My girls LOVE looking at photographs of things we have done and I wanted a way to move away from giving each of them a traditional scrapbook and to create pages that they can choose from to display one at a time in their bedrooms…hmmm…how to do that…

On my travels the other day I ventured into a national craft store and came across something perfect for the job – it is a metal L shaped memo holder where the girls can store all the pages in the back part and choose one at a time to display on the front, using magnets to hold the page in place.

I covered the front of the memo holder with Textured Very Vanilla cardstock and used my corner rounder on the top two edges – the memo holder is a bold pink color and I decided to cover it with a neutral color so that regardless of their color, all pages would look good against this backdrop.

I created 20 pages in total and they are sized 6×6 – you can use page protectors to cover them if you wish to do so, and they store perfectly in the back section – I choose this route because my girls are 7 and by storing them this way, they can easily access and change them whenever they want to.  If you are making this for an older child or relative you could store them in a 6×6 scrapbook album and they can remove each page as wished.

The page is attached to the front using magnets that I picked up from a national big box store – I used my 1″ Circle Punch to punch out pieces of Designer Series Papers to decorate the magnets which is a great little finishing touch.  I also used an On Board Chipboard Letter and applied glitter and a piece of Linen Thread so that they can hang their initial from one of the magnets – my girls love shiny, sparkly bling!

I made a bunch of pages of memories that they just love to look at…the page shown above & the magnets are made using papers from the Sweet Pea Stack that you can find on pg 33 of the Occasions Mini Catalog…the felt flower is from Sweet Pea Stitched Felt on pg 32…the scalloped border was made using the Scallop Trim Border Punch that you can get for FREE right now as it is featured in the Sale-a-bration catalog…and I used rub-ons for the wording…

Working with a 6×6 size is fun – you get 4 pages out of each 12×12 sheet of Designer Series Paper making it a very economical way to produce scrapbook pages…you also get very fast results because they are small and the photo is the main focus of each page which gives you little room for lots of embellishments – your pages turn out simple and easy to look at which is perfect for kids.

Carrying on the Sweet Pea theme…I have 5 of those fabulous re-useable Sweet Pea shopping bags left so am carrying my offer over into March to clear them out – place your order of $150+ and I will mail you one of these fab bags for FREE…plus you will also receive ALL hostess and sale-a-bration rewards on that order too!  BUT THIS ONLY APPLIES TO THE FIRST 5 CUSTOMERS WHO PLACE THEIR ORDERS…once the bags are gone, they are gone, so hurry!

You can find details of all SPECIAL OFFERS for March by clicking HERE – don’t forget that Sale-a-bration runs for this month only – it ends on March 31st so be sure to get your order in to take advantage of the fabulous freebies!

Today I wanted to show you a card I made for my monthly swap group…the theme this month is to produce something floral and this is what I came up with…

I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch and a stamp from the set Thankful Thinking that you can find on pg 173 – you can get both of these items for free during Sale-a-bration…

I took a piece of Perfect Plum cardstock and used my Corner Rounder punch to round two of the corners.  I then took 3 stamps from the set Define Your Life (pg  150) and stamped them using Perfect Plum ink onto it – I used the phrases Gratitude, Kindness and You.  I  wanted a swirl so I took a stamp from Priceless (pg 130) and stamped it using the same ink on one side.  I then took a piece of Very Vanilla and edged one side using the Scallop Trim Border Punch and adhered it and my purple layer to the card base of  Old Olive.

Next I stamped my sentiment from Thankful Thinking onto Very Vanilla cardstock using Perfect Plum ink and if you look closely, you will see a swirl stamped underneath the Thanks – I inked my stamp up with Pale Plum ink and stamped it once onto a piece of scrap paper and then I stamped it again onto the cardstock  – this produces a very subtle background which is great for stamping over using a stronger color.

The flowers…well, they are on the Baskets & Blooms Bigz Die – once I die cut them I whizzed them back through the Big Shot in the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (pg 35 of the Occasions Mini) to give them some texture.  In the center of each I placed a Clear Button (pg 181) through which I threaded a piece of Linen Thread (pg 183) and to finish them off I attached some leaves which were super easy to make – I simply punched out a flower from Old Olive cardstock using my 5-Petal Punch (pg 186) and cut each petal out to turn it into a leaf – I distressed the edges of the leaves using my scissors and attached each with a Mini Glue Dot onto the back of the flowers.

