One of these things is not like the other...

Wow, it sure was a windy day today. Guess that means fall is here and winter is just around the corner. With the wind and the gloomy skies this afternoon I had to scan my cards instead of photographing them. Oh well you can still play a game with me. Here it is:
There's just one little difference in these 2 cards. Can you spot it?
Check out the circle in the bottom right hand corner. In the first picture it says happy Holidays and in the second it's shows 3 snowflakes. It's the same card, but the circle tag is suspended on some floss so the tag can rotate. The hole is punched all the way through the top of the card so it can be seen on the inside too. Just in case that wasn't the clearest explanation, here's what the card looks like when fully opened to the inside:
It's an easy supply list today. The paper is all from Making Memories' Mistletoe line. It's a really versatile and gorgeous Christmas line. The colors and patterns are traditional with a little bit of a retro edge. The only extra embellishments are 3 candy dots from Pebbles Inc. The only special tools used are a few circle punches.
Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday's Terrific Technique: Glitter Embossing

This technique is a really fabulous, simple technique. In fact, you've seen me use it on this blog before. I love the sparkle glitter gives, but I don't love the mess and how it often rubs off of the card. To make something lovely and sparkly I do the following steps.
1. Take 1 part glitter of your choice. I like Stampin' Up!'s dazzling diamonds because it is a very fine glitter.
2. Add the glitter to 1 part clear embossing powder and mix.
3. Use like normal embossing powder.
4.Store extra glitter embossing powder in a small empty container. I usually just use an old empty embossing container.
Here are a few different examples of what you can do with glitter embossing:


For this card I first stamped and colored in the ice cream Sundae. Then I covered the entire image with versamark ink and glitter embossing powder. The result is a complete image that sparkles.

It's a little tough to see, but for this card I stamped the cupcakes in brown pigment ink, sprinkled glitter embossing powder on and heated. Then I colored in the cupcakes. The result is a cupcake that is only outlined in glitter.
I hope you enjoyed today's technique. Please feel free to drop me a note if you have any questions.

Fancy Pants

It's just fun to say, and the All Fall paper line is a recent favorite of mine...ahh Fancy Pants! In honor of World Card Making Day Fancy Pants is having a card contest. Click here for more info. Since I'm having so much fun with the All Fall papers from Fancy Pants right now, I figured I just had to play along. My only problem? I didn't have very much paper left. I used most of it to create a card class I'm teaching at the end of the month. So, this turned into a double challenge for me, create a card using some Fancy Pants paper and do it with a limited amount. What do you think?
Here's another angle so you can see how much texture this card has.
If you want to see the whole, very lovely, very versatile All Fall line (so you can see why I love it so), you can click on this link to A Walk Down Memory Lane and see it all.

Now for the details:
I used Bazzill's flower stitching template to lay out my holes for hand stitching the large flower. I then filled that flower in with my versamark marker and sponged blue chalk on top. The crocheted flower is from My Mind's Eye. I sewed a button from Autumn Leaves in the center of it. The flower stem stamp is from Heidi Grace's A little Bird's Tale. The "thinking of you" stamp is from Stampin' Up!'s Teeny Tiny Wishes. The corduroy button and ribbon are also from SU!

I'll see you all tomorrow for another Tuesday's Terrific Technique!

Happy Sunday?

It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me the past few days. Lots of good news, and some not so great stuff too. Some of the good news I'll share with you all later this week, and some I'll share later in this post. Some of the bad? Well, I've got a couple of sick little boys. Not only do I feel bad for them, but it kept us from a few of our fun weekend plans. My oldest just started Sunday school a few weeks ago, and he was pretty bummed that he couldn't go today.
Now, some of the good. Yesterday I got a chance to have an in depth meeting with Lisa, the owner at A Walk Down Memory Lane, and we were able to get my upcoming class schedule worked out in detail. Pretty exciting! We've got some awesome classes planned. Below is a picture of what I will be doing next Saturday, which just happens to be World Card Making Day as well.This is a box that is filled with 6 awesome cards that also match the box. The box and cards use a few sheets of card stock, but only 1 sheet of patterned paper! For those of you who live in the area, A Walk Down Memory Lane's class schedule can be found here.
Speaking of World Card Making Day, I'll try to post a few more times this week with some great card ideas and inspiration in honor of World Card Making Day on Saturday. I hope you are all having a blessed and happy Sunday!

