The Scrappy Chick

InStyle Stamps Blog Hop!

Its Black Friday.  Its my Birthday.  And hopefully I am in line at Magic Kingdom for Space Mountain!  BUT...its also the last Friday of the month which means its time for the InStyle Stamps blog hop!  and since I am first on the hopping order I won't make you wait any longer to get the eye candy started! (If you wandered here by accident, go start back at the ISS blog :) )

This months challenge for the DT was to create an ornament.  I had seen a really cute one made with the Bo Bunny treat packaging at someones blog.  I didn't have that, but I did have an empty button package from Bo Bunny which is basically the same thing! 

I hand cut a large circle from my first pattern, then cut out the inside with a Circle Nestabilites slightly larger than the raised area on the plastic.  I cut out a second pattern (the green) with just a bit of a border and laid that over the first.  Myron (one of the new Anime images from InStyle stamps) is stamped, then cut out and adhered to a third pattern.  This was cut to the same size as the whole ornament.

All of my pattern papers are from the newest Crate Paper Holiday collection...the North Pole collection kit.  The "jolly" sticker is also from the same kit.  I hand cut the top of the ornament, adding a hanger and a bow then attaching the whole thing with some brads.  Lastly I added some stickles on the edges for a bit of sparkle. 

OK, thats it here!  Next in the hop is the terrifically talented Lana...so go check out what amazing ornament she has to show you!  Enjoy the rest of the hop and don't go out and spend too much money on sales at the mall today...save a bit back and spend some on new stamps over at InStyle!  Thanks for stopping by!  -Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Myron digi-stamp (InStyle Stamps)
• Paper: North Pole collection (Crate paper); Neenah Solar Crest White
• Ink: HP ink cartridge
• Accessories: Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); button packaging (Bo Bunny); Frosted Lace Stickles; brads & stickers (Crate paper); ribbon (Bo Bunny &  Michaels); copics: E11, E00, E000, R24, R29, BG02, BG05, YG05,YG17, E25, R20

Sporty Billy stamps available today!

Today is the big day!  The new Sporty Billy set is finally available at Pink Cat Studio!  So, what are you waiting for??  Here's a peek at the whole set:

 

 Is he the cutest or what?? I have a couple of samples for you today too :)

 

 

 

 

This is Surfer Billy...Duuuude.  Looks like he's having a blast with his pal.

Billy is stamped on white then colored with copics and cut out and popped up.  All the layers are from a Deja' Vus mini kit....Mango.  The palm tree is from Autumn Leaves (Mindy's Zoo set), buttons are Basic Grey.  I inked all the layers with cats eye chalks ink...Lime pastel, Tangerine, and Yellow citrus.

I picked up this plain wooden door hanger at Micahel's and thought it would be cute done up to match Michael's room.  So I covered it with paper from K&Co....more of the Rough & Tumble pad.  Then I stamped Billy and cut him out and matted him on a couple of coordianting solids. 

His name was cut out with my Cricut...dots were hand-doodled.  Buttons are from Basic Grey and the ribbon was from a designer pack from SU! a while back.

Michael hasn't actually started playing football yet, just with the neighboorhood boys, but maybe this fall :)

OK, so thats it for today!  First day out of school for the kiddos, and they are itching to get to the pool!  (well, Rachael is on swim team and already there, LOL...but Michael is begging to go today!)

Have a great day and don't forget to head to Pink Cat Studio for your new Billy stamps!!

-Cyndi

Me-minders

Me-minders?  Huh, whasat??  well I couldn't think of just the right thing to put on the front of this tin...inside are pockets for coupons, notes, shopping lists, etc.  So what do you call that?  My honey do list or my reminders became Me-mnders.  Ok, dorky maybe But I think it was kinda cute, snort!

 

(PS...inspiration for this tin came from a Christmas tin Cambria did a year or so ago)

Anywho...here is the outside...I used some old Daisy D papers from work and distressed it all a bit.  The alphabet is from Spellbinders, mounted on a piece cut with spell. Labels 1 nestabilities.  Rubons are Bo Bunny.

I made this for MJ to take to the Inspire show down in Concord this week, Enchanted Cottagehas a booth and will be teaching lots of classes.

Here's a peek at the inside.  The notepad was cut down to size, and then on the other side are envelopes sealed and cut off at the ends.  Tabs were punched and attached with black Bazzill brads...plus more of the same rubons inside.

OK, thats it for now...working lots of extra hours lately so I gotta go!!  Thanks for visiting!

-Cyndi

Valentine Box, blog candy winner

First....random.org picked #10....Darlene L as the winner of my blog candy!  Darlene send me your snail mail and I'll get this out to you!

  Good morning!  I have a cute little box for you today:)  I needed a valentine goody of some sort for club and thought a box made from the heart Nestabilities would be cute.  I first tried doing it all as one piece for the base, but I needed a more substantial bottom to get it to sit up straight, so I ended up with a box bottom and then adhered my hearts to it.

