Hello there and Merry Christmas!! I am so, so sorry! I only just realized I never finished getting this post out. I hope you still have time to make this pretty pink poinsettia card. I love the combo of Soft Suede and Petal Pink. And the Gold Metallic Specialty Paper is SOOO pretty! You can't see it in the photo, but it has such a pretty shimmery sparkle to it. There you have it, the last of this month's and even this year's Cocoa & Crafts classes. I hope you have enjoyed making these projects along with me. As mentioned before, I will be taking a bit of time off, but hope to be back soon with some more classes and projects to share. Until then, I do pray you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and that you are able to enjoy many blessings in the coming year.
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Hello there! Here we are with our third project for the month. I hope you like this card.
The deep color in our inks this month allow us the opportunity to do some simple watercoloring on our cards.
Super simple measurements this time: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 card base and a 1 1/2 x 5 1/2 DSP strip.
Here's a list of supplies for this card. I included links to all three items I mention in the video that you can use to get the watercolor look in the flower.
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Hello there! This month's 3D project is a beautiful ornament for your tree. What do you think? I found these macramé rings on Amazon and thought they were the perfect backdrop to hold a poinsettia, holly and berry sprays.
As I mentioned, I found these 2 3/4 macramé rings on Amazon and here is the list of supplies from Stampin' Up:
Please let me know if you make any of these. I would love to see what colors you would choose for yours.
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Hello there! How are you? It's been a crazy, busy, exciting couple of weeks here. If you've read my latest posts you know that my daughter and grandson are staying with us for a bit while our son-in-love is deployed and that baby #2 was due early December. I'm so happy to announce that little Olivia Grace made a grand arrival December 7th. Both her and mommy are doing great, and we're settling into a nice routine here. Well, as routine as any infant allows. I may be super biased, but I think she's the most adorable thing ever!
As much as I'd love to gush over my granddaughter, I should probably get to today's project. It's our last round of Cocoa & Crafts for this year, and unlike most months, I'm going to post all 4 projects back-to-back this week so you can get your cards made and ready to send out in time for Christmas.
Today's card is a little different than most. It pops up, tent-style, and allows a battery operated tealight to be placed inside to light up the flower image. It's simple, pretty and elegant. I like that combo.
I forgot to mention in the video that I used the Dark Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blend to color one of the larger rhinestones. Love that I can have pretty gems in any color I want.
Here are the measurements:
Card base 11 x 4 1/4
Scored at 3 5/8 x 7 3/8 along the 11 inch side
2 white panels 3 3/8 x 4
Sentiment Panel 1 x 4
And here's the supply list:
And I'll leave you with a little sunshine for your day:
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I'm sorry for being a couple days late. I think I'm still in a Thanksgiving day coma and didn't realize how quick this week has gone. Not to mention we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our granddaughter and adjusting to life with a 5-year old in the house. 😊
On to our card this week. Isn't it cute?! As soon as I saw this penguin set I knew I had to make a slider card with it. I mean, really, how could you not? The mechanism looks like it should be complicated, but it really isn't. A simple slit hidden behind the first snowbank and our cute little snowbuddy can slide along the card front bringing some sweet wishes to a cool friend.
Here are the measurements for the card:
Card base 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored on the long side at 1/2 and 4 1/2
Slit is about 1 inch up from the 1/2 score line and 1/2 inch in from each side.
Inner panel 5 x 3 7/8
Back snowbank 5 1/2 x 2
Front snowbank 5 1/2 x 2
Strip for penguin to attach 1/2 x a couple inches and cut to fit.
Next month's classes will be a bit different. Grandbaby is due tomorrow and I'm sure things will be a bit crazy here the next few days. I will do my best to get kits shipped out as soon as the supplies arrive here and get all 4 projects posted the week of the 13th. Once we adjust to having a baby around the house, I hope to be back to a more regular schedule of posts and projects.
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Hello there! Where we are in the upper mid-west, winter is fast approaching and the days are getting chillier and chillier, so this is the perfect project to work on. Not only does it highlight this chilly little fellow, but it hides a yummy hot cocoa packet inside to warm up with.
Each bag uses a half sheet of cardstock, so you would easily make a bunch of these and have them on hand for last minute gifts for the holidays. I love that the snowflake embossing folders fits perfectly on the front of the bag. Here are the measurements for this project:
5 1/2 x 8 1/2
Score on short side 1/2 inch
Score on long side 3 1/2, 4, 7 1/2, 8
That's it. Super simple.
