The Happy Room

A wonderful new (to me) Hanna Stamps image. LOVE IT!! She is colored with Prismacolor pencils and SU markers, then glittered with Art Institute Glitter. I used AI's Dry Clear Adhesive on the flowers and ribbon and a 2-way glue pen on her dress and veil. Background is Cuttlebug'd and the card base is scored (no particular measurements on the score lines~I just scored random lines)with a Scor-Pal. The scallop edge is cut with scissors, then I took the piece I cut off and Cuttlebug'd it to match the other white layer. I turned it around (so the scallops would face the outside edge) and glued it on top of the edge I cut it off of (bad English there, I know =). The pearls are slid onto a dressmaker's pin~they are all from 3 broken necklaces (I save everything. I really mean everything). I glued the last pearl onto the pin with fabric glue to cover the sharp end so I wouldn't poke myself, which I seem to always do.

I met up with some of my all time favorite stamping celebrities at the Mesa, AZ Rubberstamp and Scrapbook Expo this weekend~Dee Gruenig of Posh Impressions and Michael Strong of Michael Strong Rubber Stamps. And if that wasn't "star overload" enough, add to that Barbara Trombley of Art Institute Glitter!! All were doing demos and make~n~takes that were just fabulous!!! In addition to seeing their fantastic lines of products and watching their incredible talent, I have to say that these stamping stars are "the real deal" and have a huge commitment to those of us that admire them. And did I mention a whole lot of fun?? So to Dee, Michael and Barbara I say "Thank you for making my weekend such a wonderful experience.You are THE BEST!!!!"

I made a gift box for Michael that I created from a 12 X 12 piece of cardstock scored at 4" all the way around. Four cuts (parallel on the top edge and bottom edge) and some glue and voila~instant gift! I added some tooled leather to the sides and a die cut to the front~the pot image is one of my favorites from Michael's line of stamps. It's stamped in VersaMark and embossed with copper embossing powder. The lid of the box is cardstock which is punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.










I took a "Potholder Notes" project to Dee that I made with her exclusive stamps (this Duo set now retired). Instructions for this project can be found in a previous post in June 2008 on this blog. .


Visit Michael here: www.strongstamps.com
Dee here: www.deegruenig.com
Barbara here: www.artglitter.com

Watercolored butterflies from: (pink card~Stampscapes/other cards:Inkadinkado). I learned the technique from this group: www.techniquejunkies.com, a subscription only group. Ink pads used are Tsukiniko's Kaleidacolor "Calypso" (pink card) and "Creole Spice" on the darker cards. The butterfly punch is from Martha Stewart, the jewels are from a decal I purchased at the Dollar Tree~then I cut it apart and used the jewels individually. Enjoy!!

I finally got on the "Zindorf Wagon" so here is my very first cheap immitation of Michelle Zindorf's fabulous work!! I actually case'd (with a few changes) someone else's card~I saved it, but it converted into a thumbnail and even with a magnifying glass, I can't read the copyright. So, I apologize in advance for being unable to give credit where credit is due.

The original style is the famous Zindorf brayering technique:
http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/about/

Enjoy!

This is a gift for a friend (a very famous rubberstamping friend, Yvonne Albritton). I purchased the hand cream and the mini nail file from Avon and found this Yvonne Albritton Designs image that was the perfect match to the flower on the Avon items. I selected coordinating papers and markers to compliment the colors and with a little bit of paper shred, a cello bag and some fabulous Yvonne Albritton embellishments, my gift is ready to go!! Fast, easy, and so affordable! See more of Yvonne's dreamy floral images at www.yvonnealbritton.com (Click on the photo for a nice big version of it!!)

Make your holiday more special with these fast, easy and VERY inexpensive 4th of July favors. These are Lifesaver candies with the wrappers removed and replaced with a new hand-stamped wrapper. The red/white striped firecracker is the hand-stamped version of the group with the stripes image and the star image both from one of my favorite rubberstamp companies, DRS Designs. Perfect for this project!! (a link to the DRS website is on the sidebar of this blog). After I made the new wrapper, I attached it to the roll of Lifesavers and lastly, poked a hole in the end of the roll and inserted 4" lengths of foil garland inside the hole.

As a note, some of the other firecrackers were made from regular PVC pipe lengths that I had laying around in the garage (very frugal crafter here). I covered them with aluminum foil and also stuffed some foil inside the PVC pipe too. (The inside of the pipe has to have something of substance so that the wired foil garland~or string in some cases~be poked into it. I covered the firecracker with regular background papers.

Here are more of the Potholder Note projects. These were the examples I had displayed on the set during the segment of the show, "Your Life A to Z". (for information "How To", please scroll down to the previous Potholder Notes project). All of the images and background papers are from Yvonne Albritton Designs, who has an amazing selection of food related stamps and background papers just PERFECT for this adorable project!!!And every project can be made more customized by adding the perfect theme button from Shellys Buttons and More!!(click on the link on the sidebar of this blog to visit the Yvonne Albritton and Shellys Buttons and More websites!!).

Two cards made with a technique inspired by Michele Zindorf. Her fabulous tutorial can be found here:

http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/05/02/punched-vases-tutorial/

I'm really enjoying this size of card. It fits perfectly in a #10 envelope! It's made from a piece of 12 X 12; cut the 12" into thirds, giving you 3 pieces that measure 4" X 12". Then, fold one of the 4" X 12" pieces at 3" for the flap. Your finished size is then 9" X 4", a perfect #10 envie size (and who doesn't have a lot of those laying around?????).

Stamps, Ink, Paper: Stampin' Up!

Spiral Clip, Yarn: JoAnn's

Bling: WalMart

A note pad holder made from a potholder folded in half. I sewed a large button near the middle of one edge, so that when the potholder is folded, the loop on the opposite acts as a closure when wrapped around the button. The outside image is by Yvonne Albritton (click the button on the side of my blog to go to her site) and is colored with Close To My Heart markers and Prismacolor pencils. The pencils were then blended with Gamsol. Ribbon is from Yvonne Albritton Designs, rolling pin button is from www.shellysbuttonsandmore.com. I tied a piece of black hemp thru the button holes to finish it. The inside note pad is a mini composition note pad (from Dollar Tree) and is covered with background paper from Yvonne Albritton Designs. Ink pen is from Dollar Tree; I cut a small bit of coordinating background paper and put it inside the barrel of the pen. So that the notepad holder could be used many times after the paper is gone, I glued a piece of black cardstock to the potholder and glued it on three sides, leaving one side open. The composition pad's back cover just slides in an out so when it's empty, another pad can replace it. NOTE: Everything in this project (ribbon, button, paper) was glued with Fabric Glue. It works like a charm on all surfaces. It can be found at Michaels, JoAnn's, and WalMart.

These main images (all images by Stampendous) on these cards were created by stamping and embossing the images with VersaMark ink onto vellum carstock and then they were embossed with white embossing powder. The vellum was scratched on the backside with a plastic tool (to give it some "tooth")and then chalk was applied. I molded and shaped the flowers and butterfly a little more by just carefully bending them with my fingers. The flowers have micro beads in the middle (I attached them with some crystal effects). Backgrounds on the cards were Cuttlebug'd~on the pink card, I added some chalk to the raised areas.

Technique used to make the background for this card is called "Joseph's Coat With A Twist". Learn how to do it here: www.techniquejunkies.com. Stamps are from Yvonne Albritton Designs: www.yvonnealbritton.com. The main image leaf is stamped with VersaMark and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder and cut out. It's mounted on mounting foam tape and the little leaves are punched with a small Marvy leaf punch. Button is from www.shelleysbuttonsandmore.com, ribbon is from Michael's.

Basic stamping with a Cuttlebug embossed panel. Fabric flowers are from a local mill ends fabric store. Ribbon is from Michael's. Verse on tag is a Hans Christian Anderson quote: "Just living is not enough, said the butterfly. One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower".