Off to a Stamping Retreat!!!

Well, I'm off tomorrow to a full weekend of stamping! I can hardly wait! My husband swears I took the entire studio with me...and I know, I over packed. But, I "may" need it...you know? You just never know when you need that special thing. I have an idea in my head for my Christmas cards, just need to get it on paper. Plus, I'm taking a few things to alter for Christmas gifts!

Here is the Make & Take I'm taking to the retreat for everyone to do. It is based off Patty Bennett's family album. Actually, I don't know what to call this...it is more like a Card Album, but you could use it as a scrapbook element. I think it would make a great Christmas card filled with pictures. Anyway...I know the gals will love it, cause they are major scrapbookers. You should SEE their stuff! Oh my, they do AWESOME work! Funny how the larger size of scrapbooking is harder for ME, but the smaller size of cards intimidate these gals! I guess it is just what you get used to making.

Have an AWESOME weekend! I hope to have LOTS to post when I get back late Sunday/Monday.

Oh...I hope to get the Blogger's Challenge done tomorrow morning and posted early!

Sets: Ginormous Flowers, Define your Life

C/S: Old Olive, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Fall Flowers DSP

Inks: Old Olive, Really Rust, Basic Black

Other: Mini gold brad, Soft Sky DS ribbon, 5-petal punch, Scallop circle punch, 1 and 1-1/4 circle punches, paper piercer and mat, dimensionals

Thanksgiving Turkey card

I know some of you have seen this card, but I saw it again when I was clearing out some old files today. I thought it would be appropriate for the season! I think he is awful cute and made almost entirely of small and large oval punches and 1-1/4 circle punch. The head/neck is hand cut, along with the beak and waddle.

It is kind of funny, but I made this turkey last year when I was at a stamping/scrapping retreat. The SAME retreat I'm headed off to on Thursday afternoon! I love having a whole weekend dedicated to stamping, eating, sharing and having fun! I find that I do a lot of creating while I'm there. Of course, my main goal is to work on my Christmas Cards! Yeah! I can get ahead of the season! I really need to think about what I want to make this year before I go...just to make sure I have the right supplies.

Of course, I usually end up bringing almost everything from my studio anyway! That is the only drawback about going...packing it all up and then having to unpack everything when I return on Sunday! My BFF, Annette, isn't going to be there this year and I'm sad...I always love talking with her. Since she moved away, we don't get together nearly as much as we did!

Sets: Flannel BG, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, AYCIII (retired)

C/S: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Confetti White, Summer Sun, Real Red

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Black marker

Other: Small and large oval punch, 1-1/4 circle punch

End of Season Hydrangeas

Last night listening to the news, I heard that we were going to get a heavy frost. For some freaky reason, our hydrangea bushes decided to bloom in September/October and they have been GORGEOUS! I decided at 11:30 PM to go out and cut the larger blooms and cover the rest of the bushes with sheets. However, we had such a hard frost that the sheets didn't help...the budding flowers have mostly turned brown today. So sad to see all the flowers dying off. On a happy note, the trees around here are beautiful.

So...here is a picture of the last of the season Hydrangeas I rescued. They are resting on my island in the kitchen so I can enjoy them all day long. Does anyone know how to dry them? I'd love to make a wreath from the dried blooms.

You can BARELY see the new watermark that Beth Silaika did for me because of the granite countertops (lower left corner). She offered up some Blog Candy and I won a free watermark! Woohoo! Make sure to check out her awesome site here to get your own Watermark or Banner. She is the one who did my Banner, too!

Limited Time Offer from Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! is offering 20% off the holiday stamp set, Wishing You Cheer on page 33 of the Fall & Winter Collection Book. Email me to purchase this FUN stamp set for only $11.16 (plus tax & shipping) and I'll include directions for using this set to make 2 different holiday cards! Hurry, offer expires November 3, 2007!

Exciting news!

I'm excited that I can share why I've been busy with other stamping projects the past week (and for the next couple weeks!). I've been selected by Stampin' Up! to create display items (cards, 3D items and scrapbook pages) for the Leadership 2008 convention in January! I am SO happy to get this honor! This is my second time, I also did it for Convention 2005. I hadn't planned on going to Leadership, but now that my items will be on display, I think I will go! It is being held in Palm Springs, CA...and January will be a perfect time to go there and get out of the Ohio cold, don't you think?

