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.