Rockin'

Since today is National Scrapbooking Day I thought I'd share the last scrapbook page I created. If you are a reader of my blog, you may remember me telling you how I received my very first video game this past Christmas...Aerosmith Guitar hero for Wii; and how frustrated I was trying to figure out how to play it. LOL So here's me goofing with my new Aerosmith guitar and some family shots taken sitting by our Christmas tree.
I used the Serif Essentials dies to cut out the word ROCKIN' for my title, then I used my Basic Brown journaling pen to write out "around the Christmas tree" below my die cut letters. My tree topper star was made using the rock star image from A Little Somethin' set embossed in black.

Stamps: Snow Swirled, A Little Somethin', Punches Three
Card stock: Real Red Textured, Ski Slope DP, Chocolate Chip & Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Real Red, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Felt Flurries, Baja Corduroy Buttons

For the entire month of May Stampin' Up! is offering some great specials perfect for scrapbookers...including buy 3 packs of Designer Paper or Textured Card Stock - Get one Free! Check out all the details here:


Looks like a beautiful day...I'm heading out to my garden. Enjoy your day!

I grew a chocolate tree!

Doesn't that sound yummy! Actually it's one of Stampin' Up!'s Décor Elements- The Thoughts & Prayers Tree and I "grew it" in our stairwell leading downstairs. This is the first time I used one of these on the wall. I took photos as I went so I could share any tips I learned along the way. I used the large tree. It comes on two sheets and is shipped rolled inside a cardboard tube.After you decide where you want your image to go, gather up your tools. I used these tools to complete my project:

• Décor Elements Applicator Tool


• Scissors


• Painters Tape


• Pencil


• Level


• Kneaded Eraser

First, you must cut out the 6 sections of the tree. Don't worry, they are numbered and there is a diagram included to refer to for easy placement. After I cut out each section I rubbed over the image well using the Décor Elements Applicator Tool to transfer the image from the backing sheet to the transfer sheet. Before removing the backing sheet I tacked them up on my wall using the painters tape to get my placement just where I wanted it.
After I was happy with the placement of my tree I removed the backing from section 1 - the trunk, and adhered it to the wall by rubbing the transfer sheet with the DE applicator tool. Carefully peal away the backing and the first part of the design is in place. My photo below shows the completed trunk with branch 2 adhered into place. I found it to be very helpful when placing the branches to the trunk to cut as close to the image as possible, so that you can see exactly where the two pieces line up.
Since I was doing this on my own, without a helper, it really helped me to remove only a small portion of the backing sheet that was close to the end of the branch. This enabled me to easily line up the branch and the trunk. After I got the placement right, I removed the rest of the backing. With only two hands, it was much easier to manage just a small portion of the image being sticky vs a large sticky sheet while lining up the branches. Below is a photo to hopefully help you visualize what I was trying to describe. The small section on the left has the backing removed, while the rest of the image does not.
After I was finished with the tree it was time to add the quote I chose. I am using the small Life Milestones quote. This is where you will want to have a level to make sure it is straight on the wall.
Using a pencil I added registration marks on each corner after I had my design in place and was sure it was level. Each mark started on the corner of the sheet and went right onto my wall. I used a kneaded eraser to remove the pencil marks later. If you are worried about writing on your wall, then put a piece of painters tape at each corner and make your marks on that. Here's what my registration marks looked like. These marks allowed me to get perfect placement of my design after I took it down to remove the backing sheet.
I found that I had to really rub well to get the little letters to transfer from the backing to the sticky sheet. I would pull back the corner every so often to see if they were transferring. Sometimes it helped to gently peel back the opposite corner and just coming from another angle they transferred easier. After only a couple hours from start to finish...here's how it turned out: Now I just need to pick up a few frames that will look good with my chocolate tree and pop some more photos in them, arrange them nicely and I'll be done! I couldn't wait to share my first Décor Elements experience so I didn't want to hold off until I get my pictures done...because who knows when that will be?!

Have a great weekend!

Parisian Thoughts

Two challenges...one card. I used Mojo Monday's weekly sketch and Stamp Something's challenge this week was to create something using showers or flowers. This card has flowers and I figured the blue could be for showers too. If you want to dig deeper...the brown signifies mud...which our road is right now after all the showers we've had! Hey...at least everything is green now...so that's a good thing, right!?
The beautiful flower image from the Thoughts and Prayers set goes really well with the little flowers in the Parisian Breeze print I chose for the bottom section...I hadn't noticed that before. I just love this paper (and this stamp set too!) I also love this white organza ribbon...it is so soft and easy to work with, plus it adds a simple elegance to any project.

