Stampin' Up's Sturdy Cardstock

SU's cardstock is thick enough to make these adorable little favors. I'm going to give some away at a vendor fair and make some for a craft show.  Just who came up with the design construction of these keen kisses? Not me, no unh-uh. That would be my friend Brenda. She is amazingly talented! She has tutorials on her website.

Christmas Crafts

I've been busy making alllll kinds of things! I kinda fly around flitting from one project to another:)

I wanted to try an ornament made from decorative paper. I thought less steps would equal less time right? Well, yeah, but I like the stamped ones better.

My friend Deborah and I were making some of these for the centers of our ornaments, when Deborah put two together facing out and said, "hey these are pretty enough to be ornaments all by themselves!" She is so right! Which is why I made a few more. They are really simple using the die cut. I embellished them with what ever I could find laying around.

I LOVE LOVE the Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack!! This Tangerine Tango ribbon is the perfect color for Clemson! I paired it with Elegant Eggplant and voila, instant college colors for the craft shows:) The punch was at the bottom of my drawer. It's old, old. I don't know who made it, and it might be a wolf paw, but it looks like a tiger paw to me:) I found a rooster punch for the Carolina Gamecocks and will use that with Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black for Carolina colors. I'll be all set for the college sports fans in our area who attend the craft shows!!

Christmas tag holder

Inside there are 12 tags and a pocket for string.

Man I love these ornament stamps and dies:)

More Craft Show Stuff!

I've been a busy little bee! I made a couple easel calendars and a gift tag holder.

tags inside the holder

Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo, Tea Shoppe, Elegant Lines embossing folder

French Foliage, Old Olive, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry.

Fall Ornament

My friend, and Upline Pam, came over today and we had the most fun making this gorgeous fall ornament. We also had a few mishaps with the hot glue gun. I bet you think it was me who got bitten by the bad ole' glue gun huh? Probably you're remembering all those attacks of Lucy-itis I've had in the past? Well it was not me this time. Poor Pam's fingers kept getting in the way! She's such a trooper, she wouldn't even let me apply first aid. We got the directions from Margaret Murray, a very talented Stampin' Up! Demo from Scotland. We're very happy with our creations and think they would look great on a grape vine swag or wreath. Take a look, can you see some of Pam's skin on one of them? lol kidding, just kidding.

All Kinds of Things!!

I just love this fold:)

Project Details
Stamps	Tea Shoppe
Cardstock & Papers	Always Artichoke, River Rock, Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Paisley Petals (retired)
Ink	Midnight Muse
Accessories
Tools	Scallop Trim Border punch, Houndstooth embossing folde

 I'm making lots of these for the craft shows:) This easel style is so much fun to make!

Project Details
Stamps
Cardstock & Papers	Midnight Muse, Razzberry Ripple, Paisley Petals (retired)
Ink
Accessories	one of Mom’s old buttons
Tools

 This belly band style holder is fun too! I'm making plenty of these for the craft shows too. The tags that will be inside are below.

Craft Show

I've been working on packaging. I found these clear bags in the kitchen cabinet. I bought them at the dollar store the last year I taught. I put candy in them for the kids at Christmas. I found some more at Walmart and in my closet!! These are great for post it notes and memo pads, and they'd be perfect for the reindeer poop!

Craft Show Creations

I've been working on things for craft shows. Today my friend Pam came over and we had fun craft and chatting:)

I got the idea from Marie Shaughressy. I just need to put a Christmas greeting on the inside. I used the Be of Good Cheer designer series paper to wrap around the nuggets. Isn't it pretty?

These are the first three post-it note pads that I made. It's a matchbook style. I like it well enough, but I don't want to make 25 or more of this style so I tried something different.

This is the next style that I tried and I feel like I can make a ton of them easily. Plus I think the mini pen is a nice touch. I will package them with clear bags and a topper. Dawn has a video on how to make them here.

 The two above open to reveal the top of a tiny sack. I'll put tags in some and treats in others. I got the idea from Jill's Ink.

This cute little elf will be on our display board. This cute design came from Cristy Butzen on Tinker With Ink.

