Faux Silk Card

Today you're getting a close-up veiw of the Faux Silk card that we'll be stamping at the techniques class this Saturday. The faux silk technique looks really cool but is really easy -- which is the best combination of stamping techniques, right? I should have something new for you all tomorrow (hopefully the star tutorial!).

Last call for the Faux Fabrics Techniques Class

Just a reminder, Monday, March 31, 2008 is the last day to sign up for the April 5, 2008 techniques class. This month we'll be making the four cards pictured here, each one featuring a different faux fabric technique. We'll learn how to create faux suade, faux denim, faux linen and faux silk. And while it's not a specific technique, as you can see in the Happy Father's Day card, we'll be stamping a faux bandanna as well. Just a little bonus!

Club members may choose this as their free April class, but must register by tomorrow's deadline.

Also, don't forget that anyone who signs up by tomorrow, Monday, March 31, for the pretty in pink class (either the in-person class scheduled for April 16 or the class-by mail version) will receive materials to make a bonus 7th card!

To register for the faux fabrics class or the pretty in pink class just e-mail me at stampwithdiane@comcast.net.

3d star

Here's another really cool card from Glenda's stamp camp. I love this card because of the fun colors but also because of the 3-d green star. I didn't have a chance to do a tutorial on how to make this star before I left for vacation, but I will upload one when I return next week, so stay tuned.

Thanks for your support!

Isn't this card awesome? This is another card from Glenda's stamp camp, but this one was designed by one of my awesome Stampers in Stitches sidelines, Kim Hands. What a fun way to use the sentiment from the Sassy Suzie set together with our scalloped circle punch. Woo Hoo! A great, sassy card!

Just Lovely

We stamped this awesome card at Glenda's stamp camp this month. You have to look carefully at the picture but you can see that we first6 wheeled on a design with versamark and a jumbo wheel onto shimmery white card stock and then embossed the design on white. It just looks lovely!

We then used the Always set to stamp the heart in black stazon and colored the image with soft subtles markers and blender pen (for the soft sky). A simple sentiment and a bit of white taffeta ribbon and some soft sky matting and base finish off the card beautifully. It really is just lovely!

stained glass window

I know you've seen this card before -- it served as a sample for my layout of the month. This was the card we stamped at my marker techniques 102 class to illustrate the stained glass window technique. The base is perfect plum and the mats are pale plum. The sentiment is stamped with black stazon on whisper white and the designs are stamped with black stazon on vellum card stock, colored with various soft subtles markers on the other side of the vellum, and matted with whisper white card stock before being added to the cad. the vellum is folded one side so that it can be attached to the white card stock from the back (that way the adhesive doesn't show) and the other side is attached with the brad and the certainly celery mat.

I'm on a cruising vacation right now, so you will not see as many posts this week. Hope you all are having ad much fun as I am!

multi-color stippling

This is another card we stamped at the Markers 102 class, this time to illustrate the stippling technique. The card was totally inspired by an article in Stampin' Success, our monthly demonstrator magazine, which used this very stamp and colors to illustrate this technique. The project in the article wasn't a card, but it was very easy to modify the idea to create this card design.


I have to tell you that when I first saw this technique. which involves using the point of the marker to fill in an image, I thought it was a bit too much work for too little payoff, but once I actually made my sample it I loved it! It's a totally unique look that you simply cannot achieve with any tool other than the writing tip of our stampin' write markers (you can use the brush tip for stippling as well, but that would not have worked to fill in the space between the two fine lines on this image). To finish off the card I added a background from the itty bitty backgrounds set to the base of the card, to mimic the stippling on the image.


Here's the recipe:

stamps: Fun and Fast Notes, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Paper: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, whisper white

Ink: Rose Red classic ink pad, rose red, pumpkin pie, tempting turquoise and old olive stampin' write markers

Accessories: old olive wide grosgrain ribbon.

Happy Easter!

Hi everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful Easter holiday. This was a 2 page 6x6 scrap layout that we stamped at Glenda's last stamp camp. I thought it was just adorable! I especiallty like the cosmo glitter on the eggs -- nice and blingy!


