Polished to Perfection

TLC160 Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!!  This week I thought I would try the TLC160 Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers as part of my design element.  For complete instructions on how to create this great negative effect using your cuttlebug A2 embossing folder visit the Splitcoast forum here. I decided to play off the small white polka dots in the stripe of my Merry Merry Argyle from One Heart One Mind by using the TLC160 negative effect with my new Swiss Dot A2 Embossing Folder from Cuttlebug. I created this effect by inking a brayer with Versamagic Orchid and applying the ink to the negative side of my cuttlebug embossing folder. Then I placed a piece of white cardstock into the folder and dry embosssed it. Using this technique the embossed areas remain white and the the none embossed areas pick up your favorite color of ink. Here is a closeup of the card:

This Great Easter Egg Tree is from Serendipity Stamps.  I stamped my image with Adriondack Pitch Black and then I used the following Copic Color Combinations to color my design:

Yellows: YO2,Y15, Y38   Yellow Oranges:YR65  Red Violets: RV00, RV02, RV06, RV29, RV34 Greens: G17, G21,  Yellow Greens: YG03, YG45  Earthtones: E33, E97  Blue Violets BV00, BV01 Violet: V04, V09

Next I used my Spica Microglass flake pens to add a little bling to the eggs on my tree.  I used My Spellbinders Circle Nestabilies to diecut my design and a second dark pink cardstock mat which I placed as a mat for my design. I decide to shift the dark pink mat off center on my card to color balance the Cute - Easter Chick paper from Karen Foster Designs.  The floral ribbon is from American Crafts. To pull my design together I used small scraps of my striped paper to accent my swiss dot print.   I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!! Thanks for visiting!!

Jack's Product Review of the JustRite Monogram Stamper

Just as I predicted Jack loves my JustRite Monogram Stamper.   Within hours of waking up on Saturday morning Jack spotted my stack of Provo Craft Band aid boxes and asked if he could have one to keep his money in.  I suggested we alter it  which he thought was a great idea. He chose his favorite Murdock Country Creations paper -Nature's Gift.  He measured all the dimensions (Since Dad is a carpenter - he is learning how to read a tape measure) and carefully covered his box.  This is the box he designed. 

His review of my new toy went something like this: Way cool!!, Sweet!! Awesome!! and when can we make our next project!!!

A raving review from a 10 year old!! He loved the fact that he could design his own saying and put his initial in the center of his saying.  The letters from the small letter set are tiny but he patiently placed them all in place by himself.  So if you haven't taken yours out of the box yet- you don't know how much fun you are missing!! Just ask Jack!!

This was a great design project for him as he had to count the number of letters in his design and find the center letter and figure out how to place them on the rim so that they would be nicely spaced.  He also had to place them on the rim in reverse. He wanted to know how many people had already seen the Easter bottle with his name on it since it had been posted.  And he was very specific that I show you all the sides of his Stash box so here is the front:

He insisted that I take a photograph which showed your the cool ribbon on the side.  He also informed me that Polka dotted ribbon was way to girlie for him.  Guess mom will be investing in some more masculine trim in the near future.   I was so excited that we were able to spend some fun quality time designing together...that I was walking on clouds for several hours!!  I love that my entire family is involved in the design process and  really gets it!!  Once he had stamped his image then he used my Circle Scalloped Nestabilities to die cut his image and dry emboss it with my Cuttlebug...another toy Jack hadn't played with yet but loved.  Then we decided to chalk the edge of the diecut with blue pearlescent chalk from Pebbles Inc. to give the diecut more depth.

Didn't it come out great!!

Tips for using the small letter set with the monogram stamper -During my first class, Sharon came up with 2 great tips - Sharon thanks for letting me share them . 

Tips 1: When you open your set you should apply ink to the small letter set and stamp the whole set on a scrap of paper and keep it as a reference. Then clean them before you begin your project.

