Beverly's Stamping Beehive

What Is Happenin' in the Craft Room this Week - a Book Cover!

2012-01-19T13:04:00.001-05:00

Hello Crafty Friends!

I hope by now you know that this is my 'in-between' blog now - where I can show off some non-related Stampin' Up! material I am working on! Yep, I am the lucky recipient of craft gifts as I hope you all are - and I think the general feeling is that they would like to give me something else besides SU products and so from time to time I have been oohing and aahing over punches, or chipboard albums which I adore - or fantastic stickers, papers, ...well, you name it! My daughter also finds things for me when she is out shopping and will be a great daughter and buy them for me! Thanks sweetie! Plus - I still have stuff from before my days as a SU member! And finally, honestly, who can resist a good Dollar store find, lol!

All together I looked through my 'stash' and is how I found myself doing this....

First - a word to let you in on the owl .....my daughter started to luv the owl thing awhile ago and it extends to decorations ...and jewellery.....and notebooks, etc......

...and like all well-meaning people, I started to buy 'owl' stuff for her!

Now that continues into my own craft items - if its an owl, I automatically buy it - go figure!

Anyways, above owl is what drew my attention right away and it was actually on the reverse side

of a 12 x 12 paper I purchased awhile ago so I don't know what collection it belongs to - sorry!

The other thing my daughter is into is "Blue with a touch of Yellow" ! Yes - its her catch phrase ' a touch of yellow' AND she really loves the soft hazy blend of the two with ivory especially if its

the laid-back coastal look of the Hamptons!

Which is why I am working on this - and its only a start....

and closer...

....see, its the cover - for a album, notebook - not sure yet!

As I said, I started with the owl and added some borders to each side of the owl paper,...

...then I began to think of how to use the checkered blue-and-cream paper, and I came

up with little FLAGS. I haven't really done the flag trend much, and I was

surprised that once I started to consider decorating them, I was hooked!

Each flag has its own decoration - really fun!

Then I discovered a soft pink flower I had made a long time ago that had

the exact same size DOT pattern - who knew! LOL!

So along with a black border on the left side, and a few smaller versions

sprinkled around, the FLOWER was added!

Well - there will be more to do with this baby, and it will be done by her birthday in April.

Yes, that is a long time yet - and yet, not if you know what I mean!

Thanks for coming by!

HAPPY NEW YEAR - Fabulous 2012 is Here!!!

2012-01-01T05:34:00.001-05:00

Can ya believe it - its 2012!!! Wow, we are getting right up there with this new millennium are we not? Someone close to me was saying that they feel like its still the turn of 2000 but a reality check is that we are zooming right along - so here we are again!

What will be your NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS? Especially CRAFT RESOLUTIONS! The really fun stuff!

For me:
1. more dies for my Big SHot - cuz after all, why have a cool machine and not have all the dies you can muster!
2. organization - say it every year, but ....well, we all know what happens! Unless Steven Hawking can help me expand my walls automatically everytime more than 10 lbs of craft stuff materializes - there will always be piles and piles!!!

3. to dutifully craft on time every week ---- yah, I said it! But will I do it? I must, I must try!

4. to get those drat projects done that are calling from the closet like ghosts o christmas past! Scary indeed!

5. to get out of my craft comfort zone - and to evolve my style!

6. to take # 5 and apply it to some older scrapbook pages that look a little odd to me now, lol!

7. to have FUN! Whooo-hoooo! Its what its all about baby!

PICS TO SHARE!

Here is a fun picture to share - our dog graciously puts up with us every year when we start dragging out costumes, special christmas attire - you name it! PEPPER is the best DOG ever!!! We adore him.....

Getting the costume on is half the fun but easy going Pepper thinks: "why o' why do they insist! "

every dog must have his Christmas 'must haves' in his wardrobe handy!

Our sweetie-pie relaxing at his fav window! Awww, how cute is he!

Bye for now crafting friends!

COME VISIT MY NEW BLOG!

2011-11-20T22:29:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder - I have a NEW BLOG - have YOU been there yet? If not, check it out!!!!

CRAFT ROOM AFTERNOONS with TAYLOR B!

And to my FOLLOWERS - please re-join me at my new blog
and for your trouble, if you contact me at

craftroomafternoons@gmail.com

....and leave me your address, I will personally send you a HOLIDAY CARD!
Each one will be totally unique - as my personal " THANK YOU " .......So c'mon over !!!!!

Turning Birdhouse into Haunted House fit for a Party!

2011-10-26T13:24:00.002-04:00

Hi crafters!

Have you SEEN some of the prices for Halloween items like spooky houses? Well, after deciding I wasn't going to spend $40-$50 for one at a certain store who shall remain nameless, I went home and rummaged through my storage till I found an old blue + white b i r d h o u s e . Giving it a look-over, I realized it would make a cool haunted house!!!

So - - here I am beginning, and while I am not done {have to run out to buy some orange buttons! and maybe a spider or two}...I can show you what I have accomplished so far!

Birdhouse purchased on sale. Very much what I need to create a spooky house!

First - my BEFORE PICTURE! Here's the birdhouse the way I purchased it - on sale, 70% off - sweet!

Now I DID PAINT IT and basically EMBELLISH IT to transform it into a cool HAUNTED HOUSE - here's how!

PAINT YOUR BIRDHOUSE

You will need: black and colour paint - use Halloween colours. Water and saucer. Cheap Artist Brushes.

1. Paint it black on the roof. I am leaving it non-shiny, or 'matte' looking.
2. Paint the house itself, and I painted mine PURPLE! Not lovely-liliac purple, but real deep purple!
But - here is the trick! After the first coat of purple, take some black paint and water it down a tiny bit - not runny, but just thinner! Now take a brush and paint it around the edges - and crevices - basically where the shadows fall! And be sloppy! You don't need a nice straight edge - but a "creepy" edge - so just slop it on fairly quickly. Now - blend it towards the purple - or conversely, paint some purple (watered down) back towards but I prefer to paint the black in feathery strokes {again, don't be neat} towards the body of the house.
3. Paint the steps, edges black and then some strips of purple paint over top - so you get a bit of both in streaks!

GLITTER THE PAINTED BIRDHOUSE

Now - the fun part - GLITTER!!!!

You will need a pan, old container, white school glue, black + matching colour glitter for the paint colour you are using, old 1" or small brush.

4. Mix a half-half mix of white glue + water! Use an old saucer or throw out plastic bowl, lid, anything.
5. Get some glitter ready - I am using PURPLE.
6. Using a sponge brush, or a wide paint brush - quickly smooth over the glue mix over the house - DO IT IN SECTIONS - and then, shake your COLOUR GLITTER [such as my purple] all over the wet glue section, and tip off the excess glitter into the pan. Pat it slightly with your fingertips so the glitter becomes really stuck. REPEAT all over the house body - not the roof. Unless you want it glittered everywhere.
Let dry.
7 Now - the BLACK GLITTER - go back and brush the glue into the 'shaded' areas and sprinkle on the black glitter, pat and let dry.

Here is my purple painted glittered house. Note the crevices are painted with black and black glitter.

DECORATE THE ' HAUNTED HOUSE

OK - this is where I am at this stage - I am NOT DONE - but I will continue this week! I am having guests over for a Halloween Cupcake Decorating Party - along with my home-made Pumpkin Ice Cream! So it has to be on the table!!!

I decided buttons were the easiest place to start! So I brought out the glue gun and found some black buttons. I am " winging it " as far as placing the buttons on - there is no one way to do this - feel free!

You can place some glitter inbetween the buttons.

I will need a trip to the store to get some green and orange buttons - worthy of Halloween!

Next - buttons of another sort - ROSETTE BUTTONS made from paper and brads, glitter, etc.

Using a small section of craft papers, I scored strips of paper, and folded them accordian-style, wrapped them into circles and attaching them to a back support - and there I have a bunch of them!

And a cool trick! Using Martha Stewart's Vine Branch Punch - I made some climbing vines! After the first one or two which I glued to the house - I made a second set of them where I trimmed them to make the vines more "creepy"!

All you do is trim off some parts, and clip other parts to make them pointy or claw-like!

See the difference?

Instant Vines!

And the edge of the roof is trimmed with adhesive-backed, velvet scroll ribbon tape - whew, what a line! But that is what it is....see -

Not the easiest thing to do, I must say! But if you want it to have a cool effect, some times we must suffer, lol!

Dressing it up with the Paper Rosettes!

And HERE IT IS! So far anyways!

Meanwhile - - see if you can quess what I plan to do with it!

It's a branch I found this spring! I have cleaned it and chipped away at it with my rug cutter..

....hmm what can it be????

HAVE A HALLOWEEN PARTY!

Invite some friends over then get ready with easy-to-do party preparations!

First I set the mood with some decorating....bring out the Halloween decorations and a candle here,

a witch there, some lights - voila!

To add to the experience, whip up some candy boxes using our Stampin' Up! Candy Box die

for the Big Shot. Just don't forget to add some treats inside, lol!

Allow your guests to have a role in decorating their own cake or cupcakes!

It is super easy to purchase a basic ready-made cake or cookies for all that matters,

and provide some decorating supplies yourself.

Here are the winning results the ' girls ' did!

AND HERE IS MY BIRDHOUSE AND THE BRANCH!

To be honest, I had already made the orange paper ROSETTES much earlier!

It pays to make something like these because you know you can always use them somewhere.

The branch was painted gold and the rosettes were in pairs with the branch between each set. A

final attention to detail was to add some decoration to most of their centers! But the 'tree' is

background to the house and adds some nice height to the whole table!

Well, we had a very lovely time of it - homemade pumpkin ice cream and all the candy we

could stuff (well, you know what I mean, lol)

THANKS FOR READING MY WHOLE LONG POST, :)

World Card Making Day 2011

2011-10-01T22:05:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

Here's this year's edition for WCMD - 2011! Enjoy!

For all the details - please visit my OTHER BLOG HERE

Hope you had a great day!

A sweet Songbird needed compassion and received it!

2011-09-10T18:32:00.005-04:00

A little sweetie of a songbird left us today. I feel somewhere between sad and glad. Sad it had to be 'put down' graciously with the help of our local TORONTO WILDLIFE CENTRE and glad that we helped it when it needed some.

Yesterday when I went to walk Pepper - a little tiny roundish "ball" was sitting on the sidewalk in front of our building. A set of sisters were standing nearby looking at it and I stopped {with Pepper off to one side}...and in the next second, a man stopped too. So there we all were and the little ball was a tiny, wee yellow breasted bird - clearly a baby too. It was sitting there surrounded by us giants, and was quiet.

For a minute, none of us knew what to do. Finally, the man picked it up by its wing (not reccommended!) and put it in the small hedge near the sidewalk - where it would be safer. Then we all sort of went on. I made a mental note to check on it.

Hours later that day, I came home with my daughter, we went towards the bush - I was hoping it had managed to fly off but we could hear it loudly calling and it was sitting still near the same spot. It tried to move its wings but it seemed helpless. I know we have racoons that come by nearly every night - and I have seen what they do to small birds! So I told my daughter, we have to take it in and over to somewhere.

I went upstairs, and having rescued many animals in my day - I chose a shoe box and made air holes, lined it with some paper towel and grabbed a soft washcloth and small potholder and scurried back down. In a few minutes, it was safe up in our apartment. I could see that its one eye was damaged - it looked as though the eyelid had shut over it, and one leg seemed bad. But it calmed down when we put the box in a safe, dark spot in our storage room.

Of course - by now, it was past 6 pm and a Friday. WHERE TO GO - WHAT TO DO?

By checking online, we found the TORONTO WILDLIFE CENTRE and read that it might be a bird that accidentally hit a window.

WE CALLED THEIR HOTLINE - 416-631-0662 and as they say, a hotline member called back about 40 mins later.

After a few questions about its appearance - in their effort to identify the bird and its age {if they are not equipped to deal with the animal in question, they re-direct you to another resource} and a quick consultation - the hotline member asked for us to bring the bird in right away in the morning! It might have a head trauma (considering the eye!) and in the meantime, she gave us instructions on its care - not to give it FOOD & WATER - DON'T ASSUME IT'S SAFE TO DO! The bird can actually be hurt by swallowing/intake of water under its hurt condition!!!

After a short period in the dark - the bird fell asleep! We were tickled pink! And I took that to be a good sign!!!! All through the night, we checked on it and it was perched upright on one of the potholders that I had since put in the box, and it was breathing and asleep.

Here it is perched safely in its home -made from a shoe box

and tucked away on a shelf in our quite storage room - safe, dry, dark and quiet - a must

to enable it to calm down. Apparently if it has a concussion, blood can build up and

put pressure on its brain. By having a quiet spot to rest - the pressure will

ease up. So much involved with a bird's anatomy that it requires a real expert!

Do try to get them to one.

