End of the Week Technique # 20 - Memo Pads

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're having a great week so far and are looking forward to a fabulous long weekend. My daughter's moving back home from Nashville, so my weekend is sure to be full of getting her settled in, plus we're going to take just a little time out to go see The Vow. How about you? Well, before you get too busy, here's a quick little project for you.

Are you a "List Maker"? I am so a list maker, in fact I like to think it's one of my charming habits that drives my daughter Batty. She's going to love this *snicker* (not!). As a nurse for nearly 23 years (kinda funny since I'm only 29, lol) these lists and notes, more often than not, would end up on my hands.

Funny story- when my daughter was not quite 3, and I worked nights in the ICU, my then husband would send her in to wake me in the evenings for dinner and family time. Often was the time when the notes had not been completely scrubbed off of my hands in that mornings pre-sleep shower. I would wake to my sweet baby shaking me and saying "Mommy we don't write on the walls, or the furniture or on our hands. We use the paper! Mommy!!!!!!" True story... she was soooo cute back then. I have no idea where she gets her sass from!

Now that I have a BlackBerry it keeps my hands clean...well most of the time at least. It currently has 12 ongoing lists that I keep updated. I told you, I'm a list maker. However, not everyone in my household has access to my BlackBerry or my hands as the case may be, so Memo-Pads are a great way to go. They're also  nice for "Honey-Do" lists. But they're not always the nicest looking things to have around. Why don't we make some that we don't mind looking at?

I'm helping my new friend Ashton from Something Swanky (Check her out. Great recipes and weekly link parties.) while she takes over her friends blog so she can enjoy her new baby. How nice is that? What a friend. Anyways, Ashton was looking for some crafty ideas and I thought this one would be Quick and Easy and something you can even involve the kids in.

Now, I don't normally believe in buying stuff just because it's on sale (seriously, who's got the money?) but over the holidays I got a bunch of those magnetic Memo-Pads at Target because they were in the $1 aisle and I knew I could use them for stampcamps or co-worker gifts that sort of thing or if for no other reason than I make a ton of lists and always need something to write on.

Here's my Memo-Pad-

No way Target's selling that for $1! Isn't it cute? It didn't start out that way.

Here's how it started out-

While certainly not bad for $1, not inspiring either. If you were to get a "Honey-Do" list which would you rather get it on? Me? I'm wanting the one with Love You at the bottom. Not to mention mine's definitely cuter.

Want to know what's even nicer? I used scraps of card-stock to give it it's little make-over. Scraps and about 15 minutes and I have something I don't mind putting on my refrigerator. One of things I always ask myself when I make a card or project is "Would I be happy if someone gave this to me?" I have to say if someone gave me the bottom one, not so much. If, however, someone gave me the completed top one I'd be tickled. Add a matching pen and you have a nice little set for a new office worker too.

Here's the Quick and Easy How-To. It's so easy, I didn't even take pictures for you.
1- Take a piece of scrap paper and fold it over the top of the memo-pad, from the front where the sheets tear off to the back where the magnet is (if yours has a magnet). Crease it at the top edges where the spine is (you want to make sure you give yourself enough paper to account for this).

2- Cut a piece of cardstock (construction paper- whatever you have on hand) the same width as your memo-pad and the length that you need to go cover your pad from front to back.

3- Score/crease your cardstock on the lines so you have crisp edges to border the spine of your memo-pad.  If you need to put holes in your new memo-pad cover for ribbon, now would be the time. I simply removed the ribbon and then used a pencil to push the holes through. If you have any old take-out chopsticks these would work great, plus they'll help you push the ribbon back through later.

4- Decorate your new memo-pad cover however you'd like. I actually chose to decorate mine after adhering it so, I could decorate around the ribbon, but it's your project, decorate it however you'd like. I used some embossed and cut out hearts from my Fashionable Hearts Embosslet, but mainly because I was still in a Valentine's kinda mood. I also used my Scalloped Ribbon Border Punch to make a little decorative edge.

5- Apply glue to the spine of your memo-pad and adhere this portion of your cardstock first holding it until it dries. It should only be  minute or so. I used Tombow Multi-Purpose Glue. It's great because you can use it as permanent or temporary glue depending on how you use it. Once that's secure, a little more glue to the underside of both the front and back flaps and you're pretty much set.

