterbox Light Parlor Paisley is incredible!! Eclectic Paperie ships fast - my order placed Thursday arrived Monday - and they are on the opposite end of the country!! WOWZAH!! This layout is from my friend Pine (pinefeather on SCS, or Heather Nichols). The cute tab is the Chatterbox paper reverse, punched with the new Stampin' Up round tab punch. Chatterbox & Stampin' Up apricot cardstock; Butterfly Kisses set from Papertrey Ink; Palette Noir ink pad; Copic markers; Glossy Accents (Ranger); May Arts ribbon; silver brads.

anthology

interior verse reads: '...a wonderful spring'. I love the Making Memories Anthology collection -

I call this patterned paper style 'vintage country'. Makes me think of old, wide oak plank floors, apple pie and soft, worn, denim overalls under a clean white tshirt. 20 degrees outside and an ice storm has raged for the past 22 hours now. I'm off to dream about sand between my toes and the sun on my face... Making Memories Anthology collection - paper, buttons. 3/4" circle punch; flower punches - large: EK Success; small: All Night Media. ribbon: May Arts. SU Rose Red cardstock. Sentiment: Impress. Copic marker in New Leaf; Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black; paper piercing tool & grid; pop-up glue dots. card inspiration: image in a back issue of Stampin' Success.

Coaster hinges

product update: The coaster hinges are in but not listed - they will be counted (and quality control checked!) and packaged. Silver brads are still on backorder so the silver hinges will be available sans brads. Hopefully the wait will not be long. No time to work or stamp here as of late. A fraction of the new 7gypsies items arrived and must be listed asap. Graduation invites, bridal invites, and baby shower invites are in the cue - swamped you say? Yup - but much better than being bored for sure! Somebody asked me a few weeks ago what my dream job would be - and after much consideration I have concluded that my DREAM JOB would be: To run a kiosk at a mall from December 1st to December 24th that would specialize in wrapping holiday gifts!!! Seriously - call me nuts but I would love to do something like that one day. With no time to stamp this is the outside and inside of 2 identical cards I did a few weeks ago: Basic design is from the SU 2006-2007 catalog. Sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamp Company; Chinese calligraphy - All Night Media; other images: Stampin' Up. Moss and cranberry cardstock, ribbon from SU; the Asian coins will be available in the store in a few days. Brown archival ink from Ranger; floral spray colored in with su markers: pretty in pink, ruby red, mellow moss. My Stampin' Up markers are fraying horribly. I purchase a new set every year - my current set is from July, 2006. The felt quality of the brushstroke tips is just not what it has been in years past...I resorted to ordering a bunch of Copic markers from A Muse Art Stamps, and the balance of my Copic marker needs from http://www.carpediemstore.com (thanks Otter~!) - they are 50% off retail currently! Copic markers are professional grade and will hopefully be an improvement over the SU marker disappointment. But, then again, the Copic ones are twice as much as SU (full retail)...like my mom said, 'most of the time you get what you pay for.' We'll see how Copic holds up - would love to hear of others' experience with the Copic brand if time permits.

Stickles. Stickles are a glitter and glue in one. Imbed baubles, other dimensional objects, or use alone as a glitter accent. I was recently asked by a customer, Shawna, what were the coordinating 30 Stickles colors compared to the 48 colors offered by Stampin' Up (SU). Here are my suggestions. Keep in mind these colors merely coordinate with and are no where near exact matches. Stickles - SU Copper, Platinum, Silver, Golden Rod, Gold - No SU color available that is similar Xmas Red - Real Red Candy Cane - Ruby Red Magenta - Pink Passion Lavender - Lavender Lace Purple - n/a Orange Peel - Only Orange Fruit Punch - Regal Rose Pink - Pixie Pink Dark Blue - Lovely Lilac Starry Night - Lovely Lilac Yellow - Yoyo Yellow Eucalyptus - n/a Patina - Handsome Hunter Lime Green - Old Olive Green - Glorious Green Waterfall - Buckaroo Blue* Turquoise - Tempting Turquoise Aqua - Cool Caribbean* Holly - Garden Green Black Diamond - Basic Black * these colors are only available through SU this year (2007). The 'clear' Stickles - there are five (5). These all dry clear; however, the difference is in the hues of the glitter within. Star Dust is clear with aurora borealis (rainbow) hues. Diamond has only the gold/champagne sparkle from the AB spectrum. Crystal has the yellow/green from the AB spectrum, Icicle is similar to StarDust except the size of the glitter is round and larger. Frosted Lace has irridscent pearl glitter. Again, these are only my suggestions.

