All Is Calm Stamp Camp

I'm so excited to finally share my Christmas giftables class that I created using many items from the All Is Calm suite of products...plus other good stuff from the 2014 Holiday Mini.

My favorite piece in this set is the Bearing Gifts Shadow Box...it measures 6x8 and it has so many sparkling details...I just love it! This group of giftables could be given as an entire set or broken up into 4 individual smaller gifts: the shadowbox, a set of 5 decorated magnetic clips, an adorable box filled with gift tags and a jar candle with its own gift bag.

I had a lot of fun designing these projects and I'm looking forward to teaching a class here on October 12th. You don't live near me but would still like to take this class? Well you are in luck! I am also offering this as an online class.

You will receive a kit to complete the above projects along with a detailed photo tutorial (sent to your email). Your mailed kit will include the shadowbox frame, candle, clips, cardstock, ribbon, embellishments & tags to complete these projects as shown...plus one package of All is Calm Designer Washi Tape (5 rolls) and a 6x6 sampler pack of the gorgeous All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series paper...with enough for lots of leftovers for your future projects.

You will need adhesive, ink pads & the following (or similar) stamp sets to complete the projects: Bearing Gifts, Endless Wishes & Festival of Trees with the coordinating tree punch.

The cost for the online class is $46 (includes shipping) I can only accept payments through Paypal. Please
Contact Me for more info.

Sparkling Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees stamp set and the coordinating Tree Punch are so much fin to play with! Pair these up with Endless Wishes and the possibilities of what you can create truly are endless!

I created the scene by stamping my little pine forest on Soft Sky cardstock. I added snowflakes from Endless Wishes stamp set with the coordinating ink. For some pretty sparkle I painted over the entire thing with Dazzling Details. Look how sparkly it is...

To do this I just squeezed some out right onto my cardstock and used a wide, soft bristled brush to distribute it evenly. Be careful to brush over your design carefully...only once or twice to cover it should be enough, as it will start to make the ink bleed if you over work it too much. You just want a light coat. I set it aside to dry while I worked out the rest of my design. I was surprised that it dried quicker than I thought and I didn't even need my heat tool.

The DSP is from the All Is Calm Specialty pack...such pretty paper! The ribbon is Lost Lagoon Silky Taffeta tied with one of the silver All Is Calm Snowflake Embellishments charms...all these items are now available in the 2014 Holiday Catalog.

Enjoy your weekend! It's beautiful here...with thankfully no snowflakes in sight!

Butterfly Bookmark Pocket Card

It's a card! It's a bookmark! It's...a bookmark pocket card! Sorry...not enough coffee yet this morning to come up with a more creative name! Anyways, here it is...

I started with the very versatile set, Work of Art to create the colorful, watercolor look background on the Whisper White bookmark. Then I stamped the butterflies from Papillon Potpourri and filled in the blank space with the swirl from Everything Eleanor. Last, I used a splatter image from Gorgeous Grunge.

Since there is so much color and detail on the bookmark, I opted to go with a solid color (Coastal Cabana) for the main panel of the card and just add some texture using a couple favorite embossing folders...Decorative Dots & Zig Zag. I positioned the butterflies on the base of the card to line up with the bookmark when it was inserted in the pocket. Here's a closer look at the bookmark...

After stamping, I laminated it using my Xyron machine and added the large eyelet and some pretty fibers I had on hand. The colors of the fibers coordinate surprisingly well with the colors of ink I used...which was a happy coincidence because I didn't plan it that way. Here's a look at the back...

The quote used here is from a favorite retired hostess set called The Art of Life.

Thanks for stopping by today...have a good one!

Spooky Good Times

With the leaves starting to change and the cool weather we've been having, I've got Halloween on the brain! Today I'd like to share a couple pages I created using photos from out last Halloween party along with the retired Wicked Fun DSP.

You cannot see from my first photo too well, but the tag says "boo to you" that stamp is from the Good Greetings stamp set which is FREE right now when you host a party of $300 or more. It's a great set...check it out!

Here's a look at the right page of the layout...

I just love that skull image which is part of the retired set From the Crypt. Even though it is retired, this set is still available in My Digital Studio. I actually used MDS to import the bat stamp brush image into my Silhouette to cut it a larger size. The original size bat stamp is also shown embossed in black and cut out on three different spots on the layout.

