Christmas Boutique Items

This is my favorite boutique item so far! It's a set of monogrammed notecards with envelopes in a matching box with a matching tag!

Christmas Boutique Items

Here is a monogrammed notebook made using the Thoroughly Modern File Folders and DSP! This item is also being offered at my Christmas Boutique workshop.

Christmas Boutique Items

Below are some of the items we'll be making on December 12th at my Christmas Boutique!

2010 Coaster Calendar

Treat Bag with Tag

Grocery List

Gift Card Holder

Snowman Treat Bag and Tag

Dry Erase Board

Though it's a bit hard to see because it's already packaged, this is a small dry erase board made from a 4X6 acrylic frame. I got the idea from Diana Gibbs and her Artisan Award submission. They are quick and easy to make. Design a 4X6 panel and slide it into the picture frame. This can be adapted to any size frame, acrylic or glass. The A2 box instructions are at Splitcoast Stampers. Just follow this link. I used an overhead transparency (are these outdated or what?!) as the acetate sheet for the top of the box. The box is designed for holding a set of A2 sized (4.25X5.5) cards and envelopes!

Halloween Treat

Here is a small Halloween treat box that we made at camp this month. I used a box pattern from Stampin' Up! (#33) and printed it onto Pumpkin Pie cardstock, cut it out, scored, and added some sticky strip. The Trick or Treat is a stamp from the Holiday Best level 1 hostess set. I used the Basic Black and Old Olive markers and my Versamarker (on the pumpkin) to color directly onto the rubber stamp before stamping. Many say it looks like an apple pie box from McDs, but it is smaller than that. It is large enough to hold a few pieces of Halloween candy or other small gift items!

CFH is now OWH!

On September 12th, Cardsforheroes.org celebrated its first birthday and has kicked it up a notch. They have changed their name to Operation Write Home. Check out their new website and read about the reasoning behind the name change. My summary is "they wanted to kick it up a notch."

I sent off a box of 72 cards this morning for their 'Tis the Hero Challenge. I also ordered my new self-inking stamp with the new Operation Write Home logo!

I'm getting into Christmas gear, so I'll be posting some new creations soon!

Fall Theme

Next Sunday, I have a Project Share meeting with the other members of the T.O.P.I.C.S. group, and the theme of the meeting is Fall. We're doing a shoebox swap (which means you bring a project for everyone else to stamp) and a card swap (which means you bring a finished card to swap with everyone else).

The first photo is of the project I am bringing for others to stamp. It uses the new stamp set called Autumn Days with the Baby Wipe Technique. The colors I used on the baby wipe are Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, and Rich Razzleberry. I used the baby wipe to ink up the Happy Thanksgiving greeting from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set, and I love how it turned out. The idea for this card comes from Darcie Helt found on Splitcoast Stampers, and I modified it slightly.


The next card is the finished card I prepared to swap. Thanks to my friend, Kirsteen, for the inspiration to use the Lovely As A Tree stamp set and the Magic Pastels technique off the Stampin' Up! Workshop WOW DVD (check out her awesome samples). Thanks to my friend, Penny, for letting me borrow the stamp set! I really think I need to buy this classic set. The card layout was inspired by Michelle Hoffman's post on Splitcoast Stampers. The With Sympathy greeting was added from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, unfortunately out of a need for a sympathy card, and it really turned out to be a nice card. The cardstock colors are Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip.

The quick version of the Magic Pastels technique is this: I inked up the tree image using Sahara Sand ink and stamped off once on a scrap paper before stamping onto my cardstock so the image is light but visible. Then, I colored in the image using the Stampin' Pastels. After it was colored in, I inked the tree image again in Chocolate Chip ink, and using my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line up the image, I stamped over the colored image. This technique can be used with many different images, but it seems particularly suited to this tree image.

On Board Book Basics Wall Hanging

While I made five additional clear envelope brag books for the daycare teachers, completion of the project was such a mad rush that I didn't get a chance to photograph and post pictures of them. They were all unique, and they were extremely well-received on Friday by the teachers.