Santa's Got a Sunburn...

I'm listening to Caribbean Christmas music while making things for the craft show. At first I thought maybe it was a little too silly even for me, but you know it works! It's really kinda giving me the Christmas Spirit and inspiring me.  My husband just grinned, I think he thinks his wife is a tiny bit silly! lol

Remember the ornaments I made the other day? Well I kicked them up a notch as Emeril would say. I'm also making something with the stockings. Can you guess what??? I know! let's make this a contest!! Look below.

Blog Candy Contest!

If you are a follower, leave a comment with your guess and I'll send you two books full of sentiments for cardmaking and scrapbooking, along with a couple surprises! If you're not a follower, click the follow me button:) I'll put all the names with correct answers in a basket and have my dog, Cricket, draw a name. Yes, she is THAT smart:) Aussies are wonderful!!

Everything Ornamental

 I made two more ornaments yesterday, still more the flat version. Now I'm working on one that will be fuller and have more stuff on it:) 

What else have I been doing? My friend, AnnMarie, and I are putting together a color challenge blog called, "Color Me Beautiful." We're so excited about it!! The challenge will use Stampin' Up! colors and stamps. We have the blog design done and now we're working on color palettes and award badges for winners. We're going to issue a design team call soon too. This is going to be soooooo much fun!!  I can't wait to get started. AnnMarie is soooo talented! Wait til you see what she designed for the blog template:)

Did you notice anything different when you came in here?  I redecorated! What do you think?

Project Details
Stamps	Ornament Keepsakes
Cardstock & Papers	Whisper White
Ink	Gumball Green and Cherry Cobbler
Accessories	pearls
Tools	Delicate Doilies Sizzlits Die, Ornament Framelits

Notepad Holders

Seriously, this is my new favorite thing to make!! It's just such a great idea and they look soooo cool:) Every time I pull it out of my purse to write in it, who ever sees it, wants one!! We're going to be making a bunch of these for the craft show! Quick, easy and you don't have a lot of cost involved. 1.25 for the case, one sheet of designer series paper and a junior notebook. I've been cutting mine down with my Fiskars rotary paper cutter just fine. My friend Deborah has a Carl rotary cutter that does an even better job! The beautiful double-sided papers are from the Mocha Morning set I'm so sad this pattern is retired and wish I had ordered more! just love love the way all the designs in the collection coordinate. The stamp is from the Apothecary Art stamp set.

I've tweaked the dimensions a bit and this is so wonderful it just bears repeating the directions!

• Stampin' Up!  DVD cases (4 for $5.95) 
• Designer Series Paper 3 coordinating pieces: (case liner: 10 5/8" x 7") (notebook top: 5" x 2)         (inside pocket: 8 1/2" x 3")
• Circle or oval punch
• Sticky strip
• Thin pen (RSVP pens are too fat)

1.       The junior legal size note pads will need to be cut off the bottom. If you cut it to 7 inches, you'll have room for one of those cute little short pens on top!  If you don’t have a paper cutter that will do this, the office stores do this for you for a small fee.

2.       Leave the notebook loose instead of adhering it to the case so the user could remove it for easier writing and to replace when the tablet is gone. The notebook topper is 5" x 2" and can be secured with sticky strip. This can be embellished with a die cut strip or ribbon if you like.

3.       Before placing the 10 5/8 by 7-inch dsp inside the case, consider the pattern on your paper to determine if you’d like ribbon, die cut or some other embellishments on the cover. Adhere those then simply slide in the case.

4.       To make a pocket to hold receipts etc. cut a coordinating pieces of dsp 8 1/2" x 3.  Fold it in thirds and secure it in the back and on the bottom with Sticky Strip. Use a circle or oval punch on the front edge in the center so you can reach inside the envelope more easily.  Depending on the designer paper you select you may want to embellish this pocket with a die cut or ribbon before adhering it to the inside of the case. 

5.      A Thin pen can be included (RSVP pens are too fat) or one of those short mini pens will fit at the top of the notebook.