I used the scallop and straight edge heart nesties...the kiwi heart was also run though with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.  The sentiment is from The Cat's Pajamas...Loving Mew.  Kitty is a Pink Cat Studiostamp, from the Kitty Christmas plate...I was inspired but one of the challenge cards at PCP...making the angel into a cupid...what a cute idea!  I cut out her horn and replaced it with the smallest heart from the nesties.

Inside the box is some starburst candy tied up in a cello baggie:)

  Also I have a cardfor you that I never got around to posting last week.  This is a Lizzie Anne Designssketch challenge card.  I used In the Treetop for the stamps.  PP is from Piggy Tales...is that cute paper or what??  (Cinderella collection)  Buttons are from My Minds Eye, paper is Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, and PTI Chocolate.

 

Releases updates:

Not on any of these DT's, but here's whats going on with some of my favorite companies!

• All That Scraps: released this last Monday: stamps & digi-stamps

• Lizzie Anne Designs: new sets & singles tomorrow!

• Pink Cat Studio: releases 2 new sets  next week!!

• Treehouse Stamps: party at site & release tonight!!

• Unity: HIP HOP today! (and new releases always!)

• Verve Stamps: Friday night release party!

• Whiff of Joy:  new line released earlier in the week:)

 

 

OK, thats it for now...gotta scoot to work!  But check back tomorrow I have something really snazzy ready!

-Cyndi

ATSDTC18: Little Red Riding Lulu

  My other challenge for the day!!  I couldn't resist this one...Jen issued the All That Scraps  DT  a color challenge this week...Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze and Kraft.  LOVE IT!!

I pulled out Lulu first thing cause I have missed her...this was I think the first ever CC Designs sets that I bought!  She is stamped directly onto the kraft cardstock and then colored in with my copic markers.  I colored her fur in with an old blender pen and a white pigment pad...but that was WAY too much for the snowman (I am lazy) so I paper-pieced him by stamping him again on white cs, then cutting him out.

The snowflakes on the tag and the wraparound piece are all from the same Winter Playtime stamp set...three different little snowflakes!  The piece around the tin is just a 12 inch strip that I cut to the width of the CLOSED tin...I adhered that with sticky strip.  The tin is filled with Cookies and Crem Kisses...I just happened to have a bag of those and the color was just right!! (HINT: buy candy your kids don't like for projects and then you won't find it all missing when you get ready!)

I tied up the tin with  a piece of the yummy new Riding Hood red striped grosgrain ribbon from SU!  I punched a hole in the tag, added a jumbo pewter eyelet and tied that on with the new rope twine in the CHoliday mini catalog.

Thanks for visiting!  Let me know if you like it!

-Cyndi

• Supplies:

• Stamps: Winter Playtime (CC Designs)

• Paper: Kraft, White, Ridinh Hood Red, Baja Breeze (SU!)

• Ink: Palette Noir; Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, whisper White (SU!)

• Accessories: Jumbo pewter eyelets; striped RHR grosgrain, rope twine SU!); sticky strip; candy!

ATS Wednesday...anything but a card

This weeks Wednesday ATS DT challenge was to create anything but a card.  Well, thats not so hard seeing as how I have a whole bin full of items TBA (to-be-altered)....and they normally just sit there, waiting, and waiting...

So, I pulled out one of those cute little 5x5 journals from Stampin' Up! that I have a pile of.  I covered it with some fun PP that I ordered from All That Scraps by Daisy Bucket called "Playlist".  I stamped the little square with images from one of my Favorite CC Designs sets...Froogie & friends.  The alphabet is Vintage Pop by Pink Paislee.  I pulled my colors from the stripes on the pattern that I used for the inside cover...used it for the letters, then that gave me lots of fun choices for ribbon!!  I got to pull out lots of yummy scraps from my jar for this one!  The buttons are autumn Leaves and My Minds Eye (also available at ATS)

I plan to use the little journal for addresses of my bloggin' buddies and DT pals so that they are all in one place with my basket of cards for RAKS when I have a minute :)  Hope you enjoy.   Check in over at the ATS blog for all the DT's samples and then go play along with us!!   Happy Wednesday!  -Cyndi

• Supplies:
• Stamps: Froggie & Friends (CC Designs); Vintage Pop Alphabet (Pink Paislee)
• Paper: Playlist PP (Daisy Bucket); Black cs (Bazzill); white cs (Paperytry)
• Ink: Palette Hybrid Noir
• Accessories: markers (Copic); buttons (MME & Autumn Leaves); ribbon (asst); journal (SU!)

I'm back!

Sorry to be absent for a few days, I've been plugging away trying to figure out my last minute details for all the pages for my Scrapbook Day :)  So, luckily I had made a few things a while back that I haven't shared yet!

In honor of the A Muse and Elzybells Spring release today, here's a little Elzy for you.  This is a cute little DVD tin that I altered with some cute paper that I found at Michael's.  I picked up those colors and colored in my Girl with Frog with some of my Copic colors that I hadn't used before.  She is stamped on Papertrey Stampers Select white cardstock, which I then ran through my Cuttlebug using my Rectangles Nestabilities.  The rest of the mats are also using my Nestabilities.  I got the yummy ribbon by May Arts from All That Scraps.

