Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Blog Hop

Hello Everyone, Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Blog Hop, which features amazing products from the upcoming Occasions mini catalog, starting January 4. Since the mini isn't available yet, this is an easy way to get a sneak peek! So let's hop along!

If you have been following the blog hop in order, you have just come from Cindy's post featuring Mixed Bunch. Cindy has some beautiful projects! Didn't she do a great job with this set? Today I will show you some projects using the set Tea Shoppe, a perfect feminine set reminescent of Grandma. First up, a tea bag all-occasions card.

You could go with many different fancy folds to create a tea bag holder card; I used a front pocket. I actually stitched the pocket, to avoid any sticky adhesives inside the pocket. This teacup set goes perfectly with the new Paper Doily die, which was featured by Tanya. And the pink roses on the Attic Boutique paper reminds me of vintage wallpaper. This card was inspired by a swap from a local stamper who does beautiful work, Walda Murphy (waving hi, Walda!).

Stamps: Tea Shoppe; Paper: Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Attic Boutique DSP; Ink: Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark; Accessories: Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon, White baker's twine, White embossing powder, Aquapainter, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Paper Doily die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Tea bag.

For a 3-dimensional item, I created a tea bag dispenser and coordinating notecard.

The Sale-a-bration paper called Everyday Enchantment, available January 24, is perfect for a warm and vintage look.

On top, there is an accordion flower made from a Lace Ribbon border punch strip, a ribbon rosette created with a running stitch along the edge of the Victoria lace, and the custom tea cup embellishments created from shrink plastic. Come back on Monday for more information on this project.

UPDATE 2/11/13: Do you love this Tea Bag Dispenser Box and would like to make it with the same ribbons and papers?  I now have a kit available for purchase.  The kit contains papers, ribbons, and embellishments, plus full instructions.  Please see this post for more information.

Stamps: Tea Shoppe; Paper: Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP; Ink: Peach Parfait, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede; Accessories: Peach Parfait ribbon, Victoria lace, Everyday Enchantment brad, Linen thread, Chipboard, Lace Ribbon border punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch, Wide Oval punch, 1-3/4" Circle punch, Aquapainter, Sponge, Glue gun, Shrink plastic, Tea bags, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip.

And I wanted to try something different, using the "backside" of the stamp.

Here, rather than stamping directly on cardstock, I stamped on the backside of Whisper White cardstock, after stamping off once, in light ink. I then cut out the tea cup shape and stamped on the frontside of the cardstock.

Stamps: Elements of Style, Tea Shoppe; Paper: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP; Ink: Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake, Whisper White Craft, Black Stazon; Accessories: Vanilla seam binding, Thread from Vintage Tags, Modern Label punch, Boho Blossom punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Pearl jewels, Aquapainter, Sponges, Craft knife, Crop-o-dile, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Scallop Circle #2 die, 3" Circle die, Scallop Square die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

If you aren't yet a member of Stampin' Addicts, you can sign up here. Make sure you check out the next stop to see what Kim at Stitchin' n Stampin' on Paper put together using Heaven Blessed. She made some amazing projects!













The complete blog hop listing:

1) Tanya (tanya27) -- Paper Doily Sizzlet
2) Paula (scrapshappen) -- Edgelit Dies & Matching Embossing Folders
3) Twila (tjdstampsalot) -- PS I love you
4) Rhonda (rhondag) -- Bordering on Romance
5) Cindy (CindyE) -- Mixed Bunch
6) Heidi (hlw966) -- Tea Shoppe
7) Kim (s1itcher46) -- Heaven Blessed
8) Sharon (createdbyu) -- Rue des Fleurs
9) Mickey (MickeyRoberts) -- Apothecary Art
10) Adriana (escape2stamp) -- You're My Type
11) Shelley (Packer Fan) -- Mouthwatering
12) Debra (WebDeb) -- Fashionable Hearts Embosslit
13) Carmen -- Send Me Soaring
14) Sara (lilyinkpad) -- Packed for Everything
15) Lisa Y (genesis) -- Simply Sent Create & Keep
16) Yapha -- Candy Conversations

Thanks for stopping by!

FM39 Here's to a Shiny New Year!

Wanna a sneaky peek? Since I'll be posting the highly anticipated Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Blog Hop post tomorrow, I'm posting my Friday Mashup post a day early. Shhhh! Don't tell I let the cat out of the bag. ;)

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project that "Sparkles".
2. Or Make a project "Celebrating the New Year".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Celebrating the New Year that Sparkles" .

Hopefully, shiny gold and silver counts as "sparkles". And actually, I have an inspiration photo to share from marthastewart.com, New Year decorative streamers.

I've been wanting to make these for years, and I finally got around to it with left over shiny wrapping paper this week. And here is my interpretation in card form.

Stamps: Holidays & Wishes; Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Brushed Silver, Brushed Gold, Mocha Morning DSP, Silver wrapping paper; Ink: Versamark; Accessories: Gold embossing powder, Circle punches, Pennant builder punch, Itty Bitty punch pack.

Thanks for stopping by!

SUOC35 It's a Punch Thing

Morning Everyone! I hope you are enjoying your holidays, and maybe you'll have a chance to play along with us this week. At Stampin' Up Only Challenges, we have a challenge that was particularly hard for me, using a punched item as the focal point of your project. Most punches I have are used for easily punching out sentiments. Hmmm, how am I going to make that a focal point? It wasn't straight forward; I had to think a bit.

In a recent issue of Stampin' Success magazine, they showed using a border punch to make an accordion flower. This one was special though, because it used the Lace Ribbon Border punch to make a snowflake. Perfect!

This one is a little tricky because of all the open space. I found that I had to lengthen the punched strip to 8-1/2", as a 6" strip was too much stress on the folds.

I have been on a Clean & Simple kick lately, and I used sketch #164 again.

I also spritzed the snowflake with White Frost shimmer paint/alcohol mixture, for extra sparkle. The sentiment is printed with My Digital Studio.

Paper: Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cheerful Treat DSP; Ink: Not Quite Navy; Accessories: Lace Ribbon Border punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle punch, Triple Flower punch, Pearl jewels, Sponge, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Big Shot, My Digital Studio.

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas from the Baks Family

Hope you have a wonderful, joyful, and peaceful time today with your family and loved ones. Thank you, Lord, for sending your Son to save us!

Thanks for stopping by!

FM38 Watercoloring and a Sketch

Today at the Friday Mashup, Lisa is challenging us with a sketch and some watercoloring.

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
2. Or Make a project using "Watercoloring".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch & Watercoloring" .

*Here is a link to several different ways you can achieve a Watercolor effect.

I got to spend some quality time with my Occasions mini preorder. :) I'm happy! **Basking in the warm bliss of new toys for a moment** Anywho, this sketch was a challenge, I thought. I easily replaced the Top Note shape with the new Adorning Accents edgelits shape plus coordinating embossing folder. But where to put the watercoloring? Slap it on top seemed like a good idea.

I was just dying to watercolor these new Bordering on Romance images, so this challenge worked out perfectly!

Stamps: Bordering on Romance, Take It to Heart, Curly Cute; Paper: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP; Ink: Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Black Stazon; Accessories: Twitterpated button, White baker's twine, Aquapainter, Sponge, Scallop Edge punch, Adorning Accents embossing folder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Adorning Accents edgelits die, Circles #2 die, Big Shot.

I was on a roll with my playing, so I made another one. I'm surprised at how much I am loving this new Bordering on Romance set... I love when that happens! And how yummy is the color palette for this new Sale-a-bration paper?!

Stamps: Bordering on Romance; Paper: Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP; Ink: Peach Parfait, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Black Stazon; Accessories: Everyday Enchantment ribbon, Aquapainter, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Circle Scissors Plus, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Circles #2 die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Thanks for stopping by!

