Halloween Gift Idea

GIVE THIS GIFT 

to friends and family

during these trying COVID times!!!!

Small and Large Oval Punches

for the pumpkin and wine glasses/wine:

Stampin' Up

Pumpkin Vine:

Pumpkin Spice by Cuttlebug

Sentiment:

Made in Google Docs

Adhesive Pearls:

Michael's

Foam Dimensionals under the Wine Ovals:

Stampin' Up

Circle Punch for the Top of the Tag = 1 1/4"

Favorite Baby Girl Card

I try to keep a card like this on hand to send out for birthdays or congrats on the birth of your new baby girl. It's fun to see the results from using different combinations of DSP.

Sentiment: Vintage Labels (SU Retired)

This is a 5" square card and the center square measures 3 1/4". The blouse is SU's label punch and the dress is made from their scalloped oval punch. I also ran the ovals through an embossing folder to give a little bit of texture to the dress.

Sentiment: Hodgepodge Happiness (SU Retired)

Quick Cards

This is an A2 card size using a Martha Stewart butterfly punch and a 3/4" circle punch. The vanilla card stock measures 3 1/8" x 3 7/8". Such a great way to use up scraps that I've been hoarding - LOL! The sentiment is: Carte Postal by Stampin' Up (retired).

The second card below measures 5" x 6 1/4" and uses a 1" punch. The sentiment is: Think of You by Hero Arts. These cards are simple, but something about them makes my heart sing!

Here's another butterfly card I made using a butterfly sticker and a watercolor powder from Paper Source called Pixie Paint by Cosmo Cricket in a color named Harbor:

Birthday Card for a Special Person in My Life!

Here's a birthday card for my son's "Second Mom." He is so lucky to have her in his life --- wouldn't it be great to have 2 moms to spoil us, take good care of us and guide us through life?! 

These pictures show a quick way to give someone a gift card using SU's Word Window punch. I use this punch a lot and it works particularly well for words (as shown on the card front) and as a slot for gift cards. To make the gift card insert, score a 5 1/2" wide by 10" long piece of medium weight DSP. Score at 2, 5 and 8" and use a bone folder to create a valley fold at the 2" and 8" score line and a mountain fold at the 5" score line. Measure the width of your gift card as you hold it up to the center of the fold at the 5" fold --- add about 1/4" each beyond that on each side of the gift card and mark those points with a pencil. Start on one side and punch 3 times in a row - aligning the next punch point with the previous punch until you reach the other pencil mark. Punch in the center with a 1" punch to create a half circle and attach the entire piece to your card with red sticky tape. (I used a lace punch to add a border on each side before I attached the entire piece and also put red sticky tape between the 3" sections to prevent the gift card from sliding down too far inside the pocket.)

Butterfly and Lace Punches: Martha Stewart

Pearls: Creative Cafe

Paper: American Crafts I DO Gerber Daisies

Blue Paper for Lace: Lightweight light blue scraps I had from who knows where!

Ribbon: Celebrate It from Michael's

Easter Inspiration

            
After one of my Canadian card maker friends sent me a version of this card, I had to make it! Thank you, LA, for the inspiration! I used a 1 1/4" circle punch for the bunny's rear end and a 12mm pink pom pom from Michael's attached with a large glue dot. The feet are modified from the small SU oval punch (I shorted the oval slightly), and the pink pads on the feet are punched from a standard hole punch. The clouds were made with a SU scallop punched circle and a dauber sponge in Ballet Blue. The Easter saying on the front is from SU's Well Scripted set and the flowers are from SU's Flower Filled set, but any flower set will do just fine. For the inside, I used the Labels 3 Nesties --- a wonderful gift from a friend --- you gotta be thankful for friends like that!!...and the saying was done on my computer. Now, I've got to hop off to bed!...oh, and here's LA's card that she saw on Splitcoaststampers.com that gave me some Easter inspiration:

Check This Out!

One of my CARD & CRAFT CLUB members, Barbara Ernst, sent these sweet little angels to me after I sent out the February penguin project. Thank you, Barbara, for making my day with this wonderful surprise in the mail. These samples of your impressive crafting talents made this happy little crafter do quite a happy dance!

Technique Explained

One of my blog readers, Leslie-Ann, up in North Vacouver, BC, Canada wrote to me for more information after I posted the card in my March 6th blog entry yesterday. She was curious about the actual technique used to create the diamond scalloped accent. (See card below.) I wrote back to say that I'd take a picture, and I hope it will help to show just how it's done. 

