Love to Scrap Challenge #2: Emboss It!

Hello Scrappy friends! It is time for our second challenge at Love to Scrap. We just wrapped up our first challenge, Anything Goes, yesterday and the winner and top three can be seen here.

The Challenge
For our 2nd challenge which begins today, submit any type of project that uses an embossing technique. It can be heat embossing with inks and powders or dry embossing with die cut machines and folders.

I choseheat embossing and made this small Christmas gift. It is a clear pillow box that was leftover packaging from some buttons. I filled it with mini marshmallows to look like snow. I wrapped a belly band around it and decorated it with a wintry theme.

The Details

I stamped the background snowflakes using a clear VersaMark watermark stamp pad. I then added white embossing powder and heated it on watercolor paper. This is thicker and more absorbent that cardstock. 

I stamped some blue and purple Stampin' Up ink pads on my craft sheet. I then sprayed some water onto the stamped ink which made small puddles. I dragged my paper through the puddles and got a subtly blended watercolor effect in the background. I first tried using cardstock but the colors looked dull and muddy so I switched to watercolor paper. 

I wanted a soft muted look for my central snowman image so I used the leftover puddles of ink for my colors and painted it onto the snowman with a water brush. I thought Copics might be too stark as I only wanted a hint of color since the snowman is mostly white. 

The snowman is a digital image called, "Oops Snowman" as he is falling on that little rock next to his skates. It is a digital image from the sponsor for this challenge, The Crafting Boutique.  The rest of my stamps (snowflakes, sentiment, scarf wrapped heart) are from a Clearly Wordsworth set called, "13 Snowman" that I already owned, which matched the digi stamp perfectly.

Supplies

Pillow Box - Clearbags

Watercolor Paper - Simon Says Stamps

Inks - Stampin' Up Classic, Tsukineko

Cardstock - Cutcardstock

Watercolor Brush - Niji

Craft Sheet - Inkssentials

Digi Stamp - The Crafting Boutique

Stamps - Clearly Wordsworth

Embossing Powder - Hero Arts

Glitter Glue - Ranger

Heat Tool - American Crafts

Spray Bottle - Inkssentials

Join the Fun
For more details about the challenge and to see the rest of the design team's projects, please see today's post on Love to Scrap. This challenge is open for two weeks, so get your entries in before Sunday, March 31st at 3 P.M. PST. If you have any projects with embossing on it, just link it to today's post. 

The winner will receive a $10 shopping spree at The Crafting Boutique and that will get you 5 - 10 items as everything is only $1 or $2. So get your crafting on.

I'm entering this in:
Sentimental Sundays - Challenge #146, Anything Goes
Lady Anne's Challenge - #6 Using Stamps
No Matter Which Challenges - #7 Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything but a Card
Love to Create - #57 Anything Goes
My Crafty Spot - #91 Embossing

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

December Squeeze-A-Palooza Challenge

The Reveal

I wanted to let you know that Fresh Squeezed Stamps has a fun challenge during the last week of each month. Just make a card or project using any of their stamps or free digital images based on that month's theme. The little bird with the birdhouse on my gift tag is the free digital download this month. Two winners will receive a stamp set of their choice. Last month 9 people submitted, so there was a 22% chance of winning. 

The Challenge

This month's challenge is to make something based on the inspirational photos posted on their site today. Here is the photo I used. 

For the full details along with more inspirational photos and project ideas, please see today's post at Fresh Squeezed Stamps. 

I hope you can join in the fun. 

Thanks so much for flyin' by,

Fresh Squeezed Stamps: A Moose for all Seasons

The Stamps

For my final December guest designer project with Fresh Squeezed Stamps, I'm working once again with the woodsy themed stamp set entitled, "Winter Wonderland." I thought the moose stamp was super cute so I wanted to feature him on a card or two or four. 

The Reveal

I ended up designing a series called, "A Moose for all Seasons". I drew out a simple sketch for the card layout and kept the placement of the embellishments, sentiment and background in basically the same place, but just changed up the themes with a few modifications. You can easily use the moose and create a card for any other occasion that you'd need. 

The Details

I started by creating the woodsy background on all my cards. I used the reverse side of the tree stamp. The front side of the stamp will give you a tree outline, but if you use the reverse side that normally clings to the block, then you can get a filled stamp. Here is the same tree stamped using the reverse, front and combined sides of the same stamp. 

