Here’s a simple card for today.  It’s a remake of a card in December’s Card magazine.  I knew that I could easily remake it using Stampin’ Up! products. 

I also used a winter snowflake embossing folder (CB) done with the Big Shot on Baja Breeze cardstock.  Since SU cardstock does not have a white core, I’m not able to sand over the raised embossed areas.  To achieve the same look, I inked over the raised embossed areas with whisper white craft ink instead.  The dsp is from Holiday Treasures and felt snowflakes from Felt Flurries, the smaller collection.  Sentiment from Merry Messages, sponged in Real Red and raised with stampin’ dimensionals.

I hope you are all enjoying this amazing weather while you do your Christmas Shopping.  I got mine done weeks before Thanksgiving so that I could avoid driving in the Brandon area if I possibly could!  I did make it to Hyde Park last week after a fire alarm at the International Mall kept me from checking out at William Sonoma.  It took all my might to stay clear away from the Peppermint Bark!  Our oldest dog Oreo kept me up all night just a few weeks ago, after eating a half bucket of Costco’s Peppermint Bark.  Nick had left the candy opened on the dining room table and his chair pulled clear away so she jumped up and helped herself.  Wow, was she sick, and she’s so considerate, she goes outside to throw and go!  But we were very lucky, considering she’s only 21 lbs.   Well, flash forward to last Friday night, and I had  (5)-12 year old boys here all weekend for a Nerf Gun Territory War.  They got my 56 oz bag of M&M’s and brought it outside with them.  They left it opened in a pile of guns on the patio, which they periodically traded out, and in doing so, dumped the bag upside down on the ground and took off.  Snickers was the beneficiary this time, and she is not as considerate as Oreo. Then again, she’s half the size too.  So, I think she got sick a couple dozen times.  Again, we were pretty lucky she didn’t die too, but both dogs experienced terrible whole body tremors, and demanded pulling an all nighter for me twice in one month!  We’ve managed to avoid these kinds of issues for years while we’ve had the dogs and kids, usually I guess because we just don’t eat the stuff.  This year, I thought I would sell a number of altered containers filled with asst. candies at the Christmas Bizzarre, so I had a lot on hand.  Lesson Learned:  Don’t buy it, don’t bring it home, and don’t let your kids know where it is if you do. 

Enjoy the season!

Technorati Tags: Big Shot, embossing techniques, Felt Flurries, felt snowflakes, Holiday Treasures

Wouldn’t you love to give a custom made gift to your friends and family that they would treasure for all the years to come?  Something that they had never seen in any store or other home, and wouldn’t re-gift?  Something that they could proudly display iin their home throughout the entire year because it went with any season or holiday? 

What if I could teach you how to make this gift, and that it would be that much more special because it not only came from you but was made by you? 

This project entails a total of 10 round plate adornments, each of them themed for a major holiday and an extra one for a birthday too!  There are fasteners that make it easy to change in and out every month.  Each month/holiday is unique, and heavily embellished with all kinds of Stampin’ Up! accessories from about every collection. 

Take a look at January:

I can’t tell you how great these look in person, because you can’t tell from the pictures how much some of them sparkle and just how much they are all dressed up.  This January design’s main focal point is the beautiful die made with the Big Shot, cut from white glittered felt.  It also uses our Winter Flurries rub-ons.  In addition, the other embellishments include: 3 different kinds of brads, silver cording, brushed silver cardstock, silver embossing,  In this class you will use over a dozen of my stamp sets, pearls from our Pretties Kit, Hodgepodge Hardware, several collections of Designer Series Papers, rub-ons, embossing powder, glitter, Craft pigment ink and Versamark inks, Buttons, Hemp, Ribbons, Punches and more!

I picked two plates for my display purposes, but the class will entail either a smoked brown clear plate or a regular clear glass plate.  So you’d have to choose.

Here’s a peak at the others in smaller versions:

This will be a class offered on my next 3D class:  Wednesday, November 12th, both morning and evening as usual, and Saturday the 15th which follows.  Please see the class/events tab for more information.

