Diane - or as some of you may know her as StampingDeeDee on Splitcoast Stampers - - kindly sent along some of her projects she made using parts of the blog candy she won here.

Here are her lovely cards...very summery!

Thanks Diane :)

Blog Candy Winner Diane Gardner received her goodies safe 'n' sound.
It has taken a bit time to organize it because I offered to order the winner their choice of ink pad. When my latest order was delivered, I was ready to package it up and send along the Blog Candy.......and this is where I have fun.....packaging is one of those areas we can go in any direction!

I chose to go a bit whimsical by dressing up a plain white coffee bean bag!  You know the type in the grocery store?  I don't know about you - but I constantly 'see' things that I think " I could decorate that!"   Especially blank white things, lol!

But it turns out to be quite an effective choice for a small package of goodies.....here's a shot of how I played with packaging a few bits and bobs that made up Diane's prize.....

here you go....see? Not so bad!

Close-up of greeting, and you can see the mesh I glued to the bag - it sparkles!  Love anything that glitters! It's hard to see, but there is a gem on the letter 'O' in 'You'.  

TIP - to glue the mesh, I brushed the back of it with glue, pressed it to the bag, and using some wax paper to act as a barrier, applied a weight to it (use a heavy magazine) until the mesh had remained attached - otherwise all those different threads can get a bit whiley!

Here is the blog candy!  

Here is the ink pad - Diane wanted Melon Mambo - great choice! 

I used the same mesh now to wrap around the stamp, decorated with an extra die-cut flower.

More die-cuts, a ribbon ring, chipboard pieces and a circle mini-album. 

I was able to fit all you see into that coffee bag except for the mini-album,

 sprinkled tiny flowers in, topped it with tissue to keep them from bouncing around,

 secured it closed and punched 2 holes through the bag to create a sheer ribbon bow. 

Then the bag and mini-album into

 a bubble pack! 

So lesson here - look to your local grocery store for your 

next gift bag! 

LOL!!!

Hurray - I can announce the WINNER of MY BLOG CANDY !!!! 

For leaving a comment on my blog, I will be sending my Blog Candy to...

Diane (Dee Dee)

Yeah!!!!! Thanks for participating Dee Dee 

and if you can please get in touch with me by email 

{see side bar}

and THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME BY, COMMENTED AND JOINED MY BLOG FOLLOWERS!  

mORe bLOg CaNDy in the year ahead!

Good Morning!

I am back playing with Punch Flowers!  I was at a craft auction on Saturday - I had $113 dollars to bid with - which sounds like a lot until you discover the woman next to you has $800, lol, but it was "free money" I earned and so I wasn't spending real money and it was just for fun. But - I bid on some stuff and won a few nifty things, so I was a happy camper. I picked up this paper - and at first it was because I liked the kraft paper part - and the flowers were nice too.

This is from ScenicRoute's Sonoma Collection - the Kraft Pink Garland

however, for some reason, mine is the same design but with the Red Bouquet colours. Their collection is very nice. But like I said, I was mainly wanting this just for the 'kraft' section and planned to cut off the flower border.

It wasn't until I got home and googled the paper that I saw women had done amazing things with this paper!  So I perked up!

After musing for awhile, I knew I'd need some "depth" to this paper as a SCRAPBOOK PAGE PROJECT. So I turned my thoughts to PUNCH FLOWERS.

But I really did not know how well this was going to turn out until I made my first flower!

MY FLOWER......USING STAMPIN' UP!
Looking at the detail of the print flower on the paper, I think the designer had the ruffled scallop circle flower in mind - certainly seems that way once you punch out a scallop circle, cut it and make a few creases!

So I'm on 'motor drive' now!  And I off to make my flowers!!!!

1)  I grabbed my a scrap of left-over (but returning) RED RIDING HOOD CARDSTOCK and punched out some SCALLOP CIRCLES.  I cut the scallop circles with scissors and using my bone folder, made folds and creased each one for every section. I didn't even care if the fold was centered or not - this is very casual!  I used some co-ordinating ink to darken the edges - distress them if you wish.

2) Now I grab some SO SAFFRON CARDSTOCK and my BIG SHOT and the 'SPARKLE' Sizzlit Die.  Made my 'sandwich' using the Cutting Mats and the Multipurpose Platform set on Tab 2 ....and ran it through with 2 layers of cardstock. I am making at least 2 flowers, so that saves time. 

***The Sparkle die is a busy design with lots of edges - so I don't try to make a bunch in one go, I rather 'repeat' the process. Other plainer cuts are easier to stack a bunch of cardstock to run through the Big Shot in one pass. 

3) Now I grab some BRAVO BURGANDY CARDSTOCK and one of the four Sizzlit dies in the BIRDS and BLOOMS 4 Pack Die Sets. Its the SCALLOP BUTTON - which has 2 sizes - and I want 'both', so this is great!  I make a pair for each flower. 

Once I make them, I ALTER each one by creating a SLOPPY CIRCLE - just using my scissors, and cutting the edge off all around each one in just a haphard way - no real thought involved!  Like that, heh heh! .....and they end up looking like 'raisins' - one large and one small!

