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Rubber Ducky Baby Shower Invitation

I made the Baby Shower invitations for my daughter-in-law, Beth.  She is due June 23 with our FIRST grandchild and we can hardly wait!  The theme for her shower is rubber ducks…too cute!  They don't want to know the sex of the baby, so the room right now is done with gray walls…they will add the appropriate colors after the baby is born!  I decided to use Daffodil Delight and Basic Gray for her invitations.

Isn't it cute???  The Daffodil Delight Chevron from Parker's Patterns worked out perfectly!  And the Rubber Ducky Punch Art is just too cute!  Here are the details:

1. The base is 5 x 7 Basic Gray.
2. I printed the invitation on Whisper White with gray and yellow font and cut to 4 3/4 x 6 3/4.
3. I added a 1 1/2" x 4 3/4" strip of Parker's Patterns Daffodil Delight Chevron print to the left side.
4. The Rubber Duck I made with the Extra Large Oval Punch for the body, I took out a chunk of it with the 1" Circle Punch and used that piece for the wing, popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional.  The head is 1" Circle.  I added a 1/4" circle of Whisper White for the eye, then colored a small Pearl with Black Sharpie for the eyeball.  The Beak is the tip of the wing from the Bird Punch out of Pumpkin Pie, then the very tip of the wing I punched again with Daffodil Delight for the tuff of feathers on top of the head.
5. I tore Marina Mist for the "pond" that the duck is sitting on and added the drops of water behind his tail with the Triple Layer Flower Punch (retired).

I love how it turned out.  My sister-in-law is hosting this shower, but I'm anxious to see what she does with this theme! 

Don't forget…last chance to order retiring stamps is June 3…and retiring accessories are WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

SUOC65 – St. Patty’s Day Owl

Over on SUO Challenge this time, it's all about GO GREEN!  I was kicking myself when the only current St. Patrick's Day stamp I could find that I had was the little shamrock in Every Little Bit (or the teeny tiny one in Itty Bitties!)  But…then I thought the owl would look cute dressed up in St. Patrick's Day finery!  So…here he is!  Can you tell what I used for the hat????

I actually LOVE how this turned out!!!  Love the two shades of green, even though they probably SHOULD clash, they work together nicely for this card!  Here are the details!

1. Started with a 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Garden Green cardstock, folded in half to make base card.
2. Added a layer of 4 x 5 1/4 Whisper White over top.
3. Next is a 2 1/2 x 4 piece of Sunshine & Sprinkles polka dot Designer Paper.
4. I wrapped the Old Olive Striped Ribbon around and tied on the front towards the left side.
5. I used the shamrock image from Every Little Bit in Basic Black randomly over top of the DSP.  Really personalized it, didn't it?
6. I cut the 3rd from smallest Window Frame from Garden Green, then added a 2 1/2" Circle punched from Whisper White cardstock.
7. For the Owl:  I punched the owl from Basic Black cardstock, the vest from the same Polka Dot DSP.  The eyes were 3/8" Circles of Whisper White with 1/4" Circles of Garden Green on top, then the Basic Black pupils.  I also punched a 3/8" of Basic Black, cut it in half, and added the eyelids to his eyes.  The heart is from Garden Green cardstock, too.
8. For the Hat: I punched the Small Oval from Lucky Limeade, then punched the opening again (not the punched piece)…that made my hat brim, I trimmed off the excess points on the end.  Then I punched the Petite Curly Punch from Lucky Limeade, and cut off diagonal slivers on each side so it looked tapered.  I did the same with Basic Black for the hat band as I did for the brim, just trimming it at the sides of the hat!  Finally, a Rhinestone jewel in the center of the hatband!
9. The owl is added to the front of the Whisper White circle with Stampin' Dimensionals.
10. I stamped Happy St. Patrick's Day from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Basic Black on Lucky Limeade and punched with the Modern Label Punch.  It's placed under the Owl feet so he is standing on it!

Hope you like him…I do!  Make sure to check out the rest of the Design Team on SUO Challenges…then grab your GREEN and play along!

Oh Hello for Easter!

