Tent Topper

Here's a new fold design for you, it's called a Tent Topper.

This one is made with the Heartfelt Thanks stamp set, and the "Thanks" part of the sentiment is stamped inside the card.

The dimensions of this card are the same as any standard card - 4.25" x 5.5" - but that's measuring from the bottom to the tip top of the flower part. So the base cardstock is not a full half sheet like usual. This particular one has a base cardstock dimension of 4.25" x 8" and it's scored at 4". The colors are Lavender Lace, Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, and Naturals Ivory. I used Artichoke Grosgrain ribbon and made a half-circle notch where it ties around the card to keep it from slipping. To make the flower two different colors, I colored it with the Stampin' Write markers. It is so wonderful to have the whole set - you give yourself the freedom to match any color cardstock! When you are attaching the flower to the card, you need to lay it all out next to a ruler so you can be sure you're making the card 5.5" tall... oh, and be sure to use glue dots to attach it!

Enjoy!

Blisters Don't Need Chemo

I usually keep this all "business", but I want to mention why I've been away. I spent this last weekend completing the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk with my team, Footprints of Faith. Together, we walked a total of 60 miles over the course of 3 days. What an incredible journey it has been - one of emotional tears, muscle pain, and a fair dose of blisters... but not without complete admiration for the wonderful women who persevere through this horrible disease, and those that have lost their fight. We were honored to walk in their memory. This photo is of all of us just after we crossed the finish line!!

I encourage you to check out the 3 Day website for information on how you can get involved in a city near you. It is a well run event for a very worthy cause.

Holy Triptych Angel

Here's one of the cards we made at last night's Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks:

I am very pleased with how this card turned out. It was one that I struggled with for quite a while, but it was worth the effort. This stamp set is called Holy Triptych - what a gorgeous set! I stamped it onto Naturals White paper with Timber Brown StazOn ink. Then I colored her using the blender pens and ink pad lids (when the ink pads are closed, you squish the top and bottom together to form a puddle in the lid when you open it). Her gown is Purely Pomegranate (same as the base card color), her wings are River Rock, and I just had to make her brunette (like me!) with Close to Cocoa ink. Coloring like this is really very easy - the main thing you need to remember is that after you load your blender pen with ink, be sure to begin coloring where you want the color darkest because it will fade from there. The River Rock ink pad didn't create an adequate puddle of ink, so I just grabbed my re-inker bottle and squirted out a drop into the lid. This allowed me to really get some good, rich color without having to scrub too much.

The corners of the angel pieces are cut using the Ticket Corner punch. The ribbon is the 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain done the easy way... I took a 5" strip and put glue dots on the ends, wrapped that around and stuck the ends to the back of the cardstock. Then I took another 5" strip and did a half-knot around the first strip. This uses less ribbon, looks just as good (if not better), and is much easier than tying!

The River Rock swirls behind the angel are from the Baroque Motifs set - truly one of my favorite stamps! And the "Peace" sentiment comes from a stamp in All Holidays, but since the stamp actually says "Peace Love Joy", I just inked the Peace part using the Rose Red marker (there isn't a Pomegranate marker). It's punched out with the large oval and threaded with a piece of gold elastic cord from the Mini Catalog. Very elegant and easy to tie! To keep the tag from flopping around, I stuck one dimensional on the back of it to hold it in place.

Thanks for visiting!

Groovy Guava Birthday Pocket

Here's a neat way to fold a card... we made this at my last Stamp-a-Stack:

There's a nice pocket to slide in a photograph or a little coordinating notecard such as the one shown here:

To make this card, you start with the same half sheet of cardstock as usual, but instead of folding it in half, you score and fold it at 2 1/2" and 6 1/2". The top flap overlaps the bottom by 1/2", which also makes the whole card 1/2" skinnier than a usual one. But it still fits in the envelopes just fine. If you want it to be the exact same size as a standard card, you'd either have to lose that little bit of overlap, or you'd have to cut the sheet of cardstock a different way and lose the opportunity to make two cards with one sheet. My notecard is 3 3/4" x 4 1/2" and fits beautifully without struggle (I hate it when you have to fight to slide something back in!). This card style would lend itself well to a Christmas card. Change out the colors and choose a more Christmassy stamp set (or, if you're like my good friend Marelle, you can find a way to make the butterfly wear ornaments or something!), and then tuck a family photograph in the pocket. You could even include a gift card if you wanted!

