It’s Time to Party

May 8, 2010 | Big Shot, Create with Connie & Mary, Rock 'n Roll, Summer Mini 2010 | 3 comments

The Flip Flop Blog Candy Winners will be announced on Saturday, May 8th.  To find out if you are a WINNER…you need to check the Create with Connie and Mary site no later than Friday, May 14th and send us your mailing address.

This week on Create with Connie & Mary we have had a Tropical Party!  And to finish out the week our challenge was to create a party favor.  Our featured products this week are the Tropical Party stamp set, Island Oasis Designer Series Paper and the Island Floral Stampin’ Up! Die.  A fun set of products and just perfect for a summer party theme.

In my mind I had the thought of creating a treasure chest and filling it with something.  So I set out to create my treasure chest.  This is what I came up with. It is made from the Box #2 Bigz XL Die for the Big Shot and the Top Note Die which creates the curved top.  I started with a More Mustard box and sponged all the edges with Chocolate Chip ink.  Then I cut Chocolate Chip panels for all the sides and the top.  Each of the panels and the top note were run through the Big Shot with the “Distressed” Texture Plate which is part of the #4 Texture Plate kit.  I also punch the panel corners with the Ticket Corner punch and then I sponged all the edges and some over all the texture.  The Top Note is attached on the back with some adhesive and 2 vintage brads.

I let the Top Note curve over the top to create the look of a treasure chest.  I added another brad in the front but there is actually a piece of velcro that holds it shut.

Now I had this cute box and couldn’t decide what to do with it.  It sat on my craft table for a couple of days and then we had Cinco de Mayo and I was thinking about Margarita’s – apparently I was still thinking about when I woke up Thursday morning because I woke up knowing exactly what I wanted to do.

I pulled out a Margarita Glass and went to the store to get a little bottle of something.  And when I was done I had the cutest party favor for an adult tropical party!  Adults need party favors too – don’t they?A margarita party favor – complete with a glass, a bottle of tequila, salt for the glass and a little umbrella.  The only problem I ran into was that the bottle would not fit in my treasure chest without cutting a hole in the side and I didn’t want to do that.  So I added a flower to the bottle and set it in the glass.  All the flowers are Rock-n-rolled using Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo ink.

And inside the Treasure Chest is the salt – which is inside a small cello bag which has been folded over and stapled and I added a belly band.  And the little drink umbrella.

I added a decoration to the stem of the glass –

It actually looks so fun – I think I need to have a party just to make these to decorate the table.  This was a fun challenge !

It also looked cute with the salt and umbrella in the glass which leaves my treasure chest empty – maybe fill with candy or a gift card to a Mexican restaurant if you need to give a gift to someone.

Check out what the other designers did with this theme challenge:

Connie Babbert – Inspired Treasures

Kerin Sylvester – Stamps, Paper, Glitter

Mary Brown – Stamper Camper Corner

Supplies:

Sets:  Tropical Party (w118515, c120081)

Inks:  Chocolate Chip Classic Ink (100908),  Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink (105216), Melon Mambo Classic Ink (115656), Stampin’ Write Markers – Old Olive (100079) Chocolate Chip (100071), Pumpkin Pie (105115), More Mustard (100076), So Saffron (105114), Melon Mambo (116329)

Cardstock:  More Mustard (106542), Chocolate Chip (102128), Whisper White (100730)

Accessories:  Big Shot Die-Cut Machine (113439), Texture Plates Kit #4 (114531), Texturz Impressions Pad (114614), Texturz Silicone Rubber (114615), Top Note Die (113463), Box #2 Die (114518), Ticket Corner Punch (107214), Wide Oval Punch (112082), 1/16″ circle punch (101227), Island Oasis Designer Series paper (117173), Linen Thread (104199), Sherbet Designer Buttons (116312), Earth Elements Brads (106955), Vintage Brads (109109), Small Cello Bag (103104), Sponge Daubers (102892)

Herb Expression Flower Pot

May 4, 2010 | Blog Candy, Blog Tour, Create with Connie & Mary, Embossing, Tutorial | 9 comments

Royal Blog Tour Project 3 – Flower Pot

I hope you enjoyed the Royal Blog Tour – I know I did.  Since I wasn’t able to give you all the details for my projects during the tour I’m glad you were able to return to see them now.  Today I’m going to give you more information on my flower pot project.  I haven’t done a tally yet but lots of people liked this one.

