Grateful Buckle Card

 Good Day!

Today I have a buckle card which I made for the Stampin Addicts Fun Fold #3 Technique Challenge. The challenge was to create a buckle card.  Mine uses the Days of Gratitude stamp set and the Stampin Wheel Belle.  I used autumn colours -Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla.

This card would make an awesome Thanksgiving card that I am sure anyone would love to receive.
I have included a PDF Instruction Sheet covering the basic instructions as to how to Make A Buckle Card.  Hope it comes in handy.
Happy Stamping! All.

Stamptacular Pumpkin Patch

Hello!

This evening I have a treat holder using a test tube I purchased as part of a bulk buy program at Late Nite Stampers.  These tubes are perfect for M&M's or Reeses Pieces or candy corn.

I created this project for a challenge at Stamptacular Sunday Challenges and also for the  LateNite Stampers Challenge #88.  We were to make any project relating to autumn.  I think mine is as autumn as they come.

I stamped the small pumpkins on Only Orange  cardstock and lined and sponged them with Cajun Craze ink.  The big one is a Cricut image which I added the lines and sponging to.  The little scarecrow is a Peachy Keen stamp.  I cut a 3/4" hole in an Old Olive base for the test tube to stand in.    This would make an awesome gift for a youngster or an oldster or anyone in between.

I hope you have a smile after seeing my project.  I got one just making it.

Wishing you Happy Stamping!

Autumn Thanks

Hello again!
Tonight I would like to show you the card I made for the Stampin Up Late Nite Stampers Challenge #88.  The challenge was to create a project with an autumn theme or using autumn colours.  I decided to use the oak leaf from the Paisley Prints stamp set and stamp it 3 times (Real Rust, More Mustard and Summer Sunshine).  Each was stamped on a 2 1/8" square and then alternate corners rounded.  I sponged them with Soft Suede.  Similarly, I stamped the acorn and sentiment from Day of Gratitude on another square and rounded those corners.  I mounted them on Soft Suede cardstock and did the corners to correspond.  I then mounted them all on a piece of Autumn Spice DSP.  The card body is Soft Suede. To finish it off, I threaded a squared rust button with gold jute and attached it to the card centre with a glue dot. 
Wishing you a happy autumn and Happy Stamping as well!

Unscripted Starburst

Good morning!

It is Saturday and that means another great sketch challenge at Unscripted Sketches, Sketch It Saturday.  I love being part of the team at US - the sketches are amazing and my team mates are so friendly, positive and supportive.  There is a lot of love over there and I encourage everyone to give our challenges a try.

  Here is my example for Sketch Challenge #74.   I used only two colours, black and white.  The DSP in the background is a tuxedo stripe (retired).  The floral print is white cardstock embossed with black embossing powder and versamark ink using the Elements of Style stamp set.  The Thank you is stamped in white and embossed with clear embossing powder.  It's been a while since I used metal on a card but I felt that this was the perfect opportunity for it.  Using the Daisies#2 die and my Big Shot, I cut out the two smaller daisies and layered them to make a starburst with a stick on jewel in the centre.  To add a bit of interest I cut a dotted acetate circle and used it for the background of my starburst.  I love incorporating metal into my designs.

I hope you like the results.

Again, please pop over to Unscripted Sketches to view the amazing examples from the Design Team and possibly try your hand at our sketch.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping!

Funky Caterpillar

Hi all!
It's Funky Friday again!  This week our theme is "Buttons, Buttons" so my example is a card which uses a lot of buttons. 
I have had the flower buttons for a couple of years and could not decide what to do with them - and then this opportunity came along.  Just goes to prove that if you wait long enough, you will find a use for just about anything.  The little caterpillar is stamped and then I glued a little orange button over each of the circles of his body.  Every second one is on a dimensional.
Papers are Pear Pizzaz DSP and Whisper White and Pear Pizzaz cardstock.  I used only 3 stamps, the stems from Happy Together and the caterpillar from  Love Bug and the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes punched out with the Word Window punch.  The pinked border is Pinking Hearts.  All supplies are Stampin Up!
I hope you will check out Funky Friday so that you can view the awesome examples from the rest of the Design Team and possibly even give our challenge a try.
Until next time, Happy Stamping!

Sweet Scarecrow

Hi!

This cute card is one I made for the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Sketch #68 Challenge.  As soon as I found the site, I knew I had to give it a try. And I have added it to my favourites list so I can play each week.

