CRAFT PROJECT CENTRAL - BONUS PROJECT!

Want to make a great impression?  This is the perfect gift for the teacher you love!  This ensemble has a can that is perfect for filling with cookies or candy, a cute box to load up with goodies, and a card to top it off!

Isn't this one of the cutest project ensembles?!?!  It was designed by Heidi King, and her tutorial is available at Craft Project Central for anyone who has qualified for the August BONUS project.  How does one qualify?  It's easy . . . just subscribe to the August tutorials and then subscribe to two or more months in a row, put the Craft Project Central badge on your blog, or refer a friend.  If your friend subscribes, just notify Craft Project Central!

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

With her Freestyle Fridays post last week, Julie challenged me to stamp on designer paper this week.  I was really tempted to just use her beautiful card as a sketch because I liked it so much, but then I looked at my desk.  There were stacks of stamp sets and a host of other things that needed to be put away, and I noticed an adorable stamp set that I hadn't yet inked.  I used Early Espresso ink to stamp the chocolate candies all over the designer paper, but then I wasn't sure how to fill the space above this pretty stamped border.  I tried a few things and a few colors and image + sentiment, sentiment only, image only, but nothing was pleasing me.  So I did what any experienced paper crafter would do . . . I cut the card really small to fit the border but big enough to still look like a card.  It's actually a perfect little scrapling, and I started loving what was evolving.  After I adhered the scallop circle, I laughed a little because (to me) it looked like a cookie.  The ribbons were added and all layers glued to the Very Vanilla base but, after looking at the card for a while, it needed something.  On that one chocolate candy image, I used a red marker to color the swirl top, and I really liked it after I decided to use Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details.  Chocolate and glitter and a little splash of gingham . . . what's not to love?

ALL-IN-ONE MESSAGE CENTER

It’s Back-to-School season, and it’s time to show those teachers that we really appreciate them.  This decorated clipboard includes a corkboard to pin up important notes, along with an attached clothespin to clip additional messages.  It’s an all-in-one message center! Also included are some note cards for the teacher to send home some cute messages on! 

This project was designed by Jen, and her tutorial is posted at Craft Project Central.

WASHI TAPE BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR "MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

Today's MISM project demonstrates a fun way to use washi tape to create a birthday cake, and it's really easy to do.  After you decide the width of your card stock, just tear strips of washi tape to build your cake.  Get a piece of tape that's too long?  No problem . . . just tear a little from one end.  To dress up my cake, I added three rhinestone jewels and a punched snippet using the Scallop Trim Border punch and Whisper White card stock.  Other Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include Daffodil Delight and Strawberry Slush card stock, Tea Lace doily, dotted ribbon, Square Lattice embossing folder, and the sentiment from A Dozen Thoughts stamp set.

"MOSAIC MADNESS" CARD SET

Don’t you just love Stampin' Up!'s new cases for wood-mount stamps?? They have so many uses! This is a great desk set to give to anyone on your holiday or birthday gift list.  All the elements fit nicely in the case, and there's even a matching gift card.

This project was designed by Michelle, and her tutorial is posted at Craft Project Central.

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

I am in love with Julie's project for this week's edition of Freestyle Fridays, and I have only seen this tiny glimpse of it.  It's got layers and ribbon and a form of text-y paper or stamping for a background, and some of my stampin' friends will remember the early days when I was obsessed with green and purple (namely, Mellow Moss and Perfect Plum).  Even though I haven't seen much of Julie's project, I can tell that she went all out and created a winner!  Julie girl has had some really rotten stuff going on lately, and I'm really proud of her for being able to share a Freestyle Fridays project.  Big UPs to you, Julie!  I hope you'll join me in hopping over to Julie's blog, and don't forget to leave a little comment love. 

"SERENE SILHOUETTES" FALL GLOW

Last week, a sweet lady placed an online order (after seeing THIS card) that included Serene Silhouettes and the Window Frame Framelits dies, so I decided to use those products when making a thank you card for her, thinking that she'd appreciate yet another project idea using those products.  The floral image was stamped onto Very Vanilla card stock, die-cut with one of the Window Frame dies, and then ink was sponged over the image to create the Fall glow.  This layer was adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals to the next layer (Baked Brown Sugar or Soft Suede--I can't remember), which had been stamped with the same floral image and embossed with Stampin' Up!'s brand new Pretty Print embossing folder.  I adhered the stamped sentiment with a glimmer brad and then adhered the layer to a piece of Very Vanilla card stock with distressed edges and adhered the Very Vanilla layer to the Cajun Craze card.  I am so ready for Fall, and this card really put me in the mood for leaves to change colors and temps to start dropping.

GINGHAM GARDEN PURSE SET

This pretty little purse and monogram card set makes the perfect personalized gift for someone special.  The new school year is starting and teachers love having cards on hand.  How about that special co-worker or neighbor!  Make several to have on hand and customize the monogram when ready to give! 

This project was designed by Rosemarie, and her tutorial is posted at Craft Project Central.

"MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

I like to send thank you cards to the ladies who place online orders through my Stampin' Up! web site (a link with this month's Hostess Code is in the top right sidebar), and this is one of those cards.  I am loving all of the new Stampin' Up! colors and used Crisp Cantaloupe for this card.  Other products used to create this card include Serene Silhouettes, Sweetly Framed, and Flower Shop stamp sets, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock, Scallop Trim Border punch, Pansy punch, and rhinestone jewels.

ORGANIZATIONAL GIFT SET

Do you know someone who could use some more organization in their craft space? Or could you use some pretty organization yourself? This set will make your space a little more cheerful while helping you stay organized! You can corral all those wonderful ideas and inspirations on the pretty framed pin board, complete with rose push pins. You can keep your notes from running away with the pretty clipboard. All your lovely completed cards will be nicely sorted in the hanging card pockets, which are sorted by category making them easy to find.  This handy project was designed by Amanda, and her tutorial is posted at Craft Project Central.

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

With her Freestyle Fridays post last week, Julie issued a challenge for me to create something pink this week.  I don't know how that girl does it, but she always seem to pick up on what I'm not using.  LOL!  I'm almost always up for a challenge that involves creating with card stock, stamps, ink, etc., and here's my mission completed!  I carried the challenge in my mind all week and, as I was traveling home from Mocksville on Wednesday night, the idea for this card started taking shape.  Yesterday morning, my feet hit the floor, and I started stamping, punching, and distressing.  Yes, it's a square card and, yes, I included a little snip of gingham ribbon.  Wouldn't the card have been naked without it?  My ink colors are Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, and Baked Brown Sugar, and the stamp set that I used is "Six-Sided Sampler".  This card also features the Square Lattice embossing folder, and I was happy to find that perfectly-sized embossed layer just waiting for me in the folder with Whisper White card stock.  Other Stampin' Up! products featured include Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, 7/8" and 1" Square punches, designer button, Crumb Cake card stock, distressing tool, and pearl jewel.  Well, Julie, is this pink enough for you???  Thanks for the awesome challenge!

"WELCOME" TOPIARY

Welcome your house guests with this vintage-style topiary welcome banner.  This would look great in any home’s entryway.  Make one as a gift and another one for yourself.  Colors can be customized to match your entryway’s color scheme.

I love the little banner, and what a creative way to welcome guests!  Christy Fulk designed this pretty project, and her tutorial is posted at Craft Project Central.  Great job, Christy!

A PRETTY GIFT OF CARDS ON CRAFT PROJECT CENTRAL

Make this beautiful greeting card set with a matching box to hold them. It is the perfect present for anyone. It’s easy to make and can be mass produced without any difficulties. The box can be re-used and filled with note cards or other stationery.  

This project was designed by Monika Davis, and her tutorial is posted today at Craft Project Central. 

"MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

Today's MISM project is a card that was inspired by one that I saw on Pinterest recently, and I used this design as one of my thank you cards to customers who placed an online order through my web site.  Although the design is a simple one, it certainly doesn't lack texture, dimension, or visual interest.  Stampin' Up! products used to create this card include Whisper White, Basic Black, and Pistachio Pudding card stock, Fancy Fan embossing folder, "Serene Silhouettes" and "Sweetly Framed" stamp sets, and Window Frames Collection Framelits dies.

