Happy Birthday, Rachel!!!!

This weekend was so busy with my youngest DD turning 4 on Sunday and her Backyardigans birthday party with 6 of her little friends on Saturday. The December meeting of our SU technique club was Sunday afternoon and we had a yummy cookie swap as part of the festivities. To top it all off, my DMIL & DFIL were in for the birthday and we traditionally have the girls' pictures made with Santa while their grandparents visit so that made a trip to the mall and dinner out on Sunday. It was a marvelous weekend, but boy did I ever crash on Sunday night. Last night older DD spent the night with a friend that, also, homeschools (we will have to play catch up tomorrow with lessons) and younger DD went to pre-school. That meant I had to entire morning to myself. Wasn't sure exactly how to act- turned, and out of habit, looked for the kids a couple of times. I actually got some last minute Christmas shopping done AND got to go to a lss a browse at my leisure!! I guess I should have been home making some Christmas gifts that I have plans for BUT I can do those while the girls sleep! So instead, I thought I'd share a card I made a little while back using Flourishes stamps and Cosmo Cricket Wonderland 8 x 8 paper. This card is pretty straight forward. One interesting detail is the photo corners. Do they look familiar. They are actually the tops of the Christmas tree from this Flourish Christmas set embossed in gold. Not the best picture in the world. I have requested one of the fold-up photo cubes for Christmas. A new camera would be nice but I'm currently using the "big" Christmas gift to make this post- lol! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Stamps: Flourished Christmas Paper: Cosmo Cricket- Wonderland, Gold embossed paper (unk), Vellum, Brushed Gold CS Ink: Versamark, Close to Cocoa Craft ink, Chocolate Chip Accessories: Gold EP, Clear EP, sponge, May Arts ribbon, Circle punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, Creative Imagination velvet brads

Here's a Pinch...

...to grow an inch- an "inchie" that is! When I saw Judith Mara's article "Invasion of the Inchies" in this winter's edition of Paper Creations," last month I had to give them a try! I felt that PTI images would be just the thing for these little creations. So I made 3 of them combining Text Box with Basic Gray Stella Ruby and was instantly thrilled with how quick they came together. My mother's birthday was last month so I decided to use them on her card. I have been so busy with other projects (no time for "me" stamping) that was the last opportunity that I had to play with them. Well, imagine how excited I was when I saw some really talented paper crafters were recognized on Ellen Hutson's blog (Debbie Olsen, Cindy Lyles , Sharon Harnist , Michelle Wooderson, Trudee Sauer ) featuring "inchies" and their wonderful ideas to use them. Who knows, you may see some of these little 1" x 1" squares inching their way on to my Christmas cards-lol. I had this card completed when my almost 4-year-old DD decided to add her own touch to the bottom right hand corner with my Signo Gel pen. My first thought was to tear the panel with the "inchies" off and redo the card base (Sage Shadow tone on tone using Linen BG stamp.) Instead, I felt that the mark actually looked a bit like a stitch so I took a leaf pattern from my Bassill stitch templates and used my Bassill paper piercer (I'm liking this new paper piercer better than my old MM ones- it has a fat, wooden handle that is easy to grip and comes with reusable carrying case) to create the faux stitched leaves. Wasn't sure what I thought of it at first but it is starting to grow on me. Well, I'm going to go grab a nap before I have to go to work this evening. Remember to stop by tomorrow for the announcement of some treats. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for PTI Inchie:

Stamps: PTI- Text Box, Paper Trey, Linen BG

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter, PTI white CS, PP- Basic Gray Stella Ruby

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Regal Rose

Accessories: adhesive pearls, Copic Markers, rose ribbon, Bassill stitching template, paper piercer, Signo white gel pen

Techniques: paper piercing

O Christmas Tree

Yahoo! Yesterday was a happy mail day. I received my O Christmas Tree set from Flourishes. If you recall, I went on and on about how much fun I had "playing" with their set Cake Decorating 101. Well, they did it again with this Christmas tree set! The versatility of both of these sets, allows for all kinds of creative inspiration! This needs to be a quick post, so I will just hit some of the highlights of this card. First, the sparkling garland is stamped with Cranberry Crisp ink then filled in with the same ink using a blender pen. To make it shine, I placed a drop of Diamond Stickles to each little bead. The star on top was stamped first in Gold Encore then colored in with a gold Copic Spica pen (love these pens.) I then masked it so that it "rests" on the peak of the tree. The tree skirt was stamped with Bravo Burgundy on Chatterbox paper then cut out and adhered to the bottom of the tree. For ornaments, I stamped the image, colored it in using Stampin' Write markers and the Copic Spica, cut it out then covered it with Crystal Effects. Finally, the sentiment ornament was made by first stamping on to Shimmer White them punching with the 1 1/4 circle punch. Then I punched out the 1/4" circle from a piece of gold CS then punched that out of the sheet with at 1/2 circle punch to make a "doughnut." The gold "doughnut" was then attached between the sentiment and an Old Olive 1 3/8" circle punch. Last, using the slot punch and the same gold GS, the base of the "handle" was punched and adhered to the sentiment circle. DH is working late so I have to get DDs ready for bed. Thanks for stopping by... Take care!

O Christmas Tree card recipe

Stamps- O Christmas Tree- Flourishes

Paper- Old Olive, Shimmer White, PP- Chatterbox

Ink- Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp, Bravo Burgundy, Stampin' Write Markers in Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Gold Encore

Supplies- Gold Copic Spica, Diamond Stickles, Blender Pen, Circle Punches, Slot punch, Crystal Effects, Zig Painty (gold end- around the edges of the Shimmer White CS), ribbon

DTGD with a Flourish

I received my order from the new web company (really new, the Grand Opening was Friday),Flourishes, today and I had to use them right away (well, at midnight once we finally called it a day on the remodeling.) Let me tell you, this set, Cake Decorating 101, is pure stamping fun and absolutely ZERO calories- teeheehee! I decided to use it in the DTGDJeanneS challenge of paper piecing because that is my all time favorite technique. The cake stand has been heat embossed with UTEE then crackled BUT I am so disappointed in the way my photo turned out. The cake stand looks so much prettier in person. Thanks, Jeanne for this awesome challenge! Take care!

Cake Decorating 101 card recipe:

Stamps: Cake Decorating 101- Flourishes, Cherubs- Crafty Secrets
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Infuse- BG
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories: Word Window punch, corner rounder punch, ribbon (Heidi Swapp ?), UTEE, heat gun, Liquid Pearls (white opal), Sakura clear Stardust pen