Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Bake it, Make it & Take it.....Muffin in a Basket!

I think I just might be the world's worst blogger these past few days. I promise that I'm still around, I haven't fallen off the face of the stamping world, I'm still creating, I haven't passed through the pearly gates of stamping eternity. *wink* Thank you for those of you that emailed to check in on me and make sure I was okay. That was so sweet of you!

It's been insanely busy here lately. I've got a huge list of creative deadlines that have needed attending to, plus I went "over the border" to Montreal on Saturday with a group of my wonderful downline girls for a Stampin' Up Regional event. I was able to meet some of my blog readers at this event and that was a VERY special treat!  (Just wanted to wave to Pascelle, Heather, Catherine & Jennifer!) This weekend, my  Go Scrap Yourself Retreat will be in full swing and I'm getting goody bags prepped and other odds and ends put together for it. The first and second wave of The Paper Bag Book Trilogy CDs were mailed out last Wednesday and Friday and those that ordered them should be seeing them in their mailboxes, if they haven't already.

I promised you all a new installment of my Bake it, Make it & Take It Feature for last week, but it never got posted. I DID make the muffins I had planned on making, but there were so many things going on that packaging up my yummy muffin never happened and they all got eaten. That was kind of a bummer until I realized I'd just have to make another batch of these beauties. Oh shucks.....more yummy muffins to eat. WhatEVER will we DO?

My mom (Donna, from Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases) has an amazing muffin recipe that she's used for a long time now. I never get tired of eating these. They're light and fluffy and you can create so many varieties with the basic recipe just by adding different extracts and fruits to it.

You can find my mom's recipe here: Blueberry, Strawberry and Apple Cinnamon Muffins

My mom provides a basic muffin recipe, but she also gives you the recipe for making Blueberry, Strawberry and Apple Cinnamon muffins, as well.

The first batch that I made on Thursday ended up being Strawberry Almond. I didn't have any strawberry extract but I usually ALWAYS have Almond extract in the house. I love almond in anything. I put the extract in the muffin batter along with diced strawberries. I also sprinkled sliced almonds on top of the muffins before they went in the oven.

The batch that I made today had strawberries in them, but I had used up the last of my almond extract on Thursday, so I looked in my cupboard to see what else I could use. Another extract that I always have on hand (mostly for frosting) is coconut extract. So, my muffins today ended up being Strawberry Coconut muffins, sprinkled with some raw sugar on top. They were JUST RIGHT! I already have two muffins packaged in little bags to put in the kids' backpacks for school snack tomorrow.

When I was creating this little basket, the song, "A tisket, a tasket," kept going through my mind. Now I can't get that song out of my head!

I started with a basic origami box pattern and made the bottom of the box. Usually, I would make a top to go with it to create the box, but I wanted to do something a little different. This box pattern makes a really cute little basket when you add a handle to it.

I used a piece of Rose Red Prints Designer Series paper cut at 8.5 x 8.5 inches. This was a perfect size to fit a muffin into.

I used the same paper cut at 2 x 8.5 inches for the handle. I put a little bit of adhesive on the ends of the handles and stuck them inside the box to hold them there, then took a 1/8 inch hole punch to punch a hole through the handle and the side of the box. Normally, I would just use a regular brad to hold the handle in place, but GinaK's new Bling & Dazzle Mega Rhinestone brads were just the color I need to coordinate with the paper I was using.

I used the new Framed Flowers set by Carolyn King, along with my Rose Red and Garden Green Stampin' Write Markers (from Stampin' UP) to color directly onto the stamp to get that two color look. I added a touch of glitter to the flowers to jazz them up a bit. The flowers were stamped across some strips of Whisper White cardstock and then trimmed with a pair of scallop edged scissors.

I used my 1 1/4", 1 3/8" and Scalloped Circle punches to create the focal image that I mounted on the handle with pop-dots. I added some silver mini brads and folded ribbon scraps to the right hand side for some extra embellishment.

To get the scalloped edge look on the handle, I used a trick I learned at the Montreal Regional event that I just came back from on Saturday.

We were shown how to take the "guard" off the Corner Rounder punch and then line it up along the edge of paper or cardstock and stamp across it to create a running scalloped edge. I thought this was such an ingenious idea!

I didn't realize it until I finished creating my little basket was that I ended up having 3 scalloped looks to my basket. I have the scalloped edge on the handle created with the corner rounder punch. I have the scalloped circle of the focal image on the handle that I created with the Scalloped circle punch. Then I also have the trim at the bottom edges of the basket that I created with my scalloped edged scissors. Funny how all of that just came together like that.

