Stamps, Paper, and Ink

Christmas Treat Cup surprise

Sorry that I didn't post yesterday, I got  some very needed organizing and planning for upcoming events done. I promise you won't be disappointed because I have a TWOfer for you today!

I got to thinking about using the Treat Cups from the Holiday mini as a snow globe. Sometimes, creativity can take you in a different direction. Midway, I thought, "OOH, wouldn't it be soooo... cute to make a Christmas ornament out if it?  That's exactly what I did!

Isn't it adorable?~

• inside the ornament is a small scene I built on a 1-3/4" piece of garden green DSP ( Merry Moments DSP) using The More the Merrier stamp set.
• I layered two pieces of whisper white with torn edges and added Dazzling Diamonds glitter for the snow.
• Attached is a circle of Melon Mambo Designer Prints paper on the back
• it's all wrapped up with silver elastic cord for hanging and white taffeta ribbon.
• the snowman is colored with In Color markers (don't you love those? ) cut out, and popped up on dimensionals

Now, I promised TWO projects so, here's another surprise! I thought it would be wonderful to incorporate the ornament onto a pocket card for easy giving! Here's the card!

It's a simple pocket card, folded at the bottom and held together with the band of designer paper (also from the Merry Moments series). When the bow is untied, the inside of the card is revealed, and the ornament can easily be taken off the ribbon.

How do you like it? I hope you are inspired for your own creativity today! 

Looking UP! with Sweet Centers

Here's one of the projects using the Sweet Centers stamp set that we will be making this week at my stamp club! I used primary colors - to match the mini M&M's. I love those little treat cups! Wish my photo was better - this is a bright happy card that measures 3.5 x 5.5"  I like that this tall/skinny card still fits in a regular envelope.

There are three punched circles that need to line up for the treat cups. I only punch through one layer at a time, so I began by punching the circle in the card base. Next, I adhered the brilliant blue panel - lining it up with the circle I had just punched - and punched again. Repeat with the white panel.

See the circle at the top? It sits atop a 2 x 4" tag. Pull UP! and it gives easy access to the candy inside the card. I can't wait to see my stampers have fun with that!  Since the eyelet is fastened at the top of the tag, you can slide the circle down over the image panel and it almost looks like one piece.

ETA: This card was highly inspired by THIS beauty done by LeeAnn Greff.

If you live in the sandhills region of NC, I invite you to come stamp with me. Sending you hugs & wishes for a great day!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Sweet Centers, All Holidays
Paper:yo yo yellow, brilliant blue, whisper white
Ink:going gray, real red

Accessories: Stampin' Write markers, 1" polka dot ribbon,1" and 1-3/4" circle punch, eyelet and Crop-A-Dile

Order from me online anytime HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have!

Something Green for a little bit o' luck

 

Happy Friday to you! Today at the Stamp Something blog the challenge is Greens! Today's challenge is sponsored by Rare Image Rubber Stamps and I hope that you can't wait to play along and enter the challenge too.

I made this matchbox with the exclusive matchbox die coming soon in the Occasions mini. To me, vellum and a touch of white were the perfect complement to a St. Patty's green/theme.  I used the Yummy Sale a Bration set to stamp the heart and the sentiment - then I stamped and cut out two more of the hearts and placed them to form a shamrock. I added a stem with marker and enjoyed my creative flourish!

The matchbox die comes with three tags and I used one of them here.  I could not believe how easy it is to cut this box in one pass through the Big Shot! The box bottom is folded and the tabs hold it together without adhesive!

The rest of my 'greens ' are inside the box! Enjoy some sweet greens on me and have a great weekend!

 

Beautiful Candy

There is an old song I sang once entitled, "Beautiful Candy.... too pretty to eat!"  Well, it's almost true with this project as you will soon see. :)
Let's get down to the nitty gritty - Lisa's Chocolate challenge over at Stamp Something! I had no trouble coming up with chocolate - has anybody ever tried these?

 Not too pretty to eat at all, I say, but delicious! ( Hmmmm.... I wonder who ate those missing chocolates? Mmmmmm.. (smile) I'll never tell!)
 Now, for a beautiful way to give a gift of choclates, here's my project!

I used two of the large pennant dies glued together, I think this was first done at SU Leadership, isn't it a great idea?  My Parisian Breeze specialty paper was just the perfect thickness to be sturdy so this project could hang on a doorknob, over a chair, or at the end of a pew for a wedding. It would make an elegant decoration or shower favor. Have a closer look by clicking to enlarge the photos. But don't eat the chocolates! Instead head on over to the blog to see the other great projects and join us in the challenge!

Recipe~
Stamps: Frames with a Flourish, Warm Words
Paper: Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper, whisper white
Ink: baja breeze, chocolate chip

Accessories: chocolate chip satin ribbon, Big Shot, Penant bigz die, rhinestone brads

I {heart} special celebrations!

