fresh & fun

Today is a BIG day! Our Craft Lounge’s new sets are released today and to celebrate that there will be a blog hop. Make sure you visit each blog and leave a comment. You can win one of the new sets on each blog!!! The blog hop ends at midnight CST.

You can win the set Love Notes on my blog. I love that set. The swirl, the backgrounds, the gorgeous hearts….I love them all.

For my sample, I created a matchbook candy holder. I missed making a sample for this great tutorial Theresa wrote during our Holiday Blitz. Surprise, surprise…..I used Chocolate Chip cardstock as my matchbook holder base. The edges were sponged with Walnut Stain ink.

The 2 1/4″ square of Sundress paper was distressed, sponged with Vintage photo ink and sewn to a 1/4″ bigger piece of Vanilla Cardstock that had been sponged as well. A 1 1/8″ x 1 1/2″ piece of Coastal - Curious Double Take paper was distressed, sponged and adhered to the left hand side. Small clear Kaiser Rhinestones were added. The layers were attached to the matchbook with Scor-Tape.

Cream Taffeta Ribbon was tied around the matchbook. Next I punched a scalloped circleout of Chocolate Chip cardstock and sponged the edges. I attached it over the ribbon and small paper piece with dimensionals. For the circle center, I stamped the solid background of Love Notes in second generation Vintage Photo, then added the script background in full Vintage Photo. I punched out a 1 3/8″ circle, distressed the edges and sponged them with Vintage Photo. Last I added a stitched edge.

I stamped the heart in Walnut Stain, cut it out, sponged it first with Fired Brick, then with Walnut Stain ink. I attached it with dimensionals over my circle, then added Crystal Effect and sprinkled Dazzling Diamond Glitter over it. The sentiment is from the new set The Journey. It was stamped in Walnut stain, punched out with the small oval punch and sponged with Vintage Photo ink.

I covered the side behind the pocket with Vanilla/Sundress layers that mirrored the ones on the front. The pocket was covered with a piece of Coastal - Curious Double Take paper. Three Clear Circle Rhinestone Bradshold the pocket to the matchbook (along with more Scor-Tape). I punched out a half circle out of the top of the pocket with the 3/4″ circle punch to make it easier to get to the chocolate.

The inside top flap was layered with a 2 3/4″ square of Very Vanilla cardstock. It had been sponged with Vintage Photo ink. The swirl from Love Notes was stamped randomly on the edges with the same ink. A 5/8″ x 2 3/4″ strip of the Coastal paper was added to the lower edge of the square and partly sewn on.

A small heart was stamped, colored and treated like the big heart in the front and adhered to the flap with dimensionals to finish it off. Please excuse the bad quality of my pictures. It was dark when I took them. I usually only photograph with natural light. But the last few days it was hard since it starting getting dark around 4:30 p.m. I miss the South!

Have fun blog hopping and checking out the other blogs.  Don’t forget to post at each blog for a chance to win! You can find a complete listing of the blogs on theOur Craft Lounge blog. Or check the list below!

Bird and Groom -Beth
Hang it Up Cupid - Carol, Vicki
Hearts & Hugs - Holly, Joy
The Journey - Charmaine
Life is - Amber
Love notes - Heather, me
Out for a spin - Pam
Fairy Dust is a must - Broni, Cami
Grandma’s Truffles - Val
Jungle Love - Deb, Kendra
Shamrock Blessings - Cindy
Sweet on you - Kisa
Wanted - Lila

Come back at 9:00 a.m. for another blog post. I know…ambitious me. I am in two blog hops today! Good luck with winning the OCL sets.

Hugs and smiles

Rick’s boss’s wife was sick. I wanted to give her some German chocolate…German chocolate makes everything better.

So I bought another candle holder and filled it in different kind of German chocolates. I love that I can some German chocolates in the commisary. To dress it up I added Olive Silk Ribbon from May Arts and a layered tag.

For the tag I cut three different size leaves out of a Manila file folder with the Maple Leaf dies from Spellbinders. Those are only available until the end of the month. I am glad I got them. They look so pretty. For the biggest leaf, I folded some of the manila folder in half and cut the leaf so it wasn’t cut at the stem and create a card. Each leaf was sponged with Fired Brick, Scattered Straw and a touch of Peeled Paint Distress ink. I stamped Floral Edge over the leaf in Scattered Straw. The sentiment is from Verve’s stamp set Wishing You in Walnut Stain ink. For a finishing touch I added Crackle Accent over the leaves.

The inside was sponged the same way. The rest of the sentiment was stamped inside.  And here is the finished candle holder. I know it’s not the best shot. I tried to shoot it out of my front door.

And yes, I know….Ghiradelli isn’t German chocolate….but I thought it would fit good with the colors of the other chocolates I chose.

