Altered Notebook Challenge From Sue!

At our last DIVA Day event Sue gave us each a little navy blue vinyl covered notebook to alter as our challenge.

When I make "patterns" for notebooks I usually just use copier paper. I took a piece of copier paper and cut it to the size of the notebook. I had one long strip the size of the notebook. I went from the front of the notebook to the back and around the sides back to the front for the cover. Once I got it wrapped around I folded the corners over and looked at the front to see how far I wanted to cut the flap back. I then measured my fold lines on the copier paper and proceeded to cut and fold my card stock accordingly.

I used the Stampin' Up! Boho Backgrounds set on Pretty in Pink card stock. Since I was going to be coloring in some of the details of the images I used the Basic Brown ink pad so the ink wouldn't lift off the paper. After coloring in the images I cut out the pieces I needed and began to create all the pieces to my cover. I had cut the card stock pieces 1/4" around smaller than the piece I was laying it on top of. It's difficult to give measurements since each notebook will vary in size.

I used the "One of a Kind" set and cut out the images. I had stamped them on Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip card stock. I used the white gel pen to put the dots in the center of the flowers. I sponged all edges and set them aside

Once I got all of my pieces cut out I sanded the notebook cover lightly. Then I took a piece of magnetic sheet and attached it to the notebook using the Sticky Strip tape. I needed something that I knew would hold. I put a piece on the cover of the notebook and one on the inside flap I created. I wanted the notebook to be able to stay shut but I didn't want to use a ribbon or fibers for that. I like the look and feel of the magnetic sheets on a notebook. It give the notebook a clean crisp look and a touch of "professional" too!!!

For some finishing touches I used some Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon and a piece of buckle hardware on the front. I taped this around the piece of card stock before I attached it to the front of the notebook. I then attached the "flower" pieces and the final thing I added was the half-round pearl from the "Pretties" kit.
This was a VERY fun challenge. I really enjoyed playing with this one!! Thanks SO much Sue

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

SC183 Touch of Nature

Here is my card for the Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers. This was another very fun challenge. Sometimes I just LOVE working with LOTS of layers and today happened to be one of those days.

I had some time to play and this is what I did with it. It's a fun card. I didn't have any dark grosgrain ribbon, which is what I really wanted on the card so I settled for some dark blue organdy ribbon. I also added 4 dark blue brads on the right side. It just needed some there and that foot the bill!!!

I'm not sure what occasion I will use this card for but it can be used for a male or female!!! The colors are rich enough and strong enough to support either gender.

It's a gorgeous day here in Minnesota. A cool front moved in and the weather is FABULOUS out there. I'm going to head outside for a bit and pick some spinach!!! Sounds like fun and I KNOW you want to join me. LOL I've never grown spinach before and a couple of days ago I looked at our little "garden" and could actually see which green thing out there was spinach and which was lettuce!!! And the spinach was getting very big!! SO with the nicer day I'm going to go out and cut some. I'm assuming you cut it and not pull it out by the roots!!! I'm such a farm girl!! NOT!! LOL

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Fun Layout!

Isn't this just a fun layout??? I got it from Tammy at Stamp Happy. My card is just a little different than hers but the layout is the same, right down to the dew drops. I have had those things for a long time now and have never used them. They're a lot of fun to play with. And a little bottle of them looks like it's going to last forever!!!

For my card I used decorative paper and layered it on top of Old Olive card stock. I used the "Close as a Memory" flower stamp by Stampin' Up! I colored it with Really Rust and Old Olive markers. I stamped the image on white card stock. I sponged the edges with Really Rust and layered it on top of a piece of Really Rust card stock.

I ran a piece of white through the Cuddlebug folder and used it as my background paper. I sponged it with Really Rust and before taping it on top of the Old Olive card stock I added the ribbon. I LOVE how the ribbon was done. I think that is what drew me to the card the most.

I used the horizontal slot punch on the flower stamped layers. I punched the slot then I moved the punch over to the right a little and punched a bit more off and then to the left and took a little bit off that side too. I wanted to remove just enough for the ribbon to fit through. Such a cute idea, isn't it? I used Dimentionals under the flower layers to allow it to pop up a bit because of the ribbon. Just using tape would give it a warped look because the ribbon under it would be a bit bulky.

I REALLY like this layout and am going to give it a try again sometime. I have a few stamps in mind that would be fun to play with using this layout. Because there is no wording on the card it can be used for many occasions!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,

Wanda

Baroque Anniversary!

