Inspirtational Art

Britt's birthday was Thursday, and after going to visit her for her graduation, I realized she really needed some artwork for her walls!  I had seen a new set of stamps at Taylored Expressions, with 3 different words, Grace, Faith, and Hope.  I wanted to make it into wall art, so set about figuring out how to make a set of 3 pieces.  This is my original inspiration:

And was translated to this:

I had found a display frame at Michael's which held a CD and the cover art for the CD.  It measured 6 1/2" x 12".  I needed a frame which would allow me to use 12 x 12 paper for the background, and this fit the bill!  I cut the letters using my Sans Serif dies for my Big Shot, and used the oh so cool Twitterpated Designer Papers!  I used my dimensionals under the letters, but since the frames were not meant for a lot of dimension, any embellishments had to be added to the top of the glass.  I die cut some butterflies and daisies for a little extra somethin'!  This was a super easy project, and pretty quick to do once I had decided how to lay it all out.  Here is the rest of the set.

Masculine Card Class is finally posted!

I've posted the final versions of the cards you will have the chance to make at my next class, here's a

little preview....

Go to the Class tab for all the important info!

Loopy Flower and the fantastic Twitterpated paper!

Obviously my cropping did not take before it uploaded, sorry!  So, my stamp club gals know that this is one of my new favorite combos, and how much I love this pattern paper.  The flower is made with a die from Papertrey Ink, because I just can't help myself from purchasing non-Stampin-Up items!  What can I say, a girl has to shop!  When you're chunky it's not fun to buy clothes, but new stamp stuff always fits!!!  Ok, back to the card!  As I was saying the flower is made with the loopy flower die, the bottom petals are Cherry Cobbler cardstock, and the second layer is the prettiest pattern in the Twitterpated package ; ).  I added a button and some twine to finish it off.  The background is Baja Breeze, and I used Versamark ink to add a background with a stamp from Creative Elements, and then a little Happy Birthday to complete it.  You may just see a little class coming soon with this flower, possibly in fabric, hmmmm, that's a good idea!  Enjoy!

Where have I been?!!

First of all, let me apologize for being MIA here on the ol blog!  I have no excuse, well actually I have lots of excuses, but it doesn't really matter now does it?!  I'm hoping to do a much better job of updating things and keeping those of you who look, actually interested.  I do have a card class that I'm hoping to get pics uploaded tonight.  I had taken some pictures, but felt the cards need a bit of tweaking before they were worthy of your perusal!  Ok, enough of this and on to something better!  Oh, and thanks for hanging in there with me!

Just Add Cake!

Last Friday was a friend of mine's birthday.  We celebrated her birthday on Tuesday at work, and I whipped up a little card, and dessert.  I used the Just Add Cake DS paper from SU, and used a decorative punch on the edge of the paper to create my rosette, the score marks at 1/4".  The base of the card is So Saffron, and I also used some Wild Wasabi behind the tag.  I used markers to color the cake from a stamp out of the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set.  I also used my favoirte stamp set Short and Sweet for the sentiment at the top, and finished it off with some Marina Mist grosgrain.

A lot of you already know I love to cook as well as stamp.  So, you may see a recipe or two show up on the ol' blog!  I decided to make Peanut Butter Pie from this website, and  can I tell you it was incredible!  So creamy and rich, and I don't even want to know how many calories were in this bad boy!  But, I decided if I used my little half pint jars, I could use the same rosette on top of my jar that I had used on her card.  Also, a little side note about the pie, it will make one large one, but she doesn't say how many small ones it will make.  If you were to use the same jars I have, I think you could easily get 8 - 10 servings from it.  I made 7, and had some filling left over, and totally could have made my crust thinner and not filled them as much.  It is a super rich pie!

Here's a close up of the top, I also added Stampin' Up's version of Stickles to the candle, but you can't really see it here.  Hope you try one of these techniques, even if it's the recipe for the pie!

