Stamping With Princess

Birthday Cupcakes in Pink and Brown

December 27, 2009 at 4:30 am (Cards)

Homemade Birthday Card full of Cupcakes

Happy birthday to all those December babies out there, my mother-in-law being one. Here is a handmade birthday card in pink and brown and cupcakes galore that I created especially for her.

homemade birthday card lady holding cake

birthday card in pink and brown

If you look really close, you’ll notice that the pants of the gal are paper pieced from the background paper. The stamp is from DeNami. Paper is from Kay and Company. Birthday wishes is from My Sentiments Exactly. I added pink gems and used a glitter pen (by gelly roller) to add a little sparkle. Colored with Copics. I distressed the edges of the paper with Tim Holtz distress ink and also with a pair of scissors. Ribbon is from Creative Impressions.

I decided to add a bit of interest inside the card.

a little sweetness inside

Decided to add a bit of sweetness to the inside of the card. Not sure where the cake is from, but again, colored with copics. Distressed in the same fashion as the front of the card.

I wouldn’t say this is my best work, but it has some fun-ness to it. Hope that gives you some inspiration for your December birthdays.

Homemade Christmas Cards and Gifts

December 24, 2009 at 3:57 pm (Anything BUT a card, Cards, Christmas, Magic Box, Masculine)

Homemade Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas everyone. As is my custom, I waited until the last minute to make my christmas cards! My twin sister and I got together to design a card on December 19th! Every piece of paper my sister touched turned into a beautiful piece of artwork. Me, not so much. So this year’s card was designed by Deborah. She helped me make 12 of them (cause I needed them that night). Then the next day I made 60 more!

Needless to say I wanted a simple card this year since the date was getting so late. My husband tried his hand at a couple designs…I didn’t select any of his (sorry honey). Now, I did modify my sisters card ever so slightly so I could color it with proper blending techniques using my copic markers.

homemade christmas card in all it's glory

If I had started stamping my Christmas cards in July instead of December 19th, everyone on my list would have gotten this card. But, since it involves a lot of trim work, cutting, blending, etc….everyone got a more simplified version of the above. We used a glitter pen…which is very bold in the picture, but more subtle in real life.

Two versions of the christmas card. One with ribbon, the other without.

Two versions of the homemade christmas card

Some people received a card with a ribbon and some without. I was very nervous about the post office charging extra postage because of the bulkiness of the ribbon. So, the ribbon pictured here is velvet red. It’s very bulky and was only used on cards that were hand delivered. I used a red sheer ribbon for those I mailed. But like I said, the majority of my cards went without ribbon. Who wants to receive a christmas card with the message “postage due” on it?!

Here’s my husbands card. He was very proud of it. I mailed it to his dad!

Husband proudly displays his art

Not sure if you can make it out…the top red and green word is Joy from an old D.O.T.S. stamp (now Close to My Heart). Below that is red chicks in the shape of a chrismtas tree (from DeNami stamps). I just won the chicks…and my husband was the first to use them. =)

Homemade Christmas Gifts and Boxes

This year I made some gift boxes for a few lucky souls. I gave a box to each member of the worship team at my Bible Study group. I also gave one to a neighbor, my lifecoach, my mothers nurses, and to the sales lady at Creative Impression (a wholesale ribbons store). These boxes were inspired from Inking Idaho.

gift box with decorated post it note holder and chocolates

Here are just a couple homemade gift boxes

We made little boxes, dividers inside, decorated post it notes, covered hershey nuggets candies, mint patties and added a christmas pencil. We covered each box with a clear lid that fits snuggly on top so you can see the contents inside and tied it off with ribbon from Creative Impressions.

I made the following snowman box and tree box for my sister. It’s just a little something to say “Thinking of You” at Chrstimas.

snowman box and tree box hold christmas m&ms.

Snowman and pine tree say Colorado Christmas

I had made a tree before for my husband on our anniversary. It gave me the inspiration to make the snowman and tree for Christmas. These were very simple to make. The snowman is obviously just three circles. The largest bottom one as the bottom trimmed off. The tree was cut free hand. The box is made from write on transparencies from an office supply store. The Holiday Joy stamp is from My Sentiments Exactly. The large snowflake and the branches are from Martha Stuart. Eyes and buttons are hole punches. Carron was cut freehand.