Start with the WRONG side of a 2 5/8" square facing up, turn the SU scallop punch over, place it into the center of a side, punch the side, then turn the paper 90 degrees and punch the center of the remaining sides. As you insert the punch on each side, look at the raised straight lines on each side of the punch (marked with green arrows) in order to precisely center the punch with the left and right borders of the paper. When finished, turn the square over and adhere to your card. (HINT: When using paper punches, the punch should cut through the RIGHT side of the paper through to the back of the paper. If it's done in reverse, a rough edge left by the punch is often showing.) Hope this helps and thank you, LA, for the question!...and here's another card using the bird punch...I can hardly stop making cards with it. (I think that is the first early warning sign of an addiction!)

New Stampin' Up Bird Punch

Here I go again with a must have new toy --- it's a new bird punch from SU that includes the bird, the wing and the branch all in one punch! It was calling out my name the first time I saw it....and somehow, it has made it's way into my craft room! (If you have double-sided paper that is coordinated, it makes for the perfect wing and body combo.) I had several thank you notes that I needed to send out, and this punch was the perfect thing. 


The saying on the inside of the first card was made on my computer and says "You're a Tweet Heart!" The saying on the front of the 2nd card is from a new SU set that can be used with clear acrylic stamp blocks (LOVE THAT!) and it's called Whimsical Words. The Nestie set used along with that saying is Labels 3. The embossing plate used for the card fronts is from Cuttlebug and called Stylized Flower. I'll post more cards later in the week made with this new LARGE BIRD PUNCH. BTW - to create the triangle accent layer in the first card, I cut a square that measured 2 5/8" and used my SU scallop punch in the center of all four sides --- then I layered it with brown and pink cardstock.

Wedding Shower Tomorrow!

I've been busy getting ready for a wedding shower I'm giving tomorrow for one of my dearest friend's daughter who is getting married in May. I made this card with a saying that I love for the parents of the bride, and I'm sure it will bring a tear or two! The saying reads:
When children find true love, parents find true joy.


Some of the ideas I'll be demonstrating at my March 21st class will come from this shower --- they are ideas that can be adapted to any party or family gathering....for example...have you ever heard of the Right/Left game? I believe there are 2 spots left for my class. It's a Martha Stewart-type class filled with food, entertaining and paper craft ideas --- 3 of my favorite things on the planet!!! Click on my picture above to read more details about the class.  If you can't come to this class, I'll be teaching them every few months!


BTW ---  The heart punch is from Martha Stewart and the largest background paper is one of those huge sheets of paper from the Paper Source.

Sample of a January CLUB Project

Here are some pics of the paper purse and matching card I made for my son's girlfriend's birthday. The smaller and last picture shows the inside of the card made with the Labels 3 Nesties. My husband's assistant gave them to me recently because an online site mixed up her order and sent her an extra Labels 3 set to make up for an error on their part...so I was the lucky recipient of the FREEBIE! Thank you, Tiffany!!!! The paper purse was made with my January Card & Craft Club template. If you'd like to make some of these purses, write to me and I'll send purchase details for the instructions and template. The Happy Birthday saying  and background oval were cut on my Cricut (using the STORYBOOK cartridge --- one of my favorite cartridges). The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch --- oh, it's so hard to resist her punches!...and I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder (WITH LOVE) for the line of raised dots along with my Scor-Pal to make the raised straight lines on the front of the card. The little silver adhesive balls (purchased at Michael's) on the butterflies and hearts added a nice touch of bling to the final look of the card.

Valentines!

Oh, what fun I had over the weekend! I made some valentines with my sister, mom and some very talented friends. The first picture shows a quick and easy card I designed with Martha Stewart's heart border punch and a heart ribbon with a silver heart charm (both from Michael's in their wedding section --- for $5.49 you get a zillion heart charms --- use your coupon for even more savings). The final rectangle is raised with foam tape for an added professional touch.

The second picture shows a card my crafty friend Katie had us make using SU's Sweet Treat Cups --- so clever! My son is giving this card to his girlfriend for Valentine's Day ;-)

Fashion Designers and Paper Crafters!

I LOVE Papyrus cards....and these cards remind me of one of those striking yet quick and simple cards!

Here are two samples of the Perfect Dress/Perfect Friend card project from my February Card & Craft Club (now on display at Memories Live On in Cupertino). Club Members will receive the outside hanger graphic and "Perfect Dress" saying along with the inside "Perfect Friend" saying for FOUR cards PLUS the little black dress template. Be your own dress designer and create your own unique dress design using embellishments for the belt and the neckline of the dress --- then try using your border punches on the hemline! Stickles glitter glue on the hanger also adds a nice designer touch.

These cards are suitable for a friend's birthday, a thank you note or for Valentine's Day. To see the February penguin project, view the blog entry below.

