Moving again...

Sorry you have not seen much of me.  We have had some upheaval in our lives and are moving again.  This time we will be in an apartment and my craftroom will, sadly, be going into storage for the foreseeable future. 
I will be back so keep checking.  As always, thanks for looking!
April

Thanks card

These are two cards I made using the SU Sale-a-bration For Being You set.  Paper is Whisper White, Old Olive, and Echo Park Traveler paper.  The "thanks" is stamped in Versamark and black embossing powder.  Inks include Jet Black Staz-On and Lost Lagoon.  I also used a dollar alphabet set to add to the sentiment.  Last touch is some gemstones on the second card.  Quick and easy cards...the longest part was cutting out the letters and it took almost no time to figure out a pattern to make it go faster.  Thanks for looking!  April

Disney Dream fish extender tag

So my husband is putting together mini lego kits for one of our fish extender gifts.  These are the tags I made for him to tie on the bags.

I cut the base in Whisper White from Cricut's Tags, Bags, Boxes & More.  I cut the Mickey icons in Basic Black from the Mickey Font cartridge.  The "Disney" is stamped in Blazing Red Staz-On using the Mickey & Friends acrylic stamp set.  The Dream die cut is cut from Brilliant Blue using a die from Little Yellow Bicycle.  I used an alphabet stamp set from Studio G (found in the dollar bin at Michaels) to finish the title.  Last is a star punched from silver glimmer paper.  I finished the tags with white gel pen accents.  Thanks for looking!  April

Loads of Anniversary Love card

My person and her hubby are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary.  I wanted to make a card that popped but kept hitting a wall.  Finally it dawned on me that they now have a pop-up trailer so I dug out the Loads of Love and Loads of Fun sets.

The base is Whisper White with layers of Whisper White cut from the Top Note Die.  First, I made a mask for the lower portion of the Top Note piece by tearing the edge off two post-it notes.  I used Calypso Coral, Pink Pirouette, Wisteria Wonder, and Night of Navy to ink the sky.  I stamped the truck and trailer on Whisper White in Jet Black Staz-On.  I stamped the man, then masked him to stamp the woman.  They are colored in with simple watercolor markers.  The sentiment is from B.Y.O.P. stamp set and stamped in Jet Black Staz-On.  The sky has stars made by using micro glue dots and a glue pen, then coated with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  The man and woman were glued in place, then the truck and trailer were added on dimensionals.  Last, I cut the 20 from white glimmer paper using Tim Holtz alterations distress alphabet, before placing in truck bed.  Thanks for looking!  April

Father's Day gift card envelope

So I finally got to use the Stampin' Up B.Y.O.P. set for my father-in-law's treat.   I used papers from Echo Park and some kraft and white scraps.  Ink is Jet Black Staz-On.  I used the number 1 measurement on the Martha Stewart score board with the envelope insert.  It was very quick and easy.  Thanks for looking!  April

Merry Wishes Christmas card

I love layers upon layers but they kill on shipping cost.  Every year it is a challenge for me to come up with a simple and fast to make card that ships cheap (or as cheap as any mailing is today).  I decided to use a white base card and the Stampin Up Seasonally Scattered "merry" stamp in Marina Mist.  I cut strips of Night of Navy about 1/2" x 2 2/3" and used the bitty banner punch to make the end notches.  I used the "christmas" from Endless Wishes in Versamark and silver embossing powder.  I used a couple of gemstones to accent the snowflakes and clear stardust gel pen for final accents.

inside card

Inside, I used Marina Mist to stamp the medium Endless Wishes snowflake and Night of Navy for the sentiment using stamps from Endless Wishes and Endless Birthday Wishes.  I also stamped the flake on the envelopes.
I ended up with 50 cards in just a couple of hours.  Thanks for looking!  April

Sending Birthday Wishes card

I have another quick card for you.  I used the envelope from Lovely Amazing You in Bermuda Bay, stamped on Whisper White.  I cut them out after stamping the heart in Night of Navy.  I used Smoky Slate to stamp the candles from Big Day.  The sentiment comes from Endless Wishes and Endless Birthday Wishes, stamped in Jet Black Staz-On and Night of Navy.  I added some dazzling diamonds glitter to the candle flames with a zig two-way pen.  Last, a freehand border in black pen.  Thanks for looking!  April