I used Kiwi Lane Templates to create the wavy borders. My good friend and scrappin' buddy has a few sets and I enjoyed playing with them the last few times we've gotten together.

Grungy Eleanor Thanks

For this card I created my own DSP using the stamp sets Everything Eleanor and Gorgeous Grunge.

I used the color combo of Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana & Crumb Cake. The "Thank You" sentiment is from Blooming With Kindness and is stamped onto a die cut from the Apothecary Accents Framelits. I popped it up using some Stampin' Dimensionals and added a couple Basic Pearls.

Thanks for visiting today.

Bearing Gifts

At the end of last week it was my UPS man who was bearing gifts when he delivered my Holiday Catalog order! I always love unpacking a box of Stampin' Up! goodies...it feels just like Christmas! I had a busy weekend, but managed to get in a little play time using some new stuff. Of course I had to try out my absolute  favorites first!

Hands down, my most favorite image in the Holiday catalog is this adorable polar bear with the cute kiddos riding on his back called Bearing Gifts. It's a single stamp with the greeting below the image. For greater flexibility when using this stamp, I cut the sentiment off the bottom and mounted it on the side...so mine is now essentially a two stamp set.

My other new favorites used on this card is my favorite DSP from the Holiday catalog...the beautiful All Is Calm Specialty paper. I couldn't decide on a favorite as far as accessories go, so I used all my favorites!

• All Is Calm Washi Tape - there are 5 different patterns in this set!
• All Is Calm Snowflake Embellishments - metal charms to tie onto your projects with a pretty silver finish
• Lost Lagoon Silky Taffeta Ribbon - just like it's name...very silky and easy to work with.

I had fun using my Blendabilities Markers to color this...but...when I was almost finished, and just about to add just a little more shading with the darkest Coastal Cabana marker, I didn't remember to open my marker away from my artwork. In not doing so, you run the risk of getting splatters of unwanted color on your work if the brush tip hits the side of the cap as you pull it off. Which is what happened to me. Other times when this has happened, I've been lucky and able to use the Color Lifter to remove most of the color to make it virtually unnoticeable, but this time I wasn't so lucky. Can you see where the unwanted Coastal Cabana splatters are?

Hopefully not...because to camouflage them I used dots of Dazzling Details for a sparkly snowfall background. So my mistake turned out to be a good thing.

Check out the new Holiday Catalog...what are your favorites?

So Very Blessed

I had fun creating these scrapbook pages using photos of the wonderful women in my family at my niece's bridal shower earlier this summer.

I used Core'dinations Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock for the base and the Dots Decorative Mask to create the polkadot background. It went pretty quickly using a Sponge Dauber and Crisp Cantaloupe ink right from the ink pad. (I only sponged the area that would be seen instead of entire 12x12 piece.) While the Core'dinations Cardstock is now retired, you can still pick up certain colors on the Clearance Rack.

I love the layered flower embellishment created with the Daydream Medallions & Mixed Bunch stamp sets. I stamped the title onto Vellum Cardstock and embossed with Pool Party EP. The stamp set is an old SAB set called So Very. (I keep all my old word sets because you never know when you'll need them!)

The papers are from the Watercolor Wonder DSP and were in the now retired Occasions Catalog. I saved these sheets with the pretty watercolored roses for a future scrapbook pages...so glad I did! Good news is...you can still get these beautiful papers as a Digital Download for My Digital Studio.

This time I layered the flowers with a Stampin' Up! Tea Lace Paper Doily. The swirls are from a Bigz Die by Tim Holtz called Elegant Flourishes.

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to check back next week as I finally received my order from the Holiday Catalog and have been having fun playing with new items. That means I'll have new things to share with you! Have a wonderful weekend!

Autumn World of Dreams

With the start of September I thought an Autumn inspired card would be nice to share today.

The World of Dreams stamp set combined with the Hardwood background stamp makes a nice masculine themed card. I used Cajun Craze & Mossy Meadow ink & card stock as well as Early Espresso & Crumb Cake ink

A touch of Natural Chevron Ribbon adds a nice accent yets still keeps the card masculine looking.