Here’s a look at the closure.

closure is a button with a snowflake punch

I used a brad to secure twine to the top flap. Then used a brad to adhere a button to the side of the box. The twine from the top comes down and cirlcles around the button to keep the box closed. Easy as can be.

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!

1 Comment

Tim Holtz – 12 Tags of Christmas

November 25, 2009 at 4:03 am (Cards)

Tim Holtz is a fantastic stamping artist that specializes in Grunge. His work is such beautiful eye candy I could stare at it for hours. Anyhoo, he is having 12 tags of Christmas which includes give aways and prizes. So, check his blog every day, leave a comment and you just might win something!

Check out Tim Holtz's blog

Magic Box – Christmas Grunge

November 22, 2009 at 12:21 am (3D Items, Anything BUT a card, Christmas, Magic Box)
Tags: box, Christmas, grunge, Magic Box, stamping

Magic Box – Christmas Grunge

I had one more request to hold a magic box class at Simple Pleasures – my local independent stamp store. I held my first Christmas Magic Box class in July 2009, but a few students missed it. The paper I used for the summer class was discountinued, so I had to create a new box for my fall class. So here it is for all to see.

I call it Christams Grunge because I distressed all the decorative paper with a razor blade. One could use the blade of a pair of scissors, or heck, they make special distressing tools. That’s on my wish list. I originally chose this paper because it allowed me to make a red box – which seems more traditional for christmas. It didn’t meet my mom’s approval, however, because it’s not elegent. So, I guess there’s no compromize – you can’t dress up grunge!

Magic Box – Christmas Grunge Outside

Lid of the Magic Box Christmas Gruge

The lid top is deocrated with a square gift tag.

: Side 1 of my Magic Box Christmas Grunge

I used Sizzix swirl die cut for the sides of the lid. Just trimmed one or two swirls per side.

: Side 2 of Magic Box Christmas Grunge

I used a Martha Steward snow flake punch to decorate the sides as well as the inside.

: Side 3 of the Magic Box Christmas Grunge

No snowflake is complete without a gem or something sparkly!

: Side 4 of the Magic Box Christmas Grunge

The trick to adhering the swirl is to use a glue pen. And because it’s a small element, place your glue on the die cut in dots, as opposed to trying to draw a line of glue. Just a little tip!

Magic Box Christmas Grunge Inside

Of course, the magic happens when the lid is removed from the box. The sides spring open and lay flat revealing a christmas scene in the middle. I have a gift card holder surrounded by christmas grunge floating shapes.

: Inside the Magic Box Christmas Grunge

I incorporated some snow flakes into the inside of the box. Brings continuity to the project.

: Close up of Magic Box Christmas Grunge Gift Card Holder

Here’s a close up of the gift card holder. I added a tiny bit of ribbon and some snowflakes and gems.

: Photo of the support of the Magic Box Christmas Grunge

Here is a photo illustrating the mechanics of the project. I use a triangle wedge to support the gift card holder. I poke the transparency / acetate into the bottom decorative paper to support the floating christmas grunge elements.

Believe it or not, I only used three piece of 12×12 to make the box. One piece of decorative paper and two pieces of red cardstock (one for the lid and one for the box). I used accents of blue and green paper here and there. No stamping on this one.

Check out all the other Magic Boxes on my blog!

2 Comments

Homemade Baby Boy Card Thank You Set

November 8, 2009 at 4:27 pm (Baby Shower, Cards, Pocket Card, Thank You)
Tags: baby, Baby Shower, carriage, homemade, stamping

Homemade Baby Boy Card Thank You Set

I recycled big time for this homemade baby boy card thank you set. This truly was a joint effort. My sister had the vision for the belt buckle and layout. I contributed the denim, paper selection and the stamp selection. We had purchased a bag of belt buckles at a garage sale…and they have sat in the stamping cabinet for months. I was just about to toss out an old pair of jeans (which happened to rip in a very inappropriate spot!). But our creativity melded together just in time for a baby shower gift for my next door neighbor who is having a baby boy in ten weeks.