6- I took the Love You stamp from my P.S. I Love You set and stamped each page to give my notes a little something extra- also nice in case I forget to write it at the bottom of my memo. You could take any stamp you have and put a little sentiment or image on your pads as well to make them your own.

I hope you liked today's project ( I hope Ashton likes it too!) I hope it inspires you to try something new even if it's as simple as making over a $1 Memo-Pad. Remember the goal of this blog is to Just Try.
As always, if you're inspired to try something, I would love to see what you create.

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. :)

If you need supplies to recreate today's project or to make your own special projects you can visit my Online Store 24-7

Today's Supplies-
Cardstock-Whisper White, Real Red, Pretty in Pink
Ink- Real Red Classic Ink
Stamps- P.S. I Love You
Big Shot, Fashionable Hearts Embosslet, Tombow

I hope to see you back here soon.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is not about Waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to Dance in the Rain

Be Safe,
Shan

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A Short Sweet Valentine

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Hey y'all. Happy Valentine's Day! I hope today finds you full of love and on the receiving end of much more.

Just a quick little post today. I know everyone is probably tired of seeing all the Valentine's Day themed cards and projects, but not me. I love, love. I love being in love, I love loving and being loved in return and I think it's a shame that we focus on it so much just on one day of the year. I hope I don't let myself forget to do "Love" themed cards often here, throughout the year. But, because I already had my "big" cards done for today, I thought I'd do another small "just because" love note for today. You really can't ever have enough of these hanging around. You never know when you might need or just want one.

I got the idea for this from a card I saw on a challenge a while back. I think it was from the Amazing Carrie Gaskins. It's Quick and Easy and re-purposes scraps, which if you know me is something I love to do.

Here's today's card-

It's another 3 x 3 card. I love the thought of just slipping one of these inside a jacket pocket or a lunch or laying them on a loved one's pillow. It starts with a base of Real Red, and a layer of Basic Black. I then used the frame from my Beautiful Hearts Embosslet as the base to fit my embosslets in. You know, when you use the Embosslet to get your 5 little hearts, the large frame is embossed as well. I simply cut that out and Tombowed it to my Basic Black c/s. I then used multiple hearts to fill in the empty spaces. I Tombowed them all in, so they would stay put. It's like doing a puzzle, except you get to make it look exactly like you want it too. An extra little heart to the side, well just because I could and the front was done.

Here's the inside-

I used the sentiment from P.S. I Love You and inked it in Real Red with my Stampin Write Marker. It's actually part of the sentiment that says Love You, Miss You, Kiss You. I love that it's easy to just use part of the sentiment by inking it with the markers. An extra little heart to the bottom and my card is done. So quick, so easy, but how much would this mean to you if someone you loved gave it to you?

*Tip*- I don't know about you but when I'm using my Embosslet and I'm making more than one heart, I just save all  the extras in an old brads container. I know I'll need hearts at some point and that way I have them all ready to go, kind of like having an assortment of buttons or brads at the ready.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my sweet little Valentine. I hope it inspired you to make a few little love notes to have on stand-by or, if you're running a little behind, a sweet little card for tonight. It's not too late.

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 hope you'll join me back here soon for more ideas.

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

Just a Little Love Note

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday. I hope you have had a great day.

I woke up today with energy for the first time in over 2 weeks. :) I think the new antibiotics are finally taking care of my pneumonia. Thanks to everyone who has sent love and prayers over the past few days. You are appreciated more than you know! Today's the first time I've had the energy to stamp or craft this week and I just wanted to share with you.

Just a quick post and a little love for you today.

Sometimes I think we, society as a whole, (and my fellow stampers as well as myself) forget about the really small things. I know myself, I rarely think about 3 x 3 cards. Look at most of the blogs out there and you rarely see 3 x 3's. When I do see them, they're usually in the form of a thank-you note we might send our customers.

But what about just a quick note to say how much we love or appreciate those that mean the most to us personally. Our lives are so hectic, we often forget to tell those we love just how much they mean to us. Worse, we forget to show them. Sometimes, we find the time to slip a quick handwritten note in our kids lunches, or send a quick text, but how about a quick card....Just Because.

