Starburst Sayings Take 2!

Hello!  I know you know how much I love this set, so here's another card we made at my class last night.

I loosely cased this card idea from demonstrator Cindy Schuster.  She made a tag for a gift bag that used this idea, and I adapted it into a card.  I was going for a masculine card, but Cindy put an arrow on the tag, and I didn't have any arrow stamps or a way to cut an arrow, so I needed to add something to my card.  Not sure what would go with what I already had, I punched out some stars in the Silver Glimmer paper, and all of a sudden it was too girly to be a masculine card.  But I'm working on a few more cards using this stamp set, so check back daily to see what I've come up with!
Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Starburst Sayings Card

Hello!  I'm loving the stamp set Starburst Sayings and the coordinating framelits!  I loved this set the moment I saw it, but in preparing for a class this week at my house, I found even more cute ideas for this stamp set.  I found tons of great card ideas, the trouble was narrowing down which cards to have my attendees make!  I highly recommend this stamp set.  If you don't have it, you won't regret buying it!  It's really fun, can be used for many occasions, has stamps in several different sizes, and it's just a cheerful set.  I love it!  On to one of the cards we'll be making tonight at my class:

 I used the Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper for this card, and the colors I used are Soft Suede, Costal Cabana, Tangerine Tango, and So Saffron.  I cased this card from UK demonstrator Tracy May.  Thanks Tracy for a super cute card idea!!!

I was sorely tempted to share all the cards with you that we're making at my class tonight, but you'll have to check back everyday to see the other cards!  Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Birthday Scrapbook Layout

Hello!  Here's another layout I made with the stamp set Another Great Year.  I love this stamp set because it's great for both card making and scrapbooking.

I paired the stamp set with the Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper from the Occasions Catalog, and the colors used on this layout are Costal Cabana, So Saffron, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla, Baked Brown Sugar, and Sahara Sand.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoyed the scrapbook page.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Birthday Card Case

Hello!  I wanted to share a card with you that I cased from my friend Mayra.  She made this card with the stamp set Another Great Year, and I loved it but didn't have black card stock, so I changed up the colors slightly, but kept the design the same.  Here's the card Mayra made:

Sorry it's kind of blurry.  I took the picture with my phone, and my phone camera isn't that great with an unsteady hand!  She used the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder around the edge of the card and embossed the Happy Birthday greeting in Versa Mark and then White embossing powder with a heat tool.

Here's my card that I cased from Mayra's card:

Instead of embossing my stamped image, I just stamped it and colored in the letters with a Costal Cabana Marker.   I used Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Costal Cabana and Real Red on my card.  Thanks Mayra for another great card idea!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how easy it is to case when you see something you like, but don't necessarily have all the supplies needed to recreate the same card.  I case ALL the time!  Thanks for stopping by today, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Starburst Sayings

Hello!  I'm definitely loving the stamp set Starburst Sayings from the Occasions catalog by Stampin' Up!  It's such a fun set.  I love the big stamp that says "Oh Happy Day".  Many times I struggle when making a card because most stamps are so small that I feel like I'm left with a huge space to fill, and when that happens, I worry about the card not flowing or looking good.  But with this stamp set, I don't have that problem, because the one stamp is so huge.  I love that it takes up a good chunk of the card front.  I also love the word choice, and I love the lettering. It's trendy yet pretty.  Here's a card I made for a friend for her birthday, along with the box I decorated to put her handmade cards in.

I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set in the background, and a little bit of the Season of Style Christmas Washi tape behind my starbursts.  I only popped up the Celebrate starburst and added rhinestones to the two smaller ones.

Here, this is the box I made to put all the cards in that I made for my friend.  I covered an old Oxi Clean container with Patio Party Designer Series Paper, adhered with Sticky Strip.  I added a bow and covered the top, and no one would know what the box used to be!  I save lots of containers to re purpose them for something else.  I think it's fun to find a new use for some of the containers I buy.  I hate to recycle or throw away something that could be used again.  And most of the time, it's really easy to redress it or disguise it, and it saves me money!  All my friends love seeing how I reuse containers, and now they do it to.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoyed my post and I'll see you tomorrow!

Another Birthday Banner

Hello!  I was going through pictures on my computer yesterday and came across this banner I made last September for my friend Megan's birthday, and realized I never shared it on my blog.  I didn't have a lot  of time to make a gift for her, so I decided to do my favorite thing-a birthday banner.  In a time crunch, this is what I came up with, and as always, I didn't want to give it away when I was done.  But when I don't want to give something away, I know I've made something good and feel proud to give something away that I'd actually want to receive.

The flags I cut by hand.  I made a template a while back and use it for every banner I make.  I cut the banners from pieces of Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper Stack in Brights.  The letters were cut with my Big Shot and the Serif Essentials Alphabet, and I added stamped birthday cupcakes and presents from an old birthday stamp set that I can't remember the name of.  I glued everything together, and then punched holes in each flag, strung it on some linen thread, and that's it!  I always love making banners.  They bring so much cheer to a party or event, and they are such a great decoration.  They make me very happy!  Thank you for stopping by today, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Helpful Hints and Petal Parade Sale-A-Bration Card

Hello!  Today I have some fun tips to share with you.  I was stamping last night at my friend Mayra's house, and we did a crinkling technique on a flower that we put on our card, and it got me thinking.  Mayra showed me how you can spray a little bit of water on a flower and crinkle the edges to rough it up a bit and add dimension, texture, and make it look more real, and we have always used some spray bottle that she has, but I realized I have a bunch of the Stampin' Spritzers from Stampin' Up!, and I thought, why not fill that with water and always have one by my punches so that I can easily spritz my flowers when I want to scrunch them?  Spritzing and then scrunching your flower breaks down the fibers of the paper, so that's why/how it gives it more dimension and a more life like look.

I also was reading the little paper insert that comes with every embossing folder from Stampin' Up!, and I learned a helpful tip that I never would have known otherwise!  I always feel like a nerd when I read instruction manuals that come with things that are pretty self explanatory, like embossing folders, punches, washing machines, dish washers, etc., but it's really amazing what you can learn from them.  I learned that from my aunt.  She's very very smart, and one day she was talking to me about something and mentioned that she was reading the manual to her dishwasher and learned that if you put your silverware a certain way in the silverware tray, they come out cleaner, as opposed to putting them another way.  I thought, wow, she's pretty smart already, but she was reading the instruction manual?  Anyway, it pays off, because you learn things that you may not already know, or would never think of, but makes things a little (or a lot) easier!  So what I learned while reading the embossing folder insert was that with embossing folders that have a dense (tight or busy) design, you will sometimes get an image that rips or cracks your paper.  There's a way to avoid that!  If you spritz your paper lightly with water or bending/sliding your paper over the edge of a table before embossing, it will help break down the fibers of the paper, making it softer while running it through the Big Shot, and you won't end up with a ripped or cracked design.

Here's the card I made with the scrunched flower:

This card uses the Petal Parade stamp set that you can get for free during Sale-A-Bration when you spend $50.  I don't have the set yet, but will definitely be ordering when I place my next order!  We also used a small strip at the bottom from the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper pack, which you can also earn for free with a $50 order.  Sale-A-Bration is the best time of year to order stuff.  Have you been holding off on ordering things that you're out of or are almost out of?  Now's the best time ever to restock your adhesives, paper, inks, embellishments, ribbon and whatever else you need, because you earn a free item with every $50 purchase.  You can make one big order or several small ones, but either way, you will get a free item for every $50.  For example, if you place one big order totaling $200, you would get 4 free Sale-A-Bration items, just as you would if you placed four orders totaling $50.  It's a win-win situation!  Contact me if you would like to place an order, or order directly from my website here. Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you learned lots of new and neat tricks to try!  I'll see you tomorrow!

Birthday Gift Idea

Hello! A few weeks ago it was my husband's cousin's birthday, and I of course jumped at the chance to create something as a gift for her.  I'm loving the Tag A Bag Gift Boxes from Stampin' Up!  They are begging to be used for tons of fun stuff.  One day I had the idea to line the clear sleeve with birthday paper and tie the box off with a bow, so I got out my favorite birthday paper from their catalog, Birthday Basics, and cut a piece to slip inside the box.  I scored it on both ends to fold easier, and then tied the box off with Summer Starfruit ribbon after I stuffed the box with yummy chocolate chip cookies.  (My favorite!)

 I added a tag to the box and just forgot to take a picture before I gave it to her.

 Then I made her a fun little pedicure in a jar.  My sister showed me this idea a year or two ago, and I love it.  I would be happy to receive a gift like this.  I never have enough nail polish, and it's fun to take time to pamper yourself every once in a while.  I made the tag with the new Scallop Tag Topper Punch, added a strip of paper from the Sale-A-Bration pack Sweet Sorbet, and stamped a heart from the Banner Blast Sale-A-Bration stamp set.  To finish off the tag, I added some Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

 I included in the jar a nail file/buffer block, a pair of nail clippers, a bottle of nail polish, a bottle of lotion, and some cotton squares for removing old nail polish.  If I had a bigger jar, I would have included a mini bottle of nail polish remover.

I had fun making my little gift for her and am pretty sure she enjoyed them.  Thanks for stopping by today, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Cupcake Birthday Card

Hello!  Is it really a birthday without a cake or cupcake involved?  It just doesn't feel the same to me without one or the other.  Here's a cute card I cased from European demonstrator Jenni Pauli. I saw her card and fell in love with it!  I used the stamp set Another Great Year, Silver Glimmer Paper, the 3/4'' circle punch, and the Starburst Framelits, as well as the heart from the Banner Blast stamp set.  I hope you like the card!  The colors I used were Costal Cabana, Summer Starfruit, and Strawberry Slush.  The little banner behind the cupcake I hand cut.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Weekly Deals!

Hello!  Sooooo sorry about forgetting to post yesterday!  It's been a crazy week, and it never seems to slow down!  I went to bed last night and realized I forgot to blog yesterday!  That's how busy I am!  Anyway, here's the weekly deals for this week.
View them in my online store here:

3/16 INCH CORNER PUNCH Price: $6.95 $5.21 A ROYAL DAY ENSEMBLE - DIGITAL DOWNLOAD Price: $14.95 $8.97 ETCETERA DESIGNER SERIES PAPER Price: $10.95 $8.21 GOLD & SILVER STAMPIN' GLITTER Price: $7.95 $5.96 IN COLOR DAHLIAS Price: $7.95 $5.96 LABEL INSERT POP' N CUTS DIE Price: $21.95 $16.46 PETALS-A-PLENTY TEXTURED IMPRESSIONS EMBOSSING FOLDER DIE Price: $7.95 $5.96 SILVER METALLIC ENCORE PAD Price: $9.95 $7.46

Also, note that the Paper Pumpkin Free Markers deal for NEW Paper Pumpkin Subscribers has been extended through March 31.  Sign up here: www.mypaperpumpkin.com

And here's a stamped project for you today as well!

 These are two scrapbook pages I created for a class I had at my house a few weeks ago.  I loved the way they turned out.  The ideas came straight from my head, under pressure!  I was really happy with the result, and I love this stamp set Another Great Year!  It's a great birthday set!  Possibly my favorite set right now.  And the colors I used were Pistachio Pudding, Costal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Sun, Whisper White and Sahara Sand.  The patterned paper is from the Sale-A-Bration set, Sweet Sorbet.  Get your paper pack for free with a $50 purchase!  Ask me if you have questions.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Card Showcase

Hello!  I hope you all are enjoying a nice President's Day, and that you have the day off!  I decided to show you some cards I gave to my husband for some of his students to write to their teacher who is taking a little time off because of a dislocated shoulder.  No fun!  He's subbing for a class and wanted the students to send cards to their regular teacher to let her know they are thinking of her and miss her and hope she gets better soon.  Here are all the cards.  Some of them are ones I received as swaps at Stampin' Up!'s annual convention last summer, and the others I made myself.  One or two of the cards have already been shared in previous posts, but I thought I'd include all of them for those of you who haven't seen them yet.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoyed seeing all these cards, and I hope they inspired you to make some for yourself.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Life Doesn't Have To Be Perfect

Hello!  I love the greeting for this card.  It's so true, and I love that I have a stamp that reminds me!  This stamp is part of the Perfect Pennants set in the Occasions catalog.  I paired it with my lovely paper from the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series paper that you can earn for free with a $50 order during Sale-A-Bration.  You really should get this paper.  It's such a great deal!  I used it for the Crisp Cantaloupe mat behind my greeting, as well as the larger design for the main background.  It's a very versatile paper pack.   You can do so much with it!

This card is pretty self explanatory. I made it in two versions for a friend's birthday, and just swapped out the greeting for a birthday one, also from the Perfect Pennants stamp set.  I hope you enjoy today's card, and I'll see you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!