Homemade Baby Boy Card Thank You Set – The Card

baby boy card with brown belt and buckle

Front of the Baby Boy Card for the Thank You Set

Baby Boy Card Inside

A quick note about this baby boy card and thank you set. The base paper is brown – purchased in a reem at Xpedx. The denim is an old pair of jeans cut with pinking sheers then frayed. The striped paper is DCWV from some paper pack. The ribbon I bought in a spool at Xpedx. To make the belt, we actually taped two strips of brown ribbon to a piece of paper to give the belt shape and to make it double wide because we didn’t have any wide ribbon that looked nice with the buckle! We added gromets to the ribbon to make it look like a belt. And used scrappers floss to tie on the little thank you tag.

Can you mail these cards? Maybe if you used a bubble envelope. Otherwise, I’d recommend hand delivery.

Homemade Baby Boy Card – A Thank You Set

We made 10 of these cards for a thank you set. Then I needed a box to put them in. I was going to make a slide out box, but it would have taken four pieces of paper and I didn’t feel like making a huge piece of paper and folding it into a box. So, I opted for a card / book type contraption. I made this once before for another baby gift and really liked it. So, here you go!

Here is the inside of the gift box.

baby boy card thank you set inside full of cards

Cards tucked into the baby boy thank you set with one pulled out.

I decorated the back of the pockets

As you can see, the inside looks great whether the box is full of thank you cards or empty. I used acetate (write on transparency sheet) to create pockets to hold the thank you cards. I tape that to the brown card. Then I decorate the back of the panels to hide the tape from the transparency as well as to make the box look nice when it’s empty.

Now for the outside:

The outside of the baby boy thank you box when fully open

The box when fully open

View of the front and closure of the baby boy thank you card set

back and closure of the baby boy card set

spine of the baby boy card thank you set

spine of the baby boy thank you card set

Phew, that’s a lot of photos. You may or may not believe this, but I only used two pieces of decorative paper to create all 10 cards and the box. I used a lot of solid blue and brown to create the structure of the cards and box and to frame the white pieces.

Not sure if you noticed how the brown ribbon ties are attached. I just folded over the brown ribbon, then used a little brad to attach them. I attached the brad prior to adhering the inside decorative panel…so the brad tines are hidden by the inside blue panel. I printed out the welcome baby on the spine in Word Art then colored with copics.

The stamp has a sticker on it that says, “1998 Embossing Arts Co.” I picked it up at a garage sale. I also colored that baby and carriage with my copics. Not sure it shows up, but I gave the baby some soft pink cheeks! The stamp has words below it that say “look who’s here…” but I decided to not use that part.

The thank you words are from a My Sentiments Exactly stamp set. I think that’s about everything.

The card are traditional card size, but I threw in some oversized envelopes due to the bulkiness of the belt buckles. I also threw in a book of stamps. Even if she doesn’t mail them…stamps are always needed! =)

I’m sure you’re wondering how long it took to make….too long! I’m pretty sure there’ s over 8 hours in this project. Hmmm…would have been cheaper just to buy a gift! But not nearly as fun! =)

2 Comments

Homemade Christmas Cards in Purple

October 30, 2009 at 2:42 am (Cards, Christmas)
Tags: angel, card, Christmas, cuttlebug, homemade, manger, peace, purple, rubber stamping, snow, stamping, swirl

Homemade Christmas Cards in Purple

Today I want to show you three homemade Christmas cards in purple….and a hint of green I created with some old rubber stamps I had laying around. I was going for a “religious” theme. Christian theme, to be more exact. A big thank you goes out to my mom who helped me with the angel card. And since I bring it up, let’s start with that one.

My mom and I purchased this stamp several years ago…and have never been quite happy with any card we’ve created with it. But, we both like this card. I think it has a slight feminine feel to it…only because the angel is feminine.

