Alyssa rocks!

My friend and co-worker, Alyssa, made me this pirate hat for my birthday. She put my name on it and found some really cool pirate scrapbooking stickers to put on it too. She also made me a card! She had never crafted anything before, and she said she never will again! (Apparently, there's a big blob of glue permanently attached to her carpet now.)

Here is Daniel wearing the pirate hat.

And last but certainly not least, here is Birkie wearing the pirate hat!

Sorry I didn't have anything stamping related to show you today. I'm working on my swaps for the Minneapolis regional this weekend, so I can't guarantee anything for Wednesday. But the next couple of weeks will be rockin' because I usually take about 100 photos at regional! I'm hoping for a new photo with Shelli so I can update the one permanently posted.

Happy stamping!

Card pouch

Last Friday's 3-D demonstrator challenge was this adorable card pouch made by Elissa. She has a great photo tutorial on her blog. It's made from a sheet of 12X12 double-sided paper, and there's only a few folds! It's big enough to hold cards, and it's a double pouch too!

The twist I added to mine is the eyelet border punch. I folded the pouch first and then I used the punch along both corners. Here is a photo of one whole side punched.

Here's a close-up of one edge so you can see how I lined my punch up with the folded diagonal line. Then I just trimmed from the edge of the paper up to the punched part. Super easy and cute!

Supplies (all SU): Delicate Dots DSP (SAB), horizontal slot punch, eyelet border punch, Certainly Celery polytwill ribbon (SAB), blue gingham ribbon

Happy stamping!

Another easy card

This card is even easier than the pink one because there's no stamping on it. The sentiment and swirl come pre-printed on the acetate! I was limited on this one by how wide the ribbon could be without covering up the Thank You. I probably should have used a narrower ribbon, but I just love the Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon, so I couldn't resist using it.
I promise that I'll have something cool and 3-D for you on Friday!
Happy stamping!

Clearly Easy Card

Today's card was super quick and simple. It literally took me 5 minutes to make this one, thanks to the new Clearly Thanks printed window sheets from the upcoming Occasions Mini catalog. They are pre-printed acetate sheets with 4 images on one 8 1/2 X 11 sheet. This section came with the dots on it, and I stamped "thanks so much" from Sincere Salutations using White StazOn. I used regular adhesive to adhere it along the top then tied on the ribbon to cover up the adhesive.
Happy stamping!

A glittery swap card

This swap card is by Shelley Zarling. I love how the Irridescent Ice EP looks against the black! The butterfly is a Big Shot die and is also covered in Irridescent Ice.

Hinge card

This is a really fun card that was in the last Stampin' Success magazine (demonstrators get it from Stampin' Up). I wanted to make a card with my new Oval All set and scallop oval punch from the upcoming Occasions Mini, and I decided on this after watching this video from Dawn Griffith.
The base is 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" Whisper White. For the bottom piece, I started with 3 1/2" X 4 1/4" Certainly Celery. I ran the Whimsy jumbo wheel over it with Certainly Celery ink and then used the eyelet border punch along the top.

This piece is adhered to the bottom of the Whisper White base, but don't run the adhesive all the way to the top. You need to leave room for the top piece to slide underneath it.

The top piece is 2 3/4" X 4 1/4" Soft Sky. I lined it up with the top of the Whisper White base and slid the bottom of it under the scalloped edge of the Certainly Celery piece. I punched a hole through all 3 layers and put in a Whisper White 5/16" brad. That's what makes the hinge.

Here it is opened so you can see the inside. You put your message on the white base at the top. The focal image is the butterfly from Garden Whimsy. I inked the entire stamp with Soft Sky then sponged Pacific Point onto the edges with a sponge dauber. I sponged Certainly Celery around the edges of the cardstock then matted it with Pacific Point and added some Dazzling Diamonds. The sentiment is stamped with Pacific Point on Soft Sky then punched with the large oval punch. The mat is the same stamp embossed in white and then punched with the new scallop oval punch.

Happy stamping!

A scrapbook page!

Here is something you'll rarely see from me: a scrapbook page! I don't scrap too much, but I do like to frame single pages. These are photos from my 2 work trips; I framed it and put it up at my desk at work. I was so excited to use the skull and crossbones paper from the Rockabilly DSP! It went perfectly with the photos of Alyssa and me with the pirate statues.
Happy stamping!

Remember the crimped envelope card?

