Just Delightful!

I did it! I cut into the pretty papers from the Just Delightful scrappin' kit. I used lots of the adhesive backed die cuts and as you can see from my above photo, I still have more than half of the kit left to make some scrap book pages & cards.

First I made another altered clip board. The other three I made, I gave away as gifts...this one I get to keep! It turned out so cute I'm glad I get to keep it for myself. I'm not sure if I'm going to use it in my work space downstairs or in my kitchen. I attached magnets to the back in case I want to use it on the fridge.

The die cut that says "notes" is just perfect for the post it notes don't you think? I love the little adhesive rick rack border and all the flowers. I used some Rich Regals brads, a Bashful Blue button, and lots of grosgrain and gingham ribbons to finish it off. I stamped the little calendar pages with the Delight In Life and All Through the Year stamp sets.


I also decorated the On Board Bitty Book using this kit. I really love the way the little book turned out. It has a little sleeve that it slides into which I also decorated. This cute little set would make a nice gift. Or maybe I'll just keep that too! ;-)

I'm not sure what I'm going to put in the little book yet, so I left the page protectors empty for now. I'm most likely going to fill it with wallet sized photos. I used decoupage medium to seal both of these projects to protect the papers so they will still look great for a long time.

When I finished these projects I used a few of the left over paper scraps to make a cute card. Since there wasn't much stamping on the first two projects I did, I decided I would stamp a background on the card and also stamp the main image using the matching Delight in Life stamp set.

I stamped the big flower in Versa Mark then embossed in white. I thought this matched the papers better than stamping in black before water coloring. I made the scalloped border cutting out half circles with my 1/2" circle punch and then stamping a little circle from the background in each one.

I had fun getting creative with the Just Delightful Scrappin' Kit and I'm happy with the way my projects turned out.

How Much Stuff Can a Scrapper Scrap With a Simply Scrappin Kit?

That is the question I asked myself as I fondled and drooled over my new Just Delightful Simply Scrappin' Kit. OK, I admit it...I LOVE paper! I have a tendency to buy paper and then hoard it because it is too nice to cut into or because I'm saving it for "just the right project". So I am challenging myself to see what I can create with this kit...after all it's FREE during Sell-A-Bration, right?

This is for sure my most favorite Simply Scrappin' kit I've gotten so far. It is so CUTE! It matches the Delight In Life stamp set, which is also free during SAB, and it features some of my favorite SU! colors: Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss, Bashful Blue, Regal Rose & So Saffron. That is what I love most about SU!: the coordinating colors of their papers, inks & embellishments. This kit comes with 6 sheets of adhesive backed die-cuts, 4 sheets of 12x12 pattered paper, and 8 sheets of coordinating card stock.

I bought an On Board Bitty Book to create the adorable book shown in the SAB catalog. I'm also going to create another altered clipboard using my kit. While I'm at it, maybe I'll even make a scrapbook page or two! I'd better get busy. I'll post again tomorrow to show you what I've made.

A "Man Card"

I got busy and made a nice card for my Dad's birthday which is coming up the end of the month. I got out one of my favorite masculine sets - Noble Deer. I chose True Thyme card stock and stamped it with the Weathered background stamp. I think that made a nice background for the deer stamp.

I stamped the whole deer image in True Thyme ink then colored just the deer directly on my stamp using my Chocolate Chip marker. After stamping the deer image onto Kraft card stock, I lightly added a little color using my pastels. I added the words "Dearest Dad" to the bottom from the new Fancy Flexible Phrases set.

I cut a strip of Kraft 5 1/2" to go across my card and then stamped a border using the tree image stamped in Thyme. I added some faux stitching to the border design using my mat pack template and Chocolate Chip marker. Then I matted both images on Metallic Copper card stock, added 3 copper vintage brads and assembled the card. The main image was raised up using pop dots for a 3-D effect. I like the way it turned out... I hope my Dad likes it.

January = Lots of Birthdays!