Oh...I also received news that I have another card in Rubber Stamper's November magazine! It is a Christmas Cowboy Kid...so make sure you check it out!

I've posted another card I created using the Holiday Harmony DSP and Hand Selected Accents & Elements die-cuts from my WCMD event. These cards do come together quickly using these elements! This one uses the Pomegranate and River Rock color DSP and the cute Naughty & Nice die-cut element! The Accents & Elements are SO much nicer to see in person than they appear in the mini catalog.

If you'd like to purchase the Holiday kit that I put together for my customers, please email me! You'll get the supplies to make 18 full cards with envelopes including:

• Full package of Holiday Harmony DSP
• Hand Selected Accents & Elements tin
• 1/2 roll of Pomegranate Double Stitch ribbon
• 18 White base cards
• 18 White envelopes
• Complete picture directions for cutting DSP
• Guidelines and pictures to make all 18 cards

You only need to stamp the holiday greetings and put them together, all other necessary images will be stamped for you. In addition, you'll have plenty of materials remaining to make at least 30-40 additional cards, just by adding base white cardstock to the designer paper and Elements! Cost is $40 plus $5.00 shipping. Available only until November 30, 2007.

Blogger's Challenge Week #18 - Designer Paper

This week's challenge was to use Designer Paper as the main focus on our card. My World Card Making Class focused entirely on using Holiday Harmony Designer Series Paper along with the Hand Selected Accents & Elements tin. (A BIG thanks to Patty Bennett for getting me started with this idea!) We made 18 cards using 1/2 pack of the DSP and only 4 sheets (of 12) of the tin. I still have TONS of paper and die-cuts left from those supplies, so I pulled them out last night to make up a few more cards...they basically took only MINUTES to put together! I love it!

There are three different pieces of DSP on this card...the middle Always Artichoke band is also part of the paper. The circle features two die-cutes...the Happy Holidays circle and the oval die-cut inside was added to the circle to cover the blank lines printed on it. The words Peace Hope Joy were stamped in Always Artichoke on the oval die-cut. The stamp is from the hostess only set, So Many Sayings. (A tip I shared with my customers is to cut this set up into individual sayings...I mounted them on dominoes. I use it SO much more this way, and it was no problem lining up the words into the oval die-cut!)

The colors in the Holiday Harmony DSP are so RICH...Purely Pomegranate, River Rock and Always Artichoke...I love this combination together. On all the WCMD cards, we used a white base card. This one I changed and used Always Artichoke as the base. Again, SIMPLE! But, I think simple is great for Christmas...since I make over 100 cards for family and friends!

Make sure to check out all the other lovely examples using Designer Paper from other Blogger's participating in this Challenge! After you see all the great ways to use Designer Series Paper, you'll be ready for Stampin' Up!'s November promotion! Buy 3 packs of DSP and get one FREE (a $9.95 value)! I know I can't wait!

Baroque Motifs

Sorry...nothing new today! I've been (and will be) working on a special, very involved, project that is taking all my stamping time! This is the card that my guests did at my catalog Open House and my Stamp Club members did a couple months ago. I borrowed and simplified the idea from Debbie Olson...thank you! I think it is a beautiful Christmas card, so wanted to pull it out and again and give it some attention now that it is closer to the holiday season.

It did get me thinking. I absolutely LOVED Baroque Motifs when it first came available as a preorder set for demos in June. I used it on my Convention cards, and did a couple classes using it. But, I don't think I've picked it up for the past couple months? I wonder why? I still like it a lot...but I guess newer sets I've purchased have taken precedence. I'm making a pact to pull out some of those sets that haven't seen daylight for a while and use them (of course, that is after I get my big project done!) lol!

Anyway...hope to post again tomorrow. Be looking...we'll be having BLOG CANDY again at 40,000 visits! Thank you for stopping by!

