You're One in a Melon!

Shhhh!  Don't tell, but we are taking this sweet little ensemble to Halleigh's new kindergarten teacher.  We hope she likes it! 

Halleigh picked out this little watermelon vase for her teacher, so I took it from there to add stuff inside.

Don't pass out, but I actually did NOT glue myself with the hot glue gun while making these flowers....I know that is a total and complete miracle!   Yes, my fingers thank me, also!

In addition to all the fun flower folds glued together, there are 8 expo markers for her whiteboard stuffed inside and hidden by the flowers!  Hoping she will like that.

And for a little sweet treat, we have some M & M's, because we all need a little chocolate sometimes!

Stamps are from Mouthwatering and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets. 

And, my personal favorite, the watermelon card to go with the ensemble.  It says, You're one in a Melon on the inside.  The retired circle cutter came in handy to make these circles.  Always Artichoke is 5 1/2", Lucky Limeade is 5 1/4", Melon mambo is 5" and folded in half.  I added some Melon Mambo trim (retired) for decoration and made some basic black seeds and added Dazzling Diamonds on the front. 

So, do you think she'll like it?!

Storybook Friends

Our friends recently adopted a little boy from Korea, so I thought I'd make them a little card to say congrats.  They have had 3 cats for years now, so I thought this was really the perfect image to use!  Not to mention the fact that the sentiment was perfect after a LONG time waiting to have children! 

This little kitty is so fun to color - actually all of the animals are just so adorable - my daughter begs me for an extra image each time I have them out!

Stamps:  Storybook Friends, Word Play

Ink:  StazOn (black)

Paper:  Watercolor, Whisper White, Real Red, Storytime DSP

Accessories: Real Red Grosgrain ribbon, Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pen, Uniball White Signo Gel Pen, Finishing Touches edgelit

Making banners

Hold 'yer horses, Trigger....this is gonna' be a long post! 

I recently had a class to create some clean and simple cards using banners - they were so easy to make...and yet we get so nervous about making something so simple, don't we!?  Today, I am here to help you make some of these easy little banners so you, too, can adorn your pages and cards with banners!

One easy way to make a banner is to start by clipping a slit in the middle of your scrap of paper.  While I have a tendency to just eyeball things and guess, this gives you a specific place to end the banner - it also helps you make sure you will end up in the middle - not slightly off!  And if you're completely precise...you can measure before cutting!!!!

Next, cut from the bottom corner to the top of your slit.

And finish by cutting from the opposing corner to the top of your slit - now look how easy that was!!!!

Again, if you want quick and easy, another way to make a banner is to use a square punch - line up your banner scrap so the corner is where you want the angle.  Again, for more precision, measure and place a dot at the spot you want to line up.

There you have it....another quick and easy banner!

I like the way the banners look if you take a pencil and curl the ends of them up - aren't they cute?

Babies and banners...a perfect combo, right?!

Banners make great birthday cards for boys, too!  This one actually matched the gift bag and tissue paper of the last party we took a gift to!

Here I made the same card two times - once with a crumb cake background.....

...This time with a Pumpkin Pie background.  It's amazing what a difference a pop of color can make! 

I'm sure you can see how easy it is to make these cards!  They were so easy....I just couldn't stop myself - and they are a terrific way to use up those scraps you just hate to throw away!  So, give it a try, make some banners and share your creations with me!  I'd love to feature your cards, too!

Divided Page Protectors

Divided Page Protectors - Great for Project Life!

Here is another week of Project Life that I used with my Divided Page Protectors.  I used some scraps of my Pinwheels on Parade Simply Scrappin' kit to create this page.  I made several pinwheels and just added a few border stickers and brads for embellishments.
I keep track of my daily journaling with an app for your phone or computer called Cozi and print out the journaling when I am ready to add pictures.  It is so very helpful in keeping up with daily activiites...and right now I am currently working on mid-May for ALL of  my pictures!  That's pretty darn good for me! 

