Polished to Perfection

JustRite Christmas Day 9 - Christmas Gift Card Holder

As the tradition of giving Gift Cards for Christmas continues to grow...Angela and I are always looking for creative ways to make giving a gift card more personal.  So here is a great gift card holder from Creative Imaginations transformed with our JustRite Stampers to a beautiful personalized gift.

For the outside of the Gift Card Holder we used the Designer Center and Border from the JustRite JB-08150 Christmas Stamp Ensemble set.  Here is a graphic that shows all the images in this great set:

Remember all the borders and centers are interchangeable and the Harmony Classic Circle III wooden stamper must be purchased separately.

Here is the view of the inside of the Gift Certificate holder: 

   

The gift certificate inserts through the top of the holder and appears in the window where the small peppermints are.  The Forever Friends designer center is only available when you purchase the New JB 08180 Pink Sonnet Stamper which comes with the expanded fonts Curlz set. The border is from the JB 07277 Monogram Stamper Large set, but will soon also be available in a new set of 10 designer Centers and Borders.

 

For both the stamp images on the inside of the card - I used Versamagic Tea Leaves and Versa Magic Red Magic and multi loaded the stamp with two colors of ink to get the variety of color in the stamped image.

What we both love about this gift certificate holder is that once the recipient uses the gift certificate, a photo can be placed where the gift certificate was and this becomes a priceless Christmas Memento.

Come Back and visit we still have 3 more days of JustRite Christmas!!

Easter Favors - Nick's JustRite Monogram Stamper Bottle

The JustRite Monogram Stamper Easter Collection is growing....isn't this how my Paper Tree Marathon started??

Here is the Easter Favor I designed for Nick.  When designing your bottle, I recommend filling your bottle with candy first and choosing the color pallette for your design based on the candy filler. To add some texture to the bottle wrapper,  I used my new Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder to dry emboss the A2Z paper as well as my personalized tag that I made with the JustRite Monogram Stamper.  I love that the JustRite Stamper nest so nicely in my Scallop Circle Nestabilities from Spellbinders.  For Nick's bottle I decided to repeat the design element of the jelly beans by added Easter Eggs to the bottle wrapper and the cap. 

The Eggs are from Outline Rubberstamps- sm squares Easter eggs.  I cut them out and colored them with my Spica MicroGlass Flake pens, which was way more fun then Dying Easter Eggs.  These eggs are the perfect size for the bottle and coloring them with Spica.

The boys are home safely and Jack thought his bottle was cool - but wanted to know if he could eat the entire contents at 1 am in the morning.  When he saw Nick's he was bummed that his bottle had Bunny Corn and not Jelly Beans. I had to explain to Jack the monogram letters on his cap - he was a little confused about why they were in that order.  Does anyone remember what year it was when it was the rage to where a monogram shirt??  I  am thinking it was 1982 ish.  Nick on the other hand is almost 12 and not so interested in what Mom is designing.

I would love to know what you are making for Easter Treats this year??

Here's a photo of the first projects my playmates made at my Frappuccino JustRite Monogram Stamper class:

Thanks Girls for letting me show off your terrific designs!!

Justrite Monogram Stamper Easter Bottle

Did you say Frappuccino??   I am not a coffee drinker at all, but ever since I saw my first altered Starbuck's Frappuccino Bottle on the blogs I have wanted a bottle or two to alter.  I  enjoyed the first 3 or 4 bottles which I drank over a course of a week. But in one evening I have already altered them all.  I am teaching this project tomorrow - and now I am faced  with the daunting task of having to chug back a 6 pack of Frappuccino's before my class. Which would mean consuming 2040 calories just for the love of art and my play group (340 yummy calories each).  Let's not even consider the resulting caffeine buzz.  Faced with this daunting temptation -I finally had a light bulb moment and I decided to visit my local bottle redemption center. There I purchased recycled bottles for a fraction of the cost and calories (The trainer's on the Bigest Loser - would be so proud!!)  Luckily the redemption center had just enough for my class and will be saving lots more for me!!!

