Delicious Dasher....

This is a card we made as the M-N-t at our December meeting...it was designed by Brenda Miller....there are so many great elements....embossing, punches, lace and the new DELICIOUS buttons....I didn't realize how nice they are!  I'm gonna have to add them to my wish list!





Bravo Burgandy, Handsome Hunter, Very Vanilla

DUH!  I just realized that I posted this 2x--sorry!

Pretty Snazzy Dasher

You know me and that retired paper....I couldn't resist this layout! I think this is a big contender for next year's Christmas card...the clear button has a circle of Baja Breeze underneath to make it look like an actual colored button...great idea instead of investing in all those different colored buttons...and a little sliver of Soft Suede cardstock as the thread in the button.........the card also uses half a Top Note Die....

Soft Suede ink (and Dazzling Diamonds on the antlers)

Look what my daughter made!

Give a kids some ink, stamps and paper, and look what they can do!  Maggie got inspired to make some Christmas cards (but she doesn't want to send them to anyone--she wants to keep them in an album as samples!)  I actually convinced her to send this one to her cousin--she obliged --but no more!--the rest stay in an album!

Perfect card for today!

Some major snow is expected here today so I couldn't resist posting this card before I went to work....Embossing folder with the snowflakes on vellum CARDSTOCK (do not use regular vellum as it crumples!) over Bashful Blue cardstock (the darker sample uses Ballet Blue)....the Chit Chat rub-ons work great on the vellum cardstock and keep with the white theme!  A few rhinestones add some sparkle!

Merry, Merry Christmas!

When I saw this adorable samples with a baby Rudolph, I had to make it!  I bought this stamp set (Forest Friends) for my daughter because she loved it (but never used it!) so it was a great time to use it!                                  Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks for reading my blog!

Close to Cocoa, Real Red, red rhinestone for nose, Snowflake embossing folder

My favorite, by far!

I have to say...this one is the winner!  I found this in my searching and had to make it!  I am a snowman addict and this one it too cute!  The image is from the retired Christmas Punch Hostess set from last year...it's actually a tag punch shape, but I just used the snowman image and layered him on a 1 1/4 inch square punch of Night of Navy c/s....embossed the bottom half of the card with the swirl folder....love it!


The scarves are just ribbon folded over (use a small glue dot in the middle of the fold....HINT: cut all the scarves AFTER you assemble card, that way all the ends will be even!


Mellow Moss (this is the last of it!  Yipee!) Rose Red, Perfect Plum, Whisper White

More Gifts....

A very similar sample to the previously posted set (without the Monogram).....

Demonstrator card

Every year I make dozens of Christmas cards (next year my goal it to make all the cards I send out hand-made!--75 in all!) but I always try to make an extra special design for my fellow demos...plus they would appreciate them the most!  

Here's this year's card...I made a silver and gold version....


Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Whisper White

More gifts...

Sets of 8 everyday cards (birthday, get well, thank you) in a covered box....the butterfly box inspired me to make a matching card...

Sahara Sand, Pretty in Pink, Sage Shadow, Barely Banana, Whisper White, Swirl stamp from Baroque Motifs

More gifts....

Another stationary set....

Sage Shadow, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst

Dashing Dasher

This always happens....right after I send out my cards, I find some inspiring cards....

I've been looking for a great card for the Dasher stamp and I think this is it!  I think some funky Christmas colored paper would be perfect instead of the retired Bermuda Bay stripe...or maybe even stripes in shades of brown....


You can't really see, but there's a bit of sparkle on his antlers...


The button is a clear round with a punched circle underneath...I have to get some of the new delicious buttons that SU! carries....I'll add it to my wish list!

Personalized gifts

Here's another gift I'm giving this year...this is a gift for one of my children's teachers....personalized note cards with matching envelopes


Pale Plum, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Lovely Letters Alphabet, Heart from Hostess set-Punch Potpourri, Image on envelope from Always set, pearls from Michael's

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts

Every year I try to start my Christmas duties early, but somehow I  always end up running around like a crazy chicken the last few weeks before Christmas...

Here's some of the gifts I've been working on...

These are plastic boxes with 8 assorted cards in them...great teacher gifts!

Pastel Trees

Here's the color variation on the previous card (I meant to post this earlier, but I'm still working on some handmade gifts)


I think I like the darker colors better???


