So Grateful....

As the year comes to a close and I reflect back on 2011, I am grateful for many things. Some things, not so much, but part of life is living through the painful, tough times. So I will thank God for all he has graced me with.

That was not the reason I made this card but the sentiment fits how I am feeling today.

This card features a number of new things from the upcoming Occasions Mini ~ Apothecary Art stamp set, Twitterpated designer series paper, Labels Collection Framelits. Which reminds me...January 3rd is the last day to order from the Holiday Mini, and January 4th starts the sales period for the Occasions Mini. And in just a few short weeks (January 24th) Sale-A-Bration starts! Busy month!!

Supplies Used: Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Whisper White card stock; Early Espresso Craft Ink & Clear Embossing Powder (Flower stamp); Baja Breeze, Pear Pizazz Blushing Bride markers; Labels Framelits; Baja Breeze seam binding; Dazzling Detail; Striped Embossing Folder & Vanilla Smooch Spritz (on the Baja Breeze card stock)

Wedding Card

Our son is in town for the Holidays and is going to a wedding tomorrow. Of course he needed a hand made card for the event! The Designer Cuts cards on page 9 are perfect for those special occasions! The real beauty of the card is in the laser cut heart. I adhered some of the Everyday Enchantment designer series paper from Sale-A-Bration behind the heart and added some pearls. I tied some Calypso Coral organdy ribbon (also from Sale-A-Bration) and tied on the love charm from Trinket Hearts. The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Sneak Peek!

This card features some items from the Occasions Mini Catalog - the Adorning Accent Embossing folder and the Hearts Collection Framelits and the Sale-a-Bration catalog - Fresh Vintage stamp set and Everyday Enchantment DSP. The Flower image from the stamp set is embossed on a piece of the designer series paper, then die cut with the smallest heart Framelit. This piece is matted on another piece of designer series paper die cut with a larger heart Framelit.

Gnome Peeking!!

One of the new stamp sets in the upcoming Occasions Mini is Gnome, Sweet Gnome. He makes the perfect little Santa! The greeting is from the coordinating stamp set, Gnomenclature and the gifts are from this year's Ronald McDonald House stamp set, Turtle & Co.

Santa's beard is embellished with Dazzling Detail the polka dots on the middle gift are dotted with the Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Detail.

Snow Much Fun!

This was one of the Hostess Club projects we made this month. After embossing the images with Black embossing powder, use a paint brush or cotton tip swap to apply bleach to the desired areas. It may take a few minutes to see the effect. You will want to experiment with different colors of card stock to get the look you want. We used Crumb Cake for this card.

And here is the inside of the card...

Supplies: Snow Much Fun stamp set; Bravo Burgundy and Crumb Cake card stock; Versamark Ink and Black Stampin' Emboss Powder; Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green markers; Very Vanillia Velvet Stitched Ribbon; Dazzling Details (used on the shade areas of the Snow Man)

Christmas Card 2011

One of my personal goals this year was to become more familiar with Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio. I keep telling myself "baby steps, baby steps..." so I thought I would start with using one of the card templates that are available.

I didn't make any changes to the card front but did customize the inside with a photo of seven of our grandchildren, along with a customized message. It's hard to see in the photo but I did embellish the berries with some of the new Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Detail that is in the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog.

Pulled Pastels

Every once in a while, I pull out a technique that I haven't done in awhile. I decided this would be a fun technique for my monthly "Technique Tuesday" classed. We make one or two technique cards, then a project using that technique. This is quick and easy to make!

Supplies: Whisper White & Night of Navy card stock; Versamark Ink; White Stampin' Emboss Powder; Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz; Christmas Lodge and Bells & Boughs stamp sets

• Burnish Night of Navy card stock with White Stampin' Pastel.
  
• Ink up the tree from Christmas Lodge with Versamark, stamp it over the pastel & lift up.
• Emboss the greeting from Bells & Boughs in the upper right corner.
• Lightly spritz the card with Vanilla (or Gold) Smooch Spritz.
• When dry, adhere to Whisper White card.
  

