Another Name Frame

This is a second Name Frame Christmas present I made for the new grandson of our best friends. Liam's room is decorated in sports and dark blues. The name of his bedding is All Star! I pulled out an old retired Stampin' Up! Scrappin' Kit Toy Box to decorate his name. I thought the plaid decorative paper in this kit worked well with his room, too! The All Star tag is "hanging" off the bat with natural hemp. I stamped the large letters with Headline Alphabet (retiring tomorrow!) I'm going to miss that alphabet! The small All Star letters were stamped with Short Order alphabet. The only ball that is stamped is the football (for some reason one wasn't in the kit!) from the retired Touchdown stamp set. I stamped the football in Really Rust on Creamy Caramel cardstock and then colored the stitches and stripes with my White gel pen.

I spent yesterday helping my hubby build wood shelves for my studio. Before I had some ugly metal ones that I will re purpose into the storage area behind my studio to hold all those items that need to be "altered" yet...like tin mailboxes, altoids-type tins, candles, etc. They will work great and be out of site. The new shelves will hold my retired collection of stamp sets and miscellaneous tools like the Cuttlebug and Bind-it-All machines. I can't wait until it is finished. It was a major pain to take everything off the shelves I had...now my stuff is just sitting around in boxes. He is painting the shelves today, so hopefully I can get my stuff back to normal tomorrow. Although I'd love to do some organizing and cataloging before I put them back, I don't think it will get done until I'm back from Leadership. And I have too many projects due before I leave to think about it now. I have a class coming in on Thursday, so it has to be cleaned up! lol!

Blogger's Challenge #27

This week's challenge was again to show something that you were inspired by and recreate it. I am chosing to use the punch animals that Meredith Burnsed posted on SCS to create a home decor item.

One of the things I made for Christmas for the new grand-nieces and nephews, were their Name Frames. This one is for Cadence. Her room is done in Red with Black Frames and a farm animal theme. Looking thru my huge stash of stamps, I found that I didn't have many farm animals...the ones I did were smaller in size than I wanted to use.

I could find nothing Meredith made for the cow, so I made him up. Since this picture was taken, I did add a tail. The body is a rectangle and I rounded the corners. The head is a small white oval and then a trimmed pink oval for the nose. Ears and horns are the slot punch. I colored the spots with a black marker. At the bottom of his legs, I colored the feet black, too, but you don't see them in this view.

I used Well-Worn Alphabet for the letters. The grass is Wild Wasabi textured paper, cut with my scissors to resemble blades of grass.

The sheep used the Circle Scallop punch and half an oval for the face and slices cut from the other half of the oval for the ears. The chick is a 1" circle and a 1/2" circle, then a 1/2" circle cut in half for the wing. The pig is a 1-3/8" circle for the body, 1" circle for the head and 1/2" circle for the nose...each layer is popped up. The fence was the Word Window punch, stamped with Weathered for a wood grain look.

It was SO much fun to make. Although Cadence is only one, I don't know how much she appreciates it right now, but her dad and grandma loved it!

2-5-7-10 Gift Boxes

I hope everyone had a very, merry Christmas! Ours went by TOO fast, of course. We try to fit SO much into those two days, but we do get to see a lot of people we only see a couple times a year. That makes it fun. My poor husband hasn't felt too well. We don't know if he ate something, or just is suffering from a bug. Today he is on the couch...hopefully he will feel better soon. The house is a wreck anyway...I can work around him and get things cleaned up.

I wanted to show you the boxes I made. These are the gift boxes that I made to hold gift cards and small objects we gave out at Christmas. It is a regular 2-5-7-10 box that I added the white scallop edge and placed a Scallop Circle on the front for the To/From tag. I cut pieces of the wrapping paper I used this year and glued to the flap of the box. I punched the holes at the top for the ribbon with my Crop-A-Dile...that makes it SO easy to go through several layers of paper. Inside was a gift card and some peppermint patties.

What craft items did you receive this year? I received Cut N Up cartridge for my Cricut machine, the Ribbon iron, a Michael's gift card, and a brand new flat plasma TV for my studio! It is already installed and I love it, because it gives SO much more space on my counter than that old TV took up!

Luckily, we don't have too many exchanges to do this year. I only had one duplicate gift and one item my son received is too small. I already purchased my wrapping paper for next year, so there is really no reason to go out today at all. Yeah! Hopefully you don't have to do too much today, either, and you can catch your breath after all the rush!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We are starting off this afternoon on our yearly trek around the city with parties and gift giving!

Safe travels everyone...

Snowman tags

Every year I make my tags for the packages under the tree. All my packages are wrapped in the same paper, and I make the tags to match. Usually I change the color of the bows so we know which gift goes to which family and to make it easy to sort them when we are ready to go. This year I made the tags different colors instead so the separate families are easy to identify.