Have a great day! Hugs and smiles

I made this meander book so I could shoot a video tutorial for the little book. We had several questions about how to fold those pages.

The patterned paper is from Fancy Pants All Fall paper pack. Ribbon is from Stampin’ Up!, Flower from Daisy Doodles Prima Flowers, the button from Basic Grey. The button was threaded with waxed linen. I love that thread. It’s a bit sticky so you just have to tie it once and it sticks!

The sentiment is from Unity’s Bevy of Butterflies. It was stamped in Walnut Stain Distress ink on White cardstock. Floral Edge was stamped over it with Old Paper ink. The sentiment was then glued in an Ornate plate and attached to the book front.

The inside pages were created from a Chatterbox paper. They were stamped with the Floral Edge stamp in Shabby Shutter and layered with a 2 1/2″ square of Chocolate Chip cardstock. I left the right side blank for photos. The left side was layered with a sponged and stamped piece of Vanilla cardstock that was stamped with a swirl from Growing in Unity in Frayed Burlap.

Here is the video for the Meander book:

If you would like to see one of those Meander books up close and personal, add your info to this Mr. Linky. I will raffle the two meander books I made for this tutorial away. I will pick winners on Wednesday around noon EST.

Today is the last day of the Holiday Blitz week on Splitcoaststampers.  Angie Tieman came up with a Pizza box covered with Top Note die cuts last year and she agreed to write a tutorial for us. Make sure to check out her Top Note Box tutorial. It’s easy, fast and GORGEOUS!

I used Kraft colored cardstock for my box and stamped images from the Vintage Christmas set from Crafty Secrets on the box with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. I sponged the edges of all pieces with Frayed Burlap as well.

The main image was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on Neenah Solar White cardstock and colored it in with Copic Markers (W00, W1, W3, Y28, E44, R29, R59, Yr14, YR21, E30, BG96, E51, R12).  The image was cut out with Oval Nestabilities, layered on a slightly bigger black oval and a scallop red oval. Green May Arts Silk ribbon was tied around the box and the image was attached over it with dimensionals.

To finish the box off I added some Dimensional pearls on the Holly on the Santa hat and another Snowflake Medallion on the top left. The snowflakes were cut out with Create a flake 1 dies from Spellbinders, sponged with Shabby Shutters ink and Shard Vintage Glitter was added with Crystal Effect.  The medallion was topped off with a button from my Mom’s stash and Linen thread.

Here is a video for the visual learners:

Today’s Holiday Blitz tutorial is written by AJ Otto. She created the tutorial based on Taylor Van Bruggen’s idea from a few years back. This project is fun, but definitely not a fast one. At least it wasn’t for me.

It took me a while to decide on what paper to use. I finally settled on My Mind’s Eye Just Dreamy paper, thinking it would great to make a Friend folder for Rebecca. With us moving every two to three years, she now has friends in three States and is always asking me for their addresses. After I finished the folder I showed it to her and she said I could keep it (OUCH!). She wouldn’t know what to write in it. Oh well…I have a new address folder! LOL

The title was stamped with JustRite stampers Times New Roman Upper and Lower Case letters. I don’t have a rectangle wood stamper, but the letters fit perfectly in my oval one. I love how everything mixes and matches with Just Rite. And now that you don’t have to condition the stamps before using them….I love them even more.

After folding my File Folder, I sponged the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress ink, then added the paper. Next I machine stitched around the paper and zigzagged a line between my chocolate strip and paper on the lower part of the file folder.

The Chocolate Chip base for the pages measures 3 3/8″ x 5 3/4″. I rounded the edges with a large corner rounder (retired Stampin’ Up!) and layered a 1/8″ smaller piece of Vanilla cardstock over it. That piece had been stamped with Unity’s gorgeous Solid Posy stamp with either second generation Shabby Shutter or Scattered Straw Distress ink. I alternated those inks. The green file folder slots got yellow flower pages, the red and yellow slots got green flowers on their  pages.

 A 1 1/4″ x 3 1/4″ strip of patterned paper was adhered to the lower part of the page. Then I stitched all the pages as well. To hide the stitches I added a backing to each page. The backing was cut as the front Vanilla layer and stamped with the Floral Edge stamp from Unity.

The first page in each folder slot was embellished either with Daisy Doodles Prima Flowers or Basic Grey buttons. I created two pages for each folder slot.

I cut another piece of Manila file folder matching my front. I decorated it similar to the inside pages. Before taping that front on with Scor-Tape, I tied 1″ wide May Arts Chocolate Satin Ribbon around the folder as my closure.

I hope you have a wonderful day! My oldest is turning 15 today. He will be able to get his learner’s permit in 1/2 year. YIKES!

Hugs and smiles

Today’s Holiday Blitz tutorial is for a double ball ornament. It was written by Carol Dunstan. It’s an easy, fast and fun project that I plan on repeating with Rebecca. I think she will enjoy making some of these ornaments.

