Halloween Treat Bags

This Halloween I figured I would get my tush in gear early and I made these cute little goodies bags for our nephews and a few special neighbor kids. They were so simple and easy to make and required supplies I already had on hand. Look what a little preplanning will do.

October Card Class

I love fall in Wisconsin, so I was terribly excited to make some fall inspired cards for our October Card class. The first was a traditional image from Autumn Harvest, but I thought that the color combo of Peach Parfait and Marina Mist made this card a little unexpected.



One of the stampin' girls that joins us every month kept insisting that we use punches to create a fun little focal point for a card. I got my mojo working and scoured the net for this little gem. The owl is adorable, a little time consuming, but adorable none the less. He sits on the tree, positioned sideways, from the Seasons of Friendship stamp set.



Last, but not least, is my favorite card this month using the gorgeous Day of Gratitude set from the Holiday Mini. I really hope they pick this set up for the next main catalog. I am also obsessed with this color combo. Simply stunning.

August Card Class

This first card is one of my absolute favorite cards. It was inspired by the simplistic ature that using a monochromatic color palette could bring. I am in love with the hydrenga flower...and even more in love with the fact that it is a level 1 hostess set.



The second card here was an attempt at a man card. I always struggle with cards for men, but I thought that this could make a nice birthday, father's day, or summer party card. Lots of uses and super adorable.

Happy 50th Birthday Mom!

My mom is an amazing women who I have learned so much from over the years. She is a wonderful friend to others, always willing to help. She is creative (did you know we are a stampin' team?) and extremely smart. I am honored to be her daughter. For her 50th birthday I asked her what she wanted and she said Red Velvet cupcakes because she knows secretly I would like to have my own cupcake shop someday.

So here are her delicious Red Velvet cupcakes with Buttercream frosting. Don't they look yummy?? Happy 50th Birthday Mom! We love you!

May Card Class Projects

Our first project was a gift bag with a velum pocket on the front for your card. These would be great to use anytime. Amanda used the new Pedaling Past stamp set that is available in the Summer Mini Catalog. These sets will be available until August 31st.



Our second project was a Graduation Gift Card. You could put money inside or a gift card to their favorite place. What Graduate wouldn't like this.




And for our last project a Happy Birthday Bookmark Card. This was a fun project, but almost everyone forgot that we had to leave an opening for the bookmark to slide into and taped closed where the papers came together. If you are going to make these, don't forget ONLY use adhesive along the sides and the top and bottom of the card.

April Card Class Projects

This first card is the new Awash with Flowers Stamp Set. It's a two step stamping set, available in either wood block mount or the new clear mount. This set is so versital and absolutely fun to work with. The creations are endless.



The second card we used the new Messages for Mom. I love the way Amanda made the flower 3-D. This set can be used so many ways and not just for mom's. If you turn the Mom stamp upside down it's now a WOW stamp!



Our last card used the rock n roll technique. I love how simple this card is, but yet classy. It's a great card for spring or summer.

Lindsay and John's Anniversary Card

Today is our youngest daughter Lindsay's anniversary. I wanted to make a special card that represented this day for them. This card has very un- traditional colors for an anniversary card. I took the colors from Lindsay's wedding bouquets and added a photo of her bouquet to bring the card together. I really love the look of the tri-fold card.

March Card Class Projects

We had a good time making our cards and sour cream containers. Not everyone sends out Easter cards but we wanted to make at least one. We created this using a very hot card technique the easel card. These seem like they are complicated to make, but actually they are very easy. Of course the more layers you have it can become time consuming. We also used the chocolate bunny stamp. When you use tone on tone with the Chocolate Chip card stock and in it really looks like a chocolate bunny. We added a little dimension by clear heat embossing the bunny.

Sour Cream Container

Our second project for the night the Sour Cream Container. These are so simple, but so fun. We filled them with candy so someone will receive a sweet little treat. These can be really dressed up to use as party favors, wedding favors, Halloween Treats. The list is endless.

Something Sweet

For our last card Amanda created using the Something Sweet stamp set. If you wanted to use a punch to cut out the globe you could insert a sweet treat cup and fill it with real bubble gum balls. How fun would that be!

February Card Class Projects

The last month has been very crazy. We never posted the cards we made in our February Class. So finally here they are. We used the Fox and Friends from the Ocassions Mini catalog for this card. This set is so adorable. You can make adorable baby cards, or children's cards with this set.

Birthday Card

Our next card we worked with the Happy Moments set and the Whimsical Words set from the Sale A Bration catalog. I just love the font Stampin' Up! used for the Whimsical Words.

