Friday, February 26, 2010

Finished my Gift Baskets!


I know this isn't very stamp-related, but I've been working on finishing these gift baskets for some friends coming to our place. I did use stamp stuff - ribbons and cello bags for wrapping it all. And I made a lot of stuff from Tastefully Simple, which my daughter sells - yummy and easy!


So here it is all wrapped up in cellophane with the tag on it! I made five of these. Anyway, I'll be back to some real stamping at the end of this weekend. Hope you have a great weekend!


Julie

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Here I Am!


Sometimes you have to just wonder where the time goes!?! I've been getting things ready for this get together that my husband and I are putting together for some friends from his work. We're sort of hosting it at our house in Cambria. So I wanted to put together a gift basket for each couple. And, I know that the picture of stuff I have here is a sad attempt at much stamping!! I was trying to simplify the stamping, and just concentrate on what I'm putting in each basket. It's been an ever-changing array of things!! I hope to show you a picture of the final basket, but I can admit that this photo probably shows most of the "stamping" that has gone into it. I'm actually going to focus on some baked snack things. But I'm happy that Stampin Up! does have some nice packaging things - like our cellophane bags. They just look clean and crisp! And, our ribbons top things off nicely too!

As you can probably tell, I'm keeping to a Chocolate Chip theme. So I covered some chocolate bars, and tied Chocolate Satin ribbon on a cello of pistachios. And, I did even stamp the Top Note Gift Tag with the saying from Friends 24-7. I like the saying that brings business and friendship together - perfect for this occasion!

I'll be back to some real posts after the weekend. Tomorrow I'll be off to do some more getting ready stuff, and maybe I'll post the final basket results! But soon I'll be back soon with some cool stuff I have planned for next Friday's Technique Class.

Have a good one,


Julie



Thursday, February 18, 2010

Voila!



I bought this set probably over a year ago, and I think I've used it once. I had a recipe card project in mind, but that hasn't come to be - yet!? So, then I did use it once for a card I guess. Anyway, my daughter is turning into a really good chef, and getting into cooking. So I had bought her a cookbook that I was going to mail to her as a gift, and I remembered that I had this set - and "Voila!" it was all ready to go for a card to send her too!


I even splurged, and used some textured Going Gray cardstock for the card base. Not sure why there are certain supplies that I still hoard, and only save for "special cards," but the textured cardstock is one of those supplies. I Love the textured cardstock; it's like having a background already into your card. Then I used the paper piecing technique to add color to his uniform. I used the Thoroughly Modern DSP. And, I added a saying from the Sale-A-Bration set, Whimsical Words.

Hope you're having a great week!

Julie

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day! Just thought I'd share some things I made for today! This card above was my "masculine" card for my husband!


And then I copied this card from someone's blog - I thought it was a super-cute use of the Season of Friendship set!! I gave that to my mom!


And this was a gift my son gave to his girlfriend - still lovin' those hinged tins for a great gift!


And, another gift for my son's girlfriend - an easy wrapped up chocolate bar! The little tags look like a lot of extra work, but the little Tiny Tags set and the coordinating punch really make them easy!


I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day, and shared some love!!


Julie

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Birthday Box Cards - and that's Final!!


So after a little more tweaking and rearranging, I'm finally done with the ten card designs for the Birthday Box Card Class! I always do that - gotta just change or do "one more thing!" A couple things I changed because I wanted to make sure there wasn't any overlap in what was needed for each card. Some of those things get tricky when you're not thinking about it! Like, when we've had class and we need a certain punch for two or even three projects. Yikes! Anyway, I think it's all good now!


Well, I'm off to start cutting supplies...

Have a great weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day,


Julie

Friday, February 12, 2010

Even More Birthday Box Cards!


So here are the final three cards for the Birthday Card Box Class! They are still somewhat simple layers, but I just can't bear to go to no-layer cards. So the layers are just smaller sized. I tried to go super-simple, but sometimes it's hard to break out of your style. So, maybe that will be a goal of mine - to go simple, or maybe at least once in a while?!

But, no worries for those of you coming - all the layers will be cut and ready to go for you! So, I at least hope to keep the card-making time to a minimum!

I have a couple spots left for Friday morning. If you're interested in coming drop me an email.


Have a great weekend!


Julie

PS. Notice the middle card is very different colors than most of the cards in the kit?! I was getting a little pressed for new ideas for more combinations with the Thoroughly Modern Designer Papers (love them, but just been looking at them a LOT lately!). Anyway, so I had to break out of the mold!! And, maybe the colors are showing that I'm ready for Spring!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Easy Thank Yous!


I made a bunch of these little thank yous last night. They're a really easy idea that you can adapt to whatever you have. I used the Sending Love Specialty Papers and the With all My Heart set. I also used the large oval punch and the scallop oval punch. The ribbon is chocolate taffeta.