Get well Bella ~

I've had this background paper for several months - it is from Wild Asparagus. It reminds me of my mom's old housecoat she would have on in the mornings when I would be headed off to catch the school bus...and when I saw the Bella (www.stampingbella.com) with the bunny slippers - awaiting the sip of hot coffee first thing in the morning - I immediately thought of this paper! The stamped image was shadow outlined in a Tombow grey marker I purchased from my friend Jovita Kloess, a CTMH representative. This marker is awesome for adding a pale grey shadow to make the image 'pop'. I would love to find one in a pale, pale blue and one in a pale, pale lavender Grumpabella, sentiment: Rosie's Roadshow; Wild Asparagus, SU apricot appeal, Impress eyelets, SU markers: bashful blue, ballet blue, certainly celery, old olive, blush blossom, summer sun, more mustard; Tombow #95 grey marker. The amazing, the incredible, Valerie Stangle layout.

blog banner service

My friend, Beth Silaika, has a blog banner business, and also creates watermarks. If you like the banner on this blog, Beth can be reached at http://freckledfun.blogspot.com/. I love you Bethie!!! (and really love my banner - lol!)

Beth Silaika challenge

This card is a modified CASE from my friend Bethie, for a challenge she is hostessing now on www.splitcoaststampers.com. For this stamping challenge, one takes a card from the designated gallery of the week, change two elements and upload, linking the original card and outlining the changes made.

Cute Converse and Sassy Stems sets from SU; ColorBox card base, Basic Grey stripe, Hahnemühle watercolor paper; Ranger Archival pad in jet black; Distress pad in Vintage Photo (DTP on upper edges of card base); Twinkling H2O's, Creative Candy heart bling from Ellen Hutson's store, stamp-a-ma-jig, piercing tool and kit, May Arts olive ribbon; su bluebird grosgrain, Tim Holtz paper distresser

Toasting a birthday!

oh da Bellas!!! oh sooooooo addictive.... Bella's pants were created by stamping Stampin Up (SU) retired Just Jeans with SU turquoise onto caribbean cardstock, then stamping Bella onto that concoction and cutting her jeans out...gluing into place with a Glue Pen. Bella's shirt was colored in with a SU pumpkin pie marker, then colored in with the glue pen, then dusted with an ultrafine glitter. Glossy Accents were delicately applied to her martini glass - she's drinking a dirty martini - ....I love olive juice - sodium freak I am I daresay!! LOL!! Hair: SU caramel and cocoa markers, then overlaid a bit of brown Glaze pen to highlight. My Big Bella Dental Secret: OK it is just a tip...I tried outlining her mouth with pink, red, it just never looked right to me. So, I colored her face in with su blush marker (I'm waiting on the Copic markers from the A Muse site! - com'mon UPS man!!! LOL!) then used a white Glaze pen (or a white Souffle pen) and colored inside the black outline of her open mouth. Adds dimension and that splash of oooooh - purtty white pearlies! VSL (Valerie Stangle Layout) - who else??? :-)

Me and My Big Ideas paper; background is cardstock from Marco Paper - great stuff there...A Muse birthday sentiment; May Arts polka dot ribbon. Thank you for looking!

Alcohol Inks

I love Adirondack alcohol inks. Why? They don't stink, they dry instantly, and they make plain stuff look just *amazing*! Here is a link to the alcohol ink tutorial:

SCS alcohol ink tutorial Stampin Up old olive card base; jet black Ranger Archival Ink pad; Stampers Anonymous detailed image (one of my faves). Inks were applied to the white CD tin, then to a sheet of glossy cardstock. Stamped images, then cardstock was cut apart into segments keeping the rubber stamp image design in mind. 'dream' - Inkakinkado; 'dream' interior sentiment - Wordsworth. A thin section of the inked glossy cardstock was reserved for the interior of each card, also serving to conceal the obverse side of the brads. CD tin was stamped with Stampers Anonymous image, then sprinkled with detail embossing powder in white and heat set. Key hole and key brads (hard to see on the tin) are from Oriental Trading.