I went through several pots and several different ways to get the effect that I wanted.  Stamping the image on the pot wasn’t too big an issue but getting the color on the flowers and the leaves was the trick for me.  I tried a couple of things and then ran the pot under water to see what it would do – since you would have to water your plants I needed the pot to be able to get wet and stay the color I made.  Finally I got the results that I wanted!  And it turned out cute – don’t you think?  And now you want to know what I did don’t you – so this was my final solution.

  1. Stamp the image in Chocolate Chip Craft ink – on this small pot I did have to roll the stamp carefully around the pot since it isn’t flat to get the full image. Just go slowly and make sure you are touching the stamp to the pot both at the top and the bottom.  The Lavender image is narrower and probably wouldn’t have the same issue.    Then cover in clear embossing powder and heat set.
  2. Use the Lovely Lilac Stampin’ Write Marker and color in the flowers – quickly cover with clear embossing powder and heat set.  Now if you have craft ink in one of the purple shades then do what I did for the leaves (see the next step).  I didn’t have any purple craft ink so I had to use the marker.
  3. Use a small paint brush and a drop of Old Olive Craft ink – and paint the leaves inside the outline.  Let Dry.

Inside the pot is a bag of soil – first put in a ziploc bag and then inside one of our large cello bags tied with Old Olive Satin Ribbon and I added a tag with some Linen Thread.  Then I stuck in the packet of seeds.

I also had this idea to make a plant marker – again the trick was what to do to let it get wet and not ruin it – so paper wasn’t going to work.  I went down to my craft closet to get a big wood craft stick and saw that I had some wood squares left from an old scout project – that was my answer.  And here is how I made it (and it is waterproof – the water rolls right off):

  1. Stamp the image in Chocolate Chip Craft ink on the square piece of wood, cover with Clear Embossing Powder and heat set.  Don’t do it too long or you could burn the wood – or at least make it turn brown.
  2. Color the leaves and flowers with Stampin’ Write Markers – I used Old Olive and Lovely Lilac.
  3. Add the name by using a clean stamp and use a Black journler only on the name and stamp it on the wood.
  4. Cover the whole front of the wood piece with VersaMark ink and Clear Embossing Powder and heat set.  If you wanted you could do the back of it too – I actually didn’t but now that I think about it I probably should have.
  5. Use Crystal Effects to glue the wood to a large wood craft stick.

I think this little flower pot would be a great little teacher gift – tell the teacher thanks for all the “thyme” they spent with your child this year.  I did something similar years ago when my boys were younger.  Or cute for Mother’s Day – use it for center pieces by actually planting a flower in it instead of the soil and seeds.

I hope you like this little project!

I’m a Guest Designer at  Create with Connie & Mary: Summer Edition. Join today!

This week on Create with Connie and Mary we are having a “Tropical Party”!  Every day during this week the team has created a project using the items that coordinate with the tropical set, die and paper!  Mary found the footnote flip flops at a local store and just KNEW they would be PERFECT for a special project!  And since we just HAD to do something with them…we are sharing them with YOU!

Leave a comment on the blog below on the given day and be entered into the drawings to win one!  Each of us have two to give away.  CLICK HERE for all the details and how you can get ADDITIONAL CHANCES TO WIN.

Tuesday May 4th  – Connie Babbert – Inkspired Treasures

Winners will be announced for everything on Saturday, May 8th.  To find out if you are a WINNER…you need to check the Create with Connie and Mary site no later than Friday, May 14th and send us your mailing address.  Good Luck!

Create Sketch Challenge

May 1, 2010 | Cards, Colored Brads, Create with Connie & Mary, Summer Mini 2010, Watercoloring | 1 comment

Good Morning and Happy May!  It is Saturday and time for the first Challenge at Create with Connie & Mary!

