Paper Roses

February 15, 2014Leave a comment

Paper flowers are beautiful but cutting them by hand is tedious, especially if you’re making a bunch. Now you can cut a flower in seconds with the Spiral Flower Originals Die (#129379) and the Big Shot. And you can cut multiple sheets at one time or use different materials. Once the flowers are cut, just roll and adhere. Make one, make a ton—either way, you’ll be done in no time!  

  

As you can see the Spiral Flower die is a fun addition to your Big Shot collection! What will YOU create with paper flowers? 

------------------- SUPPLIES -----------------

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Let Nothing Go to Waste

February 13, 2014April 26, 2017Leave a comment

After creating a few Valentine Samplers with my Stampin’ Family and stamp clubs, I had a few of these squares left over:

Since I couldn’t let them go to waste (quilters and scrapbookers, you know what I mean, right?) I had to repurpose them and use them somehow. So I created some simple Valentines for my kids:

Card Recipe (All Supplies from my Stampin’ Up! Store)

Stamps: Occasions Alphabet
Ink: White Stazon (Item #106960)
Paper: Marina Mist, Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzaz & Whisper White card stock. 2013-14 In Color Designer Series Paper Stack (130137)
Accessories: Window Sheets (114323), Big Shot, Typset Alphabet Bigz die (127553), Alphabet Press embossing folder (130916), Pearls Basics Jewels (119247), White Taffeta Ribbon (109070), Scallop Edge Border Punch (119882) and Glue Dots.
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Hidden Message Slider Card

November 7, 2013April 26, 20172 Comments

On my walk this morning as I was cheerfully stomping through some fallen leaves, this card came into my mind…and it actually turned out better than I had imagined!

How about a video tutorial? Okay, even if it did just take me two hours and I still haven’t showered…

I’m always THANKFUL for comments to know if you like what I’m sharing 🙂 and even MORE grateful for your Online Orders and will send you a card to tell you how grateful I am (as long as you don’t select “No Contact” when you place your order…I have to be able to see your address to send you a card, right?)
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{Awe} -inspiring, -some, -gust

August 1, 2013April 26, 2017Leave a comment

Welcome to {Awe}gust and just wait until you see what SU! has in store: It’s {Awe}some!

Let’s start with the Holiday Catalog:

Oh, will we be having fun with these products this fall! Would you like your own Holiday Catalog? Just ask and I’ll give you one.

Next, we have the August “Best Of” stamp set which is the Best of Halloween!

Remember that for every 6 “Best Of” sets you purchase through March 2014, you can choose a FREE stamp set of your choice (up to $14.95 value). Save those 25-year proof of purchase stickers!

And finally for today, these new products (Thinlits Card Dies! were the envy of everyone who won Prize Patrol at convention…now you can order them, too! I’ll also be teaching a class in August where you can come try them out, so watch for more details to come.

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A Shapely Birthday

July 12, 2013April 26, 20178 Comments

I’ve needed to make birthday cards for my Stampin’ Family, and the sketch over at Create with Connie & Mary inspired me to make this simple, shapely and cheerful greeting (with a little embossed bling on the birthday)!

Don’t be afraid to take a sketch and turn it on it’s side, like I did with this one:

Card Recipe (all supplies from Stampin’ Up!):

Stamps: Blue Ribbon (wood~131964 or clear~125981)
Ink: Bermuda Bay (131171) and Raspberry Ripple (126859)
Paper: Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay, Very Vanilla card stock, Birthday Basics DSP(130145)
Accessories: Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder (131930), Heat Tool (129053), Big Shot (113439), Oval Accent Bigz Clear die (127055), Ovals Collection framelits (129381), 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle punch (118874), Occasions Paper Piercing Pack (129387), Paper Piercing Tool (126189) and Stampin’ Pierce Mat (126199).

As always, you can order supplies HERE and don’t forget that Designer Series Paper (DSP) is Buy 3, Get 1 FREE this month and if you order on my website during July 2013, enter hostess code JF3KWJT7 because someone will be the “Mystery Hostess” and get some fun goodies this month!