Build a temporary home from a shoe box - air holes in the lid - we put about 30 of them about the diameter of a pencil. Plus our shoe box had 2 small openings on the side.

A soft place to sit on the bottom - and possibly if its for longer, to be able to change if soiled.

NO FOOD or DRINK till you have had expert advice - if the bird is sick, it could make

things worse.

Isn't it adorable - wish we had asked if it was a boy or girl!

We called it Henry because we thought it could be a Henrietta that way too.

Sweetness !

AT THE TORONTO WILDLIFE CENTRE - 60 CARL HALL ROAD {in Downsview area}

We don't have a car. And that sucks kinda at times like this. And our friend had to go to work next morning - and it was a fair distance from where we live to Downsview. But checking with my assisted transport service {for wheelchair users Wheel Trans} - I discovered that the centre was near YORKDALE MALL - and I was able to book a ride there and home. Once at the mall, my daughter took a taxi with the bird and delivered it promptly for 9 am. I was asked to call and tell them when we were on our way to assure them that we were indeed coming.

DIAGNOSIS - the bird, sadly, was in rough shape - and the injury to its eye had advanced. Had we found the bird when it first was injured, they might of been able to do more but it was a baby, and normally, a baby that has been lost from its home - can survive because they can hop around and get by until they can fly.

But they need both eyes to gauge things - and so our sweetie we came to know, had to be put to sleep.

We weren't happy, and it felt sort of like that sunken feeling you get when something goes the wrong way.

The staff at the centre had also told me initially - that they OFFER SERVICE that is intended to SAVE THE ANIMALS versus other clinics who do not have the resources to keep animals, and have to resort to euthanizing them. THEREFORE THEY REALLY NEED THE DONATIONS TO HELP PROVIDE THE CENTRE!!
They were compassionate and had been so helpful - and we appreciated that very much.

While my daughter was there, another man had brought in a very injured seagull - he had it in a large box. I can imagine how many animals meet with disaster and need our help.

We feel that we gave a sweet little thing a restful night - it would of sat outside probably exhausted from being on guard, crying out loud. At least it slept well and had its last night in a safe spot.

Of course, I made a card because I - well, just do! I might be able to donate some to the centre who can give them to donors or their volunteers as a note of appreciation.

Card Front

Thank You Greeting with room for Organization's Message

and Multiples of Card

My 'bird' checking out my collection!

A Holiday Version - note the detail on envelope!

Jolly Bingo Bits Stamp Set - soooo much fun! Combinations are endless :)

Tiny detail of glitter on edge and gem stone embellishment (blue).

PLEASE DONATE TO HELP ANIMAL SERVICES

- TIME, OR MONEY IS VERY IMPORTANT

TO ALL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS - THANK YOU!

[picture of the cute baby GOLDFINCH is from the blog called: THE BLOGGED SINK - very funny and has nice poems! ]

ADDED NOTE - a friend SUE told me of her experience with the same organization! Her injured bird was a DOVE and it made through ok thanks to the TWC, and here is the other nice thing - they called her weeks later to ask her if she'd like to come and be present when they released the bird !!! HOW NICE IS THAT!!

TAGS with MY FRIEND Stamp and INK-DYED FLOWERS

2011-07-29T11:34:00.000-04:00

Here's some tags I made using the MY FRIEND stamp set. The floral stems and the hello greeting are lovely, don't you think?

I misted the tags and decided to treat some white fabric flowers with the same dye - and I then rolled the flowers up tightly and there they are!

It's fun to mist and dye things - lots of fun!

I made the mist by adding a half-half solution of pharmaceutical alcohol and water to a mini-mister, then adding drops of ink refill [here in a deep pomengranate-red]. It does stink at first due to the alcohol, but that evaporates anyways {it does keep the solution fresh in the bottle though} and everything is fine when the object dries. If you do it on paper - mist lightly at first - if you come up too close and mist, you may also get 'droplets' - which can be useful for a different 'look'!

Also spray on a very covered surface - I save and use ol' wrapping tissue which I spread out on the floor. Even that can be interesting if you make things with tissue!

Have a lovely week-end!

Turn your Scraps into Playful Notes of Appreciation - Give Thanks to Those Around You!

2011-07-20T21:42:00.000-04:00

A little idea and a need came together with fun results lately....

Musing about my loads of scraps - again - I came up with the thought that I could kill two birds with one stone so to speak!

Since I have been wanting to express my gratitude to those who I see on a regular basis - and whose jobs do not allow them to receive tips, I thought " Great! I can make a group of Thank You Notes - AND - in a nice, summer-y fashion! "

So hoping to brighten up someone's day, I made little notecard after notecard - and it went amazingly fast!
How so you ask?
Well...because if you, rather playfully - without pre-conceived notions - slap together your scraps onto notes of all sizes and shapes - in other words, just wing it! You will have notecard after notecard in no time!

Stick to scraps which reflect the season too, and its just a fun exercise! I spent two mins. tops on each one and then a bit putting on some bling.

Here is a sample of the notecards I made for my coffee friends who serve me up coffee day in, and day out!
[only one card had to be a little less "butterfly-ish" as it was for a young man!]

Anyways - THEY WERE WELL RECEIVED - little faces of surprise and pleasure from this simple gesture.

Happiness Always Card

2011-07-09T17:44:00.003-04:00

It's time for a card for my dear Aunt Elsie! At her lovely age of 97, I want to send as many cards as I should.

I turned again to using my Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers - they are always reliable for making your handmade projects look as nice as can be! You receive 12 papers - 2 of each of the 6 double-side designs! They really go a long way if you are using the papers for different sized projects, or whether you are strictly using them for scrapbooking - just as they are!

Here I am using one of the pretty floral patterns in BEYOND THE GARDEN DSP - with the delicious colours of Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and one of my favs, Pacific Point - I always lean towards those ocean blues! You can find the papers on page 23 of our SUMMER MINI CATALOGUE effective until Aug 31rst!

OK! I wanted to allow the Designer Paper's patterns to do most of the design - and focus on ACCENTS! I have in my arsenal, a collection of pretty pastel sequins which I have owned for ages, I kid you not, it must be 6 years or more!

So I grabbed needle & thread, my sequins, and all supplies and headed to the coffee shop where I have my favourite table....and in the time it took me to have a coffee, I was done.

I stitched the sequins onto the Beyond the Garden paper of choice, in a pleasant manner near the top right side. I already had chosen my 'g r e e t i n g ' which said: "Happiness Always" and stamped it in co-ordinating colour, Melon Mambo and punched it out with our DECORATIVE LABEL Punch!

As well I brought along two lengths of ribbon in Marina Mist and Regal Rose - they are close enough to the colours in the pattern!

Finally, I poked a series of holes along the edges for a more subtle accent on the Garden Green CARD BASE.

Now as I was photographing the card, I could see another recently-made card off to the side shelf. Hmmm, same papers - so I brought it over to show a comparison of the two patterns from the BEYOND THE GARDEN Designer Series Patterns {if you look - the background of these photos is another pattern from the same collection!}

See?

That's when I noticed, I had used the SAME GREETING but in slightly different styles!!! I didn't even notice this till now, lol! The funny thing is, I stamped the greetings away from home at another person's place, so how funny that I didn't notice it then!

The last greeting in pink, is from the current STAMPIN' UP! SUMMER MINI - the last page, and its in the stamp set HAPPY GREETINGS!

Now I also know, and this I did notice - is that the 'same' greeting is also in another size, slightly smaller from last years Mini Catalogue! So I guess that means there are 3 versions!

Don't know why that fascinates me - just does, lol!

CLICK HERE FOR STAMPIN' UP! SUMMER MINI CATALOGUE

CONTACT ME TO ORDER - AND BOOK A WORKSHOP & HAVE SOME FUN!!!!

Crafternoons Friends!

STOLE MY TOTE BAG RIGHT OFF MY WHEELCHAIR ??!!

2011-07-08T22:20:00.000-04:00

Note - this is not to my regular readers, but today, my tote bag was stolen from my wheelchair at the mall.

WHO DOES THAT!

IF YOU ARE READING MY BLOG - I WOULD ASK YOU TO DROP OFF MY TOTE BAG TO THE SECURITY OFFICE - say whatever you like, but I could use my only copy of my working catalogue back.

I can not even begin to understand why on earth you feel the need to take from a wheelchair - you would think that the person in the wheelchair - obviously - is at a disadvantage. But you did. So
DO THE RIGHT THING and RETURN IT. My small change - keep it, makes you feel better.

Honestly - if you need stuff so bad that you need to steal - try just asking for help! We'd be just as likely to give you help than for you to have to steal.

Later.

2-Step Owl Punch Stampin' Up! It's the little things!

2011-06-13T23:27:00.001-04:00

I have a confession.

I have owned a wall decor item for-ever and ever. I believe I was somewhere between 16 and 20 when I received this as a gift, a...oh, what do you call gifts from travels? Its on the tip of my tongue - memento, no...a gift that we give when we go away and we bring everyone close to us a small gift from our vacation - we all have had that happen.

Well, my confession is that I didn't really like it so much. NOT the idea - no, I treasured the thoughtfulness that my Aunt included me in her offering; but I really didn't like the 'design' of the gift so much. I am not sure why not - its a pretty design, but I think its the frame. Here it is.
CLICK ON PHOTOS TO SEE LARGER VIEW.

It looks nice on my orange coloured walls of my stamp room - but over the years since I was really young, it just didn't seem to go with anything I owned. And it was really a strong and striking piece - I tried many times to find just the right spot and failed many times as well. Just one of those things. So I felt guilty and often hung it up in some inconspicuous spot or regretfully left it in a drawer.

Well - no more!

Thankfully, it has found a spot in my stamping room with a slight difference!

Yep - a little pixie of an owl in all pink is there all right! Now, I love it!

I guess it just needed a touch of cuteness to make it more to my taste!

My aunt Elsie is now turning 98 years old - can you believe that she still lives on her own - with no assisted living besides her neice who kindly helps out with shopping?

Amazing and she is the last of her siblings, so I knew them all of course, and it never occurred to me to think who would make it to the last of their generation, but Aunt ELsie has, God Bless Her.

And I am always going to have a little smile when I see this now - more than ever!

Father's Day Card - #1 Sheriff in Town!

2011-06-13T23:02:00.003-04:00

Lasso up a card for this coming FATHER'S DAY!

Hey guys and gals who need to conjure up the perfect card for that special 'DUDE' - rootin' tootin' fan of the old westerns - fan of John Wayne? Or the new cowboys of the rodeo today?

Well - if you just want to let DAD know he's #1 - this card ought to do that!

I was thinking of how to represent the ol west when I didn't have any cowboy stamps per se, nothing western at all - zip, nada! Then I thought that the Sheriff's Badge would be easy enough to make if you broke it down to basic parts - basically, its a circle with pointy triangles, nes pa?

So that is what I did!

1) first I cut me a circle with our 1-3/4 inch CIRCLE PUNCH.

2) make them thar pointy parts!

To Make Triangles for the Sheriff's Star Badge

cut a strip of cardstock twich as wide than the length of your points, and about 6 inches in length
score a half-way line down the center of the length
then draw a series of large X's across the entire width of the cardstock - make the width of each equal to the width of your desired point - you'll see the 'points' emerge as you draw, one on top and one on the bottom half of the cardstock, with the pointed tips meeting at the center, and alternating with the outside edge - you'll see! After, cut out those 'triangles' - make sure you have enough for the Texas Star shape - 5 tips but it can also have 6 tips!
When done cutting the triangles - score each one down its center length.

3) Map out where the points go on your star - around the circumference of the circle - I practiced, and then glued each triangle to the back of the circle.

4) Optional - but interesting to add # 1 to the newly-formed Sheriff's Badge! I cut mine from some scrap of foil lining from a chocolate box - shiny is good!

5) Mount your star on a background of cardstock - but let's make it interestin' Dudes and Dudettes! Choose our Vintage Embossing Folder to give it that stylized Western scroll look - they used to have these fancy-smancy designs on their rifles/guns/badges - buckles! Even leather was embossed in them thar days! LAYER this all on to the CARD FRONT.

6) Embellish friends!
Add a Lasso - and you can even lasso up a touch of 'love' while yer at it!
To Make a Lasso out of Twine
Ok I'm a cheatin' - my lasso is in a heart shape and I threw in the word "LOVE" at the
tail end! On FATHER'S DAY - he deserves a 'love you' eh? Of course!
Gather up some twine - any twine will do, we even have some fancy-smancy type in our
SUMMER MINI CATALOQUE with the colours of brown, or red or plain white. But
aw gee shucks - I didn' have any! So basic twine it is!
Make a practice lasso and word, but don't cut the twine just yet - save that for last!
When you kinda know how it will look - grab some liquid glue like our TOMBOW GLUE
and wind your twine into a circle at one end, and use a scrap twine to wrap around the
neck of the circle or " lasso" . After, you can - optional of course - turn that lasso into
a bit of a heart by pushing inward at the top - just enough to form a "HEART SHAPE" -
dab some glue on the twine, and press it down into place on the card front.
After that its just a matter of pressing some more glue and twine onto the card front in
the shape you wish - forming the letters is pretty easy I found - so go for it! Cut end at
where-ever your twine leaves the card.

