Tween Cards

Happy Saturday!

As you read this I am in Banff enjoying my weekend away with my husband.  I hope Auntie is coping!  (Auntie doesn't have kids ... this is a WHOLE new experience for her!!!)

Right - today, as promised, I'm sharing the cards I made for the birthday party I did last weekend.  The birthday girl turned 11 and she and 9 of her friends made 8 card ... 2 of each of the following.

I love the "Dress Up" set for the girls.  It makes for a VERY quick, VERY easy card!  The sentiment is from Curly Cute and the pink is Melon Mambo

You've seen this card before in different variations.  This time I matted it with Real Red (that was for you, Wanda!)

This one is SO fun for the girls to make.  You use the scalloped circle die and then trim it to form a dress shape.  Tape a little organza ribbon around the "waist" - punch a flower (I used a retired flower punch but the Boho Blossom punch has options) and attach it with a glue dot -a rhinestone in the middle and a sentiment.  I used the Made For You set in Rich Razzleberry but the card can be used with lots of different sentiments.

This card was voted the favorite by the girls.  Typical.  I almost left this one out!  I thought it was too simple ... and too similar to the present card ... but this one won!  The girls really changed things around and made it their own - which is why I love stamping with the younger stampers - they are less rigid than us old gals.  They think outside the box and let their creativity really shine.  Again - lots of sentiment options here.  I used the "Friend" and "Always" from Affection Collection (mini) the "BFF" from a retired set - in Real Red.  The mat is Daffodil Delight.  Of course rhinestones are a MUST at any tween party ... they went through their fair share of them *lol*

I'm off ... hope you're having a stampy weekend :)


Tam

Halloween Treats ... and more rejects ...

OK - here we go ... some actual projects ..

First up are the little Halloween Treats I made for the girls' class mates.  Ready?

These were fun to make.  I have to confess - I had to use non SU card stock for these.  I found our cs was too high quality!  The paper tended to crack when I cut them and then ran them through the spider web folder.  The cheaper paper is thinner and was easier to work with. I used the Petite Pockets die to hold the Pixie Stix.  After I cut them I folded on all the score lines and then ran then through the spider web folder.  THEN I attached the tags BEFORE TAPING THE ENVELOPES CLOSED.  It's much easier to pierce the hole for the small brads (retired from last years' holiday mini) before they are assembled.  For the tags I first punched out the scallop circles with the 2 3/8" punch and THEN stamped them.  I used the spider web from Wicked Cool in Sahara Sand.  I stamped the BOO and the spider from Spooky Bingo Bits in black classic ink (it doesn' smudge on the cheap paper).  For the white holder I also punched out a black circle with the 2 1/2" circle punch.  They are just attached with the brad so the tag can swing to the side .. on the back it says "From Rebecca" or "From Alicia".  To write on the black circle I used the new Silver Dazzle marker (from the mini) - it looked great!  I bought the Pixie Stix at Dollarama - you get 42 for $1 ... my kind of treat!  Just to keep them a little more secure I added a strip of snail on the package for the Stix to adhere to.  That way they didn't end up all over the bottom of the backpacks before the girls got to hand them out.  Oh!  To assemble the pouch I used two small strips of sticky strip at the top of the flap ... and two ticks of snail near the bottom.  The sticky strip just ensured that they wouldn't pop open due to the pressure of the treats inside.  Worked a treat (hee hee ... no pun intended!)

Next up I thought I'd post a swack of my Birthday Stamp-a-Stack rejects ... just for fun ... and to show you that, just like  every one else, my cards aren't always "keepers".  These ones hit the reject pile pretty quickly *lol*

You can see I was really struggling with my "guy" card *lol*.  Some of them have promise ... and I may revisit them some other time but for now they are in the recycle bin!

That's it for now.  My next post will be the cards I made for the birthday party I did last weekend.  Until then - have a stampy day!


Tam

SU Current Promotions

Happy Friday - Woo Hoo!  We made it to another weekend!!!

