Candy Corn Tag

Last night I held my Fall themed Stamp-a-Stack where we made a dozen cards.  Instead of just doing the cards, I wanted to show a fun little favor idea.  I got the idea for this cute Candy Corn Tag from Sandy Hancock.  I let each of my guests make a tag and choose a Halloween scented Hand Sanitizer to tie the tag to.

The tag was made with the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and the Bitty Banners framelits die.  The candy corn is white card stock, and the yellow and orange paper from the Polka Dot Parade dsp pack all glued together and punched with the Pennant Builder Punch.  The base of the tag was made with the scallop circle punch and the 2-3/8" scallop circle punch glued together and then textured with the polka dot textured impressions folder.  I tied the tag on with 1/8" black taffeta ribbon.  I love that this is a great size for a little favor and it is useful too.  It was the perfect gift today for a great preschool teacher!

Happy Jack

I can't believe that September is almost over.  Over the past week, I've realized it is time to start thinking about Christmas, but I got carried away with making Christmas cards and forgot about Fall.  In fact, I'm having a stamping class tonight and the theme is Fall, so I really needed to switch gears and put off Christmas for a bit.  I pedaled backwards a little and here I am with some Halloween fun.  Have your kiddos picked out their costumes yet?  If October is anything like September, the end of the month will be here before we know it.  October means more falling leaves, costumes, cooler days (hopefully not too cool) and a birthday for my #1--can't believe she's getting so big!

I'm finding that I have a tendency to use certain products on most of my cards.  What are my favs you might ask?  Well I'll tell you...

Shauna's Must Have Stampin' Up! Products:
*Patterns Designer Series Paper Stacks--in ALL of the color collections (or you should have at least one collection, I'm just addicted so I had to have them all)
*Textured Impressions Folders for the Big Shot--changes boring backgrounds to subtle patterned fun
*Ribbon--currently I love the stitched grosgrain (great price), stitched satin ribbon (so pretty and great colors), and the 1/8" taffeta ribbon (love the white edges and narrow style)
*Scallop edge punch or scallop trim border punch
*2-1/2" Circle Punch--not shown on this card, but scroll through the last couple months and you'll see I use it a LOT!
*Cardstock, ink, stamps, etc.

Okay, on with the info about this card.  I stamped the pumpkin from the Jack of All Trades set with Pumpkin Pie, Gumball Green, and Basic Black ink.  That is mounted on Gumball Green card stock and then mounted on Pumpkin Pie card stock textured with the chevron embossing folder.  I picked that folder because I love the chevron style smile the my Happy Jack has and I wanted to mimic it.  My side border was made with some patterns dsp (gumball green from the In Color stack) layered on white punched with the scallop edge punch.  I tied some white stitched grosgrain around that before mounting it to my card.  Finally, I mounted everything to my white card base.  A lot of times my card base is made with colored card stock, but I try to use white a lot as well because you can more easily see the writing on the card if it is white.

The Gingerbread Man

"Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"  Just thinking of that phrase makes me a little anxious to pull out my Christmas stories.  My husband grew up with the motto that there could be no Christmas music (or decorations, or probably stories) until after Thanksgiving.  While I generally agree that most of the decorating and celebrating should happen in turn with the other holidays, there is something special about Christmas that makes me want to think about it ahead of time.  I can't imagine if I couldn't stamp Christmas before Thanksgiving--that would mean that I probably wouldn't get any stamping done because things get so busy that time of the year!  Did you realize that there are less than 3 months until Christmas?  Time to get stamping!  I've starting picking up a couple of things here and there to get my shopping started.  Well, Christmas shopping and the birthdays in my family that are in the Fall/Winter seasons.  I've found that you have to get it when you see it because you may not see it again (and I've learned that the hard way).

I sure LOVE the current In Colors that Stampin' Up! released this year, especially Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple.  They make a great pair for a bold Christmas combo, so I've used them on this card.  I stamped my gingerbread man from the Scentsational Seasons stamp set in Crumb Cake ink and then stamped the greeting from Embellished Events in Raspberry Ripple.  I then punched the images out with my 2-1/2" circle punch and mounted them on a scallop circle cut with my perfect pennants big shot die.  I took a couple pieces of In Color Patterns DSP and mounted them on white card stock (and punched one of the edges with the scallop edge punch to tie in my scallop circle).  I tied some Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon around the green one and then mounted it all on my Gumball Green card base that I ran through the Big Shot with the polka dot textured impressions folder.  Don't forget that you can get the stitched satin ribbon for FREE with a $40 order this month!  I thought this card would work well for the current challenge over at SUO Challenges--Kid Cards.

Veggie Tree

Veggies?  Why yes, please!  I'd say artichokes and celery make a great combo--in the stamping world that is.  This week's color combo over at Dynamic Duos is to use Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke together.  Since I happened to have my Scentsational Season set sitting out on my table, I decided to put it to use for this challenge. 

I went to my traditional go-to paper (the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stacks) and picked a couple of patterns in the challenge colors.  I ran some white card stock through my Big Shot with my polka dot textured impressions folder to tie in the polka dot theme from the paper and the tree and then mounted the dsp on it.  I stamped the "Merry Christmas" from the Embellished Events set and then hand cut it into the banner shape so that it would fit on my artichoke banner (done with the bitty banners framelits).  I stamped my tree and star on white and then punched them with the 2-1/2" circle punch and layered that onto my card after tying some white stitched grosgrain around the card.  I decided that the card needed a little something to tie it all together, so I stamped a few extra stars in celery and cut them and adhered them to my card with some Stampin' Dimensionals. What do you think?  Are you in the mood for veggies?

Polka Dot Christmas Tree

It usually seems like the calendar and the actual weather don't communicate when it is time for the seasons to change.  Surprisingly, this year they agreed.  Saturday was the first day of Fall and boy did today feel like Fall.  We went outside to play this morning and actually needed to wear sweatshirts.  The air was cool and crisp, but luckily not too cold (especially since my toddler decided to take off his shoes and jacket and run around like it was still 90 degrees).  I love these days when the windows can be open and the cool breezes keep the house at a comfortable temperature.  I'm hoping we'll have several more weeks of this in-between before we really have to bundle up.  I think I'll need to hit the shoe stores soon because my kids have outgrown their shoes while we've been in sandals for months.  I'm not even sure if #2's socks still feet--oh well, they can stretch, right?  Mr. Winter, please don't come too soon this year!

Since Fall is upon us, I've felt a bit more inclined to start stamping Christmas.  I still need to mount a couple of my Christmas sets, but I did manage to mount Scentsational Seasons over the weekend.  I sure like this set with the bold simple images.  I'm finding that I'm spending more time on the layout and background of the card and just a little time actually stamping--which is kind of fun.  I grabbed a couple of the current In Colors to make this card--Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple.  I stamped my tree, star (in Daffodil Delight) and then added the greeting from Embellished Events.  My background papers are from the In Color Patterns dsp stack.  I used the scallop trim border punch along the side of the white card stock and finished everything off with some stitched satin ribbon (which you can get for FREE this month with a $40 order).  

Butterfliy Bonanza

Ahhh, Pinterest.  Why is it that you have so many fun and wonderful ideas that I don't have time to do, and yet you make it seem that everyone else has all the time in the world to make the cutest little favors and fanciest desserts for every occasion.  I really do love the sharing and inspiration that come from Pinterest, it's can just be overwhelming at times. 

I found a card on there that inspired this creation.  I saw the card in passing, so of course now I can't go back and find it since I didn't repin it, so thank you to the kind soul who posted such a fun idea!  The original card was made with circles instead of butterflies.  I took the basic idea, colored punches on black and then textured, and then mixed it up a bit.  I punched a bunch of colors with the Elegant Butterfly Punch (pink pirouette, wisteria wonder, pool party, daffodil delight, certainly celery, tangerine tango, wild wasabi, melon mambo) and then glued them to a strip of black card stock.  I ran that through my Big Shot with the square lattice textured impressions folder and then tied some Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon around it before mounting it on my white card base.  I stamped the "thinking of you" from Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Essentials set in Wisteria Wonder and there you have it.  A bright and bold, yet simple card.

Christmas Scrap Strips

It's good to have a little external motivation to really get things cleaned up every once in a while.  My external motivation--having my husband's boss' boss came from Ohio to our house to meet with him last week.  Unfortunately that getting things cleaned up meant putting my stamp stuff away (and leaving it put away) for a few days--which would be the reason I haven't posted for several days.  You see, a couple of years ago I had a nice stamp room on the main floor of my house and it was out of sight and my things could always be out (I could just close the door).  Then baby #2 came along and I decided to give him that room so off to the storage room went my stamp things for a while.  Our basement renters moved out shortly after and so we decided to stop renting and convert the basement into our own living space.  After a few months of remodeling, I again had a nice stamp room, this time in the basement, where I could leave things out and close the door.  A year later my husband got a new job and he now works from home.  This is a good thing, but he needed an office, so once again I no longer had a nice little room where I could close the door.  I won't complain because I still have a stamp area and now it is even bigger--it's the old kitchen area of our basement.  I have cupboards and counters and room for tables for classes.  I just don't have a place where I can close the door.  That means when the boss came over to meet with him, he has to walk through my house and through my basement to get to the office.  Translate that to mean things REALLY have to be cleaned up and put away (no pressure on me--yeah, right).  So, instead of spending my little bit of free time last week stamping and creating, I spent it cleaning.  Now that is all over and I finally was able to pull out my stamping things again.  It's funny how fast things can get messy when creating :)