I should say "Baroque Belated Anniversary!" I told you I was late with stuff this month! One good thing, the month is over at midnight!!! LOL The birthday card I made for my nephew yesterday I will be giving it to him tomorrow. He will be coming over to mow the lawn for us. I don't do mowing. That mower is SO huge and heavy plus it's got that power wheel thing going on and I'm NOT into jogging while I mow!!! And DH has been with is mother so he doesn't have time to do the lawn. SO (if I remember) I will be giving my nephew his card. Now it's his mom (my sister) and dad that I'm made the anniversary card for. I am even later with that one!!! I'd LOVE to be caught up! And I have a new start tomorrow now don't I?? LOL

So onto this card. I used the "Baroque Motif" set by Stampin' Up! Even the flowers on the card were included with this set. The words I did on the computer and then I punched them out with the oval punch. I have a lot of trouble adding only two layers on the wording to cards because you don't have much of a choice in colors. If I would have went with the burgundy it would have blended in with the bottom and you wouldn't see it very well and sticking with the Sahara Sand it blended in with the main part of the card. I did drop the words down to the lower right because that area needed a little something. Plus I think the words would have gotten lost had I added them to the main part of the card. I think just one more size oval punch would be ideal!!

This was a very simple card to make. Not a lot of frill to it at all. I don't feel there is any room for ribbons or bows but I could have added some Dazzling Diamonds in the center of the flowers. But I'm not going to do that! I like it the way it is. Though it is for my sister and she could stand to wear some glitter for a day!!! *insert evil grin here* LOL

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Belated Birthday!

Last Thursday was my nephew's birthday. I missed it. It's SO sad because usually he gets his card early because I always make a mistake on the date of his birth. I think it's the 19th but it's really the 26th. And his cards were always early! This time I didn't forget his birthday. I remembered it and I also remembered it was on the 26th. I just didn't find the time to make him a card and I certainly wasn't going to go to the store and buy him one. That's just silly!!!

SO here's his birthday card. Just plain and simple. He likes to hunt and fish so I thought I'd use the "Nobel Deer" set. It's going to retire soon, along with the "Flannel Plaid" background stamp I used. I'm REALLY going to miss that one. I've had a LOT of fun with that stamp. And it's got such a masculine tone to it. I'm REALLY hoping that Stampin' Up! comes out with a LOT more masculine stamps.

Anyway, I kept this card simple. I used Always Artichoke, Night of Navy and Whisper White card stock. I used Always Artichoke ink on the deer, words and background stamp. I used the ticket corner punch on the corners and the two oval punches for the wording.

The wording came from the "Date to Remember" set. I used to dark blue brads on either side of the ovals. It just seemed to balance things out. I didn't want to add any ribbon and bows were out of the question. I wanted to keep the card looking masculine and somehow a bow doesn't say "masculine" as well as a brad does!!!

I'm sure he will like it and if not I know he'll like the money inside it!! LOL

As with all of my posts, to get a closer view just click on the picture.

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Blog Candy Winner!!!

Before I tell you who won the blog candy I have to tell you the story about this little bird.

I was walking by our HUGE pine tree on the way to the mail box and I heard a noise. It sounded like a bit of a ruckus going on in there. Coming back from the mail box I saw something fall from the tree. I look and there was this tiny little bird. And a second later another one. I wondered if I had startled the birds walking by and they fell out of their nest. SO I got out the ladder and I was going to put them back in the nest. I could see the nest but I needed the ladder to reach it. Two things here. One I'm afraid to climb past the third step on a ladder and two our ladder is a million years old and rickety. Nice!!!

Anyway, I pick up one of the little birds. Oh my do they ever have a HUGE pair of lungs. That little thing chirped SO loud I had to look in my hand to make sure it really came from there. Oh and when I looked in my hand I saw all of these tiny little (size of a grain of salt) dark dot moving on my skin. EWWWW.

I got on the ladder with the little bird in hand and put it back in the nest. Meanwhile the daddy bird is not liking this and he's swooping at me. So if I was to take a tumble off the ladder I don't know if I would blame me or the daddy bird!!! LOL I now have the second bird in hand and up the ladder I go. I put it in the empty nest. Empty?? What happened to the one I just put back? It's back on the ground. SO I pick it up again and up the ladder I go. They didn't want to stay in the nest so I put the ladder away and just watched them for a bit.

