Polished to Perfection

JustRite Christmas Day 8 - Christmas Cookie Swap

Now we could have titled this post just as easily....YES HONEY I REALLY NEED IT ALL!!  because this next project used more tools (AKA Toys) then any project we have created so far. For CHA we designed a cute apron with a Summer Salad Recipe which you may have seen a picture of on the JustRite Blog in July.  For this project we used that apron as a jumping off point.  As we were playing a couple of weeks ago - We were brainstorming about using the Apron Die from AccuCut to make a Christmas Cookie Swap book. Now with my busy work schedule I don't always get to make all the ideas that are rolling around in my head...but Angela does...so here is another great project brought to reality by Angela.  Collaborating is so much fun!! 

Here is the front of the Christmas Cookie Swap Book.  Wouldn't it be fun to invite all your friends to a cookie exchange and a night of stamping. 

 

To recreate this book, you will need to diecut 2 Chipboard aprons using the AccuCut Apron Die and 12 aprons from double sided Christmas Paper. Use the first four aprons to cover the chipboard covers. Use one apron pocket to wrap around the chipboard cover. This paper is all from American Crafts and is now available in a Christmas Paper Pack. Next use the bind it all to bind together your aprons . Angela used 3/4" red wire to create this size book.

To decorate the first set of Apron Fronts Angela used the Candy Cane Tonic Border Punches and the Fleur II Corner Tonic punch.The stamped images are from theJB 08130 JustRite Baking Ensemble Set. To decorate the recipes Angela used borders from the Three Border set - which includes borders for from the Library of/the Desk of/the Kitchen of.  She decided to make her book using family recipes from her kitchen and her moms kitchen and she used the Times Roman Font.  These will be sweet gifts for her family!

 

For these pages Angela used the Martha Stewart Scalloped Border Punch and a Tonic Snowflake Border Punch.  Now some of the pages she decided to leave blank to put photos of her friends at the party ...or perhaps pictures of her cookies:

 

Here are the last set of pages in her book:

Don't you just love how the borders and centers are all interchangeable!!  For the page on the left she used the royal tonic border punch.  These punches are some of our favorites because they are so versatile.  You can use them alone or place them in the border system and design your own borders...you choose the spacing!!  Simple to use and they punch cardstock beautifully.

These stamps are now available for pre-order on the JustRite Website. They will begin shipping Mid-September.

A JustRite Christmas Day One

It's hard to believe that Summer is almost over and it is time to be thinking about Fall Projects and Christmas already.  My kids have returned to Arizonia for school  and it is time to share all the projects that I have been working on over the past few months for CHA and JustRite. 

This fun pail is from Stampendous. For this project I first chose the kind of Chocolate Kisses for my pail.  If you haven't been to the Hershey Chocolate Kiss section of Walmart lately you will be overwelmed by how many kinds of Kisses there are (yes it is a section of the aisle).  But then again you may be inspired when you see all the options available. They have little tags that say It's a Girl, It's a Boy, Happy Birthday and Thank You.  Plus all the flavor choices. So stay tuned for lots of projects using "CHOCOLATE"

The Giant Stamped image is from the new JustRite Stampers Collection - Notice that the center is the same but the borders are different.  You will love all the design possibilites with this new stamp set - you can see the graphics for the new set here:JB 08150 Christmas Stamp Ensemble.  The set is 3 1/4" and comes with 6 designer borders and 6 designer centers which means you can interchange all the images as well as write your own sentiment inside the center on the stamp. The set does not come with the wooden stamper - you will need to order that separately -JB 08117 Harmony Classic Stamper III.    Or you can purchase the JB 08140 Harmony Classic Circle III Stamp Ensemble which has the wood block and 6 additional Interchangeable Designer Centers and Designer Borders.  You can now pre-order your stamps from the JustRite Website, they will begin shipping in mid September.

To get the distress feel for the image I multiloaded my stamp with green and red ink, so that it would coordinate with my Basic Grey Paper.  I used Spellbinder's Nestabilites to diecut my images in circles and scalloped circles.  This stamp uses the largest dies from your sets.

To Jazz up the sides of the clear pail Angela and I decided to use the Candy Cane Border Punch from Tonic Studios to create this fun 3-D Border.  First use the punch to punch the border in the green cardstock. Then punch additional candy canes from red cardstock- retrieve the bows that fall out of the punch cut. Next place red cardstock behind the green cardstock and adhere the two together.  Play with the bows to make them stick out from the cardstock and use tiny glue dots to adhere the bows to the border.  The embellishments between the candy canes are epoxy stickers from Best Creations.  Have a pail you would like to share with everyone post a link in the comment section of my post.