Happy Heart card

This card is made using the hearts mask and Pink Pirouette ink.  Next, the sentiment from Lovely Amazing You is stamped in Rich Razzleberry, then stamped over top with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I punched a little heart in red glitter paper and attached with a mini glue dot.  Super quick and I had six made in under 10 minutes.  Thanks for looking!  April

Baymax First Aid kit

I am working on more Fish Extenders for our next Disney Cruise and just keep finding some fun ideas for some odds and ends in my craft room.  A friend gave me several of these little plastic circle boxes that had electrical tape in them.  I have been staring at them for months and it finally hit me...Baymax!  The circle measures around 3 inches, so I set off to the computer and found adorable Big Hero 6 images.  I found some small lollipops so I had to have Baymax offering a lolli in the bottom.  I used his pain scale on the inside of the lid.  Think how much fun a kiddo with a boo boo would have with this!  I added some Disney band-aids and alcohol wipes, along with the sucker.  On the outside, I used white vinyl with silver metallic sharpie to make Baymax's program card slot.  Super cute and my kids are begging for their own now.  Thanks for looking!  April

inside empty container

Mickey Ice Cream ornament

I wanted to make some Disney-themed ornaments for our family and this is the first one I have come up with.  I used the Cricut Mickey Font cartridge to cut Mickey icons from Early Espresso and Whisper White papers.  Four icons fit on each 8 1/2x11 sheet.  It took one sheet of Early Espresso and six sheets of Whisper White.  I inked the edges of the white paper in Early Espresso ink and used a brown sharpie to fill in gaps.  I have some mini popsicle sticks and they happen to be the perfect size for the SU Word Window punch.  I used the end of the punch to make a notch in 8 of the white icons.  I used the scalloped circle punch for the bite in each ear.  I used the Zig two-way pen to glue each layer together, sandwiching a piece of ribbon in the middle.  I used liquid glass to glue the stick in place.  Once dry, I went around the edge one more time with the sharpie to fill any gaps.  Last is some liquid glass to make it look melty.  Sorry, it's still wet in the photo.  Thanks for looking!  April 

close up detail

Duck Tape clutch

shown with flap open

I found this cute idea for a duck tape clutch on Pinterest.  She has a very easy to follow tutorial.  I love the simplicity and wanted something small to carry any necessities without running around with a purse.  All you need is a sheet of felt, a roll of duck tape, a velcro closure, and about 15 minutes.  I found the anchor and Mickey tapes at Michaels.  I added a vinyl Mickey from some scraps and my icon punch.
How cute would these be for kids to make for their friends or fun fish extender gifts for the next Disney Cruise? Thanks for looking!  April

Breast Cancer Magnet

My fifteen year old is playing high school lacrosse and it was announced that one of the moms has cancer.  The girls are all banding together to support the family by wearing pink ribbon socks for the season, while the mom undergoes treatment.  We wanted to contribute so my daughter and I made the girls magnets for their lockers.  

We used pale pink cardstock, cut with feminine graphic tee die-namics from My Favorite Things.  We then used the coordinating stamp set to stamp the ribbon in Pink Pirouette, and "Fight Like a Girl" in Smoky Slate.  We added a strip of magnetic tape and done.  In less than an hour, we had 45 magnets ready to go.  Thaks for looking!  April

Sand Brush Fish Extender

This is another Fish Extender gift I am putting together for our cruise.  Disney Cruise Line is very serious about keeping as much sand off of the boat as possible, so they ask that you brush or rinse off before rejoining the ship.  I found several of these on Pinterest.  I grabbed some brushes at Home Depot.  2 in brushes (good for kiddos) are 98 cents each, while the 3 in brushes are $1.14 each.  I had some red acrylic paint (but a bottle will run you around 70 cents) and plenty of foam brushes.  You may have a few that need sanding, especially along the sides.  I did two coats, drying between.  Once dry, I used a hot glue gun to attach blue grosgrain polka dot ribbon to cover the metal band.  I chose to keep with the red, white & blue theme of the cruise line.  I stamped a Mickey head in Jet Black Staz-On and finished with a key fob on the handle for easy hanging.

