Rustic Rooster Card by Peggy

Here is another card I made at the Shoebox Swap. This was Peggy's card. She designed it, and cut out all the supplies. All I had to do was stamp my images, watercolor the rooster, trim him out, and ensemble the card.
Note: Sponge the edge of the white with a touch of black ink.
Peggy has a wonderful blog. She is now updating her blog all the time! Check it out! Here is the link:
http://thewiredangel.blogspot.com/

Supplies (All Stampin Up!)
Stamp Set: Rustic Rooster Hostess Stamp Set (Free with a $300 Order, but can not be purchased on its own), there is also a retired background stamp used on the Kraft paper...sorry I don't know the name of it.
Paper: Kraft, Black, So Saffron, Really Rust, Whisper White, Watercolor Paper
Ribbon: Black
Ink: Water Color Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter Brush, Mister, Black Stazon
Other: Dimensionals, Vintage Brad, Adhesive

Good Friend Card by Diana

Here is Diana's card from the Shoebox Swap. She designed the card and cut out the pieces for us (except for trimming out the bird, of course). All I had to do was Stamp, Emboss, Trim, and Ensemble! I love this one - isn't it cute?

Diana's blog is amazing and her stuff is always the bomb. It is far superior to mine, LOL. Maybe my blog can look like hers someday? Doubtful. One can dream.

Here is the link to her blog:

http://www.dianaball-seitz.com/

Supplies (All Stampin Up!)

Stamp Set: Good Friend

Ink: CRAFT ink is used, so it can be embossed. Chocolate Chip and Summer Sun

Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Red Riding Hood, and Good Morning Sunshine DSP

Other: Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Ribbon, Iridescent Ice EP, Bold Brights Brad, Scissors to trim out the bird, Adhesive, Dimensionals

Nugget Box by Peggy

I made this box at the shoebox swap. This was Peggy's project! She cut out the pieces, and handed us the above directions. I thought she really went above and beyond - typing everything out for us like she did. Isn't it cute? All I had to do was Stamp, and ensemble!

I hope you can read the directions.

Here is her blog:

http://mycraftroomblog.blogspot.com/

Supplies (All Stampin Up! Except the Chocolate!)

Cardstock: I am not sure what DSP this striped stuff is. You can use any DSP. The other cardstock colors are Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, and So Saffron DSP

Stamp Set: Priceless

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Other: Vintage Brads, Paper Piercer, Scallop Circle Punch, Chocolates, Pink Sticky Strip, 1 1/4 Circle Punch, 1 3/8 Circle Punch

Bookmark Card - Elegant Thank You by Jeri

This above piece is a beautiful book mark! So, after the card is thrown away, the recipient can keep this little goody.

Here is a card I made at the Shoebox Swap. This was Jeri's! I LOVE IT. Jeri designed it, and had all the pieces cut out, so all I had to do was stamp, do the die cut, and assemble.

Here is Jeri's blog:

http://coloringourworld.blogspot.com/

Directions (Condensed)

The bookmark piece is 8 1/2 x 1 1/2. Stick a magnet on the LH side and the RH side (on the inside of the 8 1/2 x 1 1/2 piece). Score in the middle. Attach flower and cardstock on the outside.

On the purple piece of the card (the square piece that is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4) MAKE SURE you don't glue down the LH & RH side. Just adhere the top and bottom. Otherwise, you won't be able to slide the bookmark in to that panel.

If you are wondering how the corners were punched out...these are done with the Scallop Border punch. Just stick your corner in diagonally and punch. OK - hard to explain...I guess I should do a tutorial on this one of these days.

Supplies - All Stampin Up! Except Magnets

Stamp Set - Elegant Thank You

Card Stock: Old Olive, So Saffron, Perfect Plum, So Saffron DSP

Ribbon: Same colors as Card Stock

Ink: Perfect Plum

Other: Clear Rhinestone Brads, Adhesive, Magnets (Michaels or Hobby Lobby), Flower Die Cut (pg 202 of the new catalog), Texturz Plates #4 (pg 203), Big Shot Machine and plates, Round Scallop Punch, Scallop Border Punch.

Flower Made From Love You Much

Here is my Valentine's Card. I cased this. But, I don't know the lady's name who designed this card...I either saw it on a blog or the SU list serve, and I failed to write her name down. So sorry! The only things I changed: I changed the ribbon, the background paper, and I embossed the ink. Her flower was straighter than mine! I had a very hard time getting the petals to stay still...so I finally just glued them down as is. Hope you have better luck if you decide to make this card. It was really fun to make. And I am still happy with my heart flower. :-)
Supplies (All Stampin Up Except the Ribbon)
Stamp Set: Love You Much
Ink: Real Red Craft and Black Craft
Paper: Very Vanilla and Red DSP (but last year's DSP), Real Red
Ribbon: Making Memories "Love Notes"...I bought at Archiver's
Other: Glue Dots, Snail Adhesive, Clear Embossing Powder, Circle Punch, Scallop Punch, Scissors, Dimensionals.
Notes: Cut 10 hearts out and fold 5 one way and 5 the other way. Make 5 complete hearts and then ensemble on the card.

