Christmas Already?!?!

So, my blog has been suffering from the usual fall neglect that comes with 4 kids starting school and playing soccer.  We live on the soccer field this time of year and I have not mastered the art of blogging while coaching a game.  I'll have to work on that. 

Anyhow, when not on the soccer field, I've been working on some Christmas projects in my spare time. And my latest fun Christmas tool is the Holiday Stocking and Stocking Accents dies for the Big Shot. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THEM! Did I mention that I love them! My mom is known for making felt stockings for everyone and growing up, I used to watch her make them for family and friends. She made normal size ones for hanging from the mantle but also smaller decorative ones. These took her weeks to finish. She cut all the felt by hand using paper patterns she printed from books on a copy machine. When I saw the new dies in the Holiday Mini, I was so excited to see that I could at least make small decorative stockings. In the last week, I made 10! TEN in a week! And they look just as great as mom's did. I added some Mini Jingle Bells, Winter Wishes Stitched Felt and designer buttons to embellish a few along with regular sequins and seed beads.

I designed these so that you could hang them on a tree, add to a package, use as a package for candy, or even given a nice piece of jewelry.   I sold them at a craft show last weekend, but you could be making your own if you have a Big Shot and the Dies. 

Host a show or contact me to join a class to make some stockings! 

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!
Charity

Craft Show - November 5, 2011

Join me on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the Crystal Springs Elementary School First Annual Mistletoe Market.  I'll have a Stampin' Up! Booth and will be joined by lots of other great crafters selling their wares. 

You'll be able to place orders, purchase cards and pre-made gifts, get a catalog, book a show and join my team!  There will be lots of great things!

See you between 9 AM and 4 PM at Crystal Springs Elementary, 21615 9th Ave. SE, Bothell, WA. 

Angry Birds and Stampin' Up!: A Match Mad in Heaven

What's a girl to do when her children request Angry Bird costumes for Halloween but the idea of spending $40-65 on a Halloween costume sounds absurd?  Grab the Big Shot and get creative!

Both Liam and Isabel wanted Angry Bird costumes- Liam wanted to be one of the black birds and Isabel wanted to be a pig.  I personally found the pig choice to be brave because with a 5 year old brother dressed as a bird who's mission is to be flung into pigs with the purpose of knocking them down, she was bound to take a few hits throughout the evening.  But I digress...

I needed something fast and easy because we've had about 5 free minutes in the last few months.  I decided to adapt t-shirts and using the same techniques you would use for paper piecing and punch art, I set to work on the faces.  The Circles Die and Big Shot came in handy for eyes and all things round.  And if you look closely, the center of the eyeball is a black glimmer brad (didn't want to try to cut a circle that small).  Everything else was free hand and then sewn to the shirts.  Isabel didn't want to be puffy (what 12 year old girl does?) but Liam wanted to be nice and round.  So, I sewed a smaller T-shirt inside a larger one, stuffed it with one large bag of fiber fill sewed the bottom shut and viola, he was an Angry Bird.

While we were at the harvest carnival on Halloween, Liam managed to sprain his foot (taking out those pigs is risky business) and spent the next day home resting his foot.  He wanted to wear his costume because it kept him warm and he fell asleep.  He became his own pillow pet!

So, this project used Glimmer Brads in a very unexpected way and the Big Shot in a way we've seen before.  How do you use Stampin' Up! products for things other than papercrafts?

And, Stampin' Up! has extended the Big Shot Recruiting Promotion!  Join my Stampin' Up! team between now and November 11 and you can have a free Big Shot or other merchandise totally the same amount.

God Bless and Happy Stampin!
Charity

Back To School

Today is the first day of school and I was in charge of the staff lounge decorations for the teachers at our elementary school.  I decided to make mini backpacks using my Fancy Favor Die Cut.  I just had to trim off the top edge, add straps to the back, pockets and a top flap, and viola- cute mini backpack.  I made the backpack using Marina Mist card stock, Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper, Vintage Trinkets, and So Saffron Taffeta Ribbon.  

I used my Crop A Dile to punch holes in the back of the fancy favor box so that I could insert the ribbon.   To make the pockets, I Petal Card Double Punch.  I also used my corner rounder on the flaps.

As you can see, I also added some pencils.  I embellished the pencils by adding stamping the A+ label from It's A Wrap onto Whisper White card stock.  Again I used the Crop A Dile to punch holes allowing me to put them on the pencil, kind of like the sail on a boat.

For the centerpiece, I used some more Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper to create a welcome back sign that I stuck to a small Styrofoam container that I filled with apples.  I made the apple by layering Real Red Card Stock, Real Red Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack, Whisper White Card Stock, Basic Black Card Stock and Lucky Limeade.  I used Empire Alphabet Upper and Basic Black for the words.

