October Stamp Club Projects

This week has been my Stamp Club week.  I had a group of ladies here on Tuesday and the rest will be here on Thursday.  For the first time in I don't know how long, we made cards without using the Big Shot - no embossing, no framelits, etc!!  Don't know what is going on!  Although I did pull the Big Shot out for an extra project.  I had requests to learn how to use the Festive Flower Builder Punch and the Square Pillow Box.  So, I punched out a bunch of flower petals for them as well as the Box parts - in case we didn't have time to make them in class, I could demonstrate and then they could take them home to make.  But, we did have time and they made their own.  I showed them two different ways to make the flowers dimensional - one using the Bone Folder and curling the petals and the other just folding the petals in the center; plus they had the option to cut an opening in the Pillow Box or leaving it closed.  Some stamped the petals; some did not.  I do prefer the look of the petals stamped although I did not do it on mine.

Here are the projects and cards that we made this month.  Can you tell I had Fall on my mind???

Sentiment is from Watercolor Words

(Cheer All Year, Gorgeous Grunge and For All Things)  I have really gotten a lot of use from Cheer All Year!

Spoiler Alert - This is my shoebox card for Quarterly using Christmas Cuties.

Another set I have used a lot - Among the Branches!  (Sentiment is from Cheer All Year)

I will be putting my order in on Friday.  So if you want to order anything and save on shipping, use the Hostess Code #VY9XNCNC when ordering on-line.  Thanks!

Sponged Silent Night

I have been having fun using the Sleigh Ride Edgelits.  There is a bit of a learning curve with them as far as how to cut them out and place them, but when you figure that out, they look great on your card.  I totally CASE'd this card from one I saw on Pinterest and love the way it turned out!

I sponged the panels with Night of Navy, Mossy Meadow and Bermuda Bay.  Next I spritzed the pieces with water and let them dry.  I think next time I will use Alcohol so it will dry quicker.  I cut out the Trees Framelits and adhered them at the bottom; matted the piece on Mossy Meadow; wrapped a bit of silver cord around the panel and adhered a snowflake in the corner.  It was a really easy card to make and I love it!

Last night the Steelers played San Diego in California.  Neither Sonny nor I picked the Steelers to win in our football pool but we were very happy that they won in the last second!  I was afraid they were going to run out of time but they scored the winning touchdown with no seconds to spare!  We are going to Pittsburgh this weekend and would love to see them win again.  BUT, I do not think that is going to happen against Arizona and with our quarterback still injured.  Oh well, we will have a good time anyway and will be meeting Ashley there.  We have not seen her since last May when we met her in San Diego.

Gotta run - meeting my sister for breakfast this morning and then Stamp Club this afternoon.  Here are the Weekly Deals.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Season to Season Wreath

I had a companion all day today while I was working in my craft room!  Sammi likes to get on top of my shelving unit and watch me work.  So, yesterday, I put her a little blanket up there for her.  Today she jumped up there and stayed there all day!!

Don't look too closely on my messy shelves!!

I ordered the Season to Season Wreath kit from the Holiday Catalog (pg 6) and made this wreath a couple of weeks ago.  It was really easy to make.  The kit includes materials to make three interchangeable banners.  All the "leaves" are precut so all I had to do was use my bone folder to curl the and I was able to curl several at one time.

Here is a close up with the Halloween and Fall elements on it.  I used the coordinating stamp set, Cheer All Year.  I have not stamped the Christmas / Winter pieces yet.  They will replace the fall ones after Thanksgiving.

I decided to hang my wreath inside so the humidity from outside wouldn't affect it. 

It adds a little bit of festivity in my kitchen!

Black and Gold .... no not Steelers - Christmas projects!!

I had a really busy day yesterday.  I left the house at 9:30 a.m. and returned at 10:30 p.m.!  I had bridge in the morning and from there got my nails done.  Then over to meet Marianne and we headed to Concord.  First a stop at Vera Bradley.  With my birthday in a couple of weeks, I received my birthday coupon from Vera (which I forget & left it at home but they were nice and gave it to me anyway.)  I ended up with a new purse and wallet.  Everything in the outlet store was 50% off and then with my 25% discount, it was a good deal!  From there, we had dinner and then a quick stop at Target before heading over to Allison's for her demo meeting.  She is so sweet to include us in her group.  When we got there, Marianne realized her wallet was missing!  So she drove back to Target where she had it last.  Turns out she dropped it in the parking lot while getting in the car and some good samaritan found it and turned it in to Customer Service in Target.  So, there are some nice honest people out there!

Allison had some cute projects for us this month with a great black and gold theme!  Let me know what you think.

This cute little triangle box is a "blast from the past."  When I first started with Stampin' Up, this was always a great little project to make when I had my workshops.  But back then, I used it to demonstrate the roller wheels that Stampin' Up used to sell.  It has a whole new luck with this Winter Wonderland Specialty Paper (pg. 23 Holiday Catalog).  It holds a bunch of Hershey Kisses .... but don't tell my husband!!

Another "golden oldie" is the little coffee cups but with a new holder for the single cup.  And a great look with the Winter Wonderland DSP!  I've just ordered 100 of those cups and lids!!  I actually made a few Halloween ones last night and took them to my dentist office this morning when I had my teeth cleaned but can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them!  Darn!

Here is cute box PLUS a gift card holder - dual purpose for a great Christmas gift!  If you want to make this, check out the video blow.

Hope these projects will bring you some inspiration!

