Girlie Girl Card

Happy Wednesday!  Hope you had a fun day.  I did ... well, sort of.  My brother is in town for the holidays and he wanted to take the girls to West Edmonton Mall.  Ack!  Whilst I don't mind WEM for short periods of time at LOW time today was anything BUT that!  When we arrived at 11:00 is was dead and we got 3rd row parking.  By 4:00 (yes, FIVE hours later!!!) it was a zoo and getting out of the parking lot alive was quite the task!  I'm now sufficiently exhausted and counting down the minutes until bed time.  Unfortunately Alicia fell asleep on the way home so she will now be WIDE awake for another 2 hours.  I say again ... Ack!  So, while it was a FUN day, it was also an exhausting day!  I'm looking VERY forward to tomorrow when Rebecca's friend is coming over for the whole day - they will play - I will clean and hopefully stamp!!  I think this card is my last "reserve" card - gotta start crackin' out some more in preparation for the upcoming parties and Sale-a-brations promotion.  This one was made with a stamp set from the new mini called "You're a Gem" and a new embossing folder ("Framed Tulips").  The crown is from Every Little Bit from the main catalogue.  I used the chunky glitter on top of Tombow glue (I thought I had the silver glass glitter but I don't!  Gasp!).  Very sparkly :)

Have a good night!

Tam

Boxing on Boxing Day ...

Happy Boxing Day!  I just finished kicking my husband's butt in boxing on our new Wii.  Of course he slaughters me on the Mariokart EVERY time but I took him on the physical challenge - yay Girl Power! 

Just a quick card to post today - I made it last week ... not sure when I'll have enough "get up and go" to drag myself down to the craft room so I have a few saved "just in case".  This one was made with the Summer Sweet set from the upcoming Sale-a-brations catalogue.  I love this swirl!

I hope you are enjoying the holidays and getting some "down time" like I am.  DEFINATELY need to recharge the batteries on this old gal!

Tam

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a good night :)

Tam

Buttons, Buttons Everywhere ...

Happy Tuesday!

I'm happy to say I have been able to spend more time in my craft room this last week "just for fun" than I have in a VERY long time and I'm loving it!  December is the one month of the year that I have no planned stamping functions and I can just "play" rather than having to design a certain project for a class or workshop.  "Just for Fun" cards are very different than class cards in that you can use a lot more embellishments on them.  For classes and workshops I don't always have enough of the same embellishment and/or it becomes cost prohibitive to produce more than 1 or 2 of them.  So long live December ... and stamping "just for fun!"
This is a card I created for my friend Tammie who has her birthday Jan 1st.  I'm not sure how I can mail it as it's so bulky from the buttons ... maybe a hand delivery is in order (good excuse to get together for a coffee!)
I used the new buttons available in the new mini catalogue (available Jan 4th) called Sweet Stitches.  I also used a new stamp set called Bring on the Cake.  I have to admit - I have LOTS of S.U. buttons but I think I've only used them twice on cards!!!  I keep buyin' 'em but never use 'em!!  One New Year resolution is to stop the hoarding behaviour an ENJOY all the great products I have stashed away!  I figure if I use 3 per card I should run out some time in 2012 :)
Hope you're having a great week! 

Tam

Snow Forts and New Toys!

Happy Monday!  Just 5 more sleeps until Christmas!  Yippee!   I don't know who is more excited - me or the girls!  I tried to do my wrapping last night but Alicia had a bad dream so I had to abort and snuggle her for 45 minutes until she fell back asleep.  By that time it was midnight and I was "done".  Just a few more to wrap and I'm ready to roll.
Craig is off work this week and is really getting into "relaxation mode".  He has been spending a TON of time playing with the girls wich just makes my heart smile :)  On Saturday he made them a WICKED snow fort and they have all been spending LOTS of time outside, despite the frigid temperatures.  Yesterday Rebecca spend some time making the fort a little more "girlie" by adding colored water to the structure.  Today they might add some Christmas lights.  Man - I wish I had a fort like this when I was a kid!  I remember making one with my brother YEARS ago but it sure pales in comparison!  Lookie:

(No - that isn't dog pee on the door - its the colored water Rebecca sprayed :)

Now - while the kids have been playing outside I've been playing inside.  I needed to make a birthday card for my dear friend in Calgary whose birthday is Dec 25th.  I was THRILLED to be making a card OTHER than a Christmas card.  Gotta say, I'm more than a little sick of those *lol*.  I got my 5 new stamp sets from the upcoming Mini Catalogue and Sale-a-brations catalogue and this is what I came up with:

A little crazy bright but it was fun using colors other than red and green :)  The design on the top and bottom of the card are using thin ribbon from the upcoming SAB catalogue.  You can get this ribbon (and matching flow buttons) for FREE when you order $60 from Jan 25 - March 31.
I'm off for brunch with my "oldest" friend Lisa (belated birthday lunch) and a little shopping.  Have a fun day :)
Tam

Bits and Pieces

Happy Saturday Everyone!

