A Sparkly, Sprinkly, Sketch Challenge (Try saying that 3 times fast!) SSC #264/ My Challenge #30

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Hey y'all. Happy Monday to you. I hope you had a great weekend!

Although I didn't get as many cards/projects made as I would have liked, I did get some fun ones done. I also got all of my new stamp sets conditioned, got some laundry and yard work done and even got my car's state and emissions testing done. Which it passed, thankfully. You know what that meant? It meant that after $400.00 for new front brakes (2 weeks ago) and $30.00 for emissions testing, it was in fabulous shape for the thieves that stole it last night! Yep, I said stole it. Have you ever walked out of your house and just knew something wasn't right but couldn't quite put your fingers on it? That was me this morning. I walked out and was about to get into my SUV and thought "Something isn't right here." What was it....Think, Think, Think... I turned around in a circle and that's when it hit me! I was standing in an empty- parking space.!!! *Palm to Forehead* Silly me, I look up and down the neighborhood to see if it has somehow magically moved during the night to another space, but NOPE, still no-where to be found. Thank-God, I had my SUV. I left for the commuter lot and called the police who I will call again this evening when I get home so they can come and do the paperwork. The good/bad news, it wan't just me they hit. Someone stole my best-friend's dad's truck out of his driveway last night too. He lives about 15 minutes from me. Those were some busy thieves! What a way to start the week!

Wanna know a better way? Today's card. It's another sketch from those fab ladies over at Stamping 411. I have to say when I first saw it, I was a little worried. It really had me stumped. I was going through all of my stamp sets in my mind, trying to figure out what I could use. I was really hoping to use one of my new sets but nothing was coming to mind. And then it hit me, and here's what I came up with-

Birthday Card featuring
Cupcake Builder Punch and Patio Party DSP

Can I just say how excited this card makes me? No, really. Like I'm on a sugar high from all those sweet, sugary, little sprinkles. *Happy Dance*

You probably know how literally I interpret sketches by now. All I could see were those three butterfly areas, What in the world was I going to do? Then I thought of my cupcake punch and the matching stamp set and I knew just what I wanted to try.

Here's the sketch-

I think the only thing I'm not sure about is the little bow on the cupcake wrapper. I was really happy without it. I'm not sure...what do you think? Otherwise, I'm so excited. I just want to take a big ole bite out of it. Best part...Calorie free. Lol!

Here's a closer look-

It's kind of hard to see, but I used my Simply Scored to make the cupcake wrapper and then lightly sponged over it to give some dimension and depth. I used vanilla scented embossing powder mixed with some Dazzling Diamonds for the "frosting" and then added my sweet little candy sprinkles and topped them with some sparkly, sugary,shine. Both DSP's are from the Patio Party collection and my base and scalloped circle punch is Raspberry Ripple and my mat is Primrose Petals. Even though my Bakers Twine is Cherry Cobbler I love how it matches. I mean seriously...if you didn't know, you wouldn't know. Right? I love how with SU, everything coordinates so easily.

Here's the inside

Birthday Card featuring
Make A Cupcake and Cupcake Builder Punch

The sentiment is from the Make A Cupcake set as is the image. I used Crumb Cake and Primrose Petals and stamped off 1x for the Crumb Cake and 2x for the Primrose Petals. More confetti sprinkles and a lot of love from Tink and my card was complete! Yea!!! :)

No Monday Musings today as I am musing enough about my stolen car. Why can't stuff like this happen before you spend all that money? Those new brakes were one of the reasons I'm not getting on a plane to SLC and my first SU Convention tomorrow. Oh well, who am I to question the timing of things in God's Great Plan for my life? It is what it is. I guess that means I have an extra parking spot for my class participants. Glass half full and all that.

For my friends out there headed to convention... I hope you have a wonderful time. Take lots of pictures, get lots of cool swaps, take copious notes and come back ready to share with the rest of us. But most of all, have fun. My good stamping pal Michelle invited me to do a 6x6 recipe swap with her and I am sooo excited to say I did my first ever convention swaps, my first scrapbook type swap and my first hybrid swap all rolled into one. I'll be posting pics of them later this week.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are so very appreciated. I hope you like today's card and it inspires you to make/do something fun today. I love hearing from you and read all of my comments and try to respond to most as well. If you liked today's card and have just a moment to drop me a line, you'd make my day. If you wanted to +1 or Pin it, I've added those buttons to my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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End of the Week Technique #18 - Paper Piercing

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you're having a good day and getting ready for a great SuperBowl Weekend.