I filled my bottle with Bunny Corn....yes Candy Corn is not just for Halloween anymore!!  This gave me the color palatte to design around.  Luckily both of my sons have 4 letter names, so I used the JustRite Monogram Stamper from last night's post and removed the letters- M O M and added J A C K.  I stamped the image on Formality PA623 Bristol from One Heart One Mind - I love the variation of color in this paper.  I then die cut the image with my scalloped circle nestabilities and added a little rhinestone bling.  I chose this whimsical paper from Best Creations to wrap my Frappuccino bottle and I used my new Swiss Dots Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder to dry emboss the paper.  I love the embossed dots mixed in with the glitter dots.  For the larger scalloped circle I used the Bloom Dots Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder to dry emboss the blue cardstock.  To continue the polka dotted theme, I added ribbon from Creative Impressions to the neck of the bottle and the middle of my fun Polka Dot Paper.

As you may remember - Jack just turned 10, and this Christmas he signed all his thank you notes with his full name including his middle intial. (which so means he is growing up -UGH!!)  So I decided to Monogram the top of his bottle with his intials - He is gonna love it and best of all the boys are arriving tomorrow night for spring break - I can't wait for him to see my creation.

Check back in tomorrow to see the bottle I designed for NicK!!  Thanks for visiting!!

JustRite Monogram Stamper Easter Bouquet

In Maine, we are currently in the midst a winter which is breaking records for the most precipitation in a single winter-since they began recording precipitation in 1868. We have had it all ice, rain but- MOSTLY SNOW!!!  Enough snow that today friends from all over the country were emailing me that Maine's record winter was National News. This was amusing to my friends who reside in warmer climates, not so amusing to those of us who can't wait for it to be over. Several businesses this week have even had their roofs cave in.   So for all my readers out there near and far - here is a little gift of spring....I can't wait to see Tulips!! It might be May when they arrive...but I can't wait.

This project I designed as a gift for my Mom for Easter using the C-45 JustRite Monogram Stamper - my new favorite Toy!!  Anyone who reads my blog knows how much I love toys with versatility. I can't tell you how many times I have almost ordered this monogram stamper. So I was so excited when I actual got to see it first hand a CHA.  It truly is an incredible Tool/Toy!!  And you will need to add it to your must have list.

The C-45  JustRite Monogram Stamper is self-inking.  It comes with a reversible ink pad (one side is black and the other side is uninked and dry).  This will allow you to use your favorite dye based re inker to ink the dry pad. The kit includes 2 sizes of 2 interlocking and interchangeable letters and four border designs.  You can create a three-letter monogram with or without a border, a 3 letter word (like Mom) or a one-letter monogram.

Directions on how to use the Monogram Stamper:

• Remove the cover off by gently pulling the cover.  The stamp will pop into full position when you do this.
• Place the stamper upside down and place the top of the stamper flat on your work area and push the white rim of the stamper all the way down. Lock the stamp into position by pushing the red buttons on the sides.
• Once the stamp is locked into place you are ready to design your image. You will design your image on a grooved base which your letters will snap into.  How cool is that!!

• Start with your border first. If you are using the circular border from the kit, hold the border in place with one finger as the other finger pushes the border into the groove. After the border is snapped into place run your finger over the entire border to ensure that it is flat.
• For my design, I used the C-45 small letters which is sold as an add on to your monogram stamper, to design my outside border. This set comes with a set of tweezers which will help you insert the tiny letters into the border groove. After you have placed all your letters in place and decided that you like the spacing of your letters run your fingers over the letters to ensure that they are all correctly snapped in place and that your design is flat.  When designing your image remember that your image needs to be designed in reverse (counterclockwise).

Design tip:  Before you begin to design your image place the lettering on the barrel of the stamper facing toward you.  When you are ready to stamp the image place the words facing you and stamp.  This little tip will ensure that you don't stamp your image upside down on a project.