I added some pink tissue grass that I had left over from all the spring themed workshops I did at the beginning of the month. I placed that in the little basket and then tied up my muffin in a cellophane bag with a length of white grosgrain ribbon (to match the ribbon I used on the focal image). I had to trim the top of the bag down a bit to make sure that it fit inside my basket and under the handle.

These would make great little gifts for teachers or co-workers. Or even to leave on the doorstep of your neighbors house. Or to give as little gifts if your church has an elderly care ministry.

Here's that recipe again so you can try it out: Basic Muffin Recipe

And now it's off to bed for me. I have another big, creative day ahead of me tomorrow!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Candy is Dandy and you can wear it, too!

I'm sure that the large majority of you have seen the old version of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" before. At least once. Or maybe there are some of you out there, like me, who have seen it more times than you can count. I own the movie and have watched it so many times that I can practically quote the whole movie. As a kid, I was fascinated by the world of candy found inside the locked factory. I wanted to drink from the chocolate river. I would have given anything to walk through a forest of candy. Fizzy lifting drinks were like liquid gold to me. Something I knew I would never get but desperately wanted. I used to buy Everlasting Gobstoppers when I was a kid and liked to think that they would last forever. Even now, with every chocolate bar I open, I still can't help myself from opening it carefully and looking for the golden ticket inside. I swear, if someone wanted to totally make my day, they could give me a chocolate bar with a FAKE golden ticket in it and I would probably be on cloud 9, take pictures and create and entire scrapbook layout memorializing the occasion! I'd probably even frame the fake ticket, just for "poo and giggles!"

Anyway.........I grew up in a bakery and around sweets, so my sweet tooth is highly developed and very discriminatory. I love candy, but I have a complete and utter obsession with chocolate. I can't help myself. I blame my mother. It's in my blood.

When I saw Melanie Muenchinger's new What's in your Tin sets (that she designed for GinaK Designs) and saw the "candy is dandy" image, the first thing that went through my head was the line that Gene Wilder used in "Willy Wonka": "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." See? That whole movie is stuck in my head!

Melanie has been making these cute little tins with her sets that get hung on your wrist. She calls them "wristys." Is that cute, or what?! They make great trendy and nifty gifts for young girls, young women and young older women (*wink*). There's so much you can fit in the tins and I can bet there could be a huge fashion revolution going on at my daughter's school if I had her wearing a new one to school each day. :) My son looks at these little tins and keeps asking if he could use them as "bug jars." Heck, why not? I bet if I put a leather strap through the hole, he could get away with wearing that on the playground! Hey, all the cool Orkin Men are wearing them and catching bugs in them!

I decided to give it a go, seeing that I just got a BRAND NEW Crop-A-Dile. Let me interrupt myself here and say, "OH MY WORD! I'm in love! Why didn't I get one of these before now???" Seriously, if you don't have one of these yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? The possibilities are ENDLESS!

I punched a hole VERY easily with the Crop-A-Dile through the metal of the Altoid Tin. It was a nice clean cut and wasn't sharp at all, so you could definitely make these "wristy tins" for kids without worrying about the edges of the hole. These would make such a cute mother/daughter project. Oh, the ideas going through my head are endless!

I took a length of ribbon and trimmed the ends on an angle so that they would be easier to thread through the hole (I used the 1/8 inch hole punch on the Crop-A-Dile).

I tied the ends of the ribbon in a knot to secure it in the tin.

Next came my favorite part.....decorating the tin!

I used paper from the Cutie Pie Designer Series paper pack. You don't need a lot of paper to decorate these tins, which makes using up scraps of patterned paper really fun!

I stamped both the "frame" and the words with Versamark ink and then embossed then with Black embossing powder. I like how bold and crisp it looks when it's embossed. Using patterned paper with these stamps and tins really adds a lot to the project without a lot of work. With the choices of patterned paper out there, you can make a tin to suit any style. I love to stamp and I love to spend time creating and designing, but sometimes, having a quick and easy project is a plus, too!

I really love the stamp image from the What's in Your Tin? 1 set <--- shown at right. I think Melanie had kids in mind when she created this image, but I'm just a big kid at heart. :) I love my chocolate and I'll share it with you, but you better not take it without asking! haha!

I used the same "frame" image and paper for the inside of the tin cover and I embossed the frame and words with Black embossing powder, just like I did with the cover.

The frame images are so easy to cut around and fit perfectly on or inside the tin. I like having that clean and shiny silver border from the tin around the image.