The base snowman is actually the snow globe from Doodlecharms cut on my Cricut and set at 2". The hat is the 1-1/4 square punch, the brim is the word window punch. The snowflake punch is retired. I stamped the faces with Cold Play (retiring this month...I'm sad!) To/From is from Holiday Tag Time set. I had the narrow ribbon in my stash. I think they make my packages FUN!

Hope you are enjoying the last few days before Christmas. I need to finish one more gift and do some baking on Christmas Eve. Feeling in pretty good shape. If I have time, I'd like to make up some coaster calendars for everyone. We'll see!

Week #26 Blogger's Challenge - Moveable cards

One of my favorite things to do is make moveable cards. I've always been intrigued on getting a blank piece of cardstock to be interactive. Shaker cards were one of the first cards I saw when I started stamping! I looked at the demo's sample most of the night, I think, trying to figure out how she made it! Soon after I started stamping, I attempted to make one...I'll try to find that original card and show you...it was pretty funny! Thank heavens I've perfected the art of making shaker cards now (after doing a shaker card swap and having to make 15 of them!)

So...here is this week's Blogger's Challenge card. I used the snowman from Wishing You Cheer as the focal piece and stamped him on Very Vanilla. I cut a piece of Real Red cardstock the same size as the Vanilla and sandwiched the beads between the two pieces with foam tape and a clear window sheet. I used the Giga Scallop Oval punch for the front.

A tip on getting words the correct way on a Round Tab Punch...maybe you figured it out already. I punch the Tab and then stamp the words "Merry & Bright" on it. That way the placement is correct. I added a little red Rhinestone brad under the words for some bling.

This was a fun challenge! Hope you check out the rest of the Blogger's who participate each week.

Sets: Wishing You Cheer, Holiday Tag Team, Merry & Bright
C/S: Real Red, Glorious Green, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Dashing DSP, Clear window sheet
Inks: Black Stazon, Glorious Green, markers
Other: Non-SU Giga Scallop Oval punch, Mini beads, Rhinestone brad, Round Tab punch

Baroque Motifs coasters

You may remember that I told you I made a set of four coasters for each of my husband's employees. We gave these to them at our Holiday party last Friday. Here are pictures of the finished coasters. I think they turned out nice! I used the set Baroque Motifs and Stazon retired colors of Blazing Red and Olive. I placed them in the oven for 20 minutes on 250 and then used a light spray of Krylon Workable Fixative to seal them. I placed four felt "feet" on the bottom of each to help protect their tables. I wrapped them in Stampin' Up!'s awesome Pomegranate satin ribbon...that stuff is NICE. Everyone was pleased!

Still playing catch-up on all my Christmas projects. I have one more gift card to buy and then I'm DONE shopping and it is a Walmart. I plan to get up early and beat the traffic there tomorrow morning. Almost everything is wrapped, tags are all done. I have a few more Christmas cards to make and a couple name frames for the great niece and great nephew. All those I hope to whip out tomorrow. Yeah! I must work well under pressure...cause I've just been cranking everything out! lol!

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season! Less than a week away, now...

Peaceful Wishes

This card is one that was "rejected" by a magazine for their holiday cards submission. Funny, the other one I made (Christmas Cowboy) was accepted in last month's Rubber Stamper magazine (their last issue). I actually liked THIS card better! Who knows how they choose what to publish.

But, I am excited that I have two other cards published in the Valentine's issues of Craft N Things and Rubber Stamp Madness! I haven't seen either one in print, but I'm floating on Cloud 9! Woohoo!

This card uses some scrapbook paper from my "stash"...I don't have the manufacturer, sorry. I inked the mistletoe with Old Olive and Real Red markers and stamped on Shimmer White cardstock. Peace is from the retired set Perfect Endings (I think). I punched the Old Olive flowers (non-SU punch) and added red brads to their centers. They are popped up off the page with dimensionals. It is a square 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 finished card. Enjoy!

I'm slowly catching up...most of my cards are mailed with the Christmas letter that I wrote on Sunday. I started wrapping and tomorrow will work on making tags for the packages. Still have a few gifts to make and some gift certificates to purchase, but the rest of the gift purchasing I finished up this morning! Yeah! I'm feeling in control again!

Baroque Motif frame

Well, I SURVIVED! Oh my gosh...last night's holiday party dinner nearly put me over the edge. (Next year I'm having it catered!) I spent most of today recovering (after delivering some orders in a horrible snowstorm that hit this morning!) Hopefully tomorrow I will feel like I'm back in the Christmas spirit and get some things done (like writing my Christmas letter, mailing cards, making my tags, wrapping gifts.) I plan to finish my shopping on Monday...yeah! Just a few things left to get and then some gift certificates.

