Sharing Creativity...

I know some of you have seen this card, but I saw it again when I was clearing out some old files today. I thought it would be appropriate for the season! I think he is awful cute and made almost entirely of small and large oval punches and 1-1/4 circle punch. The head/neck is hand cut, along with the beak and waddle.

It is kind of funny, but I made this turkey last year when I was at a stamping/scrapping retreat. The SAME retreat I’m headed off to on Thursday afternoon! I love having a whole weekend dedicated to stamping, eating, sharing and having fun! I find that I do a lot of creating while I’m there. Of course, my main goal is to work on my Christmas Cards! Yeah! I can get ahead of the season! I really need to think about what I want to make this year before I go…just to make sure I have the right supplies.

Of course, I usually end up bringing almost everything from my studio anyway! That is the only drawback about going…packing it all up and then having to unpack everything when I return on Sunday! My BFF, Annette, isn’t going to be there this year and I’m sad…I always love talking with her. Since she moved away, we don’t get together nearly as much as we did!

Sets: Flannel BG, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, AYCIII (retired)

Last night listening to the news, I heard that we were going to get a heavy frost. For some freaky reason, our hydrangea bushes decided to bloom in September/October and they have been GORGEOUS! I decided at 11:30 PM to go out and cut the larger blooms and cover the rest of the bushes with sheets. However, we had such a hard frost that the sheets didn’t help…the budding flowers have mostly turned brown today. So sad to see all the flowers dying off. On a happy note, the trees around here are beautiful.

So…here is a picture of the last of the season Hydrangeas I rescued. They are resting on my island in the kitchen so I can enjoy them all day long. Does anyone know how to dry them? I’d love to make a wreath from the dried blooms.

You can BARELY see the new watermark that Beth Silaika did for me because of the granite countertops (lower left corner). She offered up some Blog Candy and I won a free watermark! Woohoo! Make sure to check out her awesome site here to get your own Watermark or Banner. She is the one who did my Banner, too!

This week’s challenge was to use Designer Paper as the main focus on our card. My World Card Making Class focused entirely on using Holiday Harmony Designer Series Paper along with the Hand Selected Accents & Elements tin. (A BIG thanks to Patty Bennett for getting me started with this idea!) We made 18 cards using 1/2 pack of the DSP and only 4 sheets (of 12) of the tin. I still have TONS of paper and die-cuts left from those supplies, so I pulled them out last night to make up a few more cards…they basically took only MINUTES to put together! I love it!

There are three different pieces of DSP on this card…the middle Always Artichoke band is also part of the paper. The circle features two die-cutes…the Happy Holidays circle and the oval die-cut inside was added to the circle to cover the blank lines printed on it. The words Peace Hope Joy were stamped in Always Artichoke on the oval die-cut. The stamp is from the hostess only set, So Many Sayings. (A tip I shared with my customers is to cut this set up into individual sayings…I mounted them on dominoes. I use it SO much more this way, and it was no problem lining up the words into the oval die-cut!)

The colors in the Holiday Harmony DSP are so RICH…Purely Pomegranate, River Rock and Always Artichoke…I love this combination together. On all the WCMD cards, we used a white base card. This one I changed and used Always Artichoke as the base. Again, SIMPLE! But, I think simple is great for Christmas…since I make over 100 cards for family and friends!

Make sure to check out all the other lovely examples using Designer Paper from other Blogger’s participating in this Challenge! After you see all the great ways to use Designer Series Paper, you’ll be ready for Stampin’ Up!’s November promotion! Buy 3 packs of DSP and get one FREE (a $9.95 value)! I know I can’t wait!

Sorry…nothing new today! I’ve been (and will be) working on a special, very involved, project that is taking all my stamping time! This is the card that my guests did at my catalog Open House and my Stamp Club members did a couple months ago. I borrowed and simplified the idea from Debbie Olson…thank you! I think it is a beautiful Christmas card, so wanted to pull it out and again and give it some attention now that it is closer to the holiday season.

It did get me thinking. I absolutely LOVED Baroque Motifs when it first came available as a preorder set for demos in June. I used it on my Convention cards, and did a couple classes using it. But, I don’t think I’ve picked it up for the past couple months? I wonder why? I still like it a lot…but I guess newer sets I’ve purchased have taken precedence. I’m making a pact to pull out some of those sets that haven’t seen daylight for a while and use them (of course, that is after I get my big project done!) lol!

Anyway…hope to post again tomorrow. Be looking…we’ll be having BLOG CANDY again at 40,000 visits! Thank you for stopping by!

