Inkychatter

Decor Elements

I love these Decor Elements by Stampin Up!.  they look so great on the wall and are really easy to apply.  What a dramatic statement I have in my foyer now!  There are many different kinds of Decor Elements. Read about them here and see them here along with stencils and other products.  These allow you to give a personal touch to your home unlike any other.  Decor Elements can be put on things other than walls if you want to move them around...example, put them in a shadow box, use on clear dishes,  glasses, wood, plastic, whatever you can imagine.  This allows for holiday elements that can be stored away until the appropriate season. Take a look and start planning changes to your home without a lot of expense and time.

Card Class part 2

Here are more cards from our card class Friday nite at Northpark Baptist, Stampin' In The Park.  I love this crop and the room we meet in is so cool.  This is a classroom for the Middle School kids and it shows...corrugated aluminum walls, poured concrete floor, a band stand,  plenty of wall mounted TV's so we can watch movies while we "work". <G>   Really a fun kid friendly room with plenty of space and lots and lots of tables.  If you want a place to crop then this is a great place.  We generally have anywhere from ten to thirty people, depending on the holidays, kids sports schedules, etc. Please come join us, you will have a great time.

OK, now, on to the cards we made.  As I said, these are simple and quick cards.  These could easily be taken up to another level with added embellishments.

The base of this card is Whisper White and the scallop middle section is Rose Red and was punched with the Eyelet Border Punch, then paper pierced down the center with the mat pack. The sentiment, just a little thanks, was stamped from the Matchbox Messages in the Occasions Mini Catalog, currently available, and colored with More Mustard, Rose Red and Chocolate Chip markers before stamping on Whisper White.  The sentiment was punched out using the 1-1/4" Circle Punch, then mounted on a Rose Red circle punched with the 1-3/8" Circle Punch.  At the bottom the cute little stamp, Flower in Silhouette, page 208 in the catalog, was used to stamp in More Mustard and Rose Red. The edges were sponged with Rose Red to give a little color and frame the card.

This Father's Day card was stamped using Black Stazon and Sense of Time and All Holidays along with a couple of stamps from Rustic Rooster.  I am not a big fan of Roosters, but I love all the stamps in this set.  In combination with Sense of Time it makes a great background paper.  Don't you love this Kraft Paper?

The base is Night of Navy, the background is Kraft, the sentiment is Kraft, Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss.  I am going to miss these In Colors, but I am sure the new ones will be great as well. Although Cool Carribean and Pacific Point have to be my all time favs.

A couple of brads add a nice dimension to this card.

I love my Big Shot.  This card was done almost entirely with the Big Shot using Simple Flower and Little Leaves sizzlits and Lots of Tags sizzlit.  The sentiment was stamped using Matchbox Messages, cut out and mounted on the punched tag.  The scallop punch was used on both ends of teh Very Vanilla cardstock and on the ends of the Kraft base.  Cute, simple, and quick. 

These cards are a little dark but it has been cloudy all week, not great for taking pictures.  I definitely need a light box.

OK, that's it for now.   

Card Class

What a nice day today!  We were out early to Alex's ball game and then the kids and grandkids came to our house for a late breakfast...french toast breakfast casserole, hash browns, bacon, juice, blueberries...yum!!! Love Saturdays!

Last nite was Stampin' In The Park at Northpark Baptist Church where we have a crop once a month and I do a card class for those that don't feel like dragging all their scrapbook stuff but still want the girl time and feel like they got something done.

We did 5 cards last nite.  These cards are simple and quick and help fill your stash in a hurry.

The first is from Fun and Fast Notes, page 54 of the Spring and Summer catalog - 113500 $32.95.  If you like water coloring or blender pens then this set is for you.  It covers a multitude of occasions with sayings to match.  I am in the process of cutting the saying from the main stamp and putting it on the end of the block so I can mix and match greetings and stamps.

