Ornament Vase

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Hey y'all! I hope you're having a great day today! I missed being able to post yesterday, but have been so busy. Are you ready for the holidays? Shopping done? Well, best intentions aside, I still have not done my Christmas cards and I have to get my packages mailed out this weekend and I have a stampcamp on Saturday. Someones going to stay busy I think!

Just a quick little post for you today. A flashback of sorts. Today's card is not a holiday one, but it uses a Holiday Punch. Remember this post way back in August when I first started this little adventure? I talked about some of the different uses for the Holiday Ornament Punch I had just received and gave a preview of some of the cards I had made using it. Well, I realized I had never posted this one.

I'm sure many of you have seen this style card where the ornament is used as a vase, but it was the first time I had used it like this. I had also just recently received my Top Note die so I was glad to be able to use it too, since I was trying to figure out uses for it.  It's a simple card but I still like it. I may have to revisit it come spring with some brighter flowers and case. This is definitely a fall colored card.

Here's today's card-

Sorry the lighting's so dim. (Boy, those Ott lights will spoil you quick-like!)The DSP for the vase is a retired paper from last year. It's been so long since I made it I can't even remember exactly what colors I used, SMH. Bad Shan! I punched the flowers out with a retired punch that came as part of a set I received years ago, and used my bone folder to curl the edges and give the flowers some dimension. We  have multiple punches you could use now to create the same effect. I drew the stems in freehand using my Stampin Write Marker, using short strokes to make it look more realistic. I think I used Early Espresso. No stamping at all on this card front.

You know what else is missing? Yep, Tink! I look back at this card and think about how my cards and style have evolved, even in just these last few months. Like I said, I definitely like this card, it's just hard to believe  it's one of mine!  Also sadly, nothing to show for the inside. Sorry. Turns out I didn't have it loaded into my BB, but no glitz or glam there either. Where was my head? :-)

That's all I have for you today. (Told you it was a quick little one!) I know a lot of us are already gearing up and looking forward to the New Year and Sale-A-Bration and Valentines Day, I know I keep trying to get to those stamp sets!  Hopefully this will remind you that even though the Holidays are almost here and then just as quickly gone, don't forget about your Holiday punches. I hope you remember to get yours out and make something a little non-traditional with it. Don't make it sit all alone and forgotten about until next year. That makes them sad and if they cry they might rust and not punch as cleanly for you. LOL :-)

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. :)

I'll be back tomorrow with my End of the Week Technique. Thanks to everyone who has been previewing it HERE for making it such a popular post.

Till next time,

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

Not So Scary Treat Holder

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Booo!
Hey Y'all. Did I get ya? :-) Just one more week till Halloween, so I thought I'd do a Halloween post today. This is a Q&E, that's right a quick and easy, little treat holder for you to whip up for that special ghoul or goblin in your life. In fact I did this yesterday while talking to one of my best friends on the phone about coming to an upcoming stamp camp and she thought it was sooo cute! And guess what, she's so excited to learn how to make it. :-)

First though- I just want to say Thanks! Thanks, to everyone that has stopped by my little blog. I was at 206 hits this morning. Not a lot I know, but to me, soooo very exciting, so thanks again! Maybe we can get a little blog candy or something going for the next big numbers (hint, hint).

So, are you ready to see today's project? Ok, Here it is-

How cute is this? Ok, so totally not my idea? Wish I could claim it, but I can't, it's totally a CASE but I don't remember the person's name. If I find it, I'll come back and put it in here.

Anyways, this is really simple. Your base is Basic Black cardstock, just run it through your Big Shot with your Top Note Die. Your next layer is a piece of Old Olive cardstock. Lay it on the Top Note Die in the middle of die and run it through. Next, pick a piece of Designer Series Paper, I used a piece from our Frightful Sight DSP Collection. (You could use this treat holder throughout the year and simply change the color combinations and DSP.) My DSP was cut at 1 1/2 x 5 and placed at the center of the top note and I ran it through the Big Shot again. Now all that was left was the assembly.

