Can you find the stamping on this card?

The words "Get well soon" are the only things on this card that are stamped! I needed a get well card for a supervisor at work who had an appendectomy last weekend, and I didn't really have time to sit down and come up with something fabulous and hand-stamped. I mean, really, the Dancing with the Stars finale only happens twice a year, right? So I decided to use the Just Delightful Simply Scrappin' kit from last year's SAB. The card is another big one-- 5 1/2 X 8 1/2. I used Shimmery White for the card base. The flowers are all stickers as is the border at the bottom of the card. The stamped sentiment is from Sincere Salutations, stamped in Bashful Blue and matted with Mellow Moss. Of course, I had to use the ticket corner punch! But I messed up punching the upper right hand corner, so I covered the booboo with a sticker! And I was able to make the card while watching DTWS, so I didn't miss a thing!
In other news, the retiring list comes out on SATURDAY! Also, we're getting really close to 5000 posts, so I should have a blog candy giveaway for Saturday as well. Stay tuned!

It's the Jolliest Time of the Year!

Tonight was my up-up-upline, Sandi's monthly stamp class. These are the cards we made using Jolliest Time of the Year. Sandi always has the cutest cards for us! It was fun to color all of these with markers. They are also all glittered. (I'm glittered, too, and probably will be for days!)

SU is helping you Wrap Up the Holidays!

From November 23 thru December 15 (while supplies last), Stampin' Up! is helping you wrap up the holidays. They're offering specials on wrapping paper, ribbon, gift card holders, tag-making supplies and more! To see all of the details and get some project ideas, go to the SU website here: http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/9255.asp or e-mail me for more info.

Also, the previous post was # 100!! I've also had over 4400 hits on my blog. Thanks so much to all of you who keep coming back! When I hit 5000, I'll have another blog candy giveaway, so keep checking for more details.

Thanksgiving Photos for Jake

My nephew, Jacob, is going to college in New York City, and he wasn't able to be with us for Thanksgiving. So here are some photos for you, Jakey, so you'll know what happened and how much we missed you!

We're all waiting patiently for Shirley's delicious dinner. Shirley, Larry and Teddy sat at the card table off to the right of the photo.

L to R: Dane, Daniel, Loretta, Mike, and Scott.

Shirley set a place for Jake at the table without even realizing it until everyone sat down. This is Jake's spot.

Teddy celebrated his 3rd birthday today. He was very excited because he got his very own cards. (Emmerts LOVE to play cards!)
Teddy blows out the candles. He helped Shirley make the cake and the frosting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's what I was working on this week: 20 lip balm holders for my MIL, Shirley. She's an Avon lady. I'm going to her house today for Thanksgiving, and I wanted to give them to her so I don't have to mail them. These look complicated, but they really aren't! (I've done all of the hard part by figuring out the measurements for you.) I originally made one using a pattern from SCS only to find that it was too small for my Avon Dew Kiss, so I altered that pattern. The one I made is for a 2 5/8" lip balm.
The outside piece of cardstock is 4 X 5 1/2, scored at 2 3/8 and 3 1/8. (Score with the long side of the cardstock against the top of your cutter/scorer.)

For the inside piece, the cardstock is 3 3/4 X 5 1/4. Put the long side of the cardstock at the top of the cutter/scorer and score at 2 1/4 and 3.

To make the 3/4 cuts, line up the long side of the CS at 3 1/2 and cut from 1 7/8 to 2 5/8. Move the CS to 3 1/4 and cut again from 1 7/8 to 2 5/8. Turn the CS 180 degrees. Line up the CS at 3 1/2 and cut from 2 5/8 to 3 3/8. Move the CS to 3 1/4 and cut again fromo 2 5/8 to 3 3/8.

To make the 1 1/2 cuts, line up the long side of the CS at 1 1/2 and cut from 1 1/2 to 3. Move the CS to 2 1/4 and cut again from 1 1/2 to 3.

Push all of the cut pieces toward the inside and crease all of the score lines.

I stamped Enjoy from Be Happy and punched it out with the 1 1/4 square punch and punched out the mat with the 1 1/2 square punch. The ribbon is 12 inches and is adhered all the way around. The patterned paper is 2 1/2 square.

I put adhesive on all of the edges, the entire spine (excluding the cut parts), and the entire line next to the spine. I adhered the spine first and then each side, folding at the score before adhering.

I probably won't be able to post SU's new specials tomorrow as Shirley has dial-up at her house. So be sure to check SU's website tomorrow or back here on Saturday night!

SU News Flash!

