Friday, October 31, 2008

Mr Twigster

I had a couple of packets left over from one of my clubs this past month, so I decided to use them to make Christmas cards. Mr Twigster is the only stamp set that I bought from the Holiday Mini catalog. He's fairly in-expensive, and I just love how cute he is. The card is made from Kraft cardstock cut 4-1/4"x10-3/4", scored to fold at the top (5-1/2"). The lower edge of the front is punched using the scallop-edge punch. The designer paper on the bottom edge is Frosty Day from the Holiday Mini catalog. Mr Twigster is stamped onto Confetti White cardstock and then layered onto a piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock. The saying on the front is from one of the Level 1 hostess sets. The ribbon is 1" Chocolate Chipe double-stitched ribbon, tied in a knot.

Here is another card made similar, but with different colored ribbon on the top and a different print of the same Frosty Day designer series paper. Mr Twigster is layered onto a piece of Close to Cocoa cardstock and then onto the Kiwi Kiss cardstock. And, I used one of the small white snowflakes from the small Felt Flurries found in the Holiday Mini catalog.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Crazy for Cupcakes Stamp Club Projects

This card idea (and all the projects that follow) was cased from an idea presented at Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah this year by Carrie Cudney. The stamp set, matching wheel and the Chocolate Chip double-stitched ribbon were give-aways to some Stampin' Up! demonstrators after her presentation. And, I was fortunate enough to be one of those demonstrators!

Anyway, the card is made using Kraft card stock, cut at 10-3/4"x4-1/4" and folded at the top by scoring one end at 5-1/2". The scallops are made using the new scallop-edge punch. The striped paper is a piece of Riding Hood Red DSP (double-sided paper) cut at 1"x4-1/4" and adhered to the lower portion of the inside of the card so it shows through below the scallops. The cupcake stand is stamped using Jet-Black Staz-On onto a piece (2"x3") of watercolor paper. Then it was colored in using Aqua Painters and Classic Stamp pads in Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue and Riding Hood Red. It's adhered onto the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. The final touch is adding Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the cupcakes with a 2-way glue pen, and tying the 1" Chocolate Chip double-stitched ribbon around the front (16" of it). Oh, and don't forget the saying on the lower left!


Sorry for the glare on this one. Those cellophane bags really pick up the flash! This bag topper is made using the new Big Shot Die-Cut Machine and the Top-Note Bigz die. It's cut from Bashful Blue card stock, folded in half along the widest points, with another strip of Riding Hood Red DSP (3/4"-1-7/8") trimmed at the indents to match the shape of the die-cut. This makes a wonderful topper for the medium-size cellophane bags. (If you fold the Top-Note Bigz die the other direction, it works for making a topper for the small cellophane bags.) The final touch is to stamp the saying onto a small piece of Kraft card stock (5/8"x1-3/4"), and layer that onto a small piece of Chocolate Chip card stock (3/4"x1-7/8"). This is adhered on with Stampin' Dimensionals after the topper is stapled onto the filled cellophane bag. By doing it this way, you can hide the staples, and if you staple it on so that the sharp ends of the staples are on the front of the bag, you can keep it kid-friendly as well!


This is a cup-cake pick, for placing onto the tops of the cupcakes. It's made with the scallop circle punch using Chocolate Chip card stock (you'll need 2 of these), the larger scallop from the Birds & Blooms die and the Big Shot Die-Cut Machine using Riding Hood Red card stock, the 1/2" circle punch using Kraft card stock, a silver brad, and of course the toothpick. It's all held together with one Pop-Up Glue dot. At stamp club, we only made one, but in the bag I've shown how you can make a number of them as a cute birthday cupcake gift (see below for a picture of how you can package it all up).


This is a covered jar of prepared frosting. It's covered in Bashful Blue DSP cut at 3-1/2"x10-3/4". The birthday cupcakes are wheeled along the bottom using the Cupcakes Stampin' Around Wheel and Ballet Blue ink. The ribbon is 5/8" grosgrain ribbon tied around the middle.


