Throwback Thursday...You're My Type

Do you find yourself gravitating toward stamp sets and images that bring back memories?  That is what today's stamp set does for me.  When I saw "You're My Type" in the Occasions Catalog last year, immediately I was taken back to my childhood and remembering the days of typing on my grandfather's typewriter.  He had a home office in which I loved to pretend that I was a secretary typing important documents.  I even remember when he upgraded to the typewriter that stored a line of typing and then printed when you came to the end of the line.  I was big stuff playing with that!  Those memories aren't so much about the typewriter as they are about my grandfather.  He was a wonderful man whom I adored.  He was a huge part of my life and I feel so fortunate to have had him for the 17 years that I did.  When I went looking for a picture of him, I found this one of him with me.  Despite the dress, I absolutely love the picture.   So, in memory of my sweet Pop Pop, I share with you today's samples.  

This first sample is one that I made and it is still one of my favorites.  I used paper piecing to make it look as though the paper had been typed on.  Between the vintage tags and the First Edition DSP, the whole look I was trying to achieve came together.  I really miss that DSP!

The next samples are ones that I received at Stampin' Up! events.  Unfortunately, neither has a name on the back so I can't give credit to the people who made them.  If you are reading this and they are yours, let me know and I will add your name.

In an attempt to organize my stamp room, I am going through my retired stamp sets and keeping only the ones that mean something to me or that I use often.  I am storing any samples that I have using that set in the case with the stamps.  How do you organize your samples?  I would love to hear!!!

Inspiration

Inspiration can strike me in the strangest ways.  This morning, it happened as I was driving my boys to school.  Once in a while, they change the radio station without me noticing.  Today just happened to be one of those mornings and before I could change it back, I realized I was listening to music that I loved in high school.  When I questioned it, my oldest told me that it was Throwback Thursday.  You realize you're old when the music you thought was cool is now chosen for Throwback Thursday.  Instead of letting it bother me, I decided to sing along and an idea hit me.  Throwback Thursday would be fun for my blog.  I keep lots of my retired stamp sets and I use them when an idea hits me.  I never think to share them because they are retired.  Not anymore!  Starting today, it is time to say hello to some old favorites.  To kick-off Throwback Thursday, I have 2 of my favorites cards to share with you.  Enjoy!

As a mom of boys, this first card showcases one of my most loved stamp sets, By Land.  This was the 2nd birthday invitation for my little guy.  I used the truck to create the belly band.  When you remove the belly band, the flaps open to reveal the party details.

The next card uses a set that I had a lot of fun with but it never seemed too popular.  Totally A-maze-ing appeared in the Occasions Catalog in 2012.  I created this card as part of a contest for our annual Leadership Conference and won!  I had to keep it because it brings back memories of a fun trip to San Antonio.

Now, I want to offer the opportunity to win some blog candy!!! 

I'm giving away an Artisan Embellishments kit perfect for Valentines' Day along with some Dazzling Details.  Tell me your favorite retired Stampin' Up! stamp set in the comment section to have your name entered into the drawing.  You have until 11:00pm on Sunday evening to leave a comment.  I will randomly choose one name and then post the lucky winner on Monday morning.  And, I may even use your favorite retired set on a Throwback Thursday!

Handmade Christmas Gift

One of the things that I want to focus on this year is spending more quality time with the ones that I love.  I had been thinking about this a lot when I came upon a gift idea for my husband, 12 months of dates.  The idea I found was a basket filled with 12 envelopes, each holding a date for that month.  On the first of each month, he would open the envelope labeled with that month and they would plan a day to have that date.  I loved the idea but the thought of waiting to open each envelope didn't appeal to me.  I wanted J to see what he was getting for Christmas so I decided to create a little book.  My big dilemma was making it masculine enough to seem like a gift for him.  I'm not sure that I accomplished that but I knew that as soon as he saw Carolina Hurricanes hockey tickets in it, he wouldn't care.

I started with chipboard book pieces that Stampin' Up! sold a long time ago.  I bought some extra packs because I knew they would come in handy one day.  Without these, you can just cut chipboard to the size you prefer.  I used a pack of DSP, I Am Me, and cut it into 5 x 7.5 inch pieces.  I rounded the corners of each piece, covered the chipboard with glue stick and stuck them on.  After the glue dried, I sanded the edges to give it that finished touch.  Once the pages were all covered, I used my Big Shot letters and cut the names of the months.