I have a busy day ahead - Craig and I are heading to Banff for a great weekend compliments of his company.  It is their 50th Anniversary "Summit".  It's going to be awesome!!!  Every 5 years they hold their summit at the Banff Springs Hotel and all employees and their spouses attend - on them!  This year is going to be over-the-top!!  The band they booked is top secret but if they are 1/10th as great as the one 5 years ago I won't be sitting down all night - it ROCKED!!!  I can't wait to get all dolled up in my pretty black dress and bright red shoes.  The best part ... NO KIDS!!!  Ahhh - the thought of it just makes me smile all over :)))

Soooo - I thought I throw out a looooooooooong post (do I ever keep them short??) with lots of little bits and pieces.

First up I just HAVE to mention the Blow-My-Hair-Back promotion that SU is running for the month of November!!

If you host a party between Nov 1 and Dec 16 and there are party sales of $575 or more you get 10 FREE INK PADS in the color family of your choice!!  ... and that's on TOP of the $90 in free product you earn PLUS 1 item at 50% off!  CRAZY AWESOME!!  My calendar is almost 100% filled for the month of November and a few dates are booked for December.  Oh ya!  My ladies know a good deal when they see one!!

I'm REALLY REALLY REALLY excited about the new Starter Kit Promotion - buy the Starter Kit for $125 flat - you get $155 in product, business supplies AND the 10 FREE INK PADS - again, in the color family of your choice!!  Let's do the math, shall we?  If you were to order $155 worth of product and 10 ink pads through me (rather than buying the Starter Kit) you would pay a total of $254.04.  If you buy the Starter Kit you only pay $125 ... so it's just a little less than HALF PRICE!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!  Why wouldn't you buy it??!!  What's that you say?  You don't HAVE $125 sitting around burning a hole in your pocket at this time of year??  Don't worry!  If you gather orders (or host your own party) of $425 the commission you earn on that order/party will pay 100% of your kit!  You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain!  Of course, as always - there is NO obligation to EVER place an order beyond buying the kit ..., but again, why wouldn't you?  You earn at LEAST 20% commission on every order .. and if your first order is over $200 you get 30% commission!  You really should consider it - no catch - just great products at a great deal!

Another thing I'm really excited about is that the new Stampin' Trimmer is now available for purchase.  At Convention in July Shelli was showing it to us and said "If you don't buy one of these there is something wrong with you"!  *lol*  She's right - this tool is awesome.  Mine should arrive next week and I can't wait to start using it.  It is $41.95.

Here are all the great features of this tool - designed by, and exlusive to, SU:


An extra-wide 6-1/4" cutting base and an extended 14-1/2" ruler

• The extra-wide cutting base provides a large work area and is marked in 1/4" (4 mm) increments, allowing for small measurements.
• The right-side grid helps you measure and cut very thin strips.
• The extended cutting arm has a stabilizing leg to provide a sturdy and steady cutting surface for longer cuts.
• When fully extended, the extended cutting arm sits flush with the trimmer base, providing more accurate and consistent measurements across the entire surface.
• The cutting base and track include a full ruler, incorporating measurements down to 1/16" and grid lines that mark each quarter inch.
• All rulers and measurements on the base are printed under a plastic cover so your measurements won't wear off.
• The base has nonskid feet, which keeps the Stampin' Trimmer securely in place on your work area.

A full 12" cutting and scoring track

• The extra-long cutting track has space at the top and bottom so you don't have to take the cutting and scoring blades out when you're not using them.
• The track gives you enough space to cut or score a full 12" (30.5 cm) without having to remove or switch out handles.
• The cutting track locks in place for secure storage or transport.
• The track includes an insertion point for cutting and scoring blade handles so you can easily insert handles into the cutting track.

Specially designed handles and cutting track to ensure straight cuts

• The hook on the scoring and cutting blade handles keeps the handles stable so the cuts are as straight as possible.
• Handles come in two colors: dark for cutting, light for scoring.
• The precision tip on the cutting blade allows you to pinpoint precisely where you're cutting.
• The point on the side of each handle shows you where the blade will cut, making it easy to see exactly where your cuts and scores will begin.

Storage compartment under base

• The storage compartment holds scoring and cutting tools such as a Bone Folder, Simply Scored Stylus, extra scoring and cutting blades, and even business cards.
• Separate compartments within the storage compartment keep your tools organized, and the clear cover makes it easy to see what you've stored.

