It's been too long

When I saw this giraffe stamp from Technique Tuesday, I immediately knew I wanted to use it on an A10 card. So, I added it to this card as part of my "Strictly Business" class for August. I really like the way it turned out. The finished size is 8.5" x 4". Thanks for looking!
Supplies: Brown cardstock is Bazzill, patterned papers are Bo Bunny and Jillibean Soup, stamps are Technique Tuesday, ink is Tsukineko, border punches are Martha Stewart and Fiskars, ribbons are Creative Imaginations, thread is Singer (machine stitching).
Another view:

u r sweet

Hi, everybody! Here is a card I made and taught in my "Strictly Business" class. The overall size is 9x4. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock is Georgia Pacific, patterned papers are My Mind's Eye, ribbon is Bazzill, border punches are EK Success and Martha Stewart, die cut label is Nestabilities, die cut strawberry is Cricut Indie Art, stamps are KI Memories, ink is Staz-On, glitter on strawberry is Stickles by Ranger.

A birthday tip...have your cake and eat it too

Here is a cute little card I made using up some paper scraps I had after making an altered project. I also found in my stash a sheet of vintage birthday stickers by Pebbles Inc., and thought this little sticker was perfect for my card. Kraft paper for the card base is Bazzill, and the patterned papers are from a JoAnn alterable kit. Ribbon is from my stash, the border punch along the bottom is Fiskars Apron Lace, and although it is hard to see in these pics, I used a Martha Stewart punch along the bottom of the pale pink patterned paper.

Another view:

Fiskars Apron Lace border punch:

sweet baby boy card

So, a few posts back (titled "i'm not lion"), I showed a set of Sandylion stamps that are just too cute. I said I had made some more cards using other stamps in that set, and that I would post pics later. Well...later has arrived. This card uses the monkey stamp, and I LOVE HIM! I stamped him onto white Georgia Pacific cardstock using Black Staz-On ink, and then colored him in with Prismacolor markers. I stamped him again onto the striped paper, and cut out only the belly part (which I thought would be cute as a bib), and paper-pieced the "bib" onto the monkey. I then cut around the image with my Cutterbee scissors. The striped paper is by Three Bugs in a Rug, the blue dotted paper is Bo Bunny, and the kraft colored cardstock is Bazzill. The loopy punch is Martha Stewart, and the large scalloped punch along the bottom is EK Success. I used some letter stamps by KI Memories to stamp the word "sweet" in white ink, then I covered the letters with white Fun Flock by Stampendous, using Glossy Accents as my adhesive for the flocking. Ribbons are by American Crafts and Offray, and they are stapled to the card. Pearls are from Kaiser Craft, and the brown pen for the dots is American Crafts. Isn't he SWEET???

Here you can kinda see where I layered the "bib" using a pop dot to make it stand out a bit.

Here's a close-up of the Fun Flock. For those who've never used flocking, it's basically the same concept as using glitter, but instead of a sparkly look, it gives you a fuzzy look and feel. You can see the fuzziness here:

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:

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.

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!

How sweet!

Here is a fun little card I made as a thank you for Christmas presents. My brother and SIL gave me some Bella stamps, and my parents gave me Prismacolor markers. I thought I would show my appreciation by making cards using the gifts they gave me. Patterned paper is My Mind's Eye, and the light green is the back side of the pattern. The other solid papers are the back sides of some American Crafts patterned papers. The edge punch is Martha Stewart. I also used a metal-rimmed tag, embroidery floss, and buttons from my stash.
Here's a close-up of a "how sweet" stamp by Studio G.

Close-up of "Cupacakeabella". Love her!