3-D Thursday: Valentine Keepsake Box

Hi Everyone, I just fell in love with the Christmas Keepsake box when Stampin' Up offered it as a recruiting incentive. Thank goodness they had some extras, and I was able to buy a few kits for myself and my family.

I changed the featured stamp set, so it could be used year round. Of course I had to use some of my Occasions mini preorder goodies!

Mom, Sisters, and I got together to make these... it was a fun afternoon hanging out together!

I am offering a Keepsake Box class on January 26 to create this box, while the Stampin' Up kit supplies last. Hurry and sign up so I can order your kit!

Stamps: Take It to Heart, Elements of Style; Paper: Love Impressions DSP, Deck the Halls DSP; Ink: Real Red, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Black Stazon; Accessories: Christmas Keepsake Box kit, Brad, Aquapainter, Corner Rounder punch, Scallop Circle punch, Simply Scored, Sticky Pages, Hearts Framelits, Circles #2 die, Matchbox die, Petal Cone die, Big Shot, Needle, all sorts of adhesives.

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS Pines

I've been wanting to make a clean & simple card or two, and the need for a birthday card is always a good excuse.

Love these trees; they are so fabby! I used a sketch from the Clean & Simple challenge blog (dah!)

and a great color combo from ColourQ.

And one more challenge, Clean & Simple challenge on Splitcoaststampers called Chill Out. You can see a little bit of inside decorating peeking out.

Stamps: Patterned Pines, Sincere Sentiments; Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Thoroughly Modern DSP; Ink: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Night of Navy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrappy Monday: More Cog Chipboard Album

I'm sharing the rest of the Cog On Board chipboard album pages today. The theme here is Little Missy's first four years of travel, and I'm making this for her. She's involved with the creation, and she's absolutely thrilled with it. I'm just glad to get the unfinished album off the desk! It has put a large road bump in my week though. :)

So here's something I figured out... the Mojo Monday layouts, the circle or square ones, are a perfect jumping off point for these circular albums. This page is a picture of Little Missy and Aunt Connie in Florida. It wasn't raining that day, but I was just dying to use the Pocketful of Posies suite for a scrapbook page layout.

Stamps: My Friend; Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Pocketful of Posies DSP, First Edition DSP; Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark; Accessories: Button, White baker's twine, Clear embossing powder, Scallop Edge punch, Cupcake builder punch, Sponge, Coluzzle, Sewing machine, Thread.

I can't get enough of the Nautical suite from the past Summer mini. I added some stitching and rolled flowers to help soften up the layout, girl it up a bit.

Stamps: The Open Sea; Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Nautical Expedition DSP; Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy, Soft Suede, Early Espresso; Accessories: Rhinestone Jewels, Circle punches, Sponges, Coluzzle, Sanding block, Sewing machine, Thread.

And the final page... our recent family trip to Aruba. Phew!

Stamps: Summer Splash; Paper: Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Brights Collection DSP, Beyond the Garden DSP; Ink: More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Pacific Point; Accessories: Crystal Effects, 1-3/4" Circle punch, Coluzzle, Sanding block, Sewing machine, Thread.

Project 52 totals: Week 51, pages 47. Don't forget to play along with the Friday Mashup's challenge this week, Chipboard & Distressing, which kicked off this album journey.

Thanks for stopping by!

FM37 A "Chipboard" Off the Old Block

Happy Friday, All! Today is my turn to play challenge hostess on the Friday Mashup.

One of the accessories which makes a project, makes me fall in love with it, and an accessory I don't pull out nearly enough, is chipboard. There are many way to decorate your chipboard. Some examples are inking it, painting it, stamping on it, or covering it with patterned paper. It adds beautiful interest to 3-D items, such as framed art or the shadow boxes and decorated trays that are popular right now. Of course, you don't have to make a 3-D item for this challenge.

