Mummy Cookies

I'm taking a cake decorating class. Just what I need huh? Another expensive hobby. So, if I haven't mentioned it yet, I LOVE Halloween. I have all of these great Halloween ideas for decorating cookies and cupcakes.

Here are some cute Mummy Cookies I found on the Wilton website. So easy. Basically they are just sugar cookies cut out with a gingerbread cookie cutter. Then I took white buttercream icing, thinned to medium consistency and using a #3 trip, put stringy icing all over the body-- to make it look like mummy wrappings. Then I added black icing eyes. Cute huh?

To give them as gifts, I put them in little cellophane bags and made a cute topper out of the Tasty Sweet stamp set. I stamped the "trick or treat" saying in Basic Black on Whisper White cardstock. Then added the swirly background stamp from the set in Tangerine Tango. Once the topper was in place I tied some Tangerine Tango ribbon in a knot and that is it. Cute and yummy!

Party Hearty

As you may know it's Stampin' Up!'s 20th Birthday this year. They are really living it up... celebrating in big ways... and spreading the celebration on to customers. For the month of October all of our birthday-related sets are 20% off with at $20 purchase. One of them, Party Hearty, is my favorite birthday set of all time. Here are a couple of super delightful little cards that will help you understand why I love this set so much.

Isn't this a cute little card? It's a 6x6 on textured Kiwi Kiss cardstock with a Chocolate Chip back. You might notice that I make A LOT of my cards a little smaller and add a back color. I like to do this because I think it makes colors in the card really POP.

The color scheme comes from this Hawaii Papaya Designer Series Paper that runs across the top of the card. The focal point is a strip of Whisper White with the party hats individually colored one by one in Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango with Chocolate Chip pom poms. The second Tangerine hat is popped up with a dimensional for some texture-- hard to see here. Since we don't have markers in the In-Colors-- I just use a Q-tip to gather ink and color stamps. Lastly I added the greeting in Chocolate Chip.

For this cute little 4 1/4" Tangerine Tango card with a Chocolate Chip back, I once again used the Hawaii Papaya DSP for the color scheme using a piece of the DSP on the top half with a little sliver of Chocolate Chip underneath at the top. For the Celebrate medallion, I stamped the Celebrate stamp set on Whisper White and punched it out with the Scallop Circle punch. I also punched out a chocolate chip scallop circle and layered it. I punched out a Tangerine Tango 3/4" circle and adhered that in the middle of the medallion. Then for fun I made a built a brad with the present stamp from the set, stamped in Kiwi Kiss and punched it out with the 1/2" punch and put that in the very middle of the medallion on top of the Tangerine Tango circle. The medallion is adhered with dimensionals to make it pop. For a finishing touch, I added some Kiwi Kiss striped ribbon right above the medallion. And viola, there you are.

If you haven't already, be sure to get this set 20% off by the end of this week. Just contact me or go to my website to order online.

Countdown to Christmas

I'm so proud of this project. This is the medium Countdown to Christmas Decor Elements in the Phase II brochure. They are fabulous and SO easy to use. This particular DE comes on one big sheet with the oval and all of the numbers. So you just cut off the oval and use it, and cut the individual numbers off to use one at a time. So for this project, I got this oval piece of wood from AC Moore. I added some natural stain and varnish to finish it off. Then I added my Decor Element on top. Adhering these is very easy and here are complete instructions. Then I added a nail in the middle of "only" and "days" to hang my numbers on. I added a couple of holes on each side of the top for the Candy Cane striped grosgrain ribbon to hang the plaque from. A little aside-- this was very funny. I was trying to get this ready for an early Sat morning club and I don't own a drill so at about 6:30 am I was pounding a screwdriver through this wood-- and I live in an apt building. It worked though-- huh? Anyway, I love that ribbon on there. Did you know it's from the Holiday Mini? For the numbers, I put each individual number on a piece of Vanilla Naturals cardstock and backed it with Chocolate Chip. I decorated each number with something holiday themed. I usd the felt snowflakes from the Holiday Mini, or jumbo brads with holiday pics in them, or just ribbon or stamped images. Then punched a hole in the middle to hang on the nail. This would be so fun for children to do as an advent type project

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and then countdown to the big day with the numbers. There is no candy involved, but if they make it then that's the fun part. The entire project with staining and all, only took a few hours.

