Using Everything Nice

This is a quickie baby card for a baby boy. It uses the current set, Everything Nice, and the retired set, Ruff Day. The designer series paper is from Tall Tales.

I layered the buttons on each other and then "threaded" a skinny piece of paper through them, fastening the ends with mini glue dots on the back. The pup is mounted on foam dots for some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by!

Home made thanks

New wood sheets (item 116309) from Stampin' Up were my inspiration for this card, along with the set Country Morning, which is a current Level One hostess set. The wood sheets cut really easily in the tabletop paper trimmer and can even be punched out using standard Stampin' Up punches. They're very cool! Lots of layers make this card interesting to look at, but simple to make.

The thank you sentiment is from the new set Teeny Tiny Wishes and punched out with the Word Window Punch, layered over a piece using the Modern Label punch.

Aww. Love bugs.

I was feeling happy last night because my husband finally got home from a week-long business trip. What's a stamper to do, but make her husband a card to celebrate?! So that's what I did.

This card uses the super-cute Stampin' Up set, Love Bug. This is a level one hostess set and everything in the set is cute!

This was a fun card to give him because when I show him a new card I've made, he always opens it, even though I don't put words on the inside of most of them to start. Well, he opened this one to where I HAD written a little note to him, and he looked up and said, "Hey! This card is for me!" He sounded super pleased, which in turn made ME super pleased.

This is one of the few times I've gotten to use my new In Color markers. Isn't it great that Stampin' Up is offering these to match this season's In Colors? They make coloring in a breeze.
The purple scalloped circle mat and the polka dot-stripe paper are both from the Designer Series Paper, Lovely Flowers. The purple is Rich Razzleberry and the yellow is the new Crushed Curry, and I'm trying to become friends with it. :)

I was getting a kick out of how I take my project photos their as-is creative environment. I just push everything else to the side and take the photo. I appreciate other stampers who have a light box, and set it all up just-so, but then I think "I would never get them posted ... and where would I store the light box!?" Does it matter to you how the photos are taken? Does it impact returning to a blog or posting comments? Just wondering ...

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend with friends or family and if you're a stamper, I hope you fit that in, too!!

Halloween Haunt

I'm normally not one for decorating like crazy for Halloween, but this year I have a new Halloween haunt. Almost all of what was used on this house is Stampin' Up, but most of it is retired because I just don't have a big need for Halloween stamps and like many of us, I'm trying to use up what I have, instead of just leaping to buy new. The great thing about Stampin' Up is that using their core colors, everything continues to match, season after season.

All the characters used around the house are from the retired set Booglie Eyes. Here the spider dangles from the eaves from some silver elastic cording (currently available).

I don't know why, but Frankenstein is climing the tree from Seasons of Happiness. I needed somewhere to put him, and he's too small to be behind the fence! :)

The roof is "shingled" with strips that were punched with the (currently available) scallop punch and then layered from the bottom of the roof to the peak. I actually did some of the copper embossing on the shingles with the Versamarker and its refill. I poured a little Versamark refill onto the marker's tip and then used the Spritzer like I would with a regular marker. Then I embossed over it just like you normally would. This isn't a tidy outcome, but that wasn't the point.

The chimney is embossed with Copper embossing powder and then sponged with black Stazon ink. Around the base are some Sunflower dew drops because I wanted a little visual interest up there.

The fenceline is a stamped image from, I think, Martha Stewart's line, but you could easily sketch it out and then cut it out. I stamped it in Chocolate Chip ink onto some retired SU designer paper, then before cutting it out, I layered it on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock so it would have more body to it and stand up better on its own. See below for tips on cutting out the fence using punches to get into the little spaces.

On the back of each fencing panel I mounted some More Mustard grasses.

The mummy was colored on the lines with Going Gray and Creamy Caramel markers and then the color was "smooshed" around using a blender pen.

Here is the stamp that I used three times for the fencing around the house.

Around the edges of each fence top, I used my 1/8" round punch so I didn't have to squeeze in there with my snips, and then in between the slats, I punched out what I could using my 1/4" square punch. Where the 1/4" wouldn't go, I punched there with my 1/8" round punch again, just to give my snips somewhere to get in there.

And, just for reference, here's the naked birdhouse before I got started. You can usually buy these at any craft store. Before you start, I like to take a permanent marker in a complimentary color and color all the edges of the house, this way if your paper is imperfectly applied, you don't see the gaps through to the plain birdhouse body.

This project took a while, and I recommend using a ruler or scrap paper to measure out your pieces so you don't waste paper trying to get things to fit. Any questions about how I did something, please feel free to ask!

Personalizing my iphone

What can this little Decor Element flower do for my iphone's protective aluminum case? Lots! I had 3 of these Decor Elements flowers and I had my iphone on my stamp table - it's always within reach - and I thought I'd try them out on my case.

You'll see in the pictures below that I've used one flower as is, and then I've also punched and snipped pieces out of two more for some variety. I'm hopeful that these are sturdy enough, and sticky enough, to last for a while. I'll update it to let you know how it goes.

You could also purchase new, premade Decor Elements from the current catalog, and you can order them 24/7 online from my site. Below are a few options currently available, but remember, you can ALSO purchase sheets of Stampin' Up vinyl (in Dark Gray, White, Kraft and Chocolate) and run it through the Big Shot using any of the die cuts! (See page 158 of the current Idea Book & Catalog).