That hatpin, pearl and glass bead are all from Stampin’ Up!’s Pretties kit. The paper is from My Mind’s Eye The Merry Days of Christmas Pack. The ribbon is White Taffeta ribbon.

Here is a quick video for the visual learner:

I love Gina K’s Holiday Cheer set. So when I needed to come up with a variation picture for the Luminaria tutorial, I grabbed that set.

The Riding Hood cardstock base was stamped with the snowflakes from the set in Cranberry ink from Adirondack and sponged with the same color. I added a chocolate Chip cardstock strip on the top that had been punched with an EK Success border punch (sorry….forgot the name).

The windows and the Chocolate chip frames were cut with Label Four Nestabilities. The frame was sponged with Expresso ink before I adhered them to the window with Mono Multi liquid glue.

The bird was stamped in Expresso ink on Vellum. I used my heat gun to dry it, turned it over and sponged Butterscotch and Cranberry over the back. 

To finish it off, I created another snowflake medallion. It was sponged with Cranberry ink in the center and with Antique Linen Distress ink on the edges. Shard Glitter and a button from my Mom’s stash finished it off. It was adhered to the Luminaria front with dimensionals.

Make sure to check out today’s Holiday Blitz Tutorial. Julie Buhler shows us how to make a Window Treat box.

Have a great day! Hugs and smiles

Today’s tutorial is for a simple Luminaria. They can be created lots of different ways, but I thought I start showing an easy one, all out of one piece of cardstock. The images and the background were printed out with the new Flower Soft CD-Rom. It contains some super cute images and helps to make some quick cards and projects.

The ovals were cut with Oval Nestabilities (of course….I seem to not be able to create one project without Spellbinders products. I am truly hooked on those!). Vellum Paper was taped behind the window.

The images were cut out and taped to my box with Scor-Tape and dimensionals. Polar White Flower Soft was added to the trees and ground.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

Our annually Tutorial Holiday Blitz week is going on at SCS right now. I already missed alerting you about the first two wonderful tutorials, a scrapbook wallet tutorial written by Makeesha Byl and a Matchbook Candy holder by Theresa Momber. I am sorry about that. I was crazy busy packing up sold Stampin’ Up! products and shipping them out. Thank you all for helping me make room in my craft room for new stamps from other companies!

Today’s tutorial is written by Libby Hickson and is for a Snowglobe card. She had posted one last winter and I had asked her right there and then if she would write this for us for this year’s Holiday Blitz. How fun to see one of those on the back of the Winter Mini catalog from Stampin’ Up! earlier this year.

My card is pretty simple. The cute little polar bear and the background are from Flower Soft. Flower Soft has some cute new products coming out. Make sure you come back tomorrow to learn more about them. The sentiment is from Verve. I received it as a thank you with an order last fall. Julee is so sweet to always include a little thank you stamp with each order. It was stamped with Tuxedo Black ink on Gina K’s Pure Luxury Cardstock. It was punched out with the large oval punch from Stampin’ Up! and layered on a Black Scallop Oval Punch-out.

The patterned paper is My Mind’s Eye Merry Days of Christmas. I tied 1″ celery Satin ribbon around the snow globe bottom. I can’t help by make more of those adorable snowflakes, Sherry Cheever showed us how to make. I made a smaller version that I sponged with Faded Jeans Distress ink and sprinkled with Shard Vintage Glass Glitter. The button is from Basic Grey and was tied on with waxed linen.

I hope you have time to check out the new tutorials, let the authors know how wonderful their projects are and try them out.

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

Yesterday was the birthday of an acquaintance of mine. She is the Mom of Lucas and Rebecca’s friends and I see her almost every day. I drive the kids to school, she picks them up. So when her daughter told me in the morning that it was her Mom’s birthday and that she likes Twix, I knew I had to create something. I bought a candle holder and filled it up with Snack size Twix.

I tied red May Arts Silk ribbon around the candle holder and cut cardstock with Nestabilities Label 1 to create a tag. The image is from this month KOM stamp set from Unity. It was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Gina K.’s Pure Luxury Cardstock, cut out with Label 1 Nestabilities and was colored with Copic Markers (YR21, YR23, YR24, R14, R24, R29).  I tried to get close to the Twix colors with my copic marker choices.

After I adhered it to the tag base, I added Stardust Stickles over the Dragonflies and Crystal Effect over the rest of the colored part. Tiny Twinkles were adhered all around the image with Quickie Glue.

For the inside of the tag I stamped the image again on a Label 1 cutout, this time with Adirondack Butterscotch Dye ink. The sentiment is from Verve’s Circular Sayings and was stamped in Tuxedo Black ink.

I hope you have a happy and safe Halloween! Hugs and smiles!