Kristina's Inspiration

I'm so thrilled that I've been able to participate in so many of Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenges lately. This one was fun and I really like what I came up with... plus it gave me a chance to play with one of my favorite new sets- Flight of the Butterfly. So here was the inspiration.Funny, RED is my favorite color too... in fact I just bought a NEW red Camry. I've always wanted a red car. Well, on to the card.
The Bella Rose DSP made doing this color challenge so easy because it has a lot of pink and red combos in it. Anyway, the card here is a 4 1/4 square and is made out of Pink Pirouette cardstock. Then there is a small layer of the Bella DSP with a small strip of Basic Black cardstock along the side. For the focal point I used four stamps from the Flight of the Butterfly set. I stamped the solid body in Pink Pirouette, then the flowers in the body in Pretty in Pink, then the polka dot outline was second stamped in Real Red and the words, which I absolutely LOVE that saying, was stamped in Basic Black. For texture I just added some narrow black grosgrain ribbon around the focal point. Then I punched a 3/4" real red circle and layered a small Pink Pirouette felt flower from the Flower Fusion II set on top with a small black brad in the middle.
Cute and simple card. Nothing too complicated. I'm really enjoying these 4 1/4" cards lately.

Set: Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Basic Black
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Flower Fusion II, 3/4" circle punch, Bella Rose DSP

Many Seasons

This is a card that I CASED from Splitcoast. I changed a few things- I always do- but the idea is from a card I found there. I'm sorry I can't give credit because I cannot remember exactly who it was. But I thought it was really cut an simple and an easy way to use this favorite set of mine... Season of Friendship.

This card is Riding Hood Red with a layer of the Autumn Vine DSP on the bottom half of the card. Then I stamped each of the small accessory pieces from the Season of Friendship set on Very Vanilla Cardstock and punched them out with the 3/4" punch and mounted them with dimensionals in the top right hand corner. I stamped the greeting with Chocolate Chip in the bottom left to balance it off and then added the new felt chocolate ribbon from the Alpine designer originals ribbons set (love this stuff) around the middle in a knot. This is a very doable card-- especially for Thanksgiving if you wanted to do a bunch for the family.

Set: Season of Friendship
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, Riding Hood Red, More Mustard
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Dimensionals, Alpine Felt Ribbon, 3/4" Circle Punch

Mom's Birthday Card

My mom turned 65 last week. It was a big birthday for her and so she deserved an extra special birthday party. I took her and some of her friends to the Melting Pot for dinner and I got her a winter coat and a new purse. And, of course, I had to spend a little extra time on this very special card, using her favorite bird from the Always set.

This card is a 5 1/4" Chocolate Chip square with a layer of Whisper White, then a layer of Regal Rose, then a couple pieces of designer paper from the Sweet Always DP series.

For the focal point, I cut out two ovals, one in Pink Pirouette and one a little larger in Chocolate Chip, using the Creative Memories cutting system which I highly recommend-- I don't like the coluzzle. On the pink oval, I stamped the heart from the Always set in Versamark ink and the greeting from Hugs and Wishes in Chocolate Chip ink. In order to make the Chocolate Chip oval scalloped I punched all the way around the edge of the oval with the corner rounder punch.

I stamped the bird in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White, colored in the main flower in her body with the Regal Rose marker, cut her out, and mounted her in the oval. Then I added some of the felt flowers from Flower Fusion II. In the middle of the flowers is a build a brad with one of the tiny stamped images from the Always set with the middle colored in Regal Rose (just like the flower in the bird--- aha!) Have you ever noticed that one or two of the tiny images in that set are EXACTLY the same as the flowers in the bird! SU is so smart like that.

For a couple of final touches, I stamped the stems from the set in Versamark on the Regal Rose background, just coming out from the top right of the ovals. And lastly I pierced all the way around the edge of the Regal Rose layer... it's kinda hard to see. This was a special card, for a special occasion and a very special lady.