• Next place your letters in the interior of the design and snap them in place.  Once your design is finished unlock the stamp by pushing down on the white rim. This releases the lock and the stamp will pop into the original position.
• The stamp will ink itself by flipping upside down and kissing the inked pad. (SWEET!!)
• When you take your stamp out of the box for the first time the dry side of the pad will be facing up.  When you are ready to stamp your first image you will need to reverse the pad to the black inked side.  To do this place the flat top of the stamper on your work surface. Push the red buttons as you push down on the white rim.  The stamp will lock into the first position/notch. Tip:  If you do not push the red buttons and lock the stamp into place you may dislodge your tiny letters when trying to remove the pad.  By locking the stamp into place you allow the pad to be far enough away that the pad can be removed without touching your design.
• Now remove your the stamp pad by pulling on the black handle. Pull out the pad, flip it over and re-insert the pad into the stamp. Now push the white rim slightly to release the lock again and you are ready to stamp. Flip the monogram stamper over and turn the writing toward you, using the palm of your hand press down on the top of the stamper and stamp your image. I recommend testing your image on scrap paper to ensure that all of your image is fully inked.  If your image is not fully inked check to ensure that your design is locked into place and flat.

Additional tip: To avoid contaminating your dry pad, make sure that you clean your stamp before you reverse the ink pad to the other side.

• To clean your stamp press down on the white rim and lock the stamp into place. Use a cleaner with a spray top and spritz the top of your image and gently clean it by rubbing it across a scrub pad. Place the cover back on your monogram stamper.  Store the stamp with the image locked in position and not with stamp resting on the ink pad as over time this will indent your ink pad and shorten its life span.

Now back to the project- I purchased this tin of flowers at AC MOORE.  The tin pail was plain and screaming for a little embellishment.   For the middle of the pail, I used a wide sheer green ribbon with white polka dots from Creative Impressions and tied it around the pail.  I decided that it needed an additional piece of wide ribbon, but I didn't own an orange sheer polka dotted ribbon...but I did own a white sheer ribbon with polka dots. So using my Copic Sketch Marker YR68- I airbrushed my white ribbon and voila - it was orange!!   

Next I added a yellow and white polka dotted ribbon to the top of the tin pail and a green and white ribbon to the bottom of the pail.  Using my newly designed Easter Stamp from my JustRite Monogram Stamper, I stamped my image on What's New Club Paper from A2Z Essentials and I die cut the image with my Scalloped Circle Nestabilities from Spellbinders. Using the next die up in my scalloped nest I die cut a larger oval from Dulce - Antique Boutique also from A2Z Essentials.  To attach my tag to the floral arrangement I used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the tin pail and in my tag and tied it with an orange and white polka dotted ribbon.  Now I get to enjoy my  Mom's Tulips for another 17 Days.

Can you believe Easter is only 17 days away???  Doesn't it seem a little early??  That's right Easter is March 23rd and it is actually the earliest Easter that any of us will ever see for the rest of our lives and the earliest it has ever been in our lives - unless you are 95!!  The last time it was this early was in 1913 and the next time it will be on March 23rd is in the year 2228 (220 years from now).  In 1818, it was actually on March 22nd and will be on March 22nd again in the year 2285.  I have always wondered how they calculated when Easter is and the answer is that Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20th). The dating of Easter is based on the Hebrew Lunar Calendar used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on the Roman Calendar.  This little trivia lesson is courtesy of Jacqueline Wallmark.  And who knows maybe this little piece of Easter Trivia will help someone win a million dollars some day.  Thanks Mom for the trivia lesson!!

Wouldn't this arrangement be great as a Wedding Centerpiece- with thank you written in the center and the bride and groom's name and wedding date placed around the rim. Or for a birthday gift - with Happy Birthday around the rim and the the persons age in the center!!  Or perhaps A Mother's Day gift, A get well gift or a teacher's gift???  The possibilities are endless and the best part of all is that you could design all those projects with this JustRite Monogram Stamper and the C-45 Small Letter Set!!  Now am I right?? You need to have a JustRite Monogram Stamper too! I  just love being an enabler!!

To view all the other great products from JustRite visit their website or ask your local retailer for the Justrite Monogram Stamper.

Black and Red Forever

I"M BACK!!!

