Bubbles and Bunnies

This little bunny is just SO cute!  I made several of these cards for a swap on UStamp.  

The image is stamped in Staz-on Jet Black ink on watercolor paper.  Diluted re-inkers and markers were used for color.

Two little rhinestones are the finishing touch.

Materials:  Blowing Kisses stamp set; Jet Black Staz-on ink; Cardstock-Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, watercolor paper; re-inkers-Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue; Markers-Crumb Cake; DSP-Sweet Stitches; Certainly Celery 1-1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon; Word Window punch, Basic Rhinestones; Melon Mambo Pom Pom trim.

Puppy Pandemonium

We had quite a time getting a good puppy picture of Chester.  He was feeling rather rambunctious making for some pretty funny shots.  He and Tom had quite a wrestling match!  I thought these would look cute in a film strip style layout.

I have a tutorial for making the film strip here.  It is very easy now that the spiral punch is available to download.

To make this page:
1. Add Certainly Celery cardstock as the background.
2. Add overlay stamp (second from the bottom) from the Vintage Overlay stamp set.
3.  Add photo box for the main photo.  Use the Photo Shape function to change it to an oval.
4. Add photo and mat.
5. Follow tutorial to add filmstrip.
6.  Add leaves and "splotches" from the French Foliage stamp set.  I used Always Artichoke, Really Rust, Cajun Craze and More Mustard.  I reduced the opacity to vary the colors.  Use the "Send Backward" function to place these items behind the pictures.
7.  Add title and journaling.  I used the "Color Picker" function to pull colors from the photos for the words.

Rub-ons and Watercolors

Today I am sharing some details about two of the projects that were part of this gift set.

On this card I tried something new.  I applied the outline rub-on to watercolor paper.

Then used re-inkers to paint inside the lines.

I thought it turned out very cute and fit the retro look of this design.

A couple of items in the gift basket that were not easily seen were the tape measure and pillow box of sewing supplies.  I cut a transparency with the pillow box die and applied a rub-on before assembling.

Now I need to find someone to give this gift basket to!

Ribbon Dispenser Tutorial

Today I have the tutorial for the ribbon dispenser that I made for the Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Blog Hop. 

This uses the new Petal Cone Big Shot die.  If you are looking for other ways to use this die you can see another tutorial for a candy dish HERE.  You could make one to match from this Sweet Stitches paper to have a place to store little sewing supplies.

To make the ribbon dispenser:
1. Cut two pieces of designer paper with the Petal Cone die.
2. From the score line, measure up 4 inches and draw a line parallel with the score line.  Cut the tip off at those lines.

3.  Punch a Post-it Note with the Wide Oval Punch.   Place this oval on the Petal Cone where you would like the window to be.

4.  With the Post-it note in place, punch the oval again.

5.  Cut a piece of transparency to fit behind the window.  Apply the sewing machine from the Sweet Stitches Rub-ons and adhere with mini glue dots behind the opening.
6.  Assemble box with Sticky Strip.   Adhere pom pom trim to edges of box.
7.  Roll up coils of ribbon and stick one end of each ribbon out through the top.

25,000 Blog Visits and Sweet Stitches Pincushion Tutorial

On New Years's Eve morning my blog counter was at 24,448 visits.  Only 552 to reach 25,000!  I was pretty amazed as I started this blog only one year ago.  So I began a New Years Eve count down of my own.  I wanted to see if it would reach 25,000 by midnight.   I checked several times through out the day and YES!  it did reach 25,000 around 9PM.  Some watch for the ball to drop; I was watching for the counter to go up!   By midnight it was at 25,218.  Happy New Year!!    

Now for some stamping stuff....  I have the directions for making the pincushion that was part of the weekend's Blog Hop. You can see the gift set in yesterday's post.

 1.  Cut a piece of fabric using the Scallop Circle die.

2.  Using small straight pins, attach the fabric to a 2 1/2 inch styrofoam ball pleating the edges as you go.

3.  Add pins around the entire circumference.

4. Use the Perfect Setting die to cut a piece of Early Espresso cardstock.  Apply Sweet Stitches rub-ons.  Adhere Melon Mambo Pom Pom trim to bottom edge.

5. Join with Sticky Strip.  Using a hot glue gun adhere the styrofoam ball inside.
6. Hot glue the pincushion to a base of purchased pins.

Sweet Stitches Gift Set

Welcome to Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Blog Hop.  You may have arrived here from Tanya's blog where she featured some of the Sew Suite Accessories.  I also have a sewing themed project to share.  It is gift set that would be perfect for a new sewing enthusiast and uses the Sweet Stitches Rub-ons.

Rub-ons are fun because they can be used on so many different surfaces.  Whether it is on dark cardstock, transparencies, glass, plastic, cork, wood or regular cardstock rub-ons look beautiful.

This gift set consists of a pin cushion, pillow box filled with sewing accessories, tape measure, ribbon dispenser, fabric and coordinating card.

The pin cushion is made from a styrofoam ball covered with fabric nestled inside a base made with the Perfect Setting Big Shot die which is then mounted on a wheel of pins.

The ribbon dispenser is made with the new Petal Cone Big Shot die.  I cut the tip off to allow the ribbons to be pulled through.  There is a surprising amount of room inside for several coils of ribbon.  Before assembling the cone I punched an oval in the front and applied the sew machine rub-on to a medium window sheet attached behind the oval.

The card has a technique that is new to me.  I applied the little girl outline rub-on to watercolor paper then painted it with diluted re-inkers.  The rub-on made a nice border to color inside.  The buttons on the corners are rub-ons applied to Very Vanilla cardstock then punched with the 1/2" circle punch.  A tiny button brad on the ribbon from the Vintage Trinkets collection continues the button theme.

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you would like all the specifics of how to make these projects stop back next week and I will have all the details and instructions.  Next on the blog hop path is Heidi featuring the great guy set "Plane and Simple".  Have a great time!

Money Holders and a Lovely Gift

These are my last Christmas projects for the year- three very simple money holders.

I had to restrain myself and not make these too fussy as they are "guy gifts".  I would have loved to add ribbons and such but instead kept them fairly plain.

Double sided paper works well for these and I enjoy cutting the papers to have the images accent the project like the inside of this one.

To make these I cut 7" X 8-1/2" pieces of designer paper and scored each at 1-1/2" and 5" on the longer side.  I then rounded the top corners and adhered the edges of the pockets with sticky strip.  One inch belly bands hold them together.

One of the unexpected pleasures of blogging and being part of groups such as UStamp have been the friends I have made from around the world.  I received a lovely card and Christmas ornament from a sweet friend (and awesome stamper!)  Debbie Dawson from New Zealand.

The card is so pretty!  I love the way it opens for display.

She sent this ornament and explained that it is the Pohotukawa tree which is considered the New Zealand Christmas tree.

I looked it up and here is a link to a picture of the tree.  In the summer it has pretty red flowers- summer is in December in New Zealand.

Thank you Debbie!  What a fun gift!