Your Good News

Here it is...this weeks Fab/Sassy Challenge. This week we were to make a card using the paper piecing technique. This is only the second time I have tried this and I think it came out pretty well. The trick is to cut out the image along the inside of the line so that you can see the line on the cardstock background. I used the Soft Sky and So Saffron designer series papers as well as Not Quite Navy and So Saffron cardstock.

I love this set A Little Birdie by Stampin' Up! There are so many great sayings that come with it. This one says "A Little Birdie Told Me... About Your Good News."

What is your recent good news? Have you been asked to join a design team? Recently become a demo? Good news from a family member or friend? I have some of my own good news to share, but will wait a few more weeks to tell you. Can you make a guess?

Felt Sassy

My Sassy Friends and I have taken a bit of a break from our normal weekly challenges, due to the holidays, but have started back this week. Our challenge this time was to use some of the new toys we were sure to acquire over the past few weeks.

For this card I used several new items:

*New BasicGrey Designer Paper "Perhaps"
*New colors of Copic Sketch Markers
*New CuttleBug Flower Dies
*New Felt

Never Before Used items:
*Red Stickles
*Sequins Flowers

This card started out simple enough. I stamped the flower and sentiment from Time Well Spent by Stampin' Up! using Graphite Black Brilliance Ink on Papertrey White card stock. The layout is similar to SC157 but does not quite fit and looked a bit plain so I added the extra vertical layer on the right, but I did want the first panel to remain offset to left so that the felt flower would have some room to pop off the page. The felt flower was very fun to make and is what inspired me to use this stamp set as well. The CuttleBug dies in the Flower set are in various sizes. This meant that I was able to cut the biggest flower first in the Red Glitter Felt then used the medium flower to cut out the center of the red flower and a second flower out of Pink Glitter Felt. I repeated this step with the smallest flower on white felt. I like the way that I was able to have a multi colored flower without too much added dimension. To finish off the flower I used 2 small pink sequins I had on hand. I bought these way back in May for the Flower Garden VSN, and never used them. They are very fun and coordinated with the felt flowers quite nicely. Lastly, I added the Stickles just to carry through the look from the Glittery Felt.

New Stamps

Like I said before we have been quite busy with the holidays and we have all been sick in my house, but last night I finally felt well enough to stamp a card. I think a little rubber therapy helps you heal faster. So here is my first card of 2008.

I decided to use one of the new stamp sets Embrace Life and the new Ginger Blossom Designer Series Paper. I pulled my card stock colors from the DP,and used Ruby Red as my base color. The next panel is the Ginger Blossom DP mounted on some Old Olive. I stamped the two flowers using Brilliance Graphite Black on Papertrey Ink White card stock. I have found that combination of ink and CS to work well for using my Copics. Unfortunately when I stamped the bottom flower I caught an edge of the stamp so I had to think of a pretty way to cover up my boo-boo. I think the Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon with the joy charm fit the bill quite nicely. I sanded the silver charm slightly and colored it with one of my Copics to give it the green hue. I attached the charm to the ribbon using some silver wire works. Finally, I stamped the sentiment on Old Olive and attached the main image.

Recipe
Stamps: Embrace Life
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers
CS: Old Olive, Ruby Red, Papertrey Ink White, Ginger Blossom DP
Accessories: Cranberry Crisp Ribbon, Wire Works, Double Rectangle Punch, Joy Charm

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope that 2008 finds you all happy and healthy and ready to stamp!!!

I can't believe that it has been 11 days since my last post. So sorry. Between our Holiday travels and the whole family being down with the nastiest colds ever (I say that about every cold when I have it) I just have not had time to stamp. Oh NO!!!! Don't worry though, my husband goes back to work tomorrow so I can use nap time to create once again :)

Boxes

Wow! Has it really been that long since my last post. Sorry guys. I have been very busy getting ready for the Holidays as I am sure that you are as well. I thought I would share with you a quick project that I did last night.


I really hate giving gift cards as presents, but some times it just can't be avoided. If I am going to be forced to give a gift card to someone I may as well package it up nice and pretty. I tried to convince my husband that he needed to eat 5 tins of Altoids, but for some reason he wouldn't do it so there went that idea. Then I looked around at a cute little 2-5-7-10 box that Kim (NutsyMuhl) made for me and realized that it was the perfect size to slip a gift card into and I could wrap a few nuggets as well. Now that's a gift!! I even made things a bit easier on myself and used some Stampin' Up! Dashing Decorative Paper so I didn't need to stamp it. I did stamp the emblem on the front using Riveting.

I also have two nieces who will be turning 14 within the next two weeks. Gift Cards are all they really want, sigh, so I made them some boxes as well. I used the Prints Designer Series Papers in Rose Red and Groovy Guava for their boxes and stamped the emblem with Priceless.

I was invited to participate in a cookie exchange with my neighbors, and since I am the new kid on the block I really wanted to WOW them. First, I made some yummy snowball cookies shown here.


Then I had to make a card to share the recipe.


I used this weeks Sketch Challenge from SplitCoastStampers.com always an easy way to make a great card. The base is Soft Sky, and the next layer is stamped with Not Quite Navy and Groovy Guava on Very Vanilla layered on Not Quite Navy card stock. I used the flourishes from Priceless as all my images. The next layer is some Groovy Guava Prints DP layered on Really Rust card stock. Who knew that Really Rust was the compliment to Groovy Guava? Again I stamped the flourish with Not Quite Navy on Very Vanilla and mounted it on Not Quite Navy card stock and then tied some groovy guava stitched ribbon around the image. I finished the card with 3 silver brads on a word window punchout. I used my slit punch on the inside and slid a 3x5 index card with the cookie recipe inside. I figured the neighbors could then use the card for any occasion they would like.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Priceless
Ink: Not Quite Navy and Groovy Guava
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava Prints DP, Very Vanilla,


Cookie Recipe:

Snowball Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour 2 cups finely chopped pecans ¼ cup sugar	1 cup butter softened 1 teaspoon vanilla Powdered Sugar
Preheat oven to 325* Yield 3 dozen In large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until well mixed. Shape rounder teaspoonfuls of dough into 1” balls. Place 1” apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 18-25 minutes until lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm and again when cool.

Priceless 3x3

Each week I do a challenge with my Sassy/Fab Friends. This week we wanted to do something quick and easy since we are all busy getting ready for the Holidays, so our challenge was to do a 3x3 card. This will be the last challenge card with this group until January. I can't wait to get started on the next batch!

Stamps: Priceless
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Icicle Stickles