YAY, YOU!

I don't like to openly express how pleased I am with something that I've made, but . . . I was very pleased with this card because the design literally fell into place--straight from my head.  Two dreams--in less than two weeks--came true for my sister recently. 

#1 - She got a car (Volkswagen Beetle) that she's liked since the first Herbie movie

#2 - Her teaching license finally arrived, along with a job offer for the coming school year.

And so the idea for this card was born.  What could be a more appropriate way to congratulate her than a Beetle loaded down with teacher/classroom items, all the way down to a pencil tied to the hood and a "hearts" banner draped across the luggage rack?  The most important thing that she has always taken into a classroom--and will continue to take with her--is a heart filled with love for the children fortunate enough to land in her classroom.  She is not new to teaching but, in an effort to better herself and provide (hopefully) a higher level of job security, she spent two grueling years dedicated to earning her teaching degree.  It was quite a monumental feat while working full-time and sharing her time with children, grandchildren, and day-to-day responsibilities and obligations, but I guess it's safe to say that she is finally becoming what she always wanted to be.  I'm happy for and very proud of her, and all I have to say to the students who end up in her classroom . . . "lucky you"!!!

A STRAWBERRY BASKET FOR MAMAW

How cute is this little strawberry basket?  I recently purchased some Silhouette cut files from svgcuts.com, and this basket was one of the included box cards and the first one that I wanted to make.

I used retired Stampin' Up! designer paper on the flaps and decorated each simply with a button and twine (retired from Stampin' Up!).  An extra piece of card stock was cut for each of the bottom panels, and I embossed them with a basket weave texture using a Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder.  A dotted embossing folder was used on each of the strawberries, which were lightly sponged with Soft Suede ink.  A rhinestone jewel was placed in the center of each of the blossoms, and I used the medium Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blendabilities marker to color the jewels.

I love that box cards fold flat for mailing, but I hand-delivered this one yesterday since it had some extra bulk from the buttons, jewels, and twine.  The berry special hello sentiment was created on the computer, and the you make me smile sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s A Round Array stamp set.

NAUTICAL PARTY ENSEMBLE

With summer here and the beach in mind, use this ensemble for your next party.  Whether it's a summer birthday, a pool party, or a BBQ, this tutorial is perfect for helping you decorate!

This festive project was designed by Heidi King, and her tutorial can be found at Craft Project Central.

PURSE-SHAPED GIFT CARD HOLDER

My mother celebrated her birthday on Monday with her friends in the quilt club.  They do things a little different in that the person with the birthday brings the cake, party favors, etc.  She had planned to give gift cards to her friends and asked a few weeks ago if I could make a holder for them.  I had a cut file for the Silhouette to make this cute little purse, and it seemed perfect.  I tried to choose designer paper that looked "quilt-y" and thought a button in the center of the flower was a nice touch.  Sometimes when I'm asked for a certain kind of project, I have a really hard time coming up with something.  It was a piece of cake to make eight of these little purses, and the quilt ladies loved them.

WATERCOLOR STAMPING

Learn how to use ink and stamps four different ways to create a wonderful water colored look with four different card designs.  Gift this set with a box that features a lid with a clear window so you can show off your water colored card creations.

This colorful project was designed by Amanda, and you can find her tutorial at Craft Project Central.

"MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

For today's MISM project, I created a design (photo above) in My Digital Studio using the following digital content:  1-1/4" Square punch (shaped into a rectangle), Blossom punch, Butterfly Shape 1 punch, and a text box using Xiomara font from my computer.  I love that font for digital designs that I cut with the Silhouette Cameo or Brother Scan n Cut because the letters are connected and decently spaced apart.  What I wanted from my digital design was to create a card layer that I could scan into the Scan n Cut machine (hence the dark gray background) with a cursive "hello" sentiment, and a flower attached to the "h" so that it would--when cut--be connected to the sentiment.  At the last minute, I decided to add that pretty butterfly in the top right corner.  So I printed the digital design, scanned it into the machine, and this is the card layer that it cut:

After lifting the cut elements from the paper, I adhered it to a Whisper White card front and then adhered the "chads" that were cut from each of the loops (h, e, l's, and o) and added a few glimmer paper accents.  This card layer would actually be considered the "negative", and following is what I did with the "positive" cuts:

Even though I started out with the intention of making the previous card the focus of today's project, I had more fun creating the above card with the cut butterfly and floral hello elements.  Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include Pistachio Pudding and Wisteria Wonder card stock, Glimmer paper, white gel pen, Chevron embossing folder, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, and retired 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

SCRAPBOOK PAGE CLOCK GIFT SET

It's always time for scrapbooking with this personalized clock!  Use pictures from any occasion for a one-of-a-kind gift.  This ensemble includes a coordinating card to complete the set.

How cool is this project?!?!  It was designed by the talented Yapha Mason, and you can find her easy-to-follow tutorial at Craft Project Central.

"PICTOGRAM PUNCHES" & PAPER PUMPKIN FOR CHAD'S BIRTHDAY CARD

Today is my son's 23rd birthday and when I sat down to make his card, I used a few things that were already on the desk . . . Stampin' Up!'s Pictogram Punches stamp set and the June My Paper Pumpkin kit.  Is it sad that I often do that when I need a card--use what's already on my desk?  Earlier last evening, I opened the kit, made a pinwheel, and quite liked it.  The papers in the kit are pretty and obviously designed to celebrate the 4th of July, but they're manly, too.  Since I didn't have to mail Chad's card, it didn't matter that I used a bulky pinwheel on it.  The Whisper White stamped strip features the celebrate sentiment from the kit, and the star images are from Pictogram Punches, as is the "You're a star" sentiment.  I used the star punch from Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack to cut one of the stamped star images to place on the sentiment tag and then wrapped Baker's twine around the left end and tied it in a bow.  Obviously, this is an oversized card--5" x 5-1/2".  Other Stampin' Up! products used to complete this card include Real Red card stock, and my ink colors are Real Red, Night of Navy, and Smoky Slate.

ELEGANT BIRTHDAY SET

Looking for a special and unique way to dress up a birthday gift?  Make these elegant pieces and present your gift in a classy way.  These fun medallions make the perfect embellishments!

This clever ensemble was designed by Monika Davis, and her tutorial can be found at Craft Project Central.

HEXAGON BOX TUTORIAL

The featured tutorial on SCS today is my Hexagon Box, and you can check it out HERE.  Dina Kowal has a cute bloopers video on her blog HERE with a few "issues" she faced while making the tutorial video.  Some other hexagon boxes that I uploaded to the SCS gallery are as follows:

My mother recently gave me a "dancing flower pot"
that fit perfectly in the top of this box.

Using the Candy Box Punch Board, you can make hexagon boxes like these, and you can make them taller, too!