Project Life - Seasonal Snapshot 2015

Have you tried Project Life yet???  I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant, scared and intimidated when Stampin' Up! first started carrying Project Life. I was used to, and comfortable with, scrapbooking in the "normal" way!  But once I started playing with the awesome kits that SU! carries for Project Life, I was hooked.

Last month I was chosen by my upline, Janet Wakeland, to be a display stamper using the Seasonal Snapshot 2015 kit.  This kit is in the current 2015 Holiday catalog and covers all fall/winter holidays!!  When you purchase all of the coordinating products:  the stamp set, card collection and accessory pack, you can do so much!

I love the versatility of this kit.  From school days to Christmas, you can do so many different things! The projects I have here give you a sample of what can be done!

The first project is a Halloween card using the popped out pieces from the pumpkin wood shape.  The pumpkin was cut with the 3" circle framelit and ran through the big shot with the Woodgrain embossing folder.  I wanted to mimic the texture on pumpkins.  The bats are in the stamp set and were stamped in black Staz on on Blackberry Bliss.  A piece of the corrugated Crumb Cake paper for the stem and Old Olive leaves punched from the Builder Bird punch.

I used the new Whisper White thick cardstock for the base, spritzed some Pumpkin Pie color on the background and accented it with the fabulous Black Glimmer paper!   Perfect Halloween card!


My next project shows a traditional Project Life page.  I used our wedding pics since we did get married in September, which technically is in fall!

But what this really shows, is how super easy it is to complete a page using the Project Life kits.  I used items from all the items available with the bundle.  The Project Life cards make it quick and easy to assemble your page and then using some specialty paper adds to it.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the black piece was embossed with the Woodland embossing folder.  Wooden leaves adhered to the outside of the pages just enhance the dimension of the page.

Hope you enjoyed your stop on my blog during this month's tour!!  Up next on the tour is Audra Monk!  You can click on the icon below to take you there.

Happy Stamping!!!

Ann

A Hoot of a Halloween!!!

Hello all!!

With fall, and Halloween, fast approaching I've been playing around with some ideas for it.  My stamp club gals are not always into investing in Halloween specific stamps, so I wanted to come up with some alternatives using other items.

This card uses everyday stamp images/punches, but in a Halloween way!  I was playing around with my Sprinkles of Life set and coordinating punch, and this idea just kind of popped into my head!

I haven't played with my owl punch in a looooong time, but I love how he fits in beautifully with Halloween.

Since I was just playing around for me right now, some of the items on here are retired now.  The base card, and top layer, are using Confetti Cream.  I ran the top layer through the Big Shot using the Woodgrain embossing folder.  Finished that off with some sponging in Early Espresso to give the look of a tree.  The circle was punched using the 2 1/2" circle punch.  I wanted the owl to appear as if he sitting inside the tree.  The branch he is sitting on is from Sprinkles of Life.  Stamped in Chocolate Chip onto Chocolate Chip card stock.  I used two.

My idea for the clouds was to give them a "dark night" look.  They were stamped in Smoky Slate ink and then I used Marina Mist and Basic Gray stampin' markers to give them  the dark night look.  I blended the colors with a blender pen.  For a little added punch I put crystal effects on the colored parts.

The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

So, what do you think?

Happy Stamping,

Ann

DIC #119 - Happy Halloween!!

WOW!  What a week this has been for me!!!  Craziness, craziness, but it all works out in the end!  Here we are at another Thursday and a UDI Inspiration piece.  This week Maria gave us a pic of a Norman Rockwell Saturday Even Post cover, featuring Halloween.

For my card I used the new Wicked Cool set and Wicked Fun dsp.  I actually started this card by playing around with scraps, put them together and then cut them out with the Top Note die.  I used the new waffle paper in black around the edges.

The witches shoes were colored with my markers and then stamped.  The hat was stamped in black stazon, Versamark and then clear embossed, but it doesn't show up that well.  I colored the blocks in her hat with the Rich Razzleberry marker and popped it up with a dimensional.  I spritzed the panel with the RR marker and the same with sentiment circle, but I used the Cajun Craze one.

The bat was cut from the Wicked Fun dsp, added some rhinestones for a little bling and the Rich Razzleberry grosgrain, all scrunched up!  Love the way that it pops off the card with the polka dots.

Check out the UDI Blog when you get a minute to see the inspiration piece and see what the other team members did!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA #106 - Time for Halloween!!

Hello all!!!  Another week gone by and we are now into the middle of September!!  Can you believe it?  Before you know it, the man in the Red Suit will be here!!  But, before he comes, the Great Pumpkin will arrive!  You know, that holiday where we loved to be scared and get all kinds of treats!  Halloween!!!