Now to the stamping!  I made this fun Christmas card to go along with the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  This would be a great use for scraps of paper, although I actually cut up some designer series paper to make mine.  Each of the strips are about 1/2" wide.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, and Gumball Green on this card along with the Be of Good Cheer dsp.  I tied some Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon around the card before adding my image.  The stitched satin ribbon is FREE with a $40 order this month and you can choose between the 5 In Colors (or spend $200 and get them all).  My Christmas tree stamp is from Scentsational Seasons (in the Holiday Catalog) and the Merry Christmas comes from Embellished Events.  I didn't realize how much I'd use the words from Embellished Events--they sure are a great size and come in handy a lot!  I punched my image out with the 2-1/2" circle punch and put that on the top.  Have you started working on your Christmas cards yet?  We have just over 3 months to go!

Leaves and Acorns

I just ordered the Gently Falling set so that I could stamp some fun Autumn cards.  It's hard to believe the season is already upon us!  I made this card to participate in last week's Dynamic Duos challenge, but I didn't get it uploaded in time.  Oh well!  I still have it to share with you.  The challenge colors were Always Artichoke and Cajun Craze--both are perfect for fall.  Next I want to try using them in combination with a few other fall colors, but I limited myself to just the two since I thought I was going to be linking this card to the challenge. 

I stamped the leaves and acorns with the Gently Falling set in the two colors and then stamped the outline with Basic Black.  I wanted to fill in the white space, so I grabbed my color spritzer and spritzed some ink off my Cajun Craze Stampin' Write marker to speckle all over the layer.  My background papers are both from the Regals Patterns DSP stack.  Finally, I stamped the "friends" from Sweet Essentials, punched it with the oval punch, layered it with the scalloped oval punch, and layered both on the designer label punch.

Baja Breeze Snowflakes

A friend of mine mentioned that there are around 100 more days until Christmas.  That means it's probably time to start thinking about cards so that they can be done ahead of time.  I decided that I ought to start coming up with some Christmas card samples, so here goes.

This card goes along with the color challenge over at The Paper Players.  I used Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, and Basic Black.  I have so many snowflake sets, but I "have" to keep getting the latest one from Stampin' Up! so I just got the Snowflake Soiree set and used it on this card.  I wanted a small greeting, so I used one from the Embellished Events stamp set.  This card is pretty simple to make, it is just a bunch of layers.  I did use a few accessories beyond stamps and card stock--some baja breeze patterns dsp, a bit of black 1/8" taffeta ribbon, and the scallop trim border punch.

Rich Silhouette Blossoms

Fall is in the air.  It was strange to walk outside this morning and feel cool air (instead of the 90 degree heat we've been experiencing for so long).  It was refreshing, I just hope it doesn't get cold too fast.  I love the in-between weather--where you can still wear summer clothes without being cold.  When I saw the current color challenge at Pals Paper Arts I thought of Fall.  First I was thinking a Halloween or Fall Leaf card would work well, but then I decided to use flowers since I'm still trying to hang onto Summer a bit longer.

I stamped the Summer Silhouettes stamp set into a little garden pattern and topped it with a greeting from the Sweet Essentials stamp set.  The colors used are Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, and Elegant Eggplant.  I love how rich and bold these colors are together.  I layered some of the patterns designer series papers (my favorite) with their coordinating card stock.  I edged the Lucky Limeade card stock with the scallop trim border punch and tied some Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon to finish things off.

Wisteria Blossom Party

Here's another card with my favorite blossom from the Lacy & Lovely set.  I stamped it all over white card stock with Wisteria Wonder ink and mounted it on a strip of Wisteria Wonder card stock punched with the scallop trim border punch.  I ran the piece of Pool Party card stock through my Big Shot with the Elegant Lines textured impressions folder and layered it on white and then tied a piece of Pool Party seam binding ribbon around everything.  The Thank You comes from the Sassy Salutations stamp set and is punched with the decorative label punch and is mounted to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  Finally I mounted everything onto my Wisteria Wonder card base.  I sure love these In Colors together, I'm sad that they will only be around for another 7 months or so.  I guess I'll have to be sure to get a lot of use out of them before they retire.

