Magnetic Build-a-Bear

Here's the girl Build-a-Bear set that I made for my craft show. Each set contains one bear and two outfits (with shoes and accessories.) They are so fun, and kids LOVE them! If you're interested in ordering a set, just let me know. Cost is $7.50 per set, and the front of the case can be personalized with a name.

And the front of the boy set....

Another Deal of the Week!

This weeks deals:

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Special Price
114348	179	Basic Jumbo grommets	$6.95	$4.49
109857	179	Mini Library clips	$12.95	$8.99
112571	179	Circle Designer brads	$5.95	$3.99
112581	179	1/2" Library clips	$6.95	$3.99

Give me a call if you'd like to order any of these great deals!

Pretties Monogram Card

This is another card I submitted.  It's hard to see, but I used the stained glass technique on the little S circle in the middle of the flower.  I used pastels and a sponge dauber to color the flower from the pretties kit, and also on the edges of the little circle, the green paper, and the yellow paper.  Also hard to see is the textured chocolate chip circle...I did that with my Big Shot and texturz plate.  Again, it's a simple card, but I like it, especially the colors.

Ingredients:  Stamps~Lovely Letters Alphabet set; Ink~Chocolate Chip craft ink; Paper~Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard and Very Vanilla card stock, Juntos DSP; Accessories~Pretties Kit, metallic eyelets, Big Shot, sponge dauber, Stampin' Pastels, Crafter's Tool Kit, Glassy Glaze embossing powder, heat tool, VersaMark ink pad

Deal of the Week is Back!

Once again, Stampin' Up! is offering a Deal of the Week...only it's better than that...it's DEALS of the Week!  This week, three fabulous Big Shot dies are being offered at a crazy discount:

  

Deals of the Week

Item	Description	Special Price
115961	Perfect Setting Bigz XL die	$25.99
114515	Flower Burst Embosslits die	$5.99
116760	Pop-Up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die	$25.49

If you'd like to take advantage of this week's deals, be sure to call me, or hop on over to my website to place your order!

September Club Projects...Finally

 

I love this page.  It's so simple, but I love leaves and I love the colors.  I cut out the leaves using my Big Shot and the Leaves #2 die.  Then I ran them through the Big Shot again using the Perfect Details Texturz Plate.  Check out the close up picture to see the texture on the leaves.  The rest of the ingredients:  Stamps~Schoolbook Serif Alphabet; Ink~Old Olive classic ink pad; Paper~Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Old Olive, Kraft and Whisper White card stock; Accessories~Big Shot, Leaves #2 die, Perfect Details Texturz Plate.

This card uses a technique that's shown in the catalog on page 52.  It uses Watercolor Wonder crayons on Twill Tape.  It also gave me a chance to use the Thoughts & Prayers stamp set, which is so pretty.   Here's what else I used:  Stamps~Thoughts & Prayers; Paper~Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy and Very Vanilla card stock; Accessories~Rich Regals Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Twill Tape, Scallop Circle Punch, Small Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimentionals, Sticky Strip

Now for Some Stuff I Like

Still losers, but winners in my eyes.  I loved the cards that I submitted.  I tried to use techniques and items that I don't normally use, which is part of the reason I'm proud of these. 

The first one is my Christmas card from last year.  I used Old Olive cardstock for the card itself.  The tree (and everything else) is from the Snow Swirled stamp set.  I love that set!  I used Old Olive and Real Red markers to color directly on the stamp, then stamped it on Whisper White cardstock.  The "star" at the top is the little snowflake from the set, stamped in silver.  It's nearly impossible to see, but I edged the white cardstock with a sponge dauber rubbed in the Old Olive pastel.  That piece is then mounted on Read Red cardstock and Brushed Silver cardstock.  I also stamped random snowflakes on the Old Olive card front with VersaMark.  The white snowflakes you see are stamped randomly (well, not randomly, but it's supposed to look that way!) on a clear window sheet with white Stazon ink.  I punched two holes at the top, through the window sheet and OO card, then threaded Read Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon through them for the bow.  I really liked this card, which is why I decided to include it in my submissions, rather than reinvent the wheel.  Again, simple, but with a wow factor.

This card is another favorite.  OK, they are all favorites.  I used the now discontinued Doodle This stamp set for this card, along with the coordinating Doodle jumbo wheel.  I stamped it onto watercolor paper with Chocolate Chip craft ink, then embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Then, using Watercolor Wonder crayons and my aquapainter, I watercolored the flower and stem.   There is a jumbo eyelet in the center of the flower, and behind that, a little 1/2" circle of More Mustard card stock.  I used my Big Shot and Top Note die to cut out the white and More Mustard layers.  There is also MM pastel dabbed onto the watercolor paper around the edges.  The Old Olive strip was punched with the scallop edge punch, and is stamped using the wheel (above) and VersaMark ink.  The other card stock colors are Chocolate Chip and Elegant Eggplant.  Ribbon is 5/8" OO grosgrain.  This was the first card I made for this contest, and was so happy with the way it turned out.  It's a fairly large card...roughly 6"x6".  A fun size to try.