Pixie Pink, Orchid Oppulance, Gable Green

Groovy Trees

Don't you just love these trees?

I took rectangles of different sizes, cut off the sides at an angles and embossed them in 3 different patterns...a little scrap to the trunks and your done!  I added the outlined detail by taking a scrap of cardstock measuring 5 x 3 3/4 " (or smaller to your liking) and lat it on top of your white cardstock and traced with Basic Gray marker....

Those gray pearls are a find from AC Moore--only a buck!

Wait till you see the other color story I made this card in...stop back Monday!

Wild Wasabi, Ruby Red, Basic Gray

Hot Pink Christmas?

Every year I vow to only make one style of Holiday card....but I take way to long to decide which one, making several samples...so by the time I find one I like, I have made 30 different ones....


This was one of them...I loved the layout and decided to use up some Pink Passion cardstock..I thought the pink and black where striking....I also love the pink rhinestone brad in the center of the ornament!

Simply Simple

Here's my planned Make-n-Take for our monthly Demonstrator meeting....I took up fellow demo Brenda's challenge of creating a card for one of her card classes where stampers would not have to clean the stamp between stamping...

I stamped the main image, then stamped off on a piece of scrap paper, then stamped again on the main paper slightly to the left...so it looks like a shadow...the white panels are popped up with dimensionals....no need to clean the stamp!

Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi

Happy Birthday cake....

Here's a card for my co-worker's birthday...I hope he likes it!

....to make the 2 top cake layers, I punched the 1" and 1 3/8" squares and cut off some of the sides at an angle....it's a great way to use up the little pieces of scraps that you should have thrown out long ago!

...the candles are just skinny strips of paper and the flames are portions of a small flower punch...

Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie D/S paper, So Saffron for flames

Presents, anyone?

Quick and easy card....not loving the ribbon, but it ws all I had that matched....what about doing it in Christmas colors?

Turkey Treats

I meant to post these earlier....


I made these little turkey baskets for my kids as table settings for Turkey Day...they were filled with chocolates...made from the Two Tags die cut for the basket and the turkey is the body of the owl punch surrounded the large oval punches for the feathers....

Another great layout!

This is such a versatile layout...you could really put any image in the center....

I used the large scallop square clear Sizzix die to make the scalloped layer, but since I wanted a smaller size to fit on the cardfront,  I cut it into four and over-lapped some of the scallops to make it 5 scallops wide (not including the corners)...you really can't see the over-lapping parts unless you really look close....looking at the picture now, I should have put a rhinestone or brad in the center of the ornament....don't you think?



Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla

A little out of the box....

As you know, I'm always trying to use up retired paper (by the time I'm done, a whole new batch of paper will have retired and I will be in the same boat!)...so I decided to use Baja Breeze and Cherry Cobbler...but I screwed up because I wanted to put Cherry Cobbler as the layer under the dot-embossed background (but instead I put the dotted white layer)...but I still like how it turned out because the Santa is the focal point....


Tthe ribbon is not SU!, but you can do this technique with any ribbon...just put down a strip of sticky strip tape and scrunch the ribbon as you attach it to the card

Beary Cute Bookmark

Here's another one fo those bookmarks from the Two Tags Die....I actually put the magnet inside the middle of the bookmark so it hold nicely to the page....made this one for my daughter so she can actually place the bookmark on the line where she stops reading....

I {heart} Christmas!

Oh, yes it is!  Those are upside-down heart punches....I saw a version of this in the Oriental Trading Catalog and thought I could do that with SU! punches!  It is such a simple card that my kids are making some for their friends!

The star on the tree is from the ornament punch set, Delightful Decorations...the ornaments are red confetti that I had purchased for the kids to use to decorate their houses....

You just can't beat it!

Check out the link for the Holiday Spectacular!  Free shipping and up to 50% off!!!!  You'd be crazy not to take advantage of it!  And with the $150 order you qualify for the Hostess benefits!   I just picked up some of those Bigz XL dies that are normally $42 that I've been eyeing but putting off since they are so pricey!  Got them for $25!!!  Only a few days left!

Last but not least!

Here's my 9 year old, Maggie, with her 'Bakery'...she's well one her way to finishing it....

she punched the Modern Label in Close to Cocoa and cut in half and layered them on the roof like shingles...she embossed the door and sponged it to make it look old....she is adding cakes and cupcakes in the windows with vellum...we even found some patterned paper with bricks for the chimney....

