Paper Flower and More

  I made this card for my oldest daughter because I am so proud if her and very happy for her. She has been wanting to change jobs and last week she got the word that the job she really wanted is hers! She had to go through several interviews including a presentation so she wasn't sure she would get it but she did!

   This card is made with Taken With Teal, one of her favorite colors.

   The focus of this card is of course the paper flower I made with our new Extra Large Fancy Flower Punch. I wish I could say I came up with the idea but alas I did not. It originated, I believe, with a very talented stamper, Ilina Crouse,  Only she used pages from an old book! I used the new designer paper from Sale-a-Bration. 

   To make the flower, punch 5 flowers with the new Flower punch. Fold (Crunch) 4 of the 5 flowers and then with a dot of Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive attach them one on top of another without lining up the petals. They need to be alternating. I then put a button in the center and attached the flower to the top of my ribbon. Now in the photo there is an orange color cast. That is due to my bad photography and the fact that the reverse side of the paper is Pumpkin Pie!

   A few more things to note. The border was punched with our new Pinking Hearts Border Punch

The speckles on the card are made with one of my absolute must have stamps, Itty Bitty Backgrounds     It has been around a long time, can be found in the large Catalog, and is Free with Sale-a-Bration. The leaves of the flower are really the wings punched with our new Extra Large Two Step Bird Punch.

   All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order from me.

• Happy Everything and Itty Bitty Backgrounds stamp sets
• Taken With Teal, Old Olive, Kraft and White cardstock
• Welcome Neighbor designer paper (Sale-a-Bration)
• Old Olive, Taken With Teal ink
• Summer Sun corduroy buttons
• Natural Hemp Twine
• Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon
• Extra Large Fancy Flower Punch, Extra Large Two Step Bird Punch (Occasions Mini)
• Pink Hearts Border Punch (Occasions Mini)
• Small Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch
• Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive

I hope you will try one of these flowers - they are so easy to make and really add dimension to the project! Happy Friday!

Friend You Are Too Kind

   Yesterday was a stressful day and I just needed to stamp. Stamping is a GREAT stress reliever by the way! I also needed some inspiration so I checked out this week's sketch challenge at Stampin Addicts and found this one.

  This is the card I made using some new stamps, paper and accessories.!

   To make the focal point I used one of the little filigree vine stamps from Tiny Tags. I stamped it over and over around the edge of the white cardstock. I ended up with an "oval" in the center. Then I sponged it to add depth.

   Now let me just say I purchased this set Wood Mounted and wish I had it in Clear Mount because it is sooo much easier to place the stamp where you want it. But I still love this set cause it is so versatile.

   And if you look closely at the butterflies you can see how they are raised embossed. This was all done with my Big Shot and the new Butterfly Embosslit. These little butterflies are perfect for an additional accent on your project!

  I also stamped the tiny tag with "friends" and then because it is tiny (thus the name), I attached it to the bow with a small safety pin. I was very proud of myself to think of that! It sure beats threading something through the hole and tying it!!

  The saying is from the Sale-a-bration stamp set Whimsical Words and the paper is Welcome Neighbor, also from Sale-a-bration! Can't beat FREE!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order.

• Tiny Tags (Occasions Mini) and Whimsical Words (Sale-a-Bration) stamp sets
• So Saffron, Mellow Moss and White cardstock
• Welcome Neighbor designer paper (Sale-a-Bration)
• Paper Piercer
• Pink Satin Ribbon (Occasions Mini)
• Scallop Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch
• Scallop Trim Border Punch (Sale-a-Bration)
• Silver Brads
• Big Shot, Butterfly Embosslit
• Sponge and dimensionals

Enjoy your day but if you find yourself stressed....try to find time to stamp!

Butterfly Birthday Cake

  And yet another cake! Phew - good thing I didn't have to bake all of these cakes or they never would have gotten done. I prefer stamping!

   This birthday card/cake is for my little niece who is turning 3. I should explain that my brother has a son and 2 daughters all born within 10 days of each other. All in different years of course. Thus all of the cards at once.

  Here is the front of the card. The new Butterfly Emlosslit is so much fun!! Now open the card and

it is a cake complete with more butterflies all done with the Butterfly Embosslit and the Big Shot.

A view from the side.

Other side.

   All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order from me.