This wall hanging was made as a gift for the school itself. The On Board Book Basics (small 5"X7-1/2") are covered with Pink Flamingo designer series paper. The stars were cut using the Big Shot Stars#2 die. The words were cut with the new Many Thanks sizzlit and the Billboard and Naturally Serif (Thanks, Penny!) decorative strip sizzlits. The pieces are held together using the pewter Jumbo Brads and Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. I also used the Photo Corners punch and lots of Tombow Multi adhesive! I'm happy with how it turned out.

More Clear Envelope Brag Books

Here are some more clear envelope brag books that I've been making for teacher gifts.

July Stamp Camp!

Yesterday was the July Stamp Camp. We made a variety of different cards and introduced a couple of brand new stamp sets and new In Colors!

I love, love, love, love, love this first card. The original design is Kristin Moore's and is posted on her blog, Sunshine, Smiles & Stamps = Lovin' Life.
I had supplies left over to make a couple more like this, and I decided to use the Thanks stamp from the Thank You Kindly stamp set. The corduroy brad on this one is larger, but it still looks great. The colors are Cameo Coral, Very Vanilla, and Kraft. The greeting is stamped with one of the new In Colors, Soft Suede. The ribbon (no card is complete without it) is Kraft Taffeta. The photo makes it look larger than it is. This one will fit in a regular medium sized envelope.

The original inspiration for this second card comes from Patty Bennett, though I can't find the hard link to her samples. The colors are Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla. The Old Olive DSP is from the long retired Georgia Peach pack, but you could substitute any of the Old Olive Patterns DSP. The Pocket Silhouettes flowers/weeds are stamped in Old Olive and the lighter ones were "stamped off" once before stamping again. The greeting is framed with Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware Designer Label frame. The ribbon stripe is 5/8" grosgrain in Old Olive. The Thanks stamp is from the Thank You Kindly stamp set. This card is a 4 1/4" square card and also fits in the regular medium envelope.

This card showcases two brand new stamp sets, Circle Circus and Teeny Tiny Wishes. The card base is Certainly Celery, and the DSP is from the Tea Party Pack. The different circles are stamped with So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, and Almost Amethyst (the colors in the Tea Party DSP pack) and punched with the corresponding circle or scallop circle punch. The ribbon is the 5/8" white satin ribbon. We used a new toy of mine, the Lots of Tags sizzlits die, to cut out the tag, and then the happy birthday greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped with Certainly Celery ink. We added Soft Subtles brads. We were all discussing how this card could be used for many different occasions by just changing the greeting. The card is CASEd from a design by Brenda Keenan found on Splitcoast Stampers.

This masculine birthday card was inspired by Karen Graff-Povis' card found on Splitcoast Stampers. The card base is Kraft and the coordinating colors are Night of Navy, Soft Suede, and Very Vanilla. The ribbon stripe is Kraft Taffeta, and the brads are silver brads and the Star Designer Brads. The stamp set is Think Happy Thoughts.

The card below was also originally found on Splitcoast Stampers (I just love that place!), but you can find it on Tessa Wise's blog, Crafty Girl Designs. We used the new In Color, Bermuda Bay, IN MARKER FORM to color in the birds stamped on watercolor paper. A trick I learned from

Heather Summers is that markers color very well and so easily on watercolor paper. You don't see the color marks, and you just barely have to touch your markers to the paper for the ink to flow so it's easier on your markers! The hearts are colored using a Cameo Coral marker, and the beaks are colored with Pumpkin Pie marker. Both the bird image and the greeting are from the The More The Merrier level 3 hostess set. The little heart is punched with the Heart to Heart punch using Cameo Coral cardstock and is popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional. This card is so cute, yet I still feel it looks a bit naked without ribbon!

The 6th card is another attempt at a masculine card. The idea is by Jan Sannes and you can find her design on her blog, Simple & Sincere. This one is changed up a bit to use Old Olive cardstock and Old Olive brads. We used the 1/4" circle punch, and it was through this exercise that I learned that SU! has retired that punch! Some ask which cave I live in! Both stamps are from the Cheers to You stamp set.

Hope you enjoyed the review of July's stamp camp.

Happy Stamping!