Sets: Baroque Motifs, Holidays & Wishes

For the past five or six years, my Creative Stamping Friends email group has put together a Christmas tag swap. Each person signs up for a letter from A to Z and the cover or back and designs a tag around that letter. Some letters, of course, are more challenging then others, so it moves you to sign up quickly! I think we set a record this year and were full within a couple days… The size of the tag must be a standard shipping tag size with hole, at least two layers and the letter should be prominently displayed on the front. We do this swap in October/early November, so it doesn’t interfere with the busy holiday season AND we can display the holiday tags during the season. Many of us place them on trees, as a garland, on a binder ring, or however you choose. They are our holiday greeting card to each other!

 

This year I chose W for my letter. My original intent was to use the Wisemen from Holy Triptych. However, I ended up using the Snowman once again from Merry & Bright! I also used the Snowflake embossing folder from Cuttlebug and glittered around the edges with Dazzling Diamonds. I stamped "Winter" on cardstock vellum and wrapped the vellum around to the back of the white layer to secure. The base layer of the tag and scallop circle punch are from Soft Sky. Then I used Rose Red for a pop of color. I added a little bit of glitter to the snowman himself so he sparkles. The scallop circle is popped up with dimensionals. The ribbon is just a shade darker than Soft Sky and blends well, I think! Enjoy!

When I get my swap back, I’ll be sure to share each of the tags with you. They really are NICE and I love being able to go back thru each year and see the greetings from these special online friends…many I’ve never met in person!

 

I was talking to my downline today about Halloween school parties and ideas. I mentioned that I loved using the pink Pocket Notes as a lollipop holder for Valentine’s Day. So, I thought I’d recreate the holder with black cardstock to hold a Halloween lollipop! I made the treat holder by cutting black cardstock to 2 1/2″ x 7″, and scoring at 3 1/4″. I used the slit punch on the longer piece…coming in about 1/4″ from the edge. The front flap fits under the slit.

The gray moon is the Scallop circle punch, the white ghost is the large oval trimmed with a scallop at the bottom, Frankenstein is a rectangle piece of cardstock, with black cardstock trimmed for hair…his face is drawn on. The pumpkin is from Carved and Candlelit…with the top slice off! I used the 1/8″ circle punch to cut a hole in the bottom fold for the lollipop stick to fit through…the top of the lollipop fits between the two layers of black cardstock. Happy Halloween greeting is from All Holidays set.

Sets: Carved & Candlelit, All Holidays

I’ve been busy working on several Stampin’ Up! projects that I can’t really share yet, so I thought I’d show you a project I did last week.

Once in a while, I like to take a class at one of our local scrapbook stores. It feels good to be the “student” instead of the “teacher”! While browsing the store a couple weeks ago, I saw this upcoming class and decided to take it. She used the Bo Bunny product line. Now…my kids are grown, no grandchildren yet, so I might have to pull out some old pictures of Halloween with my kids…but I just thought it was darling! It is built on a chipboard trapezoid book and has 10 inside pages for pictures! The ribbon handles make it carry like a “purse”. I had lots of fun making it.

Again this week, we were to find something that inspires us to create. When I was at Target the other day, I saw this nature picture. I loved the texture and colors in it. To recreate the feeling, I used Stampin’ Up!’s Autumn Fest stamp set. I did a direct to paper background using So Saffron, Sahara Sand and Basic Gray lightly. Then I used the Sanded Background over top in Basic Gray to give the texture. I stamped-off the smaller leaf several times in the background with Basic Gray. The leaf in the forefront is stamped with Craft Artichoke (my pad is VERY dark green!) and used clear embossing powder to heat set. Distressed the edges and tied the Gray taffeta ribbon with a Celebrate Life tag.

After I made this card, I thought that I would buy a window frame with 3-4 openings and make an entire series of them for the small bedroom using my Autumn Fest stamps! I love being able to use my stamps and supplies for Home Decor items. I’ll share it when I get it finished!

Be sure to check out all the others’ challenges this week! I love seeing what other stampers create.

OK….I have a million OTHER things to be stamping today, but I couldn’t get this idea out of my head, so I took a break and put this together. Remember yesterday I mentioned that I saw a spider face fabric lid for a round Longaberger basket that sits in the Wrought Iron Long Legs I purchased yesterday? Well, it was really simple…just a black lid with googly eyes (and a $20 price tag) so I knew I could recreate the look with chipboard and cardstock. Here is my version for less than 50 cents! I even gave her some eyelashes! Too much fun! I have it sitting on my sofa table, so anyone walking around my family room, kitchen or dinette area will see her!