Wonderful Life

This is for a friend's anniversary.  They have had a crazy year and managed to come through it together.  It's not traditional, but the quirky suits them. 
The base is Whisper White and uses to stamps from the February 2014 My Paper Pumpkin kit from Stampin' Up.  The inks are Pear Pizzazz and Night of Navy.  I stamped the Pear first, then made a mask from a post-it note and the 1 3/8" circle punch.  Then I stamped the Navy and the sentiment.  The sentiment is from Perfect Pennants.  I kept this clean and simple for mailing.  Inside says "Congratulations on anther year of wonderful.  Happy Anniversary".  Thanks for looking!  April

Butterfly Thoughts

This is another inked butterfly on a Whisper White base.  Inks are Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, and Daffodil Delight.  The sentiment is from perfect pennants and inked in Night of Navy.  I wanted to keep this clean and simple and left if unembellished for easy mailing.  Thanks for looking!  April

Pokeball birthday set

My oldest son's friend is having a birthday, and loves Pokemon, so we did our usual movie themed gift with a Pokeball twist. 
The colors are kraft, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, and Basic Grey.  I found these great pokeball blueprints online and printed them out.  The small balls are punched with a 2" circle punch, with the button in 1/2" circles and gemstones.  The small ones are also done in red and snow glitter attached with versamark and SU heat and stick powder.  The larger circles are cut with nestabilities classic circles and the button is made with a 3/4" and 1/2" circle punch.  The flags are cut with the SU banner punch and the banner framelits.  Embellishments are Tim Holtz pick, mini paperclips, and coin.  Some baker's twine finishes the set.  The sentiment is SU Four You and stamped in Basic Grey.






gift card holder

The gift card is inside a little #1 envelope that is made from a 5 1/2"x5 1/2" square of Tempting Turquoise, scored at 2" on opposite sides then 2 1/2" on the other two sides.  I used the twine to make a seal for the envelope. 

close up of topper

The topper has a special little feature - the pokeball is attached with a wobble spring.  How cool is that?
Thanks for looking!  April

movie night gift set



Season of Friendship keychain

I made these for my stamp club girls - the Laughing Ladies.  I had some leftover shrinky dink sheets that I cut with the top note die.  (Note:  I learned it is better to cut the scored inner layer, as the edges sometimes separate and create a gap or curl over top of the image.)  The image is from SU's retired set Season of Friendship.  The tree is stamped in Close to Cocoa craft ink.  The leaves are stamped in Certainly Celery and Old Olive.  The bird is stamped in Tempting Turquoise.  The letter is stamped from CTMH giggle lower case in Jet Black Staz-On and the flower in Blazing Red Staz-On. 
If you have never used SU's craft ink, it is very different from their classic inks.  It is thicker and stays wet for quite a bit.  It is great for embossing, scrapping, or shrink plastic because once it is dry, it is long lasting and fade-resistant. 

close up of keychain

Shrinky Dink Tips:  Once you get the plastic cut, use a bit of sandpaper or a sanding block, to slightly rough up the surface.  You have to be pretty straight with the stamping as the slickness with cause some blurring.  Be sure to punch any holes BEFORE you heat the plastic.  I would also suggest making the hole a bit bigger to give some extra room.  I used the 3/16" crop-a-dile punch 2x for the jump ring and once for the mini brad in the flower.  You need to punch it 2x if you want to use a gem brad or regular size brad. 
Thanks for looking!  April
 

Butterfly Sympathy

I have said it before and will say it again - I hate making sympathy cards.  I just have trouble trying not to make a overly pretty or cheerful card.  This is going several states away and is for my chilren's former preschool director.  She was such an amazing blessing in my kids' early learning and I thank her and the staff of Little Lambs to this day.  She touched so many preschoolers' families over the last 25 years and I know she is greatly missed. 
The base is Whisper White and is inked using the SU butterfly bigz die as a mask.  The inks are Wisteria Wonder, Baja Breeze, and Pink Pirouette.  The butterfly stamp is from 7gypsies and is stamped in Versamark, then embossed in silver metallic powder.  The sentiment is from SU Best of Greetings set and also stamped in Versamark before embossed in silver.  Thanks for looking!  April

Sweet Birthday Wishes

As promised, I have been back in my craft room - now that it is mostly unpacked.  This card is for my monthly stamp club swap.  The base is Whisper White with layers of Basic Black and Real Red.  The red is embossed with the Cuttlebug large dots folder.  The banner is Daffodil Delight cut at 1/2" and notched with the SU banner punch.  The sentiment is from SU Four You and stamped in Jet Black Staz-On.  I also added a little gem.  The popcicle is made from a 2" and 1 3/8" circle punch in Early Espresso and Whisper White.  The "bite" is done with the scolloped circle punch.  It is mounted with dimensionals due to the thickness created by the stick.  The stick is from Ranger.  I found them at Tuesday Morning in a package of 75 for only 99 cents! 
I keep wanting to go back and add liquid glass to the bite to make it look drippy, but have resisted so far.  LOL.  Thanks for looking and will be back soon!  April

Unpacking....finally

So, I am finally unpacking (and purging) my craft room.  I promise there will be new posts starting next week.  Thanks for sticking with me through the crazy!  April