• Look Who's Turning stamp set
• Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry and White cardstock
• Cottage Wall designer paper
• Butterfly Embosslit (Occasions Mini)
• Pop Up Three Tier Cake BigZ die
• Big Shot
• White Satin Ribbon
• Bo Ho Blossoms punch
• 3/4" circle punch
• Scallop Trim Border punch (sale-a-bration)

Have a blessed day,

Love Bandit Cake

   My niece is turning 5 and since I made my nephew (her brother), a pop up card I thought I would make one for her too. I made the front fairly simple with some punches and ribbon. I love the stamp set Look Who's Turning. The words are so versatile and the animals are so cute! But for this card I just used the words.

However for the inside I used the Love Bandit stamp set. I just can't get enough of those cute little critters! And I sneaked in the little bunny from Forest Friends!

Side view complete with a butterfly on the tree and some punched flowers just for fun. Tune in tomorrow for more about the butterfly.

Another view.

And the back with another bunny and the deer from Forest Friends.

  I had so much fun making this card - flowers and animals - some of my favorite things!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order from me.

• Look Who's Turning, Forest Friends, Love Bandit (Occasions Mini)
• Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, Going Gray, Close to Cocoa, and White cardstock
• Pawsitively Prints designer paper
• Black, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel ink
• 3/4" circle and 1" circle punches, 
• Large Flower punch (Occasions Mini)
• Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon
• Mini glue dots
• Big Shot, Pop Up Three Tier Cake bigz die

Have a wonderful weekend. Tune in tomorrow for yet another pop up birthday card!

Look Who's Turning 7!

    My nephew is turning 7 and I made this card for him. When I saw the new stamp set called Fox and Friends (Occasions Mini), I immediately thought of the current stamp set Look Who's Turning because the animals coordinate so well! Love when that happens!

   So this is the outside of the card. The monkey from Fox and Friends standing on the back of the hippo from Look Who's Turning. And, there is the little balloon, the little scallop border and the little ribbon. But then.....you open it up and......

   You get this!! - a birthday cake with lots of Fox's Friends, including the Fox himself!

   All wearing birthday hats.

Side view.


Hey there's the ostrich from Look Who's Turning!

The cake was made with the Pop Up Three Tier Cake die and my Big Shot. When I first saw the die I thought I would never figure it out but you know what? It was sooo easy!

Tune in tomorrow for the birthday card that I made for my 5 year old niece!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order from me.

• Fox and Friends (Occasions Mini)
• Look Who's Turning
• Ballet Blue, So Saffron, Old Olive, White cardstock
• Pawsitively Prints designer paper
• Ballet Blue, So Saffron, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa ink
• Mini Glue dots
• Pop Up Three Tier Cake Bigz die
• Big Shot
• Sticky Strip
• Brads
• Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon
• Scallop Trim punch (Sale-a-bration), 3/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy For You!

    I am happy for me too cause I am going to be an auntie again! My brother and his wife are going to have another baby and we are so excited.

   To show them just how happy I am I made this card. I used "boy" colors cause we are all hoping for a boy - they already have 3 girls and 1 boy! But I would love a girl too. Hey I am a girl mommy! lol!

   I needed a sketch so I used this week's sketch challenge at Stampin Addicts.

Anyway, Emily, my sister in law loves earth tones so I went to the pack of Welcome Neighbor sale-a-bration paper I got for FREE and pulled out the paper for my card.

   So I had my sketch, colors and paper. Now I needed the focal point and stamp(s). The bird and leaves are made with ONE of our new punches. That's right you get a bird, the wing, a branch all with one punch. I am so loving this punch!

  The stamp is Vintage Labels, another FREE Sale-a-bration stamp set. I punched the label with our Curly Label punch (fits perfectly) and mounted on another piece of cardstock of the same shape - just used the Movers and Shapers die with my BIG SHOT.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order.

• Vintage Labels (Sale-a-Bration catalog)
• Two Step Bird punch (Occasions Mini)
• Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and White cardstock
• Welcome Neighbor 6 x6 designer paper (Sale-a-bration catalog)
• Bermuda Bay and Old Olive ink
• Small heart punch (Occasions Mini)
• Vintage brads
• Old Olive grosgrain

Enjoy your day!

Very Thankful

   Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day which means I have the day off and so do alot of other people. Hopefully one of them is you!

   But I don't want to minimize why we observe this day or the man behind it. So I am thankful. Thankful for alot of things and not just the things you think about at times like say, Thanksgiving, but things like freedom and the right to vote and a country that I love.

  Sorry I didn't mean to preach. One "preacher" in the family is enough! Ha Ha! Here is my thankful card.