Thanks to everyone who has patiently been waiting for my next post. (Sorry if I worried anyone,  I have been moving for the past 33 days...It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate in a lifetime and how heavy magazines are!!!) I am finally settled in and plan to share with you tons of new ideas and projects. Moving was a great opportunity to get organized for the new year.  I was so excited to finally sit down in my new classroom and start designing.  I plan to post a project ever day ..so stop back and visit ...I missed you!!

Tonight's project is a Valentine's Day card...which would also be a beautiful wedding card.

   

To create this card I used Brighton PA619 from the Formality collection of One Heart-One Mind and embossed it with the cuttlebug textile A2 embossing Folder.  Using graphite black brilliance ink, I inked the embossed surface of the brighton paper which gave me this beautiful rich Victorian design next I scuffed the edges of this mat with graphite black ink.  Then I stamped and embossed in superfine black embossing powder the flourish frame with the Forever Script from Inkadinkado's  Love Letters clear set of stamps onto another piece of the brighton paper. (This is an absolutely Gorgeous set of clear stamps - you will see more cards using the other components of this set later this month).  I trimmed the image and matted it with glossy black Kromekote Paper.  I also matted the Textile mat with black Kromekote.  I will take a new picture of this card in the morning with natural day light- the colors are much richer than in this photo...I miss my blue wall!! The Silver Medallion I purchased from  AC MOORE or Michael's I enhanced it by adding red Rhinestones from Kaiser Crafts and I used my black 110 Copic marker to alter the medallion and give it more depth. Just by adding the rhinestones I turned this simple embellishment into a rich embellishment which looks like a piece of jewelry. Since I didn't have any black rhinestones I also used my black copic marker to create black rhinestones.  The buttons are from Jesse James (small hearts silver - 181) and the heart buttons with the black centers  were originally turquoise...and you guessed it I altered them using my black copic marker.  I also used my airbrush system to change my hunter green ribbon (creative impressions) from green to black. My card base is antique boutique ruby A2 from A2Z essentials Dulce collection.  it's nice to get to be creative again!!  I missed it!!  Have a wonderful 2008!!!  Happy New Year!!

Directions for making the American Traditional Designs Paper Turkey

This is Step 1- engineer your Turkey Body...you will need a 3" Styrofoam ball, a  6" Styrofoam egg and a 5" Styrofoam heart and 2 -3" pieces of dowel. When finished your Turkey will stand 10" high including the hat and he is 11" wide. Using a bread knife cut your large egg as shown in the above photo. Use dowels to connect your Styrofoam pieces. Do not glue your Styrofoam pieces together. (You still need to airbrush or paint the head and airbrush the feet and cover it with paper)

Since this paper is not double sided, the first thing I did was adhere the plaid and the polka dot back to back to make my own double sided paper.  I highly recommend using a 4" Xyron Cheetah Runner to do this...don't skimp on the adhesive as you will be cutting these papers into 1/2" strips.  Start placing your feathers on the Turkey on the back end of the egg, where you sliced off the egg.  You will be using 2 lengths of 1/2" strips to make the body of your Turkey.  The strips with the plaid facing out are 4" in length the strips with the polka dots facing out are 3" in length.   The plaid strips are 1/2" x 4", and the Polka Dot strips are 1/2" x 3".  Unlike your Christmas tree each row you place on your body will have a 4" strip then a 3" strip - alternating. Place the strips adjacent to each other. The loopy ends will now be uneven - like architectural shingles. Placing your feathers in the right direction is the hardest part of the turkey.  When you get your Turkey dressed to about his waist, starting placing in his wings with Murdock Country Creations Autumn Striped Polished Stone Paper, these strips are all 4" x 1/2" and 2 pieces of Polished Stone Paper have been adhered back to back to make these double sided as well. Now continue working around the wings.

Here is the front view of the Turkey. When we got to the very front chest of the turkey (we ran out of plaid paper so we airbrushed the backside of the polka dot paper with E97 and Y  to give him a beard. From a design perspective this also tied the overall design of the Turkey together by balancing the airbrushed color in the back of the Turkey with the color in the front of the Turkey. Here is a closeup of how we placed the beard. We actually made 2 fans by placing the pin through all the strips and then gently fanning them out. The bottom fan for the beard has 5 - 4" strips and the top has 4 -4" strips.