Stampin' Up will be Wrapping Up the Holidays starting Friday, November 23rd thru Saturday, December 15th. This will feature some existing catalog items (including Holiday Mini items that would no longer be available after Nov. 30!) and some new items just for this campaign. Stay tuned for more details on Friday!

My New Set from Shelli!

Here's my first card with my new Level 3 hostess set, Time Well Spent. It will be in the new Spring/Summer catalog available January 2nd. I made this card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I don't think this is really my kind of set; I don't really like to color too much. But I certainly won't turn down free rubbah! I did pick up this cool idea from the Stampin' Up website, though. For the dots on the flower, I punched them out with the 1/8" circle punch and then put a Chocolate Chip scallop circle behind it.

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Time Well Spent, Fundamental Phrases; Paper: Kraft, Almost Amethyst, Almost Amethyst Prints, Chocolate Chip; Ink: Basic Brown, Chocolate Chip, Lovely Lilac ink and marker; Accessories: 1/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch, word window punch, chocolate chip wide grosgrain ribbon, ice circle brads

Winter Bright Christmas cards

This year, I'm using the Winter Bright Simply Scrappin' Kit to make my Christmas cards. This kit is so pretty! It comes with 8 sheets of 12X12 textured cardstock, 6 sheets of double-sided designer paper, and 6 6X12 sheets of stickers. The stickers are shimmery! Here are the 6 cards I've made so far. I was really tired when I was making these on Friday night, so I fell back on my standard card I make. But I'll be CASE-ing some of Caroline's cards from her blog too: www.craftincaro.ca . She also decorated a tin to match. By cutting the cardstock at 4 X 11, I can get 3 cards from each sheet of cardstock for a total of 24. However, I'll be saving some of my supplies for another project. I can't say what it is because the recipient reads this blog!

Here is a close-up of a border I made using the retired small corner rounder punch. I got this from Cambria's blog; her aunt was the one who came up with this great idea! I tried to take photos but couldn't get good ones today. I'll try again some other time. Basically, you take the guard off the punch. Then you punch one scallop on the piece of cardstock. To make the next scallop, line up the cardstock edge with the edge of the V inside the punch. Like I said, I'll do my best to get some good pictures later. Right now, I need to finish the 20 lip balm holders I'm making for my MIL, the Avon lady. (Hi, Shirley!) I'll post the photo and directions when they are finished.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

As promised, here is Mama's birthday card. Today is her birthday; I won't give away her age, but she is really young (as am I!).
I made this card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. The sketch was a square card with a square layer and a circle in the middle. I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to use my Pretties Kit. If I can't splurge on the goodies for my mama, who would I use them for?? I made the card 4 1/4" square so it would fit in a regular envelope. Soft Sky is her favorite color, so I decided to use Basic Gray and Purely Pomegranate with it. Love, love, love this color combo! (Thanks, Stampersharon, for using it in the color combo challenge a few weeks ago.) I cut the Pomegranate layer 4" square and the Charbon layer 3 3/4" square. I cut the circle with the Coluzzle, using the flower to decide what size circle to cut. I colored the flowers by smooshing (yes, that's the technical term!) them on my ink pads. On the big flower, I used my aquapainter to get the color down into the grooves. It looked a little uneven when it was wet but was fine after it dried.
OK, I was a complete idiot when I made the stickpin. For some reason, I had it in my head that I needed to put crimped beads on to keep the beads on each end of the pin. I just realized that DUH! I could have just put the pin through the big flower. HELLO!! So because of how I did it, I had to use 2 pop-up glue dots stacked on top of each other under the pin. I just hope that the card stayed in one piece on its journey south.
At least it looks pretty!

Elegant Bookmark

This would make a great addition to that book you were planning to give for Christmas. Some genius on SCS came up with it; I take no credit! It's made using the gorgeous satin ribbon from the Holiday Mini. I used Chocolate Chip. I recommend starting with 12". I folded each edge over twice (using Sticky Strip) to prevent fraying. Each end has 2 scallop circles punched from Brushed Gold cardstock. For the other piece, I stamped Baroque Motifs in Chocolate Chip onto Shimmery White cardstock. Then I sponged Creamy Caramel on it to make it beige. Everything is stuck down securely with Sticky Strip so it will hold up to use.

New Catalog Time is Approaching!

Here are the dates from Stampin' Up!
Nov. 30 -- Spring/Summer preview brochures begin mailing to customers
Dec. 1 -- Retiring stamp sets list and Spring/Summer dormant list released
Dec. 10 -- Retiring accessories list released (only available while supplies last!)
Jan. 1 -- Last day to order from Fall/Winter catalog
Jan. 2 -- First day to order from Spring/Summer catalog
Feb. 1-Mar. 17 -- Sale-a-bration
Mar. 1 -- Occasions mini catalog starts
So far, I have only gotten a few sneak peeks at what will be in the preview brochure. What I have seen is GORGEOUS! Also, Stampin' Up! is sending all active demonstrators a FREE level 3 hostess set from the new catalog. Mine is arriving on Friday, so hopefully I can play with it this weekend!