   This is one of the 4 stamps from the Very Thankful stamp set which, as you know from previous posts, is the Ronald McDonald House stamp set.. I just felt like stamping yesterday and with no reason, or person in mind, I came up with this card. It is a pretty straightforward card. I used my favorite coloring technique of markers on watercolor paper (faux copic markers) and one of my favorite layouts.

   All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order.

• Very Thankful stamp set (Ronald McDonald House Charities)
• Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive cardstock
• Watercolor paper
• Cottage Wall dsp
• Black Stazon ink
• markers
• Small heart punch (Occasions mini)
• Eyelet Border punch
• Button
• Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day. I hope it is a creative one!

Friend of the Fox

   Ok so it's a little play on words. Fox and Friends is a new stamp set from the Occasions Mini and this little whale is one of the friends! I have this thing for animals - I love them in real life or just stamps.

If you love whales and/or dolphins watch the new documentary "The Cove" now out on DVD. Be warned - it will make you think twice about seeing these animals perform in captivity.

   I had alot of fun with this card. I plan on sending it to one of my daughters. She'll think it's great!

   To make the front of the card I made the waves first. To do this I cut the cardstock and vellum to fit the card front and then I used my circle punch and punched partial circles across the top of the vellum and the Bermuda Bay cardstock.

   Then I just placed the Bermuda Bay cardstock on the front (do Not adhere) and decided where on the waves I wanted my whale, made a light pencil mark, removed the waves, and stamped the whale. The Clear Mount stamps make this soooo easy because you can see where you are stamping.

 I stamped the whale on white cardstock but lightly sponged on bermuda bay to add some color for the sky. And to add some more color, and to reflect the "I Love You" theme, I added 2 little hearts punched with our new small heart punch.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click her to order from me.

• Fox and Friends (Occasions Mini) and Three Little Words stamp sets
• Basic Grey, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay and White card stock
• Vellum cardstock
• Basic Grey, Bermuda Bay ink
• 1 1/4" circle punch
• Modern Label and Word Window punches
• Small Heart punch (Occasions Mini)
• silver brads
• Bermuda Bay grosgrain ribbon
• Button with white embroidery floss
• sponge

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend! If you can, take time to stamp.

Ronald McDonald House

I am pretty sure I have posted this info before but "just in case" I will do so again. Every year Stampin' Up! creates an exclusive stamp set to help raise money for its charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and every year I purchase it whether I like the set or not. This year, however, I love the set and enjoy using it!

  Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper, Very Thankful stamp set, and the sketch from Stampin Addicts went into this card.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order.

• Very Thankful stamp set
• Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, White cardstock
• Razzleberry Lemonade dsp
• Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry markers, Crushed Curry ink
• Crushed Curry polka dot grosgrain ribbon
• Ticket corner punch
• Flower designer brad

It's over the hump day - hope it's a good one!

With All My Heart

   I love this card. I love the colors, the layout, the size (4 1/4"square), the embellishments - yeah everything.

   I have been playing with the new stamp set With All My Heart (see previous post too) and I am loving it! I only preordered a few of the sets from the Occasions Mini Catalog. The rest of my order is coming this week and I can't wait!! But that is another post for another time.

  Don't know if you can see it but the Chocolate Chip scallop is really one of the 2 Tags from the Two Tags Big Shot die. Very fun! So I am thinking I will be sending this to my youngest daughter cause she loves blue and I love her......with all my heart! And... I need to send her something anyway!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• With All My Heart stamp set (Occasions Mini)
• Bashful Blue Textured cardstock, Chocolate Chip and White cardstock
• Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip ink
• Two Tags die and the Big Shot
• Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle, 3/4" Circle, and Scallop Border punches
• Buttons and white embroidery floss
• White satin ribbon and a Brad

Until next time,

Just a Simple Thanks

   I finally had some time to stamp (and energy)! I needed a thank you card so I made this one using the new With All My Heart stamp set from the Occasions Mini. I love sets that have the saying "Thank You" cause I seem to make more thank you cards than any other kind. As I have said before - I am a blessed person!

   I used some of my textured cardstock for the front of the card. Can you tell I have just rediscovered my textured cardstock? lol. I had forgotten all about it. Anyway - textured cardstock, some designer paper from the Cottage Wall pack and some punches, brads and ribbon all went into this card. I finally remembered to order a new white gel pen and added the little tiny dots to the scallops. It's so good to have that pen again!

  Note: I stamped directly onto the apricot cardstock using the same stamp I used for the focal point on the front of the card. Gave it a little more depth.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order from me.

