more of YOU

Recently, Dwight & I purchased a Cricut Expression die-cut machine. We had been saving for one for quite some time and finally were able to purchase it. That was very exciting! Right away I made a fast & easy scrapbook page with it and I wanted to share that with you today.

I cut the letters for the title with the machine and also made a shadow for the letters with the click of a button! I love it!

These are some of my all time favorite photos of Sadie. I titled the page "more of YOU" because I've already done one page with some of these photos and included journaling on that page. This one was simple since I didn't have to include any other text. Love the colors in the papers!

Can you believe that I didn't stamp one thing on this page? Truly amazing! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Here is a super, simple card that is also economical for mailing (meaning you won't have to pay more postage because of "lumps"). The inspiration for this card comes from Nicole Heady.

The ornament dots on the Christmas tree are just dots punched out of scarlet cardstock and glued on. The edge of the white paper I distressed with an edge distressor. Instead of using ribbon, I used a striped stamp to add some visual interest and break up the snowflakes.

Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Cheer, Ornamental Snowflakes, Friendship Strips
Ink: Lamore Red & Landscape Palette
Paper: TAC Kraft, Scarlet & Ultrasmooth White
Other: Edge Distressor, Hole Punch

Fabulous Party Favors

Be prepared! I have a lot of pictures for this post!! The colors are a little off, the pinks and reds don't always come out quite right on the photos, but you'll get the idea. I promise it doesn't clash in real life! :)

I recently entered a TAC contest called "Fabulous Party Favors". I didn't win but I really like the end result anyway and wanted to share the ideas with you.

The first thing I did was make a paper cone out of TAC's Catelynne paper. You might have seen this cones before hanging on doors or filled with flowers at a wedding. That is what I patterned this cone after. How cute would it be to go to a party and at place at the table to have one of these cones filled with goodies hanging on the chair?

Here it is hanging from a door. Sorry it is so dark. It's hard to see in these photos, but I used Cloud scissors to make the blue paper that is around the top of the cone scalloped.

Here's all of all the party favors together. There is a lip gloss, finger nail polish, emery board with toe separators (whatever those are called!!), and a jar of shimmering body lotion.

This is a closeup of the flower on the front of the cone. The scrapper's floss in the button is tied to look sort of like a tulip. I saw this somewhere and thought it was such a cute idea. A little different way to tie the floss.

I also stamped a flower image on the tissue paper to give it that extra charm.

On the lotion bottle, I made this accordion flower and then for the center of the flower, I took a white button from the Audrey Embellishment Jar and stamped an image from "Sweet Treats" in Claret Palette ink. Then, I poured clear embossing powder on it and heated it. I wrapped green ribbon around the button to make it look like leaves.

Here is the top of each of the favors.


I stamped the emery board and toe separators with claret ink and another image from "Sweet Treats".

The tag is also from the "Sweet Treats" set.

Hope you enjoyed this post! Have a great day!

Dwight's Birthday

Taking a break from Christmas cards for a day!

Dwight's birthday was last week and I wanted to share the card that I made for him. I love how it out. I used the new "Open Presents" set and I am so glad I got that one!

I stamped the owl on Kraft cardstock which worked well because that provided a natural color for the owl to start with. Then, I took my colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits to add some more browns and blues to him. I cut him out and popped him up with pop dots. The piece of lined paper is also on pop dots. Since I didn't have to mail this card, I could use lots of dimension! You can see the dimension better in these next photos.

I also crimped the red cardstock strip to add more texture and dimension and then took my Burnt Umber Palette spot and inked it up just a little.

The words "happy birthday" are two individual stamps from the "Open Presents" stamp set.

Supplies
Stamps: The Angel Company's "Open Presents", "Be Square"
Inks: Burnt Umber & Reflection Blue Palette
Paper: TAC Brown, Kraft, Scarlet & Ultrasmooth White
Other: Crimper, Pop Dots, Colored Pencils, Odorless Mineral Spirits

More Christmas

Two more Christmas cards to share with you today. I got the layout and color scheme for these cards from the Hero Arts blog. They have been sharing autumn color schemes this week and I altered one of the colors they listed to make the cards a little more Christmasy. I like the results.

This first card uses the fun little secret I discovered while playing with my Champagne VersaMark ink (CVM). To create the background on the Kraft cardstock, I stamped The Angel Company's "Script Background" with CVM ink and then stamped the holly image from the "Sweet Goodies" stamp set on top of it. Of course it sparkles! But, you knew it would do that already!

So, what's the big secret? As I looked at my holly stamp all glittered up from the CVM ink, I decided to experiment a little. I reinked it with the CVM ink and then tapped it on the edge of my Bordeaux Palette ink pad and then stamped on to my Kraft cardstock. Yep! You guessed it. It made the holly image sparkle! What an easy way to add sparkle to your images!! It did leave a little glitter on my palette pad but I don't think that that will be a problem. It is a subtle sparkle on the Kraft cardstock but when I tried this same technique on white cardstock, it left even more of a sparkle. Love it!! I tried to capture this effect in a photo, but I just couldn't capture it so you'll just have to give it a try to see how it looks!