Tuesday's Terrific Technique: Faux Metal

I love embossing, so the next few Tuesdays, I thought I take you through a few of my favorite embossing techniques. First up: Faux Metal.

Today you'll need:
A piece of card stock. Any color will do.
Versamark Ink
Silver, Gold, or other metallic colored embossing powder
A Heat Gun
A Scissors or Paper Punch
A Stamp

Cover a section of your paper with Versamark, then sprinkle with embossing powder. The area covered by embossing powder should be larger than your stamp, but does not need to cover the entire paper.

Heat the embossing powder until set.

Cover the embossed area with Versamark Ink again, and sprinkle with silver embossing powder again.

Heat powder until set.

Immediately, while the embossed area is still hot, press a stamp into the embossed area.

You should now have an image set into the embossed area. If your image doesn't turn out the way you want, you can just reheat the embossed area until it liquefies, and try again.

Punch or cut out your image.

You should now have a faux metal tag that looks something like this.

Now all you have to do is add your faux metal tag to a project!

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial. Next week we'll try out another embossing technique.

A little bit personal

I was challenged to do a project that said something about me. So, I decided to do a layout that told about my favorite things. I had a really clear idea of what I wanted and where I wanted to go with this layout, but putting it all together in a way that I liked seemed especially hard. Maybe it was because this layout was so personal, or maybe it was because I not only wanted to list some of my favorite things, but I wanted to use some of my favorite craft techniques too. For example, I love hand stitching, so I stitched the cross. I like using themed papers in an out of the box sort of way, so I used Imaginice's Teacher's Pet line. Of course, I had to do some stamping too, so the cupcake and tree are stamped. I wanted this layout to feel personal, so instead of using stickers or die cut letters, I hand wrote all of the text. So here are 10 of my favorite things (in no particular order).

Here's a closer look:

A few notes about some of the products used here. All of the white writing was done with an Inkssentials White Opaque Pen. I just picked this pen up and it is by far the best white gel pen I have ever used. It doesn't clog or glob up. It's really great. I used Tombow's mono ink glue pen to glue on all of the little red dots around the edge of the page. I like that it's a mono ink pen (as opposed to a 2-way glue pen), so you don't need to rush to get the paper on. The best part about this pen is it doesn't stick to your hands. I was a bit sceptical about this claim, but it really doesn't stick to your hands. It's great for little details like these dots or small die cut letters.

I hope this post gets you thinking about doing your own personal layout. What are your favorite things?

Tuesday's Terrific Technique: Bleaching

First, let me apologize for my absence. I've just become a member of my favorite store's in-store design team, so I've been busily working away at that. I've also been asked to teach a few classes there, so needless to say life got a little busy. I'll be teaching classes starting in October, so if you're in the northwest Iowa area you can check out my favorite store, A Walk Down Memory Lane, and my classes in person. If not, you can always shop on line at www.awalkdownmemorylane.net.

For today's technique I thought I'd literally show you a page right out of my own technique journal. There are so many techniques out there, so I decided this was a good way for me to organize all the techniques I like or want to try into one place. I have the techniques filed alphabetically in a note book. There is an example of the technique and the directions on the page, so I can just open it up to a technique and start stamping.Here's a card I made by stamping with bleach. The stamp set is Stampin' Up!'s Trendy Trees.
I hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday!

Tuesday's Terrific Technique: Paper Pansy

Today I am starting a new feature on my blog. I love techniques, so every Tuesday I am going to try to share a technique or tutorial with you. Some of the techniques you may know, but hopefully many of them will be new.
I was playing around with my Scallop Circle Punch today and came up with this fun little paper pansy.
You will need:

2 pieces of patterned paper or card stock (or 1 double-sided piece). Here I am using October Afternoon's Cherry Hill line.

A scallop circle punch (I'm using Stampin' Up!'s scallop circle punch).

A good scissors.

Adhesive













Step 1:

Punch 2 circles from your paper of choice













Step 2:

Cut from the point of a scallop into the center of the circle. Do not cut all the way to the middle. Cut just short of the center of the circle.

Repeat this cut on EVERY OTHER scallop.














When you are finished your scallop circle should look like the picture below. Note the small area in the center of the circle where there are no cuts.
















Step 3:

Cut 3 scallops out of the circle (this will remove 1 pair of scallops and leave a single scallop). You should now have a gap in your circle.












