Baby Booties

I love finding alternative uses for the Stampin Up punches. The stitched stocking punch is not just for Christmas - you can make baby booties from the stockings.

Pink stockings and add a few tiny pearls and a bow - what a cute card for a sweet little girl.
Card Stock - Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink - Pretty in Pink
Tools - Stocking Tag punch, Eyelet border punch
Stamp sets - Stitched stocking, A Word for You

Blue stockings for a little boy.
Card stock - Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Nursery Suite DSP
Ink - Marina Mist, Basic Gray
Stamp sets - Stitched stocking, Alphabet set is not SU
Tools - Stocking Tag punch
Embellishments - 1/8 inch taffeta - Marina Mist

Here I cut off the cuff at the top of the stocking and glued it down lower to make it look even more like little baby socks.
Card Stock - Pear Pizzazz, Pretty in Pink, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Ink - Regal Rose, Pacific Point, Basic Gray
Stamp Set - Stitched Stocking, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Embellishments - 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon Whisper White

And - what about a hobby horse? I have a hobby horse pattern somewhere. Wouldn't it be cute to make a hobby horse for a little one's birthday and present it with this card?
Card Stock - Regal Rose, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Wisteria Wonder
Ink - Wisteria Wonder, Regal Rose
Stamp Set - Stitched stocking, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Tools - Stocking tag punch, Eyelet ribbon punch, Petite Pennants punch
Embellishments - Ruffled ribbon Wisteria Wonder, Mini brads, Baker's twine Whisper White

Aren't those some fun, versatile uses for the Stitched Stocking stamp set and Stocking Tag punch?

Stitched Stockings - - early Christmas

I played a little with the new Stitched Stockings stamp set and Punch Stocking Tag. Getting ready for Christmas!



The punch is multiple pieces, a stocking, toe, heel and cuff. Makes it very easy to decorate the stockings.
Card Stock - Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi DSP
Ink - Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler
Stamp Sets - Stitched Stockings, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Tools - Punch Stocking Tag, Modern Label, Word Window, Round Corner
Embellishments - Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Mini Jingle Bells



Here I used the lace border punch to hang the stockings. It reminds me of the gingerbread woodwork in the home I grew up in.
Card Stock - Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi
Ink - Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler
Tools - Lace Ribbon Border Punch, Stocking Tag Punch
Embellishments - White Baker's Twine, Miniature Brads

Here I used the brads again as nails for the stocking. The edge is made using the eyelet border punch.

And as always there are ideas for this set that are not Christmas but those will have to wait for another day.

Jazz It Up Again

Here is another attempt at 'jazzing up' a card.



This is a very plain and simple card - not too thrilling.
Card Stock - Whisper White and Regal Rose
Ink - Soft Suede
Stamp Sets - Happiest Birthday Wishes and Simply Said

Here I mounted the sentiment on a rectangle of Regal Rose. I also added the Regal Rose to the flowers. This is a two step stamp set. I have found that I need to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig with this set to get my stamps lined up closely.

A notch more - I used Soft Suede for the card base instead of the Whisper White. I also trimmed around the sentiment. I mounted it on Regal Rose and trimmed that to the same shape. I added a Boho Blossom flower of Regal Rose on Soft Suede with a Whisper White brad.

Since the card base was Soft Suede and that is too dark to be able to write a note, I added some Very Vanilla stamped with a single flower to the inside of the card.


And here I have taken it another step. The DSP is some retired I had on hand. The torn corner with the DSP behind it is an idea I got from the Idea Book and Catalog. It just adds a little interest.

I put some Crystal Effects on the flowers.



The ribbon is 3/8 inch taffeta in Soft Suede. I put down a strip of Sticky Strip and then folded the ribbon back and forth to make the pleats. The rhinestone is colored with the Regal Rose marker but it does not show up very well.


I added the shadow flowers by stamping off on scrap paper a couple times to get most of the ink off the stamp. I like the look it gives around the border. Sponging the paper edges also gives the card a little more interest and dimension.


I moved the sentiment inside and sponged around that as well. So with just a few tools and a little time you can take your simple card idea and 'jazz it up'.

Stained Glass Technique

The technique for November's Technique Tuesday is Stained Glass. Here are some cards I made to learn this technique. For more details on Technique Tuesday - click here.

This is probably the card we will make at the class. The sentiment could be changed to Happy Thanksgiving or even Merry Christmas - -or any generic sentiment like Get Well or Thinking of You.
Card Stock - Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze
Ink - Stazon White, Cajun Craze ink pads, Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze ink refills
Tools - Medium and Large ovals
Embellisments -Dazzling Diamonds, Hemp Twine
Stamp Sets - Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Additional materials- Window Sheet, Tissue Paper

Here I used a retired sentiment stamp which was given to me by a friend.
Card Stock - Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze
Ink - Stazon White, Cajun Craze ink pads, Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze ink refills
Tools - Eyelet scallop punch
Embellisments -Dazzling Diamonds, 1/4 inch taffeta Old Olive ribbon
Stamp Sets - Lovely as a Tree
Additional materials- Window Sheet, Tissue Paper

This closeup shows the effect better but still does not do it justice. You can see the dazzling diamonds in the background. The 'glitter' is all captured underneath the window sheet so no messy glitter all over from handling the card.

Another attempt- all in the same colors as the previous two except I tried Stazon black ink this time. Hard to see the image on this as my background got darker than I wanted. I need to get some pastel ink refills and try this one again.

You might be able to see the image a little better in this shot. The card looks better in person :-)

And - since the mica flakes come in such a large quantity I tried using that instead of the dazzling diamonds. I like it on this card because it reminds me of chips of sea shells.
Card Stock - Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Island Indigo

Embellishments - Whisper White 3/8 inch taffeta dyed Pool Party, Mini Brad

Inks - Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Stazon white

Tools - Word Window, Modern Label

Stamp Sets - Teeny Tiny Wishes, Sail Away (from the mini catalog so it is not available after Aug 31 - hurry and place an order if you want this stamp)

Additional materials- Window Sheet, Tissue Paper

I tried to get a better shot of the mica flakes but not sure that worked. These really are cards that you have to see in person. Hope you will join us on November 15 for this technique.

Array of Sunshine

The cards today feature one of the new hostess sets at Stampin' Up - Array of Sunshine. Maybe I should dedicate these to the people who have experienced Hurricane Irene in the past week.

Stampin Up has changed their hostess rewards program. When you host a qualifying workshop, you earn hostess dollars that can be used to purchase the hostess sets (like this one) which are only available to hostesses or you can use the dollars for anything in a current catalog.

The stamp set is made up of flowers and leaves (the sentiment is not part of the set - it is from Herb Expression)

Card Stock - Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Ink - Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Not Quite Navy
Ribbon - Organza dyed using Poppy Parade ink pad
Stamp Sets - Array of Sunshine, Herb Expression

Card Stock - Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Ribbon - Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon
Stamp Set - Array of Sunshine


This is a totally different look. Here I stamped the flower twice and cut it out in layers.
Card Stock - Whisper White, More Mustard, Soft Suede
Ink - More Mustard, Soft Suede
Embellishments - Whisper White 5/16 inch brad, Dotted Scallop ribbon in More Mustard


This is such a fun set!

Tissue Box Inspiration

Some time ago I posted a card that was inspired by the design on a box of tissues. The first one was posted here.


Well - it happened again. This box of tissues just made me think of a background for a masculine card.

I used a brayer to add Early Espresso ink to a piece of Soft Suede. It was okay but not what I had hoped for.

Card Stock - Soft Suede, So Saffron, Marina Mist

Stamp Set - Bring on the Cake

Ink - Early Espresso

Embellishments - Marina Mist 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon, Linen thread

So this time I used Crumb Cake as the background and added Soft Suede and Early Espresso with the brayer. The colors are a little different than my inspiration but the effect is closer. Not too bad for a masculine card :-)

Card Stock - Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade

Stamp Set - Bring on the Cake

Embellishments - 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon dyed with Lucky Limeade, Star brad (retired)

This card was also inspired by a tissue box. I had the empty tissue box (burgundy with a navy swirl design and then a gold accent design on the end) laying around my craft room for months but it has been discarded before I could get a photo - and of course, not another one like it in the house!

Card Stock - Bravo Burgundy, Night of Navy, Crumb Cake

Ink - Night of Navy, Bravo Burgundy

Embellishment - Night of Navy satin ribbon, Gold embossing powder

Stamp Set- Elements of Style, Tagtastic

And while looking through the house for a burgundy tissue box, I found another one that 'inspired' me in DD's bedroom. I'll have to try it and post more photos at a later date. Where do you get your inspiration?

Embossed Gingham

One of my favorite new products is the Stripes embossing folder. I have used it for several cards as a striped background but my favorite way to use it is to make embossed gingham.

This is a Christmas card I posted earlied to show the new quilted satin ribbon. The gingham is made using Cherry Cobbler ink in one direction and Always Artichoke ink on the other direction.
Card Stock - Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler
Stamp Set - Four the Holidays
Embellishment - Quilted Satin ribbon
Tools - Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder


This is one of a card for one of my clubs. This uses Cajun Craze for the gingham. I used the new denim ribbon in blue on this. Denim and gingham - I love them!
Card Stock - Night of Navy, Cajun Craze, More Mustard and Whisper White
Ink - Cajun Craze
Embellishments - Denim Blue Ribbon, Big Designer Button
Stamp Set - Happiest Birthday Wishes, Pennant Parade
Tools - Big Shot, Stripes Embossing folder, 1 1/4 inch circle punch


And another color combo -
Card Stock - Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso
Ink - Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso
Embellishment - Early Espresso Quilted Satin ribbon
Stamp Set - Bring on the Cake
Tools - Big Shot and Stripes embossing folder

One more......
Card Stock - Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Ink - Elegant Eggplant
Embellishments - Baja Breeze seam binding, Rose Red button
Stamp Set - Bring on the Cake

I had so much fun playing with the gingham. Can't wait to do some more!