Inside the little tin I sent a few stamped images for my bloggin' buddy Libby who just had her sweet baby girl Courtney.  I wanted her to have a mom gift:)

Thanks for stopping by!  My CC Designs monkeys from All That Scraps are finally here so I hope to have a chance to play with them today ;)     -Cyndi

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is my last post of Valentine's Day treats and cards!  So, I am sharing 3 different little mail boxes from the last week. 

The first is the one we made at Stamp Club last week.  I have been lurking at Traget for like FOREVER to get these babies...it seems the whole counrty had them except in NC.  Luckily I got about 20 which gave me enough for club plus a few gifts. 

For this one I used SU!'s retired Valentine DSP from last year along with the set Forever in My Heart.  The hearts are stamped in the matching colors: Regal Rose, Taken with Teal, and Chocolate Chip.  I wanted to keep these simple since a dozen women were making them, so we just added a bit of ribbon and a sentiment on the side.  also, everyone had their choice of papers...I brought a huge pile of retired prints, hoping to deplete the stash just a bit...well it didn't seem to make a dent, LOL.

For my leftover mailboxes, I made 2 for Michael's preschool teachers and he liked the little lion from CC Designs available at All That Scraps.       I still used the same paper pack, just different prints.  For the inside we stuck a bunch of Hershey kisses in a cello bag and tied it up with a bow and tag.     And then I made a few more for friends with some different prints from Kaleidascope.

Hope you enjoy!  I will be back later with BLOG CANDY and some more samples :)

Thanks for visiting!   -Cyndi

Gum Slider Tutorial & the Mane Squeeze

Remember this cute little gum slider from a week or so ago?  It was an idea of the week on Christine's Scraps Chats Newsletter!  Cool!  She has had some requests for a tutorial so here goes!  First though, the details for both the old one and the new one :)

The one on the left uses the Little Bits kit "Love Ya Much" by CC Designs, available from All That Scraps.  The rest of the details can be found on this post--->HERE. 

For the one on the left I used the other cute little Valentine's set by CC Designs, "Love Ya Lots".  She is stamped in Palettte Hybrid Burnt Umber and colored in with copic markers E21, E33, E37, R20, and V12.  The pattern paper is by Cloud 9 Design and is also at  All That Scraps.

Now for the directions:

1. For a Stride gum slider cut cardstock to 3.5" x 6".  Along the 6" side you will score at 2 1/4", 2 5/8", 4 7/8", and 5 1/4".  (This will give you the dimensions of 2 1/4" for the top & bottom, and 3/8" for the sides with an extra 3/4" to close the flap (by making it 6" even you can get 2 pieces out of a 12" width)

2. Adhere stamped panel to the front of the scored piece (one of the wider pieces).  Fold all the scored lines, matching up the middles of the front and back panels and punch a hole near the top through both layers...I used a 1/8" hole punch for narrow ribbon.

3. Pull ribbon through the hole and all the way out, matching the ends so they are the same length.  Insert gum so that the end of the pack is resting on the top of the ribbon and push down into the cardstock, which will pull the ribbon down with the gum.  I then adhered the side shut with mono-adhesive, but Sticky Strip would also be a good choice.

Once the gum is all the way down in and hidden, knot the ribbon.  The gum is pulled out by pulling up on the ribbon.  Pretty simple!  If this still doesn't make sense, try going to the Splitcost Stampers website to see the Slider card tutorial by Beate Johns.  Click ----->HERE.

As always, thanks for visiting! -Cyndi

Got Milk? box with directions

Isn't he adorable?  This is the little piggie that I love so much from the CC Designs latest release Love Ya Lots.  The cow idea isn't mine...the credit goes to Tricia of Simply Stamping,  who is also on the ATS Design Team.

So inside the little box is what else?  Cow Tails!  Hehe! He is stamped with Palette Hybrid Burnt Umber and colored in with copic markers.  The pattern Paper is from last years retired SU! collection. The little box is super simple, and I even did a mini-tutorial for you.

Cut a piece of cardstock to 3.5" x 7".

Score at 1", 3", and 5".  This will give you the triangle with the 3 side being 2" tall each.  The extra inch is your flap to glue to the back.  a bit of mono or glue stick will work fine, since it will be tied up with some ribbon.  I used the wide Regal Rose grosgrain and retired narrow Chocolate Chip.  I also tied up the cowtails inside with a bit of ribbon so they wouldn't scoot around.  (I used 5 candies for the perfect fit)

These will be the perfect size little gifts for my girls to give their friends...I guess they don't really do Valentines anymore in Middle School?  But candy is always appreciated by teen girls :)  TFL!

-Cyndi

New CC Designs stamps go live at midnight!

Here's my last sneak peek before the release tonight.  All That Scraps is releasing 2 new sets at midnight tonight (EST)...they are Love Ya Lots and Love Ya Much.  They each have 3 adorable little animals, 3 sayings, the word "valentine" and a small heart.  And the best part is Christine's sets are very affordable and shipping is FREE on any order over $10!!

