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!

More scrap challenges!

I'm still challenging myself to use up ribbon and paper scraps and retired colors of card stock. After all, I don't want to have to move this stuff back to Chicago in one year!

These first three cards feature the Watercolor Trio stamp set from the Summer mini catalog. It's a great set that is still available until August 31... which is rapidly approaching. The expression on the first card is from the same stamp set. I used some retired sets for the expressions on the other two cards but any from the Teeny Tiny Wishes could be substituted.

The next two cards use the Animal Stories stamp set. At first I wasn't real crazy about the artsy style of these animals but I got the set free during Sale-a-Bration and now that I have it I'm having lots of fun with it. "You're on my mind" is from the Upsy Daisy set.

Did you notice the patterned paper is the same in the tea cup card and the elephant card? It was some scrap from paper purchased at a craft store. I thought it was strictly masculine but then paired it with this expression and it's definitely a feminine card! The expression is from the Favorite Thoughts set in the summer mini... remember, it's available until August 31. The little tea cup is in the Itty Bitty Bits set which are fun stamps to use with the Punch Pack.

And the last two cards for today's post use the Cute by the Inch Level 2 Hostess set. I've also been challenging my self to "keep it simple." I think I did a pretty good job of that on the "thank u" card.

This card also uses the Just Believe stamp set for the clump of flowers stamped with VersaMark ink. And I used the new Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch. And it was still a really simple card to make. It helped that the brown and blue scraps were already cut to size!

Moved and stamping again!

Our move to Florida went pretty smoothly. And I've got my stamping space set up in the second bedroom. This will work great until guests arrive. And then it will mean sharing the space which is always hard to do. Luckily, the longer guests, my adult children are really good about sharing space.

So, I'm back to using up some scraps and retired Stampin' Up! colors but of course, I have to play with some of my new stamp sets, too!

This card uses the bee from Everly Little Bit set. This is going to be a great stamp set for making little desk calendars for Christmas gifts. Keep watching... I'll post the calendars when I'm done.

I've also used my Big Shot on the first 4 cards. I ran the Brilliant Blue cs through first with the Top Note die, then again using the Square Lattice embossing folder. Love them both, used alone or together they really dress up a project!

Sometimes I just leave some blank space (as on the heart and gumball card fronts) to add a sentiment later. The Teeny Tiny Wishes set and the Word Window punch or Modern Label punch make it easy to add just the right expression.



I have lots more cards from my scraps that I'll post later.

Let me know what you think.