Great job, Maggie!

Quickie box

I needed a little holder for a necklace that was a present that my daughter's friend so I whipped up this little box and topped it off with the eyelet border punch flower that was sitting on my desk--it doesn't exactly match the paper, but it blends and looked really cute!  Check out my tutorial section for direction....

It's a spooky day here in NJ!

Here"s my 7 year old, T.J., and his haunted house....it's still a work in progress...he used Lovely Lilac for the house and sponged black all over the edges for a spooky feel...the roof is made of 1 inch circles from Basic Black and Handsome Hunter...the windows have a sheet of vellum (and some have googley eyes glued in the openings)...we crimped some strips of Basic Black for crooked shutters....hopefully he will finish it before next Halloween!

Helping the Troops

I love this layout!  Uses the scallop tags from Two Tags die!

My son's pre-school sent out a letter asking for donations to send to the troops...included in the list of items to donate were handmade cards...right up my alley!  Here's what I came up with...I donated 56 cards in all...I used only retired colors and patterned paper (my own little challenge!)...and since I've donated cards before, there is nothing shiny (like glitter, so they will not be detected at night)

Snowy Christmas....

I thought this was such an adorable Christmas Card....it uses the Trendy Trees set, but no need to line up the leaves because there are none!

I've been thinking of making this a fall card, too, but adding a bunch of colorful leaves on the floor instead of the snow....the snowflakes have a tiny dot of Dazzling Diamonds in each center, as well as a tiny bit on the bare branches....

Bashful Blue, Bordering Blue, Whisper White

Trendy Thanks

Here's the thank you card I sent to my mom for staying with us the week the kids had off from school....I love that Trendy Trees set, but I hate to pull out the Stamp-a-ma-jig (but the set really needs it!)...But I think I lined up that trunk pretty good without it!

I used some patterned paper from Sale-a-bration and stamped the leaves in Pumpkin Pie....it's really a simple layout and the paper piercing around the white circle really add some pizzazz....

Would make a great Thanksgiving card, too!

Adorable bookmark

This bookmark was made using the Two Tags Diecut....I folded a piece of Sage Shadow cardstock and placed the fold just a hair below the top of the die (so it wouldn't be cut)...decorated both side with a Whisper White Scallop Circle (with the petals cut to almost the middle of the flower)...added a Summer Sun 1/2 inch circle for the center of the flower, stamped a sentiment, and put it inside a birthday card for my friend Ronnie (an avid reader)...I think it would be better if I had put two little strips of magnet inside so it clamps to the page, but I was all out...off to Michaels!!!!

Manly birthday tree....

This card actually started out as a sympathy card, but as I finished it, I felt it was more of a manly card than a so sorry card....

I like how the Modern Label punch is folded under the patterned paper layer and looks like a belt....



Close to Cocoa, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand (plus retired D/S paper) Lattice embossing folder...

A little too wild....

I saw this layout in one of my searches for the Two Tag Die and had to try it....I love the layout, but I think the colors and patterned papers I picked out are a bit too much... but it does make for a very cheery card!   As I was downloading the photo, I realized I forgot to add a pink rhinestone to the center of the flower brad, so I just ran a glued one on!


Pink Passion, Old Olive, Melon Mambo (for the flower petals), Summer Sun, retired Sale-a-bration D/S paper, Two Tags Die...the words are from a Cuttlebug die set that came with a matching embossing folder...Beautiful Wings embosslet

Another Guest Stamper! (#3)

Here's my 3 year old's house....she loved gluing the sparkles on top of the house...what you see in the photo is nothing!  Rose made a totally sparkled roof!

Guest Stamper #2

This is my almost 5 year old, Timmy, with his very own Design Your Own House....he used Sharpie markers and went wild!  This is his 'scary house'--he says the red on the door is blood!  After we took this photo, he decided to glue sparkle confetti to the roof...don't you just love kids?

Guest Stamper #1

This candle holder was made by my 9 year old, Maggie....she colored the tree from the Thoughts & Prayers set with 'fall' colored markers and stamped it on vellum....we used the Coluzzle to cut out the oval shape in the Really Rust cardstock...

She did a great job!  We use the candle holder every night and it looks beautiful!