Sets: Baroque Motifs, Holidays & Wishes

C/S: Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate

Inks: Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate

Other: Key tag punch, Ticket corner punch, mini gold brad, Burgundy grosgrain ribbon, Slot punch

Winter Merry & Bright Tag

For the past five or six years, my Creative Stamping Friends email group has put together a Christmas tag swap. Each person signs up for a letter from A to Z and the cover or back and designs a tag around that letter. Some letters, of course, are more challenging then others, so it moves you to sign up quickly! I think we set a record this year and were full within a couple days... The size of the tag must be a standard shipping tag size with hole, at least two layers and the letter should be prominently displayed on the front. We do this swap in October/early November, so it doesn't interfere with the busy holiday season AND we can display the holiday tags during the season. Many of us place them on trees, as a garland, on a binder ring, or however you choose. They are our holiday greeting card to each other!

This year I chose W for my letter. My original intent was to use the Wisemen from Holy Triptych. However, I ended up using the Snowman once again from Merry & Bright! I also used the Snowflake embossing folder from Cuttlebug and glittered around the edges with Dazzling Diamonds. I stamped "Winter" on cardstock vellum and wrapped the vellum around to the back of the white layer to secure. The base layer of the tag and scallop circle punch are from Soft Sky. Then I used Rose Red for a pop of color. I added a little bit of glitter to the snowman himself so he sparkles. The scallop circle is popped up with dimensionals. The ribbon is just a shade darker than Soft Sky and blends well, I think! Enjoy!

When I get my swap back, I'll be sure to share each of the tags with you. They really are NICE and I love being able to go back thru each year and see the greetings from these special online friends...many I've never met in person!

Halloween treat holder

I was talking to my downline today about Halloween school parties and ideas. I mentioned that I loved using the pink Pocket Notes as a lollipop holder for Valentine's Day. So, I thought I'd recreate the holder with black cardstock to hold a Halloween lollipop! I made the treat holder by cutting black cardstock to 2 1/2" x 7", and scoring at 3 1/4". I used the slit punch on the longer piece...coming in about 1/4" from the edge. The front flap fits under the slit.

The gray moon is the Scallop circle punch, the white ghost is the large oval trimmed with a scallop at the bottom, Frankenstein is a rectangle piece of cardstock, with black cardstock trimmed for hair...his face is drawn on. The pumpkin is from Carved and Candlelit...with the top slice off! I used the 1/8" circle punch to cut a hole in the bottom fold for the lollipop stick to fit through...the top of the lollipop fits between the two layers of black cardstock. Happy Halloween greeting is from All Holidays set.

Sets: Carved & Candlelit, All Holidays

C/S: Whisper White, Going Gray, Green Galore, Basic Black

Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Basic Black, Black marker

Other: Scallop circle punch, Large oval punch, Paper snips

Halloween mini scrapbook

I've been busy working on several Stampin' Up! projects that I can't really share yet, so I thought I'd show you a project I did last week.

Once in a while, I like to take a class at one of our local scrapbook stores. It feels good to be the "student" instead of the "teacher"! While browsing the store a couple weeks ago, I saw this upcoming class and decided to take it. She used the Bo Bunny product line. Now...my kids are grown, no grandchildren yet, so I might have to pull out some old pictures of Halloween with my kids...but I just thought it was darling! It is built on a chipboard trapezoid book and has 10 inside pages for pictures! The ribbon handles make it carry like a "purse". I had lots of fun making it.

Blogger's Challenge Week #17 Inspiration Piece

Again this week, we were to find something that inspires us to create. When I was at Target the other day, I saw this nature picture. I loved the texture and colors in it. To recreate the feeling, I used Stampin' Up!'s Autumn Fest stamp set. I did a direct to paper background using So Saffron, Sahara Sand and Basic Gray lightly. Then I used the Sanded Background over top in Basic Gray to give the texture. I stamped-off the smaller leaf several times in the background with Basic Gray. The leaf in the forefront is stamped with Craft Artichoke (my pad is VERY dark green!) and used clear embossing powder to heat set. Distressed the edges and tied the Gray taffeta ribbon with a Celebrate Life tag.

After I made this card, I thought that I would buy a window frame with 3-4 openings and make an entire series of them for the small bedroom using my Autumn Fest stamps! I love being able to use my stamps and supplies for Home Decor items. I'll share it when I get it finished!

