friendly box

Hey everyone!  Well, did you do the Week In The Life last week?  I know, I didn't supply very much inspiration around here.  Sorry about that.  I was so pooped every night that I never got on here to post anything. 

I did get my Week In The Life done though.  Well, I got all the pictures and documentation done.  This week I'll be putting it all together.  I got alot better about getting the camera out.  AND, I found the secret to getting shots of my family.............turn the sound off on the camera.  They never knew a thing!  Sometimes, (not often enough) I come up with a good idea. 

So while you're waiting for me to get that together, I have a project idea to show you. 

Medallion and Fabulous Phrases stamps.  Crumb cake, vellum, whisper white and old olive cardstock.  Whisper white craft and black Stazon inks.  Big shot, lable framelits, fun flowers die, little leaves die, paper doily die, hemp, bakers twine, tissue paper, brights buttons, polka dot embossing folder, 3/4" and 1" circle punches.


Isn't this a cute little box?  Final measurements are: 3.5" x 3.25" x  1.5".

I was going to exchange a punch for a customer and it came right before we went to Oregon.  Since she was so patient, I decided it would be nice if I made it pretty before I delivered it.

Here is how you make the box:

I used my handy dandy Simply Scored Tool.  Now, you don't have to have this to make the box, it just makes it quick and easy.

On the 8.5" side you need to score it at 1 1/2" and 7".  On the 11" side score it at: 1 1/2", 4 3/4", 6 1/4" and 9 1/2".

Then snip into the folds.  I forgot to take a pic of that step.  Here, let me see if I can label this.  Hold on.................

Cut on the white lines.  Although I'm sure you'll cut them straighter than my sad lines here.

If you want to stamp on your box, now is the time to do it.  You can't see it here but I stamped the Medallion in white craft ink on what will be the top of the box.  Grab that Medallion stamp while you can, its being retired.

 Take your most awesome Tombow Multi Glue and put the sides together.  This will be the bottom.

Then glue your lid together like so.

I used a 1" circle punch to punch out a place to grab whatever is inside.  You'll see that the punch fits very snuggly inside here.  I had to punch this little notch so I could get ahold of the punch to take it out.  I hadn't done it yet on this pic but I punched out a notch on the lid too.

Side angle

I got lucky that the punch fit just perfectly.

Then I made a cute little tag to go with it.  I cut the doily out of tissue paper.  Then I just ripped (gently) the overhang.  I left it like that because............well, I don't really know why I left it like that. 

This label was the 3rd in from the middle framelit.

A view from the top. 

View from the side.  It is a sturdy little box and didn't take long to make it.  I hope my friend liked it. 

Alrighty then, I've got to get dinner going.  I'm so glad Week In The Life is over.  I love when its all finished but it is a bugger to get done.  I'll show you when I get it done. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

Christmas?

Hey stampers!

How was your Veteran's Day?  The kids and I had the day off.  We get tomorrow off too.  Another furlough day.  We didn't get a whole lot done.  Monopoly monopolized our time.  HA!  We had a great game and 16 wiped the board with us. 

I was going to show you another one of the cards we made last week but I haven't taken pics of them yet.  So I'll show you one that we didn't do.

Medallion and Sincere Salutations sets.  Crumb cake, whisper white and old olive cardstock.  Whisper white and black Stazon inks.  Scallop square duo (Holiday Mini), little leaves die, big shot, real red satin ribbon, sticky rhinestones, and dimensionals.

I love this card!  I think the medallion looks like a big ol' snowflake back there. 

I colored the rhinestones with my red Sharpie again.  I used the larger of the scallop squares on the scallop square duo die.  Even though this card looks complicated, using the Big Shot makes it easy.  You can cut out 3 or 4 of the squares at a time.  I might use this as my Christmas card this year. 

I'm keeping it short and sweet tonight.  Both my men are sick and looking for meds.  Why can they never find anything on their own? 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Blessings, b.

for Morticia

Hey stampers!

Thank you all for your well wishes on my recovery.  The Nyquil has really helped me sleep which is the best remedy for a cold.  Although I would probably feel better so much faster if I just stayed home from work and someone came over to cook me chicken soup and clean and let me just watch movies and read books all day. 

One can dream right?  Really, I'm feeling much better, thank you. 

Remember the Addams Family tv show?  I remember as a kid watching it.  I think it just confused me.  Although that isn't too hard to do............. 

Even though I don't think its on tv anymore, the theme song lives on strong.  We use the tune in school alot to memorize the days of the week and times tables. 

