Practicing what I preach

I've been a bit distracted lately and haven't made much time to be creative. But I'm realizing that I NEED to be creating. It is who I am. It makes me happy.

So, yesterday I tackled cleaning the "scary quilt room" for a while and unearthed some of those Aunt Martha plain tea towels. Since I was in the mood to do something stitchy, I had to figure out what I was going to stitch on them. Those old-timey iron on transfer patterns just don't thrill me much. They are either too realistic or too cutesy. So I went googling for some images. I saw this on online at Sublime Stitches in a space themed set. I used it as a go-by and drew it myself on a piece of paper. I have no idea how big their original is, but I did mine pretty big. Then I used all six strands of embroidery floss to stitch it (I use a stem stitch). It's pretty bold and bright but I LOVE it. I think I'll give it to my SIL Karen who is a real rocket scientist for Christmas. I originally was going to color it in with crayons and do the stitching in black, but I went this route instead. Maybe I'll do the crayon thing for the next one. I started it yesterday afternoon and finished it this morning - just a few stitches here and there. FUN! and FAST! I love instant gratification. And that creative itch has both been scratched and triggered me to go create some more.

I have a stamp workshop on Tuesday so I'll probably do some papercrafting tonight.
Ooooh and I'm playing with my Big Shot and the leaf die and felt in fall colors. Stay tuned for exciting developments there....
Laura
(p.s. - notice the cool new banner at the top? I made it with My Digital Studio. Digital Papercrafting (and scrapbooking) program. I'm having soooo much fun with it. Ask me if you want a demo!)

Daytime Classes

Hello friends - I've scheduled some daytime classes for the next few months. Sadly with Girl Scout events and football season and all my kids after school/evening activities, almost all my night and evenings are full for a while. I hope to have some evening/weekend classes in a month or so. Stay tuned here for more details.

All you daytime folks, come join me on the 1st or 3rd Thursdays of the month from 10am-noon(ish). We'll make 3-4 cards and/or projects. I'm not sure yet what we'll be making - it'll be a surprise, but I promise it'll be cute stuff and seasonal.
Until November, these classes will be totally FREE. After that time, I'll require a small purchase of Stampin' Up! product to attend.

In addition to taking home 3-4 great projects, you'll also get an instruction card if we do any special techniques or patterns. You can collect these as a great stamping resource. You'll have fun and get to enjoy some creative time with grown ups :).

Please RSVP (inklaura@sbcglobal.net) to reserve your spot as my space is limited and I need to make sure I've got enough supplies for everyone.
WHEN: 9/17, 10/1, 10/15 10am-noon.
Come to one or come to all. Hope to see you.

Repurposed Candle Tin

I am a sucker for tins: any kind, any size, any shape. I just can't seem to throw one away. So when the candle inside this one had burned away, I washed it out and decided to decorate it.
It was a little sticky on the very bottom inside, so I just covered that with a circle of cardstock.

I cut the circle for the lid and inside with the SU Circle Scissors Plus. It's big but very easy to use and you can cut or draw any circle from 1-6" in whatever increment you need.

Other supplies used: Circle Circus Stamp set, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop circle punch, Night of Navy Grosgrain ribbon, Button, mini glue dots, sticky strip adhesive, Crushed Curry ink and Designer Series Paper (DSP).

This is where I hide my super secret stash of Hershey's nuggets for those chocolate emergencies :). Shhhhh.

Quilted DSP Card

As you may know, I am a quilter. Or at least I used to be before my life got so crazy. Right now the only thing I'm using my fancy schmancy sewing machine. for is sewing merit badges on a sash and flags for the band. I'm determined to get back to quilting soon though. In the meantime, I thought I'd quilt up some cards - the easy way.

I got the following card as a swap at convention in August (convention was FABULOUS by the way, as usual.) It was made by a demonstrator named June Dunn from KY. Thanks June. We had to look really close and touch and feel the card to see if she really sewed all those little Xs. She didn't but it sure looks like it. She used the fine tip of the marker and just freehanded them. They really look sewn. And the really cool thing is that she used one of our new in-colors (Rich Razzleberry). In the past we didn't have markers for our trendy in colors but this year we do. WOOT!



I played around with the idea and came up with my own quilted card. My daytime stamp club made it a few weeks ago. I used the Cottage Wall DSP (designer series paper). I used the new in-color polka dotted ribbon as an accent, but turned it so the back side is showing so it would be solid instead. The greeting is from Thoughts and Prayers set - punched with the large oval and popped up with dimensionals.
Card dimensions: DSP squares 1 1/4" x 1 1/4", inner layer 4"x5 1/4", card 4 1/4"x5 1/2".

This is a fun way to use up all those little squares of DSP you have left over but can't bear to throw away.

Falling Leaves

Now I know these are NOT my colors, but I'm sort of a traditionalist. I have a hard time making leaves pink or blue or whatever. (And at the same time, those of you who know me know that I don't make flowers GREEN OR BROWN either).