(sorry for the blue type and the underlines...I seem to have a computer gliche)

Now airbrush the edge of the Styrofoam heart and the head with  E97.  I love how they both shimmer after airbrushing...who knew that Styrofoam could look so cool!  Now if you do not yet have a Copic Airbrush System you can paint your head and heart...However they will look very different painted as the color will be opaque.

Next trace around the heart onto the Sunshine Daisy paper from A2Z Essentials ( we used this paper for my large Pumpkin.)  You will need to buy special glue to glue your paper to the Styrofoam.  I used Aleene's Foamtastic -which bonds all types of foam.

Since this is going to be my Thanksgiving Centerpiece - I thought he needed a sign.  This great Happy Thanksgiving Stamp is from Hampton Arts..(and of course I love leaves).  I colored the sign with the following Copic Sketch Markers: YR07,R29,E97,Y35. Then I airbrushed around the edge with YR09 using the Chisel end of the marker..then for some added fun I also airbrushed the entire sign using the brush end of the same marker which gave me that great random splatter pattern.

To make the post for the sign - we stripped the ruffles off an hors d'oeuve's toothpick (since it is much taller than a traditional toothpick)

For the tail feathers we made cones - just like in Tree #2 and Tree #3 .  If you do not have an airbrush system, you may want to make your paper double sided since you will be able to see a lot of the inside of the cone.  I used 12- 4" squares of the American Traditional Designs PA0908- Nature Patchwork For the large tail feathers and 8 - 3" squares PA 0910 - Autumn Plaid also from TAD.

Use a 1/2 circle of chipboard to adhere the front side of your tail to. You will need 6 large cones and 3 small cones for the front.  Place the plaid cones between every other cone so the the patchwork print will be shown off when you look at the turkey from the front. 

Now adhere the backside of the tail to the other side of the chipboard.  You will need 6 large cones and 5 small cones as you will want the backside of the turkey to be extra full. Fill in the backside of the base of the turkey with additional 1/2" strips.  Before you assemble the tail airbrush the insides of the cones with E97 and Y35. Since Tom is a little heavy - My husband used a  2 1/2" drywall screw to hold the base of the heart to support the weight. (Place the screw, behind where you placed the original dowel)

To make the face I used movable eyes..I didn't have exactly the size I envisioned so I cut black circles from my smallest nestabilities circle die.  This made my eyes look large.  For the beak I cut out a elongated diamond shape.  For the waddle I took a scrap piece of lace doilies and airbrushed it deep red. Using a straight pin I attached the beak and the waddle.

From black cardstock construct a pilgrim hat.  My hat is 2 1/2" tall, The brim is 3 1/2" in diameter.  I used my circle nestabilities to cut the brim and to cut a 2" hole inside the brim for the hat to fit on my turkey's head.  I also cut a 2 1/2" circle for the top of the hat.  The buckle on the hat was a ribbon charm from Making Memories that I used a gold leafing pen to alter.

and finally Our Turkey is completed!!!

If you have any questions as you make your version of Our Turkey please do not hesitate to email us.

Thanks for your patience as we wrote these instructions today!!

My Thanksgiving Centerpiece- A Paper Turkey made from American Traditional Designs Papers

All week I have been dying to share this Turkey with you....I started making him last Saturday...I was trying to decide how to assemble him when my husband came home for lunch and pointed out that the current construction I was working on made him look more like a penguin then a Turkey...so low and behold four hours later my husband had totally redesigned my Turkey...Now in order for you to appreciate how truly gorgeous he is I am going to start my thanksgiving parade early...so you can see all the detail in him.. I will post step by step instructions on how to make him on Sunday November 4th.

The papers we used were from the Great Outdoors Earthtone Collection from American Traditional Designs PA 0910 Autumn Plaid, Nature Patchwork PA 0908 and The Polka Dots are from their Recipe Times - Earthtones - Recipe Time Dots - PA 0359.

The top back view as he ruffles his tail feathers (these are the same cones as Tree #2). These were made from 4" squares of Paper and 3" squares of the Plaid paper.  Since this paper was all single sided ...we of course airbrushed the inside of the cones.