Here's the recipe:


Stamps: Good Egg, Ticker Tape Alphabet

Paper: Bashful Blue, old olive, so saffron, pumpkin pie, whisper white

Ink: Bashful Blue, old olive, so saffron

accessories: Flowers for you punchbox, 2 wayglue pen, cosmo glitter, signo white gel pen

Two color embossing

Here's another card we stamped at my Marker Techniques 102 class. I used this card to showcase using markers to heat emboss an image in two colors. The cherries from the Tart n' Tangy set lend themselves particularly well to this technique so, of course, I had to use them and pair them up with the awesome summer picnic double sided designer paper. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Tart n' Tangy, Celebrate Everything

Paper: bashful blue, old olive, real red, whisper white, summer picnic double sided designer paper

Ink: Versamark, real red and old olive stampin' write markers

Accessories: clear embossing powder, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, wide real red grosgrain ribbon

Watch for my Marker Techniques 103 class coming in late April!

Tree thumping

This was one of the cards we stamped at my Marker Techniques 102 class. I used this card to illustrate the thumping technique. The technique works particularly well with images that are detailed and are intended to be multi-colored, like flowers and leaves. My particular favorite stamp set for this technique is, of course, Lovely as a Tree.


I really like the away this card turned out. The interplay of the different greens makes it nice for spring and the combination of Oak tree image and argyle motif on the designer paper makes it a nice card for a guy. In fact, at class most of the students chose to make this into a masculine birthday card (we can ever have enough of those, right?).


Here's the card recipe:


Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Certainly celery and chocolate chip classic ink pads, chocolate chip, old olive and always artichoke stampin' write markers

Paper: certainly celery, chocolate chip, always artichoke, whisper white, old olive prints double sided designer paper

Accessories: ticket corner punch, earth elements brads.

One more pink n' pretty card

This card is not from the pretty in pink class, but since I was already playing with my pretties kit I decided to use the kit for the make and take at my downline meeting last night, and this was the card we made.

Instead of using Berry Bliss designer paper, I used the bali Breeze paper which has this lovely tone on tone rose red designer paper. I also used the Think Happy Thoughts set for the center of the flower. It was a quick and simple card, but the combination of the large pretties flower and the beaded hat pin gives it a lot of impact! What woman wouldn't want to get this card on her brthday?

Here is the card recipe:

Stamps: Think Happy thoughts
Paper: Rose red, pretty in pink, bali breeze double sided designer paper
Ink: Rose Red
Accessories: Pretties kit, pretty in pink taffeta ribbon.

Pretty in Pink

As promised, here's a peek at the projects we'll be making at my Pretty in Pink class on April 16. All of the cards will feature the Berry Bliss designer series paper as well as various items from the pretties kit. You won't believe how easy it will be to dress up your cards!

The cost of the class will be $20 for 6 cards and registration and payment will be due on April 4. Anyone who registers and pays by March 31 will get to make a bonus 7th card at the class (not pictured here - it'll be a surprise!).

If you'd like to make the cards but can;t make it to the class, I will make this class available by mail. You must register and pay within the above mentioned time frame and the class materials will be mailed to you on April 17. The class packet will include instructions and all materials necessary to make the card except for adhesive (glue dots will be included for the half pearls,) the One of a Kind stamp set and the chocolate chip and pretty in pink ink pads. The $20 fee will include shipping. As with the in-person students, class-by -mail students who register by March 31 will get the materials to make a bonus card.

My club members may attend this class for free to make 4 of the 6 cards or pay a $5.00 fee to make all 6 cards, but you must register and let me know your choice of options by the regular deadline.

Last Birthday Whimsy card

As of today, 2008 Sale-A-Bration is officially over. So this will probably be my last card using this year's Sale-A-Bration stamps. You probably already guessed that this was the birthday whimsy card from my SAB card class. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Birthday Wimsey
Ink: pretty in pink, purely pomegranate, chocolate chip, so saffron
Paper: pretty in pink, whisper white, berry bliss double sided designer series paper
Accessories: ticket corner punch, chocolate chip wide grosgrain ribbon, crystal effects.

I really like the way this card turned out. And while I may be moving on from the Sale-A-Bration sets, I'm not giving up on this color combination! In fact, April 16 I will be offering a Pretty in Pink class featuring the berry bliss designer paper and various items from the pretties kit. Tomorrow I'll post a preview of the 6 cards we'll be making and provide details on pricing and an early registration special, so be sure to come back to read all about it!

March Layout of the Month

For my newsleter readers, here is the March layout of the month and the sample card.