Sets: Autumn Fest, Sanded, So Many Sayings

C/S: Sahara Sand, Basic Gray, Confetti Cream

Inks: So Saffron, Basic Gray, Sahara Sand

Other: Taffeta ribbon

Be sure to check out all the others' challenges this week! I love seeing what other stampers create.

Miss Longaberger Long Legs Spider

OK....I have a million OTHER things to be stamping today, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head, so I took a break and put this together. Remember yesterday I mentioned that I saw a spider face fabric lid for a round Longaberger basket that sits in the Wrought Iron Long Legs I purchased yesterday? Well, it was really simple...just a black lid with googly eyes (and a $20 price tag) so I knew I could recreate the look with chipboard and cardstock. Here is my version for less than 50 cents! I even gave her some eyelashes! Too much fun! I have it sitting on my sofa table, so anyone walking around my family room, kitchen or dinette area will see her!

The round Longaberger bowl I had fits the stand perfectly! I used the Large Oval punch, 3/4 circle punch and 1/4 circle punch for her eyes, then just cut and curled some strips of black cardstock for the lashes!

Holiday Glitz promotion

My hubby and I headed out to Longaberger land yesterday and visited the Homestead and the quaint town of Dresden. It is about a 45-60 minute drive. I used to go out several times a year when I sold Longaberger (about 5 years ago) and coordinated bus tours with my customers, but I haven't been since then. It had changed very little, amazingly!

I did score a cute Ohio State University jacket, some plastic protectors for baskets I already have, a darling Halloween platter and matching 3 dish condiment platter, and a cute Long Legs wrought iron stand! You place a bowl or round basket in the center of the stand and it looks like a spider! It really is TOO cute and I had never seen them before! The store I purchased it from had a lid made for the basket with googlie eyes. I'm going to try to recreate it with my stamping supplies. I'll let you know how it turns out!

I'm hoping to get some stamping time in today. It is rainy and blah here today. I need to work on my Christmas Tag swap (28 shipping size tags with the letter W, then the hostess swaps them out so we get a complete alphabet of Christmas tags, plus cover and back). I been doing this swap for at least five years and always enjoy the tags I get back. I also need to make up my Halloween cards for this year and my Technique Junkies assignments for the next newsletter are due soon!


I wanted to update you on the October special that Stampin' Up! has going on! Here are the details. EMAIL me to place your order!

Holiday Glitz Promotion
October 1 until supplies run out!

You can take advantage of this fantastic kit two different ways:

• Purchase one of holiday stamp sets (below) and get the Holiday Glitz card kit (110286) for the special price of $24.95 each, or

• Purchase the Holiday Glitz card kit (110286) for $28.95 each with no additional purchase required.

Each Holiday Glitz card kit makes 15 cards and includes:

• Precut card stock and Designer Series paper (15)
• Whisper White Envelopes (15)
• Rhinestone brads (15)
• Real Red zigzag ribbon (15)
• Full-color instruction sheet (1)
  Instruction Sheet 1
  Instruction Sheet 2
  

Item Page # Stamp Set Price

109234 45 Snowfall $23.95

106786 36 The Snowflake Spot $20.95

109266 35 Big on Christmas $18.95

110359 5* Love & Joy $23.95

*Holiday Mini Catalog

Season of Joy frame

Today was kind of a dreary, rainy day, but we needed the rain. It did clear up later in the evening. I didn't get any stamping done today and tomorrow my hubby and I are going on a "day trip" over to Longaberger land. I haven't been there in 5-6 years...thought it would be fun to go out to the manufacturing plant and visit the town of Dresden. It is only about 45 minutes away. There is also an apple orchard along the way I want to stop and visit. It is supposed to be sunny and in the mid 70s...so a good day for a ride. The leaves are JUST starting to turn colors.

This is another Make A Gift challenge I finished up for my SSUS partner, Jennifer. I have a HUGE stack of these shadowbox frames I picked up at the Target $1 spot last year. I wanted to find time to make them for the craft fair, but really forgot about them. (If you are thinking deja vu, I did make a similar one for Blog Candy a while back...) This one I moved the Faux Diamond Dust flowers to the glass portion on the outside of the frame. They were punched with the 5 petal punch with 1/4" circles for the centers. I also used Dashing Designer paper in the background, however, you don't see much of it from this view. The image was colored with Real Red and Old Olive markers. It is much more impressive in person than this picture!

