Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

XOXO Card and matching mini flower pot - Kitchen Sink Stamps

I'm just so "tickled pink" with myself right now. I wanna hug my card and my little flower pot because they're just so darn cute., but I'm afraid they'll get crushed, so I'll just sit here and stare at them and smile at myself instead.

This morning, I was feeling SO uninspired. I knew I wanted to create, but I had no clue WHAT to create.

Having my very own muse helps a lot, though. All it takes is a phone call with Jen and I'm on my way. The two of us start brainstorming and then I get all fired up and get to work.

She told me to get out the box of ribbon she sent me to help inspire me. I fell in love with the rick-rack. And then we got talking about working with a little flower pot. I combed through my bins for one of the teeny little flower pots that I knew I had hid somewhere (my daughter had been taking them and planting in them last year and I finally put my last two away so that I would a couple intact when I needed them. I even stamped the pot!

I then went through my utensil drawer (read: drawer with extra big utensils and "stuff" that never gets used) and found a couple skewers in the back. I created the little flowers using my Scalloped edge punch and taped the skewer down with a little bit of Sticky Strip to one of the scallops, then sandwiched the second scalloped circle on top with some pop-dots.

For the card, flowers and pot, I used images from the Love & Luck set (from Kitchen Sink Stamps).

I stamped a border around the little flower pot using the large flourish image from the set. I adhered some rick-rack around the edge of the pot and filled the pot with my own hand made crinkled paper. I couldn't find the paper grass that I thought I still had and was trying to come up with a way to duplicate and remembered that I had a crimper collecting dust under my desk. I had actually hidden it under my desk because the kids tried using it with Playdough once and I was afraid of them ruining it. Out of sight, out of mind.

I cut thin strips of Certainly Celery cardstock and then ran them through the crimper and had (almost) instant crinkled grass. It helped to stabilize the skewers in the pot.

I tied some of the rick-rack around the skewers to take the place of leaves.

The card I made took elements from the little flower pot. I adhered lengths of rick-rack across the Whisper White cardstock and then adhered scalloped circles on top, staggering them so they'd all fit on the card. I adhered the scalloped circles with pop-dots for dimension.

I stamped the "xoxo" (from the Love & Luck set) with Purely Pomegranate ink. (the other color I used for stamping was Regal Rose)

I'm now going to go stare at my cute little set again. Have a beautiful and creative weekend!

Oh.....and if you haven't entered my give-away yet....you have till Tuesday. Go here ---> Groovy-Give-Away

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Gratitude decorated hanging coaster.....

Last week, I made a Decorated hanging coaster with the Ginger Blossom Designer Series paper and square coasters and last night, at my downline meeting, we made decorated coasters with the round coasters.

I had one extra set of supplies cut from last night, so I decided to tweak the design a little bit and do another one.

(You can click on both of the pictures in this post for a larger view.)

For this coaster, I used paper from the Porcelain Prints Designer Series paper (Stampin' UP). I sanded around the edges with fine grade sandpaper to give it a distressed look.

I had some strips left over of one of the papers with the leaves on it and thought they would come in useful as embellishments on the blue patterned paper I covered the coaster with. I cut three of the leaf images out and then adhered them along the edges of the coaster and trimmed them. I sanded over the edges of those, as well.

Oh......I've had a few people email to ask where they can get coasters. You can find them at Stamp On This. I've bought from them many times and they're always very quick to ship and have great customer service. You can get both the square and the round coasters on this site.

For the word image on this coaster, I used my new "Define Your Life" stamp set that I got as a freebie from Stampin' Up after Sale-a-bration. I never really noticed this set in the catalog before a few weeks ago. Another demonstrator mentioned that she was getting this set as one of her freebies and then I noticed a few other demonstrators saying the same thing. I figured I must be missing something, so I checked my catalog and thought, "Wow! I LOVE this set! How did I miss this before?" I can't get enough of it now!

I stamped the words on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock with Blue Bayou ink and then swiped my ink pad on the edges of the cardstock. I mounted it on a piece of Blue Bayou cardstock, but before I did that, I distressed the edges of both pieces of cardstock with the little distressing tool that comes on the Cutter Kit (Stampin' Up). I realized that I haven't used that little tool in a while, so it well over due for it to come out of my drawer and get used again.

