Christmas ornaments and decorations, project 6, part 3

Hi Stampers
Today I am showing the third window in row one of my shadow box.

I hope you can see that the brad (an office size brad) in the center was covered with white embossing powder and then dipped in dazzling diamonds glitter.  The red part is punched from the five petal flower punch and the yellow part is punched with the Boho blossoms punch.  The flower is put into the window using dimensionals.
Happy halloween!!
Peggy

Christmas ornaments and decorations, project 6, part 2

Hi stampers,
Today you get to see the next window in the shadow box project.  This window is in the middle of the top row.

The wreath was made from the doily triple layer punch with a hole punched in the center using the itty bitty punch pack flower.  We made a non-tied bow which is held together with the legs of a brad.  Then  the legs of the brad go through one of the little holes in the wreath while the other leg goes through the center hole.  The legs are folded in the back to secure the bow.  The wreath is mounted in the window using dimensionals.
Peggy

Christmas ornaments and decorations, project 6

Hi stampers!!
I am excited to begin to show you this next project....it has many parts and they will be posted over the next week. The final project of the class was a shadow box.  I pre-painted all the boxes before the ladies came so I could be sure not to waste time during class on such a  time consuming task.

As you might imagine, SU punches figure prominently in this whole project.  Each of the windows has a piece of DSP in the background - I used two different patterns - one pattern is in the four corners and the center window of the nine for a total of 5 pieces; the other four pieces are at the N S E W  positions.Here is the first window of the project.....

Row one, window one:  This picture shows an ornament punch of DSP which has been outlined with a gold paint pen.  It is put in the window on dimensionals and a piece of red glass is attached in the center.  I am one of those people who never throws away anything that can be reused (can you spell tree hugger recycler?)  This glass was part of a gaudy holiday decoration from way back.  So glad I finally found a good use for it!!
Come back tomorrow for a look at the next window.
Peggy

Christmas ornaments and decorations, project 5

Hi all
Today I have a fun little holiday decoration for you.  This project uses two petal cone die cuts and a modified top note die. 

Each face of the petal cone is stamped with the  tree from the Christmas Lodge stamp set (always artichoke ink on river rock c/s).  Then we used a flower hand-held punch to make random holes in the sides.   Actually, we folded the petal cone on the crease and punched through both layers at the same time and did the same thing to the other cone.  The trick here is to make sure that the tab from one cone doesn't block the punched holes on the other cone, so check it before you adhere the tab to the cone.  When I cut the petal cones, I left about 3/4" of the scallop flap on the bottom and cut it straight, parallel to the fold.   That tab is left so that you can attach the tree to the base.  Before you do that, you first have to punch a hole in the top note  base so that the switch for the fake candle light is accessible.  The top note square was made by folding a piece of 4 x 4 c/s in half and then covering only the last two inches of the die.  Punch four stars and score each one down the center and fold.  Attach half of one star to the next one until you have a 3 dimensional star.  We separated the tops of the two cones and put a dab of crystal effects to hold the star.
Sorry I am not able to show you the tree lit up...I gave my gals the good lights and mine is burning out.  Besides, my photography skills aren't that great!  Trust me, it looks great!!

Peggy

Christmas ornaments and decorations, project 4

Hi all
Note: my Oct25th post had a glitch which omitted one of the pictures.  I have fixed the post if you want to check out the back of the Joy ornament, it is now shown on the Oct 25th post.
Today's project is another ornament - the last one from this class, as the other projects from the class are decor items.

This project is a bit of an optical illusion which is created by using a sheet of acetate.  We used ultramarine stazon ink to stamp the Come to Bethlehem image on an acetate circle.  Let me mention here that it is very important that you leave a stem on the acetate circle so that when you insert it into the ornament, the circle stays in place.   If you use a circle without the stem, you run the risk that the circle will "walk" out of alignment (and maybe end up upside down!!).  Of course, you have to make sure the stazon ink is absolutely dry before you roll the acetate and insert it into the glass ornament.

Then, you have to make a cone from a piece of scrap paper and insert it into the opening of the ornament, making sure it goes between the acetate and the glass.   Then, put in about a teaspoon of mica chips and about a half teaspoon of chunky glitter.  Next, move the cone to the other side of the acetate and insert the teaspoon of mica chips and a half  teaspoon of chunky glitter there too.  Put the cap back on the ornament and remember  - don't lay the ornament down, as the glitter and mica will fall out of the top!!!