This has to be my favorite project thus far.  Ive been thinking about it all week, but had to go buy some gum to play with :)  Its a slider card around a pack of Stride gum.  The main piece is Heidi Grace pattern Paper.  The next layers are all Stampin' Up!: Purely Pomegranate, Certainly Celery, and Shimmer White.  The little bunny and the saying are stamped in Palette Hybrid Noir and colored with my copics.  I also added a bit of Sakura clear glaze over her nose and tail and a dab of clear Sakura Gelly roll glitter around her ears.  The small Celery bow was attached with mini glue dots.

Here's the photo of the gum that has been pulled up.

So, hurry on over to All That Scraps in about an hour!  Check out all the samples by the Design Team while you are there...there are some adorable cards!   Thanks for stopping by!

-Cyndi

Last Minute Christmas Gifts from me & Taylor

Middle School: Gifts or no gifts for the teachers?  My son felt like an idiot last year when I sent stuff with him so I had intended not to make a big deal about gifts this year for the girls.  The last night before school got out Taylor though decided to make a bunch of cute projects (see below) for her friends, so I asked if she and Rachael wanted gifts for their teachers.  Both girls said sure, some kids were bringing stuff in, but most were not,but they would like to.  Hmm...what do you do at the last minute?

I had made a few of these cute little tins a couple of weeks ago and had bought a ton more from the Target Dollar Spot.  So, I whipped these up and threw in a bunch of Christmas candy.  Perfect.  The little tins are so darling...they are actually only about 3"x4".  I covered them with Creative Imaginations paper on the front, back and around the side panel.  The main image is from Baby Its Cold Outside by My Favorite Things.   You can see the set at All That Scraps.  I stamped it on Stampers Select cardstock from Papertrey and colored it in with a mix of Copics, SU! markers, and Spica glitter pens.  The sentiment is from the same set.  The ribbon is all from my stash...some from Michael's, some SU!, some May Arts.

Here are the little boxes that Taylor made the other night.  She is 12 and did these completely by herself.  She even went online to my favorites and found the The Cat's Pajamas website, where Julee Tilman had created the project of the month on the home page.  Taylor printed out the instructions and created these:

Aren't they adorable?  I'm so proud of her..shes definately my daughter, LOL!  She used stamps from Wintertime Fun for the outside and the labels and colored them with my SU! markers (she knows not to even look at my copics!)  Inside are Dark Chocolate Hershey Nuggets...yummy!!

Thanks for visiting!   -Cyndi

Pink Elzybells

Here's one of the little projects that we will be doing for the Teacher Christmas Gift Camp.  I love these little band-aid tins, but they are sooo hard to find right now.  I have just enough for my class Friday and Saturday I hope :)

I was in a pink mood so I pulled out this gorgeous shimery paper from KI Memories to wrap around the tin.  Its adhered with Sticky Strip.  The Elzybell is called A Winter Song.  She is colored in with my Stampin' Write markers in Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink, Green Galore, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Bordering Blue.  I stamped the little snowflake from "Snowfall" in Pixie Pink then punched it out with the Snow Blossom punch.  It was very easy to put together and will make a great little holder for a gift card.

While I had these colors out, I used one of the Elzybells images that I stamped with Heather's stamps last week.   The paper is the same.  She is colored in with Spica glitter pens...they shimmer sooo much IRL, but its hard to see from the photo.

Thanks for looking!  I hope to be able to share more this week and to not be so rushed with my entries...I have been furiously getting ready for my last Stampin' Up! classes for Dec and shopping and wrapping...its gets harder and harder to hide that stuff every year, you know?     -Cyndi

Fun with Lizzie Anne Designs Celebration Frames

You may remember that I told you guys a couple of weeks ago that I was one of the runner ups for the WCMD contest at Lizzie Anne DEsigns.  Yipee!!  Woohoo!  I got a free set called Celebration Frames.  I made a bunch of cute little things the other day so I could play with my new stamps :)

First is a cute little lunchbox tin.  ENABLER alert***, I found these at the $1 SPot at TArget...they are Lightening McQueen tins about 3x4" and sooo begging to be altered!!  I used KI Memories Love, Elsie Christmas paper to cover the front, back and a strip around the middle.  The little tag is one of the many frames from the Celebration Frames set.  I stamped it in Real Red then punched it out with my SU! Scallop circle punch.  That was layered onto 2 Round tab punches to form the bigger Red circle mat.  The little Pretti in Pink mat is the 1.25" punch.   Finally I stamped 2 of the little candies...one in Red, and one in Green GAlore.  I used my blender pen to pull some color out then layered the 2 pieces together.  The little box is all tied up with tons of ribbon from my scrap jars.  Isn't this adorable?!!