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Hello there! We're going to do a little "smooshing" today!! If y'all have followed my blog for very long you know this is one of my favorite techniques. I think I love the randomness of it. You never know what your background is going to look like. It also helps me learn to not be quite a perfectionist and just let the ink do what it wants.
I've mentioned before that this set is quite versatile. You don't have to use it for Christmas. Here we're making a birthday card for a "cool" friend.
There is a little bit of fussy cutting on this card, but they're mostly straight lines, which isn't too difficult. You also get a bonus tip in the video of what to do if your ink pad is too inky.
The measurements for this card are pretty basic.
Card base: 4 1/4 x 11
Front and inside panels: 4 x 5 1/4
Sentiment strip 4 x 1/2 trimmed as desired
Here are the supplies needed:
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Hello there! I'm back today with another Fun Fold Friday project. It's that time of year when it's fun to hand out little gifts to special people in our lives, and I think this is a perfect gift to give. This paper mug is large enough to hold a hot cocoa packet, candy cane, marshmallows, and even a biscotti or other cookie. It's also quick to make, which is nice if you need a lot of gifts.
You don't necessarily have to put cocoa in this, you could add some tea bags and some specialty flavored honeys, or maybe some coffee and chocolates. There's quite a few options here. I used the Frosted Gingerbread Bundle for this mug, but it would also work well with the Brew Some Fun set if you want to make it coffee or tea themed. The measurements are pretty easy:
Cup-5 1/2 x 8 1/2
scored on short side at 2 inch
scored on long side at 2, 4, 6 and 8 inch just to the 2 inch score line (see video)
Handle-1/2 x 11
add Tear-n-Tape 3 inch on one end and 3 1/2 inch on the other
Here's the supplies needed:
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Hello there! I'm sorry I am a week late getting this month's classes going, things are a bit more hectic here than usual. Some of you may know that our empty nest isn't going to be very empty starting later this week. Actually, at the time of this post, I should be in North Carolina or driving back from there with our 8-months-pregnant-daughter and grandson, along with their pets, for an extended stay with us while our son-in-love is deployed. We're super excited that they will be staying with us over the holidays and even more excited to meet our granddaughter when she decides to make her appearance some time in early December. We would greatly appreciate any prayers for safe travels and especially that the little one doesn't decide to make her appearance until after we get back to Wisconsin.
So, onto this week's class, isn't this the cutest little card? I love this little guy, and I especially like the sentiment. I am glad this set isn't specific to the holidays, but can be used for several other occasions. Who would you send this card too? As promised in the video, here's the measurements for this card:
Black base: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4
White base: 5 1/4 x 8 scored at 4
White panel 4 1/4 x 3
Circle 2 1/8
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Hello there and welcome to my blog today! I know it is still fall, even here in northern Wisconsin, the snow hasn't fallen yet (although my Facebook feed reminded me this morning, that this time last year we had several inches on the ground already). I also know, that as a crafter, it is never too early to start getting your Christmas crafting done. My goal this year is to have all my cards finished and ready by the end of November, and this is one that I will be handing out.
I like the simple elegance of it, and thankfully, the die for the berries cuts out 6 at a time, so it can come together pretty quickly.
The measurements are super simple:
Card base: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4
Embossed panel 5 1/2 x 3
Sentiment strip 4 1/2 x 1/2
Here's what I used:
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Hello there! I'm back today with a Fun Fold Friday project. Aren't these little guys just the cutest!!!! I can see these as table favors for Thanksgiving.
I cannot take any credit in their creation. Heike Fallwickl is a demonstrator in Germany and she recently posted directions to make these on her blog along with the cutest little bat and hedgehog. So, so cute!!! (Click on her name above to be taken to her blog.)
Her measurements were all metric so I thought it would be fun to re-make her project using imperial measurements. It doesn't show in the photo well, but the metric measurements come out just slightly smaller than the imperial.
Here are the measurements (in inches) to make your own adorable squirrels:
1 1/4 x 4 1/2
score at 3/8, 3/4, 1 1/8
1 1/4 x 5 1/2
score at 3/8, 4 3/8
1 1/4 x 11
score at 1 1/8, 5 1/4, 9 7/8
Be sure to check out Heike Fallwickl's blog to see all the critters she designed. I just noticed this morning she posted a Fox to her Instagram page. Cuteness overload!
