Sunday, March 23, 2008

A Little Easter Gratitude~

Good Evening and Happy Easter... I hope you had a great day too. We had a very nice brunch with some of our family and it was great. The kids were running around in their cute little outfits and we took pictures with the Easter bunny, a pink Easter bunny, my favorite color, so I couldn't resist! It's always nice to be with everyone and catch up. So, I made some little gifts for our moms for Easter and while I was doing that, I thought about the idea for this card. I was thinking of making several of these with different sentiments and colors and using them as a set, but for now this is the only one I have done! I really love SU's Groovy Guava and use it so much for cards and projects. I am constantly ordering supplies in that color. I started first with Wild Wasabi Paper, then layered Chocolate Chip and then Groovy Guava. I used Impress Smooth White cardstock on top and stamped the grass in Wild Wasabi, the flower in Groovy Guava and the gratitude sentiment in Chocolate Chip (all stamps by Impress Rubber Stamps). I then used SU's Ginger Blossom paper and my butterfly punch then glued that down leaving the wings free to give it the 3-D effect. I couldn't find my ticket corner punch, so I just used my scissors to cut a slant to the top two corners of the white cardstock so I could add a couple of pearls to each corner. I finished it off with some chocolate colored polka dot ribbon and there you have it! I will try this with a different color scheme soon and see what you think! I just also want to add that I appreciate so much all of you that have left me comments here. It makes me so happy that you take the time to look and that you enjoy the projects. I hope to just keep them coming! So, I really do thank you.. I hope you have a great rest of the evening and a super week. ~Nicole

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Sweeter than Apple Pie~

Good Evening.. we definitely had our share of Spring showers around here today, it even hailed for a while.. This crazy weather! We are looking at yet another rainy Easter here in the Northwest, I guess we will have a bunch of soggy easter baskets. So since we had such a soggy dreary day, I thought when I got home from work I would go into my stamp room and stamp something that reminds me of summer, so here the results of my summer dreaming.. I told you how excited I was to get my hands on this new Stampin' Up Tart and Tangy set and the first piece of paper I grabbed was the apple paper, so I started with that theme. I started with SU! real red paper, and my summer picnic DP found in the new mini that is out until May, yay! Anyway, I stamped my apple in Versamark then stamped onto my red paper. I added the patterned paper, the new old olive twill ribbon and the new ribbon slide.. so cute! I love those little ribbon slides. They are in the Hodgepodge Hardware set. I stamped the apples on white cardstock then cut them out and used Stampin' Dimensionals to mount them to the card. I then stamped the sweeter than apple pie sentiment on each and on the taller card added a couple of green crystal brads at the bottom and used my scallop scissors to add a little scallop detail to the bottom. Both cards are a bit different with the same basic idea.. Have a great weekend and a really wonderful Easter. ~Nicole

Monday, March 17, 2008

Handsome Nugget Tins~

Happy Monday.. ugh! Okay, so I can't get enough of these little nugget tins. I just think they are so cute and such a nice little gift (and perfect for Easter)! I am on the path to being finished with all of the Easter projects I have been working on. I already made some nugget tins and posted them in an earlier post, but I was asked to make some for some boys for Easter and thought, well, I guess I need to tone down the colors from all of the pinks and yellows so I tried this plaid ribbon in chocolate and blues. I changed my nugget stamp to something a little less "girly" and didn't tie the ribbon in a bow, just a nice knot! I hope the boys like them. After all, it is still chocolate underneath all the stuff, right! hee hee. I am looking so forward to Easter. We go to brunch with some of our family and it is always so nice and so tasty too! Have a great rest of the week... ~Nicole

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Embrace Life Post-It Holder

Good Evening, late evening that is! Gosh, it has been several days since I posted something, I guess I have been busy busy! I really have been busy, getting ready for Easter like everyone is and also making some things a friend asked me to put together for her for Easter, so since I am almost done, I thought I would post this tonight! I really love the colors of this. I haven't made any in a while, so I made several of them tonight! I love having these ready to go for a gift, and I was also thinking of making them at a workshop soon. I used the SU Bali Breeze paper and the flower and sentiment stamps from SU's Embrace Life set.. love, love, love that stamp set. If you don't have it, you should!! :) I stamped the flower with Old Olive ink, then used my blender pen to color in the flowers with Pumpkin Pie ink, then stamped the sentiment in Cool Carribean ink and used my word window punch to cut it out. I used some American Crafts orange/polka dot ribbon for the bow at the top. For the pen, I just cut out a small scrap piece of the same paper as the post it holder and rolled it up and placed it inside of the barrel of the pen then finished it off with another little bow! I hope you have a great week and look forward to the beginning of Spring this week!! Good night.. ~Nicole

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

No Stamping Required!!

Hello and Happy Tuesday!! It is 8:00p.m. and American Idol is about to start, but I wanted to post this for you first. I have made a couple of these super easy cards with only a sentiment stamp on the inside, other than that no stamps required. I love, love, love breaking out my stamp sets, but I started this one and realized I really didn't have to use any on the front! This is just some coordinating patterned paper torn horizontally and overlapped. Once I mounted the paper, I used my sand paper block to distress the front of the paper a bit to tone down the colors a bit and give it that distressed look. I used my paper distresser tool around the card to "rough up" the sides a little too. I added the metal initial (which just happens to be mine!) and then added the velvet ribbon and ribbon slide from Impress. You could also use this same type of layout on a scrapbook page! I think it would look really great too! Thank you so much for taking a look! Okay, time to catch the rest of AI, wow it is TWO hours... better get comfy! Have a great night.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Easter Nugget Tins!

Happppppy Sunday! It has been a busy weekend and I have been trying to finishing up some projects. I had bought these little tins a month or so ago and was waiting until Easter time to pull them out and try a project with them. I made two different color schemes, and I am going to make a bunch more soon and change the colors again for variety! I really love these little nuggets. There has been so many projects using these and it is so great because Paper Trey Ink has made a stamp set especially designed just for these little nugget wraps. You just need a sheet of standard mailing labels and you are set! The set comes with several different designs and the flower design is perfect for spring. I used Fresh Ink in melon and SU! Certainly Celery ink and bought some coordinating ribbon for the outside of the tin. You just stamp the image onto the label, then wrap them around the little candy nuggets for a real simple but elegant look! The set also came with some little sentiments for every occasion so I stamped the Happy Easter onto white cardstock then used my Stampin' Up tag punches to layer the Happy Easter sentiment onto the larger tag and punch a small hole in the tag to attach to the tin! I hope you have a great rest of the weekend!!! Thanks so much for taking a look.. ~Nicole

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Spring Fling Sliders!

Happy Thursday! I am so happy it is almost the weekend. My friend Katie and I are gearing up for a booth we are having this weekend in Portland, so I have been trying to get some spring treats to bring along with me.. I posted the carrot boxes a couple of days ago and I just finished making the last of these chocolate bar sliders! I have made these before for little presents and such and I just love them! I think they are cute and clever and I have seen so many of these posted for every type of occasion, so this time around, I will try Easter! You can do the same with popcorn packs and boxes of conversation hearts and I am sure many other items, but who doesn't like chocolate for Easter!! I used my Stampin' Up Spring Fling Paper on all of these. I love the colors in these papers.. I used coordinating ribbon and then finished them off with a belly band and used my scallop punch and my one inch punch to punch out the circles from one of the sheets of the spring fling paper for the centers and on some of them I used the SU! Lots of Scallops set in Pretty in Pink ink and of course, my little pearls for the centers. I used my SU! dimensionals to make them pop a bit. I decorated a silver bucket with ribbon and a flower and voila! I hope they like... have a great Friday! ~Nicole

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Birthday Cheer!

Hello there! I am enjoying my evening of American Idol and placing Stampin' Up Orders! I am so excited about the new Occasions Mini that started March 1st! Please take a look by clicking on the link on the side of th page under the Occasions mini picture. The sets are super cute, especially the Tart and Tangy set. I have to have it, so it is on my list to order soon, maybe even tonight (hee hee)! I needed a quick birthday card for a friend and thought I would add a little treat to go with it, so this is what I came up with.. I have some similar treat jars I made up for Easter too, and will post those very soon so you can take a peek. For this project though, I pulled out my SU! Dashing paper from Christmas, but the colors still work for so many everyday occasions too, especially the polka dots! I LOVE polka dots, so I paired the designer paper with the happy birthday stamp from the FREE Lots of Scallops Sale-a-bration set. I have mentioned before how versatile this set is and here is another example of that. I added some river rock and wild wasabi ribbon to match. Enjoy the rest of the night..!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Carrot Crazy!!

Good Evening! Well, another Monday over, it got a little soggy here today. I am looking soooo forward to spring.. I have to tell you, I was so thrilled when I went out to the backyard for about the first time since winter and I saw my daylillies beginning to pop up! I planted them last year and not one bloom, so this year I am staying very optimistic that not only will they come up bigger and better but bloom like crazy (so wish me luck! :) Soooo, speaking of crazy, as you can see from the picture I have been going a little carrot crazy in my craft room lately. I had mentioned a few days ago that I got some really cute things from the girls at my stamp store and these little treat holders were part of that loot! I just loved these when I saw them. They were empty in the store, but I visualized the cute little jelly bellys and some cute green ribbon, which I also picked up there. I had to run to the mall and pick up my jelly bellys and then I lined a bucket with some flower foam and covered it with the green shredded paper. With the foam in the bottom, it made it so easy to get my carrots to stand up! I wanted to add just a touch of something on the front, so I grabbed my new Stampin' Up Eastern Elegance rub-ons and cut out some of the small images to put on the front of each carrot.. I think these would look great in someone's Easter basket!!! Please click on the picture to see up close.. since they are clear they don't show up quite as well in the picture! Have a great rest of the night.. ~Nicole

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Big Flower Books!

Good Evening! I am finally getting a chance to post these tonight. I had a great time in Seattle on Friday with my husband. It was a great DRY sunny drive on the way there, not so much for the way back, rain the whole time! After a few stops we finally got to my stamping spot. It was so fun looking at all of their new products for Spring.. Wow, there is so many neat things out right now, brads, rub-ons, so needless to say, I couldn't resist, I bought a couple of things I would like to make and will share those when I get them completed. But, for now, I wanted to share these steno/journal books I put together. They are bright and happy and were really fun to make. I started with a basic plain journal and covered it with Romani series paper from Basic Grey. I did the same for the pen that is attached to the book. I added the giant white fabric flowers and used a SU clear button covered in back with the same Basic Grey paper to match. I added velvet ribbon to the cover and coordinating ribbon to the wire coils at the top. I added the silver inspiration sayings and a couple of little rhinestones at the bottom corner. Definitely try one of these. The little tin in the front is filled with paper clips and made two to match each book. They go together simple, easy! Thanks so much for looking! I better pay attention to my little Oliver now, he keeps jumping up trying to lay on my lap but the laptop is in his way, so I better sign off so he has a warm place to lay down! Have a great night.. ~Nicole