Thursday, March 17, 2011

birthday


I did this swap awhile back for a luv2stamp group meeting swap. I used the party this way stamp set and it came together pretty easily with the addition of the celebrations dsp and quick accents. the scallop border and 2 sizes of scallop circles made it super fast and easy. what a good way to make invitations quickly when adding dsp and accents.

Monday, March 14, 2011

cutest cupcake EVER




as I've said before, I LOVE shrink plastic, so I had to find a way to use the absolutely adorable cupcake punch with shrink plastic, and I think I found it. I stamped the cupcake images onto frosted shrink plastic with the create a cupcake set and our classic ink, then punched them out. I punched a hole in the cupcake base and 2 in the cupcake top with the smaller of the 2 holes in the cropadile, then shrunk the pieces down one at a time with my heat gun. I added 7mm jump rings to connect the top and bottom of the cupcake, and then the top to the lobster claw. I made these to be bracelet charms, but you could also connect them to wires and make earrings. I added a colored rhinestone (with permanent marker) to each cupcake to simulate a cherry. I think they turned out really well. LOVE them!!!



Thursday, March 10, 2011

christmas in march?


ok, I'm a little behind, all these things were in the holiday mini, aren't currently available and have no business being here, but I wanted to post it anyway. I really liked how the monochromatic look added so much to the simple card. it could be easily adapted to a spring layout. maybe I'll challenge myself to that too. stay tuned...

Monday, March 7, 2011

sentimental journey

I loved this set that was in a previous mini. it's been so long, I don't remember when. obviously it's not currently available, but wouldn't it be great if it were in the new big catalog that comes out in july! I don't usually have great luck with picking sets that carry over, but I buy what I like and that makes it ok for me. this was also a control freak swap! I'm glad that for the most part, when I go back and look at what I've done, I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out. the control freaks are such a hugely talented group of women, that I feel added pressure to do my very best when we have swaps (and feel totally unworthy of belonging, but as long as they'll have me, I'm staying!). I've had a few clunkers that don't work, no matter how many times I tweak it, but regardless, usually I hear encouraging words from these ladies. that's the other very cool thing, no matter how busy they get, they take the time to encourage and appreciate each other. the blog tours they have every month are absolutely amazing, and you should definitely take the time to take the tour! I get so many ideas from them. I probably won't be on a tour, I can't imagine being able to link to anyone (computer delinquent here), but once you find one blog, you can get through the entire tour, they're that good at setting the whole thing up.

Friday, March 4, 2011

artistic etchings and thoughts


this is another card for a control freak swap I did awhile back. I was looking at the photos on my memory card, thought about posting this, then had to go through the catalog to remember the right name for this set. I don't know if you're like me or not, but when I get the new SU! catalog, I go to the back first, where all the embellishments are, where all my money will have to go initially, then I go through from front to back. while I was looking through the catalog today, I realized there are so MANY sets I have that I either have never used, or haven't used in ages. I must admit, with the addition of the clear sets, I haven't bought anything in wood that I didn't have to buy in wood, and since the clear sets work in such a nice amount of space, I usually go right to those when I want to stamp something. plus the added bonus is that our clear blocks are SO comfortable and feel SO nice to stamp with. I've stamped for a long time and had other blocks, but these are SO worth having. I haven't used the old ones since I got ours. with the addition of mini catalogs, I will also go to all the new stuff, rather than using something I have. don't get me wrong, I will still buy everything I can!!!, but I'd like to challenge myself to not only start blogging more frequently, but also to using sets that I've forgotten about. I figure if I post that, I'll feel a need to not let myself, or anyone who comes to check in on me, down. so, back to this card! I LOVE shrink plastic, wish we sold it, because I'd be happy to buy it from myself rather than having to get in the car and drive somewhere to see if they might have it in stock. I stamped the key image on tan shrink plastic, then cut it out and shrunk it down to add to the heart with a mini glue dot.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

scissors

these were so much fun to make, and look so cute, I couldn't stand it! all I did was punch the short wide heart from the heart to heart punch in black, and the word window punch in brushed silver, then cut the word window in half, then half again, to get the blades. I used the retired slot punch to make the finger holes in brushed silver, and added a silver brad to bring the whole thing together. I used one dimensional to add it to the card. fun!!! I used the big shot multi-purpose adhesive sheets to adhere all the little slots I punched out (thanks to my sister ellen, who did that while I was doing another part, or making breakfast, I don't remember). it was super easy, once they were all on the sheet (I'd cut a piece to work with something smaller) they came off super easy and stuck really well.

pattern pieces

I try to use 100% SU! when I can, but I was out looking for tissue paper that was about the same color as sewing pattern pieces and time was running out. it was christmas time and everything had a pattern on it (not the right kind of pattern - reindeer, snowflakes - you get the picture). so my solution was to use white tissue paper that I spritzed with alcohol and crumb cake reinker. I also added a little spritz of soft suede reinker with alcohol (I think that part was way too subtle). if anyone wants to try coloring tissue, it's super fast and easy, but you should use smaller, easier to handle pieces of tissue. I did it with full sheets, and once it was wet with alcohol, it took on a life of its own! I tore a little, but I had so much it didn't matter. once it dried I stamped it with the pattern pieces stamp in basic black, then cut it out. these looked so cute in my pile, light and airy! dumb things make me happy. I used 1/2 of the pattern, and crinkled it up for dimension. too cute!