Kathy's Stamping Niche

Coaster Post-A-Note

My friend Dannie shared a Coaster Post-A-Note holder recently and a light bulb went off in my head.  When we were at Leadership, one of the things we could purchase was binder clips in a round tin.

I really liked them and purchased 2 for myself.  Okay, I actually brought more than 2, but they weren't for me.  I'm giving them to my downline.

Here's a close up of the clips. 

On the backside of the clips is the Stampin' Up! Logo.

Here's a better picture of one of the binder clips.

So guess what my Hostesses will be receiving until I run out of SU Binder Clips?  I still need to find some small pens to go with it and I'm thinking about adding some ribbon and I glued a magnet to the back but I think they are cute.  All I did was cut Ginger Blossoms Designer Series Paper to 4" square.  Glued that piece onto the coaster and cut the rounded corners with scissors.  To finish it, I just sanded all the edges, added the post-a-notes and the binder clip.  Do you like them?  Let me know.

Valentine's Mail Box

Last year, everyone was decorating the tin mail boxes from Target.  I even went out and brought some and then decided I didn't have enough time to play and sold them.  At the downline meeting last week, one of the projects was making the Valentine's Mail Box.  Joy, joy, because I really wanted to make one and this was great!

This was Lori Robinson's project and I just love it.  We used the Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper to wrap around the body of the mail box and Pretty In Pink Card Stock for the front and back.  Lori took the one lid and traced it on the Pretty In Pink Card Stock so we just had to cut and stamp on it.  We used Priceless and One of A Kind stamp sets to decorate the front and back with Purely Pomegranate Ink.  The 1/4" grosgrain ribbons we used were Pretty In Pink, Taupe (discontinued), Whisper White and Bravo Burgundy.  This was really fun and easy to make!

Shoe Box Swap at Leadership Part 3

I have almost everyone's permission to post their designs from the Show Box Swap so here's another batch of great cards. 

This card was designed by Adrian Mondy.  Adrian was the Hostess for this swap and I had the privilege of sitting next to her.  She is such a hoot!  Adrian has this wonderful Southern accent and kept telling me to "Slow Down".  She thought she was way behind, but she wasn't.  Thanks Adrian for letting me play.  Her card uses Chocolate Chip Card Stock, layered with DSP and you get to use the scallop punch, the 1 3/8" circle punch, the 1 1/4" circle punch, and the 3/4" punch.

Kira Loy designed this card.  Groovy Guava, So Saffron and Whisper White Card Stock.  Part of the Happiness Background was already stamped for us.  Also used was Think Happy Thoughts stamp set.  Kira had already tied the ribbon for us so all we had to do was stick it on!  Hurray.  This card really is pretty.  Thanks Kira!

This great little open end gable box was designed by Jaycene Morgan.  We used the Happy Heart Set and the Celebrate Everything stamp sets.  Jaycene even included the bag of Star Bursts and you will all be happy to know that my bag of goodies is still intact!  LOL.  Thank you very much Jaycene!

I still have a few more to post from this swap and am hoping to post in the next few days.  I have 2 swaps that I need to finish and take pictures of before I can complete sharing the Shoe Box Swap at Leadership.  Again, thank you to all the great ladies of this swap for letting me share their creations!

Happy Heart Day...Soon!

Stampin' Up! is offering a Valentine's Day Bundle until January 31st.  This bundle includes the Happy Heart Stamp Set, a roll of 5/8" wide Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, a  roll of 5/8" wide Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon and a package of medium cello bags for a great price.  I LOVE the Happy Heart Stamp Set and ordered it in December when Demo's could order from the Spring Summer Preview Mini.  I think this card alone would sell the set.

I went to a downline meeting this past Thursday and we always do projects.  This card design was done by Robin Rouch (she adopted my upline and in turn, adopted me).  I just LOVE it!  I don't color well, especially big things, but the elephant isn't colored! 