A slow, lazy today.  I'm excited to start working on a birthday card withOUT using Christmas stamps or colors!  I'll definately post it when I'm done :)
Thursday was a productive day.  Rebecca made her own Wish Book for us to fill in and leave for Santa.  I think she did a really nice job!

I also managed to start and FINISH Rebecca's no-sew blanket.  I left this one rectangular rather than making it a square like I did Alicia's.  I like it better.  The fringe really cuts into the overall size of the blanket.  I can't wait to give it to her - she's gunna LOVE it!!! (I think Charlie approves of this one too!)

Hope you ae enjoying the last few days before Christmas.  I'm having a ball!

I'm running out of things to do!

Hmmm.  I just can't believe how everything is coming together this year!  I'm running out of things to do!  Of course there is always laundry, cleaning, baking and so on but I usually feel like I have 19 projects to complete and no time to do them but now that "stamping season" is done for 2010 I'm chipping away at things and starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel for things to do.  I guess I won't be able to procrastinate on pricing my retired stock for much longer!
I finished Alicia's "wish book" for this year.  Rebecca's will take a few more days as she wants to design her own this year.  No rush - she still has 9 days to do it!

One project I cracked off in 2 hours flat was my no-sew blanket for Alicia.  I'm THRILLED with how it turned out.  I just wish it was a little bigger.  I made a baby blanket like this in the summer and knew I wanted to make a bigger one - this one still isn't big enough for my liking.  Once you cut all the fringes it really shrinks the overall blanket.  Nonetheless, Alicia will love it.  As you can see Charlie seems impressed too and I'm sure will be curled up on it before too long!  I'm now off to do Rebecca's ... and shovel.

Have a happy day!!

Tam

Weeeeeeeeeee ...

I've been having so much fun this past week!  I have never been so relaxed in the run-up until Christmas.  Last year I was sooooo stressed out.  I was the Fundraising Chairperson for Alicia's playschool and the silent auction was a TON of work.  This year - nuthin ... and lovin' it!!  I have 4 hours to do my chores and Christmas "stuff" 4 days a week.  I'm almost there!  I just have to type my Christmas letter and then head to the post office to get postage for my out-of-country friends.  Then it's more "fun" stuff - I'm making my girls no-sew blankets and have to get those done while they are still in school.  I've done the bus driver's gift and card (Costco fancy Belgian biscuits) - I've made the 47 (yes 47!!) teacher / support staff treats - just have to sign the cards - then it's just wrapping presents!  Easy Peasy!  Oh - I still have to make the little wish books for the girls to leave for Santa ... (the reindeer food is ready to go!)

Soooooo - on with my project.  I DID tweak the Christmas card I showed you last post and made it into a Z-fold card.  I LOVE how it turned out.  Of course I couldn't just make it simple and stamp it - noooooo - I had to stamp all images in Craft Ink and emboss it with clear embossing powder to give it that texture and shine.  I was thrilled how it turned out and cracked off 36 in no time .. ok, it took about 4 hours but it was fun!

OK - I'm off to type that Christmas letter.  Hope you're all having as much fun as I am these days!!

Tam

So Simple!

Happy Friday All!

I'm just killing time until I head off to the Butterdome Craft Sale with my oldest friend, Wendy.  No, she's not OLD, we've just been friends since Grade 5.  We lost touch for a number of years but we have found each other again and I just LOVE getting together with her.  Love you Wen!
I've been crafting like crazy lately but what I've made has either been something you've already seen (30 teacher gifts - 12 M&M ornament balls and 53 Christmas cards to date!) or have been to ugly to post!  I've hit Christmas Card burn out!  Seriously!  I've been making Christmas cards since August!  Yes, Christmas cards are my FAVORITE ones to make but I am now officially sick of my current stamp sets and sick of the same old colors!  Now that I've sent out 53 cards I've run out of my "stash" and need more.  I couldn't face making more of the same ones and have been struggling to find something a) quick and b) stunning.  Last night I spent 2 hours trying to case a monochromatic card from May Fish.  I figured I couldn't go wrong with 5 layers of white.  Wrong.  Why is it that when I see other peoples' simple cards I LOVE them but when I try them I don't??  Anyway - here is the one I made - at the end of the night I figured "well, there's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back!"