Supplies
Stamps: The Angel Company's "Script Background", "Sweet Goodies", "Thinking of You", Build a Background"
Ink: Moonlight White Brilliance, Champagne VersaMark Ink, Turquoise Gem VersaMagic, Bordeaux Palette Ink
Paper: TAC Ultrasmooth White, Brown & Kraft, Bazzill Rain & Burgundy
Other: Scalloped Scissors

This next card uses many of the same supplies & colors. The photo just doesn't capture the true colors of this card.

The snowflakes on the blue bazzill paper (from the Amberly Grace cardstock collection) are stamped with VersaMark ink using the new "Snowflake Backgrounder" stamp. Isn't is awesome!! The white snowflakes on the Kraft cardstock are from "Ornamental Snowflakes" stamped with my favorite white ink "Moonlight White Brilliance".

The words for the mat are from "Holiday Cheer" and I just stamped them repeatedly. I used a white souffle pen to make the white border and I made it a little bit too thick.

Supplies
Stamps: The Angel Company's "Snowflake Backgrounder", "Holiday Cheer", "Ornamental Snowflakes"
Ink: Moonlight White Brilliance, VersaMark, Bordeaux & Burnt Umber Palette Ink
Paper: TAC Ultrasmooth White, Brown & Kraft, Bazzill Rain
Other: Souffle White Gel Pen, Ribbon, Pop Dots

Scalloped Christmas

Hi!! I have two very different cards to share with you today! They both use holiday/winter stamps.

This first one that I made earlier this week is just fun...and simple! I LOVE the Ornamental Snowflakes stamp set SOOOO much!! I use it all the time for my wintry cards. I love playing with different snowflake color schemes too (which you'll see in another post in a few days).

I used the new Build-a-Background Level A hostess set for the polka dot background. I also sponged the edges of the card base & scalloped circle with Burnt Umber ink. I LOVE how Turquoise Gem VersaMagic ink looks on Kraft cardstock!! I think that that is my favorite color of VersaMagic ink!!

Can you see how I "tied" the bow in the picture? I know it's kind of dark and hard to see. I took a piece of ribbon, folded it in half and adhered it together with glue dots (love those things!!). Then, I put the scalloped circle on top of it with pop dots. It created a sort of bow without the knot.

Supplies

Stamps: Build-a-Background, Ornamental Snowflakes, Holiday Cheer (Joy!)

Paper: Kraft & Ultrasmooth White

Ink: Turquoise Gem VersaMagic, Burnt Umber Palette

Other: Ribbon, Stardust Clear Glitter Pen, Pop Dots, Scalloped Circle Punch

This next card uses a stamp from a Christmas set but I made into a non-Christmas card to show you the versatility of this stamp set! I love the bright colors!

See that patterned paper on the bottom? I made that!! I took a piece of colored paper and stamped one of the images from the "Aged Ornaments" stamp set with Claret ink. It almost looks velvety in real life!

Can you believe that there is NO ribbon on this card? You could easily use this same, easy design with more traditional Christmas colors to make Christmas cards.

Supplies
Stamps: Good Tidings, Aged Ornaments
Paper: Catelynne, Brown, Kraft & Ultrasmooth White
Ink: Claret Palette Ink
Other: Pop dots, Scalloped Circle Punches

Be sure to check back tomorrow!! I have a FUN idea on how to use your Champagne VersaMark ink that I think you'll love!!

Elegant Christmas

Hello!

As soon as I made this Christmas card, I couldn't wait to share it with you! I really like how it turned out! And, it may be one that we make at my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack on Saturday, October 24th at the Inman Wellness Center. You can find more information about that at the bottom of this post.

The colors on this card are just so classic: a deep red, gray & white!

This was super simple, but elegant! Hope you like it!

Supplies

Stamps: Joyful Ornaments & Thinking of You

Paper: White Ultrasmooth

Ink: Charcoal & L'amore Red Palette

Other: Ribbon, Pop Dots, Scor-bug, Square Punch

Stamp-a-Stack Information

Join me for a fun morning at my Stamp-a-Stack (SAS) on Saturday, October 24th in the morning (9 or 10, not sure which)! We will make 12 Christmas cards. When you leave, you will have 3 cards each of four different designs with hand stamped envelopes to match. You'll need to bring your own favorite adhesive and a covered drink. The cost will be $15 and you can sign up at the Wellness Center (or call them). Hope to see you there!!

Christmas?

I know what you're thinking. Christmas cards already?

Well, actually now is the PERFECT time to think about Christmas cards! You KNOW how busy your schedule gets come November & December. How would you like to have all of your handmade Christmas cards done BEFORE that time of the year!! It would be great, right?

