Happy Birthday, Marelle!

Again (and I'm starting to sound like a broken record here), I'm sorry for the lack of posts. It seems that I'm online every spare moment looking at houses in Denver. It started out being fun... but anymore, it's getting very tiring! Michael made a trip out there last week for an initial look-around, and we'll be going back later this week. Here's hoping we can find a good compromise between price, location, lot, and layout!

My dear friend, Marelle, had a birthday last week and although I haven't done a lick of stamping lately, I did manage to get this one made and sent off to Australia in time for her birthday! Priorities, you know!

It's a simple card, really, considering the Big Shot once again created my background for me. Here's a closer look:

Marelle, I hope you had a super, terrific, fabulous birthday!!

Card Recipe:
Stamp Set: Animal Crackers
Ink: Black StazOn
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Whisper White
Accessories: Pretty in Pink Striped Grosgrain
Tools: Big Shot, Textures Backgrounds

Pillow Box Treats

I've only got a few minutes to post... I'm still trying to get caught up showing you some things I made for Valentine's Day! Here is another idea I saw on how to make the Pillow Box a little differently.

Right after you use the Big Shot to cut out the box, you use the Heart to Heart punch on it to create the heart "windows". Here's a better look:

Then you can stamp a cute little tag and tie it all up. Again, I only used some SNAIL on one of the long edges and none on the ends. The ribbon holds the ends closed.

A simple little treat to make up real quick when you need to give someone a little happiness (aka: chocolate)!

Pillow Box Recipe:
Stamp Set: Love You Much
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Cardstock: Whisper White, various DSP (use whatever you have!)
Accessories: Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon, Silver Elastic thread
Tools: Word Window punch, Heart to Heart punch, Pillow Box Die, Big Shot

Classroom Valentines

Once again, my boys and I made their school valentines... you can view this post to see what we made last year. This year, I pulled out the handy-dandy Big Shot and let the boys crank away! ...seems that thing is finding it's way into all my cards lately! I forgot to take pictures of the boys in action... darnit (I love to prove to you that boys DO like to stamp!), but they did, indeed, help me make these. Here is the final result:

We kept things simple and didn't do a whole lot of embellishing (kids are just gonna rip 'em open anyway, right?!). The tops of the bags are held closed with the Big Note Die and staples - easy peasy! Inside, we added a candy treat and a small note made with the Scallop Envelope Die.

I just love this little envelope - it's perfect for tucking inside a gift bag, or sliding under the ribbon of a wrapped package, or for hiding love notes under your husband's pillow...

...or for making little Valentines for all your kids' classmates!

Obviously, I used some retired Prints patterns - but the little 6" x 6" blocks of paper we get as a Hostess Level I reward are PERFECT for projects like this!

I still have two more Valentine posts to share with you but first I gotta patch up some chipped paint and pack a few more boxes... oh, and maybe do a couple loads of laundry, feed some hungry kids, scrub some toilets... you get the idea.

Valentine Recipe:
Stamp Set: Holidays & Wishes
Ink: Real Red
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, So Saffron, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Prints DSP
Accessories: Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, Small Flat Cellophane Bags, staples
Tools: Heart to Heart punch, Big Shot, Scallop Envelope Bigz Die, Top Note Bigz Die

My Dad... My "Valentimer"

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day and has already consumed all the chocolate that was given to you. I don't know about you, but the longer the chocolate lingers around my house, the grouchier I become because I am constantly forcing myself to resist it... a losing battle most of the time. Therefore, I eat it quickly, savoring every bite, and then I do a few situps to control my shame.

Last Wednesday night I held my annual Valentine Workshop and here is the card we made:

Once again, I brought out the handy-dandy Big Shot and showed them how easy it is to texturize the cardstock with our Texturz Plates! Here's a closer look:

I absolutely love this diamond pattern, and since Stampin' Up! retired the old Print Pattern background stamp, I'm just tickled pink to have this alternative - I think it looks better, works perfectly every time, and there's nothing to clean up!

