Stamp Club Cards & Projects, oh my!

Happy Friday! Yay! First, I have to say thank you for all your nice comments and congratulations on winning the Stampin' Up! Artisan Award. I couldn't believe it myself when Brent Steele called last Friday...I was in bed with fever and flu after school, but when I saw that "801" number on my cell phone, I got my happy, perky voice on fast! lol! Second, this post is going to be long, but good!, with lots of photos of cards from my stamp club members and stamp club projects from my bff and downline Lori, so you might want to grab your favorite beverage! lol!



Lori gave us these materials to use on our challenge cards. You can always add more goodies, but you have to use these and that's what I used on my card above:



I mentioned in a previous post how I add *chipboard* behind patterned paper sometimes to make it *sturdier* on the card, like here...



...but it's not always regular chipboard...




So I guess it's a partly *green* card! Look in your recycling bin, you probably have lots of good chipboard options!


Okay, now for the cards from some of the club members...


Below here is Beverly's super cute card, love that chipboard "U" she added and the rhinestone brad in the center of the "g"!


Next is this beauty from Michelva, don't you love that die cut she added, and how she cut the scallop square in half and cut out the two little birdies?! Darling!


I'm excited to show you Rachel's card below. This is the FIRST card or paper-crafting of any kind that she has done, and she did it all by herself!! How awesome!


Lastly is this wonderful card from Valerie, her ribbon treatment is the coolest, and I love how she added the bird house and sentiment!


We had a little random prize of hardware goodies (the container top is decorated with cute flowers and a big brad you can't see here!) for the participants and Michelva won! Beverly couldn't make it last night, so she can see the papers here that her name was included! hee! hee!


Now for the super cute projects that Lori created for us (she's helping me out and kind of taking over hostessing the club, but they're all my best friends so I'm still going, of course!). This is a darling box made from the scallop square envelope die with the Big Shot, and we made three little notecards with envelopes to go inside it. She told me who she got the idea from, but I can't remember, oops! If it was you, give me a shout out so I can give you credit and a link!



And lastly, she showed us this precious little business card holder, also made from the scallop envelope die and Big Shot. I believe she said that she saw it on Patty Bennett's blog, and I found the tutorial here if you'd like to try!



Schwooo! That was long, so if you're still here, give yourself a pat on the back from me! I guess I'm off to school. Is it our last day? NO! Is it Field Day? yes, ugh! lol! I'm old, out of shape, and I don't like sweating, so wish me luck! ha! Hopefully the kids will have fun and I'll get some great pictures to scrap!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Oval All Thank You

Happy Tuesday! Hope your week is off to a great start! I had a question in the comments from Nicole (Hi, Nicole!) about the Texturz plate and the Big Shot, so I thought I'd show you some pictures of how I do it. I used our Stamp Club challenge materials for March to make this card. (Although when the girls came Monday night with their challenge cards...see below...they pointed out I had not used the pink flower and white grommet thing I gave them...oops, I forgot I had given it to them...so officially they said I cheated! Doh!)


When using the Texturz plate, the first thing I do is put the score line of the card into the top line of the Texturz plate.


Next, make sure you roll it through the Big Shot with that score line/top part first. When I tried rolling it through the other direction, it slipped more.


Lastly, I was feeling good about these tips, but last night at my second stamp club gathering, it started slipping again! ugh! So while experimenting, I found it worked to make sure you flip that top black piece everytime you run it through. It was starting to get warped a little bit (like the clear cutter pads do too), so after we started flipping it each time, it worked perfectly again! Hope that helps y'all!

Okay, now for some super cute cards from some Stamp Club girls! (Quite a few cards are missing here...hmmmm, maybe I should start making them fill out a homework excuse record like my students?! hee! hee!)

Here is Beverly's card, I love, love, love everything about this card!


Here is Lori's card, in all its cuteness too! I love how she added the So Saffron patterned paper, what a sweet combination!



Here is Tracy's card, totally love the wavy border edge and the darling button in the center of the flower! Doesn't the vintage, coffee-drinking lady stamp look great on pink too?!


Okay, that's it for now! I'm off to administer the 3rd grade Math Taks test! Ack! Wish those little darlings throughout Texas good luck today! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Oval All
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Basic Gray Patterns Hostess Level 1 Pack.
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Going Gray marker.
Accessories: Scallop Oval Punch, Oval Punch, Pretties Flower, Big Shot, Background 1 Texturz, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Janome Sew Mini.