I had a little more luck this afternoon.  I was determined to make a simple card with my Jolly Bingo Bits set.  I'm quite happy with what I came up with - simple and quick.  I just might tweak it a little and make it into a Z-fold card.  I'll play with it tomorrow.

Have a great Friday evening and a fantastic weekend.  2 weeks until Christmas!  Yee Ha!

Tam

Let the games begin!

Happy Sunday Everyone!  I LOVE Sundays - it gunna be a lazy, crafty, family day today, my favorite kind of day.  The plan WAS to go sledding or skating since it isn't too cold out but The Mamma stayed up a little (ok, a LOT) past her bed time last night and just can't seem to get motivated to get our of her "comfort wear" :)  We had my sister and brother-in-law over for dinner last night and we broke into my new Scribblish game.  OMG what a laugh!  In all the years I've known Craig I have NEVER seen him laugh that much or that hard for so long. It was hysterical!  If you are looking for a good, easy, funny game to get someone for Christmas I HIGHLY suggest this one - we were still giggling about it this morning.  Too much fun!

Speaking of fun ... I've been busy trying to finalize the 19 different projects I have on the go.  I managed to crack one off in about 5 minutes - the updated Calendar Coundown.  I was a day late on this one - it should have been done by Dec 1 but missed it by a day.  It didn't really matter though as we seem to have 5 different countdown objects in the house this year!

Once I finished THAT project I decided to crack open the frame bundle I bought a while back.  I wasn't convinced I liked the flourish decor elements but I'm really happy with how it turned out (I HAVE to improve these pictures!!).  YES, it was rather tedious and time consuming to get all those little polka dots to seperate from the rest of the vinyl but with a little help from my "pokey tool" I managed it and used the salvaged vinyl to mirror the image along the bottom.  This is gunna make a great gift - can't wait to give it away!

Todays festivites will include Christmas cards for customers, friends, teachers and family; wrapping the gift for our bus driver, making the girls' Christmas Wish books (yes, I had planned to have those done for our visit to Santa Nov 20th but it didn't happen!) and continue working on my annual Christmas Ornaments for the girls (I make a special, over-the-top ornament for them every year - this year I picked a doozey!  I'll post it when I'm done ... possibly not until Easter!)  We also might bake, color and I WILL be taking a nap!  I guess I better get on with it ... sounds like a full day!

Enjoy your Sunday - and the fun of the run-up to Christmas!

Tam

Finally!

Finally!  I have a project started and completed ... all in the same day!  I'm sad to say I can't take credit for this little beauty - it's a case of a case .... I cased it from Corinne "Roxy" Summerville who cased it from Amy Celona.

I just LOOOOOVE this color combination.  I used the Ridinghood Red with Sahara Sand (which I think I have now used a grand total of three times in five years) and Very Vanilla.  I think I'll be using this color combo a bit more in the next few weeks!  I stocked up on the Ridinghood Red Ribbon that was in the Clearance Rack a few weeks ago and now I am TOTALLY kicking myself for not taking advantage of the Ribbon Bundle that was on sale last week.  I had never used this 1 1/4" ribbon before but now that I have I MUST have more!  It's so pliable and easy to tie.  Sigh.  I feel another addiction coming on ...

I also used the Circle Brads that were in the clearnace rack sale - I snipped off the "legs" of the brads and attached them to the ribbon with the retired pop up dots.  I'm thinking it's a good thing I have a lifetime supply of all these retired goodies!  One of these days I'll with the times and create projects using CURRENT supplies - maybe my sales would increase :)

Enough rambling - on with the card ...

Hope your week is winding down nicely.  Enjoy the weekend!

