Afternoon Delight!

We had a great card class on Wednesday.  Fourteen novice card makers attended our Beginner's Valentine class!  We made the three cards from our post, Be My Valentine on Monday.    Isn't this room perfect for crafting? 

We used Stampin' Up! glue sticks and Dimensionals for our adhesives with great success.  Everyone agreed that the Red Glitter Paper is fantastic!

A little concentration, smiles, and laughter made the afternoon fly by!

This lively group of neighbors were eager to learn about card making!  We had so many great questions!

Applying light even pressure after careful placement of the background layer.



All the participants loved the cards they made!  They stamped the backs of their cards with the Handmade By stamp from the Occaisions Mini catalog.  They also stamped their envelopes with coordinating stamps from the XOXO Stamp set.  We will be returning in April to make Easter/Spring cards!

Punch Art Montage!

Believe it or not . . . Nanci's daughter painted her room Basic Gray with Black, White, and Melon Mambo accents!  So Nanci created this montage of punch art to hang on her wall.  Yes, with the exception of the Melon Mambo button all the decorations were punched or cut with an embosslit die!

Here is a picture of the 12" X 12" page before it was framed!

This project is fast, fun, and fabulous!  Happy crafting! 

Be My Valentine!

I'm doing a Valentine's card class this week.  All the participants are first time card crafters, so the cards need to be fast, fun, and fabulous!  The class materials are limited to the XOXO stamp set, Real Red Ink, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Basic Gray card stock, Love Impressions DSP and Red Glimmer Paper.   These are the cards I chose for the class.

Card 1

I just love the Red Glimmer Paper!  Don't you?  I stamped some Whisper White card stock with the XOXO background stamp and punched out the other two hearts!  They are mounted with dimensionals  on Basic Gray Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslits.

Card 2

This card is cased from Lori Mueller's blog.  Lori cleared up the mystery of  where I saw this card!  Thanks Lori for sending the link to your card!  You can view Lori's card here!  I love the Pinking Heart border punch!  The Basic Gray layer of the Curly Label was cut with the Movers and Shapers Curly Label.

Card 3

This card is the only one in the set that didn't use the Red Glimmer Paper.  At the suggestion of the hostess, the Real Red and Pink Pirouette Small Heart punches were replaced by Red Glimmer Paper punches.  Unfortunately, I sent the card samples ahead, so they could be displayed without taking a picture of the card with the Red Glimmer Paper hearts!  All three cards are easy to assemble.  Vote for your favorite card in the comments!

January Stamp Club with a Valentine Theme

Valentine's Day was the theme for our January Stamp Club.  Our cards this month feature the all new XOXO stamp set, Valentine's Defined,  and Love Impression Specialty Designer Series Paper found in the new Occasions Mini Catalog.  We also used the Love Patterns DSP and Filled With Love stamp set, along with our free Bitty Buttons from the Valentine's Day Promotion. A touch of Red Glimmer Paper completd our cards.

Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Love Patterns DSP

Stamps:  Valentine Defined, Filled With Love

Ink:  Pretty in Pink

Misc:  Big Shot Movers and Shapers, Pinking Heart Border punch, Heart Small punch, Full Heart punch,  Basic Pearls, misc white ribbon

Earlier this fall we discovered that the Movers and Shapers pieces can be used to add a layer to several of the stamps and punches, perfect for an extra border! 

Paper:  Whisper White CS, Basic Grey CS, Real Red CS, Love Impressions DSP

Stamps:  Filled With Love, Valentine Defined

Ink:  Real Red

Misc:  Big Shot Movers and Shapers, Pinking Heart Border punch, Full Heart punch, Real Red Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Paper:  Basic Grey CS, Real Red CS, Pink Pirouette CS, Whisper White CS,

Love Impressions DSP, Red Glimmer

Stamps:  Filled With Love

Ink:  Real Red, Basic Grey, Versa Mark

Misc:  Love Impressions Rub-Ons, 1 3/8" Oval punch, 1 3/4" Oval punch, Heart to Heart punch, Heart Small punch, Heat and Stick Powder, Pink Glitter, Real Red Seam Binding, Basic Rhinestones