Thinking of becoming a Demonstrator? During Sale-a-bration is THE best time to join – right now Stampin’ Up! are giving you a 15% discount off of the Starter Kit PLUS a FREE STAMP SET of your choice valued up to $47.95 – you could get Define Your Life for FREE!

And I am also going to give you a free stamp set of your choice as my welcome gift to you if you join my team by Sunday February 28th 2010…please click HERE to find out more…

I bought quite a few packs of those cute Heart Treat Cups last month and used them to make some cute Valentine treats…but this morning I realised that I have alot left over…hmmm…what to do with them?

Those hearts kind of look like flower petals too…that got me to thinking…instead of putting them away in the closet, with St Patricks Day just around the corner (March 17th) I decided to see if I could use them to make a sweet little something perfect for the occasion…so I dug out some green M&M’s and got to work on making a little shamrock treat…

What do you think?  It was fun to make – I used the Full Heart Punch (pg 186) to punch out heart shapes from Garden Green cardstock – I used a Heart Treat cup as a template and placed it into the punched out shape and drew around the edge of it – I then cut it out to create a border to stick on the top rim of each cup.  I then used a cup again as a template to draw around, to create a back piece for each:

I assembled each – attached the border to the top rim using Mini Glue Dots, filling each cup with green M&M’s and then attached the back piece – I took a piece of Designer Series Paper from the pack Flock Together (pg 162) – and adhered them onto it – for easy removal, I attached them using a piece of removable double sided tape…this way, the recipient can take them off to access the candy without causing damage to the card base – and they can then replace them back onto the card if wished.

The stem?  I wanted to use a piece of green ric rac ribbon but since I had none to hand, I got a similar effect by using a piece of Garden Green cardstock and the Scallop Edge punch – simply cut a piece of cardstock to 1″ wide – punch along one edge and then punch along the other edge, but on the second edge start offset, half way down a scallop to achieve a ric rac effect:

I attached the stem to the card using Mini Glue Dots and adhered a button in the center of the shamrock, threading through some Linen Thread for a finishing touch.  I attached a piece of Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon from the Occasions Mini and stamped my sentiment from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes (pg 145) and punched it out using the Modern Label Punch (pg 186) – I added a little Green Micro Bead (pg 180) to each end and attached the tag using Dimensionals.

Finally I layered this top layer onto a piece of Very Vanilla using Dimensionals – I used my Ticket Corner Punch to trim the edges of that piece for a neat effect – and then I layered this onto the card base of Chocolate Chip.  And there is a yummy treat perfect for St Patricks Day – I’m making some more for my girls and their teachers…I hope they like ‘em!

If you have any questions on making these, please Contact Me and I will be very happy to help – and be sure to click here to find out details of my Top Note Big Shot AND free Sweet Pea shopping bag special offer which is running through February 28th – combined with Sale-a-bration it is a fab deal – have a great weekend!

I absolutely love the Top Note die because of it’s versatility and it’s value for money and it is perfect for both cardmakers and scrapbookers alike…you can cut a piece of cardstock using this Die and there is no waste because you can use both shapes that this Die cuts – the beautiful inner shape and the outer piece that makes a fab frame for showcasing stamping and photos…

You can use the Top Note Die in sooo many ways and today I am showing you how you can use it to make a very cute gift card holder that you can adapt to use for any occasion…and please read on for details about my special offer where you can get the Top Note Die for free…

I got the idea from a swap I received – you simply choose your cardstock and using your Big Shot and Top Note Die cut three shapes – I used Regal Rose for my base color.  Take one of the die cut pieces and cut it in half – this will become the pocket that holds your gift card:

Stamp a sentiment onto this piece – I stamped mine using a stamp from the limited edition set Whimsical Words that right now you can get for free and you can it find on pg 8 of the Sale-a-bration catalog.

