Stamping In My Neighborhood

What a Hoot!

I had to make a birthday card for the senior pastor at my church today.  He's really a hoot, so I thought I'd use the owl chipboard piece from the On Board So Tweet set.  I covered it with some Chocolate Chip Prints Designer Series Paper.  I added two 3/4" Whisper White circles, on top of which I placed the owl's heart eyes after they'd been sponged with Chocolate Chip.  For those of you who can notice very fine details, yes, I sponged the outside of the owl as well to give him a little depth.  I added a Tango Tangerine beak (cardstock layered onto the chipboard beak).

Since Ryan truly is one of a kind, I used that sentiment from the One of a Kind set.  Can you tell from the picture that the Kiwi Kiss layer is textured?  I used my Big Shot and the Texturz backgrounds.  The harlequin design is one of my favorites...especially for masculine cards.  I can't say enough good things about the Big Shot!  If you've been contemplating getting one, you should do it NOW, during Sale-A-Bration.  By ordering the basic machine and just a few accessories, you'll qualify to earn yourself hostess benefits and at least 3 Sale-A-Bration selections.  Plus, I'll send you three video tutorials on fabulous things you can create using this wonderful machine!  If you'd like to take advantage of this perfect time to order your Big Shot, just click on the shopping bag in the upper left corner.  It'll take you to my Stampin' Up! website where you can place your order directly online.  Don't forget to order your hostess benefits and SAB selections when prompted!

And, of course, if you'd rather have me place your order, I'd be happy to.  Just give me a call or shoot me an e-mail and I'll hook you up with one of the best tools around!

Where is Spring?

After yesterday's snowstorm, it's lovely to see the sun, but I wanted some more spring in my life.  So I sat down and created an overdue thank you card.  I challenged some members of my team to create something using a green (St. Patty's Day is right around the corner) so I determined to use a green as well. 

This card features an image from the Thoughts & Prayers set.  This set, while WONDERFUL for sympathy and get well cards, is not just for those occasions.  The two non-sentiment images in the set are gorgeous and would please any recipient, no matter the occasion.  Here I added a sentiment from my Garden Greetings set.  The colors are Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery and Regal Rose.

The Pretties Kit provided the hat pin items that are attached to the Certainly Celery Twill ribbon.  This ribbon is available for FREE during Sale-A-Bration with a qualified purchase.  It comes with a roll of So Saffron wide grosgrain ribbon.  If you would like to learn more about adding these ribbons or other SAB items to your supplies, contact me today!

Hoodie Hoo!

 

Did you know that today is Hoodie Hoo Day?  At Noon you are supposed to go outside, wave your hands above your head and shout "Hoodie Hoo!"  That's supposed to chase away winter and welcome spring.  I mentioned this "holiday" in my mid-February newsletter and suggested that they turn this into a stamping event by stamping a spring-y card and sending it to a friend.

I also said that I'd send anyone who participated a Hoodie Hoo Day card.  Here's the quick and easy card I'll be sending.  For those of you receiving it, act surprised!  I used the Good Friend stamp set that I got at Leadership.  I stamped the bird in Pacific Point, his legs in Chocolate Chip and his beak in Tangerine Tango.  I layered him on some textured Baja Breeze cardstock that had a little strip of Urban Garden Designer Series Paper on it.  Finished it off by handwriting a greeting.  Can you believe that SU! doesn't have a Hoodie Hoo saying?!  Oh, did you notice that little part about "textured Baja Breeze cardstock"?  I did it myself with my Big Shot and my NEW texturz plates.  It doesn't show up well in the scan, I know, but it's definitely raised and oh-so-fun.  I just love the designs that come in this latest addition to the SU line of products.  If you'd like to learn more, please contact me.  In the meantime, you can click on the image to get a better view.

Do you know what tomorrow is?  It's Card Reading Day.  How perfect is that?  Those of you are the recipients of Hoodie Hoo cards will have something to read tomorrow, provided you live close enough to the sender.

Even if you miss the deadline for sending a Hoodie Hoo card, go ahead and make a "Thinking of You" card to hand-deliver to someone tomorrow.  Just because you miss one holiday doesn't mean you have to miss two!

Easter Basket Class

I'm so excited for a class I have coming up in March.  Last year I created a Bunny Basket for the pastors' wives at my church.  I had come across the idea from a couple of other demonstrators but only had time to make them personally...not do a class.  So this year I decided to hold a class since they are just so adorable.  What's better, I found a variation of the Peppermint Patty covers that featured a sheep (thanks Ruth Norton!), so I decided to throw in a Sheep Basket with the class.

One thing I changed about the baskets was that I decided to spiff them up a bit by using my Big Shot and the Scallop circle.  Looks so much nicer than the plain circle I was using.  It required me to change the dimensions of the box a bit, but being a math person I found that to be a fun tangent.  Yeah, I know, some of you think I'm very sick.  You're just jealous, LOL!

My class is going to be held on March 24th at 7:00 PM, right here at my house.  Space is limited, so if you are interested, please register as soon as possible.  Your registration is not complete without payment ($16...covers everything you need to make the two baskets and 8 Peppermint Patty covers except SNAIL adhesive).  Participants will receive a copy of the written directions so they can duplicate this project year after year.