Lots of Thoughts on a zig-zag tutorial

Tonight I'm featuring yet another card from my Sale-A- Bration card class. This one uses the Lots of Thoughts stamp set and a super easy layout. To make this card stand out a little beyond the ordinary as well as to show my students a new technique, I decided to use the Stampin' Up! photo corner punch (you can use a square punch as well) to make a zig-zag border at the bottom of the wild wasabi layer.

I actually did this for the first time back in August and even took photos for a tutorial (which is why I use apricot appeal card stock in the photos instead of wild wasabi) but then I had other stuff to upload and the tutorial sort of fell by the wayside until now. Since I'm showing you this card tonight, I thought I might as well show you how to do the zigzag. Enjoy!

I start by inserting a thin metal ruler into the opening of my photo corner (or square) punch.




Using the ruler and a permanent marker, I mark off several distances, making hash marks on the 1/8 inch, 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch lines on one side of the corner.



I then do the same thing on the other side of the corner.




After I do this the punch looks like this. Now, to make the zigzag, all I need to do is insert a piece of card stock into the punch so that the edge of the card stock falls exactly on the hash marks. In this photo I decided to use the 2nd hash mark from the edge.



This is what the card stock should look like after one punch. Now all you have to do is repeat this step, inserting the card stock into the punch so that the bottom edge is even with the same hash marks over and over until the entire length of the card stock is punched.



In this photo I wanted to show you the difference between using the various hash marks. The first 6 "teeth" were punched using the second set of hash marks. The next 3 teeth were done using the 3rd set of hash marks, the next three teeth used the fourth set of hash marks and the next three used the first set of hash marks.

This method of creating a zig zag boarder does require a little patience and some practice, but once you have it down it's really fun and easy. And, once again, it showcases how virtually any punch can do double duty. Woo hoo!

Can't get enough of the rub ons

I know it's gotten to be a bit of an obsession of late, but I just can;t get enough of playing with these Love and Happiness Sale-A-Bration Rub-Ons. I had a few ladies at my Marker Techniques 102 class who haven't seen how these work yet so after class I quickly whipped up this little card. So fast and easy and no clean up! Besides the rub-ons all I used on this card was a piece of confetti white card stock, some old olive poly-twill ribbon, felt fusion flowers, a rhinestone brad and a dimensional to attach the flowers to the card.


There's only a couple of days left to take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration specials, so make sure you place your last minute orders to get more of these fun freebies. Or you can order my Forty Easy Cards class which will include the rub-ons and all materials and instructions you'll need to make your own 40 cards and still have card stock and other materials left over for additional fun projects.

spring friendship

Here is another of my Sale-A-Bration cards, this time stamped with the Friendship Blooms set. The flower in the center was trimmed out with paper snips and popped up on a dimensional. The three smaller regal rose flowers were punched out using the boho blossoms punch. I was trying to make a cute spring card and I think it worked!

Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Friendship Blooms (only 3 more days to earn this set for free with a $50 purchase!)

Card Stock: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Whisper White

Ink: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery

Accessories: Wide Certainly Celery Ribbon, boho blossoms punch, rich regals brads, dimensionals

Spring love

Since Sale-A- Bration is almost over, I'm just going to go on featuring different cards made with Sale-a-Bration products all the way through Monday.

This card is super simple. I used a design and sentiment from the Love & Happiness Sale-A-Bration rub-on pack on a confetti cream base. I added some old olive twill ribbon, felt fusion flowers and fire rhinestone brad for interests and that's all. I tell you, there's nothing to beat rub ons for making super-quick cards with absolutely no clean-up! I love, love, love these!

Merci for die cut stamps!

Here is another card we stamped tonight at my Sale-A-Bration card class. I really like this stamp set and this color combination (taken directly from the ginger blossom designer paper) but what I liked the most is how easy the die cut stamp set made the masking technique. Normally, to do masking, you have to stamp an image on a second sheet of paper and cut it out. I like cutting, so this isn't a huge deal, but even I can appreciate it when Stampin' Up! saves me a little time and effort.

With the Sale-A-Bration and Occasions mini stamps being die cut, not only are the stamps easier to mount, they also bring with them an extra bonus. The brown sheet that you normally peel off the foam and throw away now serves as the perfect mask.

When you hand-trim your stamps you do it in straight lines to avoid undercutting. This look is fine for the rubber, but it definitely does not create a nice looking mask. With die cut stamps, however, the stamps are cut with an even outline all around, so the piece you normally discard is actually really useful.

I took this photo so that you could see what I meant. In order to sponge around the main image on the card, I simply placed the brown paper I peeled off the foam when I mounted y stamp set and placed it over my image. Voila! The perfect mask.

