punch art

Holiday Gift Card Tree

December 23, 2015 By Connie | 5 Comments

I’ll probably be off-line the next few days to enjoy our families at Christmas. I wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A few weeks ago, I was commissioned by my son to make a Gift Card “basket” for his work holiday party! I decided to do a Gift Card Tree with some of my favorite Punch Art characters! I can’t believe it, but I did forget to take closeups of each of them individually…so this full shot is all I have! Hope you can see it ok. There is a Snowman, an Elf suit, a Penguin, Rudolph and Santa suit. I used the Gift Card Framelit for the base. Inside the holders are gift cards to various restaurants around town.

Sorry, I’m not going into details on each one, but the base is the bottom of a decorated gift box and I wrapped around some retired Real Red Striped Ribbon. Inside the box is some floral foam to hold the skewers in place and shredded tissue on top to hide the foam. On the back of the gift card holder, I added a little rectangle of cardstock with Sticky Strip around it to form a pocket for the end of the stick to slide into and hold secure.

You like? It was a hit at the party!

Don’t forget about my Accessory Product Share going on now. See more details HERE!

CCMC385 Holly

December 10, 2015 By Connie | 6 Comments

It’s Thursday and time for the weekly Create with Connie and Mary Challenge! It’s a fun sketch, and I can’t wait to see what everyone has done with it!

So, even though the sketch eludes to flowers, I decided to make some holly leaves to use for the flower element. Here’s my take on the sketch:

Here are the details:

The base is 4-1/4 x 11 Cherry Cobbler, folded in half.
On top is a 4 x 5-1/4 layer of Smoky Slate.
A 3 x 3-1/2 piece of Merry Moments Designer Paper is placed on top and a 1/2″ x 3-1/2″ strip of Cherry Cobbler is added along the bottom of the DSP.
Silver Cording is wrapped around the Smoky Slate later and tied with a bow.
Oh What Fun from the stamp set by that time is stamped with Tuxedo Black Ink under the DSP.
To make the holly, punch a large oval from Mossy Meadow cardstock, fold in half lengthwise, then take the 1/2″ Circle Punch and punch small cuts on the open edges of the oval, making sure the start and end at the last punch so you get points along the edges. Add to the front of the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Punch a 1″ circle from Vellum, then adhere the Pom Pom trim with Mini Glue Dots to the circle. Add the holly leaves to the vellum circle, too, then add to the front of the card.

That’s it! Go check out what the rest of the Challenge Team did over on Create with Connie and Mary! And, while you are there, check out the December Mini Session that opens on Dec. 11th with several projects featuring products in the new Occasions Catalog coming out in January! (Don’t forget, if you signed up for the WINTER BONUS last month, you already have subscribed to this session!)

Here’s a sneak peek of what we will be doing and sets we are using for the December session, great for your upcoming January, Valentine and Occasions classes:

Bloomin’ Love Bundle 3D Project
Going Global
Timeless Love
Wonderland (last minute gift packaging idea!)
No Bones About It
BONUS: Bloomin’ Love Card Set

Check out the details over on Create with Connie and Mary!

SUOC137 Rudolph Punch Art

December 8, 2015 By Connie | 7 Comments

Time for another SUO Challenge, and this time the theme is Kids Holiday Cards or Gifts! What a FUN theme…especially since I have two small grand-children now! I’m sure they both would love to get this Rudolph card, with the shiny nose!

Here are the details:

The base is 4-1/4 x 11 Real Red cardstock folded in half.
On top is a 4 x 5-1/4 layer of Whisper White cardstock.
The head is cut with the 4th from smallest Oval Framelit from Soft Suede cardstock. The muzzle is the 2nd from smallest Oval Framelit cut from Soft Suede cardstock. Both are placed on the front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
The nose is the 1-3/8″ Circle Punch from Red Glimmer Paper and added with another Stampin’ Dimensional.
The eyes are the Large Oval Punch from Whisper White and the 3/4″ Circle Punch from Basic Black. A White Gel Pen highlights the eyes. The Black circles were popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
The ears are the next to smallest leaf in the Leaflet Framelits from Soft Suede cardstock.
The antlers are the oak leaf from Chocolate Chip cardstock.
Ho Ho Ho from Oh What Fun stamp set was stamped with Real Red Ink between the antlers.

That’s it! Super, super cute, I think! OK…check out what the rest of the Design Team made for the Kids Christmas Cards over on SUO Challenges!

