My Weblog

My Earrings for Erica Display!

I thought those of you who weren't able to make it to the Earrings for Erica luncheon might like to see what my display looked like... and what the Make & Take project for the event was.

To create the Valentine/Bookmark you will need:

Stamp Sets:  Take It to Heart (Occasions Mini, pg.14), Perfect Words (pg.12)

Inks:  Calypso Coral, Jet Black StazOn

Card Stock:  Whisper White, Coral Calypso Textured

Accessories:  Hearts Collection Framelits and Labels Collection Framelits (Occasions Mini, pg.6) and Sale-a-bration Ribbon (Sale-a-bration Brochure, pg.7) and Crop-a-dile (pg.207)

And finally.... Here is one of the cards those attending Saturday's class will be making!  There are a few seats

still available so call and reserve your space now.

Happy Stamping~

Mia

Project: More Strip Quilt Cards!

Yesterday I shared a couple of projects I made using products from the current Occasions Mini catalog.  I mentioned that I was left with several heart "frames/negatives" that I couldn't bring myself to throw away.  This is what I created with them... and some Designer Series Paper bits from my scrap stash.

These are 3x3 Love Note size cards... perfect for that "Thinking of You" card or a gift enclosure.  And they are easy to create... with no two the same!  You can find the tutorial here!

Happy Stamping~

Mia

Project: Paper Doily Tiara/Crown!

This isn't the project I had intended to share today, but when a fellow demonstrator asked for ideas for a very special tiara or crown for one of her customers I immediately thought about our brand new Paper Doily Sizzlet (Occasions Mini, pg.7) and I just had to pull it... and the Big Shot... out and make one.  I was so happy with the results that I just had to share it with you right away!

To recreate the tiara/crown you will need:  The Big Shot (pg.215), Paper Doily Sizzlet (Occasions Mini, pg.7), Brushed Gold card stock (pg.181), Rhinestone Jewels (pg.198), Rhinestone Brads (pg.198), Multipurpose Liquid Glue (pg.206)

I was amazed by how quick and easy it was to make.  Most of the time was spent placing all the Rhinestone Jewels.

Who wants to be my Stampin' Up! "Queen for Day" today?!?

Note:  I'll share a tutorial for the tiara/crown later on this week

Happy Stamping~

Mia

Are You Ready?!?

Are you ready for those last minute guests and/or unexpected visitors this Sunday?  If not, then pull out your Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Fancy Favor Box Die, punches and some card stock and
get to work making some of these cute favors to fill with candy, a couple of tealights or votives, some homemade cookies or what ever else you can think of.

To recreate these you will need:

Stamps:  Jolly Bingo Bits (Snowflake, pg.41)

Card Stock: Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Marina Mist, Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake

Ink:  Sahara Sand, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Ornament Punch, Bird Builder Punch, Owl Builder Punch, Word Window Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Modern Label Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch,  Extra Large Oval Punch, Fancy Favor Box Die, Red Glimmer Paper, Dazzling Details, uni-ball Signo Gel Pen, Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and Baja Breeze Seam Binding

*** Note:  Punches are on pages 209-213 of the current catalog, and pages 34 & 36 of the Holiday Mini catalog.

I've got to get back to making more of them myself!

Happy Stamping~

Mia

Stamping With International Friends!

Today I am sharing a video that was made about 1-1/2 years ago.  I wanted to share it sooner, but I kept running into technical problems.

The video demonstrates how much fun stamping is... and that it has no language barriers!  My Japanese friends love to craft, so when they come visit we spend at least one afternoon stamping.  I pull out my left-over kits from classes and workshops. It helps us to focus on the fun... and on creating as many projects as possible in a short time.  I hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed the afternoon of stamping together.  :O)

Thank you Katsu for the video, the editing, the subtitles... and for helping me through the technical problems.  Now, I'd like to introduce you to Katsu's family.... his wife, Cheiko, and his daughters, Mari and Natsumi!

Happy Stamping~

Mia

Project: Yo-yos... Part 1!

In my last blog post I shared a photo of all the yo-yos I had made that day.  Here is a follow-up photo showing one of the completed projects using some of the yo-yos.

It's a set that includes a pony tail holder and two barrettes!  What a wonderful gift or stocking stuffer!

The finished Yo-yos are about 1-1/2 inches in size.  I made them using the Spice Cake Designer Fabric (Holiday Mini, pg.18) and the larger size scallop circle from the Scallop Circle #2 die (pg.222).  The buttons are from the Regal Designer Buttons (pg.197); and the ribbon is 1/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon (pg.195).  I made three of these sets... and if you look closely you will see part of the set I made using the Springtime Vintage Designer Fabric (pg.196).

I hope that you will try making some of them yourself.

You will find another one of the projects here... on my facebook page!  Be sure to "like" me while you are there.  :O)

Happy Stamping.... or should I say Sewing(?)~

Mia

Project: In Progress!