Next up, I finally got around to making one of the adorable little Peek-A-Boo boxes from Qbee.  You can find the template HERE at SCS.   I printed the template directly onto River Rock cardstock then stamped the little star from Holiday Cheer, also Lizzie Anne Designs, in Real Red all over.  The frame was stamped on the portion marked on the template, then I punched out the center with my 1.25" circle punch.  I folded it all up and sponged some Real Red around all the edges and corners and tied it up with a piece of Real Red ribbon.  On the top I added a layered piece similar to the piece described for the previous project...using the same frame stamp, punching it out with the Scallop circle, then layering it onto 2 round tab punches.    I added a few dots around the scallop with my white gel pen.  The little  Santa hat is from the Holiday Cheer set.  I stamped it in Red, then added some white swirls around the stamped swirls with my white pen.  It is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals. 

How cute is that?  Its the perfect size for 2 little Peppermint Patties (my fav).  Here's the side view:

Next up, I have all the coasters still sitting in a basket.  I had big plans for them, but never used them all, whats new?  SO, I started thinking about ornaments and frames, and thought what about a cute little frame to hang on the fridge?  So, I pulled out a favorite pic of my daughters, croppped it down, glued it to the chipboard, then added the frame on top.  I will do a tutorial on this soon...how I cut out the middle of the paper...its a piece of Mustard Moon Press.  I stamped the little flowers from Celebration Frames onto the paper in Cranberry Crisp.  I doodled abit around the centers of the flowers and the leaves with my white pen to pick up the white lines in the paper.  This was then glued onto the chipboard coaster on top of the photo.  I pulled out Holiday Cheer (LAD) again, and inked up "family" (part of one of the sentiments) with my Burgundy marker and stamped it on a scrap of the same paper, then put it into a little piece of Hodgepodge and added this to the corner. It still needed just a bit of something, so I added a hodgepodge clip to another corner and tied a piece of Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon to that.  Finally, I added a magnet to the back so it can hang on the fridge.  Cute grandma gift idea maybe?

And finally, I wanted to do the card challenge this week.  SO I grabbed some scraps of BAsic Gray paper and cut it into little pieces for the border.  The card base is River Rock.  The middle layer is Real Red and Old Olive.  I stamped the frame from Celebration Frames onto River Rock...the letters are inked with black marker, the holly with Red and Olive.  I added the big holly in the center...it was paper pieces with the same BG paper.  And lastly added a bit of bling with some red sticky sequins from CTMH. 

A pretty good day with just 2 sets of stamps I think!  STop by Lizzie Anne Designs to check out all of their wonderful sets, there are a ton that are retiring and are on sale so hurry!  Thanks for visiting! -Cyndi

Altered Journal and Tagged

While playing with my Flower Creations dies from Spellbinders, I pulled out some Fancy Pants papers from last year.  I edged all the pieces with Dark Brown Cats Eye, then layered different flowers together.  They are attached in the centers with Bold Brights brads from Stampin' Up!  The stems are Apple grosgrain ribbon, and the leaves are more of the flowers cut down into small pieces.  I handcut the grass border from more of the Fancy Pants paper, and added tabs on the pages with my Round Tab Punch.  The "smile" piece was a punchout diecut also from Fancy Pants.  Finally, I added a bit of ribbon to the coils, but not too much.  Most is from my stash of random scraps.

I've been tagged!  Tina from Traveling Mama (all the way over in Morocco!!) nominated me for the You Make Me Smile Award, thanks Tina!

The rules of this game are to nominate 7 other people, let them know they are tagged, then let you know 7 things about myself.  I caught up on my blog reading this morning and tried to find some gals who make me smile but haven't been tagged lately (If you have I apologize!)  So tag to:

1.  Kendra at Inkin' It Up!

2. Sherry at Walkin' on the Bad Side

3. Libby at Libby's Little Addiction

4. Patty at Patty's Stamping Spot

5. Lori at Inking Aloud

6. Laurie at Just Give Me Stamps

7. Alma at Dancing in Pajamas

Now for me, gosh this is always hard, the rock staer one was easier!

1. Even though I love to read the most gory of crime novels, I won't watch any scary movies!

2. My new indulgence time is Preschool mornings...me, my laptop, and a White Chcolate Mocha at Starbuck's

3. I fear that I am turning into my mother...it gets worse daily

4. I miss singing in Church choir, but am sadly overextended already this year.

5. I will never, ever get suckered into serving on a PTO board again!

6. I love watching Power Rangers, Hannah Montana, and America's Next Top Model with my younger kids, but can't seem to get into  House, Family Guy, or Scrubs...my teen son's favorites.

7. I wish I had taken that stupid typing class in highschool, LOL.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!

-Cyndi

Altered Pringles can tutorial

We made these cute treat containers for teachers the other night.  I started with a pringles can since we eat so many, LOL!  (pringles that is, not cans)

Gather all of your supplies.  I used the "25% more" size of pringles, so my can may be bigger than the one you use.  I cut my pattern paper to 10.25" x 10".  Also, I cut some strips of paper and ribbon to wrap around the can as well.

Apply your mod podge to the back of the paper.  I don't think sticky strip would work as well (plus you would need way too much) and mono definately won't hold up.

Wrap the paper around the can, gently pressing and rolling.  Hold on to the ends for just a minute or so.  I actually added a dab extra of mod podge over the seam and pressed again (it will dry clear).  Add your next layers in the same manner, being careful to start at the same point so all your seams meet up!