CLOSE UP OF ' LOVE '

can you make out my word - I didn't do the best ' L '

but I am sure you can tell what I am expressing!

See the scores on the points?

I also inked the edges of the embossed Natural White layer - first with Daffodil Delight {yellow},

then with Espresso { brown }.

To make the star seem more 'Official' - I added silver brads to each point!

FINISHED!

#1 DAD - THE BEST SHERIFF AROUND THE WILD WEST!

Thanks for dropping by!

Next I will have a really fun project involving this:

hmmmm.......what could it be!!!!

TUNE IN AGAIN TO FIND OUT!!!!

HAPPY STAMPING

BEVERLY

DON'T FORGET - JUNE 19th = FATHER'S DAY

Stampin' Up! Retiring Products Project

2011-06-13T22:04:00.000-04:00

I feel sort of bad :(

Because now Stampin' Up! decision makers have put some of the BIGZ XL DIES for The BIG SHOT on chopping block ! I can only surmise its due to their lower sales value and to follow that line of logic then, we 'demos' didn't do enough to show the ' p o t e n t i a l ' of these dies, so we share some of the blame.

So - here I am last minute trying to make up for some of that with this project!

In my last post, I pointed out the fab talent of the designer behind the pop-up dies manufactured by Sizzix, and so I pulled out the POP-UP BIGZ XL DIE - O CHRISTMAS TREE! and co-ordinating SIZZLIT DIE ' MERRY DETAILS ' which has several tiny decorations for the tree including a bird!

And I also pulled out the BIGZ XL ' PERFECT SETTING ' - which includes the CUPCAKE HOLDER/WRAPPER!

As for cardstock - I've chosen the retiring HOSTESS LEVEL - PATTERNS PAPER STACK which showcases the new IN COLORS of the retiring 2010-2011 IBC.

OK - I'm all set!!!!

Christmas isn't always Christmas Project

I wanted to specifically show how the CHRISTMAS TREE does not have to be limited to the holiday season of December - tho fabulous as that time is! NAY - this baby can be used in a V-E-R-Y whimsical way - so YAY !!

1. Chose the Tree's Cardstock - be daring!
To start I decided to have my cardstock in a fun FOLKSY fashion by combining:
a) different patterns from the same colour family,
and b) by combination of a variety of prints according to their size!

In our Pattern Packs, we have this all ready for us! Its just a matter of choosing your colour! The result will sort of look like a quilt project!

2. Decorate the Tree
For the smaller decorations for the tree I'm using the Sizzlit die for the bird, but I also chose to use another retired SU! punch for a small flower.
I put some willingness to throw caution to the wind and choose cardstock that by mere repetition would work on the tree - BUT - you help matters when you are a bit choosy about placement - try to strike a balance because if you rotate the tree you can see all the different angles involved. I think I did a zig-zag placement of the first couple of flower colours - then I used the " Hearts " to ' FILL IN THE GAPS ' and help the balance overall. It sounds more complicated than it is - besides I suspect that you can't do much to go wrong, it sort of has a way of working out its own problems if you know what I mean! HAPPY comes in many forms - and by decorating the tree with whimsical flowers, a pair of love birds - why all that is missing is a rainbow - and I am working on that!!!

3. Stand your Tree
This is a pop-up die, right? RIght! But I decided to let it sit on its own stand made of the CUPCAKE HOLDER! Its so easy too - just cut and paste the cupcake wrapper/holder so that it can be large enough for the tree's base to plop inside the BOTTOM of the cupcake holder - yep, turn it upside down - and its a base - flower pot or circus stand, you decide~ you can decorate the cardstock before gluing, and you can use all sorts of 3D embellishments when its done - such as brads, butterflies! What-ever tickles you!

Close-up of the 5 different 'patterns' cardstock - all in the colour ' PEAR ' and the variety of flowers and hearts I used to decorate it!

Tree in full, with 1 bird on top center. This tree is meant to collapse, but it has a 'stand' as well.

Now lets put it on a stand made from the 'Perfect Setting' Cupcake Holder/Wrapper which is turned upside down and stamped with a subtle pattern.

Or try it in a garden green matching the tiny hearts scattered through-out! Add a butterfly embellishment!

See the pair of love-birds - they are from the retiring Sizzlit die, Merry Details. They are so cute - I added tiny red glittery hearts cut with our 2-Step Owl Punch. You might recall our Red Glitter Cardstock from the Christmas season? Its been on our available list of carry-over products from the Mini Catalogues.

Now here is how it looks in real life on your shelf - or your friend's shelf - or grandma's shelf.....cute huh?

Who wouldn't like a special tree at this time of the year? Maybe a young girl would think fairies come and dance around it at night!!!

....or with Cupcake {Perfect Setting Bigz XL Die} stand!

SO THERE YOU GO!!!

DON'T WAIT TILL ITS TOO LATE - THESE ARE AVAILABLE TILL THE END OF JUNE!!!

CONSIDER THESE TWO AWESOME and RETIRING DIES FOR A MANUAL DIE-CUTTING MACHINE such as THE BIG SHOT or similar product!

THEY ARE ON THE LAST CHANCE LIST!

THEY ARE VERSATILE!

THEY ARE INTERESTING !

.....the CHRISTMAS TREE is really a fun project - think of the challenge you can give yourself, it doesn't get boring!

And, the PERFECT SETTING - CUPCAKE BIGZ DIE is the perfect die to make cupcakes look dressed up, jazzy and co-ordinating with your theme, OR as a little cup to put candy in for birthday parties...plus it also has a matching strip to wrap around candy bars, or other items. You can explore many uses for both these dies not to mention their first intended purposes - CREATE!!!!

CALL ME TO HELP YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER

Catch some 'Last Chance' Inspiration from Karen Burniston and Pop-Up SU! Projects

2011-06-10T04:14:00.003-04:00

I hope you have seen or heard of Stampin' Up!'s Pop-Up Dies which make wonderful projects - from cute and adorable - to just plain awesome!

And the reason they are - is really due to some awesome-ness from KAREN BURNISTON - the designer behind the POP-UP DIES from Sizzix!

Karen has a wicked mind in my humble opinion - and she has developed project after project that just makes you speechless - can you tell I'm a FAN!!! Honestly, I am not the only one who thinks so - she has lots of fans!

So here is a link to some of the projects she has designed for the POP-UP CHRISTMAS TREE and CAKE! Click on her thumbnail pictures to see the project close-up.

Karen Burniston and Pop-Up Dies for Stampin' Up!

*************

Now - a word to the wise - SU! is discontinuing these 2 particular dies - don't know why, but they are ON SALE - really great price too, I believe as I write this - its 40 percent off!

I would be happy to help you order one or both! Please email me - bstampingbeehive@gmail.com

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

1) O Christmas Tree Stampin' Up! Bigz XL Pop-Up Die Item no 116822

2) Three Tier Cake Pop-Up Bigz XL Die Item no 116760

Stampin' Up!'s Last Chance Products.....leavin', leavin', leaving!

2011-06-07T23:15:00.000-04:00

Sigh.
Sadly, we are saying good-bye to some very familiar and well-liked products from our current IDEA BOOK and CATALOGUE 2010-2011...and I encourage you to check out the PDF files to see what is retiring.

One never knows till one is confronted with the possibility that you may not have the ability to purchase something - a little something that was always in the back of your mind, on the back burner, on the long list - however you want to put it...till its time has come, and you panic! Whaa--! Time is up, that is going?

So, get on in there and see what is going - knowledge is bliss they say!

Meanwhile....here is a picture I scooped up a long time ago, and it involves punch art using one of the punches that Stampin' Up! is retiring. So I thought it appropriate to show you - lest it prompts you to want to have it before you have to start scanning ebay in hopes of finding it one day!

SPIRAL BORDER PUNCH is going, and here is the pic showing what a little creativity can be done with this punch.

[pic from songofmyheart stampers]

See - by using the SPIRAL BORDER PUNCH to create the CASTLE'S TOP EDGES! How cool is that!

The Spiral Border Punch is often used for shabby or vintage looking projects.

Other punches I see here are: Extra-Large Tag; Window; Circle and possibly an altered Scallop Circle {back layer of Sun}

Stampin' Up! Sneak Peek for NEW CATALOGUE!

2011-06-07T18:36:00.001-04:00

Hello girls'n'guys!

Well I went and did it - I put my first order in using my Demo-ship to fast track some of the new pre-releases to my door !!!!! Yippeee - this IS ALWAYS an exciting time for us! And as per usual, I have to figure out which of the selected pre-release products I should grab - ALWAYS tough choice!

But, I narrowed it down today to a few things and although I do not have these here - yet - I found another Demo in Texas who has the items I want to share with you! DONNA ROSS has been playing with.......our new, super-duper...

PERFECT PENNANTS L DIE

{ a SU! Exclusive Sizzix Bigz Die}

WHY I LOVE IT

2 pennants - 2 sizes

2 doilies - 2 sizes

all on one steel blade die - not too long not too short!

...and...

DOILIES STAMP SET

very, very elegant-yet-sweet doily theme stamps

Here is a couple of photos I've borrowed from Donna Ross to showcase how she incorporated the doilies off the Perfect Pennants L Die .....very pretty in our NEWEST " IN COLORS "!

[pic cased from Stamped Sophisticates by Donna Ross, Sr. SU! Supervisor, Texas]

OK - Donna has used the ' doilies ' {the largest scalloped circles} from the PERFECT PENNANTS L BIGZ DIE and layered over top of them with the DELICATE DOILIES stamp set - both of these products will be available JULY 1rst 2011

AND - you're looking at the LATEST ADDITIONS TO THE " IN COLORS " FOR THIS UPCOMING YEAR !!!!

COUPLE OF THINGS......STAMPIN' UP! made some changes as you recall during the RENOVATION period, and one change was that starting this upcoming NEW IDEA CATALOGUE - there will be 10 IN COLORS! Yep - the period for the colours will be 2 years and so last years line-up is still in effect for one more year, and now this year's line-up is added and so we have 10 great IN COLORS to choose from!

5 NEW IN COLORS TO JOIN US =

Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade,

Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder.

Which is how Donna has last years IN COLORS mixed with the upcoming IN COLORS - such as the purp-ily Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush combo!

I like the way Mary Fish of Stampin Pretty has chosen to showcase the latest colours, by including it with similiar colours so you will see its special benefit it has to offer!

Like look at her demonstration of " Island Indigo " as it compares to some of our other blues...

Therefore I will be awaitin' for my own delivery soon and MY COPY OF THE NEW 2011-2012 IDEA CATALOGUE - Whoooohoooooo - just dyin' I tell ya, just dyin'!

CONTACT ME FOR YOUR OWN COPY OF THE NEW RELEASE CATALOGUE

AVAILABLE JULY 1RST!!!!!

bstampingbeehive@gmail.com

luv

BEVERLY

CARD SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE NOW AVAILABLE

2011-05-24T10:12:00.001-04:00

Isn't this lovely?

You couldn't help but love this if you were lucky to receive it!

DON'T POSSESS THE TIME OR TOOLS TO CREATE ONE-OF-A-KIND CARDS? WORRIED YOU MIGHT FORGET TO SEND A CARD FOR A SPECIAL DATE?

HERE'S THE SOLUTION!

CARD SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

IS AVAILABLE THROUGH ME !

-HAND-MADE OR CUSTOMIZED CARDS WILL AUTOMATICALLY MAILED TO YOUR SPECIAL PERSON ON YOUR SPECIFIED DUE DATE.
- UP TO AS MANY CARDS AND PERSONS - ON SLIDING SCALE FEE!
BUT AS LITTLE AS $5 FOR 1 CARD INCLUDING POSTAGE AND MAILING SERVICE.
INTERNATIONAL CARDS - APPROPRIATE POSTAGE CHARGED* EXTRA TIME REG'D.
CHRISTMAS- HOLIDAY CARD SETS AVAILABLE
CORPORATE ACCOUNTS WELCOMED.

SIGN UP FOR CHRISTMAS!!
IT'S ALWAYS HERE SOONER THAN WE THINK !

PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED

THANK YOU!

BEVERLY

Email = bstampingbeehive@gmail.com

How to Create an Interesting Card and Letter for a Friend! Use Special Touches !

2011-05-24T09:42:00.003-04:00

Hi Stampers!

