Wild Rose Coaster Picture Frame

Here is another project made with those chipboard 4 x 4" coasters. I covered both sides of the coasters using several of the patterns from the Recollections Designer Paper then punched two 1/8" holes in each coaster. I stamped the rose and three sets of leaves from the Wild Rose stamp set (which incidentally, is the exact match to the flowers in the paper), cut them out and layered them on the left coaster. Then I added the oh, so sweet saying from the Buggies and Booties set (which was just perfect for this project) layered on Mellow Moss cardstock . On the right side I layered the picture of Ella on additional Mellow Moss cardstock. The Burgundy designer paper strips were edged using my retired Stampin' Up! scallop scissors and added to each outside edge. As a finishing touch, and because the saying inspired it, I added some touches of Dazzling Diamonds glitter with the Two-Way Glue Pen. : )

Finally to put it all together, I used Cranberry Stitched Grosgrain ribbon to tie the two sides together. I love this sweet way to display this special photo!

Thanks for coming by!

Au Chocolat Post-It™ Holder

Au Chocolat!! This new double-sided Designer Paper is enough to make your mouth water! : ) This Post-It note holder is made from Au Chocolat and two paperboard coasters cut to size, then decorated with more of the same paper, flowers and a stamp from the Office Accoutrement set. All these products are from the Spring Mini catalog.

Here is a side view:

The pink color is added to this paper by adding Pretty in Pink Classic Ink with a rubber brayer! This means you can have a veritable rainbow of papers by brayering your choice of ink color onto your piece of Au Chocolate paper! Now, that's artistic freedom! : )

The pink flower was stamped on Vanilla cardstock then cut out; the "leaves" are made by stamping an addition flower in Chocolate Chip ink then brayering Certainly Celery over it to give the same look as the paper. The "notes" stamp was stamped then punched out with the Word Window Punch.
The Au Chocolate paper under the brayer, holder and pad is how it looked before the pink ink was added. All products except coasters are Stampin' Up!™

Happy Friday, everyone!

Doodle This! Cool Caribbean

Here's that wonderfully whimsical set again...Doodle This! I am really enjoying stamping with it because it's just FUN!! Here I used a crisp color combination of Black, White and Cool Caribbean. The black card is layered with white then a piece of Cool Caribbean that goes edge to edge was added; isn't it amazing how that piece looks wider than the layers underneath but really they are the same? Optical illusion, I guess. I stamped the Cool Caribbean layer with one of the swirly stamps in black then used that wonderful Signo White Gel Pen for the highlights! (what a useful pen. I like it so much that I have two just in case my first one runs out! I don't want to be without!)☺

A smaller black layer came next and I stamped the swirly "stem" for the flower with White Craft Ink (another one of my favorite things... if you don't have it, you NEED it!) and also the greeting "Happy" from Warmest Regards. I only inked the Happy word from the "Happy Birthday" stamp; using your stamps in this manner makes them so versatile. I stamped the flower on Cool Caribbean with Black, highlighted it with the White Gel Pen then cut it out and adhered it with a Dimensional™. I added some paper piercing with the Crafter's Tool Kit™ to two corners of the black layer and also to the white above the Caribbean piece.

I wanted some ribbon to adorn the card; the card seemed to be calling for the black and white gingham. However, I wanted to kick it up a bit so I dyed it by running it across my Cool Caribbean inkpad until it was the right color, let it dry then added it, embellishing the black layer with a white organdy ribbon and a little more of the dyed gingham too. Don't you just love how we can customize our ribbon by dying it with our ink pads or ink refills and come up with just the color to match our projects because all SU colors coordinate!! What an boon to we stampers!

Oh, and the final touch for you glitter enthusiasts (all of us?), I use the Two-Way Glue Pen™ on the flower and added Dazzling Diamonds™ Glitter, which dazzles just like... well, uh, diamonds!! ☺

Happy Monday, everyone! Plan some time to stamp this week! It's a good stress reliever!

Treehouse Paper Coaster Calendar

I wanted to use one of the 4" x 4"pulpboard coasters I bought to make a calendar; I remembered this Treehouse Designer Paper that has numbers on it and decided to use it. The background of the paper is True Thyme and it also has Cranberry Crisp and Buckaroo Blue in it. For the base I adhered Cranberry Crisp cardstock to the coaster with Stampin' Up! Glue Stick (which is just wonderful for projects like this and quite inexpensive) then layered the Treehouse paper over it, again with Glue Stick. I accented it with three Buckaroo Blue tabs punched with the Round Tab Punch and then stamped with words from the Expressive Flexible Phrases. Images from Perennial Favorites set were stamped in Buckaroo Blue onto the Treehouse Paper and small circular images from Little Pieces (love that set!) were stamped and punched with the 1/2" circle punch then adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals™ to give the whole thing some variation in heights for interest. Thyme stitched grosgrain was added with Vintage brads for a hanger and is the finishing touch.

These little calendars can be hung or can be made without the hanger and a magnet back added. They make nice little gifts that can be tucked into a card for mailing.