Those teachers who know what I'm talking about can't get the song out of their head now, huh? 

days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week
days of the week
days of the week  (clap clap)
theres Sunday
and theres Monday
theres Tuesday
and theres Wednesday
theres Thursday
and theres Friday
and then theres Saturday
days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week
days of the week
days of the week (clap clap)

I'm sure you can find it on You Tube somewhere.  So now you all know your days of the week. 

You're welcome.

Anyhow, ever since I got the Neutrals Patterns DSP this one pattern makes me think of the Addams Family, or the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

 (oh geez, Big Bang Theory just came on and now I have to hurry)

So for the last month I've had a little piece of this paper on my desk with an idea in my head for a Halloween type card. 

It went through several phases and ended up like this:

Medallion background stamp.  Basic black and whisper white cardstock.  Going gray ink (retired) and basic gray ink.   Vanilla seam binding (holiday mini), rhinestones, 2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter and dimensionals. 

It looks so much prettier in person!  My mad photography skills just don't do it.  This came out 4 1/4" square. 

I dyed the ribbon with the Basic Gray and Going Gray inks.  Just get the ribbon wet and then rub it around in the ink.  It came out mottled looking and I think that just adds a little more of the old/creepy look to it. 

I made a wrinkly rose and added just a little glitter and a sticky rhinestone.  Then I decided to add a bunch of glitter to the medallion/doily. 

There is really alot of glitter on the medallion/doily but of course you can't see it.  And I added a few little spots of glitter to the DSP too. 

Alrighty then, BBT is over (mango caterpillar icee, anyone?)  and I've got to get Grace in bed and the laundry put away.  The fun never stops here.

Thanks for stopping by.  I love it when you do that.

Blessings, b.

wedding congrats

Hey everybody,  how's it going?   I'm up late tonight posting what was supposed to be posted last night, but I forgot.  Actually, I'm up late cleaning and setting up for my card class tomorrow.  I'm so excited to stamp with my friends.  Its been too long. 

The card I'm going to show you isn't one that we are making tomorrow.  We should have though because its a little easier than a few of the ones we are making.  They were supposed to be easy cards but, I got carried away.

  

Medallion background and A Word for You sets.  Whisper white and Sahara sand cardstock.  Sahara sand and black Stazon inks.  2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter, 5/8" vanilla brad and dimensionals.

My principal is getting married and they had a surprise shower for her today.  I didn't go.  Party pooper.  Not really.  We had plans for Bingo night at Grace's school.  Bingo = good times. 

I combined 2 older designs to make a new one.  Recycling!  I used the 2 way glue pen to add all the glitter. 

Now that I'm looking at the picture, I should have used that new Glass Glitter.  Didn't even think about it.  I added the glue to the brad and then dunked it in the Dazzling Diamonds.  It was really sparkly and pretty in person.  Glitter does NOT like me to take its picture. 

I  hope she and her new hubby-to-be like the card.  I put a gift card inside.  Thats probably the part they really like. 

Okie dokie then,  I have some more setting up to do put I think I'm going to hit the hay.  Try to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning.......yeah right.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Blesssings, b.

Time Out for mom

Happy 3 day weekend everyone!  I'm so glad for the extra day.  I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off this week. 

Sorry for the visual there..............my Grandma used to say that all the time.  

Anyhow, I did lots of running around today so I can stay home the rest of the weekend.  I want to stamp.  I need to stamp.  I miss my stamps. 

So after dinner tonight I said, "Mom is taking a Time Out."  They all looked at me like I was nuts.  I rinsed off my plate, sat at my desk, plugged in my earbud thingys and stamped.  Made the hubs clean the kitchen.  Su-weeeeet!  

So I sit down and no stamping ideas come to me.  I'm all dried up!  You know that saying, "Use it or lose it!"  So I looked through my inspiration stack of pics and found a card by Dawn McVey (you can google her) and decided to copy it.  Well, mostly copy it.  You know, once you get going, your own ideas take over. 

See?

A Word for You, Medallion and Elements of Style stamps.  Crumb cake, soft suede, cajun craze and early espresso cardstock.  Soft Suede and Versamark inks.  Kraft taffeta ribbon (retired), Newsprint DSP, Leaves #2 die, Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder and dimensionals. 

I like how it turned out.  You can hardly see it but I stamped the Elements of Style roses on the Early Espresso piece in Versamark.  My Early Espresso ink isn't here yet.  When is it coming?  I'm trying to be patient. 

I also stamped the Medallion on the Cajun Craze in Versamark because my ink isn't here yet either.


Patience is a virtue.  I wish I was more virtuous.

I've been wanting to use the Leaves #2 die lately.  I'm ready for fall.  The leaf was actually a last minute addition.  I like the dimension the embossing folder gives to it. 

I sponged some soft suede on there so the design would pop. 