I hope you enjoyed the preview week projects – I know I did.   To see the winners of the FREE passes please visit the Create with Connie & Mary site.  Congratulations to all the winners – I’m so glad you are joining us!

This week our challenge is a sketch challenge.  The featured items this week are from the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini Catalog  – Elements of Style stamp set, Presto Patterns Designer Series Paper, Mostly Vintage Stencil and the Rough Type Alphabet stamp set.  My choice was to use the Elements of Style stamp set.  I actually made two different cards for this challenge using the same stamp set and same colors.  One follows the shapes of the sketch and the other is a different interpretation without the rectangular shapes – it is what I call a loose interpretation – I’ll show you both versions – and you can see if you see the sketch in the second one.

For the first card I started with a Garden Green card base.  I added a Sahara Sand rectangle down the right side – stamped with Garden Green and sponged the edges with Sahara Sand.  There is a Ruby Red scalloped trim on the right edge.  The focal point is actually a 3×3 square – so you could use that portion of this card as a 3×3 card if you needed it.  The roses are stamped in Black StazOn ink and water colored.  The Hummingbird is inked with Stampin’ Write Markers and then cut out and popped up.

The greeting is inside a piece of the Hodge Podge Very Vanilla hardware.  I colored my hardware Ruby Red so it would match my card and stand out more than the vanilla color.

This is how I colored my hardware – first I covered the hardware with Ruby Red Craft Ink.  Then I covered the ink with Clear Embossing Powder.  Use a heat tool and heat the embossing powder just until it melts.  I hold my hardware with a pair of craft tweezers – it will get hot and the heat tool is hot and you don’t want to burn your fingers.  Don’t overheat because the vanilla finish underneath can burn if it gets to hot and it turns rusty colored.

Here is a full list of Stampin’ Up! supplies for this card:

  • Elements of Style stamp set
  • card stock: Garden Green, Ruby Red, Sahara Sand, Whisper White
  • ink: Garden Green Classic and Stampin’ Write marker, Ruby Red Classic and Craft and Stampin’ Write marker, Black StazOn, Sahara Sand Classic and Stampin’ Write Marker, Black Journaler
  • Vanilla Hodge Podge Hardware
  • Clear Embossing Powder
  • Heat Tool
  • Stampin’ Sponge
  • Aqua Painter
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals

And here is my other card – most of the supplies are the same as the first card with the following differences.  The roses are stamped on Watercolor paper twice – one full piece is layered on the front of my card and the second set I cut out the larger flowers and mounted them with Stampin’ Dimensionals on top of the matching flowers for a 3-d effect.  The roses represent the vertical rectangle in the sketch.  I stamped the hummingbird and cut it out – it represents the horizontal rectangle in the sketch.  The hardware is the same.  Can you see the sketch in this card?Check out what the rest of the Create team did with this challenge:

Connie

Mary

Kerin

If you haven’t checked out the Create with Connie and Mary site yet it isn’t too late to do it! We feature new Summer Mini products every week.  For more information and to see our Preview Week projects please visit the Create with Connie and Mary site.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Happy Stampin’!

Royal Blog Tour

Apr 29, 2010 | Blog Candy, Blog Tour, Cards, Embossing | 148 comments

I am so excited to welcome you to the ROYAL BLOG TOUR!

I hope you are excited to be here!

I will go back to my regular posting schedule after the tour – this post will be at the top of my blog until the tour is over.  I will have a Create with Connie & Mary Challenge Post on Saturday – so scroll down below this one if you want to see that one.  Create with Connie & Mary winners and new blog candy are posted below this one so scroll down if you want to see those.

On the tour you will visit Princesses from all over showing you different styles of stamping and different stamp sets.

Have fun on the tour!

My featured Stampin’ Up! stamp set is the Herb Expressions (#113224) set!  This set offers images from four different herbs – Thyme, Basil, Rosemary and Lavender along with four sayings that coordinate with each one.  I have Thyme and Rosemary growing in my yard – lots!  I have created three projects to show you during the tour I hope that you enjoy them.

Project 1 – Set of Cards in a Box

This is a set of 4 cards in a clear box.  The colors I used are Kraft (the new Crumb Cake), Soft Suede, Certainly Celery and Lavender lace.

