Camping Thanks

This was a quick thank you for the neighbor who watched our dogs so we could go camping and boating this past weekend.

I sponged the background with bordering blue and cut out and mounted my trailer piece on dimensionals for some interest. I cut off all the wheels from the trailer's stamped image and replaced them with brads and black cutout circles mounted behind the large brads. On each "wheel" I dotted in circles of silver with my Zig Painty Pen.

The camping stamps are from the retired Stampin' Up set Happy Camper with the Kind Thanks from the current set Thank You Kindly.

I'm proud of this one ... but it's not really stamping.

So this isn't stamping ... but it's made with all Stampin' Up supplies, except for the eye and scales. Does that count? The fish, a Rainbow Trout, was handpainted by me! I shocked myself by painting what I think is an accurate representation. I Googled "rainbow trout" and found a photo (here's my model). I sketched its shape in pencil onto Shimmery White cardstock, and then I started painting using an aqua painter and reinkers. I also colored with the markers on the fins and then "pulled" the color with the aqua painter. After painting, I glued the Shimmery White cardstock onto some thin chipboard to give it more stability. I then cut out the fish shape.

I wanted and needed a very fishy card for my husband's birthday (which is today) and we're going to the lake to camp and boat for the weekend which is where he'll get the gift from the extended family. We all chipped in, and he's getting a gift certificate for a guided day of fly fishing! I just know he's going to be so excited to go with an expert. He fishes already and has taken a class that expanded his skills, but I think it would be so awesome to be on-river with someone who can help you "in the moment" to get those techniques down.

After the fish was done and I had misted it with water and then spritzed it with the Chocolate Chip marker and Color Spritzer, I dabbed on some glue and then sprinkled the fish with some Martha Stewart "snow" flakes because in the right light, they're shiny like fish scales. I popped the fish up on dimensionals and mounted it to my card base.

Here is the finished card on top of the custom envelope I showed in an earlier post.

As a funny side note, you never know what in your arsenal can make for good craft. The eye is a large brad that I had in my stash, and when my white gel pen wouldn't stick to it, I used the white finger nail polish that I have for my french manicures - and it worked great! :)

Have a great weekend!

Need a custom envelope?

These first steps show the custom envelope that I made to go with my husband's birthday card (which I'll show in a day or two after he gets it). This is a very easy project that gives that final special touch.

First I opened up a #10 (approx. 9" x 4") envelope carefully so I could use it as a template. If you want your envelope made out of 12x12 double-sided designer paper, you'd lay your opened envelope down diagonally with the corner you see at the bottom of the first picture in one corner of the designer paper.

Trace around the opened envelope with a pencil and cut the entire thing out. Score, moving from corner to corner on all 4 sides, then fold them inward.

Put glue on the short sides, looking at your original as needed to see where the original was glued into shape.

I just had to make two swipes of glue and my envelope was mostly ready! But ... I didn't like that argyle pattern inside, so I decided to line my flap with the leftovers of the 12x12 piece I started with.

I used a glue stick to cover the entire flap, laid the leftover piece over with the dotted side out (or argyle to argyle) and pressed the pieces together. Then I turned it over and trimmed around the edge of the flap using the already trimmed pieces as a guide. You can see below that the argyle is still visible, but only if you open the envelope and look inside.

See? Dotted inside and out. This paper is a retired paper from Stampin' Up. I can get you the name if you need it.

Next, instead of putting glue on the flap, I decided to put a magnetic snap (from Basic Gray). They come with adhesive already on the back, and they're quite strong. Hadn't used them before, but I really liked the way they worked.

Here are the snaps in their packaging.

Autumn gift (box)

This box is just a little round gift box that I got at Target. It was back with the other gift wrap items, and I think it was only a dollar. It's a kraft colored box to start with and has light vertical striping. I wanted to do some watercoloring, so I pulled out the set Autumn Harvest and colored in a BUNCH of pumpkins and leaves. Then I cut them out and mounted them all around the outside of the box. I tucked in some hemp twine for "vines" and tacked it in place using Tombo Mono-multi Glue. I liked it for this project because the glue isn't shiny and dries completely clear. The dirt behind the pumpkins is Close to Cocoa (middle strip) and Chocolate Chip. They're all ripped along one edge and layered/sponged and speckled with the Color Spritzer and markers.


The brown ribbon in the photo above covers the seams of the paper pieces. I'm thinking of adding in a handle w/ jumbo eyelets using that same ribbon. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly bucket

I found these little buckets at Target in the Dollar Spot last Easter-time, and I was super pleased and excited to see that they EXACTLY match the new Stampin' Up color, Melon Mambo.

On this project, this little letters use the Stampin' Up Billboard die and the U comes from the Serif Essentials alphabet dies. Both were run through my Big Shot. To get the patterned U, I cut out a piece of Old Olive patterned paper and a piece of the white chipboard from the back of a pack of patterned paper, both sized to 3" x 3". I glued them together using a glue stick before running it through the Big Shot and cutting it out so that when they came out they were already mounted together.

I used the Circle Scissors Plus to cut out the "lid's" circle so that it just fits within the handles. Then, I took a strip of Melon Mambo 1" wide and 11" long. I scored it at 1/4" (that's the lip you see in the picture above, under the lid). Along the 3/4" left, I snipped in at about every 1/2" so that it could make the curves (see below inside the lid). I glued them down, working my way around and snipping off the last extra inch that wasn't needed.

This card stands on its own!

It looks unassuming in its envelope, but once it's opened, it's like its own little stand up party. :)


I was looking for a special pattern for a big birthday card. Because of her age, I won't say who I gave it too, but I really hope she liked it! The only thing that I didn't like about the final product was that it wasn't intuitive about needing to pull up on the ribbon to open the card. It was fine since I was there when she received the card, but if I made one to mail, I think I would have made a little "pull here" kind of tag.

The letters on this card are actually a Sizzix Naturally Serif Alphabet die that I ran through my Big Shot. I covered the letters in Dazzling Diamonds glitter for some shine.

I won't go through the steps of making this card when they've already posted a great tutorial on Splitcoast's site. My only suggestion in following her instructions is that my first version had too big a slot, and it wouldn't stand up. I definitely recommend trying one of these cards for yourself today!

Faux silk wrapped gift box

This is an easy and quick way to wrap a plain, 2-piece white gift box. I used the new 2-step stamping set, Greenhouse Garden on some plain white tissue paper. This wasn't even new tissue paper and it doesn't need to be. Just stamp all over a piece that is big enough to cover your box top (or card front). I used two pieces so that I could layer them over each other. This gives you more of the look of handmade paper.

Once it's covered ... crumple it up into a ball, opening it and smoothing it a couple of times.

Cover the top of the box using a glue stick and then press the paper on top of it, smoothing out most of the wrinkles, but not trying to make it completely flat. Do the same on the sides, finally wrapping it over the edges and into the inside of the box. You can either leave the box's bottom plain white, or cover it using the same technique.

Wrap a coordinating ribbon around it, and you're set!