Hmmm, sorry…this is posting later than normal!  I had the BEST of intentions of getting up this morning and working up a quick card to post on my blog.  BUT…I was tempted by a book I'm reading that only had a few chapters left.  I got too tired last night to finish it before I went to bed, so grabbed it this morning and finished!  It is the third book in a series of six and I'm already panicking because I'm half way thru them and I love the story line!  (And because I know I'll get asked…it is called "A Fatal Series" by Marie Force…a murder mystery/romance theme…lol!)

But…enough of that!  Here's my card for today.  I did up a similar card for a Set Sampler event that I attended in December.  I needed to make up two cards using the Oh Hello stamp set and I wanted to show the stamps in a different way on one card.  The oval screamed Easter Egg to me.  When I saw the Paper Players sketch (PP130), I thought it would be a good time to use the Easter Egg and Chick!

So…here is this version using the sketch!

The details:

1. The base card is 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 So Saffron, folded in half.
2. The layer of Whisper White is 4 x 5 1/4, embossed with the Honeycomb folder
3. I added a 2 1/2 x 3 7/8" of Tea for Two Designer Paper, I cut the right edge along the edges of the hexagons…but that didn't effect show up in the finished card.
4. Along the left side, I used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch with a strip of Calypso Coral cardstock and tucked it under the edge of the DSP.
5. I wrapped some Calypso Coral Ruffled Ribbon around the Whisper White layer and tied a knot.
6. I stamped the oval from Oh Hello with Calypso Coral on Whisper White and cut it with a smaller Oval than the image.  Then cut it in half like a cracked shell, placing a Mini brad along the edge for a hinge.  It is layered it on a larger oval of Calypso Coral cardstock with Stampin' Dimensionals.
7. Next I used the Bird Punch with So Saffron cardstock and cut the body to place inside the egg.  I added a small pearl for the eye and colored the beak with Pumpkin Pie Marker.
8. Finally, I stamped Happy Easter from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Calypso Coral ink on 1/2 x 3" So Saffron of cardstock.

Do you like???  I do!

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It's not too late!  We are just starting Week 2 over on Create with Connie and Mary for the Spring Edition 2013 and our designers are showing off LOTS of fun projects!  Why don't you join us?  At a price of $34.95 US for over 30 step-by-step tutorials…that's just a little over $1 each!  We are featuring products in the Spring Mini and Sale-A-Bration brochures!  Our website stays up over a year, so you can refer back to them 24/7!

Owl card

WOOHOO!!!  Today is the day we start our Guest Designer introductions over on Create with Connie and Mary!  I'll give you a hint…then you'll need to check out who it is over on Create with Connie and Mary!

The Guest Designer is the person who originally created a similar Owl Shaped Card to the one I made below…I borrowed her idea for my niece's baby shower card…matching the owl on her crib ensemble we gave her.

Here is a closeup of the card that I did.  In her thank you note, she mentioned that they framed it and it is hanging in the baby's room!  Isn't that sweet?

1. I used the Window Framelit for the Always Artichoke body.
2. The Tasteful Trim XL Die with More Mustard scallops for feathers over the body. 
3. The wings were Sahara Sand large heart framelits that I cut in half and rounded down and added the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punches from Bashful Blue. 
4. The feet and nose are the Blossom Petals Punch punched from Raspberry Ripple cardstock.
5. Eyes are 1 3/8" Very Vanilla circles with 1/2" Basic Black in the center!

I think it looks pretty close to the crib bedding, don't you?

So…did you guess who is our first Guest Designer?  Well…go check it out on Create with Connie and Mary...she has a fun card and favor using the same set she will be featuring in her Guest Designer project!  You won't want to miss her project during the session…so make sure you sign up today!

Did you notice that we have opened the Early Bird registration for Create with Connie and Mary Spring Occasions 2013?  You don't want to miss out!  Sign up today before the cost savings goes away!  With over 30 projects with step-by-step PHOTO instructions at an Early Bird price of $29.95 US, you can't go wrong…that is less than $1 per tutorial!  These are perfect for your classes and stamp camps!  But…customers are welcome, too!  We will be starting January 20th…hurry and sign up today over at Create with Connie and Mary!