The words got mounted on top of the coaster with pop-dots for some added dimension.

I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch two holes above my word image (I used the larger hole punch) and threaded a piece of Very Vanilla grossgrain ribbon through. I found that with this size hole, the ribbon needed to be double knotted so that it wouldn't slip through the holes.

I didn't cover the back of the coaster, but that's something that I would definitely do if I knew the other side were going to be seen.....like if this were to be used as an ornament.

Make sure you check back in tomorrow. I'll have this week's Bake it, Make it & Take it Post up tomorrow! My house smells like chocolate and pecans and let me assure you that I've already taste-tested to make sure everything is yummy.....and it is!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Coaster Mini Books Trilogy Tutorial CD & To-Go Kits

Coasters are great to put under your drinks to keep your table dry, but there's so many more uses for these simple, sturdy pieces of cardboard than just drinks.

Did you know that coasters can make the most amazing mini-books? And did you know that I have 3 brand new tutorials to walk you through 3 fun and easy books!

I'm pleased to announce the......

Coaster Mini-Books Trilogy Tutorial CD & To-Go Kits!

3 Mini Book Tutorials in one CD!

You get 3 mini book tutorials in one CD.....or you can get everything prepped for you and ready to assemble in the To-Go kit!

Click here for more details, more pictures and ordering information ---> Coaster Mini Books Trilogy Tutorial CD & To-Go Kit!

Delight decorated hanging coaster

I've been playing around with coasters today. I have a new tutorial CD in the works that I'm going to be announcing hopefully tomorrow and I got it into my head that I wanted to do something a little different than what I was working on, so I created this little hanging coaster.

A nice package arrived for me on my doorstep late this morning by UPS. Inside it was 3 new stamp sets. The "Define Your Life" set, the "From the Kitchen: set and the "Well Worn Alphabet" set.....all from Stampin' Up. I had an itching to ink one of the sets up so I used the "Define Your Life" set.

You can click on both pictures in this post to see a larger view.

I used a 4x4 inch coaster for this project and covered it with a piece of Ruby Red cardstock (after rounding the corners with my Corner Rounder punch). I swiped my Ruby Red ink pad over the cardstock for the "direct-to-paper" look.

The flowers you see on the project are from a piece of patterned paper from the Ginger Blossom Designer Series paper pack. I trimmed around the flower images on one of the corners of the paper and then lined it up on the corner of the coaster. I cut a separate flower and trimmed it to fit in the upper left corner so that it balanced the designs out.

I stamped the "delight" definition image (from the "Define your Life" set) on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock with Ruby Red ink and swiped my ink pad around the cardstock to give it a distressed look (like I did with the Ruby Red cardstock on the coaster). I mounted this on top of a piece of Groovy Guava cardstock (which was also swiped....can you tell I like that look??).

I punched holes in the corners with a 1/16 inch hole punch and put gold mini brads in them. This got mounted on top of the coaster with pop-dots.

Have I told you lately how much I love my Crop-A-Dile? I think it's been a few weeks since I sang the praises of this mighty-fine tool.

I used to use my hand held punches to punch through these coasters and let me tell you, it's NOT an easy job. After 3 or 4 punches, my hand easily goes numb from the shock of trying to go through something this thick. The Crop-A-Dile is like a hot knife through butter. (All I can envision when I type that is Mike Meyers on Saturday Night Live doing his "Linda the Coffee Talk Lady" impression when she says, "Like a big stick of butta!")

I threaded some narrow vanilla organdy ribbon through the holes and double knotted the ends and trimmed them to make them look pretty and so they'd hold in the holes.

The "Define Your Life" set is amazing......you could do a whole bunch of these little coasters with all kinds of definitions. They'd make a lovely decorating touch.

It's off to bed for me.....

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Birthday Party in a Tin!

Remember that adorable little book I made in the CD Tin Tutorial that I posted a couple weeks ago? Well, I have another fun project to show you that uses the CD Tins from Kitchen Sink Stamps.

I had planned on doing another mini CD book for this tin, but then I got to brainstorming and came up with something completely different.