Speaking of this word stamp inside the cover of the tin.....I've yet to show it to my daughter because I'm scared of all the things in the house I'll find stamped with it! haha! She'd most likely stamp it on the door of her shared bedroom and the bathroom door!

I used a thin strip of the Cutie Pie paper to go around the bottom side of the tin. I also used some clear Rain Dots to embellish the strip of paper. I placed a small Rain Dot in between each flower on the paper strip. I also applied a small Rain Dot to the dot of the "i" and the point on the exclamation point on the top of the tin.

Remember those cute little pink and white nonpareils that I used in the tin that I did in ---> THIS POST ?

Well, I had a box of MINT nonpareils from the same company and they perfectly matched the Certainly Celery color in the paper that I used! When your chocolate matches your stamping supplies, you KNOW God is looking out for you!

Here's the website of the company that carries these yummy treats: Joby & Marty's Amazing All Natural Chocolates  Their little "pearlies" come in different flavors and different colored sprinkles on top! And they're natural, so you can eat a whole bag or three or four and feel no guilt (I don't feel any guilt, at least).

So I filled up the tin with these coordinating nonpareils (I LOVE that my chocolate coordinates with my tin.....I just can't get over that!) and ate the ones that wouldn't fit in the tin......because, well, you know......I didn't want them to feel left out or like they weren't as special as the other nonpareils. I had to give equal opportunity to all of the chocolates. Yes, I really do take chocolate that seriously! haha!

The paper flower on the top of the tin is a freebie from Gina (she gave these out to people that placed $100 orders or more) and the brad is one of Gina's new Bling & Dazzle Mega Rhinestones. I wanted to add a touch of bold color and the rhinestone coordinated well with the Bashful Blue in the patterned paper.

Now.....it's back to some more creative projects for me.....and a batch of muffins for my next Bake it, Make it & Take it post!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Clean and simple for the Mr. & Mrs.......straight from the Kitchen Sink!

I challenged myself to use a color I haven't used in a LONG time. In fact, the stamp pad I have in this color looks brand new....that's how little I've actually used it.

So Saffron......how little we know of each other.

I decided it was high time to pull this color out and experiment with it.

Kraft cardstock is another item I've been using more after having put it away for a long time. It coordinates so well with so many colors, I don't know why I don't use it more. Perhaps it's because I go in phases with colors and items.

As with yesterday's card, I'm trying to go for simple design, clean lines and graphic appeal. Kitchen Sink Stamps line of stamp images are great for these characteristics. Many of Maria's designs are very bold and graphic and I really like that!

I used a Kraft cardstock base for this card. Then I used a So Saffron cardstock for my next layer. I used the Playful Ovals set and stamped one of the curved swirl images (the set comes with 2 of them)  in each corner with Versamark ink. I embossed them with clear embossing powder so that they'd retain the So Saffron color, but a little bit darker.

I embossed the flower oval and the words, "mr. and mrs." (from the Never a Loss 4 words set) on glossy cardstock and then embossed them with clear embossing powder. I sponged over the flower oval with So Saffron ink but left the middle of the oval to sponge over with Creamy Caramel ink so that it would tie in with the color of the Kraft cardstock.

I used my Coluzzle cutting system with the oval template to cut out the flower oval, mounted it on Kraft cardstock and then used a pair of scalloped edge scissors to trim around it. A piece of Ivory grosgrain ribbon was run across the So Saffron cardstock and the oval was mount on top with pop-dots.

To add both "bling" and dimension, I used some orange and brown toned Dew Drops from the Sunflower Collection (at Kitchen Sink Stamps). All these little beauties need is a Mini Glue Dot on the back and they're stuck down for good!

I just got these in the mail yesterday and was so excited to break them open and use them! I also got the Hydrangea Collection and am already dreaming up ideas for how to use these.

It's off to bed for me.....I have a big day tomorrow. The Paper Bag Trilogy Tutorial CDs are getting the finishing touches and are scheduled to ship out in tomorrow's mail. Then the To-Go kits start getting put together. I better get some sleep!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Kitchen Sink Stamps is 6 months old!

Wow! It went by so fast! Kitchen Sink Stamps is 6 whole months old!

And Maria is holding a one day celebration!

You can get 15% off your order for today only (March 25th)!

Use this coupon code when you check out: 6MONTHS 

Happy 6 months, Kitchen Sink Stamps!

Tea for two....but the one that's missing is YOU!

I've been trying my hand at simpler and more clean cut designs. This new set, Thinking of You, (by Rupa Shevde for GinaK Designs) is a great set to use with this purpose in mind.