Tam

Brrrr!!!!  Anyone else not "diggin" this -31 degree weather?  Don't get me wrong ... I don't mind winter ... and I don't mind cold but you can KEEP the wind!!!  It feels like little razor blades cutting your skin - no fun!  The solution? Stay inside .. and craft :)  That's what I did yesterday.  I've been wanting to make cards with my Holly Holidays DSP and Holly & Jolly rubons all week - yesterday I managed to have a good play.  What a great set of supplies!  I cracked off these 12 cards in no time and I LOVE them - I just can't get enough of the Cherry Cobbler.  And the seam binding!  Have you tried the seam binding??!!  I LOVE how easy it is to make bows with!  I really struggle with the stiff grosgrain but THIS stuff!  Well ...let's just say I can understand why it's on backorder!  Apparently I'm not the only one who loves it!!  Here are my little beauties:

I REALLY need to spend some time working onhow to get decent photos on my blog - when I resize they get so pixelated! 

Sooooo - on with other exciting news - the latest SU promotion.  Have you heard?!  Any self-respecting SU addict will already know by now all the details of their 1 week promotions but in case you missed it ... here is a link to all the products that are on sale:

http://www.stampinup.com/ca/documents/Online_Spectacular_flyer_CA.pdf

(Once again, I need to spend some time figuring out how to link these things into my blog!  Maybe over Christmas I'll find some to time to play with it!)

There are Select Big Shot Dies, fabric, digital downloads, scissors, buttons, brads, ribbon, decor elements, stamp sets - 20% - 50% off!!  I already placed my digital download order.  Just in time to make my calendars for my Mom's Christmas present!  Check it out and drop me a line if you would like to place an order through me (if you place an on-line order of $200 or more you get FREE shipping on TOP of the free hostess merchandise!  Shop at http://www.tamarabertram.stampinup.net/

OK - off to Staples to photocopy all the flyers for these great specials for an upcoming fundraiser I'm doing.  Stay warm!

Tam

Dashing All The Way ...

Happy Thursday!

OK - I'm officially in the Christmas spirit!  I have 99.5% of my shopping done (just a few stocking stuffers for Craig to hunt down) - I even have the gift for the bus driver bought!  Hee hee - and I thought I wouldn't be done by the end of November (which is what I always strive for!)  I should know me better than that!  Sometimes I really do think I need therapy - I can't STAND having things hanging over me - like Christmas and birthday presents.  I seem to have some mortal fear of HAVING to go out at the last minute to buy a present.  I guess I went through that a few times when I was younger ... you know what I mean ... wandering in and out of stores looking for something ... ANYthing to buy for someone.  Not exactly what Christmas is all about!  I like to find gifts I know people would like not something bought out of obligation ...

... but I digress!  On with stamping!  I finally broke down and bought the little Dasher stamp ... what I was waiting for I DON'T know.  It's not like the PRICE was holding me back!  Seriously!  $10.95 for this little guy and it can be used to make such quick and cute projects!  Case in point ... my little gift card holder.  This took me 5 minutes to cut and put together.  It is the 3rd project we will be making at my Technique Class tomorrow night (let me know if you can come ... I only have room for 2 more stampers).

Thanks to Trish Miles (Queen Of All Things) for pointing out that you could use a Sharpie on the rhinestones to add color to them - never occurred to me!

Have a great daya and great weekend!  Stay warm out there!

Christmas Wish Books

Happy Tuesday!  Hope you're warmer than I am today.  Brrrrr - winter is a comin'!  That nasty wind!  I was planning to run a few errands today but I'm starting to like the thought of another cup of coffee, my warm slippers and some stamping instead!
The plan for todays project is to make the girls' Christmas wish books.  Every year I make them a special book for them to write their Christmas Wish List in.  I'm thinking this year the 6 pages in the book won't be enough.  They have circled vitually EVERY toy in the Sears Catalogue!!!  I just love this little tradition.  They write their most wanted toys in the book and then after Christmas I write down what they actually got.  Anyone who knows me knows I like to document EVERYTHING.  These little books will be so great to look back on years from now.  Here are books I have made in the past.  When I get this years' done I'll post them too.  (I hope to have them done before Saturday as we go visit Santa that day!).

These books are so quick and easy to make.  Just joing together 6 pieces of 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card stock with a band of DSP and the jumbo brads.  Wa-low!  You have a little booklet.

Stay warm and have a GREAT day!

Tam

Gifts of Christmas

Happy Sunday All!

I hope you all had a fun weekend.  We had fun but as always it went so quickly!  Just a quick post tonight - the girls need an early night (or maybe Mommy needs the girls to have an early night!  I'm already dreading the loooong winter months of being cooped up inside most of the day!!)

