Happy Scrappy Wednesday!

Hello! Today's project comes to us from Courtney Carpenter of Kansas! I was able to meet Courtney at last year's Convention. We even sat together on one leg of our plane trips home! Hi, Courtney!

I have been doing lots of scrapbooking lately! I just finished a scrapbook for a senior that graduated last week. I was also invited to do a 30-45 min. presentation on scrapbooking at a local retirement community. My husband jokingly asked if he needed to pay me to work on our family scrapbook b/c I do everyone else's but ours! :) He is a funny man. LOL I decided to go with a progressive scrapbook page to show the elders. I think breaking it down by 6x6, 8 1/2x11, and then 12x12 was easier for everyone to see the complete page done. Sometimes when you present a 12x12 page done it can be intimidating to new scappers. It was a fun time and I loved all the smiles, oohs, and ahhhs when I showcased my scrapbook of my little boys. Too cute. I had 7 ladies and 1 man. It was so neat to see a man there, and he was the only one that brought his album. Back in the day, he would fish a lot and make toy cars, airplanes and wood furniture. As you can see I had a great time! Here's the page I completed for them.

Paper: so saffron, certainly celery, bashful blue, sahara sand, sunshine garden designer paper,sweet slumber specialty designer paper Ink: bashful blue Accesories: sunshine garden stickers, dress up ribbon originals, and scallop edge punch.


Your pages are great, Courtney! You have just inspired me to get a page or 2 done in my kids' neglected "school years" scrapbooks. :)

Until next week...
Happy Stampin'!
Elizabeth

Is this the last Wacky Wednesday?

Hello! It's time for another Wednesday post! The new blog team officially takes over on October 1st. I will find out what the theme for Wednesdays will be shortly, I'm sure.

For my last wacky post (the ones where I just post whatever comes to me! LOL) I chose to make a card based on the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge for today. I looked through my stash of DSP and found a package of Summer Picnic. I love the colors in this paper and think they work just great for Fall, too. ;) My calendar says it's Fall now, so I'm going to go with that even though it sure does feel like summer here in Tampa!

My squares are Old Olive cut to 3" X 3". The DSP is cut to 2 3/4" X 2 3/4". I used Pumpkin Pie for the card base and the scallop circle. The sentiment from Think Happy Thoughts is stamped on Whisper White in Old Olive ink and punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch. It's layered on a 1 3/8" Old Olive circle and then on the Pumpkin Pie scallop circle. I used SU!'s white gel pen to doodle on the scallops. I glued on a So Saffron button with some linen thread tied through it. The scallop circle is up on dimensionals. Pumpkin Pie ribbon is tied around the bottom square.

That's it for today! Make sure you check back tomorrow for the Inspiration Challenge!

Hugs!

Elizabeth

Supplies(all SU!): Stamps- Think Happy Thoughts. Paper- Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP. Ink- Old Olive. Accessories- Scallop circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, white gel pen, So Saffron button, linen thread, Pumpkin Pie ribbon, dimensionals.

Blissful Book

Good Morning to all my bloggin' friends!

Well its morning on the Northern side of the globe - those down under should all be snoring just about now being that its 1am Thursday here and a chilly (and dark) 48°F !

I have been spending some time lately making up some cute little projects which my customers just love as much as I do and I do believe this is a good thing - well they keep booking classes so it must be!

Here is one I got from Splitcoast Stampers and its called a "Pull Out Scrapbook" and they are very easy to put together.

All the items I have used are available in Australia and the One of a Kind stamp set and Boho Blossoms Punch will be available August 1st from the new Mini Spring Catalogue!

Recipe:
Stamps: One of a Kind
Inks: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White Craft Ink, Purely Pomegranate
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Berry Bliss Designer Series Papers
Accessories: 1/4" Pretty in Pink Grosgrain, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Double Stitched Purely Pomegranate, Tag Punch, 1" circle punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Sticky Strip, Photo Corner Punch.

These are great little books you could give as gifts as a brag book for the grandparents, book of quotes or encouragement notes for friends or just to record a special time or holiday.

The above picture shows the book at its first opening. You will see the ribbons on each side - these untie to reveal the 'pull out' part of the book.

The above images show the book open completely with 4 pages on each side and one side being a mirror of the other.

Now are you wondering how I made that star with the Designer Series Papers? well look closer ... its not really a star but using the Photo Corner Punch on all four corners and making them meet at the middle gives that star shape! Cool huh? that was thanks to another Stampin Up demo Patty Bennett (thanks Patty)

As you can see these make awesome little gifts and you could use them for anything at all.

You can find the tutorial for this great little scrapbook here

Have a totally blessed day!!

Leonie

Punch and Judi!

Ok ... so I was at a loss for a title but this post will show a new way with the 5 Petal Flower punch and its brought to us today by 'Judi' Harvey. I am a little excited as we now have this punch in our very new 2008 Idea Book & Catalogue in Australia so I can too get this punch and do this tutorial but it will have to wait until after our Stampin' Up! Convention next week (insert excitement here) in Brisbane, Australia. Here is Judi's introduction ...

Hi Everyone! Leonie asked me to share a little bit about myself. I live in a small town about 15 miles south of Knoxville Tenessee and I have lived in Tenessee since 1974. I grew up in Michigan and moved south with my first husband (he is a TN native). I really feel like I was supposed to be in this part of the country as I love the lifestyle here...not to mention the weather! I am married to a wonderful guy who is my best friend! Jerry and I got married 15 years ago and between us we have 5 children (4 girls and one guy) and 5 grandchildren (3 girls and 2 boys). Jerry supports and encourages me in all I do. I also have a day job where I work for the commercial lending division of a bank. I am the Loan Operations manager (yawn).

I found out about Stampin' Up! through my daughter. She lives in Nashville and called me one evening about 5 years ago and asked if I would like to come for a Stampin Up! workshop she was having. I had never heard of this company and was into scrapbooking not stamping. But...being the good mom that I try to be...I accepted and made the 3 hour drive for the workshop. My thoughts about stamping at that time was "Okay, so you spend $10 on one stamp, use it one time...then what do you do with it???" Well, needless to say, a whole new world was opened up to me and I was hooked. I came back home with a $150 order and in about 2 months finally found a Stampin' Up! demo in my area and joined her club. I was a club member for about 2 years and then decided I could do this myself ... so I signed up in July of 2005 (I think much to the chagrin of my demo!).

My favorite part about being a demo is teaching others how to stamp and how to do different techniques and then watching them react the same way I did. They suddenly see a new world open up to them! I encourage all my stampers to use the items they buy by asking them to create cards for my blog. I also try to encourage them to not be afraid to just try something new and that I too throw some things in the trash! It's all a part of learning.

I was invited to join UDI a little over a year ago. I was replying to a thread on Split Coast and Max sent me an email and asked me if I wanted to join. I love UDI and have made several friends through this group (waving to all my buds!). I hope one day to get to meet them all face to face. I find everyone to be encouraging and helpful...not to mention friendly! I just feel so uplifted by all the Divas and there is no negativity here like you find on some other sites. I love being a Diva!

I must say I love introducing Diva's here as I get to know more about many of them. I am very embarrassed to say I didn't know Judi before this introduction but I am finding that you can share many similarities in your life as those on the other side of the globe that share the same passion about Stampin' Up! and stamping. It never ceases to amaze me how this technology can bring so many people together from all over the world.

Judi has provided us with this great tutorial ....

Five Petal Punch Daisy

For this flower you will need ...

• SU Five Petal Flower Punch
• SU Boho Blossoms Punch
• SU Paper Snips
• SU Double Sided Designer Paper
• Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive
• SU Pretties Kit

1. Punch two flowers from the double sided designer paper

2. Using the paper snips make two small cuts toward the center (don’t cut all the way to the center) leaving two petals on one side and three petals on the other side.

3. Fold the two petal side behind the three petals side lining up the two petals between the three petals. Make sure you fold the flowers to the opposite side so you have two different sides of the paper showing on the front.

4. Put two small dots of glue on the front of one of the flowers and attach it to the underside of the second flower lining up the petals.

It is not necessary to glue the back petals to the front but you may if you want to.

Now your daisy is formed.

For the center punch out one of the small flowers on the Boho Blossom punch and glue to the middle of the daisy and add a brad or half pearl in the center.

Attach to your card any way you would like, I like to attach them with dimensionals.

You can do the center of the flower many different and pretty ways. This flower looks great using SU Prints Designer Series papers but this paper made a bolder statement and showed the double sides better. Have fun playing around with different papers and centers.

Well I hope you like this tutorial and why not post a link to the cards you make int he comments section? We'd love to see them!

I will apologise in advance if the pictures dont line up with the instructions. I was having such a horrid time with blogger and getting them where i wanted them to be.