Here's what our finished products looked like from the other night.  Of course I didn't think about pics at the time and I ran out of that paper, so I had to make more!  To finish the can I punched out the tag and looped some black hemp through it and around the ribbon before adding a dab of mod podge under the knot to hold it down.

I used Creepy Crawly DSP;whisper white, pumpkin pie, and basic black cardstock;basic black and pumpkin pie pads; 1.25",1 3/8" circle, and scallop sircle punches;Batty for you;black and pumpkin narrow grosgrain ribbon, and black hemp.  All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Cyndi

Christmas box CASED

You may have seen my post last week from my Advent Calendar class.  Well, while I was working with the Dashing paper pack I thought I'd make a few extra things to show those guys what they still had plenty of paper for later.  They all loved this box and wanted directions.  I found the original Halloween box and tutorial about a month ago on someone's blog, but I don't remember where (I read waaaay too many).  So, now I have to re-invent the wheel.

First you need to cut 2 pieces of pattern paper 10" x 4.5".

(I actually would have done this with one 10" x 10" piece and cut out the corners, but this way is better because you have the advantage of double paper on your bottom layer which will make it more sturdy.)

Turning the paperso that you are scoring on the long side, you will score it at    0.5", 2.75",7.25", and 9.5".   Do this to both pieces.

This is what the 2 pieces will look like after you fold on the scored lines.

This will give you 0.5" for the turnover, 2.25 for the height, and 4.5 for the width

Lay one down and turn the other perpindicular to it and lay it on top.  Apply adhesive to keep these layered together. 

At this point punch 1/8" holes in the top corners on each side (8 total holes)...going through both the side and the flap layer.  Add eyelets to the holes.  Thread ribbon through the eylets and "tie-up" each corner.  Lastly add any embellishments and ta-da!!

I used Dashing Dseigner paper for the box.  The filling is red printer paper cut into 1/4" strips then ran through my crimper.  I used the new hostess set to stamp (I'm blanking on the name) on the round tab punch  and the circle punch in Real Red.  The box is tied together with Red gingham ribbon threaded through Old Olive eyelets from the Earth Elements eyelet assortment.

On Board Clipboard Advent Calendar Tutorial

FINALLY, here is the tutorial I have been promising for the Advent Calendar Clipboard!  As stated before, I looked for a tutorial and never found one, so here you go!  I know I saw these on someone's blog awhile back, but never found the samples again!  This calendar is part of a class I am doing, see the next post for details :)

Gather all of your supplies:

Clipboard, stamps of choice, inkpads, Mod Podge, punches, foam brush, magnetic strips, paper clips, pattern paper.

I used regular sized paper clips and precut magnetic strips, you can also purchase this by the roll.

Cut your pattern paper to size.  I used "Dashing" DSP from Stampin' Up!  For the top piece I used the muti-colored polka dots.  The piece is 6 1/2" x 9". (But you could probably cut it down to 6" and get 2 out of one sheet)  The bottom piece is the muti-colored stripes, the size is 3" x 9".

  I cut a pattern for the top piece that will get cut out.  I used printer paper, found the center, cut down into it, then bent it around the clip, forming the edge, then cut that out.  (It took a couple of pieces before it was just right)  I then traced that pattern on the back of my polka dot piece and cut out the clip piece.   (Note: The hole will slip up under the actual clip to the top of the inside piece that is actually attached to the board.  I left some extra at the top of the pattern, then cut it off after it was attached to the board.)

  Apply Mod Podge to the back of the pattern paper pieces, being careful not to get it too thick, but be sure to cover every inch so you won't get bubbles.  Turn it over and apply to the board.  Be sure to spread out the paper evenly so that there are no bubbles.  You will have a little bit of paper hanging over the sides, thats ok, we'll fix it later!

I also applied a thin coat of Mod Podge to the top of my clipboard to give it a shiny finish.  It will also hold up better to being handled a lot.  (Personally I think I like the matte finish better now that its done).  You can also apply a thin coat over your ribbon to "stiffen" it up.

Set this part aside and do your stamping.  I used Season of Joy, All in a Row, Best Friends Alphabets and Pure & Simple Alphabet numbers(retired).  I stamped all of my numbers first and then punched them out so they were nice and centered.  I used the small tag punch then layered them on Real Red punched with the large tag punch. 

After the tags were layered I inserted a paperclip in between the layers at the top of each.  I left just a bit sticking out.  This allowed me a spot to tie on the ribbons.  The back of the clip which you can see is what will stick to the magnetic strips that you will glue onto the board.  This way the tags can be easily changed out.  (BTW, you want 0-9, plus an extra 1 and an extra 2)

Apply your magnetic strips to the center of you panel on your clipboard.  Attach ribbons to the tops of the tags and the top of the clipboard.

Flip the board over and laying it on a cutting mat, trim the excess paper and ribbon with a sharp exacto knife.

