Technique Swap Pages

Here are the promised photos of my technique page for the technique swap I joined last month. So much work yet I still managed to keep it fun. 

Here are smaller close ups of the actual technique:

Faux Patina

1 light neutral color ink pad 

2 medium colored ink pads 

1 dark colored ink pad 

Embossing Folder of Choice 

Very Vanilla or Whisper White Card Stock 

Metallic colored Embossing powder 

VersaMark ink 

Big Shot, Heat Tool & Embossing Buddy 

1. Lightly cover the front inside top of your Embossing Folder with the lightest color ink of choice, carefully place card stock in embossing folder and run through Big shot. 

2. Lightly sponge the lightest of your medium colors over the embossed card stock, full coverage is not necessary. Repeat with the remaining medium color. You do want good coverage but some patches of no color or base color will add to the patina effect. 

3. Sponge over the top with your dark color to bring out the embossed image and give your piece dimension. 

4. Pat your embossing buddy over the top of your card stock to get rid of the excess ink. You want the piece to be dry so the embossing powder doesn't stick to the entire image. 

5. Dab VersaMark randomly over the top, you can just use the pad direct to image. 

6. Sprinkle your embossing powder over the top and heat to set. 

7. You are now ready to use on your project.

I hope that this inspires you today to create something beautiful.

DanicaA

danderson@tikvahstreats.com

danicaanderson.stampinup.net

MDS Tuesday

Tuesday is the day Stampin' Up! introduces new downloads for My Digital Studio (MDS). I have really enjoyed putting together projects in MDS and have been working with it to create a new blog design. Although at the rate I am going it may be a while before it is completed. I did create my header using MDS and am hoping to continue to create some great projects to share in the near future. 

Today I am sharing with you this weeks downloads, if you would like to see the full My Digital Studio Catalog visit this page and click the MDS Catalog link. The catalog will download in PDF format.

Here's today's new downloads:

To order any of these or other downloads visit my store 

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

DanicaA

Blooming with Kindness Patina

This month as you may already know, I have introduced my new stamp of the month club and I have decided that every once in a while during the month I will post projects created with the current months stamp set. Hopefully, I can do this at least once a week. I will be mixing the stamp sets up not always using only the current set on each project, but this will give you an idea of what you can do with this set.                                                       

So today I have two cards that I created, using the same technique on both, I used the Faux Patina technique which also happens to be the technique I used to create my technique swap. (How many times can you use technique in one short paragraph? I used it five times here.)

I really like the looks of these cards they are a bit on the Victorian side, which is a change for me. I am finding that as I spend time creating different projects my tastes in card style continues to develop and cards that originally were not my style I have come to enjoy. As you create and continue to do so over time your tastes may change or just grow to include other styles. Also, knowing how to create these other styles does help. When you are unsure of what you are doing it does make it harder to create something that you will enjoy or be proud of. The beauty of being handmade and homemade is that no one expects perfection, in design; they would not be handmade if they all come out the same. One way that can help you grow in your capabilities is to join some of the challenges you can find on these and many other blogs:

Color Throwdown

ColourQ

365 Cards

Mojo Monday

Stampin’ Up! Only

Be brave, feel free to experiment, I have found even the cards that I don’t consider to have turned out well, are well received and very much liked. Many times I end up giving my rejects (not quite to my liking) to my mom and she uses them and brings back compliments-this makes it very much worth the effort and makes those mistakes, okay. I am always more critical of my own efforts. I think if someone researched this, they would find that we all tend to critic ourselves in many ways worse than others would.

I hope you all enjoy!!

DanicaA

danicaanderson.stampinup.net

danderson@tikvahstreats.com

Project Supplies: 

Stamp Sets: Blooming with Kindness

Card Stock: Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Watercolor paper

Inks: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Versamark 

Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Gold Embossing Powder, Antique Brads, Dimensionals, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack

Postage Due

This card was made using a stamp set that I just had to have the moment I saw it in the new catalog. As a demonstrator we are able to place orders from new catalogs (called Pre-Orders) before the catalog is released. Now with the minis we can order any stamp set or even all of the stamp sets and up to 3 of each consumable, but with the annual catalog they, being the home office, choose which stamp sets and supplies we can purchase and we get to choose from that list. All that being said, this set was not on the list, so like everyone else I had to wait until after June 1^st to place my order.

This set was one of the first items on my order and I get my orders pretty quickly usually within 4 business days and this includes the day of order. So I ordered the set, was thrilled when it came and I did not even use it until July when I went to craft camp and had almost 8 straight hours of play time.

 Play time- I thought I was to old for this stage in life and here I am looking forward to it again. It is usually the only time I have to be as creative as I would like and not feel as if I should be working on something else. I suppose I could call it craft time, me time, creativity time, but play time works for me.

I hope you all enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!!

DanicaA

Project Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Postage Due
Card Stock: Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse, Whisper White Card Stock,
Inks: Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse Stampin’ Write Markers & Classic Ink Pads, Black StazOn Ink pad
Accessories: Postage Stamp Punch, Sponge Daubers

  

French Foliage with Stamp Off Technique

I hope that Labor Day weekend was as smooth for you as mine was. I was able to stay home, kick back and finish a project I have been working on. I also put in an order for a few supplies I needed and received a couple of other orders large enough to be their own workshops. Those are always fun.

I have also been working on a technique swap I joined, I need 41 samples and as I don’t think I could have done them all identical I switched my colors up a bit on some. When I get them all finished I will share a photo of them before mailing them off. I want to have them in the mail by the end of the week, although I have until the beginning of October to finish.

Today’s project was a card I made using the French Foliage and One in a Million stamp sets. I created this card for last month’s Stamp Camp. I wanted something clean and simple, yet using plenty of color. I really like the French Foliage set, it has versatility to it especially for use in fall or vintage projects.

For the greeting I used the One in a Million set and on the inside just used the stamp in the set that says "that makes you one in a million!" you could make the inside a little fancier like I did on the inside of another of the same card. I took one of the leaf stamps from the french foliage inked it up and then stamped off on a piece of scrap paper to remove some of the ink. You may need to test this out a couple of times on scrap paper to see how light you want your image to appear. I then stamped my inside greeting over the top to add a little pizzazz to the card. Here is an example as to how I did this, I chose to stamp off two times as i like the look of the image a bit lighter than it would have been.

I hope you all enjoy!
DanicaA

Project Supplies: Whisper White Card Stock, French foliage & One in a Million Stamp Sets, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip Classic Ink Pads, Apothecary Accents Framelit, Big Shot, Wood grain Embossing Folder

Introducing...........

Visit my Stamp of the Month Club Page for more details!!!!

I love this months stamp set for its versatility. With the flower image and the multiple greetings this would definitely make a good starter stamp set. Although it is also a fine addition to my many other sets. I made up some sample cards that will be given out to all my club members.

Here is a preview of the cards you will receive when you purchase this months set.





I hope you all enjoy!
Danica A
My Stampin' Up! Website
danderson@tikvahstreats.com

Genealogy Research....

  I have been doing genealogy research on my multiple family lines for many years now, most of my research has been done online at websites like Ancestry, Family Search, USGenweb are a few of the more popular sites that I have used. I have searched many other sites and spent many hours at it, not always with results. I still haven't answered the main question in our family....Are the family tales of Indian Blood really true? Family lore has it that a few greats back grandpa was full blooded Cherokee and Grandma was full blooded Crow, whether true or not I still do not have the answer. 

I have found a few other family members I didn't know about like grandpa had been in a previous relationship before he married grandma, I am unsure whether he was married or not that first time around, but I did find out that the aunt that I thought was my grandpa and grandma's foster daughter was more than likely his daughter from that previous relationship, at least the dates all fit. 

Lately I haven't been doing much research, but what I have been doing has been in the 1940 censuses know available free to search at Family Search, and available at Ancestry, along with all the US census records from 1790 through 1940, they will be available for free starting today through September 3rd, Labor day. To visit the censuses at Ancestry follow this link: ancestry.com/census

I have recently connected with a family member through the Find a Grave website. This was a great experience. I was doing some research on one of my Great-Grandfather's siblings (he had 16 of them of which 15 grew to adulthood)  and I found his grave site information on Find a Grave, I had previously researched this info here with no results on this particular family member, (that being said it does pay to return to previously searched sites and look up those names again as more info is constantly being added). The information had been submitted by a _Anderson, I just automatically assumed that this person was the son/grandson of the brother I was researching. It took me a couple of days to work up my courage to email this unknown Anderson, but I finally did and when I received an email back I found that the gentleman I was in contact with was another one of the 16 sibling's, a different brother to my G-Grandpa, son and that he had been trying to make contact with the children of the sibling I was researching at the time.