Holiday Mini - Spice Cake Paper

One of my favorite things in the Holiday mini catalog is the Spice Cake Designer Series Paper. I have had such fun playing with it, making some samples to show off at the September clubs.

I really love how this card turned out (had no idea when I started). I thought I was going to try something masculine with the striped paper but it just didn't go there. Some times cards just have a mind of their own!

Card Stock - Soft Suede, Whisper White, More Mustard
Stamp Set -Array of Sunshine (Hostess set)
Inks - More Mustard, Soft Suede
Embellishments- More Mustard Dotted Scallop ribbon, Whisper White 5/16 inch brad

The dotted ribbon is reversible and I used the solid side for this card. I ruffled it by putting a piece of sticky strip on the card front then gathered up the ribbon and pressed it to the sticky strip.

The stem actually had a larger leaf on it in addition to the small one you see here. I stamped the flower on a scrap of paper, cut it out and adhered it over the larger leaf. I stamped a second flower and cut out the center and added it with dimensional to make it 3-D.

Here I wanted to show off one of the new punches.

Card Stock - Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede
Ink - Pool Party, Soft Suede
Stamp Set - Bring on the Cake
Punch - Lace Border punch

Here is another layered flower. I stamped the Posy design in Soft Suede and in More Mustard and cut out the sections then layered on the 2 3/8 inch scallop punch of Pool Party.

Card Stock - Soft Suede, Pool Party, More Mustard, Whisper White
Ink -Soft Suede, More Mustard
Stamp Set - Happiest Birthday Wishes, Posy Punch

The punch art flower was inspired by the flower on the DSP.

Card Stock - Pool Party, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Whisper White
Ink - Soft Suede
Tools - Ticket Corner punch, Five Petal Flower punch, Boho Blossoms punch, 2 3/8 inch Scallop Circle punch,Fancy Flower punch
Embellishment - Soft Suede Dotted ribbon (retired), In Color Printed Brad

Here is a fun fold card made using the DSP. The flowers are made like the one on the previous card except I turned the Five Petal Flower punch a little when assembling. I also used the 2 1/2 inch circle punch instead of the scallop circle. I like the 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon on these cards but I didn't have any to match so I dyed some in More Mustard and Pool Party using the ink pad and a sponge.

Here the card is open. The sentiment comes from the Herb Expressions stamp set.

Jazz it up

I have been wanting to do something to show how you can take a simple, basic design and jazz it up with just a few little touches. So here goes my first attempt.

This is a basic card. The image is stamped in a single color and mounted on a card with some colorful DSP. The sentiment is simply stamped and mounted. A nice looking card and would definitely brighten someone's day.
All of these cards use these products:
Card Stock - Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Autumn Spice DSP (retired)
Stamp Set - Lovely as a Tree
Ink - Chocolate Chip
Tools - Word Window and Modern Label punches

So this is jazzing it up a little. I used two colors for the stamping by rubbing the stamp pad against the stamp in the specific areas. I added a ribbon (Old Olive 3/8 inch taffeta) and I used dimensionals to pop-up the sentiment. I did turn the card sideways just to make it a little different.

Here I have jazzed it up another step. I colored the image using chalk pastels. To do this I stamped the image in a lighter color (Crumb Cake) and then using cotton swabs (had to steal those from DH's vanity in the bathroom) sponged on some autumn colors among the leaves and added some brown to the trunk and green to the grass. Then using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I lined up and stamped the tree in Chocolate Chip over the chalked image.
The Very Vanilla 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon has a little strip of 1/8 inch Old Olive taffeta ribbon tied into the bow.
I added a Cajun Craze brad to the sentiment.

These next two cards are not necessarily 'jazzed up' versions of the previous (more like the same level) but show other ways to make your card special. For this one I used So Saffron card stock for the image background instead of the Very Vanilla and since I did not have any So Saffron ribbons that would work I dyed a piece of Whisper White 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon using the So Saffron stamp pad and a sponge.


This was my attempt for a truly masculine version. I used the pastels to color the image as before. To distress the edges of the Very Vanilla card stock, I took the scissor blade and ran it along the edges. This breaks down the fibers and gives it a ragged texture. Then I rubbed the edges along the Chocolate Chip ink pad. I added some Hemp Twine instead of a ribbon.

Hope you like all of my versions of this card. Each one uses the same design, dimensions and supplies - but all have some unique features.

Little boys and their toys

Little boys is another area where I never have enough cards. I got this new stamp set - I Dig You - specifically to make cards for those little boys on my birthday list.

I used my new Sizzix (but non-SU) embossing folders for these too. The stamp set has 'chunky' designs so it is easy to color in the different areas with a marker before stamping.
Card Stock - Night of Navy, Cajun Craze, Old Olive
Ink - Old Olive, Night of Navy, Basic Gray, Cajun Craze
Stamp Set - I Dig You

Another card using the same supplies. I am watching for more ideas for this stamp set :-)



This would work for a young man. This is the 4th embossing folder in the sets I bought online. This one looks like a splat.
Card stock - So Saffron, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango
Ink - Pacific Point
Stamp Set - Happiest Birthday Wishes
Embellishment - So Saffron brads

And another with the same supplies.