Lovely as a Tree - Get Well Soon

So my husband calls me from work and says to me, "Can you make a Get Well card for a co-worker who has cancer?" My response is "Of Course I can" Then he goes on to tell me, it has to be bigger than the ones that you usually make because a bunch of people are going to sign it. Can you make it as big as the ones that you would buy in the store. I've omitted the brand name because that's almost like swearing to me! So it took me a while to figure out what the dimensions would be for this particular size card and then I remember that I have some bigger envelopes so I just folded a 81/2x11 piece of paper and half and then just matched up the paper to the envelope and trimmed off the extra. Then I knew what my dimensions would be for the 2nd card. I decided to give Craig 2 options to pick from. One that is very, very simple and then one that had just a little bit more detail to it. I figured that I would try and keep it as manly as possible seeing that it was for a construction worker (you know how manly they are).

I really like the first option but it will be interesting to see which one he picks. Both cards use the Lovely as a Tree stamp set. (one of my favorite sets, it's so versatile. You can use it for any season for any occasion, I find my self picking this set up almost every week to use. I guess I've gotten my money out of this set!)

Have a great day and Happy Stampin!

Glass ornaments with paper

How fun is this ornament? I absolutely love these, they look really great on the tree. What a great way to bring paper crafting to your tree. With this months special of buy 3 packs of designer paper and get 1 for FREE this is a great project to do with your scraps of paper. The best part is that it's so easy to do.

Cut strips of 1 inch by 4-6 inches depending on how much curl you want. Wrap a strip around a pencil and then put it in the top of your ornament. Continue until your ornament is full. That's it, super easy and super fun to do.

I'm going to make up a bunch of these and put them in a bowl as a centerpiece on my dining room table. I'll post a picture when their done.

So on a non- stamping related note, I had a doctors appt on Monday with an ultra sound to keep an eye on the little one, well guess what she weighs 7 lbs ALREADY! and I have 4 more weeks to go. Can you say ouch. The mid-wife says to me, yup you grow them big. Great! But all is well, both the baby and I are doing great!

Have a great day and happy stampin!

Aunt Deb's b-day card

So it was my aunt's birthday last weekend. Ok so she's really not my aunt, she's my husband's aunt but she is such a sweet lady that I call her my aunt, plus I'm closer to her than my own aunt's. But anyway her birthday was last weekend and I forgot to make her a card, so I finally got around to it and this is what I made. I used the hostess set Garden Silhouettes. I stamped the entire flower image in mellow moss and then used two different color purples markers to color in the flower part of the stamp. I stamped it on whisper white card stock and then used my coluzzle cutting system to cut out my ovals. I didn't want an entire oval so I just used my paper cutter to cut a straight edge down the left side. I wanted to give the flower an extra little punch so out came my 2-way glue pen and my dazzling diamond glitter and I added just a little bit of bling to the flower. I used the Tres Chic background stamp on the base of the card. I stamped the birthday wishes from Sincere Salutations with mellow moss ink and then used my designer label punch to punch it out. I went around the edge of the label with my eggplant marker and didn't quite like the way it turned out so again out came the 2 way glue pen and dazzling diamond glitter and that made it look much better. Hope you like it.

Have a great day and happy stampin!

Bundle of Joy - baby shower card

Ok so I had a baby shower to go to this morning at 10:00 a.m. so what was I doing at 9:30 when I should have been dropping my daughter off at my mom's house? Yup you guessed it, making a baby shower card. You would think I would have a whole box of cards ready to go that I could just pick through, but no I have to wait until the last minute to make my cards. Maybe some day I'll get better about that. So here is my baby shower card and this picture really doesn't do it any justice. If anybody has any tips on shooting pictures feel free to let me know.

This card uses the bundle of joy set. I stamped the bear in timber brown staz-on ink and then water colored him in using different hues of brown. For my card stock I used, pretty in pink, close to cocoa and chocolate chip along with watercolor paper for the bear. I added spots of glitter to the bear which doesn't really show up to well as well as glitter to the chocolate chip card stock layer around the bear. In real life it sparkles so nicely. I then added the 3 buttons on the left of the card with mini glue dots. It's hard to see in this picture but the close to cocoa layer has the moon and stars from the same stamp set stamped all over randomly and the chocolate chip layer has our paisley background stamped on it in chocolate chip ink.

I hope you enjoy and don't be like me and wait until the very last minute to make your cards. Do as I say not as I do!

Have a great day and happy stampin!

Charity Auction - Bouquet of Cards

One of my customers asked me if I would donate an item to her ladies group that holds an auction in November. Of course I jumped at the chance. I decided to make this bouquet of cards to give towards the auction. How cute is this? This was a lot of fun to make. I filled it with 20 hand-made all occasion cards with envelopes. The auction is Saturday November 3rd. It is being held at the South Deerfield Polish Club, (right next door to Wolfie's Restaurant) on South Main Street in South Deerfield. The preview starts at 7:00 pm with the live auction starting at 7:30pm. There will be lots of great items up for auction as well as services. If your in the area this would be a great event to attend. It sounds like it's going to be a fun event that no one should miss.

