We All Love Presents

I got this wonderful basket filled with cocoa from Karen. Isn't she sweet. I like to do things to surprise people and that is just what she did for me! One lucky reader of my blog is going to get the next surprise but to do so you have to leave a comment at the bottom of this entry. I will put everyone's name in a basket and pick the winner (once I return from Annapolis). The surprise is made of wood and rubber...

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a crossword Christmas card. This card reminds me of my mother. She loved to do crossword puzzles of all sorts and every Christmas we would buy her one of those mega books. Gee, I miss her. All of you whose mothers are still alive be sure to give them a special hug this holiday...

The Eleventh Day of Christmas

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a sparkle ornament card. This card was actually made by Deanna. I like how she crimped just a little bit of the card for texture. Along with it she gave me a bag of homemade caramels-mmm!!! I am off to Annapolis tomorrow so will only be posting one more card.

The Tenth Day of Christmas

On the tenth day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a standard card with a twist. I just cut the image onto six equal squares and made the image look as if it were a window pane--something different and it works nicely with Peaceful Wishes Stamp Set. I can't believe how fast Christmas is approaching--can you?

The Ninth Day of Christmas

On the ninth day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
I honestly have to say I haven't blogged for a few days now and so I revert back to the fact that sometimes the simplest cards are the best. This is one of those. May the true meaning of Christmas bring joy to all your days. Merry Christmas!!!

The Eighth Day of Christmas

On the eighth day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a very pretty card. Want to make a so-so card look fabulous? Try Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder. I covered the entire card with Versamark and sprinkled Irisdescent Ice completely over top. You cannot see how sparkly and pretty this card looks--guess you will just have to take my word for it or try it yourself.

We Interrupt the Twelve Days of Christmas

We interrupt the Twelve Days of Christmas to bring you...
six fancy gift card holders. These are what we made at workshop yesterday--various sizes and various styles all for the same purpose. I forgot to ask what everyone's favorite one was, but my favorite was the Santa one. Here are the directions:
-Seal medium envelope
-Cut one inch off side and set aside
-Crimp remainder so that the envelope will fit inside one inch strip
-Cut blush card stock to fit over crimped envelope
-Cut a strip of white card stock one inch wide for the brim of his hat (leave a little longer) and crimp, trim excess
-Cut triangle out of red card stock for his hat
-Punch 10-1 1/4 inch circles out of white card stock for his beard, mustache, and eyebrows
-Punch 2-5/8 inch black eyes, one blush nose, and one red mouth
-Use dauber to ink his cherry checks and white gel pen to put a sparkle in his eyes. Ho ho ho!!!

The Seventh Day of Christmas

On the seventh day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
another Christmas card made from the City of David stamp set. A totally different look. I used Peaceful Wishes and chalked the branches. Tomorrow is my gift card holder workshop--check back tomorrow and see the six fun gift card holders we made.

The Sixth Day of Christmas

On the sixth day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a peaceful Christmas scene. Okay, I was beginning to notice a trend with the cards I have posted so far--not much stamping! So today's post is more stamping that paper folding but I couldn't resist trying a different layout. Another retired set but I love the simplicity it evokes. Stay tuned for tomorrow's card--same stamp set totally different look.

The Fifth Day of Christmas

On the fifth day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a wreath using snowflakes. But in all honestly you can use flowers, leaves, pinecones, etc. This circle idea takes me back to wanting to write a rhyme for the five golden rings but I should really shovel the snow. Yes, for all you folks who live outside the winter weather regions, it is a beautiful snow--looks like diamonds scattered across the lawn. Have a great day!

The Fourth Day of Christmas

On the fourth day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a Criss-Cross card. Another classy card that is so easy to make. Click here for a tutorial from Splitcoaststampers.

The Third Day of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
an Iris Folding card. Iris Folding originated in Holland and it reminds me a lot of paint-by-number pictures. It is really quite easy--only looks complicated. For an introduction, I am providing you with an easy to understand link here. Enjoy!

The Second Day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
a tri-fold card shaped like a box. This card took a little engineering--the top actually opens like the top of the box. This could be used as a gift card holder (one of those gifts within a gift). I used Dashing DS Paper from Stampin' Up! and the soon to be retired hostess set Perfect Presentation. If you are interested in seeing the entire list of retired stamp sets click here.

The First Day of Christmas

For the next twelve days I am going to post fun cards you can make and give to your friends and family. I had thought about writing a rhyme for each one but figured the cards may never get posted if I concentrated too much on the rhyming part!

On the first day of Christmas my true friend made for me...
an Origami Christmas tree. This was such an easy card to make. I started with four squares--1 1/2 inches, 2 inches, 2 1/2 inches and 3 inches. To make the tree: fold each square in half, open and fold diagonally, then open and fold diagonally the other direction, now open and lay flat. Fold in creased sides so you have what looks like another triangle. Finally, fold the left and right sides of the top triangle in toward the middle. Stack on top of each other to form a tree.

My Veteran's Day Card

I flew out of the house this morning and forgot to hang up our American flag. So for today's post I am sharing a card which expresses my thoughts for our veterans. I am in awe of the number of men and women who have and continue to sacrifice their lives for the sake of freedom. May God bless every one of them!