Tonic Studio's Butterfly Punch Card #2

Here is a sneak peek at today's card...I'll be back this afternoon to share with you the directions...but I just couldn't wait any longer to share it with everyone!!  I told you I was having a blast with this butterfly border punch from Tonic Studios!!  See you soon!!

Sorry for the delay in posting instructions with CHA just around the corner - I have lots of deadlines to meet.   Now I just love the possibilities of this Tonic Studio Butterfly Boot Punch.  You can use it as a single image or you can use it in the Border Punch System.  You can link the butterfly designs or you can vary the heights of the butterflies, which is what I chose to do in this design.  I envisioned a beautiful garden with butterflies flying above it.  I started by punching the butterflies then using -a peg leaf stamp for Rubber Stamp Tapestry I placed the leaves under the Butterflies leaving room for the Daisies using Versacolor Fresh Green. The daisy peg stamp is from the SFL 34034 Pansy & Daisy  peg stamp set from Rubber Stamp Tapestry. I stamped the daises in purple brillance ink and then I highlighted the center with  Sky Blue Spica Micro Glass Flake Pens.  Next I used the leaf peg stamp to design a daisy border across the top once again leaving room for my Daisy to be stamped next.  Using the stamped leaves as a guideline I then used my Melon Spica Micro Glass Flake Pen to highlight the leaves.  I used my Cuttlebug Swirl A2 Embossing Folder to dry emboss the purple cardstock is from the World Win Papers.  The Purple and White and the Green and White Polka Dot Ribbons are from Creative Impressions.   The background paper is from A2Z Essentials.  I then punched the butterflies up the side of my 5 x 7 card...I love that this punch can be used in both directions.  For a little bling I added rhinestones from KaiserCrafts and I used my clear Spica pen to the last butterflies I punched. I so wish my photgraphs showed off the Spica's better.                  

Tonic Studio's Butterfly Border Punch - Card #1

Furthering my quest to use the scraps I keep generating I designed this card.  Don't you just love the Tonic Studio Butterfly Border Punch??  Yep...those beautiful tiny butteryflies and dots are a border punch!!! I love anything with butterflies and I have been dying to use this punch since I got it...and every once in a while I have been playing with it..punching it into scraps envisioning all the cool things I could do with it once I finished all my Christmas Projects....I am sure you will see several projects using this punch.  To view the other projects I have made using Tonic Studio Punches go to the category typelist of the right handside of my blog and click on Tonic Studios- this will allow you to see all the projects I have posted using Tonic Studio Punches. 

I decided to use black cardstock for my card so that the butterflies would pop and I decided to add a Peel Off Butterfly Sticker also from Best Creations.

I used my Copic Sketch Markers to color in the Butterfly so that it would coordinate with my paper.  I used the following colors:

Here is a photo showing you the beginning of the Copic Coloring of the butterfly:

All of the glitter paper from Best Creations is suitable for additional Copic Color to be added into the design I need to play a little more to see how much shading can actually be acheived on this printed cardstock.

I decided not to do any shading of the butterfly as I didn't want to draw to much attention to it- as this might throw off the balance of the card. This particular set of Peel off Stickers also came with some beautiful floral stickers which I added just below the punched butterflies.

Next I used my Heidi Swap large clear Thanks stamp and embossed it in super fine detail balack embossing powder from ranger.  Then I added in Seafoam White and Gold Embossed Flourishes use my Rubber Stamp Tapestry Flourish Plate 1 Set - in the same way I added them to yesterday's Cherish Card.  Stop back in tomorrow to see the next card I designed with this great punch!! 

Cherish Love - With Flourishes

Angela - is always getting after me to use my scraps ---or at least organize them - so as I was designing my congratulations card it occurred to me that just by adding a few stamped flourishes to the paper from Best Creations I could easily make a beautiful simply card.  I am sure that many of you would love to have the time to stamp and make intricate cards...but sometimes just simply is striking.  Here is a picture of the entire 12 x 12 sheet of paper:

Here is just the section that I started this card with:

I simply added in some black flourishes like yesterday's card - embossed in superfine detail black embossing powder from Ranger.  Then I added the Word Cherish from Heidi Swap embossed in black and then I decided that I needed to balance off the white on the right hand side of the card by adding some white flourishes on the other three sides of the paper.  Then I began thinking about the things that I Cherish and I decided to add the word love- which is from my Rubber Stamp Tapestry Word Phrase set.  (Wahoo!! I am really getting to use this entire set!!).  I added the bottom love first and then decided to stamp it an extra time just to emphasis how much I Cherish Love..wether it be from my husband, my family or my frriends it is an essentail ingredient for my design process!!  For a little extra detail I used my Tonic Corner Punch.  I just love making designer paper my own!!  Now that I have showed you how simple it is to enhance your designer paper maybe you will be inspired to try it too!!...it's lots of fun!!!