I know back on April 16th I posted this card - BUT that was before I mailed it! Since then, I have mailed it to Australia - and my friend "Angel Dee" should be getting it soon {I hope}.....and I wanted to share how and what I sent her!

Well, remember this card - I love it still, and will def'ly make more!

Our Embossing Folder - Framed Tulips sure makes all the difference doesn't it?

Now, I posted a poem inside and so I decided a hand-written letter tucked inside would be a great way to stay in touch, but of course, not just any letter right?

Here is my letter - I created an interesting border with an old punch

{I don't use this punch by a company who shall remain nameless because their punches only work on lightweight paper! - another good reason why I like Stampin' Up! tools - just sayin'! }

...plus I made two special 'ovals' to write our names in! I used a couple of our oval punches and then used the 'negative' space to chalk in some pretty Regal Rose colour! The large oval was for my friend and the small oval is on the back where I signed off. Why not make some special touches?

I also stamped some large roses with Regal Rose ink, and not to forget the envelope - I stamped a rose there too!

TIP - stamp slightly "off-the-border ", even several images along the edge will make your project look very natural in style!

By giving another small token of my friendship, a marbelized tag made using the shaving foam technique, I felt that all of these pieces combined will hopefully make the recipient feel special!

CLICK ON ABOVE PICTURES TO GET A BETTER VIEW

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

IF YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE ANY OF THE ABOVE TECHNIQUES AT YOUR DISPOSAL,

PLEASE CONTACT ME AND I'LL HELP YOU GET STARTED!

HAVE A WORKSHOP - WE CAN DEMONSTRATE THIS PROJECT!

BEVERLY

EMAIL = bstampingbeehive@gmail.com

Truck Driver Card

2011-05-20T18:11:00.003-04:00

Already making a Father's Day Card - but for good reason. A friend lives out of town and I wanted them to not have to dig around for a card this coming Father's Day.

Their dad is a truck driver of a big rig! So I approached this in a novel way.....first I downloaded an image of a big rig from a colouring book site {see below}. Yes - these are for the little ones to colour! But then - I printed the image and cut a border around it AND then drew in some basic scenery!

Here is a downloaded image - close to the one I used - from a coloring book website.

"google" your subject - be sure to add the word 'image' so: "big rig image" is how I searched for mine and then click on IMAGES in the upper left side of Google's page - and you will see tons of images to choose from, look for a colouring image, not a photo picture - and you're done! Right Click on image and select "Save Image" - you will then find the image in your saved picture files - mine shows up under 'Recently Changed'. Select it and choose Print.

Stampin' Up's AQUA PAINTER BRUSH did the next trick, along with our WATERCOLOUR PENCILS!

I sketched some colour in to the various areas - nothing fancy, as I love to use a painting technique where colouring in the lines is not required! The looser your technique - the better!

Once coloured - I "prepped" the Aqua Painter Brush by tapping and squeezing til water wets the actual bristles of the brush {you'll see a drop of water emerge}......and then I lightly went over the coloured areas, creating a watercolour effect as I went along. Very easy to do!

CLICK on picture to see CLOSE-UP.

I layered the painted piece onto cardstocks, and made a few additional ACCENTS! The COMPASS STAMP is from one of our more recent stamp sets and the CIRCLEs are from our 1 Inch Punch with our SILVER BRADS.

---------------

TIP - it is much better to "stamp" an image in one of our water-resistant inks {Basic Gray, Basic Black or even Stazon Ink} - but in a pinch, be careful to avoid smearing the ink of the image with the water. Not that hard, and a light smearing is fine - don't panic! Cuz what is the rule of hand-made? THERE ARE NO MISTAKES!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cupcake Punch "Purses" Card

2011-05-20T17:58:00.002-04:00

LOOK! How cool is this to make!

Purses begin with the CUPCAKE PUNCH {the bottom half!} and then two of our smaller CIRCLE PUNCHES for the top and the handle of the purse - neat!

Back your purses with layers - use a textured backgrounds, a border of SCALLOPS [another of our punches], pop the purses with some dimensional glue dots, a wee bit of ribbon - voila! What a smart card - can you imagine these using a FLORAL Designer Paper?

Have fun with it!

STAMPIN UP CUPCAKE PUNCH

Build A Cupcake Punch Item # 121807

You might also like the co-ordinating product:

Create a Cupcake Stamp Set {or choose Digital Stamp Set !!}

Contact Me for your Order or Questions, I would be pleased to help you! Beverly :)

Stampin' Up! Textured Impressions Embossing Folders

2011-05-10T14:59:00.002-04:00

Here's a card I just made to send a family member!

Did you know that you can emboss a full size A2 cardfront with our Textured Impressions Embossing Folders - in one easy run through the Big Shot machine? Or not!

For my white cardstock top layer, I inserted my cardstock only part-way, about 4-6 rows of polka dots deep and then ran it through creating a top embossed border and I repeated this for the bottom border!

So cool!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

# 117335

I love embossing! It really adds the elegance - or fun,

that pushes your card to the ultimate level!

Here is another of my example - one of my past FAVOURITE PROJECTS!

Shown partial-embossed card set, and embossed butterfly accent.

Polka Dots are a must in my opinion - if you would like your very own Perfect Polka Dots folder,

I'd be pleased to help you order this embossing folder, the BIG SHOT Die-Cutting and Embossing Machine,

or any stamping/paper-craft supply you wish!

Bye!

Gift Wrapping - Make it Special for Mom!

2011-05-10T14:10:00.002-04:00

Hello stamping friends!

Here I am with a special friend who I've helped by gift wrapping his Mother's Day gift, and now he has a one-of-a-kind present for sure!
This is exactly the reason I feel we stampers do this hobby/small business for - to provide happiness! For sure!

winning smile!

Details
Step 1 - Hand-made 3D Flowers
I have used the Big Shot and our Island Floral Bigz Die to die-cut 9 flower shapes, the 5-petal version. Then during a coffee session, I manipulated and glued into them into three 3-D flowers. What a fun way to spend some down-time!
I will link a tutorial for making the flowers shortly.

Step 2 - Create Floral Gift Topper
Then I added another Sizzix Bigz Die for the Vine and Leaves which were cut from our pretty PEAR PIZZAZ Cardstock - one of our IN COLORS for this year! I added dimension to them by sponging some Old Olive Ink. Attach flowers to vine, embellish with gems and bits of easter floss and tulle. Build everything on to a Scallop Circle {another Bigz Die!}

But there's more! The Flower Gift Topper can also be a wall/tabletop decoration! Yeah!!! By building onto the Whisper White Scallop Circle - AND - adding a tab to the back to hang the whole piece - its now a keepsake!

I hope his Mom feels special - I know HIS GIFT is really nice, he is a real sweetie! I was only too happy to help!

STAMPIN' UP! SUPPLIES

Exclusive Stampin' Up! Bigz Die for the Big Shot:

" ISLAND FLORAL " shown with the flower die I used for the project

highlighted in pink.

Pear Pizzaz IN COLOR Cardstock

Old Olive Classic Ink Pad

Mother's Day or Spring Card

2011-05-06T10:05:00.001-04:00

Have a wonderful Mother's Day to each and every Mom out there!

Recently I created a lovely card for someone special { hey Justin!} whose 'very special' Mother favoured purple - and I want to leave that card as an original piece created just for them, but I have borrowed the basic elements to re-create this card!

My favourite technique on this is - well, two things::
one) I love duplicating accents in acetate as I have done with the butterfly! It creates a "glossy" look that I love!
two) using ribbon to wrap around two out of three panel sections - this leaves the third panel to help make one colour pop - or to add accents, etc.

If you take a closer look - you can see I textured the smaller butterfly - using the tips of a snowflake embossing folder! Who knew, lol!

STAMPIN' UP! SUPPLIES:
Big Shot Die-Cutting & Embossing Machine
Beautiful Butterflies XL Die
Northern Frost Textured Embossing Folder
Perfect Polka Dots Textured Embossing Folder
Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace (retired), Crushed Curry (retired)
Clear Acetate Sheets
Organza WhisperWhite Ribbon {#114139}
Snail Adhesive

Thinking of You Card with FABULOUS FLORETS Stamp Set by Stampin' Up!

2011-05-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

Hi Stamping Friends!

My card today is for a friend and I wanted to try a new folding style - I do like this!

I have used :

Regal Rose, Elegant Eggplant and of course, Whisper White cardstock!

But I have also used some patterned paper which I owned for some time now - gotta use up those!

New floral stamp from FABULOUS FLORETS stamp set!!! You can see it in our SUMMER MINI CATALOGUE.

I've also used our brand spankin' new MELON MAMBO EMBOSSING POWDER! Very pretty!!

Here it is from another angle:

HERE is where I found the instructions to make this - check it out!

JOY FOLD CARD by Splitcoaststampers

You will need:

Card Base =

4-1/4 x 6-1/4 " cardstock and

3 x 6 " cardstock of the same colour.

1-3/4 " x 4 and 4 x 4 " designer paper

and scrap paper for your own design.

Plus don't forget your embellishments!

Strength & Hope Campaign - Help Stampin' Up! Donate $2 for Breast Cancer Research Foundation

2011-05-04T09:39:00.000-04:00

Starting May 1, 2011 when you purchase the Strength & Hope stamp set:

( wood mount) #118100 $21.95

(clear mount) # 123660 $16.95

and or the:

Strength & Hope Digital kit #124475 $12.50

Stampin Up! will donate $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation . This campaign will run till August 31rst, through out our SUMMER MINI CATALOGUE period.

It's part of Stampin' Up!'s Making a Difference program, and together as a team - you and I, customers and SU! Demonstrators all around North America can certainly make this difference happen!!!!

Please contact me to place your order - or better yet, hold a workshop and invite friends and family to support this worthy cause.

This is a beautiful stamp set - butterflies - who couldn't use butterfly stamps? Plus I LOVE the gorgeous design for each element - and such pretty, pretty colours!

To see the details CLICK HERE

For your Summer Mini Catalogue - contact me!

DIY Monogram Initial to Customize a Gift Tag and Other Gift Wrap Ideas!

2011-04-27T22:28:00.003-04:00

BIRTHDAYS - GIFTS - HOW CAN WE PERSONALIZE GIFT WRAPPING? Consider using supplies from our personal craft collections or altering commercial gift wrap products - and it's not too hard if you look at it from a new perspective. What do you possess on hand that could help make your gift tag more 'custom' or add more pizzaz to your gift wrap? Myself - I'll experiment with just about everything.

TRY THESE QUICK IDEAS:
   1) a PAPER FLOWER made from your scallop or circle punch. Other punches are out there that can do this as well, just look here at my ORNAMENT PUNCH tutorials or posts to see more options. I also made a lazy paper flower by twisting a strip of gift wrap loosely and gluing to a paper circle. I cut out leaves from scraps - she loved it!

   2) Wire up a MONOGRAM INITIAL using thin wire and some jewellery supply beads or bugles! After adding beads, flip the wire into a small loop to close the ends.
This is spectacular in my opinion and it doesn't take long! Go for a nice 'scroll' look for high impact!

   3) Instead of ribbon, "Punch" out shapes and just pepper the gift wrap with the die-cuts. Or align them in rows or make your own design up - have fun and see what happens. My example is I chose to do a simple row of scallop circles because my gift wrap has polka-dots.

   4) Download a nice picture from the Internet and print onto good cardstock. Then using a Versamark Pad - apply a coat of glue to the entire picture - and then sprinkle Dazzling Diamond Glitter all over the picture and brush off the excess. Your picture is still visible because the glitter is clear but sparkly which gives the picture a lovely, lovely effect! [see my picture of Cleopatra].

   5) Wrap your tag with extra goodies - ribbon or specialty crochet floss or twine is great too.

   6) Have fun with glitter! Use several colours of glitter on one image or word!!! This looks neat!
See my "THANKS" tag - its for a friend in the US, so why not show off their patriotic colours to a cool effect? I stamped the tag with HEAT and EMBOSS POWDER, and then blocked off 2/3 of the tag with a straight edge and applied the first colour of glitter. Once that set, I moved down to the next section and blocked off the remaining 1/3 section and applied the 2nd glitter, and finally coated the remaining section with the 3rd glitter colour. On the opposite side, I chose our STARS JUMBO WHEEL - and inked the tag, and embellished with markers, and glitter using our 2-WAY GLUE STICK for the small sections!

Download a picture from internet, and glitter it's surface with

clear or iridescent glitter and Versamark glue pad.

Create a MONOGRAM INITIAL using jewellery wire and bugle beads!

decorate your tag with ribbon and floss!

Close-up of Paper "scallop circle punch" Flower.

Paper Flowers - Twist'n'Stick, or Punch styles of flowers!

Scallop Circle Die-cuts to create a decorative row!

Jazz up a word with rows of different colours of glitter!