I picked up some white polka dotted satin ribbon the other day that I thought would be sweet with such a simplistic and clean design. I usually start designing with my stamps first and then add the ribbon at the end, but with this card, I started with the ribbon first.

The stamp I used actually has another chair that sits on the right hand side of the table. I tweaked the stamp a bit to create some different variations. I got this idea from Gina and I thought it was BRILLIANT!

Because the stamp is an unmounted stamp (meaning that it has vinyl cling on the back and is used on an acrylic block), the option is there to do some things with your stamps that you might not be able to do otherwise. Cutting stamps apart can be incredibly nerve-racking if you've never done it before, but it can create so many new opportunities for your stamping.

Here, let me show you:

This stamp was actually all ONE stamp. The chairs on either side with the table in the middle. When I saw that Gina had cut hers apart, I thought, "Wow! That's freakin' brilliant! I gotta try that!" So....I did just that. I took my Craft & Rubber scissors to them and cut the chairs apart from the stamp. Yup, both of them!

I didn't trim them any closer. This way, you can still fit them back together like a puzzle piece. Now, if I want to stamp the whole image, all I need to do is fit the pieces together on my acrylic block. If I want to use just a chair or both chairs, I can do that. If I want just the table, I can do that, too. You get the picture. Isn't that just the coolest thing ever? I'm tellin' ya.....Gina comes up with the most amazing ideas!

I'm a BIG chai tea latte drinker. It's affectionately called "crack tea" with my circle of girls that come to my classes and my downline meetings. My mom buys it by the BIG can for me and usually gets me 4 cans at a time so that I have plenty to get me through 3-4 months at a time. It's addictive. I've since gotten one of my best friends (Jen) hooked on it. But because she's all the way in Detroit and I'm all the way here in Vermont (a LONG 12 hour drive apart), I can't sit down with her in person with a cup of chai like I would absolutely love to. When I saw this stamp and cut them apart, it made me think of her and how much I'd love to sit down with her and a cup of chai and chat.

I created this card with Jen as my inspiration. Using just one chair and the table with tea for two made me think about how much I'm looking forward to her flying in next Thursday for my Go Scrap Yourself Scrapbooking Retreat because it will mean that we'll finally get to sit down and have our cup of chai together. The last time we had a cup of chai together was when she came out LAST May! That's just too long in between cups of chai together.

The picture at left shows how I lined up my two stamps together to fit like a puzzle piece. I lined them up snug to each other, inked them up and stamped onto Whisper White cardstock with black ink. SO easy!

I used some of my new Copic markers that I got from GinaK's Copic club to color the images. After I did my coloring, I mounted the image on top of a piece of Certainly Celery with a tight border. Just enough to bring in some extra color and it coordinated well with the little tea cups that I colored. The Cool Shadow marker that I used for the tea pot coordinated well with the Soft Sky cardstock that I used. I mounted the stamped image on the card with pop-dots.

The greeting at the bottom right of the card is also from the Thinking of You set and stamped in black.

For $100 orders, Gina was giving away these cute paper flowers and large brads in a little round windowed tin. I'm not sure if she still is, but I love these brads and flowers. The blue flower seemed to be made JUST for the Soft Sky cardstock. Is that a perfect match, or WHAT?

Now I've made myself thirsty for a cup of chai. It may be 10 pm and might keep me from falling asleep right away, but it's just so tempting!

Have a lovely evening!

 

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Looky, looky!!! I'm a featured artist!

Make sure you go over to check out Andrea Walford's site today!

I'm her Featured Stampin' Up Artist this week!

Click on this link to see ----> Featured Stampin' UP Artist of the Week: Erika Martin

Easy Scrappin' - 6-Supply Challenge

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I would be starting a new weekly feature showcasing beautiful but easy scrapbook pages. I'm FINALLY getting started with this and I apologize for taking so long to get it going.

This weekly feature is called "Easy Scrappin'." (Because why have a HUGE long name for something so easy, eh?) 

Many of you mentioned that you'd love to scrapbook but there are things that tend to hold you back. There are a few certain key reasons that I hear over and over again that you hold back.

1. You don't have enough time.
2. You don't feel like you have enough "stuff" to make pages worth looking at.
3. You can never think of ideas on your own and feel like you can't get started on your own.
4. You feel intimidated looking at all the gorgeous pages you see online and in magazines.

Well, I'm here to tell you that this feature will help you overcome ALL of those reasons.

