Snowbuddy to the rescue

I'm a little off today. First I left work this afternoon and forgot my key card. In four years I've never left my key card at work. Luckily I realized right away and went back to get it. (I would have been seriously bummed when I got to work at 6:30 Monday morning and couldn't get in.) Then I was looking at a bus schedule and read the Saturday times instead of weekday times. I went to the bank to deposit a few checks and get some cash, and I couldn't remember my PIN. I remembered which numbers are in it, but I couldn't get them in the right order. I tried three or four times. The teller finally took pity on me and said she could just look at my ID. Sigh.

There are a few other examples, but basically all this leads me to believe that I shouldn't do any crafting today. I don't think I trust myself. I'd probably make my cards upside-down (which I've done before) or spill glitter all over the floor or cut my finger or experience some other unfortunate incident. For my own safety and/or sanity I decided I should share a card I'd already made. So this little snowbuddy came to my rescue:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Snow Much Fun
Card stock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade
Ink: Jet Black StazOn^®, Pool Party; markers: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Basic Gray satin ribbon, 5/16" neutrals brads, corner rounder, 3/4" circle punch, Lace Ribbon Border punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Dimensionals, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

The "snowflakes" on this card are actually the inside of the Lace Ribbon Border punch. You could also use the shape as flowers. To make them, I punched a strip of white card stock and then cut the flakes apart. I backed them with the blue circles so I could close the brads without seeing the prongs.

I think this little snowman is adorable, and I love the images in this stamp set. However, I have a little grammatical gripe about the greeting: "Snowbuddy likes you as much as me!" Now, I don't mind the pun. What nags at me a little is that it should read "Snowbuddy likes you as much as I do!" The way it reads now, it's like you're telling the recipient, "Hey, everyone likes me better than they like you." Of course I know that's not the intended meaning, and I'm sure if I sent this card to someone, they wouldn't be offended or probably even notice it. But it still bugs me. I can't help it; it's the English major in me. I know I don't write or speak perfectly all the time (where's the fun in that?), but there are just certain things that are like fingers on a chalkboard to me -- misspelled words or unnecessary apostrophes, for example (when you make a word plural, you don't add an apostrophe!).

Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to let this one go. Or if I ever feel particularly mean, I could edit the greeting by just stamping "Snowbuddy likes you" and then make cards for some of those not-so-special people (insert evil laugh). OK, maybe not, but the thought makes me smile just a little ...

Cats and dogs

Are you a cat person or a dog person? If I had to label myself as one or the other, I guess I'd say I'm a cat person. Mainly because I grew up having cats, and my sister and I have two cats today, Pirate and Mielle. Here they are looking all cute and innocent (Pirate is on the left). Hah! This is one of the rare moments when they've been snuggling together ... at least one of the rare times they've been caught. More often they ignore, tolerate, chase or just fight with each other.

But even though I've never owned a dog, I definitely love them, too. So today I wanted to share a couple of cards for all the cat and/or dog lovers out there.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Cats Galore (Inkadinkado)
Ink: Basic Brown, Pool Party; markers: Going Gray, River Rock, Creamy Caramel, So Saffron, Pool Party, Peach Parfait
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Pool Party, Peach Parfait, So Saffron
Accessories: Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, 1-3/8" square punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Crystal Effects, 5/8" So Saffron grosgrain ribbon

For the focal point on this card I used a piece of Peach Parfait card stock with a little scallop edge on the top and bottom. To make the scallops, I punched a strip of So Saffron card stock with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, cut the strip in half and then glued the two pieces to the back of the Peach Parfait, so just a little bit of the scallops are showing. I stamped and punched out the same cat image three times and colored each cat a different color for a little variation. To embellish the So Saffron ribbon, I punched out some blue circles, glued them on the ribbon and coated them with Crystal Effects for a little shine.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Dog's Life (Inkadinkado)
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Blue Bayou, Old Olive
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Blue Bayou, Old Olive
Accessories: Dog brads (Around the Block), 1" square punch, 1/8" Basic Black taffeta ribbon, 1/8" circle punch

I really like the diversity in the types of dog images in this set: cartoonish, realistic, detailed, silhouettes. For this card I tried to select a couple images of each of the different types, so there's a little something for everyone. But I think my favorite detail on this card is the touches of black in the paw-print brad, the square layer and the ribbon on the bottom. This is a pretty simple layout, but it was a fun card to make!

