Candle Boxes

There hasn't been much stamping going on around here lately as I've been wrapping up some end of the year projects at school - but this morning I did make this box that will fit a Yankee Candle votive perfectly. I used a combination of Always Artichoke and Pool Party, and broke out a new stamp set from the upcoming IBC called Four Frames.

An Extraordinary Lunch!

As I was making Emma her lunch today, so told me about a quote she recently read "a little extra turns something ordinary into Extraordinary" so I had to reach form some left over banner and label pieces and quickly turned the toothpicks holding her sandwich together into something Extraordinary! It had to be quick - she had a riding lesson to get to - or it would have been fancier....gives me an idea for my next party...anyway - hope you have an Extraordinary Weekend!

June Holiday Card Club

Here is a holiday card made using the new Pennant Punch and Pennant Parade Stamp Set that I got in my Demo Sneak Peek Pre-Order. In addition to this card we'll be making a two others, one of which is a treat box card perfect for fitting 4 or 5 Hershey Nuggets. There are a couple of seats left if anyone would like to try it out. We start at 6:30 on Thursday night, new members are always welcome and there is no purchase commitment. Hope to see you then!

Cherish Friendships

I think I found my favorite card in the new Idea Book - I love the colors and layout of this card, I just had to change out the stamp set to one I already had. This new Cherish Friendship set fit the bill exactly!

I dusted off my blender pens to color in this image, using as many of the new colors that will be released soon as I could, and threw in a whole slew of others just for good measure!

Enjoy!

The Man in Brown Stopped By Today

....and look at what he left behind! A box full of NEW Stampin' Up! Treats. These stamps are from a set called Cherish Friendship, and was my first choice from the stamps available on my Demonstrator Pre-Order. I just finished drooling over the new Idea Book and Catalog and though I'd like to take one of each, please! I am not sure that I'll have the time to use absolutely all of it - so I'll have to narrow my choices a bit!

But back to my card...these cherries are the reason I just had to have this set. For this First Stamp I wanted to see if I could get the blended look of Copic markers using Stampin' Up! products. What I've decided is that you really don't need those ultra expensive markers to get this cool blended look on your cards and projects. It can really be done with ink pads or markers and a blender pen! For this image I used both - ink from the lid of my stamp pad, and a little ink from a marker placed on a plastic lid. Once you choose the colors you want to use simply start with the lightest color and work your way up to the darkest using scrap paper as needed to lighten some of the ink on your blender pen.

This card is a hint at what's inside this fabulous new book - lots and lots of banners! It seems that banners are all the rage right now, and they are coming in all sorts of shapes and sizes. As such I think that it is only appropriate to show you a few of the ways you can add them to your current projects using items you probably already own, as you make sure you are able to purchase any LAST CHANCE items you might like to have.

I will be hosting a Mystery Hostess Workshop at my house on Saturday June 25th from 12-2. RSVP and find out the various ways you can get your own copy of the new catalog for FREE!

Retro 70's Style

If you remember the early 70's you might remember these super cute mushrooms being emblazoned on just about everything - my mind remembers them shimmery and covered with red and white sequins on a pair of bell bottom jeans!

The card will be part of a Stamp a Stack I will be teaching at my Stamp Camp for Kids in July. Super cute huh?

The Land of the Free

I had some fun playing in my Stampin' Space this past weekend using the Land of the Free - one of the fun A La Carte stamps from this years Summer Mini Catalog. I used it on both the pieces. This is a fun way to embellish items for your 4th of July barbecue or get together! Apologies for the color - I guess I will have to go back to photographing my items outside in the sunshine!



These nesting boxes are a pattern I have been using off and on for awhile. They will also be one of the projects offered in my Holiday Big Shot class that begins in September - let me know if you would like me to save you a spot in this class, and I'll send you the information.



The card was made using a Double Embossing technique that was featured in Stampin' Success Magazine this past month. To recreate this effect you can use your brayer, or rub your Versamark ink pad directly onto the debossed side of your embossing folder, place your DSP into the folder and run it through the Big Shot. You will want to immediately sprinkle your embossing powder onto your DSP while the ink is still wet, and heat set. Isn't this a cool look?

Stop back later this week, I will be posting some cards made with sneak peek items from the upcoming Idea Book and Catalog! Hope you all enjoy the beautiful day.

Stampin Space Made-Over

After my determination that my Stamping Space was in sore need of a make-over (I could not even work in here!) I decided that I needed to reorganize and purge. I actually found 4 empty boxes were taking up valuable space! So here is what I came up with:



This is my reorganized and newly positioned cutting station. Now that it's right beside my desk, I can easily reach whatever I need! I am no longer concerned about blocking off this door - it never gets used, and leaving a path to it obviously wasn't working either!

These metal containers used to live on my front porch as window boxes, but after two seasons exposed to the rain and sun, it was obvious that they would not survive another summer. However - they do fit all of my dies nicely, including the extra long ones. Its nice to no longer have to rummage through various drawers to find what I need!

The desk in this position makes it great to reach anything I need in the drawers underneath. Previously I would have to push in my chair just to open those drawers! As an added bonus sitting in front of all those windows allows me to watch Emma when she is outside playing and riding her bike!

I love my new ink pad storage - these are the little containers that used to fit inside those metal window boxes turned die storage! They fit the ink pads and coordinating markers nicely. No more pulling drawers out to find my ink pads!

Thanks for stopping by today!