The stamps are from Peachy Keen - I have had them for a while (they were a gift from a friend who knows how much I love pumpkins, scarecrows and all things autumn).  All the paper and cardstock are Stampin Up  as well as the ribbon.  The little pumpkin on the bow is a button with the shank removed.  I coloured the images with Stampin Up inks using a blender pen.

I am so pleased with this card and cannot wait to hear what you think.

Until tomorrow, Happy Stamping!

Top Note Gratitude

Hi, today i have the card I made for the Monday LunchTime Sketch Challenge #140 on Mary Jo Price Williams' blog.  I used two stamp sets - Day of Gratitude and Paisley Prints - for the card.  I stamped the pumpkin twice, cut one out and used dimensionals to pop it up on the page.  The DSP is an older one and the ribbon is the wide Chocolate Chip Stripe.  I used Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie ink.  This card was very quick to come together once I decided on a theme.  That was the hard part.  I stared at a blank page for over an hour trying to be inspired as to what to do.

Hope you enjoy it.

Until later, Happy Stamping!

Halloween Pocket Card

Hi, everyone! Today I have a tri-fold pocket card made for the weekly Project Tuesday Challenge. 
This card was so much fun to make.  I especially like the bats which I attached to the ends of twisted copper wire and glued between the layers of the card back.

The pocket contains a modified tomb stone card which, after I cut and sponged it, I mounted on a black piece of cardstock and trimmed  to about an eighth of an inch all round.
The ghosts peaking out from the Halloween sign give the card a bit of a whimsical theme.  The sign itself is stamped with Versa Mark and then embossed with copper embossing powder.  I used my crimper to ruffle the orange band around the card and then added a strip punched with the Pinking Hearts Border Punch.

This card has loads of texture and layering and I am pleased with the result.
Until next time, I hope you enjoy this card and Happy Stamping!

Snowman Sparkles

Hi!  This evening I have a card I made for the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch challenge #169 .  I decided to use only blue and white on this card.  The backgrpound is Brilliant Blue (retired) cardstock which I ran through the Big Shot with the Northern Flurry embossing folder and then spritzed it with Shimmer Spray ( Shimmer plus alcohol) so it has a sparkly look.  The snowflake behind the snowman circle is white cardstock  spritzed with three coats of the same shimmer spray.  I punched a 1 3/8" circle, stamped the snowman (and coloured it) on it and sponged around the edges.

The band is a 1 1/4" piece of Whisper White with the edges scalloped and a gossimer ribbon glued to it and gathered in the centre.  For a sentiment, I used the same stamp set as the snowman (Snow Buddies - hostess retired) and stamped a snowflake in the centre of a stationery store tag.  Then I stamped a tiny "joy "on the tag. 

This is a very simple card to make, goes together quickly yet looks awesome to  give during the holidays.

Please feel free to adapt this design to suit your fancy!

P.S. After reading StephC's comment, I decided to enter this card in this week's Christmas card Challenge
as well.

Until later, Happy Stamping!

Unscripted Haunted House

Good Morning!

It is Unscripted Sketches Saturday and I am really excited about my example for this weeks Unscripted Sketch #73.  I know this is a bit of a stretch from the sketch but that is how my mind works sometimes.  For this treat box, I used Crumb Cake cardstock which I grunged up a bit with Chocolate Chip ink for the house, Chocolate Chip roof and shutters, Soft Suede Chimney and, of course, black bats and cat.  I softened up the white in the window by rubbing on some crumb cake ink.  For stamps, I used a combination of sets, Scarey Skeleton (retired) , dark and Dreary(spider),Vintage Vogue (for the floral border), Wicked Cool (web) and Halloween Frights (cat).   This project was so much fun to work on and I am so happy with the results. 

I am hoping that you will stop by the Unscripted Sketches site and take a look at all the examples from the rest of the talented design team.  And perhaps even attempt the challenge.  You will find it is a great deal of fun and you truly will be inspired.

Thank you for stopping by today and Happy Stamping!

Funky Tote and Cards

Hi!

It's Friday again - time for the Funky Friday Craft Challenge!  And this week it's a colour challenge (use Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Teal or Turquoise, Chocolate Chip and White) and I found it a particularly tough one at that.  It took a lot of thinking so I guess it was a "challenging" challenge.

