Altered Tin

This little altered Altoid Tin was created to hold my cardstock sampler panels. I prefer this over a keychain for my own use, and it also keeps the samples dust-free.... if you live in the dry, dusty desert - you may appreciate that!

My hostess club members made a similar one last year as one of their projects, and my sample for that class was given away... it felt great to finally sit down and make one just for me! I used a strip of the dotted paper from the beautiful Love Letter Designer Paper line for the bottom tin area... the very top panel was stamped using the clock from Sense of Time, and floral swirl from Vintage Vogue. This was distressed, stamped with the splatter stamp from the retired Itty Bitty Backgrounds collection, then dotted with a black pen. I added the seam binding and popped up a few small flowers from Vintage Vogue with dimensional popdots. Pearls add the final touch on the flowers.


Here's an open view of my altered tin. Thank you for visiting today... as always, comments are very welcomed and appreciated - please come back soon!

Stamps: Sense of Time, Vintage Vogue, Itty Bitty Backgrounds (splatter stamp - retired)
Paper: Basic Black, Vanilla, Love Letter DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, black marker
Accessories: Crumb Cake seam binding, pearls, dimensional popdots, sponge dauber, cutter kit, sanding block, sticky strip, altoid tin

Punchy Uncle Sam

Hi there! Today's post is another super cute swap project that I received this week. I had arrived a couple minutes late to the meeting when my upline was handing these out to the group, and found out today that it was my out-of-state sister demo, Betty S, who created this adorable punch art giftbag... isn't this Uncle Sam the cutest?! Another wonderful idea Betty has here is using a patriotic paper napkin for the tissue in the bag - gotta remember that one! I always see cute decorative napkins for so many different occasions... the perfect inspiration for a little giftbag. The Fancy Favor diecut giftbag is hidden in this picture by the Uncle Sam front panel, but it was cut out of Real Red cardstock. This is such a cute July 4th project!

Thanks again to all my demo sisters! My upline, KM, gave us some great tips on using the Bigshot and accessories to make applique quilt blocks so much easier to put together. I need to take some pictures and get that post together to share with you... you'll be amazed - I was! Thanks KM!

Happy Saturday.... see you next time!

Birthday Cake and Card

It's hard to believe it's June already - this year has really flown by... My customers on my distribution list should have received my newsletter at the beginning of June that basically highlighted Stampin' Up's retirement product listings. The retiring stamp sets will be available throughout June, however the other items like accessories, decor elements, etc are first-come, first-serve.... grab them while you can! You can order through my business website 24-7.

OK, today's project shown above is one of the items we made during our last hostess club. I used a battery operated tealight candle and decorated it with Tea Party DSP. Instructions can be found on SplitCoast under the resources section. I added some non-SU string of pearls and pink silk roses that are glued down to embellish this very cute cake. The little 3x3 notecard and envelope were stamped using a flower selection from Priceless stamp set in So Saffron, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery. The sentiment comes from Sincere Salutations that is stamped in black ink. Of course, Whisper White Organza ribbon finish off this notecard.

Have a great day and thank you for visiting!

Desk Calendar

Hello again! I thought I'd post a past project that my hostess club members got to make during one of our meetings this year. I used two 4x4 inch chipboard coasters that were covered with designer paper, and lightly sanded the edges. The coasters are joined with two Round Tab punch-outs. The calendar is printed from Cat's 2010 template that she so graciously shared on Splitcoast and was trimmed down to size. What a timesaver - thank you so much Cat! The calendar pages are held together with a little library clip, so that the months can be changed out easily. The back page has repositionable tape for easy removal, so that you could print out a whole new year and reuse this little creation. The flowers were stamped and cut out, and held together with a little flower brad. It is adhered with dimensional popdots. I hope you enjoy your Friday, and that you can come back again soon.