Snowman Charger Plates

Well, that was certainly a BUSY weekend for us!  We hosted my husband's holiday party for his direct reports here on Friday night.  About 16 people here…a nice sized crowd.  But a lot of food preparation, cleaning and setting up to do.  I was exhausted.  Then we had shopping to do and writing our Christmas Letter.  Still need to add ribbon to about 1/2 of my Christmas cards!  Hopefully will get that done today.  I also made gifts for his direct reports.  Here are the charger plates I made…inspired by Jill Olsen.

This is a picture of one table.  I made 12 of them, and still have pieces and parts to make a few more for other gifts.

And here is a closeup of one of them.  You can see I used some retired Stampin' Up! Designer Papers (and non-SU papers) because I needed patterns with Whisper White in them, not Very Vanilla.  I wanted Whisper White snowmen!  And, I was surprised to find that a lot of Stampin' Up!'s Designer Papers for Christmas have Very Vanilla in them!  I found the chargers on sale at the M place…$1 for the plain ones and $1.50 for the decorated edge ones.  They didn't have enough decorated edge ones for me to do everyone's, so I used the plain ones.  Quite a reasonably priced gift!  The stands I included (purchased at the W place) cost more than the entire plate did to make!

Here are the details:

1. For the circle of Designer Paper in the background, I found a dessert plate that fit in the center, traced around it with pencil and then cut it out.  It is glued with Snail to the charger.
2. The banner was made in MDS and I printed it on Whisper White, cut to 1 3/4" wide and cut flag ends.
3. I layered it on a 2" x 12" strip of Silver Glimmer Paper and cut flag ends to match it.  I used green Glimmer Brads to hold the two pieces together, and attached it to the charger plate with Stampin' Dimensionals.
4. The snowman is the three largest circles from the Circles #2 die out of Whisper White.  I ran it thru the Big Shot with the Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, too, then sponged around the edges and snowflakes with Crumb Cake ink.
5. The hat is a 1 1/4" Square Punch trimmed on an angle for the sides, then a Word Window of Basic Black for the brim.  I added a flower from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack of Silver Glimmer Paper with a rhinestone in the center.
6. The eyes are two medium sized pearls, colored with a black Sharpie pen.  The nose is a triangle of Pumpkin Pie.  The mouth is a row of the rhinestone jewels, colored with Black Sharpie pen and curved for a smile.  I used three individual rhinestones for the buttons…colored with black Sharpie, too.
7. I used the Gumball Green Sweater Trim for his scarf, knotted on one side.
8. The arms are thin branches, adhered to the plate and under the snowman with Mini Glue Dots.
9. I cut the snowflakes from the Snow Flurry Die with Silver Glimmer Paper and added Red Glimmer Centers with the 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4" Circle Punches.  I adhered them with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Overall, this is so sparkly and pretty!  Everyone loved their gift and I was quite pleased with how they turned out!  I plan on making a LOT more, including one for my house!

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

I like to make a few children's holiday cards to send out and this one is a winner!  I saw a tag made by Melissa Davies with Rudolph made from the Heart Framelits and thought I'd enlarge it and turn it into a card!

Here are the details!

1. The base card is 4 1/4 x 11, folded in half.  I embossed the front with the Petals a Plenty folder.
2. I added a 2 1/4 x 4 1/4 piece of Be of Good Cheer striped Designer Paper.
3. I used 1/4 x 4 1/4 pieces of Red Glimmer paper above and below the striped paper.
4. I cut the third from smallest Heart Framelit from Early Espresso cardstock.
5. I added a 1" Red Glimmer Paper nose, popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals.
6. The antlers I made with Crumb Cake cardstock and the largest snowflake on the Snow Flurry Die, cut off two and adhered behind the heart.
7. I used the Small Oval to punch the Whisper White for the eyes, then used the 1/2" Circle punch and Basic Black for the pupils. 
8. I highlighted the pupils with my White Gel Pen.
9. Rudolph is added to the front of the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.
10. Finally, I stamped "Merry" greeting from Border Banter on a 1/2" strip of Very Vanilla, cut the ends into flags and attached to the front of the striped paper.

OK…isn't it SOOOOO cute???  I love how it turned out

Hoping to have another productive day today.  It was fun creating in my studio yesterday.  I did get my husband's work party invitations done…I'll show those off tomorrow.  But, I need to get some challenges done and my Stamp Club holiday gifts done!  Busy, busy!  Think I'll turn on some Christmas tunes to put me in the mood!  Have a great day!