I'm not big into Halloween, but I do put some small decorations up and send Halloween cards to my friends that "do" Halloween.  I prefer the cute and fun images/things for Halloween as opposed to the gory and scary.  This year at convention, one of the bundles they offered us was one for Halloween.  This bundle was from Brent Steele's presentation, as he loves Halloween.  The bundle included: Spooky Things decor elements, 1/2" Raven lace trim and Black Flourish designer jewels.  I haven't bought the sheet of decor elements in the past, but as I work with this set I can see so many possibilities for projects.

On my project for this week I used 3 of the d.e. images:  "Happy Halloween", the full bat and the smallest spider.  I started with the saying applied directly to the glass and then backed with a piece of Rockabilly dsp (retired) in the Kiwi stripe.  Now, the cracks in the glass were not, at first, planned, but as I was working on this one happened and then I went with them.  I used Black staz-on along the cracks to give it a "eerie" look.  Does it work?  I ran a piece of the black lace along the bottom.

The bat was put onto a piece of Pumpkin Pie and cut around.  The same for the spider.  Now, Putting the d.e. onto card stock is tricky when removing the transfer paper.  It likes to pull up the card stock when you remove it.  The bat was put on with double thick dimensionals and I "squished" him in the middle to make it look like he was flying.  With the spider, I ran a piece of Very Vanilla through my Big Shot with the Spider web eb folder.  I covered the folder with black ink first and then cut around it to get the size I wanted.  After that, I spritzed it with water and crumpled it up.  Once it was dry I stuck it onto the corner of the frame with Sticky Strip.  The spider is up with dimensionals.

The "hanger" is made using Pumpkin Pie 1 1/4" gg and tied with the black lace and Concord Crush poly twill.

Now, its difficult to see in the picture, but I did a lot of distressing to the frame before I put all of this onto it!  My frame came from the $ store, $4, and I removed the stand from the back so it would lay flat on the wall.  My up-up-line is coming to Michigan on October 2nd, and she asked me to do a presentation for the event!  (I'm so excited, but scared silly at the same time!!!)  The item I am going to demonstrate is the new Distressing Kit (118762) on page 195.  This is an awesome kit and I'm sure I have only begun to tap into all the fun things I can do with it.  First off, I sanded down the frame, to help remove some of the glossy finish.  Once I had it where I wanted, then I swiped it with the Charcoal and then Mahogany ink spot.  Not satisfied with that, I then spritzed it with the Log Cabin smooch spritz.  I like the look, but it took forever for the smooch spritz to dry.  I hope you can see how all of this "aged" the frame.

So, for this week's challenge create anything that has to do with a Halloween theme.  Now, I understand that some people do not do Halloween at all, but I still want you to be able to play along.  So your creations DO NOT have to specifically have "Halloween" items on it.  By that, I mean you can use pumpkins, scarecrows, hay wagons or just the colors of Halloween.  Just have fun and create what you love!

Upload your creation to either your blog or to an online gallery and post a link to your creation to this blog entry by September 25, 2010 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner the next day. If you upload your card to SCS, PaperCraft Planet, Stampin' Addicts, Stampin' Connection (for SU! demos) or Stamp TV, please put GCA106 in your keywords. That way everyone can see all of the wonderful creations at once!
Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenges and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it! And yes, my challenge is open to everyone who visits, even if you live outside the US!