Paper:  Summer Starfruit, Whisper White, Midnight Muse
Accessories:  Pinwheels on Parade kit, Corduroy brads (retired)

Guest Designer: Carol Manning

Guest Designer, Carol Manning, my downline, has been busy this past week making some gorgeous cards.   She says,

Look at the cards that I made this weekend.  One of them is a retired stamp set that I found on ebay.  Most of them I cased from other demo’s and changed a bit....I have fun making them. I  use to be a basket case (Longaberger) now I am a card case also.

I love her comment about being a basket case - and now she's a card case!!!!  How funny is that?!?! 

And...how gorgeous are these cards?  Don't you love the scallop embossed edge and the delicate flowers on this card?

Little bit of Betsy's Blossoms here - simple and elegant.

Great color combo here - love the blue and green combo with the Fancy Fan embossed background.

Clean and Simple in its most beautiful form.  Love this design - very easy to duplicate!

I believe this is the stamp set she bought off of ebay - very vintage, don't you think?  Gorgeous!

I just adore this card here, but take a look at the card below - same card, one extra step...

Can you see how she added the lighter shade to this background image?  It didn't take much, but boy, did it pack some pop to this card!  I love the huge difference just a little stamping made! 

What have you made lately?  I'd love to share your creations, too!

Joyous Celebrations CASE

If you are one of my customers, you should have received your holiday catalogue in the mail by now!  If you did, you saw a similar card on page 7 with this Joyous Celebrations stamp set.  I adore this card and couldn't resist copying and stealing this idea.  It is really pretty in person, I must say!

Notice the oval shaped Holiday Frame?  Perfect for placing the extra large oval punch inside it!  And, I'm with you....I think you can use it for more than just holidays!  It doesn't yell Christmas only to me...

My favorite part?  The Dazzling Diamonds, of course!  Go on....roll your eyes....I know you hate glitter, but as for me and my house, we will craft with glitter!!!!

Stamps:  Joyous Celebrations

Ink:  Real Red, Early Espresso

Paper:  Whisper White, Lucky Limeade

Accessories:  Holiday Frame Embossing Folder, Extra Large Oval Punch, Ribbon (retired), Dazzling Diamonds

Pinwheels on Parade - Christmas style!

I took some of the Pinwheels on Parade DSP and decided to turn it into a Christmas card.  The Riding Hood Red color was perfect, so I thought, let's make it a little Christmas - for we need a little Christmas today!!!

I took my Scentsational Season stamp set and stamped the mug in Riding Hood Red and the steam in Early Espresso.  (That's a bit of an oxymoron....using early espresso for hot chocolate, eh?!)  I added a little Dazzling Diamonds to the snowflake and steam for effect - it was too late to cut and emboss - I was tired!

I had a scrap of paper that was already embossed, so I cut out one of the Apothecary Accents and cut it in half to put behind the mat.

Stamps:  Scentsational Season

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso

Paper:  Whisper White, Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red, Pinwheels on Parade DSP

Accessories:  Dazzling Diamonds, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Apothecary Accents framelits, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Christmas in July

Very soon you will be getting your holiday catalogue in the mail - notice I didn't say mini.....that's because there is nothing mini about this catalogue, ladies and gents!  If you thought you had a wish list for the big catalogue.....well, let me just say that my wish list pretty much doubled or tripled when I saw this!  Yep, it's that good!

This is the first little bundle of goodness you see in the catalogue - it's a stamp set called Ornament Keepsakes and a matching set of framelits.  Let me just say...they are delightful!

I saw a similar card in the Stampin' Success magazine - they used Pool Party - I switched it to Tempting Turquoise and changed the order of the ornaments around some.  I also added some silver Dazzling Diamonds to the ornaments....yes, silver!   Just think.....you could make silver bells!  Hee hee!