Here is another one of the projects that my Last Minute Gifts class made. The shadow box frames I purchased at the Target $ spot last year. I bought a WHOLE bunch, so still have quite a few left for gifts! I love how these turned out...easy to change the colors to fit the recipient's taste.

For the center, I stamped the medallion from Baroque Motifs twice with Versamark and then Groovy Guava ink on River Rock cardstock, applied Iridescent Ice EP and heat set....very sparkly. Then I trimmed both the medallions to get just the floral part. I mounted the two together and layered on the Scallop Circle punch, then used my Round Tab punch to form a Very Vanilla circle behind the Scallop. The Jumbo eyelet went thru all layers with my Crop A Dile (just like butter!), then I added the Rhinestone in the center of the Jumbo eyelet. The swirl in the set was stamped with Wild Wasabi on the Wild Wasabi background and the mat. I stamped Cherish in Wild Wasabi and punched with the large oval punch. All together a very nice gift, I think. Wouldn't you like to receive it?

Blogger's Challenge Week #25

This week's Blogger's Challenge was to make a Sympathy card. Since I send out a lot of Sympathy cards, my practice is to make up a dozen or so at a time. I leave the insides blank and quickly stamp the sentiment when I need one.

I love the simplicity of this design. Clean and crisp comes to mind. The flowering branch from Artfully Asian is stamped on Shimmer paper and watercolored. Faith comes from a retired set...I stamped off the left side of the stamp (it normally has the long script line on both sides of the word Faith), so it now appears as the letter f is just starting. I mounted the White Shimmer cardstock on Chocolate Chip...leaving a thin border. I've used the ticket corner punch on both layers. The So Saffron piece is stamped with Sanded background in So Saffron for a tone-on-tone look. A simple knot ribbon finishes the card. The wide Chocolate Chip satin ribbon that is ON SALE now would have looked great, but I ran out! Time for me to order more...

Check out the other Blogger's for their Sympathy card creations.

Tonight is my hubby's holiday dinner party at our house. I have things mostly ready to go. Just need to finish up some last minute cleaning (my studio!) and pull the meal together. Yesterday, I baked four Pumpkin Rolls for dessert. I didn't make them last year, and I'd forgotten how long they take me! I always try to make several when I do, because I always make a big mess. lol! They are yummy, though...and worth the effort. In previous years, I've made them for neighbors and friends...they make a nice dessert, freeze well and look good when served!

Lip Balm Directions

Lots of requests for a tutorial...but truly, I don't have the time before Christmas to do it...sorry! I'm getting ready for my husband's holiday party this weekend, then need to finish shopping, wrapping, making gifts. I know a bunch of you are in the same situation, right? Anyway...here are some directions that I used to make the lip balm holder. They really are simple to do.

Lip Balm Holder

Outside Piece 5 3/4" x 3 1/2" Score at 2 1/2" & 3 1/4"
Inside Piece 5 1/2" x 3 1/4" Score at 2 3/8" & 31/8"

Decorate the front as desired. Place 15" of ribbon between top decoration and the front of top piece to hold in place.

Temporarily place the lip balm on the inside piece (between the two score lines) and mark with a pencil the top and bottom. Then use the slit punch, making sure the straight line base is at the pencil marks. (I actually marked my slit punch on the metal so they could tell how far to go in with the punch.) Wrap a piece of decorative paper around lip balm. I put a small piece of double stick tape down the center to help secure the lip balm between the two slits.

Adhere both outside and inside pieces together. Tie to close!

Wishing You Cheer

I'm so glad I bought this set when it was on sale last month. It is a fun little set...not too small and not too big...just right! This lip balm holder was another one of the Last Minute Gifts that my class did last week. The Snowman was stamped in Basic Black and colored with markers. I added a little sparkle on the snowflakes and ground with Stickles Crystal Glitter Glue. Inside, the slit punch holds the lip balm in place. I added a little double-sided tape for extra hold. I wrapped the lip balm with Dashing Double-sided paper to obscure the writing on it. The Wishing You Cheer verse is stamped on the left and room to write a personal note on the right. Stampin' Up!'s red gingham ribbon (great for the holidays!) holds it closed. Wouldn't these be fun gifts for some special gals in your life?

Hope you are enjoying getting ready for the holidays. I'm feeling a little more in control today! Did some shopping yesterday...mainly gift certificates left to get. I have my menu set for the holiday party on Friday night. Just need to write down the ingredients I need at the store, then go out tomorrow and buy them. I finished their gifts (rats...I forgot to take a picture of them all lined up!) I made sets of 4 tile coasters using Baroque Motifs in Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate...they turned out nice! I wrapped them with the Purely Pomegranate ribbon that is on SALE right now! Working with that ribbon is awesome...so easy to tie pretty bows!

