i'm not lion...

I bought the cutest set of Sandylion stamps a few months ago, and just recently used them for the first time. Now usually, I'm not the biggest fan of Sandylion products, but this set from Michael's was just too cute to pass up. Here's what the set looks like, and for this card I used the adorable lion up near the top. I have also made cards using the monkey and rocket ship, and will post those later.
Now, my father-in-law just had surgery, so I made him a get well card. First, I stamped the lion onto white Georgia Pacific cardstock using Timber Brown Staz-On ink. Then I colored him in with Prismacolor markers that matched the background paper I used. The patterned papers are Cosmo Cricket, and the cardstock for the base is Bazzill. The bottom zig-zag border punch is EK Success, and the two scalloped patterns are Martha Stewart border punches. Stick pins are Dritz, and I used earring backs to cap the points. I used my Marvy Uchida corner rounder on the top corners of the card and patterned papers. Ribbon is from my stash, and the brown pen is American Crafts. I wrote the words "i'm not lion..." on the front of the card...

...and here's the inside of the card. It reads "...i hope you feel better soon".

Here's a close-up of the cute little guy:

Another view:

hello card

Here is the first card I've ever SEWN on! YAY!!! I'm so excited - been wanting to sew on cards/layouts for so long. The thing is...I SUCK at sewing. I just cannot sew a straight line to save my life. So when the sewing on this card actually came out somewhat straight, I was thrilled. Anyway...the cardstock is Bazzill, patterned paper is Scenic Route, the border punch is EK Success, brads are Making Memories, and the letter stickers and felt heart are American Crafts. The green paper is the back side of the patterned paper, and I distressed and sanded the edges. Thanks for looking!
Here's a close-up of the heart, letters, and brads:

Welcome baby

Here is a cute baby card I made, using Coredinations cardstock for the first time. Gotta say, I love it! The kraft cardstock and green cardstock are Bazzill. Pink cardstock is Coredinations (from the whitewash collection), patterned paper is Three Bugs in a Rug. The chipboard elephant is KI Memories. The white cardstock behind the elephant is Georgia Pacific, and it's cut with Provo Craft scalloped scissors. The green oval is a punch, and I pierced holes around it. Border punches used on the bottom are Martha Stewart, Fiskars, and EK Success. The ribbon is from Michael's $1 bin. The white rub-on letters are American Crafts. Thanks for looking!
Here is a close-up of the elephant. I used foam tape behind the green oval to pop it up.

Love you with a cherry on top

Here is a card I made where I wanted to use Fun Flock on a large monogram stamp. The pattern you see on the large "u" is part of a monogram stamp by KI Memories. I stamped it onto red Bazzill cardstock using Versamark ink (it's a watermark ink) so that I could see the pattern but it wouldn't change the color of the paper. I scissor-cut around the u pattern. Next, working in small areas (maybe an inch or so), I put Glossy Accents over the Versamark ink, following the pattern of the stamp (the dot pattern you see on the u). I topped the Glossy Accents with red Fun Flock to give it a fuzzy look and feel. Card base is Georgia Pacific cardstock, patterned papers are Dream Street. Colored cardstock is Bazzill. Border punches are EK Success. Ribbon is Offray, pins are Dritz. Red pen is Sakura.
Here's a close-up of the "u" with Glossy Accents and Fun Flock:

Another close-up:

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.

New blog header/background

So I don't really have any new projects to show, because all my paper crafting supplies are packed up in boxes. Wah, wah, wah... But the reason for that is I am getting a new scrapbooking room!!! YAY FOR ME!!! It's just coming along a little slower than I'd hoped. But I felt like I needed to do something to my blog.
Well... I did my hair and makeup like a 1940s pin-up girl, and took some pics of myself for my DH while he was out of town one weekend. I thought it turned out pretty cute for not knowing how to put makeup on...LOL! I had to go out and buy the makeup before I could take the pics, because I had NONE and am so clueless about makeup in the first place. But since this is about the only picture ever taken of me that I actually like, I thought I'd put it on my blog. Then I added a new background to match (background from www.thecutestblogontheblock.com). What do you girls think of my new blog makeover?

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: