May 2, 2013 | Big Shot, Spring Catalog 2013, Stamp, Scrap, & Create Retreat |
Have you tried out the Bottle Caps in the Stampin’ Up! Spring catalog? Did you know that you can flatten them and turn them into jewelry?
This was our third Make & Take project for the Stamp, Scrap & Create Escape Retreat. We used the bottle caps to make necklaces (and LaRee used the small ones to make earrings too).
We used the Big Shot to flatten the bottle cap. Stamped the images on card stock and punched them out. Glued it in the bottle cap and then covered with Crystal Effects – let it dry over night. This is a fun project but doesn’t work well in a class setting because of the drying time so it was a perfect project for the retreat. I made one where I added the Rhinestone while the Crystal Effects was still wet and another one I added it afterwards. The little 1/16″ handheld punch was used to punch a hole in the edge and then add a chain or ribbon.
And the cute little jewelry needs something cute to put it in – right? So I created this little matching Petite Purse. Now it makes an adorable gift – Mother’s Day is coming up you know!
I used the Petite Purse die and Basic Gray card stock. The front panel was cut a second time and embossed with the Chevron Embossing folder. A ribbon handle was added with some of the tiny brads. Stamp and punch the butterfly – add the Vintage Faceted button and ta-DA – a super cute little purse to hold that necklace!
Thanks for visiting today!
Apr 29, 2013 | Big Shot, Designer Series Paper, Pop 'n Cuts, Stamp, Scrap, & Create Retreat, SU Pillow Gifts |
Pillow Gifts are so much fun! What are pillow gifts? It is something that Stampin’ Up! does – not sure about other companies. On the incentive trips that the demonstrators earn Stampin’ Up! pampers them with little gifts that they normally leave in their room in the evening and often on the pillow – so I guess that is how they came to be called “pillow gifts”. When we go to convention and other events we usually bring gifts for our roommates and also leave them on the pillow. I finally earned my first incentive trip this year (the Hilton Head trip that I went to in September) and yes the pillow gifts were the most exciting part – after dinner everyone wanted to go back to their rooms and see what Stampin’ Up! had left. So of course for the Stamp, Scrap and Create retreat I wanted to pamper everyone and give them special “pillow gifts” – but since everyone wasn’t spending the night rather than leaving them on their pillow I left the gifts at their “spot” in the crafting room.
The retreat theme was focused around the Sent with Love Designer paper and stamp set – if you haven’t purchased these yet you better hurry – they are only available through April 30th!! One of our make&takes was also created out of these and I’ll share that tomorrow. It’s a great set and paper to use in your scrapbooking.
Well on to the pillow gifts – here they are:
When everyone arrived they had this little pail on their spot. Each one has a chalkboard vinyl cutout with the Oval Framelits. I added a banner that was made with the Sent With Love Designer Paper and then tied a piece of chalk to the bucket it has a little wrap of paper on it too. These worked out perfectly because everyone carried them around to the Make&Take stations throughout the weekend. Their adhesive and scissors fit inside and anything else they wanted to corral into one place.
Friday night after dinner they got this little treat.
A little tube filled with Jelly Beans and decorated with a tag made out of the Sent with Love Stamp set and matching designer paper. I stamped the images and punched them out with a 1″ circle punch and added them to the tag. A little treat that was “sent with love” to everyone that came to the retreat.
I got up early Saturday morning and got breakfast ready and then snuck downstairs to leave a new little pillow gift on everyone’s spot. This is what they got.
I used an empty button container and decorated the top with card stock and a flower – the stamp is from the A Round Array stamp set – and I stuck with the same colors that are in the Sent With Love designer paper. Inside the container was a roll of Washi Tape – each person got a roll from the Epic Day pack. The stamp set and Washi tape are both sneak peeks from the upcoming catalog. I added the “you make me smile” stamp because they all make me smile and I was so happy that everyone came to this retreat.
Saturday night was a special treat that I put out while everyone ate dinner –
I made a cute little box using the Pop ‘n Cuts base die and the Sent with Love Designer paper. I stamped some of the images from the matching stamp set, punched and cut out the pieces and added them to the front of the box. Inside was a three pack of Ferrero Rocher chocolates! A sweet treat “special delivery” to end a wonder Saturday of crafting.
And lastly on Sunday morning I left everyone a final “pillow gift” to say thank you for coming.