Anita

Clear Envelope Brag Book

It has been a couple weeks since my last post. I've been busy looking through the brand new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog and working on projects for July's camp. Now that I have been revealed as a Secret Stamper, I can post this project. This is called a Clear Envelope Brag Book and the tutorial can be found on Splitcoast Stampers under the Resources section. These are surprisingly easy to make, and if you have clear envelopes, I'd bet you have all of the other necessary supplies in your stash.

When trying to figure out what I was going to make for Mary, I started by embossing some On Board Chipboard letters (that I had left over from last year's convention make n' takes) with white craft ink and white embossing powder. Then I just had to figure out what kind of project I wanted to put them on! The base of the brag book is Regal Rose cardstock (one of my favorites!) with Pink Pirouette. The stamped swirl from the Yummy SAB stamp set and the fleurettes round out the embellishments. If you haven't seen the new catalog yet, SU! is offering plain white fleurettes. They'll match EVERYTHING!

Go grab the tutorial and make one! I'll be making more as gifts!

June Camp Cards

This card is a combination of old and new. The pink piroutte paper, ink, and ribbon are retiring on June 30th, but the brand new stamp set "Circle Circus"will be available starting July 1!

The card below was cased directly from Splitcoast. It uses the butterfly stamp from the Darling Dots hostess set that will be retiring at the end of the month, along with the Tangerine Tango cardstock and ink! These colors work great with the leaf stamp from this same set to make a cute Thanksgiving card. We used the Chit Chat rubons in Chocolate Chip. If you haven't used rubons before, the Chit Chat pack is a great value with 150+ greetings for $10.95! The images are punched with the 1-1/4" square and mounted on the Chocolate Chip square scallops.

This So Saffron card is a quilt card. Punch 12 squares using the 1-3/8" square punch (one of each design in a pack of designer series paper) and mount them on scrap cardstock. Run it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die and you've got a cute quilt layer. The ribbon is tied through a white Basic Jumbo Grommet. The greeting is from the new Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (115370, $36.95) available in the new catalog on July 1. There are 24 greetings in this set and they coordinate perfectly with the word window punch and the new modern label punch and the punch window movers and shapers. I'm going to get a lot of use from this stamp set!

June Camp Cards - Butterfly Theme

At Saturday's camp, it was brought to my attention that I had a butterfly theme going...even down to the butterfly-shaped entertaining crackers that were served. Completely unintentional, but fun.

This first card is a stair-step card. The idea comes from Kristin's blog, Sunshine, Smiles & Stamps=Lovin' Life. The ribbon holds it together so it will fit into an envelope, but if you take the ribbon off, it will sit on your desk with a stair-step effect and look so pretty! It uses my newest Big Shot die, Bigz Beautiful Butterflies with the Tea Party DSP.

This card was inspired by a card on Splitcoast. I changed the main image to use the God's Beauty hostess set. It was the first time I had inked up this set, and I think it's gorgeous. We also got out the new Crushed Curry ink pad to color in parts of the butterfly with our blender pens. I love this card!

The third butterfly card was also inspired by a card on Splitcoast. This butterfly is also cut using the Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die. The DSP is the retiring Sweet Always pack.

So there are three of the six cards we made at the June camp. I'll share the remaining cards later. They do not include butterflies.

Animal Stories

I was making my regular blog rounds a couple nights ago, and I came across this card on Heather Summers' blog. She was showcasing the Wild About You stamp set before it retires at the end of the month. That set was on my Wish List, but since it is retiring, I decided to preorder the Animal Stories stamp set. This card is Heather's design with only minor changes. The giraffe is from Animal Stories, and the hello baby greeting is from the new Teeny Tiny Wishes set. The words were inked up individually with a Close to Cocoa marker and placed using the Stamp-a-ma-jig. The polka dot paper is Apricot Appeal from a retired hostess prints pack, but this card would look great using the So Saffron or new Crushed Curry Patterns Designer Series Paper!

Card Organizer

Last week, I received the final gift from my secret stamper for this quarter. It reminded me that I still needed to come up with a June gift for my person. While looking around for ideas, I was reminded that I had bookmarked this tutorial by Dannie on her blog.