The colors I used here are Groovy Guava, Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, and Naturals Ivory. The stamp set is Priceless with a sentiment from Hugs & Wishes. The ribbon is the double stitched Guava, and you can use whatever brads you have on hand - I think these are silver. It's a simple card to make - the only thing to watch out for is when you're ready to attach the butterfly piece to the base, only use adhesive on the top portion since the bottom hangs off. Oh, and because it hangs off, I recommend using Glue Dots instead of SNAIL.

I hope you like it!

Pink Thanks

In the spirit of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I want to take this opportunity to thank some wonderful people in my life.

Some of you may know that I am participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk, benefiting Susan G. Komen for the cure. This event will take place here in Dallas a week from today, during which, I will walk (or attempt to walk!) 20 miles each day, 3 days in a row. My mother-in-law, Sara Rostanzo, is a breast cancer survivor, and I am happy to be walking in her honor. I have never taken on such a strenuous challenge, but I have also never had the opportunity to raise this much money for such a worthwhile cause. I have worked for the last several months at raising the necessary funds to participate, and I am happy to report that I have surpassed the minimum requirement. To date, I have raised over $3,000. I could not have done this alone, so for all of you who have supported me, this card is for you:

More specifically, I would like to recognize the following people:

I want to thank my 3-Day walking team. Jazen, Angie, Barb, Jess, Lluvia, Jamie, Stacey I., and Stacey K... together we are called the "Footprints of Faith". We have had some great times together preparing for this event by doing training walks, fundraising events, and just generally supporting each other. Jazen has been a fantastic team leader by keeping us all on our toes. I can't wait until next weekend when we get to do this for REAL!

I also want to thank my AMAZING family - the Guvernators, Obermarks, and Muenks families. At a recent family reunion, they surprised me by taking up a large collection to put me over the top. I am blessed beyond belief to share life with these incredible people. Thank you for your love and support.

And to everyone else who has supported me with a donation, thank you.

If you would like to make a donation
in memory or in honor of someone, please visit
my official 3-Day donation page.
Every little bit helps!

Card Recipe:
Stamp sets: Baroque Motifs and All Holidays
Cardstock: Naturals White and Blush Blossom
Ink: Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, Ticket Corner punch, Satin Ribbon, 2-way Glue, Glitter, Gel Pen

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack

Hi folks, just a reminder...

My next Christmas Stamp-a-Stack will be held on Tuesday, October 23rd at 7pm. We will make 12 cards (6 each of 2 different designs). The cost is $10 with a $15 minimum order, or $20 without an order. Sign up now to reserve your seat!

Fun Baroque Fold

Here's one of the cards we made at my last Stamp-a-Stack:

You lift the flap to open it up, and then the card opens on the left like this:

I just love the Baroque Motifs stamp set - that swirl can make ANY card look good! The base color here is Naturals White, but due to my own silly mistake, I cut Naturals Ivory for the class and didn't even notice until someone mentioned it when we were almost done! So, needless to say, the Naturals Ivory looked good too. The ink colors are Blue Bayou (stamped off on scratch paper first so the swirl would not be too overpowering) and River Rock. I sponged the edges with the Blue Bayou. The patterned paper is Le Jardin (another one of my favorites), and the ribbon is River Rock double stitched. The scallop was made with the corner rounder punch, guard removed, and the slots for the ribbon were made with the Horizontal Slot punch. The tag uses the Word Window punch and some linen thread. The sentiment on that tag is from Short & Sweet stamped with Blue Bayou and then sponged as well.

Fun one to make - hope you like it!

Gorgeous Diorama!

Christmas greetings again, my friends! I wanted to share this beautiful idea for the holidays:

It's very difficult to photograph, but it's called a Diorama Card. Through the windows, you can read "Peaceful Wishes". Here's another view so you can see the 3D effect better:

And to give you an even more detailed view, here it is from above:

I originally didn't think it would fit in an envelope with that star sticking off the top, but it DOES! I just checked, and when you flatten this down, it fits beautifully inside a Stampin' Up! Small Open-End envelope! How perfect is that?! Who wouldn't love to receive this as a Christmas card?

I used Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, and a piece from the Wintergreen designer series paper (LOVE that paper!). The oval windows were made with the Coluzzle (which Stampin' Up! sells). The front window is one size bigger than the middle window. I stamped the back panel with some stamps from the Peaceful Wishes stamp set and I stamped the Print Pattern background onto the front panel. The sentiment and the star are both embossed with gold powder.

