Oh, Hello : SA Spring Mini Blog Hop

Well, it's time to kick off a new season of creativity! The holidays are done and the mad rushing about is over. I bet a few of us lost our mojo for a while during the craziness too, lol! But now, there is a new catalog just around the corner and inspiration awaits! A bunch of us from Stampin Addicts have gotten together again to bring you a peek at the new stuff from the Occasions Mini that will go live on January 3rd. Join us for a fun hop and we will try to temp you with the new goodies :)

If you are starting this hop at the beginning, I am the first stop, and I am featuring the Oh, Hello  stamp set. If you started somewhere in the middle, you probably arrived here from Betty's blog featuring All Dressed Up.  Awesome work Betty!

My first project uses all kinds of new goodies. Paper, doilies, embossing folder... and of course the new stamps! I just thought that adding "baby" to the sentiment would make it an adorable baby card. The "Baby" is from the Rain or Shine set.

Next up is this fun bag with several pockets to add goodies and a full sized card or notecard. Not my original idea, I got it from Michele Wooderson and have been hoarding the idea for a while. I kept this one pretty simple. You can see some of the candy I tucked in the front pocket. It holds quite a lot! THe bag is just a lunch sack folded and stitched on 3 sides.

This is the notecard I made to slip inside the pockets. I zig-zag stitched this also. I love the look of real stitching, and I bet my sewing needle is going to be too dull to sew fabric with soon!

Last up, a Thank You card featuring the fun patterned chevron stamp. I did not use a stamp-a-ma-jig, just eye-balled it. I think I did pretty well :) And check out the new embossing folder! I used it twice on this cardfront!

I hope I offered you some good inspiration here! And now, on with the hop! The next stop is Adriana with the Tea For Two fabric. She will not disappoint :)

If you get lost along the way, here is the link to the Blog Hop thread at Stampin Addicts.

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It's a Card and a Box!

Now is the time of year when we are giving little goodies to all kinds of people and this little box/card is perfect for a large chocolate bar with, say, a gift card, or a packet of cocoa and a gift card or.... and the list goes on!
(I apologize for the poor lighting in these photos, blame it on the night shift.)

I found the template for this project on Debbie Olson's blog and then figured out the measurements from there.

• Stamps: Snowflake Soiree, Scentsational Season, Winter Memories, Sweet Season
• Paper: Naturals Ivory, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso
• Ink: Illuminate, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
• Other: Big Shot with Holiday Collection framelits, Signo white gel pen, 1¼" Square punch, Rhinestone Basic Jewel, dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Simply Scored

 You can write a nice message inside, there is plenty of room.

And a top/side view of the box part so you can see a little more of the dimensions. I would love to see what others come up with! Just link in your comment so I can take a peek!

Blue Snowflakes

 Another Pinterest inspired card..this one from Ann-Kathrin who is a German SU demo. I changed the stamps and the colors a little bit. I am seeing a pattern here...something to do with ladies named Ann!

I used the Illuminate ink here to add some dimension to this flat card. Great for mailing, but it is so hard for me to not add dimensionals!!

• Stamps: Snowflake Soiree, Greetings of the Season, More Merry Messages
• Ink: Bashful Blue, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake, Illuminate
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
• Other: Signo white gel pen 

You can just make out the Illuminate snowflake on the lower right corner of the inside of the card.
This is another of the offerings for the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack available over the next couple of weeks. Check it out on my Christmas Stamp-A-Stack page.

USWDAF Mitten Toppers

Yup, I have designed another group of projects for USWDAF for the Wrapping up the Holidays event. TONS of wonderful ideas for holiday wrapping and gift giving. 

Yes, I realize the picture shows gloves, but this works with both mittens and gloves and glove topper just doesn't have the same cozy sound to it :) These would be adorable party favors for any winter party, but mainly I was thinking about all of the mitten trees that the local businesses put up every year around Christmas to encourage charitable giving. Notice the envelopes tucked in the gloves? These cards are gift card/money holders and if you pin the gloves/mittens together on the fingers, the gloves/mittens will hold the gift cards! These would be so cute hanging all over the tree! Doesn't this project make you want to run out and do your charitable shopping for the year?!

Here is a close up of the pinks version of the gift card...

....and the browns version.

Do you want the tutorial for this set of projects and dozens more? Follow the link below and they can all be yours for $24.95!

Bookprint Ornaments

Since I have finished my "assignments" for November, I finally got to play around a bit with my stamps just for me! Pinterest has been quite inspirational for me and this card was inspired by Anna-Karin's card that I found there.

It gave me an excuse to use the Core'dinations paper again. It is one of my current favorite things! I have been seeing a lot of stamping on bookprint papers, which is so vintage and lovely. There is some sponging going on here too :) The ornaments all got dots of Dazzling Details glitter glue to add some bling without the bulk. I was trying to make some standard stamp mailing friendly cards. Must. Not. Add. Dimension. So. Hard!

• Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, Greetings of the Season, More Merry Messages
• Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Gumball Green
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Gumball Green Core'dinations, First Edition DSP
• Other: Big Shot with Lacey Brocade embossing folder, Core'dinations sanding block, Signo white gel pen, 1¼" Square punch, Stampin Dimensionals, Dazzling Details Glitter Glue, sponge

 Even the inside got some love. You can see the Dazzling Details a little better in this picture.

I am offering a Christmas Stamp-A-Stack on several dates over the next couple of weeks and this is one of the card choices. Check out the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack page!

Reindeer and Chevrons

As much as I am using other people's ideas for my cards lately, you would think I don't have any ideas for myself! But they are such good ideas :) This one is inspired by Betsy Veldman's card. I just changed it all into SU stuff I happened to have!

I knew I loved these sets, and I am so happy that I got them. Apparently deer are really popular this year in the design world, and so are chevrons. They are everywhere, and I have to admit that I really love them :)

• Stamps: Christmas Deer, Greetings of the Season, Border Banter, Evergreen
• Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Pool Party, Early Espresso
• Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White
• Other: Raspberry Ripple Stitched Satin ribbon, Signo white gel pen

 Inside, I used a sentiment from the Evergreen set. I manage to keep this card nice and flat too. And it is another one of the cards for the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack! Check out the page with the same name above for more details :)

USWDAF Take-Out Boxes

I don't know about anybody else, but when my family gets together for a big holiday dinner, there is always a pile of leftovers to divvy up and send home with everybody. And wouldn't it be great to have a cute little box to send the food home in! No losing all of your good plastic containers :) Or maybe you are going to participate in a cookie exchange this year and don't want to resort to the plastic wrapped paper plate again this year. As you can see, this box holds plenty of cookies. It would work well for teacher/coach/bus driver/neighbor gifts too. I even included my famous soft and yummy Gingersnaps recipe for you to try, but you could easily make recipes cards with your own recipe to share with the recipient, just tuck it under the bow on your box!

 I made 2 versions of this project. This is the poinsettia version. If you go get a membership to the Wrapping Up the Holidays Event, you will get the tutorial with both versions, and the yummy Ginger Snaps recipe :)

This is the North Woods version, right up my alley! Both are made using the Watercolor Winter set.

Colors are: Sahara Sand, Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso, and Naturals White. 

There are tons of gorgeous projects in this event, so come check it out!

Merry Snowflakes!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! I know I did :) I worked a pretty uneventful overnight shift in the ER on Thanksgiving night, and had a bunch of family over on Saturday for dinner. Side effect of family over for dinner- my house got sparkly clean, lol! I should have people over more often....

This morning I decided I needed to do a little stamping since I haven't done any in over a week. I know, can you believe it! So I found a fun challenge over at OWH, to use turquoise and silver. Well, Pool Party is a pale turquoise, right?

This is the idea that popped into my head. Lots of shimmer and shine on this card, and not something I could send to OWH, but it's still pretty :)
The Illuminate ink adds such a festive touch to holiday cards, I can't seem to stop using it. I think all but 2 of the Christmas cards I have made lately have had the Illuminate ink on them. It also works great to show you where you stamped for embossing. Can you see the snowflakes behind Merry?

Maybe this view is a little better. My Silver Glimmer paper got some use for the first time also. I have got to stop hoarding stuff! These are only ¼" strips of it anyway, such a tiny bit that it is sure to last through many projects.

• Stamps: Snowflake Soiree
• Ink: Illuminate
• Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer paper
• Other: Big Shot with Large Scallop edgelit, embossing buddy, Pewter embossing powder, Heat Gun, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer, Piercing Mat, Signo white gel pen, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Don't forget that the Online Extravaganza is still going strong and that there will be another one-day-only deal on Wednesday! Go check it out!

Crazy for Owls

I really did go a little crazy with the owls for this post. I have several cards here that I made for the Operation Write Home box that  I have now filled! I just need to take it to the post office now. That appears to be a bit of a problem for me now since I am working nights. I am sleeping when the post office is open! It appears I need to make some more adjustments to my sleeping schedule so I can do the business hours stuff.... 

And as long as I am making scads of cards, why not do some more stash busting?! I used all kinds of retired stuff on these, but I don't think they feel "retired" lol!

There are several retired SU stamp sets that I will not be parting with any time soon, and I used 2 of them for this card. 

• Stamps: Love Bandit, Well Scripted
• Paper: Naturals White, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Early Espresso, Old Olive
• Ink: Regal Rose, Early Espresso, Old Olive
• Other: Big Shot with circle dies, Heart to Heart punch, non-SU heart brads, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals, Flower Fusion felt flowers

And another version with Old Olive matting the circle instead of Early Espresso. I still have gobs of the Flower Fusion felt flowers to use up, so I was going to town with them on these sets of cards. I think I made 4-8 of each design.

Can't resist Crumb Cake! I added a little heart from Filled With Love,  another retired set. And rhinestones in the center of the felt flowers.

Thank You cards are always handy. More owls!! I told you, I went a little crazy with the owls, lol!

• Stamps: Love Bandit, Thank You Kindly
• Paper: Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie
• Ink: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso
• Other: Big Shot with Apothecary Accents framelit, Wide Oval and Bird Builder punch, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer, Piercing Mat, Flower Fusion felt flowers, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, dimensionals, Signo white gel pen

And an Old Olive version. I sure hope other people like these little owls as much as I do!

More to Love

 Getting closer to a full box of cards to send to Operation Write Home. Next time I need to pick a smaller box because about the time I would have it full, I would have to pull some out because the deadline for that holiday had passed! Either that or I need to stamp faster, LOL!

I made this one with the same layout as the one from yesterday, but changed up the colors and stuff. Still loving the Illuminate ink! These hearts turned out so shimmery :)

• Stamps: You Are Loved
• Ink: Early Espresso, Illuminate
• Paper: Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP
• Other: Big Shot with Hearts framelits, Large Scallop edgelit, Delicate Designs embossing folder, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Piercing Mat, sponge, dimensionals, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, 1" Square punch

 This is the last of the Everyday Enchantment designs for now. I added some retired ribbon to the supplies on this one. The 3/8" Very Vanilla Designer Velvet ribbon (#125637) is available on the Clearance rack right now for $3.19! It looks amazing on Christmas projects too.
 The butterfly body is descending dots of Smooch Accent ink.

• Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, P.S. I Love You
• Ink: Illuminate, Soft Suede, Poppy Parade
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP
• Other: Big Shot with Delicate Doilies sizzlet and Designer Frames embossing folder, Signo white gel pen, Moonlight Smooch Accent Ink, Small Heart punch, Elegant Butterfly punch, Rhinestone and Pearl Basic Jewels, dimensionals, 1/8" Calypso Coral organza ribbon, 3/8: Very Vanilla Designer Velvet ribbon, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack with Paper Piercer and Piercing Mat

 I even decorated the inside with the little dots of Accent ink!

Until next time, Happy Stampin!

Love in November

I know most of us are thinking about Thanksgiving, and maybe about Christmas right now, but I have been doing some stuff for my Operation Write Home box. Christmas and THanksgiving are over for the deadlines for OWH, and it is time to think about Valentine's Day. General "love" are more versatile though so they encourage us to make more of them than the Happy Valentine's Day sentiment.

This is just one of several designs I made for the box and I am trying to combine some stash-busting with this project :) The DSP is from the Everyday Enchantment packs that were part of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion. I have a bunch of it and it is so pretty! I think I can stop petting it now and use it up :) I also pulled out some retired cardstock and a retired stamp set, but I did use the new Illuminate ink! Love that stuff! It is like Frost White Shimmer Paint in an inkpad!!

• Stamps: You Are Loved, P.S. I Love You (retired)
• Ink: Poppy Parade (retired), Pool Party, Illuminate, Early Espresso marker
• Paper: Poppy Parade (retired), Pool Party, Everyday Enchantment DSP (2012 SAB), Very Vanilla
• Other: Big Shot with Delicate Doilied sizzlet, 1¼" Circle punch, dimensionals, Pearls Basic Jewels

Come back tomorrow to see what else I love!

Darling Didies and Free Downloads!

The Technique Boutique is still going strong! This is the second project I created for the event. I used the Inked Embossing Folder technique and made some baby shower favors:)
If you would like to see more of the 40+ projects for this event, check out UStampWithDawnandFriends.com . It is a great value for only $24.95!

I know most of us are in Holiday mode, but there are babies being born all the time and we still need fresh ideas! You can fit about 5 nuggets in the diapers, and I am sure there are lots of other things that would fit also.

Now, back to designing stuff for the Stampin' Addicts MDS Blog Hop Nov. 2-4th! Be sure to come back and check that out too! There are 3 free downloads available this week and 50% off the digital kits! How exciting is that ?!

Let's Get Dirty

UStampWithDawnandFriends is having another event right now, and I wanted to share a peek of one of the projects I designed for this round. We are focusing on techniques, as the title states. I chose to feature Sanded Paper. I fell in love with the Core'dinations cardstock in the Holiday Mini and was inspried to create this fun set of party stuff :)

Every little boy wants to tear around like a wild man when he gets together with his friends, and there really is something to be said about a good old fashioned afternoon in the sun. Remember all the good times you had playing in the sandbox, racing the toy cars, playing hide & seek, tag, tug-of-war, Red Rover Red Rover, and all kinds of other games kids are losing touch with these days?! Bring back the fun of playing with minimal toys and maximum energy and imagination! You will be the coolest parent on the block, I promise!
Oh, and you get to play too, when you make these fun badges and the banner :)

Nautical Birthday

I am still working on filling up a box of cards to send to Operation Write Home and I needed some more masculine birthday cards. I think we all have lots of feminine ones, lol! This striped paper from the Festival of Prints DSP stack just seemed perfect for this theme!

This is the first version I made. The striped paper is the only DSP, the rest is stamped and sponged.

I turned the design on it's side for this version, it works well either way!

• Stamps: The Open Sea, Curly Cute
• Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
• Paper: Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Festival of Prints DSP stack
• Other: Sponge, Early Espresso ¼" Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, 2½" Circle punch, Essentials paper piercing pack, paper piercer and piercing mat, 1" Corner punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, buttons, White Baker's Twine, Glue Dots

Then on the inside I did some torn edge sponging and stamping. Love this simple technique :)