I’m going to make a bunch of these cards with the other papers in the same pack and I’ll post a picture on my FB Fan Page, if you want to see samples in varying colors and designs 🙂

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Feeling Pink Today

June 25, 2013April 26, 20177 Comments

After a much needed vacation (where I pretty much did nothing and loved every moment of it), I’m back and have had a few fun minutes in my stamp room creating 🙂 Today I was feeling PINK, so I jumped into the Create with Connie & Mary challenge! Here’s sketch 257:

And here is my take on it:

Card Recipe (All Supplies from Stampin’ Up! ~ Order Here):

Stamps: Remembering Your Birthday
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Pistachio Pudding
Paper: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette and Pistachio Pudding card stock, Tea Lace Paper Doilies (129399)
Accessories: Big Shot (113439), Apothocary Accents Framelits (127003), Stripes Embossing Folder (123128) and Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (117335), Decorative Label (120907) and Scallop Edge Border (119882) punches, White Organza Ribbon (114319) and Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246).
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Cap & Gown: A Gift for Grads

May 24, 2013April 26, 2017Leave a comment

Today was a proud moment for a mother:

As my graduating senior had a few friends graduating with him, I came up with this fun gift which incorporated a few of his favorite things:

There must be an official name for the pocket than hangs off a bottle, but for today’s purpose, we’ll call it a pop-pocket, which I made from the Oval Accent Bigz die, the Big Shot and a few well placed score lines. For the owl, I added a few wings (with a scallop oval punch cut in half) to the owl punch (such a cutie) as well as a cap and tassel to dress him appropriately.

Project Recipe:

Paper: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White and Smoky Slate card stock.
Accessories from Stampin’ Up!: Big Shot (113439), Oval Accent Bigz Clear die (127005), Simply Scored (122334), Brights Brads (119740), Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine (123125 Punches: Owl Builder (118074), 1-1/4″ Scallop Circle (127811), 1-1/4″ Circle.
Other: Curling Ribbon

With Braden after the ceremony. his dad and I were very grateful for reaching this Milestone! It’s bittersweet to watch your babies grow up.
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Changing Shape

April 18, 2013April 26, 2017Leave a comment

Who says greeting cards have to be square (or rectangle)? I pulled out my Oval Framelits to create this fun card for my stamp club tonight:

Card Recipe (all supplies from Stampin’ Up!)

Stamps: Oh, Hello set (Spring 2013 Catalog)
Ink: Island Indigo, So Saffron, Garden Green
Paper: Very Vanilla, Island Indigo, So Saffron, Tea for Two DSP (129311)
Accessories: Big Shot (113489), Ovals Collection Framelits (129381), Designer Builder Brads (129329), Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309), Victoria Crochet Trim (118481), Occasions Paper Piercing Pack (129387), Stampin’ Pierce Mat (126199) and Paper-Piercing tool (126189)

You can order the supplies to create this card (and so many more!) in my store!
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Framelits: A Gate-Fold Card Tutorial VIDEO

March 14, 2013April 26, 20173 Comments

HOLY COW! I *seriously* underestimated the time it would take to make (and edit!) a video tutorial!I have been reluctant about starting videos because I knew they would take time…I just had no idea HOW MUCH time they would take :p

Now my complaining is out of the way, I am pretty pleased with it. Like having a baby: Perhaps the amount you love them is commensurate in some way to the amount of pain you go through to bring them into (and keep them in) the world!!

Before the tutorial, let me show you the superbly adorable and infinitely superior cards I created…no need to organize a parade…a simple kind comment will suffice 🙂

Without further ado, I present unto you my first-born video tutorial!