Sweet Pea Stitched Felt Cards

Our last card was workiing with the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt. At first I wasn't sure if I really liked this set or not, but there have been so many beautiful cards made using these. We also used the new Scallop Trim Border punch from the Sale A Bration catalog. Stampin' Up! will make this punch available for sale in the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog.

Elegant and Easy Part 2

Here is another example of an easy and elegant card. This one could again be used for a wedding, anniversary, birthday, or thank you card.

I have been a little crazy over the Kraft CS lately, but I almost enjoy that the color palette is simple for this card.



Paper: Kraft, Sage Shadow
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow
Stamps: Medallion background, Heard from the Heart
Accessories: Vanilla grosgrain riboon, Scallop circle punch, Kraft Corduroy button, twine, Eyelet border punch

Elegant and Easy

Who says an elegant looking card can't also be a snap to create? Not me. I love making simple cards, and often criticize myself for thinking they are too plain, but this card shows that a beautiful card doesn't need to take much time or supplies.

I think this card would be perfect for a spring wedding or even an anniversary card. You can easily change the colors and would still have a gorgeous card.



Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White (scrap), Lovely Lilac, and Almost Amethyst
Ink: Basic Black, Lovely Lilac, Almost Amethyst
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Happy Everything
Accessories: Wide Oval punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, silver brads

Shop Now

Fox and Friends for Baby

Have I told you yet how much I LOVE the Fox & Friends stamp set? I might have, but I'm going to tell you again. I LOVE Fox & Friends. Despite the fact that this set is adorable, it is also very versitile. I have two different cards highlighted here using this set. You could use these for baby announcements, baby shower invitations and thank you cards, children's birthday invites and cards, and list could just go on and on. Enjoy a little inspiration from the two simple card ideas.

Sweet Pea Stitched Felt Card

I have had the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt pieces for a while now. There they sat in my drawer looking all sad. I find I use the same colors and supplies that I always use because they are comfortable to use. I know what to expect from them. I have a difficut time breaking out of that box though. This card was my first attempt at using the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt pieces. I like them, but don't quite feel super comfortable with them. I like this card and it would be amazingly simple to create tons of these cards in no time at all.



Paper: Rose Red, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Rose Red
Stamps: Well Scripted (Clear- #117072, Wood- #118601)
Accessories: Sweet Pea Stitched Felt (#117266)

Shop Now

Fundraiser Basket- Cards in Bloom

Last weekend we had a fundraiser at school. We had restaurants donate food, silent auction items, and presentations of student work. Overall, the day was a success. I donated this Cards in Bloom pot to the silent auction. I have admired many of these that I have seen online before and thought I'd give it a try. It was a simple and easy item for me to donate. Most of the cards I had on hand, so the most difficult part was attaching the small clothes pins to the floral stakes. Easy peasey!

Birthday Boy

Things have been crazy around here. I haven't had much time to "play" in my craft room. I took some of that time back this weekend. Both of my nephews have birthdays in March. Logan is turning 9 and Austin is turning 1. I took some inspiration from the FTL 76 and used that simple design to create a boyish birthday card.



I am terrible at making anything that is masculine. I used some old DSP that I dug out, Hey There Sunshine, as well as some Pacific Point (retired), Old Olive, and Dusty Durango CS. The number 9 is just a foam sticker I had. Simple, cute, and not girly. Just what I was going for. Check another thing off my list!



Paper: Hey There Sunshine DSP (retired), Pacific Point (retired), Old Olive, Dusty Durango
Ink: Basic Black
Stamps: Party Hearty
Accessories: Buttons, Small Library Clips, twine, dimensionals

So I'm back at it again. I'm trying out another Sale-a-Bration set called Happy Moments. This time I thought I would make two cards that used the same color combinations and could potentially be a part of a card set. For the first card, I played with the presents stamp and the "Happy Birthday" phrase. I used some More Mustard DSP along with a large red button.



Here is a close up of the presents. I used some Stickles on the presents and around the cirlce punch to draw attention to this as the focal point.



The second card uses the birdcage and the "Thank You" stamps. I really enjoy this birdcage. It think it is cute. I roughed up and sponged the edges of the birdcage image. I really liked the way this turned out.



Here are the two cards together. You could make a set of four cards, using the flower stamp and cake stamp for the other two cards.



Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay
Paper: More Mustard DSP, Bermuda Bay, Kraft, Whisper White
Stamps: Happy Moments
Accessories: Bermuda Bay marker, More Mustard marker, Real Red marker, Real Red button, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon, 1 3/8" Cirlce punch, Twine, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Good Neighbors Challenge

Hello everyone-
So I've been a bit skeptical about this year's Sale-a-Bration catalogue. The punch is amazing, but I wasn't "in love" with everything. I thought it was cool that if we didn't like what they put in the catalogue that we could choose from the regular catalogue. So needless to say, I hardly got anything from the Sale-a-Bration catalogue. Mom did though and of course I borrowed her stuff. Guess what? I think I'm a little sad I didn't get some of these sets. I guess it's a good thing that Sale-a-Bration lasts until the end of March.

My first card was inspired by Pink Elephant Challenge #50 and Color Throwdown #76.
Here's what I was working with...





Here is my card. I used the Good Neighbor stamp set and the Scallop Trim border punch from the Sale-a-Bration catalogue. The "Let's Celebrate" is from Family Phrases. I think this card would make a cute Housewarming card or invite. Enjoy!



Ink: Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron
Paper: Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Whisper White, So Saffron
Stamps: Good Neighbors, Family Phrases
Accessories: Aqua Painters, Photo Corner punch, Scallop Trim border punch, large Scallop punch, large circle punch, Soft Subtles watercolor crayons

A Challenge? Or Is It? Part 2

So it wasn't enough for me to stop at one card for this challenge, but I was inspired to make two. This second one had a little more whimsy which I thought would make a cute baby shower card. Here were the challenge details...



This time I actually made the stripes and I used the Fox & Friends set for the monkey. I am absolutely obsessed with this set. I used the button for his tummy.





Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Fox & Friends (#117020), Warm Words (#115108)
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon (#117287), Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons (#114339)

Shop Now

A Challenge? Or Is It?

As I was searching through some of my favorite stamping blogs (I try to do this about once a week) I found a very cool challenge that I just knew I wanted to participate in. I haven't submitted anything to a challenge in quite a while and even though this time of year is hectic for me, I wanted to do it for me. So here was the challenge...use Chocolate Chip, Elegant Eggplant, and Kraft cardstock. Here's the kicker...I also needed to incorporate stripes into my card.



I thought these were interesting colors to put together. Dark and rich, but the part I felt would really be a challenge was the stripes. Yikes! Well here was my first card. Cute?



I also added a puffy flower which I found on Dawn McVey's blog. She is brillant and has amazing cards. I think the flower adds something special, don't you?




Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Elegant Eggplat
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Short & Sweet (#115060)
Accessories: Modern Label Punch (#116630), Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon (#111367), Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons (#114339)

Shop Now

Valentine Mini Mailbox

I was walking through Target the other day to get a new black printer ink, when my little eyes spied the Mini Mailboxes in the Dollar Spot. I bought some white ones last year to make for my sister's baby shower, but I thought I would pick up another and try a Valentine one this time.

I am seriously in love with the Sending Love Designer Paper, so I decided to put some of that on my Mini Mailboxes. I love that the glitter is built right into the paper. It gives my project a little glitz without the mess. So cute! Easy to make and the hardest part is deciding who to give them too!





Once I decide the lucky recipents of these lovely mailboxes, I will fill them with treats and make a tag to go over the flag. You never know the treasures that Target's Dollar Spot may provide.

Paper: Sending Love Designer Paper (#117153)
Ink: None
Stamps: None
Accessories: Real Red Grosgrain ribbon

Shop Now

Acetate Valentine's card

When I sat down on Sunday to make our last card/project for Monday's class (yikes) I thought about doing an acetate card. We haven't done these in class yet, even though my sister made them for her Christmas cards and I have done some in other classes. I love the Love You Much set and thought I would use the cute little birds. I have also been playing with the Sending Love DSP, which I also love. This was what I came up with. Nothing spectacular, but cute.



Paper: Melon Mambo, Sending Love Designer Paper, Chocolate Chip, Acetate Paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Well Scripted, Love You Much
Accessories: Corner Rounder, Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon

January Card Class

This month we focused on Valentine cards and treat holders. With all the new beautiful stamps available for this time of year, how could we not take advantage of it?

Our first card was a little involved, sorry Wendy. It is using Loads of Love, which I am sorry to say I have owned for 3 years, but never used until now. I think it is an adorable set, but I never know how to use it.



Our second card is a simple heart card, using the new I {Heart} Hearts. I love this set and it is by far one of my new favorites. I purchased the clear mounted set and I must admit that I really like them.



Our last project is courtesy of Splitcoast Stampers. It is a matchbook candy holder. I loved this adorable way to give one piece of chocolate. I need to keep a check on my sweets so this is a cute way to feed a sweet tooth without going overboard. What a "sweet" gift for a child, co-worker, or teacher.





Keep your eyes peeled soon to You Tube for our tutorials for this month.