Anniversary Tree

 
It was Jan and Suzanne's anniversary yesterday! Happy Anniversary Jan and Suzanne! Jan is my aunt who lives in the mountains of California (do they have fall there?). She also makes custom furniture for sale. I thought a tree of love would be appropriate, plus I got to use my new stamps :-) I know their card will be late getting to them since I made it Monday night, but I am sure they will appreciate the thought anyway.

 
This was a very easy card to put together, and I really love it! I think I will make a couple to keep in my stash. My stash was seriously depleted lately! I don't tend to make a lot of extra cards. Most of them are made with something specific in mind. Or they get sold at work fairly quickly, lol.

My first thought for the inside of this card was "Love may not grow on trees, but it can grow as Strong as a tree. Happy Anniversary" Corny, I know, but I thought it sounded pretty good. Then I remembered my Occasional Quotes set and the saying in that set "Love begins in a moment, grows over time, and lasts an eternity." This sounded so much better and said pretty much the same thing. Plus I didn't have to try to make my handwriting look good, lol! Then to finish decorating the inside, I was digging through my scrap files and found some scraps of already cut out trims! Bingo Baby! Then I had to add a little "love" from Tiny Tags along the bottom  ;-) I hope they like it as much as I do!

• Stamps: Season of Friendship, Tiny Tags, I (Heart) Hearts, Occasional Quotes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
• Ink: Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, More Mustard, Early Espresso
• Other: 3/4" Circle punch, Heart Small punch, Cherry Cobbler 1/2" Seam Binding ribbon, Big Shot with Tasteful Trims die, Scallop Edge border punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Wow, I really used 5 stamp sets with this?! OK, most of them were the different sentiments I used. I am not going to worry about it! 

 Then, cuz I loved how this turned out so much, I made 3 more! Minus the bow and without any sentiment. I think this card would work for a lot of occasions and for a guy too.

Don't they look great peeking out of my tin. I think this will be my "just in case" tin for in the car. I hate it when I need a card NOW and they are all at home.

Ok, one last photo. I had to decorate the envelope too :-) Now, I better go put this in the mail! I must have really liked this one, I sure have a  lot of photos of it (rolling eyes here).

Now, go stamp some stuff!!

Sweet Season Bag

Is Christmas in the air yet? I'm starting to feel the urge to play with my Christmas stuff! It has been sitting on my desk and waiting for me to get tired of the Autumn Spice stuff and the Halloween stuff. Well, it has my attention now :-) Don't you love these snowflakes? They are from the Northern Frost Decorative Strip Sizzlet. So cute!

 

And yes, this is yet another gift bag. I used a lunch bag (they do come in a pack of 100 you know, lol) I covered the front and back with card stock and decorated it all up. I put a handle through the top too. 

 More of the Tasteful trim die. If you don't have it yet, you really need to get this one! I keep finding more uses for it. It works well for cards and scrapbook pages as it creates up to 12" long strips of trim!
This also uses the new Deck the Halls DSP. Very traditional looking paper. I love the nostalgic feel of it.
I was able to create this using only one sheet of 8-1/2"x11" card stock and 1/2 sheet of DSP. The rest came from my scrap files. And those pearls are just the touch it needed to step it up. Maybe next time I would use a darker card stock to cover the bag, to better accent this DSP.

• Stamps: Sweet Season
• Paper: Naturals Ivory, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke
• Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke
• Other: Big Shot with Tasteful Trim die, Northern Frost die,  and Lots of Tags die, Wide Oval punch, Stampin Dimensionals, Pearls Basic Jewels, Always Artichoke 1/2" Seam Binding ribbon, Velcro, Crop-A-Dile

The back and the flap are one piece and I punched 2 hole in that piece on the back near the fold to put the ribbon ends through, taped them in place on the inside with Scotch tape, then adhered the back onto the bag. I didn't have to use Sticky Strip, my Tombow liquid glue worked just fine.

Now, would you like me to come to your house and show you and your friends how to make this project? Contact me if you live in the Bemidji area and I'll get you fixed right up!