CCMC378 Reason for the Season

October 22, 2015 By Connie | 8 Comments

It’s Thursday and time for the Create with Connie and Mary weekly challenge! Our theme this week is a Color Challenge and I absolutely LOVE them together! Of course, they scream FALL colors to me!

I wanted to show off the Reason for the Season stamp set in a non-Christmas fashion! I’ve used the punch alone a couple times to make sunflowers, this time, I used the stamp set and coordinating punch to make the non-Poinsettia flower! Love that I can use it more than one way!

Here are the details:

The base is 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 Hello Honey folded in half.
Cut the Into the Woods woodgrain DSP to 2-1/4 x 5-1/4 and layer on 2-1/2 x 5-1/4 Soft Suede cardstock, then add to the 4 x 5-1/4 layer of Whisper White.
Stamp You’re in my Thoughts from Watercolor Wishes stamp set with Mossy Meadow Ink in the lower left corner.
Stamp the Reason for the Season large petal 9 times on Hello Honey with Hello Honey ink and 4 times on Mossy Meadow with Mossy Meadow Ink. Stamp the smaller duo petal leaf twice with Hello Honey ink on Hello Honey cardstock. Punch all with the Festive Flower Builder Punch. Sponge around the edges with their coordinating ink and sponge dauber.
I find it easier to put together by punching a 2″ circle from scrap cardstock, then apply adhesive all over it. Begin curving the petals and attach to the circle.
Cover the center with a 1-1/4 punched circle of Mossy Meadow, stamped with the Poinsettia image for a textured look.
Add a Perfect White Accent to the center of the flower.
Adhere the flower and leaves to the card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

That’s it! Pretty flower, isn’t it? Make sure to check out the rest of the Create with Connie and Mary Challenge Team to see what they did with the color challenge this week!

October 2015 Tour de Freaks

October 19, 2015 By Connie | 9 Comments

Hi! Welcome to the Control Freaks “Tour the Freaks” blog hop! You’ve probably just come from the awesome Jan Tinklenberg, didn’t you love her ideas? You can continue around the blog hop until you reach back here and complete the tour! Small group this time…only 9 stops!

Our theme for October is “Something to be thankful for…” I could think of TONS of things I’m very thankful for…my family, health, friends, a great stamping business that allows me to work from home. But…this time of year gratitude also makes me think of the Thanksgiving holiday. I only have a few truly “Thanksgiving” type of decorations that I set out. One is a set of little stuffed pilgrims and turkey that I purchased at a craft fair YEARS ago! Looking at them when I pulled out the Halloween stuff gave me the idea that I could re-create them in box form. And, I decided the Cutie Pie Framelit would be my best bet! So…here’s the family:

Aren’t they cute? All of them can be filled with candy or treats, the bottom of the box opens up! I plan on putting them on my Thanksgiving Table to go along with the Indian Corn favors I made for each plate that I featured in last month’s tour! Here they are individually.

The Boy Pilgrim:

The Girl Pilgrim:

And the Turkey:

A few details:

The Faces were punched with the 1-3/4″ Circle. Eyes with the 1/4″ circle.
The hats were made with the Boo To You witch hat.
Collars, bonnet, hair and apron were hand cut. The scallop on her collar with the 2-3/8 Scallop Circle Punch.
Turkey feet and waddle were cut from the Cutie Pie Thinlet pieces. Leaves from the Leaflet Framelits.

OK…time to move on to the next person on the tour my great friend, Mary Brown. I know you’ll enjoy her projects, too!

SUOC132 Punched Coneflowers

September 29, 2015 By Connie | 7 Comments

I’ve been wanting to use the Festive Flower Builder Punch in a little different way and I’ve been thinking about Coneflowers for a while! So, when the theme of the SUO Challenge this time is Punch It Up…I thought it was perfect! So, first thing I did was to google what colors they came in. I decided to use Rose Red with Rich Razzleberry sponging on them!

Here are the details:

The base is 4-1/4 x 11 Hello Honey cardstock, folded in half.
On top is a 4 x 5-1/4 layer of English Garden Designer Paper.
For each Cone Flower, I punched the larger petal on the Festive Flower Builder Punch from Rose Red, then sponged around the edges with Rich Razzleberry Ink. The stems were hand cut from Old Olive and sponged with Mossy Meadow Ink. The leaves I used the smaller petal on the Festive Flower Builder Punch and sponged Mossy Meadow around the edges.
The center is the Extra Wide Oval punched from Hello Honey, then cut in half on a curve. I stamped the speckles from Glorious Grunge in Rich Razzleberry and sponged the edges with Rich Razzleberry, too.
I used a circle to add all the petals and center to, then popped it up on the front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Thanks from Watercolor Wonder was stamped with Rich Razzleberry on Hello Honey cardstock and punched with the Extra Wide Oval.
Gold thread was wrapped around and added under the oval before placing it on the front of the card. It adds just the right amount of sparkle!

That’s it! What do you think? I love how these turned out! OK…check out what the rest of the Design Team did over on SUO Challenges, then grab your punches and play along!

CCMC350 Big On You

April 9, 2015 By Connie | 7 Comments

It’s Thursday and time for another Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge! It’s a fun color challenge, taken directly out of the Birthday Bash Designer Paper colors!

I had purchased the Big On You stamp set in the Occasions Catalog, but hadn’t used it much. I thought this would be a perfect time to pull it out! Isn’t this card fun with the little punch art Party Hats and Pom Pom trim? Sure hope Stampin’ Up! puts that trim back in the ordering system soon!

Here are the details:

The base is 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 Whisper White cardstock, folded in half.
On the 4 x 5-1/4 layer of Crushed Curry, It’s Your Day from Big On You was stamped with Night of Navy Ink and colored with the Crushed Curry Stampin’ Write Marker.
On the left, a 1-1/2 x 4 strip of Birthday Bash Designer Paper was adhered, then a 1/2 x 4 strip of Calypso Coral hides the seam.
A 2-1/2 Circle was punched from Night of Navy cardstock and added to the front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
The party hats were punched from the Birthday Bash DSP with the Petite Pennants Builder Punch, then punched again with Night of Navy cardstock and just the bottom trimmed off the Night of Navy ones to add as the band on the DSP ones.
Two Calypso Coral Pom Poms were cut off the string and adhered to the tops of the Party Hats with Tombow Monoadhesive Glue, then added to the front of the 2-1/2 Circle with Stampin’ Dimensionals!
I had a little Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper star on my desk, punched from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack that I added in the bottom right corner for some bling!

Lots of fun for a birthday card, huh? Make sure to check out what the rest of the Challenge Team did with these colors over on Create with Connie and Mary! And, while you are there…sign up for our latest Card “Create”tions Celebrations session! We just got started with over 72 card ideas from 18 stamp sets! You don’t want to miss it for only $19.95 US!

CCMC336 Snowman Love

January 1, 2015 By Connie | 14 Comments

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Wishing you a wonderful year! And, it’s Thursday and time for the Create with Connie and Mary Challenge! We have a beautiful color combination for you this week! Hope you grab your stamps and play along!

And here’s my card. It kind of took off in a direction all of it’s own…nothing like what was in my head! I knew I wanted to do a New Year’s card, the colors are Valentine-y looking, and I’m on a snowman kick right now…so this was “born”! lol! Isn’t it cute?

Here are the details:

The base is 4-1/4 x 11 Calypso Coral cardstock, folded in half.
On the 4 x 5-1/4 layer of Basic Black, I stamped the Dotty Angles confetti with Versamark, then embossed with Silver Embossing Powder.
I added a 3/4 x 4 strip of Whisper White cardstock at the bottom and stamped Happy New Year from Teeny Tiny Wishes with Tuxedo Black ink.
I cut the Real Red Heart with the Heart Framelits, then added 1-3/4 circles of Whisper White for the snow people heads. The eyes are the Cupcake Punch confetti from Basic Black, I drew on eyelashes for the snow lady with the Black Marker and highlights with the White Gel Pen. The noses are the tip of the Tree Punch from Calypso Coral cardstock.
I used the Extra Large Oval and Owl Punch Vest for the man’s hat and the lady’s headband is the tip of the Extra Large Oval from Basic Black. I added two Owl Punch hearts for the Calypso Coral bow on her hat, with a rhinestone in the center.
The bottom needed a little something, so I made a small bow with the new Bow Punch from Calypso Coral, adding the Red Glimmer Small Heart in the center.

Change the greeting and make it a Valentine card, wedding or anniversary card, too! So fun!

Make sure to check out the rest of the Create with Connie and Mary Challenge Team and see what they did with this color combination!