SU Stars Blog Hop - Fun Folds BLOG CANDY!!

This weekend I am participating in a fun blog hop for a group I belong to called SU Stars.  It is a group on Yahoo for Stampin' Up! demonstrators.  If you are a demonstrator, head on over and join the group!  There are lots of kind, fun, supportive women there, and we have lots of fun!  You can join here: SU Stars.

The blog hop this month is for fun folds.  You are probably coming here from Monica's Add a Little Dazzle.  She always has gorgeous projects going on, and I can't wait to see what she came up with for this month's blog hop.  If you started here, you can go to the SU Stars home blog, and start from the beginning, or just loop all the way around - up to you.  :)

I have two cards for you.  The first is a Christmas card.  Big surprise there, right?  I wish Christmas wasn't so stuck in my brain - but it is.  (Maybe that means I'll actually be ready for it this year?)

Here is my closed card.  I wanted to keep it simple.  I had most of these pieces left over from a Christmas card kit Stampin' Up! sold a few years ago, and now that Wild Wasabi is a current color again - I have decided to use them up.  

The Bashful Blue snowflake on the left holds down the Real Red flap.  

I stamped a bit on the inside of the card.  I've seen quite a few people do that lately, and it just adds such a nice touch.

Now, onto the next card.  For this card I wanted to try a hidden message card.  A few weeks ago, I went away with a few girlfriends, and one of them had made one of these cards.  That was the first time I had ever seen one before.  I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to make one for this hop.  I forgot to ask my friend how she did it.. but google came to my rescue.  :)  I got directions from Vicki's blog.  If you email me, I'll send you a link.  I  knew as soon as I started working on this that I wanted it to be a birthday card for my best friend Jen.  Her birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I want to be ready.  I know by posting the card here - that she won't be surprised when she sees it, but she will be surprised when she reads the hidden message, and that is good enough for me. 

This is what the card looks like on the front.  There are many elements just to this front that are unusual for me.  I do not usually emboss DSP.  But I love this!!  I also usually have a hard time using the pearls (or rhinestones) that come in a line, and don't usually use that heart punch.  And I usually only use the poppin' pastels technique once a year - guess this is it!  I am so happy I was able to use so many things that are uncommon for me, and still love the outcome!

This is the inside.  I am just loving the Bella Chateau DSP that Stampin' Up! has this year!!  I knew I liked it, but had no idea how much I loved it until I started using it.  I wanted my greetings to pop off of the DSP, so I stamped them on Very Vanilla and punched them out with the scallop square punch.  The squares looked a bit plain, even with their scallops (ha, ha, ha) - so I decided to give them some ink.  I punched out the small oval on a post it note, and positioned it in the center of the square.  I then sponged some Pink Pirouette ink in the oval.  I sponged the outside of the squares with Marina Mist.

To find the hidden message, you want to fold the center of the inside up into a point.  Then, using your two thumbs, gently separate the middle.  

When you are finished, the secret area is now visible.  The three Marina Mist squares here are hidden at all times unless the center is opened like the picture above.  The stripes DSP (which is the back of the Marina Mist damask pattern on the greeting portion of the card) are visible on the back of the card.  So, if you want your message to be truly secret - put it on the cardstock!

I am so happy to be offering blog candy again this weekend. (as I have done with each blog hop in the past)  Leave me a comment, and tell me whether or not you have tried these hidden message cards before or not.  I will put the total number of comments in at random.org, and the winner will be notified via email.  (So be sure to leave me some way to contact you!)  The blog candy drawing will be open until 11:59pm PST on Sunday. Be sure to check back on Monday to see who the lucky winner is!

For your next stop in the blog hop, you will be going to see Shelly at Stampin' & Scrappin' News.  Shelly has an adorable card up for you to see - so be sure to check it out!  

We have big plans this weekend.  I have been pulling junk.. oops, I mean priceless treasures out of my basement all week.  We are having a yard sale this weekend.  Wish me luck!!  

We will wrap up the weekend by having dinner with the in-laws. (Someone remind me to make the pie!  I keep forgetting...)

This is a Triple Berry Pie  I made earlier this week.  I need to make another one to take to the in-laws.

 

JUGS 97 Stocking Stuffer & Blog Candy Winner!

I am sorry that I haven't gotten to posting the blog candy winner yet - this week has just kinda gotten away from me.  I am not a morning person - at all, but have started walking with my neighbor at 5am.  I am also trying to get ready for a yard sale we are having this weekend, that combined with two surprise visits from family this week, means I am behind in everything.  Check out the winner at the end of this post.  :)

Today I am going to share with you a fun challenge I found over at Just Us Girls.  The challenge was to alter any notebook.  That's it, no sketches, any colors, use anything you want.  I immediately thought stocking stuffers!

My six year old, Kassidy loves notebooks.  She is always making lists, and loves to carry around notebooks, everywhere.  I had a bunch of notebooks I had gotten on clearance a while back, and decided to use one of those.  The inside cover has a black/white zebra print.  I thought, this is perfect!  The colors were picked out for me!  I also wanted to include a pink (again, she is a six year old girl...), and decided on Melon Mambo.  I love the way it pops with the black and white.  I wanted to put her name on it, but the letters I wanted to use were too big for her whole name, so I just used her nickname.  At home, we always call her Kass. I made parts of the butterflies sparkle by using a sparkle pen I have.  I love glitter - but didn't have the time or energy for it today.  Now, onto the project.

