Stamp with Annette

Corner Bookmark

I stamped with my friend Sharla's students a couple of weeks ago. She teaches 3rd and 4th graders, and we wanted to do something they could give to their moms for Mother's Day. As she has 75 kids that come through her room throughout the day, it had to be something quick and easy. This is what I came up with:

I loved how these turned out! We used Designer Papers from Sale-a-Bration, so those are no longer available. The Hemp Twine is on the retirement list, so it will soon be gone as well.These bookmarks were the perfect project. They were something a little different, and the kids were able to complete them quickly. I will try to do a tutorial on these soon.

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

April Stamp Club Take 2

Our second project for stamp club this month was a cute little treat holder:

I love the way this turned out! This is what we did:

1. Stamped the Medallion stamp with Baja Breeze ink on Baja Breeze card stock.

2. Used the Labels Framelit to cut out the shape. (We used the third largest.)

3. Used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder to add some texture.

4. Used the Simply Scored tool to score two lines, one half inch on either side of the middle point.

5. Punched a hole at the top with the Crop-a-Dile.

6. Put a little Snail down the center and placed two Hershey's Nuggets in the center.

7. Tied with the Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon and added a tag made with the Scallop Trim Border punch. The greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.

I'm thinking these will make a great party favor for the anniversary party I am helping with next week. Now to make some with Basic Gray and Regal Rose. :-)

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Christmas to Valentine's... Take 3

Friday got away from me. So sorry! But I hope today's projects will make up for having to wait. This is the last project that I had for my 12 Weeks of Christmas:

My friend Jessica made it, and I absolutely love it! She used the Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper and Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler card stocks. The Winter Wishes Stitched Felt was in the Holiday Mini Catalog and no longer available, but you could replace it with punch art, stamped images or create your own felt pieces. The letters were cut out using the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies for the Big Shot. I think it would be great to make this now, and then be able to pull it out in December, all ready to go! :-) I love, love, love this dsp. It will probably only be available until May 31, so now's a great time to get it.

When I was trying to decide how to turn this Christmas idea into a Valentine's idea, I debated over several ideas. I thought about making one that said "love" and had hearts and other Valentine's embellishments. I know I would really like that! But then I saw an idea on Pinterest that I really liked, too. So my Valentine frame is this:

It says "I love you because..." You use a dry erase marker to complete the sentence. Then you can change your reason as often as you like. I started out making this with Riding Hood Red. I changed it for two reasons: 1) I didn't like the red with this frame that I had. 2) I decided I want to put this on our bathroom counter and Always Artichoke matches my bathroom. So it's not your traditional Valentine colors.

I used My Digital Studio to create my images. I just filled a page with the Designer Series Paper and created a text box for the words. I printed it on Whisper White card stock (it filled most of the page). I cut a 5X7 piece for the background, trimmed around the words, and layered them on Always Artichoke card stock. The hearts are punched out with the Heart to Heart punch from Always Artichoke and Brushed Gold card stocks. When I finally figured out what I wanted to do, this was extremely easy to put together!

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Christmas to Valentine's... Take 2

This is the second of three Christmas projects that I didn't have a chance to share before Christmas:

Super cute gift card holder created by my friend Karen! She used the Holiday Stocking die to create it. The Two Tags die was used for the tag. The accent pieces were run through the Big Shot with the Snow Burst embossing folder. The Stocking die and the embossing folder were in the Holiday Mini Catalog but are still available. However, the Dear Santa stamp set that Karen used on the tag is not. (We may see it in the next big catalog; we'll find out in July!)

To create the background on the stocking, Karen placed her stamp pad directly on the card stock and pressed lightly. Now that you know that, you can probably see the rectangular outline; that's the edge of her stamp pad. She just repeated the process all of the stocking with two different colors. This is Karen's signature technique. :-) How is this a gift card holder, you ask? Well, simply cut out two stockings and glue them together, leaving the top edge open. (Note: Be sure your glue - I used Tombow Mulit - is just on the outside edge or your gift cards won't fit.) Wouldn't it be cute to have a tree full of stockings?! Hmmm, maybe next year. :-)

Ok, so I needed to turn a Christmas stocking into a Valentine's idea. I wasn't sure how I was going to do that, and then I saw an idea using Valentine socks to count down to Valentine's day. These days, they make socks for every holiday, so that's what I did:

Here they are a little closer:

I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, Real Red card stock, Very Vanilla Craft pad, clear embossing powder, and Victoria Crochet Trim.

