Treat holders

This month's theme for Verve Stamps' winter release project parade is "Triple Play"; create a trio of projects. There are such a wide variety of tutorials available online and I got a chance to use 3 of them to make these treat holders. Christmas is fast approaching and I thought these would be great to fill with something sweet.

Up first is the box in a bag.  There is a tutorial here.  I used Die Cuts with a View card stock from the Christmas Stack.  I used a Cuttlebug die to make the "present" tag.  The sentiment is an image from Papertrey Ink's mixed messages stamp set.

Next is the window treat box.  I used the video found here.  I used more card stock from the DCWV Christmas stack and this sheet has bits of silver glitter.  For the window, I used Spellbinders' Nestabilities labels 8 die and backed the opening with a piece of transparency.  The poinsettia is from GKD's AYear of Flowers stamp set.  I stamped and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder, sponged some color on it with Versamagic pixie dust ink and added rhinestones for the center.  I finished the box with silver metallic ribbon, curling the ends to resemble curling ribbon.

This last holder is a gable box.  I used the tutorial found here.  I used another piece of DCWV card stock that also has some bits of silver glitter.  I used a Cuttlebug die for the tiny tag and I adhered a piece of silver metallic ribbon behind it.  I also added a glittered brad I had in my stash.  The sentiment is a Dawn Bibby outline sticker.  For the closure, I punched two holes in the handles and tied with ribbon.  I added a Basic Grey button threaded with DMC floss to finish the look.

Mojo 163

A Thanksgiving Day card. I used Mojo Monday sketch 163.

Supplies:
My Mind's Eye patterned paper
Stampin Up cs (riding hood red, mellow moss)
GKD cs (ivory)
Studio G stamps (November and turkey image)
Inque Boutique stamp (turkey day sentiment)
American Crafts ribbon
Spellbinders label 8

Happy Birthday with stripes

Images on this card are from the birthday4Cookie stamp set.
Supplies:
Card stock: GKD heavy base weight (white); SU orchid opulence, yo yo yellow
Ink: Brilliance (graphite black), Stampin Up (orchid opulence, yo yo yellow); Marvy LePlume II marker (black)
Techniques: coloring with blender pen and SU ink; paper piercing, faux stitching

12 Days of a Handcrafted Christmas

Taylor of Taylored Expressions will present video tutorials over the next three weeks containing gift ideas for Christmas! Check out the 12 Days of a Handcrafted Christmas videos to get a creative spark to get a jump on your holiday gift giving!

Cookie

I fell in love with this cute dog image and had to buy the stamp set! It's called Birthday4Cookie from The Stamps of Life by Stephanie Barnard. This stamp set was created about Stephanie's puppy named Cookie.

I stamped the image on 140 lb. watercolor paper and I used Crayola watercolor paint to color the puppy adding some grass and a blue sky background. I cut the image using the Spellbinders label 8 die. The faux button is a Sizzix die cut and I used some DMC floss to thread through the holes. The patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye and the card stock I used was SU's pink passion and GKD's pure luxury white heavy base weight.

JustRite 029

Here's a card I made using the JustRite 029 sketch. The stamped floral image is from JustRite's 2" wood stamper with 15 pt font and center. I cut the focal image using Spellbinder's labels one die and I used a technique I saw on a video at StampTV, called layering nestabilities labels die. The white panel and turquoise are cut from the same size die and I used the technique for layering my image. I colored the image with Marvy LePlume II blender pen and marker colors ultramarine, black, leaf green and sky blue. I adhered rhinestones to the flower centers for a little bling. I stamped the greeting and adhered it with dimensional adhesive and nestled it above two Prima flowers that I layered together. I threaded the Basic Grey button with DMC floss and adhered to the center of these flowers.

Full supply details:
Stamps - JustRite 2" wood stamper w/15 pt font and center
Die cut - Spellbinders' label one
Ink - Marvy Le Plume II markers #50, #1, #48 & #75; Stampin Up tempting turquoise
Stampin Up cs - tempting turquoise, kiwi kiss
Patterned paper - My Mind's Eye
Prima Flowers
Button - Basic Grey
Floss - DMC white
Ribbon - Michaels
Embellishment - rhinestones

Just Rite Challenge 20

I made this card for the Just Rite sketch challenge 020 using the wood stamper 2" set.

I colored the image using Marvy LePlume markers and a water brush. The patterned paper is from an origami pack and the card stock is by Stampin Up.

