fresh & fun

Here is the sketch for this weekend:

To participate in the challenge, make a card with this layout and upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery.
If you upload your card on SCS, put WSC106 (NO SPACE INBETWEEN WSC AND 106) in the keyword section. That way we can look at all of them at once! Add a link to your card to either Mr. Linky, or as a comment to this thread so I can go and check it out.

 To see samples made with this sketch now, check out the blogs of

Cambria Turnbow

Charmaine Ikach

Laurie Schmidlin 

 Lori Craig 

 Sharon Harnist

Have fun creating! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

 SCS submissions

Ever since I saw the sneaks for Flourishes Dove and Holly set, I knew I NEEDED that set. Marcella creates the most amazing stamp sets.

So when the set came right before I had to come up with a video for the Joy Fold card, I knew I was going to use it. And to mix it up a bit, I created a square Joy fold card….because, I LOVE square cards.

My card base is a 4 1/4″ x 6 1/4″ piece of Chocolate chip cardstock scored at 4 1/4″. The edges were sponged with Walnut Stain Distress ink. For the backing I layered a 3 3/4″ square piece of Basic Grey Boxer paper on a 4″ square of Very Vanilla cardstock. The layers were stitched together and adhered to the card base.

A 1 7/8″ x 4″ piece of Basic Grey Fruitcake paper strip was adhered to the front flap. Behind the front flap I taped a strip of Vanilla cardstock that had been punched with an EK punch. It was sewn to the card front. May Arts Olive Silk Ribbon was tied around the flap.

The flap base is a 3″ x 6″ piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock, sponged with Walnut Stain ink and folded in half.  A 2 1/2″ square of Old Olive Cardstock was stamped with Vintage Wallpaper and Peeled Paint ink, the edges were sponged and it was sewn to a 2 3/4″ square of Vanilla cardstock.

The doves were stamped in Rich Cocoa Memento Ink on Gina K’s Pure Luxury Ivory cardstock and colored with Copic Markers (E51, E55, E57, YR23, YR24, YG93, YG95, R46, R59, W1). It was cut with Circle Nestabilities, sponged with Antique Linen and layered on a Burgundy cardstock scallop that was sponged with Aged Mahogany. It was attached to the flap with dimensionals. Crystal Effect was added over the Holly berries.

The inside of the flap was layered with a 2 3/4″ square of Old Olive cardstock and a 1/4″ smaller piece of Pure Luxury Ivory cardstock. The holly stamp was stamped in Rich Cocoa Memento ink in the right bottom corner and colored with the same markers that were used for the Dove image. Again Crystal Effect was used to enhance the Holly berries.

Here is the video for the visual learner:

Today’s tutorial was written by Birgit Edblom, aka. Biggan. She created a gorgeous card for one of the challenges and I asked her to write a tutorial for SCS. She was sweet enough to do so.

For my sample I stamped the leaves from Unity’s Gratitude = Joy first in Peeled Paint, then in Shabby Shutter distress ink over a 3 1/2″ square of Penny Lane My Mind’s Eye Paper. The paper was cut apart first in 1/2″ strip, then in offset 1″ pieces, to create the wall look. To add more depth, I sponged around each “brick” with Antique Linen Distress ink.

I taped the bricks to a slightly bigger piece of textured white cardstock. The edges had been sponged with Antique Linen. That was layered on a 1/4″ bigger piece of Chocolate chip cardstock. White Organza ribbon from May Arts was tied around the layers. A Basic Grey Button was tied over the bow with Linen thread. The sentiment was stamped with Walnut Stain Distress ink on Textured White cardstock, cut with Nestabilities tag dies, sponged with Antique Linen and attached with the same Linen thread. The layers were adhered to a 4 3/4″ piece of white textured cardstock with Scor-Tape.

The card base is a 5″ x 10″ piece of Old Olive cardstock folded in half. The leaves were stamped in Peeled Paint all over the edges of the card front. Then the edges were sponged. The card front layers were attached with dimensionals to the card base.

Have a wonderful day! Here is a video for the visual learner:

Random.org picked numbers #33 and #14, Monika and Connie. Please email me your mailing addresses and I will get those out to you right away!

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:

Sorry my sample for the challenge is a bit late. I didn’t get work on it until 8:30 a.m. (EST) in the morning and I am not the fastest stamper. I did know I wanted to use My Mind’s Eye “The Merry Days of Christmas” Paper to tie this card in with today’s Holiday blitz Tutorial sample. I will post that a little bit later.

I started with stamping the tree from Verve’s Christmas in the Air once on White cardstock, then two times each on two different greens from the My Mind’s Eye paper pack. I cut the white tree out completely. The green tree tops were cut out one a bit shorter then the next. They were layered on my white tree. The edges were sponged with Walnut Stain Distress ink.

The blue layer underneath was cut with Label 8 Nestabilities dies from The Merry Days of Christmas paper. The edges were slightly sponged with Walnut Stain ink. Chocolate chip cardstock was cut with the next size up label 8 die and sponged with Walnut stain ink. I punched a whole with the Crop-a-dile and tied white Taffeta Ribbon through it. The blue layer was adhered to the chocolate cardstock with dimensionals, the tree with dimensionals on the blue layer. Tiny Twinkles on the lower right corner finish off the main image.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 11″ piece of Core’dinations cardstock folded in half.  My patterned paper pieces measure 1 1/2″ square, 1 1/2″ x 2 1/4″, 1 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ and 2 1/2″ x 3 1/4″. They were layered on a sponged 3 15/16″ x 5 3/16″ piece of Chocolate chip cardstock. The edges were stitched by machine.

The sentiment is also from the new set Christmas is in the Air. It was stamped on the bottom right with Walnut Stain Distress ink.

 I will be back a bit later with today’s tutorial sample. Hugs and smiles