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I saw this project in our monthly Stampin' Success magazine and loved it! So here is my version. Along with our Paper Daisies and Fleurettes II, I punched and die cut flowers out of Whisper White and Silver Glimmer Paper, layered them and embellished with Rhinestones, Pearls, Buttons. I am going to make two more, one larger and one smaller, for our Mantle but thought I would post this one now.

Little Packages...

"Good things come in little packages" These cute little ornaments were on display at the Regional seminar in Louisville. I was going through some photos and thought these were so cute! They were made with the Holly Berry Bouquet designer series paper and the Petal Card Double Punch. Punch out two of them and adhere them together to form a box. Embellish as desired. And of course, they can also be used to hold small, sparkly gifts!

Winter Wishes

These Winter Wishes Stitched Felt accents from the Holiday Mini Catalog are great for adorning cards and tags this Holiday Season! The "To" & "From" are from the Fabulous Phrases stamp set. The panels on the door are edged with ink to give them some dimension.

Shaker Frames

The very first thing I thought of when I received my Shaker Frames from the Holiday Mini was SNOWMAN!!!! And how appropriate that we saw our first flakes of the white stuff yesterday!

I created a tutorial for you. Have fun, stay warm and build a snowman!

Regional Make & Take

As promised, here is the first of two make and takes we made at Stampin' Up!'s Regional Seminar in Louisville, KY. It's hard to see but the flower image is stamped over the Good Grid image. I really like this effect!

Supplies: You Are Loved (page 40 - Holiday Mini), Good Grid stamp sets; More Mustard, Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler Markers; Soft Suede Ink; ; First Edition Specialty DSP; Old Olive, More Mustard, Very Vanilla card stock; Cherry Cobbler seam binding; Vintage Trinkets, Crop-a-Dile; 1" Square Punch; Distressing Essentials (Tea Stain ink)

• Tear First Edition Specialty DSP as shown and distress using Tea Stain ink. Use the flat stamp from Distressing Essentials to soften and blend the Tea Stain ink. Adhere to the Old Olive piece with Stampin' Dimensionals and then adhere this piece to the Cherry Cobbler card stock.
• Ink up the Good Grid stamp with Soft Suede Classic ink, stamp off once, then stamp the image on the Very Vanilla card stock. Ink the flower image with the markers and stamp on the grid image. Stamp greeting with Soft Suede Classic Ink
• Punch holes along the left edge of the Very Vanilla piece with the small hole on the Crop-a-Dile. Cut a line from the edge of the card stock to each hole.
• Punch a 1" Square of More Mustart, fold over edge of the Very Vanilla piece as shown. Attach with the Vintage Trinket safety pin. Tie Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding to safety pin.
• Adhere this piece to the More Mustard card base.
• Ink flower image with markers, stamp off once and stamp image on a Very Vanilla envelope. Distress front of envelope with Tea Stain ink and flat stamp from Distressing Essentials.
  

Christmas Stocking Card

This card is so easy to make! Fold a 6" x 12" piece of card stock in half. Place it on the Holiday Stocking Bigz L Die with the fold at the top of the die, just below the cut line. This will give you the fold at the top of the card. Then die cut a piece of Designer Series Paper (dsp) with the same die. Note: Place the side of the dsp that you want on the stocking face side down on the die.

Adhere the dsp stocking to the card and embellish as desired. For this card, I added Dazzling Detail along the stitch line at the top of the stocking and along the toe and heel stitch lines. The Poinsettia was made by punching out 2 flowers from the 5-Petal punch, distressing them and off set them. A gold Glimmer Brad is in the center of the flower. The greeting on the cuff of the stocking is from Four the Holidays stamp set and Frostwood Lodge is the dsp.

Sweet Treats

I made these for some Craft & Vendor Shows I am participating in over the next several weeks. I bought the candy sticks at Cracker Barrel, put them in our 1" x 8" cello bags from the Holiday Mini and made the toppers for them. They are great for stocking stuffers, a little treat for everyone at your Holiday gatherings, classroom treats.....

Front and back views. The greeting is stamped and punched with the 2 3/8 Scallop Circle punch. The front is stamped with Garden Green classic ink and punched out with the 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch. A second image was stamped in Cherry Cobbler and the center is punched out with the 1" Circle Punch and adhered with a Stampin' Dimensional, then embellished with a Rhinestone jewel.