A few more pictures of the backpacks and the huge spread of food!  Our teachers are well fed!

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!
Charity

Gnome Birthday Party Favors and Cake

Tessa's Gnomeo and Juliet Birthday party was yesterday.  We had it at a local spray park so the kids got to splash in the water and play on the playground.  The party favors are a perfect example of plan B.  I originally planned to use the fancy favor box and the scallop square to create a fun little bag with a mushroom on the front.  However, my Big Shot stopped working (gears stopped turning) so I had to find another alternative.  But, before you are struck with fear that I will be without my Big Shot, I made a call to Stampin' Up!® to find out if it could be repaired and I learned that it was still under warranty so they sent me a new one which arrived 2 days after I called!  I love Stampin' Up!®!

So, instead of making a Fancy Favor box, I decided to just purchase red lunch bags and make bag tags for each one.  For the bag tags I used:

• Real Red, Whisper White, Pacific Point and Lucky Limeade card stock
• Swirls and Curls Verses (Summer Mini Hostess Set)
• 2 1/2 inch Circle Punch
• 3/4 inch Circle Punch
• Scallop Edge Border Punch
• White Bakers Twine
• Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad
• Crop-A-Dile
• Gnome Foam Stickers (from Oriental Trading)

To create the mushroom, I punched lots of Whisper White 3/4 inch circles and adhered them to the Pacific Point card stock and then punched larger circles using the 2 1/2 inch circle punch.  After that, I cut the larger circles in half to build my mushroom.  For the grass, I just used my paper snips to cut a wavy piece of paper.  I attached this to a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch piece of card stock which I punched with the Scallop Edge Border Punch along the bottom.  I stamped my thank you sentiment at the top.  Now that I had my little scene, I added a foam gnome sticker that I had purchased as part of the party favors.  After using the Crop-A-Dile to punch some holes, I tied it to our red paper sacks using the Bakers Twine.  Party favor bags saved!

Of course, I should share the cake that my husband created.  After looking at ideas online, Tessa requested one that was a log with little gnomes sitting on it.  My husband did the cake and I used gum paste to make the gnomes which my husband painted with food coloring.  Sticking with our Gnomeo and Juliet theme, we used red and blue.  I also used the Petite Pennants Punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch, Big Top Birthday Designer Series Paper, and Bakers Twine to create a banner for the cake.

Our red gnome was standing up straight before we left the house but during transport to the spray park, he started to lean.  By the time we served cake, we weren't sure if he was sleeping or doing some gnome yoga.  Tessa was still pleased with her cake.

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!
Charity

Gnome Birthday Party Invitations

Tessa's 7th birthday was on August 16 and she wanted a Gnomeo and Juliet Theme for her party. Since the movie is relatively new, I really needed to utilize generic ideas. I decided punch art would be a great way to create a cute gnome for her card. My first stop toward creating a gnome- Stampin' Connection, the webpage/discussion group exclusively for Stampin' Up!®demonstrators where we share ideas. I did a search on gnomes and Jackie Topa had posted a great male gnome using just the Blossom Petals Builder punch. After reading through her instructions and making a few tweaks, I came up with a great feminine version for Juliet. The face is the key feature to make it look like Juliet from the movie. I downloaded a coloring page and used a graphics software to extract just the face and print onto Blushing Bride card stock. I used Blender Pens and ink pads to carefully color the face so she looked as close to Juliet as possible. Here is the instruction sheet for creating a Juliet Gnome.

Next, I needed to add my sweet little gnome to the card. I wanted to use the Raining Flowers and Easy Events Stamp Sets that I got from convention. Raining Flowers was just perfect for a Garden Gnome Party and Easy Events has a cute birthday cupcake and a little snail carrying a little present. Tessa loved them all. My next stop for inspiration was Stampin' Success and I saw that Chris Galbraith was asked to do some samples and be profiled in an article. She had created a side step card using the Raining Flowers Stamp. Inspired by her design, I went to work making my first side step card. There is a tutorial on SplitCoast Stampers, but I did change the dimensions on the width of width for the division between step and non-step portions.

I added some bling with Basic Rhinestones and Glitter Brads. I also used did some punch art for the little mushroom. The envelopes were also embellished with stamps from Raining Flowers. The main colors are Daffodil Delight and Peach Parfait for the flowers. I also used Pacific Point, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Early Espresso, and River Rock.

For the inside, I needed the party information and I turned to My Digital Studio. This is such an easy way to find coordinating artwork and then just print to your printer. I also liked the 3D, pop up effect from the stairs and decided to add a some things there. Using the snail and cupcake from Easy Events I created a little party scene. To the top tier, I added some flowers using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. I used my Stampin' Write Markers and Blender Pens to color everything and add stems for my flowers. On the cupcake, I added some Dazzling Diamonds to both the frosting area and the little dangles on the platform stand. Lastly, I used the happy birthday stamp from Perfect Punches to add the birthday sentiment. I inked all but the happy portion of the stamp using Peach Parfait.