Whew! I feel like I may need nine months of recovery before I try another one…or maybe I just need to hire someone who can edit video and do graphic design for me…

In other news, I had a total mother PAYBACK yesterday with my eldest son! It was such a beautiful day to hear him say, “My mom is always right” and tell me how blessed he feels. Those moments are worth everything we went through to hear it! Life is good 🙂
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Sisters & Sunshine Jars

March 7, 2013April 26, 2017Leave a comment

These are my sweet sisters, Megan and Mindi:

Hard to believe, huh? Yes, we all have the same parents: But while they got the talents and looks (that beautiful dark skin!), I got the…well, I got the…

…okay, I got the great sisters!

They have been life-savers for me throughout my life (my interior designers, fashion consultants, reality-check, manicurists and wedding planners) and while we love each other more than life itself, sometimes we don’t always see eye to eye, which makes me love this quote:

“If you don’t understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly

and want to wring her neck at the same time,

then you were probably an only child.” ~Linda Sunshine

Remind me to tell you about the “Die a Virgin” incident….but I digress.

Last month was Mindi’s birthday and after all her hard work on the wedding, I wanted to do something really special for her. At a scrapbook retreat, my friend Jennifer F. shared an idea for a “Joy Jar” she made for one of her sisters and I ran with it:

That is the jar. Doesn’t it just bring a smile to your face? I like to think of it as a “Jar of Sunshine” Here’s the top:

Mindi doesn’t fully realize the amount of joy she brings into the lives of others, and I wanted her to get a little taste of what a blessing she has been in my life. And occasionally, the world seems a little dark to her and when she struggles against depression, this jar holds a few ideas of ways to let in the light 🙂

Inside the Sunshine Jar are envelopes with an opportunity to discover JOY:

Sometimes they are opportunities to serve, sometimes they are opportunities to play, occasioanally they are chances to grow and sometimes they are just FOR FUN! Once in a while there is a number on the card and it corresponds to a gift wrapped individually in a bag.

Because Mindi’s husband is the manager of a hotel and they travel ALOT, and never do they stay at less than a 4 star hotel…this luggage tag was one of my favorite coordinating gifts

(in case you can’t read it, it says “I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth…but not to Motel 6”)

Joy Jar Recipe:
All from Stampin’ Up! unless indicated by *asterisk. To order supplies to make your own, click HERE.

Stamps: Feel Goods (Spring Catalog pg 21) and Blue Ribbon (Catalog pg 33)
Ink: Tangerine Tango
Paper: Try Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper (item 125409) Card stock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
Etc: Paper Doilies (129399), Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine (122976), Punches: 1-3/8″ Circle (119860) and 1-3/4″ Scallop Circle (119854). Simply Scored Tool (122334) to make the rosette on front. Big Shot (113439) and Scallop Envelope Bigz Die (113462). Wide mouth jar and lid. Ribbon.
Optional: Iridescent Ice embossing powder (101930) and heat tool (129053)

Here are some ideas if you’d like to create your own Joy Jar/Jar of Sunshine, here are a few ideas of opportunities to include inside and as coordinating gifts (and BTW, Mindi, these aren’t necessarily in your jar):

Pay for someone’s order behind you at the drive-through restaurant (include $)
Blow Bubbles (wrap a jar of bubbles)
Read a book to a child
Try a new exercise (dvd, gym trial membership or workout clothing)
Take a flower to a friend just because
Crank up the music and DANCE!
Write 20 things to be happy for in a journal (wrap a new journal)
Listen to classical music for half an hour
Make a fruit smoothie in your blender
Take a drive alone. Park somewhere with a view and thank God for your eyes.
Bake cupcakes (wrap a cake mix, cute cupcake wrappers, frosting & sprinkles) and share some with a friend
Go on a picnic
Share your favorite scripture of JOY
Send a card to a friend
Take out the trash for your neighbor
Give them a reason to practice a talent: Do they paint? Wrap a paintbrush. Play an instrument? Give some music! Craft? Give them a Paper Pumpkin* subscription 🙂 *choose me as your demonstrator!
Plan a party for friends (Murder Mystery Dinner? Minute to Win It?)
Pop Pocorn and watch a movie (wrap popcorn)
Build a fort
Forgive someone
Clean out your purse
Get a pedicure (gift certificate or nail polish)