Keeping Warm with a Card

Yes! My computer issues are over! Back to work.

As a demonstrator I am apart of a great Stampin' Up! group called the Shamrock Stampers, headed by the fabulous Erin Barker. She had a meeting with us a little while ago and we did a shoebox swap. For those unfamiliar with this, its when you design a card, then bring enough materials for each person to make the card as well.  This is the card that I designed for our swap! I have seen a few "fireplace" cards, but I wanted to do my own version.  This is a pretty time consuming card, but not hard at all.

Here are the measurements of card stock you will need.
1 - 5 1/2" by 8 1/2" scored in half of Early Espresso
1 - 5 1/2" by 1" of Early Espresso - all edges rounded with corner rounder punch (top of fireplace)
1/2" strips of Cajun Craze and Cherry Cobbler - cut into sections for the bricks
Scrap of black - slightly more then 1 1/2" by 2" - so that it is even with the 3rd row of bricks
A couple scraps of Early Espresso - crumbled and rolled into logs

Fold the large portion of Early Espresso on the scored line - this is your card. I cut my strips of cherry cobbler and cajun craze to brick sizes then used some cajun craze ink and sponged the edges. This gives the bricks more dimension.  Wear gloves if you don't want inky fingers!  I can be a bit "obsessive" about my cards (my friends will probably roll their eyes at me now..) so I laid out my bricks before I glued them down. I used a glue stick or liquid glue so that it dries. Snail will stay perpetually sticky and if you don't cover it with a brick, your card will stick! I laid out my bricks and my black square so that everything was even. Don't forget that for a true brick look, you don't want your brick spaces to match up - as in where there is a space on the lower line of bricks, make sure a whole brick is above it. I then took the rounded corner piece of early espresso - crumbled it up, flattened it out, then took some early espresso ink and kind of roughed it up. Its hard to see in the picture, but it gives more dimension to the fireplace top. Glue that down, with a piece of Bakers twine tucked into the sides. This hides the end of the bakers twine and helps it stay put. Take your early espresso scraps and roll them up and squish a little to make logs. Use some more mustard and pumpkin pie scraps and cut out flames using the Build a blossom punch (different flowers) then sponge some pumpkin pie ink on the edges. Glue them down, then glue down your logs. Use various DSP and colors to make your stockings, and punch out with the Stocking Punch. Use dimensionals to adhere the stockings to the card, then use the mini clothespins to make it look like the stockings are hanging on the string. Put some TomBow glue along the top and sprinkle Mica Flakes on. I then used scrap pieces of Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon to make bows for the sides where the string is tucked back. I then used Dazzling Details to add some bling glitter to the flames and the stockings. I LOVE Dazzling Details. Its so easy to use, thick or then, it adds just the right bling!

I hope you enjoy this cozy card! And look forward to more posts as my computer is back up and working!
Craft on!
Jean

Make your own wall plates!

Bryan and I have been doing  quite a few changed around the house, including an entire kitchen facelift!  One of our more minor things is changing up our light and receptacle plates. Those silly plates get expensive! I want to do the same in my craft area but don't want to spend the money. So, why not decorate my own? I made these to plates using Stampin' Up! fabric (left, Spice Cake) and Designer Series Paper (right).  These are super easy to do.  I placed the blank plate over my fabric/paper and cut around the plate, making sure that when I fold the material over the plate, there is excess for folding behind it.  I then covered my plate in a thin layer of Modge Podge (MP) , and laid my material over the plate.  I then then brushed more MP on the back, adhering the overhanging edges to the back. You can be quite liberal with it, you want the material to stay. I then (from the back) cut the material with my scissors an "I"shape in each switch hole. Then I folded the excess inwards and put lots of MP to keep it down. You don't want to actually cut the hole out, as then you will see the blank plate.  Cover the front with MP as well now. Then poke the holes for the screws with a pen. Do this after putting a layer of MP on the front so that the MP helps stick the material in the hole. After it dries, put at least 1 more layer. If you don't want to see brush or sponge marks in the MP, put another layer or 2 of MP, then use fine sand paper and sand the MP smooth. Make sure you have at least 3 to 4 layers of MP though, or you could sand through to your fabric/paper!


Hope you enjoy!!
Craft on!!
Jean

Fabulous Changes!

Just wanted to update everyone with some information. I will be redoing my blog with a slightly different look. Same info, same posts, just a more eye appealing format. This past year has been great for me, Paper, Batter, & Stitch, and my Stampin' Up! business. I have had the help of some great people to design my banner, and other great promotional items. I also have left over items from the Apple Harvest Festival that I will be selling on Etsy. I will be doing these updates and posting my items on Etsy so stay tuned!!!

Thanks, and Craft on!!

Jean

Another Craft Show!

So I have been quite busy lately getting ideas and projects together for an upcoming craft show, the Apple Harvest Craft Show in Winchester, VA. I am excited and nervous!  So I thought I would just pop on here for a quick post to show you some things I have been working on. Not sure what I will definitely do or not, I am seriously running out of time though!!!  Feel free to leave me comments about what you think I should definitely sell!
Hope you enjoy!!
Craft on!
Jean

Can't wear this onsie!

For my September Stamp Camp, our theme was Fall and Babies! It seems like everyone I know is having a baby this fall! So I thought how nice it would be to do a baby card. I LOVE Onsies. I think they are just the epitome of babies. And I love our new Button Buddies stamp set! I used the Button Buddies set for the pacifier and used Subtle Buttons with Lucky Limeade and Wisteria Wonder ink. The bear and blocks came from the Little Additions stamp set, with Chocolate Chip, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, and Wisteria Wonder inks.  The first thing I did was searched the net for other peoples templates. Why reinvent the wheel right? Well I found a billion of them! So, I looked at what was easiest, and which ones I saw the most. So here are the easiest instructions I found!  1. Cut out your paper (I used the Nursery Nest DSP) to 4 1/4 by 11", then score at 5 1/2". Fold in half. 2. Measure down from the fold on both sides and make a mark at the 1 3/4" point. Then from those marks, measure in 3/4". Cut in to the 3/4", then down diagonally to the corner. This gives the shape of the onsie. I used my paper cutter to do the diagonal cut, then paper snips to cut the straight part in (armpit part). 3. Use your 1 3/4" circle punch to cut out the neck hole, then at the bottom corners for each leg hole.  Since I used DSP, these punch will cut through both sides at the same time. Using card stock liked hat is not so much fun, as it doesn't usually go through cleanly.  To make the ruffles in the arm and leg sections, I punched a 1 3/4" circle in Lucky Limeade and Wisteria Wonder paper, then used my large Scallop Circle punch and centered the hole in the middle of the scallop circle punch and punched. This gives you a ruffle that will perfectly fit the holes! I was able to use to circles for one card.  My middle section I cut a strip of paper about 2 inches wide and used the scallop trim border punch on both sides. I glued it to the card and trimmed off the extra. Stamp away and TaDa!!

Hope you enjoy! More to come later today..
Craft On!!

Back to School for Teachers Too!

 So I love back to school time! I love seeing my kids (my students) after the summer break. I love hearing their stories. Since I am a Special Ed. Teacher that works with intellectual disabilities, in a Life Skills based program, I keep my students year after year, until they age out (22), or graduate. Sometimes up to 7 years! So I truly do miss them over the summer!  But I also miss my coworkers, as we are all often too busy with our own families to do much visiting. So I made everyone some cute back to school presents. First, I made these cute backpacks with matching pens! I love the RSVP pens because you can slide slips of rolled Designer Series Paper (DSP) into them and it changes there whole look. I created my own template for the backpacks, then used the top note die for the lid,  and the mini envelope die for the front pocket. I used velcro to keep the top shut.  The pen even fits inside.  See my previous post on rosettes to learn how to make the rosette!  I used one sheet of 8 1/2 by 11" Pool Party card stock for each backpack. Its all about the measurements! I will post a tutorial if anyone is interested! I need to take some pictures though, as a few things can be tricky to explain without pics! But it really is easy. I just figured out how deep I wanted it and made folds to accommodate them! Then I put a back of mini sticky notes in the front!