This will allow you to see which of the stamps are actually apostrophe's since it is almost impossible to figure this out when you are looking at them in reverse image when you are using them.

Tip 2: Once you have your letters placed in the channel in the rim - do not remove them to adjust the spacing.  Just simply place the tweezers which come with the set over the letter and move it in the channel.  This tip will save you a ton of time.   Thanks Sharon!!

Tip 3: Once you have designed your stamp with all these tiny letters, I recommend stamping extra images and setting them aside for additional projects.

I think Jack is a future blogger. What do you think???  He is so excited that his project will be on the internet. I am sure Jack would love to read a few comments on his project tomorrow!! (hint, hint!!)

Rubber Stamp Tapestry's - CHA Introductions

For those of you who love Rubber Stamp Tapestry's Peg stamps - you will be excited to see that Susan has introduced ten new sets for Spring:

Spring Blooms, Rose Trio, Spring Offering, Peppermint Petunia, Yumy's Garden, Summer's Gold, Southern Dogwood, Moonlit Vase and Blue Eden.  These sets are now available in your favorite stores.  To view the new sets visit Rubber Stamp Tapestry.

Plus 5 new clear sets: Nature Plate 4, Nature Plate 5, Corner & Heart Doily, Tatting and Crochet and Fabric and buttons.  Here is a close up of Nature Plate 4:

Don't you just love this set!! Butterflies and beautiful vines and ferns.  This set will breathe new life into  your collection of Tapestry Peg Stamps.  The possibilities are endless.

It was so hard to decide which of the new sets to start designing with (since I loved all of them) as always the endless possibilities are swirling around in my head.

I began my card by stamping my sentiment in versamark and embossing it with Adriondack Clay Embossing Powder. The sentiments are from Rubber Stamp Tapestry's Word Plate 1- I love the versatility of this set. Notice that I left room to stamp a little of the delicate vine to the left and the right of my sentiment.
Next I stamped the delicate vines using an image from the New Nature Plate 4 clear stamp set. I stamped the vine using Versamagic- Hint of Pesto -this is a multi surface ink that looks like chalk and is available in dew drops.

The first  peg set I decided to play with is "Spring Offerings" I just adore the little vase. I decided to create the three beautiful bouquets of flowers which I framed using my scalloped nestabilities. I determined from my nest which scalloped oval would be the right size for 3 ovals on my 5" x 7" card. Then I cut and embossed the three ovals. In order to highlight the embossed edge of my ovals I placed a smaller scalloped oval inside my diecut oval (to work as a mask/stencil) and using Pebble's Shimmering Chalks I chalked the embossed edges of the scallop. I used my yellow shimmering chalks to color two of the scalloped diecuts and then I chalked the third image with a orange shimmering chalk.  This 3rd diecut will be my center image.

Next I placed my vase near the bottom of my scalloped oval diecut.  Using the VersaMagic Aloe Vera, I added tiny leaves to the vase.  Then I added tiny flowers using Versamagic - Mango Madness, Pink Grapefruit and Perfect Plumeria.  To give the vase additional depth and dimension, I chalked the right handside of the vase with mauve chalk.

For this design I really wanted a wide ribbon, but my assortment of wider ribbons was very limited - so I improvised and selected a section of paper from a sheet of paper from Best Creations which gave me a beautiful stripe to place behind my images.  I used foam strips to mount the diecut images on my card to add extra depth to the design. 

Sorry for the laspe in my posts....but don't worry- I have been busy playing with tons of new products - so stayed tuned....March will be filled with tons of new projects!!

Outlines Rubber Stamp's Cupid Corn Valentine Treat Bags

For those of you who love Candy Corn ...you will be very excited to hear that it isn't just for Halloween any more...it is now made in white, pink and red and called Cupid Corn.  You can find it at Walmart or in some grocery store chains.  For those of you who need a great idea for your children's Valentine's Day Party ...this might be it!! 

