Christmas

Since we are in Florida this year I decided to make a tree with seashells. When I started this project it was my intent to spray paint it gold or silver when finished. But I decided the shells were too pretty to paint.

Most of our friends and family got a Christmas card like this one. Of course, I always have a few "odd" designs that I've made for samples at Clubs or Craft events. So, some get those cards.
And this is some thank you note cards that I made this week. Simple! Designer Series Paper, card stock, few punches and a rubber stamp can make some nice cards.

November Projects

Well, I don't where the time has gone! Actually, I do know... spent lots of days in October traveling and entertaining guests at my home. So, didn't get much posted. Here's a peak at some of the Thanksgiving cards I made.

This is a decoration I made. I actually had this idea buzzing around in my brain and then before I did anything with it... "Stampin' Success" publishes an article featuring Lyssa Zwolanek and she's done it! So, rather than reinvent the wheel I used her layouts as inspiration plus a few other tips she shared. Thanks Lyssa!

This week I've been busy working on calendars. The first set of months are refill pages for CD case calendars that I have given as gifts to family for several years now. So, this year I used the Every Little Bit stamp set and punch art as my focus.

I have also been making some "chip board" calendars. I bought several of the board books when they were on the Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack. I cut them into 4x4 inch squares and then decorated the front and back of each square. This calendar is quickly made using a set of Designer Series Paper and coordinating card stock. Each square of chipboard has a calendar on the front and back, so that 6 squares make the full year calendar. Then I used my crop-a-dile to punch the holes and slipped the rings through to hold the pages together. This one is for a male Christmas gift. I hope my friend will like it on his desk. I didn't take a picture of every page. I think you get the idea.

And my last calendar is made using SU!'s Decor Accents Blocks. They come in a set of 4. I use three for the 12 months of the year and the fourth is decorated with the seasons. I printed the calendars directly onto my Whisper White cardstock and then stamped images and sponged the card stock. The season block is made using the retired Branch Out stamp set. I surely do love that set!

When I give this calendar I put the blocks back in the box they come in. I wrap one or two nice SU! ribbons around the box with a nice big bow at the top. Then I make a little card to cover up the label on the box and also include a note saying the ribbon can be used to "tie up" the gift inside. The blocks really look cute that way!

Well, I hope you are inspired to make a calendar or two.

Birthday Greetings

I had some scraps sitting on my desk and rather than file them away I used them to make some more birthday cards. While here in Florida I have been sending about 15 cards per week; birthday and anniversary. The people at our church here are so happy to get them. DH gets lots of comments of appreciation from parishioners about them.
The bottom right card is "framed" with scraps after cutting the Top Note die a second time. I'll be showing you the decorative square cut from the Top Note when I reveal my Thanksgiving cards.

Hostess gifts

Traveling the past few days and wanted to take some little gifts for family and friends that were hosting me. This is a little gift I did for my sister. I purchased a 5x5 inch canvas at the big box hobby store and then rubbed ink in various colors onto the canvas front and sides. Then added waffle paper strip, ribbon and stamped images. Quick and Cute! The waffle paper was adhered with mini glue dots, then ribbon runs completely around canvas and tied and a mini glue dot used to hold it in place. The scripture verse is adhered with mini glue dots, too. I used dimensionals for the bird, heart and flowers. Brads were added to the center of each flower before attaching.

This is a side view. I bought the thicker sided canvas because I wanted it to stand on its own. The sides are about 1 inch wide.

This is a wallet size frame (found in the $1 bin at large fabric store). I saw the expression in a Florida gift shop on a yard flag. So, decided I could use a variety of stamp sets and piece the words together. The wine glass actually is from the retired new year stamp set. This took a little longer since I had to "piece" the expression. Definitely would want to use a stamp-a-ma-jig to do this.

And of course, there are lots of cute expressions to choose from in the Big Idea Book. I've got some other ideas for little stocking stuffers for friends. What fun!

As promised... Halloween cards made using the scraps of paper from my projects. I was amazed at the variety of Halloween stamps I've accumulated when I pulled them from my shelves. It was fun to match images with paper. The three pumpkins on the card in the upper left corner were cut out of small scraps of Designer Series Paper using the new Oval Medium punch. I can tell I'm going to use this punch a lot! The ribbon you see on the cards in this first photo was some I picked up at the big box craft store. I was sure it was going to match Handsome Hunter. Well, it did not. So, it's been sitting around a long time. One of the reasons I decided to convert my ribbon stash to strictly stamping up. I got tired of having ribbons that just didn't match. And once I ordered from SU! I realized you get so much more ribbon on their spools than anywhere else. Just a better bang for your buck in so many ways! Don't want a whole spool of ribbon? I'm happy to do ribbon swaps; you get a share of lots of colors that way.

The ghost is made using the Owl Punch (as is the owl, obviously!) and trimming off the feet. Some cards went together really quickly. The idea just seemed to pop but others were a struggle. I'm still not happy with the one with large scallop circles. Suggestions, anyone?