Finally I decided to make this totebag, four 3 1/2"X3 1/2" note cards and matching envelopes. I was a bit silly and I made the tote first and did not think of the size of the cards going into it until it was finished, thus the odd sized cards.  The envelopes are 3 3/4" square.

The stamp set I used is Day of Gratitude and I coloured the medallion with markers instead of using an ink pad.  Hint:  After colouring the medallion in, breathe on it to remoisten the ink before you stamp.
The sentiment is from teeny tiny wishes.  And once again I used the word window and modern label punches.  If you purchase any "must have" punches, these  should be at the top of the list.  I use them all the time.  The sentiments from Teeny Tiny Wishes fit them perfectly and you do not have to worry about stamping your words straight!

Again, please visit Funky Friday and give our challenge a try.  I'm pretty sure you will have fun! Happy Stamping!

Haunted Tuesday

Happy morning!  Today I have a window box that I made for  the Project Tuesday Challenge.  I love treat boxes of all kinds and especially Halloween ones (if you had not already guessed - I love that day)!  This one is made with retired DSP and cutouts I made (Cricut and Cuttlebug).  The Spooky is from Wicked Cool and the skeleton is a button.

It would be very easy to change up this box for any occasion and the basic instructions can be found at Splitcoast Stampers by Julie Buhler.

Hope you enjoy this box and - I promise - my next post will not be Halloween.

Happy Stamping!

Pretzel Treats

Hi!
Tonight I have three of the treat holders I made with the 1"X8"  skinny bags I recently purchased.  It has been a hectic day for me so making these pretzel holders was a fun respite from the rest of the day.
I give treats to all of my customers at Leon's (by day I am a commissioned furniture salesperson) for the 2 weeks leading up to Halloween so I have to make between 125 and 150 of them. Since the bags seal, I can make them up well in advance and they won't go stale.  Plus I can use up lots of scrap paper for them!

Hope you enjoy looking at these treat holders and maybe even get inspired to make some of your own for friends, your children's class or just to hand out as random acts of kindness.  From experience I can tell you that everyone I give a treat to has a smile to give back.
Hope you have an awesome day tomorrow and Happy Stamping!

Agrarian Thanks

Hi, Sorry I am so  late today but it has been just one of those days.  Thanksgiving makes me think about my Dad.  As a farmer, this was his busiest time as far as selling his wares.  He sold produce, corn, cornstalks, and - my favourite - PUMPKINS, at a little road side stand.  For as long as I can remember, he had an old John Deere tractor ( it was old as long as I could remember as well).  The seat was tattered and it was dinged up but he really loved that tractor.

This card is in honour of him.  I used a very old retired stamp set - Tractor Time, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The card base is Very Vanilla and the only colours I used are Old Olive and Black.  It is a very simple and masculine card which I think I will send to my father's best friend. (Our Thanksgiving is on October 11th).  Hope that you have time to stop and remember someone special today.

Happy Stamping!

Golden Bells

Good evening!
Today I  have a card I made for the Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #138 on Mary Jo Price Williams' TechnoStamper blog.  I particularly like this sketch this week and I love the colours I chose to do it in.  The bells are So Saffron, and the other colours I used are Bravo Burgundy and Old Olive.

For the background, I ran Old Olive cardstock through the Big Shot with the Lattice Square embossing folder.  This was the very first time I used the new Waffle Paper and i have to say I love it!  The stamp set I used is Bells and Bows and the sentiment is from Snow Swirls.

To add a differnet touch to the embellishment, I used gold beads on gold wire with the ends curled and red seed beads for the holly berries.  My ribbon is a piece of wired gold ribbon from a package last Christmas.

I really hope you like this card as much as I do and hope you check out the challenge as well.

Happy Stamping!

Leaves of Thanks

Hi again!  Today I have my first entry as a member of the design team on the Unscripted Sketches Saturday Sketch Challenges site.  We have awesome sketches and encourage everyone to think outside the box.  For this week's challenge I used the stamp set Paisley Prints and the Paisley Party wheel.  Colours are Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip ink, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and More Mustard cardstock and Old Olive buttons.  I turned the sketch on its side to make my card.  For your convenience, I have included a PDF instruction sheet including measurements and instructions.

I would like to invite you to visit the Unscripted Sketches site ' take the challenge and view the amazing work by our design team.

Thanks for visiting and Happy Stamping!

