Dec 8, 2009 | Big Shot, Christmas, Designer Series Paper, SU Ribbon |
On Sunday I made another Matchbox Advent Calendar. They take a while to make – a lot of cuts on the Big Shot and then all the assembling but they sure are fun and I really like how they are turning out. Here is the second one I made:
This one uses some retired paper – Frosty Day Designer Series paper (item# 113057) – but the good news is that you can order this paper on the Clearance Rack which you can order on my website through the online store. The stamp set is Mr. Twigster which is retired but another snowman set like the Snow Buddies hostess set would work just as well. 
And the Felt Flurries (item # 13697) – the felt snowflakes are also available in the Clearance Rack on my website too.
The main colors that I used for this one are Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss, and Tangerine Tango. But you could use Old Olive in place of Kiwi Kiss and Pumpkin Pie for the Tangerine Tango. In fact the ribbon I used was a retired Old Olive and retired Chocolate Chip twill ribbon but they match just fine even though the aren’t exactly the same colors. The third ribbon is the Bashful Blue 1/4″ Grosgrain ribbon – which also comes in Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.
I used Rhinestone Brads in the center of the Felt Flurries.
The numbers are from Calendar Alphabet & Numbers set. The numbers are stamped in Close to Cocoa ink and punched out with 1/2″ Circle punch. Then backed with Close to Cocoa card stock with the 3/4″ Circle punch.
The snowman is stamped with Black StazOn ink and then colored with a Bashful Blue Stampin’ Write marker and then the blender pens and Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango ink. Then I carefully cut out the snowmen and the trees and attached them with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
This project works the best using the green bottle of Tombow multipurpose adhesive. I used just a little to hold the boxes together. You don’t necessarily need any on the drawers but I had a few flaps that kept coming back up so I’d just put a small dab where I needed it.
This box I worked more on lining up the stacks and used a little bit of glue to hold the backs and sides together so they wouldn’t sag in the middle – my first one had a little bit of that going on.
I have the DSP paper cut for my third one. Then each of the boys will have one. The nice part was that the drawers from the matchbox are big enough to hold most of the candy that is out there for the holidays. I have another wooden advent calendar that I bought a couple of years ago but the drawers on it are so small I can’t find candy to fit inside. These are a really nice size!
Thanks for stopping by today and for the nice comments about my Guest Designer opportunity with Create with Connie & Julie. I have placed my pre-order for the Occasions Mini Catalog and for the Sale-A-Bration brochure – I can’t wait to get some of my new stuff to start creating.
Nov 22, 2009 | Christmas, Stampin' Up! Events, SU Ribbon |
My Holiday Card Class was a big hit this year. I’ll be sharing the cards we made over the next several days. This first card was one that we made at the Stampin’ Up! convention this summer. It uses the Tree Trimmings stamp set and the Sweet Season stamp set.
Stampin’ Up! supplies:
- Kraft card stock
- Very Vanilla card stock
- Garden Green classic ink
- Chocolate Chip classic ink
- Real Red classic ink
- Red Polka Dot ribbon
- Clear Rhinestone brads
- Stampin’ Dimensionals
- Very Vanilla envelope
On a family note…. Kyle heard from Ga Tech and he has been deferred for now. They want to see fall grades and what he has been doing this semester. So we’ll send all that in after Christmas. Darn I was hoping he would get it early. I’m not sure what else they want to see he has good grades, high test scores, etc. I guess he isn’t well-rounded in that he is all academics and nothing else – no sports, no community service, who knows….he’ll have to work on that.
Enjoy your day!
Oct 24, 2009 | Designer Series Paper, Rub-Ons, Stampin' Up! Events, SU Ribbon |
Yesterday was girls day at the Chattanooga Half-Day Regional. Stampin’ Up! started offering half-day regional events this year – just a little taste of what their larger events are like. Danette met me at my house in the morning and we drove to meet Sue and then headed north – in the POURING RAIN – to Chattanooga. After a few wrong turns in the Chattanooga area we finally found our way to the Convention Center and the parking garage. We grabbed a bite to eat at the sandwich shop inside and ran into Shannon West and Cari Cudney from 
Stampin’ Up!. They were the regional presenters along with Pam Morgan.
