fresh & fun

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

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!

For yesterday’s Product Focus, I thought it would be perfect to create an updated tutorial for the Shaker card. It was one of my first tutorials and needed a new look. Why didn’t anyone tell me that flash photography and tutorials don’t mix well, especially when using Acetate. LOL

We had a lot of questions about the Spellbinder image in the SCS gallery with the Pumpkin frame. I thought it would be great to use that in the tutorial to show how it’s done.

I cut my Pumpkin Frame with Pumpkin Nestabilities out of Dusty Durango textured cardstock. I also cut a Pumpkin out of Acetate and Grandma’s kitchen patterned paper. My shaker was filled with Crafty Sparkles - Chunky Crystal.

My card base is Chocolate Chip cardstock cut with the Clear Scallop Square Big Shot die from Stampin’ Up! I love to use that die to create card bases. What’s not to love about a square scallop card, right? LOL

A 3 3/4″ square of Whisper White cardstock was layered with a 3 9/16″ square of All Fall Fancy Pants Patterned Paper. The Patterned Paper was stamped with a the leaf swirl stamp from Simple Blessings in Vintage Photo Distress ink and sewn to the White layer. The horizontal strip measures 1 5/8″ x 3 1/2″ and from the Grandma’s Kitchen paper collection. It was stamped with Unity’s Giving it all meaning in Vintage Photo. The edges were distressed and sponged. I used a triple stitch to sew the strip to the square layeres and tied 5/8″ wide Organdy ribbon around it. The bow as topped off with a Recollections Brad (Michaels).

The Pumpkin Frame was sponged with Really Rust and Chocolate chip ink. I small bow was made out of SU Mistletoe ribbon with the help of my BowEasy. The sentiment is from Verve’s Hello Pumpkin set. It was stamped in Vintage Photo on White Cardstock, cut out with the small oval punch and sponged with Old Paper Distress ink. One of the leaves from Simple Blessings was stamped over it in second generation Old Paper ink for added texture.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

Today’s Product Focus was a really tough product to review. Spellbinders Seasonal Dies.  I LOVE Spellbinder Products. Love them and am addicted to them. It was fun to play with them and easy to review them. I wish I could have just posted one word, AWESOME! It describes what I think about them perfectly.

Ever since I saw Sherry Cheever create her first Snow Flake Medallion, I knew I needed her to write a tutorial for it on SCS. Well, she has and it’s featured today. If you have the Spellbinders Create a Flake 1 dies, make one….they are so beautiful. If you don’t have those dies yet. You better buy them fast. They are only available until the end of November! I got mine on Monday!

My card base is a 5″ x 10″ piece of Chocolate chip cardstock folded in half. The edges were sponged with Adirondack Expresso Dye ink (I bought all new inks. I am excited about the colors the Adirondack inks come in! November first I can start selling off my Stampin’ Up! merchandise. Look for a big for sale post.)

A 4 1/2″ square of My Mind’s Eye - the Merry Days of Christmas Patterned Paper was adhered to a 3/8″ bigger piece of Whisper White cardstock, sanded and stitched.

The sentiment layer was cut with Label 1 Nestabilities out of Whisper White and Chocolate Chip Cardstock. The greeting is from Unity’s Embellished Season stamp set and was stamped in Expresso Dye ink. Keeping the Label die on, I placed some snowflakes I had cut with the Create a Flake 1 dies over the layer with removable adhesive and sponged Adirondack Aqua ink over it. The white layer was adhered to the Chocolate chip label, after that had been sponged with Expresso ink. The white spots from the Snowflakes were covered with Crystal Effect and Dazzling Diamond Glitter was added over that.

My Snowflake layers were cut out of Neenah white cardstock ( I LOVE how thick this is), sponged with Adirondack Shell Pink, covered with Crystal Effects and Vintage Glass Glitter. I wish I had the Vintage Shard Glass Glitter Sherry used. I ordered it this morning from Cindy.  Once they were dry I added a Basic Grey Button with wire and adhered it to my card with dimensionals. 1″ White Organdy Ribbon finishes off my card front.