Thank you for looking!

ode to Chantel...

There is a recent member of the DDDT (Dirty Dozen Design Team) on Splitcoaststampers web site (www.splitcoaststampers.com) and her name is Chantel. Fabulous stamper - incredibly creative...I love her work. This card layout is Chantel's. Instant classic. Love it Chantel! 7gypsies and Die Cuts with a View cardstock; EK Success flower punch. Vase uses Karma from 7gypsies, run through a Cuttlebug using an embossing folder, then punched out with a pueblo vase punch (Punch Bunch); May Arts ribbon; A Muse sentiment.

new banner!!

Thank you to my friend Beth Silaika for creating....and installing the custom banner you now see - Bethie you are THE BEST!!!!!! I so adore old things - vintage cars, pieces of furniture - old photos, bits of our past. Thank you, Bethie, for doing this!!

diggin da Bellas...

If you have not seen these, these images are from www.stampingbella.com , and are incredibly addictive...buy your first one at your own risk!! LOL!! My dear friend Lisa Zappa sent me an amazing card with a Bella image, and she used a pattern paper on Bella's pants and purse...which spawned these cards. verse - SU; paper - retired SU printed vellum (I can't believe I found this stuff - it is ancient! - lol..) and Wild Asparagus. Card base is Memory Box Co - you can find these with matching envelopes at my friend Ellen Hutson's store - www.ellenhutson.com. Thank you for looking!

Bareback

This image was inspired by a card I saw on Debbie Olson's blog and came up with this card. Cuttlebug embossed folder was used on SU bravo burgundy cardstock, then swiped with a SU white craft pad. I did this late in the night and let it dry until morning. You could heat-set it but...well it was 2am...kinda like it is tonight - lol... Ribbon is May Arts embroidery line; the olive green sheer snippet at the top left is one of my fave styles from them. Buckle is from 7gypsies. Thank you for looking!

New May Arts Ribbon...

Masculine cards are usually easy for me, but lately I am finding it harder and harder to come up with something that is not so 'dreary' looking... This card uses a brown and light turquoise cardstock and a swiggly image from Delight in Life set - all from Stampin' Up. Brads are Making Memories, ribbon is the new ME series from May Arts. Birthday sentiment is Anna Griffin for All Night Media, brown mulberry paper (local source) and lower printed paper is Die Cuts with a View. Birthday sentiment was aged with a paper distresser and sponged with an Antique Linen Distress pad. Wheeled image on light turquoise cardstock is from Clearsnap. Thank you for looking!

Marks...

Watermark: I love my new watermark. It was developed by super genius stamper Cindy Kerry. Her blog and more information can be found here: http://imagine-dream-create.blogspot.com/ Thank you Cindy!! The process of obtaining the register mark after StarLitStudio is now in its second year. I started the process of trademarking the name over a year ago...maybe by summer??? LOL!!

Male Valentine

Sweet and simple masculine Valentine card. Very little stamping here. Hearts were punched using a Cuttlebug machine and heart dies using Basic Grey, SU paper and a lightweight chipboard coaster, then cardstock hearts were adhered to the chipboard hearts. Striped heart was adhered to cardfront with a few glue dots, then pink heart (edges lightly sponged with an antique linen Distress pad) was adhered with a dimensional. Sentiment banner was hand cut. Scalloped circle focal point was adhered with pop-up glue dots. sentiment: A Muse; ribbon - May Arts; paper - Basic Grey & SU; Marvy punches.

