As you look through the Stampin’ Up! catalog each year there are certain pages that catch your eye more than others. Sometimes you don’t even notice a stamp set on the page because the colors and projects on that page don’t catch your eye. And the next year that same stamp set is presented differently and you see it – you thinks its new – but it isn’t – it was already there last year but presented in a way that didn’t appeal to you. Do you ever feel that way?
In this new catalog one page that really catches my eye is page 163 – I love the blue, the brown, the natural feel of what is on that page. Mosaic Madness was in the last catalog and presented in a different way with bright colors and a coordinating designer paper very graphic and bright. It wasn’t my favorite. But I LoVE this soft card on page 163 so I decided I wanted to recreate it. Mine has a few changes but is generally the same card.
We made this back in August as part of my Big Shot class. We used the Modern Mosaic Textured embossing folder for the background. And by the way this pattern is very popular out in fashion/decor – I’ve seen it a lot. Plus we used the Beautiful Wings Embosslit – it makes the cutest little butterflies! And of course the stamp set and coordinating punch. Some water-coloring with an aqua-painter, a little pearl bling, and a sentiment on a vellum strip. A nice card don’t you think?
I’m so glad you stopped by today. Do you try to recreate any of the cards in the catalog – let me know by leaving a comment?
Had to look to see where I left off. It’s only day 2! Which was a really long day. We got off the train at the depot in Denali and then went across to the visitor center for some lunch and then waited to get on our Tundra Wilderness Adventure Bus. This was our tour through the park. This park is huge and has one main road going through it – most of which is only accessible by the bus system. The entire tour was 8 hours! We drove I believe 53 miles into the park and then turned around and came back out on the same dirt road. Along the way we made several stops at “rest areas” for bathroom breaks. We also stopped whenever we saw any wildlife. And made a stop at an overlook where we could walk around a bit. This was another rainy day. Luckily though the rained was minimal or stopped when we would get off the bus. It did make for a very dirty bus and dirty windows so with every stop the bus driver got out – pulled a bucket of water (not very clean) out from under the bus and his squeegee and “cleaned” all the windows so that we could see again. Since these were converted school buses we were able to drop down the tops of the windows to take photos of the wildlife. And they did give us a snack box and water during the trip too. Plus a nice photo book. It is hard to capture the beauty and grandeur of this park on a camera – you really need to be there in the middle of it looking all around you. Another thing you will notice is the colors starting to change in the foliage. Apparently while we were there fall was starting and the colors were changing – and from what they said – fall only lasts a couple of weeks and then winter starts. When we looked at the extended weather forecast there was already some snow predicted about a week out from our trip. Here are some of the photos that I took.
We did see some wildlife too. And I was the first one on the bus to spot something. I wasn’t sure what it was – and it took us a while to find it. It turned out to be a Caribou. So all total we saw 3 Caribou, 3 Grizzly Bears, 3 Moose, plus a bunch of Dall Sheep.
Caribou is in the very center of this first photo looking directly at us. Then he walked up the hill and up to the dirt path.
This last photo shows the bear stepping down onto the road and then he crossed directly behind our bus. I bet whoever was sitting at the back of the bus got some good photos.
At the very end of the trip as it was getting dark we saw the moose. It was on the other side of the bus from where we sat so I really didn’t get any photos. Hoping one of the people that we met on the trip will send us their photos.
We arrived late to our hotel that night.
There was one video that we took inside the park – I’ll try to get that posted. Here is the little video –
My friend Cindy and I were playing with the Curvy Keepsake Box thinlit die a few weeks ago creating projects for the Stamp, Scrap & Create Retreat that we are hosting this month. With that on my mind I came up with the idea to make an apple! With school just starting and apple picking season upon us wouldn’t that little box be a perfect apple. A few weeks have passed by and I’ve been busy traveling as you may have noticed so I didn’t get to try to make an apple until this week. I decided to use it for one of my Stamper’s Club projects for Friday night. Look at how cute it turned out –
Here is how I made it:
I cut the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlit die out of Real Red card stock. You cut two pieces and glue the bottoms together – I used the new Fast Fuse adhesive – its sticky.
