Catching Up

Wow...it's been a long time since I've posted anything! I've not done much stamping, but I have been busy. One big project has been painting picture frames. The frog in the corner is actually stamped. That took a bit of work getting the correct amount of ink on the stamp. There has to be a better way. Anyway...he looks like he belongs with Bree out on that old boat. Of course this is one of Julie's pictures. Check out Julie's post here for more of Bree's "3 year old photo shoot."



You may notice from recent posts that one of the things I've been trying to do is use up some of the random things that have found their way into my stamp room. I found these containers and decided to paint them. The easiest thing for me was to stick with polka dots. I used rubber stamps for a couple of the sizes and a pencil for the very smallest one. Now what did I do with them?
I took them to the store and am using them as "props" around some of the gift displays.
I've also been working on bag tags...those have been fun!
And I am trying to learn how to use an Apple computer...well, really trying to learn photoshop.
Last weekend I went to visit Julie and she was able to show me some of her actions. Oh my goodness!!! I can't wait to try some of them. If you have photoshop or elements it would be worth it to buy Julies textures and borders dvd.

Christmas Organizer

Last year I saw some Christmas organizers that were made using half of a simply scrappin' kit. I think the first one I saw was made by Jan Tink. She makes some amazing things. It was on her blog that I found organized Christmas. Lots of ideas on that site to help you get organized for Christmas. They also have gift ideas and recipes. So first I made one from last years kit (there's a picture on my SU website or a description and picture on this post). I gave that one to my mom. So, this is the one I made with the I Wish simply scrapping kit. I love the colors, real red, chocolate chip, and old olive. I was thrilled that the Shipping Station had red pocket folders for my organizer. I'm sure Gary had them in stock just for me!
This is what it looks like inside. There are four pockets; one for my receipts, one for my gift idea book, one for a little note pad, and one for random things.

The little notebook is a junior legal pad cut at 3 inches. And yes, they also came from the Shipping Station. The other book is a list of gift ideas. I don't remember if I got the list from Organized Christmas or from someone else. But I ended up making one of my own in excel because my their list just didn't work for me. I added things like cd/dvd, gift cards, toys.

Here's a close up of the front.
Now all I need to do is shop a little and put this thing to work!

Another Chipboard Calendar

Unlike the other chipboard calendars I've been making, this one is for a desk. The others have a magnet on the back and are great for the refrigerator door or filing cabinet, etc. I decorated 2 coasters, used jumbo brads at the top, and tied them together with taffeta ribbon.
The colors of the picture are not true...the ribbon and paper strip along the bottom are both gray.
Julie will be home this weekend, so perhaps she can give me a quick lesson. She made a dvd with textures and borders that you can use to make great pictures. The dvd even has tutorials on it to help you with the process. It should be available for purchase any day now. Check out her blog for more info and for great photo tips.

Quick Projects

Small pieces of card stock and designer paper may seem like trash to some people, but to me they are potential elements for future cards and other projects. I had a 2" piece of striped paper from the Holiday Treasures pack, a small piece of Riding Hood Red and small pieces of white. I used them to make this Christmas card.
The red layer under the sentiment is 2 scallop squares cut apart and pieced together. It's even difficult to tell that it is not one piece. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder on the card to give the background some texture. Gotta have texture!


It was time to make more bookmark clips. So, again, I looked through the scrap papers, chose some colors and started punching. These are so easy and fun to make. Debbie (at the Shipping Station) told me yesterday that her mother had so much fun when she made one of these at my open house in the spring. They're a great little add-on to a gift or card.

Purse in a Box

I followed Andrea Walford's directions to make this "purse in a box." I'm glad I used retired dp for the first one, because I made lots of little mistakes. I didn't line up the paper correctly on the sides...but overall, it turned out okay.
I love the new stamp set Upsy Daisy (#11672) and love that it's on sale this month.
The sentiment "Birthday celebrations" is descriptive of the contents.







Birthday Cards! I only made four, but the purse could easily fit a few more. I used the daisy stamp on 2 of the cards and used stamps from Pocket Silhouettes (#111626) on the other 2. This stamp set is also on sale until the end of the month. (Check out the sale here.)