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Hello there! October is flying by! Today we're going to work on the third project in this month's Cocoa & Crafts class.
This card could easily become a birthday, anniversary or congratulations card by simply changing up the sentiment. In fact, I think next spring I will be doing a bunch of these in purple for hubby to hand out to his graduates.
The mats for this are different than the 1/4 inch I usually use. Here are the measurements:
Card base 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 scored at 4 1/4
Blue mat: 3 3/4 x 5
White panel: 3 5/8 x 4 7/8
And here is the product used:
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Hello there! I thought it would be fun to pop in here every once in a while and share a Fun Fold Friday card or project. Today's Fun Fold is super, super easy. I mean, really, super easy. I did forget a step at first, so keep watching after I say good by in the video as there's a little bit added on. 😊
See, I told you it was easy. This was one of the cards we made at my World Card Making Day Card Buffet. I love this set because, while it does feel like it should be for Christmas, it also has sentiments that could be used for a variety of occasions, making it pretty versatile.
Measurements for this card:
Base: 11x8.5 scored at 4.5 & 5.5
Front panel and inside are both 4x4
Here's what I used to make this card:
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Hello there! Here in my neck of the woods it is an absolutely gorgeous fall day outside. The sun is shining and the temperature is perfect. I think lunch is going to be out on the deck today.
Today's project is a pretty thank you card. I went with muted fall colors for this card and I think it came out kind of elegant looking. It's a super quick project to make. I did cut both the front of the card and the mat at the same time to make sure they lined up properly. I'm not sure that is recommended though. You could easily cut the mat first, lay it on the card front, trace the circle and then cut the front piece. Make sure you emboss the mat after you cut out the circle, otherwise you will flatten out your embossing. I think it would also look nice to add a little color blending to the edges of the pumpkin to give it a little more dimension.
Here's the products used to make this project:
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Hello there! Can you believe we are already into October? Thanks to a pretty heavy rainfall this weekend, a lot of our Autumn leaves have already fallen. There are still some hanging on out there though, and it's so pretty!
We're going to start our October Cocoa & Crafts with this pretty Autumn inspired gift box. It uses one of the Kraft Gift Boxes from the current Mini Catalog. This is a good sized box. You can fit quite a few treats in there or a set of cards. I think it is even big enough for a sweet Pamper-Yourself gift with some drink packets (think, hot cocoa, coffee or tea), some chocolates and even some scented tea lights or small hand lotions. You can really fit quite a bit in there. If you didn't get a Cocoa & Crafts kit, but you would still like to make this, here's a list of supplies I used:
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Hello there! Here we are in the last week of September already, and our last project for this month's Cocoa & Crafts class. These boxes are super cute, and super easy to make! I chose to make one with a yellow and green, summery palette and one with a more fall like palette. Bonus: a Ghirardelli square fits perfectly in them!
On another note, World Card Making Day is this coming Saturday (October 2), and I have been having fun preparing cards for a Card Buffet that day. I pulled out some stamps sets I haven't used in a while. I hope to be back later this week with some sneak peeks at a few of the cards we're going to make. If you're local to me, and you're interested, I still have room for a few more. You can register by filling out this form.
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Hello there! While it felt like summer yesterday, today it's a blustery fall day. I do love fall! Hot drinks, warm sweaters and snuggling with my hubby--doesn't get much better than that.
Today's card is a pretty blank card that could be used for a multitude of different occasions. In the video I give you some tips and tricks to use our Stampin' Spritzers along with stamps to make your own pretty background paper.
Not a difficult card to make, and you could easily switch out the colors and stamps to get a completely different look. Here are the measurements:
Card base 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 scored on the long side at 4 1/4
Background piece 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 cut every 5/8 inch after decorating
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Hello there! I'm here today by request of one of my customers. Every month I send out thank you gifts to those who place orders and this is one of the ones I sent out recently. One of the recipients was asking about the background paper so I put a quick video together today to show how it was made.
This is definitely not a new technique, but it is SOOO much fun to do. It's quick, fun, and makes such a pretty background. I'm not sure which I like better, this or the "smooshing" technique. Anyway, I hope you like it!