Paper:  Whisper White CS, Basic Black CS, Real Red CS, Love

Impressions DSP,Red Glimmer

Stamps:  Valentine Defined, Filled With Love

Ink:  Real Red, Garden Green

Misc:  Pinking Heart Border punch, Heart Small punch, Real Red Glitter Brad, black

 ribbon, misc. flower punch

Paper:  Very Vanilla CS, Cherry Cobbler CS, Basic Black CS, Love Letter DSP, Red Glimmer

Stamps:  XOXO, Filled With Love

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler

Misc:  Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit Die, Full Heart punch, Small Heart punch, 1 3/8" Oval punch, 1 3/4" Oval punch, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding

Paper:  Real Red CS, Pretty in Pink CS, Whisper White CS, Patterns Love DSP, Red Glimmer

Stamps:  Filled With Love

Ink:  Real Red, Versa Mark

Misc:  Pinking Heart Border punch, Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit Die, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, 3/4" Circle punch, Full Heart punch, Small Heart punch, Heart to Heart punch, Heat and Stick Powder, Pink Glitter

Paper:  Whisper White CS, Basic Grey CS, Pretty in Pink CS, Patterns Love DSP

Stamps:  Valentine Defined

Ink:  Pretty in Pink, White Craft

Misc:  White Embossing Powder, 1 3/8" Oval punch, 1 3/4" Oval punch, Eyelet Border punch, Curly Label punch, Basic Rhinestones, white ribbon

Paper:  Whisper White CS, Real Red CS, Pink Pirouette CS, Love Impressions DSP

Stamps:  XOXO

Ink:  Real Red

Misc:  Small Heart punch, Bitty Buttons, 1 3/8" Circle punch, Scalloped Circle punch, 2 3/8" Circle punch, White Gel pen

Quilt Much?

My grandmother made us quilts when we were little.  I still have mine.  I enjoy quilting and have seen several quilted top note cards on different blogs and wanted to try my hand at quilting a card. 

I used DSP Patterns Stack Regals Collection and the 1 1/4" square punch to make my squares.  I adhered my squares to a piece of cardstock and then ran it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die.   I used my paper-piercing tool and mat pack to create the pattern for my stiches.  Luckily, I had some gold embroidery floss that matched the More Mustard ribbon.  I used a cross stich to add stability to the paper pieces (some of them ended up quite small) and to add more texture to the quilted layer.  The card base is Night of Navy card stock layered with More Mustard DSP Patterns Stack Regals Collection and Very Vanilla.  The senitment is from Inspired by Nature and stamped in Night of Navy Ink.  I used the cutter kit distressing tool to distress the edges of the Very Vanilla and Night of Navy layers of the sentiment.  I loved making this card.  I hope you will try this technique too!

Merry Christmas-disco style!

Merry Christmas from Nanci and I!  I cased this idea from Melanie and Joy over at Everyday Cricut!  Of course, I picked another song and dance!  Nanci and I were both disco queens! LOL  Hope you enjoy the video!  You may need to go to the blog to see the video, if you receive our posts via e-mail.  Just click on the post title Merry Christmas-disco style! and it will take you right to the blog!

Sweet and Simple Box #2 Bigz XL Dies

We crafted these boxes to hold peppermint candies to sell at our craft shows for the holiday season.  We sold all the boxes we made originally.   

Nanci received an e-mail from a prior customer wanting to purchase twelve more boxes.  We did not have enough of the Candy Cane Christmas Specialty DSP left to satisfy the order.  At the customer's request we improvised. 

This box design is what we came up with.  We stamped the candy piece from Bingo Bits and punched out the circles and scallop to coordinate with the papers. We love these festive little boxes all tied up as gifts for our customer's guests!

 The boxes travel better with the lids closed.  The candy tag lets the recipient know what to expect inside the box when it is opened.

This tower of boxes makes a sweet display!  

Did you notice the background paper?  It's the Specialty Paper Bride!  I purchased it on clearance a few weeks back because someone had mentioned it in a blog that was discussing the Presto Patterns DSP.  I love this paper!  If you have the snowflake punch, it is an awesome combination due to the shimmer of the paper's design and the slim detail of the punched snowflake!

We hope that you will enjoy this video that Nanci's daughter suggested.  The group is Straight No Chaser doing the 12 Days of Christmas.  They are fantastic!

Nanci and I would like to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas!