Loving this Lamppost

I know I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, but I feel that because I truly love the art of rubber stamping it's okay to check out, use, and even own a few of the other companies stamps. I really like the stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps . The images are so cute, and I love all of their Christian sentiment stamps. That being said, I bought some stamps from them the other day, and am really enjoying trying them out. Here are a couple of the things I've been working on.Stamps: Lamppost Expressions, Lamppost Blessings, Iron Fence
Ink: Basic Black, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Kiwi Kiss
Paper: Watercolor paper, Always Artichoke DSP, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Aquapainter, Sponge (for background), white gel pen, silver brads, Circle Rhinestone brads, white flowers, ticket corner punch
Stamps: Lamppost Expressions, Lamppost Blessings
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Watercolor paper, So Saffron, Baja Breeze DSP, Basic Gray
Accessories: Aquapainter, silver brads, sponge, white gel pen, Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon

Christmas Goodies

I found these tins at Target on clearance after Halloween for only $1, so I bought all that I could find. They already had the hot cocoa inside, so all they needed was a little personal touch. I had a lot of fun with the mug image. To get that look, I first added some liquid applique and then poured glitter over the wet applique. I then heated it, and voila, sparkling whip cream on top! Stamps: Espress Yourself
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Wintergreen DSP
Accessories: white Liquid Applique, Dazzling Diamonds, heat tool, sponge, 1/2" circle punch, Pewter brad, Pretty in Pink marker, Creamy Caramel marker, Sage Shadow marker, Chocolate Chip ribbon, Chit Chat rub-on

My 7 year old made this!

So my daughter, Matti, asked if she could participate in today's challenge, because she always sees me making cards. Of course I was elated that she wanted to join in. Keep in mind my daughter is only 7 years old. I think she made a fantastic card, don't you?Stamps: Wild About You
Ink: Taken with Teal, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Accessories: Flower Fusion, Pacific Point ribbon, Filigree brad, Summer Picnic rub-on

So I made a card today

I have not participated in one of Kristina Werner's color challenges for a while, and today seemed as good a day as any to get back on the saddle. So here you go.

Stamps: Season of Friendship
Ink: Taken with Teal, Pacific Point, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Pacific Point, Elegant Eggplant, Bali Breeze DSP
Accessories: silver brads, Cuttlebug, Top Note Die, Felt Flowers, Chit Chat rub-ons

An Election Day Color Challenge

With today being election day, I have been extremely nervous. I have continually had to remind myself that my God is bigger than any election, and that he ultimately has control over all things. Knowing that gives me more comfort, but I am still human. In the end, a president is still just a man (or a woman someday), and that my hope lies not in a president, but in an eternal God that sent his son to die for me. I can only imagine how nervous I would be if I were not a Christian. With the few jitters that I have, I have chosen to use them in a more productive way. So, I decided to try a color challenge from Splitcoast. The challenge for today was to use the colors, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, and Pretty in Pink. Also, for the first time ever, I tried sewing on a card. As you can tell, it was interesting to say the least. . .lol. I also used glitter on the steam, and Crystal Effects on the heart. I would love to hear what you think.Stamps: Espress Yourself
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink DSP, Whisper White
Accessories: Carousel Notes (Kiwi Kiss), pink brads, white gel pen, Scallop edge punch, Crystal Effects, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, blender pen, sewing machine

A Birthday Gift

There is actually a funny story attached to this birthday gift for a friend of my daughter's. I asked my daughter before we made this how to spell her friends name. She assured me that this was the correct spelling. My husband told me to call her parents to make sure, but I trusted that my daughter would know how to spell her friends name. Well, here is the finished project. Unfortunately at church the next day we discovered that this was not the correct spelling. Lol, I should have listened to my husband, but it was an easy fix. Thankfully we had another gift to go along with this one so the birthday girl did have something to unwrap. I took the box home, took off the buttons and letters, recovered it and reassembled it to have the correct spelling. She ended up liking the gift. To make it, we just used a wooden box we found at Joann's fabrics.

Stamps: none
Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive (both so put on the edges of the wood)
Paper: Rose Red, Bashful Blue, Junior Varsity DSP
Accessories: buttons, twine, Cricut Doodletype

Yet One More Gift Card Holder. . .

This monkey looks a little rough to say the least. I was trying to use flock, and for some reason it just was not turning out right. You get the idea ;). Anyway, it's another gift card holder that I made for a friend, and it uses the sames specs as the previous gift cards.

Stamps: Sock Monkey, Sock Monkey Accessories
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss
Paper: Hawaiian Papaya DSP, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Top Note Die, Kiwi Kiss ribbon, brown flock, black brads

Christmas Gift Card Holder

Here is a gift card holder using the Sizzix Bigz Santa Die. This one works the same as the first gift card holder I posted. So check that one out for more details.

Stamps: none. . .lol
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Riding Hood Red, Blush Blossom, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Holiday DSP
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sizzix Bigz Santa Die, Curly Punch, Chit Chat rub-ons, aqua painter, sponge, Top Note Die, gold pen, white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

Gift Card Holders. . .man I love these!