Pam started by welcoming us and then showed us a cute little WOW project that we all wanted to make – I’m really planning to make one so I’ll show it when I do. Shannon did a presentation on The Way of Workshops and showed us a handful of different ideas. Carrie showed us Tempting Techniques which I now have to play with too – Crystal Effects Glaze, one with waxed paper (I didn’t hear the name of that one), Faux Alligator/Snake skin, Brushless Watercoloring, and Custom Rainbow pad. Shannon did another presentation on Scrapbooks and Photo Tips. If you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and didn’t get to attend one of the Fall regionals – these three presentations are included in the Front Row Regional DVD.
We saw Workshop Wow presentations from several local demonstrators Susan Barron from Alpharetta, GA; Paige Butler from Chattanooga, TN, Julie Salva, Theresa Clark from Lawrenceville, GA, and Joan Wiemers from Alabama. I hope I spelled all their names correctly. They each had great ideas that they shared with us and I have a whole list of new things to try.
There were prize drawings throughout the afternoon – the odds are good when there are only 100 people in attendance – and guess what – I won a prize! The Autumn Splendor stamp set from the Mini Catalog. I was hoping someone else from our table would win – but not this time.
I met lots of new friends, and talked to some of you who visit my blog – that was exciting! In the parking lot we met Kim from West VA. Then we met Rhea from Louisiana who is a new demo trying to meet new friends. Later we had Diane and Beth from South Carolina come join us at our table.
I’m trying to remember everyone else I talked to – Mandy and Abby, LeAnne, Diane, Susan and more. It was a great time. 
I made only a few swaps on Thursday night – 
it was a the exact design from a card that my sister-in-law had sent me a couple of months ago. I just changed the colors and the Designer Series Paper.
Supply List:
- Out of the Box stamp set (hostess level 1)
- Chit Chat Rub-ons
- Tall Tales Designer Series Paper
- So Saffron card stock and ink
- Chocolate Chip card stock and ink
- Old Olive card stock
- Whisper White card stock
- 1-1/4″ Square Punch
- Paper Piercer and Mat pack
- 1/16″ circle punch
- Earth Element brads
- Old Olive Striped Ribbon
- Stampin’ Dimensionals
I had a few other misc. swaps left from my classes or other events and then I swapped some little bags of tags. I hope everyone that attended had a great time.
We drove back after it ended, stopped and had dinner – I ran into Cari from my stamp club at dinner. Then came home and headed up to the high school to see the end of the football game. Etowah won. I missed the band performance but today I am chaperoning for the competition which we will go to shortly. So I’ll see the show later today again – they are doing such a good job this year. Have a great rest of the day! Thanks for stopping by~
Sep 19, 2009 | Circle Scissor Plus, class, Holiday Mini Catalog 2009, Rock 'n Roll, SU Ribbon, Summer Fun Cookout, Tutorial |
My post yesterday was short because I was in a hurry in between various things I was doing. So I’m back today to elaborate more on the flower – I had several people ask how to make the flower. I think when you see the Sweet Centers stamp set in the Holiday Mini Catalog it isn’t completely clear what that stamp is supposed to be.
So here is my version of the flower – and I’m sure you can do it many different ways with different amounts and layers of petals. I tried a couple of different things before I settled on what was the easiest for me.
1. First I started with a 3″ x 3″ square of card stock. I used the 1-3/4″ circle punch to punch a circle out of the center. I laid it over one of the sweet treat cups.
2. I stamped 16 petals. In these pictures they are just stamped in So Saffron ink on Whisper White card stock. My finished example they are stamped in So Saffron and rolled in Close to Cocoa on the edges for each petal. I cut out all 16 petals with my paper snips. I tried to punch the petals with one of the oval punches but none of them fit exactly. Now that I think about it if you didn’t have the stamp set you could still make flowers – by punching out petals with an oval and then use a circle to add the curve against the cup….just a thought of something else to try (wouldn’t that be pretty with DSP….ok see now I’m on to more ideas – I better get back to my craft room once I finish this post).
