Stamps, Paper, and Ink

RemARKable LOVE Blog Tour - Post 2

Happy NEW Year 2010! I love pink satin and lace! This is the first project that I made a couple of weeks ago for the blog tour. I just LOVE the satin ribbons available in the Occasions mini (they come in a BUNCH of colors too!) and decided to spruce up a gift set of heart-shaped soap, body cream and a pouch of bath beads using the Vintage Vogue stamp set and my favorite accessories.

  

  I love the vintage colors of pretty in pink stamped on very vanilla card stock, which was textured with the Finial Press Embossing folder.

I added a touch more elegance with white ink, card stock, and pearls from the Pretties Kit. The lace trim around the heart is a strip of card stock punched with the new Scallop Border Trim Punch and gathered around the edges. The border image on the pink strip is embossed in white. I think the possibilities with this set are endless!

I hope you've enjoyed this touch of elegance from the Occasions Mini and have fun on the rest of the tour.

Tomorrow's project pulls out all the stops on new products, so be sure to check back!

 

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Vintage Vogue
Paper: very vanilla, whisper white, pretty in pink
and Ink: craft white, pretty in pink

Accessories: Pretties Kit, Pink Satin Ribbon, Scallop Border Trim Punch, Stampin Up! Lots of Tags DIe and Big Shot, Finial Press embossing folder, white embossing powder

Need a quick gift idea?

At this time of year, we all need an idea for an easy way to dress up a small gift!  Here's a little gift that I gave one of my workshop hostesses this month. If you have the Big Shot, this gift is super easy and super quick.

The real red card stock is cut here with the Big Shot and the Box #2 die, and layered with the beautiful flocked Christmas Cocoa Specialty Paper. I trimmed the box top and enclosed two votive candles ~ they are a perfect fit!  The 5 Petal Punch was used to make the poinsettias that have a jumbo brad dipped in glitter for the centers. The Top Note die was trimmed to fit in the back of the box and it's all wrapped up with Mistletoe ribbon.

Do I sound - well, let's say - not like my usual bright and bubbly self?  You're right, I am tired! I am excited to share this project with you, just keeping it short and to the point. As I am sure is true for all of us - life has been incredibly busy lately, so I will be posting a bit less in the days to come. You know what that means! I'll come back and stamp up a storm when life gets back to normal (or  what-ev-uh) again.

I love the holidays and every year I tell myself this is the last year that I will push myself to the max trying to get everything done! If I get that time management thing figured out, I'll bottle it to sell to the world  ***wink***

Very Vintage and Vintage Vogue Sneak Peek

Vintage Vogue is the set I have LONG waited for! It's a delightfully detailed set with a great combination of images and a coordinating wheel called Very Vintage. I just KNEW I'd love exploring the possibilities of this new set from the Occasions mini (available for purchase on January 5) for a long time to come! Of course I want to show you what I made!

Here's my vintage tag to dress up some special gift this Christmas, and later to be used as an ornament for the tree.

I've just got to say - isn't this set GORGEOUS???

• On Very Vanilla card stock, I used the Very Vintage wheel and Soft Suede ink, and cut a 3.5" circle. 
• The flower border is done with black ink. I added a tiny border of Brushed Gold card stock, which I also used for the tag. The Brushed Gold and Brushed Silver card stock from Stampin' Up! has a beautiful metallic sheen that is just perfect for your holiday projects.
• The flower was stamped in Rose Red ink, cut out, popped up and embellished with a pearl from the Pretties Kit. If you wonder why I call the Pretties Kit 'my bottomless pit,' you need to check out this category in my sidebar :D
• The sentiment is from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes, and is embossed with Gold Glory embossing powder. I love this tone on tone effect.

Hope you love today's project! I am grateful that you chose to spend a bit of time with me today, thank you~

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Very Vintage, Very Vogue, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: very vanilla, soft suede, brushed gold
Ink: rose red, soft suede

Accessories: Pretties kit, vanilla taffeta ribbon

Don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and need supplies? Order from me online anytime HERE

Have questions about a crafting need, or considering becoming a demonstrator? E-mail me HERE with any questions you have!

Note Card Box and Ribbon Rosette tutorials

Want to know what I did today? I invited a delightful thirteen year old friend to help me make those table decorations I showed you a couple days ago.

Know what I didn't do?  I didn't post my tutorial that I promised you - yet. But here it is! 

First I want to show you how I altered the Stampin' Up! Box #2 die to hold my note cards that I posted HERE.

I ran the Box #2 die through the Big Shot machine to cut. I cut off the two small tabs on the box top, leaving the larger one.Then, I added a strip of designer paper and adhered it, being sure to crease the folds first. At this point, my box looks like this:

 

To support the 3.5 x 5" note cards, I needed to add two layers of card stock. Cut one
3 - 3/4" x 5 - 1/4"  panel to place inside the box. This is the piece that makes your box taller! Cut another panel at 3-3/4" x 2- 1/4". This piece goes behind the box at the top, with the bottom edge tucked under the ribbon for the purpose of covering the score line. These two pieces are even at the top and make a sandwich with the box tab in the center.

Adhere the panels with sticky strip and decorate your box as desired.

To make a ribbon rosette is really fun and our Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon makes it easy! Cut a small length of ribbon - about 3 to 4". All you need to do is wiggle a bit of the white stitching loose and gently pull this thread until your ribbon gathers.

Think of it as if you are sliding the ribbon along the thread, like gently moving hangers along a closet rod. As you go, form a circle. When I liked the size, I knotted the loose threads together, tucked the raw edge of fabric under and secured it with a few stitches done with a needle and thread.

I made two of these circles and attached them with just a couple of hand stitches. You could use Tacky Glue if you don't sew. Then add a large brad or button in the middle to anchor, and you've made a cute embellishment of your own!

Here's the finished project, try your hand at making your own.

 

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial. It's my way of saying how much I appreciate you!

I want to wish my U.S. readers a very wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  I'll be taking a couple days off from posting to celebrate with my family. I'll be back soon, see you then!

Last Minute Holiday Blog Tour: Day 4

 It's the last day of the blog tour, and I know I've enjoyed seeing the variety and creatively fun projects of our group. As I told you yesterday, I saved my favorite project for last. When all the gifts and goodies have been opened, what could be more needed than a boxed set of Thank You Notes?

While I wanted the notes to look festive, I wanted a box that was not just for Christmas so that it could be used again by the recipient.

Here's a surprise - this tall box was made with the Box #2 die, which is typically long and short. I'll share a tutorial for that and tell you how I made the darling ribbon flower this coming week in my blog posts. So be sure to bookmark me and subscribe if you haven't already so you can head on back!

Here's a photo of the 3.5 x 5" notes and matching envelopes that are inside, and a close up of the flower. I used the Very Thankful set for this classic and elegant look, and the image fits perfectly in the Build A Brad for the flower center.

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Very Thankful
Paper: whisper white, real red textured, Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper, Soft Suede textured
and Ink: markers

Accessories: polka dot ribbon, Build A Brad, Box #2 die, Big Shot, corner rounder and scallop edge punches

Thanks so much for joining in our blog tour fun! I've enjoyed every minute!

 

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

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