February CARD CLUB Projects

I'm getting ready to send out the February supply list and project photos today for my Card & Craft Club, so I thought I'd post some pics of the penguin project this month. Along with this candy kiss penguin, there's a "Perfect Friend" card that I'll post as well very soon. These two projects can be used for Valentine's Day or a friend's birthday.

I have to credit my son as a member of my Design Team this month! He saw my first rendition of the penguin and said it looked like a rapper penguin!...and once he pointed out some characteristics of that first penguin, I had to laugh because my penguin did actually look like a rapper! (It had to do with how I placed a different type of bow on top of the head AND a head that was out proportion to the body.) He gave me some more input and those comments caused me to take my penguin to a whole new level.....so MANY thanks to my son Kristopher. I'm so thankful that my family encourages my paper craft endeavors!

For more info. about joining my club, click HERE...and to get the Happy Valentine's Day saying below the penguin in the photo above, see the info. on the FREE downloads below.

BLOG CANDY FOR EVERYONE!!!!

I've just added TWO new FREE downloads to my MLO website!! (See the second picture above.) One pdf has small red and pink hearts behind the saying and the other file has large pink hearts behind the saying. The top picture shows a card sample using the pdf with the large pink hearts. Download the FREE files, print them on white or cream cardstock and use your imagination to find ways to use these two FREE sheets of sayings. Email me a picture showing me your creations --- I'd love to see them! Enjoy and thank you to all of my loyal blog readers! CLICK HERE for the free files. BTW - the Sizzix embossing folders (used on the card above) worked very nicely in my Cuttlebug!

Embossing folder:

Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders 2PK - Floral Flourishes & Vines Set

Heart Lace Punch:

Martha Stewart Heart Lace Border Punch

MAGNETIC CARD BOX plus Quick Card Ideas

These were the projects for my last regular class at Memories Live On. Everyone got to make a card box AND 7 cards!

Personalized Water Bottles

Here's an idea for a meeting, office, party, class, etc. and use up your scraps that you hate to just throw away!

Give a water bottle with the WOW FACTOR by using an oval or circle punch: Punch out an oval or circle on the top layer, then stamp a saying or write a name on a separate piece of white cardstock, place adhesive on the wrong side of the oval punched paper, center and adhere saying/name in oval. Adhere one layer of designer paper to the bottle, then adhere the oval/circle layer on the top.

Your guests will never loose track of their water bottle when you use up your scraps this way!

Stamp Set: Stampin' Up Spotlight On Christmas, but you can use any stamp you desire.

Best Christmas Present EVER!

Yesterday, my very talented card maker friend named Katie, once again gave her friends the best Christmas present EVER! She had a Christmas card making party where we each got to make 6 gorgeous cards. It's going to be REALLY hard to give any of them away, and I thought you'd enjoy seeing this one made from a small and slightly larger Stampin' Up tag punch. The result was a stunning card with the 100% WOW! Factor. Thank you, Katie!!!

I Support Operation Write Home

Confession: It's REALLY hard for me to throw away larger left over scraps of paper after I finish a craft project! I definitely don't have the space to save them all - and what are the chances I'd ever go back and use them?!....so now I create cards with these perfectly good scraps for the brave troops serving our country. This was a flamingo I made for a friend out of my left over pink cardstock scraps. (Confession No. 2: The background had the birthday cake already on it - so that made it super easy!) I had enough scraps to make two cards: One for my friend and one for Operation Write Home. Visit their website if you are interested in learning more:

http://operationwritehome.org

Martha's Bat Punch

As previously promised, here is my Halloween bat card using my favorite Halloween punch from Martha Stewart. I used little amber gems for the eyes, and in person, those gems really make this card stand out! (FYI: The HANG IN THERE was printed on my computer and a stamp from Stampin' Up's ITSY BITSY stamp set was used to make the tiny black dots on the aqua blue background paper. The small star brads are from Making Memories at Michael's, and the skeleton ribbon was in the $1 bin at Michael's - gotta' love those dollar bins!)

Another Pocket Silhouette Card

I LOVE this Stampin' Up set called Pocket Silhouettes! I used the butterfly punch by Martha Stewart, added some diamond gems to the center of the butterfly body, and stamped the card with the "Thinking of You" sentiment from SU's Bird on a Branch. The punch used in the background card is SU's label punch along with SU's scallop punch. I waited a long time before I ordered that scallop punch. I kept asking myself if I REALLY needed another punch (i.e. an exercise in delayed gratification - hehe!)...and it has turned out to be one of the punches I'm using the most these days -- so this time, the answer to my question was "OH YES YOU DO!"