I'm thinking I may do some of these up for my husband's work staff...although last year I made them Happy Holiday name frames...so maybe this would be too similar?

In the Spotlight criss cross card

Whew...company from the weekend is all gone! Hubby is home this week on vacation, so posting MAY be hit or miss. I do have a lot of deadlines coming up, so I told him I might be working some this week.

This is one of the assignments I had due...it was a card challenge to a member on my SSUS group to make and send a Criss Cross card. While I made one for my partner, Rose, I also made one for my mother's birthday! They are LOTS of fun to make. The Fall Flowers paper is so cute; I love the colors in it...Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky!

I used several punches...the scallop circle punch for the flower. The 5 petal punch for the leaves, the Round Tab punch for the tab at the top and the Spring Flower Bouquet small flower as the tab accent. I punched this small flower out of Pumpkin Faux Diamond Dust paper. Both of the flower centers are the green Rhinestone brads...small and medium size. Love them!

Sets: In the Spotlight Hostess, Sincere Salutations, Priceless

C/S: Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Fall Flowers DSP

Inks: Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Versamark

Other: Scallop Circle, Corner rounder, Round Tab, 5 Petal, Spring Flower Bouquet, Iridescent Ice, Rhinestone brads

JOY Garland

Jane Bosi made this JOY banner for me! Isn't it gorgeous? I was so excited to get it in the mail. I was her partner for a challenge on a SSUS stampers group to do some type of stamped gift for our partner! I love it! The colors are especially vibrant and fit my holiday decorations perfectly! I can't wait to display it formally during the holiday. Look closely at the detailed stamping in the background...she has print pattern, baroque motifs, and snowflake. She also used a pretty Snowflake chipboard (OK...I'm buying them now!) a rhinestone brad from the Pretties kit...jumbo eyelets and the jumbo alphabet letters are embossed in black. She used Purely Pomegranate and Basic Black cardstock and Soft Sky Designer paper.

It is such a AWESOME gift! THANK YOU, JANE!!!!!

Blogger's Challenge #16 - Ornaments

I got started making ornaments and couldn't stop! lol! I had several different ideas in my head...they didn't work well together, so I just made 3 ornaments! Each one is different.

I purchased the Holy Triptych stamp set with this idea in mind, but I'm just getting around to making it. I have some clear beveled glass ornaments that I purchased to stamp on some time ago. They make great gifts for hostesses at the holidays. (In fact, one of my glass ornaments was featured in Rubber Stamp Madness magazine a couple years ago...I'll have to see if I can find a scan of that one, too!) Anyway...I stamped the Holy Family in Versamark on the front of the oval beveled glass ornament and used Gold Detail to emboss. Simple and very elegant.

The second Snowflake ornament, I mixed Silver EP and Dazzling Diamonds together. I stamped in Versamark on the back of the ornament and sprinkled on heat and stick, heated it and then sprinkled on my silver/diamonds mixture...heat to set it. It has a GORGEOUS sparkle and the diamond shaped beveled glass in front with the image in back adds some depth. I could NOT get a good picture of it...you'll just have to take my word for it!

The third one...my Snowman...is the ornament I originally had in my head when I saw this was going to be the challenge this week. I used one of Stampin' Up!'s star chipboard shapes and covered it with Silver Encore ink, then sprinkled on Iridescent Ice EP and heat set. It has a beautiful subtle look to the glitter. Then I stamped my snowman with black Stazon, colored him with Rose Red, Always Artichoke and Only Orange markers. I used the 1 1-4, 1 3-8 and Scallop Circle punches, piercing around the scallop edge. This medallion is popped up with dimensionals and placed on the sparkly star! Another quick and easy ornament!

Three for You punch

My eldest son is on the way home for the weekend with his girlfriend! Yeah! We haven't seen him since 4th of July and I've missed him! He lives about 10 hours away from us now, so it isn't easy to get together anymore. I know he has a great job and loves what he is doing...just wish he lived closer! lol! We also have some friends coming in Saturday morning for the night...will be a busy weekend!