Stamp Club Project #2

Happy Monday! Thought I'd show the other Stamp Club project for this month...a little treat holder made with the Big Shot Matchbox Die from the new SU Spring Occasions Mini Catalog. Isn't it precious?! I can say that because I copied it directly from Stampin' Up! lol! Here is their sample, photographed much better, sigh:

DH was in charge of getting candy at the grocery store, but he couldn't find any *pastel* colored candy like I had requested...imagine him calling me and describing the various colors of different kinds of candies...in the end, we decided on Skittles! Because they are so bright, I changed the ribbon to Tangerine Tango. I'm crazy about unfinished, aka raw, chipboard lately, but maybe I should let them cover theirs with patterned paper if they want.


One more thing, have you heard of the Inspirational blog? My friend Anthonette contacted me about featuring my blog on there, how nice was that?! You can check it out here! Be sure and check out the whole blog, I found a bunch of great new blogs and paper artists!


Okay, hope your Monday is super duper spectacular! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: Sweet Little Sentiments Hostess Level 1.
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss Textured, Whisper White
Ink: Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: Tangerine Tango 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread, 1/16" Punch, Chipboard Heart, Transparency, Curly Label Punch, Big Shot, Matchbox Bigz XL Die.

Stamp Club Projects

Hmmmm, does this look familiar? I was trying to come up with projects for Stamp Club while dealing with an exploding head yesterday, and then thought, why reinvent the wheel, right? lol! So I took the gift card holder card from my last post and just changed it up using supplies that I had enough of for all the club members. I like this version too, mainly because I get in a rut of always stamping my main image on white, so this made for a nice change I thought.



While preparing for club, I also realized I had never shown the challenge cards from my stamp club members from February! The supplies were distributed while we were on our scrapbooking retreat, and not everyone was there, plus there was some confusion (a lot of tequila was involved, so I'm not sure everyone got their materials), but these are the cards that I got back from some members! lol!



We started with a Baja Breeze card, a pink ribbon, a jumbo flower brad, and a sketch. Here's mine, with the addition of a Big Shot cupcake and Pink Pirouette patterned paper (which really doesn't match the Pretty in Pink ribbon, remember, I said there was tequila involved):




Here is Beverly's card, I love the scallop oval and how it looks like an egg to go with her Easter sentiment:


Here is Margaret's, I love the pink she added with that beautiful sentiment die cut piece:



Here is Michelva's, I love how she used the little oval slit punch to add her ribbon:


Okay, that's it for now, hope you have a wonderful Sunday! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


p.s. Elena, if you're reading, you left a comment a few days ago with some questions about my school and the RTI program, but I didn't have your email to respond back! Email me at schwooo at gmail.com! Thanks!

Polka Dot Punches Double Stationery Pouch

Happy Thursday! What a week! I haven't done a lot of stamping (sigh), but I do have the March Stamp Club projects we did last weekend. I found this adorable little stationery pouch holder here on Lisa Brown's blog, ink and inspirations. Thanks, Lisa! She linked to the creator with a tutorial here at the elissa creates blog. Thanks, Elissa! Y'all were life savers for me this month! Here is a side view:




The card that we made to go inside was copied (yes, I was a big old copycat last month! hee! hee!) from a project class by Monika Davis that she submitted to Stampin' Up! for ideas for demonstrators to use. Her project was a winner, you can check it out here. Thanks, Monika!




Here are some alternate versions my friends made:




Okay, off to school, trying to hang on until Friday! lol! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!



p.s. I noticed yesterday I hit the 200,000 hits mark, so check back Saturday for some Celebration Blog Candy! I remember reading when people like Beate were passing 200,000 hits (a couple of years ago!) and I thought it would never happen to me, so thanks so much for coming to visit!

Scallop Envelope Treat Holder

Happy Thursday! I just finished whipping up this little box for one of our stamp club projects this month. Thanks to my buddy Jenn over at Stamp Your Heart for the great idea! It's made with the Big Shot Scallop Envelope die. We've made a bigger box with this die before using four envelopes, but this one is smaller and only uses two envelopes. It's smaller than I thought...I bought ten Reese's eggs for stamp club members to put inside, but they wouldn't fit! Wonder what I'm going to do with ten Reese's eggs now?! hee! hee! Here's the overall pic:

Have I mentioned that I'm going on a scrapbooking retreat this weekend? Did I mention that I'm leaving work and hitting the road at noon tomorrow? Have I started packing or preparing supplies?! Ugggghhhhh! Oh well, here's what I do have ready: clean pajamas, the tequila and margarita mix, Diet Vanilla Pepsi....I should be good, right?!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Polka Dot Punches, Sweet Sampler (enjoy)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise, Pink Flamingo DSP.
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Envelope Die, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Vintage Brads, 1/4" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Jumbo Brad, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals.

Easter Wishes

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone is having a good weekend! We (dh and me...it's a very exclusive party!) have been enjoying our Oscar Red Carpet preview show...rooting for Slumdog Millionaire bigtime!

I just finished this little card for one of the Stamp Club projects this month. Wish I could take the credit for it, but I pretty much copied it straight out of the Stampin' Success, a magazine with ideas and training for SU demonstrators. I added the polka dots at the bottom and changed the focal point image to the butterfly because I wanted to use my new Big Shot Butterfly die. Isn't she pretty?! Anyway, the little brad is acting as a hinge and the card opens with a little surprise:


What do you think? I like this concept and will definitely try it again! The card base is the Kraft cardstock, so you can still write inside of the card.

Okay, so are you watching the beginning of the Oscars?! It's off to a great start...Hugh Jackman, yummmmmmm! I gotta run and give him my full attention!! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: All Holiday, Polka Dot background.
Cardstock: Kraft, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Delicate Dots SAB DSP.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celelry.
Accessories: Border Scallop Punch, Big Shot, ButterflyDie, 5/8" Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon, Certainly Celery Brad, Paper Piercer and mat.

Love You Much: Hugs & Kisses Treat Holder

Happy Sunday! Hope you're all having a great weekend! (Hey, there's still a few hours left, right?!) I took Saturday easy as I seem to be getting sick...AGAIN, ugh! I knew I was in for it last Tuesday when a 2nd grader sneezed on her hand, then grabbed mine and held onto it for a good five minutes. As soon as I freed myself, I doused my hands with sanitizer, but I fear the damage had already been done. By Thursday I was sneezing, then coughing and aching by Friday, sigh. lol!

Last night I had to whip up a couple of projects for stamp club, which was this afternoon and this coming Wednesday night, so here is one of them. I was pretty out of it, so I looked around for "inspiration" to steal, and found this Love You Much project below by Stampin' Up! to copy, yay! I didn't have Close to Cocoa cardstock, so I used Kraft, and I used Hershey's Kisses, which don't look quite as cute as their photo...but they sure taste good! *wink*



Okay, I'm off to finish up some stuff for school and will try to get to bed early tonight! lol! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Love You Much
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Candy Lane DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, Red Taffeta Ribbon, bamboo skewer.

"Guess Who Loves You" Ghiradelli Treat Holder

Happy Wednesday! Only 2 more days of school left until a two-week vacation....ahhhh, sweet!

We had a great time at Beverly's Christmas party/Stamp Club last night, and I thought I would share one of the other projects we made. It's another Ghiradelli chocolate square holder like I made here, that I learned from Kimberley Morris' tutorial here. I used my new Owl Together Now set for this one, isn't he cute?! I've wanted this owl set from the first time I saw it in the new catalog and I finally broke down last month and bought him...another customer did too, so maybe you'll see some more cute stuff with him in the days to come.

It's only about one month until the new Stampin' Up! catalog comes out with lots of new goodies and temptations, aye-yi-yi! And that's what I told dh I wanted for Christmas, which he didn't think was very romantic, but reluctantly agreed! lol! Did you ask for anything special for Christmas?!

Hope you're having a good week and having fun getting ready for the holidays! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Owl Together Now
Cardstock: Red Riding Hood, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Brown, Red Riding Hood.
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Double Circle Punch, Ribbon Originals from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

JOY Card: December Stamp Club

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good day and survived the nasty weather across the country! I've been scrambling trying to get ready for Stamp Club tomorrow night. I've been so fried trying to come up with projects, you wouldn't believe the pile of rejects on my desk! lol!

This is one card we're going to do, and it's kind of like cheating because I designed it as a make and take for our scrapbooking retreat weekend back in October, but we didn't end up having time to do it, so I had to pull it out as a last resort! lol! Excuse the crooked ribbon...it's been packed away for several months! If the design looks familiar, it's because I did a Halloween card here with the same design. I like this version because the little circles look like ornaments.

My friend and club member Beverly is hosting a Christmas party Tuesday night, and I'm so grateful because she let us combine our stamp club night into her party! I spoke with her earlier and she was cleaning house...which meant I didn't have to! So thank you, Beverly, I promise you a special treat for saving me!