This is a card we did last February in our technique class.  We stamped the dove on Vellum card stock with Versamark and heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  We then flipped the vellum over and DRY embossed the dove.  A few punches and a little silver elastic chord (I still can't BELIEVE it's discontinued!!!) and wa-low (Alicia's version of voila) a pretty card.  Obviously for Christmas I would be doing this in silver and/or red but I was trying to showcase that this stamp set can be used for occasions other than just Christmas.  Hope you enjoy it!

Have a fantastic week (and don't forget to order that Starter Kit for $107.50!!!)

Tam

Teacher Gift

Happy Friday! 
Well I was supposed to be having a morning date with my husband this morning (breakfast at the new "Cora" then paint color shopping) alas ... the "A Factor" kicked in.  The A Factor is my "Alicia Factor".  It never seems to fail ... every time I have something actually PLANNED in my week Alicia "happens".  This time it's a sore throat, missing voice and cold.  She's home today so the date os off :(  Oh well - I'm off to Toys R' Us and then I'll get some cleaning done before packing up for my Fundraiser tomorrow afternoon.  Maybe Craig and I will be able to stay awake for a movie tonight :)

Yesterday was quite a productive crafting day.  The kids played all day (stopping for a minute of silence at 11:00) and I worked on some fun projects.  I was trying to come up with a fun gift for the teachers for Christmas.  Here is what I came up with:

The small glass balls are from that "M" place.  I added a few rub-ons and some elastic gold chord.  I made the tag (which doubles as a bookmark) with the "Two Tags" Big Shot Die.  Do you love it?  I do!  Hopefully the teachers will too!

OK - I'm off to play Snakes and Ladders with my sick little Poppet.  Have a FANTASTIC weekend :)

Tamara

Peaceful Season

Good Morning! 

I have been itching to use this BEAUTIFUL stamp set for over a month now but just haven't found the time.  Last night, rather than preparing for my upcoming Stamp-a-stack, I decided to play a little.  I absolutely LOVE the font of these sayings.  They are fantastic!  I don't think I have ever made such quick, simplistic cards in my life - the sayings really are all you need to create a beautiful card.

I hope you all enjoy your day and take a few moments to be thankful for all you have, remember our fallen soldiers and pray for our standing ones.  Lest We Forget.

Christmas Mailing Dates

Heidi Ho Stampers!  Hope you had a fun weekend and enjoyed that extra hour today.  I had an extra hour of organizing today!  I know, I'm not normal but I LOVE organizing so I had a great day!  The girls played (or should I say destroyed the house with every toy they have ever owned) and I "putzed".  We headed to the park for an hour - it was CRISP but sunny so I enjoyed it despite freezing my ears off!

OK - down to business!  No card to post today (although I did stamp today but just more of the same cards you have already seen) so I thought I'd save you the trouble of looking up your holiday mailing deadlines and post them for you.  Only 6 weeks until the big day so get those projects started and finished and pop 'em in the mail!!

Canada - Holiday Cards
Local Delivery - send by Dec 20
Within Province - send by Dec 17
Outside Province - send by Dec 16

Europe - for Letter Post - send by Nov 29 (Helen??  Are you paying attention?? - that's 3 weeks from now!!)
Asia, Australia, Central/South America, New Zealand, Middle East, Carribean - for Letter Post - send by Nov 29
Africa - for letter Post - send by Nov 22

Have a fun week!

Tam

My New Favorite!

Wow!  I'm in LOVE with this card!!!  You just KNOW you "nailed it" when you prop the card up beside your computer and stare at it over and over all day long!  I went down to the craft room yesterday fully expecting to make a "Reflection" card using velum card stock for my upcoming technique class.  I just wasn't happy with the results so I did some "research and development" (as fellow demonstrator Trish Miles "Queen Of All Things" puts it) and stumbled across another reflection technique that just uses regular Whisper White card stock.  Thanks to fellow demonstrator Patricia Hargrove for the tips and inspiration.  Here is the result:

I have to work on my photography skills at some point but hopefuly you can see the reflection of the trees under the ribbon.  I found this result MUCH more realistic than the vellum technique.  For this card I stamped the image on the clear image sheet from my Stamp-a-ma-jig and then turned the SAMJ over to "blot" most of the image off on a scrap piece of paper.  Then I pressed the image sheet onto my card to transfer the light image.  Does that make sense?  It worked PERFECTLY!  I used sponging with Bashful Blue and Night of Navy - I tore the paper and sponged the tear then reassembled it. We will be doing this technique at my class on Friday, Nov 19th.  Hope you can come!

