Kathy's Stamping Niche

Happy Heart Day....Almost!

For rubber stampers, it's already time to be thinking about and making Valentine's Day Cards.  My friend and fellow SU Demo, Heather did this Christmas Card and it inspired me to make mine.

My Valentine Card is using Rose Red and Regal Rose Card Stock.  The Designer Series Papers are Cutie Pie, Flowers For You and Darling Doodles.  Ribbon is the 7/8" wide Regal Rose Grosgrain.  Both flower pieces are chipboard from the On Board Blossoms that I applied color from the Regal Rose and Red Rose Craft Pads and added a rhinestone from the Pretties Kit.  The word stamp is from Holiday & Wishes and was stamped with the White Craft Pad and embossed with White Embossing Powder.

I will be going to the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference in Palm Springs in January.  Hurray.  I'm so excited.  But that means I need to stamp, stamp and do more stamping.  I signed up for a WOW swap and will be making 11 Chinese Star Books...gotta' get going on this one.  Plus a Shoebox swap and I haven't a clue yet on this, plus I want to have general swap cards.  So be patience with me.  I will post in the next 2 weeks when I can and share the books, the shoebox swap and my swap cards before I leave on January 10th. 

Elegant Invitation

My good friend Sharon is a wonderful stamper.  She makes practically every bridal and baby shower invitations for her family and this time it was an invitation to celebrate her parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Sharon usually finds the layout of the invitation and sometimes will come to me for help for the design.  This is the front of the invitation.

Had to use the Gold Metallic paper, Gold Encore Stamp Pad and Gold Embossing Powder.  Priceless Stamp Set and So Swirly Jumbo Wheel fit just perfectly for this project.  In the center of the medallion is a gold color Swaroski Crystal. 

I just think this is so elegant.  Three Swaroski Crystals were placed on each of the swirls and all of the swirls were embossed in gold.  Sharon placed a sheet of vellum on top of the invitation to prevent scratching.  On the left side of the invitation, the first layer is the Gold Metallic Card Stock used as a pocket.  The second layer is the RSVP card and envelope and then the tallest item is the map.

Here's the RSVP card.  Sharon even stamped the swirl on the back flap of the envelope.

Here's the directions and map.  These invitations were such a big hit that a friend asked her to make the wedding invitations for his son's wedding!  I say JOB WELL DONE!  Now Sharon is onto making baby shower invites and party favors for a cousin!

Happy Holidays!

I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted and that you were able to spend precious time with family and friends!  AND that you had yummy things to eat!  My DH is the cook in this household and we had a BBQ Smoked Turkey and then very different side dishes like Choi Sum (a Chinese vegetable), Basque Shrimp Potato Salad, Japanese Rice, Oven Stuffing and Sunomono.  Everything was lovingly prepared by hand and everything was delicious.  For dessert we had a cookie baked by our friend Michele and we shared a mochi ice cream from the local Japanese Bakery.  How's that for a non-traditional meal! 

Double Pocket Card

One of the things I've always wanted to join was the Technique Junkies.  Pat, the owner, had a special during October so I finally took the plunge and now I am a Technique Junkie!  Pat has shared wonderful techniques and special paper folds and this Double Pocket Card is one of them.

I used Wintergreen Designer Series Paper, Season of Joy Stamp Set and Soft Sky Double Stitched Ribbon.  The card stock is Whisper White and Always Artichoke.

Here's a picture of the front of the card without the tags.

The front tag is a bookmark of sorts.  Notice how I angled the Merry Christmas to follow the slant of the card.

The back card is actually a gift certificate.  I've blotted out the name of the recipient and the givers to protect myself.  It isn't Christmas yet!  LOL.  I love folds so be watching for a class with the Double Pocket Card in it.  Actually might be the "Contain Yourself" class in January!

Christmas Gift Tag

I believe that this is a wonderful and beautiful way to add to your holiday gift giving.

Rob gave everyone that came to the Inkertoy's (a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator group) Christmas Party a loaf of homemade Pumpkin Bread.  This was delicious and long gone!  She decorated it by simply wrapping holly and ivy garland around the cellophane wrapped bread, topped it with a piece of tied 7/8" wide Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon and added the greeting with the scallop punch, the 1 1/4" circle punch and the 1 3/8" circle punch.  I'm sure this came together fairly quickly and the results are stunning. 

