Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I've been working on some items that take more time or are for specific people for specific events and that means I can't show those cards yet as they might visit here. :)
I've been trying some new techniques and I hope you aren't getting tired of the flowers. These techniques just work so well with these flowers and the die it's hard not to use them. I'll have to look through my stash and see what others I can work on too. Hmm... maybe the truck from the Loads of love set. I'll have to see what other open sets I have. I can't remember who I first learned this from as there are several demos that I learn stuff from, so if you were the first to do this let me know and I'll give you credit.
Here is a new technique. I used two different color combos so you could see some differences. the top one has more yellows with a touch of pink and the bottom has more pink with a touch of yellow. Just a slight variation but definitely different results. It's best to work with stamps that have some coloring options. This is done on Shimmery white paper. First set out a drop or two of reinker on something slick (i.e. an old CD or a plastic top, paint tray, etc). I chose 3 colors here - Barely Banana, Regal Rose and Cameo Coral. The Fifth Avenue Floral flower is then embossed in white on the Shimmery paper. Once you do that you spritz the paper really well with water (make sure you protect your work surface so it doesn't get soaked). Then take your aquapainter (make sure really wet) and pick up a touch of the reinker and touch it to one of the areas in between the embossed images. It will spread out quickly and just kind of jump onto the paper. Keep doing that as desired into every spot separated by the embossing as the embossing creates kind of like a ledge separating the areas. Once you get it where you like it, let it dry. It will take at least 30 minutes or more. I then cut mine out and then I attached it to a card. I used dimensionals to give it more depth. So what do you think? Do you like it? It's pretty isn't it?

Here is what I used:
Papers: shimmery white (for flower), whisper white, regal rose, cameo coral, certainly celery
inks: cameo coral craft: reinkers - barely banana, regal rose, cameo coral
stamps: Fifth avenue floral, heard from the heart
accessories: white embossing powder, heat gun, snips, Big shot, little leaves die, dimensionals, clear embossing powder (words)

another manhattan die technique

Here is another technique using the Manhattan flower die. I learned how to do this technique from demo Patty Bennett. It's a little hard to get a picture of to show the variations but it is really pretty in real life.
Here is how I made it.
I took shimmery white paper and embossed a piece in the Big Shot using the die. I then turned it over so the grooves face downward (raised side down). I then took my brayer and used Summer sun ink and then just lightly brayed the image. I didn't bray everywhere just here and there (leave gaps). Then I cleaned off my brayer (or use a second) and rolled again using regal rose ink to fill in the gaps. It gave a cool shading technique look. I then cut it out, which is easy with the outline. I did that because the whole sheet ends up with ink on it and you just want the flower part. I attached it to Cameo Coral paper. I then stamped the saying from Oval All in Regal Rose and colored in with Summer Sun and Rose markers. I then punched out with the large oval and then punched banana paper with the scallop circle. It's raised on dimensionals. Hope you enjoy the card and have a great day.

new techniques with the sizzix plates

This is one of three new techniques I've learned this week. This is one of the easiest ones. this one uses the Manhattan flower textured die. I inked the actual die (on the smoother side) with classic ink, put in shimmery white paper in the die and textured the paper. The white paper then raised up in the outline (keeping it white and then transferred the color onto the flower part. I then cut out the flower and mounted on white paper. I then stamped the saying with the Oval All set, punched it out with the large oval and then used the same dyed paper with the scallop oval punch and made a mat. It is raised on dimensionals. It was fairly quick and easy card to make. Just rinse the the die to clean it and that's it. So what do you think? Do you like it? I thought it was pretty anyway.

Here is what I used to make this card:
paper: shimmery white, whisper white
ink: regal rose and cameo coral
stamps: oval all
accessories: large oval & scallop oval punch, Big Shot, Manhattan Flower textured die

butterfly notecard - new glitter technique

New glitter technique.
Here is another one of my note cards that I made. It's really hard to get a good shot to get the details. It's very glittery in real life.
This effect is made by stamping an image on a transparency (or acetate) with Stazon ink (black). You let that dry. I used Flight of the butterfly for this image.

Then you flip it over and on the backside you use your two way glue pen and put glue on the area that you would like your first color (here I did what was to be the orchid area first and drew heart shapes to represent the butterfly wings). I then added some orchid fine cosmos glitter and let dry.
Then I went back and added more glue (around the butterfly) and then sprinkled the acetate with dazzling diamonds to give it that overall shimmer and let dry.

