Pop Out Swing Card

I received a special card while I was at convention from my friend Sandy Hancock – it was a “fancy fold” card called a Pop-out swing card.  It was a fun design and I decided to create one for my Stamper’s Club girls to make.  Here are a few pictures of it

sheltering-tree-eHere are some more views of this card….

sheltering-tree4-e

sheltering-tree3-eOne thing I would do different is to make sure you stamp the Wood Grain background on the front of the card before you cut out the square window with the framelits.  As you can see on my card when you cut it leaves a very slight ridge that shows up when you stamp over it – arghh!  And make sure your card front it open before you cut the square in it.

The white piece on the inside of the card is 6″ x 5″ and then scored at 2 and 4 inches – accordion fold and glue to the back panel of the card.

Another tip is to close the card up before you attached the stamped square panel that goes through the window.  That way you can make sure it is in the right spot to pull through the window in the front of your card.

It’s a fun card!

Thanks for stopping by today.

monika-signature-018

Fall 2015 Stamp, Scrap & Create Retreat

It’s that time again – the Fall retreat is coming up soon.  The spring retreat was a ton of fun – don’t miss this one.  Details are below and some pictures from the Spring retreat are at the bottom of this post.

Stamp, Scrap & Create Retreat

retreat header

September  18 – 20, 2015

Are you ready to get away from it all?  Leave behind the family, the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning and come join us for a fun Stamp, Scrap & Create Retreat.  It’s a Holiday PARTY!!  Come party with us at Monika’s House September 18 – 20, 2015.

Arrive on Friday afternoon – come set up your craft space, bring an appetizer to share with everyone on Friday evening for our dinner.  We will have games and prizes on Friday night.  Make & Takes will be scheduled for Friday night and Saturday.  All meals included on Saturday.  Finish up on Sunday and pack up and head back home in the early afternoon.  We have Make & Take projects planned as part of the retreat – and everyone will receive a Goody Bag with supplies and extras.  And little surprises throughout the weekend!

Bring whatever creative projects you would like to work on.  You will have table space set up for the whole weekend – so bring your scrap-booking, card making, Project Life, laptop for My Digital Studio, Paper Pumpkin kits, jewelry making, knitting – the choice is yours.

I have some space in my house if you want to spend the night here instead of going home or there is a hotel one exit south just a few minutes away.  I will have three Queen beds upstairs, some sofa space,  or we can put an air matress on the floor.   Or stay as late as you want in the evening – go sleep at home and come back in the morning!

I will send out a schedule and list of what you need to bring at the beginning of September.  This time we are offering EARLY BIRD PRICING – paid in full by August 20th – $65.

Regular pricing – due by September 2nd – $75.

All fees non-refundable after September 2nd. I will be ordering supplies and prizes September 3.

Spots are LIMITED – I am only opening this event up to 12 people!  So reserve your spot today!

CLICK HERE to get the registration form.

I hope to see you there! 

monika-signature-018

PicMonkey Collage

Make a quick card with Washi Tape

Washi Tape is always a quick way to make a cute card.  At convention I was able to get lots of nice swaps and I created this card based on one that I received.  I used different washi tape so there fore different colors than the swap I received.  And that’s the beauty of this card – you can use any color washi tape and use matching card stock and you have a whole different card.

birthday-stars e

I used the new In-Color Washi tape collection – did you notice that in the new catalog?  It’s 5 colors from last years collection – one roll for each of them. Just put a few strips on your card add the greeting and the stars.

The stamps are from the Celebrate Today stamp set.  And the stars are the Star Framelit Collection.  It’s a quick card – really it is.

Thanks for stopping by today.

monika-signature-018

August Throwdown Challenge

Last night I pulled out the supplies from the August TGIF Throwdown Challenge to see what I could create.  Sometimes having access to a limited number of supplies can be good and sometime it is also frustrating!  I enjoy having a challenge though and thinking outside the box.  I missed taking part in this challenge in July but didn’t want to miss August.  So this is what I had to work with this time – plus the pantry with some basics in it.

basket+03We had to use at least 4 items from the list and for this card I had Pool Party Cardstock, Lovely Lace Embossing folder, the Flower Patch stamp set, Pear Pizzaz and Calypso Coral ink.  If it says OR you can only use one of the two items.  The big problem I found with this list – there is only one color of card stock and no dies or punches!  That means no framelits for cutting out all the pieces in the Flower Patch stamp set.  Darn it!

I did pull a few items from the Pantry list to complete my card.  And here is what I came up with – I really did like how it turned out.

tgifctd03-e

From the Pantry list I used – Whisper White card stock, my Paper Trimmer to cut out the window on the front layer, my Big Shot for the Embossing folder, Whisper White Baker’s Twine, clear blocks, adhesive, paper snips and Basic Black ink.  It would be really hard to make a card without some of those things.

Now I did use one household item and that was a cotton swab – that is my flower center – I dipped it in the black ink for the center of the flowers.

If you want to read more about the TGIF Throwdown challenge – go HERE. You can play along too.

I actually made a second card while I had all the supplies out but not sure I really like it – it was way different and not sure I want to post it.

td03

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great week. I’ll be getting Ryan all packed up and taking him back to college this week.  Insert SAD face here.  I guess it has to happen.  I keep telling myself I have to let them fly…..

monika-signature-018

Instagram Themed Roommate Gifts

When we travel to a Stampin’ Up! event and share a room with friends it is a fun treat to make roommate gifts for one another.

I’ve made a variety of things over the years and always want something unique.  I try to find something that is my main inspiration for the gift which is usually an assortment of related items.  This year I started with a set of vintage style Instagram pens that I was able to buy at the Facebook store when we visited Kyle earlier in the summer. I should have taken a photo of just the set of pens – each one in the package was different colors – so I based each roommate gift one of of the color combinations. And I made one set for myself – that’s the one I photographed.

roommate-gifts-e

For my set the colors were Sahara Sand and So Saffron.  I’m trying to remember the other colors – one was Marina Mist and So Saffron, one was Marina Mist and Whisper White and the fourth one was Sahara Sand and Lost Lagoon.  I think that’s what they were – so each note pad and the bag tag matched the pen.  Everyone had the same little photo book.

roommate-gift-bag-E

I used some little black canvas bags to hold everything and clipped a little bag tag on each one.  When we go to a Stampin’ Up! Event everyone receives a bag – so all 2000+ of us end up with the same bag and it’s a good idea to bring a unique tag to attach to yours.  So I made these as part of my gift and then we were able to clip them to our SU bags for the week.

roommate-gift-notes-E

I also included a little Everyday Notes set.  I used index cards that I cut into 2″ pieces and punched them with the Ornate Tag Topper punch.  I made several of these for myself and I’m actually using them for little notes in my craft room as I’m working and need to remember things or replenish supplies.  But my thought was writing notes about photos you take or things you want to remember to add to your scrapbook.

roommate-gift-instagram-boo-E

And then I made this fun little mini scrapbook that resembles the Instagram logo.  It’s a 4×4 size so it’s perfect for your real Instagram photos – add in photos as pages or trim and attach to a card stock page.  I thought it would be a fun little album.  I found the idea on Pinterest I believe it was another Stampin’ Up! demo in Europe that made some like these.

That was what I gave to each of my roommates.  I haven’t photographed what they gave me – and in some cases have already used (or eaten) what was inside!

Thanks for stopping by today!

monika-signature-018