Tag Archives: Big Shot

Exploring Shabby Chic

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I’ve been exploring the concept of style.  There are a lot of things I’m attracted to, but I don’t see myself defined by any one type.  We know I’m not a classic “Clean and Simple” kind of person – much as I admire the look, I can’t seem to embrace it in my crafting.  Shabby Chic, however, is a style I can play with.   Last night I started looking at paper roses again and got the idea to put them on a box.

Cranberry Rose Matchbox

  • Certainly Celery and Cranberry Crisp (retired) cardstock; Retired Designer Series Paper
  • Big Shot, Matchbox Bigz die,  Perfect Details Texturz Plate, and Little Leaves Sizzlet
  • Scallop, 1 1/4″, 1″ and 3/4″ circle punches
  • Piercing tool, mat and silver brads
  • Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon and Mini Glue dots

It seems I can fiddle around with those crazy paper roses forever, but I like them best if I  just mash them up and leave them alone.  The ribbon seems a little top-heavy to me, but Shabby Chic is definitely a “more is more” kind of thing so I left it.  I could even see a little tulle and some seed pearls on this, but heaven knows where those things are right now – my craft things are still in chaos while I settle into my new space.  The stamping things are all in one room, at least, and if I look long enough I find what I want.  The beads, fabrics and embroidery supplies are another story altogether.  Shabby Chic is supposed to be a little messy, isn’t it?

Playing with color

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We all have our favorites in the color world, and we have our favorite ways of combining those colors too.  The Stampin’ Up! color families make it easy to put colors together by organizing them into pleasing groups.  It’s soothing to work with those comfortable combinations – color evokes an emotional response in most of us, and seeing something in our favorite colors evokes happy thoughts.

It’s a challenge to stretch myself beyond my favorites but I keep working at it.  Sometimes I like the results, and sometimes they make me wince, but I’m learning to see color in new ways.  There’s  a basket full of scraps on my craft table (what a surprise!) and lately I’ve been pulling handfuls of scraps out to play with.  I arrange and re-arrange the scraps, bringing one color forward and another back to adjust the proportions of colors until I have something I want to work with.

Vintage Vogue Scripted Birthday

  • Vintage Vogue and Well Scripted Clear Mount stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery and So Saffron card stock
  • Certainly Celery and Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink pads
  • Rich Razzleberry polka dot grosgrain ribbon
  • Big Shot and Beautiful Wings embosslit

I came very close to making a big ol’ bow with that Rich Razzleberry ribbon, but this card was for a workshop and I wasn’t sure if a bow would through the new crafters too much of a curve ball.  I’ve seen a lot of really big bows lately and in all honesty, that’s not my style.  I would have probably ripped off the bow and changed it to a nice, flat square knot.  Playing with color is enough for one card – messing with bows will have to wait for another day.  Or maybe not at all.

Elegant and Easy Notes

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A few weeks ago I came across a black and white card with a single color accent.  It was so appealing to me that it has stayed on my mind.  Sometimes an idea just won’t go away, and this one was very persistent.  Last night I had time to play with it, and it took me no time to come up with this:

  • Vintage Vogue Clear Mount Stamp set
  • Basic Black Classic ink pad and Stampin’ Write Journaler
  • Whisper White,  Melon Mambo, Bashful Blue and So Saffron card stock
  • Big Shot and Beautiful Wings Embosslit
  • Mini Glue dots

The colors I used with black and white were drawn – literally – from a jar of Beautiful Wings Butterflies I have in my craft room.  I never seem to use all the butterflies that embosslit makes, and I can’t bear to throw them away so they collect in a jar.

This card would be very easy to reproduce in quantity, especially if you changed the stamp to a wheel.  As it was, I made a dozen of these in about 20 minutes.  Each note card is made from a quarter sheet of card stock and is just the right size for a quick thank you or invitation.

Sweet Heart

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Some friends visited last week and brought along their 20 month old daughter.  We were enchanted with Kendall and marveled at how quickly we have forgotten the intense energy that is a toddler.  Kendall was bright, funny and very busy, and we enjoyed her immensely.  We were also grateful that the days of parenting toddlers are behind us.

I created a little something for Kendall and her mom and dad just for the fun of it.  I have to admit that I miss having little girls around – it’s such fun to craft for and with them.