First off, I aim to show you how to create pages in roughly 30-40 minutes. Secondly, I want to show you just how easy it is to create beautiful pages with minimal supplies and I'll show you the creative process I used to create those pages. Thirdly, I'm here to give you ideas, sketches and challenges that will help to jump start your creativity. Fourthly, with the three things above that I'm helping you with, they should take care of overcoming that intimidation you feel.

To make this even more fun, I'm going to put forth a challenge each week to go along with the page I've shown you. You'll have a few days to create your own page and send me a picture to upload on my blog. I'll create a separate blog page with the pages you submit for the challenge and then everyone can vote on a winning page (names will be withheld during the voting). The winner will receive a prize from me at the end of the voting period! The biggest prize, though, will be that you're scrapping your precious photos and memories and that's PRICELESS!

So, with saying all of that, let's get started with this week's page and challenge.

For this week, I decided to start out with a supply challenge to myself and to all of you.

6-Supply Challenge

For this challenge, I limited myself to a list of 6 things that I could use on my page. I'm putting this challenge forth to you as well.

<--- Here's a picture and a list of the 6 supplies I used:

* 1 sheet of patterned cardstock
* 1 sheet of colored cardstock
* 1 sheet of neutral cardstock
* Vellum (used for printing or handwriting your title and journaling on)
* Mini brads
* Glass heart embellishments

I chose to create my scrapbook page on the patterned cardstock as my base. I chose a sheet of cardstock from the Motifica collection from Basic Grey. I wanted something patterned so that it could carry most of the design, since I was limiting myself to only 6 supplies. I went with something understated so that it wouldn't take away from the picture or the journaling. Just for clarification, I'm almost exclusively a 12 x 12 inch scrapbooker, though this challenge and layout could certainly be translated to any size of page that you're working with.

I chose Very Vanilla for my neutral cardstock and this was what I matted my photo on first. I then matted this on top of my colored sheet of cardstock. I chose a light brown cardstock for this.

My patterned paper was chosen because it was understated and pulled some of the earthy colors inthe photo I chose to use on this page. I chose my neutral color according to the swirls in the patterned cardstock. I chose the colored cardstock according to some of the brown hues in the patterned cardstock.

I used to be a "chronological scrapbooker" but found that I got myself in a rut that way. There were so many pictures that I wanted to work with but felt like I couldn't because they didn't fall in order with what I was currently working on. About 7 years ago, I went through almost a year without scrapbooking at all because I was so tired of feeling hemmed in to scrapbooking in a chronological way. I wanted to work on whatever I wanted to and felt like I couldn't do that. I remember reading an article in a scrapbooking magazine that encouraged us to think outside the chronological box and work on whatever we wanted to. To enjoy the flexibility of this art form and to fully express ourselves by not creating rules for ourselves. That's when I found my love of scrapbooking all over again. Now, I scrapbook what I want, when I want. I feel so much more freedom in my scrapping when I scrap like this.

One thing that I've taken to using a lot of on my pages is 5 x 7 inch photos. It really helps to bring out a focal point on my page. When using multiple pictures, it helps to bring one focal photo to attention. Sometimes, though, I want to create a page centering around one picture. I love the look of the larger 5 x 7 inch photo (as opposed to a 4 x 6 photo). It helps to fill up a larger portion of the page and really focuses on your photo as the "main star" of the page. I chose a 5 x 7 inch photo of my daughter playing in the creek just down the road from our house.

(You can click on any of the pictures in this post at any time to pop up a window with a larger view.)

I mounted my picture in the top left corner of my patterned cardstock. Because I wanted to hide some journaling behind the photo, I only applied adhesive to the bottom and two sides of the photo mat. The top edge of the picture acts as a sleeve to fit my journaling into.

Because I only used part of the brown and vanilla cardstock for matting my photo on, I had plenty left to cut a small journaling block to hide behind my photo.

I cut the Very Vanilla at 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches and then mounted it on top of a piece of brown cardstock cut at 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. For both the journaling block and my photo, I allowed an extra 1/4 inch for my bottom cardstock layers to create a 1/8 inch border.

I cut a small piece of vanilla cardstock and attached it to the top of my journaling block with a mini gold brad and then wrote "Pull" at the top. This created a "pull tab" at the top of my journaling block. I then journaled on this and slid it behind the photo. The brad stops at the edge of the photo and keeps the journaling block from sliding behind the photo.