Peggy

Christmas ornaments and decorations, project 3

Hi all
Today I am going to share with you another stamped porcelain ornament.  For this project we used an old bold stamp set called "Holiday Collection" - I have three of these sets available for sale for only $5each.  There are six images in this set.  Let me know if you are interested in purchasing one or more of them.

We used another retired color of Stazon ink for this project, Royal Purple. Again, we stamped one side,

left it to dry while we did the gold edging, and then stamped the back.

If you use the paint pen, you could easily sign and date the back of each ornament to make a special Christmas (such as, baby's first Christmas or your first Christmas together) gift.
Contact me today if you would like to purchase this great stamp set!...only $5

Peggy

Christmas ornaments and decorations, project two

Hi all,
Today's project is a simple porcelain ornament.  When you are working on this surface you must use stazon ink.  Dye based ink will never stick/dry and I have not tried embossing on them so I cannot advise you to try craft ink (wonder if the heat would harm the surface?   Might have to give that a test try.)
We used the stamp set "The Sounding Joy" in Azure Stazon ink.  SU doesn't carry this color any longer but of course I still have lots of retired items and the various stazon ink pads are among them.  Here is the front:

and here is the back.

The edges of the ornament are done in silver paint pen.  The paint pen is also not a SU product but it really sets off this project to a "T".  Love it!!  Of course, when you stamp with stazon, you have to wait for one side to dry thoroughly before you turn it over to do the other side, but if you need many gifts - for a group of friends, coworkers, choir members, club members, this is a great gift.  Just stamp all of the stars on one side and leave them to dry.  Come back the next night and stamp all of them on the other side.  Ta da!  Here's a helpful hint - if you make a mess of the stamping, just take a paper towel with stazon cleaner on it and wipe off the ink.  You can spot clean by putting a little cleaner on a q-tip and remove the little spot.  Just make sure all of the cleaner is removed before you try to stamp again.
I have another one for you to see tomorrow!!
Let me remind you that you need to contact me PDQ if you are planning on coming to the stampin session on Sunday, October 30...we'll be doing thanksgiving projects.
Peggy

Christmas ornaments and decorations, project one

Hi all
We had a fun class this week making several different projects for Christmas.  Today I am going to show you the cutest little, simple project, but through the week I will show you some other different, more involved ideas.
Here's the simple one......

Can you tell that this was made from several punches and Big Shot dies?  The body is from the squares duo die, the wings are from the butterfly die, the head is a circle punch, the halo was made from two circle punches.  We used gold card stock for the wings and the halo.

This could easily be an ornament on a tree but also it could be a lovely adornment on a package.
Imagine how many of these you could whip up in an evening!   I am sitting here typing while watching the NJ Medium on TV ...angels are appropriate, huh?

Peggy

stamping in the funniest places!

Hi all
I wanted to  show you a little project I made recently for a friend.  She has the wonderful distinction of having authored a chapter in a book.  She asked me to help her find a way to insert her business card into the book where her chapter begins.

Once the top note die was folded, I added slits for the card to be inserted into.

 She placed the top note die over the page and her name sticks up from the top of the book.

Here is how it looks closed.

Christmas stamp a stack, part 2, Project 5

Hi all
Today I am posting the last card from the second series of  Christmas cards.

This card seems so traditional to me that I really find it appealing.  The rhinestones give it the bling that makes it fresh.  This card is actually a quick assembly.
I will be doing one more group of five new cards in November on Sunday, the 13th...contact me now as the class is already half full.
 Peggy

Christmas stamp a stack, part 2, Project 4

Hi all
Today I have another great holiday card to share.  Easel cards are all the rage right now and this one is so simple.  I have really developed a fondness for the crumb cake cardstock. 

Again I got to use my big shot to cut the top note dies - or portions of the top note dies - the tasteful trim on the inside of the card, and the red top note die cuts were run through the Big Shot a second time using the Northern Flurry textured impressions embossing folder.  If you don't have the Big Shot die cutting machine, you should consider signing on to Stampin' Up! with me now.  If you sign on during the month of October with the $175 starter kit, you will also get the Big Shot or $100 worth of stamps for free!!!   And you do not have to reach the minimum quarterly sales until the end of March, 2012.  That's a long time!!  What if you still can't make the $300 minimum?  No problem, you just drop out and keep all your goodies!
The snow around the lodge in this card was highlighted using the Dazzling Details.  A decorative label punch with a faux layer underneath and all is good.
Peggy