I don't know about you, but when I sit down to think about a card it's rarely with the idea for a really Quick and Easy or Clean and Simple card. Look at most of the sketch challenges even, layer after layer and almost always full sized. This usually involves a commitment of 30 minutes to an hour or more unless I'm blessed with one of those moments of instant clarity when I see the sketch. What about just a quick card to tuck into a jacket pocket, a briefcase, or on the pillow?

This card has a few elements, but it came together in a flash and you could make quite a few in one sitting and have them ready for anytime. Here's a Little Love for you-

How nice would it be to find something like this on your pillow, or tucked in your wallet or commuter bag? Heck, your male significant others could be left alone with a few supplies for an hour or so, make some of these and feel like the Man of the Month!

It's a 6 x 3 piece of Basic Black scored at 3 to make a 3 x 3 card. A square of Whisper White at 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 holds a black heart that I cut out using my Heart Framelets. I used my Hearts Adorning Accents Edgelet Folder to emboss it. I then cut out a Real Red Heart with my Scalloped Heart Embosslet and layered it on top. A little Real Red heart, from the Beautiful Hearts Embosslet was added to the bottom.

The Sentiment is from the P.S. I Love You stamp set. I inked the p. s. with my Basic Black Stampin Write Marker.

Here's the inside-

I colored the rest of the sentiment from the front with my Basic Black and Real Red Stampin Write Markers and stamped it on a piece of Whisper White c/s. The little red heart was cut and embossed with the Beautiful Hearts Embosslet. I added a little Two-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds to make it shine. I really wish it picked up better in the picture, it's so sweet! The nice thing about the embosslet is you get 5 different embossed and cut out hearts at one time. Extras for later, and you can use either the embossed or debossed area.

I also love that the "I" is dotted with a little heart. So Sweet!

Well, that's all I have for you today. It's just now 8 pm and I am getting ready to crawl back into bed. I can't wait to be over this whole pneumonia stuff. So Not A Fan!

I hope you liked today's card and I hope it reminds you as it reminded me, that sometimes it really is just the small things that can make a big difference. I hope it inspires you to try something small. It doesn't need to have a lot of elements, to be special. Remember the goal of this blog- Just Try!

I hope you have a great day and a great weekend filled with time to spend with family and friends and of course lots of creative time. I am looking forward to some creative time myself and hopefully the opportunity to guest blog and help out a hopefully new blogging friend. Will let you know how that turns out.

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. :)
Till next time-

Remember- Life is not 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 #19 - Pocket Cards

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*Edit* Here's how sick I've been- I didn't even realize this didn't post yesterday. It was sitting in Blogger as a draft. *SMH* Darn Pneumonia!

Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're having a great day and that you feeling good about making it through half of the work week. We are preparing for the white stuff here *shudder*, luckily our area shouldn't get too much, but still.... ):

I'm posting this week's EWT a little early because I'm still sick as a dawg! I think it's probably back to the doctor for me tonight after work. Going on 2+ weeks now and still wheezing & coughing even with the antibiotics and oral and inhaled steroids, Boo-Hiss! I can't even sleep without narcotic cough syrup, No-Bueno! Heck, even the studio assistants don't want to cuddle because of all the coughing.

At any-rate, I was able to finish this last night but not able to get any other cards done yesterday, so you guys get the EWT a little early. Hopefully, I will be able to get in a little stamping tonight and have something else to show you tomorrow.

My goal for my weekly EWT's is to do new techniques or one's that I either haven't done in a while or don't feel all that comfortable with. This is the first time I have ever made a pocket card on my own, so I'm very excited to show it today. Do you do pocket cards often? They really don't have any more layers than most cards we normally make, and some (depending on whether or not you cover the pocket) may even have less.

Here's today's card-

I used a base of Poppy Parade (Love this color, so sad it's retiring soon). I cut a 8.5 x 11 piece of cardstock lengthwise at 4 1/4. I scored it at 5 1/2 for the bottom. Sorry, I can't remember the top score, you can adjust it to suit your needs. I love this card but looking back now, would probably have scored it another 1/4 inch down so the  score line hit the point of my Framelet.

I used my Corner Rounder Punch to round all the edges. I took a piece of DSP from our Everyday Enchantment DSP pack, that you can get for FREE with a $50.00 purchase, and ran it through my Big Shot with my Lattice Embossing Folder to give it some texture. I just love the look it gives this particular paper. I adhered it to my card base with Tombow. I scored and folded over the top edge, trimming off the excess with my paper trimmer and then secured the flap to my DSP with Tombow. I used a sponge and sponged all my edges with Poppy Parade.

I used Sticky Strip on the inside edges as close as possible to the outside edges to secure the pocket, so it would stay closed. Sticky Strip is really your best bet here. Tombow or SNAIL will not guarantee your pocket will stay securely closed.

For my Hinged Cover I used my Label Framelets. I think this is the first time I've used my Label Framelets on a card here. I've used them for projects but not cards. That somehow makes me sad! The Poppy Parade Framelet uses the next to the largest Framelet and the Very Vanilla one is the next smallest.

I have to admit I initially tried to stamp my heart image without my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, but had two issues.
1- Of course it wasn't centered perfectly enough.
2- My pad wasn't juicy enough for me to be able to emboss directly from the pad without using the VersaMark so I had to use the old stand-by and "flip the paper over"

This ended up making me much happier anyway. :)  I inked up my heart image from P.S. I Love You in  Poppy Parade centered it with my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig and stamped away. Do you have this set yet? It is a MUST Have! It's great for not only Valentines, but just giving little love notes throughout the year. I then stamped over it with Versamark, applied my Heat and Stick Powder and then my Clear Embossing Powder. I then outlined this entire image with my Two-Way Pen and added Dazzling Diamonds . It really makes the image PoP! I then sponged all the edges with Poppy Parade, and once again rimmed the edge with my Two-Way Pen and added Dazzling Diamonds. I applied dimensionals to the Very Vanilla layer before attaching it to the Poppy Parade layer.

I used my Mat-Pack and Piercing Tool to get the hole for Vintage Brad. I also wanted to make sure that when the framelet was swung over the card it didn't catch so I wanted to elevate it some. I stuck two dimensionals together and left the tabs on the outside edges that would be against my cardstock. I pierced a hole through the center of these as well and put my brad through my Framelets, through the dimensionals, through the base-cardstock to the back of the card-base. It lets my Framelet cover swing up out of the way easily without catching on my note-card below.

See, It swings up and you get a sneak peak of the sweet card inside, just waiting for you to write your love note on.

I used a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock for the note-card. I sponged both sides of the note-card in Poppy Parade, so it would be pretty just in case there was writing on both sides of the card.

Both the sentiment and the cupid image are from the P.S. I Love You set. I told you, Fabulous! I used Poppy Parade for both and for the cupid image I stamped off twice before stamping the image on my cardstock. I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch my hole at the top of my card and used Calypso Coral Bakers Twine for the  loop. Even though it's not the same color, it still coordinates beautifully!

Now, you know I couldn't leave that brad just hanging out on the back of my card, right? Oh, heck no!
Here's what I did-

I stamped this image from the same set in Poppy Parade and punched it out using my 1 1/4 Circle Punch, sponged the edges and applied Tombow to just the outer edges.This allowed me to cover up the brad "legs" but still allows the brad to rotate under the cover. :)

So what do you think? This was so quick and easy and I can't believe I haven't made them before. The Big Shot and our new Framelets really made it extra easy too. You could also make this without the framelet and add embellishments to the fold over flap and have an absolutely beautiful, fabulous card that's ready to give and more than happy to be received.

Today's card recipe-
Cardstock- Poppy parade, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP
Ink-Poppy Parade, VersaMark
Stamps- P.S. I Love You
Big Shot- Labels Framelet, Lattice Embossing Folder
Punches- Corner Rounder Punch, 1 1/4 Circle Punch
Accessories- Calypso Coral Bakers Twine, Vintage Brads, Clear Block C, Heat Tool, Powder Trays, Heat and Stick Powder, Clear Embossing Powder, Dazzling Diamonds, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Two-Way Glue Pen, Tombow, Sponges

If you need supplies to recreate today's card or to make cards of your own, you can shop in my ONLINE STORE 24/7.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope I have inspired you to try something new, if not Pocket Cards then something else. I know you'll be seeing more of these from me in the future. As always, if you decide to try your hand at these I would love to see what you make.