Well, if you're an animal lover (or even if you're not!), I hope you loved my cards, too. Thanks for stopping by!

The Halloween spirit

I think it's so fun to see the Halloween decorations and costumes popping up in the stores this time of year. I don't really do much celebrating around Halloween -- except eating way too much candy -- but I love the holiday. To get into the Halloween spirit (no pun intended ... well, maybe a little intended), I made a few cards yesterday, so I thought I'd share them.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Carved and Candlelit
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Jet Black StazOn^®
Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Accessories: Black tag (Fiddlers Creek), silver and black fibers (On the Surface), Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon, Old Olive brads, Perfect Polka dots embossing folder, Dimensionals

For the focal point on this card, I stamped and cut out a jack-o'-lantern and used Dimensionals to adhere it to a black tag wrapped with silver fiber. Then I added a row of brads along the bottom of the tag and ribbon at the top. For the background I embossed the card with the polka dot embossing folder and then lightly rubbed the Jet Black StazOn ink pad over the raised dots to add a little color. With a white gel pen, you could use the tag as a gift tie-on (like I'll be doing with the Halloween tags I made for my toddler class) instead of on a card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Warmest of Wishes
Ink: Soft Suede
Paper: Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla, Brights Collection Patterns DSP Stack
Accessories: Owl Builder punch, Perfect Pennants die, Nestabilities Standard Circles Large dies (Spellbinders), 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Chit Chat rub-ons, google eyes (Inkadinkado), corner rounder, Perfect Polka dots embossing folder

I love this little owl! I stamped the owl image twice: once on Very Vanilla and once on Tangerine Tango. I cut out the trick-or-treat bag and mask from the Tangerine Tango piece and glued them on the first owl. And I couldn't resist the google eyes! I embossed the background, added a rub-on greeting on the ribbon and framed the owl with a scallop circle and patterned paper. Simple, but pretty cute.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Spooky Bingo Bits, Too Cute to Spook (Unity Stamp Company) (greeting unknown)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Early Espresso, Bordering Blue
Card stock: Bordering Blue, Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Whisper White
Accessories: Spooky Fence die (Amuse Studio), Cupcake Builder punch, 3/4" circle punch, Dimensionals

I saw the die for this fence at the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo on Saturday and new immediately I had to buy it. It works perfectly in this not-so-spooky graveyard scene, but my friend Lisa pointed out that it would also be cute with flowers as a springtime card. For the rest of this scene on this card, I stamped a tree in the background and layered two pieces of torn Wild Wasabi card stock for the "grass." I stamped and cut out a few gravestones and tucked them into the grass, gluing them at angles so they look like they've been there awhile. Then I added a black cat, ghost, moon and a few clouds. Boo!

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Bingo Card, Spooky Bingo Bits
Ink: Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie
Card stock: Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Brights Glimmer brads

I figured since the stamp set with these cute little Halloween images is called Spooky Bingo Bits, I should actually try using it with the Bingo card. For this card, I randomly stamped the three greetings from the set on the card base. I stamped the Bingo card, cut it out and adhered it to the card front at an angle. (The whole Bingo card is a bit too big to fit on a standard A2 card.) Then I chose six images, stamped them on Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry and Lucky Limeade card stock, cut them out and glued them to squares on the card. I know a few people who enjoy going to the casino to play Bingo, so this card may just be for one of them ...