Ok, so things didn’t work out exactly the way I had planned, with regard to all the projects I had thought I would have finished this weekend.  My little book took quite a lot longer than I anticipated, which has a lot to do with creating a book from scratch with the binding on the spine.  A slightly modified version of this book will be a class in November.  It will have the same contents inside and use the same designer series papers from the "I Wish" Simply Scrappin’ Kit.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like brown in my Christmas papers, but I absolutely love the color combinations together.  They are very rich.  Ok, now for the magic!  Let’s peak inside, shall we?  These are the first two pages; page 2 has a large round photo frame.  Gosh I love that tree from Snow Swirled!

The next two pages become interactive.  At first glance you see the obvious two pages, but  each side are both pockets.  The left side has a pull out (see the red ribbon) and the right side has another mini-book with it’s pull tab, that flips open for more pictures and journaling inside.  It tucks neatly into the diagonal pocket.

This is what is inside of those pockets:

Don’t forget to check off the "naughty" or "nice" on the wish list!  I think I’m getting coal this year!  Apparently, the consensus is that I’m a MMIA (a mom missing in action).  The woman who used to run this tight ship vanishes every day to her scrapping room and doesn’t come out sometimes til dawn!   lol

Ok, two more interactive pages again. 

Oooh!  This one has a pull-out on one side for a photo and a beautiful ornament for the tree on the other! 

Lots of ornaments decorate these two pages  Another page to pull out with the tab on the left, and three tags express my wish for my holiday:

I just can’t wait to watch "It’s a Wonderful Life" for the gazillionth time!  It just never gets old for me, especially when he is falling apart and desperately tries to fix ZuZu’s petals.  But I digress….. 

Ok, the last two pages include another large frame, in the shape of a wreath.  Both of these pages have a lot of sparkle, but unfortunately, it’s not reflected in the pictures.  The wreath have both glitter and groups of our larger beads while the poinsettias have glitter on the leaves and the centers.

And finally the back; nothing too exciting here.  I didn’t photograph the spine, so you can’t see how I made the book itself.  I guess you’ll just have to come to the class if you want to learn how. 

This little book is packed with product!  Besides the SS kit, I used two patterns from the Holiday Treasures designer series to cover the book.  Again, the same color combinations, just different patterns, so they coordinate beautifully.  I used plenty of punches, ribbons, chipboard, beads, die cuts with the Big Shot, glitter, wheels, and at least 5 Christmas stamp sets, including my newest favorite, Snow Swirled.

It’s the cutest little book, just waiting for your holiday photos!  Or you could bless some loving relative or friend with this book as a gift!  With the next two months of holidays, I’ll be changing my class schedule around quite a bit to avoid conflicts with the holidays.  The class will take place on Saturday, November 22 (instead of Sizzix Saturday), and again on Tuesday, November 25.

Hope to see you then!

Technorati Tags: Holiday Treasures dsp, I Wish Simply Scrappin' Kit, mini-album, Punches, Snow Swirled stamp set

This will be the 2 page layout for the upcoming scrapbook class scheduled October 22nd and 25th.  This project is 12×12 sized 2 page spread, featuring Ghostly Greetings dsp, and Sizzix’ BIGZ ghost, pumpkin, and flourish die cuts, cut with the Big Shot.  The only stamped piece is on the front flap of the small flip open mini journaling/picture spot on page 2 in the upper left corner, using the  Batty For You stamp set.  All I did for the die cuts is glue the eyes and faces on, and sponge the ghosts with basic gray, and sponged the pumpkins with creamy caramel.

All cardstock pieces are the coordinating colors from the Designer Series Paper Pack, which are gray, pumpkin pie, black and old olive.  Eyelets are from the Earth Elements pack.  Ribbons are 1/4 " black, old olive, and black checked grosgrain.  Background is using the textured neutrals.  The titles are cut from the words sheet included in the Ghostly Greetings dsp pack, and matted on black.  I was disappointed that my shipment of Chills and Thrills rub-ons and Spooky decor elements hadn’t arrived on Friday as expected, because I intended to use the rub-ons for the title.

Well, thanks for looking! 

Technorati Tags: Batty For You stamp set, Big Shot, bigz dies, Ghostly Greetings dsp, sizzix