Inspired by a swap I received from Paula Reuben at convention, the ladies in my Clermont Stamp Club recently made a mini notebook with a pocket.  I had several packs of mini note pads in my drawer from a previous project a long time ago.  What a perfect time to use up some supplies!

The completed project measures 3-3/4" x 5-1/2".  It's the perfect size for a purse or even in the glove compartment of the car.  The inside even boasts a side pocket to store your notes!

The notepads measure 3-1/2" x 5-1/4".  I've had these awhile, but I probably found them at Walmart.  They came three to a pack and were very inexpensive.

To create the "shell" of the notebook holder, use the following dimensions:

8 x 8-1/2" piece of card stock.

Score along the 8" edge at 2.5".

Score along the 8-1/2" edge at: 3-1/2", 3-3/4", 7-1/2" and 7-3/4"

Once you have scored, you will cut away the small rectangle created by the score lines where the pocket and the flap meet.  This is simply to remove bulk and to create a clean pocket.  Decorate the front as desired.

For the front of my notebook, I used a stamp in the From My Heart stamp set (#126557 C, #126555 W).  This is one of a few stamp sets that are available in multiple languages. Besided English, it is also available in Spanish, French and German.  This 8 piece set not only has great sentiments but some really intricate designs too. In addition, this set also coordinates with the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack (# 126187) and the Labels Collection Framelit Dies (#125598)

Do you like this set as much as I do?  You can order it here in my online store.

Have a GREAT Monday.

In addition to swapping cards at the Stampin' Up! convention, I also made tissue holders with Stampin' Up! fabric.  SU! carries a nice array of different fabrics that are suitable for a number of projects.  Located on pages 170 and 171 in the catalog, the fabric coordinates with our various color families too.  Talk about a complete look!

There are a number of patterns available for these mini tissue packs, but this simple and quick pattern came from Better Homes and Gardens.  Here's the link: http://www.bhg.com/crafts/sewing/accessories/tissue-pack-cover/

To keep the tissue holder from looking too plain, I added a ribbon flower with a glitter brad in the middle then hot glued it to the top.  By simply adding a running stitch along the edge of the ribbon and pulling the ends together, this cute flower came together in no time.

I received a darling fabric bag full of goodies from my friend and fellow demonstrator, Kelley.  I will showcase her bag in the upcoming week.  In addition, my friend and upline Pennie gave me a drawstring bag.  Be sure to come back to see the endless projects that can be made with Stampin' Up! fabric and die cuts!

Thanks for stopping by!

I've enjoyed several weeks of back-to-back vacations, one of which included 5 days in Salt Lake City at the 2012 Stampin' Up! convention.  With my bags finally unpacked and laundry put away, I am finally getting back to my routine again.  I love vacations, but I love being home too.

I had a great time at convention and met up with old friends and new.  Swapping card fronts, classes and product demonstrations - it was a great time.  Here are a couple of my swaps that I exchanged for some really cute cards:

This card features the stamp set Happy Youwhich is a hostess set in the 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! catalog.  It has 8 really cute, whimsical images that are fun to color with any medium.

My next card uses the Stippled Blossoms stamp set - a two-step stamping set that, in my opinion, is so beautiful.  It also features the new Finishing Touches Edgelits for the Big Shot:

 I also swapped a 3-D item that I will post tomorrow with directions.  Be sure to come back so you can see how it easy it is to make easy items with Stampin' Up!'s fabric!

I spent the last two days with 100 other Stampin' Up! demonstrators at a fun event called Stampcation - an opportunity for demonstrators to relax, have fun and of course, stamp!  I had the privilege of meeting some awesome women who have inspired me for years. It was a really great event.  I know I had fun because now that I'm home, I'm completely exhausted :)

Part of the event included a shoebox swap, which essentially means to create a card that someone else designed and all the essential components to make that card are found in a shoebox (or something similar).  Below is the swap that I brought:

 
This card uses an image from the Countryside stamp set.  I really like the detailed images in this set because they lend themselves so beautifully to watercoloring.  Coloring is so relaxing for me and when using watercolor paper, the process is very forgiving. It's hard to make a mistake with watercolor paper.

 
My favorite element about this card is the Designer Frames embossing folder.  The inside of the oval frame fits the XL Oval punch perfectly!  After I colored the image on watercolor paper, I used the punch and adhered it to the center of the frame.  The other embossing folder using on the card is Perfect Polka Dots. Embossing folders are a quick and easy way to add texture and dimension to your projects. The complete card recipe can be found below.