Next I colored in all the moose using Copics in the same color scheme and added some black enamel on the eyes and nose. Now come the variations on a theme. 

For my Father's Day card, I hand drew a tie and mustache on the moose. I wrote in the sentiment because I didn't have a stamp for that holiday. I wanted more of a summertime look since Father's Day is in June so I dabbed on some blue ink in the sky and yellow on the ground. I wanted more of a masculine feel so I added some black and white buttons and natural jute for the final touches. 

For my Valentine's Day card, I drew a dotted bow tie and added some Stickles heart garlands on the trees. I wanted a more feminine look so I added a ruffled border strip, rounded tab, twine bow and rounded one corner to soften the look.

For my birthday card, I wanted a more playful tone. I drew a little party hat and hung it on one antler since the moose couldn't get it onto his head. I used some Sassafras felt stickers I had for the embellishments. 

For this winter card, I added some liquid appliqué for snow on the trees and a red Stickles nose reminiscent of Rudolph on the moose. This Christmas card is actually the genesis for the entire series. I was imagining a string of Christmas lights intertwined among the moose's antlers. Then I started imagining what else he could hang, like shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day, and that's how I ended up with "A Moose for all Seasons". 

If you could only have one stamp set, Winter Wonderland would be a great one since it is so versatile and you can adapt it for any holiday.

The Fun and Games

Fresh Squeezed Stamps is hosting fun games and contests with free stamps as prizes all month long. This week's game called "Christmas Bingo" is to pick 12 words from a list of 30 words. This game ends at midnight tonight and is the last one for the month. But don't worry if you can't participate in this one, there is still Squeeze-A-Palooza to look forward to on Sunday. If you want to keep up with the latest news, check out their Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Fresh Squeezed Stamps: Winter Wonderland

I was so honored when Ryann Salamon, one of the creators of Fresh Squeezed Stamps, asked me to be a guest designer for the month of December. It is always nice to be asked instead of having to apply for a position. Of course I jumped at the chance since I use her stamps all the time and in fact have the entire collection! So I can wholeheartedly endorse the product. If you don't believe me, just check out all the eye candy on their blog. 

The Stamps

Today I'm working with the totally cute winter themed collection entitled, "Winter Wonderland." I always start by using the stamp the jumps out at me the most when I first look at a set. I really liked the rounded shape of the larger tree so that became my starting point. 

The Reveal

I liked the tree so much I stamped it 5 times on three different patterned papers. I also stamped the tree trunk on a darker patterned paper and pieced the tree together. As the focus feature on my card, I added brads to the middle tree to look like ornaments and to draw the eye to the center of the card. 

I adhered a star shaped jewel to the tops of each tree and layered them at different heights using different thicknesses of foam adhesive. 

Since I used more of an outdoorsy winter color scheme instead of a traditional Christmas color scheme, I used the small snowflake stamp in the set to create a snowfall background.

The Fun and Games

Fresh Squeezed Stamps is hosting fun games and contests with free stamps as prizes all month long. This week's game called "Say What?" is to write a caption to a photo they've posted here. This game ends at midnight tonight. But don't worry, there is a new game each Monday on their blog. If you want to keep up with the latest news, check out their Facebook page or Twitter feed. If you are interested in being on their design team, check out their design team call that is going on now. 

I'll be back every Thursday for some new reveals.

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Popcorn Gift Card Holder with Free Cut File

***For Paper Made Bakery's December blog hop, please go here.***

The Reveal

I was asked to be a guest designer for CutCardstock's 12 Days of Christmas series. Since I love their cardstock and card kits, I readily agreed. As part of the series, there is a cute Christmas gift or gift wrapping idea each day. Today is Day 4 in the series and this is my contribution. Hop on over to CutCardstock's blog to see the entire series. 

The Details

I wanted to design something practical that I could make in bulk to give out. One thing I like to give are movie tickets or theater gift cards. What better way to package it than in a cute popcorn gift card holder? If you have another present (like a DVD), you can also add an eyelet to the top, tie some twine and turn it into the accompanying gift tag. 

I drew the image on my iPad and imported it into Silhouette Design Studio. The gift card holder is one piece and the popcorn and banner can be popped on with foam adhesive for dimension or adhered flat. All the pieces fit perfectly on one sheet of 8.5 x 11" Basic White 80lb cardstock. As my gift to you, you can download this Studio file for your personal use. It will only open if you have the corresponding software. 