Czech glass buttons

I won a few glass dragonfly buttons on eBay... seller was located in the Czech Republic...I HAD to have these. I could 'see' their potential. I took one dragonfly button (you can see one just above the blue mold on the left), and used a Ranger product called Mold n' Pour. Mold n' Pour is a two-part silicone based product, and when equal portions are kneaded together for about 30 seconds one can shape the product around a stationary object. About ten minutes later you have a flexible mold that holds the object's detail. Heat-resistant up to 800 degrees (yes, that is kiln temperature!) and entirely flexible. I have molded portions of statues, my daughter's horse figures, Barbie dolls, you name it - prior to the product setting up I recommend flattening the base/bottom of the mold so it will remain level on your worksurface...so you can use it with liquid.... namely UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Powder - another Ranger product - for more info I recommend visiting www.rangerink.com). To make the journal above, I tightly fed black polymer clay into the flexible mold (the snazzy blue mold at lower left of the photo), then peeled the mold away from the clay. Baked then highlighted portions with a bit of Rub n' Buff. Because the mold is silicone based you do not need a release agent - purtty kewl, eh!? NOTE: I took another class with Suze Weinberg (developer of UTEE/melting pot/etc) a few months ago and she informed the class Mold 'n Pour has been reformulated and new production features purple and white - old formula is blue and white. I have not seen the new formula for sale anywhere but thought I'd pass this tidbit along... Notebook is from Target; arrow is 7gypsies; paper is Basic Grey. The clay base was created by rolling sheets of polymer clay through a dedicated pasta machine on the highest setting, then cutting into shapes desired. I used liquid sculpey to adhere the layers together prior to baking. Holes were drilled prior to baking for the attachment of brads. 'dream' stamp Inkadinkado and 'Journal' is a TAC stamp. Complete, baked pendant was adhered to covered notebook with E-6000. These bulletin board tacks were created by pouring molten UTEE (black) from my Melting Pot (Ranger) into the mold, then allowing to harden and cool then peeling the mold away from the hardened UTEE. I used Perfect Pearls to change the base color and highlight the dragonfly. Using E-6000 I adhered a super-jumbo tack (WalMart) on the back. The grid sheet background you see in the photo is in 1/4" increments - these are well over 1" in diameter. The cat loves to pull them off of the kitchen desk bulletin board- lol...

Stamping Bella

This image is

'sposabella'....for those of you that are not familiar with this line of stamps they can be found here: www.stampingbella.com.

Warning: these images are highly addictive and purchasing one will lead you to want more and more!! The other rubber Bella images that Emily has are inkredibly fun!!

Pebble embossed paper was created in a Cuttlebug (Provo Craft). SU paper & ribbon, A Muse sentiment.

Crate Anniversary card

This card was a commission - it is for a 50th anniversary.

Cuttlebug large hearts were cut from heavyweight chipboard... which I do not recommend. I have broken too many B spacer boards on the heavyweight coasters.... the lightweight coasters fortunately do not break the Cuttlebug spacers.

For the gold heart I pressed the die-cut heart into a Perfect Medium pad (Ranger product - it is similar to VersaMark, a watermark ink) then dipped into Gold Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). I repeated the UTEE two times and achieved a non-textured and smooth surface. A Krylon 18kt gold leafing pen was used on the outer rim.

The second die-cut heart was adhered to a die-cut heart cut from 7gypsies paper then sponged with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Pads. This layout is Valerie Stangle's. Card base is a 5" Fabriano.

Marvy scalloped circle punch was punched from the reverse of the Crate paper featured on the card front. Each of the five gold brads represents a decade, as do the gold cord wraps.

Prima Trio

Using up paper scraps here...There are two Prima blossoms per card - one layered upon the other. These are from the Prima Caribbean collection.

These were fun to make and fast too ...

Valerie Stangle layout; A Muse happy birthday verse, SU heart image and Clearsnap French Script wheel (left card)...finally someone came out with a French script wheel! yippieeeee!!; 7gypsies, Crate & Basic Grey printed paper; SU cardstock. Card on right used a CuttleBug swirl embossing folder. May Arts ribbons.

Giveaway winner!

Congrats to Jennie Harper for winning the Jan '07 giveaway!! I hope to do more of these in the future.

My son picked the winning ticket - here he is at his 7th birthday last month. Thank you all for your comments - I feel overwhelmed by your responses and will continue to put forth my best efforts and provide the best service possible!

Anyone want this?

I have a bit of extra product here, and thought it would be nice to have a giveaway...

All items were pulled from store inventory; some I pulled because I thought you might like/need them, or because I enjoy using them and hope you will too.

I will admit I bought the giant oval photo frame punch just because JulieHRR bought one...but I had 2 in my shopping cart and didn't bother to check over my purchases when I clicked 'send order' - LOL...I'm being more careful since then... :)

Everything is new and in its original packaging. What is not shown, but will be included is a brand new 7gypsies Handbag Kit.