• With All My Heart stamp set (Occasions Mini)
• Certainly Celery and White cardstock; Apricot Appeal textured cardstock
• Cottage Wall designer paper
• Apricot Appeal ink
• Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon
• Scallop Circle, Modern Label, Word Window, Scallop Border, 1 3/4" Circle, 1/2" Circle  and Trio Flower Punches
• Apricot Appeal brads
• Button with white embroidery floss

That's it for today! Happy Monday!

Squirrels Can Be Cute

   Ok, ok all squirrels are cute - they just annoy me when they get in my bird feeder!

   Now I have to say there is nothing annoying about the cute little squirrel in the new Love Bandit stamp set. I just can't stop reaching for him/her. And because I have the clear mount (remember only the block is clear) version it is so easy to eliminate the saying at the bottom of the stamp - just like I did with todays card(s).

   For my inspiration today I headed over to Stamping 411. This is the card I made using the sketch I found there.

   I used the Movers and Shapers Big Shot die to cut the textured Blush Blossom cardstock. Then I just stamped that cute little squirrel, added some marker to the flowers, and punched it out with the Curly Label punch. It fits perfectly in the window!

  To keep with the sketch I added the felt shapes from the new Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon and the saying stamped on punched cardstock and embellished with another Sweet Pea felt shape.  And of course anytime there is Chocolate Chip in the color scheme I have to sponge the edges!

   But wait there is more! And here is where I drive myself crazy. I wasn't sure if I liked the ribbon so do I add the ribbon or do I not add the ribbon? I finally decided to add the ribbon but post both versions so here you go - the version without ribbon.

With ribbon or without, I had a blast making this card! And it was soooo easy!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Don't forget to check out the new Occasions Mini and Sale-a-bration catalogs!

• Love Bandit (Occasion Mini) stamp set and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
• Blush Blossom textured cardstock and Vanilla cardstock
• Modern Label and  Curly Label punches
• Sweet Pea Stitched Felt shapes (Occasions Mini)
• sponge
• Big Shot and Movers and Shapers die

Thanks for stopping by and if you are a part of this "cold snap" gripping parts of the nation, stay warm!

Missing You

  Out with old and in with the new! The Holiday Mini is over and the new Occasions Mini is here and I am so loving all of the new products! The best part is Stampin' Up! offers the stamps in either wood mounted form just as always, or clear mount form. The stamps are still the same high quality rubber (not clear) - they just cling to clear blocks which makes positioning the image soooo much easier. And when you are done, just peel off the stamp and store it in this cute little container that takes up alot less space than the wood mounted stamps.

   Don't get me wrong - I still love the wood mounted stamps but the clear mount stamps do have their advantages!

   And did I mention all of the new paper and embellishments in the new Mini Catalog? Yummy stuff.

   And it's Sale-a-bration time! Free stuff. Woo Hoo.

   Here is a card using the owl and tree from the Love Bandit stamp set.

   I haven't done the sketch challenge over at Splitcoaststampers in a long time so I thought it would be fun to play.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order.

• Love Bandit (Occasions Mini) and Three Little Words stamp set
• Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, White card stock
• Mellow Moss dsp (hostess)
• Chocolate Chip and Mellow Moss ink and markers
• 1" double stitched Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon
• 1/2" circle punch, small oval punch
• Clear button and Natural hemp twine
• sponge and dimensional

Have a wonderful day.

Lisa

It's the Big 3 Oh

  No that is not how old I am! I passed that milestone a a long time ago! It's actually the number of years David and I have been married. Today is our 30th wedding anniversary - I can hardly believe it! I am so blessed because, as cliched as it sounds, I am married to my best friend. He is quite a guy and if you don't believe me, read this post.

   I thought about the card I could make for the occasion but nothing was coming to my mind. I kept thinking "book". Note: I think about books alot - I work in a library after all! But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. So here is what I made for David in honor of our anniversary. I should add that I chose the colors Night of Navy and Close to Cocoa cause he likes blue and brown. Makes sense right?

It's a book. Well sort of.

It's really the Matchbox die made into a book. The front of it says it all. David did steal my heart but the inside of the book reveals more.

Page 1

Pages 2 and 3

Pages 4 and 5

The little tab attached to page 5 allows that page to be pulled up to reveal

my handwritten message (sorry - can't show you that. lol).

And that, my cyber friends, is my Anniversary book.