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. :)
Till next time-

Remember- Life is not 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 #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

A Fresh Vintage Challenge- Try Stamping On Tuesday # 51 /My Challenge #5

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday. Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but this sinus infection has been kicking my rear-end. I went to the Minute-Clinic straight from the car-pool line Tuesday, got some Antibiotics and other meds, went home, took a shower and fell into bed wet hair and all (thank God, for curly hair) at 7:30 and didn't get back out till the next morning.

I am happy to report however, that I went home yesterday and made a card for Try Stamping on Tuesday's Challenge that I absolutely fell in love with!

Here it is-

And here's the challenge sketch-

What do you think? I think it's pretty close!

You always hope when you make a card that you're going to be happy with it. I mean no-one wants to make a card and say "I just don't know....." Although, we all have those cards, that we're just not sure of...maybe we needed to have done something else, what's it missing, it's just not right....

Not this one. As soon as I finished each step, I got more and more excited and when it was all done and I went in to take the picture, I was actually upset that the only people I had around to show it to was my two studio assistants, Duece and Bitty Kitty. ):

I  used a Base of Concord Crush. Such a lovely color, it'll be gone soon, enjoy it now and stock up if it's one you love. I layered it with a piece of Whisper White c/s. I used a mixture of Frost White paint and Rubbing Alcohol in a pump spray bottle to make my own Shimmer Paint and spritzed all 3 pieces of Whisper White c/s and allowed them to dry prior to stamping on them. It gives them almost the same shimmery sheen as the ones in our catalog.

I took the floral spray stamp from Sale-A-Bration's Fresh Vintage stamp set and inked it up in Wisteria Wonder and randomly (yeah, yeah, I know I hate that word, but it actually came out ok on this project) stamped all over my cardstock, turning my stamp and making sure to stamp off the cardstock and to mostly fill in the white space. I think the overall effect is lovely. It reminds me of French Toile (which by the way blogger spell check hates). I popped this layer up with dimensionals, and started on the next one. The focal layer is stamped in Concord Crush on the Shimmer White and I wish you could see how beautiful it really is. I Tombowed it onto a small frame of Concord Crush as well.

In between these two layers is my little surprise.

Isn't this Wisteria Wonder Organza Ribbon Scrumptious? What you don't remember seeing seeing it in the catalog? You didn't. I made it. I took one of my sponge wedges and inked it up and then rubbed it over our beautiful White Organza Ribbon and turned it into Wisteria Wonder Ribbon. You can do that with any color. How versatile is that? For the bow, I simply made sure to ink up both sides of the ribbon. I secured the single piece of ribbon over the strip of Concord Crush c/s across the middle of my card and tucked the ends underneath with snail. I simply secured the bow with a Mini-Glue Dot.

I mounted my focal point over the ribbon with dimensionals and the front of my card was done. On to the inside-

I kept it real simple here. I know that's hard to believe. The shimmery paper makes a real statement on it's own. Trust me. A simple sentiment from P.S. I Love You, and 3 little flowers from the Fresh Vintage set complete the card. I of course adhered the liner with Tombow to make sure it would stay with the card always, and then I did my happy dance.

What do you think? I hope it brings you as much joy as it brought me when I finished it. I am also happy to report that I am still on track with my goal of at least one challenge a week and would like to say Thanks to Try Stamping on Tuesday for such an Amazing sketch for inspiration. I will be using this card in an upcoming class for sure! 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  hope you'll check back in tomorrow for my End of the Week Technique. It's a Valentine's Day card we did last week at Stamp Camp that the girls all did a great job with.

Card Recipe-
Cardstock-Concord Crush, Whisper White
Ink-Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder
Stamp Sets- Fresh Vintage, P.S. I Love You
White Oraganza Ribbon
Accesories- Frost White Shimmer Paint, Dimensionals, Clear Block C, SNAIL, TOMBOW

If you liked this card, You can get the set for FREE with a $50.00 purchase. You can shop my ONLINE STORE 24/7  



Till next time-

Remember- It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to Dance in the Rain

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

A Sweet Card for Valentines Day or Anytime

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Hey y'all. I hope today finds you feeling well or at least better than it finds me. I will hopefully be in possession of some antibiotics in about 5 hours and feeling much better in the next 24. My cold has turned into a sinus infection and my teeth and jaws hurt sooo bad I can't even begin to tell you. :'(