Well, what do you think?

Look What the Girls Made!

Well, they did it! The girls made those cute Witches Shoes - and they did a terrific job! Here are my six friends that came this month - along with 3 moms who couldn't resist making one too! I had the shoes cut out and pre-scored for them to save on time, but they chose their shoe lining, assembled, and decorated them all by themselves! Here's a closer look at how they turned out:

I think they did a fine job, don't you?! In addition, they also made a 3" x 3" wheel card as shown in the previous post (they made the black one). Next Girls Club is November 11th!

Stay tuned, as I'll be showing you a gorgeous diorama card soon - plus I still have to show you the three cards we made at the Stamp-a-Stack last week... oh, lots to share!

Fun Halloween Wheels

I have to admit... I've made a lot of cards. But these little guys? Well, they just happen to be some of my favorites to make! They look complicated, but they are quite simple and take very little time to make.

They are little 3" x 3" cards with a wheel inside. You turn the wheel to see different images through the window! What a cute idea for party favors or for teachers! You can even create a coordinating 3" x 3" envelope (as shown under the black one). Here's a closer look at a couple of them:


I used the Bitty Boos Too stamp set along with the "Happy Halloween" sentiment stamp from All Holidays. The colors are Basic Black and Only Orange (of course!), paired up with Lovely Lilac and Garden Green. To make the wheel, I used the Coluzzle cutting system (which Stampin' Up! sells) and then the 1/8" circle punch to make the notches. I used the 3/4" circle punch to make the larger notch where the wheel shows through, and I used the 3/4" square and the 1" circle punches to make the windows. I framed the circle windows with a 1 1/4" circle rim which was glued on with a glue pen. I used the paper piercer from the Crafter's Toolkit to make a hole through the card and wheel, and then attached it with a black brad. To stamp the images on the wheel, I just turned the wheel to a blank spot and stamped directly through the window... turned the wheel, stamped again, etc. I got 4-5 images on each wheel. Then I added some embellishments (buttons, ribbon, hardware, etc.) and voila! An adorable Halloween Wheel!

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but it sure is fun to decorate for it! Have fun!

Girls Club Project!

Edited to add: I have received so many e-mails about these shoes and I failed to mention that these are NOT my original design! (as if I'm half that talented!) These shoes appeared in a past issue of Papercrafts magazine and were originally created by Ellen Hutson. I appreciate all of your kind words, but it is Ellen who deserves your praise.

Okay, here it is! This is what we will be doing this Sunday at 2pm for Girls Club:

Aren't they fun?! Since these adorable shoes are a little more involved, it would be helpful for Moms to stick around this time to help (you know you want to make one anyway!). Each participant will receive all supplies to make one shoe, and depending on how quickly it goes, I have a couple other Halloween projects we can choose from if time allows. Girls ages 8-15 are welcome... (and if you don't have a daughter/niece/granddaughter and you really want to make one, well, talk to me and we can work something out!) $10 per child, or $15 for mother/daughter pair. Please bring scissors and adhesive. Sign up now!

Girls Club UPDATE... Change in Project!

Well friends, I am having a quality issue with the pebble magnets in my prior post and I am unsure if I can get it resolved before this weekend. I will continue to work on it and possibly do those tins at a future event... for now though, I am planning a different project - with a Halloween theme! If I can, I'll post it later this week. Sorry for the detour, but I think I found a TERRIFIC replacement! Don't forget to reserve your seat!

Girls Club on Sunday!

Here's a sneak peak at one of the options for this Sunday's Girls Club (Oct. 14th at 2pm)... it's an altered Altoids tin with pebble magnets that go inside:

I say "one option" because I've also designed a bright, spring-y one that the girls will love! The one pictured here would make a great Christmas gift for teachers, though, so they may have a tough time choosing! In addition to this cute gift, we will be making a card to match.

Have you signed up yet? Remember that it's for girls ages 8-15 (and their moms can come too if they want!). The cost is $10 per child, or $15 for a mother/daughter pair. I provide all supplies, but this month I'd like to ask you to bring an empty Altoids tin. A pair of sharp snips would be handy to bring too, so you don't have to wait for mine to go around. Sign up before it fills up!

Hurry! Last Chance!