Decorate a CD Gift Box using Lockhart Snowmen

I absolutely adore these snowmen from the Lockhart Stamp Company...they are individual stamps ..so you can make your own family.  I also love their holly and bough border (9002 Holiday Ribbon from the Millinery Collection). Anyone who know me persoanlly knows I love snowman, they adorn all of my handpainted christmas ornaments and my snowman paper designs.  I absolutely love the possibilities these cute little snowman have.  I found these great CD Boxes at the Dollar Store - they come 3 in a packet with a variety of fun designs. I am always looking for great gift ideas and I thought these would be cute with a CD or even with a Gift Card inside the box.

So to start this project I cut a 4 1/2" x 4" piece of white cardstock, then I stamped the Holiday Ribbon border. The border was longer than my paper, so I used a mask on both sides of my paper so that I could make a square frame with the bough border.  Next I cut a Scalloped Oval using my Spellbinders Nestabilities I used Steel Blue Elan Metallics from World WIn and dry embossed it with my Snowflake A2 Embossing Folder. (choose the size oval that fits inside your bough frame).  To color the bough border I used YG67 Copic Markers to color the holly leaves and then I used Apple Green Prismacolr Pencil to color the boughs.  Then I highlighted the holy with my Olive Spica Micro Glass Flake Pens and the boughs with my Melon Spica.  I colored in the berries with my Red Spica.

Using Adriondack Pitch Black I stamped all four snowman and colored them with a combination of Copic markers and Spica Pens.  Then I cut each one of the snowmen our and placed 3 of them on my scalloped oval using foam squares.  I used 2 layers of foam squares to add the smallest Snowman to my family.  For the snow I used snowtext writer and Crystal Glitter from the Art Glitter Institute.  I used a pallete knife to put the snow in place, since my snowman were 3-D.  I placed the tallest snowman on the right hand corner.  To balance the red in my card I used American Crafts Rudolph paper to mat my image.

Know if you have been reading my blog - you know I always like to do one more step...so as I was writing this blog it occurred to me that the Tonic Snowflake Border Punch...Punches the cutest scrap baby snowflakes - so of course I retrieved the the snowflakes from the belly of my punch and they just happened to be this beautiful pale blue and a perfect size to add to my card.  So here is the upgraded design: 

Aren't the baby snowflakes cute??  In the larger version of this photo you can actually see the shine of the microglass flakes- I was so hopeful that you might be able to see them in this photo post...it really makes my cards just pop.

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!!   

Christmas tree #3 using Tonic Holly Punch

Now as we were assembling Christmas Tree # 2, the next light bulb went off that we could also make a beautiful tree using the Tonic Holly Corner Punch and Shamrock Green Cardstock from Worldwin.  The corner punch would round off the square and create a beautiful diecut as well.  To make Christmas Tree # 3, you will need a 2 7/8" x 7 7/8" styrofoam cone and 59 - 2" x 2" squares of Shamrock green cardstock.  Next punch one corner of each square with the Tonic Holly Punch.  Turn your square 45 degrees and place the punched corner at the top (north) now gently roll in the eastern corner and the western corner, do not crease, glue these together to make a cone shape. Note: these cones are slightly harder to make into cones without creasing them.  Follow the directions from Christmas Tree #2 to assemble your tree. For a finishing touch I added a red rhinestone from Kaiser Crafts to the tip of each bough branch for a little bling. SInce my tree was primarily red and green, I used my Copic Airbrush system and R29 to airbrush my snowflake red. What I loves most is that the snowflake still shimmered even after I airbrushed it.

         

Check in tomorrow to see the next tree in the forest!! For this tree I added a gold doilie for a tree skirt.  I am still trying to decide which tree I like best. Which tree do you like best?