Stamps: Vintage Vogue stamp set
Paper: Sweet Pea DSP, cardstock: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Bigshot/Butterfly embosslit, Sweet Pea paper, scallop edge punch, mini library clip, Round Tab punch, dimensional popdots, Sending Love epoxy brads in chocolate chip, repositionable double-sided tape, sanding block

Black & White Sizzlet Storage

A good friend of mine asked me one day "how are you storing your little Sizzlet dies?"..... Good question! At the time, I was using the little pockets of a quilted bag that stores my Bigz and XL dies, but soon found that I had to pull everything out of the pockets to find what I needed. OK, this was the perfect opportunity to get creative and make something pretty and useful.

So how do you like my Sizzlet Storage Box? Believe it or not, this is an altered processed cheese box (ie just like Velveeta cheese comes in) and fits the Sizzlet dies perfectly!!! I carefully disassembled the box lid and used it as a template on the Night & Day DSP (retired, holiday mini). I reassembled the box lid in conjunction with the DSP to give the lid strength. The black ribbon lace is from my gigantic ribbon stash with a layer of the Whisper White Organza ribbon on top. I matted this to white and black cardstock, and added black brads. The flower was created with heart punches to create a rose that was lightly sponged on the edges in black and spritzed with Champagne Mist/alcohol spray and adhered with gluedots/popdots...

Thanks for checking in... have a super day!

Bookmark Card and Bag

A recent challenge on Splitcoaststampers, TLC268, was to incorporate a bookmark into a card. I had some small items to give to a sweet friend, so I thought this would be a nice way to add something more to her gifts.



This little color combination started with this paper rose that I originally had made for a different project. The rose turned out to be larger than I needed, so I set it aside till I found another use for it - today's project! The paper rose was created by using different sized heart punches. I sponged ink on the edges and curled the heart's curvy edges under before gluing the pointy tips together (a brad can help to secure all the pointy tips before shaping as well).

The designer paper came from my never-ending scraps pile, so I don't know the maker, but I loved the summery feel to the colors and it matched the flower well enough for my needs. This was matted together using Tempting Turquoise cardstock. The paper gift bag is Stampin' Up's Fancy Favor Sizzix die cut out of YoYo Yellow. I threaded a strip of Whisper White Organza ribbon on top to make a bag strap. The flower is attached to the designer paper with dimensional popdots.



The front of the card seen at the top of this post is using stamps from Great Friend and Pocket Silhouettes stamp sets in YoYo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore inks with the same in cardstock colors. The inside of the tri-fold card contains the bookmark held in place with repositionable tape. Here's the bookmark removed from the card below-



The butterflies were diecut using the Beautiful Wings embosslit die found on page 24 of the Occasions Mini. I love how it has 4 different butterflies on it - I've used it a ton already! The bookmark is a perfect size and comes from the Two Tags die, and I have an inside mat of Tempting Turquoise cardstock punched from the Scallop Circle punch. The 1 3/8 circle punch was used for the pattern paper circle background.

I hope this gives you some ideas to use when presenting gifts to someone special. I hope you have a fabulous Monday, and may your week be a good one! Till next time....

Autumn Splendor Candle

Even though it's trying to cool down in Phoenix, we are still looking at highs in the 90's this coming week. The mornings have been simply beautiful though, and you can finally feel the temps start to drop when the sun goes down.... so according to Phoenix standards, we are heading into our season of Autumn!

This candle was one of the projects we did in our last Technique's Class. We learned how to "stamp" on candles, and in this case, we heat embossed the leaves from Autumn Splendor in gold embossing powder. Some of us sponged autumn colors on the tissue paper before adhering it to the candle - others left it alone after embossing the images, and still another stamped in Versamark, then an autumn-colored ink and embossed - it was equally beautiful any way it was done. We also played with shrink plastic to make the ribbon tags. I love how small the images became - they are too cute!

I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend - take care!

Pretty Punch Ornament

Hello again - I know it's been a while since I posted. It seemed like posting on my blog always fell further down on my daily "to-do" list - and time management has never been one of my strong points. I figured that having the kids back in school would free up some time for me, but it only allowed the other things that I've neglected to finally get some proper attention, KWIM?