Use patriotic colours - here its the Red, White and Blue of the USA!

   Hope this helps you to get started with jazzing up
   your gift wrapping!
   Cheers, Beverly xx

2 Step Owl Punch Anniversary Card!

2011-04-18T15:22:00.001-04:00

"Look who's ... 9" doesn't only have to be for 9-yr old birthdays -

- how about someone's 9th year on the job?

And look at our cutie-pie owl - its so much fun designing "outfits" using our 2 Step Punch.

2-Step Punches refer to the fact that the punch creates several 'parts' in one click of the punch. So this means you can choose the paper for each of those parts - so this adorable owl comes with 'her' pink dress and pink accents, or it could of been blue clothing if I chose to - or how about even a 'red' owl itself?

For this celebration card, I paired my owl with several stamp set components - the balloons are from "Blowing Kisses" - a very sweet stamp set. And 'On a Pedestal' provided, well, the pedestal, lol! Finally, I turned to another stamp set for birthdays - this time, its "Look Who's Turning.." and highlighted the no. 9 which is significant for this recipient.

Have some fun yourself - if you'd like to try a 2-Step Punch - let me help you!

Thank you for taking time to visit my blog!

xx Beverly

New! Sneek Peak of Summer Mini Designer Series Paper - you'll luv it!!!

2011-04-18T14:51:00.001-04:00

Wow - the new SUMMER MINI CATALOQUE out for release MAY 1rst!!

I had to make my decision on what to pre-order, and it was tough but I went for.....drum roll, please! .......

BEYOND THE GARDEN

Suite!

Fresh - Bold - Candy Colours.....that is what I felt seeing this collection - it's summery alright!

also - the most fun thing of all - gorgeous embossing colours!!! Wheee!

My " child-self " grabbed for the candy-like pink embossing powder in MELON MAMBO right away - as moi is totally a pink person, but as I was saying the "Beyond The Garden Suite" collection is a beautiful way to start your spring and summer projects.

Here is a sample of a project I have done using the Designer Series Paper which features: Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango colours.

I will come back and explain some of the details I chose to do for this, but here you can see for yourself how lovely these papers are for a SCRAPBOOK PROJECT!

I have made a large octagon 'window' by hand, and created interest with several details.....

...

....such as flowers made from several of our punches.

I also now have a new smashing TEXTURE EMBOSSING PLATE - to go along with the floral motif present in the papers, and of course, the STAMP SET for this collection is FABULOUS FLORETS which had to be mine as well. If only because it features large, bold, yet ' airy ' flowers such as the type you see on upscale fabric! Anyways - you'll love it, I promise!

CONTACT ME FOR YOUR SUMMER MINI CATALOGUE

- although I am limited by policy to Canadian Addresses ,

Thank you for stopping by :)

2 Step Bird Punch - Makes WONDERful Handmade Cards

2011-04-16T03:30:00.000-04:00

I think I am in love with the 2-Step Punches the most! Soon I will be showing you something I've done with the 2-Step Owl Punch which I finally acquired - but my 2-Step Bird Punch is so lovely, that I turn to it again and again when I need to create something special!

Here I needed to demonstrate one of our rubber stamp alphabets, "JUMBLE ALPHABET". I thought the word 'FRIEND' would be an excellent place to start! So I stamped out each letter, one by one, onto some WHISPER WHITE cardstock - a Stampin' Up! signature product!

I also used the increasingly popular TULIP BORDER EMBOSSING FOLDER - and I matched the cardstock and ink - can you guess which colour it is? { here it is spelled backwards, lol = edeus tfos}

Using some scraps of the really popular SPRINGTIME VINTAGE Designer Series Paper, I punched out the bird with the 2-STEP BIRD PUNCH and did so in one of my fav ways, by mish-mashing the paper and the parts of the bird! So the body is one pattern and the wing is in another pattern.....but I continued by adding PHOTO CORNERS with yet 2 more patters from the vintage collection!!

Be a bit 'freestyle' and have creative fun - it doesn't have to matchy-match - it just has to be pleasing to your eye! If you think it should have even more pattern - go for it.

That is the great thing about our DESIGNER SERIES PATTERN CARDSTOCK - ITS MADE TO CO-ORDINATE FOR YOU - NO GUESS WORK!

To really go one step further though, I must admit, I thought about it and came up with my NEST! Its just scraps I cut with our PAPER SNIPS scissors and glued them down in what I thought looked 'nesty' - can I say that, nesty? Of course - and maybe I should say "dazzlin' nesty" because I ooomphed it up with some glitter, our trusty DAZZLING DIAMONDS GLITTER!

Well - I like it! Looks vintage but not old - young vintage!!! LOL!

If you'd like to make this card - contact me and we can have YOU CREATING A PRETTY CARD FOR SOMEONE SPECIAL in no time!

Thanks!

Adorable Mini-Cards Note Set - Hostess Workshop Project

2011-04-14T18:24:00.001-04:00

Hello again! Here is another of my favourite projects!

It's a mini-note card set whereby you create 3 inch square notecards using 3x6 inch cardstock strips.

This is a great way to maximize a 12x12 sheet of cardstock!

Cute Pocket Notecard Set

Hold a Workshop and this project is one we can do.

Everyone can use this - its a very popular project!

Thank You Notecards

Contact Me to book a Workshop
Earn FREE Products from our Catalogue, a Hostess Stamp Set
and a
Free Thank You Gift from me!

Plus its awesome fun!

When "Home-made" is better! Use Punch Art for Class Presentations!

2011-04-14T18:13:00.002-04:00

Today's hot word is HOMEMADE ....

CAN YOU TELL WHICH IS THE REAL PIZZA?

LOL!

I personally think this is picture shows works of art - truly Renaissance worthy!

But that is because - moi - made these, lol! And I am not being too humble, am I?

But, honestly, my "real" homemade pizza was the best - I love making homemade pizzas because I love, love the thick, puffy crust! Plus - I can make it tailor-made to our preferableness (yes, that IS a word!)....and fresh ingrediants, mmm-hmmm!

The usual around here is FRIDAY NIGHT PIZZA - and a Movie! And I just overheard an adorable, little guy asking his Mom in the grocery store whether they could make Fridays, movie night! So I helped him out, and said "Pardon me, but we have Friday night movies too! With pizza! It's really fun!" So hopefully, the little guy gets his way...but I am thinking, its probably Friday Night Pizza in lots of households - practically a North American tradition .

Anyways - the funny thing was, that here it was last Thursday, the 7th; and my daughter came to me and asked if I'd help her with a little something for a class presentation project due Friday. She is in university, but I was intrigued when she said they needed to have:
a PIZZA PUZZLE and a WINE & CHEESE MATCH-UP CARDS.

BUT - the really funny thing was -
I had just learned HOW TO MAKE "MUSHROOM" PUNCH ART the day before!!!
I was astonished how the Universe was all coming together!!!

And since, I love a challenge - it was ON!

PIZZA PUZZLE

puzzle pieces attached with velcro tape

First I made the pizza base - I didn't waste good stuff, so I cut a large 7 in circle from a cereal box and covered it with a beige-yellow no-name cardstock. Then I re-created another 7 in. circle in SO SAFFRON cardstock by STAMPIN' UP! naturally. Which I distressed with our DISTRESS WHEEL and a little SOFT SUEDE ink. That was the plain part, up next was the fun stuff - making the little mushrooms!

MUSHROOM PUNCH ART

Need: Oval Punch (small or medium but large will do if necessary)

Circle Punch - 3/4 inch or 1 inch ( use larger if creating big mushrooms)

The CIRCLE and the OVAL PUNCHES are relative to each other according to the size of MUSHROOM you desire. But a little adjusting can work wonders.

1. Punch out a Circle in a light beige cardstock

2. Using your Oval punch - nip a small chunk out of the circle, using the "end" of the Oval punch.

3. Punch out an Oval in light beige cardstock.

4. "Fish" the Oval shape - glue a small strip of paper to one end of the Oval shape, and insert the Oval shape ' BACK INTO THE OVAL PUNCH' exposing one "side" of the Oval, and 'PUNCH' a big bite out of the Oval - you basically create a long 'C' shape of the side of the Oval. REPEAT to other side of the Oval shape - you will have a shape that is narrow in the center and wider at both ends.

5. Assemble ' mushroom ' from the two parts you have created.

ILLUSTRATION depicting Mushroom Punch Art Steps

TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE:

CLICK ON THE ABOVE PICTURE
(or set your computer's zoom - see 'wrench icon' top right of your bookmark bar)

The rest of the pizza I just made up as I went along ......that is GREEN PEPPERS made with the OVAL PUNCH once more - punch a green strip of cardstock, just along the side of the Oval Punch, slide it just a wee bit above and punch 'again' and you will have a elongated 'C' shape - sliced pepper!

And of course, that is just a wonky circle which was trimmed from a large CIRCLE PUNCH shape of retired DUSTY DURANGO cardstock. Then, I went crazy with a POLKA DOT STAMP and lots of ink colours ranging from white to dark reds, and browns.

I gave everything a swipe of brown ink around edges - even highlighted a few parts with a light brown marker. And since we need TOMATO SAUCE - a un-even edged circle of REAL RED cardstock did the trick!

We "layered" our pizza - and since it is a PUZZLE - we did not clutter the surface, but left it so we could CUT the PIZZA BASE and the PIZZA TOPPINGS/SAUCE into 6 SLICES - which worked out to be a little under 3 inches around the circumference.

Attach VELCRO TAPE (Adhesive-backed) to pizza base, leaving the two parts of the tape together - ALIGN the pizza top slices - then curl off the adhesive backing, and slap the pizza slice into place and press hard to create good adhesion. VOILA - a PIZZA PUZZLE!

MATCH-UP CHEESE AND WINE CARDS

Next we needed to make a game for MATCHING CARDS of varieties of brands of CHEESE and WINE. \

The TOP NOTE DIE and my BIG SHOT

were just what I needed!

[ The objective: each Top Note is cut in half, labelled and spread on the table. Choosing a Cheese (brown cards) search and pair with a compatible Wine (red cards).]

1. Punch out TOP NOTE Shapes - as many as reguired to match-up! In our case, we need 28 so I punched out 14 Top Note shapes in a variety of colours. My daughter meanwhile, made labels.

2. Cut Top Note shapes in half length-wise. Now you have 'pairs' !!!

3. Create a POCKET. Follow any template you wish for a box - I basically measured and cut a rectangle slightly shorter than the top note half-shapes, and then scored along both sides twice 1/4 apart, and the same again on one shorter side. Clipped the parts where the edges met when I folded it together and glued together. I did not create a 'back' as we were gluing the boxes to a paper insert for the project's presentation binder.

Hope this helps give you ideas on how to use our crafting tools to help with presentation work!

Beverly

Make a Paper Ribbon

2011-04-07T17:55:00.000-04:00

1. Cut a strip of paper - make it twice as long as the desired length.

2. Score lines through the length of the paper strip at even intervals.

3. Following scored lines, accordian-fold the strip - fold in a 'z' fashion, bringing one fold forward

and pressing it down and repeating until the length is used up.

Now you can add this paper 'ribbon' to your projects!

STAMPIN' UP! GRAB BAGS!!!

2011-04-02T23:07:00.001-04:00

GRAB BAGS!

A first for me as Demo for Stampin Up! Here is the news I found today:

Beginning today, April 1, and continuing while supplies last, you will be able to purchase special "grab bags" through me or the Online Store.

These grab bags will come in three sizes: the $6, the $12, and the $18 grab bag.

Each bag will contain a variety of discontinued products that could include a combination of any of the following: ribbons, Accents & Elements, chipboard, Designer Series Papers, and Simply Sent kit components. Grab bags will not contain stamp sets or tools.

Please keep the following in mind:

Grab bag orders can only be placed on demonstrator orders or in the Online Store.
There is no minimum purchase required to participate in the grab bag special offer.
There is no limit to the number of grab bags a customer may purchase; however, grab bag items are only available while supplies last.
All grab bag sales are final. There are no refunds or exchanges.
Not all grab bags will be unique.
You should use the following item numbers when ordering grab bags:

Item	Description
125873	$6 Grab Bag (containing at least $24 worth of products!)
125874	$12 Grab Bag (containing at least $48 worth of products!)
125875	$18 Grab Bag (containing at least $72 worth of products!)

So I am going to check this out - remember, till supplies run out!

******

Create your own Gift Bag Tag or Topper! Featuring Sale-A-Bration's Ice Cream Parlor

2011-03-31T11:37:00.001-04:00

Ok, ok - I just had to make one more sample for you which features SALE-A-BRATION products....late in the night I decided this { I need to sleep more but when the creative juices strike, well, you know exactly what I mean}... :)

Carouse through a HallMark store and through the gift wrap aisle, see the gift tag 'toppers' - you know the decorative tags that just stick on the front of a bag or on a wrapped parcel? They are more for " decoration " than for tags.
Anyways....they were all cute in one way or another, but I was thinking, for that price - we sooooo could to-ta-lly do ones ourselves!!!!