Stained Glass Poinsettia Card using Copic Sketch and Airbrush System

Do you love the look of dry embossing, but never have the time to dry emboss?? Help is here!! You can now dry emboss you brass stencils by using a Wizard or a Cuttlebug. I found that I did get a deeper dry emboss from my Wizard, as it exerts 3000 lbs of pressure. This is the second card I taught at Silver Fox Stamps and More.  The stained glass Poinsettia Stamp is from Silver Fox also.  I love the stained glass effect you can get with Copic Sketch Markers.  After Coloring in the stamped image with the following Copic Colors : Y13,YR07,B28,G07,R29,R59. I used Y26 to color the bell. Next I cut the image out and inked the entire image with a Versamark Watermark pad and used clear embossing powder to heat emboss the entire image. This makes the Copic colors richer and deeper in coloring and gave me a beautiful stained glass effect.Next I cut a Black Kromekote mat for the stained glass image.

To create the background mat, I used a Dreamweaver stencil LJ882 Diamond Grid and dry embossed it in my Wizard. This technique is called faux tile.   Thanks Theresa for teaching me this great technique!! You will see more cards using this technique next week.

Here is the Wizard Sandwich Recipe for Dry Embossing a Stencil:

White cutting mat, stencil, paper, Polymer tan mat, 2 thin pieces of chipboard and  White Embossing mat. To get an even deeper dry emboss, spritz you paper with paper glide just before you run it through the Wizard.

Here is the Cuttlebug Sandwich Recipe for Dry Embossing a Stencil:

A plate, b Plate, stencil, paper, Polymer tan mat (from Spellbinders) 2 thin pieces of chipboard and your second B plate.  Note: the Polymer Tan Mat is what makes the image dry emboss. To get an even deeper dry emboss, spritz you paper with paper glide just before you run it through your Cuttlebug.

Next I airbrushed the stencil with Y13 and Shaded the outside edges by airbrushing with Y17.  Leave the stencil in place and ink with a Versamark Watermark pad.  Remove the stencil and apply clear embossing powder and heat emboss.  Next I used my Tonic Holly Corner Punch to Punch all four Corners of the mat and placed micro mini red brads in the holes made with the punch for berries.  I added two balck Kromekote mats as shown in the photo.  The ribbon from American Crafts was pure white and I airbrushed it with Y13 to tone down the ribbon so it wouldn't draw your eye to it first.  I added Kaiser Crafts Rhinestone stickers to the ribbon and place the image on Kellie Green polished Stone Paper from Murdock Country Creations.

Tonic Studios Border Punches - Holly

                           

For this card I made cut an A2 card from the Retro Squares/Polka Dot paper.   Then using one of my Scalloped Circle Nestability dies I die cut the jingle from a sheet of Invitation paper, then I die cut a slightly larger scallop from the red glitter paper from Die Cuts with a View.  Now the Merry Merry Border paper is an absolute must have. I used it everywhere.  It is a solid sheet of diamond strips alternating with merry merry verse plus it is double sided with a beautiful stripe.  Have any of you seen or used a Tonic Studio Punches yet??  Even my husband was intriqued with their incredible design and great price point. The punches are designed with a boot Punch - an elongated base with a mushroon shaped plunger cap for extra Power Push..which gives you a crisp clean cut with less fatique.

They are available in 10 Corner Punches and 14 edging punches.  Add the New Border system and these punches will all make beautiful borders.  Do you own any fiskars border punches??  Did you wish they had made them to punch cardstock not just copy paper...well leave it to Tonic Studios!! These punches will effortlessly punch even card stock. 

The corner punches are designed with unique wings which separate from the punch to convert your corner punch into a border punch.  I created this holly border using the holly corner punch without the wings in the border system.  Simply remove the wings and place the punch on the Border system with the Boot punch facing the grid. Position and punch your first design. Move your paper line up your marker(the blue arrows) with the center of the first design and punch your second punch.  To create this border on my card I started in the center of the paper(using      also form One Heart..One Mind) and punched to the left and then punched to the right.

I found the great red mini brads at Creative Expressions at CHA and they are the perfect size for the berry holes created from this punch.  Make sure you put them in place before you add your green cardstock mat so that the backs of the brads will be hidden within your card. Next I adhered the merry merry border to my green cardstock mat and added the punched border.

                          

These two great cards were created with more great pieces from One Heart...One Mind.  The Striped paper and the Mat print for the Merry Embellishment are both from a great piece of paper designed so that you can make 5 cards ( all different sizes from one sheet of paper).  I chose to use them as mats on my glitter cards. Don't you just Love the wide sheer Polka Dot Ribbon!!