A Little Treat

We made the pink box with M&M's in it on the left at Stamp Club last Saturday. I did the blue one (very close to Pacific Point) yesterday. My stepdaughters arrive today and I wanted to put a little treat by their beds. It is tradition to put flowers and magazines in their room to welcome them. Although it has been many years since we had them both here at the same time and they are grown up with homes of their own, I wanted to dust off a few traditions.

They will find one thing very different. They are now sharing 'their' room with my ever encroaching craft space. I shoved boxes under the dresser and hid work-in-progress in drawers. The 'linen closet' is now at least partially used for storing paper. I had to move the night stand back beside the bed. It is normally a printer table. And all my Craft Ink Stampin' Spots are still in the drawer. Oh well, at least the room is put to good use when we don't have guests. If only I could keep it this neat all the time...

Ingredients: Stamps: Fresh Cuts, One of a Kind, God's Beauty

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, unknown source of blue, DCWV for pattern paper.

Inks: Basic black, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, a variety of markers for coloring butterfly

Ribbon: Kiwi Kiss/Vanilla from Stampin' Up!

TIPsy Tuesday - Paper Tearing

Wonder which way to tear paper for the desired look?




Remember the three T's.

Tear from the Top, Toward you.

The part in my left hand is what I want to keep so I also remember: Right/White

That means that when I tear with my right hand bringing that side toward me, the piece in my left will have an exposed edge. If it is designer paper, it will be White. Of course, if it is Stampin' Up! cardstock, the paper will be solid but you'll have that layered edge showing.

So if I tear with my left hand coming forward, the opposite happens and I don't have any white showing.

When tearing cardstock, you can always just flip it over. It is only with designer paper that you really have to pay attention to the direction you tear.

Coming Up Roses

Last week I dug into my latest Stampin' Up shipment and experimented with watercolor crayons. Today I finally got around to finishing the cards. Both of roses below are stamped in Purely Pomegranate - an in-color from '07-'08. (If you like this color, you are sure to like one of the new '09-10 In Colors coming up soon!).

This first card, the image is stamped on Whisper White cardstock and watercolored with a blender pen.

In this card I stamped on Watercolor Paper which I love. The Pomegranate ink blended a little more here than on the Whisper White. I liked working with the watercolor paper more but I think I like the card above best. Lots of options...

Ingredients: Stamp Set by Stampin' Up! Fifth Avenue Floral, one of the messages is from Funky Favorites

Ink: Purely Pomegranate

Watercolor Markers also by Stampin' Up!

Designer Paper:

Ribbon: source unknown

Fill Up Your Hearts

At today's Stamp Club, our demonstrator, Jean, helped us to create the card on the right with the button. We used her Big Shot to texturize 3 pieces of cardstock at once and then punched out the hearts. She suggested we punch in the center to leave us with three pieces of very pretty cardstock with heart shaped openings.

When I got home, I made the card on the left by stamping 3 hearts on Whisper White cardstock and attaching them to the back of the cutouts with dimensionals. This card is 4" x 9" which fits into a #10 business envelope.

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Waste not, want not. Scraps always have a place in paper crafts.

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Ingredients: Stamps: Dots and Punches

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point

Designer Paper: Bella Rose

Button: Button Bouquet

all of the above from Stampin' Up!

