Hippo Birthday... Catty CASE Challenge

In Sept, I challenged my hostess club to draw inspiration from or to recreate a project that is in the current F/W SU Catalog. Below you will find my example of the challenge...



This set is Pun Fun, and you can find the project I chose to case on page 61. As you can see, I left the layout exactly like the catalog example. I did change the colors. Have you ever before seen a Cameo Coral hippo? No? Well, me either, but I like it! I didn't have the felt flowers they used in the catty, so I stamped the flower image from Sock Monkey and cut it out and put a rhinestone brad in the center and stuck it on with a glue dot. Sewing is by hand, didn't feel like pulling the machine down, however I will make myself next time, by hand took too long. I really like how this card turned out! Sometimes, when I am out of ideas, I will look to the catty for inspiration. Usually not a blantant CASE, but I had to this time, as it was the challenge I gave out. I can't wait till the Oct meeting to see what everyone else did!

Happy Halloween Clear Treat Box...

I saw a lady on SCS with a tutorial for a clear treat box. Mine is not exactly like hers, but she did spark in me the urge to make some of these. Here is a picture of my first one, please forgive the many imperfections, I will be making more (now that I have learned from my mistakes). This would ideally be full of candy corn or candy pumpkins but I didn't have any on hand...



The bottom and top of box are SU Basic Black cardstock, the acetate is transparencies, the Halloween paper is something I picked up a scrap pack of in the Target Dollar Spot. I used SU Sticky Strip to form the box and acetate panels. Ribbon is threaded through holes made with the Crop O Dile for a handle. Front is layered SU punches, glue to the front, Happy Halloween sentiment is from SU All Holidays set.

Breezy Vanilla Kisses

This card was made for two Splitcoast Challenges. CC185 Breezy Vanilla Kisses, color challenge using Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss. Blue is one of my least favorite colors, and I hardly ever use it in my projects, so this was the ultimate challenge for me. The second challenge was SC195 which is a sketch challenge, this week using three large, square layers stacked on the card front. I am not into an overage of layers, so I struggled with that as well. All in all, I like the finished product, and will not even begin to hint at how long it took me to complete. I did however, learn to like Baja Breeze very much!


This is the close-up of the flower detail on the front. A very decorative brad (from Making Memories I believe) complememts the SU Antique Brass HPH, which I am still greiving the retirement of. I used the circle piece to hopefully look like tendrils on plant stems, and the flower is the 5 Petal Punch, the 'leaves' behind it are the Scallop Circle Punch. This was a tough one, I like it, and I hope you do too!

--Also, the picture is slightly darker than the real thing, it's rainy here, so I can't get outside for natural light. I hope the texture, layers, and all the details of this card show up. The kissed BG isn't showing up that I can see, but I hope everything else is clear to you!

Cardstock -- Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze (&BB Textured), Kiwi Kiss (&KK Textured)
Patterened Paper -- Provo Craft...Heritage Post pad
Ink--Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss
Stamps-- Fresh Cuts, Canvas BG
Tools--Brayer, 5 Petal Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Dimensionals, HPH, Decorative brad from Making Memories.
Techniques--Sponging, tearing, layers, kissed BG.
***All supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted.

Enjoy. As always, questions and comments welcome!

NEW Hostess Club Starting Feb 2009...

I wanted to go ahead and get the word out that I am starting a new hostess club in Feb 09'. The club I currently run ends in Dec of this year. Most of those members are rejoining for the next round, so to ease some of the financial burdens of the holiday season, we are taking Jan 09' off and restarting in Feb 09'. If you have a friend who is interested in stamping, or know someone who just needs a hobby, feel free to tell them about me and my club. At this time I plan to (based on number of stampers who join in), either run more than one club, or one large club, split into two separate meetings for smaller groups/more working space at the meetings. There will be ONE weekend class, and ONE weeknight class. I know weeknights will work better for some people, so I am glad to finally feel confidentally enough now that my youngest just turned 2, to be able to do a weeknight class. If you are already a customer of mine, and refer someone to join the new hostess club, you will receive a FREE Classic Stampin' Pad of your choice when they join us! If you are a current club member who has not yet let me know about the next club, please do so ASAP so I can figure out a basic count.

The current club focused on learning very simple techniques and basic stamping since so many members were brand new stampers. The next club will go a step further. We will do more 3D projects, gifts, things of that nature. We will always do at least one card each meeting, but in 09', there will always be a gift idea, or a 3D project, home decor, or something of that nature. We will focus on techniques that take a little more skill. I am looking forward to it! Beginners need not be afraid to join!!! Any newer stamper will be taught what she needs to know too!