I used Tombow adhesive to really get it to stick. SNAIL will not be sticky enough. You might also try  Sticky Strip, but Tombow worked for me. Adhere your DSP to your Old Olive layer and then I lightly sponged the edges with Grey just to add a little depth. Then, adhere those two layers to the base layer with Tombow, making sure to just put the Tombow around the edges (you want to make sure to leave room to put your goodies).

I then used my Crop-a-Dile to punch small holes in the center points and put in some Black Brads. I then flipped my Crop-a-Dile over and used the other side to punch a big hole up top to run some black ribbon through. The last thing I did was take my bone folder and gently, note that word - Gently, round the inside of my pocket. This gives it some dimension and allows it to more easily accept your candy offerings. Tombow and even Sticky Strip is strong but you have to remember it's only cardstock, so be gentle. I got my Kit-Kat in there with no problem and truth be told could have put something else in there as well.

This was so cute and so Q&E, I think I'm going to stir up a batch for work and class. Get it- Stir up a batch...lol. ok. :-)

So Tinkerbell, took the night off and Goth Tink was nowhere to be found. *tear* I'm kinda sad there's no glitter anywhere. Black Glitter is def going on the wish list.

Well, that's it for today. I hope you get out your Big Shot and your Top Note and start whipping these out for your ghouls and goblins and if you don't have a Big Shot, join my team and get one for FREE! That's right I said FREE! But you only have 1 week left, just 7 little days. If you join now, there's no obligation,  no commitment, just try it out, and you get a Free Big Shot or $100.00 in Free merchandise. What do you have to lose?

Hope you enjoyed today's project. If you liked it, 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. :)  

Remember, you can shop in my online store 24/7, HERE to recreate this project or to create many others. Check back soon to see what else I have for you. As always if you make anything you see here, send me a link, or a pic, I'd love to see!

Be Safe,
Shan

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Beachy Inspiration

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So, for those of you that don't know me, I grew up in the south and spent most of that time on a farm on a bay (it was actually called Fannen Bayou), and my grandfather had charter boats that we did Sports Fishing on. That's where I got my love of the beach and the ocean/water from. Seriously, if I can't smell the ocean I feel totally landlocked, which is pretty much all the time where I live right now. :(

Well. this past week my friend and Stampin' Up upline Robin got to go on vacay and went to the beach. When she mentioned digging her toes in the sand I have to admit I was a little jelly... like lime green JELLO- but only for a second because if anyone deserved a nice vacay, it was Robin. So it only lasted like a millisecond and then like she usually does Robin inspired me, even from the beach. (BTW- can I just say, I'm so glad she is not at the beach with Irene headed this way!)

Here's my card-


I used Very Vanilla for the base, it reminded me of sand. Then I used a blue layer on top of that that reminded me of the ocean. There you go, sand and sea...I was already happy. I then took the Very Vanilla and 3 Beachy Blue tones and punched out squares with my punch. I made another base of Very Vanilla and laid down strips of snail and then put the squares down. If you start in the corner and then work your way out you should be fine. (You can do random patterns or a set pattern. It's all up to you.) After I got my squares all laid out I put this on my TopNote Die and ran it through my Big Shot. I thought about adding something else but I liked just looking at the patterns and the colors and decided that just like the beach sometimes less is all you need.
After looking at this card for a while I thought it might make a nice thank you card when someone lets you stay at their house too (maybe I'll make a few extra).

Well, because Robin almost always adds a nice little touch to the inside of the card and I learned stamping from Robin, and she did inspire this card... here's a look at the inside.




I stamped the phrase You Inspire me from the Perfect Words Hostess Set. I thought it was fitting. I then stamped some beachy images in the bottom corner and colored them in with my Stampin' Write Markers. I used my Two Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to add a little glitz to the artwork inside the card. I think you can see it pretty good in the picture. I was really happy with how this part came out, I thought it looked so pretty. :)

So what do you think of my Beachy Inspiration? With Irene about to batter all of the East Coast I think this is the Beachiest I'm going to get anytime soon. Well, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it. I hope it let's you go to the beach or somewhere equally enjoyable for just a few minutes and maybe, just maybe, it will inspire you too.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

A Pop-Up TopNote CASE

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Guess what I got this week? The TopNote Die for my BigShot. :) Ok, so I know I'm a little behind most, but after reading Robin's posts for years now about everything you can do with it, and really enjoying playing with my BigShot I finally ordered it. Of course you know what I did then right? That's right - I sat there and thought, now what in the world am I going to do with it!
I went back through all my stamp camp cards and hardly had any with the TopNote on them. I had a few Swaps, but they needed supplies I didn't have to be able to C.A.S.E (Copy And Share Everything). Thank goodness I don't have to come up with ideas all on my own. Last night I was on Stampin' Connection and found some cute cards and then found a video but got busy watching Dinner for Schmucks (very Funny) and forgot all about it. So I get up this morning, do some yard work and decide to reward myself with a movie and found the video all loaded and waiting for me. It was so Cute and it looked so Easy and it even used a stamp set I owned. It was like it was meant to be. I think the video was by ShelliBear, check her out. Anyways, I knew I had to try the card today. I used a different stamp set and I used a different shape in the center (I think she probably used an Oval Die & I don't have one) but I think this will definitely be a go to for Gift Card Holders.



I used a base of Soft Sky and then a layer of Tempting Turquoise DSP on top of that. I stamped the sentiment Happy New Baby in Basic Black and then Punched it out using my Word Window Punch. To give it that little bit of Bling, after I adhered it to my card I ran a strip of Snail across the punched sentiment and then poured my Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on top and Voila...Instant Bling.

For the TopNote Pop-Up I used a base of Soft Sky and then stamped the baby carriage in basic black. I colored it in using my Stampin' Write Markers. So simple. So you know me...it seems nothing is as easy as it seems it's going to be. The video called for a 5 x 12 strip of paper for the TopNote and me I hardly have a large selection of 8.5 x 11 much less 12 x 12. Did I let it stop me? No, this Scaredy Cat started making cuts and figured out how to do it with a 5 x 11 strip. Yea Shan! (Happy Dance) Also, I didn't have any regular gift cards so I used my old MovieWatchers Card for demonstration purposes. :) I however, know a lot of new parents who would like to get out of the house and go for a movie date night, you never know.



I used my new Simply Scored Scoring Tool for the first time and you score your card stock at 3.5, 5.5, and 7.5. When you fold, you fold up at 5.5 and down at the others. When you look down it will look like a "W". Place this on Your TopNote Die with a little bit of one of the edges showing so you will have a connected holder (otherwise you'll have separated TopNotes). After you run it through your Big Shot you will want to lay it down so it looks like a "M". Trust me, you'll see what I mean. You Snail the inside of the upper "M" so it's sealed and your card doesn't slide through. Take your Word Window punch and punch the center of the "M" (inside the long side parts) I measured about halfway up the window. Then if you lay your gift card on the center part you can mark how wide you need to cut your window to have the whole card slide in. Slide your punch over to each side and make a punch and your gift card will slide right in. Adhere your TopNote Card holder to the front of your card and instant WOW! You also now have 2 extra areas now where you could put a sentiment. You could actually use this area as your card and do two base layers instead of an opening card base layer, your choice.(Don't be a Scaredy Cat.) Have Fun and make it your own. There's no right or wrong, just your way of making something special!



I finished it off inside with a sentiment from Curvy Verses. It's one of my Favorite Sets! Wanna know why? If it's not straight no-one knows. It doesn't stress me out to stamp it and I don't have to get out my Stamp-a-ma-jig to finish a card. Win-Win!

So I know it sounds like a lot, but it really was So Easy and I already did the hard part by figuring out the new scoring marks for us all.Let me know what you think. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to let me know. Would love to hear from you!

Hope you liked it! If you liked it, 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. :)

See you soon.
Shan Pin It