Red Ribbon: Offray

The Road Less Traveled

This serene photos belies the real truth here. This was a bumpy road!
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We just returned from our annual trip to Hilton Head. Hilton Head Island is our place to go to rejuvenate. We like to travel to new places as much as we love to have our favorite beach to return to year after year. We can relax, play tennis (I'm being very generous to call our inabilities on the court 'tennis'), ride our bikes all over the island, build sandcastles and stroll on the beach early and late. We watch sunrises, take naps, dine at our favorite restaurants, watch a movie or two. It is pure heaven.
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Sometimes we throw in a new adventure. This year we took a day trip to Daufuskie Island. The only way to arrive is by boat. A ferry took us to and from with a pleasant sail through protected waters - the only way to sail in my opinion. Our tour included a golf cart for navigating the island since very few cars are allowed. I figured the roads would be dirt or gravel. What I didn't figure on was all the recent rain turning them into a form of mild torture. We met a few other cart riders along the paths and everyone waves and are happy to give directions. Lenny got a real kick out of my mistaking barking dog for some killer beast. It was a poodle - the full size poodle. And really, who brings a white poodle to an island filled with dirt roads and swamp? Anyway, there isn't much to see on Daufuskie but I'm glad we went anyway. All that sandy beach of Hilton Head, afternoon naps, and good food can get a little boring. (just kidding)


Lenny drives our 'torture chamber.'

TIPsy Tuesday - Card Record

Do you have a bulging stash of cards but can't part with them? There is a simple way to keep your beautiful creations and share them with others. Take photos!

I often hate to part with my cards. I've put a part of myself into each creation but I can't keep them all and I really don't want to. I make cards to share with others. My simple solution is to take photos of cards and store them in a designated folder on my computer. To do this, just create a folder called My Cards under the folder My Documents. Whenever you make a card or when you get ready to send one, just snap a photo. Everytime you download photos, drop the card photos in the My Cards folder.

Three bonuses to this method:

1. Whenever you need inspiration for future cards or if you are just stuck, browse the My Cards folder. It will give you a smile to see all the beautiful things you have made.
2. You have a record of cards you made for different people. You can rename a photo with the person's name. Example: AmandaBday09.jpg for Amanda's Birthday card for this year.
3. You gain space in your stash!

TIPsy Tuesday - Versatile Double Rectangle Punch

The nifty little Double Rectangle Punch is easy to overlook in the catalog. I did until I saw an Internet video on how to use it to create a flat bow like the one on the card above (sorry, I’ve long ago lost the link to the video.) You've probably received wedding invitations with these bows. They allow your card or invitation to have a bow without the bulk.

And here are photos on how to create a flat bow:

Punch a hole with the double rectangle punch.

With the front side of your paper facing you, thread one end of ribbon into each of the two holes.

Turn the card over and cross the ends on the back.

Feed the ends back through the opposite hole each came out of. Voila! You have a beautiful bow.








Just trim the ends as desired.

Hint: If you are using a double sided ribbon like this Kiwi Kiss/Vanilla, have the ribbon wrong side up (vanilla side) in step on to get it to come out right side up (Kiwi) at the end.




Now here are some other fun things to do with this punch:

I used it in this basket to punch the holes to feed the ribbon through. It made holding the sides of the basket together super easy:










On this card front, I’ve used the punch at evenly spaced intervals to create a weaved design for the strip of cardstock. You could use ribbon, too. You will need to use a ruler or gridded paper to mark your holes before punching. Extra TIP: Those narrow little scraps left from your scallop edge punch are the perfect size to feed through these holes.

One final tip with this punch: If you have a wider ribbon than the punch is designed for (more than about 3/8”), just punch twice. After your first punch, move the punch a little further in or back so that it is still lined up over the edge of the holes and punch again. You can do two punch lengths and the ribbon will work fine. Any more than 2 and your paper will start to get weak in the middle and probably won’t withstand all the ribbon weaving.

For $5.95 US +tax and shipping, this little tool really packs a punch! (Awful, I know but I couldn’t resist. :-)


Ingredients for 3" x3"card: Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla ribbon, Rose Red and Cameo Coral Cardstock, Raspberry Tart DSP, Lovely Letters stamp set.

The Little Birdie Who Could...

pack a PUNCH!

The weaving in this card is done courtesy of the double rectangle punch. Check out tomorrow's TIPsy Tuesday for more info.

Ingredients: Stamp Set - A Little Birdie Told Me

Cardstock: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss

Watercolor Paper

Orange Brad: Source Unknown.