Step 4:

Adhere the single scallop to the back of the double scallop across the gap. Your flower will now have a cone shape.













Step 5:

Repeat this process on your second scallop circle.













Step 6:

Layer your 2 scallop circles on top of each other and carefully curl the petals down. (At this point you can use a dot of glue in the center of you circles to adhere the circles together or you can skip to step 7 and use a brad, eyelet, or some sort of embellishment to hold your flower together).













Step 7:

Add a center to your flower. I used a 5/16" brad, which is also holding my 2 scallop circles together.













Step 8: Use your paper pansy on something! I added it to this card along with a little ribbon from American Crafts and a "Thinking of You" stamp from Stampin' Up!'s Sincere SalutationsDon't be shy. Let me know what you think of this tutorial or if you have any questions about this technique. As with all new things, I will have a learning curve with this. Let me know if I can do something differently to make things more clear. If you enjoy this new feature, I'll try to make it a regular Tuesday post. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

A Final Noel

Well, here it is on the last day, my 5th and final entry for Moxie Fab World's "Stretch Your Style" challenge. Today's style is Fun and Cute. I've been planning this as my last project all week, so it's great to finally have it done.

This was a lot of fun, and not so hard to do. I found my local scrapbook store owner unpacking the great new Mistletoe Line from Making Memories on Friday. I snatched up the paper immediately for use on this project. All of the letters and images (star, Holy Family, Christmas ornament, etc.) were cut on Quickutz vinyl using my Silhouette. In the middle of the star is an American Craft's rhinestone brad. You can't see it in the picture but the Christmas ornament has some sparkly detailing. I used Stickles for that. Finally green ribbon is from American Crafts and my red ribbon is from Stampin' Up! Thanks for having a little early Christmas fun with me this week!
***I forgot to mention that these are on wooden blocks. I know you can pick these up at a lot of scrapbook and craft stores. I cheated (or maybe I was recycling). I had some blocks that spelled "BELIEVE" that I no longer liked. I papered over the BELIEVE to change the blocks into something I wanted to use again. The best part was that they were already painted a nice deep red!

Is This My Challenge or What?

I have not tried to hide the fact that stamping and card making are my "first loves" when it comes to crafting. So, the "Stretch Your Style: Stamping" challenge over at Moxie Fab World, doesn't seem like much of a stretch. I thought to stretch myself a bit, instead of stamping a card I'd stamp a cute little coaster set and matching gift tag.



It's a 4 coaster set:


And a close up of the gift tag:

The coasters are made from unfinished stone tiles (you can find these at any hardware/home improvement type store). You stamp with Stazon (here I used stamps from Stampin' Up!'s Big on Christmas set) directly on the tile, and then color in using Sharpie markers. If you uses Stazon and Sharpies, there is no need to seal or set the tiles, the color will stay on its own. I also like to use small self-adhesive furniture pads (1 on each corner) on the back of the tile to create a backing that won't scratch your table.
The gift tag was made by stamping "Merry Christmas" (from Stampin' Up!'s Teeny Tiny Wishes) in Versamark ink and applying gold embossing powder. I just hand drew the Christmas tree, and then cut it out. I also used pop up dots to raise the tree off of the paper a bit. So, that's my fun and fast "Stretch Your Style: Stamping" submission.

A Vintage Chirstmas Idea

Here's my 3rd entry in Moxie Fab World's "Stretch Your Style Challenge", and this one really was a stretch for me. Today is Vintage and Shabby. I love Vintage looks, but don't usually venture into this style too much. Nothing says vintage Christmas to me more than a pretty Christmas stocking, so I chose to take that idea and turn it into a little gift card holder with lots of pretty details. Here it is:


And a close up of the top which is covered in White Sparkly Fluff:


I really love the realistic feel the Sparkly Fluff adds. I cut 2 stocking shapes with my Silhouette SD from paper from DCWV's Luxury Stack. I then folded about 1/4 inch of the edge to the inside of the stocking, and then sewed the 2 pieces together to form a pocket. You can then slip a gift card, or small goody (like candy canes, or maybe a couple of new Copic markers) inside. I used a sanding block to scuff up my button a little and give it more of a vintage feel. The "Merry Christmas" stamp is from Stampin' Up!'s Teeny Tiny Wishes set. Hope you enjoyed my little stocking stuffer!

Classy and Elegant Christmas Challenge

Today is my 2nd attempt at completing a "Stretch Your Style" Challenge for Moxie Fab World's Christmas celebration. For this challenge I got back to my roots and stamped a card. Before I show you the card, I thought I'd talk a little about my creative process for this card just in case you're daring enough to wonder how my often crazy mind works. Just like my style, my creative process tends to be all over the place; sometimes I have a clear idea of where I want to go, sometimes I don't, and sometimes I have a clear idea of where I want to go, but never end up there. For today's card I decided that I wanted to use a color combo that I love, but always forget to use: Kraft, Whisper White, and shades of blue. I also love how stamping colored ink onto kraft paper looks, so I knew I wanted to do that. I figured snowflakes lend themselves nicely to a blue and white theme, so there was my stamp choice. After that I found my patterned paper (from DCWV's Luxury Stack). After picking my papers, I just started stamping, cutting and embellishing. Here's what I came up with:

I'd love to draw your attention to a few fun details. The white snowflakes have tiny little white pearls in the center. So petite and so pretty! Also, there is a bit of stitching along the edge of the Bashful Blue paper lining the patterned paper. I love stitching by hand. I have found that I like using DMC's cross stitch floss better than sewing thread when hand stitching. Finally, the bow is tied through the "Glory to God" tag, not just adhered on top. I think this gives the card a little more elegance. If you haven't already, take the time to check out Moxie Fab World and all the amazing "Stretch Your Style" entries.

RECIPE
Stamps: Snowflakes are from Circle Circus and Holiday Blitz sets - Stampin' Up!
Glory to God stamp is a personalized creation made for my Christmas cards one year
Card Stock: Kraft and Bashful Blue - Stampin' Up!
Patterned Paper: Luxury Stack - Die Cuts With A View
Ink: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, and Night of Navy - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon: Blue Ribbon - Walmart
Rhinestones: Blue Rhinestones - Kaisercraft
Pearls: White Pearls - Kaisercraft

Christmas in September?

Okay, it has been a lot colder than it should be before Labor Day, but Chirstmas? Absolutly! The crafty people over Paper Crafts are celebrating the release of their Holiday Cards issue by hosting 5 Christmas challenges on the blog Moxie Fab World. I've decided to play along, and you should too! You have until Labor Day to finish and submit your project(s). All 5 challenges were posted last week, so you can pick and choose, or do all 5. My goal is to do at least 3, so you should see a few more Christmas posts here soon (I say while crossing my fingers). It's all about stepping outside your comfort zone and stretching your style a bit. My project today is for the "Clean and Graphic Challenge." What do you think:


Here's one more pic so you can see some of the layering:


How did I do with my first challenge? The buttons (by Stampin' Up!) are actually attached on top of the glass. "JOY" and the fun background pattern were both cut on my Silhouette SD. I decided to give JOY a different texture by cutting it from wall vinyl instead of paper. The background pattern was cut from Cosmo Cricket paper, then another piece of Cosmo Cricket Paper was layered underneath. Both papers are from the Dutch Girl Line. My frame (including the nice mat) came from Menards of all places (for those of you not from the Midwest, Menards is like Home Depot), and was a steal at only $4! My husband thinks I have a frame addiction, because I buy frames every time I see a good deal, then I stash them away for future use. Unfortunately, I can't tell you where the ribbon was from. It was a scrap I found at the bottom of my "ribbon scraps" jar, and I'm not really sure where it came from.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a joyful day and are inspired to stretch your style (and check out Moxie Fab World)!

Glitter Cake

Today I have a quick and fun birthday card.

Everything today is from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted. I colored all of my stamps with markers to get multiple colors on the same stamp. No ink pads today. I used 4 different stamps from the On a Pedestal stamp set. After stamping the image, I cut the image out and inked the whole image with Versamark ink. Next, I sprinkled Heat and Stick Powder all over the image. I then heated the image and sprinkled glitter on. I adhered it to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. Here's a close up of the image:

The background is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. It just seemed to be made to go with this stamp set. My colors today are Soft Sued, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, and Sahara Sand. This color combo seems bright and soft at the same time. I really love it. I also used the Scallop Edge Punch to create the scalloped border. I used a small hole punch and rhinestones from Kaisercraft to create the sprinkles behind the cake. Thanks for stopping by and happy stamping!