By using this method I can be sure that I will not get the sponged ink on any of my image and that I will have a nice "halo" of unsponged card stock around the image. Very cool!

By the way, for this card I used river rock ink to sponge around the mask and then ruby red ink to sponge the edges.

Here's the card recipe:

Stamps: Merci (earn it free through Monday with a $50 purchase)

Paper: River Rock, Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla card stock, ginger blossom double sided designer paper

Ink: Ruby Red, River Rock, Groovy Guava, black stazon

Accessories: River Rock double stitched ribbon, stamping sponge, blender pen, small and large oval punches

magnets

That's right, magnets. That's what I decided to put into my recycled and altered gum dispenser. I'm afraid I wasn't at my most creative. I basically took the flower combination from the top of the lid and replicated it using the same four colors of card stock in slightly different configurations. I used crystal effects to glue a strong magnetic disc to the back of each paper flower and there you have it. In this picture the four magnets I made are very nicely sticking to a plain metal ruler.

And in this photo you can see the magnetic disks behind the flowers. these are heavy-duty thick magnets so I'm confident that the magnets will not only look good, they will be practical too!

This is what a stack of five magnets looks like. It's lopsided because of the brads I used for the centers of the flowers. But the good news is that the brads actually help all the flowers stick together, which means that they all come out of the cylinder at once when you tip it over. I think this is a good thing -- no need to fumble around the bottom of the container trying to get out that last stubborn magnet!

In the last picture you can see the stack of five magnets in the container. Obviously the container is not full. I will need to make a few more of these to fill it. And my prototype will, of course, be a gift to my girlfriend who originally supplied me with the container and (hopefully) will continue to supply me with more.

If you don't like the thought of filling these with magnets, how about decorated peppermint patties or chocolate kisses or mini peanut butter cups? Or, for a more practical office use, why not use crustal effects to glue as magnet to the inside of the lid and use the cup as a paperclip or binder clip holder?

This might also make a fun gift for a card maker if you filled it with lots of colorful punched shapes or bits of ribbon.

Really, the possibilities are endless!

Scallop time

OK, I know that technically it wasn't supposed to be scallop time tonight. I really wanted to show you the "stuffing" for last night's container. Unfortunately, I had a lot of stuff to do today and tonight and I couldn't finish, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

So instead you'll get to see one of the cards we'll be making at my SAB card class Wednesday night. We'll make 6 cards, one with each of the Sale-A-Bration sets and one with the rub-ons. This, obviously, is the card for the so many scallops set. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: So many scallops, background basics

ink: barely banana, bashful blue

card sock: barely banana, bashful blue, brocade blue, whisper white

accessories: scalloped circle punch, small star punch, large star punch, jersey ribbon originals, dimensionals

Don't forget, you only have until next Monday to earn the sale-a-bration products. I know you don't want to miss out on all these great stamp sets and rub-ons, so avoid the last minute rush and shipping delays and place your orders ASAP!

A recycling challenge

The other day a friend showed me this cute little container and asked me if I could use it for one of my stamping projects (eTA apparently it's a gum container that you can put in your car cup holder, for those of use for whom a pack is just not enough.) I admit I hesitated, because I knew the unique hourglass shape was going to be a challenge. But I'm also not a person to shy away from a challenge. Plus, the darned thing was so cute!

What really convinced me was when I saw that the container had a wide mouth flip-top lid. As soon as I realized this I knew that I could make this into something cute and practical. So I grabbed it and stuffed it in my purse for a future project.

I didn't really have a chance to work on it until this weekend. At first, I tried to conform to the hourglass shape, but no matter what I did it just wasn't working. So I gave up that idea and decided to just treat it like a plain cylinder.

I covered the bottom with designer paper, making a notch in the area where you need to lift up the lid. For this project I used some retired Stampin' up! double sided designer paper. I loved the springy colors and the way the two sides coordinated together. I used a strip of the same paper with the reverse side facing out to wrap around the center of the container and added a strip of certainly celery narrow grosgrain ribbon in the center of the strip. I cut the close to cocoa circle with my coluzzle cutting system and added a bashful blue textured bloom from the new pack found in the Occasions mini catalog and a blush blossom flower punched with the boho blossom's punch. For a final touch I used my crop-a-dial to add a jumbo eyelet in the center of the flower, wove the grosgrain ribbon through the eyelet and knotted it. I also added some adhesive to the back of the circle so that it would conform to the cylinder shape.