in response to Terry's comment

Hi all
I have been asked for more details about today's card.......
The cardstock is bashful blue - cut in 3" strips from 12 x 12 cardstock which then gives you 4  folded  3 x 6"    cards per sheet (an important fact when you are cutting for a stamp a stack, as I was).  Fold the 3 x 12 cardstock in half so the hinge is at the top.  Then we stamped the greeting in wild wasabi ink at the bottom of the cover (and the greeting on the inside too).  Then we stamped a snowflake with bleach randomly on the cover of the card. (the bleach did not show up well)  Now I tried several different bottles of bleach and none were too effective - so I am suspecting the bashful blue c/s just doesn't bleach well.  I have had great success with bleaching baja breeze c/s so you might try that instead.  The window is a sizzix die cut (one of the old dies called window, sunshine) using wild wasabi c/s.  We strung the jingle bell on retired silver cord and tied a knot to keep the bell in the center of the cord.  Then we did a bunny ear bow.  Next we stuck a brad through the bow and inserted it into a hole in the bottom of the sunshine array at the top of the window. The stocking is stamped in bashful blue on whisper white and punched out using the stocking punch.  We also had punchouts of the toe tip, heel, and fur from silver glitter paper.  They were adhered over the stamped toe, heel and fur.  The stocking was attached to the window with dimensionals.  The shutters were closed - the bell helped hold them closed.  Hope that helps...
Peggy

Christmas stamp a stack, part 2, Project 3

Happy Birthday to me!!  Hope you are enjoying a piece of cake somewhere...preferably red velvet with creme cheese frosting...yum!!
Today I am sharing a sweet little card we made.   This card hinges at the top.

The idea was to have snowflakes scattered on the blue card stock but I tried three different bottles of bleach - one was brand new - but none of them showed the snowflakes well.  I suspect it was the card stock that created the problem.  We could have used white craft ink or white embossing powder but the room was full so it was awkward to move around too much and everyone was banging out lots of cards so we really didn't have room to let the craft ink dry without smudges  .Anyway, I still think it is a sweet card.  The window is an old red sizzix die from yesteryear.  It was called "window, sunshine".  There is a little jingle bell where the stocking attaches to the window.  We used retired silver coring - it slid through the hole in the bell easier than other options.  The highlights on the stocking were punched from the silver glitter paper.  Nice card!
Peggy

Christmas stamp a stack, part 2, Project 2

Hi all
Today I want to share another Christmas card with you.   This one uses the big shot in several different ways.

The base vanilla card stock is textured using the Snow Burst textured impressions embossing folder.  The window is made from the Peekaboo Frame die. 

It also made use of the modern label punch and the petite pennant punch.  At first, I tried to put a wreath on the door, but I was not satisfied by how it looked.  I took off the wreath and tried the three-dimensional tree made from three folded and adhered pennant punches.  I didn't have enough gold card stock for everyone in the stamp a stack class, so I used more mustard instead.   I echoed the more mustard on the edges of the modern label punch.  The silver glitter star really make it look as I wanted. Take a peek inside the window!

Hope you enjoyed this one!
Peggy

Christmas stamp a stack, part 2, Project 1

Hi all
Before I post my card sample for Thursday, I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to all my stampin friends.  Earlier Wednesday night  I sent out a post to several of my stampin groups, showing a project and asking them to visit my blog and help me get my visits total up to 40,000 by my birthday on Saturday.   Well, by the time my husband got our router working again (the dang thing has been acting persnickety lately) I already had 40,000!!!   You gals (and guy,s if there are some of you out there) are the BEST!!!   Thank you for the lovely birthday gift of a minute of your time!! Simple joys are the best!!

So now for one of the stamp a stack cards....

The DSP is actually from the Spice Cake pack but it works nicely for Christmas.  The ladies handled the border punch well even though some of them weren't quite as muscular in their punches at first.  Can you tell there is a thin layer of Dazzling Details around the ornament?  We all noticed that the DD looks different depending on  what color it is sitting on.  Trully dazzling.

The cards were all fun to make and my very talented friend/stamper, Donna, was able to make two sets of cards while everyone else was tackling one.  She is a whizz!!  She has emailed me to say she has already assembled the second set of cards. She is happy to have finished 60 of the 150 she needs this year.  I will be posting more of the cards in the coming days.

Would you and your friends like to have a stamp a stack session too?  Contact me today to see what date works for all.  It feels great to be ahead of the game at the holiday season.
Thanks again, visitors, especially the ones who left a comment!  Double whoo hoo!
Peggy

Halloween treats #8

Hi all
Today I am showing you the last project from the class ....but definitely not the last Halloween idea.  There are so many great ideas out there.  This was my favorite project of the class.

