More Cheep Talk...

Here's another card I made the other night with the Cheep Talk set. I just love that little bird! I also love how the verses curve around the tree branch. As you can see, this one uses bright, cheery colors.

I also used the new wheel that matches the Always stamp set...Always in Bloom. I LOVE this wheel, and cannot stop using it!

Stamps: Cheep Talk, Always in Bloom wheel
Card stock: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point & Whisper White
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip & Summer Sun marker
Accessories: Scalloped Edge punch, Kiwi Kiss double sided satin ribbon, White grosgrain ribbon, white gel pen & mat pack
My Mom & Aunt are coming over this afternoon to do some stamping. Looking forward to that! I hope you all have a nice day...and a great weekend!

Hello there!

The Cheep Talk set is totally different from most sets I am drawn to. I think it is the cute little birds and the curvy sayings that made me have to have it! Most of the cards I've seen done with this set so far have been done with really bright, bold colors; but since I already had the gorgeous Parisian Breeze papers out I decided to use those. I guess I'm in Spring mode...too bad our weather isn't following suit!I used the polka dotted paper strip like I would a piece of ribbon...too bad it can't be tied into a nice bow! Wouldn't it make the cutest ribbon? The body of the little bird and his wing are cut out separately and attached with pop dots.

Stamps: Cheep Talk
Card Stock: Blush Blossom, Baha Breeze, Close to Cocoa & Parisian Breeze DP
Ink: Blush Blossom, Baha Breeze, Close to Cocoa & Sage Shadow
Accessories: Vintage Brads, Scallop Edge Punch, mat pack

Have a great day!

Simple Parisian Friendship

I totally love the Parisian Breeze DP. The soothing colors along with the texture and heavier weight really make it luscious! Instead of just drooling over it...I actually cut it up to make this card! ;-)I used this weeks sketch from Mojo Monday. I thought the stamps from Simple Friendship worked perfectly for this sketch. I just love that butterfly, so of course this set was on the top of my must have list! After inking the butterfly in Baha Breeze I used the Always in Bloom wheel inked in Close to Cocoa and wheeled over the rubber. Hey...that poor wheel had to be tested out too...right?

Well...I'm heading back downstairs to play with more of my new goodies. Enjoy your evening!

Spring Flowers

I am super excited to show you the fun creation I made using my new Big Shot dies yesterday! Even better is that the Stamp Something Blog Challenge this week is to create something 3-D. That means I can play along this week and not wait til the last minute! I may not being seeing signs of spring outside...but at least it looks like spring indoors! The new Daisies #2 Bigz die cuts out 3 sizes of flowers. So I cut 2 sets out of each color card stock: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink & Almost Amethyst - the same colors that are in the Tea Party papers. I also cut the largest flower out of chipboard for the first layer and base of my flower. That's the great thing about the Bigz Dies...you can cut through all sorts of materials other than just paper and card stock.Then I curled the petals on each layer and attached it to the previous layer. I used Latte Buttons for the center of each flower. The stems are lolly pop sticks painted with Certainly Celery re-inker. The leaves of my flowers were cut from Certainly Celery card stock using the new Little Leaves Sizzlet.

I decorated the plain white ceramic vase in a snap using some of the beautiful 5/8" Saffron grosgrain ribbon available for free during SAB as part of the ribbon bundle. I also used the new Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die to cut out the butterfly that adorns the vase. The patterned paper I used was from the Tea Party pack. It's perfect for spring projects! That die is the coolest! It cuts out 4 different sized butterflies - perfect for layering. Two of the butterflies are cut on the folded edge of the card stock so when you open them they are 3-D.

I'm sure you'll be seeing lots more daisies and butterflies created with these dies on my blog in the future...they are a lot of fun and I already have so many ideas for projects I want to create using them. (one is already in the works) Too many ideas...not enough time! I need a clone to take care of the not-so-fun daily tasks...then I'll have more time to play with my Big Shot!

Edited to answer a few questions I've received: I used several different adhesives for this project. To attach each layer of the flowers together I used the Towbow Multipurpose Adhesive. (the flowers even smell good after using this!) To attach the buttons to the center I used glue dots. To attach the whole flower to the lolly pop sticks I used my hot glue gun. I found the lolly pop sticks in the baking section at the craft store. Thanks for all the nice comments about this project. :-)

Dreaming of Spring

New stuff in da house! I spent most of my time last night playing with my new Big Shot dies...the new butterfly die rocks! I did manage to complete one card...but it's hard to focus when there's so many things to try out. By the looks of this card I was definitely dreaming a little...about Spring I think!
This card uses the Level 3 Hostess set Dream a Little along with the Tea Party papers. It's such an easy set to work with. Love that little hummingbird! The leaves were cut using the Little Leaves Sizzlet. The Tea Party papers are the perfect colors for Spring. Guess I'll have to dream about Spring for a little longer...the weather report for tomorrow does not sound good. More snow! Have a great weekend!