Time Well Spent

Sorry I'm so late today.  I'm a little crazy.  I made another 10 complete coaster calendars this week.  I know, nuts, nuts, nuts, but I just can't say no when my one of my sisters asks for 2 more and I decide since I'm making 2 more, might as well make 4 more so I can give one to each of my sisters that will be at Christmas and 2 for the SILs.  So that makes 6 total.  THEN I told a good friend how crazy I am and she tells me that she really needs 2, maybe 3 more coaster calendars.  Okay, what the heck!  I did 4 more, one extra...just in case!  However, now I'm done.  That makes 39 coaster calendars I have made.  Not to mention helping 2 friends make 33 of their own.  No more calendars for me until July of 2008!

Anyways, an on-line demo only group I belong to (Sudsol) issued a challenge using a card sketch that comes in the demo only magazine, Stampin' Success.  I can do that!

Lucky us!  All active Stampin' Up! Demonstrators received the stamp set, Time Well Spent (a level 3 hostess set in the 2008 Spring Summer Catalog) in November from Shelli Gardner, the co-founder of Stampin' Up!.  Never had time to stamp with it until today.

The card is 6" x 6", folded in half.  Colors used are Tempting Turquoise, Certain Celery, Apricot Appeal and Cameo Coral.  I actually stamped on the Cameo Coral with Regal Rose Stamp Pad and the darker color on the flower is colored in using a VersaMarker.  The center of the flower needed something so I added the smallest Circle Fire Rhinestone.

This was a quick and easy card so I think I will try using one of my new stamp sets with the same layout.

S'more Snowman Gift Tag

Now how cute is this S'more Snowman?  My friend Blythe just finished sending out her 12 weeks of Christmas inspirational e-mails and in the 11th week, she did a S'more Snowman Gift Tag.

I made mine using Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky and Whisper White Card Stocks.  Punch the appropriate colors with the Window Word Punch.  The Chocolate Chip one I trimmed the ends off.  Then punch a square with the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches.  To make them look more like marshmellows, use the 3/16" corner rounder on all the corners.  Sponge the edges with Close To Cocoa and stamp the face and carrot on the 1 1/4" and stamp the branch arms on the 1 3/8".  Layer this on Soft Sky Card Stock and Close To Cocoa Card Stock.  Punch a small hole in the corner and put ribbon or cord through to place on your gift.  I used the Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon because I messed up and cut a full roll the wrong length and am working on using those short pieces.  This is going to look great on my wrapped gift.  I think I will have to make a bunch of these because the stamp set, Cold Play is being retired at the end of the Fall Winter Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.

Double Envelope Gift Card

One last gift card before the "BIG" Day.  I am so sorry, but I know the basic design came from somewhere, but I don't remember where.  If you know, please let me know.  I would like to give proper credit to this idea.

This little guy is kinda' a triple fold.  The top layer consists of the Dashing Designer Series Paper, layered onto Old Olive Card Stock.  Real Red 1/4" wide grosgrain ribbon is attached and only the left side of this piece is attached to the front of the card because you tuck the left side piece UNDER the top layer.  Clear as mud, right?

Inside the card are 2 small coin envelopes.  The original size is 3" x 4 3/4", but you cut the bottom envelope to 3 3/4" long and the top envelope to 3" long.  The top envelope holds an insert that you can either write or stamp a message on.

The bottom envelope holds the gift card.  This is an easy and different type of gift card holder to make.  I forgot to say that I used the Scallop Circle Punch and stamped images from Merry & Bright Stamp Set.

Flaky Friends

I love Flaky Friends stamp set and am sorry to see it retiring this year, so I needed to use it one last time.  Having made the stacked Snowmen Tin, I have a bunch of the 2" tins left over so I made a magnet.

I stamped Flaky Friends on Whisper White Card Stock, used Water Color Pencils and a blender pen to add color, punched it out with a circle punch, add snow and ribbon.  The 2" round containers are found at the M or J stores in the wedding favor area. They are cute and quick to make.

 

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my good friend, Dannie.  The rules are you list 7 things people don't know about you and you tag someone else.  Here goes.

1.  I know how to twirl a baton.  I have even twirled a fire baton for fun.

2.  I was my high school mascot for 2 years.  Lots of fun.

3.  I was suspended from high school for a day because of something I did while on the pep squad.  Really no big deal, my parents weren't even mad or upset.

4.  I am the 5th child of 6.

5.  I was a voice major in college. 

6.  I actually got to sing back-up for Fred Barry on a demo.  The guy who played Re-run.

7.  I escorted a group of people from LA to Japan and back.  Just the flight, but because I did, I got the flight free!  AND I don't speak Japanese.  I barely speak fluently English!  LOL.

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone else that blogs personally.  If you are reading this, and wouldn't mind being tagged, let me know and I'll be happy to tag you!