 Check out some more examples here: http://astampabove.typepad.com/my-blog/2011/02/hard-case-notebook.html.  and here: http://flowerbug.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/06/clear-case-notebook-gift.html.

Christmas Baskets!!

I just love this type of basket!

I saw Heather Summers’ baskets http://stampwithheather.typepad.com/stamp_with_heather/2012/03/what-an-honour-easter-basket.html this spring and thought they were to die for!  Following her diagram below, I wrote out directions and experimented with some old paper first. When I had it written down in way that made sense to me, I made I followed Heather’s diagram to make the basket above.  I used a 9 x 9 sheet of cardstock to create my basket.  Each of the tabs (the long skinny rectangles) are 1 x 3 and the squares down the middle all measure 3x3.            

Larger Basket
9 x 9 square cardstock or designer paper
2 one x 9 inch strips of cardstock or designer paper
scoring tool
scissors
1" circle punch
corner rounder
4 brads
adhesive

 

Diagram from Heather Summers http://stampwithheather.typepad.com/stamp_with_heather/2012/03/what-an-honour-easter-basket.html

1.      Score your 9 x 9 inch square at 3 inches and 6 inches
Turn and score again at 3 inches and 6 inches
The scored lines will look kind of like a tic-tac-toe board at this point

2.      Following the score lines cut 2 inches deep at the 3 inch line and 6 inch line. Do the same on the opposite side

3.      Cut the center flap into a triangle and both side flaps into thirds. To do this place your paper on your score board with the triangle cut outs on the right and left sides, just as it appears on the diagram above. Score at 1, 2, 7, and 8 0 score only to the blue lines NOT all the way across (see diagram). Turn the paper and score the same way on the other side. Now you should have 12 strips, 6 on the top and 6 on the bottom.

4.      Trim about 1 inch off of the 2nd and 3rd strips (counting from the outside edge)

5.      Start with the first and longest strip, bring the two side together and attach.
Then layer the next two and then the last two. Then attach the triangle flap on top of the flaps.
(I inked the edges of everything first to give it more depth)

6.      Punch two 1" circles. Attach them over the points of the triangle. (trim the point off before attaching the circle)

7.      Cut two 1" x 9" strips. Use a corner rounder on the ends. Attach about 3/4 inches from the end of the basket with brads.

8.      Voila! Decorate further any way you like. I chose to make double layer lollies with a jewel, brad or button in the center. Stampin’ Up makes a lolly die cut which is sooo much easier to make! It’s called Designer Rosette Bigz XL. They are on a long die (up to 10” diam.) so you use extended cutting pads to allow you to make these gorgeous lollies.

Did you know that Stampin" Up! makes a die for creating lollies? Using this Bigz die makes it soooo much easier to create a lolly! Plus the ends have patterned designs on them, aren't they cute? It's called "Designer Rosette Bigz XL" and it makes a strip for a lolly that is up to 10" diam., so you use extended cutting pads to allow you to make these pretty little things. I also love the fact that they don't stick out as far as the ones I made by hand and they are so nice and uniform.

 

Smaller Basket

You will need:
6x6 square carstock or designer paper
2 one half x 6 inch strips of cardstock or designer paper
scoring tool
scissors
1" circle punch
corner rounder
4 brads
adhesive

1.      Score your 6 x 6 inch square at 2 inches and 4 inches
Turn and score again at 2 inches and 4 inches
The scored lines will create something that looks like a tic-tac-toe board

2.      Following the score lines cut 2 inches deep at the 2 inch line and 4 inch line. Do the same on the opposite side

3.      Cut the center flap into a triangle and both side flaps into thirds.

4.      Trim 1/4 " off of the 2nd and 3rd strips (counting from the outside edge)

5.      Starting with the first and longest strip bring the two side together and attach.
Then layer the next two and then the last two. Then attach the triangle flap on top of the flaps.
(you can ink the edges of everything first to give it more depth)

6.      Punch two 1" circles. Attach them over the points of the triangle. (trim the point off before attaching the circle)

7.      Cut two 1/2" x 6" strips. Use a corner rounder on the ends. Attach about 3/4 inches from the end of the basket with brads.

8.      Decorate!