3D

I'm having trouble posting the September club projects, so until I can do that, I'll post some more of my losing projects.  These are the two 3D items I submitted.  It's a lousy photo, so in case you can't tell, it's a votive globe.  What you can't see is that the shape of those flowers has been punched out (think tin punch look) all over the vellum windows, and then stamped in white all over the plexiglass windows (that are in front of the vellum.)  It looks a lot better in person.  At least to me.  Not to the judges :) Although as I sit here looking at it, I can think of five million things I could do to improve it.  It's all about the layers, apparently, and this project is sorely missing them.  Some buttons in the middle of the flowers would be a great place to start.

I'm not going to list any of the ingredients for the globe.  They were all SAB items from last year that are no longer available.  Sorry.

See, here's the problem with posting these so long after the fact...half of the materials used on the frame are discontinued as well.  I stamped some of the butterflies with the Flight of the Butterfly set (which is still available and now has a coordinating punch!)  I cut the bigger one out with my Big Shot and the Beautiful Butterflies die.  The ribbon is white organdy and green grosgrain (both still available.) I sewed the big butterfly's trail with my sewing machine and white thread.  And since I only used one of my daughters in the photos, I used the other's middle name for this frame.  Mostly because I didn't have the right letters for her first name :)

Another Loser

I think that this one was too simplistic.  But I like simplicity.  It just wasn't what the judges were going for :)  These are our friends the Kregels, who were kind enough to let me use their family photos for this.  These pictures were taken by Lindsey Patkos, a girl from church who was in my small group when she was in sixth grade.  I don't think she has a website, but she is on FB.  Just want to give her a plug...I don't think she'd be opposed to more photography customers!

Ingredients:  Stamps~Schoolbook Serif Alphabet, Best Wishes & More; Paper~Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White, Juntos Designer Series Paper, Vellum; Inks~More Mustard, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa; Other~sewing machine, dark brown thread

July Club Project

I like the simplicity of this page...the pictures can be the focus without a ton of other embellishments. But I also love the flowers made from the Circle Circus set and the new In Color markers. A button from Button Latte gives the middle flower just a little something extra. And the crimped stems are so fun.

It's not really obvious from the picture, but this is a spinner card, made with two pennies and a Stampin' Dimentional. This set is perfect for a spinner card...my kids are mesmerized by it! The paper at the bottom is from the new Razzleberry Lemondade Designer Series Paper, which is also one of my new favorites!

New Stuff

My favorite new stamp set is Circle Circus. I've had my eye on this set ever since the Australian catalog came out and I spotted it in there. I held my breath hoping that not only would it make it into the US catalog, but also that it would be available as a pre-order for demonstrators. My wish came true, and this set was the first thing I ordered....along with all the new In Colors! This is the first time I've ever liked them all, and I've been having fun playing with them. So, here are a couple of samples featuring all the new colors plus my new favorite stamps:

Deal of the Week #3 (July 13-19)

Deal of the Week: Square Fire Rhinestone Brads
they're just $6.99—over 30% off the regular price of $10.95!

That's a great deal!

New Catalog!

It's here, and it's fabulous! The new In-Colors are so pretty! I'll get some projects posted soon. I'll have catalogs for club members at our July club, but if you're anxious to see it, click here.

May Club Projects

I'm only two months behind...no big deal! These are the two projects that we made at our May stamp club.

The first is this card that uses the Great Friend stamp set. I love this set, can you tell? I'm so glad it's going to be in the new catalog!
card stock/paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Kraft, Walk in the Park (sorry, it's retired)
ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Very Vanilla (craft ink)
accessories: Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, linen thread, matchbox die & Big Shot, Stamp-a-ma-jig, paper piercer, scallop edge punch

Next is this 12x12 scrapbook page. The layout isn't mine...I used one from pagemaps. It's a great place to find fantastic scrapbook page layouts when you're having trouble being creative!

photo deleted 
card stock/paper: Cameo Coral, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP
ink: Cameo Coral, Basic Gray
stamps: Contempo Alphabet, Great Friend
accessories: Beautiful Butterflies & Big Shot, scallop edge punch, stampin' dimentionals

The large picture is 4x6, and the small pictures are 2x2 and 2x3. To get the fainter look of the leaves behind the title, I just stamped the image once, and then stamped again without reinking. It's an easy way to get a really pretty look.