On a happier note I have a card today for you that just makes me smile and I'm sure it's going to make you smile too. (At least I hope it does) It's one we did this weekend at my stampcamp and the girls loved it! It was one of their favorite cards this weekend. It's one of my original ideas and can I just say that when I finally finished it I definitely did a happy dance. This was the first time I had done this design with the 3 panels and the layers, so you know it took me forever to get the measurements just right, right? But once they were done, Wow! I was so stoked! I had originally planned on doing this in Pool Party but didn't have enough for Saturday and I'm so glad it worked out that way.

Here's today's card-

Sorry about the lighting. I didn't get a chance to use the good light last night since I crawled into bed at 7:30. Isn't it precious! I have to tell you, I wasn't too sure about this stamp set when I first saw it, but I am really starting to love it and the coordinating DSP is simply fabulous. I used Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, and Sweet Shop DSP and layered them as a base for my fabulous focal point. I also used our beautiful White Organza ribbon and Lucky Limeade Ribbon (a Sale-A-Bration Exclusive) to anchor the bottom of the card (isn't it nice how it fits just perfectly in the center of the organza ribbon?) I tied a little triple bow to finish it off and adhered it to the card with a Mini-Glue Dot.

I used my Stampin Write Markers to color in my stamp for my large focal point. I used Lucky Limeade for everything except the following, Crumb Cake for the cupcake base, Real Red for the heart and the cherry and Garden Green for the stem. I used Dazzling Diamonds and my Two-Way Glue Pen for the cherry and the heart but for the frosting I used our new Vanilla Scented Embossing Powder and Dazzling Diamonds mixed together in a 1:1 ratio. I used my VersaMark Pen and colored in the area and then embossed the area with my Heat and Stick powder and then again with my Vanilla/Diamonds mixture. As you can see in the picture above it gave a nice effect. I wish you could have smelled my kitchen. It was like baking custard without the calories, or the mess!

Here's a closeup-

Don't you just want to take a bite out of it?

I went with the "You're So Sweet" stamp to show the versatility of this set, and I didn't even use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, a big leap of faith for me. (:

Here's the inside-

Sorry about the paperclip at the top. Like I said earlier, I didn't get to do these pictures at home so it was either the paperclip or my fat fingers. I figured the paperclip was more attractive. I used the chocolate covered strawberry from P.S. I Love You (which I have to say is fast becoming one of my all time favorite seasonal sets) colored it with my Stampin Write Markers in Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Garden Green and added some Dazzling Diamonds to the top of the Strawberry to give it a "Sugared" look. If you look back at the first picture you can see that the DSP has chocolate covered strawberries on it. That's one of the reasons I chose this image, v.s. say a cupcake or a cherry. I purposefully left the sentiment blank, since this was for my camp and I wanted them to be able to envision it as not only a Valentine's day card but a card for a friend, or even for that special someone, just not on VD.

Well, that's all I have for you today. What do you think? I hope you like it & I hope it inspires you to try a new design layout of your own.

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. :)

I hope to see you back here soon.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is not about waiting out the storm, It's about learning to Dance in the rain,

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

Scalloped Heart Framelet Valentine

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Hey y'all. I'm baaaaack!  Ha. How many of you just flashed back to little Carol Ann and Poltergeist? Well, I have something much happier for you now. My second card of the day.

This is a card we're doing this weekend in my Valentine's Day Stampcamp. The weather is supposed to be nice. No snow or ice storms forecast for our region so it should be a go. (: I mostly had fun making this card.

Mostly. You'll see why.


*Edited*
*Spoiler Alert*
I have to tell you - we did this project this weekend for stampcamp and I can not tell you how SIMPLE this card was for my ladies to put together! The hardest part on it is ruffling the ribbon. If you're looking for a project with a lot of "WOW" read on, your clients and your card recipients will thank you!


But for now, here it is-

Sorry about the lines. I really do need to get a real camera instead of my darn BB. For some reason it occasionally gives me those wavy lines when I photograph with my OTT light. Seriously, anyone that knows how to take care of this, please leave me a comment. I would hate to actually buy a camera and have it still happen!