How smart is this, you stamp it on Basic Grey Card Stock, cut it out and pop it up with Stampin' Dimensionals.  The colors used are River Rock, Whisper White and the textured Purely Pomegranate.  I am going to change the ribbon to the Purely Pomegranate Double Stitched Ribbon just because.

Here a great tip for making the slit for inserting the ribbon on the folded side.  Use the 3/4" square punch and just punch the tiniest sliver from the fold.  Mine is just a bit too big, but I know next time to just do a small sliver! 

Guess I should give you more information on the project.  The Purely Pomegranate background card stock has the heart flower stamped in Craft Whisper White.  Let that dry and then color the hearts in with the VersaMark Marker.  Stamp the Elephant image on Basic Grey in Basic Black Ink and cut it out. Stamp the Elephant image on the Whisper White Card Stock in Basic Black ink and color your heart flowers using a blender pen and the Purely Pomegranate Stamp Pad.  Be sure to color the elephants cheek in while you are coloring the heart flowers too.  Stamp the flower on Whisper White in Basic Black Ink and cut out.  Color using the blender pen and the Purely Pomegranate Stamp Pad too.  Nip your folded edge with the 3/4" square punch and put your ribbon in place.  Now layer and tape everything together, using Stampin' Dimensionals on the Elephant and the flower.

Thanks Robin for a wonderful project!

Shoe Box Swap at Leadership - Part 2

Are you ready to see a few more card swaps from the Shoe Box Swap I joined at Leadership?  As Peter Pan would say....."here we go!"

Sue Ann Olsavicky used Blue Bayou and Soft Sky for her Pick A Petal stamp set for her card.  I especially like the clear button center with the Blue Bayou Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon that was already done and the loose petal was already stamped, cut and ready to place on the card.  Thanks Sue Ann!

Here's a great card using Embrace Life done by Deanne Wolfe.  The color combo is great.  Who would have thought that Groovy Guava and Always Artichoke went together?  The Groovy Guava Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon is a great added feature.

You just have to love Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper.  They are just beautiful, not to mention the quality of the paper itself.  Mandy May of Colorado designed this card using Embrace Life and Ginger Blossom DSP.  Great card!

Heide Robles did this great Smartie candy holder.  I can't color very well, can you tell?  I also didn't look at the paper either because I stamped it upside down so I had to put the front panel on what should have been the back so that's why you can see the Smartie on the left side.  I blame it on being tired.  Sorry that I didn't do your project justice Heide.  I do think that this would make a great Valentine Card for kids of all ages!

Cherie Hunt used A Beautiful Life set for her card.  This is one of the cards I still need to make.  At 10pm I was fading fast so the last 5 projects I took pictures of, gathered the goods to make them and set off to my room to get ready for bed.  This old dog needs her beauty sleep.

I have approximately 9 more projects to share from this wonderful swap.  That translates into 2 more posts for me!  LOL.  A big thanks to the group of Late Night Stampers for allowing me to join them and for allowing me to post their designs.  I greatly appreciate it. 

Happy Hello Rub On Card

I just love it when it takes me less than an hour to figure out a card!  LOL.  This is my swap card for a group of demo's that are meeting tonight.

I wanted to use the Bulk chip board and rub ons that we were allowed to purchase at Leadership and this is what I came up with.  I used the Western Sky Designer Paper on top of the Blue Bayou Card Stock.  The Blue Bayou Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon is hiding the seam.

This is the chip board star that is in the Lower Simon On Board.  I glued Soft Sky Card Stock on the front of the star and trimmed the excess off.  Sanded and sponged all the edges with Blue Bayou.  Then I rubbed the white star (it's from Anchored Rub Ons) onto the Soft Sky.  I finished it off by stamping the small star in the Sweet Celebrations set on Whisper White Card Stock in Soft Sky ink, cut it out and placed it on with a piece of Stampin' Dimensionals.  Hope it passes mustard tonight!  What do you think?

Shoe Box Swap at Leadership - Part 1

I forgot to ask everyone while we were doing the Shoe Box Swap at Leadership if I could post their creations on my blog, so I am waiting to hear from half of the group before posting their cards.  Here's some of the cards that we made.