Hmmm - ok - this post is already long enough.  I'll stop there and start another one with some projects to show off.


Tam

Flowering Flourishes Sympathy

Happy Monday!!!

HOW did it get to be 1:49 pm already??!!  I swear the days that I don't have anything formally planned to do go the fastest!!  So just a quickie today.

This is the card I made for my Stamp-Set-of-the-Month group using the Flowering Flourishes set.  Do you own this one?  It's on my "Must Have" list!

OK ... so it's a little blurry (what else is new??!!) but at least you can see the shimmer on it!

I stamped the Flowering Flourishes image in Versamark and then sprinkled it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder and heated it.  Soooo sparkly!  I stamped the sentiment (from Love & Sympathy - page 54 of the catty; $14.95 clear; $19.95 wood) in Island Indigo ink.  I punched out some Indigo butterflies with the Beautiful Wings Emboslits (page 188 - $14.95) and attached them with glue dots and added some rhinestones.  The lacy border in Indigo is made with the Finishing Touches Edgelits (page 190, $11.95).  This is the first time I've used that edgelit - I love it!!  I popped the white layer up on dimensionals.  This is so pretty, simply but elegant.  I just love this card!

Have you heard about the AWESOME ONE DAY SALE that Stampin' Up is putting on today only?  All stamps (except Hostess stamps, bundled stamps and Digital Brush stamps) are 15% off!  They are also offering FREE digital downloads all this week ... as well as 50% off all Digital Kits!  If that weren't enough for one day they have also released a brand new kit for sale.  Check it out!:

Get everything you need to make six cards for only $17.95 (item 132319)! If six isn't enough, add Note Cards to your order (item 107311) The kit includes extra rhinestones in case you want to "bling it up" a little more!

To assemble the cards:

1. Stamp the doily image in Daffodil Delight or Old Olive ink three times on the card and once on the envelope, re-inking between uses.
2. Stamp "Friends" in Daffodil Delight or Old Olive ink on the front of the card.
3. Adhere the flowers to the card. Adhere Rhinestone Basic Jewels to the center of the flowers.

Right - I'm off to the craft room to work on the girls' Halloween Treats.  Pop back soon as I have a number of projects to share from the birthday party I did for an 11 year old yesterday.  The girls loved the projects!

Have a stampy day!

A few rejects

Happy Friday!!!

It wasn't planned ... but apparently today was a "down day".  Not a "sad" day, but a "down day" ... you know the kind I mean .... you wake up and decide to call the whole thing off due to lack of interest!  That's me today.  I know I SHOULD have gone down to design my projects for the birthday stamping party I'm doing on Sunday BUT .... I didn't wanna ... so I didn't.  Instead I had a "me" day.  Took the girls to school ... took the dog for his walk (it was a BEAUTIFUL morning and since I was dressed properly I could have gone for hours!) ... came home ... colored my hair (sorry Elaine ... didn't plan far enough ahead to come see you!!) ... took a shower ... primped and preened ... makeup and hair ... few e-mails, load of laundry, lunch, made some treats for Craft Night tonight, did dishes and generally putzed around doing little odds and ends to get the house back in order.  I've been ignoring the house for a while and I always feel guilty when Craig ends up doing it all on the weekend so today was the day.  I'm not worried about Sunday ... I have 3 projects in mind ... and tonight IS Craft Night so I might get them figured out tonight.  Ahhhh - who am I kidding ... I'll be working on my Halloween treats for the girls' classes ... I always tend to work backwards these days (for instance I'm almost done my Christmas shopping but haven't got Halloween costumes for the kids yet *lol*)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAnyway ..........  (can you tell I'm procrastinating????)  I thought I'd post some of my re-jected cards from last weeks stamping frenzy.  I notice I didn't even TAKE PICTURES of a few of them ... they were that bad *lol*.  So ... for your viewing pleasure ... here are the cards that didn't make the cut (HAAAAAAAAAAA!  Get it?  ... get the cut???  I crack me up!)

This one ALMOST made it ... but I ended up with the Comfort Cafe card instead ... I liked it much better.  This one is still a good workshop card though so I won't throw it away :)

Ya ... it's ok ... doesn't blow my hair back though.  It would be good to have a few of these on hand for a kids birthday emergency ...

