"Delightful little things" shadowbox

Okay, so I've never done a project quite like this one before, but I must say, I am quite pleased with how it turned out. And guess what...I actually put MY pictures in it, and I'm KEEPING it!!! That's huge for me, since most of what I make I give to other people. I don't even have a scrapbook of my own pictures, but I've made plenty for others. Anyway, here is a shadowbox that I made into a piece of "scrapbook-related home decor." The box itself has an overall size of 11" x 14", and is divided into 12 compartments. It came with glass, but I removed it. Here is a little peek...


The inspiration for my title came from one of the stamps I used on it. The set is from Technique Tuesday, and it is just fantastic. So many stamps are geared towards card-making, but this set is awesome for scrapbooking. And I got SO MUCH use out of it. Here is my inspiration: "Memories are delightful little things"

And here is my finished product, minus pictures. ***I will be teaching this project as a class at my LSS, Pages In Progress, on Saturday, March 13, 2010. Space is very limited (10 seats), so if you're in Tucson or the surrounding areas and want to take this class, please contact the store. Cost is $45, and it includes the shadowbox. Everything will come pre-cut, stamped, punched, embossed, etc. All you need to do is assemble and add your pictures.*** Sorry for the shameless plug... anyway, here is the shadowbox completely decorated, minus pictures. (You can click on the picture to enlarge it and see more detail)

Here are my pictures of my beautiful boys. The actual shadowbox is not shown in the next two pictures.

Thanks for looking! And again, if you are in southern Arizona and would like to take this class, please contact Pages In Progress. Reserve your seat early! :)

Wedding invitation samples

So, one of the guys I work with is getting married next August, and I'm making their wedding invitations. So I made up a little display to give them some ideas of what I can do. This is a 12x12 piece of kraft colored cardstock. I stamped their names with KI Memories stamps using black Staz-On ink and Joann's white pigment. I went over the ink with Black Diamond Stickles and Frosted Lace Stickles. Below that, I put a little swatch of the 3 colors they will be using, which are dark purple, white, and pear green. Below the swatches are strips of matching ribbons. To the right are some cute font samples (all free downloads from http://www.kevinandamanda.com/). On the bottom are some border strips I punched that can be used on invitations, programs, favors, etc. The punches are by Martha Stewart and Fiskars.To the right, I stamped a little wedding cake (KI Memories) in white ink and topped it with more Frosted Lace Stickles. The cake stand is a Cuttlebug die, and I drew the heart on top of the cake with a purple Gelly Roll pen.
This first sample is very simple, and could be used as invitation or a program. Both pieces are AccuCuts dies, and I rounded the corners of the green piece. I don't know if it shows up in the picture, but I embossed a row of dots at the top and bottom using a Cuttlebug border embossing folder. I don't know the exact measurements, but it fits in a business size envelope.

The next sample features a purple base with white cardstock on top. I punched a strip of green paper with a Martha Stewart punch, and put some purple ribbon above that. Finished size is 5"x7".

The third sample is another AccuCuts die, cut out of the green paper. It has a white cardstock piece on the inside, and is wrapped with a purple strip that I punched with a Martha Stewart edge punch. I topped it off with some green polka-dot ribbon. Finished size is 5"x7".

Here's a picture of everything I made to give to them. I think everything turned out pretty darn cute, and they really liked it too.

February Cuttlebug card class

Yes, you read that right. These are the cards from my February card class "I heart Cuttlebug cards." I'm just a little behind on my blogging...again {sheepish grin}. Anyway, I think these cards came out pretty darn cute, and I think all the ladies in the class enjoyed learning new ways to use the Cuttlebug.

On this first card, I wanted to show the gals to think outside the "you can only emboss paper" box. We embossed acetate (report covers from Office Max), and placed it over a white card base. On this card, we used the Perfectly Paisley embossing folder, as well as a Cuttlebug die. The die is from the Halloween sign cut/emboss combo set. The green polka dot paper is from 3 Bugs in a Rug, and we added a stamp from Hero Arts. We topped it off with some pink grosgrain ribbon, and voila!
Here's a close-up of the Halloween sign die and the stamp (stamped with Staz-On ink):

This card (which I think is too cute!) was inspired by SusieB from the Cricut website (check out her awesome Cuttlebug gallery by clicking her link on my sidebar). On this card, I wanted to show my students how to paper-piece using the Cuttlebug. The "medallion" that the little sheep is stamped on was from a Splitcoaststampers.com tutorial. You can make one yourself with any border/edge punch (this one is Martha Stewart). I took a 3-inch square piece of white cardstock and used the border punch one time on each side of the square. Then I just backed this piece with a 3-inch square piece of green gingham paper by American Crafts. I stamped the little sheep (which is a Studio G stamp) with Staz-On ink in the center of the "medallion", and colored him (or her?) in with Prismacolor markers. Then I stamped him again on a scrap piece of white cardstock, and ran it through the Cuttlebug (using the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder). Out of the embossed piece, I cut out all his "woolly parts" (hee hee) and pieced them on top of the colored-in image on the "medallion". The yellow border is also punched with the same Martha punch, and embossed with one of the Cuttlebug border embossing folders.