The inside of the card uses the same paper as the front. The blue snowflakes are the ones I had used to sponge the sentiment layer. I added Crystal Effect over them and Dazzling Diamond glitter. The button is one from my Mom’s stash. It was tied with Dark brown waxed Linen.

Helen Orr posted a cute Watering can a while back. I asked her if she could write a tutorial for SCS and she did! For the video, I created this sample.

I printed the template on Kiwi Kiss cardstock, cut it out and scored all the score lines. Next I stamped the bottom of each watering can side with a stamp from Unity’s “Growing In Unity” stamp set. I added some highlights with a white gel pen and taped the sides together with Scor-Tape, forming the watering can. The edges were sponged. Handle and spout were added.

I added 1″ white May Arts Satin Ribbon to the top of one of  the sides. A sentiment from SU’s Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, punched out with the small oval punch and sponged with Pumpkin Pie. Butterflies were punched out of Summer Sun cardstock, sponged with Pumpkin Pie and adhered to the watering can. A few tiny Twinkles were added.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

Harmonious Sprig is another gorgeous new background from Unity.  I used it to create a card for one of the Splitcoast Sketch challenges.

The image was stamped on Natural White Cardstock in Tuxedo Black ink and watercolored with Ranger Distress inks (Vintage Photo, Old Paper, Shabby Shutters). White Liquid Pearls were added over the pines and branch. White Organdy Ribbon from May Arts was tied around the lower half. One of my Mom’s old buttons was tied with Linen Thread around the ribbon.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 12″ piece of Textured Chocolate Chip cardstock folded in half. A 4″ x 5 3/4″ piece of Natural White was layered with 1/4″ narrower pieces of Basic Grey Fruitcake and Wassail Paper. The layers were stitched together. A 2″ x 4″ piece of Textured Chocolate Chip Cardstock was punched with the Eyelet border punch and adhered slightly above the center of the card. Three white brads were added to the left of the image.

Bella’s WCMD Challenge was to create a  card that shows what your girlfriends like to do in 80s colors. I don’t own any Bella stamps yet (they are ordered, though…can’t wait for them to get here). I figured eating baked goodies is always something I enjoy doing with friends.

The stamp is from Unity’s August 09 KOM stamp set. It was stamped in Tuxedo Black ink on Gina K.’s Pure Luxury White Cardstock. It was cut out with Label 3 Nestabilities, airbrushed  and colored with Copic Markers (YG06, G07, BG000, BG00, BG02, RV10, RV14, E53, E55) and Spica glitter pens Melon and Pink.

Chunky Crystal sparkles were added to the cupcake frosting before the entire glass bowl was covered with Crystal Effects. The image was layered on a bigger black Label 3 die cut. a White Gel Pen dotted border was added.

The card base is a 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half. It was layered by a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of Whisper White folled by a 1/4″ smaller piece of Gyspy Basic Grey patterned paper. The horizontal strip measures 1 7/8″ x 5″ and is from the same paper pack. A thin strip of Basic Black cardstock was taped underneath. It had been punched with the scallop Edge Punch. 1″ wide White Organdy Ribbon from May Arts was tied around the strip.

The sentiment is from the same Unity Kit. It was stamped in Tuxedo Black ink on Gina K.’s white cardstock. It was cut out with the large oval punch, airbrushed and taped to the left of the image. A Prima Flower was attached with a Rhinestone brad and small Rhinestones taped under the sentiment to finish off the card.

I love the new backgrounds from Unity! They are so pretty. I used the Lovely Lilac one for a color challenge a while back. I thought the soft colors would go lovely with this stamp.

The image was stamped in Soft Suede ink on Kraft Cardstock and colored with Copic Markers (R02, R22, G82, G85). White Liquid Pearls were added over the Lilacs, Crystal Effect over the leaves and Butterfly. Dazzling Diamond glitter was sprinkled over the butterfly. Every butterfly deserves a little sparkle.