 You know I  love to use my Big Shot so it was a no brainer to use the matchbox die.
Look what you see when you pull open the slide.

Open it all the way and the bats pop out!!

The nugget candies are wrapped using the It's a Wrap Holiday stamp.  Note:  Hershey has rules about their candies.   If you wrap their candy you have to make the wrapper NOT stick to the candy - it has to be a wrapper that can be slid off.  You also cannot use any product (ex adhesive)  that will change the flavor of their candy.  Wish I could find Nestle's Treasures, but they don't seem to be around any more.
Hope you have found some inspiration for your halloween treats!
Peggy

Shout out!!

Hi Stampers!!!
Help me!!!   help me!!!  Stampin' Up! is running a special effort tonight to book a swarm of workshops!   I want to contribute  to the effort but with me getting home late from work and needing to be online to complete a course tonight, I have not been able to make many phone calls.  Are you out there wishing you could share the fun of stamping and scrapping and decorating with your friends, please contact me to book your workshop.   Remember, you can hostess your event at home, at work or here in my stamp room.
Let me help you share the joy of stampin with your friends and family.  Even a small gathering can earn you spending money from the catalogs.  Call me tonight!!
Peggy

Halloween treats #7

HI all
This card was one in my head for a while before I was able to work out the details.  The cover is trying to mimic a coffin.

Then for the inside....

I know, a crazy card but once I got the hanging skeleton in my head, it had to show up in card stock.  Can you tell that the skeleton is hanging from the middle of the lifted up flap??

Peggy

Halloween treats #6

hi all
Today I have the silliest treat - perfect to whip up while you watch TV!!

This project uses the Inspired by Nature grasses stamped horizontally.   There is a fun size candy bar  inside.

Halloween treats #5

Hi all
Here is another candy treat for you.

Have you ever put together a candy treat and then when you held it up all the candies went every which way...so frustrating!!  With this project we tacked each candy to a strip of acetate so the candies stayed in placed.  Worked great!  I was glad to present this project this week because we used the masking technique to get the hat on the head- a technique we don't use very often.
Peggy

Halloween treats #4

Hi all
Tonight I have a quicky treat for you that makes use of the new cello bags from Stampin' Up!

Inside the window it says "eek!"  The window is made with the Peekaboo frames die.  Fun!

Peggy

Halloween treats #3

Hi all
We did only a couple of cards for this class ...here is one of them.

Are you ready for Halloween?

Peggy


This card is a great one to work on when you are sitting and waiting ...at the doctor's office, at the kids after school practice.  Coloring is such a relaxing activity!!

uh oh!!!

wonder where the picture went?...hmmmmmmm!  Sorry!  I'll try to post it tomorrow.

Halloween treats #1

Hi all
Halloween is not just for kids!!   I love to make little treats for my friends and coworkers - tonight I am starting to share the ideas from Sunday's class.

 You cannot easily tell just by looking but the bottom of this project is actually the milk carton die - turned upside down so the creased parts are flattened on the bottom.  The back is just a strip added onto the back of the milk carton box.  Love the brain!!!
Peggy

Final Fall Project

Hi all
Today I want to show you a project I put together that I am really happy with.  I didnt want to blur the lines between fall and thanksgiving - they are separate events in my mind.  Take a look....

Here is another picture.... up close.  Of course, I used some punches. (the pennant and the curly label).

Isn't this special?

Before I close tonight I want to send a shout out to my most recent recruit, Carol.  Lucky girl!!  She expressed enthusiasm for the Big Shot and decided to sign up and then order one.  BUT!!!!!!  Stampin' Up! is giving away a FREE BIG SHOT to every one who recruits in October!!  How is that for timing!!!!!  Welcome to our group ....I  look forward to sharing this fun craft with you. 
Anyone one else want to join us and enjoy this fabulous offer?  contact me !!

Peggy

Fall projects, #4

Hi Stampers
I mentioned in another post that we had not done many cards at the Fall Project class - in addition to the pull up card, we also made a set of cards.  Let's look...

In addition to the cards, we also made a cute little Top Note box to hold them

Because the cards used die cuts, with a little embossing, this project went together quickly.  Nice to have a little set on your desk for those "need a card now" moments.
Enjoy!!
Peggy

Fall projects, #3

Hi Stampers
Today you get to see a fun little project that can easily be worked up for any occasion!

From the outside it looks like a little box but when you lift the flap, look what is inside!

A little bottle of hand sanitizer!! These days, everyone keeps hand sanitizer nearby to keep safe against the unseen germs.  What a fun little treat for a friend!
Peggy