In the most recent Paper Crafts magazine they had a section on gift card holders, so I thought I would try my hand at some. I stuck with the same basic design for all of these, but was very pleased with how they turned out. The card itself is a pocket, with each half made out of a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of cardstock folded in half. As you can see in the second picture, the card images are only attached to one section of the card. The other section houses the actual gift card holder. The piece sticking out of that half is 4 1/4" x 2 3/4", and is actually attached inside the pocket. I'm not sure that I am making myself clear, so if it's wanted I may actually make a video tutorial. Let me know what you think.

Stamps: Season of Friendship, Heard from the Heart
Ink: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Really Rust
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Whisper White, Autumn Vine DSP
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Top Note Die, sponge, gold brads

A Fall Card

Here I was messing around with the remnants of the chipboard frame I had cut out from a previous card. I ended up using an exacto knife to cut out the square. I used all sorts of goodies on this card and I really like the way it turned out. I'm kind of in love with that Autumn Vine paper, but that might only last until the next great paper comes out. . .lol. Oh come on, you know what I'm saying :D

Stamps: Season of Friendship
Ink: More Mustard, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Really Rust, Autumn Vine DSP, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sizzix Bigz Frame, Top Note Die, More Mustard ribbon, circle punch, sponge, Chit Chat rub-ons

Finally some time. . .

After a month of crazy schedules I have finally found some time to post some of things I've made over the last month. While I may not have had time to put them on my blog, I have had some time to make a few things. This lapse in posting all started at the beginning of October when I went to Washington D.C. for a military function. From there it's been all about my kids school work and baseball/softball. Now that the sports are over, I can take a breath.

I have really been loving my Cuttlebug, and just recently discovered that I can cut through chipboard with it. I know, that's pretty common knowledge to most, but it was still pretty awesome when i actually did it :) I used a Sizzix Bigz die, and then covered it with Baja Breeze paper and random brads I had. The circle in the middle is chipboard from Stampin' Up! that I covered in Tangerine Tango cardstock. I then covered it with the 2-way glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Glitter makes everything better, don't you think?

Stamps: Best Yet (Hostess)
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Muirfield DSP
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sizzix Bigz Frame, chipboard, brads, Tangerine Tango ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, 2-way glue pen

Another RAK

My friend, Christi, sent this card because I helped her do some moving. She is so talented! Her faux ribbon is ingenious. Thanks, Christi!

Matti's & Michael's projects from some RAK

Here is what Matti made. Here is what Michael made.
My kids were very proud of their projects, so feel free to make comments about them. They would sure LOVE that!

RAK

Just the other day I received some RAK (random act of kindness) from a friend that just recently moved. Karen was someone that I did some cardmaking with, and I just got along with her so well. Well, since both of our husbands are in the Army, it was obvious that one of us would move at some point. It happened to be her. Karen, my friend Christi, and I have survived our husbands deploying together, and naturally we will have to go our separate ways. Christi will be moving in a couple of months :( In this life of military, someone is always moving. These are just two of the people that I have grown to love and have had some influence on in getting them to stamp. They have touched my life more than they will ever know, but I like to think that I shared a bit of myself in showing them some of what I love. Anyway, I digress, so back to what Karen sent. She sent a package of scrapbooking goodies! Right away I got to making some cute stuff. Naturally my kids wanted in on the creating, and since I knew Karen would love that. . .they got some of the RAK as well.
Included in the package: Fall tags, Fall Leaf stickers, Candy Corn stickers, a tube of Fall felt stickers, 2 tubes of ribbon, a package of buttons

It felt like Christmas, but since all of it was Fall themed, I made 4 of these little cuties! I had so much fun making these, because I got to use my Black Liquid Applique on the pumpkins. For those of you that don't know, when you heat that stuff it puffs up. It is so much fun to play with. I plan to make a few more goodies and post them later, but I thought I would get this out there and also post what my kids made. (They asked if I would) They are each going to have their own entry so check them out!

The Purse Scrapbook

I have been wanting to do one of these ever since I saw it on Jan Tink's website, which really has some amazing stuff on there. Anyway, I always seem to need a purpose to actually make 3-D art, so I chose to use my mother-in-law's birthdays as the excuse to make this.
I did have a lot of fun making this, and it really was quite simple, even though it may look a bit difficult. Using 2 square Chocolate envelopes from the Carousel Notes and a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock that measures 6" x 6 3/16", the body of the purse is made.

I wanted my colors to match the colors of the Autumn Vine DSP, so I had to make my own inserts for the pockets. I liked the look of the circles as well, so I did not scallop the edges.






The inside pocket is an envelope that I covered with some of the DSP after I ran it through the Cuttlebug on the embossing template D'vine Swirl. Inside the pocket I included a gift card.

Stamps: Season of Friendship, Cute & Curly
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, More Mustard, Really Rust
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, More Mustard, Whisper White, Autumn Vine DSP
Accessories: Circle Cutters, Carousel Notes envelopes, Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, Chocolate Chip ribbon, More Mustard ribbon, hemp, Curly Label punch, Round Tab punch, Photo Corners punch, Pewter Jumbo eyelets, Hodgepodge, Crop-a-dile, Chocolate Chip marker, White gel pen, A Perfect Day rub-ons, Flower Fusion 2, Rhinestone brads, Earth Elements buttons, small bit of velcro to close the purse

I know it's a lot, but if you have questions, just ask :)