Just Buzzin' By...

to show you these cards! Aren't these bees just the cutest?! I got together with my stampin' group on Sunday and got to play with this set.I thought this print from the Delicate Dots paper kind of looked like honeycomb, so I chose that for the background on both of my cards. I added some glitter to the wings of the bees so in real life they really shimmer. Here's another version of this card only this time I replaced the Riding Hood Red with Regal Rose and turned the design sideways. One of these cards is on it's way to a friend wishing her a happy "bee-lated" birthday! hehe This is such a fun set! It was fun to be able to play with something new. Thanks Bea! Talking about playing with new stuff...later on today I'll be on cloud nine. UPS is finally going to be delivering a BIG order here! WOO HOO! I ordered more stuff for my Big Shot so I'm excited to try those and I cannot wait to see (and feel!) the beautiful Parisian Breeze papers. I keep seeing gorgeous creations made with them and the added texture looks so luscious. Plus lots of new rubber!

Thanks for buzzin' on by my blog today! Like the other sentiment from the Just Buzzin' By set says... "have a honey of a day!"

Party Animals and Cupcakes

One of the best parts of being a Stampin' Up! demo has been meeting new people and sharing my love of paper crafting. I had a Sale-A-Bration Party here on the 8th and a couple of new stampin' friends that I've recently met asked if they could bring a few friends...of course I said, yes! One of the friends that they brought along was someone I recognized as a long lost friend of mine from middle school!

Her family had moved and we lost touch way back...(don't ask me what year, but trust me, it was a while ago!) Now she lives less than 10 miles away from me and she loves to stamp. How cool is that!? She came over yesterday morning for a little stamping and visiting. It is nice reconnecting with old friends...you can never have too many friends...or too many stamps! Anyways...she wanted to stamp some birthday cards for kids, so I figured it was the perfect opportunity to play with these cute little Zoofari animals. (it's been a while)I remembered a super cute card using this set created by Nancy Riley a while back. I loved the way she punched out the circles and mounted them on squares, it has such a nice geometric design to it. So I used her card as my inspiration...thanks Nancy!

I pulled my color scheme from the Delicate Dots paper - Celery, Saffron and Bashful Blue, but wanted a brighter more festive feel to the card, so I also added Pacific Point and Rose Red anchored with Basic Black. Keeping with the geometric theme I also used the Harlequin Texturz Plate for the base of my card.

Since you had to listen to my long story, before getting to the first card, I'll also show you another card we did. This one also uses the Delicate Dots paper (FREE during SAB!) and Crazy for Cupcakes.Bling cherries? For some extra sparkle I added a red rhinestone to each of the cherries on the cupcakes. The Real Red looks good with these papers too, doesn't it? Don't limit yourself to using just the colors in this paper pack...these colors go well with a lot different colors.

Have a great day!

Thank You Card Set

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday! Today I want to share a set of thank you cards I made for a dear friend. She doesn't stamp herself, but really appreciates hand made things. I had fun using some retired sets and colors I haven't used for a while. She really loved the cards and the little tote. I was just able to squeeze 12 cards with envelopes into this card tote. I had wanted to try another really cute card holder I saw on another blog, but I wasn't sure I would have been able to fit them all in. I've made this tote on several occasions and knew it would work, so I went with it instead of trying something new. Hopefully I'll get a chance to try the other one soon. Here is a better view of the cards:This card and the next one both use the older hostess set Measure of a Life. The wings of the butterfly and dragonfly have a little shimmer to them, but it didn't show up in my photos. Each of the cards I made for this set used my new texture plates to add texture to the front base of my card.

If you haven't tried that yet, here's how to do it:

1. Score your card stock in half


2. Line it up on your plate so that only the half you want textured is on the plate


3. Hold the card stock in place with a little drafting tape (low tack painters tape also works)


4. Run it through your Big Shot with the back of your card sticking out of the back of the machine. (so it never gets rolled through)

Need a visual? Here's a video tutorial you can watch on You Tube.