Stamps:  More Merry Messages, Ornament Keepsakes

Ink:  Real Red, Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise

Paper:  Whisper White

Accessories:  Pool Party baker's twine,, Paper Piercing template, Paper Piercer, Holiday Ornaments framelits

Sweet Baby

I needed a card for a baby shower I was going to on Sunday, so I took some inspiration from the Stampin' Success magazine that is exclusive to demonstrators.  I saw them use the same stamp as a banner and I thought....why did I never think of that!?  I have had a lot of those moments lately.

Anyway, I used a ruler to help evenly space my stars and took a little strip of a Pinwheels on Parade border sticker, linen thread and a few scraps to make this card.  It didn't turn out too bad for a quickie!

Stamps:  Itty Bitty Bits, It's a Wrap

Ink:  Midnight Muse

Paper:  Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue

Accessories:  Pinwheels on Parade, Linen Thread, Itty Bitty circle punch

Paper Daisy card

I got inspired to make this card by looking at another card made by Becky Roberts.  Her card looked nothing like this...it was really beautiful!  I wanted to fluff up some of those paper daisies and see how they looked.  I probably should have taken another picture from a different view - they are really fluffy!  I put one of the floral framelits flowers behind the daisies for a base and a big huge glue dot (you'll see these soon!) on top.  Next I took 4 different paper daisies and placed them on the glue dot, touching in the center.  I fluffed up the daisies, spritzed them with my Midnight Muse and spritzer tool and added a few more flowers.  I had this button ready to use on my desk, so that finished up the flower.

Ink:  Midnight Muse

Paper:  Patio Party DSP, Primrose Petals, Whisper White

Accessories:  Paper Daisies, Color Spritzer Tool, Floral Frames Framelits, Pear Pizzazz ribbon, faceted buttons, linen thread

And just in case you wanted to see the big man on campus, here he is at 3 1/2 months!  Look at that precious face!  Is he not the cutest?  Those big blue eyes get me every time!

Inspired again by Sunny Stampin'

I was very happy to see that Andrea Walford is again going to be creating things using Stampin' Up products again.  In fact, I was so excited, I was already inspired to make a card!  She made the card above using the hexagons on the Twitterpated DSP.....what?!??!  Hexagons?!?!?  I never even noticed those - I mean....I did....but I never thought about using these trendy hexagons separately!  I went right to work to make this card:

Obviously, I need a new Basic Grey stamp pad - NEED one, people!  (Yes, I could just re-ink....but those new stamp pads are so luscious!)

I only had this wide Basic Grey ribbon, so I made a much bigger bow. 

I found this color combo in the Color Coach - Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, and Basic Grey - I like it!

Stamps:  Delightful Dozen

Ink:  Basic Grey

Paper:  Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, Twitterpated DSP

Accessories:  Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Grey satin ribbon

A little Sneak Peek - a - BOO!

Are you as excited about the upcoming holiday catalogue that is coming out in August as I am?   If you're not, I guarantee you WILL BE!  This baby is no longer a mini - it is 8 1/2 X 11" and 48 pages long!  Now THAT's what I'm talkin' about!!! 

In fact, when my pre-order items came in the other day, my daughter squealed with delight when I pulled these items out of the box!  Yes....I realize my daughter is a mini-me.....all the way down to the core!  I hope everyone loves her in spite of that, though!  ;)

If you are looking for a super-duper quick, easy, and CUTE treat bag....this is the way to go, girlfriends!  Better yet, you get 15% off the purchase of several bundles in the new catalogue - including this darling little set! 

This treat bag truly took 5 minutes to make or less.....the only time-consuming part was me wanting to tie the perfect bow!  Now, how's for an efficient mummy?! 

Aviary Ensemble

I found a tutorial for this cute little ensemble over at Inking everything with Becky.  She used a different stamp set and probably a few other things, but overall I kept the same idea.  Anyone who knows me know that I am a bird lover!  Well....really we just love nature in general in our family!  We live in the woods, we have trees all around, and we just love to watch the deer, turkeys, foxes, squirrels, chipmunks, and countless birds that are always in our yard!