This is one of the cards my Three for You punch stamp campers did Tuesday. When the punch box was on sale, I offered a free stamp camp for anyone who purchased the box. Well, we finally got it scheduled.

I used Cutie Pie paper (one of my favs!) and the cutter kit to cut the curve on top of the stripe paper. Then I punched the Three for You flowers in different colors and stamped the centers. The large flower is the 5 petal punch and I made two out of Purely Pomegranate cardstock. Before I layered them together, I stamped them with the dotted background in the punch kit. The leaves are two petals cut from the 5 petal punch and Certainly Celery rubbed over them for texture.. Thinking of You was stamped in black and then punched with the large oval.

Tomorrow is the Blogger's Challenge already...I'll try to get something posted in the morning!

Coaster Box gift

Excuse this picture! I was taking the picture quickly yesterday morning before I put the gift in another bag to take with me. Last minute Lucy, you know! lol!

This a fun gift to make someone...it consists of a decorated snap closure notebook, post-it note holder box, matching beaded pen and a coaster box to hold everything. I wrapped the inside items in a cello bag and placed the bag in the decorated coaster box with some shredded tissue. This one I made for my girlfriend who is moving away to Alabama (bye Linda!) I'm going to miss her a whole lot.

I used the stamp set Ginormous Flowers (love it!) to stamp the flower twice and made "leaves" with it, too, then punched them with the 5 petal punch. In the center of the double flower, I placed a yellow rhinestone brad for some extra bling. The front of the post-it note holder box is decorated the same to match.

No stamping on here, but as a little extra item for her gift, I made this cello bag of real buckeyes so she won't forget her Ohio Buckeye friends! The Buckeye leaf and nuts are made from a new Sizzix die made exclusively for our local scrapbook store...pretty cool!...AND all Sizzix were 30% off, so I couldn't resist. There is a huge Buckeye tree on the property at my parent's church, so they brought me a whole bag of the nuts. The words I just typed up on the computer.

Last Chance for 20% off Simply Sent Card Kits!

Don't forget that today is the last day to order any of the Simply Sets at 20% off in celebration of World Card Making Day! See more information here or pages 12-14 in the Fall/Winter 2007 Collection catalog.

If you're new to Stampin' Up! or simply pressed for time, nothing will get you started faster than the Simply Sent Card Kits. These kits offer a fast and easy way to create cards for a variety of occasions. The die-cut rubber stamps, precut materials and step-by-step instructions will help you start stamping beautiful projects in seconds, and from October 4-8, you can order all of the Simply Sent Card Kits for 20 percent off their regular price!

Email me today with your order!

Merry & Bright again

I can't stop using this set! I think it is SO cute... These are a package of glass flat marble magnets that I put together for the craft fair...I did sell out of these. I think they made a nice little gift for someone. The magnets I stamped the images on Whisper White and used colored pencils...then applied a thin coat of Crystal Effects on top to secure the glass and added a heavy duty magnet to the back. The topper I stamped the snowman and used markers to color. I found that cute sparkly ribbon and love the look! The ribbon hides the staples holding the cello bag. I added a little liquid glue and dazzling diamonds to the snowman's body for some added sparkle.

Part one of my World Card Making Day event is over. Each person created 18 cards using 1/2 pack of Holiday Harmony designer paper and 1/3 a tin of Hand Selected Adhesive Die-cuts, plus a 1/2 bold of Pomegranate Double Stitched ribbon. After the challenging part of cutting the designer paper, the cards were easy to make. Part two is scheduled for Tuesday!

I'm Exhausted!

Whew...the craft fair is OVER! I'm so tired! I did well...over $200 worth of small items I stamped or altered sold. In fact, I sold out of several items. I was shocked that nothing over $10 sold! Luckily, I had only done a few things in that category. Good news is that I can use them for gifts, door prizes and hostess gifts. I'm excited that I picked up a few new customers for my classes, too. And, I was happy that I used up some of my retired designer papers and supplies.

Remember the Altoid type tins? I sold out of all the Santa face ones, sold several Snowman ones (which I'll use for my Christmas gift cards this year) but only sold ONE Frankenstein tin!!! Everyone picked it up and commented how cute it was. So now I have about 7 poor lonely Frankensteins left... I ended up filling the tins with wrapped Hershey Nugget chocolates, 5 fit in each tin. Almost everyone who looked at the table picked up one of those tins to look at it closer. lol!