I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, Whisper White card stock, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, and Pretty in Pink Classic pads, Pretty in Pink 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Rhinestone Brad, Heart to Heart punch.

Real Red and Whisper White card stock, Real Red marker, white gel pen.

The frame is one that I had been planning to put chicken wire in and haven't had time to finish. So instead, I stretched a piece of our hemp twine across the back and used some small clothes pins from my stash to hang the socks. I think I need to find a different colored wall to hang it on, but I do like the finished project. My kids will really like it if on Valentine's Day they find gift cards in those socks. :-)

If you haven't been buying and redoing old picture frames like me, you could just tack some twine to the wall to hangs some socks. Change them out for every holiday! Let's do some four leaf clovers for March, Easter eggs for April, flowers for May... It would be so fun to have a spot for a little treat each month.

Tomorrow I will be sharing a super cute collage frame that my friend Jessica created. And a Valentine idea for that frame. :-)

Have a great Thursday! Happy stampin, everyone!

Annette

Christmas to Valentine's... Take 1

Last week I mentioned that I didn't get to finish my 12 Weeks of Christmas email series - for various reasons - but I still wanted to share the projects with you. They're awesome! Some of us might actually start getting ready for Christmas 2012 now, but that would not be me. I'm doing good to be ready for today! So to make these projects relevant, I decided to turn them into Valentine's ideas. You get one today, one tomorrow and one on Friday. :-) I hope you enjoy them. Here's the project for today:

These wonderful gift bags were made by my friend Karen. She used the Letters from Santa Designer Series Papers to make the bags and the Stocking die for the Big Shot to make the tag. Here is my Valentine's version:

I used Basic Black (12X12), Whisper White, and Real Red card stocks. The hearts were made with the Heart to Heart and Small Heart punches and the Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit. I embossed some of the hearts using the Stripes and Perfect Polk-a-Dots Embossing Folders. Here's a little detail for you:

For the handles, I used 5/8" Basic Black Satin Ribbon and 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain. I just put Snail on the back of the grosgrain to attach it to the satin ribbon.

Next time you need a gift bag, just grab this pattern and some of your scrapbooking supplies and make one to match the fabulous card I know you will already have made! :-) Download Gift_Bag_Pattern

Come back tomorrow to see the stocking die turned Valentine!

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Fun Halloween Treat

I wanted the Stocking Die from the moment I saw it. Then I saw some out-of-the-box ideas done with it, and now I need it! We made this at stamp club last night:

Who would have thought it?! Certainly not me. :-) This project combines the Stocking die with a 3 1/2" circle and a couple of embossing folders to make a stinkin' cute witch's boot. We made the tag with the Wicked Cool stamp set and circle punches. Here's a view from an angle that lets you see more detail:

If you look close, you can see the circle on top of the toe of the stocking. When looking at it in person, the embossing folder really camouflages the circle, so you don't notice it.

I borrowed my sister's die to get these ready for stamp club. I will be ordering it now. :-)

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Eek!

I'm loving the It's a Wrap stamp sets that SU! has come out with! There is one in the main catalog and a new holiday one in the Holiday Mini. The images fit on mailing labels and can be wrapped around small chocolates (Hershey's Nuggets are perfect!). They are also make great focal points or greetings on cards, like the one I showed yesterday. At stamp club this month, we used them with chocolates:

We used the Batty for You and Wicked Cool stamp sets, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, and Whisper White card stocks, Stazon Black, Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, and Pumpkin Pie Classic inks, the Spider Web embossing folder with the Big Shot, and small flat cello bags.

I love this! It's a quick and easy project that would make a teacher or co-worker feel appreciated.

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Gift for a new dad

My daughter wanted me to help her make something for Zoey's daddy for his first Father's Day. This is what we came up with:

No stamping here, but we did use Stampin' Up! supplies. We inked up Z's hand and foot with Basic Black Craft ink, made the prints on Whisper White card stock, and embossed with clear embossing powder. We layered with Basic Black textured card stock. Emily printed out the name and date on Whisper White as well. The prints have a silver brad in each corner. Tip: We lifted the other two squares with two Dimensionals. One Dimensional just wasn't thick enough, so we stacked them to raise the squares more.