A cute little Petite Pocket made from the Sent with Love Designer Paper. Wrapped with some Baker’s Twine and some little tags from Tiny tags – I used “thanks so much”, “hand crafted”, and “friends”. Inside each pocket were some of the Jumbo Pearls. Just a fun little gift for everyone. I’m sad that the Petite Pocket Die, the Tiny Tags stamp set and the Jewelry Tag punch are all on the Stampin’ Up! retiring list – so hurry and order them now before they are gone! I love making these little pocket for so many things.
I know everyone loved all the little surprises and I loved make them and giving them! I can’t wait to plan the next retreat – I’ll have dates soon so you can mark your calendar and be sure to join us!
Apr 25, 2013 | Big Shot, Retired List |
Well the time has come. Stampin’ Up! is preparing for the release of its new annual catalog and that means it is time to say Good-Bye to stamps and accessories in our current catalog.
If you would like to print the pdf files you can find them here:
Retired_List_stamps
Retired-List-Acessories
To see the items visit my online store HERE. You can order directly from my store 24-7 so the items don’t sell out. For orders with less than $150 in product use the HOSTESS CODE = J4UMF79Z if all orders combined earn hostess benefits I’ll draw a winner to be awarded the free shopping dollars! If your product order is more than $150 – don’t use the code – you qualify for benefits and can choose them right along with your order.
Stamp sets should be available through June 3 – after that they will no longer be available.
Accessories will be available while supplies last until June 3. Some items sell out quickly so get them before they are gone. And some items are on sale up to 60% off. If you are a My Digital Studio user the content discs are 60% off. If you love the fabric its 40% off.
Here are my top 10 favorite things that are on the retiring list – these I plan to keep because I use them all the time –
- #106959 Tabletop Paper Cutter – I use this everyday for all my paper cutting and class prep. You do need to know how to use it properly or you won’t get good cuts. The blade is still sharp.
- #101227 1/16″ Circle Handheld Punch – I use this a ton to make small holes for the Linen Thread, Baker’s Twine, and little brads.
- #107006 Color Spritzer Tool – love this little tool and it provides the perfect solution when you get a little smudge on your card, just add some spritz and it looks like it was all just meant to be!
- #120175 Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder – one of my go to folders for adding a nice embossed background.
- #115965 Fancy Favor Bigz XL die – such a great box die and easy to decorate and alter, perfect for 3×3 note cards too and a nice size for small gifts and candy.
- #115950 Scallop Square die – I used this one a lot, it was popular for the fabric crafts too.
- #117190 Jewelry Tag punch & #118091 Tiny Tags stamp set – I used these together a lot just to add a cute little tag here or there on a project or card – it was a go to combination when something seemed to be missing.
- #115030 Lovely Letters stamp set – this is a great set for anything monogram – pretty but not so frilly that you can’t use it for masculine too.
- #121878 First Edition Specialty paper – I used this on many things as a background, easy to work with because it was a little thinner and fun to add for an old fashioned look – this one is already sold out.
- #118761 Bitty Buttons – the tiny buttons were my favorite – although I did favor the heart and add used those up much faster than the others.
That’s my top ten things and the non-consumable ones I plan to keep as I would use them in my personal projects. And the consumables I’ll have to stock up on our find a replacement in the new things that are coming out.
Apr 24, 2013 | Big Shot, Graduation, My Digital Studio |
I’m excited about Kyle’s upcoming Graduation from GA Tech! We haven’t had a party for Kyle in many years – it just wasn’t something he wanted but I told him this time I’m having a party so I’ve been planning and decided to use My Digital Studio to help me. So this week’s blog hop theme is “What you are working on” and this is what I am working on. Here is the whole ensemble that I’ve created so far –
The first thing I made was the invitation. I had to create it and get it sent to the Stampin’ Up! printer and back so I could mail them out. I used Embark Graduate Ensemble combined it with a few elements from Grad Party Ensemble. I started with the postcard template and made a few changes and I had to change the colors – I used Crushed Curry – which is actually a color that is returning to our regular color palette!
Front of the postcard invitation
back of postcard invitation
My friend Sue was able to get me these bags of graduation mints – which were the perfect colors – gold and black – so I wanted to use those to and made toppers for them.
The layer that looks like Designer Paper is from the Grad Party ensemble – one of the back ground papers. I layered it on Basic Black and Crushed Curry card stock (yes I had saved it for several years – just so I would have this color to use for any GA Tech scrapbooking I might do). I added some Summer Starfruit ribbon which blends well with the Crushed Curry. And printed a sheet full of the labels that say “the tassel is worth the hassle”. (yes – I just noticed the stamp brush image has an error in the spelling of hassle and while my sample is wrong it looks like it has been corrected on the SU site – so I need to update my digital stamp brush set).
The Embark Graduate Ensemble also include the template for the banner and the cupcake picks.