Hi friends, just a quick note to remind you that you still have until the end of the day on Monday, October 8th, to take advantage of the 20% off sale on the Simply Sent kits! Don't miss it! (the one pictured here is called "Three Thoughts")


Also, I apologize for the lack of posts - I've been out of town quite a bit lately. I wasn't home from the funeral 24 hours before we loaded up to go camping this past weekend. But I'm back, and I'm ready to get stamping! My next post will be to show you what we'll be doing at the next Girls Club on October 14th! I'm almost done with it, so stay tuned! (and be sure to reserve your spot if you haven't already!)

Simply Sent Kits are 20% OFF!!

Like these cards? I do too! But they're not my designs. They are the two cards from Stampin' Up!'s Simply Sent kit called "Simple Delights"! And the BEST news is that

ALL of Stampin' Up!'s Simply Sent kits are 20% OFF

from October 4th (TODAY) through October 8th!

If you've never seen one of these kits, they are absolutely wonderful - each one contains EVERYTHING you need to make 10-20 cards (depending on the kit). This includes an exclusive stamp set, stamp pads, cardstock (precut and scored!), envelopes, adhesive, and any embellishments such as brads and ribbon! If you have a catalog, check them out on pages 12-14. If you don't have a catalog, scroll down the left side of this page and find the Catalog link.

Simply Sent kits are great for beginning stampers and experienced stampers alike. And don't forget... Christmas is right around the corner - these make fabulous gift ideas! Teenage girls love them, Moms and Grandmas love them... I even take mine when I go on vacation because it is all contained in a small box and allows me to stamp wherever I'm at!

If you are not local to me, and you've been enjoying my blog, I would love to have you as a customer. Did you know that anything you order through me will be shipped directly to you at no additional shipping fee?

Contact me today to place your order! But hurry! The discount on these kits is only available through October 8th!

Suspended Snowflake

I'm back... thanks for the well wishes for my family. I had a wonderful time away celebrating the life of my uncle with all of my cousins. But it's time to get back to work now, and if I remember correctly, I promised you another neat Christmas card.

This is called a Suspension card. Here, look at it again...

See how the snowflake changes? It spins around! How cool is that?! I used the Christmas set Season of Joy again for this one, and it's done on Naturals White with Brocade Blue and More Mustard ink. The scallop is made with the corner rounder (guard removed) and then punched with the 1/16" circle punch. For the background, I stamped off the ink once on scratch paper before stamping on the card so it would be more subtle - all except for the "Merry Christmas" part... that was stamped full strength. For the suspension part of it... well, that's another tutorial I need to make, isn't it? Gosh, I have a lot of work to do!!

Spinning Snowflake

To create this effect, you will need the following supplies:

 

• Word Window punch
• 1 3/8" Circle punch
• 1 1/4" Circle punch
• Two pennies
• Mini glue dots
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• Small stamp (it must fit inside the 1 1/4" Circle punch)
• Cardstock base and any other decorative elements you wish to use

To begin, you will need to create a slot across the front of your card.  Use the Word Window punch and start about 1" from the right edge of the card.

Then slide the punch over, line it up with the previous punch, and punch again.

Continue to slide it over until you are the same distance from the left edge as you were on the right.  When you are finished, your card front will look like this.

Now you need to create the circle that will spin.  I am using a snowflake from The Snowflake Spot stamp set.  I used Versamark ink and white embossing powder on Sage Shadow cardstock. 

When you've created the image like you want it, punch it out with the 1 1/4" Circle punch.   Then you will need two more circles cut out of a coordinating cardstock using the 1 3/8" Circle punch.  I used Naturals White for my larger circles.  Mount the smaller stamped circle onto one of the larger circles.  Here is what the fronts will look like at this point:

On the back of these pieces, you will need to use a glue dot and stick a penny right in the center of each one.  Then, on top of the penny that's attached to the stamped circle, place a dimensional.  Here is what the backs will look like after you have done this step:

Next, lay the stamped circle on the front of the card with the dimensional laying in the slot you punched earlier.  Here is what it will look like from the inside of the card:

Now remove the backing off of the dimensional and place the other penny right on top of it.  Be sure to get it centered so it's balanced well when it spins.  This is what the inside will look like after you have done this:

What you have done with the above steps is create a sandwich around the dimensional... you have your stamped circle, a glue dot, a penny, the dimensional, another penny, a glue dot, and the back circle.  Here's a shot of it all from the side:

And here is what it looks like from the front:

Now you just need to decorate the front of your card any way you'd like.  The circle will spin from side to side when you tilt the card!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.