I can't believe I'm on my 18th EWT already. WOW! How exciting? I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am enjoying doing them. Today's EWT is one I have done at Stampcamps in the past but I don't think I have ever done on my own at home in the studio, and have never done on any cards here.

Paper Piercing can be as simple as adding pinholes to the centers of the scallops of punched out scalloped circle punch, or a few holes in the corner of a card to make a decorative angle, or around a card and connected with either marker for a faux stitched look or thread for the real deal. Or you can do what I've done on today's card and use it to outline a design element to leave an image of that element on your card.

I CASE'd my card from our Stampin Connect magazine, the monthly magazine Stampin' Up demonstrators get. It's full of ideas for us to use and I did. I changed it up a little and made it my own, but if you get the magazine you may recognize it.

Here's today's card-

Isn't is cute? My stampcamp girls loved it last week. The original card was a longer rectangle card. I chose to stick with a standard card size. I started with a base of Calypso Coral. I used the a-la-carte stamp Candy Conversations from our Occasions Mini. I just love this stamp. It takes me right back to my childhood (which since I'm only 29 isn't that far, hahahahahaha) when we used to all love to get those little boxes of candy hearts and read each one. You know, they don't even taste that good but for some reason I still find myself buying at least one box a year. How about you?

I used my Stampin Write Markers to color in the stamp. I used Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Pretty in Pink. I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get my alignment just right, but let me tell you my girls were fearless! They just stamped away. The original card had 2 rows of hearts, but as I knew I was going to have new stampers I chose to go a little easier route. We stamped onto Whisper White c/s and I have to tell you that even though the coverage is not perfect, I'm happy. Normally, this would have me running for my blender pens to fill in and correct the color, but those little candies are never consistent in color and often have little chunks missing where the white shows through, so to my own surprise and the surprise of many of you I'm sure, the imperfections were allowed to stay. (Hooray! Take that OCD!)

I triple wrapped our fabulous Calypso Coral Bakers Twine around the edge of the c/s and tied a cute little  bow. This whole piece then got popped up with dimensionals and the front was almost done. I actually saved the piercing for last.

On to the inside-

Very simple here. I used a sentiment stamp from P.S. I Love You and stamped it in Calypso Coral. I colored one of the hearts from the Candy Conversations stamp in Wisteria Wonder, stamped it on Whisper White c/s and let Tink have her way with it and then punched it out using my Small Heart Punch. I then Tombowed it to the inside corner of my card. The effect is a little sugared candy heart. How Yummy is that? Don't you just want to pick it up and eat it?

Now onto today's EWT. The original card had two pierced hearts, I chose to do three. I made a "template heart" using my Small Heart Punch. I used Red Glimmer Paper because it's so sturdy and I felt it would hold up longer. I opened up my card and laid the front of my card on my Mat Pack and laid my heart where I wanted my first heart to be. Then using my Paper Piercer I began to outline the heart. Of course, being me, I did it in a methodical way instead of just punching my way around the heart. You can do it however you choose, but here's how I did mine. I pierced at the "v" of the heart and the point of the heart first, then the center of both top rounded portions, the middle of both side rounded portions and in between the last spot and the point at the bottom. I then filled in in-between these spacing evenly. It only took a few extra punches.

*TIP* - Be sure to take your time and be aware of how much pressure and how deeply you are pressing on your piercer. You will get different size holes depending on how hard you press, because this will affect how deeply you go into your mat.

*TIP* - For finer piercing you can use a sewing needle. This looks especially nice in the Small Scalloped Circle Punch.

After you have your first heart punched move your template and place it where you would like your next heart to be and simply start the process again. Just make sure to only outline the portion of the heart outside the original heart.

Here's a closer picture of the front-

What do you think? I think it's something I need to remember to try more often. It definitely adds something to the card.

I hope you liked today's card and today's EWT. I hope it inspires you to try this technique. If you do, as always, I would love to see your efforts. If not this technique, I hope it inspires you to try something you haven't tried yet or something you haven't tried in a while. You know the motto of this blog- Just Try.

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

Today's Card Recipe-
Cardstock- Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Red Glimmer Paper
Ink- Classic Ink Pad- Calypso Coral, Stampin Write Markers- Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Pretty in Pink
Punch- Small Heart Punch
Bakers Twine- Calypso Coral
Accesories- Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Two-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Tombow, Dimensionals, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

If you need supplies to recreate this card or to create your own cards you can shop in my ONLINE STORE 24/7. Now's a great time to shop with Sale-A-Bration going on. $50.00 in purchases will get you FREE merchandise. How AMAZING is that?!?