You can see that I glued the month on the left side and then glued a pocket made from the chevron bags on the right.  My plan is to take a picture and glue it on the left so that this will become a little memory book of our 2014 dates.  In each pocket, I put a tag describing the date for the month and anything that goes with it.  For some of the dates, I went ahead and purchased a gift card so that the date would already be paid for leaving us with no excuse to skip the month.  I punched my holes with the crop-a-dile and put it all together with large binder rings.  I'm so excited with the final product and J loved it.  With Valentine's Day coming up, this is a perfect gift idea for your sweetie.  For dating ideas to go in the book, I highly recommend the Dating Divas.  Even if you aren't making a book, they have great ideas to check out!

Beach Wedding

I love that what I make out of paper has the power to make people happy.  It is such a good feeling to hear that someone loved a card or gift they received from you.  When a friend of mine asked me to make her wedding invitations, I asked her what she was looking for and she told me "something beachy" using dark blue and pink.  Well, that is a pretty wide open request.  I immediately thought about By the Tide and Midnight Muse.  I wasn't sure how I would tie in the pink until I realized that the coral stamp could be done in Pink Pirouette and not stand out too much.  Crumb Cake was the perfect color to tie it all together.  When it was all done, I had made her invitations, placecards and programs.  She told me that I created a fantastic wedding theme for her which made me so happy.  With a little bit of paper and ink, I helped to make her day special.  Congrats, Katie & Mike!  Thanks for letting me be a part of your wedding!

This first picture is the focal piece that I used on both the invitations and the programs.  The window framelits created the shape.  By the Tide was stamped with Midnight Muse (stamped off twice- writing), Crumb Cake (shell) and Pink Pirouette (coral).  The letter comes out of Morning Post and is stamped in Midnight Muse at full strength.  I paper pierced the midnight muse piece and tied the invitation together with the natural trim.

This is the invitation tied up and ready to send.  The printed invitation was glued to the inside of the folder after being mounted to a midnight muse layer.  The rsvp card and envelope were placed inside the folder.

This was part of my gift to them and I love how it turned out.  I used the invitation to create a cover for this little ring scrapbook.  I cut the back piece from crumb cake to match the front and then laminated them both.  I put a large binder ring through them and tied the midnight muse and natural ribbon to the ring.  They can put cards and any memorabilia on this ring to create a neat little keepsake of their special day.

Now is the TIme to Stock Up!

Buy three, get one FREE!!! - Designer Series Paper

Offer Dates: July 1-31, 2013

Offer Details: Buy three packs of select Designer Series Paper and get one for free!

The Fine Print:

• These items do not qualify for the offer:
  • Designer Series Paper Stacks
  • Specialty Designer Series Paper
  • Designer Series Paper ordered through hostess benefits
• Orders may be placed on any type of order (workshop, customer, or online).
• No limits. Order six? You'll get two for free. Nine? You'll get three for free.
• Check out our Designer Series Papers in the annual catalog pages 151, 153, and 154.

Choose from the Designer Series Paper packs below for super savings in July!:

• 130140 Soho Subway
• 131390 Afternoon Picnic
• 130138 I Am Me
• 129310 Gingham Garden
• 130129 Etcetera
• 130145 Birthday Basics
• 130144 Venetian Romance
• 130131 Eastern Elegance
• 126926 Modern Medley
• 126902 Polka Dot Parade
• 130814 Epic Day This and That 

Fun with Young Stampers

I had so much fun on Tuesday night.  I got invited to stamp with a troop of Daisy Girl Scouts.  The girls needed to make thank you cards for the SPCA to send to those people who adopt animals through them and she thought I might like to help.  As soon as she asked, I knew the perfect stamp set, Animal Talk.  I created 2 cards for each of them to make to give to the SPCA but I wanted them to also make something to take home with them.  I love frogs and the frog in this set is absolutely adorable so I thought it would be fun to let them make a bookmark.  Here is a picture of the dog card and the bookmark.  Enjoy!

Supplies:  

• Animal Talk stamp set
• Colors: Garden Green, Tangerine Tango, Bashful Blue (color combination is right from the Color Coach)

Sent with Love

Whenever there is a pack of designer paper that matches a stamp set, I will buy it!  I love the coordination.  Add a set for My Digital Studio to it and I have to have it all.  Luckily, my husband isn't reading this so I know he isn't aware of this weakness.  When Stampin' Up introduced this set, I fell in love right away.  I absolutely love to travel so the airplane just makes me smile.  One of the sheets of designer paper has all kinds of images that can be cut out and used to make fun focal points.  When I saw the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week, I thought it would be a fun one to do with this set.