Perfectly Preserved Wedding

One of the stamp sets we are featuring this week on Create with Connie and Mary Holiday Edition 2012 is Perfectly Preserved and the coordinating Cannery Framelits.  I love, love, love the mason jar…they are so IN right now!  My nephew (the baby of the family!) just got married last weekend.  Their invitation had a mason jar on it and the centerpieces were all different sized mason jars with photos, candles and flowers.  Wish I would have taken of picture of them!  My sister-in-law made them and they were gorgeous…Pinterest worthy!  lol! 

This is also entered into Moxie Fab World's Jars of Joy Challenge…using mason jars in an unusual way!  Love the ideas on how to use the huge mason jar trend right now!

But…I set out to recreate the mason jar invitation with my wedding card to them!  Her colors were Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder…very pretty for an outdoor wedding.

What do you think?  Very different use for the Perfectly Preserved stamp set, isn't it?  I love how it turned out!

• The base is Pool Party.  I layered on the lace from Fan Fair DSP and the coordinating check print is from that DSP package, too!
• The jar is stamped with Basic Gray and cut with the Cannery Framelits.  You can't see in the photo, but I overlayed the jar with a Window Sheet so it looks like glass!
• The two hearts are the smallest size of the Heart Framelits from Pool Party.  The pearls and the Basic Gray bow tie are actually on the outside of the Window Sheet layer.
• The topper is stamped with Pool Party and cut with the Cannery Framelit, I wrapped Linen thread around and tied it in a bow.
• I punched the Scallop Border Punch of Basic Gray and layered it behind the lacey Fan Fair DSP.
• Finally, I stamped For the Newlyweds from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Basic Gray on Very Vanilla and cut the end into a flag end, then tucked it behind the jar.

Isn't it CUTE????

We are just starting Week 2 of Create with Connie and Mary Holiday Edition 2012 and featuring the FALL theme this week!  But…only our subscribers can see them!  So, it's not to late to join!  You'll be the first to see new projects posted with step-by-step PHOTO tutorials AND still have access to all the past projects we did in Week 1!  Our projects stay up over a year after the edition ends, so you can access them 24/7!  For $29.95 US…that is less that $1 each for 30 projects!

CCMC204 – Berry Blossoms DSP

Oh…trials and tribulations!  I knew Wednesday was going to be a BUSY day…with the holiday, I didn't get around to working on my Stamp Club projects until then.  And, I'm in my NEW studio for about 5 minutes working and my big overhead light DIES!!!  It has been flickering for months, and we knew that we'd have to replace the entire light fixture when it went.  So…it picked today!  Even with my under counter lights, it is much darker than I'm used to.  So, when hubby got home, he fixed it temporarily.  But I need to take a trip to the lighting place to get a new fixture this weekend.  AND…my new chair…every time I go to stand up, I hit the little locks on the wheels that prevent it from rolling.  But…I WANT it to roll…and based on the design of the wheels, I hit it EVERY SINGLE TIME I stand up!  So frustrating!  So…back to the store tonight to return it.  Just a design flaw and no way around it!

But, it's Thursday and time for the Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge.  We have a fun color combination for you this week!  It takes the colors from the Berry Blossoms DSP that is retiring TODAY!!!  Wow!  Hard to believe it is the LAST DAY of this catalog!  Hasn't that time gone by FAST?

Now…I must admit…the entire year I thought the dark color in this DSP was BASIC BLACK!!!  When I first saw the combo for this challenge, I thought…wait…that is the wrong color!  Nope!  Oh well…it goes well with black, too!  lol!

I didn't mean to, but ended up not using any stamps except my Petite Pairs greeting…it just kind of evolved that way!  I was going to stamp the flowers with Mixed Bunch…but decided to use my Fancy Flower punch instead.  I punched two from the Calypso Coral polka dot print in the Berry Blossoms package.  Then added a 1 3/8" circle of Lucky Limeade and a 1" circle punched from the large polka dot designer paper.  The layers are popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals and I added a large pearl in the center!  (Those will be back in the new catalog!  Woohoo!)  I added a little piece of Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon for the "leaves" of the blossom.