Then I sponged all the edges with Cherry Cobbler ink and a Stampin’ Sponge. I wanted it to have some darker areas around the edges on the apple.
I filled the inside of the box with caramels – of course.
On the handle I tied some Pear Pizzazz ribbon.
Stamped “hello Sweet Friend” in Cherry Cobbler ink on Whisper White card stock and cut it with the oval shaped tag that comes with the box thinlits.
I cut a leaf from Pear Pizzazz card stock using the small leaf die in the Fall Fest Framelits. Glued that to the base of my tag.
I wanted to add just a little something else to the tag so I pulled out a Real Red candy dot and put that on it. But it made me think of a lady bug – so I decided sure – it can be a lady bug – I pulled out one of my Project Life journaling pens and added dots to the dot and two little antenna for the lady bug. Cute!
I tied on my tag with some Real Red Bakers’ Twine.
This was our longest day that we had – up early to board the train and didn’t finish the day and get to our next hotel until almost 11 pm at night. Another busy day so this one will be in more than one post too. We woke early to go board the Wilderness Express train. We took the train from Fairbanks to Denali. But it goes further than that too. It is a double decker train and the top is a dome so you can see out. The lower level was a restaurant – since we left early in the morning we ate breakfast on the train. The trains are privately owned but pulled by the Alaska Railroad. Each train car eats about 80 people on the upper level – we only had our group of 34 so there was plenty of room – and if we wanted everyone could even have their own window seat. The restaurant level seats 36 people – so that worked out that we could all eat together too!
Breakfast included Reindeer Sausage – which we were a bit unsure about but it was good. Also Blueberry Pancakes and birch syrup. Plus a bar upstairs for fancy coffee drinks and your morning alcohol. I opted for some yummy hot chocolate during the trip. And there was a host guide that talked and shared information with us along the trip.
The views were amazing. Since our car was the caboose I was able to go outside on the back of the train. It was great for taking photos. I spent much of my time out there watching Alaska go by. We traveled through the forests, past lakes, along the mountains, along the river, over bridges and through some really small towns.
That’s the whole train – I was standing outside on the back while we went around the curve so I could get the whole train. The last two cars are Wilderness Express cars.
I didn’t want to drop my cell phone – but I was able to get a selfie on the back of the caboose!
We found rafters out on the river. I bet they were cold.
Almost to our destination at Denali. The train station was right across the street from the park visitors center.
We arrived in Denali and all tell you about the rest of the days adventures in another post.
i would highly recommend this train ride. If we ever get to go again I’ll try to schedule us on a different section of the route.
I created this fun surprise box using the new Stampin’ Up! Hamburger Box die. I used the Sea Street Designer Paper and coordinating stamp set. So it’s a summer themed box – perfect for say Red Lobster lovers…
This is the closed box tied with some ribbon and a little lobster tag on the top. Just slide the ribbon off to open the box and see the surprise inside.
I strung a piece of Baker’s Twine from the lid to the base and thread little banner pieces on it punched from the Sea Street Designer Paper. They are like little nautical flags. Here is another view
Put something fun inside your surprise box and give to someone you love!
The Hamburger Box is a bit awkward to assemble as the instructions indicate on the die. Each of the little corners is supposed to get folded in toward the inside of the box. i found it much easier – to snip one side of the corner and glue the piece to the inside of the box. I’ll try to get some photos of that to show you the difference. It was just much easier to assemble and I think it made for a more stable box.
Hi! I am a Stampin’ Up! independent demonstrator in Milton, Georgia. I love being creative and want to share it with you! On my blog I will share creative ideas using Stampin’ Up! products and you’ll also hear about my family and my dogs.
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We made this back in August as part of my Big Shot class. We used the Modern Mosaic Textured embossing folder for the background. And by the way this pattern is very popular out in fashion/decor – I’ve seen it a lot. Plus we used the Beautiful Wings Embosslit – it makes the cutest little butterflies! And of course the stamp set and coordinating punch. Some water-coloring with an aqua-painter, a little pearl bling, and a sentiment on a vellum strip. A nice card don’t you think?
I’m so glad you stopped by today. Do you try to recreate any of the cards in the catalog – let me know by leaving a comment?