January is a big birthday month in my family. That means I've been busy creating cards for the special people in my life. I try to choose colors and subjects the recipient will like. It's always a bit more of a challenge to create nice "man cards" than it is for me to make pretty cards for women.

Since we're stuck here in Michigan suffering with the cold, wintry weather, I thought using the Balmy Breezes set would be a refreshing change. I got this set out to create a card for my husband since he loves being on a tropical beach probably more than any place else. I love the way this one turned out!

I used Cool Caribbean card stock (what else?) for the background and stamped with turquoise using the Rough Around the Edges jumbo wheel. Celery and Marigold card stock are used for accent colors. I water-colored the image with my aqua painter and ink pooled in my ink lids. For extra detail I added some faux stitching on the corners of the mat and the marigold strip across the center. To finish off the card I strung some beads and shells on some linen cord and tied it around the palm tree image. Wish we were there!

I created the next card for my Mom using her favorite colors: moss, plum & saffron. I used the SAB set Happy Harmony to create the main image, and the Leaves a la Carte and Speckled jumbo wheels to create the backgrounds. I used the Window Word punch and the Fancy Flexible Phrases set to create the tag and tied it on the moss gingham ribbon with some linen thread. I used one of my favorite new toys - the Ticket Corner punch on the image layer and first mat and then added some brads to the saffron layer.

I really love using the new Leaves a la Carte jumbo wheel (it matches the Carte Postale set in the Winter Mini Catalog) It makes such a lovely background and it's so easy to use. I even used it to make quick gift wrap for a couple birthday gifts I had to wrap.

The next card I created was for my Mother-In-Law. She loves shades of coral and blue and she is also very fond of birds, so I created this card for her using Carte Postale. The original idea for this card came from an artist whose work I admire on the Splitcoast Stampers website. To see her card, click here.

I again used the Leaves a la Carte jumbo wheel and the ticket corner punch to make this card. I used my markers to color the leaves and centers on the flowers stamped in the middle panel and sponged some blue on the edges. Blue gingham ribbon adds the final touch to this card.

I still have one more card to make...a "man card" for my Dad. I need to get busy with that, but will hopefully get the chance to post the finished card tomorrow.

So Very Punny

I had lots of fun yesterday stamping with the Very Punny set. It's so cute! I wanted to share with you how I mounted mine. Each stamp has an image with a "punny" saying under it. For me, I thought the set would be more versatile if the saying was cut and mounted separately on the same block. I carefully used my rubber cutting scissors to trim the words off and I mounted them on the side of each wood block. This way if I want to quickly stamp a bunch of cows or frogs, but do not want the words, I don't have to use markers or a masking technique to eliminate them. It also enables me to quickly stamp the words in a different color than the main image. It took a little extra time and care, but I'm glad I mounted them this way. That is what is good about mounting your own stamps...you can custom mount them to best suit your needs.

On my "Best Fishes" card I used the Seeing Spots Classy Brass embossing template to dry emboss the background to create the bubbles and the scalloped border. I also used the new smaller tag punch which is sized perfectly to work with this set.

On the "Hoppy for you" card, I used the Spot On jumbo wheel to create the background. To keep the circle theme going, I punched the frogs out and matted them using the 1 3/8" & 1 1/4" circle punches. The little tag is kind of hard to see in my photo, but it reads Hoppy for you.

I think my favorite card I've made with this set so far is the "Like no udder"cow card. I saw a similar card on the Splitcoast Stampers website, so it really isn't like no udder, but I changed it up a bit to make it my own. Mounting the words separate from the image sure made stamping the background on this one a lot easier. I used the 2 tag punches to create the 1st two layers of my tag, then cut the largest one myself just trimming around the pink one for a guide. I did a little faux stitching around the edges using my paper piercing template and white gel pen. The black and white gingham ribbon finishes off the card nicely.

The last card I want to share uses three of the new SAB sets. The background was created using the cute little circle background from Delight in Life stamped in white and the swirl of the lolly pop from Very Punny stamped in Pixie Pink. The words are from the So Very set. I embossed the words so very and the lolly in the center of the "O" with white embossing powder. The "O" is attached using a pop dot. The lolly pop image was water colored and then I applied Crystal Effects over the top to make it shiny like a real lolly pop.