My handwritten journaling reads:

"When I heard this song for the first time, it made me think of my girl child. We snuggle, we argue. We giggle, we butt heads. She has the ability to stress me out & fascinate me all at the same time." picture summer 2007

I wanted to include the lyrics of a song that has quickly become a favorite of mine. Because there were a lot of words to include, I chose to print them off with the computer. I didn't want to hide the beautiful designs of the patterned cardstock, so I opted to use vellum.

I printed out the words from the song, "Daughter," by Loudon Wainright III using Papyrus font for the title and Times New Roman font for the lyrics. I enlarged the font and bolded the parts that really stuck out to me in the song. Since it would take up quite a bit of room for the lyrics, you can check them out here: ---> "Daughter" lyrics  You can probably also read them on the page if you click on the full picture of this page at the top of this post. I had just gotten this photo printed off and as soon as I heard this song, I knew it would be perfect to go with these lyrics.

I used my paper cutter to trim the title, lyrics and last line of the lyrics separately. I've yet to find a completely invisible vellum adhesive, so I like to attach my vellum to my projects using things like eyelets and brads. Because my smallest hole punch will only stretch so far, I like to use my paper piercing tool and mat from my Crafters' Tool Kit to make my holes. They're the perfect size for mini brads. So, I used a brad for the pull tab on my journaling block, but I also used them to anchor my pieces of vellum down to my cardstock.

The brads serve dual purposes. They serve a practical purpose by holding down my vellum without having unsightly adhesive blotches showing through. They also serve the purpose of adding embellishment to my page in a non-overwhelming way. There's a lot going on with a big photo, the swirling pattern of the cardstock, all of the heavy journaling/lyrics so I didn't want to use something that was going to compete with all of those things. The mini brads were a great touch.

Because vellum can tend to "sag" a little bit if it's not anchored down in the middle (and only held on by the corners), I wanted to give it a little more stability. I turned the pieces of vellum over and applied small bits of adhesive to the backs of some of the journaling and the title. I chose places that were heavy with ink, like the bolded parts in the song lyrics and behind the lines of the large title. Using a tape runner (like the SNAIL Adhesive) allows you to apply VERY small bits of adhesive, so they're completely hidden and won't leave dark spots that you'll see once it's stuck down to the cardstock.

I chose one more embellishment for my list of 6 supplies. These are little glass hearts that I found years ago in the mosaic section of Michael's. They add a little dimension (and a slight amount of bulk) to the page, but they add just a touch of color and show, in a visual sense, that even though life is unpredictable with my daughter, I love that girl child to pieces!

This page only took me 30 minutes to create and only uses 6 supplies but yet it's a beautiful page (if I do say so myself- *wink*). See? You CAN do this!

My challenge to you..........

Use the following 6 supplies (just like I did) to create a page. It can be any size you like.
* 1 sheet of patterned cardstock
* 1 sheet of colored cardstock
* 1 sheet of neutral cardstock
* Vellum (used for printing or handwriting your title and journaling on)
* Mini brads
* 3 duplicate embellishments (like the hearts that I chose)

When you've completed your page, take a well lit picture (you don't have to be a professional photographer to do this....here's some tips on how I take mine: FAQs about my photos) and email it to me at erikaerin2001@yahoo.com by Thursday (March 27th) at 7 pm Eastern time. Voting will start that night and run till 9 pm Sunday night (3/30). I'll announce the winner and the prize Sunday night before midnight.

If there's something you'd like to see as a scrapbooking challenge, definitely let me know and I'll see what I can do to incorporate it into this feature. I'll also be offering sketch chellenges, as well, in future posts.

Happy Scrapping!

-Stampin' Mama

Hip Hop Horray.....more 3-step bunnies!

Remember the cute 3-step Honey Bunny card I did on Wednesday? Well, here's another one! I got such nice comments so I thought I would show you another bunny with a twist on colors.

I used the same basic design that I used on the other card, except that I tipped this card to a tall tent fold rather than a long tent fold.

The bunnies in the Honey Bunny set from Kitchen Sink Stamps are just so stinkin' cute and remind me of the little bunnies (well, one of them wasn't so little.....she weighed a good 15 pounds!) I used to have as pets in my teen years.

I just can't get over the amazing 3-D look these 4-step bunnies create. The detail that Maria used in creating these stamps just boggle my mind. I don't know how she did it, but she's freakin' brilliant!

I don't often use a lot of purple, though at one time, I was a HUGE fan of the color: Almost Amethyst. I went through a phase where I bought and went through pack after pack of cardstock in this color. I used it on everything, it seems. It's been a while since I've broken it out, but today was the day. It seemed a natural color to go with sweet looking bunnies. Originally, I was going to make an Easter card with these little bunnies, but I really liked the idea of using both greetings on this card and I'm so happy I went with my gut.