Another Color Inspiration

I'm so excited... I've gotten to participate in TWO of Kristina Werner's color inspiration challenges in a row. YEAH! I usually never find about them until it's too late, or I'm too busy to get a card done. These have been fun. I've been on a roll lately.
So for this challenge we had to use some of my favorite colors, but not ones I usually use together. The cookies made me think about Christmas though. I always make sugar cookies at Christmas. Anyway, I got rid of all my Wasabi-- I know "the horror"--so I had to substitute Garden Green for the Wasabi. Here it is!
I used the Upsy Daisy set on this card... love this set! I colored it with markers in all the color challenge colors. Then I added some highlights with the white gel pen. I ran the image through the Big Shot with the Top Note Die and cut away the border and mounted it on another top note in Rose Red. Then decorated up the Whisper White card with some retired designer paper and mounted the card on a piece of Rose Red. I like to do that a lot because I think that extra color in the back really makes the color in the image POP! For texture I added some Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon and the words double mounted. I hope you all like it.

Swirly Snowflakes

It's been in the mid-80's all week so it's really hard for me to even think about snowflakes and Christmas trees. But I know it's getting to be that time, we all need to start planning our holiday cards, so I'm trying.

This simple card uses the snowflakes from the gorgeous Snow Swirl set. I don't think you can come up with an easier card than this. The card itself is Bashful Blue. The focal point is the white strip with snowflakes stamped in Bashful Blue, Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss. This is layered on a small layer of Pacific Point, then on a scalloped layer of Kiwi Kiss with a little paper piercing and a smidge of Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon. The greeting is stamped in Chocolate Chip. Not my usual style, but an easy replicable card if you have to make 100 for the holidays.

Set: Snow Swirl
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Paper Piercer

Welcome

When I first saw this set in the Holiday Mini I thought it would be absolutely beautiful watercolored. Of course, I won't make my holiday cards like this... would take a little too much time. And, there are other great ways to use this set that don't involve watercoloring the entire image. This is really a gorgeous set.

However, for this card, I took the time to watercolor and am very happy with the way it turned out. I stamped the image in Stazon Black ink on Shimmery White cardstock and used the Aqua Painter to do the watercoloring. I added some white gel pen over the tree and the steps to give a "snowy" effect. The paper is from the Holiday Harmony DSP collection and the card is Chocolate Chip cardstock, 4 1/4 x 4 1/4" in size. The greeting comes from the Season of Cheer rub ons from the Holiday Mini.

You know I have to have a little texture on every card, so here I added some paper piercing in the corners and three gold brads. I hope you like.

Set: Home for the Holidays
Ink: Stazon Black; Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Real Red, Basic Gray and Summer Sun to watercolor
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Shimmery White
Accessories: Season of Cheer rub ons, Gold Brads, Paper Piercer (from Crafters Tool Kit), White Gel Pen, Aqua Painter, Holiday Harmony DSP

Seasons Scallop

Another Season of Friendship sample today. This one moves on to a winter scene. This makes me very cold. I live in NC but am originally from Ohio... and I hold on to every single 80 degree day like it's my last day.

Anyway, this card is made with the Stampin' Up! Big Shot using the Scallop Circle Bigz Die. It's very easy to make this card. First you take the Baja Breeze cardstock and fold it in half at 5 1/2" and then when you run it through the Big Shot, just make sure that the fold is sitting JUST BELOW the three scallops at the very top of the circle. This will allow the two pieces to stay together and make a card... rather than two separate circles. The final size of the card is about 4 1/2" in diameter.

Now for the stamping. I stamped the tree from the set in Chocolate Chip, then the snowflakes in Whisper White craft ink. Warm Wishes, from the Hugs and Wishes set, is stamped in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White cardstock to make a tag and narrow red grosgrain ribbon is threaded through the tag to add it to the card. Last but not least the birdie from the set is stamped in Real Red on Whisper White cardstock and cut out. She is mounted on one of the small white Felt Snowflakes from the Winter Mini Catalog which is mounted to the tree. And there you have it.

Sets: Hugs and Wishes, Season of Friendship
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Whisper White Craft
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Accessories: Narrow red grosgrain ribbon, Small Felt Snowflakes

Color Inspiration

It doesn't happen often but I actually had time last night to participate in Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration challenge. This was a hard one. Some of the colors are ones I rarely use and NEVER use together. So, I'm not exactly thrilled with my card, but I'm a perfectionist so...

Since I'm so taken with the Season of Friendship set, I decided to use it again. I added some Chocolate Chip to the mix because I just couldn't see the tree being any one of these four colors... how 'bout you?