The note that goes with this stamp is actually Thanks for Sharing You With Me, but I wanted Happy Birthday Wishes on it instead. We stamped this image with Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder, colored with Blender Pens and Markers, sponged the edges in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink, mounted to Pretty in Pink which was sponged in Pretty in Pink Classic Ink and after wrapping with Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, mounted that to Chocolate Chip Cardstock.  The base is Confetti.  I love Confetti because it has speckles in it for an interesting look. At the bottom we stamped the sentiment, Happy Birthday Wishes, in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink. Embossing the sentiment would have been nice, but we didn't. For the finish, we sponged the edges of the Confetti base with Close to Cocoa Classic Ink.  A cute and quick card.  Mr. Hedgehog is my fav stamp of this set.

Each class we do one Christmas card.  I was thinking of what stamp set to use when I came across Trendy Trees and one tree top stood out as a means of stamping a Christmas wreath. We stamped
the tree top stamp on Baja Breeze in Encore Gold and embossed with Gold Embossing Powder.  To keep the wreath in a circle as we stamped I included a circle punched from a Post It Note using the 1-3/4 Circle Punch. This was placed on the upper third of the card centered from the sides and the tree top stamp was stamped on the edge doing opposite sides first and then filling in the blank spots.  This keeps it fairly centered and even.  The flowers were punched from the Trio Flower Punch from Riding Hood Red, sponged with Riding Hood Red Classic Ink and with a dot of Two Way Glue Pen in the center, sprinkled with Cosmo red glitter. The sentiment is from Heard From The Heart, stamped in Riding Hood Red and mounted on Whisper White. This is really a striking card in person, but isn't captured in the picture.  Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon was used for the bow with the option of making a bow and attaching with a glue dot, punching holes and threading the ribbon through and tying in a bow, or making the loopless bow (not the name of it, but don't know what it's called) where you punch two holes, thread the ribbon through, cross it in the back and thread it back through the holes.

OK, it's Saturday and I want to get outside so I will post the rest of the cards tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Top Note Box

Have you noticed all the uses for this Big Shot Top Note Die?  It's a must have for your Sizzix collection!
This box is one Carol Taggart did...an awesome little box.   I did reverse the adhesive sides from front to back because I like my flaps on the inside.  A basic box is easy to tweak to any size you want it by extending or decreasing height.  As long as the basic length and width fit your Top Note Die you are good.  Just keep the proportions the same.
This box uses A Walk in the Park paper from the current mini catalog.  There are two Top Notes  together on both top and bottom. You can add chipboard, cardstock or bookboard in the sandwich if you want a sturdier lid, but our DSP is pretty heavy on it's own.

 

For embellishments I played around with the flowers from the Prettie's Kit by coating them
in Crystal Effects and sprinkling just a bit of Dazzling Diamonds on them.  Nice! It takes a while for these to dry and they are a bit messy to work with but it gives the flower an entirely different look than it's original state. While they are a bit stiff they are workable.  I worked with two flowers and left one as it was but the other I snipped the ends in a cone flower fashion just to change it up a bit.  I love the result. I layered these two with the untrimmed flower on the bottom and the trimmed flower on top. Nice!  Then I covered a clear round button with Crystal Effects and poured Fine Cosmo Orchid glitter on it, shook off the excess and then let it dry.  Overnight is best for letting it thoroughly dry.
I stamped the top of the Top Note Box with
hostess set, Rustic Rooster.  I am not a big fan of roosters, but the other stamps in this set are ones that I love.  I even used the rooster tail on the lid. <G>
I used Stampin' Up!'s White Organza Ribbon under the flowers...that ribbon is to die for and to dye for...it takes color so well.
I punched circles of Elegant Eggplant and put under the flowers just to give a punch of color and break up the green and white.  I also outlined the "stitch" marks the Sizzix Die creates by going over it with the Elegant Eggplant marker as well as doing a bit of sponging around the edges of the flowers and the box.