Silly me didn't take closeups of the items I had for sale. I just had a picture of my overall "practice" table. I always practice my table arrangement at home before I go to a craft fair...that way I can determine what goes where instead of doing it the morning of the show. I'll post it tomorrow when I have a little more energy. lol!

Blogger's Challenge Week #15

Today's Blogger's Challenge was to use the colors Black and Orange. Of course...I naturally think of Halloween, especially this time of year. So...I wanted to challenge myself to do something a little different than a Halloween or Fall card using those colors.

So.........Ipulled out Pick A Petal and used my favorite polka dot petal, stamped it in Only Orange on Glossy White cardstock and cut out all six petals. I love how vibrant the colors are on Glossy paper. I then used the fun circle stamp for the center, using Basic Black on the Glossy and punching it out with the 1" circle punch and popping it with a dimensional. As I started to pull the card together, I needed something to break up the black background...but my Creepy Crawly paper is made with Pumpkin Pie, not Only Orange...and it has other colors in the paper as well...what to do... Of course, get out my favorite swirl from Baroque Motifs...as a bonus, I haven't used it for a while! It looks good stamped on black with White Craft! Now I needed bold words...this is the only one I could find in my current stash of stamp sets that I thought would work. Guess I need to invest in some word stamps next time I order! Colored some brads with Orange Craft and we are set!

Make sure to check out the others who do the Blogger's Challenge each week (see my sidebar for links). I had a peek at a couple and they are really great!

Sets: Baroque Motif, Pick A Petal, All Holidays
C/S: Only Orange, Basic Black, Whisper White
Inks: White Craft, Basic Black, Only Orange
Other: 1" circle punch, Paper piercing tool and mat, mini brads, dimensionals

Season of Joy

Ack! Only two more days until the craft show on Saturday. I still have pricing and labeling to do on some things and need to put together my "kit" for working the table...money, flyers, class schedules, etc. I spent the day making several notebooks with my Bind-it-All machine! I love that little machine! I'll make sure to take a picture to share with you tomorrow after I finish decorating the fronts.

This was another card we did last night in my Techniques Class. The technique is called Glitter Ridges...another Technique Junkies technique features in the April/May 2005 newsletter. I love using this technique on winter or snow type holiday cards! It just seems to fit! It is SO sparkly in person!

The card is actually a tri-fold card. The cardstock is cut to 4 1/4 x 11, then scored at 4 1/4 and 8 5/8. The remaining 2 1/2 inches is torn to about 1-1/4 inches and overlaps the front of the card...held closed by a spiral paper clip. There is a layer of vellum torn and placed under the Season of Joy focal point...I think it adds to the "icy" appearance of the card!

Sets: Season of Joy

C/S: Ballet Blue, Whisper White, Cardstock Vellum

Inks: Blue Frost Spectrum pad

Other: Spiral clip, Blue gingham and Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon, Liquid Glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Crimper

With Gratitude

Still working on getting stuff ready for the craft show this weekend. I think I'm getting in pretty good shape. I started the packaging of some of the items and pricing. To me that is almost the hardest part!

My Technique Class was tonight and this was one of the cards that we made! It is called Rainbow Strip Flip and was featured in the June/July 2005 issue of Technique Junkies. (Pat is celebrating 5 years of the Technique Junkies newsletters with great prices and giveaways every day in October! Go over here and check out her newsletter...it is well worth the price AND you'll learn these techniques before everyone else!)

We used my new set, With Gratitude. I purchased it because I love the veins and lace that are apparent in these leaf stamps...so realistic looking. The Pumpkin Patch Spectrum pad is also one of my favorites...although I also enjoy making up my own color combos using an uninked Spectrum pad and reinkers. Look at the Snow Blossom punch, too! I think it looks fun as a little flower with the ribbon pulled up thru it and knotted.

Sets: With Gratitude, Sincere Salutations

C/S: Glossy White, Only Orange, Old Olive

Inks: Pumpkin Pie Spectrum, Basic Black

Other: Snow Blossom punch, Ticket corner punch, Artichoke ribbon, 1/8 circle punch