3. I basically created 4 layers of petals. The first layer is 4 petals attached to the square with snail.
4. The next layer is 4 more petals attached in the spaces between the first four. Again using snail. You could stop with that and have a pretty flower – but I wanted more.
5. I added the next layer of 4 petals with Stampin’ Dimensionals again in between the petals I already put down – place them in every other space.
The leaves you can see in this photo are attached with snail in between the layers that were snailed down and the ones on dimensionals. I actually added them at the very end.
6. Then add the the last 4 petals in the remaining spaces using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
7. So to finish I trimmed the square in the back so that you couldn’t see it. You may ask why didn’t I start with a circle – I tried that but it was harder to punch the hole out of the center and harder to get the petals lined up. So for me I found it easier using the square and trimming it afterwards. I did cut a 3″ circle using my Circle Scissors – my finished photo shows a So Saffron piece – but for my class I used Chocolate Chip which I like better. This is the back of the flower. So take the Sweet Treat cup and fill it with the candy – my picture used M&Ms but my class used chocolate covered raisins (they are all brown colored). Fill the cup and adhere it to the Chocolate chip circle. Then set it down and adhere the flower over the top of the cup – I just used my snail.
Then I used tape to attach the skewer to the back – my skewers were the ones from the Country Living Summer cookout kit (they aren’t pointed).
I added Old Olive ribbon and then create a tag using the Oval Stamp set.
Here is the final project one more time.
I hope that all made sense. I have new example using the Valentine heart which was giving me trouble to begin with. I figure out what to do though – so check back for that one on another day.
Thanks for stopping by – it is again a Rainy Day in Georgia …..stay dry.
Sep 16, 2009 | Big Shot, Decor Elements, Designer Series Paper, Inspired by Nature, Stamper's Club, SU Ribbon, Upsy Daisy |
Earlier this month we had a STARZ group meeting that was a lot of fun. Wendy had some great projects for us and the one I’m going to share today is very similar to a framed art project I did awhile back with my Stamper’s Club. I got the idea from a project that they showed us at the Regional Conference in Orlando. My original frame project was this one with the “Welcome” Decor Elements – my club member also used the Inspiration Decor Elements pieces for theirs. We used the Urban Garden Designer Series paper and the main colors were Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss. The stamp set is Inspired by Nature. The Decor Elements is on the glass. The ribbon is tied around the outside of the glass. On my frame the butterflies are inside the glass.
I shared the idea at a STARZ meeting and Wendy created her own frame project and another friend, Michelle, also made her own versions. Wendy had her version as one of our projects at our last STARZ meeting using a smaller frame. For this one we used the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper and stamped with the Upsy Daisy stamp set using the baby-wipe technique. The main colors are Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo. The butterflies are the Beautiful Butterflies die for the Big Shot and on Wendy’s version we used the Inspiration Decor Elements pieces – mine says “love”. The other words in the set are “life”, “hope”, and “faith”. On Wendy’s version the butterfly is attached outside the glass so it looks more 3 dimensional.
I plan to make some more frames in various colors to sell at the Holiday Bazaar in my neighborhood.
If you live near me please plan to come out to this event – everyone is invited. I will have a table of completed handcrafted items for sale, samples of other Decor Elements projects, a make-n-take project, sign ups for classes and catalogs for ordering. There will be a variety of other people there to help you get ready for the holidays. Here are the details:
HOLIDAY BAZAAR
DATE: OCT 3
TIME: 12PM Till 7PM
LOCATION: 1053 Towne Lake Hills East
Woodstock, GA
Towne Lake Hills E Subdivision
Join us for our 3RD annual Holiday Bazaar
Thanks for stopping by today.
Sep 15, 2009 | Big Shot, Build-a-Bear, SU Ribbon, Tutorial |
I don’t know what it is about Chocolate but I never have enough. I’m actually talking about Chocolate Chip card stock – but that statement holds true for the real stuff too!