Since I already made a card for Michael (you can see it here), I decided to give this one to my dad. When I was a kid, my dad always gave us a box of chocolates and a card on Valentine's Day... and we called each other our "Valentimers" which came from my childish mispronunciation. It's a precious memory, and I wanted to continue the tradition by giving him this card and the matching box we made shown below:

This box was made using the using the Big XL Die called Box #2! This die makes it SOOOOOO easy! You only need ONE small piece of Sticky Strip to make it stay together, as the bottom folds up securely without adhesive. It is just too cool, and I highly recommend it!

We also got creative and textured the box before we folded it up. Here's a closer look:

Lastly, I wanted to show you the other option I gave the ladies for the card in case they preferred a more classic look. Here's a picture of it, but I only temporarily adhered the pieces on so you could see... that's why the ribbon doesn't thread through this label:

I still have yet to show you the cards I made for my kiddos... yes, I've been busy stamping away last week... utterly turning my nose up at the stacks of empty boxes I'm surrounded by! Can you tell which task I enjoy more?! ...and you may have noticed that I used grid paper as my backdrop this time? That's because I didn't feel like taking the time to clean up my stamp table for the photo shoot! ...hey, it's all about priorities, right?!

Valentine Recipe (cards & box):
Stamp Sets: Card 1 - Under the Stars, Family Phrases; Card 2 - Always, Sweet Thing (retired)
Ink: Black StazOn
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Confetti White
Accessories: Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon
Tools: Designer Label punch, Horizontal Slot punch, Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/8 Circle punch, 1-1/4 Circle punch, Big XL Die Box #2, Backgrounds I Texturz Plates, Watercolor Wonder crayons, Aquapainter, Stampin' Pastels

Blastin' Off in Bubble Wrap

Yes, I'm back. Didn't expect me, did ya? I wish I could say that last post about me cutting back on my blog was a bunch of hooey, and that I'll actually greet you here at 10:23pm sharp every night... but my husband is a lot more fun to have a late night love affair with than this computer. Sorry y'all! But... he's out of town tonight. So I threw aside the boxes and bubble wrap (no fun jumping out of boxes wrapped in bubble wrap when Michael's not here)... and decided to make a card instead.

A good neighbor friend of mine came down the other night so she could play with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and decide which color family to get (of course I told her she simply had to have them all). During our play-time, I colored a couple of these rockets from Pun Fun. I'm not sure why I decided to color this little guy Turquoise and Eggplant, but I did... maybe it was so I could show her TWO different color families - yes, that's me... saleswoman extraordinaire. In any case, this is what I wound up with:

My favorite part about this one is the cool texture in the background... Talk about a love affair? That Big Shot and I have somethin' pretty special going on. Don't tell Michael.

Here's a better shot of the background:

And, just in case you wanted to see the fruit of my labored sales pitch, here's a close up of the rocket, in all it's multi-color-family glory.

She only bought one color family this time... maybe I oughta stick to the bubble wrap gig.

Card Recipe:
Stamp Set: Pun Fun
Ink: Black StazOn
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Naturals White, textured Elegant Eggplant, Watercolor Paper, Rainbow Sherbet DSP
Accessories: Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon, Bold Bright eyelets
Tools: Big Shot, Stampin' Backgrounds Texturz Plates, Scalloped Edge punch, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter, Cutter Kit, Dimensionals

Embossing with the Big Shot!

Oh... I'm having F-U-N now!! I just got in some new stuff and finally got to play with it a little bit today... I'm going NUTS over the cool new products we can use with the Big Shot - primarily the new Texturz Plates and the Embosslit Dies... in just a matter of minutes, I whipped up this card:

Oh, my gosh, it was so easy! I used one of the Texturz Plates from the Backgrounds I collection, along with the Simple Flower Embosslit Die. The Big Shot textures, cuts, and embosses with ease... and all I had to do was adhere it all together! Here's a closer shot so you can see the embossing a little better:

So far, this is the only card I've made... I wanted to sit down and share my excitement with you before I played any more! ...okay, I gotta go now - that Big Shot over there is staring at me. :)

Card Recipe:
Stamp Set: Short & Sweet
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon, Button Bouquet, Linen Thread
Tools: Texturz Plate Backgrounds I, Simple Flower Embosslit Die, Big Shot