Tessa loved the invitations and I had lots of great feedback from her friends. I set aside one to send in to Stampin' Up!® for the monthly contest to win free stamp sets. Wish me luck! Tomorrow, I will share the party favors and cake.

Happy Stampin' and God Bless!
Charity

Mini Book

In July I recruited a great friend to the Stampin' Up! Family. I wanted to make her a little gift using the Love What You Do convention stamp from 2010 and the Workshop Words stamp set that was free to Demonstrators at the 2011 convention (this is an exclusive set and just one of many things Stampin' Up! did for us).



I used Blushing Bride, Whisper White and Baja Breeze card stock. I added some images from Totally Tess. For binding I used a strip of Springtime Vintage fabric.




In the lower right front and on the back, you see the Workshop Words stamps. Yes, that is an official logo stamp! Big smiles on my part. This set also includes some great stamps for hostess gifts so if you host a show, you'll see more from Workshop Words.

The book contains information and resources that are important to a new demonstrator (FAQs, mission statement, etc.).

This project appears to be for demos only, but you can use the same idea/layout for mini photo books, journals, etc.

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!
Charity

Flamingo Punch Art

One of my "Convention Resolutions" is to become more savvy and creative with my punches. So, I've been trying to look at my punches from new angles and take inspiration from other punch art.

For Tessa's birthday party, I've relied heavily on punch art and I've loved the results! Our party theme is Gnomeo and Juliet. Our family loved this movie and one character in particular- the flamingo, Featherstone. Since we loved Featherstone, I decided we needed a flamingo craft and punch art would be easy for the kids. I also wanted it to be easy for me to prepare the kits.

I studied a few flamingo punch art ideas as well as a few kids craft sites. I opted to use googly eyes and chenille stems for eyes, neck and legs. I used my Blossom Petals Builder for the body, head, and wings. I punched two of each shape, sandwiching the chenille stems between. I just used Stampin' Write markers for the beak.




Final product:



For a card, I might use something besides chenille stems and I would brush the edges with versamark for dimension. But, he was perfect for a simple kids craft.

God Bless and Happy Stampin'
Charity

Happy Birthday Card

While at convention, each one of is received a Workshop in a Bag which included enough items to make a hostess gift, demonstrate a card design and then enough for eight make and takes. I used the Happy Birthday card for my last workshop.








This was an easy card to make and the design was already done for me!

Supply List:
Easy Events stamp set
Melon Mambo textured card stock
Whisper White Note Cards and Envelopes
Classic Stampin' Pads: Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Peach Parfait, Pool Party, and Wild Wasabi
Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad
Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter
Melon Mambo 1/2" Scallop Dotted Ribbon
Rhinestone Basic Jewels
Blender Pens
2 1/2" circle punch
Itty Bitty Shapes Punch

I didn't use up all my supplies so I'll either be making more birthday cards to have on hand or I'll change up the design a bit.

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!
Charity

Last Convention Highlight: Village of Cuteness

This year, Stampin' Up! offered some +One classes where we got to do a bonus make and take.  I chose the Village of Cuteness. It definitely lived up to its reputation and was very cute.  Each village consisted of three houses.  The houses were just two x four pieces cut to size with a roof peak.  We painted the houses with craft paint and used the Distressing Essentials Kit to antique them and stain the little doors.  Add some designer series paper and some embellishments and the result is a cute little village!  If you would like to do this as a class with your friends, please contact me. 



I was surprised at how well the acrylic paint coordinated with the Stampin' Up! colors.  The creative folks at Stampin' Up! did a great job with that.  The medium house was painted green and had a beautiful rosette embellishment.  The hinges on the door are little mini library clips and we just cut off part of them once we had them on the door.  Pretty clever use of an embellishment.

We used the same technique on the smallest house.  This house also has a nice little planter box full of flowers.  You can see a little part of it in the picture of the green house, but the little blue house has a nice big Cherry Cobbler flower on the roof as well.  Just another finishing detail that adds to the cuteness of the village.  I also noticed as I was working on this post that one of my Rhinestones came off one of the little flowers.  Rest assured, I have fixed that and my house is back to full cuteness.

The final house was the largest with Designer Series Paper shingles.  This looks like it took a long time but once I had the rhythm of attaching the circles, it went pretty fast.  The pennants were trimmed down after I punched them using the Petite Pennant Punch. 

The Village of Cuteness class was so much fun.  I worked with a great group of ladies (we did a bit of an assembly line to make sure we had all of our items punched).  They also had an assortment of cupcakes for us to nibble on while we worked on our houses.  I certainly hope the +One classes come back next year. 

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!

Charity

Convention Highlights: Make & Takes

The 2011 Convention Make and Takes were AWESOME!  Totally over the top and fun to make.  They also all tied in together to make one overall project.  Once all the cards were made, we had instructions to create this fun banner.   

Using the Raining Flowers and It's Your Day stamp sets we made this "It's Your Day" card.  I think my favorite detail is the layering of the Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon and the Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon.  It is not something I would have thought to do but now that I see it, I think it is a detail I will try again.

 Next to the "It's Your Day Card", we added two pennants and a pinwheel.

The next card is the "Just Because Card" using the Best Friends Forever and It's Your Day set.

The last card is the "Because Card"using the Raining Flowers and It's Your Day sets again.



Our last make and take was a card keeper that coordinated with the Pennant and Pinwheel Banner and uses the new card keeper box that will be available in the Holiday Mini catalog that comes out in September.  This is a great box that it easy to decorate and comes with dividers and the front label holder.  The box comes flat and you assemble it.  It also comes with templates and patterns for cutting out any fabric or paper that you would use to decorate the box.

The top of the box is covered with the Timeless Portrait Designer Fabric.  The flower was created using the Blossom Petals, Fancy Flower, and Lace Ribbon Punch. 

There are two flower stacks for this box.  The first stack is made from More Mustard Fancy Flowers and one lace flower from the lace ribbon border, a simply adorned bauble, and Cherry Cobbler Fancy Flowers. 

The second stack uses the Blossom Petals Punch and also the Lace Ribbon Border Punch.  Several petals are layered together.  Once complete it is adhered to the first stack to create one flower.  I used hot glow to adhere it to the top of my box.  This was something that I completed when I returned home.

Inside the box, there are dividers which come with the kit.  We covered our dividers with Timeless Portrait Designer Series Paper.

I really liked that the Make and Takes were so involved, they make beautiful show pieces. 

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!

Charity

August Promotion: Buy 3, Get 1 Free Designer Series Paper

Do you love Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Papers? Then now is the time to stock up. For the month of August, Stampin' Up! is offering a Buy 3, Get 1 Free promotion. For every 3 packages of designer series paper you buy, you can get a 4th for free and there is no limit to how many free packages you can earn.

So, whether you use large pieces on scrapbook pages or a small piece as an accent on a card, Stampin' Up! has you covered. Check out this great Promotion today!

God Bless and Happy Stampin'!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Convention Highlights- Product Park

One of the great things about any Stampin' Up! Event is the product previews and samples.  I love being inspired by the projects that their design team c creates.  Last year they had the Sweet Shoppe- food inspired projects using Stampin' Up! products.  This year, they used the Grow theme and created a Product Park.  It was wonderful.  Picture count for this area- 88 photos!  I won't share all 88 but you'll certainly see plenty of them.  Keep in mind, all images are copyright Stampin' Up! and credit should be given to the talented artists at Stampin' Up!

Since our convention theme was Grow, there were plenty of flowers on hand.  Many are made using our selection of Big Shot Dies and punches.  

The Product Park was broken into areas representing each of the various Product Suites in the current Idea Book and Catalog as well as the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog.  Here is the Beau Chateau product area, a farmhouse setting.

The little chicks and chickens were fun to me!

 More flowers, these are made using the Fleurettes II and buttons.  They've also wrapped the fabric around the flower pots.  I might have to do something similar for Tessa's garden birthday party.

-

 More chickens.  Even some in the "coop."

 Halloween ideas using Frightful Sight Designer Series Paper.

The Letters to Santa Product Display.  Wouldn't it be fun to take over the desk in your home for something similar at Christmas?  I like the idea of displaying Christmas cards on the paper chains.  Another idea I may be using in my home this year.

 A ribbon display hanging above the Product Park.

 The Paisley Petals Product Suite.

 Flirtatious Product Suite, I love the giant rosette flowers!

 I love the simplicity of the tea towels.  I think these would make great gifts.  I might even think about making some as hostess gifts (hint, hint!  Come host a show!)

 Here is the area I found particularly inspirational since it was a setting for a 7 year old's birthday celebration.  Tessa will be 7 in August and a Garden Gnome Party is in the works.  These products are built on the Just Add Cake Designer Series Papers.  Look at all those Demonstrators enjoying the displays!

 The Timeless Portrait Suite:

 I loved this fun flower display using old boots.

 Another fun use of rain gear, something we have an abundance of in Seattle!

 Berry Blossoms Designer Series Paper

 Nursery Nest products:

 Domestic Goddess Product Suite:

Spoiler Alert!!  Here are some products found in the Upcoming Holiday Mini Available September 1: