8.17.2009

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I LOVE Christmas! ...but most of you probably already know that! It is 132 days until Christmas :-) I got some of my Christmas Decor out on Saturday for my Open House (including my Christmas Countdown...which I why I know the number of days 'til Christmas!), and I begged Ben to let me keep it up, but he denied my request :-( So instead I made this card to boost my holiday spirit:



...based off the Mojo Monday #98 Sketch:



I hope I've spread some Christmas spirit to you today!










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Stamp Sets: Season of Joy (110384—pictured below)
Paper: Bermuda Bay (115317), Real Red (102482), Whisper White (100730)
Ink: Bermuda Bay (115655), Real Red (103133)
Punches: Scallop Edge Punch (112091), 1/16" Circle Punch (101227)
Cool Tools: Circle Scissor Plus (112530)
The Little Something Extra: Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (109052)

8.15.2009

Open House

Today was my Open House. It was a huge success, and I want to thank everyone who came. You made it so much fun! Here are the two make-and-take projects we completed.

A card:


and a 6x6 scrapbook page:


This is my finished 6x6 scrapbook page:


...made into an 8-1/2x11 scrapbook page:


...and finally made into a 12x12 scrapbook page:


8.14.2009

Wonderful



I know what you're thinking...oh boy, she's at it again with another crazy color combo! But hey! At least you're seeing something new, right? :-) I actually ended up LOVING this fun combo, although my husband didn't really like it so much. I always show him the cards that make every day. He always politely nods and says, "cute!" :-) I've trained him well! Today, he just politely nodded and smiled...never uttering the obligatory, "cute!" ...that's when I knew...he thinks I'm crazy! Well, I think he's actually known that for a while :-)

Anyway, I wanted to use a larger "W" to accentuate the greeting, but I had already used all my w's from my On Board Timeless Type, so I flipped the cardboard sheet of empty letters over and used the outline from the w for a template. I traced the letter onto my Bashful Blue card stock and cut it out with my snips. I then used Stampin' Dimensionals to make it stand out from the card. It almost looks like I used chipboard! Sneaky, sneaky!



For the circle around the sentiment, I used my circle scissor plus. And although you can't tell from the picture, I ran the circle through my Big Shot with the Small Dots Texturz Plate to emboss some small polka dots on the circle. I think it really looks nice (when you can see it!).

I hope you enjoyed this bright summery card as we're nearing the end of summer! Thanks for stopping by!









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Stamp Sets: Warm Words (115108—pictured below), Circle Circus (115778—pictured below)
Paper: Green Galore (101768), Pumpkin Pie (105117), Bashful Blue (105120), Whisper White (100730)
Ink: Green Galore (102122), Pumpkin Pie (105216), Bashful Blue (105209)
Cool Tools: Circle Scissor Plus (112530), Big Shot (113439), Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates (114512)
The Little Something Extra: Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (109030), Stamping Sponges (101610)



8.11.2009

Birthday Wishes

For this card, I wanted to try another new color combo: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, and Barely Banana. It was a fun card to make, as I LOVE embossing! The card measures 6-1/2" x 3-1/4" (perfect for the small open end envelopes).

  • First, I cut my Old Olive card stock to 6-1/2 x 6-1/2, scoring at 3-1/4
  • Using a corner rounder, I rounded the two bottom corners
  • Stamping in Versamark ink, I randomly stamped the circle image from Circle Circus on the right-hand side of the card and lightly sprinkled Clear Embossing Powder over each image
*TIP* Versamark stays wet for a long time, so it's okay to stamp all your images, then cover them all with embossing powder at one time
  • I heat set the circle images with my heat tool
  • I then used the gift image from Holiday Blitz and stamped it twice (once in Pumpkin Pie, once in Old Olive) on the Barely Banana card stock
  • Dimensionals make the gifts "pop" up from the card front
  • Pumpkin Pie & Soft Suede make a nice double mat for the gifts
  • The "birthday wishes" stamp is from the Wow Flower stamp set and is also stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Clear Embossing Powder
  • A piece of Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon on top of a strip of Barely Banana finishes off this fun card









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Stamp Sets: Holiday Blitz (114982—pictured below), Circle Circus (115778—pictured below), Wow Flowers (111714—pictured below)
Paper: Soft Suede (115318), Old Olive (100702), Pumpkin Pie (105117), Barely Banana (102701)
Ink: Old Olive (102277), Pumpkin Pie (105216), Versamark (102283)
Cool Tools: Heat Tool (100005), Corner Rounder (109047)
The Little Something Extra: Clear Embossing Powder (109130), Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (115612)




8.06.2009

Family Reunion

I'm so excited to spend some time with extended family this weekend for a family reunion. We'll be gone until Sunday afternoon, so I'll be back on Monday with some more fun projects and cards. See you then!

Happ stamping!
Cari

8.05.2009

It's an Open House...and you're invited!


That's right! You're invited to an Open House next Saturday, August 15 from 1-4p (come & go)! If you're in Chicago, be sure to stop by and invite your friends! There will be tons of fun activities:

  • Giveaways--including gift sets, stamp sets, cards and more!
  • FREE Make-and-Take Projects for card-makers and scrapbookers!
  • Sign Up for my upcoming classes!
Don't miss out! I can't wait to see you here!











8.04.2009

Thank You...for your friendship



Upsy Daisy is a stamp set that I've loved since the first time I saw it. I had so much fun using it for this card. I decided to pull out a few colors that I rarely use (Mellow Moss, Perfect Plum, Apricot Appeal, and Cameo Coral) for this card. I think these colors produce a nice, soft feeling that was perfect for this layout!

  • I stamped the flower image in Whisper White ink on all three colors and embossed with Whisper White embossing powder. The powder really makes the white stand out.
  • I punched out a different area of the flower image from each color using the 1-1/4" Square Punch.
    *TIP: stamp the image, then turn the punch over so you can see what part of the image you are punching out*

  • I punched three scallop square images from Apricot Appeal and mounted each of the flower images using Stampin' Dimensionals
  • I then stamped the greeting using Perfect Plum ink on the Whisper White card stock and put the whole card together.
  • Finally, I tied a piece of Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon around the card as a border between the Mellow Moss and Whisper White background.










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Stamp Sets: Upsy Daisy (111710—pictured below)
Paper: Apricot Appeal (105124), Mellow Moss (102898), Perfect Plum (101889), Cameo Coral (100475), Whisper White (100730)
Ink: Perfect Plum (101437), Whisper White (101731)
Punches: 1-1/4" Square Punch (104400), Scallop Square Punch (112081)
Cool Tools: Heat Tool (100005)
The Little Something Extra: Whisper White Embossing Powder (109132), Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon (109070)

8.01.2009

Happy Birthday, Mom!

As I mentioned a few days ago, my mom loves the new In Colors, Crushed Curry & Soft Suede. They make for a very sunflower-y color combo :-)

In honor of her birthday today, I made her this card:



...which was based off last week's Mojo Monday design:



Like most of my cards, this card took me most of one morning to make. I just really enjoy making time-intensive cards...with perfection of course. I can't imagine where I picked that up (Thanks, mom!) :-) Here is an up-close picture of the scoring detail on the 3 panels in the background:



Using a ruler and my bone folder, I made these score lines along both diagonals of the card. Using my Crop-a-Dile and the 1/8" hole punch, I punched out holes from a scrap of Crushed Curry card stock and adhered them at every cross-section of the score lines. I adhered the dots using the 2-way glue pen. I realized after I had almost completed the card that I wanted ribbon around the bottom, but I had already made the fold of the card on the left...

Have no fear! The Crop-a-Dile is here! :-) I punched a small hole in the fold of the card:



...and threaded my ribbon through the hole. A super-simple solution :-)



Now, you may be wondering about the scallop circle I used on the card. No, it's not a Big Shot Die. I (unfortunately) do not have the smaller scallop circle dies :-( I had to do it the "old fashioned" way :-)

Last July I posted a card that used the same technique, but I did not provide a tutorial. Since it is the day of my mom's birth, I figured I give you all a little something extra ;-)

Step 1: Punch a circle with your 1-3/8" circle punch in the middle of a piece of 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" card stock. Be sure to insert the card stock as far as it will go into the punch. To be honest, this method will deliver a scallop circle with one or two scallops that are cut off. For this card (since I needed all the scallops to be round), I used my Circle Scissor plus to cut a 1-3/8" circle in the middle of this card stock. Obviously, either method will work, but I will show you pictures at the end of the difference between the two:



Step 2: Insert the Slit punch through the hole as far as it will go, and punch. You will not punch a shape out of the card stock. It will just punch a half-circle slit in the card stock:



Step 3: Move the slit punch to the right, slightly overlapping the edge of the previously cut slit (you may have to click on the picture to see it bigger), and punch again.



Step 4: Keep moving the punch to the right and punching subsequent slits, making a scalloped border all the way around the circle. *Be sure that you slightly overlap each scallop so that the scallop circle will be fully cut out.



Step 5: Remove the scallop circle!



Here's what the circle looks like if I use a punch instead of the Circle Scissor Plus. The circle punch just doesn't go far enough into the paper to allow full scallops along one edge:



This is the card I made last summer using the circle punch. As you can see, I just covered up the cut-off edges with the sentiment:

Well, I hope that's enough for today! Happy Birthday, Mom!











Stamp Sets: Heard from the Heart (111644—pictured below)
Paper: Crushed Curry (115319), Soft Suede (115318), Old Olive (100702), Very Vanilla (101650)
Ink: Crushed Curry (115659), Soft Suede (115657)
Punches: Slit Punch (104388)
Cool Tools: Mat Pack (105826), Paper Piercing Tool (116631), Crop-a-Dile (108362), Circle Scissor Plus (112530), Bone Folder (102300), Ruler
The Little Something Extra: Soft Suede Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (115612)