Each card uses one of the four herb images and on the inside I added the coordinating quote.

I used the Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon along with the Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon on each card and the box.  A Certainly Celery Button and some Linen Thread finish the front.

Check back on my blog next week to see each card in detail and a full supply list.  I can’t show you everything today because I want you to have time to complete the tour.  You can sign up for email updates by clicking on the link to the right and then you won’t miss it.


Project 2 – Herb Seed Journal

My second project is an Herb Seed Journal.  This is based on the design of a matchbook.  I originally created a small version of this project (I’ll be sharing that in the future) for something else and decided to adapt the idea to this. 

The inside consists of pockets made from the Glassine Bags in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  Inside each pocket I have a card that includes places to keep track of your seeds and a packet of seeds.  I created the journal card using My Digital Studio.

I included 4 pockets – one for each of the images in the stamp set.  You can keep the seed packet and the journal card in the pocket so that the following year you’ll know what you bought, what you did, what worked and what you need to change so you will have lots of herbs.

I will have more information on this project later next week and more pictures for you to see – so be sure to come back.  I need to move on to my next project now.

Project 3 – Flower Pot

When I first decided to use the Herb Expressions stamp set for this tour I had this idea in my head to stamp on a flower pot.  I went through several pots and several different ways to get the effect that I wanted.  I also made a plant marker which needed to be waterproof so it couldn’t be made out of paper.  I was very happy with my end result.  If you want the details on how I made these please come back to my blog next week and I’ll posting the instructions.

Inside the pot is a bag of potting soil tied with ribbon and a tag and a packet of seeds.  I think this little flower pot would be a great little teacher gift – tell the teacher thanks for all the “thyme” they spent with your child this year.  I did something similar years ago when my boys were younger.

I hope you liked all these ideas.  Come see me again and leave me a comment – you have the chance to win blog candy!

I’ll be giving away Blog Candy after the tour is over.  You must live in the US to win the blog candy – but you can leave me a comment even if you don’t.  Here are the details on how to enter:

1.  Leave a comment on this blog post with your name and if you are demonstrator or customer and which project is your favorite.

2.  Sign up to receive email updates from my blog – there is a link in my side bar on the right-hand side of my blog .

Blog Candy prize:

Picture This stamp set (wood mount), Botanical Blooms stamp set (wood mount), and the consumable supplies to create the card box project and the herb seed journal project featured in this post.

The winner will be announced on my blog after the tour and I’ll also send the winner an email.

And don’t forget to visit the main Royal Blog Tour Blog – if you didn’t start there it is the start of all the Royal Tours and has the details on the Royal Blog Tour Blog Candy.  Along each tour there are clues for a chance to win a BIG SHOT die cut machine or other prizes!  That’s very exciting so be sure to read the rules on how to enter.  Good Luck!

Your Royal Carriage awaits you please click on the Glass Slippers to continue your journey!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tumbled Tile Coasters

Apr 25, 2010 | Create with Connie & Mary, Embossing, Summer Mini 2010, Tutorial | 7 comments

Today is my Tumbled Tile Coasters class so I thought I would share with you some more designs along with the instructions on how I create my tiles and the box.  I received lots of questions when I posted my other design.  I’ve tried to reply to everyone so hopefully I didn’t miss anybody.

I created two designs using the Elements of Style stamp set coming out in the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini Catalog on May 1st.

The first one features the large floral image and I added a letter from the Lovely Letters stamp set for a set of monogrammed tiles.  These were done in Chocolate Chip ink.

The second set uses the smaller vine image and the humming bird.  The colors are Old Olive and Ruby Red.

So here are some basic instructions on how I make my coasters.  I  buy Tumbled Tiles from the home improvement store – there are a few different colors – this time I’m using the whiter ones last time I used the ones with some more brown in them.  Then I rinse them in water and set them out to dry usually overnight.