Well, I am going to have to end this here and come back to more genealogy research information again soon. I have to be at work soon and I really would rather stay home and work on cards and other projects. I signed up for a technique swap and  I am in the middle of working on that project and planning a few classes/ workshop projects. I can do the planning at work in between things, so we will see how productive I will be. 

Ihope you all enjoy this post, it is a bit long, sometimes I get carried away but I hope you will read through to the end.

DanicaA

Black & White with a Hint of Color Swap

This is a card that I did for a swap last March. It was a black and white/vanilla with a splash of color swap. I really like how this card turned out, very elegant. While the stamp set is no longer available you can use any sentiment in it's place.

There are many layers of here, I started with a base of Basic Black added a layer of Very Vanilla and another layer of Basic Black. I used a piece of scrap paper to glue my different paper layers together so I could run it through the big shot with the top note die. 

There is starting at the top very vanilla embossed with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder I used First edition DSP and silver glimmer paper that I colored with basic black ink, I used the scallop trim border punch on the top edge of both pieces. I added a piece of Basic Black embossed with the Houndstooth embossing folder. At the bottom I added another piece of the First Edition DSP. I then ran the layers through the big shot with the top note die added some Basic Black satin ribbon. The tag was created with the lots of tags die and the extra large oval punch, I embossed the saying with white embossing powder and glittered around the edge with red glitter and added a red brad to the center of my congrats stamp. Add a few pearls and the card is finished.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Basic Black, Very Vanilla Card stock, First Edition Designer Series Paper, Silver Glimmer Paper, Tagtastic Stamp Set,  Basic Black and Versamark Ink, White Embossing Powder, Big Shot, Houndstooth & Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Top Note & Lots of Tags Dies, Extra Large Oval Punch,  Basic Black Ribbon, Red Glitter, Real Red Brad 

Pinwheels

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Update and New Catalog

Wow! It has been a while since I last blogged, and I am feeling very guilty. Life has been absolutely crazy busy for me lately, but I have to blog today. I am so excited about the new Stampin' Up! Catalog and today I received the Holiday Catalog and it blew me away. 

If you haven't checked out the new catalog yet, Do So NOW!!! I was absolutely thrilled to see so many of the mini catalog stamp sets carry over, I think for the most part I had only purchased previously the ones that ended up carrying over.  There are so many new stamp sets and I am having a hard time choosing which ones to get first. I am definitely going for Postage Due (w-126395, c-126397) on page 108 I also want the Morning Post Alphabet (w-126590, c-126592) and the Travel Journal builder wheel (126937) on the same page.   Take a Ticket Wheel (126941)page 32, that coordinates with the Ticket Duo Punch (126883) page 182. More Framelits and coordinating stamp sets, Layered Labels (w-127070, c- 127072) page 103 coordinate with the Apothecary Accents Framelits (127003) page 191, Daydream Medallions (w-126465, c126467) page 117 coordinate with the Floral Frames Framelits (127012) page 191. A new butterfly set Papillon Potpourri (w-123757, c- 123759) page 115 and a matching punch Elegant butterfly (127526). I was disapointed when I saw that the butterfly sets and punch were on the retired list so I was very happy to see this set. I would definitely say this set is much more elegant. I love the Flowering Flourishes set (w-126365, c-126367) page 121. there are some lovely new background stamps Ex Libris (126600) page 128 & Pleasant Poppies (w-126480, c-129499) page 129. A lot of new greetings sets, I am not even sure where to start here as I could probably use almost all of them. New In Colors, Gumball green, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals & Summer Starfruit. Some update to tools, a new larger sized Stampin' Scrub (126200) page 157, the heat tool has been re-done with 2 heat settings and a new sleek, slimmer design (129053) page 159,  a new paper cutter (126889) page 180, I really think this will be better, it isn't available quite yet but it is on my list of must have as soon as it is available. lots of lovely new DSP I am loving the Natural Composition Specialty DSP (126917) page 162, and haven't decided on any favorites yet on the rest of the designer series paper.Some lovely new Simply Scrappin' kits, my favorite is the Razzleberry Splash (126930) page 168. New Fabrics page 170, Ribbons page 172, the Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (127555) page 176, look like they would be a lot of fun to use. We have quite a few new embossing folders in a new larger size Fancy Fans (127751), Chevron Folder (127749), Argyle Folder (127750) page 189, there is a new set of folders to coordinate with a new edgelit Decorative Designs folders (127023)& Large Scallop Edgelits (127019) page 190. Another new edgelit set is the Finishing Touches set (127010) page 190. Also new dies, Delicate Doilies Sizzlits L (126999) page 191, Oval Accents Bigz Clear (127005), Typeset Alphabet Bigz (127553) page 192. Also coming in late 2012 is MDS 2, with updates and some cool new features. 

