Cute baby jammies

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I have a couple of babies in my social circle, something that hasn’t happened for quite a while.  One is actually a big One Year Old Boy, and the other is a beautiful 5 month old girl.  I’ve enjoyed watching the two of them – and their mommies – and I was inspired to create a baby card for Hostess Club last week:

Hello Baby

  • A Slice of Life (Occasions Mini Level I Hostess) and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Whisper White, So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Wild Wasabi card stock
  • Play Date Designer Series Paper
  • Wild Wasasbi, So Saffron and Real Red Stampin’ Write markers
  • Versamark ink pad
  • Wild Wasabi embossing powder, Embossing Buddy (A MUST), heat tool, powder pal
  • 1 3/4 inch XL circle, 2 3/8 inch XL Scallop circle and medium jewelry tag punches
  • Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions folder, Originals Circles #2 die
  • White taffeta ribbon; Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Vintage Trinkets

The little onesie is embossed with our new Wild Wasabi Embossing powder and all I can say is WOW!  (OK, you know me:  I have more to say.)  The color is fabulous, but I’m really impressed with how well this powder shows detail.  These little lines are beautiful!   Believe me when I say that you NEED the Embossing Buddy with this…stray green flecks around that cute little outfit are a no-no.   Embossing makes it easy to color inside the lines.  It gives your image depth and sharp, clean lines, which is perfect for a single image focal point.  And that Wild Wasabi color is just so cool!

The So Saffron layer behind the 1 3/8 inch circle is a circle cut with the Big Shot using an Originals die.  I discovered they worked together by accident, but I promise you’ll see this combination again!

Finally, that wee safety pin is from the Vintage Trinkets.  I know what you’re thinking:  I can buy a whole package of safety pins…but do those safety pins come in vintage finishes like pewter, brass and aged copper?  I didn’t think so.

Now to find someone about to have a baby…

White flowers, tall grass

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I really hope the Inspired by Nature stamp set remains in the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog:

Tall grass, white flowers

  • Inspired by Nature stamp set
  • Whisper White, Shimmer White, Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery card stock
  • Certainly Celery Classic ink pad
  • XL 5 Petal flower, XL Boho Blossom and Eyelet Border punches
  • Baja Breeze seam binding
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals, Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive)
  • Pearl Jewels, Bone folder

I’ve made these flowers before, but with much brighter colors.  I actually started out with the card base, the eyelet panel, and the seam binding ribbon – kind of a backwards construction process.  I just sat there staring at the blank card – do you ever do that?  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.   If I could figure out why inspiration flows so beautifully on one day and so hideously another I would be thrilled.  At least I would know which days to stamp and which days to do all the other Stuff that has to be done!  There’s nothing quite so discouraging as thinking you’re going to have time to work on something fun soon, in just a little while, as soon as this is finished…and then suddenly you realize it’s bedtime.  If I knew the 3rd Tuesday of every month was super-mojo-day you can bet I would clear out my calendar for 3rd Tuesdays!

Enough dreaming…these flowers are very simple and fun to play with.  The 5 point flower is scored through the petal and creased.  I line my ruler up with the tip of one petal and the valley between the two opposite petals in a straight line and use my bone folder to create the crease.  I keep a short 6 inch ruler on my craft table for just this sort of thing because some days I just can’t seem to manage a full 12 inches of ruler.  When all the petals are scored I press each one together on the score line not quite to the center of the flower.  Stick a Stampin’ Dimensional in the center of the flower and put one of the big Boho Punch flowers on top of the dimensional.  Snip between the petals of the Boho 6 petal flower (the middle size one) and bend them up a little, then use a dot of Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) to adhere them to the stack.  Drop on a little pearl or bling and your flower is ready to go!

Although these flowers have a little bit of dimension, since the bow is Seam Binding the card is flat enough to be a One Stamp Card – woo hoo!  This card fits into the Stampin’ Up! Small Open-End envelope.

Stampin’ For the Girls

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We had a great time raising money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation!  Our efforts resulted in a donation of exactly $354 towards the cause, and every Strength and Hope stamp set sold generated another $2.  Raising money and having a good time stamping with friends – what more could you ask?

Gift notes Strength and Hope

  • Strength and Hope stamp set
  • Whisper White, Pirouette Pink, Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose card stock
  • Pretty in Pink Patterns Designer Series Paper
  • Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, and Chocolate Chip classic ink pads
  • Pretty in Pink 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon
  • Stampin’ Sponge, Pearl Jewels
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals, Small open-end envelope

This is a prototype project so it’s a little different than the project we did.  I discovered that all of those little pearls on  the butterflies on the front of the gift cards made it almost impossible to close the gift envelope, so it was back to the drawing board.  Sometimes you have to sacrifice embellishments for function.

Peggy coaching at SFTG

Peggy was a teaching wonder, guiding the brand new stampers through all of the stations.  She did a great job – no one could tell their projects were first-timer projects!

Kellie with Addie and Emily

Kellie – in her fabulous pink-ribbon tee – brought her mom and her daughter along.   Her family knows personally the impact of breast cancer, and they were all very generous donors and supporters of our fund-raising effort.

Sue - aka George - the super-stamper

I’ve known Sue since Girl Scout days waaayy back, and she is a regular at my classes.  She’s also a wonderful and generous teacher, and offered lots of encouragement to our new stampers.

Our Mascot

Our Maui Stampers Mascot…the cutest, happiest boy around.  How could he not be?  He was surrounded by a house full of loving women all taking turns playing with him and swooping him up and giving him smooches.  This one happens to be his mama, Crystal.

Happy Yvette

Yvette won the raffle and I have NEVER seen anyone so thrilled!  Her excitement was contagious and we were all so happy for her.

Maui Stampers

And here we are, just before we did the raffle drawing.  Kellie, Crystal, Robbie, Anne and Peggy – our two Cheryl’s couldn’t be there – and what a hard-working team we were!  Thanks to everyone who attended and made this first fundraiser such a success!

Just messin’ around

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I started playing with the new Flower Garden embossing folder:

Flower garden and Stampin' Pastels

  • Pretty Postage stamp set
  • Whisper White, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Regal Rose card stock
  • Melon Mambo Classic and Whisper White Craft ink pads
  • Stampin’ Pastels and a Blender pen
  • Big Shot and the Flower Garden Textured Impressions embossing folder
  • Certainly Celery 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon
  • Scallop trim border punch

This was very easy to do – the many lines in this image are very forgiving, and the pastels were an easy way to add (and subtract) color.  I colored the outlines first, then went back and filled inside the lines.  When I was done I used the eraser to randomly pull off some color, and I like the end result.  I tend to get hung up on “just so” and it makes me laugh out loud when I create something that’s outside the lines like this.

Speaking of outside the lines, I stamped the “thanks” message in Melon Mambo just because I could, then added a shadow with Whisper White craft ink.  I started to get out my Stamp-a-ma-jig, but then decided to wing it with the help of my clear mount stamps.  Love those clear mount stamps!!

A special gift for mom

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I made a special Mother’s Day gift for my mom this year:

Simply Adorned for Mom

This is the 1 1/2 inch Simply Adorned charm with an insert made with the Charming stamp set.  I love that the charms are deep enough to allow a small embellishment like a jewel to fit inside the case, and that the back of the charm is clear so that another image can be viewed from the other side.  My plan was to make a set of inserts for my mom to enjoy, and then I stumbled upon this:

Mom's Simply Adorned card

This is the front of the project by the incomparable  Jackie Topa, and here’s what you find inside:

SA Inserts 1

Turn the page for more…

SA Inserts 2

and still more…

SA Inserts 3

…and there are more pages with Designer Series paper inserts, but I’ll spare you all those details!

Check Jackie’s post for construction details.  Working in this tiny format is absolutely addicting, and loads of fun.  And to think it all starts with just a little bit of paper and ink!

Still Sailin’

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While I had the Sail Away stamp sitting on my awesome crafting desk (thanks, honey!) I made one more card:

Still Sailing Note of Thanks

  • Sailing Away and Thank You Kindly stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Poppy Parade and Marina Mist card stock
  • Early Espresso Classic ink pad
  • Marina Mist and Poppy Parade Classic ink refills
  • Aquapainter
  • Early Espresso Baker’s twine

Don’t you love that twine?  It’s mail-worthy!!  Stampin’ Up! calls it Bakers Twine, but I think it looks pretty nautical, and I’m sure it will find a spot on many cards.  As will this sailboat, which has turned out to be much more fun than I anticipated.

Funny thing, but I’m not a huge fan of the wind.  I know it doesn’t make much sense to rapsodize about the romance of sailing when you don’t like wind, but contradiction is my middle name.  However, I would never wish the trade winds away because if you don’t have trades you have icky sticky humidity.  I just want those trade winds to be reasonable…gentle and soothing and cooling, not gusting and blowing sand and dirt and my hair every which-a-way.  Is that so much to ask?

Sail Away

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There’s something romantic about a sailboat.  Sailboats evoke feelings of freedom in me, and though I’m not a sailor I love watching them on the water.

Enjoy Today Sail Away

  • Sail Away and Hope Happens stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Night of Navy and Baja Breeze cardstock
  • Random Designer Series Paper in Tangerine Tango and maybe So Saffron??
  • Night of Navy  Classic ink pad
  • Night of Navy and Cajun Craze Stampin’ Write Markers
  • Aquapainter and Blender pen
  • Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

OK, first order of business is to make sure you know I am not sneaking in some other company’s sentiment stamp – that is a VERY carefully inked stamp from the Hope Happens set.  The verse is “Do not put off until tomorrow what can be Enjoyed Today” and I used a marker to ink just the letters I wanted.  I know, now you’re full of remorse for thinking I would have committed Rubbah-dultery, as Jan Tink calls it.  If you want to make it up to me, you can come pick the orange cat hair out of my Stampin’ Scrub, because it’s full of the stuff and it’s a pain in the patootie!  It makes funny lines on my stamps when I ink them up.  That Darn Cat.

Anyway, I digress.  We were talking about sailboats, no?

I don’t go out on the water a lot, because the truth is that if it’s not perfectly smooth I get queasy.  I make an exception for whale season and trips to Lanai, and I take something to settle my stomach and pray for good weather.  Heading out on a boat provides such a different perspective of our island, and as long as my stomach cooperates I can stay out for hours just watching.  A sailboat has the added bonus of being quiet – just the sound of the waves and the wind in the sail – and it can be very meditative.  If you’re lucky enough to have a whale surface nearby, you hear that big WHOOSH when it breathes (but don’t breath in, because whales have the fishiest halitosis EVAH).    If you hit the jackpot and one breaches nearby, nothing compares with the sound of a school bus hitting the water.

I digress again.  It’s not even whale season.  Sigh.

This sailboat card is simple and flat by design.  Lately I’ve been frustrated when I needed to send a card and couldn’t find one that would actually Fit In An Envelope.  Can you imagine that?  What a concept!  I’m making an effort to create cards that can be put in an envelope and mailed, no fuss no muss, and this one qualifies.  It takes a little discipline and I was sorely tempted by ribbons, buttons and brads but I held out for simple.  We’ll see if I can do that again.

Feliz Dia de la Madre

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Sara sent a Mother’s Day card from Spain.  She wrote a lovely note that made me miss her all the more, and included an apology for the card.   ” …card giving isn’t really a ‘thing’ in Sevilla.  It was either this or one that said ‘I ❤ Mami’ on the front”:

Feliz Dia de la Madre

I had to laugh, because as soon as I saw this card I thought “PUNCHES!”

Happy Birthday Dia de la Madre

  • All Holidays stamp set
  • Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Pear Pizazz, Old Olive and Pink Pirouette card stock
  • Springtime Vintage DSP from the Occasions Mini catalog
  • Rose Red classic ink pad
  • Pear Pizazz seam binding – still available!
  • 1 and 1 1/4 inch circle punches; Triple heart punch
  • Big Shot and Beautiful Wings embosslit

Pretty amazing, wouldn’t you say? And she promises to hand-deliver my gift when next we meet.

From the other side of the world I received a box with awesome spices (cardamom, garam masala and cardamom), Tim Tams (perhaps the most amazing cookies in the world) and (drum roll please) TWO Chocolate Wombats.  Yep, you read that right.   Since rabbits are something of a pest in Australia the government implored chocolate companies not to glorify them.  I have to admit that Chocolate Wombats are Pretty Darn Cute.

Closer to home, my son glazed a pair of plates for me that his eldest sister threw on the wheel but never finished.   What a team!   We had a wonderful brunch at Longhi’s (I had the fritatta, a Mimosa, and a French Press of Maui Mokka) and then he studied for AP exams.   Oh, these are good days.

A Triple Punch

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Do you have the new Summer Mini catalog?  It’s full of gorgeous new stamps, and I think it has a nice focus on masculine and travel themed images.  We get a little carried away creating things for our feminine selves, don’t you think?

Stampin’ Up! didn’t forget about the Girly stuff though.  One of my favorite new products – and there are a few – are the two new Triple Layer Punches.  I snapped up the Blossom Boquet in my demonstrator pre-order last month, and now I’m struggling with whether or not I NEED the Doily.  Ha!  Silly Maui Stamper.  Who doesn’t need another punch?  Go ahead, raise your hand.

Blossom packages

I’m not going to go into detail on these – but they’re all done with the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch.  The stems are from the XL Two Step Bird – and no doubt about it, you NEED that one!!  I just did like the name said and layered everything together, then added some Crystal Effects in the little windows – you can see it best in the one on the far right.

One thing I do have to add – that Soft Suede Polka Dot ribbon is in the Clearance Rack right now for $3.99.  Need I say more?

Here’s what I put inside – and don’t laugh, ok?

Open Blossom package

This is one of those sad, sad stories about projects that aren’t completed on a timely basis.  This is Avon hand cream – and luxurious cream it is – yes, I confess – in Christmas packaging.  Just didn’t get to it!  Very embarassing, I know.  Better late than never, and I certainly didn’t want to wait until Christmas 2011!

Giggles and mutters and shouts, oh my!

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Getting a box full of new goodies to play with guarantees lots of giggles and talkin’ to myself.  I’ve always maintained that I talk to myself because I’m assured of an intelligent audience, but if you would have been a fly on the wall in my studio last night you would have wondered!  It was late and I indulged myself in lots of muttering, giggling, and even a shout or two:

Pretty Postage Blocks

  • Pretty Postage Stamp set
  • Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, So Saffron and Naturals White card stock
  • Paisley Petals Designer Series paper (available in the 2011-2012 IBC)
  • Marina Mist and Pear Pizazz Classic ink pads
  • Peach Parfait Stampin’ Write marker
  • Postage Stamp and 1 3/4 inch circle punches
  • Pear Pizazz Seam binding
  • Subtles Designer Buttons
  • Stampin’ Sponge

The colors in this card gave me fits – absolutely the cause of all the muttering.  For one thing, I couldn’t figure out what color card base to use and must have tried a dozen before I settled on Bashful Blue.  Then the mat between the Bashful Blue and Marina Mist drove me crazy until I decided to repeat the sponging on the edge.  But the thing that drove me craziest was the color matching, and I want you to pay attention here:    Either the Color Matching Department was having a Very Bad Day, or there are some new In Colors in this paper.  Do you think the Stampin’ Up! Color Matching Department has bad days?  Me neither.  I’m just sayin’.

Aside from colors (and when you are making a card, that’s a pretty big “aside from”) this card was a blast.  When I saw the new Postage Stamp punch I thought “Meh, we have a scallop square and the curly label and I don’t need this.”  Ha.  Since when does any self-respecting crafter NOT need another punch?  Incorporating the punched circle and the button with the block motif was another happy inspiration, and I by the time I was finished I’d forgotten about the muttering.

I hope you have a blast crafting today!