The "starburst" is really using scraps. This was the last card I made and it was just grabbing all those little retangles that usually go into the paper recylcing and trimming them a bit and taping them down around a scallop circle.

The grey "rick rack" strip was made using the

Tasteful Trim die for the Big Shot. I love it!!! It's fun for card making and I can't wait to get back to scrapbooking to use it. (Yes, there are a couple of trips to get recorded!)

The card on the lower left has a strip of the black waffle paper on it to make the ruffle at the bottom. And man, oh man, do you get a lot of the waffle paper on each roll. I'm working on some more ideas for using it. Stay posted.

Now, on to Thanksgiving cards! LOL! Have to keep moving because I've not done Christmas cards yet for this year. I make over 100 so like I said.... gotta' keep moving!

Halloween is Coming!

I'll be traveling a lot in October so have to get started now.
If you need a simple treat for friends on a diet... these are perfect! (Cased from Tinkerin in Ink with Tanya - thanks! Great tutorial on her website.) The box holds four tealight candles that have been embellished with images stamped on tissue paper and then heat embossed to the candle.) So, quick and easy. I can't wait to give them to friends.

I finally used my milk carton die cut! I used some retired DSP to cover the base (the fine print says YUM!). The other three treats are made with the new candy wrapper die cut and decorated with 3 of the four trims you can cut with the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die. It's going to be so much fun using these new dies. These little boxes are going to be filled with candy corn and peanuts. YUM!
Here's a trio of pumpkins I made from some retired DSP, retired mellow moss card stock and ribbon. Yes,still using retired stuff in my stash. These are also quick and easy if you have a crop-a-dile. Don't have one? I'd be happy to help you get one ordered! (Cased from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts. You'll find lots of great tutorials on her blog.) I varied the length of the strips to get the different sizes in my trio. The smallest is 5-1/2 x 1 inch strips. The others are 7-1/2 x 1 and 6-1/4 x 1.

More pumpkins... made from coffee filters! (Cased from Sharing Creativity and Company.) I varied mine a bit. I didn't have washers to weigh them down. But I did have some flat faced closet door knobs that were going into the trash. Recycled them. I love it when that happens. (My niece Kelly will be so proud of me!) The stems are pieces of wooden skewers from my kitchen. But certainly could use a twig like Sharon suggests. I didn't have the polyfill to stuff mine with so I used tissue paper. And lastly I was too lazy to get up from the table to get needle and thread as Sharon directs so I just used snail adhesive all along the outside edge and pinched that edge and added more tape as needed to get it to stick. I put a dab of glue on the end of the stick to help it stay in place. And I used the idea from the previous pumpkins to make the curly strands.

Here's a banner I cased from Angela Hilbig on Stampin' Connection. I cut the 'B' freehand and used the new large circle punch for my O's because I don't have a large alphabet set for my Big Shot yet. Pretty quick and easy.



My favorite project is my treat for my adult children. So, hope they aren't following this blog! It's a decor that includes three photos of them from Halloweens past. They never wanted the store costumes and we always enjoy laughing over some of the things they came up with. Since most of my photos are in Chicago I had to settle with the three that I already had scanned and were saved on my computger. I made the first one for myself and then liked it so much I decided they would each get one, too. I used lots of diecuts and retired DSP for this project but it could easily be adapted for all kinds of occasions. And it could easily be a mini scrapbook because it folds accordion style. I toyed with the idea of adding ribbon and cover for the ones for my children but decided I'd spent enough time on them.

Now I have lots of DSP scraps to use for my Halloween cards.

New Storage

I added these storage drawers to my stamping table. I love it. I saw the idea many months ago; can't remember where. I keep sponges and daubers for each ink pad in the little drawers. I have one for each ink pad that I have, including retired colors. I dedicated more space to the retire colors at this time because I will probably add the crayon and pastel to the drawer for them. I have also begun to put little "punched" pieces of colors in each drawer. You know sometimes you just need a little label to add to a generic card.

The three unlabeled drawers are ready for the next set of In Colors from Stampin' Up! In the meantime I'm keeping extra daubers and cut sponge pieces in them. Some drawers do not have anything but a piece of cardstock in them right now because I've never used a dauber in that color and not a sponge since I started dedicated them to each color. I have punched a piece of card stock in each color using the Round Tab punch and labeled it with the color. That is placed in the corresponding drawer and ready for attaching to the sponge with a staple when needed.

I found the drawer unit on the web. It actually came from a restaurant supply website. The challenge is keeping the space in front of it uncluttered. I am hoping to get a little shelf made or purchased and then it can be on the wall and up off the table. Why is it there is never enough table top space!