I have a number of things to show you this week including a clever double pouch candy holder for Halloween. It's super easy to make and works great with Stampin' Up! designer series paper. Come on back and see for yourself!

Thanks for visiting.

 
Card Recipe: Stamps: Countryside; Ink: Black Stazon, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Soft Suede and Bashful Blue; Paper: Watercolor paper, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Early Espresso, and Spice Cake DSP; Accessories: Early Espresso Quilted ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Designer Frames EF, XL oval punch, and Aquapainter.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I have been hibernating in my craft room over the last few days finishing up a multitude of projects for various events. Today I want to show you one of the swaps I made for a demonstrator event this weekend.  It was an ambitious swap only because I had so many other projects pending, but I LOVE making the paper medallions so I was determined to get this swap done.

 
Once I was done with this card, I realized there wasn't an ounce of stamping on it!  Yikes!  But, hey, it's got a whole lot of other things going on.  My Big Shot and Simply Scored became my best friends. I'm pleased with the results.  My hope is the swap recipients will like it too. I only had to make 20 of them but midway through the process I had wished I was done.  But, I persevered!  Well...and I recruited the help of my husband.  He wouldn't let me take a picture of him, but not only did he use the Big Shot to cut the "J" and the "Y", but he also folded the majority of the medallions.  He said as long as he could continue to watch football, he would do what he could to help. Deal!!  Best. Husband. Ever.

The medallions were made with 1" x 12" strips of Holly Berry designer series paper.  Using my Simply Scored tool, I made 1/4" score lines along the entire length of the strip.  I made an accordian fold with on each score line and attached the ends together with Sticky Strip.  After carefully forming the paper strip into a medallion, I adhered it to a 1-1/4" circle using hot glue.  This kept the medallion laying flat and it only took less than a minute for the glue to bond.  I then flipped the medallion over and added the center flower which was made from the Boho Blossom punch and the Itty Bitty Shapes punch and secured them together with a mini silver brad. Voila!  A paper medallion!  I suspect you might be seeing a few more of these from me in the future :)

Back to my craft room to finish another project. C'mon back tomorrow to see what else I've been working on.

Until then,

Card Recipe - Stamps: NONE!; Ink: NONE!; Paper: Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Holly Berry DSP; Accessories: Simply Scored, Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Serif Essentials Alphabet, Backgrounds 1 texture plate, Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch. 1-1/4" circle punch, silver mini brads and glue gun.

I wish I could tell you that I have been on an exotic vacation somewhere sipping fruity drinks and eating bon bons, but I haven't.  It's simply been a week of one obligation after another topped off by my daughter going back to college on Sunday. The summer went by so fast and I found myself a bit "weepy" when she left. It was hard to create...so I didn't.

So, fortunately for me, I have extremely talented team members who recently participated in a team card swap.  I have decided to showcase a couple of cards made by Heather Prentice.  I am certain you will enjoy Heather's cards as much as I did.

 
Look at this adorable card made with the stamp set Under the Stars.  Heather's clever use of the circle scallop punch created a bite mark on the side of the card.  If you look closely, you'll notice that the card itself resembles a smore!  Brilliant!

 

This next card, while it may look simple and easy, took some time to make. This uses the stamp sets Take a Spin and Party This Way. If you look at the face of the dial - each of those sections were hand cut and pieced together - talk about packing your patience!  And, how about that game spinner?!  Adorable!  For those of you who may not know this, the spinner is functional and adds a great interactive element. 

Thanks to Heather for her creative swaps and for sharing her super talent.  I'm certain you will see more of her projects soon.

As for me, I'll be hittin' the craft room again this evening hoping to rejuvenate the creative juices that have been lying dormant.  Can't wait to get my hands on the some paper and ink!  Come on back tomorrow to see what I came up with.

Until then, happy stamping!

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with my friends and fellow demonstrators who volunteer with me at the Ronald McDonald House.  We have a monthly meeting and it usually includes a card swap.  With Fall and Thanksgiving sneaking up on us, it was time to pull out my favorite Fall set called Day of Gratitude.  I also used a sneak peek item from the Holiday Mini Catalog - Spice Cake designer series paper.  This paper is SO beautiful, I can't wait to show you the entire pack when it becomes available on September 1st.