All products with the exception of the coaster and calendar are ©Stampin' Up! Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme and Buckaroo Blue are three of Stampin' Up!'s 2006-2007 "In Colors" which will only be available through the end of June. You may want to stock up on some ink refills and cardstock before then! I'll be sorry to see them go but we will have some new colors for next year!

Have a good weekend!

Best Bar Codes

Best Bar Codes is a clever little set of 4 stamps found in the Spring Mini Catalog using, what else... bar codes! Each of the stamps has a different theme: Thank you, Get Well, Congratulations and Happy Birthday. These make great cards, gift tags or scrapbook page elements. The image was stamped with Vintage Violet ink on Whisper White and the flower was colored in with the coordinating Pixie Pink marker. The bar code area was inked with the violet and stamped on a scrap of celery, cut out and laid over the original image for a punch of color.

Pixie Pink paired with Certainly Celery was used as the base card and accent color for the Vintage Violet on today's card. The celery layer was accented by faux stitching using the Crafter's Tool Kit™ and a white Signo gel pen. Violet stitched grosgrain ribbon accents this layer which forms a pocket for the tag. The tag is stamped with a verse from Curvy Verses. All this was layered over a background of Vintage Violet stamped with the swirly stem from the Doodle That set in Craft White! I love that little set of four swirly stamps that coordinate with the larger Doodle This set!

Thanks for dropping by today! Keep on stampin'!

Spring Flowers "Lunchbox" tin

This adorable tin decorated with Spring Flowers Designer Paper can hold any of your treasures you choose; in this case, it's obviously designed to hold your stamped cards so you can find what you need in a flash! The large flower stamp is from the Looks Like Spring set; the smaller flowers are punched with the Spring Bouquet Flower punch. A colorful array of coordinating ribbons adorn the tin and handle for a finishing touch.

The inside of the lid is lined with the same paper and a small pocket is provided to hold stamps, etc. This tin contains three dividers just for an example of what you can do. A pen with matching paper inserted completes the ensemble.

I taught this project last year at our demonstrator's retreat. It was a huge hit and everyone had lots of ideas of what they could use these for and I'm sure you will too! Since we now have the fabulous new Rounded Tab Punch, we can use that to make some really cool dividers for these boxes. You can make a divider for each month of the year, each type of occasion (birthday, anniversary, get well, etc.) or whatever suits your particular needs! I may be doing a class for these in my home soon. All products ©Stampin' Up! except the tin and the pen.

Thanks for dropping by!

Polka Dots and Paisley

We made this card at a workshop last Thursday night using the Polka Dots and Paisley set, Petals and Paisley Designer Paper and the Petals jumbo wheel from the wonderful Spring Mini Catalog. Also featured was the Ticket corner punch to make those inverted curve corners which look so spiffy.

Cardstock is Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Whisper White and So Saffron (which was rolled with the same So Saffron ink using the Petals wheel). The flower was colored with the coordinating Stampin' Up! markers then stamped, giving a the flower and stem two different colors. I added the grosgrain ribbon in Apricot and Pink later before photographing the card (it's hard for me to make a card without ribbon! lol!). Some of the ladies even added a touch of glitter to the flowers to give their project some Spring Bling! : ) All products are Stamping Up!™

Have a Happy Thursday!

Note: "lol" is an internet acronym for "laughing out loud" : )

Office Accoutrement

Office supplies! I've always been fascinated with them, and now they are very trendy! ; ) Stampin' Up!™ even has a new office-themed set in the Spring Mini named Office Accoutrement! A memo, calendar, common office terms, even a couple of flowers comprise this unique set! See it here: http://tinyurl.com/2qhays

This Apricot Appeal card is first stamped with the small flower in the same color ink. Petals and Paisley Designer Paper is layered on Old Olive cardstock to make a base for the Memo stamp which includes the lines and brackets. The sentiment, "Birthdays are the Best" from the It's Your Birthday set, is stamped in Rose Red and the piece is then accented with a Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware circle clippie and pink grosgrain ribbon. The large flower (also from the O.A. set) is stamped in Pretty in Pink and cut out, then centered with the smaller flower stamped in Rose Red. Another of the same flower is stamped, cut out then added to the "Memo" piece for the finishing touch. I'm lovin' this new set and these beautiful papers! What fun!

Hip Hip Hooray!

I received this card from Jane Bosi in Wisconsin, a stamper in the same group as Leigh O'Brien. She made this adorable card using the Hip Hip Hooray set (p. 63). The lucious striped cardstock is from the Friends and Flowers Simply Scrapping Kit (Hostess Level I); I have seen the most gorgeous things made with that SS Kit!! Cool Carribean, Rose Red and Whisper White cardstock, Celery, Chocolate and Apricot grosgrain ribbons, Ticket Corner Punch, and brads from the Bold Brights assortment complete the supply list. The "friend" word is from Everyday Flexible Phrases (set of 56, p. 191), which has just been announced by Stampin' Up! to be on sale this month! Wow, good timing! Great card Jane! Thank you!

This is a fun set for adults and children's cards alike!

Happy Monday, everyone!