Using a strong narrow adhesive tape such as Sticky Strip, tape along the bottom edge and the two sides and adhere to one of the larger Top Note pieces.  Punch a circle in one corner of each of the large pieces and thread a piece of ribbon through and tie it loosely to be sure that the top piece can slide to one side so that the recipient can easily get to the gift card…I used a piece of Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon from the Occasions Mini for a real luxurious touch.  If you prefer, you could use a Jumbo Brad instead of the ribbon.

Stamp your image for the card front – my stamp is from the set Crazy for Cupcakes (pg 68) – layer it and add other embellishments or bling – I used the Ticket Corner Punch (pg 186) and sprinkled some fine Glitter (pg 180) onto the cherries to give a sparkle…add your gift card, and there you have a very cute way to give a gift.

Have you ever placed an order through me?  If so then this week you will be receiving a  kit containing everything you need to make this card!  Watch your mailbox as they were sent out yesterday so you will receive it very soon…  And any new customers who place an order with me during February will also receive a kit in the mail…

Want a printable copy of this tutorial?  Click HERE to get yours!

Do you have a Big Shot?  If not, this is a fab time to get one…

When you buy a Big Shot during Sale-a-bration I will give you a FREE Top Note Die or another die of your choice from the Catalog valued up to $21.95!   Sale-a-bration is a fabulous time to get one – buy your Big Shot now and get my free die PLUS you also get to choose 2 FREE items from the Sale-a-bration catalog – so when you spend $99.95 on your Big Shot, you get 3 FREE products valued at $53.85 – what a fab deal!!!  And it gets even better…please click here for details…

Happy Valentine’s Day y’all!  I hope your day is full of happiness, fun and love…and of course what a great excuse to munch on some yummy chocolate…

I thought I would show you the Valentine cards that I made for my little girls…I had some Candy Lane DSP from last year to use up so this was a great way to do so…both cards are case’d from galleries that I was searching through looking for ideas…I love how the colors work so well together here…and they both feature lots of details that are easy to re-create…

Both cards use the set Love You Much (pg 44) and use the colors Ruby Red, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Very Vanilla…don’t those colors work together fabulously?

I love how you can easily paper piece those cute birds – simply stamp them onto your base cardstock and again onto a piece of DSP -  cut the bird bodies out of the DSP and simply adhere to the birds you stamped on the base – how cool is that?

You could easily turn the templates of these cards into Happy Easter cards using pastel colors – greens, yellows, pinks – and you could paper piece those cute chicks to match your theme – using papers from Sweet Pea or Shades of Spring in the Occasions Mini would be perfect…combine those with Satin Ribbons and wow -

Place an order of $150+ and you will also receive a gorgeous re-useable Sweet Pea shopping bag from me, details of which you can find in the post below – plus you will get all hostess and sale-a-bration rewards on that order too! If you have any questions, please click here to email me and I will be very happy to help – have a wonderful Valentine’s weekend!

Yesterday I received a wonderful card in the mail from my fabulous friend Stella and it brightened up my day sooo much I thought I would share it with you…

Isn’t it elegant?  I love the colors she used and that paper is just gorgeous – it is pre-glittered and is from the Sending Love Specialty pack that you can find in the Occasions Mini on pg 13…

The base of the card is Real Red onto which is stamped a huge flourish in Black ink – this beautiful flourish stamp is from the set Baroque Motifs on pg 131.

Using the Full Heart Punch she punched a heart out of Pretty in Pink cardstock and attached it to the base using dimensionals.  The sentiment is from one of my favorite sets – Teeny Tiny Wishes on pg 145 – and she used the Word Window Punch to cut it out and then layered it onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock that she shaped using the Modern Label punch – all punches can be found on pg 186.

At the top of the card, she took a piece of Basic Black cardstock and layered the Designer Series Paper onto it – she tied around a piece of Basic Black 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon and then tied a piece of Pretty in Pink ribbon around the knot – she attached this to the cardbase and there you have a very elegant and beautiful card…

Place an order of $150+ and you will also receive a gorgeous re-useable Sweet Pea shopping bag from me, details of which you can find in the post below – plus you will get all hostess and sale-a-bration rewards on that order too! If you have any questions, please click here to email me and I will be very happy to help – have a wonderful Valentine’s weekend!

