Here is a really cute stamp set from Stampin' Up! called

 "No Peeking"! 

Here is the card I made with this set at Maria's stamp event in November...

Very sweet isn't it?  And I like the style of the greeting - so I think a child would LOVE a card like this!

But after searching the internet, I could see that crafters are having a field day with this stamp set - there were so many great projects out there - whew! Fabby stuff!

Here's a few that grabbed me from talented Stampin' Up Demos like

 Andi Potler and Sandi MacIver's tags to Connie Tumm's and Carrie's {Carrie Stamps} cards!  

Click on their names to visit their respective blogs!

...tags galore!!! Excellent!

...just awwww! 

...great for twins!

... love the colours and layout!

This is what I luv-luv to see with a stamp set - real versatility and imaginative possibilities! 

Stampin' Up! No Peeking Stamp Set

wood mount #126290 $29.95 CDN

clear mount # 126292 $21.95 CDN

Now GO craft!  

*

  

Yes helloooo to all out in craft-cyber world!

I feel really accomplished this week!  I have finished a set of gift bags for a baby shower AND a nice card in
SQUASH BOOK style - both are ready to fly out the door!!!

In order to decorate the squash booklet, I created my very own "Sakura Flower" using our Stampin' Up!'s FLORAL ISLAND BIGZ DIE.  Its one of a few select flower dies that I own, and its the same for my punches - so to create a flower, I had to borrow inspiration from my friend Maria Vanderform.  Maria specializes in many flower punch art creations, and seems to start by thinking of what she wants to create - then matching idea to tool!

So....I thought the same thing!  I looked up some flowers and chose the SAKURA Flower which is adored on a national level in Japan!  It can also be referred to as the Cherry Blossom Flower. The trees are stunning when in full bloom - and its hard for the eye to take in all the beauty of a grouping of trees, its awesome!

However, my flower is only a stylized ideal of the actual flower - meaning I took some liberties!  So here it is!

Sorry for the hint of pink through out the photo, but the camera read my flower as 'red' and its actually

 ROSE RED which goes nicely with the softer PINK accents and the GARDEN GREEN cardstock. 

The patterned paper is part of a 8x8" Cardstock Pad from Stampin' Up! - they come out with a new one every year featuring several colours cardstock. 

I will do a tutorial on the creation of the flower soon.

Meanwhile, I will show you the size of the SQUASH BOOK! 

Inside of the ' Front '

....beginning to ' OPEN ' !!!

Build-A-Brad  customize your brads!

  

The 1rst extended section ...

Look at its length!!!!  3 pages were joined together - lots of creative journalling or adding pictures! 

You could also use this for a card where many, many signatures are involved - right? 

I have to say - it's FUN to open these!!!   Brings out the kid in you!

And close 'er back up again! 

Well, I hope I've inspired you now! 

Have a great week-end! 

Don't forget SALE-A-BRATION is still ON !!!  Get in on the FREE products 

from STAMPIN' UP!

I created a Holiday 'WOW' Card Swap on Love is in the Details forum, and so here is what I considered to be my 'WOW' style!  I love birds and the bird cage is the icing on the cake!

I also just purchased a new wheel stamp which creates Music Notes - and I have been just dyin' to get something like that, so I used it to create the crimped paper along the bottom.

Here they are all together!  I have to make another for myself -  I always keep a sample one so I can include it with the cards I will receive from the others in the swap.  Don't they look pretty together?

Here is the crimped paper 'ribbon' I created using our new Music Notes wheel - I squished the ends up into a partial 'fan' at one end and embellished with a snowflake, and the other end was cropped with our Scallop Border Trim punch.   

I will come back [dead tired today from yesterday's craft fair!]...and provide more details on making this card ! :)   Now I am off soon to take my dog to have his Santa picture at the mall - they allow dogs and I guess pets, to come after the mall hours tonight - last chance, so I better go groom him a bit!

Bye!

....plus a whole lot of other things!!!  His everyone....I have been a bit quiet on my blog but not so in my craftin`room! I`ve been a busy gal by steadfastly making christmas card after christmas card!  Not too shabby either - unlike my usual rush at the last minute - this year I am determined to be waaaay ready!

So here is one card for you to see...I will post my details on how to make this card once I get back home later today........

It`s my Vintage inspired Santa Claus card!  Hope you like it!

TECHNIQUE

First off....get yourself set up for making cards for the holidays....its less hassle if you have a sort of `system`approach even if  it`s organized in a temporary fashion such as putting everything away in a large box or pretty basket when your finished for the day. Have a nice box to put the finished cards into (along with `co-ordinating stamped` envelopes! 

Here I have my table set up for making this particular card...and you can see that I made several of each part as I go along which helps in making `multiple`cards for each design. 