Soft Floral Friends

It's time for another card from a Stampin' Royalty color challenge.  This week the combo was Pool Party, Crumb Cake, and Soft Suede--a soft palette that was definitely a good challenge for me.  Most of the time I stick with bold and bright colors, so this was a lot of fun and got me out of my comfort zone!  I chose the Lacy & Lovely stamp set for my main stamps and the Sweet Essentials set for my greeting. 

I love the Decorative Label punch, although I really wish there was a punch with the same shape just bigger or smaller so that it could easily be layered.  I decided to stamp my greeting and punch it with the oval punch, and then I couldn't decide if I wanted it mounted on the scalloped oval or the decorative label when it dawned on me--use both!  I'm sure I'll be doing this more in the future, I just hadn't realized that they fit so well together until now!  I love the small blossom from the Lacy & Lovely set so I stamped that in Pool Party all over my main layer.  That is mounted on Soft Suede and Pool Party card stock.  I couldn't decide whether to use my Pool Party or Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, so again I decided to use both.  I guess today was a day that I didn't want to have to make a decision between two products.  My card base is Crumb Cake card stock and I stamped the larger flower from Lacy & Lovely all over it with Soft Suede ink--that way it would stand out a little more and help tie in that color.  Looking back to a couple of months ago, I'm surprised how I didn't think I needed the Lacy & Lovely set.  In fact I had passed right by it in the catalog several times.  It wasn't until I saw a card made by another demonstrator that I "had" to have it.  I love how we can all share ideas (despite the fact that my checkbook may not love it). 

Cheerful Snowflakes

The days are getting shorter and I'm realizing the my beloved summer is coming to an end.  I'm okay saying goodbye to the super hot days, but I'll miss the outdoor fun, the long days, the evening walks, the warm nights, and the more carefree feeling that goes hand in hand with summer.  Fall and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love the colors and the cooler (80s, 70s and even some 60s--but not cold) weather but I hate that it gets dark earlier and that Winter is just around the corner.

I actually sat down and stamped for a few minutes today.  It's the first time I've had a chance to in almost three weeks--that is way too long!  I was hoping to get more than one card done, but the end of nap time brought and end to my stamping.  Oh well, at least I finished one card.  I needed some inspiration to get me back in the stamping groove, so I turned to the color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I love combining yellow, green, and blue on cards, and I thought this combo was especially striking (and one that I may not have come up with on my own).  I decided to think a little outside the box with this combo and I used it with snowflakes!  Normally I would have chosen something floral or more playful, but I wanted to use my new Snowflake Soiree stamp set.  I think my biggest problem with Winter is the darkness, so I decided to help ward off the Winter Depression by using a bright and cheerful color palette with the snowflakes.  I often use a variety of blues with snowflake stamps, and maybe I've occasionally used green (with red), but I think this is the first time that I've stamped a yellow snowflake--oops, hope that's not bad--I didn't even think about it until now :)

My supplies are: ink and card stock in Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, and Not Quite Navy, stitched grosgrain ribbon in Daffodil Delight, Stampin' Up!'s Snowflake Soiree stamp set, Stampin' Dimensionals (to pop up my greeting a little) and the designer label punch.  I actually cut a 1-1/4" strip of white card stock to stamp my greeting on and then I decided that it needed a little pizazz, so I fed it through the back of the designer label punch and punched just the one edge with it.  I did the same with the celery card stock, although it is cut at 1-3/8" (a tight fit for the punch, but it worked).

Lime & Gray Butterfly Birthday

I'm back!  Sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks.  I was on a little vacation and have also had a lot going on so I haven't had time to stamp or blog. 

I had some ink pads sitting out from a different project and just happened to have the Lucky Limeade and Basic Gray sitting side by side when I realized that they'd make a great color combo--so of course I had to give it a try.  I love the duo together!  I used the Papillon Potpourri set and just randomly stamped butterflies in different sizes and designs to fill in my white card stock.  I stamped my birthday greeting (from Sassy Salutations) with Basic Gray ink on the patterns designer series paper.  My card base is Lucky Limeade card stock that I ran through my Big Shot with the Petals-a-Plenty textured impressions folder.  I tied it all together with some Basic Gray stitched grosgrain and a butterfly stamped and punched out with the Elegant Butterfly punch.