I colored the image with copics. It’s embossed with silver and distressed with purple Distress Ink by Tim Holtz. I framed it with silver cardstock. It’s matted with purple paper that I stamped with white snowflakes using StazOn white ink. That’s matted with silver and adhered to white cardstock. The silver ribbon actually is a loop on the right and is how you open the card. The angel and left panel actually open to the left. The right panel is actually taped down on the top and bottom and is a gift card holder.

Here’s the gift card holder part.

The next card is my favorite. I think it’s the cute stamps and bold crisp images. My mom likes elegant so this is not her favorite. To each her own.

Here is where the hint of green comes in.

I used my copics to color in this image of the shephard. I cut out the oval using a spellbinder die. Then traced a black circle using the die as a guide. I framed the oval in two shades of green coordinations paper. Then added the two shades of purple. I have a puple brad on the right side which I use as a sort of closure for the card. I have a little piece of black Scrappers Floss as a tie that I wrap around the brad to keep the card closed.

Funny thing about this color combintation, it happens to be the company colors for my husbands work. Guess who’s getting this card….his coworkers! I’m contemplating creating a red and green variation as well for my friends and family.

You may be wondering why I used the coordinations paper for this project. It’s because Joann had their paper on sale last week for 5 for $0.95. Great price for something that is usually $0.60 each!

Here’s the inside. I think it’s adorable! The image of Jesus in the manger is a bit on the cutesy side. And I just adore it. Again I colored it in with copics. I cut it out using QuicKutz nesting circles. And pulled in some of the purple and green from the outside in. The greeting I created on my computer. The purple rectangle behind the manger is actually a gift card holder.

The last card I made is using a stamp that I once again had trouble figuring out what to do with in the past. But I am pleased with how it turned out this time.

I believe my mom would consider this more on the elegant side. She insisted that I used pearls on the four corners. I originally had silver brads there. Apparently that was too industrial looking for her taste! =)

This peace on earth stamp is from My Sentiments Exactly. I stamped it in purple using Tim Holtz distress ink. Then I distressed the edges using his purple ink. I framed it in light purple coordination paper. I have that matted with a deeper purple coordination paper that I ran through my cuttlebug using a swirl embossing plate. I then sanded the swirls to pull out the lighter purple core of the paper. I framed it on a piece of white cardstock that I also distressed the edges of using the purple ink. Oh, and wrapped a little sheer ribbon around for good measure.

I love, love, love these cards. Hmmm…not sure which one I’ll use this year. Knowing my personality, it’ll be the one that’s the most time consuming!

Hope you enjoy.

4 Comments

Masculine Birthday Cards

October 30, 2009 at 2:03 am (Birthday, Cards, Masculine)
Tags: Birthday, cake, Masculine

All Natural Masculine Birthday Cards

I say all natural because the cards are made with greens and creams reminding me of nature. Today’s card is for a friend of mine who lives in Breckenridge, Colorado for his 40th. I guess I should have put a big 40 somewhere…but didn’t think of it in time. Oops.

I was inspired to stamp half a cake by a card I saw a few months ago online that at first glance did something similar. Only upon closer scrutiny I noticed that the elements on the card were actually crowded, not cut off. Ah, well. It inspired me to use half the image. My husband thinks it’s weird. I like to think it’s modern! =)

The base is a natural, cream stock. Then I used two pieces of scrap green. And no masculine card would be complete with out some hardware. So I added two grommets.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and venture to say that this card was my friends favorite. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that it had birthday cash in it!

Here is a photo of another masculine card with slight modifications. I colored the cakes with copic markers. Distressed the edges with Tim Holtz distress ink. I used three different stamps.

2 Comments

Symmetrical Bride and Groom Card

September 14, 2009 at 2:37 am (Anniversary, Cards, Wedding)

Symmetrical Bride and Groom Card

You’d think I had a myriad of weddings to attend this year with the latest interest in making bride and groom cards. Not sure what the fascination is lately but I had another idea for modifying the tux and dress card.

I will be using my latest bride and groom, tux and dress card as an anniversary card for a good friend. I can’t help it, I think this tux and dress is adorable!