Cathy Fluellen's Z-card is just beautiful.  Cathy was sitting to my right while we were working and I so enjoyed Cathy and her friend Sue Ann Oksavicky's company that evening.  Cathy used one of my favorite sets, Artfully Asian.

Kelly Swienton's Double Negative card is stunning in person.  She had embossed the Fabulous Flower for us.  Thanks Kelly!

Lisa Freeman used A Beautiful Life stamp set and taught me a trick.  You punch the Key Tag Punch and then cut it in half and tape it on the backside of another Key Tag Punched item and give it a border.  I like the look!

Embrace Life stamp set is a must have set and I now own it because of all the beautiful cards and projects I saw at Leadership.  Sherrill Graff did this design.  If I had stamped the branch straighter on the River Rock Card Stock, it would have looked as nice as Sherrill's original.

I have several more to share with you, but I'll send them tomorrow.  The Shoe Box Swap was a ton of fun and sitting besides Cathy Fluellen, Sue Ann Olsavicky and Adrian Mondy was the best. 

Now I am begging the rest of the swappers to contact me and give me permission to share their cards.  Every project is worth sharing.  They are all talented stampers in this swap!

Correction to the Peek-A-Boo Box

I am so sorry!  I listed the SAB set So Many Scallops as the set I used with the Peek-A-Boo box.  It was actually the SAB set Lots of Thoughts.  I'm very sorry for any confusion I might have called.  I was working with both sets and ended up using just the Lots of Thoughts.

Peek-A-Boo Box

Brenda Quintana shared her Peek-A-Boo Box and my friend Dannie, made some for Leadership.  They are really cute and versatile.  Here's my attempt and it could be your's too.  We will be making these at my New Catalog Open House this week.

 

I used paper from the Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper and the Sale-A-Bration stamp set, So Many Scallops.

When you open the box, there is a small cut-out (made with the 1 3/8" circle punch) so you can see what's inside the box.

Hiding inside are two decorated York Peppermint Patties.  Punch several scallop circles out with the scallop punch and then stamp whatever verse you want from So Many Scallops and punch that out with the 1 3/8" and attach everything to the York Peppermint Patty. 

I think this is a great hostess gift or for Valentine's Day gift for office staff.  They are easy and fairly quick to make.  You can download the pattern and try it for yourself.  A big thanks to Brenda Quintana for sharing her pattern.

Duel Nugget Container

One of the things I love best about attending any stamping event is the swapping.  Chiaki Haverstick swapped this "too cute" duel nugget container for one of my cards at Leadership.  I'm very grateful as most people swap just for like items.

 

Here are all the supplies, except for tape, crop-a-dile, and mini glue dots you need.  There is a little sheet of clear plastic (I used a transparency film) that is laying over the 2 pieces of Designer Series Paper in the upper left corner.

I used the Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper.  Punch out 2 scallop circles and then punched a hole between 2 scallops to attach the gold eyelets to.

Then I wrapped the 1" x 3" pieces of Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper around each nugget and secured it with double sided tape.

Then you attach a scallop piece to the backside of the Chocolate Chip Card Stock, being careful to only have 6 scallops on the back side. The Chocolate Chip Card Stock measures 1 5/16" x 2".

This is what it will look like when both scallop pieces are attached.

Now center and attach your clear plastic piece with a mini glue dot.  The clear plastic piece measures 1 1/4" x 5 1/2".

Place your covered nuggets inside and thread your ribbon through your eyelets and tie in a square knot.  Don't tie it too tight or you will have troubles slipping the plastic through.

Now slip one plastic piece under your ribbon tie and then the other side.

Voila!  Here's the "oh so cute" Duel Nugget Holder.  Again, thank you to Chiaki Haverstock for sharing this fun item.  If you are attending the Oakland Regional on Friday, February 15th, look for me.  I plan on swapping these.  However, I won't be in a scooter.  Too much trouble for one day.  Just look for a very short and large me!  LOL.  Lorrie, this is one of the projects for your workshop too.