Diaper Fold Card Holder

A few weeks ago this pattern was used for an activity in a children's lesson at church. Of course, they only used plain paper, but I was already thinking "designer paper." Then just a couple of days later Beate had a tutorial on SCS showing how to make this paper holder. I made a small one right away...5 1/2" square. I covered a tube of lip gloss with matching dp and tied ribbon to a small bottle of nail polish. So cute! But next time I would try a 6" square.
This is my second diaper fold holder. This time I started with a 8 1/2" square. I used paper from the Urban Garden collection and attached the fusion flowers with a brad. The sentiment is from Pocket Silhouettes; it is stamped in baja breeze and punched out with the window word punch.



The pouch makes a great holder for these 3x3 cards. I used the same paper from the Urban Garden collection. The basic gray card has a layer of night of navy under the dp layer and the white card has a basic gray layer under its dp layer.

Chipboard Coaster Calendar

How cute! I finally ordered some little calendars from vippies and made my first chipboard coaster calendar. I cut the flower out from a piece of designer paper. There's magnet strips on the back - perfect for putting on the refrigerator!
I took it with me to Toledo and gave this one to my niece Stacy.

August Verse

A couple of weeks ago I was reading in chapter one of 1st Peter (New Living Translation). Peter was talking about the new life we have in Christ and in verse 23 he reminds us of the promise that "this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. Then he quotes the prophet Isaiah "People are like grass that dies away; their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of wildflowers. The grass withers and the flowers fall away, but the word of the Lord will last forever." and then adds "and that word is the Good News that was preached to you." (NLT) Wow, what an awesome reminder!
I have a birthday this month and am amazed at how the years are rapidly slipping by. Maybe that's what caused me to take a second look at this passage. But I didn't dwell on that long...the words of Isaiah ring true to my heart....the Word of the Lord will last forever.
Take a few minutes and read the entire 1st chapter - it's good!
OK...the card. I used the verse in Isaiah (NKJV) because it was the one that I learned years ago. But I like the NLT verse also...and I am going to print it and stick it in my August file. Take time to memorize God's Word...hey, you don't even have to make cards to do it...it's just more fun!

Get Organized for Christmas!

Ever since I saw Jan Tink's Christmas organizer I knew I had to make one. I used the same SU scrapbook kit that she used. And I think the front covers are almost the same. . . guess it's an easy thing to do when you use the same paper pack. Instead of a white folder I used red (mainly because that's what The Shipping Station had in stock...so nice to have an office supply store). This kit is no longer available but the fall SU catalog will have a Christmas/winter kit. . . can't wait to see what that one looks like.

On the inside of my organizer I have a Christmas gift list, an envelope for receipts, and a pad for all your lists. I used Jan Tink's idea of cutting a junior legal pad, covering and decorating it.
I left one pocket empty...just not sure what I want to use that one for.
I hope to offer a class to make these. It will be a breeze since I do all the measuring and cutting. And perhaps I will have the kit available for purchase if you can't make the class. I will post the date next week or you can check the event calendar on my SU website.

More Cd Holders

for Julie...
She uses these for some of her proof cds. The blue and the red holders are from an old world designer paper pack I got for my birthday (last year??). The other 2 are stampin up papers, and the stickers are from SU scrapbook kits.
These are easy to make and are a fun way to store your cds.

Read!

School supplies are on sale everywhere now. I love to stock up on composition books while I can get them at a good price. Covering them with designer paper transforms them into nice journals to use or give away.
So yesterday I decided to make a couple. For the first one I used designer paper from the Afternoon Tea series. The "friend" word and swirls on the chocolate chip binding is a rub-on. I used the same rub-on for the purple journal - except the letter colors are white.









Obviously I had someone in mind when I made this one in purple! I'm sure my kindred spirit friends will know who this is. The flowers, birds, and butterflies are stamped in versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. The swirls are stamped in white and also embossed with clear embossing powder.
The binding on both books are stamped with the Canvas background stamp. That adds some texture which I think makes them look better











Then I finished them off by making a couple of bookmarks. Now what should I do with them???