Chipboard Ornaments

Check out these ornaments that I made using our On Board Trimmings Chipboard from the Holiday Mini Collection catalog. These where so fun to make. Some I used designer paper on, while others, I used our white craft ink on and then embossed in our iridescent ice embossing powder. They are really shimmery in real life. I really like the square ornament in the center. I love how you can make it into a picture frame. This is a picture of Kayla on her first Christmas. On the back of the ornament I wrote down all the details so that I would remember. Her age, which year and so forth. I plan on making an ornament like this every year so I can have the memories right there on my tree.

Anybody who is planning on signing up for the Christmas Ornament Class on November 9th this is similar to what you will be making if you signed up for the chipboard part of the class. Remember there where 3 options, the chipboard ornament class, the microscope slide ornament class and the glitter glass ball ornament class. Each class is $15.00 or take all 3 for $40.00. Registration with payment is due by November 2nd.

Happy stampin and have a great day!

Christmas Card Buffet

Ok here are the cards for my Christmas Card Buffet on Wednesday November 14th. Come make as many cards as you want to. Choose from one of the style or do all 5 the choice is up to you. Just let me know which cards you want to make and how many of each. The cards will be $2.00 each. Registration with payment and choice of cards is due by November 5th. I will show each card separately with a name to each card so when you register just go ahead and use the names and how many you want to make. This will be my last Christmas card class before Christmas, due to the fact that I will be having a baby in early December.

MISTLETOE PEACEFUL WISHES: This card uses the colors real red and old olive with whisper white.

THE SNOWFLAKE SPOT: This card reminds me of Santa with his red, white and black.

PINE CONE PEACEFUL WISHES: a very elegant card that just screams Christmas.

SNOWMAN MERRY CHRISTMAS: This little cutie was made by a very talented lady over on SCS, by the name of Yvette.

If you are a member of SCS you should be able to see her original card.

ICICLE SNOW: this card has the really fun to do icicles that shimmer and shine very nicely.

So just let me know what cards you want to make and how many of each so that I can have them all cut out and ready for you when you show up.

Class November 14th 6:00-9:00pm

please bring your own adhesive.

Have a great day and happy stampin!

Paper Party Promotion Nov 1 - 30th

Stampin Up's special for November is FABULOUS! Buy 3 packs of our designer paper and receive 1 free package. (That's a $9.95 value for FREE). The best part is that their is no minimum purchase required to receive this special and no limit on how many you can purchase. Just in time to start making all your projects for the holidays. On top of the special I'm offering an incentive to my customers. I will send out a e-mail once a week for the four weeks of November with a fun idea on how to use your designer paper. Purchase your paper in the first week of November and receive an e-mail all four weeks. Purchase your paper in the second week of November and receive 3 e-mails. Purchase your paper the third week of November and receive 2 e-mails with great ideas. Purchase the paper the last week of November and receive 1 e-mail with a great idea on what you can do with the paper. Be sure to check out all our designer papers on pages 170-173 of our catalog. To purchase your Paper party promotion, just give me a call or e-mail me at c_riddell@comcast.net.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the samples of the Christmas cards that will be available for my Christmas Card Buffet on Wednesday November 14th.

Dad's birthday card

I needed a card for my dad's birthday and I couldn't figure out what stamp set I wanted to use. Normally I would use one of my tree sets or leaf sets but I wanted to do something a little different and then I remembered that I hadn't used my Eat Cake stamp set in a while.

Is a card really a manly card if you use glitter and ribbon on it? Probably not but I had to do it. For the cake I used my bashful blue, creamy carmel and close to cocoa markers to color in the stamp. On the thicker close to cocoa layer I used my paisley background stamp in close to cocoa ink just to give it a little more texture. I'm pleased with the way this card came out. This is the first time I made a square card, it measures 51/4 x 51/4, it fits perfectly into our square medium envelopes. I bought the envelopes so that I would have to try a square card, I've seen so many beautiful square cards but I always stick to the common size so now that I have the envelopes I will have to make more of them. It is a fun size card to work with.

Supplies: Eat cake stamp set cardstock: kraft, bashful blue, close to cocoa, whisper white

Ink: bashful blue, close to cocoa

Markers: close to cocoa, creamy carmel, bashful blue

Accessories: ticket corner punch, soft subtles brads, 2 way glue pen, dazzling diamond glitter, blue and carmel gingham ribbon, hole puncher

Have a great day and happy stampin!

