Halloween Teacher Treats

I made these treat boxes full of goodies for the girls' teachers. I colored My Style Stamps "Little Pumpkin" up to look like each of my daughters. I cut out two of the Sizzix 'House, Spooky' die cuts and layered them with pop dots. I embossed "Happy Halloween" (also from the 'Little Pumpkin" stamp set) with Stampin' Up white embossing powder. I added white enamel accents and Stickles (leaf, shirt, and patches on the jeans) for a few more details.

I'm sorry the pictures are so bad. It has been raining here for DAYS so they were taken indoors. Made for a very wet Halloween (and really no good pictures) but we survived.

Thanks for looking. Hope this finds you happy and healthy!

December Daily #1 (AKA Don't look, Megan!!)

So, I made this December Daily for my dearest friend Megan. She works hard for her family and hasn't had the time in years past to keep up with the mini album. I figure, if I give her the bare bones, she can add pictures and a few embellishments and make it her own. And be able to keep up with it.

I have had this Teresa Collins 'Noel' kit FOREVER. I'm such a hoarder when it comes to beautiful collections like this one. Regan gave it to me many moons ago. Thanks again, Regan! :)

I added those awesome Stampin' Up jumbo brads (that they don't sell anymore; *tear*) and ribbon for a closure, should the book need one after the pages begin to fill up.

It was important to me to keep it as simple and easy to use as possible so I went with a 'smash book' style mini album. I added lots of pages in different sizes, as well as pockets, tags, and acetate pages. I embellished nothing; that's Meg's job. :)

I am including some die-cuts and the decorative 12 by 12 pages that are included in the collection for her to use as she sees fit. I also plan to throw in some ribbon, chipboard pieces, and charms.

I hope this helps her, this holiday season, capture the memories without taking time away from making them.

Thanks for looking! Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

One of my absolute favorite pictures of us.

June 2006

Throwback Thursday

So I was perusing my old "cards I've made" photo file and I ran across this little project. Loved it then and I love it now. It was for a secret sister gift when I was really active on a stamping site. I CASEd (copy and share everything) all or most of the cards. Didn't feel like my ideas were good enough at the time. :)

Papered the tin and added her initials.

Added dividers and put at least one card in each category.

To complete the collection, I made a matching brag book, date book, and notepad. 

Can you tell I liked red and black? I wonder why? (For those of you that don't know, I went to Texas Tech. GO RAIDERS!)

Thanks for looking! Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Today is my BFF's birthday. Happy Birthday, LT!! Hope your day is as special as you are!! I made you this card with a little something inside. :)

I've been trying to branch out in my card-making and experimenting with layers and size. This card is 5.5 by 5.5 inches and as you can see I used lots of layers!

I used a stamped image called Stack'O'Cakes that I received in a RAK but it's by Whipper Snapper and available HERE. I colored the image with my Prismacolor pencils (the color inspiration is from the example on the stamp) and, after using my 1/4 inch corner chomper, backed it on Stampin' Up's Real Red cardstock.

Like I said I am trying to use layers and textures so I laid out all the solid colored cardstock I was planning to use and went searching in my stash for coordinating prints. I found 'Back to Basics' pad, by The Paper Studio, that has primary colors in all different patterns. I hadn't set out an orange yet so when I saw this one, I knew it was perfect. To create even more texture, I decided to use a dry embossed piece and there's nothing better than Cuttlebug's Happy Birthday folder on plain white cardstock.

I started trying different layouts and came up with one I liked. Discovered that my dry embossed piece needed a backing so I went with more of SU's Real Red cardstock before applying it to my SU's YoYo Yellow card base. Paired the orange stripes with SU's Tempting Turquoise and centered that in the middle. Originally, I was going to center my main image as well but at the last minute I decided to offset it and add a sentiment.

My stamped images are from Printworks 'Small Tag Lines' stamp set. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink and, after using my 1" and 1 1/4" square punches, backed on Real Red cardstock and added to the front with pop dots.

