Go to my demonstrator website to check it out and to order- this is an online special only :)

CLICK HERE

Then, in the right upper hand corner, click on SHOP NOW.       

Then click on CLEARANCE RACK on the left hand side to see the available goodies!

Kirk's Birthday card

Ok, this is the card I made for my brother this year. Here is last year's card. Why do I always end up doing some fancy fold for him? A little about my brother. He is a big boy toy kinda guy. He and his wife and 2 kids (Jacob 8 I think, and Sarah 7) live in a small town. Except in the summer. In the summer they live in their camper at their seasonal lot at the municipal park a few miles away, right on a lake of course. They both drive back and forth to work form there, going to the house occasionally for laundry and mail and such. They have a jet sky and 4 wheelers, and a few other fun toys. So I thought the new set that goes with the ever popular Loads of Love would be perfect.


This is a tri-shutter card and I have made a few of these now. I keep forgetting how much time they take! But they do turn out beautiful so they are worth the effort for someone special. I used a few retired and non SU things, but I think they blend well. I hope you forgive me ;)

• Stamps: Loads of Fun, Birthday Bliss, Birthdays Count, Circle Circus, Lazy Days JW
• Paper: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
• Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Choc Chip, various marker (Real Red, Summer Sun, Going Gray, Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Bordering Blue)
• Other: white gel pen, buttons, brads, Old Olive poly-twill ribbon, clear embossing powder and heat gun, whisper white jumbo grommet, small and large tag punches

And I just found the link to the tutorial I use for the tri-shutter card! I thought I had lost it. There are a couple of versions there.
Now if I could just get this thing in the mail! His birthday was in August for gosh sakes! And as always, comments are welcome, in fact encouraged!

Penguin Love

Isn't this little guy just adorable! He is from the new stamp set called Cold & Cuddly in the current Holiday Mini catalog. I just got the Two Tags die and cut a few out. Then I had the thought, I wonder if the penguin will fit in the Scallop circle punch...he sure does! I can picture this tag hanging from a mug with packets of some kind of beverage, can't you?

• Stamps: Cold & Cuddly
• Paper: Choc Chip textured cardstock, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
• Ink: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo
• Other: Scallop Circle punch, Two Tags die with Big Shot, 1/8" punch, Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon, silver cord, dimensionals, sponge

So, I think I will try some walruses next!

Thanksgiving Turkey Treat

This little fella was originally created by Mickey Tait and you can see hers along with her tutorial here. I would suggest one change to her instructions. I would punch the 1-3/4" hole in the card front 1/2"  from the bottom, not 1/4" or you have to trim off part of the Treat Cup flange. Ask me how I know :)

I of course had to change things a bit :) As you may already know, I LOVE the new Shimmer Paint that SU is selling in the Holiday Mini catalog right now. I used it to stamp all over all of the cardstock on this treat. We will be making him at Stamp Club on Oct. 1st, but you won't have to do as much stamping if you don't want to, I will understand, lol! You can fill his belly with all kinds of little treats, but I will be using M & M's, when I get some in the house that is, lol!

This is the inside of my treat card. The acorn embellishment covers a hole that you can get the candy out of the card through without destroying it. This was not my idea, it is Mickey's and is included in her tutorial.

• 
  
  Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Falling Leaves, Holiday Best
  
  
  
• 
  
  Paper: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Whisper White
  
  
  
• 
  
  Ink: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Dusty Durango
  
  
  

• Other: 1-3/4", 1-1/4", 1" circle punches, photo corner and small oval punches, Crop-A-Dile, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, sponge dauber, larger scallop circle on Scallop Circle #2 die with Big Shot, slit punch, Sweet Treat Cups

ETA: I adapted to little opening in the back again. I stamped a circle image on Whisper White (the round pumpkin from Pumpkin Patch with Old Olive stamped off once, then the acorn from Falling Leaves in Soft Suede over the Old Olive) Then used the slit punch to make a half circle cut in the center. Punched this out with the 1" circle punch. Matted this on a 1-1/4" Soft Suede circle. Applied Dotto to the back. Fill the Treat cut with candy thru the hole, and stick the Dotto-ed circle over the hole. The circle stays in place until you pull it off, then it will stick back on again, over and over!

Shimmering Skull

Ok, I found this awesome idea by Kimmie D here. I couldn't wait to try it. Basically, you emboss the skull in black EP on Shimmery White cardstock, then sponge around the skull. then the skull just pops in a shimmery white! How cool is that?! And of course easy. We like easy :) I also did the brayer on texture plate thing again. I really like that effect. More bats! I stamped them in Basic Gray on Whisper White, then cut them out. And yes, I went a little crazy with the gel pen, but it's all good :)

• Stamps: From the Crypt, Grateful Greetings
• Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Whisper White, Shimmery White
• Ink: Versamark, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Basic Gray
• Other: SU Perfect Details texture plate with Big Shot, brayer, paper piercer, silver brads, black embossing powder, sponge, dimensionals, white gel pen

I hope this inspires you to give it a try! Let me know if you do, post a comment and link to your card.

Oops! This is the August Club page

This is a close up of the details on the page we did on August 27th. I know, I know! What was I thinking! I never posted this project, in fact I just took the picture. And I haven't added any of my own pics to the page. I am sooo slacking. I wanted a very versatile page for you all, something that would work for first days of school, baby pics, zoo visits, goofy kid behavior, or just general pics of the kids. I hope this hits the mark.


I used the same layout for this page as I did for my 12x12 2 page layout swap, the Homecoming page. I stamped the owl in Summer Sun on the Summer Sun strip to the left of the page, and the elephant in Old Olive on the Old Olive strip. Doesn't the Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon go well with Summer Sun! Inked the edges of the Top Note die with Summer Sun, which was cut with one edge straight. And we are still getting lots of use out of the Good Morning Sunshine designer series paper bulk buy I got in the last catalog :) Now I suppose you want the official supply list, huh ;)

• Stamps: Animal Stories
• Paper: Brilliant Blue, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Good Morning Sunshine DSP
• Ink: Old Olive, Summer Sun
• Other: Big Shot with Top Note die, Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon, sponge

If you didn't make it to club, and there were 6 of you who didn't, remind me to show you the nifty trick I learned at convention on how to tie a knot so only the polka dot side shows :)

Autumn days are here....

I just love this new set. I think it is a great fall and masculine set. There aren't all that many out there that will work well for the guys out there. I got to use a few new things on the card. I was really thinking of my Dad when I made this card. He doesn't hunt, but they have a lot of pheasants where he lives and he likes to watch them. His birthday is in November, so this will probably be his card this year.
I used a couple techniques on this card. For the Dusty Durango strip in the middle, I brayered Dusty Durango ink onto a texture plate, then ran Dusty Durango paper thru the Big Shot with it. Very cool way to make you own DSP :) I also colored on the pheasant stamp with a few markers and did the Thumping technique- just bouncing the tip of your marker on the stamp to add random spots of color. I made my own background paper with More Mustard paper and various stamps and inks, sponged some More Mustard ink and Champagne Mist shimmer paint onto it. It looks soooo fab in real life! Ok, now I better get to the supply list.

• Stamps: Autumn Days
• Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive, Dusty Durango, Very Vanilla
• Ink: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive, Dusty Durango
• Other: 3/4" circle punch, jumbo grommet, SU Perfect Details pattern #1 texture plate with Big Shot, brayer, distressing tool on Cutter Kit, dimensionals, Champagne Mist shimmer paint, sponge, Top Note die
  

Here is the inside of the card. I just had to dress it up some more, especially since I had accidentally made a piece of the More Mustard too small for the card front. I couldn't waste it! And since I haven't decided for sure if I will use this for a club project, I thought I better leave the sentiment off for now.

I tried to catch the shimmer here, I think you can kind of see it. But the pics do not do it justice. You have to see it in person to get the full effect.

Let me know what you think!

A Little Halloween

This is a card I made just kind of as a warm up to get my mojo back. I have been in a real creative slump lately, sorry guys! I really wanted to do something with the new Sweet Treat Cups that we are selling. They must be really popular because they were actually on back order last week! I had cut the bats out for another project, but didn't use them, so they got added to the card. It really needed something so they worked out well. And sadly, I have no candy in the house and so the sweet treat cup will stay empty until I do :) It is currently being held on with Dotto, which is a temporary glue. I highlighted the texture on the card base by rubbing the Old Olive ink pad directly onto the cardstock, one of my favorite techniques :) On to the supplies I used!

• Stamps: Sweet Center, From the Crypt
• Paper: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Whisper White
• Ink: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray
• Other: 1-3/3" circle punch, Sweet Treat Cup, white gel pen and Rich Razzleberry marker, Big shot with the Weave texture plate, black striped ribbon, rick-rack from Orchard Ribbon Orginals, glue dots

Now you can tell me what you think of my "made it while I am sick" card! Did I get my mojo back?