Regional Seminar in Louisville

Two of my downline, Barb and Freddie, joined me for a road trip to Louisville, KY for a Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar. As with all Stampin' Up! events, it was well worth the drive! Freddie was still on Hawaii mode (note the shell lei she used as a lanyard for her name tag!) having come back less than a week before we left!

I loved the Make & Take's which Barb and Freddie are holding (I'll post larger photos in a later post).

Here is my swap card. I used the Soft Holly Wheel with Garden Green Classic Ink, then applied Versamark ink over the whole piece and embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. It's matted on Garden Green card stock. The card base and 1/8" taffeta ribbon is Real Red. The
greeting is from Snow Swirled and punched with the Decorative Label Punch.

Merry Christmas

I like using the 5 petal flower punch to create poinsettias. Simply punch two of them out, distress them and off-set them with a gold glimmer brad in the center. After stamping the leaves, I used a blender pen to fill in the color just a bit.

Supplies: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive & Very Vanilla card stock; Old Olive Classic Ink; Blender Pen; Bells & Boughs stamp set; 5 Petal Flower and Lace Ribbon Border punches; Glimmer Brads.

Stocking Builder Punch

I'm liking this new punch from the Holiday Mini catalog! I couldn't decide which stocking I like more! It's hard to see, but I added some Dazzling Detail to the holly berries. Themini jingle bell adds just the right touch!

Supplies: Real Red, Wild Wasabi and Very Vanilla card stock; Christmas Greeting stamp set; Wild Wasabit Classic Ink; White Baker's Twine; Holly Berry designer series paper; Stocking Builder Punch; Mini Jingle Bells; The Big Shot & the 3" Circle Die; corner rounder punch.

Lolly or Rosette?

I'm not sure what these are called - I've heard both Lolly and Rosette. Regardless, they are fun to make and so easy with the Stampin' Up!'a Simply Scored Scoring Tool (item #122334, $29.95). It is on page 7 of the Holiday Mini catalog.

Supplies used: Red Glimmer Paper, Wild Wasabi and Very Vanilla card stock; Holly Berry Specialty Designer Series Paper and Buttons; Real Red Classic Ink; Red Glitter & 2-Way Glue Pen (for the outer edge of the rosette / lolly); Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine and Mini Jingle Bells; Christmas Greeting stamp set

Love these Big Buttons!

When I first saw these big buttons I really didn't know what I would do with them. But after I started playing with them, I just love them! Our 1 1/4" circle punch fits perfectly on them! This card was one of our Hostess Club projects this month!

Supplies: Pear Pizazz, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso and More Mustard card stock; Spice Cake DSP; Spice Cake Designer Buttons; Word Window, Modern Label & Blossom Petals punches; Square Lattice Embossing Folder & the Big Shot

Elise is 3!

My granddaughter, Elise, turned 3 on Monday. She has been talking about her birthday for weeks with great anticipation! Elise is truly a girly-girl. Sounds like she had a great birthday! I just wish we could have celebrated with her!



Supplies: Regal Rose & Whisper White card stock; Black Stazon ink; Regal Rose, Marine Mist, Pear Pizzazz & Wisteria Wonder markers; Easy Events Stamp Set; Regal Rose 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon; Cheerful Treat (hostess only) DSP; Rhinestone jewel; 2-way glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter; 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch.

Fill My Stockings, Santa!

One of the displays I was planning on for the Holiday Mini Catalog was a banner of Christmas Stockings made with the Holiday Stocking Bigz L Die fro my fireplace mantle. A fellow demonstrator, Kathie, had already made one and brought it over for me to use. It was too big for my mantle. Kathie made hers for a much larger area but we found a great space for it and hung it up! Thanks so much, Kathie!

I Love Spice Cake!

These were fun cards to make - and so easy with the Big Shot! I used the Fun Flowers XL Bigz Die and the Spice Cake designer series paper and Big Buttons. The greeting is from Sincere Salutations. The background of the flowers was embossed with the Polka Dot embossing folder.