So, here is a little closeup of the birdhouse itself.  I made the nest with crumpled up strips of Early Espresso paper, but I didn't want to glue the house down, because I was afraid you wouldn't be able to open its box.  Behind this (attached to the back) is a little box of cards.  Is this not the CUTEST little thing you've ever seen?!?!?!

Here are the cards that I made to go inside the box - they are 3X3 cards.  I used the Aviary stamp set as well as the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set - I figured there is a sentiment for EVERY occasion in that set!  You can't go wrong!

So......I'm thinking about offering this as a class in August....anyone interested?!

Jenny and Carol - card making extravaganza!

For those of you who do not know this lovely lady, this is Carol Manning, my splendid downline!  If you live anywhere near Williamsburg, Kentucky, you need to look her up.  As you can see, she is magnificently talented at making cards!

When Carol and her sister, Jenny, get together to make cards, they get to work!  Look at all these fabulous cards they made!  Lots of new beautiful product in there - just look at those perfectly tied bows!   And one of my favorite new sets - Papillion Potpourri!  LOVE that set!

Now, I know you're thinking.....okay, what in the world do they have all those cards set up on?  This little ingenious contraption holds cards!  Jenny's son-in-law made it for them.  I'd say he earned lots of son-in-law bonus points for that little bundle of joy!   What a nice guy!

Did I tell you they went to work?!  Yeah, these are MORE cards!   These gals know how to get it done!  Look at those embossed cards with the new chevron and fan folders! 

Here's one last word from Jenny about this card, "Carol and I designed the vintage card from a set that I bought in 2000 and had never used.  We were pround of ourselves because we usually copy other people's work. "

And this lovely lady is Jenny West, you can look her up if you live near Monticello, Kentucky, and need a Creative Memories consultant.  Her basement has the BEST setup for having crops and classes!  No joke! 

Jenny is going to California for vacation this week (I know....we just HATE that for her, huh?!!?)  Lucky gal, hope you have fun, Jenny!  Can't wait to hear all about your trip!  I've only been once, but I loved California when I was there.

Only 3 spots left! Join my Stampin' Club now!

I have all of the dates set for this year's Stampin' Club!  We are going to have so much fun learning new techniques, making an 8X8 scrapbook and creating exciting little treats every month!  Don't miss out on the food, fun, and fabulous friends you'll make!

Daydream medallions and Floral frames

I made this layout the other day using my Daydream Medallions and Floral Frames framelits.  What a good combo they are!  You get lots of detail without much work....and they all just stack on top of each other!

Here I was using the retired DSP from the spring mini to match that Rapunzel dress. 

I stamped several different flowers in Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party and cut them out with the Big Shot.

I added a Delicate Doily behind the title.  The title is from the Word Play stamp set.  I stamped it in Basic Grey and colored the Earth's water with Pool Party to match.  I also pierced out the inner circle with the new piercing mat (LOVE!).

Around the edge I used the Color Spritzer and Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder inks to add a little splash of color and used a ruler and my Basic Grey marker to add a doodled frame.

Stamps:  Word Play, Daydream Medallions

Ink:  Basic Grey, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder

Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, retired DSP

Accessories:  Ruler, retired brads, Floral Frames framelits, Piercing Mat

Happy 4th of July!

Here is a thank you gift card holder and little gift box I made with more of the wonderful Natural Composition Specialty DSP.  This is cardstock that is sturdy enough to make your base for 3-d items like this box!

Here you can see the gift card holder - It was really easy - just a few score lines and sticky strip before decorating.  The gift card tag inside is just simply a diecut from the Two Tags die.  You'll notice the Apothecary Accent diecut also - I pierced holes around that die cut using some of the new Paper Piercing patterns in the new catalogue - I love how they further  accent the die cuts!  Look closely and you can see how well that DSP resists sponging - it leaves that glossy part shiny and gorgeous!

And a happy 4th of July to all of you out there in bloggerville!