Spooky Spiders and Jack O Lanterns

This is a card I made my 1 yr old niece for Halloween. The base is SU Basic Black, as are the layers. The patterned paper is once again, from the $1.00 scrap pack I found in the Target Dollar Spot last week. The Jack O Lantern strip was just pumkpins, but I took the face from Autumn Harvest and stamped on them to make 'em spooky, but not too spooky for a baby! The word EEK under the spider is just written by me with a Basic Black SU marker in squiggles. And the best part....

It's a spiral pop-up card!!! Someone on SCS recently posted a tutorial on this technique, however, me being me, found a way to make it differnt. My pop-up is done with acetate, not CS, so you don't really see it when you open it. The Jack O Lanterns that pop-up are again just cut out from the cheap paper I found, and stamped with the face. Sorry, about the writing showing, I didn't think to photgraph it till I had already written in it. Hope you like it!

Thanksgiving Napkin Card...What???

Well, now I can say that I have done it all with napkins. From glass block nightlights, to home decor, to tile coasters, I have put napkins on every possible surface. This is the first card I have ever made with a napkin! I love it. It's no secret that Fall is my favorite season, the colors of Fall are my favorites, and Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday. So, to all my loyal blog followers, you'll be seeing a lot of Fall!

This card is 5 3/8" x 5 3/8" square. I used Really Rust CS for the base. Here's how I did the napkin technique (I made this up today while straightening the box I store my napkins in!!!). Odds are, your napkin is more than 1 ply, you will need to separate all layers, until you have only the top image layer of your decorative napkin. I cut a piece of Kraft CS down to 5.25x5.25" and with my fingers applied a thin layer, completely covering the CS of Aileens Tacky Glue (you can also use Mod Podge, Aileens is quicker). Lay the sticky CS face down on top of the napkin (you will not want to lay the napkin on top of CS it will not go down without wrinkles/bubbles). With your brayer/rubber attachment (or scrap paper and your hand), smooth down the back of the CS. Turn over to reveal the image. Brayer the top lightly again to smooth any wrinkles. With a hobby knife, trim the excess napkin off. Now you have a card front that is gorgeous, fairly quick, and SUPER EASY! The CS will take a few minutes to dry. I suggest pressing it in a book between layers of wax paper to keep the CS straight, it's easier to glue to your card if it isn't rolled up from being wet.

Then I stamped Happy Thanksgiving from SU Holidays & Wishes on Kraft with Choc Chip ink. Wrapped gold cording (SU) around a small Really Rust piece of CS, tape down. Attach sentiment with dimensionals over the corded layer. I tied Choc Chip ribbon around the top, tied gold cording around the knot.

If I keep this up, I will have all my Thanksgiving cards done in record time! I usually only send them to family, with all I am whipping up this year, friends might get one too! I did this card when my youngest went down for an early nap, it only took me 20 minutes to complete (with drying time). I hope you'll try this for yourself!

Polished Thanksgiving

One of my favorite techniques is Polished Stone. Inevitably, I use it a lot, then I forget about it, then I always come back to it. It's the richest looking background, which I feel allows you to make a simple card, a WOW card. Here is my first Thanksgiving card for this year. I did it today at naptime. I am considering doing this for my Oct Thanksgiving Card for my club. What do you think?



The base is Chocolate Chip. The polished background is of course, done on Glossy White Cardstock. I used Encore (from SU) Metallic Gold, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and More Mustard reinkers for the stone. I layered a piece of Kraft cardstock on the bottom part of the stone piece, and stamped Happy Thanksgiving from SU Holidays & Wishes in Choc Chip ink. Taped down Old Olive oval and ran old olive ribbon around the layers, taping behind. Glued face onto card. Ran Choc Chip ribbon around cardfront and tied it right of center over sentiment. Stamped pumpkin from SU Autumn Harvest on Naturals White CS. Colored with Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie WWC using blender pens. Taped that down over large oval and ribbon layers. Inside is layered with Naturals White CS and another small pumpkin (from same set) stamped on bottom right corner. I am calling it done, but I still feel like it needs some gold cording or something. Sometimes less is more, so I am leaving it alone! What do you think?

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!