Extra Large Cogs Double Punch

I have lots of the celery green dotted impression circles left over from making swaps for a regional earlier this year. Just can't throw them away. I turned the bumpy side down for these cards. I think the circles look more masculine that way. (Okay, maybe it's just me!) Then I pulled out the cogs punch. The cogs made me think of a couple expressions; just seemed to go together in my mind... thinking (cogs turning!) and turning (hopefully that ones is obvious).

The cogs punch is a Double punch. It took me awhile to figure out this punch. I have the best luck by placing it on the taple top and pushing it down on the table. You have to be sure to get that second snap.

The last card also uses the cogs punch. Do you see them? They are used to make the petals of the flowers. Punch a set from two different colors of cardstock, then layer them offsetting the teeth so that both colors are showing. The center hole is covered with a piece of scrap Designer Series Paper. I can't remember where I saw this or I would give credit where credit is due.

Finished some projects!

While looking for some card ideas one day I came across this tote bag made with purchased clear vinyl and Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper (Erin Blair on Stampin' Connection). Since I have so much of the paper in my stash and some large designs that I'm slow to cut into smaller pieces... I decided I had to make one. As if I didn't bring enough projects along to Florida!

It's hard to get good pictures with the shiny vinyl... at least for an amateur photographer like me! I did change mine a little from Erin's... instead of using plain color cardstock for the inside panels I used a different set of DSP... so I have two bags in one because the inserts of DSP are removeable and I can switch the the other design anytime I want. And you know... I'll be making more inserts when I get tired of these. It's going to make a great knitting tote because the sides don't fall in on each other and the yarn won't get tangled in the sides of the bag like my cloth ones. And yes, I did bring plenty of knitting projects to work on while here in Florida! And to give you an idea of how out of control my stash of stuff is... I only had to buy the vinyl to make this... already had the purse handles and everything!

We didn't have any canisters here in the furnished turn key condo. Guess that is a sign of youth of the past vicars... or their lack of time for cooking. Serioulsy, I haven't had to do much cooking since DH started his internship. We get invited out to eat a lot. The people in the church are so gracious! I found these canisters on sale at the neighborhood hardware store. They were too plain for me. They have clear glass lids so I didn't figure I needed to put the name of the contents on them. So, looked through my Decor Elements stash. (You knew I'd have one!) And decided the Upsy Daisy in Old Olive was perfect for the kitchen here. Really quick and easy. Yesterday, I went back to the store and purchased a second set of canisters because the clearance price was just too good to pass up and I needed something for my bread flours. So, I have Upsy Daisy in Taken with Teal in my stash to go on them. They will look so nice on the kitchen countertop! Just happen to be colors in the kitchen here. I love it when things fall into place. (And these canisters are staying with me when we leave Florida because I've got a pantry of plastic ice cream containers there!)

Here's a chipboad clipboard (say that 10 times!) I have had since we lived in Indianapolis. I thought I would use it in Chicago and never got around to decorating it. So, I pulled it out and got to work using some retired DSP and ribbon from my stash and scraps. These are the accent colors in the kitchen. The kitchen is basically all white with a few yellow tiles and I decided it needed some color. I found some placemats stashed away in the closet here that were floral with these colors; so took it from there. (And for those who know me... I don't have a single bee in the decor to date... taking a break... it will be so much fun to go back to my stuff in Chicago and see all my bees!)

DH found this basket minus the flowers in the closet here. He discovered it was the perfect size for 2 rolls of toilet paper. Great thinking. Only problem: it once was decorated with something and there was glue and lint-type remnants stuck to the top edge of it. No matter what I did it looked dirty. So, I covered it up! I made faux felt flowers. Mary Fish (stampinpretty.com) has a great tutorial. I just grabeed a punch of different punches and followed her lead for making the faux felt out of cardstock.




Another thing we didn't have in the condo was coasters for our drinks. So, off to the DIY store to purchase some tiles. This is from a very retired(!) set of stamps that I have. I thought it was the perfect image for Florida. I used Staz On ink. So quick and easy. I had the ink and also some felt stick on pads for the bottom of the tiles. I tell you... my stash is embarassing! Not really, it's nice to be using some of it though.

This is the wreath on our front door. I bought a plan grapevine wreath and then made some cardstock flowers and butterflies using my punches and Big Shot dies. The large daisy-like flowers are from Dawn Olchefske's website. Everything is mounted on a piece of scrap cardstock and then wired on the wreath so I can change it when the the Florida sun fades the colors or I tire of it. You know I'm going to change it long before the sun does it's work! I've got lots of ideas I want to use for holidays, etc. And you know Autumn doesn't come to Florida... well at least falling leaves don't... so I may have to have make my own!

Thanks for looking!

Rub-Ons

I found some opened packages of retired Rub-Ons when unpacking my stuff. So, I put them on the top of my inbox to remember to create with them. I bought a package of inexpensive frames at IKEA and used some that way. Then I decided to make cards with the rest of the sheet.

It's easy to make cards using Rub-Ons. And yes, I'm still working on my ribbon and paper scraps!