Back to the card...I made a pocket card.  I have an unexplained affinity for pockets cards.  Maybe because they're different, but it probably has more to do with the fact that they are fun to make.

 
Of course, I can't seem to make anything without using my Big Shot, so I pulled out the Leaves #2 die and made a couple of embellishments for the front.  To add some texture to the leaves, I ran one leaf through the Lattice embossing folder and the other one through the Perfect Polka dots embossing folder.

 
I think the most unexpected part of this card is the splash of blue, especially this particular hue of blue.  You'll see this color a lot in the new paper pack I was telling you about above.  I'm tellin' you...you are going to love it.

So, here's the skinny on the card:

Stamps: Day of Gratitude; Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, More Mustard; Paper: Crumb Cake, Spice Cake DSP, Very Vanilla, Pool Party, More Mustard and Early Espresso; Accessories: Leaves #2 die, Pool Party ribbon, gold brad, color spritzer tool, Big Shot, Lattice EF and Perfect Polka Dots EF.

Come back tomorrow so I can show you the newest addition to my craft room...

Until then,

Every year Stampin' Up! designs an exclusive stamp set to help raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.  To date, with the help of demonstrators and customers, SU has contributed over $1,000,000 to RMHC.  Awesome!  This years set, called Turtle and Co., is the set I featured on my card today. This is another card I made for a swap with my Stampin' Up! team.

 
I'm not sure the name of this unique card fold, but I have used this several times in the past.  I think it is unique and adds interest for the recipient.  They have to do a bit of work to get to your message! 

The turtle is adhered to the Melon Mambo flower that was created using the Fancy Flower punch.  Before attaching the turtle I ran the flower through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder. The flower is then attached to the Lucky Limeade strip creating a belly band.  This is what keeps the card closed.

 
When you remove the belly band, the left panel has to be opened.

 
To reveal the message, the folded white panel has be to lifted.  Isn't this a fun card fold?

The finished size of the card is 4.25 x 4.25 and fits perfectly in a A2 envelope.

Thanks for stopping by!  The weekend is almost here!

Here are the remaining swaps from my meeting with my fellow Ronald McDonald House volunteers. If you like punch art, I have a couple of great cards to show you.

 
This first card is made by Karen Mickel.  Look at this adorable snowman!  It makes me think of growing up in Michigan.  Besides being a cute card, the colors on this are fantastic!

Check out this bug...

This was made by Linda Goldhersz.  Linda is the team leader at our Orlando Ronald McDonald House.  Look at the clever way she used the punches to create this fabulous bug.  Another great mix of color too.  This card made me laugh out loud.

And finally, the last swap is made by Pam Liles (www.palcrafts.com)

 
Obviously, this is not a punch art card, but it did receive special ranking from my daughter.  I was adding all of the swaps to my display board and Rachel left me this note...

Kudos to Pam for receiving Rachel's seal of approval!

Thanks to all of my RMcH friends for participating in the swap. Can't wait til next time.

Just a reminder to my blog readers that are considering joining the Stampin' Up family...this Sunday is the last day to take advantage of the $99 special.  This is a fantastic deal, especially for those of you who already own a good deal of SU merchandise. Don't delay...these kind of specials don't come around very often.  Contact me for details.

I'm off to finish prepping for my Stampin' Up! workshop this Saturday.  If you are in East Orlando and have interest in attending, please contact me as soon as possible. I'd love to have you!

As promised, here are a few of the swaps I received from my fellow demonstrators who volunteer with me at the Ronald McDonald House. 

 This first swap is made by Barb Kemmel (www.stampoutstress.com).  It's too bad you can't see and touch this card because you would quickly realize the flower is made from the flirtatious fabric! Isn't it gorgeous?  Although it didn't come through on the photo, it even has glitter too. Here's a picture of the inside:

 
This next swap is made by Terri Tosh (www.territosh.stampinup.net)

Terri's card uses the Flower Garden embossing folder on vellum - sooo pretty.  The scallop trim border around this card makes it so elegant. This card would be perfect for any occasion.

Come back on Thursday so you can view the rest of the swaps.  If you love punch art, then you have got to see these!!

Just a reminder, if you are in the East Orlando area and have interest in attending my workshop this Saturday, 7/30, Thursday is the last day to RSVP. Please contact me at [email protected].

Be blessed!