I made a Birthday Party in a Tin!

The only thing that's missing from this Birthday party is the cake or a cupcake. I couldn't quite fit that in the tin. *wink* But it has everything else you need! (I'll show you what's inside in just a little bit.

I have completely fallen in love with the little arrows from Kitchen Sink Stamp's Playful Ovals set. It's so much fun to have all those little arrows pointing at the focal point of your project.

You can click on any of the images in this post for a larger view.

I used my Coluzzle cutting system with the circle template to cut all of my layers. I used some striped paper from the Cutie Pie Designer Series paper pack for the large layer on the bottom. I used my handy-dandy, trusty scalloped edged scissors to trim around the edge. I used Wild Wasabi for the layer that my Whisper White cardstock circle is sitting on. I trimmed the Wild Wasabi cardstock with my pinking edged scissors. If you can't already tell from the past few posts, I'm discovering the joy of my neglected decorative edge scissors all over again. They're certainly not neglected any more. I've been using them pretty hard these days. I get the look of all those fancy die cutting systems, but I don't have to spend anything extra and they've already got a place on my desk because they've been there for years.

I like to decorate the sides of my tins with ribbon because it's very easy and there's all sorts of fun patterns to use.

The ribbon that I used on this tin was actually a little gift from Bee over at the Dare2BeeCreative Blog. She sent me a little card wrapped with fun ribbons last fall and the polka dots on this pink-ish ribbon matched the little polka dots on the Cutie Pie paper really well.

To attach the ribbon, I lined the back side with Sticky Strip (aka: Red-line tape) and then adhered it to the tin. The Sticky Strip keeps the ribbon firmly in place and your ribbon won't move when you're opening the tin.

I added some self adhesive flat-backed rhinestones to the lid for some extra bling. For some dimension, I mounted the stamped Whisper White cardstock and Certainly Celery layer on top of the striped paper with pop-dots.

The cupcake image that I stamped on the Whisper White cardstock comes from the Happy Birthday Cupcake set. I colored the stamp directly with my Stampin' Write Makers. I used Ballet Blue, Rose Red and Summer Sun. I huffed a little bit of moisture onto the image before I stamped it on the cardstock to bring the moisture of the marker ink back.

The little arrows were stamped with Ballet Blue, Rose Red and Summer Sun ink.

I felt like the images needed a little "something extra" so I applied 2-way Glue to each of the arrow images, the frosting on the cupcake and the flame on top of the candle and then sprinkled them with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

It's kind of hard to see the amazing amount of sparkle and shine that all of this glitter creates, but trust me, you almost need sun glasses!

The inside of the tin holds the "birthday party to-go."

I made a matching card and included some candles, balloons, confetti and a kazoo! My mom and dad were recently visiting and she handed me a bag of candles and kazoos to use for upcoming birthdays. There were MORE than enough in there, so I took some out and added them to this little tin.

The one thing that I wish I had (and I need to make a note to myself to pick some up the next time I'm at Wal-Mart or something) are match books. They would make a wonderful addition to go with the candles.

Here's a view of the inside of the tin. The goodies rest on the bottom of the tin, while the card I made rests on top of the goodies.

I taped the six candles together in a line using scotch tape. I then made a band to go around them using a piece of striped Cutie Pie paper.

I stamped the words, "make a wish," (from the Happy Birthday Cupcake set) on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock with Basic Black ink and then trimmed it with a pair of scissors and mounted it on top of the banded candles.

If I DID have a little book of matches, I could have also decorated that to match my tin and the candles.

To create the card that goes inside the tin, I started out with a piece of Bashful Blue cardstock and folded it in half. I placed my Coluzzle template over the cardstock, while hanging it over the edge of the fold and then cut the circle out, keeping part of the fold in tact. This created a circular card, except for the fold on the edge. I used my scalloped edged scissors to trim around the edge of the folded card to create a decorative edged card. I LOVE this look! Why pay extra for scalloped edged cards when you can create your own with a simple pair of scissors?!

I mounted this on top of a full circle of Rose Red cardstock. The large Rose Red circle was the size of a CD and filled out the tin nicely.

I used my white gel pen to make little white dots around the striped paper layer.