"Emergency" Birthday Card Assortment

The idea of this collection is from another SU demonstrator, Andrea Walford. (Andrea saw these cards at a regional SU meeting she attended. She made them and shared the instructions.) Her card assortment is actually called an Emergency Birthday Card Kit. It is made using Stampin' Up Simply Scrappin' Kits. With 1/2 of the kit you can make 2 sets of cards and the boxes for them. The great thing about using a Simply Scrappin Kit is that it has such a great collection of stickers that coordinate with the papers. So you can make some really great cards - quick!

I didn't have a Simply Scrappin Kit that I wanted to use so I pulled out the Berry Bliss designer paper and made my cards based on those colors. That also meant that I didn't have a lot of those cute stickers and accessories to add to the card. So I stamped!
I tried to choose stamps that looked good with the designer paper. I used stamps from So Many Scallops, Think Happy Thoughts, Tagger's Dozen, Time Well Spent, and Live Your Dream. The base of the cards is made with close to cocoa, purely pomegranate, and textured pretty in pink. Of the 6 cards only 1 does not have designer paper on it.




There are just a couple more weeks to purchase the Purely Pomegranate card stock and ink. They are retiring. The double stitched ribbon is sold out. Time Well Spent is a hostess set that is retiring, so if that's something you want, you still have time to get that one with hostess benefits.
I will definitely make more of these with one of the new Simply Scrappin kits in the new catalog. And I think this would be a great project for a class.

Divine Verse Challenge

The SCS Divine Verse Challenge is to make a card (or whatever) each month with a Bible verse on it...and to memorize the verse. I loved so many of the projects: journals (but the ones I really liked used the Bind-It-All -don't have that...yet!), some using a rolodex, and different kinds of boxes. I decided on this design. It is like a recipe box and I had not made one before. In the picture the box looks a bit funky...that's because it is :(
I used an adhesive that was too "wet" - tried to compensate by placing books on top before I put the box together. But, alas, it didn't work. My next box will be nice and neat!
As for the verse, it's a great reminder for us to watch what we say. A kind word can make such a difference in someone's life. Try it today with your family, with the salesclerk or waitress, with the stranger you meet...

Flourishes Decor Element

When Stampin' Up! introduced their new line of wall decor, I was thrilled to see the flourishes set. It is like one of my favorite stamp sets, baroque motifs. I ordered the set in white (it also comes in chocolate). I think it looks great on the blue wall. My next challenge will be to put the "Create definition" on the wall in my stamp room. I believe that one will take a bit more work - I will have to get the definition level.
Next month SU will roll out phase 2 of the decor elements. I hope they have some great stuff for babies and kids.
If you want to see the current brochure look here

Mini Album

This mini photo album is a great gift idea for Father's Day. It's hard to find gifts for my dad. Last year I made him a mini scrapbook of his birthday party. I think one of these filled with pictures of my family will be a nice touch. We don't see him very often, and he has only seen Bree once (when she was 3 months old). So I will make him one of these, make a coordinating card, include some kind of sugar free treat and send it off to Ohio.

Ginger Blossom Box

The box is made from the Ginger Blossom Designer Paper and is really easy to make. At Valentine's Day I made several (using Cerise DP) and they were filled with eight heart shaped truffles. Gary sold all of them to some of his customers at his store. For those of you who haven't tried my truffles, they are dark chocolate and the filling has a hint of coffee. I have a small candy mold that I use at Christmas and the heart mold is what I use for wedding and bridal shower favors. I made about 250 for Jill's and Julie's weddings. Thankfully I had help from my family.

CD Holders

I saw these cd holders on splitcoaststampers and had to make some. All of the stickers/accents are from retired Stampin' Up! Simply Scrappin Kits.
I used Today & Always and I'm Here-Girl kits on these two. I also stamped the green cd holder with a stamp from Baroque Motifs (one of my favorite stamps).












And here I used Winter Bright and Sparkling Holiday. I added some snowflakes stamped in white craft ink on the blue holder.
The cd holders are so easy to make. The folder is 5 1/2" x 10" folded in half. There is about 1/4" on the side that you fold and tape. I used the 1 3/8" circle punch at the top and then decorated with stickers from the scrapbook kits. That's it!