Paper giveaway by The Creative Place

Happy Friday (again) Everyone!

Just wanted to let you know about a cool giveaway over at The Creative Place.  Ashley is giving away two assortment packs of fun paper yumminess.  Check it out!  (Photos are from Ashley's blog)

Be sure to pop over there and throw your name in the hat for the giveaway!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

The Friday Mashup #65 with a Retro Sketch!

Happy Friday Everyone!


Today is my last appearance as Guest Designer this month at The Friday Mashup.  I have had an absolute ball serving alongside such talented paper artists.  Thank you so much for the opportunity!  (I'm posting this a wee bit early to make a challenge deadline, so my apologies if I spoil your Friday surprise!)

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project with " Punch Art ".
2. Or Make a project featuring your " Favorite Animal ".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project " with an Animal made from Punches ".

This is the first week I feel I "failed" at the challenge, since my submitted project didn't actually MASH!  Oh, don't get me wrong!  I did make a punch art card.  But I thought it looked like a grade schooler's art project, so I didn't use it!!  Instead, I focused on my favorite animal, which is puppies!!!

My pup was colored with water color pencils and blended with my Blender Pen.  I added a bit of shimmer to his tag with my gold Atyou Spica glitter pen.  I also followed along with the sketch over at Retro Sketches for this card.

Don't tell anyone, but here is a peek at the punch art card I didn't use:

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful week.  Here in Texas, as in many parts of the USA right now, we are battling extreme heat.  So what did I make to show you today?  Christmas gift tags!  Makes perfect sense, right????

I used a very old, retired Stampin' Up set called "Christmas Gift Tags."  For the tag part, I simply cut some die cut tags from assorted Recollections Christmas paper/card stock that I had.  I stamped the images on the back, adding colored pencil details and, in some places, Dazzling Details clear or cherry cobbler accents.  Quick and easy!!  The most time-consuming part was waiting for the glitter accents to dry.

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

WOYWW 160

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

It's that time of the week when we go galloping around the globe, visiting other creative desks around the world.  Why?  Because we like it!  And because the wonderful Julia of Stamping Ground started this lovely blog hop three years ago.

Not quite as big of a mess here as last week.  There are just some remnants from the card I posted Tuesday that I need to clean up.

Each week, many of you comment on the elephants posing on my window sill.  If you missed it back in April, I made this post showing more of the extent of my heffalump collection.  So if you're interested, you can click on the link and check it out.

Well, I'm worn out from escaping the heat here on Tuesday evening and I think I will "call it a night" as the saying goes.  Not sure what else I would call it, so we'll go with that!

Have a wonderful day and think cool thoughts for those of us sweltering in the heat!  (And rainy thoughts for those in Colorado.)

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

It's a Dynamic Duo on a Merry Monday!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

If it's as hot where you live as it is here in Spring, TX, I pray for your air conditioner and your patience!




My card today is a combination of the color challenge at Dynamic Duos and the sketch challenge at Merry Monday.

I used the beautiful "Bells & Boughs" Stampin' Up set.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on this set when it first came out.  However, I have struggled to use it for some reason.  Go figure!  


I kept this card pretty clean and simple with no sponged edges, which is really hard for me!  I added just a touch of shimmer by outlining the bells with my gold Atyou Spica glitter pen.  I loved working with this color combination.  I use Always Artichoke frequently, but sometimes I forget about River Rock.  I had my doubts about that color initially, but it really is both beautiful and versatile.

Stay cool, my friends, and enjoy the rest of your week!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

It's Time to Party at The Friday Mashup #64

Happy Friday Everyone!

I'm here today with another round of guest design work for The Friday Mashup.  I am having so much fun participating with these super talented ladies, and it makes me sad to realize next week is my last time to guest design!

But right now, it's time to party!!



Your task is to create something party-related (invitation, thank you card, favor, decoration, etc.), or create a Box in a Bag.  Of course, the "mash up" is to do both!

Here's our inspiration photo for this challenge:

And here's what I created.  I made a Box in a Bag (go here for a great tutorial), a thank you treat holder made from the Two Tags die (go here for a super simple tutorial by Angie Juda), and some cupcake toppers.

I decided to stay with a fairly monochromatic color scheme of Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant with white accents.  I also kept my theme generic enough that this could be used for a birthday party, wedding or baby shower, or other special occasion.

This little treat holder would make a great take-home goody to give the guests of the party.  These little holders will easily house mini candy bars or nuggets.  (You can see my lovely dried bean assortment in the background!  I {sadly} did not have any cupcakes to showcase my cupcake toppers, so I put some dried beans in a votive holder instead!)

These cupcake toppers could also be jazzed up with some glitter or rhinestones and a small bit of ribbon on the sticks as well.

I added a bit of white gel pen detail to help the scallop shape "pop" off the background.  I also repeated this on the tabs at the top of the bag.

As always, I appreciate you coming by for a visit!  Be sure you pop over to The Friday Mashup and check out the other fun creations.  Party on!!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Today's project is yet ANOTHER mini album I've recently completed.  (I promise I'll get back to card making soon!)  For this project, I used the retired SU Sale-a-Bration set "Fresh Vintage" and the retired designer series paper "Everyday Enchantment."  So sad that this paper didn't carry over into the new catalog!

This mini album is a completely different type of construction than the other baby ones I've been showing you.  The pages are a double sided pocket folded from a single 12 X 12 sheet.  I learned how to do this from this video.  I really like these pages.  They're pretty sturdy and give you nice sized pockets for tags.  For the binding technique, I used Laura Denison's Stack The Deck construction method. 

I made a total of four pocket pages and six tags.  Normally you would have eight tags, but I messed up and glued one side shut that I shouldn't have.  Naturally, I had to make it look like I meant to do that, so I glued an additional one the same way.  (I was not about to waste that sheet of paper!)