Sliding Pop-Up

The other card that I made at my What a Cool Card Club meeting a couple nights ago was this one.  I call it a sliding pop-up card.  This group loved the "traditional" pop-up cards that we'd done in December, so I figured they'd like this one, and they did.  The difference?  This time the pop-up was on the outside! 

I decided to make this a Get Well card of sorts for a woman from church who just suffered a heart attack.  She's doing better now, but it was a very close call.  I figured this little birdie from A Little Birdie Told Me set.  The colors are a unique combination of So Saffron, Not Quite Navy and Gable Green.  I like to think of it as a subdued spring combination.  And did you notice the rhinestone brad (Fire Circle) on the pull tab?  Every girl deserves some bling!

Valentine's Day Treat

I just love this little treat box that I came across while blog-hopping.  I actually saw it on several sites, so I'm not sure who the credit goes to.  Anyway, I decided to make some for Matthew's teachers.  I had some Ghirardelli chocolate hanging around (yeah, strange...I didn't eat the whole bag) so I made one up.  Liked it so much that I decided to make up several.  When I ran out of the chocolate I had here, I bought some more at Walmart and guess what?!  The colors matched PERFECTLY.  So I emptied out the ones from my original bag (green and blue) and replaced them with the ones to match the Candy Lane paper.  Now I have chocolate for St. Patty's Day.  I KNOW the blue ones won't make it, but I'll force myself to stay away from the green ones.

This was such a simple project!  I think I'll be showing this at upcoming workshops.  And, in case you are planning a wedding...these would make great favors!  Contact me for more information.

Criss-Cross My Heart

Last night was my monthly What A Cool Card Club meeting.  Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I made one of the cards heart-themed.  Of course it doesn't have to be a Valentine card, but it would certainly serve that purpose if desired.

This is a criss-cross card, and actually was the idea behind the What a Cool Card Club.  I wanted to offer my customers something out of the ordinary, so I designed a club so that I could teach them two "interesting", non-traditional cards each meeting.

What I like about this card is that the insert has some hearts punched out of the corner.  As you can see, I used those hearts as embellishment on the belly band that goes around the card.

The base is made from Riding Hood Red cardstock and the patterned paper is from the Candy Lane pack.  I used the Round Tab Punch to create a pull and decorated it with a heart punched from a Riding Hood Red scrap.  That heart as well as the three Very Vanilla hearts were created with the Heart to Heart punch.  I almost didn't purchase that punch, but am so glad I did.  I know I'll get lots of use out of it.

I LOVE Simple and Clean

I challenged my team members who are doing a Business Boot Camp with me to create and mail three Valentines to customers this week.  I like to play along whenever possible, so when I saw a card made by fellow demo Dawn Griffith, I had to CASE it.  I always love clean and simple cards and this sure fits the bill.  I think it could easily be tweaked into a wedding or anniversary card as well.

This card features the new Heart to Heart punch, as well as Candy Lane Designer Series paper (one heart comes from Riding Hood Red DSP and another from Sweet Always DSP, but had I not used up some of my other sheets of Candy Lane, they could've all come from there without it changing the look much).  The base is Very Vanilla and the sentiment (stamped in Chocolate Chip) comes from Heartfelt Thanks.

Did you notice I got my light box working again?  What a difference!

Kick It Up a Notch!

Remember this card that I posted earlier in the week?    It's a nice, basic card, right?  Actually, you could make it even more basic by using a strip of Kiwi Kiss cardstock where the Kiwi Kiss ribbon is.

But look at the card I made by altering just a couple things!  I used my Big Shot with the Top Note die to create an interesting shape to the front layers and I added a ribbon slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware collection.  Just two simple changes can make a big difference!

I know you've been seeing a lot of Top Note projects lately.  I can't help it...I love that die!  But you should be seeing some other projects shortly as this week I'll be getting in some more Big Shot toys.  I can't wait!

Sympathy

I finally got my sympathy cards made.  I REALLY would've liked to use the Thoughts & Prayers set in the new catalog, but I haven't received it yet.  It's one of my favorites.  Not only does it have two great images, but some wonderful sentiments...and they aren't just for sympathy cards.  There's a couple sentiments dealing with "get well" too. Notice, I said I haven't received it yet.  That's probably because I just ordered it yesterday...along with some fun, new Big Shot products.  And of course all that will be coming with some free Sale-A-Bration goodies.

However, as I mentioned, I don't have it yet so I had to make due with another fabulous set...Inspired by Nature.  I got my brayer and glossy paper out and made an early-evening sky scene.  I used Brocade Blue and Night of Navy for the sky, and Garden Green and Forest Foliage for the ground.  I stamped the grass and sentiment in Basic Black.  It all just says "peaceful" to me.  You can't see the inside, but I used a Top Note die cut from Whisper White as an inside layer to write on, since I hate writing on darker cardstock.

The colors are really darker than they appear in this image.  I really do need to fix my light box situation!  The good news is that I bought a new light yesterday, and light bulbs, so soon I'll be back to good images.