This is a fun card to make using the set Tart & Tangy which is just perfect for spring and summer that is just around the corner…it would be fab to make for warm weather event invites and ’saying hello’ cards and a twist to it is that you can even make it a Scratch ‘n Sniff card by using some orange scented powder…read on to find out how you can do this fun and very easy technique…

And the best bit?  Right now you can get the stamp set Tart & Tangy for FREE – simply spend $50 on any Stampin Up products and you are entitled to choose one item for FREE from the Sale-a-bration catalog – and this set is one of the choices available!   Click here for futher details about this amazing promotion…and read on for my own very special offer just for you during February...

I received this card in a swap one day and have been case’ing it like crazy ever since – apologies to the lady who made it because I really can’t remember who it was…if you happen to read this, please email me and I will give you credit…ok the card base is Pumpkin Pie cardstock onto which I stamped the orange slices using Versamark (pg 190).  Onto this is layered pieces of Whisper White and Ballet Blue cardstocks.  Now for the really fun bit…

In a bowl mix together 1 teaspoon of sugar-free drink mix – I used Orange Kool Aid – and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Clear Embossing Powder (pg 188) – stir to mix well.   Take a piece of  cardstock roughly trimmed to size – I used Pumpkin Pie – and ink it all over with your Versamark ink pad…sprinkle on your powdery mix and tap off the excess – use your Heat Tool to heat and Melt the powder – and that’s it – how cool is that?  You can use stamps with these powders too to create scratch ‘n stiff images on your cards…

Imagine the possibilities for the fruits in this stamp set – you could use a red drink mix for the cherries and strawberry, green or yellow to turn the orange slice into lime and lemon slices…green or red for the apple – and you can also use cocoa and espresso powders for those drink themed sets…I will have a printable tutorial for this technique here tomorrow and I will update this post with the link for it so be sure to check back.

To make my popsicle I trimmed my cardstock to size and rounded the corners using my Corner Rounder Punch (pg 186) – I used a small hole punch to trim one corner to make it look like someone has nibbled the popsicle – to make this stand out from the base, I cut a small piece of Whisper White and made the same pattern, adhering it to the popsicle so that it just peeks out.  I attached a piece of popsicle stick at the bottom and tied around a piece of 1/4″ Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon – you could also use the Word Window Punch (pg 186) in place of a stick.

I attached the popsicle to the card base and then as a finishing touch stamped an orange slice and attached it using Dimensionals (pg 192) to the popsicle – scratch the popsicle gently with a finger nail and you will release the yummy orange scent – this technique and Tart & Tangy were just made for each other…enjoy making your own scented creations!

FROM NOW TO THE END OF FEBRUARY – place your order of $150+ and you will receive an extra freebie from me!  As well as receiving full hostess benefits* of at least a Level 1 Hostess Stamp Set PLUS a minimum of $15 in free merchandise of your choice AND 3 FREE Sale-a-bration items of your choice – I will give you a fabulous and no longer available Stampin’ Up! Reusable shopping bag featuring the gorgeous SWEET PEA design for FREE - it is a real wow bag and I LOVE mine and tote it around everywhere I go…check it out below…it has a gorgeous design on each side and each end…CUTE!!!  Spend $300 and I will give you 2 bags for free…spend $450 and I will give you 3 bags for free!

All pg numbers stated above refer to where you can find the items in the Idea Book & Catalog – you can view the online version of this catalog by clicking HERE.  *You can find the table of hostess benefits on pg 11.

I don’t often work with bold colors but this little stamp from the set Wow Flowers works so well with strong colors…all the colors used on the card below are the In Colors that you can find on pg 155 of the Catalog.

During Sale-a-bration Wow Flowers  is one of the sets you can get for FREE with a $50 order…you can find it on pg 173 and I love it as it is such a versatile set and has two sentiment stamps and two flower stamps that can be used with Circle Punches to get fab results…

The base of this card is Dusty Durango onto which is layered a piece of Soft Suede.  Onto this is a layered a piece of Bahama Breeze which has a length of Crushed Curry Polka Dot Ribbon tied around and finished with a knot in front.

