Constantly Stamping

A Random Act of Christmas

I am excited to share an RAC from my very talented friend, Natasha Zandbergen. Natasha was my roommate at Leadership Convention back in January. I wasn't expecting a card from her, let alone a hand-stamped one, so I was extra thrilled to receive this in my mailbox today. Thanks Natasha! Be sure to check out her blog. She has lots of great paper crafting tutorials for sale.

Candy Cane Christmas

I made these adorable candy cane ornaments that I saw on Anna Wight's blog last Christmas. Truth is, I love everything she makes, particularly this time of year. I tore thing strips of gingham fabric and wrapped them around real candy canes. ..I made Crumb Cake tags from a Sizzix tag die and then stamped them with various stamps from the Merry & Type set in Early Espresso ink. I also sponged the tag edges. I made bows with some muslin fabric and ties everything together with some jute twine. The rustic jingle bells completes the look.

Merry & Type Tag

It's no secret that I enjoy giving jars of homemade jam as Christmas gifts. Here is a picture from last Christmas of a jar of apple butter that I decorated. Honestly, I thought I had already shared this, but now that I think about it, I made this on Christmas Eve and didn't bother to  post it on my blog. I cut the tag with an old Sizzix tag die and some Crumb Cake card stock. I stamped the greeting from the Merry & Type stamp set in Early Espresso ink and sponged the edges to give the tag a vintage feel. I covered the quart jar with some gingham fabric and tied on some great big bells from local craft store for a slightly unexpected whimsical look.

I am so glad I stumbled across this project because I really am struggling to get back into crafting. I still haven't pulled my stamping and crafting supplies back out of storage...it is almost depressing. But hopefully I will be able to get back to creating soon. TTFN.

BLAH, Blah, blah...

Now that Thanksgiving is over I am totally BLAH! I cleaned and organized for two weeks in expectation of my husband's family coming to visit over the past week. Now that they have come and gone, I am totally exhausted. To make matters worse, my brother-in-law and his wife both came down with bad colds while they were here, so now my hubby is sick as well. The good news is that the house is clean and the Christmas decorations are up (inside and out). We had a wonderful visit, but we are definitely not used to having so many people in our house all at once. WHEW...as fun as it was, I am glad it is over.

I had to put away all of my stamping/crafting supplies, so I have to rely on sharing one of my few remaining projects that I made for convention displays this past summer. I held on to this one because I fully intended to do a video tutorial, but never got around to doing it. So I will try to just tell you what I did to make the flower and you can email me with any questions you may have.

Basically, I used the third largest flower from the Floral Frames Framelits to cut two Tangerine Tango flowers. I snipped between each petal approximately 1/2" deeper toward the center. I spritzed both with water and then used the end of a signo Uniball gel pen to shape the petals. After everthing was throughly dry, I sponged Tangerine Tango ink on each petal and then assembled the flower using Stampin' Dimensionals.

I made the bag with the Fancy Favor Bigz die and created a topper with the Labels Collection Framelits. I used International Bazaar designer series paper for the bag. The flower center is stamped with the greeting from the World Treasures stamp set and punched out with a 1 1/4" circle punch.

I hope you have a wonderful week and I will do my best to be back soon with more fun stamping projects.

 

New Phone App!

Check out this fun new phone app for your iPhone or Android.

 

Vintage Patriotic Birthday Card

I just have a quick post today. My father-in-law celebrates his birthday on Veteran's Day each year, so it is only appropriate that I make a patriotic card for him. He is a veteran, too, so it is twice as nice. I can honestly say that I would have never thought to put a doily on a masculine card, but I think it worked.

I used the Blue Ribbon stamp set for the focal image and sponged everything to give it a bit of a vintage look. I used Cherry Cobbler and Midnight Muse ink, card stock, and dsp.

Comforting Friend

Hi folks...I am still crazy busy here (and probably will be until after Thanksgiving), but I still have a few convention samples left to share with you. I thought I had showed you everything, but I stumbled across a few more samples this morning. I used the Scallop Square die to create a card base with Cajun Craze card stock. I layered on some beautiful designer series paper from the Comfort Cafe collection and sponged the edges with a little Early Espresso to give it some interest. Then I stamped the focal image from Affection Collection (#127946/127949) twice (Cajun Craze and Pool Party) on Very Vanilla card stock and punched the center piece out of one using the Modern Label punch. I used the Scallop Trim Border and Corner punches to create a delicate frame. See this post for a video tutorial on how to do this.

To make the flower, I cut several of the flowers (the ones with the "skinny" petals) with the Blossom Party Orignals die from Pool Party card stock. I ran the flowers through a paper crimper and then snipped each petal down the center to give it a more delicate look. I added a button and some Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon to pull everything together.

If you can, be sure to make a charitable donation to the organization of your choice to help the storm victims on the east coast...and be sure to pray for them as well. Have a blessed day!

Swap Cards from my Downline/Sideline

Today I thought I would share some swap cards I received at Regional Convention from some of my oh-so-talented downline/sideline members. I hope you like them as much as I do. 

First, let's start with Karen Reynold's card. She used the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder to emboss a Wisteria Wonder card base. The floral images she used were from "Summer Silhouettes" and the butterfly was from "Papillon Potpourri" stamp set. The sentiment is from "Made for You". The ink colors are: Summer Starfruit, Lavender Lace, Garden Green, Always Artichoke, Island Indigo and Raspberry Ripple.

Our next card is by Veronica Winn. She stamped and heat embossed several snowflakes from the "Snowflake Soiree" stamp set on Basic Gray card stock using a VersaMark pad and white embossing powder. She also stamped the greeting in Basic Black ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. She stamped one additional snowflake, trimmed it out by hand, and mounted it with dimensionals.

Our third card is by Margaret Cunningham. She stamped the poinsettia from the "Watercolor Winter" set several times with Cherry Cobbler ink on Very Vanilla card stock. She stamped the Merry Christmas stamp from the "Greetings of the Seasons" set and added some Cherry Cobbler Tulle Ribbon along with a poinseittia she made using the retired 5-petal Flower Punch.

Our final card was made by my sideline, Joyce Holleman. She dry embossed Not Quite Navy card stock with the Lacy Brocade embossing folder and then spritzed it with Champagne Shimmer Spray to give it a beautiful subtle sparkle. Then she stamped the birds on the branch image from "Serene Silhouettes" onto Glossy White card stock and then lightly sponged the background with  various colors of ink (Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, and Not Quite Navy). She used the 2 1/2" circle punch to trim the focal image and then mounted it on a flower that she cut from Pumpkin Pie card stock using the Floral Framelits die. She also stamped the sentiment from the "Trust God" stamp set on So Saffron card stock. She completed the card by mounting it on a Marina Mist card base.

I am so blessed to have such talented ladies in my team. Thanks to all of them for allowing me to share their lovely works of art with you.