Buckets of Love

Of course, my title says "Buckets of Love", but really, there's only ONE bucket to share with you today! It's a little Easter bucket you can fill to the brim with yummy Easter egg candy for the cherubs on Easter morning! I wonder if this little bucket will ever even make it's way to it's intended recipient before I eat all the candy out of it????? LOL! I'm guessing not!

I have had this little galvanized bucket sitting in my stash for quite some time now. It's different from the other buckets I've seen out there. This one is short and reminds me of the one my dad had in the garage when I was a little girl. Only his was really big! Imagine that one filled up with Easter egg candy! Woo-hoo! Now you're talking.

Anyways, this is so simple you guys, you can finish it up in 20 minutes flat! See the clear gel medallions with the Thankful Blossoms image in the center? I bought those clear medallions in the $1 bin at Target. First I stamped the blossom image on a piece of white cardstock, and then punched it out with a 1" circle punch. I colored the image with my Copic markers, and then I laid the gel medallion over the top of the blossom. I put this part of the project to the side for a while I got busy finishing up the rest of the bucket.


I decided this little Easter bucket needed a handle since it didn't already have one. I solved the problem by cutting a narrow strip of designer paper (double sided so it's sturdier), and cut the ends of the strip narrower than the main part so that I could thread it through the handles on the bucket and adhere it to the back using a large white brad. Can you see the brad in this close-up picture? A few ribbons tied to the metal handles gives the bucket a bit more color and excitement!

To complete my little Easter bucket, I adhered the gel medallions to the side using glue dots. I positioned them right in the middle of the bucket so they were clearly visible. Then I adhered Dew Drops all the way around the top and bottom of the bucket. Little flower rhinestones were adhered in the middle of the blossom image for some added bling. I used my rectangle Nestabilites to make a tag with the sentiment Happy Easter on it. This sentiment comes from the new March Easter set called Easter Elegance. The sentiment is actually a long, horizontal sentiment, but I inked each word up separately and stacked them on top of each other when I stamped them. Stuff like that is so easy to do with clear stamps!

The tag was attached, along with another Thankful Blossoms medallion, to the bucket using some silver cording.

I hope you like the little Easter bucket! I think I'm going to go sneak a few more pieces of candy out of it before I give it away.....shhhhhh....don't tell anyone, ok? Have a great day!

And now, for something...

...completely different!

I'm a huge Easter fan. The eggs, the bunnies, the baby chicks, the black jelly beans (YUM!), well just about everything! Although we don't focus on the religious side a lot in our home, we have family members who do, so Easter Elegance is the PERFECT stamp set for me. The fun, frolic-filled side of Easter, and the more subdued, thoughtful side all wrapped up in a single set that works both ways.

Using the egg stamps, I created this simple card to emphasize the fun in celebrating the Easter holiday.The black card base really sets off the bright colors of the eggs, and the pink ribbon seemed just the right touch. I stamped the eggs numerous times with many inks, cut them out and pop dotted them up on small white scalloped ovals that I cut with my Nestabilities. I stamped the sentiment on a larger scalloped oval, used a marker to add some pink details, punched out two slots for my ribbon and it was done!

This card was made with my MIL in mind because she is a pastor. I knew I wanted to focus on purple (being the eminent color of Easter due to it's symbolism of royalty, penitence and sorrow), and soft yellow seemed to be a good highlight color. I stamped the beautiful, swirly cross on an oval and added some sparkly touches with a glitter gel pen and a mini white button brad. Then I matted it with many more ovals and adhered it on top of the patterned paper I made with the sentiment stamps. The main sentiment is embossed with white EP, and the background is stamped with purple chalk ink. I added some faux stitching using a white gel pen and a thin yellow ribbon.

Isn't it amazing how you can create two completely different cards from the same set? I can see this will be useful in many years to come.

Simple Easter Elegance

Are you all enjoying your new Verve stamps? I love all of the new sets...but especially the Easter Elegance set! I know I've mentioned this before...(but is definitely worth repeating)...but I just love how versatile this set is! I love the whimsical yet pretty eggs...and the elegant cross is just gorgeous!

I love the look of white on white! To me, it is very elegant. I embossed the cross on to Pearlized white c.s. (just like Shimmery white) with white embossing powder. I then "highlighted" it using my Lavender Lace stamp pad and a wet watercolor brush. Because of the mostly white background, it was pretty hard to get a picture where you could see the embossed background. I took the small swirl stamp (from the Easter Elegance set) and embossed it in white on both the top and bottom of the cross layers.

When I first made this card, I didn't have the popped up "frame" around the cross. After showing it to my husband...he thought the shape of the layer (I made that rounded top just by lining up my Coluzzle cutter and cutting just the top off with it) looked like a church window. That gave me the idea of the frame. I popped it up with Dimensionals mainly so you could see it better.

For some finishing details, I added some White organdy ribbon, Lavender flowers, & Lavender rhinestones. I also embossed the sentiment "He Is Risen" on the inside of the card.

If you haven't yet checked it out...there is a special deal on the newly released stamp sets (not to mention the FREE shipping when you purchase them)!! Make sure you check back tomorrow...Kim will have some more inspiring ideas for you! ~Laurie

Recipe: Stamps: Easter Elegance

Paper: Lavender Lace, Vellum c.s. (Stampin' Up!), Pearlized White c.s.

Ink: Lavender Lace (Stampin' Up!), Versamark

Accessories: White e.p., (Stampin' Up!), Coluzzle, White organdy ribbon, Lavender Flowers, Lavender rhinestones (Hero Arts)

Guest Designer: Paula Williamson

The three new Verve Visual sets are now available at the Verve Store!

Today I'm so excited to share some of the projects Paula Williamson created as our Honored Guest. If you recall, Paula was the winner of our Honored Guest Sketch Challenge, and she definitely did not disappoint! So sit back and relax while you check out her amazing projects, and learn a little bit more about this amazingly talented up-and-comer! To see bigger images and recipe information, just click the photos. :)

How did you get hooked on stamping? I got hooked on stamping when I went to my first Stampin' Up! workshop...way back in 2000. I went as a "friend" helping a relative who was just starting out in the business, and voila! I wanted to keep the catalog, so I booked a workshop. Case closed, I was hooked!

How often do you stamp? I used to stamp once a week. Since I started a blog back in November, I stamp almost every day. I am lucky that I have a husband who works crazy hours and an 18 year old daughter, at times they fend for themselves at dinner! LOL I have to admit that I am a tiny bit envious of stampers/scrapbookers who have all day to stamp, because I don't get to play until I get home from work.

Do you have your own stamping space or do you share it with the cat, dining room, coat closet, etc . ? Yeah!! I do have my own room & I do share it with my cat and dog! It isn't a large room, but I painted it a robins egg blue color and painted very large hibiscus flowers on the walls. Lately I have been fighting the urge to repaint. When I'm not in my "room", I usually have some design show on and I get a little tingly with ideas!

Do you stay true to a stamping budget, or are you swayed by all the enabling out in stampland? I have to say I take note of the enablers, but I don't rush out and buy some of the "toys" I am so lucky to have BFF's who let me use some of their "toys" and take them for a test drive. LOL This is such a huge industry and the temptation is definately there, but I do control myself with large ticket items...now paper & ribbon, that's another story!

What is the latest stamping toy you've picked up that just made your heart go pitter patter? Ok, that last question is kinda out the window, where this answer is concerned! I have been longing to own the Spellbinders Nestabilities for a year or so now. Where to start when you just want them all? For me, I was in my lss and the heavens opened up, and angels started singing...there they were. Nestabilities hanging in a row, ordered on accident by the store owner, and in my hands! No, I don't own them all, but I am slowly collecting them and just looking at them makes me smile. When I crank out that embossed piece of cardstock, I just marvel at the beauty of such a clean perfect cut. Does this make me an enabler too?

Name one stamp or stamp set that you don't think you'll ever part with. A quick answer would be an alphabet set, I use a Hero Arts set a lot! But...I have recently fallen in love with my Loads of Love set from Stampin" UP! I originally bought it to do Christmas cards a couple years ago, then I bought the accessories set to go along with it. I had so much fun making Valentine's with it this year.

What do you love most about papercrafting? Hands down, I love the variety! The variety of paper selections, and all the places I can glue or tape it to. Didn't I already say I love paper, and all the pretty colors it comes in! I love that the companies are making pads of paper in 6x6, thank you Basic Grey! I can own it all in a scaled down version and then buy my favorites in a larger sheet. I am such a crafty nerd!