Silhouette Studio Downloadable file: Popcorn Gift Card Holder

This is a print and cut file, meaning you'd print out the image on your printer first before running it through your Cameo. It will be perforated on the fold lines, so most of the work has been done, and there is no coloring involved. The download will look like the following image. 

After you assemble the pieces, you can add your own finishing touches. I mounted the banner on some Basic Black 80lb cardstock to give it a more distinct outline. I added some jewels and stars on the banner to give it a marquee feel. I added some Liquid Appliqué on the popcorn kernels to give it that fluffy popcorn texture. 

This is a great way to add a personal touch when giving out something impersonal like a gift card. Have fun creating your own handmade cards and gifts. I wish you all the best this Christmas season. 

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: A Wreath of Words

Hello scrappy friends, happy Thursday! This is my last sneak peek this month for Paper Made Bakery. I've really enjoyed working with this month's Christmas Treats kit. When I was out shopping for a present for my sister, I was inspired to make this Christmas card. There are some great designs on Christmas packaging so keep your eyes open and be inspired by all the decorations this season. 

What I like best is that the sentiment is the visual image on this card. To see the whole project and further details, please see today's post on Paper Made Bakery's blog.

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: Ornament Card

Hello scrappy friends, happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are spending time with loved ones and eating lots of turkey. Today I have a sneak peek of a Christmas card I made with Paper Made Bakery's Christmas Treats kit. 

Unfortunately, the kit is currently sold out but the stamp set is still available with Fresh Squeezed Stamps. I just love how each set has so many little interchangeable elements. I think my favorite stamp is turning out to be the lollipop. 

I had previously used the lollipop as jack-'o-lanterns in this Halloween card I sent to my hubby's grandmother. 

This time I used it for Christmas ornaments with candy canes as ornament hooks. I have yet to use it for its intended purpose as a lollipop. To see the whole project, please stop by today's post on Paper Made Bakery's blog.

Thanks so much for droppin' by.
Gobble, gobble,

Paper Made Bakery: Boy, Gingerbread Boy

Hello scrappy friends, happy Thursday! It is time for my weekly sneak peek with Paper Made Bakery. This month's Christmas Treats kit is just so gosh darn cute. I was inspired to make this little Christmas card using my kit. 

Who know, with a few modifications, it might just become my Christmas card for 2013. I designed it in Silhouette Design Studio and make the cuts on my Cameo. To see the whole project and further details, please see today's post on Paper Made Bakery's blog.

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: Countdown to Christmas

Hello scrappy friends, happy Thursday! It is time for my weekly sneak peek with Paper Made Bakery. This month's Christmas Treats kit is just so fun to work with and it perfect for those homemade gifts.

I made this as a present for my nephew. Can you guess what this is? To see the whole project with further details, please see today's post on Paper Made Bakery's blog.

Thanks so much for hoppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: November Reveal + Blog Hop + Giveaway

The Hop:

Welcome to Paper Made Bakery's new November release blog hop. This month PMB is joining with Timeless Twine for a combined hop with their design team. You'll see lots of great ideas on how products from both companies can work seamlessly together. If you've just arrived from Wida's site, then you've come to the right place. If you would like to start from the beginning, please hop on over to Paper Made Bakery's blog. If you are lost, this the blog hop order:

Paper Made Bakery

Wida Miller

Michelle McClure (←you are here)

Lisa Arana (←go here next)

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Amy Tsuruta

Alicia Thelin

Stacy Muler 

Kathy Gillion 

Jenny Johnson 

Kassidy Thomas

Debbie Crowder 

Annette Allen 

Cristina Garcia 

The Kit:

November's Fresh Baked Kit entitled Christmas Treats features soft, wintry papers from Lily Bee Design's Christmas Cheer collection, an exclusive pack of matching twine from Timeless Twine and coordinating images from Fresh Squeezed Stamps' Christmas Treats set. This kit is perfect for creating homemade holiday cards and gifts. But you can use it for anything. For example, I made a Halloween card using the stamp set, which you can view here. 

The Reveal:

I made a small shadow box wall hanging for my friends. When I saw some photos of their two kids lying on the green grass, I thought it would make a perfect Christmas photo after adding some red accents. I printed out the photo as a square and cut out extra white around the photo paper to look like a Polaroid. I printed out a Christmas quote and added embellishments from the kit, and played with the twine. 