VSN 8pm challenge

For my first participation in a Virtual Stamp Night hosted on SCS, I made this card for Friday's 8 pm challenge. The criteria was to use the colors: Kraft, So Saffron and Cameo Coral.

I used Papertrey Ink's kraft card stock for the card base. I used So Saffron for the vase and Cameo Coral for the daisies and I cut these shapes using some Marvy Uchida paper punches. For the daisy centers, I used So Saffron and a mini circle punch. Sentiment is from the Penny Black "Critter Party" stamp set. I stamped it using Cameo Coral ink and cut it out using the Word Window Punch from Stampin Up. I used a corner rounder punch on the bottom corners of the card base.

Butterfly birthday

I made this card a few days ago for a May birthday.

Details:
Stamp floral image onto Pixie Pink cs to make patterned background.
Cut piece of lace and weave the lt. green ribbon through the holes. Adhere to floral stamped cs panel. Adhere panel to card front.
Stamp butterfly image onto white cs and cut out using desired shape cutter. Ink edges of shape.
Punch scalloped circle out of polka dot vellum and adhere to card front. Adhere butterfly image to vellum circle.
Stamp sentiment and emboss with white embossing powder. Cut sentiment panel with the word window punch and adhere to card front.

Supplies and tools:
Card stock - Stampin Up (Pixie Pink, Kiwi Kiss)
Ink - Brilliance (moonlight white), Stampin Up (Pixie Pink)
Stamp-n-stuff white embossing powder
Floral image - Stampin Up (Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set)
Sentiment - Penny Black (Critter Party stamp set)
Butterfly image - VAP! Scrap stamp (found at the $1 bin at craft store)
white lace ribbon
Offray ribbon
Polka dot Vellum
Stampin Up word window punch
Marvy scallop circle punch
Coluzzle circle cutter

New Wheels

Our Camaro got some new wheels! Look at that shine!

Mojo Monday 137

This weekend, I had a chance to get crafty and make a card for the Mojo Monday 137 sketch.


For the focal image panel, I used some scrap paper to hand cut some clouds to use for a mask. After placing them onto the white card stock, I sponged on the sea breeze ink to make the sky background. I used Verve Stamps' Miracles Blossom stamp set for the focal image on this card. I stamped the flower stems directly onto the panel and colored them with markers. I also added some streaks of grass to ground the image. I stamped, colored, cut and adhered the flowers to the panel. The sentiment is from Say it With Flowers from GKD. I embossed the strip of card stock with the Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder and added ribbon that to tie in the color of the flowers and brads.

Supplies:
Miracles Blossom stamp set (Verve Stamps)
Say it with Flowers stamp set (Gina K. Designs)
My Mind's Eye patterned paper
Stampin Up card stock (tempting turquoise)
Brilliance graphite black ink
Versamagic chalk ink (sea breeze)
American Crafts ribbon
Marvy LePlume II markers (dusty pink-#66, yellow green-#52, lt. green-#11)
Making Memories brads
Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder

GKD March Release Challenge

Here is a card I made for the Gina K. Designs release sketch challenge #2 at StampTV.

I used images from the 100% Sweet stamp set. I double inked the images with a layer of Brilliance graphite black ink and also in Versamark ink and stamped them onto watercolor paper before heat embossing with clear embossing powder. I remember reading about this technique but it's been a while so I hope I did this correctly. I did this to ensure that I could emboss the images because it seemed that the watercolor paper was absorbing the Brilliance ink quite quickly. I used Stampin Up's rose red card stock for the card base and regal rose card stock for the mat under each panel. To color in the images, I used an aqua painter to spread the color after applying a layer of color using Marvy LePlume II markers #68(daffodil yellow), #28(english red) and #12(grey). I also used some brown Crayola water color paint to color in the cake. The sentiment is stamped in Colorbox ink (peony). The patterned paper is from a pack of origami paper I got at the art store.

GKD release challenge projects

Here are two projects I made to participate in a few of the Gina K. Designs February release party challenges at SCS.

Challenge #1 was to create a project using at least 3 buttons. I made a card and used Basic Grey buttons for the flower centers. The background paper is from the GKD floral frenzy patterned paper pack. The flowers, from the GKD floral frenzy embellishment kit, were plain but I stamped them with the dots image from the Bold Flowers stamp set. The sentiment is also from this same stamp set. Other supplies: Stampin Up ink - always artichoke and pixie pink; decorative edge scissors; GKD pure luxury white base card stock.

Challenge #2 was to create a scrapbook page based on a sketch. I heat embossed the sentiment, lady bugs and tulip images with white embossing powder. I wrote the title and journaling with a Sakura white gelly roll pen. The stamped images are from A Year of Flowers and Say it with flowers. Other supplies: Fiskars scallop border edge punch; Stampin Up card stock - garden green; Brilliance moonlight white ink.

Happy V day and blog candy winners

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you have a great day!

The winners of the blog candy have been selected. They are:
Elizabeth - Stampendous stamp set prize pkg.

Canucks - Memento ink prize pkg.

Kara - Daisy Bucket stamp prize pkg.

And because there were only a few comments and I can't stand the thought of leaving one person with nothing, LaRisa, you will get a complimentary prize for leaving a comment!

I will send an email to get your snail mail info.

Thanks all for celebrating my blogaversary!

CPS 153

Papertrey Ink is the sponsor for this month's sketches at Card Positioning Systems. I'm participating this week by creating a card with CPS sketch 153.

I used Stampin Up's sage shadow cs for the card base and heart focal point. I cut the heart using a Fiskars shape template. I wanted some scallops and because I don't have a scalloped heart die cut, I punched a strip of white cs using the EK Success double scallop edge punch. I then cut each scallop individually and adhered each one to the underside of the heart. I also used this same punch on the strip of black cs beneath the heart. I pierced along the perimeter of the heart and added faux stitching with a black gel pen. The patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye. The stamped images are from PTI's Quilter's Sampler stamp set. I stamped the thread and needle image using Versamark ink and the sentiment in Brilliance graphite black ink.

Tags, Tins and Treats

The theme for this month's project parade at Verve Stamps is tags, tins and treats. I finally put to use a mailbox tin I purchased a few years ago. I altered it by decorating it with some My Mind's Eye patterned paper. The heart and sentiment image was a freebie previously offered from Verve called Regal Heart digi stamp set. I printed these onto cameo coral card stock. I cut out and adhered the heart images onto the mailbox flag and front cover. I also adhered a pearl rhinestone to the centers of each heart. For the two sentiment panels, I adhered some lace ribbon on the bottom edge and adhered one to the mailbox side and the other to the tag. I tied the tag to a bag of treats to go into the mailbox.

Supplies:
stamp images: Verve Stamps (Regal Heart digi set)
Mailbox tin
My Mind's Eye patterned paper
Stampin Up cameo coral card stock
self adhesive pearl rhinestones
ink: Stampin Up cameo coral
ribbon
Sizzix scallop tag die cut

Papertrey Ink challenge

Papertrey Ink (PTI) is celebrating it's third anniversary with various challenges and contests.

I made this card for today's paint by number sketch challenge.



The PTI color palette I was to use, based on the first letter of my forum name "E", was kraft, ocean tides, spring moss, lemon tart and vintage cream. All colors had to be used so I made a few substitutions because I didn't have all the PTI colors.

The main decorative panel is vintage cream cs. I stamped a floral and leaf image from PTI's Garden of Life stamp set to make a patterned bakground. The sentiment is also from this same stamp set.

Supplies:
card stock: Papertrey Ink (vintage cream); Stampin Up (not quite navy, kiwi kiss, barely banana)
stamps: Papertrey Ink (Garden of Life)
ribbon: Stampin Up (kraft)
ink: Stampin Up (barely banana, certainly celery, not quite navy)
other: Fiskars scallop edge punch

Happy Valentine's Day

I used Mojo sketch 124 for this card.

Supplies and tools:
Stamp images: Verve Stamps (Regal Heart Digital set)
Card stock: Papertrey Ink (kraft), Gina K. Designs (pure luxury white), Stampin Up (real red)
Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye
Ink: Stampin Up (real red), Brilliance (Moonlight white)
Ribbon: Nicole
Tools: EK Success (double scallop edge punch), Marvy Uchida (scallop circle)
Other: crochet heart

The snow here in the Mid-Atlantic region started yesterday and still continues today! We've gotten over 25 inches! We shoveled some paths and I took some pictures. I even walked to the main cross street to check things out and happened to get a snap shot of a fire truck driving by. Enjoy!

JustRite 003

JustRite has some cute stamps and I made this treat box to participate in their Valentine Love challenge.

I got the template for this box from Martha Stewart's web site. It's called Valentine treat box and it can be found in the Holiday and Seasonal Crafts section under Valentine's Day.

I printed the box onto Stampin Up's baja breeze card stock. After cutting and assembling it, I decorated it with My Mind's Eye patterned paper. I also added some detail to the blue paper by using a Fiskars heart edge punch. I printed the sentiment, a freebie digital download from Verve Stamps, onto Stampin Up's real red card stock. The pink heart is an embellishment that I crocheted a few days ago. I added a red rhinestone to the center for a little sparkle. A little ribbon for the handles and it's complete.

Don't forget to check this post for a chance to win some blog candy!

Blogaversary and blog candy!

I thought it was going on one year but I can't believe it's been two years since I've started my blog!! With a full-time job I may not always get to make projects or post as much as I'd like but I think I've done a pretty good job. I just checked my stats: it was two years ago on this date when I started blogging; I have 100 posts and I have over 3,000 hits!

To celebrate these milestones, I am offering 3 sets of candy! (two studio g clear stamps, Paper Crafts sticker sheet, Memento potter's clay ink) (Daisy Bucket petite stamp-dahlia small, Prima flowers, brads, ribbon) (Stampendous stamp set-Hey there Cupcake, Dawn Bibby Designs outline specialty stickers-general sentiments)

Leave me a comment by midnight EST on February 13 telling me the types of crafts you like to make and I'll select 3 people to win! I will post the winners on February 14!

With Deepest Sympathy

A clean and simple sympathy card I made last night to send to a coworker. I used a stamp by Hero Arts called CardArt Happy Wishes. I masked out the sentiment(this obviously didn't fit the theme of the card) and the butterfly because I only wanted to use the floral silhouette image. The sentiment is a stamp by Rubber Stampede. I used Gina K. Designs pure luxury white for the card base and I stamped the images using Stampin Up's So Saffron ink.

Color and Sketch challenges

Here are a few projects I created for two of the Gina K. Designs January release party challenges over at Splitcoaststampers. All stamped images are from Gina K. Designs.

The sketch challenge was to make a scrapbook page and I try to participate in these when I can because it helps me get those pictures of out of storage and on display. I used images from Guiding Light and Flowers for Daisy stamp sets. I embossed the birds and Psalms verse in white but I used Versamark ink to stamp the bird on the wood log (in the bottom right corner) for a subtle look. I used a white gelly roll pen by Sakura to write the title and journaling. I also added a few sea shells I cut with a Cuttlebug die at the bottom for a bit of embellishing.

I made the card for the color challenge; make a Valentine's card with no pink or red. This was a quick and simple card to make. I embosssed the card front with the Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder, I cut the hearts using a Sizzlits die and I stamped the sentiment using words in the Say it with Flowers stamp set.

An anniversary and blog hop

Melanie Muenchinger is celebrating her two year anniversary of illustrating for Gina K. Designs and blogging! Melanie has designed 25 stamp sets within these two years! I own several of her sets so I'm joining in the celebration with this card. I was inspired by an Asian floral arrangement I saw in a book which lead me to this design to showcase these daisies. The flower images are from the A Year of Flowers set and the sentiment is from the Say it with Flowers set. I colored the daisies with Prismacolor pencil numbers 915, 929,942,1002. I cut each petal and curled them and adhered to the card stock base with dimensionals. I double stamped the stem image to make them longer to extend from the vase. I colored them and the leaves with Prismacolor pencil numbers 911 and 1005 before cutting them out and adhering to the card base. I used a paper cutter and corner rounder to make the vase. The sentiment panels were cut with Nestabilities die cuts. I finished off the focal panel with machine stitching. To check out the blog hop, go to Melanie's blog here. If you own any of Melanie's stamp sets, create a project and join in the blog hop!

Tiled blessings

On StampTV this week, there is a technique challenge to create your own Italian tile.

To create my tiles for the focal image, I cut a square of cream card stock and stamped the veining image (not sure what it's called) from the Bold Flowers stamp set over the whole piece using VersaFine vintage sepia ink. Then I sponged on these Distress Ink colors: fired brick, walnut stain, spiced marmalade and faded jeans before stamping the flower image three times using the fired brick ink, from the Elegant Flowers stamp set. The next step I did was to use my paper cutter to make my tiles by scoring the paper at every 1/2 inch. I then used my nestabilities die to cut the plain and scalloped oval shapes. I created the background panel beneath the ovals using more cream card stock and the Cuttlebug tiny mosaic embossing folder. I used the debossed side and inked it up using the same Distress ink colors. On the sentiment panel, I scored the squares to keep with theme of tiles and I used a sentiment from the Say it with Flowers stamp set. I completed the card with some ribbon from the Stamp TV floral frenzy embellishment pack and rounding off the corners of the card.