I think the Very Punny set is So Very...cute! Don't you?

Carte Postale

I've had the Carte Postale set from the Winter mini catalog since before Christmas, but haven't had a chance to use it much. I think it's very elegant and with all the flourishes it will be nice for creating heirloom scrapbook pages. For these cards I used some different colors than I normally gravitate towards, and I'm glad I did because I love the results! I created the card with the bird first and I liked the soft distressed look so much that I created another using the same sets and colors.

In addition to Carte Postale, I also used the French Script & Linen background stamps. The colors I chose were Sage Shadow, Blush Blossom (I don't think I've ever created anything with this color until now) and Close to Cocoa. I used Basic Brown & Sage Shadow ink. After stamping my images, I went back and sponged on some brown along the edges of the card stock to make it look aged. I finished off the first card with some Caramel gingham ribbon and sage & blush eyelets. I also got a bit carried away with my new toy- the ticket corner punch. I probably should have left my first layer without the corners punched. The second card was embellished with a single copper brad. Both have room to add my greeting at a later time.

I think I will be using this color combo again in the future!

So Very...Cute!

Well, I may be a little partial, but I still think this is one of the cutest little guys I've ever seen! (Even tho it took me almost 18 years to scrap this photo!) Yes, this "little guy" is my oldest son Chris, who is now 18 and going to be graduating this year...and it freaks me out! It seems like just yesterday he was the chubby-cheeked baby boy with the big blue eyes peeking out from under his blankie, like in this photo.

I designed this 6x6 layout using the new SAB set So Very. I think this set will be great for scrapbooking! Along with the large "so very" stamp there are 7 other smaller words to go with it. Of course for my layout I chose the word cute. For the background I stamped the plain circle from Riveting in white craft ink and added the smaller circle designs from the Little Pieces set in Brocade Blue to match the card stock. I attached the title using brads and window word punch outs. The "cute" circle and the Little Pieces circle in the title were attached using pop dots for dimention. The result? So very cute!

More Cheerful Cards

I took some time out yesterday to play around some more with my new Delight in Life stamp set. On the first card I stamped the images randomly on a piece of vellum cut a little smaller than my card front. I used my pastels to color the floral design from the back...a trick I picked up from my friend Rachel's beautiful Christmas card she sent. This produces a softer look, and the color doesn't smear when touched because it's on the back. :-)

Then, I attached it to a piece of Almost Amethyst card stock, stamped with the Word by Word background stamp in Lavender Lace, using Rose Red brads from the Rich Regal collection. I added some celery and lavender grosgrain and the Delight in Life sentiment stamp matted using the ticket corner punch.

The next card I made was almost totally copied from my Stampin' Up! magazine. I use my catalogs and magazines all the time for inspiration. A lot of times, like with this card, they use color combos and such that I would have not thought to use. I usually always change something to make it more my own. For instance, my inspiration card used a plain background, I decided to use my Speckled jumbo roller on my Rose Red background, I also added some Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds glittler to the popped up flower to make it sparkle. Other colors used were Tempting Turquoise & Marigold Morning. Now, I would never have thought to put those colors together, but the result is bright & cheerful!

Altered Clipboards

I bought some clipboards with the idea of altering them some time ago. They sat in my craft space untouched and nearly forgotten for quite a while, until I saw the adorable clipboard that my friend Cheri had made for herself.

I used Stampin Up!'s Spring Flowers designer paper cut to size and the used Royal Coat Decoupage to adhere it to the clipboard. After it had dried, I applied another coat of decoupage to the top to protect the paper.

I printed a small calendar off my computer and stamped the center of each month using stamps from All Year Through and Tag Time. I attached the calendar pages to a coordinating piece of card stock using Rich Regal brads and then attached to the clipboard with velcro so it can easily be changed out next year.