So there I am last night - grabbed the last of my ICE CREAM PARLOR paper - a pretty fun collection in the SAB catty - get it as your free gift when you make a minimum $60 purchase!

[LAST DAY is TODAY for this promotion - so click on the catalogues to the right and place your order if you want to take advantage of this, you have till 2 am Eastern Canada time - due to the time zones - we have a slight difference in our favour!]

So ....I had paper - I had buttons and I had ribbon - all co-ordinating, hmmmm....then it struck me to use my ORNAMENT PUNCH to create a VASE,
use my BUTTONS as FLOWERS,
and use the RIBBON as a GIFT BAG HANDLE and then I was done in no time!!! Well, by 'no' time, I may mean " 30 mins" as I made some very tiny details!

Ta da! I give you my GIFT TAG/TOPPER!

It's a little gift bag itself, ha ha! Ain't it cute!

CLICK on picture for a closer view.

Here is what I did:

CUT 2 SQUAREs { Ice Cream Parlor Designer Paper}, any size = GIFT BAG
CREATE PHOTO CORNERS FROM STRIPS OF SCRAPS - experiment - make it interesting.
USE the ORNAMENT PUNCH {and co-ordinating paper}. TRIM POINT and INSTANT VASE!
ATTACH TO BACKGROUND PAPER AND PLAN OUT 'FLOWERS'
PIERCE PAPER and STITCH 'STEMS' - OPTIONAL - could 'draw' stitches with marker!
a FLOWER BUTTON - on STEMS{secure with a knot, and move on to the next button}.
attach a RIBBON HANDLE to 'back side' with MINI GLUE DOTS
PUNCH 2 strips of WHISPER WHITE using a SCALLOP BORDER PUNCH [ one each for tag's front and back top edge] - adhere
TISSUE PAPER, is sandwiched between squares to mimic 'gift wrap'!
LEAVE BACK BLANK - for writing message or attaching to a gift bag.

AND THAT'S IT!

Mine is going on my ' TAG TREE' for now....I am quite chatty today, but this really is a quick project and especially if you omit the stitching, and tiny details.

CONTACT ME IF YOU'D LIKE TO PLACE AN ORDER TODAY

- REMEMBER, ITS SALE-A-BRATION which is OVER tonight,

THE OCCASIONS MINI CATALOGUE IS STILL IN EFFECT TIL APRIL 30 - 2011.

Bye- bye!

For those who think they can't be creative!

2011-03-31T04:14:00.000-04:00

Aerodynamically,

the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly,

but the bumblebee doesn't know that

so it goes on flying anyway.

Stamping is one easy sport - with a minimum of supplies, you can do the most remarkable creations - the sport comes in the trying, and the learning you acquire over time....sooner or later, you will create more fantastic projects than you ever thought you would! But even the most naive efforts look wonderful in their own right - there is a beauty in the hand-made, and a special feeling that dwells there. Make time to create - you will be greatly rewarded for it!

If I can help you in any way, large or small, to start you on your way, I'd be pleased to!

Thanks for reading my blog!

Beverly :)

SALE-A-BRATION PROJECTS - Create Hand-Made Cards

2011-03-31T03:41:00.001-04:00

As a last nod towards SALE-A-BRATION 2011 - I have a few projects to show you which demonstrate some SAB and Occasions Mini Catalogue products.

TAKE A SPIN Stamp Set Card

featuring: Game Spinner Hands, Designer Paper ' Sweet Stitches ', Pom Pom Trim

There are 4 different Spin stamps to choose from including 2 Birthday themes!

Some one special who you'd like to remember?

Here are 2 cards then which are jubilant and fresh! Use colour, in a pretty way or a playful manner. See? Its hard to resist feeling happy when you receive a card like these!

PRESTO DESIGNER SERIES PAPER *reg catalogue

I inked over the embossed Presto Paper with Melon Mambo Ink and a sponge, then quickly swiped off the ink with a tissue to reveal the beautiful foliage pattern once more - very elegant.

3 punched circles as an accent!

Speaking of accents, look at this....

This is our NEW FUN FLOWERS Big Shot die in our Stampin' Up! collection - fab isn't it?

To make this colourful version - I've used the FREE patterned paper from the SAB selection - ICE CREAM PARLOUR PAPER and QUICK ACCENTS PACK!

It has ribbon and buttons to match - also Free!

Check out this - the ELIZABETH stamp is sold as a single stamp - $11.95 - beautiful!

As a Father's Day Card, you wonder?

Certainly, when you combine it with a NEWSPAPER PRINT - a Designer Series Paper in the Mini Catalogue called " FIRST EDITION "

The paper is black and white - but here I have sponged it with Bashful Blue ink!

Now who in the devil is this?

Why its our ever-so-popular 2-STEP OWL PUNCH - so popular, that it is on back-order right now!

But to add some more CUTENESS - it is paired with the BUTTON, BUTTON Stamp Set - see page 34 of your Occasions Mini Catalogue. There are 17 buttons to play with - 17 !!!

Buttons are a running theme right now - we also have the new Embosslits, SWEET BUTTONS also in the mini that moi is dying to get! It matches this button stamp set - sweet! I've seen people using these button designs as 'flower' posies....awww.

Check out OWL up close!

That is also our NEW SCALLOP CIRCLE PUNCH - Larger than the newer 2-1/2 inch CIRCLE PUNCH - so more layering ladies :)

Now find the time... make a variety of cards to put in your card "bank", and you'll have them when you need them! OXOX

Well - there is my little tour of the Occasions Mini 2011 - which IS STILL IN EFFECT till the end of APRIL! But sadly, SALE-A-BRATION is OVER TODAY at midnight! The 'freebie frenzy' over for another year!

WANT DELICIOUS COLOURS FOR SPRING? Choose some of the colours FEATURED here - MELON MAMBO, DAFFODIL DELIGHT, TANGERINE TANGO, MARINA MIST, BASHFUL BLUE, and pair with Neutrals CHOCOLATE CHIP, WHISPER WHITE.

Create a Personalized DVD Sleeve!

2011-03-30T04:53:00.000-04:00

It's a DVD/CD SLEEVE !

Excellent DIY Project - for my Stampin' Up! Friends or YOU if you are new to rubberstamping and or die-cutting! Excellent Gift Idea - Storage Solutions - FUN TIME!

I have a student in the family who has some educational DVDs which come in flimsy paper covers and sometimes un-attractive cases. So....I thought it would be a cool project to make some DVD sleeves that they can leave out on their desk and maybe they'll even be happy when they look at their homework - ok, I can dream!

Now you can also make your own sleeves for home-made DVDs .....or how about these for Weddings? Any gift involving a DVD or CD would certainly benefit from this project - so here is how we do it!!!!

INSTRUCTIONS

Supplies: cardstock 8.5x11 cardstock scraps pattern/designer paper

punch of choice ( here we use Beautiful Butterflies Big SHot Die and 1-3/4 in. and 1/2 in. Circle Punches)

adhesive

SLEEVE: CUT your cardstock for the sleeve at 5.5 x 10 inches

SCORE in the middle at 5 inch mark - short side

TURN the cardstock 1/4 turn and SCORE 1/4 in along both long sides

TRIM OFF the 1/4 border to the 5 inch mark on one half, both sides.

FOLD and SCORE the remaining 1/4 in "tabs" on the opposite side toward center

FOLD at the 5 inch mark (half-way) and adhere the folded 1/4 in tabs to the opposite side.

PUNCH 1/2 circles with your large punch - do one side, and then the other if cardstock is thick (can do this step ahead of time before gluing together as well).

Decorate your sleeve!

all views of cardstock cut, scored and folding....5-1/2 x 10 inch, folded in half at the 5 inch mark.

Score the long sides a 1/4 inch and cut off one pair to the half-way mark, leaving the other pair as tabs to glue the sleeve together (allows for room to slide the DVD/CD in and out)

Folded and Glued! Now Decorate it!

ideA+s =

- a large Monogram Initial (Sans Serif Die Set), with a Woodgrain background with our large STAMPIN' UP! Background Stamps- great for a guy! Or make it feminine with ribbon tied to the initial and a delicate print from the selection of Background Stamps!

- emboss the paper before you start using one of our Textured Impressions Folders!

- add a Chipboard Accent

- stamp, stamp, stamp - thousands of images!

- need lots?.. churn them out with our MY DIGITAL STUDIO software program to help you!

MY VERSION - STAMPIN' UP! SUPPLIES

Colours I am working with are Delightful Daffodil and Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White and multi-coloured pattern.

Dies I used: Bigz Die, Beautiful Butterflies - a Shelli Signature product; a 1-3/4 and 1 inch Circle Punches,

Other: bone folder, adhesive

What's This?

2011-03-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

Another round of 'What's This' today! Tomorrow I will reveal what it really is - and a tutorial on how to make one!

See you soon!

Did You Receive Anything Free?

2011-03-25T23:17:00.002-04:00

Look closely at your receipts lately.

Did you receive anything FREE?

6 DAYS LEFT of SALE-A-BRATION!!!

FREE - FANTASTIC & UNIQUE SALE-A-BRATION PRODUCTS! ! !

SALE-A-BRATION BROCHURE

Contact Me - I will be Pleased to Place Your Order - Thank You!!

Creative-Sketch CS25H Holidays and Celebrations

2011-03-25T17:59:00.002-04:00

CS25H

Inside Greeting ' Happy Easter '

Hello, today I am entering a challenge! I have not entered one here before, but over at Creative-Sketches there is a challenge today called CS25H Holidays and Celebrations and I have chosen to make an Easter Card for a friend!

To do this, I have chosen my INSPIRED BY NATURE stamp - using the floral image (it's a double-mounted stamp - opposite side has grass!) because it feels like Spring to me and I wanted my card to not be over-the-top Easter, but something more simplier and relaxed.

I have made the focal piece using our SCALLOP CIRCLE Bigz Die (the scallop red circle) and then layered it with Pumpkin Pie and Whisper White cardstock, followed naturally, nestled in the center, my stamped image!

My ribbon is a thin strip of paper cardstock (Whisper White ) run through our Crimper tool, and sponged ever-so-gently with PEACH PARFAIT ink.

The two tiny tags (say that 10 times!) tied on are made with our MEDIUM JEWELLERY TAG punch - and decorated with co-ordinating stamps, TINY TAGS and one little sequin for good luck, lol.

My Easter Greeting is on the inside - stamped in a row - kinda different, but simple too.

I also had fun trying a new thing - using GLUE DOTS and GLITTER! How cool! I found this idea from my friend Dee over in Australia, and another fantastic Stampin' Up! Demo!!

So head on over to check out Creative-Sketch's online site for more ideas - or if you have time, to try a challenge!

Baby Shower DIY Gift Basket - ta da!

2011-03-25T01:44:00.001-04:00

Here are the rest of my BABY SHOWER GIFT BASKET pictures that I wish to share. I can't say enough, how much fun it was to make this :) Some beautiful hats, mitty's, and socks make up the gift (as well as a tucked in package of scrapbooking bits)....but the creative options we have for packaging is what makes this feel like you really are part of the experience.

Sadly, it was late at night by the time I wrapped it up, so my pictures of the basket before it was wrapped did not turn out so well. Our indoor lighting requires my camera to use its flash - which always creates poor photos for blogging.

But I did manage a couple featuring the basket tags shown here along with the wrapped results and I am sure you can see some of why I enjoyed the whole process!

TWIN TAGS 4 TWIN GIRLS

Features Stampin' Up!'s Two Tags and Big Beautiful Butterflies Big Shot Dies

plus retired stamp set, Cute as a Bug

The dollar store penny candy jar decorated with another butterfly

from the same die, and Three Flowers Punch. I really felt that the design looked

good 'off-set' - just a little different :)

Here's the side view showing how we filled the jar with baby socks! Since I took off the

large stickers and labels from the socks, I made little circle tags with our 1" circle punch to

show the sizes as we included 2 different sizes.

Of course, had to do the inside lid! Same Cute as a Bug set!

Now here is another nifty thing - I coated the cardstock with a protective top coat of artist's medium gloss - that way, Mom can wipe the jar lid to keep things clean!

Here is the basket and the jar - all ready to go!

Butterflies decorate the basket handle inside, and so it was natural to use a butterfly as my outside tag!

It reads " Expecting Love"

I hope you have a chance to make someone a gift basket AND with some humble items to create your DYI packaging - your gift assemble can look really top notch!

Create a Baby Shower Basket

2011-03-23T00:26:00.000-04:00

Hi - I am going to start with this close-up shot of the way in which I tied our BABY SHOWER BASKET in clear cellophane wrap - straight from the dollar store! This is where simple materials come together and make a beautiful one-of-a-kind gift that will leave your Mom-to-Be gushing over such thoughtfullness!