Don't forget the retired accessories list is out! Get your retiring stamps and accessories now...

Coaster Calendars

This was another project we did at my Last Minute Gifts class last Thursday. And my Stamp Club will be making this project in January (don't tell the others, Pat!) These are very quick and easy to make, but look nice sitting on a desk or counter!

The base is a 2" binder clip that I altered by attaching Cutie Pie dotted paper. I added a punched flower with a mini brad in the center. The top is a 4" coaster covered on both sides with Cutie Pie double sided paper. I added the calender on a So Saffron layer, then punched the 5 petal flower twice in Purely Pomegranate and once in Wild Wasabi...cutting two of the petals off to make the leaves. The center is a button. The flower is popped up using dimensionals. Ribbons around the binder clips hold the coaster tight!

I've got a very busy week. I need to make 12 Christmas gifts by Friday, finish decorating, clean, plan a menu for Friday night's Christmas party, grocery shop, make the dinner.... Whew! I'll be glad when this week is over! I'll try to get to my Blog as much as possible. I have a couple more things to show you from the Last Minute Gifts class!

Bloggers Challenge Week #24 Watercoloring

This week's challenge was to use watercoloring. Since I had two classes this week and getting ready to leave town in about an hour, I didn't have time to design something new this morning. However, recently I saw a recipe book that Jan Tink had made and loved it! Yesterday, I made up mine smaller than hers, but used a very similar design...I figured, how can you improve on perfection?

Last night was my Last Minute Gifts class, and I made each person one of these base recipe books to finish. I covered the chipboard and used my Bind-it-All to put it together ahead of time. But, they finished by adding the coordinating paper, ribbon and stamped chef image. The only decoration inside are the tabs and recipe pages...they can choose what categories. Like Jan says, I think it is just STINKIN' CUTE and my class loved it! lol!

Voila chef is colored with Watercolor crayons to meet this challenge! Make sure to check out the other Blogger's who participate!

Friends

The last few days, I have been working on my Technique class and my Holiday Last Minute Gifts class that is tomorrow. Soon I hope to get everything photographed and share on here.

In the meantime, I made this earlier this year and thought it appropriate for today...we had 6 inches of snow dumped on us and another storm on the way! AND, it turned COLD...brrrrr!

I originally saw a card on Papercrafts that showed the snowman and penguin together...I adapted it using Stampin' Up!'s punches and stamps...changed the layout...and added some ribbon. Didn't it turn out CUTE? I'll try to recreate the recipe.

Sets: Cold Play (retiring soon!)
C/S: Real Red, Basic Black, Not Quite Navy, Kraft, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
Inks: Not Quite Navy, Going Gray, White Craft, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip
Other: 1" and 1-1/4" circle punch, Flower Bouquet punch, Small & Large Oval punches, 1/8" circle punch, Basic Black marker, Red gingham ribbon, non-SU heart punch, Liquid Glue and Dazzling Diamonds

Merry & Bright

Oh, I just can't let this Merry & Bright set go away...I love it! It is so cheery for the holidays! Plus, I love snowmen and this little one is SO cute. The size is great...fits in our circle punches so nicely. MAYBE it will be in the new catalog! I can hope, right? I included a close-up of the trio of stamps used on the medallions.

I have been wanting to do another trio box since I made the Halloween ones. This one I used the Dashing paper...so cute! Can I say again that I LOVE that paper? lol! I spray painted the lids of the nesting boxes and then wrapped the paper around the sides. I made a "ribbon" to go around the boxes and then added the dangling Merry & Bright ornaments with red gingham ribbon! Fun!

This was also my first time to make up one of the bows from DSP...so easy! I love the result. I'm challenged this year finding bows that match some snowmen paper I found on sale after Christmas last year...now I can find some DSP and make up my own...just for those special packages. I think Wintergreen should match pretty well.

The Women's Expo is over, now I'm preparing for two more classes this week. Then I am DONE and can start working on making my own holiday gifts, finish my decorating, get ready for my hubby's holiday party next weekend, write my holiday letter and mail out my Christmas cards...whew! I'm exhausted thinking about it! lol!

RETIRED list is HERE!

Wow...it is time for a new catalog already! Stampin' Up! will premiere the new Spring/Summer 2008 catalog on January 1st. But...you know BEFORE the new catty comes out, that Stampin' Up! shows the list of stamp sets that will be retiring! The stamps on this list will only be available until December 31st, then they will no longer be available.

Here is the list of retiring sets in Alphabetical order.

Here is the list of retiring sets by Page number.

Check them out...then let me know which ones are on your "must have" list. I'll be happy to place an order for you.

Today's Women's Expo was fun...everyone loved our Make & Take. (I'll bring one home with me tomorrow to show you.) I'm tired, but ready to go back in the morning and finish up!