I packaged them in cello bags and added a little poem I found on other pins.  They are attached to the bags with black baker's twine.  Thanks for looking!  April

Disney color palette book

I love the paint samples from the Glidden Disney line.  I also love that they are inspired by several Disney movies and I wanted to keep them together and close at hand for inspiration.  I decided to make a key ring style book.  I punched a hole in each page, as well as chipboard for the covers.  I covered them in scrap paper.  I also made dividers from scraps and vinyl for tabs.  Thanks for looking!  April

DVC member key chain

This is one of the little fish extender gifts I put together for our upcoming Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise.  I have these great Disney photopolymer stamps and it included the words "Disney" & "vacation" so I just had to improvise the last bit.  I used alphabet stamps to spell out "club" & "member".  I purchased the white Shrinky Dink plastic from Michael's, cut ovals from nestabilities, punched a hole for the key ring, then stamped Staz-On inks in Jet Black, Azure, and Blazing Red.  Once shrunk in the toaster oven, I used Crystal Effects (liquid glass or glossy accents) to coat the stamped area.  Once dry, I added jump rings and attached to the key ring.  I also used some leftover Mickey faces I had made into charms several years ago.
I put them in mini ziploc baggies, then mounted them on paint chip samples from the Disney line by Glidden featured at Walmart.

close up of shrinky dink

Thanks for looking!  April 

5 Minute Sympathy Card

It's sad that I find a need for so many sympathy cards lately.  I decided to make another stack so I wouldn't have to make more for some time.  These are super quick and easy, taking me all of 5 minutes to make 10 cards.  I stamped the medallion from Inkadinkado (on sale at Michael's this week!) in Smoky Slate.  The sentiment is stamped in Jet Black Staz-On using a SU Best of Greetings and the inside sentiment from Petite Pairs.  Last is to quickly pop a small pearl onto the center of the medallion.  Thanks for looking!  April

Mickey Mouse bracelets

So I am recycling a kids bracelet kit I had for several years.  It was technically a kids craft kit from a bookstore that I wore with the kids names.  I pulled off the stickers and cleaned off the plastic bobbles.  The little Mickeys are from...paint samples from Walmart!  I punched them out with a tiny Mickey icon punch, then cut off the ears, before attaching it to the bracelet base with liquid glass.  I put a small bead of liquid glass on top of the paint chip, then pressed the little bobble cap on top.  Now, I have a fun and colorful bracelet to wear on the cruise.  Thanks for looking!  April

Grape Soda Ellie Badge

My hubby and I are looking forward to going on the Disney Vacation Club Member's Cruise in August.  I wanted to make some fun swaps/fish extender gifts and this is the first...the Ellie Badge from Disney/Pixar's Up.

I purchased a 24 pack of bottle caps from Hobby Lobby (on sale, of course).  I used a nail to make holes in the cap.  With the large safety pin, I found about six bumps in the cap apart is enough to be able to thread the pin.  I found the Grape Soda graphics here and punched with my 1inch circle punch.  I used a little mod podge to attach to the bottle cap.  Once dry, I very used Liquid Glass to make a sealed, glossy cap.  The trick to it is to make a circle around the edge of the image, then fill.  Use the nozzle to drag liquid and be sure to not shake or suck much air into the bottle.  Once it sets up, about 24 hours, depending thickness, it is a hard glossy epoxy finish.  I found it easier to thread the pin first, using it to hold the cap in place while I covered the image.
Next, I found these great phone wallpaper images of the Up characters here.  I put them in a word doc and pushed them to the background.  I typed the sentiment on top, then printed nine cards per sheet on cardstock.  (It says: Congratulations!  I bestow upon you the highest honor for a fellow Adventurer...the Ellie Badge)  I cut them out and used a glue dot to attach pins and slipped them into mini zip baggies, ready to give.  Thanks for looking!  April

Disney's Up inspired SN@P album cover

This album is made to mimic Ellie's book from the Disney movie Up.  I love the whole story and we are a Disney-crazy family so it seemed like a truly appropriate book for my hubby and I to share our adventures.

I purchased a red SN@P album from Michael's.  It comes with three chipboard tabbed section dividers, a few coordinated sheets and clear divided photo pockets.  I picked up an extra set of photo pockets.  I will show what I did to the inside once the album is completed.  

After I set the included items aside, I used my Crop-a-dile Big Bite to punch the holes in the left side of the cover in the red section.  I used a couple of Mickey Mouse eyelets to fill the holes and then threaded the eyelets with thin parachute cord, tying a bow.  I used a little dab of liquid glass to keep the bow from moving around or untying.  I found this great distressed paper that kinda has an aged leather feel from Hobby Lobby in the specialty paper section.  I left around an inch on three of the sides, butting the fourth side up against the red binding, and attaching it with mod podge.  I papered the inside with a nice black print.  

After the paper was dry, I used a gold sharpie and a ruler to make the rectangle, then a roll of painter tape for the curves.  I used some scrap Early Espresso textured cardstock to make the corners.  I used Tim Holtz chipboard letters, colored with Stampin' Up craft inks, and the edges inked with Tim Holtz distress inks in Vintage Photo.  NOTE: craft inks take much longer to dry but are archival safe, so be patient, and don't the edges until the craft ink is thoroughly dry.  I attached the letters with liquid glass (AKA Crystal Effects, Dimensional Magic, Glossy Accents).  I found the western hemisphere online, punched out, attaching with tombow mono and a little bit of newsprint washi tape.  The finishing touch, a grape soda bottle cap embellishment.  (If you know the movie, it has a very special meaning!)

Thanks for looking!  April

Birthday Pennant card

This card is using the new Stampin Up Big Day set.  The card base is kraft, stamped with candles in Jet Black Staz-On, with layers of SN@P paper and chalkboard paper.  I used paper piecing for the banner and letters.  The chalkboard paper is embossed in Whisper White powder and heat set.  The cake is stamped in Dove Grey Staz-On then mounted with a dimensional.  A little bit of pink baker's twine finishes the pennant.  Thanks for looking!  April

Altered mini clipboards

I got these cute little clipboards from the Michael's dollar section and decided they would be perfect for my stamp club.  I used SN@P paper, stamped with a swirl from Artful Inkables Into the Moonlight and SU Perfect Pennants.  I also used distress paint around the edges.  The area for the clip is punched from SU word window punch.  The cute little pads are post its that came with the boards and I added the stamp in Dove Grey Staz-On.  Very quick and special little treats that cost next to nothing.  I have another stack for teacher gifts.  Thanks for looking!  April

Butterfly greeting card

I took inspiration for this card from one on pinterest, but tweaked it a bit.  The base is Whisper White and a portion is cut out from a square nestabilities, then used a smaller one to cut the patterned paper.  The patterned paper is from SN@P 6x6 pad collection.  I punched out the butterflies from the discarded middles (2 from each square) and stacked them.  I ran them under the sewing machine, then fluffed up the upper butterfly.  Just a little adhesive and apply to the middle of the cut out area, then add a sentiment from SU Simply Wonderful set to the front of the card.  Easy peasy.  Thanks for looking!  April

with different patterns & sentiments

And One to Grow On card

This card base is Pool Party with layers of silver glitter paper, Real Red, and Whisper White.  I stamped the base in Pool Party with the cake, then the Whisper White strip with the candle in Dove Grey Staz-On (its a little less juicy than the Smoky Slate ink pad, giving a cleaner image, and almost identical color).  Since this card is for my hubby's BFF for his 42nd "big day", I stamped 42 candles across the front.  Inside, I made a panel of Whisper White, stamping the sentiment in Jet Black Staz-On.  I added some color with a blender pen in Real Red and Smoky Slate.  I stamped the cake in Dove Grey and made sure to add one more candle "to grow on".
 Thanks for looking!  April

inside detail

Blooming Thanks

This card has a base of kraft cardstock and layered with Project Life cards stamped with SU Quintessential Flower in Coastal Cabana and Pistachio Pudding.  I also used some Season of Style washi tape and the in-color decorative pieces in Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantalope and Pistachio Pudding.  I also stamped the sentiments in those colors from the Four You set.  Only one card is pictured here.  Thanks for looking!  April

Love Swing Card

 

I found this adorable card on Pinterest and love the colors, but I don't have the stamps.  I wanted a super simple Valentine card, since the fold is fancy.  The colors are Pool Party, Real Red and Whisper White.  The pin will take you to Julie's page and she has a simple tutorial to show how to put the whole thing together.  I decided to tweak mine a bit by using the retired Extreme Elements splotch in stamped off Pool Party and a punched heart in red glitter paper.  The banner is from Becky Higgins Project Life dies and is stamped with a sentiment from Best of Greetings in Basic Grey.  Once everything was cut, it went together pretty quick and I thought turned out pretty nice.  Sorry for the awful pics - I had sun coming in the craft room window and have a lot of shadows in the pics.  Thanks for looking!  April