What do you consider to be your stamping strengths? I went to school for art and I was taught about composition and color. I absolutely love everything about color, and how to make the whole project work together, like a balancing act. I know I have made things like cards, that I later looked at and wondered what I was thinking, but I chalk it up to learning. Usually when I have one of those moments, I pull the card apart...gently and re-use pieces into something I am happy with.

Who is your stamping hero (someone whose work inspires you to challenge yourself creatively)? Debbie Olson!! It has been almost one year since I looked at a card from her blog. I was blown away with her cards and followed her blog for a couple weeks. I pulled out some old friends from college, my Prismacolor pencils. They rubbed their eyes from years of being closed up in the darkness of a drawer, and then I introduced them to some Gamsol. From Debbie's blog I have admired so many other great designers and I am so thankful for having found her. Looking at all this creativity every day had made me be more creative. Thanks Debbie for all the inspiration!

Be sure to leave a little love here for Paula so we can give her a much-deserved swollen ego! :) And if you need more of a Paula fix, be sure to check out her awesome blog, paper possibilities. I'll be back on Monday with another very special Guest Designer. Have a great weekend!

Easter Elegance

It's time for Verve Visual's newest release! How exciting! There are THREE new sets coming out and we think you're going to LOVE them all! Be sure and check back in the next two days as you'll be able to see sneak peeks of the other two sets! Today, Dana, Laurie and Charmaine are going to show you a bit of Easter Elegance!

by Dana

Boy do I love 2-step stamping! It's so easy to add color and highlight to your image without much work. When I first saw the new set, Easter Elegance, I fell in love with these cute little eggs. I stamped the egg outlines in brown StazOn, then inked up each individual egg stamp with color and (because they're clear) easily added it on top! I also made a small mask for the tipped sideways one to prevent color overflow.
I used PP by Scribble Scrabble from their Felicity collection. It just seemed so spring-like and perfect for Easter (which comes early this year). This card would be very easy to mass produce for mailing, but if you wanted to "pump it up" a notch, you could simply add another panel under the scalloped oval, like I did here.


Another piece of PP, a few eyelets and you've got a simple card made fancy!

Supplies Stamps: Easter Elegance (Verve Visual) Paper: Felicity (Scribble Scrabble), brown and sage CS (SU), white CS (PTI) Ink: Brown StazOn, Red (Palette Hybrid), Sage (Versamagic), yellow (Colorbox chalk) Accessories: ribbon and gold eyelets from my stash, Marvy punch, Nestabilities, pop dots

by Laurie

When I saw these gorgeous Easter eggs from the new Easter Elegance set, I knew they needed to be displayed in a basket! :-) I "wove" some paper strips together and then glued on a white piece of cardstock (I precut a 2 x 3" piece and rounded the bottom corners). After the glue was dry, I trimmed the woven strips around the cardstock. I sponged the sides just a little bit to add a bit of shadow to the basket. I then glued some crimped white papers (the kind you can get in a large bag) to the back side of the basket. Lastly, I arranged my cut out eggs in the basket (some are adhered with Dimensionals) and one at the bottom corner.
I love how this set has both elegant and a bit more whimsical style stamps. Is there such a thing as whimsical elegance?? :-) However you describe it...it is by far my favorite set yet!

by Charmaine

When I first saw this new set, I had many pictures in my head for this cross. One was embossed in gold or even a deeper metallic color. I just thought the image had a "wrought iron" quality to it. What I love most about this set is the versatility to make projects for both "sides" of Easter, the religious and the "cute". For this card, I lined everything with gold cardstock to bring out the embossed gold cross and sentiment. As finishing touches, I added the gold brads, the paper piercing and white organdy ribbon.

We hope you've enjoyed your sneak peek of Easter Elegance. This set, along with the two you'll be seeing in the next two days will be available March 1!

SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Easter Elegance (Verve Visual); Paper- gold (DCWV Metallic Stack), Circus Baby Collection (Scribble Scrabble); Ink- Versamark; Accessories- gold embossing powder, Giga scallop square punch (Marvy Uchida), gold brads (Making Memories), paper piercer, white organdy ribbon (Darice)