Guess I better get to bed so I can get my 5 hours in, sigh. lol! Thank you so much for all of your nice comments about my Christmas Bazaar! You really made me feel good! I was disappointed in myself for not getting more done...you know how it is when you have so many ideas in your head and not enough time to do them all...so you really made me feel better about it! Hugs and happy stamping!

Peace Gable Box

Happy Wednesday! Thank you for all of your comments and well wishes on my last post. My, I never dreamed I would have so much competition for my Edward though! A few replies on some of your comments: Megan, yes, they are VERY addicting, so don't start reading if you have anything else you might have to get done (like feed your children or take a shower!)...Jen made the comment about using a receipt for a bookmark and I used a Marshall's one, glad I'm not the only one!...Chelle, I agree, book 2 was a little boring to me too because it had a long, lack-of-Edward part in the middle and it was making me SO mad!...and the rest of you, I will be the only one running away with Edward! hee! hee!

Okay, back to stamping...sorry for the detour (well, not really!). This little gable box I started on last night for our 2nd stamp club project. It's not *exactly* like I had envisioned, but I hope the girls still like it. I had a bunch of these gable boxes left over from when SU sold them, and they really do make nice gift boxes, this is the largest one. I stamped some several years ago for famly members, and it's nice to see them get reused and passed to someone else every year.

I used the Ski Slope DSP and the Join in the Cheer die with the Big Shot (Vina's request!). I bought the snowflake dies last month with the intention of using them, but it didn't end up that way, sigh. Maybe next month, right?! I just couldn't resist using the BIG felt flurries, they were perfect for this box. I find the big ones a little hard to use on cards, they're probably best for scrapbook pages and gift packaging or home decor projects. Have you made anything with the big ones yet? Do share!

Okay, I'm off to blurf a bit, I'm still way behind and I'm dying to check out some super cute stuff out there! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Best Yet level 1 hostess set.
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Red Riding Hood, Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP.
Ink: Red Riding Hood.
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Small & Large Tag Punch, 1/8" Circle Punch, Red Riding Hood 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Join in the Cheer die, Big Shot, Large Felt Flurry, Jumbo Eyelet, Crop-a-Dile, Vintage Brad, Glue Dot, Dimensionals.

Organic Outlines Bookmark

Happy Tuesday! Sorry for my prolonged absence, it's been such a bummer. I've been sick, nothing major, just one annoying thing after another that's kept me from sitting up at my stamp table. Grrrr! I did manage to spend 2 hours there this evening, yay!, and I came up with this little bookmark that we'll be doing for stamp club this month. Thank you to my wonderful stamping friends in the club who are flexible when we meet, love you girls!

Anyway, I saw this precious bookmark idea on Jen Del Muro's fabulous blog, you can see hers here. She used the rectangular Nestabilities, but I made do with the Scallop Border Punch, and made mine a little bit longer than hers.

I started with a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock cut 2 7/8" x 8 1/2" (I practiced with a piece of copy paper first to get it right.) I used the Border Scallop Punch along both long sides, then did the short ends across last. When I finished that, I folded it in half and scored with a bone folder, then put a piece of Sticky Strip tape inside about 1" down from the top, so that it will slide over your book pages and stop. Jen shows a picture here showing how it works, I should have done that, sorry! This picture below shows the side view and you can see better how it will slide over your pages. Wouldn't these make cute little Christmas gifts?


This project also ties in with how I spent a lot of my time these last few days while lying around sick and not stamping...I joined the cult of people reading these little books. I'm pretty sure it's a sin for a 42 year old married lady to be in love with a young vampire named Edward (he is an old soul though!), but heaven help me, we are meant to be together, maybe even more than Mr. Darcy and me! lol! Yesterday at the doctor's office, the nurse saw me reading the book while waiting and we had a 15 minute discussion about Edward and Jacob before we even started discussing medical issues, and the office was packed too! Yikes! I guess that makes it sound like I wasn't that sick, but I think the *love* (or *lust*!) endorphins were actually helping with the pain and sickness! Okay, I better stop now...hee! hee! Oh, I haven't read the last one yet, so don't give anything big away!! hee! hee!

Hope you all have been doing well! Thank you so much for all the sweet comments on the last few posts and for bearing with me during my absence. I have something else almost finished to post tomorrow night and a plan to get caught up on 300+ posts on Google Reader! lol! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Organic Outlines, Best Yet hostess level 1 set.
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Whisper White, and Patterns Pack level 1 hostess DSP.
Ink: Real Red, Baja Breeze (stamped off once).
Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Jumbo Eyelet, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Crop-a-Dile, Sticky Strip.

Winter Post Scallop Envelope Box

Happy Saturday! I finally got my computer to work last night at the crop, after 2 hours, schwooo! I got one whole scrapbook page done before I got on the computer, oops! We're having a great time, and I'm going to have so much fun stuff to show you!

But for now, here's the second project we're going to do at Stamp Club this month. It features the ribbon yo yo we learned at the SU Convention and the fabulous box made with the Scallop Envelope die and the Big Shot. I'm not sure who first *invented* this, but I found an awesome tutorial for it here by Jane Matsumoto. I ran out of time before I had to leave to really "cuten" it up and finish it off with a cello bag and ribbon inside, but you get the idea!

Hope your weekend is off to a great start! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Winter Post
Cardstock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Bella Rose DSP.
Ink: Red Riding Hood, Staz-On Black.
Accessories: Red Riding Hood Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Designer Label Punch, Big Shot, Scallop Envelope Die, Crystal Effects, Black Chunky Glitter, Dimensionals, Glue Dot, Needle, Thread.

Winter Post Pillowbox

Happy Friday! Thought I'd share one of the projects we'll be doing for my October Stamp Club next Wednesday and next Sunday. I worked hard to get them done and all supplies ready before leaving on my weekend retreat this afternoon. I have a feeling I may be a little *tired* when I return on Sunday, so didn't think I should leave this until the last minute, like usual! hee! hee!

This month's theme ended up being "rosettes"...as you can see from the the paper rosette above and tomorrow I'll post the second project that features a yummy ribbon rosette, or yo yo. This project was super easy with the new Big Shot and Pillowbox Die. I stamped the snowflake from Winter Post in Craft White ink and I made the rosette from the Ski Slope DSP, such cute stuff! And don't you love the yummy chocolate chip felt ribbon?! That just made the project for me!

So what are your plans for this weekend? Lots of stamping? I'm taking my laptop with me, so I'll post some pictures of any fun stuff we have going on. I'm already dying to show you the picture of the goody bags I made for my friends and the make and take project. Yes, as part of our pre-retreat meeting plans, we decided to make goody bags and provide a make and take for each other, fun huh?! Can't wait to see what the other girls came up with too! Well, I finished baking homemade banana nut bread last night and now need to make the pumpkin cheesecake bars and finish packing! Fun and fattening!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Winter Post.
Cardstock: Kraft, Bashful Blue, Ski Slope DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Brown, Craft White.
Accessories: Big Shot, Pillowbox Die, Chocolate Chip Felt Ribbon, 1" Circle Punch, Dimensionals.

Stamp Club Challenge

Happy Monday! I realized last night I had never posted the cards from the last Stamp Club Challenge, I'm way late! I gave the girls this challenge in August, then they brought or mailed (thank you, Beverly!) the cards to me by the end of September.

The challenge this time was to use Beate's Weekend Sketch #54 and I gave each member a piece of the Bashful Blue 1 1/4" Double Stitched Ribbon and a Chocolate Chip Felt Flower. They were free to use anything else they wanted.

On my card above, I made it a 4 1/4" square card, I'm loving these so much lately! It's actually a 4 1/4" square piece of Chocolate Chip as a base, and the Kraft is a 4" x 8" piece, scored at 4" and attached on top of the Chocolate Chip piece. Something went wrong and I had to end up doing that, but I can't remember what it was now, it's been too long ago! I used the stamp set Happy Everything and the Real Red patterns paper in the level 1 hostess set. Love that paper!

Now here are the awesome card from the stamp club members who took the challenge! They are so good, I think they may have to start supplying the stamp club projects every month! hee! hee!

Lori's card with the fabulous Top Note die in place of the circle image, so clever! Love all the layered oval punches with the sentiment too!


Beverly Mohler's card with incredible embossing! It's hard to see in the photo, but it's amazing in real life! Great way to use that big stamp as the circle for the sketch!


Michelva's card, great way to use the little envelopes and I love the ribbon wrapped around the outside of it with the hodgepodge hardware, too cool!


Valerie made this awesome hanging tag! Love how she used the scallop flower edge for the circle image and those little white/pink flowers are so cute, reminds me of when I was a little girl!


Didn't they do a great job?!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!