Supplies

• Sent with Love stamp set and designer series paper
• Whisper White, Island Indigo & Real Red cardstock
• Island Indigo Classic Ink
• Cloudy Day Embossing Folder
• Real Red Button
• Island Indigo Twine

More Organizing

Since I posted the menu board yesterday, I thought I would share another organizer that I made.  This one was done in MDS.  I made a 12x12 sheet for each boy and placed them in their own 12x12 frames.  I then used Crystal Effects to glue a few clothespins onto the glass of the frame.  We have been using them to keep track of chores, allowance and other stuff.  The boys like them and I am more deliberate about keeping track of their chores.

Monday Makeover - Just Believe

I love pulling out stamp sets that haven't seen ink in a while and that is the case with the Just Believe set.  I loved this set and had to have it but I just haven't used it much lately.  When I was trying to decide which card to make over from the catalog, I was checking out some sketch challenges on-line and came across the challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches.  When I saw it, I knew exactly which card I wanted to do.  I guess it isn't one card though, it is 2 projects merged together.  My card is a little bit of the catalog card on page 76 and the framed picture on page 77.  I put them together using the following sketch.

So, here is my card.  It is hard to tell from the picture but there is actually a white layer on top of the white card base.  I love the look this creates and find myself doing it all the time.  Enjoy!

Supplies: Just Believe stamp set; Whisper White and Primrose Petals cardstock; Primrose Petals, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight and Gumball Green Classic Ink; Whisper White Craft Ink with White Embossing Powder; Vintage Faceted Buttons; white twine and Primrose Petals ribbon.

Cards for Kids

Over the summer, I had a party with a friend's daughter, her friends and their moms.  It was so exciting to see the girls get into their projects and have a good time doing something crafty.  This was a group of 6th graders and they really took their time and made adorable cards.  Last night, I went to the NC State Fair and was walking through the winning card contest entries.  It's fun for me to see all the winning cards that have been made with Stampin' Up! products.  When I got to the 10-18 age group, I did a double-take.  One of the girls from the workshop had entered her cards that she made and got Best of Show for BOTH!  I was so excited for her and will drop her a congrats card in the mail!  I took pictures and wanted to share them with you.  Both cards are great layouts for kids.  They can change up the stamps and colors and make a lot of fun cards.  Congrats, Joanna, and thanks for showing other girls what they can do with a little ink and paper!

   

Scrapbooking Realization

For seven years, our bonus room has been home to all of my craft supplies.  Recently, we decided that we would move our oldest son into the bonus room so that he and his brother would each have their own bedroom. Had we not already decided to change the dining room into my stamp room, I would have been devastated with this decision but the dining room is my new favorite room in the house.  I painted it a beautiful shade of Pool Party and made it a very girly room which makes me happy because the laundry room is the only other girly room in this house and how much do you think I enjoy being in there?  Well, over the last couple months, I have been moving my stamp stuff and creating a space that will work for me.  Now, the room is full and I am left with a huge amount of scrapbooking stuff still in the bonus room.  For the last couple days, I have thought and thought about how I want to set up all my scrapbook stuff.  Truth be told, I really don't even want to look at it because all it does is remind me how far behind I am in telling the story of our family.  Then, while sitting in the dentist office, it hit me.  I don't need all that stuff anymore!!!  Check out my first set of pages that will be in my 2012 family album, made in MDS.  It only took me about 15 minutes and it was even fun to create.  I'm so excited by this decision and feel that I might actually get some scrapbooking done.

Mitten Makeover

I am so excited to be a guest over on Pink Paper Bakery today.  The website is done by a group of very talented girls in my downline.  They work really hard to show you awesome projects, you will have to check it out!

Today's makeover is from the Holiday Catalog.  On page 10, in the top right corner, is an adorable little treat bag.  I have eyed this little bag for a while and decided to remake it into a card.  I didn't have the wheel so I used what I had and this is what I created.  Hope you like it!

Supplies: Make a Mitten & Sweet Essentials stamp sets; Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White cardstock; Gumball Green, Early Espresso & Whisper White ink; Naturals Button and Cherry Cobbler Twine.  Note: I used dimensionals in between the 2 whisper white layers.

Monday Makeover - Gently Falling

I love catchy little titles and so it seems I have come upon my new Monday theme.  There are so many beautiful cards on the internet and in the Stampin' Up! catalog but many of them are not practical for mass production or even just making a single one when you don't have everything you need.  I have decided that Monday will be the day when I take one of these wonderful WOW projects and show you how to simplify but still end up with a beautiful card.  The card that I am featuring today is one that I saw on someone's blog.  I apologize for not remembering whose but if it is you, let me know so I can give you the credit you deserve.  I had to make this card because it was absolutely beautiful.

To make it, you stamp the images on the single piece of cardstock and then trim it down into 3 equal pieces and mount with dimensionals.  The antique brad is the perfect touch with the linen thread tied around it.  I love this card but when I saw it, I was looking for a card that our card ministry could mass produce in a small amount of time.  I really liked the look but I knew there was no way that we could make 40 in an hour.  So, I created a simplified version and I really like how it turned out.

It is the same card but it doesn't have to be cut into pieces, there is no brad or thread to be tied.  I think the piece of this card that I like the most is the vanilla background layer that the top layer is adhered to with dimensionals.  The colors are More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Garden Green, all perfect for the fall.

Come to Bethlehem with Texture

There is still time to register for the second session of my Christmas Card Crank on Tuesday, October 9th.  There are 2 ways to participate.  If you are local, sign up and join us to make 16 cards in one evening.  If you aren't local, I can prepare all the pieces for your cards and send them to you to put together.  Either way, visit my Stampin' Up! website and register under the events on my calendar.  I have included a peek at one of the cards we will be making that night.  The embossed piece on this card adds an elegant touch.  I love the embossing folders so when I saw the SUO Challenge this week (use texture!), I had to enter.  Enjoy!

Wicked Cool

I really think that I bought this stamp set for its name.  The image with the witch boots is my favorite but I didn't even use it on this card.  I have been planning to do the Saturday Challenge at Pink Paper Bakery for weeks and I knew this was the perfect stamp set for it.  The challenge is to create a card with masking or reverse masking.  I chose reverse masking to give the impression of the moon behind the candelabra.  I stamped the image in black first.  To create the moon, I punched a 1 3/8" circle out of a rectangle piece of cardstock.  Instead of using the circle, I used the rectangle piece as a stencil and sponged the moon.  Now, I had the image I wanted but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.  Then, I came upon the Fab Friday sketch challenge and it all just came together.

I love the bats stamped on the First Edition DSP and the button adds a finishing touch.  I really had a lot of fun with this card and I hope that you enjoy it.

Supplies: Wicked Cool stamp set; Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie and Very Vanilla cardstock; Black Staz-On Ink; Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink, sponge, neutral buttons, linen thread, First Edition DSP & Polka Dot Parade DSP

I Dig You

When I saw the sketch on Freshly Made Sketches, I knew exactly what I wanted to use.

The chevron print in the Festival of Prints DSP stack is one of my favorites and I wanted to use it in a non-Christmas way.  I combined it with the truck from I Dig You, a favorite in my house full of boys, and here it is.  Enjoy!

 Supplies: I Dig You stamp set, Basic Black cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock, Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink, Black Staz-on Ink and Neutral Buttons

CCMC220 Snow Much Fun

I absolutely love this stamp set.  These snowmen are so cute to me and the little bird running on the snowball is my favorite.  When I saw the color challenge on Create with Connie & Mary, I knew that I wanted to use it with this set.

 This was one of the cards from my Christmas Card Class last night but we made it without the button.  I like it with the bling but it isn't as "mailable" that way.

Have a great weekend!
Kim

Butterfly Project Remade

I loved the little butterfly box that was shown at Regionals this past weekend.  I decided to try it out with a Halloween theme.  It is a fairly easy box to put together so I think I will make 2 more of them and give them to the boys on Halloween as a little treat.

The box is a window sheet cut to be 3 1/2" x 8" and then scored at 1 1/2", 3 3/4", 5 1/4" and 7 1/2".  I used sticky strip to put it together and it held well.  The top and bottom are made out of the Window Framelit die (not the smallest but the one before it).  Once they are cut, score them to look like the one in the picture.  Once it is put together, tie the ribbon around the top and add a little tag.  I used the Monster Munchies stamp set, black staz-on ink, tangerine tango classic ink, very vanilla cardstock, Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP and the gray striped ribbon in the Holiday Catalog.

Happy Stamping!
Kim