Anyhow, the Holiday Mini Catalog has been released, and this little project uses three items that are now available, the Delightful Decorations ornament stamp set, Ornament punch and silver elastic cord. This little ornament was so easy to make... I inked up the stamp in Versamark, then Real Red ink, and stamped it on Whisper White cardstock. This was heat-embossed in Iridescent Ice embossing powder, then the whole process was repeated so that I had 8 stamped pieces. (Don't forget to clean your stamp each time, or you'll end up with Real Red Versamark!) Each image was punched out with the Ornament punch, and folded in half. I used Mono Multi glue to adhere each 1/2 section to another 1/2 section. Before gluing the last two sections together, I cut a 5 inch length of the Silver elastic cord and tacky taped the ends inside to create the loop for hanging. Boy, does this little ornament sparkle when it moves!

Stamps - Delightful Decorations (item # 116517)
Paper - Whisper White
Ink - Versamark, Real Red
Accessories - heat gun, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Ornament punch (item #116794), silver elastic cord (item # 109866)

A Bug's Life

Because my dad was in the Air Force, we had an opportunity to live in the Phillipines for almost 3 years when I was a little girl. It was an amazing place, and I think about my experiences there quite often. I learned to ride horses, braved through typhoons (once, a typhoon's eye went right over Clark AB - we played outside for a short while it was passing overhead), and survived a terrible infection from a knee injury. I learned the truth about Santa Claus here, and found that my favorite toys in the whole world were Legos. Being a tropical chain of islands, the Phillipines gave me a real introduction to BUGS, and I mean, bugs of all kinds!!! My favorites to play with and keep as "pets" were praying mantis, and to this day, I still have a fondness for them.

My youngest daughter isn't too squeamish about most bugs, either, and I'll find her playing with them from time to time. When I saw this unfinished box at Michaels for less than a buck, I thought it would be a great "bug" box! It measures about 2 x 3.5 x 2 inches all around, and has a screened & hinged lid on top.

To start, I removed the front hardware/clasp and used acrylic paint for the very top of the box. Even though it's dark in the photo, in real life, the paint is a pretty close match to Rich Razzleberry. The angle of the photo throws the color off a bit. I trimmed Tall Tales Designer Series Paper to size on all four sides (including the lid pieces), and stamped the butterfly & word trail from the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set in Rich Razzleberry ink. The butterfly dots were colored in with a white gel pen. When it was dry, I used ModgePodge to glue the papers on, then rubbed the sanding block on all edges. Little flowers were stamped on both sides using the same acrylic paint (you can see a truer version of the paint color better there), and applied a final coat of ModgePodge. I finished up by gently hammering the hardware back into position...

I hope I didn't make you queasy talking about bugs today, but don't ya think this would make a cute little gift for any budding entomologist?! My little girl thinks it's "the bee's knees"! OK, I couldn't resist - have a great day! :)

Tick Tock... Altered Clock

Hello again!!! Today's project features an altered clock that I worked on yesterday at a monthly crop that I coordinate for a bunch of die-hard crafters. It started out as a plain white plastic clock that I picked up at Target for less than $5 dollars... the face is about 8 inches in diameter and fills a need that I had for my craft room. I have a little desk clock in there, but it always get buried beneath whatever project I happen to be working on at the time. Besides, I wanted to showcase a couple of new In-Colors, and a lovely patterned paper design from the new and upcoming "Razzleberry Lemonade" paper collection that will be available for purchase from the new catalog starting July 1st. I really adore this paper collection!!! Be prepared because I will be using lots, and lots, and lots of it!!! :)

It wasn't difficult to remove the front clear plastic cover that protected the clock hands, so if you would like to try this and purchase this same clock at Target, just go slow and press in the two little tabs on the back of the clock for removal. After the cover was removed, I gently pulled off the clock hands and carefully peeled off the paper with the clock's numbers. I used this paper as a template for the patterned paper and just used small scissors to cut around it. I did lightly sponge the patterned paper circle around the outer edge and hole for the clock's spindle with Crushed Curry ink.

The outside plastic was painted with acrylic paint and distressed with a sponge and brown ink. I chose a purple that very closely matched Rich Razzleberry and golden yellow that resembled Crushed Curry. Once distressed with the brown ink, the colors turned out looking aged and "antiquey" (is that a word? LOL!!). Once the paint job was the way that I wanted it, I put a coat of ModgePodge over the whole thing. NOTE - If and when I do this again (as it would make a GREAT gift!), I am going to use masking-tape to protect the clock spindle and spray paint a primer coat all over the plastic before painting. The acrylic paint can be easily scratched off otherwise.... that's why I ended up using ModgePodge to (hopefully) protect the paint job. However, since it's a clock and will only be handled when I change the battery, I think this will be OK and last a long time.

The numbers on the clock were made with corduroy buttons (non-SU) and altered/sanded chipboard diamonds from the Blossoms & Basics chipboard collection (retired). I used the BigShot and Little Leaves Sizzlet die to make an arrangement of leaves on the clock face. The butterflies were stamped with Rich Razzleberry ink using the butterfly stamp from the Great Friend stamp set, then cut out and glued onto the clock face with the wing tips slightly curled upward (HINT - make sure nothing is too tall to impede the movement of the clock's hands!). I assembled my clock back together, inserted a battery, and Voila... it's finished and ready for display!!

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my altered clock... and I hope it inspired you to try this project out for yourself! It wasn't hard to do at all, but it did take me all day to do it (of course, I spent ALOT of time talking, listening, laughing, going out for a dinner run, then talking, laughing... HEY, you get the gist.... a roomful of crafters are too much fun! Tee hee! Have a great week ahead, and come back soon! Till next time... :)

Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade designer series paper collection
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, brown staz-on, acrylic paints
Accessories: small paintbrushes, sponges, BigShot, Little Leaves sizzlet, mono-multi glue, corduroy buttons, chipboard, sanding block, ModgePodge, clock!

In Place of a Bow

Hello everyone... just a quick post for today. This wrapped package contains a gift for my SIL, and I wanted the bow to be alittle different, so I stamped it! I used Playful Petals and stamped the large flower image 3 times on white cardstock. It is colored with a few new In-Color markers - yep, you saw that right! Stampin' Up has heard our wishes and is providing markers for all of the new In-Colors with the release of the new catalog on July 1st. I used Rich Razzleberry (a pretty purple), Melon Mambo (pinkish red), Crushed Curry (golden yellow), and Mellow Moss for the green (not sure that I like this color choice, but what's done is done...). The flowers were cut out and mounted in layers with dimensional popdots. The colored leaves were added last under the flower bow. The "happy birthday" greeting comes from the set "Teeny Tiny Wishes" and was hand cut and molded to look like a banner. The ribbon is Old Olive.

Here's a close up of my "bow". Sorry about my post being so short today - I have a "to-do" list a mile long and am feeling motivated to get some things accomplished - so I better hop to it! Have a great day and come back soon!

Graduation Shutter Card

Ggggoooo Cougars! (tee hee hee!) Hello everyone... it sure has been a busy last couple of weeks... last minute school projects & kids getting out of school, 2 of my kids with birthdays and some with their friends w/birthdays, graduations, dad having surgery (he's recovering nicely, thank goodness)... not to mention WORK thrown in there, too! I'm glad that things seem to be slowing down (and I hope it stays that way!)...

OK, now let's talk about this card. I made this graduation card for my nephew who completed his high school last Thursday! WTG, Blaine!!! This style of card is called "Tri-Shutter", and it was a Splitcoast Technique challenge several weeks ago, although specific directions can be found here on Bonnie's blog. The various individual stamps come from a large variety of retired stamp sets - it's really hard for me to let any go because they come in handy sooner or later... OK, truth be told, I love being surrounded by all my stuff in my craft room! (wails... I can't help it!)

As you might guess, Blaine's high school colors are purple, teal and white. I made my card base with a "basic gray" speckled paper, and went from there. I used a computer/printer for the school name, class year and Thoreau quote, and the cougar image was a photo found on the internet that was cropped and printed black and white. All these things were measured out to fit the individual sections of the card and matted in the school colors. See the section where "congratulations" was heat embossed with white embossing powder? That area was large enough to easily fit my VISA giftcard, and was attached there with temporary 2-sided tape. I loved that it fit! (Yes, I am easily amused by the little things in life!)

Before I forget, you can click the picture and it'll refresh with a larger version so that you can see the details alittle better - as you can imagine, this one was alittle tricky to photograph for you, being the amateur photographer that I am! :)

Here's the card closed, and it fit into a standard A2 envelope. The mortarboard for the graduation cap was stamped again, cut out and popped with a dimensional. The "hip hip hooray" was punched with a 1/2 inch punch and popped up too. The card was alittle bulky due to the thick buttons, hardware with ribbons, and many brads that I added, so it did take extra postage to mail.

I'm glad to be posting again! Stampin' Up demonstrators were able to do some pre-ordering of selected items in preparation for the new catalog to be released July 1st. I'm looking forward to receiving my shipment later in the week - new goodies are always inspirational, and I can't wait to share! If you'd like to pre-order a catalog for just $5, let me know by filling out the form HERE. Have a great day!

Stamps - Carte Postale, Circle of Friendship, Greeting for All Reasons, Mini Messages, Sketch an Event (all retired stamp sets)

Cardstock - white, taken with teal, elegant eggplant, "basic gray" type cardstock for base (I think it comes from "cottage collection" by Keeping Memories Alive)

Inks - Versamark, Elegant Eggplant, Taken with Teal, Basic Gray

Accessories - craft knife, ruler, cutting mat, stylus, various circle punches, sponge dauber, silver brads, heatgun, white embossing powder, hodgepodge hardware, matpack and paper piercer, dimensional popdots, non-SU 1/8th inch ribbon in white, blue, purple

May's Technique Class Sneak Peek

Howdy and happy Wednesday to you! I wanted to send a quick reminder for this month's technique class to be held Tuesday, May 26th at 7pm in my home. If you are in the Phoenix metro area and would like to attend, please prepay to reserve your spot by May 19th. The cost is $12, and additional details about this class are located HERE. One of the things that we will be making is this clear envelope chipboard album shown above.... isn't it darling? You don't want to miss this class! Send me an email to june@mycreativecorner.com and I will be contacting you shortly.

To celebrate National Scrapbook Month, the posts over the next week will be 12x12 scrapbook pages for a vacation album I made for my dear, sweet SIL. I hope that you will stop in each day to take a peek - have a wonderful day!

WICKED 3D Butterfly Box

Here's my last submission for the WICKED challenges posted for Stampin Up demos over on Split Coast Stampers - a HUGE thank you goes to Brenda (aka QBee's Quest) for providing such an awesome template/project idea! You rock! :)

After cutting out and assembling the butterfly box template using a sheet from the Raspberry Tart designer paper collection, I used the Big Shot and Beautiful Butterflies die to create my smaller die-cut butterfly on the front. I used a small piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock as a base layer for the butterfly, and lightly sponged the edges in Riding Hood Red ink. The top butterfly layer was shaped for dimension, as you can see. The sentiment was stamped and punched out with the small oval punch. This was lightly sponged too. The ribbon is 1/4 inch Pretty in Pink and I used a small cut-out rectangle of Sticky Strip to hold each ribbon tail in place while I punched a 1/16 inch hole to insert my brads. Lastly, I stripped the paper from a twist-tie and formed the thin wire around the butterfly body and curled the ends for antennae. You may need to click the picture to see a bigger version of the card to view that detail. The butterfly and sentiment oval are popped up with dimensionals.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone! Come back soon!!!

Stamps - Great Friend (sentiment)

Paper - Pink Pirouette, Raspberry Tart DSP

Ink - Riding Hood Red

Accessories - Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies BIGZ die, brads, ribbon, small oval punch, sponge, twist tie wire, 1/16 inch hole punch, Sticky Strip, dimensional popdots, candy

Altered Candy Jar

Happy Friday to you! I had a great evening this week with my Technique class, and I wanted to share the doorprize I made for it. My friend, Sheri, won the prize... Yay Sheri! :)

Isn't it cute? I was pleased with how it turned out, and it was very easy to assemble! I recycled an empty Folgers instant coffee container to make an altered candy jar. I'm sure we all have an 'almost empty' plastic container sitting in the fridge or in the pantry - so instead of tossing the container, I suggest altering it for a new use! What a great way to give someone a special gift, or keep it for yourself... it could store lots of crafty items too - ribbons, flowers, reinkers, die-cuts, you name it!

The papers are held on with Sticky Strip, and I also inserted brads on both sides for added insurance - it's not coming off! (To insert brads, after adhering your paper to the plastic, carefully use a paper piercer and gently work it through the layers of paper and plastic - it's not hard to do... just go slow so you don't have an accident... yikes!). The 'candy' label is die cut letters from the GoGo Boots sizzlet alphabets. I added some Riding Hood Red ribbon, and topped the lid with a Pretties flower. The patterned paper is from the Washington Apple DSP series.

Just before class started, I filled it with a package of coffee-flavored candy. YUM! Thanks for checking in with me - have a great day!

Sachet Pillowbox

Hello again! Today's post is about a very quick project that would make sweet little Mother's Day gifts for family and friends. It's a sachet made from the Pillowbox Die and Big Shot. After die-cutting the pillowbox, I stamped in Pink Pirouette ink around the edges with a floral selection from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. The butterfly came from Great Friend, a wonderful little stamp set found in the new Occasions Mini catalog, and is stamped on both sides of my pillowbox in Riding Hood Red ink. I used my Mat Pack and paper piercer to punch little holes around the butterfly and pillowbox, and closed one end securely with Sticky Strip tape. Then I crushed very fragrant potpourri into smaller pieces (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in size), and filled my sachet pillowbox. I secured the other end with Sticky Strip tape and added a ribbon around one side, adding a few spots of snail on the ribbon to keep it from sliding off the pillowbox. The small holes allow the fragrance to breathe - it smells so nice and it's not too strong - to me anyway! I think I know a few ladies who would love a few of these to put with their linens or clothing drawers at home... maybe you do, too! Have a great day, and thanks for checking in with me today.

Stamps: Great Friend, Pocket Silhouettes

Paper: Pink Pirouette

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Big Shot, Pillowbox Die, ribbon, mat pack, paper piercer, Sticky Strip, Snail adhesive, potpourri

Birdhouse 24-7

Well, I don't know about your area, but the birds are very busy building nests around Phoenix right now.... it won't be long before we hear the little peeps from the babies! When I was watching them this morning, hustling around, eating and grabbing the stray bit of grass or twig, it inspired me to decorate a birdhouse today. I purchased an unfinished one at Walmart over a month ago for a few dollars. There were many different types available, and they were found in the crafting area. Here's a close up of the nesting bird...

I snapped photos at various stages of construction, and thought I'd share how I put this together this morning. First I started with my supplies - the paper comes from the Raspberry Tart collection (LOVE it!), and the stamps are from Friends 24-7 (LOVE this even more!). I picked out a few different colors of acrylic paint to give a distressed look to my birdhouse.

As you can see below, I put a basecoat on the roof, bottom and post.

Then I added the other colors to give the birdhouse a distressed look -

To make an easy template for cutting your patterned paper, use a sheet of printer copy paper and trim it so it's slightly larger than the face of your birdhouse.

Line up one edge of the paper along an edge and bottom of the birdhouse, then simply use your finger to press a crease in the paper as shown below - you may need to trim off the bulky, excess areas so that you can make a good crease. After you've creased your edges, just trim off the extra paper with scissors to make your template.

Put your template back on the birdhouse and use your finger again to lightly crease an outline for the holes in the center. Cut out the holes with scissors.