Last week, I promised to announce the winner of a FREE one-month subscription to Craft Project Central, and the winning name was drawn from those who left a comment on THIS blog post.  And the winner is . . . PHodge, who wrote, "After seeing the burlap ribbon on your projects, I'll definitely getting some - love it!!"   

 

PHodge, send me an email with "Free CPC Subscription" in the subject line so we can get your subscription started!

"PERFECT BLEND" ENSEMBLE

You have friends and, most likely, they love coffee . . . and chocolate.  This is the perfect little treat for them, and it would be a perfect little pick-me-up or just a sweet way to say, "I care."

This project was designed by Laurie, and her tutorial is posted today at Craft Project Central.

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

Happy Friday, and welcome to this week's edition of Freestyle Fridays.  It's Julie's turn to wow and inspire, and this is the tiny sneak photo that she shared with me.  Isn't that a gorgeous butterfly?  If I'm not mistaken, she also used a retired floral background stamp, but I could be wrong.  To see her entire project and learn all about it, we'll have to visit Julie's blog.  I'm sure she'd love it if we take a minute to leave a little comment.  Have a great weekend!

"ARTBOOKING" CARTRIDGE CREATION

It's been a while since I installed Cricut Craft Room, and I can't even remember why I felt intimidated by it.  The CCR is an online replacement (so to speak) for the Gypsy, a design tool that I have thoroughly enjoyed and didn't think I'd want to do without.  A couple of nights ago, I decided to see what I could do with CCR because I was anxious to create something using the new Artbooking cartridge.  I ended up not designing anything with the online program--I just used the CCR to lay the images on the virtual Cricut mat so that I could cut each of them at the same time.  What's not to love about a cute file folder-shaped card?  It's one of the images on the Artbooking cartridge, and I have a feeling that it will be one that I use again and again.

"FLOWER SHOP" CARD SET & GIFT BOX

Everyone loves having a supply of gifts ready to give to co-workers, friends or as a hostess gift.  This Flower Shop box and cards is a perfect addition to any gift stash!  Project includes instructions for a pretty Vellum card box, two different card designs, and a gift tag.

I am in love with this project, which was designed by Sharon Burkert.  What's not to love about this gorgeous ensemble?!?!  The complete tutorial can be found at Craft Project Central. 

"SETTIN' SAIL" MASCULINE BIRTHDAY CARD

Each month, a new sketch challenge is posted at Craft Project Central, and I followed the latest sketch to create this card.  Actually, it was the perfect challenge for Stampin' Up!'s "Settin' Sail" stamp set.   Sometimes it's not easy to create with small images, but the cluster of circles in Creating Pretty Cards - Card Challenge #26 was perfect!  I had a lot of fun creating this card and, of course, there was a special place for a little burlap!  Love that stuff!  Why don't you create something for Card Challenge #26, and you might win a FREE one-month subscription to some awesome project tutorials!

"MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

Today's MISM project is a very simple square card that I whipped up around one o'clock this morning--in a rush.  It just so happened that I had dropped a bag of inexpensive craft finds from Walmart in my stamp room, so I just reached in the bag and cut two pieces of designer paper, grabbed that cute "thanks" brad, and opened a pack of floral paper tape.  I layered those items onto Early Espresso and Real Red card stock.  I then punched, crumpled, and stacked four 1" punched circles for the flower, and placed a strip of Gingham Garden washi tape onto card stock and then punched the pretty center for my flower.  The stem is a thin slicing from scrap Always Artichoke card stock.  One of the quickest cards I've ever made--snappy as can be!

MARRIAGE ADVICE & QUIPS MINI ALBUM

My project is featured today at Craft Project Central, and I'm so excited about it!  If you like unique and shabby mini albums, then you are going to love this one!  It features one of my favorite new Stampin' Up! products . . . burlap ribbon!

Every new bride could use some marital advice and some light-hearted quips about marriage.  This ensemble includes a shabby mini album made up of staggered pages, room for a few photos, and a couple of pockets to tuck notes . . . or more small photos.  When your mini album is complete, the coordinating gift box and greeting card will make for a perfect presentation of the gift, which is sure to become a keepsake.  The tutorial, complete with photos and detailed instructions, can be found at Craft Project Central.  If you'd like a chance to win a free subscription to all of the tutorials posted this month, just leave a comment on this blog post.  I'll announce the winner on Monday, August 12th, so be sure to check back then!

AN ODD WAY (BUT APPROPRIATE) TO WISH MY PARENTS A HAPPY 54TH ANNIVERSARY

Yesterday was my parents' 54th anniversary, and I had to get extra creative with the card that I wanted to send to them.  My first thought was where to send the card.  Let me explain.  My grandmother lives next door (across a field) to my parents and, for the past several months, my mother has been living with spent a lot of time at mamaw's house caring for her needs.  During this time, I have sent mail to mamaw's house for my mother and to my parents' house for daddy.  An anniversary card certainly needed to go to both of them, so I came up with a solution . . . I would make the card and write a sweet sentiment on the inside, and then I would cut the card so that daddy would get one half, and mother would get the other half.  I knew this would give them something to laugh about and, under the circumstances, they need to ha-ha every chance they get!

It just so happened that I found this really cute image that was perfect for a split card.

The black blob on the woman's finger is actually a rhinestone jewel that shows up better in the first photo.  My card stock colors are Very Vanilla, Real Red, and Pool Party.

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

Last week, Julie issued a mission for me to create something using the color purple, and I chose to work with Wisteria Wonder, which seems to be another one of those colors that's difficult to photograph.

My project features the Inlaid Embossing technique, which I think is a really neat technique--one that's very easy to accomplish and is an easy way to add color and texture to a project.  I began by using VersaMark ink to stamp a few Mosaic Madness images onto Wisteria Wonder card stock, sprinkled the stamped images with silver embossing powder, heat set them, and then used the Mosaic punch to cut them.  The punched shapes were adhered to Whisper White card stock, and then I stamped a different Mosaic Madness image between the punched shapes, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, of course.  I embossed the card stock with the Fancy Fan embossing folder and then punched five tiny flowers from glimmer paper to adhere to the center of each punched shape.  I used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch to create glimmery edges for the card stock.  The finishing touch was the stamped sentiment, which is from Loving Thoughts stamp set.  All products used to create this card are from Stampin' Up! except for the adhesive that I used to adhere the vellum.  In all of mystampin' years, I have tried different vellum adhesives, but I haven't been totally satisfied with any of them.  Most of the time when I work with vellum, I adhere it to a project with a brad or use a punched shape, button, or other embellishment to hide the glue . . . except this time.  Surprisingly, my Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive worked beautifully and left absolutely no trace, and it will definitely be my go-to vellum adhesive from now on.  I have been using this adhesive for quite some time when working with cuts from my Cricut Expression or Silhouette Cameo machines because it truly is quick-drying.  The only thing that I don't like about the adhesive is that the nozzle has to be unclogged (by inserting a long needle or piercing tool into it) with each use.  It's worth the effort, though.  Happy Friday to you, have a great weekend, and THANK YOU, JULIE, for yet another fun mission! 

PROJECT WRITE HOME

Do you have a high school graduate going off to college this Fall? How about just a distant friend or relative that you’d like to hear from more often? This little set will fit the bill! Create the cover and the detailed interior, complete with divided inserts to fit all the contents. Add the handmade cards and envelopes, along with the two-sided Stampin’ Write Marker – one side for writing, and the other side for stamping the personalized return address stamp for the envelope. This sweet set will be sure to delight the recipient – and motivate them to Write Home!!

This project, designed by Julie Beltramo, is definitely well thought out and includes everything--in one neat package--that a special someone will need to keep in touch.  The complete tutorial can be found at Craft Project Central.