Green, green, green….

Mar 10, 2010 | Big Shot, family, Rock 'n Roll, Wildlife | 3 comments

I would have thought in March it would be easy to find green candy – especially jelly beans since Easter is coming soon.  But no – it took some searching.  I guess I should have bought some of those green M&Ms they had at Valentine’s Day (not sure what those were about) but I wasn’t thinking about St. Patrick’s Day then.  I’ll have to remember that for next year.   So I finally found Key Lime Jelly Beans – there are green and white ones in the bags.

Here are the little treats I made – this idea came from Julie Grenier.  Aren’t they the cutest?  I made some Easter ones (and will be making lots more before Easter), but yesterday I made some for St. Patrick’s Day.  These are for my friends tonight that I’ll see at our St. Patrick’s Day themed Pokeeno night.

This project fits the Paper Pals challenge this week (at least I think it does) – it is a color challenge – to use Green – the color combo there is Garden Green, Certainly Celery and Kraft.  Mine is similar – I used Garden Green, Green Galore and Whisper White.

The little shamrocks are stamped with the Rock ‘n Roll technique – I inked it with Green Galore and then rolled the edges in Garden Green before stamping.  That gives it some variation in color which I like.

Stampin’ Up! Supplies are:

  • Garden Green card stock, ink and marker
  • Green Galore card stock and ink
  • Whisper White card stock
  • Holiday Blitz stamp set
  • Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
  • Scallop Circle Punch
  • 1-1/4″ Circle Punch
  • 1″ Circle Punch
  • white gel pen
  • Modern Label punch
  • Big Shot die cut machine
  • Movers & Shapers Die and modern label shape die
  • 1/16″ punch
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Apple Green grosgrain ribbon (retired)

Non-SU supplies are the 1×8 clear bags, white crochet thread, and jelly beans.

I just wanted to give you a few other updates – one is a bird update – yesterday the Bluebirds started building a nest in House #3.  The female was bringing in pinestraw and was working it around inside the house – she only got a little done.  Today it is pouring (really pouring) rain so I don’t know if she’ll work on it today.  The other two houses in the yard are empty.

Second is a Tyler update – we picked up his tux for the prom yesterday – after we went to get x-rays of his finger.  Yep for the first time in forever the boys were outside throwing a football and Tyler jammed his finger.  Turns out his pinky finger on his left hand is broken.  We have an appointment with an orthopedic hand specialist today.  I don’t think it is bad but I guess I’ll know more after the appointment this afternoon.  Hopefully he can still play his horn because the band has a concert performance next week.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Maybe all this rain will help everything around here turn green – like the grass and the trees…..I’m ready for spring.  My daffodils are coming up they should be popping their blooms soon.

Desktop Calendar – November

Mar 9, 2010 | All in the Family, Big Shot, Designer Series Paper, Occasion Mini 2010, Scrapbook Pages | 0 comments

More pages from my Desktop Calendar…..

For the month of November I used the turkey stamp from the Holiday mini catalog.  I made a slight change to mine after the class because of suggestion from one of the girls at the class.  I originally didn’t have the circle behind the turkeys but added them later.

My dog Magnolia has a birthday in November so the little dog image from the All in the Family stamp set worked perfectly for that.  I tried to color it with markers to make it kind of look like Magnolia.

November Stampin’ Up! Supplies:

  • Sahara Sand card stock
  • Old Olive card stock
  • So Saffron card stock
  • Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper stack
  • Scallop Trim Border punch
  • 1-3/4″ Circle punch
  • Big Shot Die Cut Machine
  • Billboard Alphabet Sizzlits Strip die
  • All in the Family stamp set
  • Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set
  • Chocolate Chip ink and marker
  • Stampin’ Sponge

Happy Stampin’!

March Wow Scrapbook Kit

Mar 8, 2010 | Scrapbook Pages | 0 comments

The Wow Scrapbook Kit for March is here.  If you don’t know what Wow Scrapbook Kits are – it is a joint effort between me and my friend and upline Wendy.

Wendy designs these beautiful scrapbook pages that she calls WOW pages – I just love them and often use the ideas for my own classes.  Together we have decided to sell the tutorials online for others to use in teaching scrapbook classes or to anyone that wants to purchase the consumable materials with instructions as a kit.

I have created a blog and write the tutorials each month for these WOW pages.   Each layout is a 2-page 12″ x 12″ spread – and there are three new ones each month – so a total of 6 pages.   In the tutorials you will have step-by-step instructions including WOW tips and technique instructions.

If you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator you can get the instructions for all the pages for the month or pick and choose through the individual layouts each month. Most are adaptable to other stamp sets and colors so you can use what you already have on hand.

If you are not a demonstrator you can order the monthly kit which includes all the consumable supplies – everything will be precut, you just need to stamp and put it together, and then add your photos.

These are really WOW in person – it hasn’t been easy to get pictures that do these pages justice and you only get to see a sneak peek of  one page from each set.  I hope you’ll take a look and hop on over to the WOW Scrapbook Kits blog to get all the details and the ordering information.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Simply Adorned Monogram

Mar 7, 2010 | class, Occasion Mini 2010, Simply Adorned Jewelry | 0 comments

If you haven’t seen the Stampin’ Up! Simply Adorned Charms and Chains in person – you need to.  I love mine and the fact that I can create inserts for the charm to suit my mood, my outfit, the season, the holiday, whatever I want is awesome!

Later this month I have a special class planned – everyone that attends will get to make at least 12 inserts for their own charm, we will make a holder to hold the inserts that you are currently using and decorate the box.  I’ll add the details at the bottom of this post – I also sent email to my email list yesterday.