Flip it back over and you are done!  The colors I used are Real Red, River Rock, and Always Artichoke.  The paper actually has Old Olive in it instead of Artichoke, but the stripes are so small, that it looks fine.  This way I had ribbon to match since we didn't have any skinny OLive ribbon!  Here's the final product:

Dashing Clipboard & More Class

Here it is!!  My Monday night Club will be doing this class next week, so here's your sneak peek :)  The participants all are making the Advent Calendar clipboard, the 2-page spread, and the Criss-Cross card.  They also leave with the rest of the pack of Dashing DSP.  I will also hold this class in W-S for anyone interested.  The cost will be $30.  (The kit can also be purchased for OOT'ers for $30 plus shipping)

JBWW Challenge and Taylor's garland

This was a fun card to make because I pulled out a pile of stuff from last year that I didn't do too much with at the time.  Its for the "Just Because We Wanna" challenge over at  Sherry Cheever's blog, Walkin' on the Bad Side.  Also, her partner in crime, Jeanne Streiff, has samples on her blog, Inky Paws.

The card base is a 5.5 x 5.5 piece of Bazzil cardstck.  The pattern papers are one of last years collections from Chatterbox...the patterns are Light Snowflakes, Snowballs, and Igloo Stripe.  I stamped the main panel with "Mini Retro Flakes and sayings" by Gelatins, using Colorbox Chalk Inkpads...Blue Iris and Ice Jade.  The borders are stamped with Stampin' Up!'s All in a Row.  Finishing off the center of the large snowflake is a MME Bluebird Turquoise Gem, and some Blue Ric-Rac (source unknown).

Also, I wanted to share a garland that my daughter Taylor made for her door.  I had some pieces of coasters covered in Cutie Pie, awaiting further inspiration.  SHe asked if she could use them to make a name thing for her door.  I of course said, NO, they're mine!!  But I gave her some blank coasters, Cutie Pie paper, some On Board Simon lower chipboard, and away she went to work.  After she covered the letters with some solid cardstock and we added some punched flowers from Ginourmous flowers, the pieces were looking really cute!  So we attached a long piece of Jumbo Celery grosgain ribbon to the backs with some sticky strip, and voila!  Its so stinkin' cute, I want one now!!  (Don't you just love her goofy grin? )

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to scroll down for a chance at some cute freebies!

-Cyndi

Coaster Mini Album

I've tried to be really good lately, but illness will get you every time.  I have had a nasty cough/cold for a couple of weeks now, and thought it was getting better.  But starting last Thursday, it was whooping my butt!  Busy mom of 4 that I am, I didn't take time to go to the doc til Sunday, and guess what?  I have pneumonia, bwaaa!  I don't have time to be that sick!  But by that night I felt like pure death and was soooo glad that I had gone.  Today is a bit better, and tonight I'm antsy from the stupid meds so I thought I'd catch up.  Sorry to be away!

I obviously haven't felt like stamping this weekend, but earlier in the week I put together a bit of a tutorial and a cute mini-book.  The mini album is made for a gal at my kids' dentist that just had a baby.  She's a sweetheart, and I thought it would be a bit of good advertising, tehehe.

Here's the finished product, I thought it turned out kinda cute!  I wanted to keep it simple though, so I used a Simply Scrappin' Kit, Special Delivery Boy from Stampin' Up!  And I hate to admit, but there's no stamping involved! The kits are great because they now have 3 sheets of each of the pattern papers, and textured cardstock!!  Not to mention of course the million punchouts.

So, for the tutorial bit: I started with 5 plain medium weight coasters and 10 pieces of 4x4 pattern paper.  In order to cover the coaster you will need a good adhesive.  My favorite for chipboard is a spray adhesive, but they are sooo messy, so if a prject involves a lot of pieces, I don't go that route.  Next favorite is SNAIL adhesive, AKA Mono ADhesive.  I lay the adhesive down on the chipboard, not the paper.

Be careful to get all the edges, then a good portion of the middle of the piece as well.  Place the paper on the coaster, being careful to line up the edges so there is no blank space and adhesive showing.    After covering all you pieces front and back, you want to sand the edges with sandpaper or a sanding block.

After finishing the 5 coasters I punched through the top one with a standard 1/4" hole punch (I really need a crop-a-dile!).  Line up this hole onto the next coaster, trace, and punch.   Repeat until all coasters are punched.  The insert a loose leaf ring, attach ribbons, and voila!

