Fabulous Phrases

With spring upon us and my desk finally cleaned I feel as though a fresh breeze has blown through my brain and I can think, and therefore create, clearly again!  Isn't it amazing what an effect the change in season can have on us?!  Don't get me wrong, I love winter....and snow and cold....but come April 1st I sure am ready for it to warm up! 

Along with the change in season come new beginnings.  In the Stampin' Up family we've seen a "Colour Refresh" in the past couple of weeks and next week we'll get to see what's being "purged" in favour of new (and always exciting!) product. 

As we quickly approach the launch of Stampin' Up's new catalogue I find myself wanting/needing/desperate to use up some of my scraps and older supplies.  I am feeling the need to use Baja Breeze as much as I can now that it is being retired.  It has long been one of my favourite colours so I was thrilled to see it in this week's Paper Players Colour Challenge!  I paired the colours in this challenge with the "word" from this week's CASology challenge to create today's card.

Isn't that a great colour combination?!!  I have lots of bits and pieces of these colours from past Designer Series Paper packages and Sale-a-bration freebies that were put to good use on this card.

I have had the idea to make a "word collage" rolling around in my head for a few days now so the CASology challenge word ("word") was a perfect fit.  The "Fabulous Phrases" stamp set is so versatile and is really fun to use.  I picked out all of the words from it that made me think of a birthday and stamped them horizontally and vertically before punching out the Decorative Label. 

I took inspiration from a couple of cards that I saw on Pinterest (you can follow me there by clicking the link on the right of this page).  I had fun using my Paper Piercing Pack to pierce the circles in the backing white.

Happy Stamping!

Owl Occasions For You

I'm really behind in my blog postings!  It's just been one of those week's where I hardly get a chance to sit down let alone to any blogging.  So, I'll keep this short and sweet tonight.   This is a card that I made a couple of month's ago for my brother and his wife to go with a housewarming gift.

 Isn't it cute?!  I purchased Stampin' Up's "Owl Occasions" stamp set on a whim but I have to say, I'm really glad I did.  It's so much fun to play with and offers a lot of possibilities.....just wait until I use it for Christmas!

Here are the details of the supplies I used:

Stamp Sets:  Owl Occasions, Itty Bitty Banners

Paper:  Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso, Whisper White and International Bazaar DSP

Ink:  Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Marina Mist, Lucky Limeade

Accessories: Bitty Banners Framelits

Happy Stamping!

More earrings

I have 3 more pairs of earrings to share with you this evening.  I've had fun playing around with this new technique over the past couple of days and I'm excited to make a trip to the local hardware store soon to pick up some different sizes and shapes of washers to make more jewelry. 

For these pairs I used International Bazaar DSP again but decided not to punch a hole right through the centre.  I think I like this look better.

Here's a closer look at each pair:

The reflection of my camera flash on the Crystal Effects really makes them look really shiny here.   For instructions on how to create your own jewelry out of hardware click here.

Happy Crafting!

Washer Woman

I was doing a little blog surfing last night when I came across a post from Terry at "Going Over the Edge"  where she showed how she had made some jewelry using washers and bolts (yes, the kind you find in your garage or at the hardware store).  I was SO inspired that I immediately sat down to make my own....even though it was 11 pm and I was tired.....that's how excited I was!!!!

I made a trip to my local arts and crafts store tonight to purchase some jewelry hardware (E.M. why do you live so far away?!) and voila....earrings and a necklace.....sweet!

It is really ridiculously simple to make these.....you might need a little patience though while everything sets : )  Here's what you do:

1.  Find some washers and/or bolts....any size will do.

2.  Cut or punch (I prefer the latter) your DSP to size.  For this set I used my favourite DSP of the moment....International Bazaar.

3.  Adhere the DSP to your hardware using Tombow liquid adhesive.  Let is dry.

4.  Punch or cut out the middle of your washer/bolt.  I used a hole punch for the smaller washers and my hobby blade for the larger one.

5.  Cover the whole piece with Crystal Effects and let set overnight.

6.  Repeat on the other side....either with the same DSP or with another pattern.

7.  Tie on some Baker's Twine or attach to earrings.

What do you think?  I'm super excited to try some more.  I think I'm going to have to discipline myself to get back to cards after this : )

Happy Crafting!!

Elegant Butterflies

OMGosh....my new Stampin' Up! stuff came last Friday and I'm in love!!!!  Unfortunately, I've been really busy and am about to head away for a week so I haven't really got a chance to play too much with it but I did sit down last night to create a little.  I was inspired by a card my SIL made with her new Elegant Butterfly punch.  I set out to create a bunch of little 3x3 cards to thank my customers for their orders using limited supplies.

Here's what I came up with:

I had fun creating with limited supplies and trying not to have any waste.  Every time I punched out a butterfly I used the "hole" to create another card.  I'm pretty pleased with myself.  It was really nice to "de-complicate" things and really limit myself.  It was so much less overwhelming for me.  I didn't feel the pressure of having to create the "perfect" card with tons of different elements.  For my week away I've packed 2 pieces of DSP, 2 sheets each of about 6 colours, 4 stamp pads, 1 stamp set and 2 punches.....it's like how it was before I became a demonstrator : )

Here what I used:

Stamp Sets;  Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, International Bazaar DSP

Ink:  Rich Razzleberry

Punches and Tools:  Simply Scored, Simply Scored Diagonal Plate, Elegant Butterfly, Word Window, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Happy Stamping!