Speaking of cute little bunnies...... Yesterday, the kids got off the bus after school and as we were walking into the house, Zach said to me, "Mom, lookit! What's that?" He was pointing at the ground to a pile of little brown pellets. What I like to call "cocoa puffs"....but definitely NOT of the eating kind. I said, "It's rabbit poop. DON'T step in it!" He seemed disappointed.....probably hoping it had something to do with bugs that he could catch. I didn't dare call them "cocoa puffs" in front of him because, knowing Zach, he would have picked them up and popped one in his mouth just to see if they really DID taste like "cocoa puffs." haha!

So, now that I have you thoroughly grossed out, we can move on to talk about stamping. *wink*

Here's an up-close picture of the bunnies and their detail.

I know I talk about the detail of the bunnies, but the grass is a multi-step image, as well. The grass was done in 3 steps and the grass stamps are especially forgiving.

When I first started using this set, I was kind of nervous about finding colors that would match up well to create the look I wanted without making them look like the colors were totally "off." I figured out a fantastic trick to this that I'll share, along with my promised tutorial on how to line these stamps up easily. I'm hoping to have that up sometime at the beginning of next week. I decided to combine the two.....the lining up of the stamps and the easy color coordination. Be on the lookout for that.

I used  Certainly Celery for my card base, then layered a piece of striped patterned paper (from the Spring Stack by Die Cuts with a View) on top. I mounted the Whisper White cardstock (with the bunnies) on top of a piece of Almost Amethyst cardstock that I cut as a very tight mat around the cardstock. I only allowed a 1/16 border (I cut the cardstock at 1/8 inch larger than the Whisper White cardstock). It was just enough to add some coordinating color and not overwhelm, but it also created a break between the white cardstock and the patterned paper.

I used a strip of coordinating patterned paper (from the same Spring Stack) to adhere across the top of the Whisper White cardstock, just like I did with the Ginger Blossom paper in the card from Wednesday. I tied a piece of lavender sheer organdy ribbon with polka dots. For some reason, anything with that "dotted swiss" look to it reminds me of the Easter bunnies and springtime.

Just wanted to give you all a heads up that I'll be posting a scrapbook page tomorrow, along with a breakdown of the creative process, which is something I wanted to do last week, but the time just got away from me. I'd like to be able to do this once a week, so we'll get started on that tomorrow and go from there. :)

Happy Creating and happy weekend!

-Stampin' Mama

Decorate a gift-bag! No stamping required!

I had a couple extra paper bags left over from the Paper Bag Book Trilogy To-Go Kits I've been putting together for people that ordered them, so I decided to decorate one for fun. I ADORE how this came out!!! It's like decorating a HUGE card, only on a paper bag!

The back of the bag is covered with a piece of cardstock, but I didn't decorate it since it's the backside. I suppose I could have, but I don't usually decorate both sides. You can only look at one side at a time, anyway. haha!

The picture makes it look kind of on the small side, but it's actually quite big. If I uploaded the picture any bigger, you wouldn't be able to see it all on one screen. The Old Olive cardstock base that I used to cover both sides of the bag measure at 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 inches, so that's almost a full sheet of cardstock on both sides.....that just gives you an idea of how big the bag really is. (you can click on the picture for a larger view)

I wanted to go monochromatic and using the Prints Designer Series papers works so well for the monochromatic look. The papers come in 16 of Stampin' Up's most popular colors and since I started out with Old Olive cardstock for my base, I chose Old Olive Prints Designer Series paper. I've gotten more of the Prints papers than any other of the Designer Series papers that SU carries. I just love the versatility of these papers. They have beautiful prints and patterns on them and they're understated just enough that they don't overtake the rest of your project. Or....you can use these papers on a card as layers with little or no stamping and still make a gorgeous and eye-catching card (like this gift certificate card).

The papers have lighter toned designs on them so that you still have that main color going on but also have some varying shades of the same color for some contrast. I just can't get enough of them. There are patterns for both genders and all ages in these packs. All of the patterned papers you see on this bag were from the Old Olive Prints Designer Series pack.

I just so happened to have some of those fabulous rub-ons that SU was giving away for Sale-a-bration and one of the sheets of rub-ons was in Old Olive! How perfect was that??? The big flower (and the heart inside) are from that sheet of rub-ons.