The crimped envelope card was all the rage a few years ago, and now it's back again thanks to SCS. It was a challenge on both the general and demo sides in the last couple of weeks, and I've been seeing them all over. I never actually made one before, so this is my first!
This is my sample for this week's Workshop Wow demo challenge. I made this a Limited Supply Challenge. Here is the challenge: For stamps, use any, but an older neglected set should be used as your main set. For ink and paper: no In Colors and no DSP. Accessories are limited to ribbon plus one other accessory. The only limit on tools is no punches.
I chose Doodle This for my set. I decided to also use mostly Bold Brights since I've neglected those lately as well. My accessories are the celery SAB ribbon and a corduroy button. For tools, I used a crimper and a sponge.
I stamped the flower twice on vellum with White StazOn and colored on the back with Pixie Pink and Lovely Lilac markers before cutting them out. For the envelope, I stamped the doodle images all over, cut 1 1/2" off one side and ran the big part through the crimper. That makes it smaller so the top part fits on like a lid.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Doodle This, True Friend; Paper: Kraft, vellum cardstock; Ink: Certainly Celery, Lovely Lilac, Pixie Pink, White StazOn; Accessories: Certainly Celery polytwill ribbon, Chocolate Chip corduroy button, crimper
Happy stamping!

Four Seasons card

This is another beautiful card from Kim's swap. It's by Joanne Rolston and features the set Branch Out. I love the way she got all four seasons on the card but kept the focal image all as one. So clever!

Need a laugh?

I got my new catalog swaps back last week, and as always, Kim hosts a fabulous swap! I decided to post this card today because we usually need a good laugh on Monday. This great card by Sara Kobe features the new set That's Funny! This stamp in particular just cracks me up; I know it's corny, but I just laugh when I see it. The sentiment is from Full of Life, which is available but is on the dormant list.
Happy stamping!

A simple anniversary card

I needed an anniversary card for my BIL and SIL, and I remembered this cute bird couple from the Candy Lane DSP. The only stamping on this is the word Cherish. I used a Close to Cocoa card base, another piece of DSP, a Chocolate Chip mat, ticket corners and some Chocolate Chip faux stitching.
Happy stamping!

Polished stone with a twist

If you are a regular visitor, you know that I am a demo challenge hostess on SCS. I am the lucky person who gets to invite demonstrators to be the WICKED stamper each month. I also get to be the first one to see their awesome projects and samples!
Last month was a busy one for me, so I was a little late trying the February challenges. This card combines the February color combo (Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, and Kiwi Kiss) with the technique which is polished stone. Kandicejo posted a beautiful card combining emboss resist with polished stone, and that inspired my focal image. I also used JanTInk's punchy plates technique and the sketch is based on WSC70 although I changed it a little.
If you need a refresher on polished stone as I did, there is an excellent tutorial here.
I started with a square of glossy white cardstock, stamped the grass image in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear EP. Then I just followed the polished stone tutorial. I let it dry overnight and then wiped the embossed image with a paper towel to remove the excess ink.
I cut it down to 2 3/4" X 3 1/2". I cut it vertically at 1 1/8" and attached the 2 pieces to a Chocolate chip textured mat (3 1/4" X 3 3/4"). The plate is made with the key tag punch and the 1 1/4" circle punch. (Jan has an excellent tutorial for this on her blog.)
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Inspired by Nature, A Beautiful Thing; Paper: glossy white, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip textured, Urban Oasis DSP; Ink: Chocolate Chip craft, reinkers (gold, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss); Accessories: key tag punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, clear EP, silver brads, Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

Corner bookmark tutorial with photos!

Here is a tutorial for the corner bookmark. It's a lot of photos, but I wanted to make sure each step is clear. I originally saw this on Dawn Griffith's blog. She has a video, and the link is in this post. I added the eyelet border on the bottom.

Start with a 6" square of DSP. Decide which side you want to be the primary side showing and place that side facedown on the table.

Fold the bottom point up to the top point.

Turn the paper so the folded side is on the right. Fold the top and bottom points over to the left point to form a square.

Open those folds back up and turn the triangle so the long (folded) side is at the top. Fold the bottom point (top layer only) up to the top side of the triangle.

Fold the right point back down and tuck it under.

Repeat with the left point. You can stop at this point and have a great bookmark. Or you can move to the next step to add a little extra.

Place the bookmark into the paper cutter, pushing it so the folded edge rests against the blade arm. Cut off the excess paper.

It will look like this after you cut.

Unfold the bookmark and use the eyelet border punch on the cut edge.

Refold the bookmark.

Happy stamping!