If you have a die-cutting machine, an easy way to cover a chipboard shape with patterned paper is to cover a blank chipboard sheet first, and then run it through your die-cutting machine. So pull out those chipboard sheets you know you have, either pre-cut or blank, and get creative. And sponging the edge of the chipboard pieces is an easy way to incorporate the second part of this mashup challenge.

Photo Source

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project featuring "Chipboard (Precut or Diecut )".
2. Or Make a project using "Distressing (w/ ink, scissors or the Cutter Tool Kit)".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Distressed Project featuring Chipboard".

So here's how it went with this challenge... I got to thinking about it, and although I didn't make a dent in my chipboard supply, I did enable myself to go to the clearance rack and order a bunch more. Oy! Chipboard is like lettuce in my fridge... I buy it to watch it sit there (and rot in the case of food). :)

So, rather than grab for a chipboard piece for a card, I thought it was about time I finish, I mean, work on the Cog On Board chipboard album I have sitting on my table for months (many months!). I may have been a little too ambitious to use the word finish. We used some of the pages from the cog album for a club project back in the day, so I added a couple pages with blank On Board sheets. I'll continue to work on this throughout this week, and post more as I'm progressing.

This is a photo of our Little World Traveler this Thanksgiving in Acadia National Park. At 4-1/2 years, she was able to hike 2 miles!

I went with sepia colors to match the vintage feel of the Beau Chateau Suite. I did a bunch of sanding and ink distressing on lots of edges.

Stamps: Courrier d'hiver, Established Elegance, Rustic Rooster; Paper: Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist, Beau Chateau DSP, Newsprint DSP; Ink: Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Early Espresso; Accessories: Pearl Jewels, Marina Mist satin ribbon, Sponges, Sanding block, Scallop Trim border punch, Floral Fusion die, Big Shot.

Here's the title page. Of course I'm all wrapped up in working on this when I'm suppose to be working on other things. But hey, I always say, "Go with it."

Stamps: Travel Log; Paper: Melon Mambo, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Travel Journal DSP; Ink: Melon Mambo, Night of Navy, Soft Suede, Early Espresso; Accessories: Eyelet, Early Espresso baker's twine, Sponge, Sanding block, Coluzzle.

This page shows Little Missy in France last year. Yep, I told you... World Traveler. I'm starting to love this little chipboard scrapbook.

Stamps: Serene Sunflower, Short Order Alphabet; Paper: More Mustard, Crumb Cake, Basic Black, First Edition DSP, Mocha Morning DSP, Regals Collection DSP, Neutrals Collection DSP; Ink: More Mustard, Soft Suede, Basic Black Craft, Basic Black marker; Accessories: Antique brad, Color spritzer tool, Scallop Trim border punch, Petite Pennants punch, Sanding block, Sewing machine, Thread.

What do you think? Should this qualify for Project 52? Sure, why not? A cheap way to get some page numbers in. Project 52 totals: Still week 50, pages 44.

Thanks for stopping by!

First-Edition-Newsprint-Mocha-Boutique Birthday

I've been a busy, good girl, prepping and holding many Christmas-oriented classes. Finally my Christmas came early with my Occasions mini and Sale-a-bration preorder! It even came a day early - thank you, Mr. Brown! I laid out all the stamps and papers I haven't dug into yet, including some from previous orders.

Well, many of the items that arrived are pretty feminine, and I needed a card for my brother-in-law. So I picked a little here, a little there, just for the fun of playing, and here's what I came up with.

You'll see the strong influence from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #146. I decided to go without further embellishments, since it had plenty of stitching on it.