Use your template and cut out 2 pieces from your DSP for the front and back. Remember to cut holes for the front DSP piece only! :)

I measured and cut two rectangles from the DSP to fit the sides of the birdhouse. Going in sections, I applied a coat of ModgePodge to the birdhouse using a 1 inch sponge paintbrush, then laid the appropriate piece of DSP on it - press around the DSP to make good contact with the glue. When this was done to all 4 sides and dry, I used a sanding block to distress the paper. Then I applied a top coat of ModgePodge over the entire birdhouse.

While the birdhouse was drying, I stamped the bird and flowers on Whisper White using Staz-On brown, then immediately heat-embossed with clear EP. These were watercolored with markers and aquapainter, then cut out. I created a nest using a very thin strip of raffia and stuck/glued spanish moss around. The flowers, bird and nest were adhered with dimensional popdots and mini gluedots.

Here's an overall picture again - straight on....

There you have it! I hope this inspires you, just like I was inspired this morning by simply watching the birds. Have a great day, and come back soon!

Post-It Organizer... AKA Whiteboard :)

OK, for all of you that are like me and have sticky notes stuck all over your monitor, today's post may be an answer to better organization- well... at least it's more decorative!! :)

Yep, it's a magnetic whiteboard. I picked this up for $2.50 at Target near their dollar section, and added flowers and "buttons" from a die-cut self-adhesive sheet that's part of the Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin Kit. The marker cap and the black flower centers (they look like drawer knobs) are magnetized and moveable. I wanted to protect the die-cuts from the dry-erase marker over time, so I heat-embossed the die-cuts with a clear embossing powder (EP)/Dazzlin' Diamonds glitter mixture. It's so sparkly and pretty in real life! Once I gathered the supplies, I completed this project in less than an hour.

Here's a quick mini tutorial, and you'll need the following materials:

Magnetic Whiteboard (12x16)

Sunshine Garden die-cut sheet or something similar

Versamark

Clear EP/Dazzlin' Diamonds mixture OR Iridescent Ice EP

Heatgun

Embossing Tray

Tweezers

Mono Multi Glue

Choose the die-cuts and trim them apart.

Leaving the die-cut image on the backing sheet, peel off the excess paper. Make sure the die-cut is stuck well to the backing sheet.

Tap Versamark all over the die-cut and cover it in embossing powder (be careful not to lift the die-cut off the backing sheet).

Carefully melt the EP on the die-cut with the heatgun by moving it back and forth about 6 inches away. Use tweezers to keep from burning your fingers! -I used my tweezers and my ACME Heatgun Accessory Gadget... now don't go Google-ing this - it's a homemade, "heavy duty" aluminum foil wrapped piece of very thick cardboard to help speed up the melting process and protect my tabletop ;)

Peel off the glittered die cut and rub off any edges that might have stray bits of melted EP. Decorate your whiteboard. (Note: I glued the die-cuts to my whiteboard with mono multi glue -the die cuts were still sticky, but I did have some areas where EP got underneath on the first couple dots before I realized it. Just be sure the die-cut is stuck well to the backing sheet before dipping in the powder.)

Well, there you have all the juicy details! LOL! I'm glad I de-cluttered my computer monitor - it was really starting to look like something from a Dilbert cartoon. Have a great Sunday!!

Goodbye SAB.... Hello Occasions Mini!!!

Well, I had to make a couple tribute cards with items from the Sale-A-Bration promotion as one last Hurrah! I hope that you love your free SAB items as much as I do. The Delicate Dots DSP will be sorely missed, and I'll be using it up over Spring because of it's perfect blend of colors for this time of year. My first card with hearts came from Polka Dot Punches, and is lightly sponged all around. The second card below was made for my niece who just had a baby boy on Saturday. Many congratulations, Tabatha! The whale stamp came from Pun Fun (not retired - it's available in the main catalog on page 48, item #115054). He is watercolored with markers and an aquapainter. I used the eyelet edge punch on the Apricot Appeal block to bring out more dots! tee hee... Well, *sigh*, it WAS another great year for SAB...