For the lid I used a narrow strip of the same designer paper around the circumference of the lid and then used the coluzzle again to cut out a designer paper circle for the top of the lid. I added another medallion made up of various punched and die cut pieces held together by a brad for the top of the lid.

Here is what the contained looks like slightly ajar and in the next photo you can see what it looks like when it's fully opened.

What will I put inside? Well, I have an idea that I didn't have time to finish yet, but hopefully I'll be able to upload it tomorrow.

A day off

I have nothing to share today :-(. I did stamp with my friend Liz but the card is going to be my swap card for my downline swap so I don't want to post it here just yet. Sorry! Back to regular programming tomorow!

spring time at MSU

Call me nutty, but I actually love scrap pages that have no people in the photos. I think nature and architecture often speak very well for themselves, without us having to insert ourselves into the picture. If you ever looked into the travel albums that Bill and I put together you'll find a ton of photos, but very few of us. We want to remember the places and things we saw, not to prove to ourselves that we were there -- LOL!

Anyway, this is a scrap page of photos I took a couple of years ago during a spring time visit to the campus of Michigan State University. Years ago, when I was an impressionable junior in high school, similar photos of the Beaumont Tower changed the course of my life forever.

The tower and the campus look great all year long, but spring is by far the most beautiful season on campus. I'm not sure that my photos do it justice, but the trees around the tower were in full bloom at the time of my visit and they looked spectacular!

For the scrap page I used card stock in garden green, certainly celery and purely pomegranate. (Again, it's hard to see in the photo, but the purely pomegranate nicely complimented the pinkish shade of the blooms). I used the cherry blossom stamp from Embrace Life to stamp a background in certainly celery ink on the certainly celery card stock. I stamped the spring time at MSU title using everyday flexible phrases and big deal alphabet. The final touch was adding pretties flowers dyed with purely pomegranate ink to the page using rose red brads and dimensionals.

Peachy keen

I just love the combination of old olive with pumpkin pie, and the Stampin' Up! designers must agree because these two colors are really hot this spring! From ribbon, to designer papers to felt fusion -- you'll find these two colors hanging out all over the place, which makes it really easy to make fun color-coordinate cards!

On this card I started with a naturals ivory base with a layer of close to cocoa stamped with the sanded background in close to cocoa ink. I added some wide twill and some striped ribbon from the Jersey ribbon originals pack.

For the main image I stamped the peach from the fruit stand set (one of my favorites!) in basic brown on naturals ivory, then water colored it using an aqua painter and old olive, certainly celery, pumpkin pie, apricot appeal, and close to cocoa inks. I added a pumpkin pie mat and embellished two of the corners with pumpkin pie narrow grosgrain ribbon and old olive brads. I then layered this onto apiece of designer paper from the bali breeze assortment and attached it to the card front with dimensionals.

I thought this turned out pretty well. Hopefully you'll agree. :-)

February Book of Me

Woo Hoo! The February Book of Me layouts have been sent out! Of course I had to do a pink and red theme for February, but I avoided making any specific Valentine's Day references just in case there was something more important last month for you to scarp about. The little Heart embellishments, stamped with the Simply Said stamp set, as well as the heart-shaped chipboard piece can be easily removed and replaced by journaling or embellishments that draw attention away from Valentine's day.

The kit will arrive with a couple of pieces of uncut real red and regal rose card stock, so that you can trim the card stock to the size of the pictures you are going to use (A good rule of thumb is to make the mat 1/4" larger in each direction than your photo). The packet will also include chipboard, ribbon and brads to help you embellish your layout. This layout is obviously just a suggestion and you should feel free to modify it as you see fit!

You may, for example, prefer to scrap in the landscape format, in which case your layout may look something like this. Or you might want to use larger or smaller pictures, or fewer or more pictures. Or no pictures. It's all really up to you!

You can join the book of me club at any time, but each month's layouts will only be available for 45 days after the end of that month (so the last day to order February 2008 packets will be April 14). Also, for those who join after the end of the month they want to purchase, the price for the previous month will be $15 per packet, instead of the $10 per packet price for members who pay before the end of the month (all shipping and tax included in the price). So you do get a 33% discount for joining and paying early. And while I would love for all members to complete the entire year, there is no penalty for skipping a month (except for the extra fee you'd have to pay if you changed your mind and wanted to purchase a previous month's packet).

Glitter Whimsy

Sometimes life just calls for a very shiny and glittery card, doesn't it? Well, if that call is coming - I can sure deliver!

I stamped this card with my Birthday Whimsey set (earn it free with a $50 purchase now through March 17) because I thought the balloons were perfect for the glitter. The card base is rose red and the first layer is regal rose with the balloons stamped in versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Next I stamped more balloons with versamark but this time I covered them with heat and stick powder and the three different colors of the new cosmo glitter. I arranged them on a white background and added some linen thread. I didn't like the look of the brown thread, though, so I used a stampin' write marker to dye the threads rose red, tempting turquoise and lovely lilac. Just a little note on this process -- it works a lot better if the thread is not already attached to the card when you're doing it. LOL!

I added a tempting turquoise and lovely lilac mat to the balloon image and as the balloon weight I stamped the word celebrate from everyday flexible phrases (or was it amazing to zany? I always forget) and punched it out with the small oval punch, adding a large oval punch mat in rose red. I added a brad to fasten the threats to the "weight" and attached the "weight" to the base with a dimensional to finish off the card. What's nice about the card is that it has a nice feel of motion to it. Really cool!

So Many Occasions

I'm a little late with this announcement, but I just thought I would remind you that The Occasions Mini catalog is now available on-line at the Stampin' Up! web site. I love this catalog! It will definitely be difficult not to order everything in it. I think it's awesome that it includes stamps to fit just about anyone's stamping style plus amazing new accessories like the poly twill ribbon and the new hodge podge hardware, not to mention another assortment of chunky glitter! It's all so very cool!

Tonight's card features the tart & tangy stamp set and the coordinating Summer Picnic designer series paper.

The base of the little 3x3" card is pumpkin pie, with a strip of chocolate chip and the designer paper and a knot using narrow real red grosgrain ribbon. The apple was colored using stampin' write markers in real red, green galore and chocolate chip and stamped on whisper white. I punched corners with the ticket corner punch and then mounted the image on a green galore mat and then onto the card. As a finishing touch I added the "happy Day" sentiment in chocolate chip from the Love & Happiness Sale-A-bration Rub Ons. The Love and Happiness rub-on pack is the only pack you can get right now with rub-ons in colors other than black or white, which is really cool. It's also free with a $50 purchase! But you have to act fast -- Sale-A-Bration will be over March 17th, which will be here before you know it!

Happy Easter!

Here is the last project we made at the Easter decor class this afternoon. Another chipboard coaster sign!

I really like the way it turned out, even if it is a larger version of the Easter card I posted a little while ago. I used A good Egg to stamp the eggs and filled them in with various backgrounds in pastel colors. I then stamped the letters from Big Deal alphabet in each egg using inks that were a shade or two darker than the inks I used to "color" the egg, so that the letters would stand out nicely. I situated the eggs in the "grass" and added some flower stamped with the One of a Kind stamp set and punched with the boho blossoms punch. I used the word "happy" prom polka dots and paisley and I added the little snail and butterfly from guess where -- the tattoo kits! I didn't have a stamp set with a snail in it but then I remembered my tattoo kits so I took them out and used them in lieu of regular stamps. I had other butterfly stamps but I decided to use the tattoo kit butterfly as well so that the styles of the drawings would match.

I used my crop-a-dial to punch holes in the coasters and used narrow grosgrain in certainly celery, pretty in pink, apricot appeal, very vanilla and bashful blue as "hinges". All in all it was really a pretty fun and easy project and it's practical too! The chipboard coasters make it sturdy enough for me to use year after year!

chocolate covered strawberry -- part 2

This is the really simple make and take we did at my chocolate and stamping opportunity night. Since we were having fondue and dipping strawberries (among other goodies) I thought the card would be appropriate. Because we didn't have to do any elaborate stamping, it was also a perfect card to make while talking about Stampin' Up! The ladies, who had never seen crystal effects used on a card, were not too impressed when I applied a blob of glue over my strawberry image, but they changed their mind after the crystal effects had a chance to dry! We all agreed the strawberries looked good enough to eat!

I stamped the red background with a stamp from the itty bitty backgrounds set to mimic the surface do a strawberry and I added the chocolate chip satin ribbon as an accent because it's soft, shiny texture helped to bring out the luxurious feeling of chocolate covered strawberries! You can't get this ribbon on fool rolls anymore, but it is still available in the theater ribbon originals assortment.