If you have been reading my blog for months - you know how much I love projects that use up scraps and this project is ideal...since it uses tiny pieces of paper.  If you are not familiar with Outlines Rubber Stamps you should visit their site they have tons of tutorials and projects available on their website.  I love their stamps because you can do so much with them.

These treat bags were made with their Valentine's Day Frames.  I stamped these on Luster White Paper using Adriondack Pitch black ink and then colored in the images using my Copic Markers.  I like to 3-D these frames so I stamped the C363 I Love you image a second time onto the pink floral paper from Pebbles Inc and used foam pop ups to pop the framed I Love You.

For this treat bag Iused C288 Be Mine and popped up the outside frame...using narrow foam strips.

Here I added Rhinestones from KaiserCrafts to the C248 Kisses frame and decide not to 3-d the topper...but I did stamp the image 3 times on different papers to get this design.

This treat bag is C419 XOXO. This frame had several coloring possibilities but I decided to color in both the inner and outer circle designs.  To individualize each treat ...you can now switch the frames from each stamp set around to create mutiple designs.  This is a perfect project for the whole family to participate in.

Happy Heart Day - Sweetheart boxes- Updated!!

Tonight - I am on a design roll...so I thought I would just show you a quick picture of these cute Sweetheart Boxes - which would be perfect for your Valentine's Day Party's.  I promise to back track tomorrow and write directions for my last 2 post!!    Be Creative!!  The stamps are the Happy Heart Day set from Stampin' Up....aren't they adorable!!!

Rather than coloring in the happy heart day elephant - I decided to stamp the image on a patterned piece of paper. I painted his toenails red with my Spica Micro Glass Flake Pen and cut out the image.  Next I stamped the image on White Luster (the Paper Cuts) and colored in the in the hearts and using my red copic marker.  To emphasize the  stems I highlighted them with the Melon Spica. When I was designing the sweetheart boxes I wanted to be able to see the candy...so I used a Marvy Heart punch to make a heart shape in the elephants tummy....after shaking the box several times I realized that the probability that i would ever be able to position a conversation heart in the right place was slim to nil so I filled in the area that I punched out with a leftover red scrap from a Cuttlebug A2 Textile Plate.  Now as luck had it---when I moved into my new studio I reorganized my cardmaking supplies by category and when I went to the Valentine's day box...it just so happened that I had these great conversation Hearts embellishments from EK Success.  They come in a variety of colors and sayings and luckily the pink and white ones just happen to have appropriate sayings.  The red cardstock mat is dry embossed using the      A2 Cuttlebug Folder.  I used my rectangular scalloped nestabilities to die cut the image and then added all the Rhinestones from Kaiser Crafts...they are very addictive and come in tons of colors.  Each packet has three sizes of rhinestones.  To wrap the box I used                          from Pebbles Inc

Next I decided to make another using the cute little mouse from The Happy Heart Day Set (Stampin' UP)

I used my oval scalloped nestabilities to make a window in my wrap.  I then stamped my mouse image and tried to center it in the scalloped window...but no matter what I couldn't quite get enough of the image...so I decided to make it 3-D by stamping and coloring a second image of the mouse.  I decided to use a foam square for more added dimension.  The pink heart is a heart fastener from Heidi Grace, which I had to cut the fastner off the back as it was just a little to deep.  The flower on the heart is a glittered rub on from Cloud 9 which I added a pink rhinestone to.  The Polka Dotted flowers are from Doodlebug.  The Polka dotted Ribbon is from Creative Impressions and the floral paper is from Pebbles Inc.  The heart rhinestone was originally clear and I altered it using my R29 Copic Sketch Marker. Now as always the design possibilities for these boxes are endless....I would love to see what I have inspired you to make with these boxes.  Please feel free to email photos of your boxes!!! 