Yuck.  That's all I have to say about that one.

Hmmm - I thought I had a lot more ... I guess I didn't take picture of LOTS of them *lol*  Maybe another day ... but trust me - they were REALLY bad!!

Tune in again soon and I'll post some NICE cards made with my Stamp Set of the Month set ... Flowering Flourishes.  I made one that DOES blow my hair back!

Have a stampy weekend!


Tam

Biscotti Treats

Happy Thursday!!

Just a quickie today as it's a short school day for the girls and I have to hit Toys-R-Us in 25 minutes to pick up their Christmas-present ... so I'll get right to it!

These are the Club Girl gifts I put together Tuesday night.  I just LOVE them!  I made 32 of them in 2 1/2 hours ... now THAT'S MY kind of quick and easy treat.  Check 'em out ...

What are they?  Individually wrapped Biscotti!  Have you ever tried these?  I get them at Costco ... but they are only available in the individually wrapped boxes over Christmas so stock up now!!  They are the perfect little treat for teachers and/or co-workers as they are cute, quick to make and economical.  A box of 18 is (I think) $7.99!!  I wanted to make something like this last year but when I went to get one to wrap I discovered my husband had eaten them ... ALL!  They are SOOO good!  They are caramel and praline ... mmmmm ...

So, how did I wrap them?  Easy!  I grabbed my favorite Framelits - the Labels Collection - and used the larged one to cut out 32 "wrappers" out of the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper (page 4 of the mini $15.95).  I only used (8) of the (12) sheets of 12x12 paper in the pack and got 32 out of it.  I also discovered that you can cut (2) out at a time since the DSP is thinner than our regular card stock.  The label fits nicely around the biscotti.  I then used my Crop-o-dile to punch a hole in the top of the label and threaded through a 14" piece of Sweater Trim Ribbon through it (page11 of the mini - $8.50).  I find this Trim too thick to use nicely on cards but it is GREAT for packaging like this!  I used my Scallop Circle punch to punch out the Early Espresso image from Perfect Punches (page 120 of the catty; $21.95 clear; $30.95 wood) then punched out a Lucky Limeade Circle with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch (page 184 of the catty - $21.95) and then the Perfect Punches sentiment (stamped in Real Red) with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch (page 184 - $21.95).

Aren't they awesome??!!  I hope my Club Girls like them as much as I do!

That's it for today ... but I have lots of cards to share so pop back soon.  In the meantime - have a stampy day!


Tam

\

Firm Foam Ink Pads

Happy Tuesday!

I'm cracking off 32 quick and easy treats for my Club Girls tonight but thought I'd take a break to post a quick video.

Have you tried the new Firm Foam Ink Pads yet?  They're GREAT ... but there are a few things you need to know.  Check out this video about them as well as showing you how to re-ink them.  I HIGHLY recommend that you purchase an ink refill if and when you order any of the new ink pads.  You DO go through ink faster with these new pads.  Having said that I still prefer them to the old felt pads as you get a much crisper, cleaner stamped image. 

Hope you learned a few things.  I did!

Have a stampy night - tune in tomorrow(ish) to check out my completed treats :)


Tam

Oops!

Oh poop ... I forgot to give credit where credit is due!  For my French Foliage card I got inspiration from a number of different ideas - the color scheme was inspired by a card of Lynsay Mahon and the layout from Tina Gillespie.  Thank you for your ideas ladies!

French Foliage and Autumn Accents

HAPPY MONDAY!!

Woo Hoo!  Monday!  My favorite day of the week!!  I had hoped to be a little further ahead of the game than I am so far today but I'll get there ... eventually.

I am THRILLED to say that this weekend was a HUGE success stamping-wise.  I had a GREAT time at my Hostess Class on Friday night.  What an awesome group of ladies AND gentlemen ... yes, MEN!  For the first time EVER I stamped with not one but TWO men!  I still think Matt should buy the Starter Kit and do what I do ... and Skyler!  SO creative!  He came up with some amazing cards!  I hope they all had as much fun as I did!  Oh!  ... while we DID make my Need for Speed card ... I added an option for them if they wanted it ... they could color the car red.  Here's the pic:

A few of my friends mentioned that they thought my original needed a punch of color so there it is.  Love it!