The next thing I made everyone was 2 bookmarks. Here is a picture of all of them, and everyone got random picks. I simply used the AtoZ stamp on some Pool Party CS, then used the smaller scallop punch. Then I used a variety of back to school stamps, mostly from the new set, From Your Teacher, but also from a retired set, and stamped them on Whisper White, then using the 1 3/8 circle, I punched them out. I used Calypso Coral, Real Red, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, and Always Artichoke for my inks. I used the thick glue dots to adhere the circle to the scalloped circle with the paperclip in between. This keeps them nice and snug together, while still leaving some pliability to the bookmark.

 I also made a Welcome Back sign using the Perfect Pennants die and the Big Shot. I used the large triangle as well as both the doily shapes. I used a variety of current and retired Stampin' Up! blue colors. Unfortunately I did not have any blue DSP, so I used some leftovers from another set of paper to make my rosettes. Then used Very Vanilla letters overtop!! I used our twine to string them together (after punching 1/8" holes in each corner).

I sure hope you enjoyed checking out my projects!

Craft On!!
Jean

Pockets, Scratchin', and Sniffin'!!

Sounds weird huh? Well they come out to be two pretty neat cards! The first card is one that my wonderful upline Anne did for a workshop. She changed it from a pocket card in the new Idea Book and Catalog. I then altered it a bit since I didn't have the same ribbon or embossing folder.

The card stock used is Very Vanilla, cut to 4 1/4" by 5 1/2", the measurements of our envelopes. Then you need to seal a Very Vanilla envelope. Then trim off the side so that it opens on the side. Turn it so that it goes the long way, and through the new opening cut out a 1/2 circle using the 2 1/2" circle punch, but only on the front side of the envelope. Then run through the Big Shot using the Elegant Lines embossing folder. We then cut out the large flower from the Fun Flowers die using Spice Cake DSP, and the daisy looking flower from the Blossom Party die using Very Vanilla. We layers them then poked a hole in the middle using the paper piercer and put a Vintage brad through it. Punch a small hole in the top of the cut piece of Very Vanilla CS and tie a ribbon through. We used half a strip of striped cross grain. I used Chocolate chip, a retired color, but Anne used Early Espresso. Then slide the card stock into the envelope pocket. Put a large glue dot on the back of the flower and position it in the 1/2 circle space so the glue dot doesn't touch the envelope, but keeps the flower on the outside of the envelope, while actually being attached to the card stock!  Hence pocket card! The card slides into the envelope pocket!  I then used some new Dazzling Details to add some bling!

So my next card is a scratch n' sniff card. I did a pretty popular summer card, the popsicle card. I have seen many variations on this. I used Real Red and Pool Party for mine. I also did my scallop circle larger then a lot I have seen because I wanted to use the Cherries from the Button Buddies set. So the first thing is the card is cut to 4x 5 1/2  then scored down the middle. I then rounded the corners and used a scallop circle to put the "bite" in.  The bite is on both sides. I punched one side, lined them up then punched the other. DONT punch both at the same time, it won't work!  I dabbed my cherry stamp into Versamark, covering only the cherries. I then used Garden green marker to color the stem. Stamp it onto a piece of Whisper White. Cover the cherries with a mixture of 1/2 sugar free cherry drink mix (like Sugar free kool aide or something like that), and slightly more then 1/2 clear embossing powder. I have a little scoop I use, and I did 1 1/4 scoop of embossing powder and 1 scoop drink mix.  Cover the cherries, tap off the extra, and then heat with the heat gun until it looks glossy. Cut the cherry out using the large scallop circle punch. Then glue it to a 2 1/2 punched circle of Pool Party. I used dimensionals  to attach to the card.  Now scratch the cherries and you will smell cherry!

Hope you enjoy!!
Craft on!!!
Jean