Here's a slide show of the finished product.

If you decide to make an album like this with Laura's binding technique, be sure you do NOT glue shut the non-pocket side of the pages.  Instead, you'll sandwich the edges around the flanges of the binding.  If you have any questions at all, please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

WOYWW 159

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I'm enjoying some much-needed rain here in Texas and working on a project to be revealed Friday.  And since it's Wednesday, it's time to take our weekly blog tour to other creative desks courtesy of Julia at Stamping Ground.

Be sure to come back for a visit on Friday to see my guest design project for The Friday Mashup.  In the meantime, be sure to take a journey through the blogosphere to see what other creative projects are happening!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

The Open Sea + Nautical Expedition Mini Scrapbook

Happy Monday Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that the fathers in your lives were treated to an extra special day on Sunday!

Today I'm sharing with you another of my mini album experiments.  This one is a great exercise in recycling for me.  I used Laura Denison's old Ustream video dated 6-4-10 entitled "Envelope Accordion Album."  However, she has had to move some of the older archived videos elsewhere and I haven't figured out where this particular one is.  So I'll try to give you a translation of the hand-written scribbles I made when watching the video!

The cover is just simply embellished with some strategically placed paper designs and buttons.  I don't have "chipboard" but I hoard cardboard pieces, such as from cereal boxes or the pieces that come with the designer papers, and that's what I cut and cover for my book covers.

The inside of this album is made with five #10 envelopes.  As I pay most of my bills online, I've been saving the payment envelopes out of my bills and that's what I used for this book.  Score and fold the envelopes in half and then cut out 4" in either side of the fold so that your total width is 8".  Then attach the alternating edges (L-R-L-R) so that you have two end flaps and an "M" configuration.  After you cover each panel with patterned paper, you can use a circle punch to create pull out spots for your tags (punching a half circle).

Here's what my finished interior (front then back) looks like:

The covers are 5" squares covered with coordinating papers.  Be sure to attach your ribbons for your closures (about 18" each - two pieces) so that it sandwiches between the covers and the end flaps.  If memory serves me, in the video I watched, Laura ran the ribbon vertically.  I chose to run mine horizontally.

You end up with a total of ten pages and pockets for ten tags.  I made very simple tags, stamped with a simple image.  I took punched circles of matching card stock, scored them in half and attached them to the top of the tags for reinforcement.  Then I stapled on a bit of coordinating ribbon for the pulls.

If you don't have envelopes, you can make your own by cutting card stock or paper to 8" X 8 5/8".  On the 8 5/8" side, score in 2 1/4" on each side.  Score, fold and adhere, forming your own "envelope."  Then score in the middle at 4" and fold.  For a simpler version (without pockets), you could simply take  card stock or paper to create the accordion pages and adhere to your covers (similar to this video).

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions about how this mini album was made.

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

The Friday Mashup #63

Happy Friday Everyone!  Welcome to another fun challenge at The Friday Mashup!


This week's mashup was really tough for me.  I struggled both with the colors and the paper piecing, even with the beautiful inspiration photo provided!

Here are the details:

1. Make a project using the " Paper Piecing " technique.
2. Or Make a project using " Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight & Pool Party ".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a " Paper Piecing Project using the above colors."

I have never paper pieced before.  I really struggled to figure out a stamp image that I could use.  And on one of those frequent occasions where I'm laying awake at night and thinking about paper crafting (please tell me I'm not the only one who does that!), I remembered the little cupcake from Easy Events.  Perfect!  Now I just had to conquer my color dilemma.  I like all these colors.  I just really struggled to put them together!  Without further ado, here is what I {reluctantly} am showing you today:

I was so tickled with my little foray into paper piecing, only to realize after I had assembled the whole thing that I used a piece of So Saffron dsp instead of Daffodil Delight.  Drat!  And once I added Iridescent Ice to the frosting, you couldn't hardly even tell it was dsp at all!  Double drat!


It just goes to show that we can't be thrilled with our own creations all the time.  And since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I know I don't always have to be totally in love with my creations for someone else to appreciate them.  In hindsight, if I had only used the color combo or only the paper piecing technique, I probably would have come up with something that pleased me more.  Oh well!  Tomorrow is another day to create something else!


Thanks for stopping by and listening to my sad paper crafting tale!  You deserve an award for muddling through this post!



Now be sure to pop over to The Friday Mashup and have a peek at the other creations!


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday / More Mini Albums

Happy Thursday Everyone!

As some of you may know, I've been on a mini scrapbook album making kick lately.  My featured album today showcases an older SU set called "Priceless."  Believe it or not, I think this is the first time I've used the actual "Priceless" stamp, but I use the swirls and other images from this set quite frequently.

These are fun little albums, made from a single 12 X 12 sheet of designer series paper.  You could even leave out the tags if you wanted.  These eight tags I've made are cut from a single 8 1/2" X 11" piece of card stock with the Scallop Combo #2 Tags die from Sizzix.  My only issue with this tag (and many tags) is that the holes are so far down from the top of the tag.  When you actually try to tie ribbon through them, it looks pretty retarded, in my opinion.  So I chose to take a 3" length of ribbon folded in half and stapled the silly thing to the tag!  It would be fun to have some different colored staples, but I just used my plain old desk stapler and Swingline office staples.  Hey....it worked!!

Here are a few other versions of these little books that I've made.

 I'm also working on some other styles of mini albums, and I'll share those when they're complete.  For someone who doesn't scrapbook, I sure do like these silly little things.  Can't you envision them as little coupon books to give to a friend or family member (like "remit for a back rub" or "remit to be exempt from washing dishes" or something like that??)?  Here is link to the tutorial I followed for making these.  I've seen other instructions elsewhere, so you may have another source for that.


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!