It really did turn out nice; this picture doesn't do it justice. If I were going to make one for me, I would add some pink. And some ribbon. And some flower embellishments. But for a guy, black and white, silver brads, straight lines.. It works! :-)

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

Love Letter DSP

The ladies at church had a baby shower for Emily Sunday afternoon. We needed a little something to give to the hostesses, so of course I wanted it to be hand stamped. I put my thinking cap on and came up with this:

I used 3 1/2" coasters covered with Love Letter Designer Series Paper for the covers. I. Love. This. Paper! My sister was here for the shower, so she and Em helped me put them together.

We needed a few. We had lots of hostesses. And my sister needed one. And Zoey's other grandma needed one, too. They were too cute to not!

We put the big polka dots on the back cover. And the little polka dots in the pens. Have you seen Little Miss Matched things in the baby department? Emily loves them! Zoey has a few things waiting for her to be able to wear them. Coordinating colors with contrasting designs. That's the look we were going for.

The embellishment on the front is a bottle cap magnet. We cut each person's first initial out of Basic Black card stock with the Billboard Sizzlet Decorative Strip Die and the Big Shot. The background is Very Vanilla, stamped with Basic Black Craft ink and the Charming stamp set, embossed with clear embossing powder. The 1" circle punch is the perfect size for the bottle caps. That's a washer on the Basic Black oval. We glued it on with Crystal Effects.

The super strong magnet on the back is glued on with E-6000. I've tried Crystal Effects, but it didn't hold long term. But maybe I need to try putting a little on the cap, a little on the magnet, letting it sit for ten minutes, then stick them together. That's what the directions were for the E-6000 for two non-porous surfaces. Hmmm...

Project tips:

• You can flatten bottle caps with your Big Shot. Open the multipurpspe platform to the thinnest level (lift both tabs). Your sandwich should be thin platform, cutting pad, bottle caps, cutting pad. Roll them on through!
• A thin layer of Crystal Effects provides a wonderful look for your bottle caps! Mod Podge will do in a pinch, but Crystal Effects has a much nicer look.
• Classic ink will run when covered with Crystal Effects. I have found that Craft ink embossed with clear powder gives me the look I want.
• The Crop-a-dile will punch through bottle caps! It makes a hole that is a little big for a jump ring, but you could use a chain or ribbon. When making a hole in the ruffled edge of the bottle cap, punch it before you flatten the cap.
• I used a binding machine to create the notebooks, but metal rings would work just as well. And you could tie more ribbon on them. Can you have too much ribbon?
• The inside pages of my books are made from copy paper. I cut them 3" X 3 1/4", allowing that extra 1/4" for binding..

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette

A Baby Gift

Emily went to Nebraska for Erin's baby shower last weekend. Little Memphis will be making his debut into this world in late January. We had been talking about it for weeks, but of course at the last minute, I was trying to get my part of the gift ready. I really do try to get things done in advance, but somehow it just doesn't work. Good thing stampin' is quick and easy!

I fixed a couple of burp cloths by sewing super soft fabric onto the center section of some cloth diapers.

There was nothing Stampin' Up! on the burp cloths, so I needed something else. :-) I opened My Digital Studio (our digital scrapbooking software) and created a couple of images for iron on transfers.

Too cute! And my guess is that Erin won't find too many things with his name on them, so that makes this even better.

We needed a gift bag, so I started with a plain white one. I cut some circles with the Big Shot, the Circles #2 die, and some Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper. Then I cut the word "baby" with the Simple Serif alphabet dies and Bashful Blue card stock.

Stampin' Tip: Use your grid paper and a straight edge to get things straight on your project.

I made sure the gift bag was straight on the grid paper. Then I placed a straight edge where I wanted my letters, making sure both ends were on the same line on the grid paper. I left my ruler in place while I glued each letter. Love my grid paper!

Here is the finished bag and 3X3 gfit card:

Happy stamping, everyone!

Annette