The cupcake picks fit perfectly in the 1-3/4″ circle punch. Then I used the Circle #2 die to cut the 2″ circles from Crushed Curry card stock. I added 4″ skewers and then tied a piece of Basic Black ribbon around the pick.
For the banner I punched holes in the corners and strung it on a piece of Baker’s Twine then attached the ends to a long skewer. I had some left over cupcakes to stick them in for the photo but this I would put on a cake.
Let me just say that the coloring tool in the new version of My Digital Studio is the best thing – being able to recolor different portions of the stamps is the “icing on the cake”! I used it a lot in this project to add the Crushed Curry color.
I’m very excited about Kyle graduating from GA Tech. He will be doing an internship this summer at Facebook in California (sad that he will be on the other side of the country but excited that he has this opportunity). Then he will come back in the fall to work on his Master’s degree. I’m so proud of who he has become – I guess he isn’t my little boy any more – but a successful young man.
Thanks to the MDS Blog Hop crew for letting me join you this month! It was fun! Be sure to click on all the links below to follow the rest of the hop and see all the awesome projects that everyone has made.
Apr 9, 2013 | Big Shot, Cards, Pop 'n Cuts, Spring Catalog 2013 |
I don’t think I’ve shared these All Dressed Up Pop-Up cards on my blog yet. During the month of March I think almost every class I had we made one of these or a variation of it. There are tons of possibilities with the pop-up die and the dresses. These are just a couple of variations that I created.
Notice the few differences on the fronts and the insides of these. Not much changed but a little bit.
And the side view so you can see what the pop-up piece looks like.
Tonight I’ll be going to the Ronald McDonald house for some stamping with the guests that are staying there. It should be fun. Come back for a visit tomorrow – I have something new going on this month.
Apr 2, 2013 | Big Shot, Cards, Pop 'n Cuts, Spring Catalog 2013 |
I had one of those “a-ha” moments last week while assembling my brand new A Round Array stamp set. It’s a sneak peek from the upcoming Stampin’ Up! Annual catalog and right now you can get it in a bundle with the coordinating 7/8″ Scalloped Circle punch for 15% off or just order the stamp set early. I got this stamp set in Clear mount (that’s available early if you want wood you’ll have to wait for the new catalog) and one of the things that I have been doing with all of my clear mounted stamps is to trim the labels close to the image before attaching them to the stamp. Doing that leaves a little bit of the foam exposed and it sticks better to the clear block than the label clings. You could leave the labels off but I want to know what I’m stamping to I want the labels on. Any way – my “a-ha” moment came when I realized I could PUNCH the labels! Before you peel any of the backing off just use the punch to punch them out then attach to the stamp!
That was so much faster and cleaner than cutting them out. I wish I had figured that out sooner and did it on some of my other stamps too. So if you can punch them then you can also use the framelits to cut out the ones that match those.
Now to show you the card that I created using this cute set –
Do you see the fancy edge on the right side? Well the card base was cut using the Pop ‘n Cuts Card Base die. The back of the card has the little slits that the tabs can slide in to hold it shut. Here are a few more details:
- Cut Island Indigo card stock with the Big Shot and Pop ‘n Cuts card base (I actually scored my 4-1/4″ x 11″ piece of card stock first – lining up the score line with the marks on the die).
- Punch a strip of Lucky Limeade card stock with the Ribbon Border Punch and attach to the edge of a piece of Tea for Two Designer Series paper.
- Punch a So Saffron card stock with Blossom punch and pierce using the Paper Piercer and Occasions Piercing Pack template.
- Stamp image from A Round Array stamp set in Island Indigo ink on Whisper White card stock, punch out with the 7/8″ scallop circle punch.
- Punch Island Indigo with 1″ Circle punch.
- Punch Lucky Limeade with 1-1/4″ Scallop Circle punch (carry over from the Holiday catalog).
- Layer the punches together and add to the front of the card.
(from the Stampin’ Up! Spring catalog)
I checked in on the bluebirds today while mom and dad were out – all 5 eggs are still there – no babies yet. Today is day 12. So any day now they will start hatching – we shall see how many babies we get – hopefully all 5 will be there in a few days. I better fill up the bird feeders again. The squirrels have been driving me crazy – they have learned how to get around the baffle finally – he uses it as a spring board now – grrr. And the squirrel proof feeder – while it does close once the squirrel has his weight on it but he know that when he jumps on it seed flies out and he can jump back down and get all of that. I call the them “he” but I’m sure some are “she’s” in fact one looks like she is either going to have babies or just had some babies.
Thanks for checking in with me today!