I tied my cellophane up and around the basket handle with some regular scotch tape. Then I wrapped some white sheer ribbon around and around in a loose fashion and stapled it closed. I created a "flower" accent with a STAMPIN' UP! crocheted white Fleurette topped by a flower button and bead. This was attached to the pink ribbon which I had stitched together to form its own flowery shape. I created the pink ribbon flower with a series of loops - just back and forth, one loop after another until I finished the roll of ribbon. I absolutely had no instructions - I just looped away! Besides,it was a short roll, lol!

All of the ribbon, the cellophane and the basket itself came from the Dollar Store! Can't be simplier than that!

Tomorrow I will go into the basket creation! Ta for now!

In Ernest

2011-03-22T19:49:00.000-04:00

My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.

- Ernest Hemingway

Spring is Blossoming Promotion - Stampin' Up!

2011-03-22T14:52:00.005-04:00

The SPRING IS BLOSSOMING PROMOTION APRIL 1 - 30TH!!!

SNEEK PEEKS FOR OUR UPCOMING CATALOGUE

YOU CAN ORDER THESE EXCITING - NEW PRODUCTS WHICH WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AGAIN UNTIL JULY 1rst!

ORDER IN 2 WAYS:

Place a minimum $25 order

Contact Me to get the Preferred Prices which is only available through your friendly, neighbourhood demonstrator!

Host a $460* workshop and get the Four Frames Set and Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper for FREE

*before tax and shipping, thank you.

What is more is that The FOUR FRAMES Stamp Set co-ordinates with our new DECORATIVE LABEL PUNCH - which means layering !!!! } And the PAISLEY PETALS cardstock is absolutely beautiful - gorgeous colours including Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, River Rock, Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler (although Bravo Burgandy is just as close), Always Artichoke.....and for all those colours - it works, really, really well!

To see a just lovely card made with Paisley Petals and the Four Frames set using the Decorative Label Punch- CLICK ON " PROJECT OF THE MONTH" at the TOP of this BLOG! Beautiful - stunning project !!!

Four Frames Stamp Set Wood 123440 $25.95 Clear 123442 $19.95 Canadian
Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper 122367 $12.50 Canadian
DECORATIVE LABEL PUNCH 120907 $23.95 CDN

This is really terrific news because I have been patiently waiting for the day when we had more, easy, convenient method to LAYER! So together - the frames set and the punch - whoo-wee!

Here is our order info for - and if anyone was quick to notice- the BABY BLOSSOMS stamp set in the Occasions Mini Catalogue also has a co-ordinating stamp - aaaahhh!

BOOK A WORKSHOP WITH ME - OR CONTACT ME TO PLACE YOUR ORDER AND GET STARTED THIS APRIL WITH SOME EXCITING PROJECTS !

For orders over $100 earn a FREE Classic Ink Pad from moi!

My 'specially-created' SAKURA Flower using the Island Floral Bigz Die and Squash Card!

2011-03-12T11:43:00.000-05:00

Yes helloooo to all out in craft-cyber world!

I feel really accomplished this week! I have finished a set of gift bags for a baby shower AND a nice card in
SQUASH BOOK style - both are ready to fly out the door!!!

In order to decorate the squash booklet, I created my very own "Sakura Flower" using our Stampin' Up!'s FLORAL ISLAND BIGZ DIE. Its one of a few select flower dies that I own, and its the same for my punches - so to create a flower, I had to borrow inspiration from my friend Maria Vanderform. Maria specializes in many flower punch art creations, and seems to start by thinking of what she wants to create - then matching idea to tool!

So....I thought the same thing! I looked up some flowers and chose the SAKURA Flower which is adored on a national level in Japan! It can also be referred to as the Cherry Blossom Flower. The trees are stunning when in full bloom - and its hard for the eye to take in all the beauty of a grouping of trees, its awesome!

However, my flower is only a stylized ideal of the actual flower - meaning I took some liberties! So here it is!

Sorry for the hint of pink through out the photo, but the camera read my flower as 'red' and its actually

ROSE RED which goes nicely with the softer PINK accents and the GARDEN GREEN cardstock.

The patterned paper is part of a 8x8" Cardstock Pad from Stampin' Up! - they come out with a new one every year featuring several colours cardstock.

I will do a tutorial on the creation of the flower soon.

Meanwhile, I will show you the size of the SQUASH BOOK!

Inside of the ' Front '

....beginning to ' OPEN ' !!!

Build-A-Brad customize your brads!

The 1rst extended section ...

Look at its length!!!! 3 pages were joined together - lots of creative journalling or adding pictures!

You could also use this for a card where many, many signatures are involved - right?

I have to say - it's FUN to open these!!! Brings out the kid in you!

And close 'er back up again!

Well, I hope I've inspired you now!

Have a great week-end!

Don't forget SALE-A-BRATION is still ON !!! Get in on the FREE products

from STAMPIN' UP!

Storage - Recycle Tin Cans, Boxes

2011-03-11T02:13:00.002-05:00

Ahhh, my storage issues continue.

I wish I could go into my craft room and it would magically

extend it's walls each and every time I need more storage, but alas, that is not going to happen.

So I dream up my own solutions. I think I have a natural compulsion to cover up things - so the two things go hand in hand, my recycling jars, tins, boxes, etc. and more craft supplies finding their way into my craft room!

I also am not a fan of 'too' matchy-match components, which is why I decorate my craft room trying to balance purchasing items from collections, and found objects like the tin above.

Anyways, I made a rough effort by sanding the edges of the paper I glued to the tins, there are 2 of them, and adding plain twine as an accent - my 'bow'. I also just cut out the scallop trim from a packaging -it was pretty packaging - so why not!

I recommend using STICKY TAPE for most of this project.

TIP - use an old nail file to sand the tin (just a smidge) so the glue can BITE into the surface. The fat wide foam cosmetic nail files work great - the coarse side. Save your nice Sanding Blocks for cardstock.

CLICK ON PICS FOR LARGE VIEW

SUPPLIES = STAMPIN' UP! Patterned Paper: So Saffron and Bermuda Bay(lid) and Basic Gray (body)

Sticky Tape, Sanding Block

Fat Page Swap - Part 2

2011-03-11T01:22:00.002-05:00

Good Morning!

As I promised, here are two more examples of FAT PAGES that were part of my swap! These are really fun to make because it allows you such freedom to play with your embellishments ... whereas with a card, you might have to worry about proportion, balance, etc.; here you can just mish-mash your ideas with good results!

Our swap this time has the theme of 'About Me' .

I found this a bit harder than I imagined - finding what I wanted to say about myself took 2 tries. But I was happy in the end, and here it is.

Click on pictures to enlarge....

Sorry - pic is a bit hard to see the details.....but this is the COVER.

I incorporated "gathered" ribbon, and several pieces of cardstock involving orange and green, and a hint of pink! I added a natural fiber for the left edge where my friend can add holes to bind it with other pages.

But it meant I needed to add 'About Me" details, so I added a couple of sections - so technically, its a little FAT PAGE booklet.

So I went from pics of myself as a child about to devour her birthday cake to my 'grown' self shown on vacation! A few comments about my childhood and a small list of my characteristics now-a-days nearly finishes my effort, but....

...just had to add a little philosophical sentiment on the back!!

It reads:

Said the butterfly, "one needs sunshine, freedom, and a little flower"

and I added " and friends like you!"

I also wanted to use a DVD Case to send it in - perfect size for a 4x4 inch project! I bought a tin DVD case from HMV for $2.49 and wrapped my Fat Page in the canvas fabric and ribbon I included as a RAK; and decorated the case with a plain textured cardstock. That way my friend can choose to use the case to keep the Fat Page in or for some other purpose, and decorate it herself.

OK - enough about mine. ...on to my friend's FAT PAGE!

Sofia has sent me this little 'jewel' with co-ordinating cardstock in black, white and red! She regularly uses folding techniques very well and here is no exception....

I have altered the area where her family photo was included, for privacy sake, so just imagine a photo there which would make for a very nice-looking Fat Page cover!

Now below is the back and shows the folded layer which can be untied, opened and reveals...

....details regarding her "About Me" (also shown altered) - how nifty!

Well, I am really excited about our Fat Pages and I hope to have more soon to create a lovely collection - and I find this is especially nice to create a collection for as many friends and family as you can talk to participate - they are just 'fun'!

Hope it inspires you to create your own FAT PAGE !!!!

FYI

2011-03-07T15:08:00.000-05:00

Hi....just letting you know that this page is still under construction. For one, I am trying to LABEL my posts so it is a simplier process. If anyone has done this, you know what a big task it is - esp. with a long history of posting. I would like to delete what I find is no longer relevant, but there are so many great projects here - its really quite a library. So that is taking time.

Next - my daughter does my design, so as a full-time student and holds 2 part-time jobs - need I say more?

Then - there is my lack of knowledge of handling Blogger issues and capabilities. I just a wee bit foggy on half of it - so bear with me there too.

Please be patient - ANY COMMENTS regarding YOUR EXPERIENCE VISITING HERE would be AWESOMELY APPRECIATED - good or bad! Always helps with feedback!

Well my eyes are all bugged out from being here too long, so off I go!

THANKS FOR VISITING!

Fat Page Swap - Part 1

2011-03-07T12:23:00.003-05:00

Good Monday Morning - hope everyone is well and ready for a new week!!!

To start my blogging off, I am showing the results of a FAT PAGE SWAP I organized with a couple of fantastic people! Today I am showing 2 of the 4 projects involved.

If anyone is wondering what a FAT PAGE is - commonly it is a 4x4 inch page decorated by creative means with a small area to the left for punching holes to allow several Fat Pages to be turned into a Mini Album.

So here are the two pages exchanged between myself and crafter Vernette through Love is in the Details forum around Feb. although Vernette did a variation on the theme and created this wonderful squash booklet, but keeping to the 4 inch guideline....

Vernette's Fat Page

Front - very nice!

Tied Closed - see those squash pages.....

Open....open....

Voila! Look at all those pages! Great Idea!

Beverly's Fat Page for Vernette

Front

And here is mine.......I am using several Stampin' Up! supplies including the Heart stamp from the Love You Much set, and the background stamp, Tres Chic both currently in the Idea Catalogue.

Hidden Pocket Tag

Back

Back with Tag (backside of tag)

Here is a few more pictures to show how I made my Fat Page from a plain brown lunch bag....

Choose how you wish to cut the bag - I chose to use the bottom because

I liked the little flap, which I decided would be interesting to decorate.

You will have 2 raw edges which you can create a small pocket as the bag is 2 layers thick right?

"SEWING" PAPER TIPS

I sewed the bag with my machine, leaving gaps for a pocket, and where the flap is connected to the bag (see arrows). When sewing paper - I use a stitch length from 1 - 2 inches, depending on the thickness and I may adjust the tension (usually at 4-5). Try on a sample piece to make sure that your stitch is catching

properly "underneath" - you can also use a ZIG-ZAG stitch.

HAVE FUN - be less concerned about the straightness of your stitching - its all part of the look!

Anyways - on a project like this, one side of your stitching may look good on the FRONT, but you can HIDE a lot, by layering the back with cardstock. Or, you use cardstock for your design reasons. I did both.

BUT add the brads, eyelets or anything where parts need to be hidden to your paper BEFORE you attach the layer.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Tomorrow I will add Part 2!

My New Coffee Bar

2011-03-05T10:37:00.000-05:00

I made a coffee bar! It's not finished in the way I want - but its a start ! I'm actually very happy with it as I have used it twice since last night and it works pretty good. I need to go out to buy some new coffee mugs to help since the few nice ones I have are too few - or t
hey are my 'summer' coffee mugs and are a little too bright for now. Yes, I have "summer" mugs, lol! Well, you know how it is - any excuse to shop!

But the whole reason I had to create a coffee bar is because of this baby - right here ....

...my brand spanking new KitchenAid MIXER! Oh yeah! It is getting its initial run this morning - biscotti coming up! I am very excited because biscotti I love, but my hands hate mixing the dough!

So when this beauty was on sale last week-end for only $199 plus I qualified for free shipping AND they threw in the bowl shield free - I couldn't pass it up! Besides it still qualified as my

" birthday week-end" whoo-hoo to me! A little present for myself!

So since I have almost zero counter space - something had to give! Hence the coffee station!

Here it is....I brought out a small desk from my craft room, it was only holding up my printer, so no biggie - my other vintage 'school' desk is doing that now. Then I put a small, hard, uh, not sure what you call it - oh! Placemat!... one that was so ugly on its front surface, that I flipped it over and stamped a nice design on it with a large background stamp that is a retired SU! piece. I found the placemat and thought it would be cool for something one day - see you just never know. Now it protects my desk from the heat of the coffee machine.