Have a great Wednesday

Leonie

Perfect Timing

Today I am so excited to share some wonderful, timeless treasures created by Christine R. It was so great to be able to meet Christine at Convention last year then see her again at the UDI retreat. She is a very sweet, knowledgeable and talented hippie. I'm so glad I've been able to get to know her and learn from her. Hugs to you, Christine. :) And....Here's...Christine.....

I have been a Demonstrator for almost 7 years and a Diva for 2. I took early retirement from my job (16+ years) as a judge's secretary last July. I still type trial transcripts for the Court at home (I get to work in my pajamas! how cool is that?!) to supplement my pension, and am trying to build my Stampin' business more, plus I'm now madly trying to do all those other things we all tell ourselves we'll do when we retire (y'know, watch all those videos you taped, read all those books you bought, try all those recipes you've been cutting out since high school, scrap 40 years worth of photos, make quilts from a lifetime's stash of fabric, etc. etc.!) Trouble is, there's just not enough time in the day...

Speaking of time, and since we just went back to Daylight Savings Time (yay!), I was thinking of clocks -- and how I enjoy creating decorative clocks with Stampin' Up materials! Here's how:

Buy a relatively inexpensive clock (usually can find very plain ones at Wal-Mart and Target for under $4.00).

Use a dull knife (I actually use my "baby knife" from my childhood flatware set!) to gently pry off the clear cover from the face of the clock.

Next, gently lift the hands to remove them, after taking careful note of the order in which they will be put back on...

At this point, I lift out the paper on which the numbers are printed and use it as a template to trace and then cut out either a circular piece of cardstock or DSP. Be sure to also trace around and cut out the little notched-up part that helps you orient the paper when you put it back in. Also trace and cut out the little circle in the middle where the hands will be attached. Here is where we need that long-reach circle punch back, but I'm getting better at just using my snips to cut a nice little circle!

On the printed clock face, I then draw lines with a heavy marker from 12 to 6, 1 to 7, 2 to 8, etc., (kind of making the clock face look like a pie cut into pieces), and then use those lines to make pencil "tick marks" on my cardstock or DSP circle. (Save this to use on future clocks...) This will help you know where to put the numbers, if you're using them, or to stamp small designs (like the ladybug stamp from "Garden Whimsy") in place of numbers.

Some of our smaller number stamps sets, like "Short Order Numbers" or "Best Friend Numbers" can be used, or you can get metal numbers at your local craft store, or maybe even stick-on numbers at the Home Depot-type store, or rub-on numbers by some other brand. I tend not to use numbers at all, which I realize is a problem for the younger folks who are more used to digital and don't have the same intuitive understanding by just looking at clock hands that we old geezers do...!!!

Next, just decorate your cardstock or DSP circle however you wish! I like using the "Garden Whimsy" set because it has the saying "The time to be happy is now...", and I've also used the big stamp from "It's Your Birthday" that says "Life is not a matter of counting years; it's a matter of making years count" (stamping the first 2 lines above the center hole and the last 2 below).

I am showing you four different ones I've made,
two using stamped cardstock and two using DSP with some stamping as well. Look through your DSP for pretty swirly things and "fussy-cut" your base circle to make the most of the design. Be imaginative and have fun!

My experience so far has been you don't want to get real elaborate with layers or brads, etc., because once re-installed, the clock hands may "hang up" on anything too dimensional.

Once you have the design you like, lay the decorated circle down on the clock base and re-insert the hands mechanism in the same order in which you took it out. Use that notch to orient the paper properly, and then gently ease the plastic cover back over the entire clock face, letting the notch on the cover settle into the opening on the base.

You can use Sticky Strip to lay some ribbon (the double-stitched works nicely) around the outer perimeter of the clock, with a bow somewhere if you'd like.

Put a AA battery in your clock and let the time begin! I actually usually keep an eye on my clocks for at least 12 hours. Once in a while, the hands spazz out and stop, or the minute hand always stops on the 7 or something -- just take the clear face back off and re-set the hands and try again. I want to know if there's going to be a problem before I give the clock to someone as a gift.

Last fall, before the holidays, I made quite a lot of clocks and had my little clock "nursery", where they were being watched over to make sure they were all okay. But I'll tell ya', the ticking in my craft room was really starting to get to me...

Well, I hope you'll try making a clock, and if you do, post a pic to show the rest of us. You might want to incorporate a clock into an upcoming Stamp Camp or as a special project at a Hostess Appreciation Event. I'd think you'all might come up with some nifty new approaches to this if you start experimenting with it, so be sure to share!

Thank you so much for sharing, Christine. I cannot wait to try one of these. You're creations are amazing.

Have a great weekend.

Alicia :)