StarLitStudio January 2007 Giveaway includes: 1-7gypsies handbag kit, 3-Tombow Monoadhesive refills, 1-Making Memories cheeky board clips, 1-McGill oval mount photo frame punch, 1-7gypsies 'Observations' gypsy band, 1-7gypsies 'hold me tight' gypsy band, 1-Glue Lines 1" adhesive lines, 1-7gypsies 'FAMILY' metal plate & tabs, 1-7gypsies 4" black elastics, 1-7gypsies Sentiments Flashcards, and 1-7gypsies gaffer tape in Paisley.

Please leave a comment to this post if you wish to be included in the drawing. Drawing will close on Monday, January 22nd at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be selected at random and announced Tuesday, January 23rd. If you leave your email addy in the comments section I will contact you if you have won; otherwise please check back to see if you have won on Tuesday. Good luck!

Also, I will ship the parcel anywhere in the world the United States Postal Service will deliver. :)

Prima Valentine

Easy peasy Valentine card; an adaptation of a Valerie Stangle layout. Two (2) Prima Caribbean flowers were layered; Cuttlebug heart (pink cardstock overlaying lightweight coaster/chipboard).

This design was inspired by a lunch tin in an Archivers advertisement I received by mail.

cardstock: Stampin' up & Basic Grey; stamp sentiment: SU; May Arts ribbons

Teacher Valentine Pails

White 4-1/2" diameter metal buckets from Michaels Craft Store. I used my Crop-A-Dile (there are a few left in the store - If you need/want one please get 'em while they last as I will not be reordering this item) to punch the 3/8" holes then set the eyelets. Simple 3x3 card uses an A Muse sentiment, Stampin Up heart images, button, tag punches, red ink and cardstock. May Arts velvet ribbon. I adore the A Muse verses - perfection! Their site is www.amuseartstamps.com.

Valentine card

OK, OK, everyone here has been saying "Valentine's Day! Why on earth are you thinking of Valentine's Day already??"

I'm trying to get a jump-start on the next holiday...and designed this for my dear husband. SVL (standard Val layout)...I told Val (11Valerie11 on SCS) about this card today on the phone - I always design his card first before anything else is done for the holiday. Hope he likes it!

The two buttons located near the card bottom are vintage ones gifted to me from my dear friend Piris (or Iris on SCS). I snipped off the shank with wire cutters, then tinted them a tad darker using Adirondak Alcohol Inks in Espresso and Ginger (Ranger).

The fabulous printed paper used for the lower portion of the card base is from Die Cuts with a View (DCWV), gifted this holiday from another dear friend, Ang (AngFab on SCS). Thanks Ang, Val and Piris!!!

other elements used: 7gypsies arrow & small aged tag; black pinwheel brad; Cuttlebug heart die; SU burgundy & ivory cardstock, 7gypsies French & English text paper, DCWV Old World Stack textured paper, SU 'love' sentiment & harlequin stamps; red wax linen.

Cuttlebug die storage

If I am to use a product, it must be easily accessible.

I had my CB (Cuttlebug) dies in a drawer on my desk. It was difficult to find what I was looking for, and I really want to use these! So I copied the images of each set I owned (and the ones that are on their way - LOL) from the Provo Craft site, and adjusted their sizes to 3/4" in width. Then, I printed the color images on a sheet of white cardstock, and used a 3/4" square punch to punch them all out. Adhered punched images to cardstock units high enough so the printed area would peek out perfectly. I then trimmed these units so they would lay like file folders in thirds.

Silver mesh 3"x9" tray is from Wal-Mart.

It now takes a mere second to locate and retrieve what I am looking for.

edited to add: the small embossing folders fit too - they are in the back; the dividers must be cut taller to compensate for their increased height compared to the steel dies.

Riding instructor gift

This is a gift for a dear lady that is a riding instructor in our area. She has done wonders for my oldest daughter.

The jewelry piece at the lower portion of the photo is a zipper pull. I made a few of these over the years - this one features a pewter horse, sterling silver components. Swarovski conponents: squaredelles, cubes & rondelles. jewelry component source: www.firemountaingems.com. Metal latch findings can be located at Michaels Craft Store or most large craft stores. I locked the dangle element into the lower portion of the metal latch finding by neatly winding a length of sterling silver 20 gauge wire in place. This prevents the jeweled portion from working its way off of the latch element.