I've been busy making these Yoyos from Stampin' Up! fabric today!  If you want to see the final project(s), then be sure to stop by Julale Shopping Center tomorrow, Thursday, November 10, 2011 from 10:00am - 2:00pm for their annual Christmas Bazaar!

Happy Stamping~

Mia

More Fall Leaves!

Here is another example of fall leaves... using Autumn Splendor (pg.115) and Always Thankful (Holiday Mini, pg.19).  I am missing the leaves in Maryland less and less as I play with these two stamp sets, Spice Cake Designer Series Paper (Holiday MIni, pg.17) and the colors of Fall!

To create this card you will also need:

Inks:  Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, More Mustard and Early Espresso

Card Stock:  Very Vanilla, Soft Suede (textured or not!), Confetti White (pg.181) and More Mustard

Accessories:  Big Shot, Die-Cutting Machine (pg.215), Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (pg.219), Ticket Corner Punch (pg.212), 1/2" Peach Parfait Stitched-Poly Ribbon (pg.194), Basics Glimmer Brads (pg.199), Stampin' Dimensionals (pg.206) and Mini Glue Dots (pg.206)

Note:  Don't forget to clean your stamps between colors so that you don't contaminate your ink pads!

Tomorrow.... More leaves!

Happy Stamping~

Mia

Gift Givers Thanksgiving!

I don't celebrate Halloween, so when I buy a stamp set that includes an image from that holiday I try to find other ways to use it.  In this case, I discovered that if you use a Stampin' Up! Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker and a steady hand, then you can color the Halloween image from Gift Givers (Holiday Mini, pg.39) without the saying and jack-o-lantern faces.  Any specks that you get from the eyes and mouths look like naturally occurring blemishes.  Here are a couple ideas using the technique of coloring directly on the markers.

Both images used on the treat bags are from Gift Givers.  The turkey image was an extra from when I was working on the skinny bags in the previous post.  The pumpkins are the Halloween image (Gift Givers) with the "Happy Thanksgiving" from Teeny Tiny Wishes (pg.157).  The saying is stamped on River Rock card stock and punched out using our Word Window Punch (pg.209).  Both use our Spice Cake Designer Series Paper and Soft Suede card stock.  The cello bags can be found on page 181).  I couldn't resist adding some sparkle to the pumpkins and around the saying with our Dazzling Details (Holiday Mini, pg.41).

I stamped the Halloween image - minus the saying and faces - directly on Very Vanilla card stock.  A second set of pumpkins are mounted on top using Stampin' Dimensionals (pg.206).  The ribbon is Stampin' Up!'s 1/2" Peach Parfait Stitched-Poly Ribbon (pg.194) and a Basics Glimmer Brad (pg.199).  Other colors used are Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Riding Hood Red and Soft Suede.

I usually use more earthy colors for the Thanksgiving season and save bright colors for Spring and Summer projects, but I decided to try our Real Red for this Big Shot Itty Bitty Box.  (The Big Shot is on page 215; the Itty Bitty Box & Envelope Die is on page 221.)   The saying is from Always Thankful (Holiday Mini, pg.19) and is stamped in Early Espresso.  The ribbon is our 1/8" Real Red Taffeta Ribbon (pg.195).  Look closely and you will notice that I switched the order of the pumpkins and overlapped them a bit.  They are mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals.  Now I need to decide who is going to get it... and what I am going to put inside.  So many decisions!

Happy Stamping~

Mia

I Have Some New Favorites!

Here on Guam we only have two seasons.... wet and dry.  The main difference is the amount of rain we get each day and the number of typhoons that may affect our little tropical island.  We are currently in our wet season which provides us with more bright colored tropical flowers... but I find myself missing the trees with leaves of green, red, orange and brown that I used to see while driving down the country roads of Maryland this time of year... and the baskets of fruit fresh off the trees.  I guess that is one reason Stampin' Up!'s Spice Cake Designer Series Paper (Holiday Mini Catalog, pg.17) has become my new favorite DSP... and Always Thankful (Holiday Mini, pg.19) is my favorite stamp set of the season!

I've used both to create the card.  I also used Jet Black StazOn ink (pg.203), Watercolor Wonder Crayons (pg.202), Very Vanilla, More Mustard and Soft Suede card stock, 1/2" Pear Pizzazz Stitched-Poly Ribbon (pg.194), Mini Glue Dots (pg.206), Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (pg.219), and the Big Shot (pg.215)

The cute little gift box is one of my own creations.  I designed it to hold a PocketBac. You may remember having seen them around this time last year.  I've updated it for the Fall season... and am finally working on the tutorial so that you can make some of your own.  Be watching for it later this week!  (You can find last year's Christmas version here as part of my table display.  Click on the second photo for a better view.)  To re-create this one you will need: the Simply Scored Scoring Tool (Holiday Mini, pg.7), Gift Givers (Holiday Mini, pg.39) and another product - exclusive to Stampin' Up! - that will be revealed in my tutorial.  It - along with the Scoring Tool - is what makes creating the gift box so quick & easy! 

More from the Holiday Mini again tomorrow!

Happy Stamping~

Mia