I hope these cards gave you some ideas for Halloween. Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween tags

Yesterday I went to the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo with my friend Lisa. We look forward to the event every spring and fall, and as usual, we had a great time finding fun new stamping supplies and "oohing" and "aahing" over the stamps and adorable and artistic sample cards.

As we wandered around, I was especially focused on Halloween stamps. I don't really need any Halloween stamps; I have several sets already, and it's not as if I use them more than once a year. But I just think Halloween stamps are so darn cute. (Well not the realistic, creepier-looking ones, but I don't tend to gravitate toward those anyway.) I was a little indecisive about what I wanted to buy (shocking!), but I finally made up my mind and put some of my new stamps to work today:

Supplies:
Stamps: Too Cute to Spook, Best Witches (Unity Stamp Co.)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, markers (Stampin' Up!^®): Rich Razzleberry, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Gable Green, Only Orange, Crushed Curry, Blush Blossom
Accessories: White tags (Fiddlers Creek), black rhinestones (EK Success), Dazzling Details (Stampin' Up!), google eyes (Inkadinkado), various fibers and ribbons (Stampin' Up!, EK Success, On the Surface, American Crafts), Crystal Effects (Stampin' Up!)

I'm planning to use these tags for the little Halloween gifts I bought for the toddlers in my class at work (three boys and one girl). I'll just add a "to/from" at the top of the tags and tie them on their gift bags. Simple and sweet. I know they're too young to really appreciate hand-made things, but I still like to make them. I hope the parents think they're cute!

After I stamped and colored the little monsters, I added a black rhinestone on each of their bow ties and Crystal Effects on the lollipops to create a little shine (it's hard to see in the photos). I also doodled a border around each tag using the same color marker as the monster's boots. The tassels are made with five or six pieces of various ribbons and fibers that are tied together with a black fiber.

I was going to be done at that point, but I decided to try out the google eyes, too. I'm glad I thought of it, because they're perfect! I did make each of the monster tags a little different by using different color combos and different ribbons and fibers.

For the witch tag, I did my stamping and coloring and then added Dazzling Details glitter glue to the heart on her dress and the buckles on her hat and shoes. I also outlined the tag with Dazzling Details and added a few black rhinestones along the bottom of the tag. A girl's gotta have a little sparkle!

These tags were fun to make, and they would be really easy to use as the focal point on a card. In fact I made a Halloween card today using a black tag with a pumpkin on it as the focal point. I'll share that card and a few others in my post tomorrow.




Until then, thanks for stopping by!

'Charm'-ing cards

In my quest to use some old supplies last weekend, I came across several packs of charms I bought quite a few years ago. I often seemed to have a hard time creating a layout I liked that used a charm. Probably explains why I still have so many left. But this weekend I was on a mission. So here's what I created with two packs of charms:

The top two cards were made from one pack of charms. I split up the pack and created a girly card and a more boyish one. The charms on the bottom card all came together in one pack.

These were quick cards to make. I selected colors that coordinated with the charms, used brads to attach the charms to punched shapes and then played with the arrangement until I had a layout I liked. I also added a little detail to the background of each card: an embossed background on the purple card, scored lines at random intervals on the blue card and a bit of stamping on the green one. Here is a closer look at each card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Card stock: Lavender Lace, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Regal Rose
Accessories: 1-3/8" and scallop circle punches, corner rounder, 1/16" hole punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, silver brads, Lil' Charms (American Traditional Designs), Dimensionals

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Real Red 
Accessories: 1-3/8" and 1-3/4"circle punches, 1/16" hole punch, Simply Scored tool, silver brads, Lil' Charms (American Traditional Designs), Dimensionals

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes
Ink: Lucky Limeade
Card stock: Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Real Red, Crushed Curry, Lavender Lace 
Accessories: 1" and 1-3/8"square punches, 1/16" hole punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, silver brads, Lil' Charms (American Traditional Designs), Dimensionals








I think my favorite is the card with the present charms. I probably wouldn't have put those colors together on my own, but I think they look pretty festive!

Thanks for stopping by!