Now the mother bird is there keeping her eye on one of the babies and the daddy bird is watching the one in the street. I did intervene on that one. NO playing in the streets!!! I picked it up, bugs and all (another EWWW) and put it back in my lawn under the shade of the maple tree. This time the baby was so use to me it didn't chirp. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. I think they should be afraid of people. But as many times as I handled the little bugger it was no longer afraid of me. I got my camera out and took a few photos before I let them go off to face the world. I couldn't believe how ugly the actually were. There were no tail feathers so how could a baby fly??? And I could see the ear holes on the side of head, either the feathers weren't thick enough or this little bird had premature balding!!! LOL Later in the day I saw the daddy bird in the neighbors yard. I suppose he was following one of the babies. And the mother bird was a few houses down the street in the other direction. It was an interesting day and it was the first time I'd ever seen (or held) baby cardinals!

Some of you know your birds and got it right. If I had to guess from that photo it would be just that, a guess. It's kind of cute with the big eyes and all but would be cuter with more feathers. Did you ever notice that most baby creatures are SO cute except for fish??? LOL See how this warped mind wanders??? LOL Feel sorrier for my husband!!! LOL

So the winner of the blog candy was done using the random number generator found on the right side bar. And the winner is Claudia. Here is her guess: "I think it is a baby Blue Jay because of the crest forming on it's head. Plus it is in a pine tree, where they usually nest. And thanks for the chance to win the great blog candy!"

Claudia please email me with your snail mail address or you can leave it on a comment to me that I won't publish. I will get the package out to you soon.

Thank you all for playing along. It was a LOT of fun!! I will be working hard on getting more technique pages done so I can offer a technique pages book when the blog gets to 500,000 hits. It will happen before I know it!! And thank you for your patience with my late posting of this. I also want to thank you for the prayers. I saw my mother-in-law again today. It's SO sad. She has always been a good mother-in-law to me. She always treated me as one of the family and she has always loved me! She's a wonderful and remarkable woman.

Happy Stamping!
Wanda

Soot on the Page! Technique Page!

I have another technique page for you. I decided that since I am nearing the 500,000 mark I will start my blog candy early. I want to have enough pages for a book so I can offer that when the time rolls around!!! Plus some other stuff too.

This is an older technique but still a fun one. I'm REALLY hoping that Stampin' Up! comes out with a new spooky Halloween house this fall. This technique is such a fun one to do with this technique! I taught a class on this once and we used a haunted house. It turned out SO cute!!

This is a VERY simple technique. I do have a bowl of water and a wet cloth by me when I do this technique. The bowl should be large enough to toss the paper in should it catch on fire I have never caught a page on fire yet but there is always a first time. But I do like to have something ready just in case. I even bring the fire extinguisher within reaching distance when I do this technique. It's best to be safe than sorry. I suppose you could always do this outside on a calm day.

The instructions for this are very simple. I will just type them right from the page. You will need a candle, matches or lighter, glossy card stock and clear acrylic spray paint. Mat or glossy it doesn't matter. I used glossy and you can't tell.

You light the candle and let it burn for about a minute. Take your piece of card stock (cut to about the size you want your image to be on). Turn the card stock so the glossy side is down and move it around in small circles over the top of the candle flame. You will be capturing the soot. Be careful not to burn your fingers and be careful not to touch the soot. Once you are satisfied with the amount of soot on your card stock take your clean rubber tamp and stamp on the soot. The rubber will pick up the soot and leave the image behind. Now spray the card stock, allow to dry and cut to fit your design. Be sure to spray in a well ventilated area.

That's it, pretty simple. I like to cut my card stock a bit bigger so I have somewhere to hold on. Your fingerprints will remove the soot so you need to give yourself a little room to hold on. Try to avoid touching any area of the stamped image. Anything that touches it will remove the soot. Once that happens there is no saving it. Try to spray it as soon as possible to avoid any mishaps.

You can also try tipping your card stock a little to see how the soot is going onto the card. I usually stand and nearly hover over it. You can see the flame through the paper enough to know you are very close to the paper and the tip of the flame. You will be able to see how close you need to be to the flame the more you work with it. You do need to keep the paper moving though or you will have a fire. That is why I HIGHLY recommend the water, wet cloth and fire extinguisher be by you before you begin this technique.

I will do the blog candy drawing tomorrow. I am feeling very sad today. My mother-in-law is not doing well and I doubt she will make it more than another 3 or 4 days. It's SO sad. I apologize for being late with that.

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Have fun with this and BE careful! Skin burns too!

Thanks SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

It's in the Bag!!!

I decorated this bag for the Stamp Share. Terri had a challenge for us. It was to decorate one of the white Stampin' Up! paper bags.

For mine I used the "Boho Backgrounds" stamp and stamped the image all over a piece of Whisper White card stock using Basic Brown ink. I colored the flowers in with Pretty in Pink and the leaves in with Sage Shadow. I taped the sheet in place on the front of the bag. I punched out a couple of pieces using the Round Tab punch. I attached it to the handle area using brads from the Hodge Podge Hardware kit.

I stamped and cut out a few flowers from the "One of a Kind" set. It's one of my favorite sets!! And I added a couple of circle quarters to the bottom corners. I used the white gel pen to add the stitch marks. I took a few half round pearls from the Pretties Kit and added them to the flowers. It was a pretty fun challenge. My favorite thing to do was to make my own background paper using the stamp from the "Boho Background" set.

Our next challenge from Terri is to come up with something using the 6 round coasters she gave us. My mind is blank right now on that challenge. It's going to take some thinking for this challenge!!

This card was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you all SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Weekend Project! Scratchpad Holder!

On Saturday I demonstrated how to make these FABULOUS refillable scratchpad holders. I had forgotten to write down part of the measurements and I also forgot to meantion where I found the idea when I was up front demoing. I get VERY nervous up there!!! Lisa Somerville at Splindiferous Creations came up with this idea. Or she was the first to post it. Either way I got it from her blog a LONG time ago. I like to make them!! They're a LOT of fun and SO easy to make. The step by step instructions that can be found on Lisa's blog are very clear and precise.

I find decorating them to be the best part. Not only because of how cute you can make them but because you can spend a bit of time decorating them and not feel bad that they will be tossed out right away because they are refillable!!! Yup, you can refill them!!! How cool is that??? You just slide the old one out and slide the new one in and it's good to go again!! I add my business label to the back of them so my information is always available!

Aren't they fun? You can use them for Customer Appreciation events, Hostess Gifts, Make N Takes, Craft Fairs and Gifts. Lots of possibilities here!!

For more Weekend Projects, click here.

I had purchased my scratchpads at Staples online. They had the best price. I bought them about a year ago. You may want to do a bit of shopping around to check and get the best price. I was a bit shocked at how much scratchpads were. I mean, it's just suppose to be leftover paper that is made into notebooks! One thing I did find out about Staples pads as opposed to the ones at Office Depot. Staples ones are uniform in shape. Office Depot ones are not only all NOT the same size but they are cut crooked too.

These items were made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,

Wanda

Technique Page Problems

Many of you are having problems connecting to the Techniques Class Booklet. I had clicked on the link that I provided for you and I was able to get there. I also entered in the SplitCoastStampers (SCS) search window "Techniques Class Booklet" and I was directed to a page with many classes and somewhere in the middle was the "Techniques Class Booklet." I couldn't tell if it was a "demo's only" site or not. If you and can not access it you will need to sign up somewhere on SCS for that. I did it several many years ago and I don't know remember how to go about it. I think I may have asked one of the forum people how to do it or maybe I asked one time when I got that "you don't have permission to access this page" pop up that you have been getting.

I'm sorry you are unable to access it. It opened up to a word program and you printed out the information on card stock and made a small booklet that you add the technique to after you do it. It's a bit old but it did have the earlier basic techniques in it.

All I can do is suggest that you contact SCS and ask how you can access it.

Best wishes to you there,

Wanda

Faux Eyelets Technique Page

At the Stamp Share on Saturday I had demonstrated a couple of things. One of them was the Faux Eyelets. This is a fun technique. It allows you to make Faux Eyelets using any of the Stampin' Up! colors.

You take your Crop-a-dile and with the smaller punch, punch a hole in your card stock. Then you take the 1/4" round punch, line up the hole you just made so it's centered and then punch it out. That's it. Simple as that you have a Faux Eyelet. Add them to your cards or scrapbook pages. It allows you to not only have eyelets in many colors but it helps in not having to pay that extra surcharge when it comes to mailing it!!!

I even took the time to make a technique page of this for my Techniques Book. The book is starting to look a little fuller now and it's even getting impressive!!! LOL I have LOTS more quick and simple techniques to share with you and add to my book!

Here is a link from SplitCoastStampers that I found some easy pages to make your own Technique Book. The link contains a file for you to download that has techniques already typed out for you. All you do is print them out and add your personal copy of the technique. The gal who did them, Craftdoc put a lot of time and effort into making this and then sharing it with everyone. Just click here for the link to the page on SplitCoastStampers website. They are fun for starting out your technique booklet. I prefer the 6 x 6 pages myself and you can easily copy the wording onto 6 x 6 pages and follow the technique so you have an image to attach to your page.