Rectangular silver metal CD tin was covered with Anna Griffin paper; SU night of navy band is held closed with a Basic Grey magnetic snap. Tin houses six notecard sized cards & envelopes. stamp credit: SU. SU apricot & olive cardstock used as well.

Hope she likes it!

Teacher gifts

Incredible teachers deserve incredible gifts. One dozen 3x3 notecards with envelopes. Custom-designed box with ribbon carry strap features a hinged lid with a Basic Grey magnetic closure. Nifty and neat! For a video tutorial that inspired this box please visit Basic Grey's site and click 'watch the video demo' link.

Swarovski crystals, SU cardstock, Basic Grey patterned paper, Prima flowers, May Arts Ribbon.

The custom box is a single sheet of cardstock. Here is a link to the box pattern; I increased the depth from 3/4" to 1-1/2" to accomodate the additional quantity of cards enclosed. I also added eyelets to the sides and a ribbon carrying strap for portability.

Card base was created on the computer - one sheet of cardstock yields three cards. Print, score & cut. I would do these again!

Bug me anytime!

Another Valerie Stangle layout! 7gypsies Good Turn photo turn in creme.

I created about a dozen of these for teacher gifts. This year I created six different cards and a dozen of each. Put them in neat piles then pulled one from each pile. Packaged up, decorate the box and ready to go.

There are two more days of school and yes, I am still working on these gifts...lol....

stamp & cardstock credit: su; paper: Basic Grey (thanks Joy!), ribbon: Making Memories leftovers

mint tin invite

Accordion folded invitation sprints out of a metal mint tin. These invitations are to a child's birthday party! The guest list was printed on white cardstock then punched out with a 3/4" circle punch.

May Arts ribbon is woven through a Cuttlebug die. SU cardstock & SEI polka dot. With the aid of a pc & printer these were a breeze to create.

Now to design the thank you's.... LOL!

invite info sloppily deleted for client protection. Tried to be neat but alas....

Four handmade cards with envelopes inserted into a clear box (clearbags.com) serve as quick gifts for friends.

The asterisk was created by spritzing Lettuce Adirondack Color Wash onto a lightweight coaster then running through a Cuttlebug (provocraft.com) with a CB (cuttlebug) die. Simple layering and BAM these were done!

striped paper: Making Memories; tan tag base: fun foam (oh so fun!) using a Cuttlebug die; stamps: SU; black ink: Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black. mini flower punch: EK Success. Swarovski crystals; May Arts ribbon.

lightweight coasters

Lightweight coasters can be run through a Cuttlebug! Olivia font used here. This was a job for a client - sixteen albums with 28 photos per album.

The girls' names adorned each album. These are to be gifts for young girls in a program here called 'Girls on the Run'. It is a national program. It emphasizes self-esteem and good eating habits, making young girls aware that they are indeed each beautiful and talented. It is also an attempt to guide girls away from attempting to emulate skinny models they see on billboards and magazine spreads. Here is a link for those interested...in our distorted perception of beauty: http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

Die-cut letters were run through a Xyron 250, then I used a large ball pointed stylus tool to trace around each letter prior to removing the top layer of film. This eliminated the sticky stuff around the letters making them nice & neat. I used a glue pen for the letter 'i' dots ;-)

At this writing, glue pens & coasters can be found in the store; 7gypsies paper used.

Get Well Card

Valerie Stangle layout. I sooooo love this layout of hers! Clean, understated and uncluttered.

I desperately needed a few get well cards for friends of a friend....

....and the Basic Grey paper was gifted to me from a very dear friend yesterday (thank you Joy!). Another friend, Lana, convinced me a long time ago I needed the aqua May Arts ribbon used here...I never did but oh so enjoyed looking at it. Well, when this BG paper arrived I knew *exactly* which ribbon I was gonna use! LOL!! Thanks Lana, Val & Joy!! stamps, ink, cardstock: Stampin' Up; A Muse sentiment; ribbon: May Arts; patterned paper: Basic Grey

Gourmet

I have an incredible neighbor across the street that is the *most excellent* chef. I have learned more about cooking from her in the past eight years than I have in the last 20. This was made for her...it uses the new 7gypsies cut outs - they are 1/8" foam pieces...cut the same dimensions as the 7gypsies stickers! This card took mere minutes to create. All 7gypsies components except SU bravo burgundy & old olive cardstock. Cork (Michaels craft store) 'cutting board' (tag) - Cuttlebug die, country red wax linen, Marvy punches.