Can you tell I'm loving my scissors?? They work on so many levels and when you follow the edge of a circle to trim with your scissors, you get what looks like is created by those expensive dies, punches and machines from just scissors.

I stamped the candle image across a piece of Whisper White cardstock, again using my markers to get the different colors on the images.

I applied 2-way glue to the flames and covered them with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I love flames that glitter and sparkle.

The "make a wish" image was stamped with Certainly Celery ink.

I have yet another project to show you using these amazing CD tins sometime soon and Maria, from Kitchen Sink Stamps, has graciously and generously put together a prize package for an upcoming Groovy Give-Away here on my blog. The plan is to have this Give-Away up for next Friday! I'm REALLY looking forward to it!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Kindred Spirits....."You're Amazing" tin and a little about my hero

I've often joked that I would love to have my own super-cape. Just for fun! With glittery sparkles on it. Some days I feel like I need one, so I can get places quicker, do things faster and just all around be able to FLY!

GinaK Designs just released the new Kindred Spirits line and there's 4 ladies with superwomen capes! How awesome is that!

When I think of a superwoman, my thoughts go to my mom. She truly is a SuperWoman! She's one of my heroes and I'm so glad that Gina came out with this line because I know I'll be using it quite a bit!

Let me tell you just how much of a SuperWoman my mom is.....

My mom was 18 when she married my dad (he was 19). A year after they got married, my sister arrived. I arrived 15 months after that and my brother arrived 18 months after I did. My mom had JUST turned 22 years old and had three children under 3. How she ever came out of all of that while still sane amazes me! (my youngest brother arrived 6 years after my first brother)

My mom worked hard to keep our family fed, clothed and the bills paid. My dad did, too, but my mom was a busy, busy lady. She made matching outfits for my sister and I when we were little. I remember her driving the "school bus" (our family's van) to take us, plus a few other kids, back and forth to the private Christian school we went to in our early elementary years. She ran a natural food co-op buying club for as long as I can remember.

When I was 14, my parents pulled all 4 of us kids out of public school to homeschool us. 3 teenagers and a 2nd grader. I don't know what she was thinking, but she did a good job of it. My parents were also running their own business at the time (a wholesale bakery). We packed up and moved south for a few years and took the business with us and in the midst of homeschooling us, my mom started ANOTHER business (a custom homemade clothing business). There was always an amazing meal on the table each night and desserts to satisfy our sweet tooth.

My mom was present for both of my children's births. I wouldn't have had it any other way. During my son's birth, she was literally holding my husband up as he held me up. During my daughter's birth, she sat by my side and literally held my hand during labor. She walked me through those first diaper changes, the first baby baths, breastfeeding, postpartum stuff, etc.
My mother taught me everything I needed to know about cooking and baking, how to run a successful business, how to cook for 100+ people (we both owned catering businesses at one time) and how to manage my finances.

She truly is one of my best friends. She's amazing. She's super. She's every thing a girl could ask for in perfection when it comes to mothers.

Almost 4 years, my parents moved away from Vermont. They sold pretty much all they had and outfitted a 30 foot sailboat and took off from Lake Champlain, down the Hudson and then into the ocean. They live on their boat year round and now dock in Rhode Island. They're not too far away.....only a 5 hour drive away. 5 hours farther than I'd like, but at least it's not more than that. (By the way, you can read about their adventures HERE and HERE.)

Mom has an amazing food blog (Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases) and shares all kinds of great stories and recipes. We team up together to do the Bake it, Make it & Take it Feature on my blog once a week (I'll have a new one up there tomorrow).

 

My mom was diagnosed with Lupus last year, after many years of health issues and trying to figure out what was going on with her health. She's amazing, even through all of the things she struggles with. She's got a strength that blows my mind. You never hear her complaining about all the issues she deals with on a constant basis. She always has a sunny outlook. She always has a smile on her face. Her sense of humor is always alive and well.

And through all of the things she deals with, she's always thinking of everyone one else. She's one of the most selfless people I know. She has a heart the size of the sun and is generous beyond belief.