Anyway... I needed a new set for fall and this one fit the bill. It's called Falling leaves. It has 5 assorted leaves, 3 thanksgivingy sayings, and one cute little medallion thing with an acorn and happy thanksgiving surrounding it. I haven't used that one yet, but will soon. The set is $21.95 (p 27 of the new catalog).

Card 1 uses Garden Green (my favorite green), More Mustard and Close to Cocoa. It's hard to see in this picture, but I've used the new texture Jumbo wheel on the Mustard. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new wheel. The circles are popped up with a dimensional. I like this card despite the fall colors - it's clean and simple. Just my style.

The second card uses Old Olive (NOT my favorite color) with Creamy Caramel and Cocoa. I used the texture wheel on the Caramel and the Vanilla CS in this one. I just ordered the 5/8" brads. I really love them. How awesome would they be in the middle of a flower image? Not the brown brads of course. Except for maybe sunflowers. Otherwise, no brown in the flowers.

The New catalog has arrived!

Well, I'm back from my Colorado trip just in time to play with my new Stampin' Up! goodies. I'm trying to schedule my New Catalog Kick-off party, so stay tuned for that (possibly the weekend of the 17th/18th). If you can't wait till then to see your new catalog, you can view it online here: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/inklaura and click the SHOP NOW button.

One of my favorite new sets from the new catalog is the big Medallion (think background stamp sized). It's so beautiful. The first sample is one I adapted from a card by Jackie Bolhuis. I used one of the NEW In-Colors, Rich Razzleberry. It's such a deep and delicious. I'll try to feature a card in a new in-color in each post (and I hope to post more often). This card also uses a new greeting set, Teeny Tiny Wishes and a new punch!




The next 2 cards are my own creations. I stamped the gorgeous medallion in versamark ink on Whisper White CS. Then I dug out my old friends - my stampin' pastels. I haven't used them in ages. Using a cotton swab (the cheapo ones seem to work better than real Q-tips), I added color to the versamark ink. This technique is called Poppin Pastels.

In the first one I used: Eggplant and Apricot. In the second one (my favorite one!) I used: Taken with teal, turquoise, grey, and a bit of green galore. So simple and FUN to do.

Simple Lawnmower card

Here's a simple masculine card - you take a normal card front and fold the edge back to the center to make an interesting card. Remember to only use adhesive on half of the lawnmower image or you'll glue your card closed.
Colors: Bashful Blue & Pacific Point
Set: And Many Mower (great for Father's day or masculine birthdays)

Occasions Mini is now out

Now that April is here, the Occasions mini-catalog items are finally available. You can see it on my official SU website. I've been dying to show everyone the new little matchboxes. I love them! It is one of the big dies for the Big Shot die cutting machine. It cuts out the box, the lid, and some cool little tags all in one pass. All you have to do is fold it up and decorate it. What could be easier?

Here are two that I've made so far. The top one is uses some items from the Sell-A-Bration sale. You can get 4 nuggets into these boxes (it's tight, but they fit).


This one uses Close to Cocoa cardstock that was stamped with the Sanded bacground stamp. The Regal Rose fancy shape is one of the tags from the matchbox die. I think it really dresses it up. The mini-catalog also features some great sets that are made to coordinate with this die. They are on my wish list for sure.


For the next few days, I'll be stamping some little photo album covers to give as thank you gifts for some Girl Scout volunteers. I'm using the retired Girl Power set and some Girl Scout papers I've had stashed away for a rainy day. I'll try to upload a picture soon.

Easter Cuteness

Are these not the cutest things ever? I can't take credit for the idea as I copied it from a stamper on splitcoaststampers. It was so fun and easy to make.
I used a piece of cardstock - 1 1/2" x 5". Score it at 2" and 3". Then decorate as desired. For this bunny I used the 2 sizes of oval punches for his ears and the 3/4" circle punch for the feet (punch and cut in half). For the nose, I used the 3/4" punch on the edge of a scrap of Pretty in Pink Cardstock. The pink behind the nose was made with a sponge dauber. The eyes, smile, and toes were just drawn on with a chocolate chip marker. The whiskers are skinny strips of cardstock attached with a few glue dots. Since I'm a GS leader, I've always got random crafty supplies lying around and the little white pompom was a fun touch to make his backside as adorable as the frontside.

The hershey nugget fits inside nicely (stick it down with a bit of double stick tape or a glue dot).
Don't have all these punches? Give me a call. Or just improvise. Use your imagination and see what else you can come up with.

Ready for more cuteness? Look at these! They are a wee bit addictive. Can't you just see these as table favors for a kid's animal birthday party. At least the parents could appreciate them before the kids dig into the chocolatey goodness. The kids might even have to fight with mom for it. My favorites are the racoon (I used the crimper on him) and the siamese cat.

A Little Blue Breezy Birdie

This is one of the cards I demo'd at my mom's workhsop on Sunday. It's fairly simple but the colors are quite peaceful.
Stamp Set: A Little Birdie told me (very versatile set)
CS: Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, whisper white, Baja Breeze prints DSP
ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Gray
scallop edge punch, basic gray taffetta ribbon, blender pen, sponge dauber.
The image was colored with ink from the stamp pad and a blender pen. I punched a post it note with the small oval punch and used that to make the 'stencil' for the shadow under the bird.
The bird image is popped up with dimensionals.