Bride and Groom, Tux and Dress

So, I have the tux in a two inch square on the left. And a dress on the right, again in a two inch square. Each square is lined with silver cardstock. I silver embossed the words “forever and always” underneath.

Bride Dress close up

It was extremely difficult to capture the pearls in the photograph. I think the flash on the camer and the DCWV glitter paper I used on the dress did not get along well. Anyway, I put a few pearls on the waistline and one at the neck line. Gives it some flare.

Wedding Bride and Groom Card

Pretty simple and straight forward card. Guess that’s what appeals to me about it. I call it my Symmetrical Bride and Groom card because of the 2″ squares and the underlying text. I debated about putting the squares at an angle, one overlapping the other. But I couldn’t decide if the bride should be on top or the groom. So I put them side by side! =)

The tux shirt is glitter paper from DCWV. I used a 1/4″ hole punch for the buttons. Just hand made the tux shirt shape and the bow tie. The dress is from My Sentiments Exactly. I stamped the back of some DCWV glitter paper and cut out the top part of the stamp. I did use dimensional puffy tape behind the 2″ squares.

Here are my other variations of the bride and groom card including video and template:

Supplies:

Dress Stamp – My Sentiments Exaclty
“forever and always” stamp – My Sentiments Exactly
Black matte cardstock
Black shiney cardstock
White glitter paper – DCWV
Silver cardstock
Silver detail embossing powder
Embossing Gun
Pearl gems
1/4″ hole punch

2 Comments

Homemade Wedding Card Video and Template

August 29, 2009 at 9:30 pm (Cards, Thank You, Wedding)
Tags: bride, card, dress, groom, homemade, stamping, Thank You, tuxedo, Wedding

Homemade Wedding Card Video and Template

This homemade wedding card video took me a bit longer to put together than I anticipated. Like…3 months longer! But I finally watched a tutorial on using my movie making program and I am good to go! Videos should really only take a week or two for me to put together from now on! Promise! =)

Since it’s been so long since I posted the cards, here is a picture of the wedding cards as a reminder! =)

picture snatched from my wedding card video

Below is the video of me making the card. As promised in the video, I have a template of the tuxedo shirt should you wish to download that instead of making it the way I demonstrate in the video. If you have teenagers, perhaps you can have them make the shirt template using a compass as I demonstrated. The template link of the tux shirt is below the video.

And the above promised tuxedo template as a PDF.

If you create something with this template or something like this card, do leave a link in my comments so we can all check out your masterpiece.

And again, I was inspired by a card I saw somewhere online and on SplitCoastStampers.com. I believe my only claim to fame on these cards is that 1) I made a thank you card out of it, 2) I added a second layer of dress to add a 3D element to it.

What is neat about these two versions of the homemade wedding card is that you could make 15 of the thank you cards as a wedding gift or bridal shower gift and you could use the gate fold version as the card you use to put with the gift.

Here are the original posts with more info:

5 Comments

Homemade Baby Boy 3D Baby Shower Gift

August 21, 2009 at 2:06 pm (3D Items, Anything BUT a card, Baby Shower, Cards, Pocket Card)

Homemade Baby Boy 3D Baby Shower Gift and Thank You Card Set

So I finally did it….I created a baby gift from scratch for a baby shower. I have been hestitant up to this point to make the entire gift and. More importantly, I’ve been hesitant to give thank you cards as THE gift. But I let loose and got to creating. I love it when everything comes together.

Here are pictures of the thank you cards and the pocket card that contained them!

baby boy baby shower pocket card - the front and side

Ok, what do you think so far? The words “baby boy” on the front are made from Microsoft Word. I created wordart that allowed for hollow letters so I could color them with my copics. And the airplane is a stamp that I cut out – not a die cut. It’s from a set I bought at a garage sale for $3! I love a good deal. It’s from Little Yellow Bicycle – SWS-104 Baby Boy.

Back and side of baby boy pocket card

Now, here’s the back and side of the card. The name Logan was created with my Cuttlebug and Soph Alpha set from QuicKutz. The ovals are Spellbinders. I also created the polka dot white paper with the Cuttlebug. And the clouds, well, they’re from an old template that you sponge around.