OK let`s make this card!

Take a piece of Whisper White cardstock layer, 3 x 5 inches. Begin by rolling a background distress look with our jumbo handle and the TEXTURE jumbo roller wheel in a soft neutral such as Soft Sky.  A little bit of red is nice too.   

Then using Stampin`Up!`s alphabet letters `m-e-r-r-y c-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s`, stamp them in 3 or 4 complimentary colours (here is Real Red, Old Olive, Early Espresso & retired Purely Pomegranate)

and in a sort of random fashion ....altho I managed to spell `Merry` and `Christmas` was stamped around the edge.  Don`t worry over this point, as a lot of it gets covered, but it should suggest the familiar greeting.

Now...fill in the outer spaces with images from JOLLY BITS - any of the images will do. You can use SU! small `A` size CLEAR BLOCK with the stamps - its a cute block, tiny but worth it!

Stamp a greeting such as ``MERRY`` which is from one of our latest greeting sets, BRIGHT CHRISTMAS and cut closely around the edges of the word. Do as many as you need. 

I have picked up these wonderful tiny ornate ``frames`` and stamped a small `S` for Santa. I used a template to  cut around it without having to measure out the exact size each time! Once cut, place the cardstock inside the frame. Voila - a lovely monogram charm!

More embellishment - using some scrap VELLUM, and a SNOWFLAKE stamp in a tiny size, I grabbed some WHISPER WHITE CRAFT INK and proceeded to stamp a bunch of times to create...

....this!  Now I have a lovely winter theme paper to use for my next item - a metal tag!

Cut away the vellum snowflake print with a template and a hobby knife and using Memory Maker`s Tag Tool

....I have these tiny tags - are they not cute!

OK - we are nearing the end!  Make SANTA by using STAMPIN`UP!`S new stamp set, JOLLY OLD SAINT NICK and stamp on Naturals White cardstock.  I not only stamped his image, but I coloured the image with a soft inking around the edges and features  in our newest brown ink, EARLY ESPRESSO, using a sponge. Cut around him with CRAFT SCISSORS.

Colour Accents: his hat I coloured with a marker in RED RIDING HOOD, and accented it with some RED GLITTER. Using our chalks, I blushed his cheeks and mouth.  Now, doesn`t he just look ol`fashioned! 

Nice :)

Again - make as many as you need. 

ASSEMBLE the parts A and B

Top Layer Assemblage - A

.....i) our Christmas alphabet-stamped cardstock is cut on one edge with my notecard punch ....

ii) string the metal snowflake tag and the monogram charm with some thread and attach to the above alphabet background cardstock - just below the top edge and to the center...

iii) now layer our Santa head over the background alphabet cardstock; by slightly over the snowflake tag, but below the monogram charm  (see pic - click for close-up)....

iv) now layer the greeting word, `Merry` over top of Santa`s beard, slightly off-center to the right.

* use some small bits of glue to keep everything layered nicely

Set aside and prepare cardstock base.

Cardstock Base - B

v) taking a 4:1-4 x 5:1-2 inch (A2 sized ) cardbase in chocolate cardstock, Early Espresso - roll with ink using the same TEXTURE roller wheel for the distressed look and make the fold at the top.

vi)...now take the alphabet-Santa head-tag`n`charm assemblage and glue securely to the cardstock base.

Finished. Yeah!

Hope you give this a try.

STAMPIN` UP! SUPPLIES

INK: Basic Black, Real Red, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegrante

* Craft Whisper White Ink ( 101731)

MARKERS: Red Riding Hood

STAMPIN PASTELS (chalks)

CARDSTOCK: Early Espresso, Naturals White, Whisper White

TOOLS

JUMBO WHEEL HANDLE, 102661

CLEAR BLOCKS: A, C, F

BONE FOLDER,102300

HOBBY KNIFE, 102449

CRAFT SCISSORS,103179

STAMPING SPONGES, 101610

* FEATURED STAMPS * 

 Holiday Mini Catalogue:

JOLLY BITS, 121187 clear stamps

JOLLY OLD SAINT NICK, 121321 clear stamps

BRIGHT CHRISTMAS, 121318 clear stamp greeting

2010 Idea Book and Cataloque 2011:

JUMBLE ALPHABET, 115199 clear stamps 

TEXTURE, Jumbo Wheel 116685 

* any small snowflake stamp from a set, (Jolly Bits, Serene Snowflakes, Snow Swirled, etc)

                              

           

I have some buttons to show you today!

Stampin' Up! is well-known for their co-ordination of products drawn from their Colour Families. Here have a look  - these are the 'Brights Collection" buttons.   72 buttons in fun colours!  You get shapes, sizes and colours in a snappy little container - and I love looking at them!  Its like looking at beautiful marbles - esp. all in a bunch like that, makes it hard to want to use them, lol!