Also, have you thought about buying our My Digital Studio, but been uncertain about spending the money for the purchase? What if I told you, you could get a FREE 1 month trial of our Fabulous digital content to try, NO Strings Attached? Interested? I would be happy to tell you more.


If you liked today's card I hope you'll leave me a comment. That's how I grow as a designer. Also feel free to hit the Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest buttons. Friends and Followers are always welcome too.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you have an Amazing weekend full of family and friends and of course time for stamping and designing. Hopefully I'm going to stop wheezing and coughing long enough to be able to design some cards for you for next week. Hope to see you back here then.

Till next time-

Remember- Life isn't about Waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to Dance in the Rain

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

End of the Week Technique # 16 - Framelet Valentine Candy Holder

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! I hope you're having a good day. It's cold here in the DMV with flurries forecast for later today but for now the sun is shining.

I have to confess that this is not the EWT I had in mind for you today. I know... you heard that last week too. Truth is I had planned to do lots of stamping and crafting yesterday to get ready for this weekend, (like I said I was going to do in yesterday's post) and then a little miracle happened. Right as I was finishing that post and about to hit "publish" my Oh-So-Handsome Boyfriend, who I took the day off from work to be with (don't worry I got it covered early, all legit like) and who had a last minute schedule change at 5:55 yesterday morning and wasn't going to be able to get off work, was able to get off work! SCORE!!!!! He lives nearby but his work schedule is soooo crazy (we're talking 6 days/week 12-14 hour days) that our time together is at a premium, so I have to say, there was not a lot of design - creativity happening in my household after I hit publish yesterday.

That being said, the project I have for you is super cute, super easy and can be adapted to anytime of the year, not just Valentines Day. I was inspired to make a Valentine's Day Treat holder after going to a Stampcamp this weekend and using the "Pillowbox" Die and the Big Shot to make one. Since I didn't have that die, I needed to find another option. I could have used the TopNote and made one like THIS from Halloween, but I wanted to try something else. So I got out my thinking cap, looked around and what do you know, I found the inspiration I needed right in front of me on my table. It was on the cover of the new Occasions-Mini. I changed it a little, theirs is simply rolled (so I'm thinking it's probably not a treat holder) and mine is scored with the Simply Scored Tool. Do you have yours yet? I'm telling you it is a must have! I don't even fold cardstock for card bases anymore without scoring them on that first. It just makes the fold so much nicer.

Here's today's project-

Cute right? Wouldn't you love to find this on your desk at work, or on your pillow at home? It's so easy even your crafting-challenged significant others could do this or could help your little ones do it to give you a nice surprise. If they can crank the handle of the Big Shot, Score cardstock, Punch a hole, Tie a knot/bow they're home free. They get bonus points if they can stamp the image and punch it out! (:

I used DSP from my Brights pack and the largest Framelet and simply ran it through the Big Shot. So simple.  Next, I laid this on my Simply Scored Tool with the "points" in a channel. I then counted over 1/2 inch or 4 "channels" on either side and scored, and then reinforced those scores. Then, using my Crop-A-Dile I punched a hole through both sides at the top and took a length of about 12 inches of Pretty in Pink ribbon (although you could realistically get away with less) wrapped it around the outside and through the holes.

Here's what it looks like open-

As you can see 4 Kisses or Mini- Reese's Cups fit nicely, or 3 "Nuggets" You can use a little Snail to hold them in.

Once they were in, I tied my Pretty in Pink ribbon in a simple knot and flagged the ends. I stamped 2 of the images from the P.S. I Love You set in Real Red and Pretty in Pink on Whisper White and then punched it out using my Small Scalloped Circle Punch. A quick hole punched to the top and I tied some Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine through that and around the knotted ribbon and easy as that my sweet treat is ready to bring a smile to someones face.

So what do you think? Will you be "accidentally" forwarding this link to someone you love so they can make  you something sweet for VD instead of buying something for you? I don't know about you, but I would rather get this, or something similar, that someone took the time to make for me than something from one of the big stores.

I hope you liked today's Quick and Easy EWT and I hope it inspires you to try something new and to remember that just because you don't have "exactly what someone else used" doesn't mean that you can't still make something your own. Just Try! If you liked today's project, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

If you need supplies to make today's project or one similar to it you can shop at my ONLINE STORE 24/7.
Today's Recipe-
Cardstock- Real Red Pattern Paper Brights Stack
Ink- Real Red and Pretty in Pink Stampin Write Markers
Ribbons- Pretty in Pink Grosgrain, Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine
Big Shot- Labels Framelets
Stamps- P.S. I Love You
Accesories- Crop-A-Dile, SNAIL


It's not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to Dance in the rain.

Till next time-

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It