How did I make it? I used Close to Cocoa cardstock and cut it using the Matchbox die. I put the bottom of the Matchbox together the usual way. I cut the part that slides over the box in half and made it into the front of the book. Sorry I should have taken a picture of that step. Then I just layered Night of Navy cardstock on the top and bottom with natural hemp in between to tie the book shut. The pages are just white cardstock cut slightly smaller than the inside of the matchbox and adhered together.

  All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Love Bandit and With All My Heart stamp sets (Occasions Mini)
• Things I Love, Look Who's Turning, and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
• Close to Cocoa, Night of Navy, Real Red and White cardstock
• Night of Navy dsp (hostess)
• Night of Navy, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black and Real Red ink and markers
• Corduroy button, Jumbo Eyelet (pewter) and Silver brads
• Linen thread and Natural hemp twine
• Small Heart punch (Occasions mini), Trio Flower Punch, Word Window punch, My Way punch, Large oval punch, Round Tab punch
• Big Shot, Matchbox die, Billboard Alphabet die
• Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive and sponge

I hope to be posting about our new Clear Mount stamps soon. They are so awesome!

In the meantime, happy stamping and thanks for stopping by.

Walruses on Ice

   I had so much fun making yesterday's penguin on ice that I decided to try my hand at walruses! I was thinking about today's card for a while now - the vellum, the fish and the walrus peeking up through the ice. Then one thing led to another such as clouds and the sun and I don't know but I think I got carried away. See what you think.

   The sun was an after thought and at first I was just going to have it stop at the icy horizon but left it whole to represent the sun reflecting on/under the icy water. I know the horizon should be straight but this is ice.

   The fish are from the stamp set C is for Cat. I was going to attach one to the end of the fishing pole that comes with the Cold and Cuddly stamp set but I just couldn't do it - nope not animal loving me. I know, I know - walruses eat fish - but they don't hook 'em with a fishing pole. lol!

   I stamped and cut out the icebergs and walruses. For one of the icebergs I cut a slit and slipped the little walrus up through so he appears to be looking up through a hole in the ice. The fish are stamped on the white card front and vellum cardstock was added on top of that. Eyelets keep the vellum in place.

   Eyelets - good grief I haven't used these things in ages! Remember when they were all the rage? I have a ton of them now and never use them - until now!

   After looking at the card, I decided the top part was too plain so I wanted to add some clouds (I miss our cloud stencil from years gone by). I used some punched circles and ovals and a sponge to make my "clouds". Not sure they look authentic but it was the best I could do. And the sun is just a big punched circle of cardstock.

  Well even if this card is a little busy and a little weird, I am sending it to my biggest fan - my mom. She will love it! Maybe it will inspire you to come up with an even better version of Walruses on Ice! The only problem is January 4th is the last day to order the Cold & Cuddly stamp set cause the Holiday Mini is about to end!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order.

• Cold & Cuddly stamp set (Holiday Mini) and Thank You Kindly and C is for Cat stamp sets
• White, Brocade Blue, and So Saffron cardstock 
• Vellum cardstock
• Close to Cocoa and Brocade Blue, and a touch of Orchid Opulence ink
• Silver eyelets and Crop-a-dile
• 1 3/4" circle punch, Modern Label punch
• Wide Oval punch and 1 1/4" circle punches for the clouds
• sponge

Stampingly yours,

Penguin on Ice

   Well the kids left this morning for the long drive to Pennsylvania and then back to Ohio tomorrow. It was so much fun having them home and I will miss them! Boy will I ever.

   I have found that the best way to "mourn" is to stamp!! Nothing works like rubber and ink to occupy the mind so in between loads of laundry I came up with this thank you card - the first of many I need to stamp!

   Sometimes I just like stamping on a plain white card so this is what I did for my little penguin on ice.

   I didn't feel like cutting out the penguin, ice and hat and then piecing them together so I stamped the penguin, masked it, stamped the ice and added the hat. Then I just cut around the left side so the ice hangs off the edge of the cardstock.

  To add the ribbon, I used the slit punch and punched through the white and black cardstock and then used my hobby blade to cut through the card front. That made it easier to thread the ribbon, wrap it around the card and tie it.

The saying and punched snowflake complete the card.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order.

• Cold and Cuddly stamp set (Holiday Mini), Thank You Kindly and Simple Snowflake stamp sets
• Basic Black and White cardstock
• Basic Black, Bravo Burgundy and Brocade Blue ink and markers
• Brocade Blue grosgrain ribbon
• Horizontal Slot punch and Snowflake punch
• Silver brads
• dimensionals and sponge

Off to stamp some more! Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!