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Hello there! How are you this fine day? As most of you know, I live in Wisconsin, which means that even though the calendar says it is not officially fall, the trees outside my window say otherwise. Which also means this is the perfect time to make this card!
It won't be long until my yard looks just like the front of this card. :o) I love using our ink refills to make a custom colored ink pad. No two cards and no two leaves are going to look exactly alike, and a little piece of the In Good Taste Designer Series Paper is the perfect backdrop for our fall inspired leaves.
I'm super excited to say I didn't have any technical difficulties with this video! We may have fixed the problem and the it didn't cost me an arm and a leg! Woo hoo! By the way, please feel free to leave a comment or two for me down below. I would love to know how you like the videos and projects, and I am always open to any tips or pointers if you see an area I need to improve. Thanks!
I think I'm off to go make a cup of tea!
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Hello there! How are you this fine day? It is very, very quiet in my house today as we got our daughter all moved in to her dorm last weekend and hubby is back at work. It's just me and the pups, and a very sleepy cat. Looks like I'm going to have to occupy my time with more crafting!
Before I get into today's project, I wanted to share with you a sneak peek of the next Paper Pumpkin kit. In case you haven't heard of Paper Pumpkin, it's a monthly kit subscription where you get everything you need to make the projects. They are usually cards, but this month's is different. I love that they are giving us little peeks as to what to expect, and I absolutely can't wait for this kit! If you love this as much as I do, don't wait. You only have until September 10th to subscribe.
Here's what Stampin' Up! has to say about this month's kit: Experience everything the autumn season has to offer with the Haunts & Harvest Paper Pumpkin Kit! This month’s kit includes enough supplies to create 12 treat boxes—4 each of 3 designs. That means you can take your pick of apple, pumpkins, or jack-o-lantern treat boxes! Plus, the Paper Pumpkin box is designed to easily transform into a vintage wheelbarrow for you to display your harvest!
Whether you’re thinking about crisp red apples or you’re ready to carve some spooky jack-o-lanterns (or both!), the Haunts & Harvest Paper Pumpkin Kit—designed in a vivid fall palette—is a hands-on crafting experience for all autumn lovers!
And, speaking of Autumn, this month's Cocoa & Crafts class we are making our own stamp pads with ink refills. It's a great way to get a lovely multi-colored look, and what better stamp set to use that with than the Gorgeous Leaves? And, although we tend to think of fall with this set, you could easily switch out for shades of green and yellows to make it more of a spring/summer set as well.
Thankfully, I didn't have any technical issues with this week's video, but I did have a brain issue and realized as I was cleaning up that I'd completely forgotten a step, so be sure to watch all the way to the end because I tagged a little on there after my good-by.
There you have it, a pretty card you could use for any occasion, and a fun technique to get a different look from your stamps.
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Hello there! How are you this fine day? I know for some it is still summer, but here in Wisconsin, we are getting a taste of fall weather with temps in the upper 60's. I'm actually wearing a snuggly sweater as I type this and may just have to go make myself a cup of tea, so I thought this was a perfect day to share this card with you.
I used Early Espresso and Cajun Craze as my base colors. After embossing the Very Vanilla background piece with the new Timber 3D Embossing folder, I sponged a bit of Crumb Cake on it to give it a distressed look, and roughed up the edges a bit by rubbing them through my fingers and curling back one corner. The large leaves were stamped with the "baby-wipe" technique. Next week's Cocoa & Crafts project will use this technique, so stay-tuned if you haven't tried it before. A few of the new Brushed Metallic Dots finished it off nicely, although I did have a time figuring out which of the three colors to use because they are all so pretty!
Well, I'm off to finish the laundry and help my daughter finish up packing and prepping for her big move to college this weekend. Also going to go check and make sure we're well stocked on tissues, because I think my "faucets" my be more leaky than usual this weekend.
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Here we are at the end of August and our last Sweet as a Peach project. The layout and colors are based off this card I found a long while ago that I really liked.
I apologize as once again I had some technical difficulties with my camera and it cut off near the end of the project. I was a wee bit frustrated at the end there, or as our Penguin Place stamp set says I was frustrated a "lottle"--it's like a little except a lot. Oh well, such is life. We did a bit of research and are hoping the trouble is just with my memory card. I'll find out later today when I record next week's project. Here's hoping all goes well.
There you have it, I hope you enjoyed the projects we made with this month's kit. I think it was a great summery one to work with, and next month we will be switching over to some fall projects with the new Gorgeous Leaves stamp set. So pretty!
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Hello there! Today we are using the Sweet as a Peach set to make this cute little gift bag. It's made from a 6 x 11 1/2 sheet of Designer Series Paper, so you can get two of these from each 12 x 12 sheet. I love that it showcases both sides of the pretty paper. What kind of goodies would you put in this little bag?
As promised, here are the measurements:
Designer Series Paper 6 x 11 1/2
Score on long side at 1 1/2 and 5
Score short side at 1/2, 4 1/2, 6, 10
And here is what I used to make it:
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Don't forget about Sale-a-bration going on right now!! Some of the free stuff is just too, too cute!
Hello there! You may have noticed that I am posting a bit more than usual. Ok, a lot more than usual. For one, I'm finally getting the hang of remembering to take photos of projects before I send them out and secondly, I'm trying to schedule my days better. My youngest heads off to college in a couple of weeks 😭 and I know that I will adjust to an empty house better if I have my days planned out for me rather than just floating along with nothing definite planned to do. Without a schedule, and some deadlines, it's too easy to let time slip away while staring at a screen. So, all of that to say I've been spending more time in my crafty space and trying my hardest to figure out the best ways to photo, edit, upload and all the other things that go along with keeping a blog. I do hope to post more regular than I have in the past and share some fun projects with y'all.
A couple of projects I worked on earlier this month were Thank You cards and gifts for my awesome customers. Each month I like to send out a card and small gift as a way to say thank you for shopping with me. Here's where having a schedule would have worked in my favor. I wasn't paying attention to dates, realized it was much later in the month than I thought, rushed to finish up the projects, photograph and get them sent out, only to realize my lighting was terrible for photos that day and these didn't come out so great. Ugh! I'm learning a lot of lessons this week.
I did like the way the cards came out though, and I especially like the little charms. I used the Hand-Penned DSP as the focal point on the card and stamped the envelope with the matching stamp. For the charm I used Staz-On to stamp on some shrink plastic and colored the image with our watercolor pencils. After shrinking the charms found the perfect color beads in my jewelry making stash to finish them off. Some people use these to mark their scissors, especially if they craft with others a lot, but I usually find it gets in my way. I like to use mine as a zipper pull. The one on my purse right now is 15+ years old. Does anyone remember this stamp set?
Here's to a better "work" schedule for me, more posts in the future and learning how to iron out some of the kinks of having a blog.
While we don't sell the jewelry findings or shrink plastic, here is a list of the Stampin' Up! supplies I used in these projects:
I hope you have enjoyed today's post. If you decide to place an order through my website, if your order is less than $150, please use the Host Code listed above (on the right), so I can send you an extra free goody. If your order is over $150 don't use the code as you get to pick out the goody yourself when you place your order.
Hello there! I finally got to play with my Beauty of Friendship set. I have come across several cards lately using thin rectangles of patterned paper behind a focal point die cut and thought this was the perfect set to try that with.
And as you can see, I used this as an excuse to play with the alcohol/Blends technique. So, gorgeous and so fun!! I used Dark Pumpkin Pie, Dark Daffodil Delight and Light Poppy Parade Blends. If you haven't seen this technique yet, it's super easy; you scribble colors randomly on a piece of non-porous paper (I used vellum), and then you drop rubbing alcohol in various places. You can then use a straw to blow the color around a bit if you want softer edges. I did a couple of layers of this letting the paper dry between them. There are a lot of videos online showing this technique if you need a visual.
Backing your vellum with a sheet of Basic White cardstock makes the colors really pop, but figuring out how to adhere the vellum to the cardstock can be tricky as the edges of the adhesive usually shows through. My solution was to cut a piece of adhesive sheet the same size as my vellum and adhere that to the entire back side and attaching that to the Basic White piece. This way the adhesive was all over and you don't see any harsh edges. I then cut out my rectangles using the Stitched Framelits dies.
Here's a shot of the inside of the card. If you stamp this set the way you usually stamp, you will end up with an image that looks like the leaves are all behind the branches rather than around them. I didn't want that look so I played around till I got what I wanted. While I didn't video the alcohol technique for the front, as there are a lot of those tutorials already out there, I did do a quick video showing how I stamped this image so you can get a more realistic looking tree as well.
Here's a list of what I used to make this card:
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