Believe it or not, I spent quite some time measuring and calculating to figure out how wide the pocket card should be. I calculated for too long, in fact. But it all worked out. I knew I wanted to do a cloud motif because that’s what I did for the cards.

I say, that’s what “I” did for the cards, but I actually had help from my friend Rebecca. She and I sat down and brainstormed the card and cranked out 12 of them in one evening. Later I tweaked the cards (because more is better!). Then I created the pocket card to contain the greeting cards.

Side view of Baby Boy pocket card

Ok, here’s the last side, the closure. Very important component for a pocket card this size! I decided to use blue sheer ribbon as the closure. I contemplated lots of things but worried that the transparancy might break . So, I attached ribbon around the card. I actually weaved it in and out of the front, side and back panels by cutting slits before finally having it come out near the edge. I then covered the slits and weaving with the light blue and white decorative panels.

I also attached a little heart card with my name inside it as the gift tag. The light blue heart opens up like a locket. It’s not real obvious that it’s the card, so next time I might do something a bit more obvious.

As you can see, I used acetate / transparency to create the pocket so you can see the contents! How much fun is that?!

Your first glance at the inside the baby boy pocket card

Isn’t this fun! Here’s the inside of the pocket card! Obviously, the left is a little baby boy t-shirt and on the right is the pocket full of thank you cards and envelopes. I had a big chunck of navy blue in the center / spine. I thought it was kind of boring, so I created a cloud panel for there. Which lead me to my next great idea…

an empty baby boy pocket card

Since the pockets are made of acetate, I couldn’t resist making a cloud motif behind each pocket. It serves to conceal how the transparency is attached to the card, it reinforces the pocket and it looks good! Function before form! =) I really love that when the mother to be takes out the contents, the pocket card still looks good. And she could use it to store baby treasures later, if she wants.

Before I show more pictures of the card, a note on the pocket card. I used a scor-pal to create this project. I can’t imagine stamping without it. But, I find that scoring acetate is tricky. It leaves a mark, but doesn’t leave a deep enough crease. My husband saw me struggling with the acetate score line and suggested I use my thin metal ruler to score the piece. Oooh, I could kiss him, and probably did. The ultra thin metal ruler I have is thinner than the scor-pal tool and sturdier enough to put a solid deep crease in the acetate. It’s almost as easy as folding paper! A butter knife might work as well.

Baby Boy Thank You Card

On to the card! Many thanks to my friend Rebecca for her help in designing and creating the 12 thank you baby boy greeting cards.

As mentioned I tweaked it afterwards. I sponged some blue in the center of the oval and added the word baby to the bottom left.

Oh, and should thank my husband for his suggestion of adding yellow. He wanted a yellow plane. I wasn’t so sure about that. Rebecca suggested the stars be yellow. So, there’s team work for ya!

I also added a little blue gem to the circle on the tail of the plane. The stamp has a little white circle so I felt it needed to be filled with bling! =)

Oh, and almost forgot, the thank you swirl is a stamp from stampendous!

Inside the baby boy thank you card

Last but not least is a picture of the inside of the thank you card. Just a couple little clouds for interest.

I just realized that I didn’t stamp on the envelopes! I hesitate to decorate envelopes because the ink I use is not waterproof. So I hate to see them smear. But stamped envelopes would have been adorable. Next time!

Speaking of inks, I used Distress ink from Tim Holtz collection for this card. I used it on the airplane as well as sponging for the clouds and distressing.

Hope you enjoy this pocket card and that it inspires you to make a baby gift for your next baby shower!

2 Comments

« Older entries

Stamping With Princess

Birthday Cupcakes in Pink and Brown

Homemade Christmas Cards and Gifts

Tim Holtz – 12 Tags of Christmas

Magic Box – Christmas Grunge

Homemade Baby Boy Card Thank You Set

Homemade Christmas Cards in Purple

Masculine Birthday Cards

Symmetrical Bride and Groom Card

Homemade Wedding Card Video and Template

Homemade Baby Boy 3D Baby Shower Gift

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