Apparently my time is up on my Time Out because I have everyone right here, reading along, giving their comments (which aren't very nice), bugging me, wanting to know when I'll be done.........geez, I love my family. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I plan on having another Time Out tomorrow. 

Blessings, b.

Another Artisan contender

Hey there!  Did you have a wonderful day?  I got a big story to share with you but it will have to wait.   What a tease huh? 

For now, I have another entry to show you.  Ready?

Schoolbook Serif alpha and Medallion stamps.  Going gray, whisper white and basic black cardstock.  Brocade blue and Versamark inks.  Clear embossing powder, ruby red marker.

This picture was taken when we visited my dad after Christmas.  We went skiing in Santa Fe.  Well, they went skiing.  Grace didn't want to go so she and I hung out in the lounge.  It was such an awesome day, snowed the whole time.

Anyhow, I loved this picute and wanted to use it.  You can just barely see the Medallion stamp on the gray.  It looked like a big snowflake to me.  And boy, did we have some big snowflakes that day!  I just need to copy it for my own scrapbook. 

My ruby red marker was running out of ink.  But I didn't have another red marker.  And I can see here that the title is crooked.  I'm sure that is a big No-No for an Artisan winner.  Plus my writing is sloppy.  But, sloppy or not, I think your personal handwriting on your scrap pages is so important.  Years from now your family isn't going to be saying, "Gee, look at Aunt Marge's writing.  It sure is ugly."  Trust me.  They will be thankful for the story behind the picture. 

I also stamped the Medallion on the white and embossed it.  Now it looks like a wet snowflake!  Anyhow, I really do love this page. 

Alrighty then, this old broad is hitting the hay.  I'll share my story with you tomorrow or the next day.  Sleep tight!

Thanks for stopping by.  I love it when you do that.

Blessings, b.

wrinkly roses

Hey everybody!  I hope everyone had a great day.  I just got done putting the finishing touches on the make 'n' take and the goodie bags for tomorrow.  I only got one more tag done today.  Its awesome! 

Medallion and Favorite Thoughts (summer mini).  Not quite navy, sahara sand, old olive and NEW Poppy Parade (In Color).  Black Stazon and white craft inks.  Paper piercer, Little Leaves die, white taffeta ribbon, scallop edge punch, curly label punch and hemp.

Pretty huh?  It came out even better than I planned.  Which is cool because that never happens. 

I had the idea of making some wrinkly roses but that was it.  I decided to use a new In Color.  I love this Poppy Parade.  Its a bright reddish orange.  Well, I wasn't sure what colors would go with it (besides Crumb Cake) so I looked at the NEW AND IMPROVED COLOR COACH.  Check this bad boy out

You get a swatch of every color!  Look at the backs

Awesome!  On the back of each color swatch it gives you 2 different color combos.  I used the bottom 3, Sarhara Sand, Not Quite Navy and Poppy Parade.  After I looked at the colors I thought, "hey, those could be kinda patriotic."   Anyway, I love how it turned out.

I started thinking about making the Medallion look like a lace doily.  So I stamped it in white on the Sahara Sand and then cut it out and paper pierced eveywhere there was a dot. 

The words look crooked here but they really aren't.  Its just my mad photography skills showing off again.  For the top I just punched out a Curly Label and folded it in half.  Rocket science. 

Now here is the fun part.

They're so pretty! 

So you want to know how I made these?  Check it out

The biggest flower is a 2 1/2" circle.  The smaller ones are punched out with the 1 3/8" punch. 

Get your aggressions out and crumple the heck outta that circle.

Cut around and around and around in a spiral.  The smaller the width of the spiral the flatter the rose.  I cut this at about 1/4".  Does that make sense?  The wider the width, the higher the rose will sit.  I'll show you what I'm talking about in a minute.

Now starting with the outside edge, roll it in on itself.  Like this

Just keep rolling until the center of the circle sits on the bottom.  Like this

Sorry for the fuzzy pic.  Moving on.......

See how tight it is?  It won't stay that way.  Just let it go and set it down.

 It will start to loosen up.  Now, if we didn't scrunch the heck out of it first, then it would really be loose.  Sometimes I have to help it relax a little by taking the center with my tweezers and unrolling it a little.

Once you like the look of it.  Take your wonderful Tombow Multi Glue and smear some on the bottom flap.

Fold it up.

It will only take a few minutes to set. 

Now remember how I was saying if you made the spiral wider?  Here is what that will look like

Still very pretty but it sits much taller.

The one on the right is what I made for the tag.  The one on the left is what I made for one of my Artisan Award 3D entries.  I'll show you someday. 

They look basically the same on the top. 

So go make some wrinkly roses and show me what you made.  I would love to see.

Remember the bird tag from yesterday?

I wanted it to say something but I couldn't figure out what.  Look what I came up with

I think its cute!  I used the "hello" from  the "hello again" set. 

Alrighty, all the goodie bags are ready to go. 

I'm hoping I have to make more.  Every person who buys some retired stamps gets to choose one of these.  That goes for people I have to ship to also.  So go check out those retired stamps and let me know what you want. 

Okie dokie, I gotta get up early so I'm going to bed. 

Thanks for stopping by.  You make me feel all warm and fuzzy when you do.

Blessings, b.

Happy Stampin' Up! New Year!

Today is an exciting day!  The new Idea Book and Catalog is out!  It is so awesome!  I know every year I say that it is better than the last year and this year is no exception. 

They have great new samples and they outlined the stamps that have matching punches.  Really cool new punches too.  Alot of groovy new accessesories.  You gotta see it!  I've got a bunch here for only $5 each.  Let me know you want one. 

I reorganized my desk.  I took out all the old colors and put in the new ones.  Now I can't find a dang thing! 

So today I've been stamping and putting goodie bags together.    The goodie bags may include, ribbon, brads, eyelets, DSP, cardstock, ink pads and some even have stamps.  I'm so happy to see this stuff find new homes.  Do you want one?

Yesterday I spent time photographing all the retired stamps sets I am selling.  Then I labeled them and made a special page for them here.  Just look at the top left side here and you'll see Retired Stamps For Sale!!!!!  Just click on that and you'll see everything I have.  They are priced really low!  I mean really low.  They are bored with me and need new creative homes.  So come on over and check them out.  Wait, maybe I can hook up a link....................oh, I can!  Look here for the retired stamps page.

Remember, for every purchase of retired sets, you'll get a goodie bag.  You know you want one ;)


You want to see what I stamped today?  More tags for the goodie bags!

Easter Blooms set.  Whisper white, night of navy and real red cardstock.  Whisper white craft ink and real red ink.  3/4" circle punch jumbo glue dot and hemp.

I'm not so sure I love it.  I do think its pretty cute though.  I thought with 4th of July coming it was appropriate.  I have another patriotic one in mind.  I'll do it tomorrow though. 

I punched a red circle out to layer behind the button.  I sewed the button to the tag but then the bow was doing crazy hat tricks and so I had to stick that sucker down with a jumbo glue dot.  I'll show it who's boss! 

Okay, moving on..................

Medallion and Trendy Trees stamp.  Whisper white, marina mist, early espresso and old olive cardstock.  So saffron and bashful blue ink.  2 step bird punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, polka dot embossing folder and dimensionals.

I had the idea of the Medallion looking like the sun.  Then I thought, well, a bird could be singing.  I feel like it needs a sentiment on the sun but I couldn't think of anything good.  So I'll sleep on it and see what I think in the morning.  What do you think?

Then I remembered I wanted to give this bird some feet with the Trendy Trees stamp. I haven't seen anybody do this yet, but I don't get around much. I just cracked myself up! The feet are a little too big but hey, he's still cute!  See here on how I made the clouds. 

                                                          

Easter Blooms and Favorite Thoughts (Summer Mini).  Melon mambo, whisper white, pumpkin pie and old olive cardstock.  Pumpkin pie, melon mambo, more mustard, and old olive inks.  Scallop edge punch, dazzling diamonds glitter,  rhinestone brad, round tab punch, hemp and dimensionals.

I think this is my favorite of the day.  Such bright colors!  And I love that sentiment.  That whole set just makes me laugh. 

                                                 

I'm running out of the rhinestone brads.  BUT guess what?  They have more in the new catalog!  Not just the brads but they have rhinestone stickers!  And they're cheap.  I don't remember how much right now but if I think they are cheap, you better believe they are.  I am so getting them on my first order!

                                             

Can you see the glitter?  Glitter does not like to be photographed.  At least not by me.  Anyway, its very sparkly in person. 

I have a few more ideas up my sleeve.  So we'll see what I come up with tomorrow. 

So, you want to hear about Eclipse right?  Right? 

It was so GOOD!!  The best movie out of the three.   I'm glad we got there when we did because about 15 min. after we got there they started giving out wristbands and let us in the theater. 

                                           

Please Drink Responsibly?  I told the girls that meant they couldn't spill their drinks.  Of course my child is the one that does spill.  She wasn't drinking responsibly. 

We had a great time.  And it is crystal clear that I'm just too old to be out at 2:30 in the morning.  I couldn't sleep and then I got up too early and I was a big pool of goo yesterday.  Not good for too much.  Last night I slept really good. 

Okie dokie then, I'll yak atcha more tomorrow. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.