Jamin' Baybee!

I spent this past summer picking berries and making jam. I try to do this every year as it is such an incredible joy to create something that is enjoyed year 'round.

My goal was to create mini jam containers, have on hand a variety of flavors (this year's selection: peach, strawberry & blueberry), and package two in a gusset bag for gifts this winter holiday.

Most of these are for my dear husband's co-workers, hence the file folder tag concept. He usually gives the standard bottle of wine every year. Anybody can do that. This took planning, time, and a lot of sugar (ha ha!), and to me is more meaningful and a true show of appreciation for all they do for him throughout the year.

Stamps, ribbon, paper, punches, ink: Stampin' Up. satin cording - May Arts; file folder die - Sizzix; metal rimmed tag: Staples.

Beate stamp

More sympathy cardswith the stamp I call my 'Beate stamp'. It is a Stampers' Anonymous stamp, but I call it 'Beate' because the first card I made with it was a birthday card for the infamous and fabulous Beate Johns. I see this beautiful image and think of her.

Image was stamped in VersaMark then heat set with detail gold embossing powder. Embossed swirls were made with a Cuttlebug machine. 7gypsies Fleur Noir paper left over from the project three posts down.

The little metail circular detail piece is a 7gypsies turn around photo turn. A piece of Basic Grey paper was punched with a 5/8" circle punch & adhered to the photo turn. Ranger's Crackle Accents was applied, sealing the paper punch in place & allowed to dry & crackle. I pressed my finger into a brown ink pad (Ranger's Archival Ink in Coffee) and rubbed the crackled surface, emphasizing the cracks. Love this product for its speed & convenience in achieving a beautiful cracked surface. Ribbon - May Arts.

Altoid Tins

I have 2 incredible cousins - with remarkable parents as well. These cousins are at the age where cash is king, and I so enjoy designing containers to house their holiday gift in.

Blank, hinged Altoid tins are one of my favorite containers of all time. Simple and fast design. Crate Paper, Crate embellishments, May Arts ribbon, Cuttlebug teeny tags. Edges inked with StazOn white opaque pad. Name stamps are those cute Karen Foster snap stamps.

Molding Mats

I didn't know Clearsnap's molding mats were for stamping - I bought them at a polymer clay website years ago and kept them in with my polymer clay materials! I now store them with my Cat's Eye pads...anyhow...this one is not Clearsnap..brand is unknown..rubber is a dark grey, not pink like Clearsnap. I ran the molding mat with a section of black polymer clay through a dedicated pasta machine. Once baked I used Rub 'n Buff in Patina to highlight. Adhered over a torn section of handmade paper then to a Target notebook with a corrugated surface. Stamped a '!' from Creative Imaginations rubber stamp alpha set in SU tempting turquoise classic ink, punched out with a 1/2" circle punch, adhered to a 5/8" punch out of SU tempting turquoise cardstock, and adhered to a 7gyspies turn around photo turn. Sealed the punched unit with Ranger's Glossy Accents. Ribbon - SU.

mini drawers

I found this naked mini drawer unit at Michaels Craft Store a few months ago. I knew what I wanted to do but lacked the time. Overall height is 11" tall, 4-1/2" wide and 3" deep.

Well, my vision came to fruition today. Using 7gypsies and Tim Holtz papers and a variety of hardware I now have a mini cabinet for paper clips, binder clips, staple remover, etc. by my pc.

I removed all knobs first, recycling the knobs, saving one for actual use as a knob pull and the others as feet.

Adirondack color wash in Espresso was used for the unit sans the drawers. Outer sides & top were covered in 7gypsies Fleur Noir. Once drawer fronts were covered with paper edges were sanded & inked with a Vintage Photo Distress Pad. Hope you like this as much as I do!