Lockhart Angel with Roses

Tonight I wanted to show you another card using the Rubber Stamp Tapestry Pottery Garden Peg stamps. Using my large Nestabilities scalloped rectangle I die cut a rectangle and used it for a pattern to make my Pottery Garden Border.  But tonight I stamped the leaves first and then added the flowers. I used pearlescent5 orchid and pearlescent purple brillance inks for the flowers and olive and fresh green versacolor for the leaves.  Next I airbushed the outside of the card lightly with Y13- lemon yellow.  Using my Gold Krylon pen I edged the card.

Now I have 2 versions of this card and normally my husband would be here to weigh in on which version he likes ...but he is at a Hockey Game...so you'll have to help me decide which version you like better.This is the original card I designed but I like it half done as well.  What do you think??

I was so excited to get my angels from the Lockhart Stamp Company- I have had my eyes on them for months so I was elated that this angle fit inside the scalloped oval and I thought it made a very sweet birthday card.  The Gingham Paper is My Baby Girl Dot from Pebbles Inc.  I stamped the Angel with adriondack pitch black and colored in the angel with the following Copic Markers: RV10 - Pale Pink,Y11 Pale Yellow, V12 Pale Lilac, B000 Pale Porcelian Blue and I shaded the wings with BG01 Aqua Blue.  I should have used YR00 Powder Pink for the angels flesh...mine has a slight sun burn.(Oh Well).For the stems of the flowers I used my true green prismacolor pencil to highlight the stems and pull some green into the interior image to balance the green in the borders.  I used the Clear Spica Micro Glass Flake Pen to highlight the hair, the wings,the floral bouquet and the stripes on the angel's dress.  The Clear Spica just makes the angel sing...wish you could see it!!  I added a Gold Krylon Pen to both the inside and the outside of my gingham mat.  To add some weight to the corner of the scalloped mat I made gold circles on each corner and of course I added a little bling with Rhinestones from KaiserCrafts.

Rubberstamp Tapestry - Pottery Garden

Tonight I wanted to post this card because I wanted to take the opportunity to say Thank You to everyone who visits my blog!!!  I love being able to share my creations with you and I appreciate how busy everyone is - so Thanks for stopping in and visiting with a friend...I hope that the time you spend with me each day is an inspiration and a little slice of much needed "ME TIME" which I know will be far and few between in the hectic days before Christmas. Now it occurred to me tonight - that those of you who are super organized...probably have all your Christmas cards made and are just finishing the last of your Christmas Shopping.  And perhaps you might enjoy a non holiday post- and a card no less. I can't believe that it has been over a month since I have posted a card - I guess I got off on a serious paper crafting tangent...but as a designer sometimes I just have to go with the inspired flow when it hits.

I have always loved Rubber Stamp Tapestry Peg Stamps for their extraordinary versatility.  If you aren't familiar with their line - their stamps are individual images on pegs...which means you design your image...How COOL is that!!  This set - Pottery Garden comes with one traditional wooden stamp - which is the 5 terracotta pots and then it has 4 peg stamps - 2 small flowers and 2 leaf images.  So you guessed it the possibilities are endless.  To create this card I used tons of my favorite items - First I cut and dry embossed a large oval with my Spellbinders Nestabilities, using my largest scalloped oval nestabilites I cut out a scalloped oval using my nestabilites from Nellie's Garden Tiny Flower from Pebbles Inc.  I also dry embossed this die cut.  Next I used my Krylon Gold Leafing Pen to edge the scallop and set it aside to dry.

Using adirondack terracotta ink I stamped my pots (placing them low enough on my oval that I would still have room to stamp thank you.)  Next I began adding in the large blue flowers using versacolor royal blue...stamp each peg image twice...this will give your arrangement depth.  Next I stamped in small purple flowers using versacolor violet, then I added in the mini ferns using versacolor sage and then the smaller leaves in versacolor bamboo. The Thank you is from a clear word phrase set from Rubber Stamp Tapestry as well. I stamped Thank you with the royal blue and set my image aside to dry.