One tip that would help, which I didn't do here. Before applying your glue pen for the first time, run your embossing buddy over the acetate to help with static cling. It should help keep the glitter off the rest of the card.

Once it's done you adhere the image (glitter side down to a piece of whisper white paper. Less messy that way.
I then curved the edges with my scissors as two pieces didn't work well in the corner punch and then attached to my orchid paper with ticket corner punched edges. I finished it off on my black note card to help the butterfly stand out.
On the inside I added a piece of white (or you could stamp with white ink) to fit my sentiment.
I hope you had fun seeing this little technique. It was fun - just keep the static cling at bay. Hope you have a great day.

club projects - project 2 love you much

It is very cold here today. We've been iced in the last couple of days, so I've taken some time to pick up a bit so I haven't created much in the last couple of days. So here is another of our club projects. I hope to share more soon, but for now here are some instructions to help you remember if you've done this before or if you have never done it before these might help.

Here is a second project we made with the Love you Much Bundle. It was fun and quick to make. It could be filled with candy or small gifts, etc.
This idea can be used for other holidays too (Easter, birthday, Halloween, etc).
We stamped the big heart in white and heat embossed and cut out. The red hearts were punched out and glued on and then the dashes were made with the white gel pen. The pink ones were stamped in Riding Hood Red and punched out. The top one is popped out with a dimensional. The white part is stamped with the three heart stamp that matches the punch with pink piroutte on both sides.
This is made with the medium envelopes. You seal the envelope then punch each top corner with the tag punch one & a half times to make the handle (it should still be connected in the middle.) You want to cut the two ends that would be the say top left and bottom left if you were addressing it. You also turn the punch face down toward the bottom (long part) when holding it on end. Then you just snip off the little extras to make it a straight edge and then you are done. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you have a great day and stay warm.

club projects - project 1 love you much

Well today is officially a snow day here. Our first of the season. It's bad enough that they canceled school, but people are still out and about. More is coming though and this time it's ice, so hopefully everyone stays safe.
Last night we squeaked in club before it all hit.
Here is one of the items we made. I got this idea from fellow demo Dawn Griffith. This little box will stand up (the picture was easier to take laying down). It's a real cute gift idea for someone special. It opens up and holds chocolate one of my favorite things. :)

Here is what I used to make it and also some dimensions for those of you who would like to know. Also the Love you Much bundle is still on sale. Let me know if you are interested or see my Stampin' Up! site to order it. The sale ends Saturday.

Riding hood red cardstock - 2 1/2" x 11", scored at 2 3/4",3 1/4", 7 1/4", 7 3/4", 9 1/4", & 9 3/4"
After you score it attach dsp to back and fold with bone folder to get a crisp fold (make sure to stick well). Fold the next to last fold out to form a stair step.
The size of the dsp is 2 1/4" x 10 3/4". Here I used the new Candy Land paper with the stripes vertical.
I then pushed the stair step section (where the chocolate slides in) into my word window punch and pushed it in as far as it would go and punched (it should punch between the two score lines). That makes the hole for your chocolate to fit in.

Next attach the top of the folded dsp with a dimensional in each upper corner to the back of the cardstock (make sure bottom is flat on table, so it will stand up on it's own.).
then you place a piece of sticky strip on inside between score lines (see where brown ribbon is.) then you place one edge of chocolate ribbon in the middle and circle around and put the other end to match the others so both ends are in the inside. My ribbon is 10" of chocolate chip.

For the front of the box. I punched the hearts out of Riding hood red with the heart to heart punch and attached to box. I then placed dots on them with the gel pen.

For the front circle piece I punched out a piece of chocolate with the 1 3/4" circle punch and a pink piroutte with 1 1/4 punch. I then used markers and inked up the hugs and kisses stamp from the Love you much stamp set with the following colors (outside scallops and heart with dots with real red, words with chocolate chip). Then I huffed on it and stamped on whisper white paper. I then punched out the middle part with a 1" punch and the rest with the scallop circle punch (yes there is a hole in the middle but it will get covered up).
Then you layer the items (chocolate circle on bottom, followed by scallop stamped image with hole, then pink circle) then layer the hugs and kisses circle on top with a dimensional to help it pop up.

Once done with the circle items find the top (so heart is right side up) and place 3 dimensionals on the back at the top (leave bottom open).
Attach this to front of box so bottom half isn't touching anything.

Add a velcro dot to the bottom half of circle now and remove adhesive.
Make sure box is square before closing the box to attach velcro to other side (leave pieces connected and close, don't try to put each half of the velcro on separate it's too hard to match up.

The next step is to add chocolate and then you are done (if you haven't eaten it all by now. :) )
Hope these help. If you have questions let me know. Thanks

Merry Christmas from our house to yours

I want to spend some time with my family the next couple of days and I wanted to show this card before I did. I thought it was appropriate. It uses the To You and Yours stamp set, so I thought it was appropriate to wish you all Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

It shows a faux metal technique I I learned from the SU training team (One of the perks of being a demo by the way). There are two ways to do Faux Metal and this is just one of them. How do you do this you ask? First I took the stamp I wanted to use and inked it with Versa mark and left it to work on the next part (don't stamp anything - you need it wet with Versa). I then took a piece of silver paper (cut to a little bigger then the size so you can hold it) and inked it with Versa mark all over (use the pad). Then poured silver embossing powder on it and embossed the whole piece. I then did that same thing two more times on the same piece, so it's basically been embossed 3 times all over. I hold the heat gun on the piece a little longer and then I grab my stamp and I lift my heat gun up and then stamp into the warmed embossed piece of paper. When I lift my stamp off it looks like the stamp image has been etched into the embossed layers. The Versa mark keeps the silver from sticking to the stamp, so it's a pretty quick and easy way to add accents to your cards or scrap pages. A fun way to save a little on decorations and probably a little more archival then pure metal pieces. Anyways, I thought it a fun technique to show you and also to help wish you a very Merry Christmas!

We hope you take time and actually enjoy the holidays. Sometimes we spend so much time preparing we forget to enjoy the gifts we do have (like Martha did). So take some time and enjoy your family, your friends, your life and most of all God, who gaves us everything. God bless and Merry Christmas.

Here is what I used to make this card.
Paper: night of navy, bashful blue and whisper white, Brushed silver
ink: versa Mark, night of navy
stamps: To you and yours
accessories: silver cording, heat gun, silver embossing powder, white grosgrain ribbon, ticket corner punch, wide oval punch, dimensionals,

Sparkly ornaments

Okay, I've been talking about the ornaments I've been making that were sparkly - well here they are. I didn't want to show them until I got most of the colors done. They turned out really pretty don't you think? The weren't that hard to make, just a little messy is all. These are clear ball ornaments, which have been colored with re-inker and dazzling diamond glitter. I only could make so manydifferent ones, because it's all the colors I had. There are 48 colors out there, plus the In-colors so there are a lot of options.

So how do you make them you ask. Well for the bigger ones you add about 30 drops of reinker (you can try less if you want, you can always add more.) I used classic ink by the way. I tried the white craft ink and it was thick and didn't move much. I added a touch of water, but it thinned a little too much, so I poured out some and then added some regular reinker to it and it kind of made a marbelish type of color which was sort of cool. It did take more patience though. So after you add the reinker you slowly revolve the ornament around and get a good even coating around the whole ball. Don't shake the ornament at this step or the reinker it causes air bubbles which are a pain to get out. When you get to the lip I suggest holding over a plastic cup or something you can throw away that holds liquid to let it drain some. I then dabbed it some with a paper towel while holding it upside down to get any excess at the lip (it will go through the towel, so don't set it on anything important - don't ask how I know that :) ). Then you immediately pour in some dazzling diamond glitter in. You can use a small funnel or I had a small spoon and a cheap Glad type container which I store mine in (or powder tray works) and poured in what I could. You need enough to coat it but not too much, because depending on the color you use it will color the glitter, so it's not as reusable. You can always add some more if you need to until it's dry. By the way, I used gloves and I would recommend you do that if you don't want colored fingers. Once the glitter is in there, take a cloth - paper towel works and cover the hole and shake really well in all directions. (If you don't use a paper towel or gloves, glitter will fly so I've heard). Then empty out any glitter that's extra (I don't recommend putting it back in the original container - unless you want different colored dazzling diamonds) and then let dry. Pop the top back in and you are done. To start with I'd use a lighter color that you can see through - it makes it easier to move around that way at least until you get use to it. The colors in the close up balls are real red, pacific point and old olive. I hope you enjoy this. If you have any questions just ask. My daughter also helped me make little ones for her teachers and she enjoyed it too. We put in about 11 drops for those. So have fun experimenting. I didn't try different colors, but that might be cool too - a swirl type of effect. Hmmm, sounds like an interesting prospect to try. Maybe one day soon. Anyways, I hope you have a great day.

nugget box tutorial

I've had a request to post the dimensions of the nugget box, so I thought I'd also show how to make these boxes.
First you will need the following materials to make this box.
5 1/4" x 3 3/4" piece of cardstock for base of box.
5 1/8 x 3 1/16 piece of DSP or cardstock for cover.
Scorer or paper cutter with score blade or bone folder
Sticky strip or strong adhesive
If you want labels to cover the inside you will need that or 3 pieces of dsp 1 x 3 1/4 to cover nuggets.
3 nugget candies - I used Hersheys (sorry, don't know how to make a copyright symbol).
Whatever you want to decorate it with (birthday sentiments, baby, halloween, Christmas, etc.)

Take your base piece and score all 4 sides at 1/2" and 1 1/8". When you get done you should have a rectangle shape in the middle of the paper.
Use scissors to cut off the 3 small boxes that make an "L" shape at each corner (do this 4 times). When you are done you should have a stair step type shape at all 4 corners.
With the long side facing you (so it looks like a typical rectangle) cut along the score line to the 1 1/8" mark creating little tabs.

You should end up with a picture that looks like this. I'd trim the flaps a little (see the v shape in the middle) to make sure it closes right. (sorry about the box quality - it's late and I was being lazy, so I took the one closest to me apart rather then going downstairs and cutting a new piece, but you get the idea right?)
Then place sticky strip in the middle rectangles on each side.
Fold in all your score parts.
Take the backing off the sticky strip. Fold up both sides and attach the little flaps to the long part of the box (long part is bottom of picture). Fold the top part of the long side over the tabs to secure. Do both long sides (tabs should be hooked to long side). Then fold over short side and make sure all sides are down tight.
Next take your top piece. Score the long side (5 1/8" side at your stomach (unless you turn your cutter)) at 11/16, 2 1/4, 2 15/16, & 4 7/16 marks (see pic). Fold the score lines and wrap around your box (do it this way so you don't make it too tight to move) and then secure with a good tape like sticky strip. Then decorate how you would like to decorate. See my previous post for a few ideas. Don't forget you can decorate the nuggets too with paper and such. The ideas are vast if you think about it. Hope this helps. Let me know if you need clarification on anything.

purse card tutorial

Okay, I finally have pictures for this tutorial. Here is how you make the purse card The swap card is the blue card. I'm also showing pink as another option. Also, I got the basic template idea from the SCS template site. I did modify the size to get two per sheet though.

First you take the cardstock and cut 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 (to get two bases per sheet). Then you score at 3 1/2, 7, & 7 2/16 (to help it close - if you'd rather just use a Velcro dot then you don't need this second score line.)

Once it is scored, you fold up the bottom side. Then you make a tick mark at the 1" and 4 1/2" marks (on the front piece only - see photo).

You then need to cut from the bottom corner to the tick mark, but not the top part. You will then cut from the tick line to the end of the paper along the score line. Do this for both sides, so it will end up looking like a T (see picture that looks like a modified T).

Next you will cut the top part. You start at the tick line again and then cut straight up. Do this for both sides (see picture).

Next you take the top part and fold the flap over like it would when you open the card. Next you take the flap and cut off the bottom right corner (to make it look like a tag might look). then you take the piece that was cut off and place it on the left side to use as a guide in cutting off the left corner. That way your two corners match. This will make the flap have a tag like feel to it. It should look like the picture on the left when you open it all up again.

Now you are ready to decorate your card. For the outside stamped color, I cut the paper 5 1/4 x 3 1/4.

You would make tick marks again on this paper, but at the 1" and 4 1/4" marks of your colored cardstock. Again cut from the bottom corner to the tick mark all the way to the top. It should look like this picture. Next stamp your image as desired. I used Boho Backgrounds.

Close up your card and add the stamped image to the front of the card. Then you embellish as desired. I cut about 7" of thin ribbon (grosgrain) or about 7 1/4" of thicker (double stitched). I attached it to the inside of my card to look like purse straps. I then used The Boho Blossoms and Five Petal punches along with a brad to decorate my cards. I then stamped an image on the inside, added a couple more punched flowers and then was done. Have fun. I'd love to see images you create too. If you make some share with me, please. Thanks.

Items I used for the pink card: Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate. Ink: Purely Pomegranate Accessories: Boho Blossoms punch, Five Petal Punch, Gold brad, Pomegranate Ribbon, Scissors, dimensional, piercer. The blue card I used Bashful blue and Night of Navy paper. Night of Navy ink, and Navy grosgrain ribbon.