A Circus Birthday

BOOO!!!  Happy Hallowe'en to all my stampin' friends :)  I've shown many Hallowe'en projects so I'm going birthday today.

My friend's little guy is turning 3 on Sunday which means a card is needed :) I love using challenges for my cards, they generally make me think out of my box! I used the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge for this card.

I love the Big Top Birthday DSP for kid's birthdays - it's so fun and festive! The colors are perfect for both boys AND girls, too. I added the monkeys from Fox and Friends because I thought it was quite fitting for this little guy. Even though his older brother is more of a monkey than him, he broke his arm at the start of last summer by being a little monkey. Silly boy. Hope he enjoys this card!

Tips & Tricks:

*Don't have a Circle Scissor Plus to cut bigger circles? No problem! Neither do I! So how'd I cut out my DSP circle? I learned this little trick from my upline, Marlayne. Use a plate, glass (or in my case, a spool of 1/4" grosgrain ribbon) and trace it on your DSP (the side you won't be using). Then cut it out carefully with your Paper Snips. Voila! A circle of any size :)
*I love how the Tempting Turquoise Stampin' Emboss Powder makes my monkeys POP!
*To add a bit of texture to my stars DSP I embossed it with my Stripes Embossing Folder. I love the look of embossed DSP!
*My greeting is in French because my friend's children speak primarily French. I have Teeny Tiny Wishes in both English and French because I have a large Francophone customer base.

'Tis all for today... have a safe Hallowe'en and 'til next time... keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Waffle Ribbon - A Great Element of Style

I love the new Waffle Ribbons in the Holiday Mini. They are not as thick as they look in the picture, satiny and simply gorgeous. Their beauty and uniqueness easily makes them the focal point on any card. This week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge asked us to use ribbon as the element of style in our card this week.

As you know from my last post, I just got my beloved Christmas Lodge stamp set (why oh why did I wait 3 months to order this?!?!?) and wanted to use it with today's project as well. I then decided to kill two birds with one stone because I wanted to use this stamp set for my third Crazy 4 Christmas class along with the Early Espresso Waffle Ribbon. I just love this gorgeous Christmas tree and love the font of the greetings in this stamp set. But what steals the show? The gorgeous ribbon, of course!

Tips & Tricks:

*Although the gorgeous ribbon is the focal point on this card, I did add a bit of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter around the base of the tree and on the tree.
*A beautiful image doesn't need much embellishment. This card is quite simple, yet so beautiful and classic.
*Sure, the classic Christmas colors are red and green, but isn't this tree great in Marina Mist?

Hope you've enjoyed my marina Christmas tree - 'til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Christmas Lodge

I have loved the Christmas Lodge stamp set in the Holiday Mini since I first laid eyes on it. But I didn't get it. I already have Snow Swirled and didn't want to double up on Christmas Trees. But then I saw samples. And one of my customers ordered it. Then I got my Holiday Mini swaps with more samples. The final straw was actually using it at a SU! Demonstrator meeting. After that, I caved and ordered it :p I can justify it, of course. I will use it in my third Crazy 4 Christmas Class and will make my family's Christmas cards with it. See, justified :)

This lovely stamp set came yesterday so I had to make my card for Freshly Made Sketches with it of course. I took the idea of the scallop square and the lodge from Marlayne Hardy and finally got to ruffle my ribbon. The Seam Binding Ribbon is perfect for this because it's very fine and frays easily. I've always wanted to show this technique off but never did. As you can see, I changed my card up a bit from the sketch, but the idea is still there :)

Tips & Tricks:

*I love how the Mica Flakes in the Holiday Mini give the look of snow. An easy way to adhere them is using Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Glue.
*To ruffle your ribbon, choose one that frays easily. Pull a thread that follows the length of the ribbon out and keep pulling until you've got enough ruffle. Very easy technique but makes the ribbon look unique :)
*Christmas Lodge comes with two greetings: 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy Holidays'. Both greetings are not just words ~ they're art as well.  I just love everything about this stamp set.
*The white cards stock on the scallop square was just too plain so I added some sponging in Early Espresso, giving the feeling of dusk and falling snow.

That's it for today ~ I have a class starting shortly and kids needing atttention :) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Calorie-Free Advent Calendar

Today I have post to share a project that I made for two upcoming classes ~ the calorie-free advent calendar, similar to the one on Page 39 of the SU! Holiday Mini. I made a few changes to my calendar. I used a Chocolate Chip base, as well as the Holly Berry DSP. I also wanted each flap on the calendar to open, rather than some remaining closed.

I went to get a 12x12 frame last night, but the only one they had was a chocolate brown and that wouldn't have looked right. But they did have a nice 12x16 frame.  So I added 4" of textured Very Vanilla card stock at the bottom and tied a bow with 1-1/4" Ridinghood Red Ribbon that I got on the Clearance Rack.

I do still have room in my November 12 class. You'll make this calendar, get a roll of Sticky Strip, a roll of Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, and a sheet of Stampin' Dimensionals. The cost is only $35 without a canvas and $40 with a canvas. RSVP at stampingmonica@gmail.com by October 31st.

 

To make sure that everything stays together on my calendar year after year, I used Sticky Strip on pretty much every single element of my calendar. 

All in all, the calendar took about 20 hours to put together... from design to creation. But come to my class and it should only take about 3 hours :) Hope you've enjoyed my calendar ~ 'til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Dasher in Pewter

Although the Pewter Embossing Powder has been available for a couple of months now, I haven't really had a chance to show it off on my blog. Initially, I wondered what made this embossing powder so different from the Silver Embossing Powder.

I have used it a few times, but when I saw this week's Mojo Monday Sketch, I thought it was a perfect sketch for a pewter-embossed Dasher :) What is wonderful about this embossing powder is that it's thicker and gives a more thick, metallic feel to it. It would be a perfect embossing powder for the Faux Metal technique. Doesn't Dasher look elegant in pewter?

Tips & Tricks:

*The Letters to Santa DSP is perfect to make a variety of different-looking cards. There are many beautiful patterns and colors!
*Don't you just love the Mini Silver Brads? They're perfect for the little Jewelry Tags.
*Our Baker's Twine (available in White, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso) is perfect for any card: casual and fancier.

Hope you've enjoyed my metallic Dasher. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!