I'll post more Little Birdie samples in the next few days.

Triangle Boxes

Now that I've demo'd these at my March workshops I will post them here. (Didn't want to ruin the surprise). I love these boxes because they are SO simple.

Directions: Cut your cardstock or DSP (Designer Series Paper) to 4 1/4" x 8 1/2".

Score along the center line at 4 1/4".

Make a small mark on the short ends at 2 1/8"

Score from that mark to the center fold line (as shown).

Fold box into finished shape - open up one side at a time and punch a 1/8" hole through both layers (to thread ribbon through).

Add ribbon and accent to front - no glue needed! How fabulous is that!

Look at the little medallions I used on the saffron and Bashful blue boxes. Don't you love them? I'm sort of addicted to making them and have been using them on everything lately. It's so much fun combining punches in different variations and figuring new ways to use them. And the Polka Dot punches Sell-A-Bration set has 4 images that are all perfectly sized to use with the SU punches. Gotta love that.

Wouldn't these boxes be perfect filled with jellybeans? or hershey kisses? or Cadbury chocolate eggs? mmmm.

Sell-A-Bration

Now that Spring Break is here, I've had some time to get some stamping done. It feels good to be creative. I hope to share some Sell-A-Bration samples with you. As you probably already know, in February and March, for each $50 you spend on Stampin' Up! merchandise, you get to select a free item from a special mini-catalog. This year the SAB items included some really cute sets and some great paper and even ribbon!

And as you also know. I LOVE my Big Shot die cutting machine.

Here's a pillow box made with the SAB designer series paper selection and my new favorite set.

Like many of the cards I stamp these days, this one was copied from a source on the internet (sadly I have forgotten where) and modified a bit.

You can't see it very well in my horrible photo, but the saffron piece is dry embossed with small dots using our new Texturz plates. I LOVE them.

Isn't this paper fabulous? So soft and springy. I am having such a great time punching out and layering all the shapes in this set.

More samples to come soon.

S'more Samples

Here's a little sample I made up to show off one of my favorite catalog sets: Under the Stars. Also known as "the camping set" :).



As most of you know, I am an active Girl Scout Volunteer - on the troop, service unit, and council level and S'mores and Girl Scouting go hand-in-hand.

How cute is this little treat wrapper? Hungry for S'mores?

It uses the small size cello bags.
I didn't really use a pattern. I took a scrap of Close to Cocoa cardstock and folded it into thirds. Then cut down a small way and angled it. Criss crossed it over the cello bag and glued it down.


I've been requested to also show a valentine one and hopefully I'll whip something together soon.

Who doesn't love chocolate?

Hello friends - I've been out of the blogging groove. I got busy and it was one of the things that had to go for a little while, but I'm back.

At a workshop last night (thanks Nancy!) I demonstrated how to make these adorable little boxes that hold squares of Ghirardelli chocolate. They are easy to make once you know the measurements. I lifted the idea off of a talented stamper on splitcoaststampers. I'm not sure who had the idea originally, but it's a great one. I modified it somewhat so that both sides of the box were even.

The picture shows one that hasn't been assembled yet. The red stuff is sticky strip - it's a double sided tape like adhesive. It's my favorite adhesive to use when you need a STRONG hold for boxes or ribbons and such.

After you cut and score the cardstock, you trim away the outside corner pieces to form the box shape (with a flap). I used a circle punch crescent on the inside portion - so you can see the chocolate and have an easier time grabbing it to get it out.

The flap on the front doesn't want to lie down flat so I used a belly band to keep it closed. It's a good way to add a decorative accent to the box. The recipient just slides it down and off to be able to open the flap.

The images in the above photo come from the set Say it with Scallops. This set is special because it's the annual Ronald McDonald House set. $2 from the purchase of each set goes to support the RMD house charity. There are 4 images in the set that all coordinate with our scallop square punch - too cute.

Here are more little chocolate boxes:

And here's one that I modified to hold 3 pieces of chocolate. I thought these would make a fun treat for Emma's teachers, and they deserve more than one piece of chocolate for sure!

Directions:

1 PIECE BOX -- cut cardstock 4 1/4" x 7 1/2"

score the short side at 3/8" and 3/4" from both edges

score the long side at 2 1/4" and 2 5/8" from both edges

See the square in the center - mark a dot at each one of it's 4 corners.

Now cut away the 4 corner sections up to the dot - you should be left with a + shape.

The two sides fold in and attach to the front of the box.

If you want to punch a crescent shape - do it before assembling the box.

3 PIECE BOX - cut cardstock 5 1/2" x 9 1/2"

score the short side at 3/8" and 3/4" from both edges --- UPDATE:

CORRECTION SCORE SHORT SIDE AT 3/8" AND 1 3/8" (not 3/4")

score the long side at 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" from both edges.

Assemble as described above.