Hope you have a GREAT weekend.  Thanks for looking in :)

Tam

Santa Gift Card Holder Tutorial

Happy Tuesday!  I have another tutorial for you.  With Christmas fast approaching I'm starting my mass production of items I like to have on hand for teacher gifts, hostess gifts and/or friends who pop by over the Christmas season.  Of course there ALWAYS seems to be someone on your list that you accidentally forget - the bus driver ... the UPS delivery man ... the gymnastics coach ...

Gift Card holders are becoming a "must have" in my bag of tricks these days.  It is so much more personal to put a $10 Tim's card in a cute, handmade holder than the standard envelope that comes with the card.  Here are the instructions to make this quick gift card holder. 

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES REQUIRED:

·         (1) piece of 11” x 4 ¼” strip of Whisper White card stock

·         (1) piece of 4 ¼” x 3” piece of Real Red card stock

·         (1) piece of 1” x 9” Basic Black card stock

·         Scrap of Yoyo Yellow card stock

·         ¾” square punch – retired – if you do not have this punch you can use your hobby blade

·         1 3/8” square punch

·         Word Window Punch

·         ¾” Circle punch

·         Sticky Strip

 Step 1:  Score Whisper White card stock at 3”, 5 ½” and 8”:

Step 2:  Turn sheet over and apply sticky strip as shown, making sure to place the adhesive as close to the edges as possible.  If too much space is left there will not be enough room for your  gift card to slide in.

             

            Step 3:  Tape together and use Word Window punch to punch out a slot on the seam.  

              Continue punching along the seam until the opening is wide enough for your gift card to fit. 

Step 4:  Use your ¾” circle punch to punch out a semi-circle in the middle and decorate if desired: 

Step 5:  Attach the red piece of card stock to the front of the holder then loosely wrap the black strip around the closed holder and secure it with sticky strip.

 Step 6:  Using your punches (and/or your hobby blade) punch out your belt, attach it to the black strip and you are done!



Oh Christmas Tree!

I think I found my new favorite project EVER!!  Check out this Christmas Tree Luminaria:

Isn't it FANTASTIC???    I can't take credit for it - I cased the project from fellow SU Demonstrator Lisa Young.  She has a tutorial on her blog here:  http://www.addinkandstamp.blogspot.com/.  It was a little time consuming to make and I used most of my sticky pearls but I just LOVE how it turned out.  Of course the little LED tea light is inside and looks great flickering in the dark.  I think I better stock up on vellum paper and pearls - I see 10 (or 20) more of these little trees in my future!

Have a fun Halloween!

Tam

Next Stop ... Christmas!

OK - so the school Halloween parties are tomorrow.  All the treats, cards and teacher gifts are packed and ready to distribute!  Halloween down - Christmas to go! 

I just realized I haven't posted my favorite Christmas card yet so here goes ...

I just LOVE this card!  It's so clean and simple and of course it uses my new favorite color - Cherry Cobbler. 

That's it for me today.  My back was better this morning but of course I had to over-do it with cleaning, laundry, deliveries and last minute "black and orange day" shopping so I'm hurting again.  Being horizontal is the best way for me to get relief so I'm off for a date with my pillow.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Tam

Shhhhh ....

Shhhhhh - don't tell my husband I was stamping today!  I have done a real number on my back and I'm supposed to be pretty much horizontal for a few days.  Stamping really agrivates it but I just HAD to go down for 30 minutes to make this ADORABLE card!!!  I have all my Halloween treats ready to go to school on Friday but no card to go with them!  AND I'm not even sure this card counts as "stamping" since 99% of it is punching.  One little stamp does not count as "stamping" - at least that's my justification ... I have to go ice my back now ... remember mum's the word!

Have a pain-free day!

Tam

C.A.S.E.

Happy Monday! 

Today's project has me absolutely giddy :)  I can't take credit for it though, as it is a C.A.S.E.  "Case" in the crafting world stands for "Copy And Share Everything".  Why re-invent the wheel?  This project was posted by "Irflemming" on our "Stamping Connection" site that all Demonstrators have access to.  There are currently 127,000 projects posted by demonstrators all over Canada and the U.S.  That's a LOT of projects to inspire a gal!! I made 30 of my peppermint bat treats (on a previous post) but wanted to give the girls' teachers a little something extra.  Here they are - don't you just LOVE them??  The hand sanitizers are from Bath & Body Works.  I had never been into that store before I hunted one down to buy these little babies.  Suffice it to say I've already been back once and suspect I'll spend a few dollars there in the near future!  But I digress ... here is the project:

The tags are made from the "Two Tags" Big Shot Die.