Thanksgiving Card Buffet

So here are 2 of the 4 options for my Thanksgiving card buffet on Friday November 2nd. The other 2 cards are in the previous posts. For my Thanksgiving card buffet all you have to do is pick which cards you want to make and how many of each you want and I will have everything cut out and ready to go for you. This first card is A Tree For All Seasons, I really like this card, very simple and fun to make.

The 2nd card is the Give Thanks Card, it uses water coloring to color in the basket full of leaves. Water coloring is so much fun to do and it is very calming to me.

For the card buffet pick out which cards you want to make and send me a check for that amount of cards. The cards are $2.00 each to make. RSVP with payment are due by Thursday October 25th. Please bring your own adhesive. Can't make it to the card buffet but would like to order some pre-made cards, just give me a call or e-mail me at c_riddell@comcast.net for pricing and you can place an order.

Have a great day and happy stampin!

In the spotlight - Thanksgiving

So here is another Thanksgiving card, same colors as yesterday (I'm really liking these colors together for fall themed cards). This time around I used the Hostess set In the spotlight. I'm trying to use stamp sets that you might not normally think of as fall stamp sets. I used my favorite layout again, such a simple eye pleasing layout. I randomly stamped the images on the confetti cream card stock in wild wasabi, really rust and close to cocoa. I then added a piece of our 5/8 in. chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon. I have to say I really like the size of this ribbon it gives a nice touch to the card. On the wild wasabi card base I stamped the words Happy Thanksgiving in close to cocoa and then used the dotted line (also from In the spotlight set) under the saying. This card could be considered a little retro I guess.

This card will also be one of the options at my Thanksgiving Card Buffet on November 2nd. Check out my events page on my website to get all the details of this event. Registration due by October 25th.

Have a great day and happy stampin!

Supplies: In the spotlight, holiday and wishes stamp sets; wild wasabi, really rust, confetti cream card stock; wild wasabi, really rust, close to cocoa ink; 5/8 chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon.

Baroque Thanksgiving

So here I go again using the baroque motifs stamp set, but doesn't it look like the vines that would be on a pumpkin? Well that's what I thought anyway when I had this idea in my head. I water colored the pumpkin image from the Autumn Harvest Stamp set. I also added a orange square rhinestone brad. Very simple card, but I'm happy with it. This will be one of the options for my Thanksgiving Card Buffet on Friday November 2nd. The other options will be up by October 18th so that you can tell me what cards and how many of each you would like to make. The last day to RSVP for this event will be October 25th. Have a great day and happy stampin!
Supplies: Wild wasabi, really rust, whisper white, watercolor card stock
wild wasabi, really rust, only orange, pumpkin pie classic ink, timber brown staz-on ink
Baroque motifs, Autumn Harvest, Holidays and wishes stamp sets
square rhinestone brads- fire

Unity Candle

So one of my customers (and friend), called me up and said that her daughter was trying to put their invitation onto their unity candle and that they couldn't get it to stay on. She asked if I had any thoughts on how to do it. So we discussed doing it like we had done stamping on candles so I told her I would give it a try. So what I did was copy the invitation onto tissue paper. Let me tell you that was a treat all on it's own. If you ever try to print onto tissue paper make sure you have all the sides of the tissue paper taped down WELL to a piece of copy paper. After 4 or 5 tries I finally did get it to print out onto the tissue paper and then I have to tell you when I was heat setting it onto the candle that was the most nerve wrecking 3 minutes I've had in a very long time. When your stamping on candle it's just for fun and if you mess up you can always start over, but with the unity candle this was the only candle that I had. But I have to say it came out perfectly, I was even impressed at how good it looked when I was done. I sighed a big sigh of relief. Then I just used the ribbon and wrapped it around the candle and tied it in a knot both on the top and bottom of the candle. If I had my pretties kit I would have added some pearls to it as well, but it was still on Mr. Brown's truck somewhere. And yes I do have permission from my customer to post the candle on my blog.

The only thing she did ask was that I wait until after the wedding to post the pictures so that they didn't have uninvited guests at the wedding.

Have a great day and happy stampin!

World Card Making Day - Wanted

So here is another card for World Card Making Day on October 6th. I used the Wanted stamp set as well as the coordinating Outlaw designer paper. Stampin Up did a great job this catalog season, with making coordinating products,which makes it just that much easier and fun to put cards together. I love the paisley stamp in this set and I used really rust ink on really rust card stock to get that great tone-on-tone affect. I also used the circle scallop punch on this card and I tell you there are so many stamps in the catalog that fit perfectly in that punch. The stars on the sage shadow stripe are also stamped in sage shadow ink to keep that tone-on-tone thing going. I like this card because you could really use it for any occasion for male or female.
Last chance registration for World Card Making Day - All occasion class is October 1st.

Supplies: Wanted stamp set, creamy caramel, really rust, sage shadow classic inks, sage shadow, very vanilla, really rust, close to cocoa card stock, outlaw designer paper, circle scallop punch.



Happy stampin and have a great day!