This is the top of the box with the stamped images, which don't show up very well.  It is light stamping and it's a cloudy rainy day for making pictures.  But you get the idea.  One thing I would add is a ribbon to pull open the lid because you can't tell the front from the back on this box.  I didn't want to embellish the sides so the ribbon is the answer.  I would also use my Scallop Edge punch for the edge of the lid that tucks in. That would be a nice touch.

Top Note Die Purse

At my hostess club this weekend we made the cute cute Becky Roberts Top Note Die Purse.  We made little 3x3 monogrammed cards to go inside using Lovely Letters Alphabet. This is such an elegant alphabet for making personalized monogrammed stationery.  These little purses went together quickly and were such fun to make! The Stampin'  Up! black and white polka dot Rockabilly designer paper makes a very dramatic purse when paired with the Pixie Pink  and Green Galore Cardstock and the Green Galore Ribbon. (Note: Use 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon and Green Galore Reinker to make Green Galore Ribbon) This went to my daughter for her birthday along with dinner at a restaurant of her choice. 

These tiny note cards were made from leftovers of the black and white Rockabilly designer paper along with more Green Galore Ribbon and Pixie Pink Cardstock.  With punches, paper and cardstock scraps and a few embellishments you can acheive a myriad of designs for the little cards.

The ladies had a great time making their own version of this purse and cards  and here they are to show off their projects.

We usually do three projects but since the purse and cards were a little involved and used up most of our time, we decided we were going to the dogs at this point so we made this little card using Man's Best Friend.  The hostess for this month is a dachund lover and has two adorable little doxies named Pepper and Snicker,  so we focused on the weiner dog.  Don't you love these little pups?!  That chihuahua is just so cute. We stamped three images of weiner dog and cut him in pieces to make him longer.  I have to say, this card was the shortest weiner dog of the bunch.  I think some of them were nose to nose with chi boy.  Using a piece from the Hodgepodge Hardware collection and a piece of Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon we made a little collar to go across the top of the card.  The fire hydrants were stamped in Real Red, embossed with clear embossing powder, then cut out and popped out on dimensionals. The layers are Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White and Garden Green.  The Garden Green grass was torn. Be sure weiner do is going level or slightly uphill.  The first one I did had his front feet and head over a dip in the tear and I have to piece him a place to stand before he fell in the hole!! Poor weiner dog! The sky was done with Bashful Blue and an aqua pen...no scallops or templates, just freehand.  The rest is pretty much self explanatory.  Enjoy and have a great day!

Pick A Petal Makeover

Pick A Petal is a beautiful build a flower set that is so versatile.  I love it and have used it in so many ways.  This card is a remake of one on Page 114 of the Spring 2009 Idea Book and Catalog.  I made it smaller than the one in the catty but it is still very dramatic.  A little hardware or ribbon would enhance it even further but sometimes I just like a simple card.
Our catty is so full of ideas that I could make cards for a very long time using it alone!!

What I Like About Spring

Things have been upside down for a couple of weeks.  Trying to catch my breath. I need just a few more hours in my day. I guess we all feel that way from time to time.

 Usually I dread spring and summer because of the heat, the humidity, mosquitos, bugs in general. Ugh!  One thing I do love are my peonies. Isn't this the prettiest peony. I have red and white but the white is so fragrant! They are huge showy flowers and I love them on the table in a clear vase. I don't even mind the ants that eat away at the buds so these beautiful flowers can come out.  See you tomorrow.

Bright Delights Rubons Leftovers

What do you do with leftover rubons?  Give a white cup new life.  Just two simple little rubons make this plain jane cup really cute!  I am right handed so I put the rubons where  they would show to whoever was across from me.  I love it! Clean the surface with alcohol to remove any oils, place the rubons flat on the cups surface and rub away.  This cup will have to be handwashed otherwise the rubons will come off in the dishwasher.  Hmmm....I think I have a few more rubons left.....