The Tutorial:

I've been wanting to make some pom poms with twine for a while now, but found it too bulky for my cards and layouts. I chose a shadow box instead of a frame especially for this purpose. This 5.5 x 5.5" Ikea shadow box is the perfect size to work with papers and embellishments from a Fresh Baked Kit. These tri-colored pom poms turned out so cute, you might want to give it a try too. 

1. Wrap your twine 25 times around the tines of a fork. (You can wrap more or less times depending on how dense you want your pom pom. You can affect the size of the pom pom by the size of the fork you use and how many tines you wrap. I wanted a small pom so I used a small salad fork and only used three of the tines.) 

2. Cut a piece of twine and thread it through the center tine and tie a knot around the middle of the wrapped twine. 

3. Slide the tied twine off of the fork. 

4. Cut the loops on each side in half. You'll end up with a scraggly pom at this point. 

5. Trim to a uniform shape. 

6. For a fuller look, unravel the twisted strands. 

I hand cut two Santa Hats from red cardstock. I used Liquid Appliqué for the fur trim and adhered the pom pom on the ends. This turned a summer photo into a winter, Christmas photo. 

The Giveaway:

As a way to say thank you for participating in today's blog hop, Paper Made Bakery is giving away two great prizes. You can enter by midnight on Sunday, November 4th by using the Rafflecopter widget below. 

Good luck to all! Your next stop is Lisa's blog. Remember there are daily inspiration projects and tutorials on PMB's blog all month long. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for hoppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: Upcycle Reveal

The Reveal
I have a fun new project over at Paper Made Bakery today. This month's Cherry Blossom kit  features Japanese inspired designs, which is right up my alley but I was thinking it might not be to everyone's tastes. So, I created something outside of the theme and made a Christmas project. It also involves a toilet paper roll, so hop on over to today's post on Paper Made Bakery to see the whole project and read the tutorial if you want to make one for yourself.

Cherry Blossom Christmas Project

I wanted to thank you for stoppin' by last week for the June blog hop and for leaving such kind comments. 

Have a scrappy day,

Imaginisce January Challenge: Snowman Snowglobe Card

The Reveal:

I've always loved snow globe cards, with that interactive component and movement of the falling snow.  I was very happy that I found the perfect opportunity to make a literal snow globe card. 

Snowman Snow Globe Card

The Challenge:

I saw that the January challenge at Imaginisce was to make a winter themed project as inspired by this photo. 

Inspiration Photo

I really wanted to stick with the blue and white colors, but my Imaginisce winter collection was the Christmas themed Santa's Little Helper, which is primarily red and green. I chose a chipboard sticker that had a blue background, and placed that on a blue background paper from the princess themed Enchanted collection. 

3D Snow Globe

The Details:

The snow globe itself is packaging from some Bo Bunny buttons. I placed some white glitter, silver star confetti and blue micro beads inside the packaging for the snow. 

I wanted to try a technique I saw online where you stamp and emboss in white onto white cardstock and then mist the paper with the color you want. You then dab off the mist from the embossed areas and the white stamped images remain. That is how I achieved the white snowflakes even after misting over them. 

Santa and His Sleigh

To play on the winter theme, I decided to add Santa in his sleigh flying over the snowman scene. They are cut from the a piece of patterned paper also from the Santa's Little Helper collection.

The Inside:

Even though this is a winter themed card, the next major card giving holiday is Valentine's Day, so I really wanted to find a way to turn this into a Valentine's Day card. The chipboard sticker said, "Cold Nose" next to the snowman on the front of the card. On the inside, I cut the same snowman from the patterned paper and popped him up inside the card. I used the heart shaped Glam Rock and adhered it to the snowman. I hand wrote, "Warm Heart" to play on the idiom, "Cold hands, warm heart."

Inside of Card

So the sentiment reads, "Cold nose, warm heart."

Exterior and Interior of Card

Hope you enjoyed my little card. Thanks for stoppin' by. 

Happy scrappin',

My Christmas Cards

Christmas Time is Full of Cheer:
This Christmas, I am happy to report that I got my cards made and sent out in time. Now that the recipients have these in their hot little hands, I can share the my cards with you. 

Christmas 2011

I actually made these in January about a year ago since I know what it is like in December with all the activities, shopping and merry making that happens during a condensed period. I looked through the Two Peas gallery  for inspiration and I liked the style with four quadrants, but by now, I can't remember who to give credit to, sorry. 