You will see a strip of Dusty Durango in the center of the card – it was cut to size and both edges were shaped using the Scallop Edge punch that you can find on pg 186 – I love this punch and you can even make a piece of cardstock or paper look like ric-rac ribbon using it!

The flowers are stamped using In Color inks onto Whisper White cardstock and punched out using the 1″ Circle Punch – some are layered onto a circle of Soft Suede and those circles were made using the 1 1/4″ Circle Punch.  Lastly the sentiment is from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes on pg 145 and is stamped in Soft Suede ink and punched out using the Window Punch that has been trimmed at one end – and there you have a beautiful card which I am loving today – the skies are so gray and dark and full of rain here today and this card reminds me of summertime and is brightening up my room and my day…

Sale-a-bration is running through February and you can find lots more details about it by clicking HERE – in a nutshell, for every $50 you spend you get to choose one item from a list of 83 products FOR FREE – and Wow Flowers is one of the sets on that list – you can see the stamps in that set below – what a cool deal!

When I give gifts I love to present them not in a paper gift bag, but in useful packaging – something that the recipient can re-use themselves rather than a bag to simply throw in the trash…

And rather than use a roll of gift wrap, I decided to show you how you can use papercrafting supplies  in your gift wrapping.  The cute green tin pail below houses my gift which is wrapped in a sheet of Designer Series Paper from the Cottage Wall pack…and the bow on the top?  Yup…also made of beautiful papers found in that package…read on for details and a tutorial…

I simply wrapped my gift in one sheet of DSP and placed it into my pail along with some tissue paper for padding.  I then cut two lengths of  ribbon from my spool of 5/8″ Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain and wrapped each around the pail from side to side to create the X effect.

To make the Gift Bow – all you need is your Paper Trimmer, one sheet of co-ordinating Designer Series Paper, a Stapler and some Mini Glue Dots or Sticky Strip…you simply cut your paper as follows – cut 9 strips each 3/4″ wide – cut 3 strips to be 11″ long, 3 strips to be  10″ long, 2 strips to be 9″ long and one strip to be 3  1/2 ” long.

Then take each strip and make a loop in each end and secure in the center using a staple – do this for all of the strips except for the smallest:

To assemble your bow, take the longest strips and layer them on top of one another, securing each with a Mini Glue Dot or piece of  Sticky Strip.  Continue until you have layered them all and then take your small strip and make it into a round loop and adhere it into the center of the bow – and there you have a very cute handmade bow to add to your gift…

By using different papers you can fully customise your bows for birthdays, weddings, baby showers…the possibilities are endless!  You can find the packs of Designer Series Papers on pgs 160-163 of the main Catalog and also on pgs 13, 25 and 33 of the Occasions Mini Catalog – you will find the links to both of these online catalogs in the sidebar.

I have put together a printable Tutorial with further photographs and information which you can find by clicking HERE – if you have any questions please let me know and I will be very happy to help.

I love this stamp set – you can color your cat stamp anyway you please to customise the card for the person receiving it…

You can find C is for Cat on pg 61 of the Catalog and right now with a $50 order it is one of the sets you can get for free during Sale-a-bration.   The card below uses just the beautiful cat stamp from that set and the colors on the cat are themed across the card which gives it a uniform and elegant look…

The card base is Creamy Caramel onto which is layered Chocolate Chip – the 3 flowers are punched into this layer using the Trio Flowers Punch (pg 186) and a strip of DSP is taped on the underside so that the pattern peaks through the flowers.  Next a strip of Creamy Caramel that has been embossed using the Flourish Texturz plate (pg 195) is adhered in place.

On top of this layer is a very cool black swirl – can you guess how to do this?  You use the Tulipe Bigz Die that you can find on pg 198 and run it through the Big Shot with black cardstock and cut off the pieces that you wish to use and adhere them to your card base – isn’t this a great look?

To make the cat look the way she does simply choose some inks and use your daubers (pg 192) to apply ink to the rubber – stamp onto your cardstock – you might need to add a little more color using those daubers to add more ink directly to the card – but doesn’t it give a neat effect?  The cat is punched out using the 1 3/4″ Circle Punch and ink applied around the edges.  Add a flower, some fine glitter and there you have a very cool and stylish cat card…meow…