Although it's a bit sad knowing that some things are no longer available, it does mean that NEW items are NOW available! Stampin' Up!'s Occasion Mini catalog starts today!! Products from this mini catalog will be available until June 30th. There are ALOT of cool things in this mini, and I'll be posting many projects utilizing the new items to help inspire you to be creative!

With Easter around the corner, I had to make an Easter basket made from the Big Shot/Scallop Envelope Die. I cut 4 of the envelopes out of Gable Green cardstock and assembled it by arranging & gluing the flaps together inside of the box, and the scalloped topper folded to be on the outside. I also had a (1 x 8.5 inch) strip of Bashful Blue cardstock that I punched along with the Scallop edge punch on both sides to create my decorative trim on the handle. The trim was glued to a (1/2 x 8.5 inch) strip of Gable Green to create my Easter basket handle, and is attached with brads. The green striped patterned paper comes from the Rainbow Sherbet DSP paper pack. Finally, the marker-colored Easter eggs are stamped from a new stamp selection called Wagon Full of Fun, and it adds the perfect touch for this very fun and easy project.

(angled view)

(front view)

Have a great Wednesday, everyone! See you soon!!!

Flip Album Scrapbook Class Offering

(album front)

Happy Saturday! I hope your day has been a good one... I wanted to share a few pics this evening of a sample project made for a Flip Album scrapbook class that I'll be holding during April in my home. There will be several available dates/times offered for this class to allow some flexibility with your schedule, so if you are in the Phoenix area & want to come, please let me know which class you will be attending. I am limiting the amount of people to 5 per class. The dates, times and cost are at the bottom of this post, so hurry to get your spot - first come, first serve! Just fill out my contact page and type in your preferred time in the comment section.

You know, this project would be a fantastic Mother's Day gift! Actually, it would be a perfect gift for just about any occasion... There's (7) 6x6 pages to decorate (excluding the outside covers) - plus multiple side flaps to put lists, tags, pictures, journaling - you name it! It's fun to flip the pages & flaps open and closed - and the ladies who attended my March class were really diggin' the one I made with a different scrapbook kit! :)


(open view)

You will complete 1 fully decorated album in class and have enough basic supplies to complete another at home (each album uses 1/2 of a Simply Scrappin' Kit, pages 162-165 of the Spring/Summer 2009 IB&C). When you pre-pay for your class, I will ask you to select your choice of Simply Scrappin' Kit at that time and order it for you so that it will arrive before your scheduled class date. You will also receive the following at class:

(3) sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 coordinating color cardstock for matting photos/using my punches & Big Shot dies
3 pieces of Hodgepodge Hardware (your choice)
10 brads
(2) 10" strips of ribbon to tie your album closed
(1) 12" strip of ribbon for embellishment

In addition, you will have the opportunity to use my stamps, inks, punches, Big Shot, dies and texture plates for embellishing your album during class.

My sample album is using materials from the Sweet Nothings Simply Scrappin' Kit. I've added some embellishments using stamps, inks, punches, and the Big Shot/dies. Here are two closer views of a couple pages that are in my sample album -

Even though the basic recipe/layouts will be taught in class, each of you will have selected a different Simply Scrappin' Kit, so each album is going to be so unique and wonderful!!! If you are in the Phoenix metro area, please consider joining me for this fun-filled class! Let your scrappin' friends know and come together! Pre-payment/RSVP is due no later that Sunday, April 5th.

Dates:

Sunday, April 19 1-5pm

Monday, April 20 11am - 3pm OR 6pm - 10pm

Location:

My Home - light refreshments will be served

Cost:

$32 (remember that this will make two albums!)

-OR-

$5 for my March class members who have already purchased their SSKit in anticipation of this class offering :)

I blocked 4 hours for this class, although I anticipate many of you will finish earlier. I wanted to be sure you had enough time for your project! If there are any questions, please fill out the contact page (link above in 1st paragraph). Thanks so much and have a great day!