Cupcake Gift Bag

 Yes, I know. I am getting a little repetitive. ANOTHER gift bag! What can I say? I had a lot of birthdays to take care of in the last 30 days :-) Love that corduroy button? You can get some of your very own on the Clearance Rack for $3.99 while supplies last until Oct 18th! I tied a bow with the Chocolate Chip satin ribbon (retired) then tied it to the bag with crochet thread and the button. Worked like a charm, and it won't fall off. The bag is from Target and came in a pack of 12 for about $6. I was able to fit one of the Card Organizers that I made into it. And it coordinates with this card.

Here is the whole bag. I used a retied sentiment set here too. Sometimes you just have to ink up some old favorites.

• Stamps: On a Pedestal, Well Scripted
• Paper: Naturals White, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
• Ink: Blushing Bride, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
• Other: Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/8" Circle punch. 1-1/4" Circle punch, Chocolate Chip 1" satin ribbon, Real Red Corduroy Button, Stampin' Dimensionals, crochet thread, red and white tissue paper

Leaf Gift Bag

So, what happens when you have too much stuff on your stamping area? Apparently I set things on fire. And then have an asthma attack. As I am trying to blow out the flames, lol! I ended up uses a Puffs Plus tissue to put it out. The lotion must have magical fire retardant abilities, lol! This was to be a lovely gift bag for someone, and an example of the bags we made at club  the end of September.

Here's the whole bag. It was so pretty! Why couldn't it have been the top of the bag. I could have cut that off and still used it. But, stuff would fall out the bottom of this one. Sigh.... oh well. It was a 1 cent lunch bag. I guess I can live with that. 

Here it is standing up, all done, with the hole....
And why would it catch on fire on my desk, you ask? Well, I had a tea light lit and I was sealing the ends of the Rope Twine (which you can buy on the Clearance Rack for $2.99 for a 15 yd roll!) by dipping the ends in the melted wax and allowing it to dry before threading it through the holes at the top of the gift bag. That's how :-)

So now that you have seen the Tinkerin In Ink blooper of the day (wish I could say of the year), how about you cheer me up by booking a workshop! You too could get a lovely gift bag (minus the hole) with goodies in it for your troubles! Or go place an order on my demo website, or check out my kits/shares for sale. Or, if you don't want to spend any money, leave me a comment. Those always make me :-)

Hey, I just realized it is 10/10/10! That should be good luck or something, don't you think?!

Trick or Treat!

 

I haven't done anything Halloween for a few posts, so I guess it is time again! I sure don't want you all to get bored with the same topic! For some reason, I just love how this spider web looks with a little glitter on it. It kind of reminds me of a web with dew on it at first light, which is beautiful, not creepy. I used the Black Chunky Essentials glitter on one, and Dazzling Diamonds on the other. What do you think? Which one is better?

The phrase is inked with the Kiwi Kiss, then Rock and Rolled on Rich Razzleberry. Yes, I know Kiwi Kiss is retired, but I love it so! Plus, some of it got mixed into my Old Olive scrap file and I didn't realize that was what I grabbed until I had the project all cut out. Oh, well. 

• Stamps: Grateful Greetings, From the Crypt
• Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
• Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Rich Razzleberry
• Other: Big Shot with Two Tags die and Spider Web embossing folder, Scallop Square punch, Scallop Oval punch, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Chunky Essentials Black glitter, Stampin' Dimensionals

This will hold a Reese's peanut butter cup sized treat. I got this idea from Mary Brown aka stampercamper.

1. You cut out a tag with the Two Tags die, then score up from the bottom at 3/4" and 1" and crease well at these two score lines only. 
2. Then cut another piece of car stock 2-3/4"x2-3/4" and emboss that with the Spider Web embossing folder. 
3. Ink your spider web with the same ink as the paper. 
4. I used Crystal Effects to apply the glitter. 
5. Adhere the the embossed piece to the little folded up tab your created earlier.
6. Punch out a Scallop Oval and adhere with a Stampin' Dimensional-but put the dimensional near the top of the scallop oval so the flap with fit under it. 
7. Now you can finish decorating as desired.

All done! Now, are you ready to make a bunch of these? I sure am!
Don't forget to go check out the Clearance Rack, there are still plenty of great deals to be had, like whole rolls of ribbon from $1.99 and packs of corduroy buttons from 2.99-3.99! I really miss those corduroy buttons....there are over 200 items on the Clearance Rack while supplies last and the sale ends Oct 18th! Some things have already sold out, so HURRY! Go to my demo website and click on SHOP NOW! The SHOP NOW button to the right takes you to my demo site.

Save the Hooters!

Ha! I've got your attention now, don't I! Isn't that a catchy line? Now, I know Hooters is not exactly what we like for them to be called, but at least WE get to use the term and get the guys to pay attention to something that matters, lol! I got the same reaction from all of my boys, a look of surprise and a chuckle. You can bet that will stick in their minds.
I am making a bunch of these to send to the women in my life (who have a sense of humor that will take this as intended) and maybe I will send it to the rest without the last phrase....
The ribbon is really the & sign from the Billboard alphabet Decorative Strip Sizzlet die trimmed down. I got the idea (and for the owl on a bookmark as a breast cancer awareness item) from Kris Kilkenny aka PaperFairy. Isn't she a genius!
I don't know if you can see it, but I used the owl from the Forest Friends set to stamp all over the bookmark too.  And check out those pupils! They are the smallest gem in the Black Flourish Designer Jewels pack! How cool is that?!

• Stamps: Forest Friends
• Paper: Regal Rose, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Naturals White, Daffodil Delight, In Color DSP hostess pack
• Ink: Blushing Bride, Early Espresso marker
• Other: Big Shot with Two Tags and Billboard dies, Scallop Circle punch, 2-Step Owl punch, Black Flourish Designer Jewels

Now, go make some of your own and spread awareness, and a smile :)
What?! You don't have the supplies to make these? Well, go to my demo website and buy them, quick! And don't forget to check out the Clearance Rack while you are at it ;) Everyone who places an order with me will get one of these from me!

A Little Retro Java

I am patiently waiting for my very own Morning Cup set to arrive. Ok, not so patiently, lol! And I was recently inspired to do something with these colors...which just had to be about a morning cup of something! I am a tea drinker myself. Big time tea drinker. Go to the local specialty loose leaf tea shop tea drinker in fact! I used to drink a TON of coffee, but I get reflux so bad with even a half cup of weak coffee, I cough my brains out. I have asthma too so I cough way more than enough as it is. SO, I switched to tea about 3 years ago. Did you know that there is an amazing world of tea out there?! Now I drink a TON of tea! And I really need my morning cup, and my noon cup, and my mid-afternoon cup, and my supper cup, and my drive home cup.... you get the picture :)  SO, you see, I really NEED that Morning Cup set!

I pulled out a couple of oldies but goodies to make this card and threw in a new favorite. And this is my first use of the new technique I discovered from Lyssa Zwolanek! It is called Inset Embossing and you use an embossing folder. It is super easy. You glue punched shapes to a piece of card stock and then run it trough the Big Shot in your embossing folder and the punched shapes appear to become part of the main piece! Soooo cool! I used the little circle punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and the Square Lattice embossing folder. I guess I have been a real punch-oholic lately! I used 7 punches on this card, wow! Well, I guess you can say I'm getting my money's worth out of them, lol!

Here is the inside of the card. I reversed the colors on the Inset Embossing piece. I think I like this one better!

•  Stamps: Like it a Latte, Espresso Yourself, Itty Bitty Bits
• Paper: Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla
• Ink: Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze
• Other: Big Shot with Tasteful Trim die and Square Lattice embossing folder, 3/8" Circle punch from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, 2-1/2" Circle punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle punch, Designer Label punch, Curly Label punch, Large Oval punch, Small Heart punch, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Snail (to adhere the ribbon)

 And this is the straight on shot of the card front. Lighting is becoming a real issue for me lately! I need to re-master the indoor night shots since the sun is gone by 7pm now. I am mostly a late night stamper so I can't always get the pictures done in daylight now. Wish me luck!

And this lovely card is one I got from my friend Holly for my birthday! I love it!!! Isn't she sweet?

Have a great day and don't forget to check out the amazing Clearance Rack deals at Stampin Up! Click on the SHOP NOW button to the right to go to my demo site to get the best prices!