There are so many new offerings that I think everyone will love. These are probaly all my top choices but there are so many things that if I keep going I will have to list the whole entire catalog and I would rather you go ahead and take a look. You can click the link at the left to see the catalog in PDF form or contact me to receive a catalog.

Okay long post today but I am really excited about this catalog year and am going to sit down and plan out some projects for the next while. So I hope to get back into the blogging mode and I may share some older projects for a little while so stay tuned.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Thank You Card

I made this card with the intent to use Elegant Eggplant Card Stock (as I have never used this color previously) and a background of my own making. I wanted to create my own pattern paper, although when I stamped my background I messed up the nice clean stamped image. Normally I would turn over the card stock and try again, but I decided I really do like the shadowed effect I got. It works very well on this card.

I find that I tend to use the same stamp sets constantly and end up forgetting about the others. I am hoping to pull out those rarely used sets and either use them or let them go. With the Retired list out I may just let go of some of the sets that, while I liked, didn't really use. This next year I will be a little more selective as I did an

inventory and found that of my current sets not counting mini catalog items, and I have 35 sets and 24 are retiring. I'd better choose wisely this year, although with so many new sets maybe less will retire next year. I won't count on that but it is a thought.

Check out the retired list, and be sure to order your favorites before they are gone.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Card Stock: Elegant Eggplant, Night of Navy, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant

Stamps: En Francais, Bella Toile, Elegant Thank You
Dies: Adorning Accents Edglits, Lots of Tags

Accessories: Big Shot, Extra Large Oval Punch, 5/8" Organza Ribbon

Thinking of You ColourQ Challenge Card

The colors for this card were chosen from an old ColourQ challenge.

 I have decided that over time I would like to do a card for each of the colourq challenges. I am hoping that this will help me stretch my boundaries and enhance my skills

I made this card using two different techniques. I used the faux mother of pearl and faux tile techniques. To create the tile I used the simply score board and scored at one inch intervals vertically & horizontally.I then rubbed the ink into the grout lines to give my tile definition. I created the mother of pearl effect by using a small amount of Frost White Shimmer paint and saran wrap to dab the paint all over the paper. Once dry I then took my sponge daubers and ink Pool Party & Island Indigo to my paper and added the subtle shading that gives my tile its wonderful color.Although I do have to say that I stamped my image prior to creating my tile and mother of pearl finish. I used the large floral image from SAB set Fresh Vintage.

When I was creating my stamped saying image I totally messed up and ended up having to choose between starting with a fresh piece of whisper white or using the image sideways instead of centered the same direction as the larger label. I really wish I hadn't messed that up but choose to go ahead and use what I had rather than waste the paper.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: 

Card Stock: 

122925 Calypso Coral  

122923 Pool Party

119686/124276 Early Espresso

100730/124302 Whisper White

102599 Glossy White 

Stamp Sets:

w 125115/c 125117 SAB Fresh Vintage

115068 Sincere Salutations

Inks:

122938 Pool Party

122937 Island Indigo

122939 Calypso Coral

101406 Jet Black StazOn

Accessories:

116854 Frost White Shimmer Paint

102892 Sponge Daubers

113439 Big Shot

125598 Labels Collection Framelits Die

127279 SAB Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad Pack

122334 Simply Scored Scoring Tool

Sending Thanks Butterfly

Since my last post, I have been unwell & so busy that I have been unable to do as much blogging or really anything for the last few weeks. I haven't really been spending much time on my computer at all. As for crafting I have made a few items slowly over the same two week period that I will share with you here in the near future .For today's card I will start by sharing a card I made and started blogging about a couple of weeks ago. This post has been almost done, but not quite finished.

 This card was made using leftover pieces of card stock that I had tried a for me newer technique called Faux Mother of Pearl. I really like the look this gives to different elements. This technique is a fun, fabulous and elegant way to give a card added pizzazz.


I am keeping things short as I want to get this posted and I need to be at work in about an hour.

I hope you all enjoy!
DanicaA

Project Recipe: Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black, Whisper White & Glossy White Card Stock, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum & Basic Black Classic Stamp Pads, Four Frames & Petite Pairs Stamp Sets, Sponge Daubers, Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Elegant Lines & stripes Textured Embossing Folders, Decorative Label Punch, Basic Pearls

Life....

has been very busy lately, for me. I haven't been able to do much posting in the last week and I know that the rest of March is going to be super busy, also. I have been able to finish a few projects that I am hoping to post this next week. I have joined a swap that I am trying to complete as soon as possible as I know that if I don't have it done within the next week, it will be impossible to finish. I have been taking my projects to work and working on them during my lunch, in the break room. You would be surprised how much you can get done in 30-45 minutes. Especially, if you have a game plan. 

We had snow on Thursday. I woke up in the morning and thought things were pretty cold, and that I needed to get up take a shower make my morning green smoothie, pack my lunch so I could be at work on time. I so didn't want to get out of bed. Anyway, I got up only to discover the power was out and I couldn't do most of the things I needed or wanted to do. It was very pretty outside though. I did have to scrape the snow off of the car. Coming home from work that night there was a slide on the road, Boy can that be scary. At least it was little and no one got hurt, which could easily happen around here as we have very curvy mountainous roads.

Have a great week and I will hope to post daily this week, and if not as much as possible.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Quilted Top Note Purse

Well today's post has been sitting here on my desk waiting for me to finish the project and then type up. I have finally gotten to it, after almost a week. Life has been a bit busy lately.

My inspiration for today's project came from a fellow Demonstrator on Stampin' Connection, Michelle Yager. Stampin Connection is a site for demonstrators to share projects, ideas and discuss all things Stampin' Up! I really liked the look of her quilted top notes, so I thought I would give it a try. Here is my finished project.

I used the top note bigz die to create my front and back with card stock & chipboard. Two pieces of card stock and one piece of chipboard for each. on the two of the four pieces of card stock. To create the quilt I used my 1-1/4" square punch to punch out my designers series paper and then glued to a scrap piece of card stock. I then ran it through the big shot with my top note die and then trimmed around the edge at the scored line, this then allowed me to glue this piece as an insert on my front piece of Lucky Limeade card stock. I then repeated this step for the back of my purse. I added a box that I sized to the top note and made out of matching CS, I added the ribbon to the sides and then attached a brad to each side to cover up my ribbon holes.

Decorate the front how ever you wish and add some chocolate or pens & pencils and you have a cute little purse to give as a gift.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Lucky Limeade & Whisper White Card Stock, (SAB) Everyday Enchantment Designers Series Paper, Oval All Stamp Set, Basic Black Ink, Big Shot, Top Note & Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Dies,Lots of Tags Sizzlits Die, 1-1/4Square & Extra Large Oval Punch, (SAB) Calypso Coral Organdy Ribbon & Everyday Enchantment Brads

3x3 Note Card Purse

 Today's project is a cute little card purse, I made following the directions I found on Sandi's blog Another Chance. I had fun making this purse and think that they would make great gifts or even a craft fair item as you can create coordinating 3x3 mini cards to include along with envelopes. I changed my version of this purse a little bit. I was trying to use the dazzle glitter for the butterflies's bodies and when I set the purse down with out really thinking through what I was doing the dazzles dripped and I ended up having to come up with a new idea for the body. I used the word window punch and cut the punches down for the smaller butterflies. I don't think they turned out to well, but I tend to be picky in things like that when it comes to my own work.

My cards were made with coordinating card stock & designer series paper. I decided to keep them simple as I do want them to be able to fit inside the purse along with envelopes. 

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Product Recipe: Rose Red , Pumpkin Pie & Very Vanilla Card Stock, Sweet & Sour Designer Series Paper, Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Four Frames, Petite Pairs & I{Heart} Heart Stamp Sets, Basic Black & Rose Red Stamp Pads, Curly Label, Heart & Decorative Label Punch, Rose Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Glimmer Brads, Basic Pearls & Basic Rhinestones

Happy Birthday Butterflies

Today's post is a card that I made for a challenge and didn't have finished in time. It is good practice though. I was unsure if I liked how it turned out as the card is a bit busy. I find that I like the more I see of it.

To view other cards that were entered into the challenge visit Color Throwdown

Don't forget to visit my online Stampin' Up! Store before March 31 to take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration specials. 