One More Christmas Ornament

This is a simple but pretty ornament. I cut 3 different patterns from the retired Holiday Thyme paper into 1/2" X 3" strips and rolled them up. Then I just dropped them into the glass ball! Because the paper is double-sided, there are 6 patterns in there.

I made a card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge, but I can't post it yet because it's my mom's birthday card. I'll post it on Thursday, which is her birthday. She should have it then.

Money Holder Card

This is the last project from my workshop Wednesday night. We had a great time! (Hi, ladies!) We made a chipboard ornament, the spotlighting card, and this card. This is the perfect card for this time of year, but you could also use it anytime for birthdays, weddings or graduations just by changing the paper. This was a demo challenge on SCS, and the awesome demo who came up with this can be found here: http://stampnscrapwithpaula.blogspot.com/2007/10/christmas-giftables.html . Also, the card is part of the gift; it has a belly band around it instead of a boring envelope.

For my card, I used a 7 1/2" square piece of cardstock scored at 1 3/4 and 4 3/4. The inside piece of paper is 1 1/2 X 7 1/2, the paper on the outside of the card is 2 5/8 X 7 1/2. The belly band is 1 1/2 X 7 1/2.

The great thing about the Dashing paper is that I didn't need to measure for the outer piece or the belly band! The outer piece is 3 1/2 squares X 10 squares, and the belly band is 5 squares X 1 square. Very handy for making multiples!

I don't buy Christmas stamps, so I used the flower from Priceless for the embellishment on the belly band.

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Priceless; Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, River Rock, Very Vanilla, Dashing; Ink: Real Red; Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch

Christmas ornaments!

If you want to make Christmas ornaments, now is the time! Not only is it November, but Stampin' Up! is helping with the Paper Party promotion. Buy 3 packages of Designer paper and get the 4th for free!
Here are 4 ornaments that I made recently. In the upper left is the scallop circle ornament I posted a few days ago. In the lower left is a paper star. It's made from a 6" square of Apple Cider paper scored at every inch. Fold accordion-style and staple in the center. Cut each end off at a diagonal, and open up the star, adhering the two edges together with sticky strip. Julie has a video tutorial here: http://paperpleasing.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/10/ive-gone-live.html I will try to make a photo tutorial later this week as well. The 2 ornaments on the right are from the On Board Trimmings chipboard set from the Holiday Mini Catalog. For the circle, I used Ruby Red craft ink to color the front and edges. Then I traced the circle onto the Dashing paper, cut out the circle, and adhered it to the back of the ornament using SU Anywhere glue stick. I punched the hole for the string with the Cropadile. The snowflake is the piece punched out of the center of the circle. I covered it with Bashful Blue craft ink. Then I sprinkled it with Irridescent Ice embossing powder and melted the embossing powder with the heat tool. Again, I used the Cropadile for the hole.

Scallop Circle Ornament

I made this a while ago but hadn't posted it in case I decided to do it at a workshop. I finally decided it would be too hard to do this at a workshop, not because it's hard to make but because it would be hard to share the punch and adhesive for it.
This ornament is so cute! It's hard to photograph because it's 3D but looks great IRL. The scallop punch is just under 2 inches in diameter to give you an idea of the size.
It's made from 8 scallop circles, each folded in half and glued together. I used the greeting glue, which made it a snap to put together. Then before adhering the last 2 pieces together, I added a loop of gold elastic cord with a crystal bead from the Pretties kit tied at the bottom for a little sparkle.
I still haven't settled on my workshop projects for Wednesday, so I'd better go and get busy! Thanks for looking!

Another BIG card!

Making cards for work is tough because they have to be big enough for lots of people to sign on the inside. This card is a full sheet of Soft Sky cardstock folded in half for a 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 card. This fits into the largest SU envelope. Less cutting too!
I made this card in about 15 minutes, and most of that time was spent trying to remember which way the eyelet goes on the Cropadile! I decided to use the Word by Word bg stamp. It's oversized, so the finished piece was 4 7/8 X 6 (I think). I inked the whole thing with Soft Sky then just inked some of the words with Wild Wasabi. (I made my own In Color spots, so inking small areas is easy!) I mounted that piece on Wild Wasabi then attached it to the card. Two quick holes with the Cropadile then 2 pewter jumbo eyelets, and all I had left to do was add the ribbon. Quick and cute!