The Process:
All I remember about making these was that there was a lot of cutting and inking. The card base is a standard 4.25 x 5.5", which I like to use since I have clear envelopes that I mail these in. I cut out rectangles in coordinating patterned papers in 1.75 x 2.25" and I printed a photo in the same size. I also hand drew and cut out the holly leaves. All the pieces were inked in white. I dug out my stamping equipment and stamped a sentiment on one of the rectangles, and heat embossed for some texture. I drew in some stitching lines. I don't like to sew on cards since I don't know if people keep them, so I only sew on  layouts as a general rule. I used some liquid pearl dimensional paint to outline the leaves. Lastly I glued everything together and added a 3D embellishment in the center. I used different flowers, layered stickers or buttons so each card came out slightly different. By the time I remembered to take photos, I only had two cards left. 

Some variations

I wanted to save one to scrap but I ended up giving out all my cards. Each year I tell myself that I have to make more for next year. I save all the handmade cards and photo cards that I receive. I usually make a layout with a pocket to house them so they will be stored in my 2011 photo album. I feel so bad throwing away cards. Here is a pocket layout I made for birthday cards I received last year. The pictures show just the layout and then with some cards inside.

 Inside the Christmas card, I used some digital scrapbooking elements to create a mini page so this is 2D even though it looks like it has brads and a tag.

Inside Sentiment

I hope you had a merry and meaningful Christmas and I wish you the best in the upcoming new year. 


Take care,

Pages Reveal: Stamped Candle Tutorial

The Assignment:
The December challenge for followers at Pages from the Heart is to use a stamped image on a project. Instead of stamping on a card or layout, I immediately thought of a stamped candle gift that my sister and I made a few years back for our coworkers. We stamped "The ______ Family" and filled in the blank with the recipient's last name along with a snowman family image. It was a fun way to make personalized gifts. I created a new design for this challenge.

Stamped Candle 
Featured Collection: Imaginise's Snag 'em Stamps


Supply List for Candle:
Stamps: Ornaments - Imaginisce's Snag 'em Stamps (Snowy Jo Collection),
Merry Christmas - We R Memory Keepers (Peppermint Twist Collection)
Glitter Pen: Gelly Roll
Ink: Delta (dye based ink)
Other: white or cream candle, white tissue paper, wax paper, heat embossing tool



The Tutorial:
1. Choose which stamps you'd like on your candle. You can use designs, sentiments or names. Stamp the images on a piece of tissue paper. I just dug a piece out from my gift wrapping box. You can use any color ink. I used green and red for Christmas. You can use black ink and then color in the images with markers or watercolor color pencils. I colored in my images with a silver glitter pen since it was just a small area. Tissue paper is very delicate so work carefully and stamp and color more than you need so you can choose the best image. The ink tends to bleed on the paper which is very absorbent. 

2. Cut out the images that are to your liking and place them on the candle. I used a tiny bit of adhesive to place the pieces on the candle to make sure the spacing was even. Again, be careful as the tissue can easily rip when you move it around the candle.

3. Now comes the fun or painful part if not done correctly. Cover your images with a piece of wax paper. It is best if you cover the entire candle with wax paper and then hold the paper tightly in place from the opposite end on the excess wax paper. Use your heat embossing tool to heat the stamped images that are covered by the wax paper. You will see the white tissue paper disappear. That is when you know you are done. It only takes a few seconds per heated spot. The wax from the paper melts and covers up your image therefore, embedding it in wax. It gets really hot and can easily burn your fingers so that is why it is important to hold the paper 180 degrees from where you are heating it. Don't hold the paper in place with your fingers close to your image to save paper.

4. When you remove the wax paper, the image is coated in wax and looks and feels like part of the candle and is safe to burn. It is almost like you stamped directly onto the candle. 

5. To make it more personalized, you can use alphabet stamps and spell out the recipient's name. 

6. To decorate the finished candle, I folded some origami puffy stars symbolic of friendship, and placed it in a ring around the candle. I also threaded two stars along with some glass beads on embroidery floss to tie around the packaging. If you are interested in making some stars, you can see a tutorial here.

7. Here is the finished product gift wrapped in ribbons and cellophane. I made a tag copying the shape of one of the ornament stamps to tie everything together. You can see it in person at Pages from the Heart.

This is a relatively easy project, especially if you streamline the process or work with someone at the same time.

Hope you are getting all your Christmas preparations done.
Wishing you a scrappy dappy Christmas,