I finished it off with lots of grosgrain and gingham ribbons. The ribbon on the side holds a matching pen. The big flower was made by stamping the daisy from Looks Like Spring and embossing with white embossing powder. I then cut it out and embellished with a punch out using the coordinating flower punch and a Soft Subtle button attached with linen thread.

On the back of the clipboard I attached magnets so it could be attached to the fridge or where ever is handy. The clip is still functional to hold notes, photos, etc...

Thanks for the inspiration Cheri!

Handmade From the Heart

Today I have been gradually putting away my Christmas decor. I hate that job! Christmas flew by so quickly...it seems like I just got all this stuff out! Anyways...while I was putting things away I was thinking about some of the nice handcrafted gifts and cards I received this year. My favorite has to be the gorgeous Christmas tree skirt that my Mom quilted for me to fit around the base of the little table-top tree that used to be my Grandma's. She used beautiful batik fabrics in shades of purple, silver and taupe to match the bulbs and my decor. I just love it and hate to put it away!

This year I also received several handmade Christmas cards and gift tags. I must say each one I got really made my day! I think that has been the best part of getting involved with Stampin' Up! is teaching others just how fun it can be to get creative. It is great to see my friends and family using their stampin' stuff! Thank you so much for thinking of me and sending me a hand made card - I really do appreciate them and keep them all.

The most elaborately made card I received arrived in it's own handmade box/envelope and it was made by my Aunt Roberta. It is a 3-D pop up accordion card and she did such a nice job! She was quite ambitious, as she made 14 of them altogether! She was quite crafty this Christmas, she also made me a beaded anklet in it's own handmade box and my favorite- a bookmark that she stamped like a little scrapbook page. It has a photo of her holding me at my baptism (she's also my godmother) on the front and a nice handwritten message on the back. I will cherish it always.

My Mother-in-law was also quite craftily ambitious this year. She sewed big drawstring gift sacks for the adults (8) and huge stockings for each of her six grandsons. Each one was embroidered with our name and filled with all kinds of goodies - individually wrapped! That sure took some time and a lot of thought!


Many times over the years I have often had people ask me, "Why would you spend so much time making something that you could just go to the store and buy?" My response is that I enjoy making things and like to give a gift that I put thought into. Then, I make a "note to self" to remember not to waste one of my handmade gifts on someone who has to ask that question, because obviously they would probably never appreciate what goes into a handcrafted gift. hehehe

Well, enough time rambling...I need to get back to today's task - putting away Christmas decor. I'd rather be stampin'!

Delight in Life

I spent today finishing a few stamping projects and trying to organize my crafting space. I did also manage to spend a little time playing with my favorite new SAB set - Delight in Life. Can't seem to get enough of those floral sets!

After spending so much of the last couple months working mostly with Christmas images it was a refreshing change to work with some floral designs! I choose pretty spring-like tones of Regal Rose, Celery, Apricot & Saffron for this card.

This set is great because it even comes with the cute little circle design I used for the background! I think the swirly image will lend itself well to a lot of different designs as well...so I really like this set a lot.

I stamped my focal images in Versamark and embossed them in white, cut them out and popped them up using pop dots. I used the faux stitching technique with my mat pack paper piercing template and white gel pen to create the stitches. I finished it off with some brads and celery ribbon.

I think this is a cheerful card that would perk anyone up on this dull, grey winter day. Ah, Michigan winter...and it's only just begun! (I better not ask where the snow is???)

Happy New Year!!!

With the start of the New Year, I am making my first post here at my new blog. I have been considering creating my own blog for some time now, and I'm finally going for it! As with most computer stuff, I'm not really sure what I am doing, but I'm sure I'll figure it out with a little help from my computer guru (my son Danny). I hope to share the creative things I am doing in my life, and maybe inspire someone else to get creative as well. I love to scrapbook, stamp, paint and take photos, so I will be adding these things to my blog. (if I can figure out how to add photos that is!)

My New Years wish to you is that 2007 will be a prosperous, peaceful, healthy and creative year for all!