A Little Inspiration

A Little Bug's Birthday

My nephew, Lucas turns one in February and his birthday marks a special anniversary for me - when I started stamping (again) and realized how much the industry has changed in the past 10 years.

(That's us a year ago - I think he was about 9 days old.)

I went to visit my sister, Natalie in Minnesota just after Lucas was born.  There, on her dining room table was a smorgasbord of paper, ink, stamps, tools, and cards.  I had been the lucky recipient of her beautiful cards (before she had two little boys) and couldn't believe how easy it was compared to years ago.

I was hooked - immediately.

I still have so much to  learn but I look back on the past year and marvel at a) how much stuff I have (LOL!) b) how many women out there love to do this too 3) how much fun I have doing this 4) how good it feels to give a handmade card or gift to someone special 5) how much I enjoy sharing this love for creating 6) how being creative has spread into so many areas of my life and home.

Thanks Natalie!  Thanks Lucas!

 Now...on to his card ;-)

• I started with a Bashful Blue card base at 5 1/4 x 5 1/4

• Ran it through the BigShot with the small dots texture plate

• Stamped the bug in Jet Black Stazon Ink & colored it with markers

• A couple of circle punches & scallop circle made the flower

• The leaves are from Cricut (Plantin Schoolbook - Italic)

• Added the Scallop border (love this new punch!)

• The sentiment is from "A Little Birdie" and I added the dots with marker

Supplies:

Ink: StazOn Jet Black Ink, Assorted Markers

Stamps: Love Bug, A Little Birdie

Paper: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Whisper White

Other: 3/16" 1 1/4", 1 1/2" Circle Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Trim Border, Cricut (leaves), 1/2" Striped Grossgrain Ribbon, Trio Flower Punch, & Sizzix Small Dots Texture Plate

Have a great day!

Matchbox Birthday with Vintage Tags

I love the matchbox die and when it was on sale last month, I jumped at the chance to add it to my collection of Sizzix BigShot Dies.

I used Pretty in Pink card stock for the box, Rose Red for the cover and the new jumbo wheel "Very Vintage" in Pretty in Pink ink on Whisper White card stock to make the band.

The ribbon is just lovely!  the 1/2" striped gorssgrain ribbon is so lovely to work with and holds it's shape so well.

The final touch is the "Vintage Label" in Rose Red on Whisper White, punched and threaded with a little bit of silver cord and stamped with the coordinating sentiment.

Now, to find the perfect little piece of jewelry to go inside for a very special birthday.

Supplies: 

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Whisper White

Stamps: Vintage Labels (Sale-A-Bration Catalog), Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel (Occasions Mini Catalog)

Other: Scallop circle punch, 1/16" Punch, Pretty in Pink 1/2" Striped Grossgrain Ribbon, Silver Cord

Happy Monday!  To place an order, click here and earn free stamps from the Sale-A-Bration catalog for every $50.00 purchase.  And, proceeds from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set will be sent to help the Red Cross in Haiti.

Milk Cartons Oh My!

 I have mentioned my love of miniatures in previous posts and now I have fallen in love with the Milk Carton die just released by Stampin' Up! in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  It is too cute!

I played around with it today, trying out a few of my new tools and came up with this:

I started with Rose Red card stock and layered the Whisper White band around the carton after punching the bottom edge with the Pinking Hearts Border Punch and stamping with I {Heart} Hearts along the paper in Rose Red and Pretty in Pink.

The sentiment was stamped in Rose Red on Pretty in Pink, punched with the small tag (I so want the Itty Bitty Tags now that I have the Milk Carton), added an eyelet and a little bit of ribbon.  I used the 3/16" crop-a-dile for the punch through the carton for the pink ribbon.

Supplies:

Ink: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink

Paper: Rose Red, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Whimsical Words

Other: Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Small Tag Punch, Small Heart Punch, Crop-A-Dile, Eyelet, Ribbon

All items Stampin' Up! except ribbon & eyelet - still have a little ribbon to use up.

Make the most of this Sale-A-Bration!  Order online 24/7.

January Calendar (PPA26)

In my last post, I mentioned that I want to learn new skills and try some new techniques this year.  Well, I decided scrapbooking would be a great place to start.  So, inspired by Sharon Harnist, I have put together a calendar for January (I know it's almost over, I got a late start) and will then create a couple of pages for each month. 

The idea of a great big 12x12 sheet of paper seemed to be a little overwhelming so this calender is 6x6 (and fits perfectly in the SU Album $16.95)

The calender will sit next to my desk so I can write a note or two in the squares too.

The timing for this projects is perfect as this week over at Pals Paper Arts, it's "Anything BUT a Card" (PPA26).  So check out the awesome work by those gals too.

BTW:  Funny thing.  I've been cleaning my office out and have made tremendous progress.  My office is CLEAN (was).  And, suddenly I was afraid to pull out my 'toys' because I didn't want to make a mess.  Of course that didn't stop me for too long and the crazy thing?  It was so easy to create my project and then clean up because there is no clutter to work through and I have places to put things! It's too wonderful!

(Once the shelves are up, I'll show you pictures...)

Supplies (all SU! unless noted):

Ink: Pink Marker (stash)

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes

Paper: Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze

Other: Cricut (numbers), Sizzix, Eyelet Border Punch, Rub-Ons

Have a great day!

Home Sweet Home

Well, I have finally returned.  Have you been wondering where I am?

Getting over a case of poison ivy (in January?) and a little cold/allergy but I am finally feeling better, ready to create and tackle my 2010 goals.

1. Decorate, organize, and enjoy my office/craft area

- this is already well under way with loads of purging (between oatmeal baths & sneezing)

2. Stamp, Create & Try new techniques

- Stampin' Up! and Splitcoaststampers.com are excellent resources for this and I'm excited to explore more

3. Submit items for publication - what have we got to lose?

4. Share stamping/creativity with friends & family

- I've already 'booked' my nieces & nephews to make their Valentine's for school and I have several friends lined up to share this wonderful hobby (and with my new 'office' it will be so much easier)

5. Have  a ball - life  gives us all kinds of ups and downs so we might as well enjoy all of it as much as we can - who knows how much time we have?

- Climbing, hiking, camping, eating, cooking, being with friends & family, gardening, & playing.

We started out the new year with a moonlit night dive and fireworks and plenty of this.

Climbing the bluff of Cayman Brac.

Projects & goodies soon to come!

Happy New Year!