I am busy with preparations for my new catalog Open House this weekend and thought you'd like a peek at the party favors! Don't you just love these little frames? They were my best find today at the Dollar Tree. It was so much fun fixing them up with Stamps, Paper,and Ink! The frames included the gorgeous satin bows - all I did was stamp the white paper inside and decorate the outside with cut out hearts from the Best Wishes & More set. On the left, I actually stamped the sentiment on the glass using Staz-On ink. It has a neat 3D effect IRL.  If you are in my local area, I'd love to have you e-mail me and come to the party!

If you have to stay home, that's OK. Stampin' Up! has a fabulous one day only offer for February 1 - this Sunday.  For any order placed online, you will receive FREE your own copy of the Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog. Now how's that for that's a fun idea?

Here's another question - Which do you like better of the two designs?  I will be making a few of these up tomorrow, and I'd love your input! Thanks in advance -
Cindy

To order from me online anytime, click HERE

Got recipe...?

We got a wonderful and interesting assignment at the Challenge Blog to Stamp Something pertaining to a recipe. I wondered what kind of project I could come up with until I decided to cover a large Hershey's chocolate Symphony bar.  So, you wanna know, where's the recipe?  It would fit perfectly under the wrapper--it's my chocolate chip cookie recipe that calls for adding a crushed Symphony bar to the dough.

In keeping with the symphony idea, I wanted a 'black tie' look and what better way to get it than using heat and stick powder to add chunky black glitter to the die cut word. Here's a close up for you so you can see the sparkle! I used the Sissix Decorative strip Join in the Cheer for the sentiment.

Here's the recipe that has been passed around as Mrs. Fields' cookies. Even though they are not authentically hers,I think these cookies are the best! I think the DT members are the best too, go and take a look at what they've created, bound to be some yummy stuff!

Mrs. Fields’ Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1 ½ cups white granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups oatmeal (don't worry, they don't look at all--or even taste very--oatmeal-y!)
4 cups flour
24 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 large Symphony bar, broken into chunks

Cream together the first 5 ingredients. Next, grind the oatmeal in a blender into a fine powder. Mix oatmeal with the flour and add to the creamed mixture. Stir well, and then add the chocolate chips and candy chunks. Drop onto un-prepared cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Sweet and Easy Treat Box

Ready for more sweets~ or am I making you hungry? I saw these adorable boxes that Martha Stewart was selling and decided to come home and make my own. As crafters, isn't that one of the fun things we can do?

I kept my box shape similar in size. Slipped my treat and the Raspberry Tart designer paper into a cello bag, and easy peasy stood it up in the little box!

How simple is that? 

There are holes punched in the cello bag at the top and the ribbon is threaded through. Wouldn't this make a darling wedding or shower favor or a small gift?

Sent with a sweet hug for you!

~Cindy

Mom's Notecards

Here are the note cards I made to go inside Mom's gift! I found that the portfolio holds four to six cards and envies. I kept these simple and flat for mailing. I'm loving the Big Shot and the Top Note die, I will fill you in on more details soon! They made it super easy to create this project using the Haiku designer series paper. Be sure to scroll all the way down 'cuz I saved the best for last!

Cookies, yum!

Have your heard about the big celebration at No Time to Stamp?  I stumbled upon it yesterday and the daily challenges look like so much fun! I was busy working on my Gift Box class, but the first challenge  of a Cookie Exchange fit right into my Holiday gift Boxes class theme. You can find details and wonderful samples HERE and a chance to win blog candy too!

We were to bake cookies, post the recipe and pretty them up for gift-giving. Mine fit into this square box that we made using the Holiday Treasure designer paper from Stampin' Up! Having the pattern on two sides is a great plus with this box. Make sure you scroll all the way down to view my cheesecake cookies, the recipe and all the gift boxes.
 

Everyone loves these yummy cheesecakes and they are pretty on the table too.

Petite Cherry Cheesecakes

2-8oz.packages cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. vanilla
Box of vanilla wafers cookies
1 can cherry pie filling
Beat first 5 ingredients together until fluffy. Place mini cupcake liners in mini muffin tins. Put 1/3 of a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each cup. Fill 2/3 full with cream cheese mixture. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. When cooled, put 1 teaspoon of cherry filling on top of cream cheese in each cup. Yields: 4 dozen.

I knew you'd want to see all the boxes that we made, so here they are! The class included a tall box, a square, rectangle and triangle box, a CD holder and a gift card holder.

Now, it's a wrap for me today, thanks for stopping by!

10 minute gift idea!

Are you ready for a super quick gift?  Last night at our club meeting we focused on projects that come together in a JIFFY but look really special!  I figured that's really all we have time for at this time of year so I set out to show my favorite group of stampers what they could do!

Of course, it doesn't hurt that until the end of November, Stampin' Up! has a terrific special going for Rub-Ons.
 We used the Hidden Garden rub-ons to add a personalized touch to this candle holder. I added small dots of crystal effects and glitter in the flower center for a little bling.  In keeping with the fall theme, we used the Scallop #2 die from Sissix to cut a little mat under the glass. A twist of ribbon and voila! Your gift is ready. These could be a thoughtful hostess gift, or even place cards or decorations on your Thanksgiving table. Change the colors or change the theme to suit your need. Easy peasy!