Mini Scrapbook Folder

OK, some of you may know I have a bit of a "thing" for mini scrapbooks!  When I saw a file folder scrapbook on Andrea Walford's blog, I just had to make one for myself.  Unfortunately, I discovered this folder after the instructions were no longer available!  So, I had to put my thinking cap on to figure it out!  So, I started with a regular manilla folder, and decided I wanted the base to be 6 1/2" tall, and the pocket to be 3", then I trimmed off the leftovers.  I then created score lines for the pockets, I played around with it a bit, and decided to score 4 1/4" from the right edge, and then continued to score at 4 1/4" from each fold.  You can see in the photo, it is "fan folded" from the center out.   This happens to be a 1/3 cut, most folders come in an assortment of "tabs" in the package, and I don't think a center tab would work very well with this project.  With the end tabs, you should be able to flip your folds to make it work.  Make sense?  If not, just shoot me an e-mail!

I then used designer paper to cover the back.  I cut the pieces 6 1/2" wide x 12" long, and adhered them from the center out.  If I make another one, I would totally ink the edges of the folder BEFORE I adhere the paper.  I can still see some manilla peeking through, and would have liked it more if it were cleaner looking.

After adhering the papers, I used an Exacto knife to trim the excess paper from the edges of the folder.  You'll notice I'm just covering the back of the folder, not the "pockets".  Also, note the printing on the back side of my booklet?  If you decide not to cover the inside of the pockets, it's important to be sure your printing is on the outside like mine so it will be covered!  It wouldn't look so pretty sticking out behind your photos ; )!!

Here's how she looks all trimmed up, isn't she pretty?!!  I also trimmed up the center notch, which you will see when you have it all folded up, it's easy to tell what needs to be trimmed away.

I then did the inside pockets in the same fashion as the outside.  After the front and pockets were covered, I added Sticky Strip to the outer edges of the pockets and adhered.  Another tip I would give is to fold it all up before pressing your adhesive together.  Mine seemed to be just a bit wonky after I adhered it and then tried to fold it.  I'm guessing my score lines were not perfectly lined up.

After finishing covering the folder, I decided to use a belly band as a closure.  I simply cut a 2" wide piece of Chocolate Chip paper, and added a 1" strip of the designer paper to it.  I wrapped it around, and decided where the first score should be, I then scored just 1/4" from my first score to allow for the thickness of the folder.  The belly band is adhered with double sided sticky strip at the front of the folder, and the punched snowflake is centered over the seam.

For the pocket inserts I used Old Olive cardstock, cut 6 1/4" x 4" wide.  I also used an edger die to put a decorative edge at the top.  The ribbons have a brad holding the tail together, and then a beautiful rhinestone for a little bling bling!  I stamped snowflakes around the edge, because after a photo is added, it will be just a little extra decorative element.  When I made my folder, my computer had crashed and I wasn't even able to look at the photo of Andrea's, but I came pretty darn close!  One difference in hers is that she had folder pockets were actually 7" deep, and she added a label at the bottom for journaling, which is an awesome idea too. 

Here is the finished inside of the booklet.  I decided not to cover the back of the folder, which would require 2 more sheets of designer paper.  I like the look of the manilla, and depending on the paper you use can totally coordinate.  I also used the SU set Short & Sweet to stamp the folder tab, and added a little more bling to the center of the snowflakes. 

Hope you enjoyed my little tutorial!  If you decide to make one, I totally want to see it.  They are super fun to make, and they would be a fantastic Christmas gift for someone!

Lace Doilies

So sorry for the delay in posting!  I had a great weekend filled with stamping, not as much as I had originally planned, my guilt set in and I felt I should clean my house too!  After spending time editing my photos for you, I've run out of time to post what I was hoping to accomplish this morning ; ). So, I thought I would toss this one on the blog this morning before work, and then tonight I'll finish my original idea for you!  This is a card we had done for stamp club.  It uses SU Delicate Doilies, we stamped a background in white craft ink, and added a strip of paper from the Flirtatious Designer Papers to a Pumpkin Pie card base.  The Melon Mambo doily is also from this pack of paper.  We then added a paper rosette, and finally stamped a birthday lable from the Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess set.  I love the colors of this card, I think it is so fun and bright!  Of course, most of you know I'm a sucker for anything pink!

Ok, so here's a bit of homework for you....I have a new class to post tonight, so I would love for you to do a little research on the subject!  My newest class is a "Daily December Album" if you Google it, you should find all kinds of info from other bloggers who have made an album as well.  It may give you a little more perspective into why it's such a great idea!