  1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. stamp images using craft ink and cover with clear embossing powder.  Tap off excess powder – it should stick to the ink and doesn’t need to cover the whole tile.
  3. set tiles flat on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper
  4. put the baking sheet in the oven – I start with 6 minutes and check to see how they look
  5. it they still look powdery instead of shiny then they need longer – try 2-4 minute increments
  6. my last batch took 11- 1/2 minutes for 6 tiles
  7. remove from oven – don’t touch they are HOT – if needed finish any spots with a heat tool
  8. remove from baking sheet with a spatula and set on a towel on the counter to let them cool
  9. add felt circles to the bottom so they won’t scratch your furniture

The idea for the tiles and the box design came from Heather Summers as part of one of her classes.  She told me I could share the box dimensions with you.  For each box use one piece of 11-3/4″ x 11-3/4″ card stock.  Score on all four sides at 1-3/4″ and 3-3/4″.  After you score there are 4 squares in each corner.  You need to cut away the three outside squares from each corner.  Then cut on two opposite sides to create tabs from the ones that are left.  Here is a photo of what it looks like after you cut.  I also cut a small wedge out of the outer flaps so they will fold nicely into the inside of the box.

To make the box fold two of the tabs in and the fold the flap around and glue in place – I like to use a small amount of Tombow Multi-purpose adhesive.  Do the same to the opposite side.  Then fold in the remaining two flaps and glue them in place.  Tie a piece of wide ribbon around the box – or if you are giving it as a gift tie it over the top of the tiles to hold them in the box.

I hope that gives everyone the information they needed for this great project.  It has been one of my favorite and everyone has loved these.  The Elements of Style stamp set that I used for this project is one of the featured stamp sets during the preview week of Create with Connie and Mary which starts today.

Would you like to WIN a subscription to Create with Connie and Mary?  Each of our team members will be giving away subscriptions on their blogs this week.  To enter to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on our team member’s blog on the day that we are featuring them. To enter to win today, please leave a comment on Mary Brown’s Blog. All the winners will be announced on Saturday, May 1st!

HINT:  On Tuesday, it is MY turn to give away a FREE subscription, so make sure you come back and leave a comment on my Tuesday blog post to get a chance to win!

If you are a winner and have already subscribed, we will refund the price of your subscription!

Don’t miss out on the fun and some great project ideas!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Another Awash with Flowers

Apr 18, 2010 | 2-Step Stampin', Big Shot, Cards, Create with Connie & Mary, In Colors, Wildlife | 0 comments

I created another Awash with Flowers card using the exact same colors and pieces of card stock as my first one.  This is the second version.

I used this one for my class on Friday – I actually let everyone choose between making this one or my original design that you can see here.

The “Wonderful Mother” from the Well Scripted stamp set in the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Mini catalog was used so it could be a mother’s day card.  Stamped on Whisper White and punch with the Scallop Oval punch.  I added the little leaf petals at the bottom to dress it up a bit.  Then layered it on a Wide Oval punched from Melon Mambo.  The layer of Basic Black behind it is also the Wide Oval punch – either use two or cut one in half and add each half to the back of the other one so you can just see a hint of it.

I wanted to show you the cardinal eggs that I found on Friday – the mom finally left her nest late in the afternoon – that seems to be the norm for most of the moms from what I can tell. 

She has two eggs but one is much smaller than the other.  When I checked on Saturday – the smaller egg was gone and only one egg was in the nest.  She seems to be gone today so maybe she decided her eggs weren’t viable this time or another predator came in and took the egg.  I don’t really know.  I’ll let you know if she lays another one.

As for the other nests – the other moms were all sitting this morning – I need to go back and count the days to see how long before we can expect babies to hatch.

Thanks for stopping by.  Don’t forget to check out Create with Connie & Mary – I’m so excited to be a guest designer! It is sure to be fun with lots of great projects – a new one each day for 5 weeks – right now is an Early bird special for $19.95 – then the first week is a preview week for everyone and then the next four weeks will only be open to those that join – so do it now while we have the special.  Each week we will feature an assortment of products from the Summer Mini Catalog – there will be at least two tutorials each week.

Early Bird pricing for  Create with Connie & Mary: Summer Edition is going on now – $19.95 – don’t miss out!
Join me for the Royal Blog Tour: April 30 – May 3rd.