Clean & Simple Sympathy

It is so sad how many sympathy cards I have needed in the past year.  I hate trying to think of something on the fly too so I decided to try to make a stack to have set aside.  It is always a challenge to not be overwhelming with decorations or too cheerful looking.  I decided to pull out the kraft cards and stick with neutral colors.  I stamped the leaves from SU's Day of Gratitude and sentiment from SU's Best of Greetings in Early Espresso ink.  I punched the butterfly in Early Espresso core stock, curling the wings around a stylus for some dimension, and added a couple of different size pearls.  Inside, I stamped the sentiment from Petite Pairs in Early Espresso.  Thanks for looking!  April

December My Paper Pumpkin rewind

So I wanted to make some more cards from the awesome December My Paper Pumpkin kit.  I grabbed some of the blank pre-scored card from Hobby Lobby and started stamping.  These are a serious no brainer and great to keep in my stash for a fast teacher or friend gift.  The base stamp is the multiple greeting inked in Smoky Slate.  The upper layer sentiment is stamped in Real Red, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry (not pictured).  I used copic markers to color the bling to match the Stampin Up inks.  It took me less than 30 minutes to put together 25 cards.  I had to wait for the copic to set up a bit since I did not think of coloring them first.  Thanks for looking!  April

Owl Love You Forever

So this card is for my wonderful brother and sister in law.  I have seen a few of these before but couldn't resist the adorable punch art owls.  I made this as an easel card and the base is Early Espresso with layers of Bo Bunny Back to Basic polka dots and kraft.  I used a woodgrain embossing folder to stamp the grain in Early Espresso before layering the kraft and polka dot papers and removing the middle with a nestabilities circle.  The owls are made with a 1 3/4" circle, then using the same punch to remove a little notch at the top and make a belly for each in a lighter color.  I also embossed the bellies with the Swiss Dots from Cuttlebug.  The colors used here are Night of Navy, Pool Party, Cherry Cobbler, and Pink Pirouette.  The eyes are a 1/2" circle punch with Whisper White and a 1/4" punch with Basic Black for the pupils.  I punched the nose from a heart border punch.  The sentiment is from Best of Greetings, stamped in Versamark and embossed in silver metallic.  Thanks for looking!  April

October My Paper Pumpkin trees

These Christmas gifts are made from the October 2014 My Paper Pumpkin Thanksgiving pie kit.  I used electric tea lights and stamped vellum to create these little tree gifts.  I marked a 1/2" line in from the embossed lines of the box, then cut a triangle from each large side.  I used Endless Wishes in Whisper White.  The banner is stamped in Very Vanilla with Cherry Cobbler.  I added some gemstones to the snowflakes within the tree for some extra sparkle.  I used left over stars from the Wish Big kit.  I made a stem by making a 1 inch square box from Early Espresso.  Before sealing the pie box, I punched a circle big enough to reach inside and turn on the tea light.  Thanks for looking!  April

January 2014 My Paper Pumpkin mini album

So I sat on this kit since last January.  I just didn't want to make another set of cards, so I saw a great mini album on pinterest.  (Of course, I can't find it now.)  You use the envelopes and cut apart the cards for the inserts.  You bend the flaps back and attach it to the ones behind.  The wrap is 5 3/4" wide and 11" long.  I added a little extra room in the score lines so there is about a quarter in thickness to allow room for the extra bulk of photos and ephemera.  I used a mix of stamps from past Paper Pumpkin kits and stamped in Basic Grey.  Thanks for looking!  April 

November My Paper Pumpkin leftovers

I decided to use up a bit of the November 2014 My Paper Pumpkin kit.  The card base is Whisper White with layers Pool Party, silver glitter paper, and the negative Lost Lagoon snowflakes.  I put the snowflakes on dimensionals and added a large gemstone to the middle of each snowflake.  I stamped the sentiment from Endless Wishes in Lost Lagoon.  Super quick and easy...who said a kit is just 8 cards?  Thanks for looking!  April