As you can see, the little Sizzlet label from the Lots of Tags set is quickly becoming my favorite embellishment! The Flight of the Butterfly makes such cute and quick cards...I love the way this one turned out. I also really like the way Soft Sky & Baja Breeze go together. I miss Soft Sky.These cards use the Art of Life set. This is one of my all time favorite hostess sets. I love the look of the flowers. Since my friend requested butterflies and dragonflies on her cards, I added the little cut out butterfly from Dreams du Jour attached with pop dots. I couldn't decide which texture plates to use with this one...so I tried out several.

It was fun playing with some old sets and colors I haven't used in a while, but by the end of the week I'll have all sorts of new goodies coming...and that will be even more fun! Enjoy your day!

Hoppy Valentine's Day!

I was inspired to create a "love scene" after seeing this adorable creation on my friend Vicki's blog. "Stamp Something for your Valentine" was also the challenge on the Stamp Something blog...so I got busy and created this Valentine "love scene" for my hubby. Too bad I didn't get it posted here in time to enter the challenge, but I'm happy to see that Vicki ended up being the winner!I've never made a stair step card before...but I'm sure I'll make more now that I've tried one. I didn't find instructions anywhere, so I made it up as I went along. I knew I wanted the card to fit in a 5 1/2" square envelope, so I started with a piece of Basic Gray card stock measuring 5 1/4" x 11". I scored along the 5 1/4" side at: 1-1/4", 2-1/2", 4-1/4", 6" and 8-1/2"

Then I was ready to decorate. As you can see, I used a variety of different stamps! I started by embossing hearts from the SAB set Polka Dot Punches and the Always set, on Real Read, Rose Red and Elegant Eggplant card stock with White EP. I also used sentiment stamps from Wonderful Words, Make it Count and Holidays and Wishes. My favorite part of this card is the adorable froggie perched on top of the heart! He's from Whimsy Stamps. Doesn't he look like he's twitterpated? (those who have seen the movie Bambi a million times like I have will know what that means!;-) I think it's his eyes that make him so sweet and irresistible.

The little hearts coming up behind him are just punched card stock attached to coiled silver wire with some glue dots. Then I attached them to my love scene using some sticky strip, and covered the back with more hearts. I had fun making this card and I can't wait to give it to my Valentine!

Raspberry Tart Purse

I'm back! Two posts in one day...that doesn't happen too often! After posting the Plum Petal Pizazz Purse made with the scalloped envelopes yesterday I've gotten several emails asking to better explain how to put it together. Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words...and since I'm not that great at writing clear instructions...I made another purse and snapped some photos along the way.

First you will need to cut 2 scallop envelopes with your Big Shot. You will also need a strip of coordinating card stock for the handle. The handle also makes up the side of the purse. I cut two strips - Kiwi: 1" x 11" and Raspberry Tart: 3/4" x 11". Then I cut the bottom flaps of my two envelopes down to the same 1" width of my handle as shown below.Please note: You can skip this step if you don't mind a very wide handle - the size handle you would need if you do not trim is 1-1/2" x 11" Next you will want to adhere the two bottom flaps together with sticky strip as show here: Then add sticky strip to the side flaps as shown: Peel away the red liner on one side at a time and carefully attach to the handle as shown. Remove red liner from sticky strip and attach the other side. Now your purse is assembled and ready to embellish and fill with goodies!I used the flower die from the Birds and Blooms Sizzlits and Latte Buttons to embellish my purse. I also used some Raspberry Tart scraps along with the Polka Dot Punches and Yummy SAB sets to make the little 3x3 note card. The note card and chocolates will easily tuck inside this darling little purse and make a sweet Valentine treat.

A Little Yummy

I'm excited to show you more from my SAB~New Catalog party I had over the weekend! I had such a good time...and from the feed back I've received, so did everyone who came. I had door prizes, make & takes, goodie bags for everyone who placed an order and these cute little yummy bags for everyone who came.I decorated the canister and the candle jar with Decor Elements. I ended up using the canister to hold door prize tickets and I gave away a jar candle during each session after showing how to apply the Decor Elements. Can you believe I found the yummy white chocolate scented candles at my grocery store? The Latte Buttons matched perfectly and with a bit of Linen Thread added a sweet little accent to both the candle and my canister. I so want that beautiful new tree Decor Element for my wall.


These are the little goodie bags that each person got to pick after they placed an order. Each bag is filled with patterned papers and coordinating embellishments. I used the new Lots Of Tags, Sweetest Stem Embosslit and Buttons dies, along with some punches to make each pack. The Yummy set works just beautifully with the Top Note die, and it sure helped me create some cute give aways for my party! Almost everyone who got to choose a free SAB set choose Yummy...so I guess I'm not the only one who thinks it's too cute!

I had a few questions regarding the little Scalloped Envelope purse I showed you yesterday. I plan to make some more of these for little Valentine treats, so hopefully I'll get to it later and snap some photos as I'm making one to give you a better idea of how it goes together. Have a great day!

Plum Petal Pizazz Purse

Say that 10 times fast! I saw the idea to use the scalloped envelope die to make a little purse on SCS and knew I had to try one! Isn't it the cutest little thing?I demo-ed this little purse and then gave them away at my SAB/New Catalog party yesterday. You can fit 3 little note cards and envelopes inside, or better yet...a note and chocolate! I found these Russell Stover Triple Chocolate Mousse squares when I was looking for Ghiridelli squares...hadn't seen them before. They are really good! I had to be really good to make sure I had some left for my party yesterday! ;-)

I used Plum Prints paper and cut 2 Scallop Envelopes with the Big Shot. I cut down the bottom flap to 1" wide. The bottom flaps will be the bottom of the purse when you adhere the two flaps together. I cut a 1 x 11" piece of Perfect Plum card stock along with a 3/4" x 11 piece of DP for my handle. The handle will be the sides of the purse. Using sticky strip on the side flaps, you will just attach the envelopes to the 1" wide handle.

To embellish the little purse, I used the Petal Pizazz flower that can be punched out with the Scallop Circle punch, and stamped it in Perfect Plum. The center of the flower was cut using the Birds and Blooms Sizzlet along with a Filigree Brad to finish it off.

The matching note cards are cut 6x3 from Perfect Plum card stock. I used Pale Plum with the Polka Dot Texturz and a tag created using the Lots of Tags Sizzlets. I stamped them with the sentiments from the Fresh Cuts set. These fit in the Mini Square Envelopes.

I have lots more to show you from my party yesterday...so check back!

Crazy for Delicate Dots Cupcakes

I'm so happy that SU! added the dry embossing Texturz Plates to the Big Shot line! I've been having so much fun playing with them! (Plus the designs are way cuter than the ones I had purchased previously.) Today's card uses the tiny polka dot plate along with the SAB papers - Delicate Dots.I wanted to use pink in my card, but also wanted it to blend nicely with my patterned papers, so I used my Regal Rose marker to add pink pinstripes to the striped paper and colored the sprinkles on the cupcakes pink. The little happy birthday label was cut using the new Lots of Tags Sizzlets for the Big Shot. I added some detail around the edges with my white gel pen. The cute little flower button is from the Button Latte pack.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, Cupcakes wheel
Card stock: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery & Delicate Dots DP
Ink: Black Stazon, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Bashful Blue & So Saffron
Accessories: Lots of Tags Sizzlets, Button Latte, Texturz Plates, white gel pen, 3/4" circle punch & celery polka dot ribbon (not sure of brand)

I'm gearing up for my SAB ~ New Catalog Kick off Party coming up this weekend...I'm looking forward to it! If I don't get a chance to post the rest of the week, it's because I'm down in my rubber room getting things ready. Have a great day...stay warm!

Sale-A-Bration Bear

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and the first day of Sale-A-Bration! One of my favorite items offered this year is the awesome pack of papers called Delicate Dots. It contains 16 sheets (4 each of 4 double sided papers) So you have 8 different patterns to use on all your paper crafting projects. My card below shows four of the patterns. I also got some new catalog goodies on Friday! Too bad I've hardly had a chance to play...but I did manage to sneak this card in. Doesn't this bear crack you up? My friend was over last week and she brought her Under the Stars set so I could stamp a few images to play with. (thanks Julie!) I thought he'd look cute holding a bunch of balloons paper pieced with the Delicate Dots paper. I just stamped the balloon image from Crazy for Cupcakes onto the patterned paper and cut them out to make the festive balloon bouquet.

The Bashful Blue background is embossed using the new SU! exclusive Texturz Plates and the Big Shot. The Certainly Celery layer of the tag was also created using the Big Shot and one of the new Lots of Tags Sizzlets. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of both of these sets!

I'm heading off to a Super Bowl party this afternoon which should be fun, but it also means I'll be eating way too much, and again won't get to play with my new goodies...but there's always tomorrow! Have a SUPER day!