I have to say that I've never used any rub-ons that go on as flawless and easy as these rub-ons do. The SAB rub-ons were the first rub-ons that I've gotten from SU. I decided to go ahead and give them a try since they were free through SAB. I've used other brands before and they were "okay"...just not as effortless as I would have wanted. Now I'm hooked. MUST. HAVE. MORE! You can check out all the other rub-ons here: Stampin' Up Rub-ons. (there's two pages, so make sure you look at both) There's also 2 new sets of rub-ons in the new Occasions Mini Catalog - A Perfect Day  and Love Birds.

What I would give for some Old Olive grosgrain ribbon......oh, my kingdom for some Old Olive grosgrain ribbon. But alas, SU doesn't carry Old Olive grosgrain ribbon. They do, however, carry Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon and that is my saving grace. Even though it's a little darker than Old Olive, it goes really well with Old Olive ink and cardstock. I did say I was looking to go monochromatic, so it worked well to use the Always Artichoke ribbon.

I added some silver mini brads to jazz everything up a bit. I used them in the corners of my focal point and also on the corners of the large piece of cardstock. The focal point with the flower rub-on was mounted on top of the center strip with pop-dots.

In the bottom right hand corner of the bag, I applied another rub-on from the SAB rub-ons. This one was from one of the sheets of white rub-ons that came in the pack. (by the way, the rub-ons that come in the main catalog and the mini catalog come with 2 sheets each - one in white and one in black).

This bag would be such fun to give, to receive and also to re-gift to another friend. Now I'm wishing I had bought a lot more bags! They're so much fun to decorate!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Hello Spring! 3-step bunnies!

It seems so odd to think that Easter is this Sunday. I always think of April being the "Easter month." It just seems so wrong and "off" for it to be in March, especially this early in March. I had to get my head wrapped around it today in order to make this card.

Spring has been on my mind A LOT lately. Winter never seems to end up here in northern Vermont. It always does, but I go through this every year at this time. The snow takes so long to melt, there's so much mud around, you never know if it's going to snow or rain......I wait so anxiously and impatiently for the ground to emerge and dry up a little and see some green going on. We're in that stage right now of brown and drab. Cold and wet. And mud....oh, the mud. My daughter is attracted to mud like a moth to the flame. I can't keep that child dry or clean this time of year.

Tomorrow, the 20th, is the first day of spring. My son is all excited about spring. This is another thing we go through every year. Having to explain to him that the "first day of spring" and the "first spring day" are two entirely different things. For those of you that have been reading my blog for a while, you know my son's obsessive appreciation for bugs. THAT'S what he's waiting for! Spring brings out all the bugs from winter hibernation and hatches out all those eggs left from last year's bugs. He's gotten so desperate for bugs this winter that he broadened his love of specific bugs to include spiders, ladybugs, aphids and pill bugs. Just yesterday, he turned over enough rocks outside to catch 53 pill bugs! I don't know where they've all gone, but I imagine I'll find some dead ones here and there around the house that have escaped in the next few wees.

So.....speaking of spring, I decided to make a card to welcome spring....and hopefully entice it to come quicker with my stamping. We'll see if it works. *wink*

I used Kitchen Sink Stamps new Honey Bunny set for this card. This is a fantastic new 3-step (and some of the images are 4-step) set that creates the most amazing and life like images you've ever seen. Just look at that bunny (4-steps) and the grass (3-steps)! Is that cool or WHAT?!

Just Monday night, Davy and I were coming home from a Celtic St. Patty's Day concert in Burlington and as we walked up the walk way to our house, there was a little bunny next to our flower beds off the deck. He let us get quite close and then hopped away. The bunnies (there are two of them....a large and a small one) in this set remind me of the little bunnies that we see around our property.

These stamps are so easy to line up. For those of you that get beads of sweat on your forehead when you think about doing a 2, 3 or even 4 step image, don't panic. This card was my first try with this set and I am VERY happy with how it turned out!

I used Groovy Guava cardstock for the base, then a layer of Kraft cardstock on top of that and a piece of Very Vanilla to stamp on.

The strip of patterned paper at the top of the Very Vanilla cardstock is from the Ginger Blossom Designer Series paper pack. I tied a piece of dotted sheer brown organdy ribbon over that and secured it with a double knot (because I suck at bows and ROCK with knots - haha!)

The "Hello Spring" greeting is also from the Honey Bunny set. Sometime soon, I'll walk you through a picture tutorial on how to use these fabulous 3 & 4 step sets and how to choose colors that work well for the layering process of the stamped images. Trust me....if I can do it, so can you!

Hope you have a wonderful evening!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin'  Mama