Again, I did no stamping on this project, just used the punchouts, and added some simple mats from the cardstock within the Simply Scrappin' pack.  I wanted it to stay very simple.  Here are some pics from the inside:

  Thanks for visiting!  I hope to feel like stamping in a few days and I'll share more then :)

Merry, Merry Wintergreen

Remember all those million coasters we all bought a few months ago?  Well, needless to say I never used all mine.  I hoarded away a few hundred, LOL.  I've been meaning to pull them out to do some mini albums with my girls but never get around to it.  Someone was talking about getting ahead on Christmas gifts and such the other day and I remembered these yet again.  Thought I would try to make some tri-fold frames.  I made some back in April? maybe with the Notations paper, but I don't think I ever took a pic of them before I gave them away. (I've learned my lesson...take a pic and post to blog everything that has been stamped before it leaves my house)

Anyway, I think this turned out really cute!  The supplies are all Stampin' Up! except the hinges (Close to My Heart) and the jumbo brads (?).  I wish I had extra brads in white in a smaller size , or Maybe I need to find a way to paint them soft sky without a craft pad, any thoughts on how?  I used the new DSP Wintergreen, Merry,Merry stamp set, round tab punch, circle punches, and celery ribbon.  Here is a closeup:

I also stamped a matching card while I was at it, using the same stuff, but adding artichoke and celery buttons.  The layout for the card was a sketch challenge from Beate's blog, weekend sketch.  Her samples are awesome, here, and here.  Aren't they gorgeous?  Here is my sample using Wintergreen:

Punch Box Box

This new Punch box was a tough sell for me.  I thought it was really cute, but did I really need more flowers??  How many flowers does one stamper need?  I really should count one day!  Anyway, I finally broke down after so many cute samples, I couldn't stand it!  I have to admit though, I still haven't done much with it, but this cute little box we did at my Open House at the beginning of the month.  Its a Hershey Nugget slider Box.  The tutorial is on Splitcoast Stampers.  Here's my take:

This turned out so cute, I was sooo excited!  I used only the stamps in the Punch box (they are die-cut, how cool is that??!), the cute flower punch of course, and new Groovy Guava with Apricot Appeal.  The little candies are covered with Avery address labels stamped to match.  ANd did you know Hershey  now makes a Dark Chocolate Truffle Nugget, yummmm!  I'm so glad my kids don't like dark chocolate... 

Atlanta Regional

Last weekend was Stampin' Up!s regional seminar in Atlanta.  It was a very long drive for just a day (I had childcare issues and had to drive down and back all in the same day)...just under 600 total miles!  But it was so worth it!  In the past the regionals have been ok, but not a ton of inspiration for a demo who has been around along while (8 years!!).  But this one was awesome!  I learned tons of little tidbits and of course was re-inspired to go home and play not only with my new stuff but all of that other stuff that has been sitting around collecting dust forEVER.  Time to pull out the wc wonder crayons, the boob gun (spritzer or whatever its called now, LOL), my zig painty (will it still work??), the tons of glitter and heat and stick, and lots of other stuff I've already forgotten about again!  Luckily I took notes.

Anyway, it was a blast and always great to see friends & downline & sideline & upline you don't get to see very often.  I also got to meet 4 of my downline for the first time!  I had planned some of the way cute notebooks from Chi Chi Allen's blog to give to my downline, but ran into disaster along the way!

This is what they were supposed to look like (notice I still have them).  I had stamped all the pieces and pre-punched it all ready to assemble at my mother-in-law's the night before.  Well, stupid me put the sticky strip on the wrong side and ruined all but 2.  Argh!!  So, ok, I thought...I have only 4 gals going.  I thought I would give one of my 2nd down the same gift I was giving to my 1st downline (awesome Jackie Kurtz!) and to my totally terrific upline Jennifer Maguire.  Well, I got there that day and guess what?  I had 2 more downline who registered like the night before so they had no gift now!  To make a long story short, I decided to mail them to everyone and redo the part I messed up.  So now they sit on my desk and I need to get my behind to the PO! 

The trifold frame I gave to Jen and JAckie I forgot to get pics of, of course.   Guess I'll have to finish mine now!  I got a big bag of yummy chocolate from Jen...she knows we can't stamp without chocolate.  And JAckie made this adorable frame.

We made some really cute projects at Regional, LOVE the new set they gave us!  It matches all the doodle stuff!  May fav was the scrapbook page, duh.

And did I do any swapping?  Well, no.  I always run out of time.  Not that I need any more cardfronts, I just gave away like 1000 to my clubbers to clean out before the big move.  I have to purge, thats really hard!  I find it hardest to get rid of my stamps, even if they are retired.  They always come in handy for a scrapbook page later.  Well, I'll have to start packing up my stuff sooner or later (the night before?) and of course it'll be the first out of the box.  I realized today that if I had a show a week or 2 after the move then I have an excuse to unpack my studio first, right?  Guess I'll have to convince the DH that the kitchen can wait a day or 2.

Anyway, here's the card I was going to swap but didn't get around to.

Doodling

  I'm not sure that I really like how this turned out, but I've been wanting to play with this set since I got it at Leadership last month.  The notebook I saw on ChiChi Allen's blog (her's was so cute we made them at club!), the color idea came from a layout in Creating Keepsakes this month.

I'm dying to make a page using these colors. I was planning to use this set, but I think I may wait for the Big Blooms set coming in the new Spring Mini from SU! (I plan to get it as one of my FREE!! yipee! sets I earned during Sell-a-Bration.)..hmm, I may have to play anyway.

The flowers are stamped with the new Doodle This set.  I used Cool Carribean, Gable Green and Brilliant Blue classic pads with a Blender pen and then adhered with stampin dimensionals.  All supplies are Stampin' Up!