I just received some new Christmas stamp sets from The Angel Company's Inspiration Avenue. I love them! I cut them all out Thursday and inked them up today. I hope you enjoy the cards that I have to share with you!

I love how this first card turned out. I love this color scheme and simple design.

Here's a closeup of some of the details. The scor-bug line at the top. The sparkle on the ornaments with the clear gelly pen. The notch on the card. The ribbon hanging off the side of the card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Joyful Ornaments, Holiday Cheer (Joy!)

Inks: Burnt Umber, Water Lilly Green & Bordeaux Palette

Paper: Blue Green Bazzill, TAC Brown & Kraft

Other: Clear Gelly Pen, Circle Punch, Button, Brown Scrapper's floss, Ribbon, scor-bug

This next card looks so much better in real life. Sometimes I have a hard time capturing the true colors of the ribbons & cardstocks. The ribbon has a much softer look in real life.

See that fun snowflake background? That is made using the new "Snowflake Backgrounder" stamp! I outlined the brown cardstock with my Sea Breeze VersaMagic Dew Drop ink pad. The nice thing about the dew drops is that they are perfect to distress with and they have a nice foamy pad that allows you to easily ink edges.

Above you can see that I cut out the bird from the "Holiday Cheer" set and popped him up with pop dots. The green panel is also popped up on pop dots as well. I colored the leaf stem with markers.

Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Cheer, Snowflake Backgrounder, Tag Tidbits
Inks: Sea Breeze VersaMagic, Burnt Umber & Lamore Red Palette
Paper: TAC Brown & Ivory, DCWV Green
Other: Green Tombow marker, pop dots, ribbon

Dimensional Pop Dots...A Lesson

If you have been following my blog for a while you'll notice something that almost everything I create has in common...pop dots!! I love adding a little dimension to my projects...cards & scrapbook pages!!

Do you use pop dots? If not, or if you're just getting started, I wanted to share a few secrets on how to get the most out of them! TAC has THE best pop dots ever!! I have used lots of different kinds of pop dots and have never found any that I like more than these! They are just the right thickness and they don't "squish" and lose their dimension. I LOVE them!!

Here's what the sheet of pop dots look like when you get it. The sheet contains 100 circle pop dots:

I usually pop out all of the circles when I get them so that they will be easy & accessible when I need them. I store the pop dots in a little clam shell plastic box (the ones the smallest stamps come in). It is PERFECT for storing them. I always have the box close by so when I need a pop dot, it is easy to reach and get out the number I need.

Very rarely, do I use a WHOLE pop dot though. These pop dots are nice and thick, so unless I am applying them to a really BIG section (and it would have to be big), I almost always cut them in half or in fourths. It makes the pop dots go a LONG way. Sometimes when I am using them in my scrapbooks, I'll be a little more generous and use a complete circle, but even then, I don't always do that. Here's what they look like cut apart in half & in fourths.

After all the circles are popped out, you have a sheet that looks like this. Don't throw this away! Use this to get even more pop "dots".

Cut that sheet into strips like this:

Then, cut those strips into pieces like this:

You have just doubled or tripled your pop dot supply! These pieces work just the same, no one sees them on the finished project and they are perfect for lots of different places. You can cut them tiny for small areas (like flower petals) that you need to pop up, you can leave them bigger/longer for border strips, etc.

Here's a closeup of the dimension on the card above. I used 4 of those little pieces I cut. Basically, equivalent to 1 pop dot cut in fourths or maybe 2 circles cut in half.

I hope this post helped you if you are just starting to work with dimensionals! Have fun playing...I LOVE them!! :)

Supplies:
TAC Kraft, Brown & Ultrasmooth White Cardstock, L'amore Red, Haystack (on the background circles) & Burnt Umber Palette Ink, Scalloped Square punch, TAC Ordinary Greetings & Floral Fruits stamp sets

Mini Ornament Box

Hey everyone!! I wanted to share a few pictures of the mini ornament box that I made that is featured in TAC's newest Inspiration Avenue publication. The template to make this box, along with instructions for all 3 pieces (the box bottom, the lid & the insert) can be found on the Angel Company's website under downloads. Click here to go directly there.

Here's a view of the top of the box. It has an acetate window so that you can get a glimpse of the surprise inside!

Here's what is inside the box. A clear mini ornament with lots of little embellishments inside. What a FUN gift for a scrapbooker or card-maker friend! Inside the ornament I put brads, eyelets, lots of colors of buttons, paper flowers and my favorite, little rolls of ribbon!

Here are a few more views of the ornament contents:

The ornament image is a new set called "Simple Joys" that is featured in the new Inspiration Avenue publication.

Well, thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed a few extra peeks at this box! Remember, if you would like to know how to make this box, stop by The Angel Company's website for the template and instructions or click here.

Patterned Paper: TAC Reece Paper Pack
Coloring Medium: Watercolor pencils & Dove Blender