Now cut out a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of white cardstock and lightly trace the edge of your scallop die with a pencil. To make your floral frame - stamp your peg stamps in the same order as your pottery garden.  Overlap your flowers and leaves into the pencil lines. ( Note that your scallop is not symmetric - so remember which direction you laid it in to trace it).   After I completed my floral frame - I erased my pencil lines and trimmed my paper close to the edge of the floral frame. Since I felt the corners were too white I decided to adorn them using the Tonic Fleur II Corner Punch to decorate the corners of my image.  Using my Gold Krylon Pen I colored the decorative corners - then I edged the paper with the same pen.  To finish the gold I then carefully drew in the line around the decorative corner.  For a little bling I added in light green rhinestones from Kaiser Krafts onto the decorative corners.  The ribbon is from American Crafts - Olive #1.  For the card base I cut out an A2 Card from Nellie's Garden Tiny Flower.   If you have not been to the Rubber Stamp Tapestry website yet- they have 3 great video tutorials on how to use their stamps here is the link Rubber Stamp Tapestry.- go to the video and animated demos section of their site.

To finish the center image I used my prismacolor pencils to add in color under the pots so that they were not floating on my card- I used light cerulean blue,and true green.  I also used a touch of poppy red in my pots to highlight them.  Then I assembled my card and using my clear Spica Micro glass Flake pen I highlighted the flowers on the entire image and I also higlighted the word Thank You.  I wish I could get a great photo of how spectacular the card looks with just a hint of clear spica!!   

Directions for a Paper Christmas Wreath

Sorry for the delay in this post..I just ran out of steam last night...So here with a full night of sleep..are the complete directions...Happy Crafting!! My house is looking very festive!!

Now while I was busy making Christmas trees number 5-7... Angela was busy making this great paper wreath...It looks stunning on my wall ...I kidnapped it for photography and never gave it back!!

Supplies you will need: 12" styrofoam wreath - your finished wreath will be 14",30-40 - 6" x 3" strips of cordinating paper. (You can make a much fuller wreath by doubling the number of strips),1- 12 x 12 sheet of red cardstock for the bow and lots of straight pins.

Directions for the Wreath:

1. Cut 30-40 strips of paper 6"x 3" -amount will vary depending on the size of your wreath and how close together you place your strips. (We suggest cutting one strip and following the directions to the end and see if the strip will fit the size wreath you purchased)
2. To make this project a little easier, rather tha placing individual strips on the wreath, Angela placed fringed strips. To make the fringe cut 2/3 of the way into the strip and make your cuts about 3/4" wide.  For her wreath one cut of the fringe overlapped.
3. Next start attaching the strips to the wreath using straight pins.  Make sure to overlap the rows so that the foam wreath does not show. As you place each strip of paper on the wreath use a pencil to curl the fringe to get this great sassy look.

Now originally Angela - had a velvet bow on her wreath...but my husband insisted that we needed to make even the bow out of paper.  So you can imagine the voice in her head..."I should have known...there would be another step or two to finish the project"

Directions for Making the Paper Bow:

1. Cut a 6" x 12" piece of red cardstock and place it on your scor-it bord with the 6" side at the top.  Now score at 1" intervals. Now flip the paper  45 degrees and score at 3" intervals. Pick up the right hand side of the sheet and fold it into the center line.
2. Now fold the left hand side into the center line.Starting at the top fold the score lines like an accordian.  Next using scissors cut about 2 1/4" into the valleys of the accordian folds of the bow....this will allow you to fluff out your bow.
3. Now cut a 1" x 3" piece of paper and wrap it around the center of the bow and adhere it. Now cut 2 tails - 1" x 7" and Cut out a notch in the bottom of each strip.  Using a glue gun attach the 2 tails to the back of the bow.
4. For a little bling use Christmas Red Stickles to add glitter to the top edges of the bow, as well as on the center of the bow and add a little accent to the bow tails.  Set aside to dry. Adhere bow to wreath using a glue gun. 
5. Now find inexpensive 3 'D ornaments to embellish your wreath.  Angela used gold snowflakes and trimmed off the back of each ornament.