This is the top of the frosting jar. The balloon is stamped onto a piece of Confetti White card stock using Jet-Black Staz-On ink, and watercolored in using the Aqua Painter and Riding Hood Red Classic ink. The "Happy Birthday" saying is stamped using Chocolate Chip Classic ink (a stamp-a-ma-jig helps with the placement). Then it's punched out using the scallop circle punch. To layer it onto a perfect-size circle, punch out 2 round tab punch shapes (using the round tab punch, of course). Place a strip of Snail adhesive down the center of one, and then line them up criss-cross like to make a circle. Adhere the scallop on top, and then adhere it to the frosting jar lid using a Pop-Up Glue dot.

This is the group of contents. I added a box of cake-mix with just a simple strip of Riding Hood Red DSP around the middle. The cupcake liners are simply tied up in another medium-size cellophane bag with 1/4" Chocolate Chip grograin ribbon. Then, I placed them all into a decorated gift bag.


The gift bag is just a simple kraft colored gift bag with a strip of Riding Hood Red DSP at the top end. The cupcake image is stamped onto Confetti White card stock using Jet-Black Staz-On ink and watercolored in using Close to Cocoa ink, Pink Pirouette ink, Riding Hood Red ink and Summer Sun ink (for the flame). It's layered onto a piece of Chocolate Chip card stock and adhered in the center of the the DSP.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack Sneak Peek


This is one of the cards we'll be making on November 1st for my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack class. It uses the Holiday Line-Up stamp set and the Top-Note Bigz Die for the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine. Rudolph's nose is made to shine using some chunky glitter.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Time for Christmas

A few days ago, I finally had a chance to play with some new Christmas stamps! This set, Holiday Line-Up, is so much fun to color. The image is colored in with Stampin' Write markers, the background is made with the Bold Snowflake jumbo wheel and Whisper White ink onto Ballet Blue card stock. The card base is made using Bashful Blue card stock.


These cute little elves were colored in using the WaterWonder Crayons. For a little emphasis, I cut out a second elf, and popped him up using Stampin' Dimensionals. Too much fun. I also like the different use of color for a Christmas card. I used Pacific Point textured card stock for the card base, and the ribbon is Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Updated Crazy 4 Cupcakes Card


Okay, I'm finally getting around to showing you the updated look to the Crazy for Cupcakes card I made last month. It needed something, and I decided it was some words on the lower right-hand side.

Spooky Jar Filled

This is the "spooky jar" after I filled it. Attendees at my All-Holiday Stamp-a-Stack on Saturday had the chance to win it, and it's contents. All they had to do, was be the person with the closest guess of how many pieces of candy were inside.

Sarah was the winner. There were 238 pieces of candy inside the jar, and she guessed 232! Way to go, Sarah.

Here are the cards we made. Everyone made two of each one.

This was the Valentine's Day card we made. It used the Priceless stamp set, and Fine-Cosmo glitter.


This was the Easter card made. It used the Serene Spring stamp set (a level 2 hostess set), All-Holidays stamp set, WaterWonder Crayons, aqua painters, Bella Rose DSP, and Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon.

This was the 4th of July card. It used the Wonderful Words stamp set, the 1" circle and large star punches, and just a little Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon.


This was the Halloween card. It used the Autumn Harvest stamp set, All Holidays stamp set, Wondrous Gift stamp set, Stampin' Pastels, and silver brads.


This was the alternative harvest card for those who didn't want to make a Halloween card. It used much of the same supplies.


Finally, this was the Thanksgiving card. It used the Thoroughly Thankful stamp set, Holidays & Wishes stamp set, Canvas Background stamp, watercolor paper, and Autumn Vine DSP (available now in the Holiday Mini).

Be watching for a sneak peek at the Christmas Stamp-a-Stack coming on November 1st! You won't want to miss it.