Speaking of the pretty images from the Thoughts and Prayers set...guess what I got yesterday? The Thoughts & Prayers Tree Decor Element! I've been wanting it since the first time I saw it, and finally decided where I wanted it. I hope to put it up today. I'll be sure to take pictures so you can see how it turns out. Wish me luck...I've only worked with small DE images so far...and this sucker is huge...with several pieces. YIKES!

Somethings Fishy!

Tomorrow is my brother's birthday, so I made him this fun card. The inside says: You can't REALLY be having ANOTHER birthday already!? Can't poke too much fun at his age since he is younger than me. hehehe
The fish were stamped with Black Stazon and then masked so I could sponge the water over them. I punched a scrap piece of paper with the scallop edge punch and laid that down and sponged along the edge to create the waves. The seaweed was created using the leaf image from Great Friend. When I was happy with my background, I pulled the post-it masks off my images and finished by watercoloring them. This is such a fun set! On the Tangerine layer I also used the matching Lazy Days jumbo wheel. I really wanted to use some crystal effects on top of the fish, but I had to hurry and get the card in the mail and didn't want to have to wait for it to dry...that's what I get for waiting til the last minute I guess. Next time...

Thanks for popping in to visit...enjoy your day!

Walk in the Park With Great Friend

That title sounds like something I'd love to do on such a sunny morning! Darn!...I was actually referring to the new products from the Occasions mini that I used to create these cards. I made this first card for a good friends birthday, and totally like me - it was last minute and I only had time to make one and get it in the mail.I loved the way it turned out and wanted to re-create it so I made this card loosly based on this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. (I kind of cheated...I didn't turn the middle section at an angle, and I eliminated a layer so as not to cover up the pretty paper) I thought this was a good example on how you can change up the look of your project while using the same exact same supplies.
The most obvious difference between these cards is that my second card started with a 5 -1/4" square base vs the standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 base of the first card. I also changed the placement of the corduroy button and added Iridescent Ice embossing powder to the butterfly. When I was "done" I felt it still needed something so I added the flat backed pearls from the Pretties Kit.

I'm loving these new stamp sets and the soothing colors and patterns of this new DP.

Stamps: Great Friend & Oval All
Ink: Baja Blue, Kiwi Kiss & Basic Gray
Card stock: Baja Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray & Walk in the Park DP
Accessories: Oval, Scallop Oval & Eyelet border punches, Baja Corduroy buttons, Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die

Thanks for stopping by...hope your day is a walk in the park!

Cute as a button

Here's a 2 page 12x12 layout I made a couple weeks ago, but just got around to photographing. Sorry about the dark edge...it's really hard for me to photograph a 2 page layout. Click on pic to see better detail or scroll down to see each individual page.I used the Delicate Dots SAB papers and added pink to make this more girly. The Always in Bloom wheel with the celery cartridge was used to create the background. Lots of Sizzix dies were used here: Serif Essentials Alphabet, Daisies #2, Top Note, Large Scallop Circle, and the Buttons Sizzlit. The Photo Corner and Eyelet border punches were used as well.

Here's a closer look at the left side...

and the right...
Other than the Always in Bloom Stampin' Around wheel the only stamp I used was the swirl from the Yummy set on the Top Note die journaling block.

Flowers Just For You

After seeing all the cute flower pot pocket cards everyone has been posting on SCS lately, I had to give one a try. Here's what I came up with: I used my Big Shot and the Simple Flower Embosslit along with the Birds & Blooms and Little Leaves Sizzlits to cut all the flowers and leaves. I stamped the butterfly from the Great Friends set in Baja Blue and cut it out. The "just for you" sentiment is from the new Oval All set and punched with SU! newest punch...the Scallop Oval. I used Parisian Breeze paper on the pot and the Eyelet border punch on the rim. Here's what it looks like with the pocket pulled out:

The swirls across the bottom and the little stamped flowers on top of the embossed ones came from the Simple Friendship set. This was a fun card to make. Here is the link to a great tutorial on how to make one yourself. I have one tip I learned while creating my flower pot card: Have an envelope handy as you are building your flowers. I had to cut off a lot of the leaves I originally had glued on because it was just too large to fit inside a standard envelope.

Have a great day!

Best Fishes Spinner

These goofy fish from the Just Beachy set crack me up! I made this card for my son's 21st birthday, and wrote a "warning" inside about drinking like a fish. As I was making the card I thought it would be kind of funny to have one fish spinning "out of control" across the top, so I made it into a spinner card. I think he liked the card, but I know he really liked what was in it...tickets to last nights Red Wings game which was game 1 of the playoffs! He thought we were just going to dinner but we surprised him by taking him to the game as well. The Red Wings won 4-1 against the Blue Jackets so it was a fun and memorable night.To create this card I first stamped the seaweed using the leaf image from Great Friend. Then I stamped my fishy scene using Black Stazon. I watercolored the fish and then masked them so I could sponge the watery background. I saw this cute card on SCS and loved how she made waves using the scalloped border punch, so I added some scalloped waves as well. For the finishing touch I put crystal effects on all the eyes and then where they would fit, I added googley eyes.

Thanks for visiting me today...have a great weekend!

Happy Easter!

I'm sneaking in a quick post today to wish you all a Happy Easter and to show you these little baskets I whipped up yesterday for my Easter brunch guests.I used my Scalloped Envelope die and various punches to make these. The Eyelet border punch added some nice detail to the handles. I attached them to my baskets with Soft Subtle Eyelets. Here's a view from the side to see the handles better.These baskets actually hold quite a bit...after I took these photos I filled them with jellybeans and Reeses's PB Eggs...but they didn't match the SU! colors I used! LOL Please tell me I'm not the only one who buys candy to coordinate with SU! colors in mind.

Well I better run or the only thing my guests are going to have to eat are what's in these baskets! ENJOY YOUR DAY!

It's been a while...

Wow...here we are already nine days into April and I haven't made one single blog post! I've been super busy with a million different things going on around here. Thankfully things will be settling down a bit for me and I should have a little more time for stamping again. I did manage to squeeze in a little play time to try out a few of my new goodies. I've also been doing some scrap booking...so when I get those pages photographed I'll be sharing those here soon. For now, here's a card made with the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions die. (AKA an embossing folder)This embossing die is so pretty and elegant it looks great on it's own, however...I just had to use that beautiful butterfly from the Level 1 Hostess set, God's Beauty. I stamped it in Basic Gray on Shimmery White card stock and watercolored it using Blush Blossom & Baja Breeze ink...the same colors I choose for my card stock. The Eyelet Border punch is new to me as well...so I had to use that too! It is very easy to line up and punch a flawless border - even on a 12 inch border for a scrapbook page. I find it much easier to use than the regular scallop border punch.

Since I wanted to try out more of my new stuff I used the Scalloped Oval punch and the Oval All set for the greeting. (aren't you surprised that I didn't find a way to work in those funny fish from the Just Beachy set as well?! Hey...maybe hanging from the ribbon! ;-)

You may remember me posting a spring banner that I made a couple weeks ago, and saying I would post another photo after I decorated my buffet. I had hung it up quickly for a photo, but since it was just before we got our wood floor installed,I didn't want to put up my Easter/Spring decor at that time. So here's a photo of how my spring banner looks along with the other springy decor.

If you want to know details on my spring banner, see this post. Just click on photo to see it enlarged. It is sunny, with warmer temps here today...hopefully it will melt the rest of the snow we got on Sunday/Monday...and it will look like Spring outside and not just inside! Hope you have a warm & sunny day too!

Tea Party and Cupcakes

I hope you had a nice weekend. I spent most of my weekend working on putting my house back together after getting new flooring in our dining/living room area. LOTS of furniture and stuff to move! I'm sure glad it's done and things are mostly back to normal...but it was worth the disruption, as I love the way it looks. :-) Since I didn't get to do any stamping, here's an easy card that was a make & take at one of my recent workshops.With the Crazy for Cupcakes set and matching cupcakes wheel, it's easy to create cute cards in a snap! I took it a step further by doing a little paper piecing using one of the striped papers from the Tea Party paper pack and finishing off my card with Crystal Effects on the icing and candle.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, Cupcakes wheel
Card stock: Whisper White, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Tea Party DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, So Saffron
Accessories: Big Shot, Lots of Labels Sizzlets, Large Oval punch, Aqua Painter, Soft Subtle brads, So Saffron grosgrain (SAB ribbon bundle), & Crystal Effects

Have a sweet day!

What could be better?

Than a box of new goodies!??? How about having the space to use them? I just got this box full of new stuff from the Occasions Mini delivered to me...but my stamping space is covered with china, audio equipment, etc...from our dining room and living room. I cannot wait until our floors are done and I have time (and the space) to stamp again!

Don't you feel sorry for me!???