Have fun creating...we would love to see what we inspired you to create...Sorry for the delay in posting directions...I got the fun part of this project...writing the directions!!

Directions for Peppermint Pebbles Christmas Tree #8

Finally here are the directions for making the Peppermint Pebbles Christmas Tree!!

Supplies: 1 - 12 X12 Sheet of American Crafts Maids- A-Milking, 1 - 12 x12 Sheet of Christmas Twinkles- Pebblies Inc., 1 1/2 bags of clear glass accent gems, glue gun, styrofoam cone, smallest circle die cut from your Spellbinders Nestibilitie set, Designer dries clear adhesive from the Art Glitter Institute, an ornament (for top of tree-from Walmart) and a bunch of berries on wire (from the Dollar Tree Store).

Directions:

1. Wrap your Maids- a- milking paper around your cone and trim off the excess paper.  Use a glue gun to adhere the paper to the cone.
2. Using you smallest circle from your Spellbinder's Nestabilitie set - cut out 120 snowflakes from your Christmas Twinkle Paper (you should use about a 1/2 sheet). Using Designer Dries Clear Adhesive from the Art Glitter Institute adhere the snowflakes to the backside of your clear glass accents.  Set these aside to dry. (if you do not have the nestabilities circles yet- use a small circle punch -sized to match your pebbles)
3. Starting at the bottom of the tree adhere the snowflake pebbles with your glue gun, leaving room to add the red berries between your snowflake pebbles.  Since the berries are on wire - simply poke the berries into the cone.  Continue adding layers of Pebbles and Berries until you reach the top of the cone. 
4. Using your Circle Nestabilities find the circle size to match the top of your cone and cut out a circle from the Maids-a-Milking paper.
5. To adorn the top of your Tree - we went to Walmart and purchased this three dimensional topper.  Clip of the plastic hook and fill in the spot left from the hook with red stickles...the colors match perfectly.

Here is a close up of the tree:

Have fun creating this beautiful tree...thanks again to Angela for bringing this tree from design concept in my head to a real finished project!!

Peppermint Pebbles Wreath and Christmas Tree #8

Angela and I had another great play date...we collaborate on design work often.  This week she came by with the beginnings of an idea for this cute wreath made from the Glass Accent Stones that you put in the base of a flower arrangement.  She had glued them onto this Christmas Twinkles Paper from Pebbles Inc which made them look like Christmas Peppermints.  Next she adhered them to a narrow chipboard ring and then she tied green and red ribbon between the pebbles to cover up the chipboard. I looked at it and immediately my brain went into over drive... It was very cool but a little skinny for a wreath.  So out came my set of scalloped circle nestabilities to make a green cardstock wreath, which looked a little flat until we used the swirls A2 embossing folder to dry emboss it.  The wreath would be great with a school photo in it, but since we were in the midst of design fever we decided to use a snow couple from Murdock Country Creations Peppermint Snowman Polished Stone Paper.  For the back we cut out a full scalloped circle and embossed it, then we decided to adorn it with Christmas verbiage in case it twirled on the tree.

So here is what the backside looks like:

I love this clear stamp set from Hampton Arts- it has a ton of circular sayings and because it is a clear set you can interchange all the verbiage.  This set also works great as a pail topper.  As you can also see we ran the image back through my cuttlebug to get a dry embossed edge which really dresses up the verbiage.

Now of course while we were making the wreath -I was thinking wouldn't these pebbles make a great tree. So Angela went home and has been working on this tree design for most of the week- I love it!!Great job Angela!!  It's always more fun to design projects with friends!! Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day to make all the things in my head!!

It's getting late tonight - so I will post complete directions on how to make this tree on tomorrow's post!!   Thanks for visiting!!