So, let's talk about the blog candy winner.  I can't copy the random.org chart onto my blog, without it resetting - so I had my son, David pick a number between 1 and 23.  He picked lucky #13.  The thirteenth comment said:

"Nichole, love your poinsettias - I had not thought to make them this way but I will be making a bunch today! I do love all flowers, so thanx for the idea!! Love your ornaments too - how cute and I will be making a bunch of those too. Thanx for the plug .. lol. Hugs, Sassy"

Congrats Sassy Shirley!!  You are the winner of my blog candy.  You will receive a set of 8 ornaments like those featured in my blog hop post. (only yours will be done with current products.)  I will get them in the mail by the end of the weekend, hope you enjoy them!  Thank you to everyone who stopped in to take a peak and my punch projects last weekend, and for your kind comments.  I really appreciate them!

This is a picture of my cat Pumpkin.  She has been following me around all day, trying to get in the way of my photos.. and then when I do take her picture, she looks irritated.  LOL!  Cats!

Have a great day everyone!!

VC Rocks August Blog Hop - Punches Galore

I've been slacking on the blog again... but good news is I'm back. :)  VC Rocks is coming to an end, and this is their last blog hop of the year.  I am so sad for this season to be ending, but also thankful for the time it will open up as we start our busy season at home.  The theme for this month's blog hop is Punches Galore.  Be sure to check out everyone else's posts to see fabulous projects/cards made with Stampin' Up! punches.   To start at the beginning of the hop click the VC Rocks link below.

VC Rocks Blog

My first project came to me as soon as I saw the theme for the hop.  Poinsettias.  I love them.  I instantly saw a flower pot card with punched poinsettias.  Here is what I came up with:

                       

  

To make my poinsettias I started with one 5 Petal Flower Punch.  I creased each of the petals, and sponged ink around the edges.  I then punch out 10 daisy petals from the Build a Blossom punch.  To me, the petal in the top right of the punch looks like a daisy petal.  I folded them down the center, and inked around the edges.  I glued the first five daisy petals to the back of the 5 Petal Punch in the spaces in between the petals.  I glued the second set of five daisy petals in between the spaces of the first five daisy petals.  To make the leaf, I used the largest petal punch from the Build a Blossom Punch.  I used my bone folder to make lines from the scallops to the center of the leaf, and then I crumbled the paper in my hand.  I also inked the edges of the leaf.

For my next project - I wanted to make Christmas ornaments.  Apparently all of Carey's countdowns and warnings have stuck in my head, and I now have Christmas on the brain.   Thanks Carey.  Here is what I came up with.  :)

I made three different types of ornaments.  For the "Oranment" shaped ones, I punched out 6 ornaments.  I folded them in half, and glued them together half at a time to make a 3D ornament.  For some of the ornament shaped ones, I used a scalloped circle from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack to make a hole in the center.  To make those prettier, I stuck two basic pearls together with a piece of thread through the middle.  For the Flower/Star shaped ornaments I punched out six flowers using the 5 Petal Punch.  They were assembled the same way the ornaments were.  For the Folded Square shaped ornaments, I punched out 8 one inch squares using Stampin' Up!'s new punch available in the holiday mini.  I then used this cool folding technique I learned in a VC Rocks class taught by my friend Shirley to make what she calls a Tea Bag Folded Ornament.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my Christmas themed punch creations.  Now it is time for some blog candy!  One lucky winner will receive a a small gift.  You can enter to win by leaving me a comment and telling me how many Christmas cards you have done so far this year, or when you plan to start working on them.  As we are so kindly reminded all the time from Carey - there are only 22 weeks, or 154 days until Christmas.

Hopefully you are following the hop in order - and have just come here from Janice's lovely blog at Stamping With Janice.  If not - be sure to check out her fabulous halloween treats!

Next stop on the hop will take you to Jane at Stamp With Jane.  I haven't seen her creations yet - but I love her work, and am sure you won't be disappointed!!

Hello Card

I made this card for a few different reasons.  First of all - I had this new Stampin' Up! hostess set that I just love, it is called Posy Punch. I love it so much because it is adorable, and coordinates with one of Stampin' Up!'s exclusive punches - the Fancy Flower Punch.   I also found a great sketch challenge over at Mojo Monday.  Be sure to check it out!  

I also found a great color challenge over at Inkspirations.  This week they have a fabulous color challenge posted.  I wasn't sure I could follow through with it - but I am so happy with what I came up with.

Now - we have made it to my card. :)  Even after I used the Houndstooth Embossing Folder, I thought my Very Vanilla background was a bit bland.  I used my color spirtzer (for the first time in years!) to add a little something to it.  I love how it turned out, kind of grungey.  I also used the spritzer on the Very Vanilla strip near the bottom.  To avoid the images in the strip popping too much, and clashing with the main punched image, I stamped them off once before stamping onto the strip.  I am the queen of sponging, I love to sponge everything.  So, after I had finished stamping and spritzing the Very Vanilla strip, I sponged the edges with Crumb Cake.  I also sponged the Marina Mist and Cajun Craze layers.  For the main image I stamped in Marina Mist, on Very Vanilla.  I sponged the edges twice, first with Crumb Cake, and then with Marina Mist.  Hope you like it!

Items Used:

Posy Punch Stamp Set

Crumb Cake Cardstock

Very Vanilla Cardstock

Marina Mist Cardstock

Cajun Craze Cardstock

Crumb Cake Classic Ink / Marker

Marina Mist Classic Ink / Marker

Cajun Craze Classic Ink / Marker

Scallop Border Punch

Fancy Flower Punch

1" Circle Punch

Houndstooth Embossing Folder

Marina Mist Grosgrain Ribbon

Stampin' Dimensionals