But for my OPEN HOUSE coming up - I  have them on display mounted inside a frame I recyled!.

Can you believe this frame used to be a dusty rose and gold?  I chose a fun poppy red to paint it, and distressed it lightly with some sanding paper after it was dry. Then a top coat of gel medium (purchase in art section).

      

You can see in my previous post that I used them to spruce up a project - and my tip for today?  If you 'sew' buttons on to a project like I have - put a tiny, tiny dab of glue on the knot and even the ends where you clip the thread - to prevent fraying or coming loose.  I use a dressmakers pin and dip the tip into the glue, and then dab it on the thread's knot, and it's quite easy that way. 

Cheers - have a great week-end!

Beverly

Watermelon Popsicle Card

Fold kraft paper cardstock in half.  Cut a template of a watermelon complete with popsicle stick.

The tip of the watermelon popsicle is part of the fold, so don't cut the tip in other words!  Then, it can stand on its own....

Afterwards decorat with pretty paper such as pink cardstock like our retiring Razzleberry or Kaleidoscope SU! Designer Papers - they are retiring June 30!!!   

By cutting some pairs of slits across the bottom section, you thread the ribbon through - and  pop on a cute button! 

Makes a great invitation! 

Summer pool party anyone? 

Good evening!

Here is a simple card I've made for my Aunt Elsie today. I haven't mentioned her before but she is 96! And just now is having to go into a retirement home, she has gone this far all by herself with the help of her other neice who lives near her - but I am sooooo proud of her.  She's always been there for me since I was a wee grasshopper (I am from Saskatchewan, lol)....so I owe her a lot! She is also the last of 3 sisters and 1 brother, so I hope I can brighten her day a little with this:

I actually made it while having coffee at Tim Horton's today - so I could purchase my coffee for their TH Camp Day.  Too bad the weather went sour afterwards - those camps are really nice ones, so I hope their campaign went well!

But I simply made a couple of quick stamps with my stamp, and then placed a border stamp onto a scrap of paper which I cut out to make my 'window box' shape.

The idea is to keep the colours straight and simple, and then add a couple of trendy bits such as the Vintage Voque border stamp, and our Scallop Trim Border Punch.

That is also one of the buttons from our embellishments section. Even 1 button can make a difference!

*******

Off to make something else!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:  Happy Moments Stamp Set, Vintage Vogue Stamp Set; Bermuda Bay and Whisper White cardstock; Classic Black Ink Pad; Punches =  Scallop Trim Border, and  1/2 in Circle;   hole piercer, button. 

So what's this?

Welllllll........it starts like this...

A little bag of chocolate peanuts...all dressed up and tagged....and then you add this....

And now you have THIS! 

And now you have a lil somethin' to brighten up someone special's day!

And it looks good, no matter where you set it for them to find.....see...

....they'll just be comin' along, and they'll see it...and when they're up close - it'll be "oooh what's this?" 

And they'll be happy.

The end.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

XL Flower Punch

Large Oval Punch

Greeting stamps

'Voila' Stamp set

Soft Suede Cardstock

Bermuda Bay Cardstock

and project idea, pg 57 current Idea Book and Catalogue

Here's softness in a card!

Pretty in pink, and natural colours....and lovely satin ribbon!  This is our natural cardstock and I love how it has tiny flecks in it - and the colour itself is a combination of ivory and kraft ? - its hard to say, but it has a 'home-grown' feeling to it.

So naturally it looks great with nature themed stamping - and that's what we did.

But our real purpose was to use regular DYE  INK mixed with VERSAMARK (watercolouring) INK and in doing so, create our own CRAFT INK!!!

Get set up with your supplies, ink pads, versamark pad, a CLEANING PAD, glitter tray, clear emboss powder, heat gun........here you go:

     1) STAMP WITH A CLEAN STAMP - into your VERSAMARK and immediately into the DYE INK of your choice - then stamp!

     2) CLEAN STAMP and REPEAT IMAGE - and -  REPEAT with SECOND, AND THIRD DYE INK COLOURS + OTHER STAMPS - always with a clean stamp!   (we are multi-tasking! - but we are good at this aren't we!)

     3) EMBOSS by adding CLEAR EMBOSS POWDER - quickly (we are nimble today!) - and tap off excess, HEAT with heat gun.

     5) TIE RIBBON - under the inside and both ends to the front, and make a knot. Create nice ends to your ribbon with small sharp scissors.

REVERSE SPOTLIGHTING - 

A DIFFERENT WAY TO MAKE THINGS 'POP'!

You NEED:  

 circle punch (ex 1-1/2 ") 

Ink and stamp of choice (larger scale stamp design)....