Swap Cards

I can't believe I have only posted one update on my blog this week!  I have been busy trying to get all my swaps ready for the NC Quarterly in Wilmington.  Got 'em ready but ..... Quarterly has been canceled!  Mother Nature has a hurricane party planned for Wilmington instead.  Not so sure whether Joaquin will actually hit Wimington but they are calling for a LOT of rain all weekend.  The gals planning the Quarterly didn't want to take any chances.  I really feel for them as a lot of work goes into planning a Quarterly and then having to cancel at the last minute.  But, they are going to reschedule and hopefully, it will be a weekend that will work for both myself and Marianne. 

In the meantime, thought I'd share a few more of the swap cards I received from the Holiday catalog.

Reason for the Season

We had a fun weekend despite the fact that it rained all weekend, but we really need the rain so I am not complaining!.  We went out with friends to American Ale House in Hickory on Saturday night and of course on Sunday went to Big Al's to watch the Steelers game with friends.  It was an ugly game but we came away with a win.  The bad thing is Big Ben (our quarterback) was carted off with an injury to his leg.  Looks like he might be out 3-4 weeks ... not good!

I have a few other swaps to share with you to give you some ideas for your own card making.  These cards all use the Reason for the Season stamp with the Fancy Flower punch.  These come as a bundle.

Delicate Ornaments

I have been working fast and furious on my swaps for Quarterly.  I have a little over a week to get them all done!  I signed up for: 3x3 card (11), full card (25), 3D project (15), tags (16) and the shoebox card (31)!  Plus someone had to drop out this week & I volunteered to be a "swap angel" and do another 16 tags!  Right now, I have completed all except the 3D and the extra tag swap so I am doing ok.  

The Southern Living Group that is part of Newcomers is hosting a tea and fashion show next Wednesday.  I was honored to be asked to be one of the models.  I went for my fitting yesterday at Chicos.  I have never shopped at Chicos - mainly because of the price of their clothes but I also find their sizing system very confusing!  They don't size their clothes the standard way, like 10, 12, 14, etc. but instead they are size 0, 1, 2, 3!  Very confusing for an old person like me!  I was a bit leary that the clothes were going to be too "hip" and young for me but I was pleasantly surprised.  I ended up buying a pair of jeans even though I don't usually pay big bucks for jeans!  But they fit so well I couldn't resist.  Everything in the store was 40% off so the $90 jeans were just over $50 after tax.  I will be modeling them next week.    (Pictures to follow!)

OK - I have more swap cards to share.

I loved this card using the Delicate Ornaments Thinlet Die (pg 15)  It also uses the new Curvy Corner Trio punch,   The pictures below show the unique fold of this card.

Another great card using the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and Thinlets with the Season of Cheer DSP and another unique fold.  But .... can you spot the mistake on this one?

Just the center panel opens.  The sentiment is punched out with the new Washi Label Punch (from the main catalog.)

OK - the mistake that I see is the DSP on the left side is upside down!

Halloween and Fall Cards

Here are a few more of the swaps I've received highlighting cards from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

Fall Card Swaps

Today was a good football day!  The Steelers played their first home game and won big time!  I don't know if I am going to hold on to my first place in the Football Pool.  I did ok with the early games, but lost all 3 of the late afternoon games.  Now I am trying to pull Green Bay through and tomorrow night will be rooting for Indianapolis!  We'll see!  Right now I am 22 (wins) and 8 (losses) and the closest to me (4 people) have 19 and 11.

Sonny and I went to the movies yesterday and saw Walk In the Woods.  It was so funny plus the scenery was beautiful!  Robert Redford and Nick Nolte were the two old men who tried to walk the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.  Their banter back and forth had me laughing out loud.  I recommend you see it is you want a few chuckles.  I have heard mixed reviews but my review is a "thumbs up."

I recently participate in a couple of swaps using sets from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  Thought I'd share a few of them with you.

This is the card that I made.  I used the Woodlands embossing folder for the trees in the background and used a dauber with white craft ink to highlight them.  Then I stamped the spooky eyes (or are they bats?) and birds in the background.  I cut a Spider Web Doily in half and adhered it under the burlap ribbon that I had cut in half and pulled a few threads out of it to tie in a knot on the side.  I used the Lots of Labels framelits and cut one of the labels in half.  I got the plaid design by using one of the stamps from Your Presents.  I stamped the diagonal "present" in one direction and then turned it sideways and stamped it over the first one.

This card uses the Acorny Thank You set (pg 45).  It is a really cute set but not one I bought this time so I am happy to have this card to share.

This is one of my favorite cards!  It also uses the Woodland Embossing Folder in the background - it is very subtle.  She used the branch (sideways) in the Among the Branches set and hung leaves from it.  But my favorite part is the Glitter Splatter Technique that we learned at convention.  I had forgotten about it but I love it!  You dilute a little bit of Tombow liquid glue with water, making it pretty runny using your Aqua Pen.  Then get some of the glue on your Aqua Pen and tap it with your finger to spatter the blue all over your card stock.  Then sprinkle Glitter over the glue!  Let dry and voila, a sparkly card.

Hope you have a great week!

Christmas cards

I have a few Christmas cards to share with you.  Yes, I said Christmas - it's not too early to start.  If you do a few each week, you'll be ready when the hectic holidays arrive!

This card is so simple to make.  I did a watercolor swish on a panel of watercolor paper.  I watered down the ink from my reinkers and used my Aqua Pen to paint the 3 colors.  I stamped the ornament from Sparkly Seasons onto Vellum paper and punched it out.  Next the "falala" was punched out from the thinklets in red glitter paper and applied over the ornament.  The final touch was the Red Pom Pom trim stapled in the corner.  Really easy!

This is a set we received at convention - Your Presents.  

Another card using Sparkly Seasons stamp set but this time as a snow globe with a snowman inside.  The DSP is from the paper stack, Merry Moments.

This card uses the Woodlands embossing folder.  I love it!!  This time I embossed onto Smoky Slake and used my dauber to highlight the trees in white craft ink.