A Sweet Heart for Kendall

  • On Board Heart Book
  • Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper (SAB)
  • Bermuda Bay, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Old Olive card stock
  • Heart to Heart punch and Sanding blocks
  • Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit and Naturally Serif Sizzlit Decorative Strip die
  • Old Olive 5/8″ Satin ribbon, Jumbo Eyelets and Crop-a-dile

And here’s the other side:

A Big K for Kendall

All the above plus the XL Two-Step Bird Punch, Serif Essentials Bigz dies and Sweet Pea Stitched felt.  Oh, and I sponged the edges of the bird!

The things we do for love

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My dear friend and partner-in-crime has made an offer on a wonderful home almost 50 minutes away.  Here on Maui, that’s the kind of trip that requires an overnight bag.  She lives less than 5 minutes away right now, so this move is something of a shock to us both.  I went out to see the “estate” with her last week – it’s 2 acres – and we were both inspired with all sorts of fabulous decorating ideas.  There could never be enough money to satisfy our imaginations, but we did agree on a color concept.

  • Vintage Vogue Clear Mount Stamp set
  • Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay and Naturals Ivory Card stock
  • Soft Suede and  Bermuda Bay Classic ink pads; Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write marker
  • Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots textured impressions folder
  • Pretty in Pink 1/2″ Epoxy Sending Love brads
  • Crop-a-dile

I’m trying REALLY hard to be supportive, so I designed this card based on her colors.  She’ll have to select a carpet before she makes a final decision between a Soft Suede kind of accent or a Close to Cocoa kind of accent.  (You know you’re a serious Stampin’ Up! stamper when you use those alliterative color names to describe colors you see out in the Real World.)

There’s lots of wall space in this new house and Decor Elements will help fill it up without the cost of artwork, framing, and holes pounded in freshly painted walls.   I’ll have to pack my bags and leave a freezer full of meals so I can take my trusty Decor Elements Applicator out to Haiku.  Change is good.  Right??

Sweet Baby Laundry Bags

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My dear friend Crystal is getting closer to her due date.  At her shower last month, she received a gift in the cutest little gift bag.  I looked at it and thought “I could MAKE that!”  Last week, I finally sat down to do just that:

Sweet Baby Girl Laundry Bag

Can you stand it? It’s so cute it makes your face hurt when you look at it, doesn’t it?   I’m still grinning.

Of course the baby boys need their own version:

Sweet Baby Boy Laundry Bag

  • Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Pad
  • Vintage Labels SAB , Teeny Tiny Wishes, and Sock Monkey Accessories stamp sets
  • Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, and Taken with Teal card stock
  • Big Shot and Build A Bear Beary Essentials die
  • Linen Twine, Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon, Bermuda Bay Polka Dot ribbon, and Pretty in Pink 5/8″ Satin ribbon
  • Wide oval , Curly label , Heart to Heart, Horizontal Slot and Tag Corner punches; 1/16″ hand held punch
  • Tombo Adhesive, Mini Glue dots, 1/2″ Library Clips, Vintage Brads, and sponge daubers

I wanted to make these with colored bags, but I couldn’t find anything that wouldn’t compete with the outfits.  Remember, I live on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!  It’s kinda country here.

A few things to note:

  1. The linen twine is attached to the bag by piercing holes with a large needle and threading the twine through.
  2. The brads looked sort of like clothes pins to me, but I had to trim the sharp points off with my Craft and Rubber scissors.  Be really careful with those sharp little bits of metal.
  3. The little garments are held in place with glue dots – the brads and clips are more decorative than functional

I’d love to see what you do with this idea, and would appreciate a link back to this post if you publish your work.  Have fun!

Sweet little cards and CASE-ing the mini

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Did I mention  that Kellie and I spent the morning CASE-ing the other day?  We had to put our own spin on things, of course, but these two little cards are clearly first cousins to the note card on page 27 of the Occasions Mini.  We started with a 3×3 card

Vintage Vogue 3 x 3

but quickly realized the proportions weren’t right.  Kellie figured out the card in the Mini wasn’t a square but a rectangle, and I didn’t want to make a card that I couldn’t find an envelope for, so we adjusted the card size to fit in the Scallop Envelope Bigz Die.

Vintage Vogue with Scallop Envelope

  • Vintage Vogue Clear Mount Stamp set
  • Pretty In Pink, Crushed Curry, and Sage Shadow card stock
  • Whisper White (1st card) and Naturals White (2nd card) card stock
  • Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry and Sage Shadow Classic Ink pads
  • Crushed Curry and Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write markers
  • Big Shot and Scallop Envelope Bigz die
  • Scallop Trim border punch, paper snips, and Tombo Adhesive

It was so much fun to CASE these samples.  It’s relaxing to copy something, making changes to suit your personality and/or your supplies.  It’s almost like attending a class, except of course you have to cut all of your own paper.  I love designing my own projects, but sometimes I need to just make something instead of THINK about making something.

Have you stamped today?

Top Notes

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If these look at all familiar, then you’ve been browsing your Occasions Mini catalog!  These were fun and easy, although I’m not sure I would make enough to keep in a tablet by the phone.  I could be persuaded to use them for a To-Do list though.  Don’t you think checking things off that list would be more fun with notes like this?

  • Vintage Vogue Clear Mount Stamp set
  • Big Shot, Top Note Bigz die, and Naturally Serif Decorative Strip Sizzlet
  • Naturals White, Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow and Pretty in Pink card stock
  • Sage Shadow Classic Ink pad and Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write marker
  • Scallop Border punch and a ruler

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of using these notes for a To Do list.  Did you notice that there are only 8 lines on this note card?  I could live with a list like that.  I would have to be very concise with a list that short.

  1. Stamp stuff
  2. Stamp more stuff
  3. Take pictures of stuff
  4. Upload pictures
  5. Post
  6. Hide mess
  7. Fix great dinner for family so they won’t notice mess
  8. Call stamping friends to figure out what to stamp tomorrow.

Off to work on my To Do list!

Wait! Don’t toss those cards…

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Re-use, reduce, recycle.

If you love paper and paper crafts, then it’s likely you save old cards – even commercially printed cards.  I’m guilty as charged, and further guilty of saving pretty ribbons from Christmas packages as well.  In the past, I’ve used a hand-held tag punch to create small gift tags, but this year I stepped it up.

Recycled cards from Two Tags Bigz

I certainly hope you bought the Stampin’ Up! Two Tags Bigz die (#115954, $21.95) when it was on sale during the 12 Days of Holiday Sales promotion, because that’s what I used to make these tags.  A stack of old cards, a pile of Christmas ribbon and about half an hour with the Big Shot yielded a bunch of tags ready for duty next year.  Here’s a closer look:

Recycled Santa tag

To encourage my family to wrap their own packages, I have gift wrap, ribbon and tags readily available around the first of December.  The tags and some stamped gift card holders are in a basket and everyone knows it’s first come, first served – this year we ran short on the afternoon of the 24th!  Getting a head start on next year’s tags avoids panic in December and keeps me from looking like a crazy bag lady when my family discovers packages of old cards stashed with the Christmas decorations.  Be sure to check that there’s nothing written on the inside of your image; someone else’s message about their kid’s moment of glory at the band concert shouldn’t compete with “To Kimo,  Love Tutu”.

I think there’s another stash of old cards somewhere.  Off to crank out a few more tags.  Re-use.  Reduce.  Recycle.

Happy New Year.

What could be cuter?

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There was a surprise shower on Sunday for my wonderful friend and upline.  There’s something about a new baby that brings out the best in a group of women.  We were all so happy to come together to celebrate Crystal and her February baby.

I was thrilled to be included and quickly offered to make favors for the shower.  It didn’t take me long to decide what to do – I’d seen a card posted on Lyssa Zwolanek’s blog  Song of my Heart and knew it would make a great favor.  There was a little trial and error involved to get the proportions right.

Scallop Circle Baby Carriage

  • Dotted Wheel (retired)
  • Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa cardstock
  • Bashful Blue Classic Ink
  • Scallop Trim Punch (SAB Sneak Peak)
  • Big Shot and Scallop Circle #2 Bigz
  • Tombo Adhesive, Small Cello bag, and Bashful Blue narrow grosgrain ribbon
  • Retired button, Non-SU silk flower, DMC Embroidery Floss, and Hershey Nuggets

The scallop circles are adhered to a “2-4-6-8” box with the dimensions adjusted to 1.25 x 2.5.  Four Hershey kisses are squeezed into a Cello bag that fits perfectly into the box.  It was a little bit of work, but well worth it for a sweet baby and mama.