Gina's Superwoman stamp reminds me of my mom. I colored it with my mom's hair color and gave her a snazzy red leotard suit.....my mom's favorite color. My mom also likes purple, so I gave her a purple sparkly cape, complete with glitter! And the leggings had to have glitter on them, too.

I used the What's in your Tin? 1 set with Versamark ink and then embossed it in black on top of a piece of patterned paper (from the Pocket Full of Posies stack by Die Cuts with a View). I stamped the Super Mom Naomi stamp with black ink on watercolor paper and then painted it in using my ink pads, some water and paint brush. I used a 2-way glue pen to add some glue and then dusted it with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I cut the image out and used pop-dots to mount it on top of an Altoid Tin (GinaK carries these in her store and the coordinate perfectly with the What's in your Tin sets.

The greeting is from the Kindred Greetings for Her set, which was made to go along with Gina's new Kindred Spirits line of images. I colored the words separately with a Basic Black marker and stamped them on watercolor paper, cut them out and mounted them onto the patterned paper.

The flowers on top of the tin are prima flowers. The big orange flower was a gift from GinaK. :) The little  red Glitter Dot is also from GinaK's store. This made such a cute, glittery center for my flowers. I mounted the flowers on top with a glue dot.

I like to dress up the edges of my tins with either patterned paper or ribbon. This time, I chose some pink and orange gingham ribbon (from Doodlebug Designs), as the colors matched the flowers on the patterned paper and the primas so well.

I like to use a strip of Sticky Strip (also known as "red line tape") on the ribbon and then tack it down to the side of the tin. This keeps the ribbon in place, keeps it from sagging and gives it an amazing hold. That ribbon is not going ANYWHERE.

This little tin could hold some jewelry, some chocolate, a gift card, cash, a check, etc. What a great way to show your hero how much you love her and how much she means to you.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

CD Tin Mini Book Tutorial - Oh, the possibilities!

When Maria, from Kitchen Sink Stamps, asked me to do the Project of the Month for the month of April, I was flattered and thrilled at the same time!

As Maria and I talked over email, we discussed doing a cute little mini book of some sort. She knows I have a love of handmade books, photos and scrapbooking, so this was a great project for me to work on.

Maria got a hold of some CD tins and we decided on a CD tin mini book! This was actually my first time working with a CD tin, but I've fallen in love! The possibilities are endless with these amazing tins!

You can find these awesome tins here on Maria's site: CD tins with Covers

They're a great price at only $3.50 for a pack of 2 tins!

So..........I've created a tutorial to show you how easy these little mini books are to put together. And I'll also show you how to use up all those gazillions of free CDs that get sent to you in the mail. If you're anything like me, you probably have a whole drawer of these CDs, just waiting to be used, but not knowing WHAT to use them for. I can't bear to throw them away because, well, you know....I just might need them for a craft project. And guess what??? I DID! And once you make one of these mini books, you'll be asking all your friends for THEIR stash of CDs. Trust me, they're addictive! And with these CD tins, you have the perfect size gift container for your mini books!

CD Tin Mini Book Tutorial

Supplies:

2 CDs
CD Tin with cover
Patterned paper
Coordinating cardstock
Neutral color cardstock
Circle cutter (I love my Coluzzle cutting system)
Hobby blade or scissors
Grosgrain Ribbon
Fine grade sandpaper

Step 1: Apply adhesive around the outside edges and center of 2 CDs.

Step 2: Place the  CDs on a piece of patterned paper (if you're using double sided patterned paper, place it on the side you DON'T want to use).

Step 3: Use a hobby blade (X-acto knife) or scissors to trim around the CDs. Repeat steps 1-3 for the other side of the CDs so that both sides are covered with patterned paper.

Step 4: Use a piece of fine grade sandpaper to sand around the edges of the patterned paper. This will give it the paper a nice smooth edge.

Step 5: Use a circle cutter to cut out 6 large circles (I used the outside circle template on my Coluzzle circle template) from Soft Sky cardstock. (These circles should be just a tad smaller than the size of the CD.)

Step 6: Mount a Soft Sky circle on each CD, only one ONE side each of the CDs. Set the other 4 circles aside to use later.

Step 7: Use your circle cutter to cut out 6 circles (I used the second circle template in on my Coluzzle circle template) from Very Vanilla cardstock. (These circles should be just a tad smaller than the Soft Sky circles.)