Christmas Puzzle

Hi again.  Here  is a cute little Christmas card (or any other occasion) for that special someone on your list.  I used the Sizzix Puzzle #2 die and my Big Shot to cut out a 3" X 4 1/2" puzzle greeting.  For this particular card, I stamped Santa, the snowflakes and the greeting from  the Jolly Old St. Nick stamp set on Whisper White cardstock and then glued this whole thing to chip board and then covered the back in a Christmas DSP.  I then sponged the edges all round and ran it through the Big Shot. 

To complete the present/card, I made a little box (similar to a pizza box), covered the top with the same DSP and sponged the edges.  I then stamped the same message on white cardstock, inserted a brad for decoration and adhered it to the top with a dimensional.  To complete the project, I wrapped a ribbon around and tied a bow.  So simple but really, really cute!

Hope you get a chuckle.  Happy Stamping!

Sparkles and Snowflakes

Hello!  It's Funky Friday again!  And this is my example for The Funky Friday Craft Challenge this week.  It is a sketch challenge and I chose to make a Christmas card.  I used only Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White and Bashful Blue to do the entire card.  The only stamp set used was Snow Swirled and the only ink Cherry Cobbler.  In the center of each snowflake and swirl on the tree is a stick on rhinestone.   To complete this card front, I spritzed it quite liberally with Champagne shimmer mist which I made using shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol.  I know it is hard to see in the photo, but there is quite a sparkle to this card.

If you are looking for a fun challenge, please drop over to The Funky Friday Craft Challenge site and give it a try.

Happy Stamping ! to all.

News Flash!

Hi, I will post a new project tomorrow but for now I have BIG NEWS!  I have been selected to join the design team of Unscripted Sketches Saturday Sketch Challenges!  This is so exciting for me.  Check out the logo at the side.

See you later and Happy Stamping!

Skeleton Gate Fold

Welcome all!  Here we go again with another Halloween card.  Today it is a gate fold card I made for the Project Tuesday Challenge - to create a gate fold card.  And as luck would have it, a Spooky creation immediately came to mind.

  To the right you can see the inside view of the card.

I broke from my recent tradition today and used parts of four stamp sets -   Dark and Dreary and Teeny Tiny Wishes  House of Haunts and Scary Skeleton (retired). Inks are Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Elegant Eggplant.  The DSP is a very old retired one and I used Whisper White, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie cardstock.

I enjoyed immensly making this card - since I love Halloween so much - but I promise I will use a different theme for my next project.  Cross my heart! LOL

Wishing you all Happy Stamping!

Elegant Thank You

Good evening!  Tonight I have a card  I made for the Unscripted Sketches Challenge #71.  It is a very simple and elegant thank you card done in Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz and Very Vanilla. 

Again I used only one stamp set, Day of Gratitude.  I like to keep it as inexpensive as possible for anyone who may want to make my cards.  For the medallion, I inked the entire stamp in old olive with the flowers coloured over with  a blender pen and Cherry Cobbler and then, after stamping it on Very Vanilla, I cut it in half and only used one part.  I punched the sentiment with the Word Window punch and then glued it to a Modern label punch out.

I hope you like this card and maybe even want to make one for yourself.

Until tomorrow, Happy Stamping!

Wicked Cool Top Note Box

Hello!  I have a little box I made for the Late Nite Stampers Challenge #85 - use the Big shot in any way we wanted in a project.  I decided to make this Top Note Box with a Wicked Cool theme but a hint of humor using google eyes ( I just cannot resist them).  I used two stamp sets this time - Wicked Cool and Dark and Dreary.

Tonight I have included a PDF instruction sheet which includes the measurements you need if you want to recreate this box yourself.  Please let me know what you think.

Until later, Happy Stamping!

Dramatic Thank You

Hello again!

Today I have a card which I made for the Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge #167.  I decided to use the stamp set Day of Gratitude found in the new mini.  I played with different colour combos but then happily settled on black, white and red.  I always find these so striking and dramatic together and I am very pleased with the results.

The DSP is retired Halloween paper from last year but I think it works perfectly in this instance. Other than paper and stamps, the only embellishment is 3 little red brads. 
As you noticed, I went back to using only one stamp set for a card.  I feel that, in that way, it is easy for anyone to make the project without breaking the bank or becoming discouraged and overwhelmed by too many supplies.
Hoping you enjoy your Sunday and that you can find time for Happy Stamping!