Have a fun day!

Tam

Tags Along Birthday

Happy Sunday!  What a great day!  There is nothing I love more than a cold, snowy (or rainy) Sunday.  It makes my heart smile!  It brings up happy memories of when I was a kid - I would spend these days doing my paint-by-numbers or coloring or doing puzzles.  When I was in University on Sundays I would go to the library to study until 2:00 p.m. then come home and hit the couch to "watch" football with my Dad.  Of course I was either knitting, crochetting or cross stitching but Pa was watching the game - the fire would be on and we would just "be".  I just loved it.  Sundays are family days.  When I was a kid we would come and go during the week but we were ALWAYS home together for Sunday dinner.  Roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy (mom did - and still does - make the BEST gravy!) and of course mom would always make a dessert.  Ah, cold, gloomy Sundays.  They're the best!

I managed to hobble down to my craft room for half an hour this morning (despite Craig's nagging NOT TO STAMP today) - I have done a real number on my back and can't stand - or sit - for long.  It feel like my spine just can't support my weight and I end up "walking" at a 90 degree angle if I'm not careful.  I have no idea what I did but I had to go to the chiropractor Friday and although I took it easy yesterday, I was standing all afternoon at a Mother / Daughter Stamp-a-stack (thanks Wendy - I had a really nice, relaxing day!) and I think that just threw my back into spasms.  OK - so enough rambling, have to go re-medicate myself and lie down - on with my project!  I have a birthday party booking for a FANTASTIC soon-to-be-10-year-old-stamper and I promised to send her a few project ideas.  Here is one of them - I just love this Tags Along set - I have been using it more than any other lately (a close second is the Just Believe set!).  I'm sure the girls will love the pink and brown together ... and of course the glitter!

Hope you have a memory filled family Sunday :)


Tam





Glitter Ball Tutorial

Wednesday - the weekend is in sight!  I'm excited for it to come - I'm taking my Stamp-a-stack on the road!  One of my oldest friends (we were BFF's in High School) is having a mother/daughter SAS at her house - it's going to be a blast!  I love crafting with 7-12 year olds.  They have a real knack for creativity and are almost ALWAYS better at 2-step stamping than adults.  They really are fun to craft with.

Every year around this time I have requests for instructions on how to make my contest winning "Glitter Balls".  Well, you asked for it, you got it!

 ** Before starting, ensure that the inside of your ornament is free of dust particles.  Any dust inside the ornament will keep the ink from properly coating it.

1.       Add 25 drops of reinker to your ornament.  If you use the large, 83 mm (3.26 inch) ornament you add 45 drops of reinker.   I find that the Rich Regal reinkers are thicker than the Soft Subtle reinkers so a few more drops of the darker colors may be required.  The color combinations you can make by simply changing the color of your reinker are amazing!  You get a completely different look if you use, for example, the Handsome Hunter reinker (retired) with the Celery Fine Cosmo Glitter than you do if you use the Certainly Celery reinker with the Celery Fine Cosmo Glitter.   

2.       SLOWLY and evenly roll / twirl the ornament so that the ink coats the inside of the ornament.  As the ink gets closer to the top of the ornment you want to make sure you are either over a sink, a bowl or paper towel in the event that the ink drips out.  It is not necessary to ink the very top of the ornament as that is covered by the “lid” of the ornament and won’t be seen.

3.        Using a small funnel pour in a generous amount of glitter (I pour in all I have!)

4.       Place your finger over the opening of the ornaments and shake until the glitter coats the entire inside of the ornament.  Once coated, you pour out any excess glitter back into your container and it’s ready to use for your next ornament.

5.       Apply your rub on.   I find snowflake images the easiest (and most forgiving) image to use.  Larger images and/or phrases can be difficult to apply to the round surface.  It CAN be done but it takes a lot of time and effort to get the image/phrase straight and it often puckers.

6.        Attach a punched label with elastic cord and package for giving!

Once you make one of these ornaments you won’t be able to stop – they really are addictive!  Have fun!!