Right ... so Friday was awesome ... met some great new people and had a fun night.  Sadly my Saturday party had to be postponed ... but that worked out really well for me.  Saturday I was so tired from my creating-marathon on Thursday that I was a bit of a waste of make-up.   It gave me the whole day to prep and set up for Sunday's Stamp-a-Stack.  That too was a lot of fun.  We had 8 stampers, 3 of whom I hadn't met before.  It's always fun to have new people to get to know.  I have 2 cards to show from the SAS.  Today I'll post my favorite one ... lookie:

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  Love it!  SO quick and SO easy yet SO nice!!  It works for birthday, sympathy, Just a Note, Thinking of You ... even a "guy" card.  Do they get any more perfect than that??  I used the French Foliage set (which will be my Stamp-Set-of-the-Month set for November as I think it is a MUST HAVE set!!!)  (page 86 og the catty; $17.95 clear; $24.95 wood) The mat is River Rock.  I stamped the script (behind the leaves) in River Rock, the leaves in Always Artichoke and the splotches in Crumb Cake.  The sentiment is from a retired set (but works with most of our birthday sentiment stamps ... I had to use a retired one as my "Birthday Wishes" stamp from Bring on the Cake was being used on another card).  That's it!  That's all!  I cracked off 10 of this little beauties in about 15 minutes - my kinda card!!

I'll post the other SAS card another day - I haven't taken a picture of it yet ... but here is another quick card I put together for the party that was postponed ..

I used the GREAT Core'dinations card stock (mini page 6 - $9.95) in Espresso and ran it through the woodgrain folder (mini page 33 - $9.95).  I then punched out the leaves in Cajun Craze, Old Olive and More Mustard with the Autumn Accents die (mini page 33 - $26.95).  I made the acorn with Crumb Cake and Champagne Glimmer Paper (mini page 18 - $5.95).  The sentiment is from Lacey & Lovely (page 99 of the catty - $21.95 clear; $30.95 wood) stamped in Early Espresso.  (Are you starting to believe that I really DID buy about 95% of the items in the mini catalogue this year?? *lol*)

So that's it for now ... I have to go turn up the heat.  I'm sitting here with my jacket on and still shivering ... and my fingers are freezing!!  I hate to see what I'm like when it's -20 degrees out!!

See you soon - have a stampy day!


Tam

Comfort Cafe

Happy Saturday!

One word.  Brrrr!  A wee bit nippy out there today!  It would be a great day to put on the flannel jams and watch movies all day.  Alas ... not rest for the wicked!  It's already 2:30 and I have yet to start cutting paper for tomorrow's Birthday Stamp-a-Stack!  Oh well ... some how it always seems to get done :)

I thought I'd share one of the cards I put together yesterday morning for Sunday's fun.  As usual I worked for HOURS trying to come up with a pretty Birthday Card for the ladies ... and hours later I still wasn't loving what I had designed.  I think I just had SO many ideas in my head that I couldn't calm my brain down enough to focus on any one layout.  Luckily I was completely exhausted after my 4 hour "nap" ... after I came up with yesterday's "guy card" I thought I'd have one more kick at the "Lady Card" and ended up loving it.  I've used this layout before ... it was one I copied from Brandi Mah ... it works well with any scrap papers you have lying around.  This one uses the Comfort Cafe DSP (page 163 of the catty - $13.50).  I've wanted to use this paper ever since I bought it ... in JUNE!!!  *lol* ... will I ever change? 

Here it is:

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!  It's SO simple but SO pretty!  I stamped the sentiment from Bring on the Cake (page 142 of the catty, $33.95 Clear; $47.95 wood) in Cajun Craze.  The flowers are made with the Boho Blossom punch (page 185 - $22.95) in Cajun Craze and Crumb Cake.  I popped the sentiment up on dimensionals and added some pearls.  Wa-low!  My 5th Stamp-a-Stack card!!

Right ... I'm off to cut paper.  Stay warm ... and have a stampy day!


Tam