Here's a close-up of his fluffy embossed body and tuft of wool on his head. Isn't he the cutest???

On this next card, I wanted to show the ladies how, if you emboss on a white-core paper and use a sanding block, the white core will show through. The patterned paper is American Crafts, and the pink is the back side of the dotted paper. I cut out a pink circle using the Fiskars circle cutter, then embossed the pink side with the ice cream cone folder from the "Birthday Jelly" set. I used the argyle embossing folder on Bazzill cardstock for the background, because it reminded me of a waffle cone. I pleated some white ribbon on either side of the ice cream cone, and stapled over the pleats to give the ribbon a little more visual interest.

Here is a close-up of the argyle embossing and the patterned paper, which I also sanded around the edges to reveal the white core. I used a brown pen to make small dots around the edge of the pink layered piece:

And here's a close-up of the sanded ice cream cone and the pleated/stapled ribbon:

Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to show the ladies that you can emboss chipboard, and also show them how to emboss on paper that is larger than the embossing folder. The frame and it's center are both chipboard, with the outer piece of the frame being covered with patterned paper by 3 Bugs in a Rug. The center of the frame was embossed, and then I went over the raised part with some white ink by Making Memories.

To emboss a piece of paper that is larger than the embossing folder, I used my Scor-Pal to score 2 parallel lines across the middle of my card. Then I aligned the side of the Swiss Dots embossing folder with the top score line, and ran the paper and folder through the Cuttlebug. Then I did the same thing on the bottom half of the card. I finished it off with some ribbon by American Crafts. Here it is:

Here's a close-up of the chipboard frame and embossing:

A few Cuttlebug cards

So, my mother-in-law got a Cuttlebug a few months ago, and I've been wanting to get together and play Cuttlebugs! Well, we finally got to do just that! The boys went out shooting, and we made some adorable cards. Then we went to Carrabba's for dinner...mmm...Carrabba's...my favorite...(drooling)...
...um, back to the cards. On this one, I used the Swiss Dots A2 embossing folder, and the cute little elephant is from one of my MIL's sets. I used my Scor-Pal to score the lines between which I stamped my sentiment and put ribbon. Purely by coincidence, I had pre-cut a bunch of 2" x 2" squares to use with the smaller embossing folders, and after we had embossed the elephant, I saw this scalloped chipboard frame and wondered if they'd fit together. They fit perfectly! And as luck would have it, I had 2 of them, so we could each use one on our cards. The frame is Making Memories (last year's Valentine line), and the stamp is Studio G. Ribbon was from her stash.
Here's a close-up of the little elephant and the frame. I don't know if you can see it or not, but I took a Prismacolor marker (cool grey 10%) and went over the lines of the elephant. I used a little Frosted Lace Stickles on the flower.

Here is another card I made. I used the Swiss Dots on the upper half of the card, and Perfectly Paisley on the bottom half. The stamp is Studio G, and the embellishments are Making Memories (again, last year's Valentine line). I also used my Scor-Pal and embroidery floss.

Here's a close-up of the embossing and a chipboard corner embellishment.

This next card turned out cuter than I thought it was going to. I really wasn't pleased with it as I was making it, but it's growing on me. The frog is from one of the smaller sets that my MIL has, and the background is the Tiny Bubbles A2 folder. The bookplate is Making Memories (you guessed it, last year's Valentine line), and the LOVE stamp is Studio G. The "u" stamp is Hero Arts, and they were colored with Prismacolor markers. The pearly brads were from my stash, and the ribbon was from my MIL's.

Last, but not least, I made this "you're so sweet" card. I scored a line with my Scor-Pal, and embossed the upper portion with the Swiss Dots folder. Below the score line, I used a Martha Stewart border punch, and filled in the larger holes with Fruit Punch Stickles. The black and white chipboard frame and the plastic embellishment inside it are by Making Memories (you know which line). The plastic embellishment was actually a flower with a pink center. I stamped the "you're so sweet" using a Studio G stamp and Staz-On ink, and then place the flower behind the chipboard frame. I trimmed the flower petals that stuck out past the frame.

Here's a close-up of the chipboard frame, the plastic flower embellishment, and the stamp.

Thanks for looking!

Attached at the heart

So, I've never really been one to use sketches or pagemaps or anything like that, but I thought I'd give it a try. This was for a sketch challenge over at www.splitcoaststampers.com. Specifically, it was SC211 that was posted on 01/14/09. I left out a couple of elements on the sketch, but I think it turned out cute. I was trying to use up some scraps, and I was able to do that. The patterned paper is American Crafts, stamp is Studio G in Timber Brown Staz-On ink, colored with Prismacolor markers. The border punch is Martha Stewart. I also used my Cuttlebug for embossing, and embroidery floss from my stash. Thanks for looking!

Berry happy birthday

Here is a card I made for a berry special lady on her birthday. I got to use one of my new Cuttlebug border embossing folders, and I love it! I also got to use my first Stampin Up! stamp ever (Tart & Tangy). The embossed scalloped circle around the stamp is also Cuttlebug. The sentiment is computer-generated (font: Boopie). I also used my Scor-Pal, ribbon from my stash, a Rain Dot, and Le-Plume markers.
Here is a close-up of the stamp and embossing.