Birthday Tri Fold

My stamping friends Sharon, Joanne, and I have a weekly challenge. This week's was a fancy fold. I chose this tri fold, which I've always wanted to try, but just never got around to it. It was so much fun! On the 8 1/2" side of my Very Vanilla cardstock, I put a mark at 5 1/2". Then I rotated the cardstock to the other 8 1/2" side and marked that at 5 1/2". I then lined up those two marks on my paper cutter and made the diagonal cut. And now I can make a second card with it! The card is decorated with my retired Christmas Designer Series Papers from Stampin' Up! I used my scallop edge punch for the scallops. I stamped on the background in River Rock (retired In Color) with my Crazy for Cupcakes balloon. Oh my, I just love that balloon! I used the candle from the Hearty Birthday set and colored it with Old Olive and Barely Banana markers. The Wishing You comes from It's Your Birthday, a retired stamp set from SU! The other layers are River Rock and Sahara Sand. I also used my markers on the words. I chose a phrase for each section of cardstock, making a fun card to pull open. I hope you've had fun looking at this fun card and dreaming of how you could use this fold. Send me a link or photo if you use this idea for any projects.

Happy Thanksgiving!

No photos this time. Just a wish from my heart to yours that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with either family or friends. May what you share today reflect what's truly in your heart.

I'm thankful for:

My Family
My God loving me, no matter what
Stamping!
The little joys in life that help us to remember to be thankful

What are you thankful for? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Julie

I've Been Framed!!

Ever see a wall in your home and wish that you had just the right thing to hang there? Well, that spot for me is my entryway. What do you put up? And then you want to change it for special holidays? I was shopping at a thrift store and found this great frame in perfect condition, but without the glass. Glass? Not necessary if you're stamping something, right? I paid $2 for this frams and look what it became! I used the Watercolor Wonder Crayons for the Watercolor Wash technique for the background. Those of you who came to my Christmas Card Cranks were able to try it out and found out how much fun it is. One frame says "Hope", one says "Joy", and the middle frame has an image of the manger scene, complete with star and Luke 2:11. I glittered the star, halo over the baby Jesus, and the first letters of the words. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Come on over to see it in person.

Stamp Sets: Illuminations, Season of Simple Grace

Watercolor Wonder Crayons & Sponges, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter & 2-Way Glue Pen

Petal Valentine

For this card, I wanted to make a Valentine without a traditional Valentine stamp set. I used Pick a Petal in Real Red and Creamy Caramel, cut out the layers a few times and adhered them together with dimensionals. Yes, dimensionals again. I can't seem to get away from those. The birds were made with my Big Shot Sizzlets from the Birds & Blooms dies exclusive to Stampin' Up! The Designer paper is from the Hostess Level 1 paper pack. I love that free stuff! The black scallop edge was made using the Scallop Edge Punch. And to finish it all off, there has to be a ribbon, right? Actually it just needed something else, so I tied a bow with 1/4" black grosgrain and attached it with a mini glue dot. Voila! My very untraditional Valentine's card.

Big Shot Swap Card

I hosted a swap for Stampin' Up! demonstrators this week. Cards are due in tomorrow. This is my card, minus a few additions that I made. The wreath is made out of flowers from the Birds & Blooms Sizzlets exclusive to Stampin' Up! The bird is from the same set of sizzlets. I sponged the edges of the bird with Bashful Blue. for what you can't see, I added gold brads in a couple of strategic places to look like ornaments on the wreath and glittered the bird with dazzling diamonds. The wreath took awhile to put together, but I thought the effect was worth it. As always, all supplies are Stampin Up!

Mailable Christmas Card challenge

My friends Joanne, Sharon, and I have a weekly challenge. This week's challenge was to make a Christmas card that won't require extra postage, ie. no rhinestone brads, no giant ribbons, no big bows.... I embossed the Scandinavian Season tree in white on Chocolate Chip cardstock and then bleached out part of the image with my aqua-painter pen. I wanted to tie in the red color, so used a red brad for the center of the flower on the tree. My vanilla craft ink was a little thick, so smeared a bit for the snowflakes. My goal was to use up some scraps that I had lying around of Designer Series Paper. The layout is fun because it opens in the center. always fun to do something a bit different.

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas Card Crank this Saturday!

Here is one of the cards that we'll be making on Saturday. This is one of my absolute favorites. I love the Ski Slope Designer Series Paper and it goes beautifully with this stamp set. I also love the simplicity of the two colors.

Stamp Set: Season of Simple Grace

Ink: Baja Breeze

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, 2-Way Glue Pen, Sponge

As usual, all supplies are Stampin' Up!

Altoid Tin

I've seen so many decorated Altoid tins. I just had to try it myself! This is the second one I made. I gave another one away as a hostess gift for my last workshop. Since it's a candy tin, I decided to fill it with "card candy". Card candy is an image that is pre-stamped and ready to go on the center of a card. That makes is super simple to make a quick card when you needed one five minutes ago. Ever been there? I used my ATG framing gun to attach the Bella Rose Designer Series Paper, though I imagine that wonderful Tombow would also do the trick. The bow is made of Red Riding Hood Taffeta (I just LOVE that ribbon!) folded over a few times and tied in the center with gold elastic cord. The poinsettia is made by punching two flowers with the five petal punch. After punching the flowers out, place them on a foam mat and draw in the veins with a stylus. I punched three holes in the center and used gold brads to look like the center of the flower. I think this would make a great gift and would also double as a gift card holder!

Well, this was a fun card to make! I created this one for two challenges on SCS http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/. This was for Sketch Challenge 200 and Color Challenge 190. This new stamp set "Cheers To You" is a really fun one! Now I just have to figure out which friend or family member to gift this to! .....or I could keep it for myself. :-) I used dimensionals behind both the scallop square and the white square to give it a fun look. Blender Pens allowed me to color in the drinks with the In Color inks. All supplies are SU!

Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Old Olive, Ski Slope Designer Series Paper, Whisper White

Tools & Accessories: Scallop Edge and Square Punches, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Pumpkin Striped Grosgrain, Paper Piercer & Foam Mat

Inks: Old Olive, Pixie Pink, Pumpkin Pie

Frankies and Brides

Well, Halloween is over, but I wanted to post these cute little Frankensteins & Brides that I made for my children, nieces, and nephews. They're so much fun to make and the kids really seemed to like them. They're made with Stampin' Up!'s Sizzix Big Shot, the Stampin' Up! exclusive Top Note Die, Rounded Tab Punch, 1" and 1/2" Circle Punches, and my trusty Stampin' Write Journaler Pen. I have a strip of black cardstock inside that was scored to form the bottom and sides and a small cello bag taped inside. I stuffed these delightful little bags with M&M's and Reeses. Sponging the edges of the eyelids and nose gave them some dimension. These were inspired by a mass of Frankies posted on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com and especially by this post http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1110399?si=frankenstein. The flowers in the brides' hair are from the exclusive Stampin' Up! Sizzlets Birds and Blooms dies. You can put veins in the flowers and make them 3-D if you place them on a foam mat and use your stylus to draw veins. A totally cool effect!

Colors: Basic Black, Green Galore, Whisper White