Click here to see a few more Technique Pages I've made. I plan on posting more of them as I create them.

This card was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Fun Folds!

I was able to participate in the every SO fun Shoebox Swap last Saturday. A shoebox swap is where yaou design a card and make and bring all the supplies for everyone in the swap to stamp and assemble your card. This is a VERY fun time. You go from table to table making cards. The theme for this one was FABULOUS and SO fun. It required using different folds on your card. Mine had two folds. Nothing out of the ordinary, nor too fancy. Just quick clean and simple. The rules stated that the cards should be something that could be done in 5 minutes. To me that was a bigger challenge than coming up with a design!!!

And this is what I had come up with. I used the designer paper from the "Berry Bliss" collection. I wanted something soft looking. I used the "Birthday Wishes" stamp from the "Sincere Salutations" set. I had pre-folded my cards so it would stay under the 5 minute deadline!

I took a photo of the card open on one side so you could see how it opened and all went together. At the swap there were some simple folds and some a bit more complicated too. A very nice variety of fun folds to keep a person entertained!! I have quite an array of samples to show my customers!!

Measurements for this card are as follows:

I'll add the measurements to the post.

The card stock measures 11" x 5-1/2"
Score (going from left to right) at 1-3/4", slide down to 3-1/2" slide down to 8"

With the scored piece facing up, fold the first score outward.
The next score folds inward and the last one also folds inward

I actually cut out a half circle to accommodate the scallop. It helps the scallop to lay flatter when the card is open. For this you just punch out a 1-1/4" circle and use it as your template. Place half the circle on the fold where you'd like the scallop to go and trace it. Cut around it with an x-acto knife. This will lay open over the larger fold on the right side of the card. It won't show once the scallop is put on.

The layers of card stock and decorative paper are as follows:
1-1/2" x 5-1/4" (Chocolate Chip) and the decorative paper is 1-1/4" x 5"

The larger side is cut:
2-1/2" x 5-1/4" (Chocolate Chip) and the decorative paper is cut 2-1/4" x 5"

There is a 1-1/4" on the pink circle and the smaller circle is 3/4"

When layering the larger (right) side. Line up the layers on the top, bottom and right side only. The left side will show more vanilla but that's ok, when the card is folded shut it won't how.

This card was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

A Bit of Vellum!

Here is another card I did for the "Vellum" theme swap. I had stamped the image from the Stampin' Up! set "Fresh Cuts." A preview set that will be in the new upcoming catalog!!! Such a fun and exciting stamp makes me anxious to see what other fun and exciting things are waiting for me to purchase!!! LOL

I layered the vellum piece on top of some More Mustard and that was layered on top of a piece of Basic Black. I secured it in place with 4 gold brads. I put Dimensionals on under the black layer and set that on top of the Taken With Teal and More Mustard layers. I had used the stamp from the set and Versa Mark and made my own background. I used the "For You" words on Taken With Teal, punched them out with the 1-1/4" circle punch. I then punched out a white 1-3/8" circle and layered both of those on top of a Basic Black scallop. I used a couple of Dimensionals under one side of it to keep it level with the rest of the scallop.

I tied the black grosgrain ribbon around the More Mustard (1") and Basic Black (1-1/4") layer. For the ribbon I usually wrap it around the piece and tape it to the back. I leave about 3/4" of ribbon on the back for taping. Then I adhere it to where I want it on the card. After that I take a piece of ribbon and slip it under the taped one and tie a bow. Doing this allows me to slide the bow along the ribbon and get it exactly where I want it!!! Wrapping the ribbon around the entire strip can cause the strip to buckle a bit plus the knot will lay differently and is not easy to move! There is no right or wrong way to tie a knot, I just prefer to do it this way.

This card was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

It's Blog Candy time!

Yup, Chatty Cathy time! I have over 800 posts on my blog now. WOW, and a big UNREAL in there too!


Close up of the clear stamps set by Scrappy Cat. LOTS of fun flowers. Plus I'm adding some stick on rhinestones, double sided tape and some foam dots. The other photo shows the other items. And many times I add some extra fun "stuff" as I run across it in my workroom supplies!!



Nothing is FREE so here's what you need to do!!!! Just leave a comment on this post only. Leave your guess as to what bird this baby bird is in the photo!!! Hint, it's NOT a bald eagle!!! LOL Please don't include your email address in your comment.




I will draw a name using the "Random Name Generator" on Friday evening on June 27th. Check back on Friday evening to see if you're the lucky winner.











Have fun!
Wanda