The base of the card is Naturals White, then I layered on the Wisteria Wonder print.  On top is the large polka dot pattern again, layered on Early Espresso.  I used the Rectangle Frame Folder of Whisper White and cut around it.  Then I added a rectangle of Lucky Limeade (mainly because I originally messed up the greeting on the White!  lol!)  The greeting is from Petite Pairs…love that set!  I need a wedding card for a non-traditional couple and I think this will work well for them!

So, head on over to Create with Connie and Mary and see what the rest of the Challenge Team did this week…they are all so different, even using the same colors!  And…did you see our Design Team Call?  Check it out, we'd love for you to apply!

Enjoy!

CCMC197 – Poppy Flower

We have a FUN sketch for you to try over on Create with Connie and Mary this week…a nice clean and simple one!  Let's see how YOU interpret it!  Our Challenge Team has done a fabulous job with it…amazing that each card is so different!  Check them out over at Create with Connie and Mary!

And here is my card.  I've been wanting to do a 3D poppy flower with the Blossom Punch in the Occasions Mini!  Can you tell what other punches I used to make it?

I started with a base card of Real Red.  I layered on Basic Black and then Whisper White that I ran thru the Big Shot with the Finial Press Impressions Folder on top.  Over the bottom portion of the Whisper White, I layered the red stripe pattern from Letters to Santa!  I think this DSP has such elegant patterns…they are good for more than just Christmas!  To hid the seam, I punched the Old Olive cardstock with the Dotted Scallop Border Punch and laid it across.  I cut the smallest Label Framelit from Basic Black, the stamped You Inspire Me from the hostess set, Perfect Words, and punched it with the Large Oval to layer on top.  I like the unusual greetings in that set! 

OK…ready?  For the poppy.  The bottom layer of the flower is Cherry Cobbler, then a layer of Real Red on top…both of those were punched with the Blossom Punch in the mini and I cut slits between the petals towards the center to give them more movement.  Then I punched 3 of the Modern Label Punch from Poppy Parade and layered those on top of each other, then placed in the middle of the Real Red layer…together they are slightly smaller than the Blossom Punch so it layers nicely.  I spritzed it all with water and crumbled it up.  The center…is the Snowflake punch, two of them, from Basic Black.  And in the very center of that is the Boho Blossom star flower from Daffodil Delight, slit up between each petal to the center.  I scrunched the snowflakes and the star flower tightly and used a mini glue dots to adhere it to the top layer of the red flowers.  Finally, I used the leaf die to cut out the Old Olive, and slightly crumbled them and adhered with a couple of the mini glue dots.

Isn't that a pretty flower?  Probably one of those cards that are better given in person than put in the mail.  So…grab your stamps and play along!  Upload your creation over on Create with Connie and Mary!  We love to see your work!

Summer Smooches Butterfly

When I was working on my Create with Connie and Mary challenge last week, some of the pieces fell together on my desk and resembled a butterfly…well, at least they did to me.  So…this idea has been in my head for a while.  The new Summer Smooches Designer Paper seemed perfect for this butterfly.  She is easy to make…cut some squares and round a couple of the corners!  That's it!  Combined with Perfectly Penned stamp, "Celebrate today"…it seemed like a great reason to celebrate!  Oh, and I finished the wedding invitations for a friend…another reason to celebrate today! 

The base of the card is Rich Razzleberry cardstock.  I layered the Summer Smooches Designer Paper along the bottom of Whisper White (this is my FAVORITE pattern in that package!) and I tied the new Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon around in a knot bow!  (Check out my Ribbon Shares here…I've added Daffodil Delight Seam Binding!)  I stamped Celebrate Today from Perfectly Penned in Rich Razzleberry in the center.  My butterfly wings are 1" and 3/4" squares with two opposite sides punched with the Corner Rounder Punch.  A tip…use a post-it note to hold the tiny 3/4" square in place while you punch it.  The body is a trio of Pearls and a small cut of Old Olive 1/8" Taffeta for the antenna.  Pretty clean and simple card, but I like how it turned out!!

I hope you Celebrate Today, too, and have a GREAT one!