4) Last part - I repeat the 'small' Scallop Button in So Saffron - and inked its edges with some CRUSHED CURRY INK - and made one for each flower. 

Here is how my flower parts [ steps #2, 3 and 4] look like - the darker burgandy  'raisin' shapes are shown beneath the Scallop Button that I made them from, and so:  

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER - AND YOU HAVE ONE COOL FLOWER!  

1 Large Scallop Circle (red) + 1 Sparkle die cut (yellow) + 1 larger Scallop Button (burgandy) + I small Scallop Button (yellow) + 1 small Scallop Button (burgandy)

=

Can YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?   Isn't it so similar to the flowers printed on the paper - or what! I thought this worked out so cooool!  Really did!   

Here is a larger view and where I altered the photo:

 

Now, I've started my Scrapbook Page and it remains to be seen how it will turn out - so stay tuned!

UPDATE:

Here I am adding 3D LEAVES  I've created to my scrapbook page - and here's the process......CLICK to see a closer look

1. DRAW a leaf outline   2. Cut it out.  3. Apply Watercolour veins to leaf.  4. Aqua Painter brushstrokes to soften the watercolour veins, pulling some of the colour to the edges. 

These are made in the image of my project's paper, but you could do this in any colour or leaf shape.  

Alright - I have punched more flowers out using the BIRDS and BLOOMS 4 PC Sizzlits Pack - and made a BUTTERFLY using our BIGZ Die 'BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES' .....and what else, oh yes, my TOP NOTE BIGZ Die which I will use to make my title on (later)......and here is how I've laid things out so far...

Getting busy - I know!  But I think this will be for a picture of myself and my dog in a nice garden somewhere, so I can afford to 'fluff' it up! :)

Besides - I may make more changes, ha ha! What you see is not all glued down yet, aha! 

To emphasize where I shall place a 5x7 photo, I  made a central background layer with some Kiwi Kiss paper and our SCALLOP BORDER TRIM PUNCH - it has a pattern, but its small compared to the larger pattern of the flowers - so it will work. 

I've also followed the principles of proportions by making some things large, small and in-between. 

I needed to have some highlights on the page - so I made my Birds and Bloom's flowers out of white cardstock - then toned them down a little with some pink and brown ink on the edges. Then I topped them with buttons. 

Anyways - that's it.  Won't be done till I find that perfect shot of my dog and I....thank goodness for digital cameras these days, can you imagine when we had to take photo after photo and wait till our photos got developed - and even then, cross our fingers that at least 'one' of them came out nice?

Oh, how we have changed! 

Just a reminder.....my blog candy is up for grabs...still have to end of MON to leave a comment on ANY  of my posts, or JOIN as a follower. or make a MENTION ME ON YOUR BLOG.   So far, people commenting are not qualified - as no demos, international outside of N.America. So it remains up for grabs!  If no one qualifies - it goes back into my blog treasure box, lol!

Cheers!

bLOg CaNDy =
(1) On Board Mini Album Book from Spring or Summer Mini Catalogue (may be a bird or suitcase) ***+ 
(1) Ink Pad ( your choice) +
 (1) Sanding Block + 
(1) STAMP  (value up to $12) and an assortment of die-cuts from my personal collection.


***I may have to subsitute the On Board due to availability but it will be an On Board item!  I will ask the winner what colour INK PAD they would like. 

Hellooo to all the lovely stampers who've come to visit my lil blog!

I have been blogging for awhile now and its about time I had something up for grabs!

I love putting together gifts - don't you?  I sometimes think that if I were not stamping and doing Stampin' Up! as my part-time work, that I should of been involved with gift baskets!

I want to help someone have fun making the latest trend.....MINI-ALBUMS!  Love them! You will too!
Soooo here are some supplies to get you started.....
bLOg CaNDy =  (1) On Board Mini Album Book from Spring or Summer Mini Catalogue (may be a bird or suitcase) + (1) Ink Pad + (1) Sanding Block + (1) STAMP  (value up to $12) and an assortment of die-cuts from my personal collection.

OK - here's how you can enter effective MAY 1 :
                    - POST A COMMENT - each and every comment 'per post' =  1 entry for the draw
                       [no limit on the posts you comment on - but restricted to one comment each post]
                       **  note as a bonus - April's comments received will be automatically entered!

                    - be a follower = 5 automatic entries {previous followers receive automatic 5}
                
                    - mention me on your blog = 5 entries but I require you to email me so I know!
                      [[ if you also joined as a follower that will be 10 times total]]

So, you can have many entries if you follow the above instructions!  More entries = better chance to win!


Please note Restrictions and Contest END DATE: 
    1)   All entry's will stop on MAY 31rst 00:01 AM Eastern time. 
     2)  Contest restricted to North America -
      3) I reserve the right to substitute any item if it becomes unavailble.
     4)  please do not apply if you are a demonstrator for any rubberstamping company. We all understand that regular stampers require the need to access free supplies than we as sellers do. Thank you for understanding.

Have fun!

  AND THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG!!!!