Isn't it pretty? Simple, but striking. Probably the worst thing about it (that most people would say) is that it won't fit in a standard envelope. It would definitely be a hand delivered or leave on the pillow type valentine.

The first thing I did was to fold a piece of Island Indigo c/s and run it through my Big Shot with my new Hearts Framelets. I used the largest one. It has the beautiful scalloped edges. I laid it just inside the edge of the left side so there were 3 or 4 scallops that didn't cut. This way my card stayed together with a hinge in the middle. Once that was cut I set it to the side for a few minutes.  (This is unfortunately a paper heavy project. You will use most of a piece of 8.5 x 11 piece of c/s for each card. I used two. One in Island Indigo and then another in Whisper White since the Island Indigo was too dark to stamp and write on inside)

For the front panel I used Whisper White c/s that I ran through my Big Shot with my the same framelet, I used the whole framelet this time because I wanted the whole heart to be cutout for the front. I also cut out a second one for the inside to use later. I also ran a piece of the floral DSP from the Twitterpated collection (Love It!) through with this framelet as well. I then stamped Love You, from the PS I Love You Stamp Set in the new Occasions Catalog, in Island Indigo (one of my all time favorite colors) on a Whisper White scrap and punched it out with the Decorative Label Punch. Once I had all these pieces ready, I sponged all the edges with Island Indigo. I used Tombow to adhere the label behind the DSP and to  adhere it to the Whisper White c/s.

Then I went to work on the inside-

Here's what it looks like opened up

I decided to use the Bordering on Romance stamp set. I love all the cards I've seen with it, but I haven't used it yet. How in the world has that happened? So I inked up the largest floral image in Classic Black and stamped it along the bottom. I used my Blender Pens and Classic Ink Pads to color it in. I used Island Indigo, Blushing Bride, and Lucky Limeade. Here's a closer Picture. I also stamped the sentiment in Island Indigo from the P.S. I love you Stamp Set.

Before I Tombowed this layer onto the base I trimmed the 3 inner scallops where the hinged section was so it wouldn't lie in that fold and this portion was done.

Remember how I said I "Mostly had fun" making this card? Well, if you noticed earlier, we didn't complete the front.  I know we have that nice pleated ribbon where the pleats are all done for you and it's all perfect, but, I had to make a choice when I was purchasing my ribbons and I chose to get that in Blushing Bride and the beautiful, soft, flowy, Seam Binding in Baja Breeze. Now, I guess I could have just put a straight strip of Seam Binding across the card and maybe a bow and it might have worked but I kinda felt like it needed the ruffles so I had to just suck it up and go for it. If you know me personally, or have followed me on here for any length of time, you know I am more than a little OCD about my cardmaking/crafting. The fact that I was about to have to bunch up ribbon in uneven and quite likely an unstraight line was not a happy thought for me. But it was what the design was dictating to me, so I Snailed that card front and the edges of the back (let me tell you SNAIL works Amazingly well with Seam Binding!) and started scrunching and as you can tell, it is not in a straight line, but I have to say, overall, once it was done and I Tombowed the panel and stuck it to the cardbase and took a look at my card, I was glad I did it.

Here's a close up view of my torture, I ah mean my finished product-

Not perfect, but I think maybe it adds to it's charm.

Do you Pinterest? I saw something in one of my reader feeds that I pinned today-

I SOOOOO Wish I Had This! I need to remind my self of this...DAILY.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card. It's a new style for me. As always if it inspires you to try something new I would love to see 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. :)

If you need supplies to recreate this card or to make others you can visit my Online Store 24/7.
Todays Supplies-
Card Stock- Island Indigo, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP
Ink- Classic Black, Island Indigo, Blushing Bride, Lucky Limeade Classic Ink Pads
Stamp Sets- P.S. I Love You, Bordering on Romance
Big Shot- Hearts Framelets
Decorative Label Punch
Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon
Accessories- Blender Pens, Tombow, Sponges

Don't forget Sale-A-Bration is going on through March 31. Free merchandise with every $50 in purchases and special Exclusive offers for Hostesses in addition to your regular benefits. Contact me to learn more.


I hope to see you back here soon-

Till next time-

Remember- Life isn't about waiting out the storm. It's about learning to dance in the rain

Be Safe,
Shan

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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