So, for this candy I made the designer paper 4" x 5", but you would just adapt it to whatever you put inside. And, of course, Sticky Strip holds it together the best. Once it was stuck closed, I did use the Crimper on the ends to help it stay together. Then you can use whatever tag and ribbon idea you want. Easy peasy!


I'll be back tomorrow with more of the Birthday Box cards!!


Julie

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

More Birthday Box Cards!!



As promised, here are a few more of the cards we'll be making for our Birthday Card Box! I'm trying to keep a variety of masculine/feminine/kid-like cards in mind with the designs. I'm also trying to keep them somewhat simplified so they'll be cute, but not overly time-consuming to make!


Hope you like the cards! I'll have a few more to show you.... coming soon!


Remember, if you're interested in coming to the class, you can choose to make the card box, or cards only, or the card box with cards! Just let me know - and the RSVP is by this Friday!


Thanks for stopping by,


Julie

Monday, February 8, 2010

Forget-Me-Not Birthday Box Class




I have this super fun class planned to help get you (and me!) organized with Birthday Cards!! We'll be decorating the Forget-Me-Not Keeper box and its dividers. It will be a perpetual birthday card keeper so you can use it year after year, and hopefully keep you organized!! Plus we will make 10 cards, or 20 cards (2 each of the 10 designs) to file away for those upcoming birthdays. Envelopes will be included too!


I'll post more of the cards we'll be making for the box during the week. But if you're interested in coming and you're not already on my email list, drop me a line and I'll give you more details about the class. It will be on Friday, February 19th!


Julie




Sunday, February 7, 2010

Happy Superbowl Sunday!


Happy Superbowl Sunday! Not too into the teams playing this year, but it's always fun to get together and watch the game with family and friends.

I stamped this a week or so ago after seeing a similar project made with non-Stampin' Up! stuff, and it said baby down the front. After seeing the one I did, I thought it would make a cute Valentine project. Plus our Big Shot Box #2 die seemed perfect for the size!

I stamped the boxes and parts with the Lovely Letters and Vintage Vogue sets. I Sticky Stripped the lid to the bottom of the box above each one. But it's kind of cool that the boxes still open with the flaps hanging out the front. And, the flaps tuck nice and neatly under the scallop circles.

Hope you have a fun Sunday!

I'll be back this week with details about my upcoming Birthday Card Box class!!


Julie


Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Sneak Peek for Friday's Class!


So here's one of the cards we'll be making at the Technique class this Friday. It's a sorta copycat from a card I saw at the Leadership Conference - another one that my friend got, and I didn't, but I had a picture of it! Then I changed it up a bit too! Anyway, I really like it in person - the softness of the sponged ink on the stencil image is just kind of striking to me. Definitely nothing difficult about making this card! But I just liked it and wanted to pass on the idea!

This first picture has the Well Scripted saying stamped in the open space - and I think that looks great! Super quick, punch in a little "bling brad" and layer it up - Wah Lah!


Then in my usual "indecisiveness" about what looks best, I thought maybe a tagged saying would give it some more dimension and look like a little more. So that's this second version. By the way, when you come to class, you can make either version! So I used the Sale-A-Bration set Vintage Labels, along with the wide oval punch and the new jewelry tag punch to try and change it up a little.


So, I'm still not decided on which I like better, but I think I'm leaning toward the quick-stamped Well Scripted Happy Birthday. But like I said, you'll have the choice to make whichever one you like!

Also, the technique is just "Stenciled Ink," where we just sponge color onto the cardfront - pretty easy. But I really like this new set of Decor Stencils - you might not have even noticed them! They are from the Occasions Mini Catalog, and are called "Folk Flowers." I would typically look at stencils and think that you would use them on a wall or other bigger kind of project - But I like them for cards now that I've seen them used that way!

Hope to see you this Friday!


Julie

Monday, February 1, 2010

Spring is Coming!


OK! So I know it isn't even Valentine's Day, or St. Patrick's Day, but I just love this Easter idea! By the way, Easter is April 4th this year. - So, only two months away. And I will admit that this is a really quick and easy project that you can wait and make last minute. But I was just excited to show it to you. I got it in a swap at Leadership. It is made from a Scallop Circle cut from the Big Shot, using Pumpkin Pie cardstock. Then you just roll it up into the cone, or carrot, shape. And three scallop ovals were stuck into the back for the "carrot top."


And the tag was punched with the Wide Oval Punch, and stamped with one of my favorite, "gotta-have" sets, Well Scripted. I just love the font of the words!! To finish off the carrot a piece of the new Celery Satin ribbon is tied into a bow and stuck on the front, and of course, some chocolates inside! Wah Lah!!

I have made this little cone in red and decorated it for Valentine's Day, but you could even make it green and put a St. Patrick's tag on it too! - Actually, it can be for any occasion, just use your imagination!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back to post a Sneak Peek for Friday's class. Hope you'll be coming!


Julie