"... and I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, 'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!'"
Made this cute treat bag for my son's school Christmas party from a coffee filter, a technique I saw on Splitcoast Stampers. A little Chex Mix and M&Ms in the middle and we're good to go! The stamps are from Tags on Board from the Fall/Winter 07 mini catalogue.
This present is for my mother-in-law and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. Sometimes being interrupted by my 3 year old in the middle of a project actually improves things! :-) I just kept layering and layering until I was satisfied. I continue to find Holiday Harmony paper utterly charming and it's amazing how designer paper and staggered chipboard can completely transform a simple $1 frame. It's hard to see in the closeup but I added Crystal Effects to the circle to bring out the pattern in the paper. The neat thing is that the picture can easily be replaced by others when she feels like it.
My Spring/Summer 2008 Stampin' Up! Catalog is finally here in all its gorgeousness! There are all sorts of new card, scrapbook & project designs to spark your creativity. All spring and summer workshop hostesses receive one *free* from me. And of course it will be available online after January 2nd. Call me if you want a sneak preview!
I took advantage of SU!s Wrapping Up the Holidays special (going on until Dec. 31) to purchase a 3-pack of tins. Holiday DP and Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon transformed them into elegant ornament holders. I used a rub-on transfer from Making Memories. I'm so excited that Stampin' Up! is now producing rub-on transfers too. Can't wait until my new Spring/Summer catalog arrives any day now...
No Christmas is complete without making something crafty that includes pictures of my boys. These chipboard ornaments from the mini catalog were perfect. I colored them with my Real Red & Old Olive ink spots, using my white pen to add dots between the scallops, and added silver glittered snowflakes from Holiday Tag Team. I adhered the black and white pictures to the back of the colored ornaments with a few little drops of Crystal Effects. Dashing DP and Real Red and Very Vanilla cardstock are the background for my "joy" sentiment. A little rhinestone adds some bling. I used my Crop-a-Dile to make holes in them and added Real Red & Always Artichoke ribbon. I hope they're a big hit!
I love the "wow" factor of the paper used on this card. It's from my scrapbooking stash and I got it at Target a year or two ago. It goes perfectly with Elegant Eggplant, which is the background cs, ink and ribbon that I used. The alphabet stamps are Whimsical (retired). A pretty Christmas card for my folks to send out.
I made the envelope out of Purely Pomegranate cardstock, with scallopped circle layers of Holiday Harmony DP. I added Crystal Effects to the top circle for shine. That beautiful satin Purely Pomegranate ribbon (and a decently tied bow for once!) wraps one end.
Here's my gift certificate form all spiffed up.
Can't get enough of this little snowman. And my mat pack -- no stamper's supply is complete without one in my opinion!
Found these inexpensive jar candles at A.C. Moore and am in the process of making Christmas gifts. This one is for my sister-in-law Kathy, who loves the color purple. SU!s snazzy Uptown Designer Paper to the rescue! The flower stamp is from the Spring/Summer '08 hostess set "Time Well Spent" that Stampin' Up! sent their demonstrators for free. I colored it with lilac and green glitter pens (non-SU!). The ribbon is from my wedding 9 years ago, believe it or not -- and guess who picked it out? My sister-in-law!! What goes around comes around. :-) I think she's really going to love this.
I saw a version of this card on SCS that was done on white cs with a light blue ornament, so I thought I'd try reversing the color scheme and use silver on Night of Navy. I love how it turned out! 
Another card from this past weekend's workshop, preparing for post-Christmas thank you notes. This was cased from this card by stampngokaren on SCS. The snowflake is from "The Snowflake Spot" and the sentiment is from "Heartfelt Thanks". Using my favorite Wintergreen DP (retiring... sniff, sniff...), Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky and Whisper White. The ribbon is Certainly Celery -- someone posted the trick of tying the knot before wrapping the ribbon around the card -- lightbulb moment, duh. The snowflake is stamped with Versamark and has a dusting of Dazzling Diamond glitter on it. You could easily add brads to the corners of the square, but I was running low on them so opted out for the workshop.
I found a version of the Not So Homemade Fudge poem/song on the Stampin' Up! demo site and changed it a bit -- once a musician, always a musician! I gave this giant chocolate bar (10 for $10 at our local grocery store, you can't beat that!) to my workshop hostess this weekend. And yes, much to my embarrassment, I even sang it. I used Dashing DP (retiring this month so buy it if you love it as much as I do), my scallop circle punch and the "Deck the Halls" is from Season of Joy in the mini-catalog. Three ribbons at the top make it extra festive.
Made this for my friend Gretchen who has a little baby girl Gracen, hence the "G" monogram. She works at (and is a graduate of) a college which has pink & green as its school colors and has the unofficial mascot of a cow. The design of the folder is from Stampin' Up! I used a plain white folder from Staples, scrapbook papers I had from several years ago (got them at Target), and a chipboard letter which I colored with Garden Green marker. The cow stamp is from Very Punny (retired) and the alphabet stamps are Whimsy (also retired). Used the SU! scalloped circle, large and small tag and 5-petal flower punches. What do you think -- will she like it??
This card features the Holiday Harmony DP from the mini catalog. I stamped the swirl in Versamark on non-SU textured cs, adding the little poinsettias colored with my pink glitter marker. Then I triple -matted the DP, using my two SU oval punches for "joy". I stamped the tree in Always Artichoke on Whisper White cs (nicked the corners with my ticket corner punch) and added a little DP to the left side. A tidbit of Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon finishes it off.
Just popped this card in the mail for my brother and his wife who are celebrating their 11th anniversary on Friday. The beautiful DP is Brocade Background, the stamp is from "Love and Joy" (mini catalog) and "always" is from Small Script (retired). I stamped the sentiments in Cranberry Crisp, using my Mat Pack to pierce around "always". A basic knot of Always Artichoke wraps the love image. The card base is non SU textured cardstock. A simple way to let the designer paper play a major role.
After finding a cute template for Snowman Soup mugs on Splitcoast Stampers (which I of course can't find right now, but here's another one), I decided to make these for little cousins and neighborhood friends. I traced the template onto the large cardboard piece that came with my Designer Papers and cut it out. Then I retraced it on Whisper White cardstock in pencil and cut it out with my fabulous Paper Snips scissors. Instead of wrestling with the inside of the handle, I just used my large oval punch to cut it out, which worked great. I'm still not happy with the smoothness of the edges, but what are ya gonna do?!
I've been watching a thread on Splitcoast Stampers about simple one layer cards and came across these by SCS member tigeriss. I was inspired to create this one for my mother-in-law to send out.
I am thankful for...
... the never-ending love and support of my husband even when I'm driving him crazy, the house is a wreck, and we've run out of milk (again!).
... my two sons who never fail to surprise & delight me with their antics
... my wonderful parents, my older brother & his wife, my younger sister, and my in-laws, for their love and support
... surprise moments like this morning when the boys climb into bed with us and start a tickle fight at 6:30 am, or yesterday when my youngest, on the changing table, said with a huge grin, "Mommy, my poop came out and played on the playground of my butt!"
... the iVillage South Beach Diet board, where I am a Community Leader -- it's made my 40s better than any decade before!!! :-)
... finding glimmers of success with my new Stampin' Up! business, and the crafters I've discovered through blogs & websites -- an amazingly generous community of artists & teachers
... finally finding a *really great* hair stylist who gives me awesome haircuts & highlights EVERY TIME!!!
... foot rubs every Sunday night
... the Couch 2 5K podcast!!!!!
... USTA tennis leagues
... cappuccino Soy Slender
I've been working on improving some of my techniques by using Splitcoaststampers tutorials, which are absolutely fabulous. I created this Christmas card by cutting out an oval mask (using my Creative Memories cutting tools) and laying the oval hole over navy card stock. Using white craft ink, I stamped several different snowflakes from the Snowflake Spot and the little poinsettia from Season of Joy, added sparkles to the centers, and stamped "Be Merry" from Warm Words in white craft ink. The 3-D snowflake is from Michael's.
This is one of my Thanksgiving cards I put together for friends and family. I've become a little over-enamored with the crinkled paper & torn paper techniques, LOL. The quote is "In everything give thanks", the pumpkin and leaf images are stamped in Basic Brown from SU!'s Autumn Apparitions, and the swirl in the background is from Baroque Motifs, stamped in Always Artichoke. I colored the pumpkin with 3 different watercolor pencils & used the Blender Pens to mix the colors. The stem is colored in with a blend of green & brown watercolor pencils and blended. The pretty brown houndstooth ribbon is from Michael's. I used the Mat Pack to prick holes in the corner of the card.