Stamps: Established Elegance, Puns from the Past; Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Mocha Morning DSP, Attic Boutique DSP, Newsprint DSP, First Edition DSP; Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Craft knife, 3" Circle die, Scallop Circle #2 die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Stamp Club Projects

We had lots to keep us busy at Stamp Club this month. In addition to the projects I showed yesterday, I also set up a Christmas tag area. I had a few pre-designed, but club members were free to mix and match to create whatever tags they wanted. These two tags were inspired by Julie Arvin.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, A Cute Christmas, Snow Swirled; Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday DSP; Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso; Accessories: Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, Silver cording, Rhinestone jewels, Corner Rounder punch, Slit punch, 1" Circle punch, Stocking Accents die, Big Shot.

As a bonus Christmas project, we created the famous SCSer diane617's "table protector". This is a mini piercing mat & push pin, great for traveling stampin' kits and shoebox swaps.

Paper: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Beyond the Garden DSP, First Edition DSP; Ink: Melon Mambo; Accessories: Brad, Scallop Circle punch, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Big Shot, Stapler, Foam sheet, Thumb tack.

As a holiday gift, I put a little Christmas pop-up box at each seat. Little Missy helped with the coloring.

Stamps: Deer Friends; Paper: Garden Green, Old Olive, Real Red, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Merry Moments DSP; Ink: Garden Green, Real Red, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Brad, My Digital Studio, Petal Card punch, Acetate sheet, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, Starburst.

And, last but not least in my book, we also did a cookie exchange - YUM!

Thanks for stopping by!

SUOC34 Happy & Merry

Today's challenge at Stampin' Up Only Challenges is to create a card or project for any December holiday. At this month's stamp club meeting, we created a stocking gift card holder.

We used the Holiday Stocking die for the sock and the Stocking Accents die for the holly. We traced the gift card on the inside of the stocking, in order to put glue outside that area, which would prevent the card from falling down into the stocking. Here is the inside.

Stamps: Christmas Punch; Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday DSP, Red Glimmer paper; Ink: Old Olive; Accessories: Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Sponge, Crop-o-dile, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Holiday Stocking die, Stocking Accents die, Big Shot.

For another stamp club project, we also made tea light boxes.

I'll have more club fun to share tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

Scrappy Monday: Christmas Lane SSK

Morning All! This past weekend, we had a fun time getting together for some scrapbooking and mini-cropping. We made a prepared 12 x 12" double-page layout with the beautiful Christmas Lane Simple Scrappin' Kit. I was able to get nine copies of these layouts, excluding the 12 x 12" base cardstock, with one kit!

Sorry about the less-than-stellar photography. I promised the attendees I would get these posted asap.

This kit was inspired by Dawn Mills's project from the recent UStamp with Dawn & Friends Up on the Roof Top Blog Hop. Project 52 totals: Week 50, pages 40-41... uh-oh!

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Christmas Lane SSK, Silver Glimmer paper, Red Glimmer paper; Accessories: Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, Artichoke eyelets, Stocking builder punch, Scallop Oval punch, 1" Circle punch, Snow Burst embossing folder, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Top Note die, Alphabet Simple Letters dies, Naturally Serif die, Go Go Boots dies (numbers), Stocking Accents die, Big Shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

FM36 Baby It's Cold Outside

Today's challenge at the Friday Mashup focuses on snowmen. Hmmm... I don't really have a lot of snowmen. So I pulled out my one image that is larger than minute size.

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project featuring "Snowmen".
2. Or Make a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze & Basic Grey".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Snowman project with the colors Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze & Basic Grey".

I turned to Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew for help with this one. Using the given color scheme, I followed their sketch challenge to create my card.

I kept adding more and more, and finally it started shaping up. And I can't make snow without a bit of glitter.

Stamps: A Cute Christmas; Paper: Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Whisper White; Ink: Basic Gray, Blushing Bride marker, Baja Breeze marker, Basic Gray marker; Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Button, White baker's twine, Coluzzle, Snowburst embossing folder, Circles #2 die, Snowflake #2 die, Northern Frost die, Perfect Pennants die, Big Shot, MDS for sentiment (Best Wishes & More), Two-way glue pen, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!