My New Ornament Punch or How "What a Bargain!" turned into a "Bargain with Myself"

Pin It

I hope everyone had a great weekend and survived Irene's wrath. We didn't even a have a power surge. We were very blessed.

So yesterday afternoon I was good and instead of playing in the studio (aka my kitchen/dining room/basement/ wherever I happen to be creating at the moment) I studied. (Boo Hiss!) Anyways... that means that by the time I got off work today I was sooooo ready to come home and PLAY! I know you know exactly what I mean. I knew the card I wanted to make and it came together pretty quick and then I was able to finish the elements for tonight's blog and then I looked at the clock and HOLY COW!!!!! 2 1/2 hours had passed. No dinner, No check-in on the school work and definitely No exercise and it was already 8! AWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! So I fed the studio assistants, took a quick shower, grabbed dinner and here I am sitting down to chat with you all. <3

OK- I don't know about you, but I LOVE me a bargain! Note the capital L-O-V-E. Now if you didn't know, Stampin' Up is a really good product at a good price. That's a bargain right? Well me, I really like to feel like I'm getting my money's worth. So last year about this time I discovered their Ornament punch. (I don't know if it was new or not because horror of horrors, I hadn't been stamping for a while. I know - It's very sad, but thankfully that time in my life is over now.) It even had a coordinating stamp set. Now, I liked the stamp set and I liked the punch, but I couldn't see buying a punch I'd only be able to use once a year. I mean come on! What kind of bargain is that. Not a good use of my money I thought. So, I waited, and then I began to see other uses for the punch and then I even thought of some myself. I know I even surprised myself with that! So guess what I did? That's right- I bought that stamp set. Oh yeah, I bought the punch too.





I'm not going to show finished products here because I only get to post a couple times a week. Instead I'm going to give you sneak-peeks of upcoming posts and show you just the portion that was made with the Ornament Punch.

Of course you can do "Ornaments". Here's one made with Designer Series Paper from the Holly Berry Series from the new Holiday Mini. It's an extra little sneak-peek for you. It will be available on September 1st. It's so pretty. It's glittery and the best part is the glitter doesn't come off! How Fabulous is that?!?



What about turning that ornament into a vase? I used some DSP in fall colors and made a vase for autumn flowers, but you can use it for any season. You can also change the height, you know what I say, it's up to you.



Now, I was sitting at home looking at a punched out ornament and it reminded me of a balloon. So I made a few trims with my paper-snips and I had Balloons. Woo-Hoo! Add some twine and it's up, up and away. For the different shapes I just turned the ornament and traced around it.



And then because I was already thinking balloons it wasn't a big leap to go from balloons to a hot air balloon. For the balloon I simply cut off the "top" portion and for the basket I used the Cupcake stamp and punch set. That's another Bargain Blog I'm sure.



So, that's all for now. There are more. There are flowers and cute little fish, but I don't have the supplies for those yet. Besides if I show you everything now, there won't be a reason for you to come back later. :)

What do you think? Is the Scaredy Cat in you ready to try one of these? I hope so! I also hope you'll let me know if you do. 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. :)

OOOOPS! Silly Me! Are you wondering what happened with the Blog title? So.... I was sooo busy with the Bargain that was my Ornament punch (and have been with my stamping in general lately) that I failed once again to work out. :( I have therefore had to make the bargain with myself to workout before sitting down to play creatively. This is especially necessary as school is back in session and I am moving to a new work site where I will be getting home later, so it will be even more important to work out early. See the Bargain turned into a Bargain. Ahhh the things we do, to do the things we love.

I hope you have a great week! Enjoy and have fun.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

Beachy Inspiration

Pin It
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

Pin It
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

You Rock My World

Pin It
So...I checked my blog this morning and I couldn't believe it! My counter was at 10. 10 people had visited my blog. 10 unsuspecting people had stumbled upon my little blog. I have to admit it- I did a little Happy Dance, geesh if I'm honest (and I am- I'm doing one now too). Ok- so 8 unsuspecting people, 1 was my daughter and 1 was my good friend Stephanie. But, that is still 8 more people that I was expecting so I'm soooo happy.

Here's my first card for you. I hope you like it.



Isn't it Cute? It uses two new stamp sets from Stampin' Up's New 2011-2012 Idea Book. It uses Turtle and Co. which benefits Ronald McDonald House Charities and Perfect Words which is a Hostess Set and I have to say a great set (I made sure I had enough sales credits just so I could get it)

Want to know my favorite thing about both sets? They are clear mount sets. That means I can see exactly where I'm going to stamp without having to get out my Stamp-a-ma-jig (Happy Dance) If you don't know how much that means to me I know it's time consuming but scroll back through all my posts to the first one and you'll understand. :)

So this card was pretty easy. It was a standard card base with a second layer. I made a third smaller layer out of DSP (Designer Series Paper which by the way is on sale this month, buy 3 get 1 free) and I used the corner punch to round the upper corners just for a change.
I made the tag by cutting a rectangle of cardstock and cutting the upper corners at an angle. It's an easy way to make your own tags. I stamped the little guy twice so I could flip him over and have his head coming out of his shell differently and have him rock on his back. Get it Rock? I cut a strip of green cardstock that matched my base cardstock and fringed it for grass and adhered it to my tag with some snail adhesive, topped it all with a grass green brad and then popped it all up on my DSP layer with dimensionals.
My sentiment was stamped in Basic Black and I stamped "You're the Best" from the same set on the inside.

Well- there you have it. My first post for you- You Rock My World well because You Rock My World by taking the time to stop by.

I hope you enjoyed the card and I hope you will check back again soon.  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. :) 

Be Safe
Shan Pin It

A Scaredy Cat Begining

Pin It

Welcome to my little blog. (No that's not a picture of me... :) That's a picture of Shere Khan II or Dueces as he's most commonly known. He's my 16lb Maine Coone Rescue and can usually be found lying on the table helping to hold down the edge of my graph paper. Isn't it nice that he helps his mommy?) Those of you that know me, know I love to create. I love to paint-but I'm allergic to latex (not a good combination). I love to cook- but it's just me at home- so that means lots of leftovers so I don't cook as much as I'd like too. I love to bake, and I'm really good at it too...just ask my friends and my agents but if I baked as much as I'd like to a- I'd be broke, b- I'd be big as a house from taste testing...(SIGH) So we come to stamping and paper-crafting. I love that too, however my Type-A personality kicks in and I stress myself out with the insane need to have everything be perfect.

Does this sound familiar? Now I know deep down, (ok not even so deep down) that my cards or gifts don't have to be perfect, that it really is the thought that counts. I know that I would rather get a card that someone took the time to make, than a commercial card any day and I think most people probably feel the same way.

But, somehow, even knowing this, I still stress about whether the sentiment is on straight or the borders are even all the way around. I worry if a new layout will work or a new color combo will make me happy, hence the name...Scaredy Cat Creations.

I'm a Big 'Ole Scaredy Cat! ( That's Bitty Kitty. She's my other Rescue, and my other Studio Assistant. As you can see she has situated herself in the box that Mr. UPS brought me today to inspect it and make sure that nothing was left in it. What a sweet girl!)


So if you're a Scaredy Cat too and you want to try some new things with me, or even if you're not and you just want to follow along and see what happens as I learn to give up control and not be such a Scaredy Cat- Come hang out and let me know what you think.

I'm going to try and post a couple times a week, sometimes more hopefully not less. I start school again next week and am working full time so bear with me as I try to keep up with this.

Thanks for stopping by.

Shannon Pin It