Serendipity

Today, while I was surfing on SCS (SplitCoastStampers), I saw a mistake that someone made and turned into an even prettier piece of art. Often the ladies that attend my workshops hear me call this Serendipity--there is never such a thing as a mistake in art, your original idea just gets better!

This original design was posted by Renee here. She has a wonderful video on her blog that walks through each step. One of her workshop attendees scored too hard and voila the star just gets better!

Which brings me to my next point, I have added a list of some of my favorite blogs to the sidebar below. Some of these ladies hail from halfway around the world. Their ideas are fabulous and I want to share them with you--enjoy! Beware, these can be addictive!!!

November Special From Stampin' Up!

I want to share with everyone this months special from Stampin' Up!

Buy three packs of Designer Series Paper and you get the fourth free--contact me if you are interested.

Halloween Goodies

Karen brought me some Halloween goodies--they are too cute!

She used the new Scallop Circle Punch and Booglie Eyes Stamp Set to create a Spooky Peppermint Sandwich (the centers are York Peppermint Patties).

The other treat is a wrapped Rice Krispies Treats. Remember you can wrap just about any kind of candy or snack bar to give it a personal greeting. I wrapped Hershey Bars a long time ago, when Laura was born, to read It's a "She" (the she was from the Hershey wrapper). They were so darn cute--but not nearly as cute as the bundle of joy it announced!

Thank you so much Karen!

So Many Techniques...So Little Time!

I ventured into a whole new realm today as I learned how to emboss on metal sheets. The results are stunning--I can't wait to try this with other stamps.

First, you stamp on the metal (these sheets come in silver, brass, and bronze) with StazOn Ink. Then you heat it with a Heat Tool (embossing gun, whatever you may call it). Using a stylus, I ran the small tip along the outside edges of the leaves (use an old mouse pad or stack of newspapers underneath the metal), checking to make sure you get all the edges. Then turn the metal over and push out the leaves or image (I used the large end of the stylus but you can also use a popsicle stick). This is a little time consuming but well worth the effect. To finish the image, use StazOn Ink or some type of permanent ink to color. Be sure to heat the entire image when done to quicken the drying time. Voila!

Hope you enjoy this beautiful card!

CD Case Calendars

A huge Thank You to Wendy for hosting last night's workshop. We made CD Case Calendars--these are too cute and make nice teacher gifts. Last night most of the ladies themselves were teachers. One Third Grade teacher told me she didn't like that the months were not capitalized as this is a major skill that is taught at this level--so the next ones we make will be capitalized! Most of the months are Stampin' Up! sets but believe it or not I don't have enough Stampin' Up! sets to do them all. This was a fun and relaxing evening and everyone did a great job!

The Beginning of It All

While I was looking for cards to add to the Card Slideshow (be sure to check it out as I have added more of my favorites) I came across this card. I have to admit it was one of the first cards I made and is still one of my favorites. With help from Thelma, I used torn paper, masking tape and Fluid Chalks from Color Box -- the tulip is silver embossed. Not sure if the fact that I like to use lots of different products makes me a traitor. I also have this problem of not wanting to give away a card if it is the only one I have (confessions already and I just started these posts). Perhaps now that I am posting more samples and sharing I will be able to part with more favorites.

Sidekick Sayings

The Sidekick Sayings stamp set is a level 1 Hostess set. You can earn this set and free merchandise by hosting a Stampin' Up! Workshop. Contact me for more information.

Christmas Card Workshop

For those of you who couldn't join us tonight, I am posting the six beautiful cards we made.


I CASEd this card from Shadow Mills at Splitcoaststampers.com. The directions for the tag punch star can be found here.

Stamp sets: Perfect Presentation, Snow Burst
Paper: Wintergreen Designer Series, Sage Shadow, Mulberry, and Shimmery White
Additional products: Circle Punch and Cuttlebug (a huge thank you to Deanna for letting us play with hers.)

This card actually has a unique tri-fold feature and opens to another card (great way to send a greeting with space for your Christmas letter). I used the computer to print out Peace, Joy, and Love.

Stamp sets: Star-Studded Season
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, YoYo Yellow, Whisper White
Additional products: Star Punch, Silver Cord

This new set is Holy Triptych and you can view it in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Collection 2007 Catalog online here. I embossed white on vellum and used Watercolor Wonder Crayons to color on the back side of the vellum. This is called the Stained Glass Vellum Technique.

Stamp sets: Holy Triptych, Snow Burst, Star-Studded Season
Paper: White Vellum, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Additional products: Ticket Corner Punch, Iridescent and White Embossing Powder


This was a favorite card with all the ladies.

Stamp sets: Big on Christmas
Paper: Dashing Designer Series, Old Olive textured, Real Red, Whisper White
Additional products: Circle Punch, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Black Classic Ink, Certainly Celery and Real Red Stampin' Write Markers

This was perhaps the most elegant card.

Stamp sets: Baroque Motifs, Holidays & Wishes
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White
Additional products: Crystal Stickers, Certainly Celery Organdy Ribbon

Simple but stately. Can't tell from picture but trees are embossed.

Stamp sets: Lovely as a Tree, Many Merry Messages
Paper: Night of Navy, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Additional products: White Embossing Powder

Welcome to my blog!!

Thank you to my wonderful husband for helping me set up my new blog.