Great Friend

I love the new Great Friend stamp set from the mini catalog! This butterfly is so pretty. I also used the Big Shot and the Beautiful Butterflies die to make the bigger butterfly. Then I ran it through my Big Shot again using the texturz plates to get the raised polka dots. Other supplies I used: scallop edge punch, old olive 1/4" ribbon (this is actually a discontinued ribbon, but the current grosgrain ribbon would work nicely!), Sahara Sand, and Eggplant Envy card stock (this is the retired eggplant color...I needed to use it up...the current Elegant Eggplant would be so much prettier!!!) I also used the Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper from the mini. This isn't the greatest picture, but this was a fun and easy card to make!

Mojo Monday

I've been wanting to start doing the Mojo Monday challenges for a long time, but never quite seem to do it. Last week I went a little crazy, and did three of them. I wanted to showcase SU's Designer Series Paper in each of them. I've used Juntas, Bella Rose, and Candy Lane, all of which are currently in the catalog or Spanish supplement (and anyone can order from it!) Ideally, I'd do the current week's challenge and actually post it in time, but for now, here's what I've managed:

In this card I've used the Beautiful Butterflies die for the Big Shot, along with the new scallop oval punch and Matchbox Messages and Great Friend stamp sets from the new mini...which I LOVE!
This one also uses Great Friend. I love that set, can you tell? That butterfly is great!
Again, I used the Beautiful Butterflies die and Great Friend, and my favorite accessory, Chocolate Chip ribbon. Clearly I was on a butterfly kick this week :)

Matchbox Candy Dressers

These cute little dressers are filled with candy...I'm giving them to my kid's teachers at church as a thank you for serving this semester. Not the greatest picture, I know, and I should have shown the insides...two drawers have M&Ms and the other two have Hershey Nuggets.

Check out the new Mini!

Oh my goodness...I LOVE this new mini catalog! There are such great things in it! The stamps are fabulous, and I am just dying to play with the new matchbox die for the Big Shot. And, SU! now offers window sheets! And some are even pre-printed. They are so beautiful! Be sure to click on the catalog to the right or check it out by visiting my website: www.aprils.stampinup.net

Yippee!

I just found out that I won one of the monthly contests that Stampin' Up! has for demonstrators. Woohoooooo!!!! Now the hard part is narrowing down my wish list to the three free sets that are my prize. Here's the card:

March Stamp Club

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This is the page we made at club last night. I'm not in love with it (in fact, I hate it), but it's what I came up with in a half hour the night before. We used all Sale-a-Bration items: the Polka Dot Punches stamp set, plus the Certainly Celery ribbon from the ribbon bundle. The card stock colors are So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand and Whisper White. I used the Scallop Circle die for the Big Shot to cut out the blue journaling piece. The flowers are punched out with the five petal punch, which works perfectly with this stamp set! The card we made is just a So Saffron version of the cards in the previous post, so I didn't post the picture. If I remember to take one, I'll post it later!

One layout, many cards

Here are several cards I've made, all using the same basic layout. I think I might have gotten the layout idea from splitcoast, but I have no idea. I'm so bad about that! I promise to get better and give credit where it's due! Some of the cards below do use retired paper...so sorry about that! But as you can see, this is a very versatile card and you can pretty much use whatever color and paper combination you like! Each of these was made with the Best Wishes & More stamp set, and the center flower on each card is popped out a bit by using Stampin' Dimentionals. Sorry the pictures are so bad!

This card uses Summer Picnic DSP which retired with the last catalog. The colors are Old Olive, Bashful Blue and Real Red.

This one uses Pacific Point, one of the current In Colors. I love this blue! I've also added Old Olive, Chocolate Chip (of course!) and So Saffron.

I wanted something springy for a workshop, but didn't have any DSP that was really grabbing me. So instead, I cut a piece of Apricot Appeal card stock, then stamped the splatter image from Itty Bitty Backgrounds with Apricot Appeal and Cameo Coral. I also used Sage Shadow on this card, then added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter for fun.

And last, but not least, is a cute card made using all Sale-a-Bration goodies! The paper is Delicate Dots DSP, combined with the Polka Dot Punches stamp set. I also used the Certainly Celery ribbon from the ribbon bundle in the SAB brochure. I also dabbed a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter in the center. Colors are Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Very Vanilla.

New Stamps!

Beginning March 1, the following sets from the new Occassions Mini are available to order. Give me a call or visit my website if there's something you just have to have!

Flight of the Butterfly

A couple of cards using this set (that I got for free!) I made most of these while trying to figure out what to do at a workshop. I chose the middle one (which I think I might have CASED...although I'm not sure. And I have no idea where I even saw this card.)




All of these use Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, and Chocolate Chip/Old Olive card stock and ink, plus Iridescent Ice embossing powder (which is hard to see in the pics..it's over the big butterflies.)