I pushed myself to do something outside of my comfort zone and, overall, I really like the outcome. What do you think?

Thanks for looking! Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

"School Days" Mini Album

I have been making so many cards lately and, as much fun as I'm having, I am really missing making my minis. So I switched creative gears and created this mini in honor of school starting on Monday. Only 7 more sleeps, but who's counting?

I started with a 6.5 by 6.5 inch paper pad from Kaisercraft called "The Class of '87". Love it. I can't remember where I found it but there was nothing to go with it, no stamp,stickers, rub-ons, chipboard, nada. The great thing was that this pack (and I think all Kaisercraft pads have this) includes is four sheets of diecuts in the back. Love it when a paper pad comes with built-in embellishments. More bang for your buck, I think.

I had to cut my own custom mini book for these pages because of that extra half inch. I just didn't want to cut every single page and lose the cool prints. I re-purposed cereal boxes for that job. After choosing where all my papers would go I adhered them down and roughed up the edges with my sand paper before inking them up with Walnut Stain distress ink.

I used brown tulle from my stash as well as some ABC twill ribbon on the binder rings. Created a mini clasp with charms that you can find in my Zibbet shop HERE.

On the cover, I used my favorite felt letters. Cut out the star (stars, I cut three to create dimension) from Kraft cardstock, inked the edges, and used a diecut in the middle. I intend to put the teacher/student's name in the ruler (another diecut) with my old school label maker.

I tried to add pages that were different. Different sizes and textures. I used two pages that were half the size of the originals, one page made of acetate, and another that is made from an envelope. I didn't create photo mats for every page either. I'll do the final touches when I decide where it's going.

I used some of the border strips and created a pocket so that I didn't have to cover up the paper. Tags are made with the designer paper and SU Real Red cardstock mounted on Kraft.

I used a Martha Stewart border punch as a belly band to hold those tags in place. Here is the first half page as well. More SU tags using Bashful Blue, Elegant Eggplant, and Only Orange (?).

Acetate is so fun to work with and I love the challenge of figuring out how to keep my adhesive covered. Large photo mat is created using a 6.25 x 4.25 piece of SU Crushed Curry popped up on foam dots with two Kraft tags tucked beneath.

Second half page tied up with ruler twine to offer a place to tuck special notes and such. Same photo mat as the last page but with SU Wild Wasabi, one of my favs.

The envelope page that I completely forgot to take pictures of the tags inside. You can see that in the video HERE. (same ones that I used in the Rainbow Mini)

Love the multiplication and counting charts!

Some of my favorite things about doing projects like this are the small details. Like Glossy Accents and strategically placed cuteness.

Thanks for looking! Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

Christmas in July...and August

I joined in Cassie Keith's Christmas in July Challenge mostly because I wanted to get rid of some of the projects I've had laying around for years. Embarrassing but true. I have had this kit of Christmas goodies for at least 3 years.

It contains over 4,000 pieces including chipboard embellishments and alphabets, chipboard to create projects, and tons of paper. The feel is very vintage-y, which I really like. All I needed was glue, Walnut Stain distress ink, and time.

The first project is a "Noel" wall hanging. There are small, functional frames on the N, E, and L. Added the most vintage-looking brads I have, which are a bronze color. The twine looks a little bright here; maybe I should have tea-dyed it?

 

 

The next project could be a wall hanging but I made it to stand up on display. (I ran out of twine.) There are photo mats on the back each that I didn't share in photos but you can see it in the VIDEO HERE. I used the letters from the above pieces to spell "Noel", again. :) Used the paper punch-out embellishments to add the "is for" on to the letter. 

My last project deals with the big man; Santa, himself. Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait until next year to use this cute accordion mini album. I put the wrong year on the cover...oops. Does that mean I'm on the naughty list? I left this pretty plain as Cassie will probably need to add her photos before many more embellishments can be added. 

Thanks for hosting such a great challenge, Cassie! 

Thanks for looking! Hope this finds you happy and healthy.