White [3-3/4 x 5] in. cardstock

 1 Colour  cardstock scrap....

1 Colour cardstock card base [8-1/2 x 5-1/2 in.]

Basic Instructions ....

CREATE THE FRONT CARD FACE by stamping a sheet of white cardstock  [ 3-3/4 x 5 in] with black ink using a nice fluffy floral design.  Like the flower they have shown here. 

Then - with the circle punch, PUNCH a few holes into some of the flowers, leaving some of the flower design intact. 

Stamp the same design onto the scrap colour cardstock, and cut flowers out. These are lined up and MOUNTED BEHIND the flowers in the punched out circular areas - which restores the full design of the flower!!! There will still be a gap from the punched out circle, but wait......

Trim the card front layer, to clean, straight edges. 

Now mount the finished piece onto the third colour of the card base { folded 8-1/2 x 5-1/2 in.], embellish if you wish with a greeting or other accent!  

Pretty nifty!  

CLICK on picture, and then on MAGNIFYING ICON to Enlarge Photo. 

Idea submitted on Stampin' Up! Cruise 2002 by M. Hallen! ")

These simple but playful monogram cards can be easily made with our large alphabet dies, Sans Serif.  Then use your imagination with our crimper! 

I am trying my hand with a shabby look, slightly vintage too if you consider the watchclock. I have used a scrap piece of acetate which I printed a excerpt from Robert Frost's  Blue-Butterfly Day....and I painted the background stamp with some markers and chalk, while also using a wheel stamp, and gold ink to hightlight areas. And a little pink 'frosting' on the sides. But mainly, I wanted to use the 'window' technique where I have rolled back the top paper layer to create a space behind for my focal point, its really nice technique!  

*****

STAMPIN' UP SUPPLIES: 

Equipment - The Big Shot,  crimper tool,

Dies - Bigz 'Beautiful Butterflies'; Bigz Sans Serif Alphabet for monogram letter, L; Bigz Bird with Leaves and Flower ( floral stem), 

Stamps - Fresh Cuts, 

Colouring - Pink Passion Stampin' Write Marker, Stampin' Pastels (chalk); Encore Gold Ink Pad,

Cardstock - 

8.5x11 - Window Card = Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink

              Monogram Card =  Bermuda Bay, and Pretty in Pink

6 x 6 -    Monogram Card = Good Neighbor (in Bermuda Bay)  Sale-A-Bration cardstock,

12 x 12 - Window Card =  CLEAR Window Sheets {medium}Item # 114323, 

Other - glue, glue dots 

* our dies are compatible with manual die-cutting machines such as The Big Shot, The Cuttlebug, etc. Please inquire if you have any questions. 

- LEARN HAND-MADE CARD IDEAS -

Butterflies are always beautiful on cards - well, everything really.  So its no wonder I love our Big Shot's Bigz die Beautiful Butterflies.

This past week I have been working on a card where I received my inspiration from 2 places....a) a paint chip which had the colours burgandy, a gold, a peachy tone and a vanilla. I dug around my papers and came up with some Bravo Burgandy, Apricot Appeal and Very Vanilla. The peachy colour was also my second source for my inspiration .....b) a floral pick with butterflies.

So armed with that - I began to put my card together, with the Bravo Burgandy being the card base, and the Apricot Appeal (in  patterned prints) lending itself to becoming butterflies. A little embellishment went into the butterfly die cuts - I used matching Apricot Appeal chalk to darken the butterfly centers, and glittered the largest butterfly.

To add tactile interest, I crimped one of the smaller butterflies, and wrapped green ribbon around the card base to suggest the greenery of the butterflies's surroundings. Finally, I added an actual strip from the floral pick because I didn't have anything else that would be as nice!

Once I had the butterflies & ribbon attached - I had to move on to the important task of the greeting!

Since there was a large span of bare cardstock - I used tone-on-tone inking to create a 'word-scape' and chose these basic words that together suggest to the recipient that true values in life are still the basic ones: friends, nature, gratitude. To wrap it all together, my greeting says: "Count your Blessings". 

So there it is, a simple paint chip peeking at me from a corner pile of papers started it all - and a glance around my home to capture more ideas all brought me to this card's creation. You just never know where you're next inspiration will come!

Stampin' Up! Supplies: 

Punch - Scallop Corner punch; 

Cardstock - Bravo Burgandy, Apricot Appeal (retiring), Whisper White; 

Ink- VersaMark Marker(creates tone-on-tone effect);

 Other - Stampin' Pastels {Chalk}, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, glue;

 Equipment - Big Shot Die-cutting Manual Machine, Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die; 

crimper

- LEARN HAND-MADE CARD IDEAS -