Decorated mirrors

A few weeks ago, our family 'Stampin Up Club' celebrated the end of our year with a visit to my sister's apartment to play with all her toys. A couple weeks before that 5 of us were shopping at an IKEA store and found some decorative mirrors with wide wooden frames and thought they would be fun to personalize with our own special touch. So when we were all together that is exactly what we did.


This is the one I did using Cottage Wall designer paper, Heard from the Heart stamp set, Five Petal Punch and the Trio Flower punch. I used the faux suede technique on the squares behind the sentiment. The flowers in the lower right were cased from some other demonstrators and are so easy!


This one was made by DD #1 - she did not get the 'craft' gene in the family but did a great job on this. It will look nice in their apartment. The stamp set she used were Upsy Daisy. (I don't know which set she used for the verse).


DD #2 did this one. When we got home she modified the ribbon somewhat but this picture was taken before that.
It was a great time and a fun way to spend a "girls' weekend". Several of my SU customers want to make one so guess I will be scheduling a workshop in July (Have to wait until after June 26th as I will be a little busy until then).

Scalloped Pinwheel Tutorial

This is a tutorial for my modification of the pinwheel - a scalloped pinwheel.

You will need two 3 inch squares of DSP of your choice and two 2.5 inch squares of the card stock that you want to use as your base. You also need the scallop corner punch and the 1 1/4 inch square punch (You can cut the squares without the punch if you don't have that one) I am using Night of Navy card stock for the base and two DSP Night of Navy sheets from the Pattern Pack III that is currently a Level I hostess gift.


Using the scallop border punch, trim the four corners of the DSP squares.


Using the 1 1/4 inch square punch cut off each corner. You can also use your paper trimmer to cut these squares.


So you now have 8 squares with one scalloped edge - 4 of each design/color.


Place one of the card stock squares at right angles to the other - glue together. Using the grid paper helps a lot getting this lined up perfectly; however, I did many without the grid paper and had no problems with them looking lopsided or off center.


Adhere one of the scalloped squares to a tip of the base - only put adhesive on the right hand side so you can later slide the last piece under the left edge.


Adhere the alternate design/color to the next tip. Alternate squares as you work clockwise around the base.


When adhering the last square you will have to work it under the first square. Then add a little adhesive to the first square's left side to adhere.
(I use Tombow glue for this and it works well - just a small drop in the corners.)


Here is the finished pinwheel. Since my centers rarely match up perfectly I add a sentiment oval or a button to the center.


For this one I used the clear bitty buttons and a piece of DSP punched with the coordinating punch. These are available in the summer mini-catalog.


Here is the finished pinwheel ready to adhere to the front of a card. I loved using different DSP to see what affect I could get - here are some of my finished products:


This one uses Cottage Wall DSP on a Very Vanilla base then placed on a Rich Razzleberry card base. I also used Rich Razzleberry and Orchid Opulence punched with the Boho Blossom punch behind the bitty button.


This is also Cottage Wall on a Rich Razzleberry base on an Orchid Opulence card. The sentiment is stamped using Rich Razzleberry on Orchid Opulence and then mounted on the Rich Razzleberry scallop oval The ribbon is 5/8 inch grosgrain Old Olive just tied in a knot and adhered with a mini glue dot.(This is one of my favorites!)


For this one I used 4 of the colors in the Pattern Pack III (hostess gift in the current catalog), Mellow Moss, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand and Ruby Red placed on a Very Vanilla base. The sentiment is stamped in Not Quite Navy on Very Vanilla mounted to a Sahara Sand scallop oval. The card base is also Sahara Sand.


This one also used the Pattern Packs III paper - only the Ruby Red and Sahara Sand mounted on Night of Navy card stock. The card base is Sahara Sand. Using the same design but different colors gives the pinwheel a different look.


This is the pinwheels I made in the tutorial - I place it on a card of Sahara Sand. I love these because I can just make up the basic card and add the sentiment later. Or use with no sentiment and just write the message inside. Great cards to have on hand!


This one uses Bella Bleu and I think it has a different look because the papers sort of blend together. Love this one!


The Bella Bleu one gave me the idea to try one using just one DSP and here it is. This is also a cute idea. The scallops give the card a sort of 'doily' look. I liked making these so much I have added them to our club agenda for today. I am going to just let the ladies pick their DSP and colors and decide what type they want to make.


I think the very first one I made is still my favorite (maybe because it is my daughter's wedding colors :-) I do think the background card stock makes a difference. You want to be sure there is enough contrast so the scallops show up nicely.
Hope you enjoyed my little adventure with the pinwheel. If you make some - please share your pictures - and if you would like to make some but don't have the tools/supplies contact me, I can help you get them :-)

A cute idea

I thought of this twist on the pinwheel design while laying in bed this morning - not wanting to get up. So had to try it and love how it looks. I used So Saffron and Ballet Blue card stock, So Saffron designer series paper, Scallop Corner punch, Large Oval punch and the Scallop Oval punch.

Sweet Scoops Preview

Here is another preview for the card parties I have planned. I got this idea from a card I saw by Lisa Young.



Isn't it cute. I may do a little tweaking yet but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Upcoming workshops

Here is a preview of some of the projects and a card for my upcoming workshops. I am having a scrapbook workshop on May 10 and May 29 where you can make a two-page layout of your choice of a Christmas or Easter theme.

The Christmas theme is a string of lights made using the Five-Petal Punch, Window Punch and the Swirls and Scribbles die cut. It it time-consuming but well worth it.
I cased this idea from Nicky Foden


Here is a closeup of the lights.



The Easter theme has a punch art rabbit and chick with lots of DSP eggs. I cased this from a design done by Lynsey Allerd. I used different punch art but the idea came from her.


I love the punch art and there are so many bunny ideas floating around the Stampin Up web that I had a hard time choosing which to do. This one could be done with the punches I already had - so it was a winner.



This "bunny-wanna-be" chick is so cute - and simple.


This card is a prototype of one we will be making at my next card party. I cased it from a swap I received at the Milwaukee regional from Stephanie Hendricks. It could be used for welcoming a new baby, showering an expectant mom or celebrating a first birthday. I used the Love Bugs hostess set and watercolor pencils for the images, covering them with Crystal Effects for a special gloss. The punch is the Curly Label. The card stock colors are Certainly Celery, Ballet Blue and Pixie Pink. The ribbon colors are Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery. The card we will make at the parties on May 20, 21 and 25 is a little different (I haven't finalized the design yet :-) but very similar to this one.

If you would like more details about the scrapbook or card parties, let me know. There is always room for one more :-)