I knew that I wanted to create a Monogram insert as well as a Black & White insert so yesterday I combined those two ideas into one and came up with this.  This is the side of the charm has the beveled glass.  I used Lovely Letters for the Monogram – the ‘M’ happens to be wider than the charm so I decided to cut it out and trim off the little tails (that’s what I call them) on the sides so that it would be narrow enough to fit in the charm.  It is also popped up on little bits of Stampin’ Dimensionals – so it is raised off the bottom layer.

The bottom layer is stamped with images from the Charming stamp set.  And you can just barely see a piece of black card stock on the left side that I punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch.

The back of the charm also has a piece of flat glass so I have been creating a coordinating insert to face the back of my charm.  When I wear mine it tends to flip back and forth so now which ever way it faces it will look nice.

For the back I also used the images from the Charming stamp set and added a little piece of ribbon.

I was able to make these in just a few minutes to go with what I was wearing yesterday.  I’m ready to make some more.  You could use little scraps to create these inserts – you are working on a small canvas so you only need small bits.

Below are the class details – thanks for visiting me today!

Come join me for a Special Class on

Sunday, March 28th – 2:00 pm – Simply Adorned Jewelry Class

The class fee will be $28 – prepaid by March 16th.

The class fee will include the 1” x 1-1/4” Simply Adorned Charm and box,

We will create at least 12 inserts for the charm, a holder for the inserts, decorate the box and make a gift tag (if you plan to give it away).

You need to bring your paper snips and adhesive.

If you would like a chain there are two sizes and you can add that to the cost of the class –

24” chain – add $12.75

34” chain – add $15.00

The charms have a lobster clasp so you can use on a chain your already have or even with ribbon or cord.

Please RSVP and give me your payment by March 16th.  I will be placing an order for the charms/chains that have been pre-paid. If you miss this deadline you can still attend the class but you may not receive your charm/chain until after the class.  Final RSVP cut-off to attend the class will be 3/24.

Our Simply Adorned line beautifully combines the best of two worlds: stamping and jewelry!  The charms are designed to hold a creation that you make yourself; making your jewelry truly unique.  Simply Adorned charms are lockets – they open up so you can insert your creation or a photo.  The frame surrounds tempered beveled glass on the front and flat glass on the back.  Because there’s glass on both sides of the charm, you can display an image on one side or both.  You can create a custom heirloom piece that you’ll never want to change, or you can swap artwork in and out, depending on your mood or your wardrobe.

The charms are nickel-plated and the chains are anodized stainless steel.

I have my charm and a 24” chain if you would like to see them in person.

They are really nice and would make a wonderful gift (think Mother’s Day or birthday) for someone but you can always keep it for yourself!

I hope you can join me!

Mother’s Day Challenge Card

Mar 6, 2010 | Cards, Create with Connie & Julie, Occasion Mini 2010, Sale-A-Bration 2010 | 0 comments

We are finally at the end of the Create with Connie & Julie – at least the end of new project posts – the site and all the projects will be there for some time.  This week our challenge was to create a Mother’s Day card.  And the featured products this week were Garden from the Heart and Messages for Mom stamp sets in the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Mini catalog.

Congratulations to last weeks winners of the color challenge – 1st place was Sandra, 2nd place was Lori and Honorable mention to Jessica.  Thanks to everyone that played along the entries were all great.  I hope you will play during this last week too.

This weeks challenge was so much easier for me – I love the Garden from the Heart stamps set – right up my alley.  And guess what I even used some more purple colors!  I used Perfect Plum and Pale Plum on this card.  I don’t use them often but they were perfect for what I wanted to do here.

I actually made the card and was happy with it but I kept looking at it like I forgot something.  I finally figured it out – so I came back and added one more thing.  The sprtizing with the Color Spritzer Tool – I used a Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Marker and just added some spritzing on the card.  For me that was it – exactly what it needed, something really minor but it was what it needed.

The flowers are stamped with Jet Black StazOn ink on Whisper White card stock.  I colored them with Stampin’ Write markers – Mellow Moss, Perfect Plum, and Pale Plum.  I also sponged the edges of the white piece with Mellow Moss.  A piece of Perfect Plum punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch is layered behind and a piece of Linen Thread is tied around the top.

I LOVE using Linen Thread – I even had a dream (or nightmare) that it was being retired and I had to order a whole bunch so I would never run out…..LOL.    The flowers on the bottom are part of the hat image and I carefully cut them out – that was the hardest part!  I’m not sure I would do that more than once.

I decorated the inside of the card too – stamped the hat in the corner.  The ribbon is also stamped on Perfect Plum card stock and cut out and glued back on the hat.  I like to use the 2-Way Glue Pen when working with small cut pieces or punched pieces.  The hat is actually colored in with a VersaMarker – it darkens the card stock just a bit.  I did spritz on the inside too but didn’t retake the picture.

I hope you like it. I want to find some other stamps to use with the same layout – it is very simple.

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

  • Kraft card stock
  • Whisper White card stock
  • Perfect Plum card stock and Stampin’ Write marker
  • Pale Plum Stampin’ Write marker
  • Mellow Moss Stampin’ Write marker
  • Soft Suede Stampin’ Write marker
  • VersaMarker
  • Jet Black StazOn ink
  • Scallop Trim Border Punch (SAB)
  • Corner Rounder Punch
  • Garden from the Heart stamp set
  • Well Scripted stamp set
  • Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
  • Color Spritzer Tool
  • Linen Thread

Check out what the rest of the Create team did with this challenge:

Connie

Julie

Mary

Kerin

Thanks for stopping by today!  Happy Stampin’!