Happy Stamping!!!!


~~~Ann~~~

Grrrr - It's Halloween!!

Hello all!!! So I know it's really NOT Halloween, but I completed this scrapbook page for the first Featured Stamper challenge on Stampin' Connection. This is a new site set up by Stampin' Up! for demos only!! It is soo cool to be able to connect with other demos you meet and see only at convention or just get to know new ones too!

Anyway, Mary Jo Price-Williams took the bull by the horns and started daily challenges on SC. She hosts the Featured Stamper challenge and the first stamper to be featured was Wendy Weixler!! She has an amazing gallery and is so full of talent.

I chose to case her Halloween scrapbook page she created with MDS.

My changes are:

* Changed to "regular" scrapbook page
* While I used her basic layout, I did change it up a bit
* Colors
* Not sure what size Wendy's is, but my page is 12 x 12

My base on here is the groom's dsp with the swirly design. I then used pieces of the Cast-A-Spell dsp and Night & Day dsp for my accents.

This is a picture of my son from 1992, when he went as Frankenstein. What a hoot!! I so remember getting him ready for this and he had a blast that night.

The letters were cute from the Timeless Type alpha and my Big Shot. Hence the title of the post!! That is all Frankenstein says, if I recall right!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Fun with Faux Paper Folding

Hello all!!! Can you believe it - 3 days in a row of posts!!! Seriously, though I am making an early resolution to post more often, share my creations more with the groups I belong to and comment like crazy on creations that come through from other people! I know how much I love to get even one comment, so I am trying to repay that kindness to my fellow stampers.

This is an amazingly easy treat bag to make!! I received one in a recent swap and just knew that I had to CASE it!! This one was made as Halloween treat bag and I did the Faux Paper Folding from Technique Junkies. This is so easy to do too! I was amazed at easy it was.

On the swap I received, made by Robin Spinner, she used the ornament M&S die to create a window. I did the same thing with my Pumpkin sizzlet, but covered it with the faux paper folding. The swirls are made with the Scribbles sizzlet. I used the Modern Label punch with scrap dsp and stamped in Choc Chip "Happy Halloween" with Teeny Tiny Wishes.

As you can see in the photos I attached, I used pumpkin and mustard dsp for inside the pumpkin and the Cast a Spell dsp for the swirls and sentiment tab. I also used my new MS pumpkin punch that I just HAD to have!!

The button is literally tied on with the linen thread through both layers. Once untied the button wont fall off as it is glued on.

I used a cello bag, held in place with sticky strip, for the candy. I put a fun size Milky Way and Reese PB Cup inside.

Off this went to my UDI Stampin' Sis - Carol!! Hope she enjoys it!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Happy Halloween with love!!!!

Hello all!!! I hope you are having a Happy Halloween and celebrating it in your own fashion. My grandson Cameron is eagerly awaiting trick or treat time! He has been wearing his costume since Thursday night when I picked him up!! He is so cute!

Today I have two creations for you! I know, I know - I don't post all week and then I post two samples at the same time!! LOL!!

My first card is a Halloween card (how fitting, right?) that I made for one of my good customers and friend, Kathleen. I am putting together a little treat bag for her and will take it over to her today.

Since the only Halloween set I have is Halloween Frights, that is what I used! The sketch is SC252 on SCS.

I started out by stamping my trees, from Lovely As A Tree, in black staz on on Whisper White. I then sponged the grass in Certainly Celery and over stamped that with some Old Olive. The night sky was completed the same way with Bashful Blue and Brocade Blue.

The moon was masked with a 1 1/4" circle punched piece and then reversed it to actually sponged the colors for the moon. The base was Summer Sun and I over stamped that with some Going Gray and Basic Gray. Not quite sure how I managed the ring of white around the moon, but I like the effect.

The bats were stamped in basic black craft and clear embossed. I really like how this makes them pop against the sky.

The pumpkins were stamped in Pumpkin Pie, what else right? I then cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals. The middle one is up with two. I then pierced the bottom of the Pumpkin Pie layer.

My dsp is the new Cast-A-Spell (which I love!) even though you don't see much once I put the black panels on. Those panels were embossed with my diamond texture plate, but I didn't mist them first so the impression isn't that great. I used my Modern Label punch and M&S die for the sentiment. The orange ric rak is from last year, but I still have some left! I roughed the edges for added detail.

My second sample is a 12x12 scrapbook page I put together last night! I was so tired when doing this, but I had to be up with my grandson so I needed something to occupy me! And, my club girls this round want to do more scrapbooking, so I need to practice! And, this also qualifies for Shelli's challenge this month to create a scrapbook page!

The adorable little boy on here is my son at different ages in his first year, 1987! It warms my heart to look at these now and see the likeness my two grandsons have to their father.

My layout is based on a scrap map from SU! in 2008. Once I started moving my pictures around, it morphed! I took the colors of red and turquoise from his clothes and added the So Saffron and put it all on a Whisper White textured 12 x 12.

The dsp is the Write Stuff speciality as is the journal block and Flock Together. Since it already resembled notebook paper, I punched holes along the side and tore in between them.

The letters are chipboard, inked in Turquoise and clear embossed. Oh, that was fun!! Here's what the journal block reads:

"Gregory: You bring such joy & love to my life. I was amazed to watch you grow & develop into you during your first year. From learning to walk & discovering you, it just made me even more aware of how much... I Love U."

The hearts are punched with the Full Heart and Heart to Heart punch. I crimped the turquoise ones, but that doesn't show up too well. The circles were cut with my Circle Scissors Plus, which I think we have a love/hate relationship going! LOL!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Halloween EEK!!!!