It's a very simple card since I was making it at 11pm. But it really is just the tree and the greeting stamped in Chocolate Chip. The leaves are stamped in So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Ruby Red. The birdie is stamped in Ballet Blue, punched out with the 3/4" punch, layered on a 3/4" chocolate circle and mounted with a dimensional.

The card is Chocolate Chip cardstock, with a layer of Certainly Celery which is stamped withe Canvas in Versamark. The strip down the left side is a small piece of So Saffron and it has the leaves stamped in Versamark. Then for texture-- you know I have to have some texture-- I added the wide Chocolate grosgrain ribbon with a little sliver of the narrow Celery grosgrain.
Simple, but I do love this set. Not so sure about this color combo though.

Set: Season of Friendship
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Ballet Blue, Ruby Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, So Saffron, Certainly Celery
Accessories: 3/4" Punch, Wide Chocolate Grosgrain and Narrow Celery Grosgrain Ribbon

Season of Friendship

Have you seen the Holiday Mini? Love it! I went a little berserk pre-ordering out of it. The first set I noticed was the Season of Friendship set. I guess because I have really been into trees lately. But this set just hit me a really cute seasonal and versatile set. And the cute Autumn Vine designer series paper that is just perfect for fall. I combined these two new products to come up with this card.
What I really love about this designer paper is the color combo... of course that's what I love about all designer paper. I say this all the time. I would have never put these colors together... especially the Sage Shadow... and designer paper puts your colors together for you.

So for this card, I stamped the tree in Chocolate Chip on Naturals Ivory cardstock. Then I added the leaves in More Mustard, Really Rust and Sage Shadow. These are the colors that are in the Autumn Vine DSP. I stamped the birdie from the set in Riding Hood Red and punched her out with the 3/4" punch and punched another circle out Chocolate Chip and mounted them just off center with each other. I added the birdie to the tree with a dimensional.

The final size of the card is 5x5" and the card is Really Rust mounted on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. There is a strip of the DSP mounted along the left side with the tree mounted flush with the right side of the card. I added a large pewter eyelet with the Crop-a-dile and some narrow chocolate grosgrain ribbon for texture. And then mounted the greeting on top of the ribbon, stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on More Mustard cardstock.

I'll have some more cute samples with this set in the upcoming days. This is quickly becoming a favorite set.

Set: Season of Friendship
Ink: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Riding Hood Red
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Naturals Ivory, More Mustard
Accessories: Large Pewter Eyelet, Narrow Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon, Crop-a-dile, 3/4" Circle Punch

Sorry I've Been So Out of Touch

I have to tell you, it's been a rough week. My sweetest girldog, Sallie, is gone. I had to put her to sleep last week. I've just been heartbroken about it. She was like my kid. What a horrible decision it is to make when that time comes. This is the third time and I tell you, it never gets easier.

I adopted Sal from a beagle rescue about 5 years ago. She had a horrible life. In recent x-rays we found out that she was full of buckshot. I think she was suppose to be a hunting dog... but definitely didn't have the temperament for that. She was scared of loud noises and afraid of feet and hands above her head. I'm sure she was beat. We were very lucky to have found each other. She had it made with me and I'm a sucker for a cute dog with a bruised soul.

Unfortunately, I found out about three years ago she had congestive heart failure and it just started to get really bad about a month ago. The doc said that sometimes, like with humans, something just lets go and the heart starts to go really quickly and they think that's what happened with her. She was having bad breathing spells and it just wasn't any way to live. I had to let he go.

So, I've been a little out of it lately. I promise to get back to stamping and posting. I'll be better. Just need a little time.

This post is for the Sallie-mander. This picture is the way I want to remember her... crazy and fun and full of life. Love ya sweet girl.

Trick or Treat

Can't say it enough... Love the Big Shot. I just keep thinking of cute ways to use the die cuts. I was at work (oops) a couple of weeks ago and thought I betcha that cute little envelope is the perfect size for a Ghiradelli chocolate. And so it began...

I ran some of the Ghostly Greetings DSP through the Big Shot with the Scallop Envelop Bigz Die to make the cute little envelopes. Then I decorated the envelope with oh so cute Chills & Thrills rub ons. Stick some chocolate inside, add some ribbon and what a cute little gift. So easy, so cute, so fun-- for any holiday!