Thanks in advance. I love all of you!!! I can't believe the wonderful new women that I have met through my short journey with SU!

Happy Stampin'

Bella Rose Card Organizer...

This is the class I offered my customers for September. For a $15 charge, they got a full pack of the Bella Rose DSP, wire binding for the book, the RSVP pens filled with matching paper (see this hanging by ribbon off the book), ribbon, calendar pages, and all the cardstock needed for the project. I have already held one of the two classes, and everyone had a great time making these, although I must admit part of the fun was chatting with the girls, drinking coffee, and eating Terry's incredible homemade coffee cake. Here is a view of the inside front cover, I created stamp pockets, which perfectly hold a book of stamps to have on hand for mailing cards....
And next is a view of the inside cover and front calendar page. Each page uses a different paper from the Bella Rose DSP collection and the calendar pages are all stamped to match. Feel free to contact me if you want a soft copy of my Excel Spreadsheet where I created these. I searched everywhere and never found one that I liked, so I made my own. I am happy to share:)
Everyone had to option of adding extra pages for cards that were not for birthdays/anniversaries which is what the month pages are for. I simply typed up the words in font that matched the month names, and punched them out to label these pages. There is THANKS, GET WELL, SYMPATHY/THINKING OF YOU, and the last page says MISC CARDS.
That's it for this one. Hope you enjoy it. If you want more info on this, feel free to leave a post/comment and I will get back to you!

Flowers in the Window

This is a card that I should have had on here a month ago, but I just found it under my scrap paper! This was the swap I did for my hostess club's August swap. I am so in love with this new SU set, it's a Level 3 Hostess Set (free for hostesses!!!), called Window Dressing. Basically it is an adorable window with lots of cute images that can go in the window. Too cute. I stamped the window on Natural White paper, and using a craft knife, cut out the window panes. I then used the NEW Scallop Edge Punch to create curtains and added some DSP scraps to make wallpaper. I watercolored in the top 'fan light' window with a little bit of blue. Came out kind of dark in these pictures. I stamped the 3 flower image that also comes in this set, and cut each of them out (took forever, but was worth it!), then I colored them with SU markers, and used a 2-way Glue Pen to glue them in the window. The 'brick' on the house is SU Real Red cardstock dry embossed with a Fiskars plate. The fence is SU Close to Cocoa CS using the Scallop Edge along the top corner. I scored down each panel (between curves) to create wood slats. Added some wood grain with WWC and blender pens. Stamped, colored and cut out the little bird, who also comes in this set, used a glue dot to set him on the fence. Stamped the HB from It's Your Birthday Set, and threaded through some hemp twine, and tied around the fence. I put the whole card front together then glued it to a So Saffron base. Here is a close up of the flowers in the window...
Well, I need a better camera I think for all this detail stuff, but you get the idea. I hope you like this card! Oh, also, the shutters were scored along the 'hinged parts' and they are folded out so they are not laying flat. Lots of dimension on this one! Enjoy... It's a rainy day here AGAIN, so a card that's cheerful should make us all feel better.

A Gift for Grandma

I don't think there's much in this world more special than a Grandma. My grandma's birthday is the day before mine in late Sept. Our entire family (let's see how well this goes...lol!) is vacationing in Hilton Head in early Oct. So, since grandma lives hours away, and we only see her twice a year, I wanted to make something special to give her on the trip for her belated birthday. I made this card using the now retired Porcelain Prints DSP. Not Quite Navy and Mellow Moss were paired with it for this easy, but elegant card for Grandma. It matches her gift below.
This is a squash book that I made for my grandma's gift set! I made the covers out of chipboard coasters, covered them in paper, sanded the edges. I then attached the inside book part to the covers and decorated the front. Here's a view of it open...
The 4 big squares will hold pictures of my sister and I with our babies for my grandmother to forever cherish. She's one of those precious grandma's who is so proud of 'her babies'. The Very Vanilla triangles will hold journaling for me to write the dates of the photos, and little things the kids have been up to this year. Here is a close up of one of the inside panels...
Well, this picture is a little fuzzy, hopefully you still get the idea here. I stamped around the edges of the main photo mats, the edges will show around the pics, and I wanted it pretty! I stamped the word 'joy' on one of those pieces in NQN ink, as that's what her great-grandchildren are to her.

I will also be making a clear glass candy jar filled with her beloved sugar-free peppermints decorated to match this set. I will try to finish that tonight and add some pics of it so you can see.

What do you all think of this gift set I made for grandma??? I hope she loves it, as she is unquestionably the most wonderful woman I have ever met, and she has had such an amazing impact on my life.