I swear I must eat my card stock in my sleep – I think I order lots of it and then all of a sudden my Chocolate Chip card stock is gone – AGAIN. What am I doing with it? I think I can safely say that it is my most used color of card stock. I just placed another order and put 5 packs on my order so maybe I won’t run out so fast. I need to make a habit of ordering one pack every time I place an order then I will never run out – right?
So let me see what have I been doing that used up the Chocolate Chip card stock – well you know what – some of it was used for Build-a-Bears, and some of it was used for my last Class to Go Kit – which by the way is now available as a tutorial – it just needs to be added to my tutorial for sale page – here is a photo of it –
And I used some in my new 50-50 JAR!
I wanted to try something else besides the 50/50 board but couldn’t come up with another idea so instead I decided to tweek the 50-50 board idea and I have turned it into a 50-50 jar. 
It is the same basic concept – place a $50 order and get a chance to win $50 of Stampin’ Up! product from me. I used a big cracker jar. Tied the new 1-1/4″ Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Chocolate Chip around the jar. I made a tag using Bella Bear’s stamp that says ” “LIFE WITHOUT STAMPS……UNBEARABLE….”
The tag was created like this – I stamped on Whisper White in Chocolate Chip ink and punched out with the 1-1/4″ Circle Punch.
I layered that on a 1-3/8″ Circle punch of So Saffron. Then I punched a Scallop Circle from Chocolate Chip card stock – this one I added White Gel Pen dots. The stamped layered circle was added on to this one with a Stampin’ Dimensional to pop it up. Then the next layer was my newest little discovery…..
I just got the Stampin’ Up! Two Tags die (THANKS GLORIA!) and I can tell this one will be one that gets used a lot. One of the tags has a scalloped circle at one end that layers perfectly with the Scallop circle punch – but it only goes half way around – so this is what I did. I used the Big Shot to cut one tag out of Old Olive card stock – then I placed that tag back on my die in the opposite direction matching up the scallops and cut it again – Ta-Da – a larger scallop circle to layer with my punch!
It shows a few of the perforated lines but that’s ok – I love how it layers! I tied the tag with linen thread to my ribbon.
The inside of the jar is the other tag – the one that folds up. I cut 50 of them in Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie. On each one I stamped Bella’s stamp – by the way I named my Stampin’ Up! Build-a-Bear “BELLA” – I’m not sure I announced that on my blog yet. The idea with the tags inside the jar is that when someone has a $50 order they get to pick a tag and write their name and information on it – fold it in half and place it back in the jar. Once all the tags are filled out I’ll draw a winner.
The top of the jar is the large scallop circle die – decorated with the White Gel Pen to resemble the perforated lines on the tag die. And then I added the numbers/letters from the GoGo Boots Alphabet die. I like how it turned out. So lets fill up the jar!
One other weird thing to mention – I had this jar in a plastic storage box with a bottle of etching cream – the bottle was closed – we did some glass etching a year or so ago for the holidays – I may need to do that again using the Decor Elements!! Anyway when I took out the cracker jar the back side is now frosted like it has been etched – do you think fumes from that bottle of etching cream got out and etched that jar? It was all clear like the front to begin with. That’s the only thing I can think of is that it was sitting next to the jar closed up in a plastic container and over time it just happened somehow…..weird isn’t it….
Enough for today…….it is pouring down rain here and thundering. Stay dry!
This one uses some retired paper – Frosty Day Designer Series paper (item# 113057) – but the good news is that you can order this paper on the Clearance Rack which you can order on my website through the online store. The stamp set is Mr. Twigster which is retired but another snowman set like the Snow Buddies hostess set would work just as well. 
I used Rhinestone Brads in the center of the Felt Flurries.
The snowman is stamped with Black StazOn ink and then colored with a Bashful Blue Stampin’ Write marker and then the blender pens and Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango ink. Then I carefully cut out the snowmen and the trees and attached them with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