Next we hung up a small shelf above so I could have some mugs out or something related to the whole idea. I am actually using my china hutch which is situated to the right, as where I can store lots of coffee mugs and small dessert plates - so that will be another project! Sweet!

Click on pic to view larger.

I made an arrangement as best I could, and I can add things as I find them, so this is a work in progress. I take my coffee black, so the sugar, cream can all come out when I have guests.

Anyways, feels like fun when I go to my 'special' spot now to prepare or serve myself coffee!

Now hopefully I'll have biscotti for this afternoon's coffee break!

My Birthday Cards - ta da!

2011-03-04T15:30:00.001-05:00

Another birthday for me has come and gone! 3 cheers for me as I am feeling well and my loved ones are with me - and I had a few milestones such as going on my first cruise!

I am also thrilled to bits with the fact that nearly all my b-day cards were hand-made! I received one extra-special one this year, more about that later :)

First up is my daughter's card - she snuck in and did one while I wasn't looking, although we did have a funny moment when she tried to convince me that "I" left out a ribbon jar when I asked her if she had been playing with my ribbon and hadn't put it away .....

I always love her cards, no exception this time :)

Now on to my "extra-special" card is from her boy friend, and here it is - isn't it adorable?

with a hand-drawn cupcake no less inside! Awesome!

And a couple more.....from two friends,

first this one with its clever folding.....from Sofia!

Then a very interesting punch art card from Maria...

...believe it or not, she used the 2-Step Bird punch shown here to

fashion her ' Bird of Paradise ' flower - I know!

Along with a card all the way from California, here they are!

Enjoying the view, I can see them all week until I need to scatter them

to my studio!

Thanks to everyone for taking time to make me one - I really love them!!!

Actually, Maria also sent me a nice card after hearing about our fire ....

...you can't see all the details, but besides the artful butterfly stamps, she

is using SU!'s Garden Gala Designer cardstock, and I have that on

my 'wish' list! It also has some pretty orange/yellow papers - well, a

bunch of lovely papers.

And what did I get for a b-day gift from my darling daughter?

Well......look!

A scoring board !!!! Boy I've been wanting one for some time,

and can't wait to get started on a multi-fold project!

This even comes with an envelope template/scoring tool!

I tried it out, and as long as you have good eyesight, and can keep your hands

steady as you score along then this is great.....mainly, it can help you to skip

a lot of the calculating that goes into the folds, you know....2 inches here, 4-1/4 inches

there...and so on. The handy guides on this eliminates much of the really

annoying steps.

Also cool is the pretty papers from K&Co in Sweet Berry - I know its an

older line-up but I still have some of the chipboard sock monkeys in

a drawer somewhere, and the prettiness of this paper stack is totally

going to put a spring into some projects soon!!

Thanks hunny-bun - Momma loves it all!

Thank You Cards

2011-03-01T22:10:00.002-05:00

Here is a pair of cards I made on the week-end to give to two senior staff at

our local Delta Toronto East Hotel.

They arranged for us to stay at the hotel when our apt. building had a fire mid-February, compliments

of the hotel and once we were there, they also sent us up a warm meal.

We obviously know them, but still it was a gesture I appreciated and wanted to express my thanks!

To do so, I cased some wonderful cards from the Papertrey Ink gallery, here they are:

[CLICK on pics to view larger]

and I chose to do the bottom row, the 2nd and 3rd cards with their HOUSE DIE

because they represent our 'home' and suited the message I wanted to convey!

Here are my 'interpretations ',

the frillier one on the left is for a lady and the other more simple one is for a gentleman:

I don't have the particular 'house' die as was used in the cards above, but I merely used my hobby knife and made them myself. I sometimes think we forget to use our most basic tools with all the fabulous punches and dies, and other fancy papercraft technology we have now. When I first started, my hobby knife was all I had, lol!

Of course, our dog came along - he LOVED it! He was soooo funny when we first arrived - I guess pets enjoy a stay out once in awhile no matter what, ..............and here he is in all his glory.....playing in the snow last week. He was sticking his face right down into the cold fluff, little weirdo! Ha ha....

Storage - Storing Cards

2011-02-20T13:52:00.000-05:00

I am blogging today about storage because "obsessed me" finds the need to constantly organize. A bit of irony is that I never feel I am 'quite there'! But every once in awhile I do find some clever manner to organize a particular thing and it makes me so darn happy!

Now, who hasn't - within half a year of crafting - discover they need to think better about storage, hmmm? Show your hands 'cuz I know that no matter how clever we start out, something accumulates past its boundaries that you had planned for it!!! It spills out and leaves you with that nagging feeling until you start to look about for a new plan - you're not to be outwitted by it!

Now boot past that point, ... a few years down the crafty road to craft heaven - you've got a whole system up! Good for you! You may have even beaten this...you may have a 'modular' system that you can add to for the rest of your life....or at least until the stores stop carrying it, which has just happened to me - wha-wha-wha!!!

But still....honestly, it never ends!

However - I have found little bits of glorious victory over the years! So I thought I'd start to share tid-bits, little glints of storage jewels! And today, I am focusing on cards - I've got em by the bucketfuls! I hang on to them because as a demo, I have had to create them time and time again - and honestly, I just don't have that many relatives or friends, lol!

MEDIA STORAGE WORKS GREAT FOR CARDS - 5-1/2 x 4-1/4
this is no secret, so here are a few to consider...

Practical Options

Today I found this - DATA STORAGE BOX WITH 100 SLEEVES - its untried as far as I know, but the dimensions have me thinking - good! Plus - it comes with its own "sleeves"!!! I'm thinking ' fantastic!' The cover looks good enough - sleek black, but you can fuss it up yourself too......Its from UNIVENTURE - a company that has some other interesting bits we could steal for ourselves...but this is the link, HERE. where its being sold.

Here is what I also have that is unbearably practical - my RUBBERMAID PHOTO STORAGE BOXES! I love them because: 1) they stack beautifully 2) I love the pop-off lid - works well! 3) they are clear 4) durable - so I can pop them into a trunk and go to a craft fair with no worries.....and my fav reason 5) they have removable, DIVIDERS that help my cards AND 3-D projects - to stay up! 6) can store more than cards - roomy because they have height and length! 7) I like the narrow dimensions with the length for storing in my closets!!!

see how that divider works - I store my cards with it, then the excess room I put my little boxes, or multiple folding cards, etc. there - works great!

I found mine locally for $5 on sale - but I believe they are more like $9.99 (why can't they just say $10?)

Want Fashion instead?......

For the fashion conscious or where you'd love some glorious colour.....have you SEEN the stuff from a company called SEMIKOLON - they are gorgeous! The "Pierre Belvedere" line, yummy! I def'ly want some - just have to find the right place, I know Organize.Com has some of their line, but they have an extensive line - so 'CO-ORDINATING ME' could be very happy!

For their full line-up, here is a link to their cataloque, HERE - but you'll have to trip around the net to find your own source!

Another blogger, Stacy at her blog INKSPOTWORKSPOTBLOG just loves them too - you will like her photo tour of fantastic and colourful objects she has found, go have a look!

Personally, I found some great fabric boxes at Chapters that were like the above - and I was smart and bought them all on sale - now they are gone, so alas, when you see something - you may have to grab it right away!

Well I am off to walk my fav pooch - and go have my other fav activity - coffee!

If you have an idea for storage - let's share!

Bye

xx Beverly

Classes on Hold Temporarily

2011-02-15T21:20:00.000-05:00

Hello to my local customers and interested crafters,

Due to a fire which recently happened to our building, the facilities I use to conduct my classes are unavailable to me for now. Which means I must halt classes which I normally hold here.

I may offer a class in the future at a different location if this recovery period is extended.

Check here for my updates.

This DOES NOT affect your holding a HOSTESS WORKSHOP. Please email me if you are interested in hosting your own fun party!

Thanks for understanding,
Beverly

Valentine Card - doesn't have to be PiNk!

2011-02-12T15:32:00.001-05:00

No, no, no....it doesn't!

It's all about your own style - and here is one I made while experimenting with a technique.

I wanted to a) emboss and b) colour with embossed surfaces.

So I chose to:
1) ink my VERY VANILLA cardstock with all sorts of ink colours using SPONGES.
2)then I EMBOSSED my coloured and cut 4-1/4x5 inch rectangle cardstock using an EMBOSSING FOLDER where I sandwiched the cardstock and pressed it through my BIG SHOT DIE-CUTTING and EMBOSSING MACHINE.
3) now I used a separate sponge to ink over the entire piece with BLACK ink - quickly and lightly! This colours the "raised surface" created by the embossing folder. To get a more precise ink effect, I could of used my brayer tool.

Now, I punched out a black HEART with my Heart PUNCH, and a blue circle with my 1 inch CIRCLE punch and attached them with a black flower BRAD.

Chipboard Accent Update - My Daughter Made a Valentine!

2011-02-12T15:19:00.004-05:00

However amazing on her part....its not for me! I'd like to see the results of a poll of crafters who have kin living with them, children no less...who will not craft much! Honestly, she will on occasion - but ironically, I can not expect a card - she tells me she does 3 per year, that's her limit! LOL!

But - if not for Mom, then she doesn't mind to hit my craft studio and go crazy. And when she does, I love her style!

Here is my chipboard accent (please see Feb 3rd post).....on a card she made for a friend!

My daughter's card she made as a Valentine for a friend.

Told ya she was talented, oxox!

Supplies: Stampin' Up! Basic Grey Pattern Paper(striped, dots), Rose Red and Pretty in Pink (2nd layer and inside) cardstock, Vellum specialty paper, Love You Much stamp (heart), Heart Punch, XL Flower Punch (inside grey flower). Misc: Heart Border Punch (Fiskars), pale pink ribbon.

My Valentine's Banner

2011-02-12T14:11:00.001-05:00

Here is the reveal of my Sneek Peek!

I have to say the pictures do not really give the true colours very well, my camera "reads" the green background too much and so I did my best - just bear in mind, it looks prettier in person!

But here it is....my labour of LOVE literally this past few weeks! I did it in bits and bobs because it was just one of those projects that require your thinking beyond the norm, I usually do cards, LO's - but this was more of a collaborative - evolving - process. I may have over-embellished, but that tends to be my style - you could do this much more simplier!

Used the TOP NOTE DIE by Sizzix and sold by STAMPIN' UP! - as I am sure many of you recoginze. The only other thing I can say perhaps, is that the middle piece (which serves to separate the two words, Love, You) has a heart shaped frame that is made of 2 SCALLOP FRAME die pieces - also SU! dies.

Here it is in full length on my living room wall - sorry, this is a dreadful pic in terms of colour, see how the camera reads my green walls too much - and I had to tone it down. Sorry! Maybe I need a few lessons!

But hopefully, you can see how it takes up a certain amount of space, so it could be used for an anniversary, welcome back, congratulations, new baby, birthday...all sorts of occasions, and look substantial!

It could be draped across the front of a banquet table - over a door - fireplace, lots of places!

Here is the two sections...

...LOVE...

...YOU...

...Here is the TOP NOTE DIE CUT (red) I used for all the letters.

Then I layered a background paper (striped pink/vanilla) and topped it with

a LETTER DIE CUT from my ALPHABET DIES.

The a few of them I added extra 'embellishments' like the embossed medallion and the accordian folded circle with a small glittery paper heart.

IMPORTANT STEP !!!

TO STRING THE FRAMES SO THEY STAY IN PLACE....

you must "KNOT" them into place. Otherwise, they slide on the string.

I made holes in each frame, and strung the string once through the hole - then through a bead - then back through the hole, and tightened. That creates a "stop" . You could make a knot if you want to like I did on the heart piece, but I found it wasn't necessary.

I also drew a small line on a scrap of paper, and used that to measure the spaces between each and every

piece, so there was some consistency. It is a little tedious - do this on a good day, or have a few breaks like I did. Otherwise you might go "knotty" :)

To add VISUAL INTEREST I added a metal HEART I found at the Dollar Store between each of

the frames, its a cool embellishment I thought - for a dollar! Yess-um!

....the middle section...the scallop frames (see white one is the scallop frame) and take 2 of them
to create a background to the floating piece in front! Who knew!

There was a lot of folding going on - lol - and I am not the best at it! But I love the look the accordian folds give to an embellishment! I used up lots of scrap papers too - another bonus ...and fun because its like 'pickin' through your stash boxes' to see what will work with what - and that, is what craftin' is like!

HAVE A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Sneak Peek - what's this?

2011-02-05T14:12:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm......working on a little something to decorate the house for Valentine's Day. It's always a little nice to have something pretty to chirp up these blah winter days. So here is a little peek at my project.....do you think you can quess what it is?

See you later!

oxox

Beverly