And how did I spend my Friday night?! By making my very own card organizer! This one is made from Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink cardstock and the Tea Party designer paper. I used the flower stamp from Darling Dots, a level 1 hostess set in the current catalog (going buh-bye June 30th). The large clear rhinestone brad fit perfectly in the flower center! I added some dividers to mine and used the tab punch. It's sooooooo cute. I love mine! Go see Dannie's tutorial and make one of your very own!

Decor Elements

I found this Post-It brand organizer next to the Post-It Notes at Target and thought it would look cute with some Decor Elements added. One of the perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is a program they have called Bulk Buy. It allows demonstrators to purchase certain items in a larger quantity than what is available in the catalog so we are able to share more products with our customers in stamp camps and workshops. These chocolate chip flowers were made available to us so that we can show you how the Decor Elements are applied and how they can be used to decorate all sorts of things! I added some taffeta ribbon and a chocolate chip button to the bottom to cover up the logo and a big space along the bottom. I sent this to my secret stamper today, along with another gift item. Hope she'll like it!

Honorable Mention Cards

I had been working on cards to prepare for my June stamp camp, and these are some of the fruits of that effort. However, these cards didn't make the final cut for camp projects. Camp isn't until June 20th so I figured I'd post these now and post the camp cards after camp.

This card uses the Upsy Daisy stamp set and the birthday wishes greeting from WOW Flowers. This is adapted a bit from a card on Splitcoast. I was trying to find a good way to use up this beautiful Bella Rose DSP before it retires at the end of the month.

The Best Wishes card would make a great wedding card or anniversary card. It is heat embossed in silver on silver cardstock. The rose is from Fifth Avenue Floral and the greeting is from Sincere Salutations. The ribbon is white organza. It's a pretty card and fairly simple to stamp, but we just made a wedding card last month. This might find its way into a future camp, but it just wasn't right for this month. I'll give this card at a wedding reception this weekend!

The button die card is a modified version of Kimberly Van Diepen's card. From the looks of my cards, I think I need ribbon to make a card complete. The colors and buttons struck me as fit for a baby card so I added the baby greeting from the SAB stamp set. After Hurricane Ike, we're preparing for a baby boom here in the Houston area. One can't have too many baby cards on hand right now. I love the SAB So Saffron and Certainly Celery ribbons. I'm not sure what I'll do when I run out! Guess I'll have to find a new favorite from the new catalog. That probably won't be too difficult!

I love the color combo in the Sweet Always DSP. It's really kind of wild and unusual, but I think this card turned out so cute. I made one of these quilt cards, and then I couldn't stop! You punch out twelve squares using the 1-3/8" square punch. Adhere them to a scrap piece of cardstock and run it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die. I've seen some with faux stitching on them, but I prefer to keep mine clean and simple. I folded down the prongs on the back of the grommet and just tied the ribbon through the middle. The greeting is from one of the brand new stamp sets in the new Stampin' Up! 2009-2010 catalog called Teeny Tiny Wishes. It is a wonderful set. Just about every holiday or greeting is accounted for in that set. The size of the greetings works great with the word window punch as well as the new modern label punch from the new catty.

Until next post,

Happy Stamping!

Cards for Heroes Blog Hop!

Welcome, and thank you for participating in the Card for Heroes Blog Hop! If you have landed here in the middle of the hop, I encourage you to start at the "top of the hop" at cardsforheroes.org! There are many great blogs to check out to see beautiful card samples and learn more about what cardsforheroes.org is all about! Hop 'til you drop!

This is a card I made in a patriotic theme. It is the same layout as the Father's Day card posted here, but I have used Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White, and Basic Gray with silver brads. The stars are punched using the Stars #2 die with the Big Shot, but the two coordinating star punches from Stampin' Up! would make this card a breeze to make as well. By changing the greeting and colors, the card has a totally different feel.

I made this card to send as an "Any Hero" card as part of the 25+2 challenge. The thank you greeting seemed appropriate to tell a soldier thank you for serving! I am new to cardsforheroes.org, but I am very excited about participating with the organization. Stamping is a great hobby for me, but making cards for our nation's heroes brings more meaning to it. I make many more cards that I can use personally, and it is great to share cards with soldiers who appreciate them so much. If you wonder how much, check out the hero blog on the website!

The next blog on the hop is that of Marianne Walker in Eugene, Oregon. She is the product specialist for Copic Markers and designs stamps for Our Craft Lounge. She is very talented and has FANTASTIC tips on coloring and shading with Copic Markers on her blog. Her work is beautiful!

Hop on over to Marianne's blog,

"I Like Markers"!

Cards for Heroes

Tonight I had some time to work on some Cards for Heroes. When preparing for my May stamp camp, I was doing a lot of experimenting with the brayered roses technique. I was trying to see how the different color combinations would work together, and then I picked my favorite for the camp project. After all the experimenting, I had ten extra brayered roses. I paired these with some Tangerine Tango cardstock and the Thinking of You greeting from Sincere Salutations to make several cards to send to cardsforheroes.org.

New Take on an Old Favorite

I had been thinking about this card for a while. It's a new take on an old favorite. We made a pink version of this card at Penny's camp quite some time ago, and I had been thinking about changing the colors up and using some clear rhinestone brads. This card uses the 5-Petal Flower Punch and the Boho Blossoms Punch (thanks to Stacey for sharing her toys!). The greeting is from the Heard from the Heart stamp set. I inked it up with Basic Gray and removed the bottom part of the greeting with a baby wipe. You can also use a Blender Pen to do the same.

May Stamp Camp!

On Saturday, we stamped, stamped, stamped. And then stamped some more! Wow! Hope you enjoy the recap!

This first card that we made is taken from my buddy, Penny. It's a great little layout that can be used with all different designer papers, punches, and greetings. I made a couple using a Birthday Wishes greeting for birthday cards. I used this layout with some Candy Lane DSP and the Full Heart Punch with a LOVE greeting and I Miss You greeting for some cardsforheroes.org. The So Saffron card was cased from Splitcoast Stampers. I've been told that I love Chocolate Chip, and when challenged, I couldn't have a camp and not use Chocolate Chip! The stamps are from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. I made up my extras and substituted an "I Miss You" greeting and will send them to cardsforheroes.org.

One of my stampers had a list minute request for graduation cards....shame on me for not thinking of it first. Since I don't own a graduation stamp set, per se, I improvised. The template for this mortar board gift card holder is something I came across on Splitcoast. I reduced the template on a copy machine to about 85% so it still has room for the giftcard yet will fit inside a standard medium envelope!

You print the template on cardstock and cut it out. It's really that simple. It can be made in any school colors, but we used Basic Gray to keep it generic. The little note inside allows space to write a short congratulatory note, or you can include a gift card or cash in the little pocket.

This wedding gown card is gorgeous in person. One of my stampers requested to make this card using Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, and Certainly Celery to match her daughter's wedding colors. It looked great as well. I wish I had taken a photo of it to share with you! It is cased from Sharon Field and she so graciously provided instructions on her blog.

Another late addition to camp was this Father's Day card. Since I wasn't sure we'd be able to have June camp prior to Father's Day, we needed to make a card. As I was told, you can't give Mom an awesome homemade card and then get Dad the 99cent card from Wal-mart! True, true! Inspiration for this card came from Splitcoast, but I didn't have any design paper that really worked for Father's Day. My card turned out completely different than the inspiration cards that I started from, and my stampers were really happy with the design.

Again, we use Chocolate Chip! The background is Sahara Sand cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the Texturz Plate so it gives a wood grain look (I want to try this on Kraft to see if looks like old barn wood). The stars were also punched using the Big Shot Stars #2 die. They could also be made using the two star punches offered by Stampin' Up! The greeting is from a retired stamp set, but I have kept it for its Father's Day and Mother's Day greetings! When you find a great set, you just have to hold onto it!

Patty Bennett shared a tutorial on this brayered rose technique using the Manhattan Flower embossing folder and a brayer. My stampers loved this card! We used Pretty in Pink and Apricot Appeal inks. This card also turns out beautifully when stamping a greeting from the Sincere Salutations stamp set directly onto the white background.

The two baby cards that we stamped were inspired by a similar pink card on Splitcoast by stampininutah, but they were modified to be more clean and simple. I had to make a blue card as well because you never know which you might need. Stampers were given the option to make either one, but nearly all of them loved it so much that they made both! The cards are 4-1/4" square. It's a cute little size that is interesting and will still fit in a standard medium envelope.