Decorative Cigar Box

On January 22, 2012, my friend Gloria and I took a Decorative Cigar Box class at The Queens Ink at Historic Savage Mill.  The class began at 12:00 p.m., and we finished our boxes at 5:00 p.m.  I really enjoyed making this and am very pleased with the way it turned out.  I have already gathered together a stash of cigar boxes, so I can't wait to make some more!

A Happy Hello

Do you know what I used on the front of this card?  Give up?  It's cupcake liners!  Cut the liners in half, then cut out the bottom, and adhere.

My inspiration came from the Scallops Gift Bag shown in the Jan/Feb 2012 Paper Crafts magazine.

I wonder what else I can do with the rest of these cupcake liners short of making cupcakes?  Any ideas?

Happy New Year!

Some friends and I got together to make Christmas cards last month.  One of my friends commented that I should make my doily cards for Christmas.  Well, since I had already designed my Christmas cards and finished most of them, I was inspired to make some New Years cards with doilies.  Here is an example of one of the color schemes I used.  Most of the others were black and white....but I mailed them all and didn't take a photo :(

I didn't have a stamp with a good New Years verse for the inside of the card, so I found a poem on the internet and modified it to suit my needs.  It reads:

New years come, and new years go,
Pieces of time all in a row.
As I live my life, each second and minute,
I know I'm privileged to have you in it.
My appreciation never ends
For my greatest blessings: my family and friends.

Happy New Year!

Here are the instructions:

1.    8 ½” x 5 ½” card base using Rich Razzleberry card stock (Stampin’ Up!).  Score and fold.

2.   4” x 5 ¼” designer paper (DCWV The Black Currant Stack); adhere ribbon (Offray) and tie knot; then adhere to card front.

3.   2 3/8” circle (Spellbinders Standard Circles Large) using Rich Razzleberry card stock (SU!).

4.   Stamp sentiment (SU! All Year Cheer III) on Very Vanilla card stock (SU!) and punch out with 2” scalloped punch (EK Success).  Ink edges of scalloped punch out with Rich Razzleberry (SU!).

5.   Die cut 4” doily (Papertrey Ink Parisian Lace) using Very Vanilla card stock (SU!).  Ink edges of doily with Rich Razzleberry (SU!).

6.   Adhere 2 3/8” circle cut-out to doily center.

7.   Adhere scalloped cut-out with sentiment on top of circle cut-out.

8.   Pop doily onto card front (SU stampin’ dimensional).

Season's Greetings

This is one of the cards I made in bulk to send out to friends and family for Christmas.






For those interested, here's how to make it:

All materials Stampin’ Up! Except bakers twine and button.

1. 8 ½ x 5 ½ Soft Suede card stock base / score and fold.
2. On 5 x 3 ¾ Very Vanila card stock, mask a 2 ¾ x 2 1/8 rectangle in center and sponge lightly with Soft Suede ink.
3. Stamp image (Lovely As a Tree) in Early Expresso ink across center
4. Stamp sentiment (Snow Swirled) in Cherry Cobbler ink
5. Emboss Very Vanila stamped panel with Square Lattice embossing folder; adhere to 5 1/8 x 4 Cherry Cobbler card stock; wrap with bakers twine; adhere to Soft Suede card base
6. Add button with glue dot.

Christmas Card Mini Swap

On December 10th, five of us girlz got together for a mini Christmas Card swap at my neighbor's home.  We each brought 20 kits - so everyone could make 5 cards of each design (not counting their own).   Everyone left with 20 awesome Christmas cards :)

Marsha's card

Angie's card: CASEd from the Laurel Shoe Box Swap

Davina's card

Denise's card: CASEd from a previous Shoe Box Swap

Vicki's card

Be Strong

Since I haven't had time to post any new cards lately, I'm posting a few cards I made in October for a few of my friends who are breast cancer survivors.  They are amazing women, and one can only hope to have their strength and courage on any given day.

The stamp set used is "Be Strong" by JustRite.  JustRite Crafting For a Cause donates 20% of the sales from this stamp set in 2011 to Ovarian Cancer Research.

I also used a couple different embossing folders and Spellbinders dies, and colored the ribbons with Copic markers.

You add sweetness to my life!

This card was  made with another scrapbook kit received during the 2011 Buggies and Buds Shop Hop.  This kit was from Times to Remember in Lancaster.

I added my own Chocolate Chip SU card base, inked some edges with Chocolate Chip SU ink, and inked the sentiment (from an old SU set called "Fairies" that I got on the yardsale table at a recent crop I attended) in Chocolate Chip.  Everything else was from the kit.

The Spirit of Christmas

I went to my friend Jane's house to do some stamping the other day, and she had a card our friend Amanda had made using overhead transparency sheets.  So, she gave a class and we made some clear cards :)

In a nutshell, you take an overhead transparency, cut it to size, score it, fold it, then stamp your background design on the front side using White Opaque Stazon (don't use SU White Craft because it won't dry!). 

The next part of lining up the images, etc., from front to back it a bit tricky (maybe if I get the time I can do step by step photos, but don't hold you breath for me to actually do it...lol), but you have to cover all 4 parts of the card with the same size cardstock.  If you adhere the front layer first, then turn the complete card over and line up the exact same size piece on the back (it's clear, so you can line it up exactly).  Then you can put your other pieces on the other 2 sides of the card.

It was a bit difficult to photograph a clear card, so I hope you can get an idea of how it turned out.

I like the way it turned out, and it was really fun to make.

Country Cottage Mice

Country Cottage Creations in Paradise, PA, was my Home Store during the Buggies & Buds Shop Hop.  This year, they gave out an adorable 8x8 scrapbook kit with a number of mice images.  I colored one of the images with Copics and added some color-coordinating card stock and turned the scrapbook kit into a card.  I think I have enough DP left over to make another card with one of the other mice images provided.

Update:  I'm adding the second card I made.

And another update.  I'm out of mice images now :)

Live, Love, Bark!

A friend broke her foot, so I wanted to make her a card.  I had made this card, but didn't know what to use it for.  So, since my friend also has Westies, I made it a Get Well card for her!

I think she'll like it!