Step 8: Apply adhesive in a line across the center of all 6 Very Vanilla circles.

Step 9: Adhere a length of grosgrain ribbon (I used Very Vanilla) across the Very Vanilla circles, leaving a half inch in between each circle. You'll have a "chain" of 6 circles attached to the ribbon. Trim the ends of the ribbon on the first and last circle so that it's about a half inch short from the edge of the circles. This way, you won't see the ribbon ends when you put the book together.

Step 10: Apply adhesive to the outside edges of the Very Vanilla circles and across the ribbon on top of the circles. Do NOT apply adhesive to the half inch sections of the ribbon in between the circles.

Step 11: Mount the first and last circles of the "chain" to the covered CDs. These will become your book covers. Mount the 4 circles on the "inside" of the "chain" to the remaining Soft Sky circles.

The inside of your book is now finished and you can decorate it any way you like.

I used the tiny flower cluster from the Playful Ovals set in Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi ink to decorate a frame around each of my pages.

These pages can be used for photos and journaling. If you wanted to, you could even decorate the backs of the pages to get even more use out of your book. 

The pages fold up accordion style to close the book. You can have about 12 pages in your book before it gets to be too snug in your tin. Of course, it also depends on what you use to embellish your pages and the cover of your book, as well. If you wanted to, you could also make your pages out of covered CDs for more stability. If you did this, though, you wouldn't be able to fit as many pages in your book, as the CDs are a lot thicker than cardstock and will make a bulkier book. You'd follow the same process as you did above, but would just add your inner pages onto a covered CD.

Don't forget to decorate the front of your book and your CD tin, too!

You can click on any of the pictures in this post to pop up a larger view.

For the cover of my book, I used the little flowers that I used on the inside pages of my book. I also used the new Honey Bunny set (which seemed so soft and baby-like for a baby album). I stamped the word, "baby," above the bunny using the Playful Alphabet set with Wild Wasabi ink (by the way, the patterned paper is in Wild Wasabi and is from the now retired Special Delivery Boy Simply Scrappin' Kit from Stampin' UP). I overlapped and staggered the letters to make them all fit, but they look cute this way.

I used a pair of scalloped edged scissors to trim around the Soft Sky circle. I've discovered anew those decorative edge scissors that were all the rage about 7 years ago and have been sitting in my tool turn-about for that same amount of time. They've been sadly neglected for a while but it seems that they're becoming popular once again. Now that there are all those cool die cut machines out there making those scalloped edged circles and ovals and such, I realized that I don't really need them because I kept my scalloped edged scissors! I used the same scissors to trim around the Soft Sky circle on the top of my tin, as well.

The little glass dots you see on the cover of the album and on the top of the tin are called Dew Drops and you can get them in all kinds of different color combinations over at Kitchen Sink Stamps. (There's also more color combos HERE.)

I mounted both of my scalloped edge circles on my book cover and tin cover with some pop-dots for extra dimension.

To put the little Dew Drops on my projects, I like to use Mini Glue Dots. They're the ideal size for these drops and you don't have to get your hands messy and they stick firm and instantly.

To decorate the edge of my tin, I used some Sticky Strip on a length of 1/4 inch wide Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon and wrapped it around the tin edge. I trimmed the ends so that they meet up with a nice clean seam.

The first time I put the ribbon around the tin, I used a regular double-sided adhesive and only used it in spots along the ribbon. When I opened the tin, though, I found that the ribbon slid around too much under the pressure of my fingers and the handling of the tin. I took the ribbon off, put the Sticky Strip across the whole length and there's no more sliding around. It sticks good and firm. It may use up a long strip, but it's well worth it and that ribbon around the edge really adds such a nice touch.

I used the Never a Loss 4 Words set for the "welcome little one" words on the top of the tin. I stamped those with Wild Wasabi and Soft Sky ink.

've created 2 more tins with mini books using different themes. I'll be showing those throughout next week, so make sure you check back to see what else you can do with these!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I'd love to see what you create with it, so make sure to send me a picture of your creations!

Here's the ink, one more time, for those amazing tins:

CD Tins with covers

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

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

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