Raspberry Tart Best Wishes Card

Here is the card I designed for the shoebox swap tomorrow. Yes! I actually came up with the entire design (for once)! I hope everyone likes it. There will be 10 demonstrators there (at Jeri's house). We are having a chili supper and lots of goodies. We will go around and make 1 of everyone's sample.
I just love this paper! I want to order a couple more packages.
Supplies (all Stampin Up)
Stamp Set: Best Wishes & More
Paper: Raspberry Tart DSP, Pretty in Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette
Ribbon: Old Olive
Ink: I used craft (Rose Red) on the bird and embossed him with clear EP. For the verse, I used Black Stazon
Other: Scallop Border Punch, Dimensionals, snail adhesive

Frap Bottle (Best Wishes & More)

Here is a quick little project using a recycled Frapuccino bottle (Starbucks brand from the grocery store).
To get the label off the Frap bottle: Fill bottle with hot water, empty, then zap with heat gun. If there is sticky residue left behind, use Goo Gone.
To get the expiration date stamp off: Use finger-nail polish remover.
Supplies
Stamp Set: Stampin Up "Best Wishes & More"
Ribbon: Riding Hood Red taffeta
Paper: Riding Hood Red DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Black Stazon
Punch: Scallop Border Punch (SU)
Other: Dimensionals, Sticky Strip (to get the label to adhere to the bottle), and Crystal Stickers by Mark Richards (I got those at Archivers or Michaels)

Big Shot Envelope Die Box

Sorry I haven't posted for SO LONG! We were in Russia in December. We are in the process of adopting two children. It has been a long journey, but we are so excited. We are waiting to hear from our agency so we can return to Russia and bring them home.
Here is a project I finished tonight.
One photo is taken with a flash, and the other w/o a flash.
I put chocolate in the box, and plan to give this one to my friend, Lark. We are going to her house tomorrow.

Materials Used:

Big Shot Envelope Die (I don't own this! I wish I did! I cut it out at Jeri's house - thank you Jeri!)

Paper: Blush Blossom, and I think the other is either Chocolate Chip or Close to Cocoa from last year (DSP)

Ink: Close to Cocoa

Stamp Set: Country Living Set - the one from the Holiday Mini

Other: Glue Pen, Glitter (I hope it shows in the photo), sticky strip, circle punch, and Martha Stewart Ribbon in Apricot

Notes: Cut out 4 pieces with the die. Put sticky strip on the 1st and 3rd, and assemble. The DSP is 2" by 14" (have to piece 2 together).

How To Stamp On Candles

I was just asked how I stamped on the candles.
Goodness, I wish I had enough ambition to tape a tutorial, or take a lot of photos, but it is late...so I'll just try to sum it up in a few paragraphs.
I will basically just sum up what is already said on this site:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/stamping_on_candles/

Step 1
Stamp on white tissue paper. Use images that can be colored-in or solid images, in the ink color of your choice. For my candle, I dipped my stamp in black Staz-On Ink and then stamped on the tissue paper. This is the outline.

Tip: Stamp extra images on the tissue in case of a mistake.
Step 2
Color in stamped images using some form of coloring medium, but be careful and test the medium used. With Twinkling H2O™s™, you will want to make sure your Aquabrush™ is not very wet but has a fair amount of watercolor on it. If you would prefer not to color just use a solid stamp with your choice of ink.
For my candle - I colored in the image with Stampin-Write Markers (Stampin Up) and they worked very well.

Step 3
Cut out your stamped images fairly close to the edges.
Step 4
Take a piece of wax paper and cut it so that it is not any taller than the candle being used and long enough so that it wraps completely around the candle and then some.
Step 5
Take your first stamped image and place it on the candle. Then place the wax paper on top and wrap the wax paper around the candle. Wing out the extra wax paper and pinch close with your fingers making sure the wax paper is tight against the candle.
(kind of like a tight sleeve)

Step 6
Heat up your embossing gun for 30-40 seconds until it is nice and hot. Moving quickly,

(AND NOT TOO CLOSE to the candle or the candle will MELT)

wave it over the area where the stamped image is; be sure to keep the wax paper nice and tight. Every candle will have a different wax melting point, but you should see a change begin to take place within a few seconds. As the candle heats up, the pressure from the wax paper should push the image into the melting wax of the candle, embedding the image and leaving your image intact.Slowly peel the wax paper off the candle. Remember: every brand is different so if you are switching between brands you may need to adjust your heating times a bit.
Step 7
Finish your candle.You can do numerous images on one candle; just place another image and move the wax paper. It is best to try and not use the same spot on the wax paper for each image, but you can use 1 piece of wax paper numerous times.

TIP: Just to be safe - I just threw away the wax paper, and used new wax paper if I was melting another image into the candle.

TIP: I also heard a great tip from someone else. She said if there is a scratch on a wax candle you can "buff" it out with a pair of panty hose.

TIP: Maybe buy a couple very cheap candles (on clearance at Michaels or Hobby Lobby) to practice. After all - I really messed up my first 2 very badly and had to just use them up for my own home (too ugly to give as gifts). But once I got the hang of it...the 3rd time was a charm!

LAST TIP, I PROMISE :-) You can use any embellishment to decorate your candle when you are finished. I especially like the self-adhesive rhinestones and pearls!

Have fun making your own candle and good luck!

Birthday Card for my Brother

This card looks so much better in person - it is so frustrating (my camera - that is). I think I should take my cards downstairs next time I need to take a photo. The light in this room is weird.
Anyhoo...this is a birthday card for my brother. He loves fountain pens - so I thought he'd enjoy this stamp! I am up very late making this card...his birthday is in 2 days!
Supplies:
Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive, Kraft, DSP in middle of brad is Autumn Vine
Stamps: Thinking of Father (retired), That's Nice (retired - inside of card)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Other: Sponges for sponging both Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa around card, Cuttlebug Folder Tiny Bubbles, Build-a-Brad (Stampin Up), Fibers (ribbon stuff) by Adornments

This is just the inside of the card

This is just another photo in brighter light.