January Stamp Camp

Earlier this month, I went to my friend Erin's for her monthly stamp camp.  My upline, Jeanne, does a monthly stamp camp at Erin's and I really loved the cards Jeanne created using the 'A Happy Heart' stamp set (with some inspiration from other stampers).

I wanted to do the same cards at my stamp camp the end of the month, but Jeanne used some retired products that I don't have, so I needed to create some samples with current product.  Here's what I came up with.

The bride specialty card is the same as the one I made at Erin's.

 The blue card is nearly the same.  I particularly loved this one!  I added a Bermuda Bay layer on the back of the card to frame it a bit more.  The Brilliant Blue behind the main image was stamped with the dandelion hearts stamp (Jeanne's was plain blue).  The strip of Bermuda Bay behind the main image (with the brads) was originally supposed to be spritzed and crinkled up before laying it flat to dry.  The right edge was supposed to be a torn edge, but that's out of my comfort zone, so I left it a plain strip of paper.  I just wish it would lie down better.  I'll try some sticky strip at my stamp camp to see if that gets us a better result.

The tic-tac-toe card used retired DSP, so I needed to change it out as I didn't have the same in my stash.  I decided to use the Sending Love Specialty DSP and changed the whites to vanilla.

The last card also uses Sending Love Specialty DSP as Jeanne's card used retired DSP.  I really like how it turned out.  I have some extra Chocolate Chip square envelopes from those old Carousel Notes SU! used to sell, so I'm going to use those to go with the card - it's a perfect fit with the extra bulk of the card.

In addition to the four cards we're making, my stampers will have the option of making the candy tote I made for our team's swap next week (see previous post).  Can't wait until Friday to have some stampin' fun with my stampers from work!

Sparkles Spoiler Alert!!

Just a heads up to anyone who is on Jeanne's Sparkles team - this post includes a picture of my swap for our meeting at the end of the month.  If you don't want to see it ahead of time, surf away now!  :)

Now, for those of you still here - I found this cute project two weekends ago on a visit to Andrea Walford's blog.  I ordered the bottles to go inside (4 ounce size) and they arrived today (finally - it took 8 days!).  Andrea purchased the aluminum lid bottles, but they were more expensive, so I opted for a set of black lids and another set of white lids with the 48 bottles I ordered.  After making one the size of Andrea's while waiting for the bottles to arrive, I got the idea of cutting the project down to use just two bottles, so I cut her dimensions down by 1/3 with the hopes that the bottles would still fit just fine when they arrived.  I made my eight swaps last night and was so happy when I placed the two bottles inside today and it was a perfect fit!

Here are the particulars for my scaled down version:

Carrier/Box instructions:

1.  Cut 2 pieces of Real Red card stock, cut 5 x 8 5/8 inches.
2.  Score both at 1 1/2, 2 3/8, and 6 7/8 inches.  Fold inwards along the 2 3/8 and 6 7/8 inch score lines, folding outwards along the 1 1/2 inch score line.
3.  Add 2 rows of sticky strip along what will be the bottom of the carrier/box (on one piece of the card stock only) and adhere the bottoms of each piece together.
4.  Line up the top edges and punch through both thicknesses with the large oval punch to create the handle.
5.  Cut a 1 3/4 by 8 1/2 inch piece of Real Red card stock to hold the bottles inside.
6.  Score at 1 inch and 2 5/8 inches from both ends.
7.  Use a border punch such as the new Scallop Trim Border on one edge.
8.  Add some designer series paper to the center panel of the band - 7/8 by 3 1/8 inches.
9.  Add 2 rows of sticky strip along the 1 inch ends of the card stock.
10.  Measure up from the bottom of the box, 3 inches, and place the band just to the inside edges of the back of the carrier/box.
I used the Holiday Best Valentine stamp and the wide oval punch to finish off the band.

To decorate the outside, I used several products from Stampin' Up!'s new Occasions Mini catalog - the With All My Heart stamp set, the Extra Large Fancy Flower punch, and Sending Love Specialty paper, a large rhinestone brad (on some I used the clear, others I used a pink or red from the Fire Circle Rhinestone brads), some 2-way glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter, along with Very Vanilla card stock and 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon, and Regal Rose card stock with one edge punched with the Scallop Trim Border (from the Sale-A-Bration catalog).

Here it is:

It's been a rainy day and I had to once again photograph under poor lighting conditions - but I hope you get the idea!  I hope the gals like my swap.  We had to make a card or other project using something from the new Occasions Mini and I didn't want to make just a card.

Quick Birthday Card

Ok, so maybe it wasn't so quick (took me about an hour), but I think it's cute!  My youngest is headed over to a classmate's birthday party in about an hour, and I wanted a homemade card as my DD's friends have come to expect them.  My DD helped me pick out the colors (which ended up matching the new cute AMEX gift card inside that has pink cupcakes on it - didn't actually plan that!) and I got busy with my SU! cupcake Sizzlets dies, my SU! butterflies Embosslits die, my Cuttlebug and the Cuttlebug birthday embossing folder and got to work making Delaney's card.  I used Whisper White, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip (plus Summer Sun for the flames).  I crimped the bottom of the cupcake as it just didn't look right otherwise.  The cupcake is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals, and the cute little butterfly is also popped up.  I sure hope Delaney likes it:

If I had it to do over again, I would have added a layer of Chocolate Chip behind the Regal Rose to make it pop just a little more - but it 's stuck down, and I don't have time to change it!  Have a great rest of your weekend, and thanks for stopping by!