The image was cut out with Curved Rectangle Nestabilities, sponged with White Craft ink . 1″ wide White Organdy Ribbon from May Arts was tied around it and it was layered on a bigger white Curved Rectangle. The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 12″ piece of sponged Textured Soft Suede cardstock folded in half. A 3 7/8″ x 5 5/8″ piece of Mellow Moss was stamped with the gorgeous Everlasting Romance stamp in White Craft ink, distressed and paper pierced.

The sentiment is from the stamp set Bevy of Butterflies. A piece of Mellow Moss was cut out with the large oval punch (SU), stamped with Everlasting Romance in Whisper White and once it was dry, stamped in Soft Suede with the sentiment. It was layered on a Scallop Oval that had been punched out of Textured Soft Suede Cardstock.

Today’s tutorial is part of the Product Review for the Xyron Creatopia. Make sure to check it out. It is one cool tool. The favorite feature for most reviewers was the Fabric Adhesive Cartridge. Ashley Newell wrote the tutorial about Adhering Fabric to chipboard and created the cutest sample.

For my fabric sample I stamped this cute girl from Unity’s September Kit of the Month kit in Black Memento ink on thicker natural looking muslin. I ran it through the Creatopia, cut it out with Oval Nestabilities and sponged the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The fabric was taped on a slightly bigger oval in Basic Black ink and the edges were stitched. The little girl was colored in with Copic Markers (G82, G85, E 41, E 43, R27, R29, YR04, YR07, YR09).

The card base was cut out of Basic Black cardstock with the Clear Scallop Die from Big Shot. The next layer is a 3 3/4″ Kraft cardstock square that had been sponged with Vintage Distress ink. The polka dotted layer is fabric. It was adhered to a piece of cardstock, cut down to 3 1/2″, sponged and then stitched to the Kraft cardstock layer. Pumpkin striped grosgrain ribbon was tied around the fabric/kraft layer and buttons were sewn on with Linen Thread.

The measurements of the inside layers mirror the ones on the card front. The fabric strip measures 7/8″ x 3 1/2″. It was sponged and stitched to the main layer. The sentiment is also from Unity’s September Kit of the month stamp set. A Pumpkin Corduroy button as sewn onto a Prima Flower with Linen Thread.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

I wrote the first SCS tutorials back in 2003, can you believe it? Well…they look like it. So I am trying to slowly but surely to redo them.

Here is my new take on the Crayon Resist technique. For this sample I stamped the image in Tuxedo Black Ink, then colored it with Copic Markers (YG23, YG25, YR65, YR68). Then white Crayon was added over the colored image and a bit to the side of it.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 11″ piece of Aruba Core’dinations Cardstock folded in half. Next a 3 1/2″ x 4 5/8″ piece of 7Gypsies Capri Patterned Paper was taped on a 3 3/4″ x 4 7/8″ piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. Both layers were stitched together (yes, I love that I have my sewing machine out of the basement, in my stamp area now).

The  1 5/8″ x 3 1/2″ piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock was stamped with Floral Edge in Shabby Shutter Distress ink. The edges were distressed and sponged. A 1″ x  3 1/2″ strip of Chocolate Chip cardstock was cut and embossed with  Eyelet Borderabilities, taped underneath the Kiwi Layer and stitched to it. White Organdy Ribbon from SU was tied to the right edge. A Prima Flower was taped over the ribbon with dimensionals. It has a Recollection brad in it’s center.

The main image is from Unity’s Gratitude = Joy stamp set. It was stamped and colored, then cut out with Label Four Nestabilities. It was layered on a size bigger label cut out of Chocolate Chip. That layer had been embossed with a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and sponged with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The sentiment is also from Gratitude = Joy. It was stamped in Tuxedo Black Ink, punched out with the 1″ circle punch, sponged with Shabby Shutter Distress ink, layered on a 1 1/4″ Chocolate Chip circle and the edges were paper pierced.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

Have a wonderful weekend! We are having friends visiting from Illinois. It will be great!

Hugs and smiles