Hello all!!! Sorry it's been a few days, but I have to hit up the local Big Boy for my Internet connection this week!!! But, I didn't want to miss out on posting.

This Halloween treat bag is actually made from two of the Top Note die cuts. For the middle part I cut strips of card stock and made a pocket, but you could do this with a cello bag or other type of bag.

My stamp set I used is the Sweet Centers set, the Halloween image. I stamped the image twice, once in black and the center image in Old Olive. I punched it out with my 1 3/4" circle punch. I layered this with Old Olive and rounded each of the corners with my corner rounder punch.

The dsp is from the Cast A Spell set, which I just love!!!!! I already have some Halloween scrapbook pages made with this dsp, and I'll post them soon! And next week is Halloween and I will have both of my grandsons this year!!!! Cameron is set to be Spider Man and Malaki is Darth Vader. Leave it to my son to make a 4 month old Darth Vader! Back to the project at hand.

The handles were punched out with the new Modern Label punch. After I took this picture I tied a piece of the Old Olive striped grosgrain around the handles.

The treat cup is filled with brads, clips and other doo-dads that rattle when shaken. They are in the colors of orange, white and copper.

Again, I have to say, if you don't have this Top Note die you don't know what you are missing!!! I love it!

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA #62 - Colors of Halloween!!

Hello all!! I'm back and ready for another bout of stamping! Not only did I, NOT, get any posts pre-set, but I didn't even get to stamp this past week!!! I believe that I am in withdrawal!

My sample for you this week was created a few backs for a sketch challenge on Stamp TV, hosted by my wonderful friend Charlene of Where M&M's Gather. I am just now getting around to post a pic! Sad, I know! I used the well from a Gina K set, Make a Wish and the bats are from the Halloween Frights set by SU! The dsp is the Cast A Spell and has all the colors for this week's GCA in it!

The skulls are just punched from one sheet of the dsp and then mounted to Old Olive circles. The circle for the main image were cut with the Circle Scissors Plus and then roughed up with my cutter tool. The black circle is actually a piece of the new Groom's dsp, but you don't see much of it.

The pumpkin is super easy to make, too! You need 3 circles, or ovals, of an orange cardstock. (Unless you want your pumpkin another color!!) On here I used three 3/4" circles, and then layered them over each other. The top circle is the one that will be your main pumpkin image and the two background circles are for the width. So, you can play around with the circles and get the size you want. Then to make it look more realistic, I swiped the Pumpkin Pie ink pad over the top and used my Choc Chip marker to create the "ridges". A small scrap of green for the stem and some linen thread for the vines, and you have a pumpkin!

For this week we are getting our inspiration from the colors of Halloween. I am not a big Halloween person, per se, but I do love the colors. This week your creation needs to use at three of the following colors, but DOES NOT have to be a Halloween card!

Green

Purple

Orange

Black

So, the challenge this week is to make a card, project or scrapbook page using any type of Halloween Colors stamps, upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by October 24, 2009 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random drawing and post the next Sunday.

Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it! If you upload your card on SCS, Stampin' Addicts or Paper Craft Planet, please put GCA61(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 61) in the keyword section.That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once! If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!! And yes, my challenge is open to everyone who visits, even if you live outside the US!!!

Happy Stamping!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA #52 - It's Halloweeny Time!!!

Hello all!!! Yes, I know we are jumping all over the place with the holidays, but I was working on a Halloween card today, and thought "This is what the GCA will be!" I'm using the new Halloween dsp from SU! that is just ghoulish!!

Finally here is my sample!! I combined this challenge with the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS, who this week is VA.Sunshine AKA Teresa. She has an awesome gallery.

With the FS challenge you are to change at least 2 elements on the card you create.

My changes are:

* Colors, stamps and theme

* Kept the basic layout, which is one of the elements of the card I loved

* Used ric rak, but in a different way

* Used Big Shot Texture plates to emboss the black panel

This card uses the Halloween Frights sets that was in last years holiday mini!! As this is the only Halloween set I have, I'm glad to have it in the catty!!

The fence was made using my Word Window punch and thin strips of cardstock. I wheeled over the front of it with the new jumbo Texture wheel in Old Olive, which I also used on the Whisper White main panel.

The owl on here came out a little differently than I expected, since he was originally stamped in Basic Black. I off stamped him twice and then did the Rock n Roll technique in Soft Suede. When i stamped him onto the WW, this is how he came out!! And, this is one of the reason's I do not like SU!'s Basic Black. It leaves a purplish hue to images. I prefer to stamp all my images I wish to be a true black in Staz on black. The close up pic gives you better detail of the main panel. And, I also stamped the inside!

So, the challenge this week is to make a Halloween card, project or scrapbook with whatever types of Halloween images you have, upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by August 8, 2009 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random drawing and post the next Sunday.

Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it! If you upload your card on SCS, Stampin' Addicts or Paper Craft Planet, please put GCA52(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 52) in the keyword section.

That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once! If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!! And yes, my challenge is open to everyone who visits, even if you live outside the US!!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~