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Product Recipe: Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade & Blushing Bride Card Stock, Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper, Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Dies, Elegant Lines Textures Impressions Folder, Curly Label Punch, Elementary Elegance Stamp Set,  Poppy Parade & Basic Black Ink Pads, Basic Pearls

Treat Box

Today's Project is a treat box I made using the directions from Got Rubber...Will Stamp by Wendy Hawkinson. Hers is a cupcake box, but I think you could probably use it for just about any kind of treat. 

My colors came from the  

Simply Stampin' Challenge

I started with a Whisper White piece of card stock and used the three tea cup stamp from the Tea Shoppe Stamp set. I used my my markers in Melon Mambo, Wisteria Wonder & Pretty in Pink to ink my stamp image, each cup one at a time, changing color or cup, stamping randomly over the paper. Stamping only on the side that would be my outside when my box was finished.

To cut out the piece in the top for my window sheets I used the Label Collection Framelits, the second to smallest sized, placed at an angle. I then used the same label framelit and the smallest to create my tag. I attached the tag to my Melon Mambo Polka dot ribbon with Wisteria Wonder bakers twine. I also used the Scallop Trim Border Punch for my borders around the edges of my box lid.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink Card Stock, Labels Collection Framelits, Tea Shoppe Stamp Set, Melon Mambo, Wisteria Wonder, Pretty in Pink Stampin' Write Markers, Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon, Wisteria Wonder Bakers Twine

Masculine Birthday Card

I created this card at my father's request for a co-workers boyfriends birthday. I had made all our Holiday cards and when she received hers she liked it so much that she still has it sitting out on her shelf. So my dad told her he would see if I had one he could give to her. I haven't made to many masculine cards and so had to come up with something that was masculine and hopefully she will like this card. 

I started out by choosing my designer series paper I had a choice between the Well Worn Series or the Mocha Morning. I decided the Well worn would work best, I then picked out my background card stock of Not Quite Navy & Cajun Craze. After which I began to play with the layout & then went on to add the punch shapes with silver brads as studs and then my sayings. I think this card would also work well for a cowboy theme. 

On the inside I decided that I wanted to continue the well worn feel so, my saying was stamped with the image not quite completely covered in ink.  I then took my Tea Stain & Navy Distressing essintials ink pads and just swiped them across the Very Vanilla Card Stock and around the edges, going in different directions and not covering the paper completely. I did the same to my envelope and added a piece of Well Worn DSP as an envelope liner to have a coordinating envelope.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy & Very Vanilla CS, Well Worn DSP, Decorative Label & Word Window Punch, Silver Brads, Tea Stain & Navy Distressing Ink Spots, Outlined Occasions & Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess) Stamp Sets, Not Quite Navy Classic Ink Pad, Very Vanilla Envelope

Mocha Morning Mini's

These cute little mini's were made mostly during my lunch breaks at work. Boy, did my lunch fly while I was busy having fun. I used the Mocha Morning Designer Series Papers and added some color by using Poppy Parade, Pool Party & Island Indigo Card stock and ink pads to give the cards some pop. I like how they turned out. You can tell that I definitely liked the flowers as I kept with that design for the most part.

I am hoping that Stampin' Up! will keep the Tea Shoppe Stamp Set and maybe make some punches for the tea cups. Wouldn't that be gorgeous, I hand cut out the little tea cups but you have to be extremely careful at the handles as the break quite easily. Punches would make that problem non-existent.

Let me know which one is your favorite.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Basic Black, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Island Indigo & Very Vanilla CS, Mocha Morning DSP, Blossom & Fancy Flower Punch, Labels Framelits, Antique & Basics Glitter Brads, Petite Pairs & Tea Shoppe Stamp Sets, Basic Black, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, & Island Indigo Classic Ink Pads, Espresso Quilted Satin Ribbon

Birthday

Well today is my birthday and I can see the end of the tunnel, that my twenties just around the corner. I think that when birthday's roll around we should only change ages about every two to four years or maybe only when we actually feel like we have aged. 

Life is good though, so I can't complain. I have been very busy lately and my life is going to get busier here really soon. I will be working a lot more, and things will be steadier. At least that is what I hope for, I feel like I am working a ton know but I think it is because I spend so much time going here there and everywhere, and that is just work related trips. 

I am going to have a project finished and hopefully photographed and posted for you today but if not tomorrow night for sure. This weekend is another craft camp so I will need to get my stuff packed. I still need to get a few items. I am hoping to showcase the sweet pressed cookie stamps, using store bought product rather than homemade cookie dough and frosting. I will take photos of those also and let you know how they turn out. When my life is less hectic I will get out my favorite cookie recipe for pressing and give them a whirl with the cookie stamps. The recipe I have makes about five dozen, so they take a long time to roll, cut and cook.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Happy Birthday Framelit Card

Today's card was made using Stampin' Up!'s new Labels Framelit die set. I started out using the largest label and a piece of Poppy Parade card stock about 10" x 5-3/4".  I used the next sized label framelit and the Sale-A-Bration Designer Series Paper Everyday Enchantment to create my layer. I add texture by running the paper through my big shot using the square lattice embossing folder, after I had trimmed it down to size using the framelit and then my scissors to cut the edge off so the top aligns.

I created the flower by using the Blossom & Fancy Flower Punches, I punched a variety of flowers using coordinating CS and some of the DSP. I then ran that through the Big Shot again using the square lattice embossing folder. I crumpled the paper up really well, aligned them the way I wanted them to look and pierced using my paper piercing tool. You definitely want to use the mat pack to protect your fingers when piercing. I attached a brad and attached to the card. I used the curly label punch to create a spot for my greeting, using the Happy Birthday from the Sale-A-Bration set Elementary Elegance. I sponged around the little label using Basic Black ink. 

For the inside I added a layer of Very Vanilla Card Stock also cut as the layer on the front of the card. You can an additional birthday wish here and you could also sponge the edges for added dimension.

Well, that is all for today.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Calypso Coral & Very Vanilla Card Stock, Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper, Elementary Elegance Stamp Set, Basic Black Classic Stamp Pad, Big Shot, Labels Framelits, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Curly Label, Blossom & Fancy Flower Punches, Everyday Enchantment Brad

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

1/4 c  Earth Balance Soy Garden * 

1/2 c applesauce

1/2 c. white sugar

1-1/4 c. brown sugar

1 T  Ener-G Egg Replacer * 

4 T Soymilk or water

2 T Soymilk

1-3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 t  baking soda

2-1/2 c. oatmeal

1 to 1-1/2 c chocolate chips

1 T vanilla

1/2 - 1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter, add sugar, cream together. Add eggs, hot water, mix together. Add flour, soda, salt. Add oatmeal, chocolate chips, vanilla and nuts slowly. Mix well.
Spread in a greased 9x11 inch pan. Bake 375°F 25-30 minutes.


*These items can also be purchased at your local health food stores.


I hope you all enjoy!
DanicaA

Butterfly Top Note Box 2

Here is another Box I made again using Retired papers, but I love how it turned out. This is also my entry is this weeks Stampin' Royalty Picture Inspiration challenge. What a gorgeous setting.

Here is the link to the tutorial I used to create this box. 

Top Note Box Tutorial by Amanda Corbet of Krafting Kreations

Today's post is a bit short but, I hope you all enjoy, anyway!

DanicaA

Project Details: Project Recipe: Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla, Glossy White Card Stock, Sweet & Sour Specialty Designer Series Paper, Vellum, Four Frames, Petite Pairs & You Are Loved Stamp Sets, Melon Mambo & Regal Rose Classic Stamp Pad, Melon Mambo Embossing Powder, Embossing Heat Tool, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Top Note Bigz Die, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Big Shot, Sticky Strip, Victoria Crochet Trim, Pearls

Butterfly Top Note Box

I saw this box on another blog with tutorial attached and decided I wanted to give it a try. I really liked how it turned out. The Butterfly Stamped image didn't come through in the picture as well as I would have wished, but it is very pretty and quite subtle. the image isn't the least bit over powering. I used retired Stampin' Up! DSP as I wanted to try the project out and felt if I messed up at least it wouldn't be with my current papers.

I am including multiple photos of the finished product, in one of which I included some Hershey's Hugs. The boxes are perfectly sized for small candies or little trinkets and would make a great valentine gift.

Here is the link to the tutorial I used to create this box. 

Top Note Box Tutorial by Amanda Corbet of Krafting Kreations

I hope you all enjoy!
DanicaA

Project Recipe: Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Glossy White Card Stock, Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper, Vellum, Four Frames, Petite Pairs & SAB Fresh Vintage Stamp Sets, Crumb Cake Classic Stamp Pad, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze, Basic Grey, Soft Suede Stampin' Write Markers, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Top Note Bigz Die, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Big Shot, Sticky Strip, Victoria Crochet Trim, Pearls