The underside view of his tail feathers.

The side view of his body...these loops were placed on him like architectural shingles are laid on a roof. As you may have already guessed my husband is a carpenter and custom furniture designer!! (definitely a measure it kinda guy versus his wife who is an eye it kinda gal) Don't worry we took photos as we constructed this bird. The plaid strips are 4" x 1/2" strips and the dotted strips are 3" x 1/2" strips. The wings are constructed from Autumn Stripes Polished Stone paper from Murdock Country Creations.

We actually ran out of paper when we got to the chest of the turkey and decided that a little airbrushing  would fix that...I like how this broke up the front.  Now for his gobbler we used a scrap piece of paper doilies- airbrushed red.  His head is a styrofoam ball airbrushed with copic and I love the look...since the copic is translucent the whole head shimmers.  We didn't have exactly the right size eyes so we used the smallest circle from my nestabilities set and cut out black circles to mount the movable eyes on.

Here is without his hat.  The sign is a stamp from Hampton Arts!!

Now for you to get an idea of just how big this turkey really is here he is with my first pumpkins made from 3" balls:

A very special thanks to my husband who is an integral part of many of my creations...he gets it all...and is very supportive and involved in my creative process. I am so lucky to have him in my life ...and he certainly was worth waiting for....EVEN IF I WAS SINGLE INTO MY EARLY FORTIES!! It was worth the wait!!   So I guess it'll be okay if you have to wait one more day..for complete instructions including in progress photos.  I just love him!!  My husband and the Turkey..thanks HONEY!!

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you how truly spoiled I am  - my husband designs custom furniture for stamping, scrapbooking, and crafting. Since he gets it all..(what we do and how much stuff we have) he has designed some of the most functional furniture on the market....and its not cubes...it is real furniture custom designed for how you work- whether you have a tiny workspace or a whole room to play in.  He designs full furniture suites...If you have a dual office - play room - He can make it all function.  Check in on Monday as we nationally launch the first pieces of furniture.  Which you can add to your Christmas wish list!!

My Paper Pumpkin Patch

Here's my next pumpkin in my pumpkin patch, I used a 6" styrofoam ball and shaved a wedge off the bottom so that my pumpkin would sit flat.  I used 1/2" x 4" strips of this fun paper from A2Z Essentials Dulce Sunshine Collection - Sunshine Daisies S2.  I love its whimsical feel.  It took 2 1/2 sheets of 12 x 12 paper to make this large pumpkin which translates to approximately 180 strips. On the top two layers I trimmed my strips down to 3" strips. Do you have any idea how many boxes of pins I have used this week?? Here's a photo of the pumpkin patch so far:

I like things with texture and I love my cuttlebug...so I thought it would be nice to have a textured pumkin in my pumpkin patch. This pumpkin uses a 5" ball and stripes that are 4" by 1/2".  Cut all you strips first and them place sets of the strips inside your swirl A2 Embossing Folder. Place them in your cuttlebug machine ...your sandwich recipe is plate a, Plate b - embossing folder and then your 2nd plate B.  Crank the folder through the machine, unload you embossing folder and refill with more strips.  Repeat until all your strips are dry embossed. Now begin assembling your pumpkin, working from the bottom of the pumpkin up to the top of the pumpkin.

And here is the top view of my textured pumpkin I also texturized the stem and curly vines:

And of course here is a photo of the entire Pumkin Patch....

So which pumpkin is you favorite??  Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see what the true centerpiece for my Thanksgiving Table is....of all of the paper projects we have made this last week...(yes it has been a whole week of paper strips, styrofoam and pins) - Saturday's Post is by far my absolute favorite ...so don't forget to come back and see the next post!!   You have until Saturday Night at midnight to vote for your favorite tree...for a chance to win my Christmas Blog Candy!!  Good luck and thanks for visiting!!

A2Z Essentials Paper Pumpkins for your Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Now in the midst of designing my Forest - It occurred to me that months ago I had started a Thanksgiving Table Setting...but I didn't really have a centerpiece...I have napkins and place cards and gift bags, but still no centerpiece and as many of you know once the creative juices start flowing it's very hard to turn them off so you can sleep at night...it is always better to finish designing before you try to sleep ( at least that's what I keep trying to explain to my husband when I am in the midst of the creative process at 1 a.m.).  To make this mini Pumpkin I used 1/2" x 2" Strips of A2Z Essentials paper - Carefree Collection - Sunny Circles and a 3" ball. I shaved just a hair off the bottom of the ball so that it would sit flat.  When I approached the top of the pumpkin I switched to strips that were only 1 1/2'" long so that it would lay correctly at the top.  I made the stem by cutting a 1/2" strip of paper and I twirled it up the pencil slightly overlapping the paper each time around the pencil. Remove it slowly from the pencil and form it into a stem. To make the curly vines I cut 1/4" strips of shamrock green cardstock and curled it around my pencil and as I pulled it off the pencil I made it into a long curl. When I completed my first pumpkin ( Yes--there is a whole patch of pumpkins coming), I decided that the paper I had selected was to pale and of course my husband thought so too!!  And his suggestion was perfect - of course - airbrush it!!! (why didn't I think of that).  Here is what my pumpkin looked like before it was airbrushed:

Wow!! What a difference a little airbrushing can do!!  I used my Copic Airbrush System and YR 09 .  For my second pumpkin I decided to use my peach glitter cards from Die Cuts with a View.  I airbrushed this pumpkin as well.

And if you have been reading my blog over the past few months you know I LOVE GLITTER PAPER!!

Here is a top view of the glitter pumpkin:

Aren't they cute??  Stop in tomorrow to see my Pumpkin Patch grow!! And don't miss checking in on Saturday - you just won't believe how cool Saturday's post is!! (Remember - no one has been sleeping at my house).  And don't forget that you have until Saturday at Midnight to vote for your favorite tree and for a chance to win my Christmas Blog Candy!!  Place your vote in the comment section of my October 31st Post.  Thanks to everyone who has voted... See you tomorrow!

Art Institute Glitter Butterfly - Hello Friend

                        

In search of more sticky backed surfaces I could glitter I came across stickers from Ecstasy Crafts which are designed to be stitched.  I haven't stitched them yet as I have misplaced my pamphlet showing what they should look like when stitched.  Now today, that was actually a good thing, because when I went to peel them off to see how to use them I discovered that they were similar to lamenting sheets...and you know what that means.  A little glitter please. My recommendation for applying glitter accurately to your image is to use a plastic coffee stirrer. I always use transparent Art Institute Glitter. Simply snip the stirrer at an angle so it makes a tiny shovel. Then dip the shuffle into the glitter and apply the glitter where you want it. Using Art Institute Designer Dries Clear adhesive , I glued the butterfly to a piece of Sherbert Polished Stone Paper to highlight the glitter. Remember you need to place your glittered item on a light colored surface because the glitters are transparent. Then Ginger and I set out to design a card for my glittered Butterfly.  After choosing a green glitter card from Die Cuts with a View, we added paper from A2 Z Essentials.  We used sunshine leaves from the dulce sunshine collection, dreams 103 and possibilties 101 from the Imagination collection. if you are not familiar with this company yet, they have beautiful double sided papers.

Next we decided to Paper Pierce the Glittered Butterfly where it was suppose to be stitched. This really added dimension to the Butterfly. I used a paper piercing tool with a foam mat.  This allows the tool to make a large enough hole for you to see.  Then we decided to use some Dot Sparklers from Stampendous in the butterfly and as you can see I just couldn't stop adding a little bling here and a little bling there. The tiny paper butterflies are also from Ecstasy Crafts. These clippunches come in sets. First you punch the paper clip punch then line up the shape and you create a mini diecut which you can clip onto your card. 

You may have noticed that I rarely stamp a verse on the front of my card.  Usually I get so caught up in the design that I forget to leave space and I am still trying to build my verse collection. So today's challenge was to use a verse and I absolutely love the delicate font of the Hello Friend - this is from a beautiful set of clear stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry .  The set has verse for lots of occasions and I love using clear stamps especially for the verse, because often this is the last step in my card and I love that I can see where I am stamping.