Stampin' Addicts Birthday Blog Hop

 
Welcome to Stampin' Addicts first Birthday Blog Hop!  Stampin' Addicts is a free website dedicated to all things Stampin' Up.  They offer SU-oriented galleries, challenges and special events. This Birthday Blog Hop is one of several events being held this week-end to help them celebrate their 1st birthday.  Membership at Stampin' Addicts is free of charge, and is open to Stampin’ Up! fans everywhere.  When you're done following the hop here, pop on over and check them out!

If you started this tour from the beginning you came upon my blog after visiting Allison.  Didn't you adore the young boys birthday ensemble she created?  If you're starting the tour at my website, follow the link at the bottom of this post to continue on your journey.  If you get lost along the way, you can always jump back on the tour bus by visiting Stampin' Addicts for the complete list of participants.  This tour will run through Sunday evening ... so sit back, relax and enjoy!!!

I have created a sister - practical and pampering gift ensemble to share with you.  My sister is very special to me and I don't get to see her often as she lives "fur fur away" as we say in my house - but I still like to make something special for her when I can.  I decided to take a "celebrate your entire day" kind of approach at this ... are there any of us who wouldn't enjoy celebrating every step of our day?  Without further ado, let us begin a journey through my sisters special day ...

*** SPOILER ALERT***  If you are reading this sis, stop now unless you really want to know what your belated gifts are!!!

The alarm clock rings, sis stumbles out of bed and finds her very first birthday gift is eagerly awaiting her ... just look at that trio of pretty boxes stacked high, bright red polka dotted ribbon cascading down the sides and a most beautiful paper bow perched atop (all Stampin' Up! items of course!).  Whatever could be hiding inside?  Should she open the boxes quickly or just sit and admire them ... this is almost too beautiful to take apart!  Alas, curiosity gets the best of me her and she decides opening would be the best way to start off her day.  And what a start it is!  Gently removing the bow (don't want to destroy this!) and untying the ribbon, she lifts up each of the colorful box lids to reveal ... an assortment of coffees, teas and mini creamers, specially designed for her to use in her Keurig coffee brewer.

After several minutes she finally decides which flavor to enjoy, then makes her way to get ready to head out the door ... unfortunately, sis still must go to work on her special day. 

 

... which brings sis to the second stop of her birthday celebration.  As she picks up her keys she finds another package sitting right next to the door - guess she best open that up before heading out for a busy day at the office (or where ever she heads to).  Oh my, now who wouldn't want to be seen with this darling note pad holder (and matching file folder!) in their arms? 

Unfortunately, due to time restrictions I can not show you today just how cute this is inside ... a junior legal pad sits on one side, with a coordinating pen, and a monthly calendar so I always know what day it is (I seem to forget this little detail quite often).  

Sis has had quite a busy day, gets back home to all those nightly household chores, and finally sits down to put her aching feet up ... and sees one last gift sitting on the coffee table.  What more could she possibly ask for, this day has already been perfect.  Ahhh, something special to help her relax at the end her day ... a lovely hand stamped scented candle and a gift tote of bubble bath and body cream.  Wait, turn that tote around (sorry, I can't show you this today) ... there are 3 tiny bottles of instant hand sanitizer neatly snuggled in the box on the other side!  Ok, I will admit that my sister is a nurse and I am sure she could use those little bottles of sanitizer!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you've enjoyed spoiling my sister as much as I have!  Check back later in the week for more photos of these projects as well as recipes.  Please continue on the tour by visiting Carmen who will be showcasing boys birthdays.

Bitty Box surprises finally revealed!

You would think being home alone would give me all the time in the world to stay caught up with posting to my blog - evidently that isn't true.  I'm sorry I'm so late posting the details on the cute Bitty Box note card set you all loved, things have been a bit hectic around here.  I've made a promise to myself that I WILL get this done today ... and hopefully have some new things to post soon.

I mentioned I found a few surprises I made while creating this, you might already be aware of these but they were new to me and I was very excited when I made the discoveries. 

Discovery #1:   
We all know how nicely Stampin' Up's Full Heart punch layers with the new Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit die, but did you know you could also make those cute little polka dots coordinate perfectly by inserting your heart into the same embossing die after punching it out?  Easy peasy, and I love the subtle difference in the hearts when layering as above!

First, punch out your heart and position it inside the embosslit die as shown in the first image below.  Close the die and run it through your Big Shot ... perfectly sized and positioned polka dots - yet no scalloped edging!

     

Discovery #2:  Did you know you could add shimmer paint to your color mixture when dying ribbon to coordinate with your project?  I am unable to achieve a wonderful photo to show you just how shimmery this ribbon is when sitting in front of you, just let me assure you ... it is gorgeous!  The tiny glimmering light spots are pieces of the glitter in the shimmer paint, now embedded in the ribbon! 

To achieve this all I did was put about 25 drops of water into a small plastic bag, add 12 drops of refill ink and 2 drops of Champagne Mist shimmer paint (amount of ink, water and paint depends on how much ribbon you are dying).  Squish it all up, roll up the ribbon and put it in the bag.  Squish it around again, making sure all the ribbon is covered with your homemade die.  Pull out the ribbon and lay it on a thick layer of paper towels, fold over the towels and apply some pressure to "soak up" the excess liquid.  Lay your piece of ribbon aside and let it dry ... which only takes a few minutes.  Pick up the dry ribbon and admire your creativity!

And finally, the cards cards and envelopes which were super quick and easy to assemble. I took a 2" x 4" piece of textured Pretty In Pink cardstock, used the Pinking Hearts border punch to make the pretty edging at the bottom of the card.  Punched out a few hearts using the SAB Welcome Neighbors dsp paper pad and layered them with the Scalloped Heart embosslit die.  Using a coordinating piece of paper, I lined the inside of the card and made matching envelopes - stamped on the envelope and DONE!

On a special note, I have to give credit (as promised) to my darling daughter for her aid in designing and making this project.  THANK YOU CASSIE!!!  She claimed to suffer from "sizzix elbow syndrome" after so many hearts were cut and embossed ... could we possibly see a new medical diagnosis in our future?

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts
Ink:  Pretty In Pink
Paper:  Pretty In Pink textured and regular, Rose Red, Welcome Neighbor DSP Paper Pad (SAB)
Accessories:  Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Organza ribbon, corduroy button, Full Heart Punch, Small Heart punch, Pinking Hearts border punch, Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit die

2 Tier Desk Caddy

I was hoping to get details for this project posted sooner, somehow this week has totally gotten away from me and I've found it's Friday already!  

Most of you guessed correctly that the larger piece of this desk caddy was made using the Stampin' Up! Fancy Favor Box Bigz Die.  What no one figured out was that the border edging I created on the bottom box was NOT. 

 

 
What I discovered was that using the Curly Label punch continuously on the edge of cardstock gave this interesting border very similar to the Fancy Favor box but not an exact duplicate! 

This is how I achieved that pretty border on the bottom tier of my desk caddy: 

I aligned the very edge of the paper with the edge of the punch, but not quite going all the way to the end of the punch.  In the first image see how you can see the edge of the paper still showing in the punch window? 

I inserted the paper into the punch again, this time aligning the punched out curve at about the mid point of the left end curve on the punch.  I continued doing this across my entire piece of cardstock - then scored and assembled my box.  I was thrilled and very surprised with the end result!

Here is a close up picture of the "grass" I made on the bottom edge of the box, just below the houses.  I cut off the edging on one side of a piece of 1/4" grosgrain ribbon to give it a frayed appearance, then used tombow glue to adhere it to the box.  SU says the color in this paper is Old Olive, but I chose to use Always Artichoke ribbon - the color truly was a better match for this!

To create my flowers I took a piece of each color cardstock I was using and ran it through the big shot with the Daisies #2 Bigz die; layered and glued them all down and spritzed several times with a mixture of Champagne Mist shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol.  There really isn't a magic formula for this, I use a small spray bottle filled about halfway with alcohol and add 8-10 drops of the shimmer paint.  Shake it up well and spray away!  I let it dry and sprayed again - repeating this process 3 times.  My photos still don't show how shimmery these flowers really are.  I also popped out a few rhinestones from the SU rhinestone brads and glued them on the center of Stampin' Up's flower brads, for a bit more color and interest. 

Project Recipe:

Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper Pad (SAB)
Punches:  Curly Label, 1/2" circle
Big Shot:  Fancy Favor Box Bigz, Daisies #2 Bigz
Accessories:  1/4" grosgrain ribbon, 1/2" polka dot grosgrain ribbon, flower designer brads, circle ice rhinestone brads, shimmer paint, sticky strip, tombow multi purpose adhesive, 2-way glue pen

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the details on this cute little desk caddy.  Check back again, I'm hoping to get details for my bitty card box up this weekend!

Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop - Stop #5

Welcome to Stampin' Addicts SU! Sale-A-Bration Blog Tour.  All participants in this tour are featuring creations they made with items you can earn for FREE during Stampin' Up's SAB period (January 5 - March 31).  For every $50 purchase of Stampin' Up! merchandise you get to choose one item from the SAB catalog free.  It doesn't get much better than that!

If you started this tour from the beginning you came upon my blog after visiting Sarah.  Didn't you love the wonderful projects she made using the Good Neighbors stamp set?  If you're starting the tour at my website, just follow the link at the bottom of this post to continue on your journey.  If you get lost along the way, you can always jump back on the tour bus by visiting Stampin' Addicts for the complete list of participants.  This tour will run through Monday evening ... so sit back, relax and enjoy!!!

I am showcasing the "Welcome Neighbor" designer series paper pad.  I'm tellin' ya, this pad is HUGE and the selection is fantastic!  72 total sheets of 6" square papers ... 3 sheets each of 24 different designs ... I had such a tough time deciding which designs I wanted to use, I love them all!  I'm not going to go into too many details, don't want to hold the bus up ... check back next week, I'll be posting more details on these projects.

My first project is a magnetic post-it note holder.  This cute little heart design makes a great background paper, the colors are so vibrant and fun yet not overpowering.  The bird is punched using the brand new Two-Step Bird punch from the reverse side of the heart paper.  I added one of SU's rhinestone brads, a bit of ribbon and a magnet on the back. 

This next project was super fun to design and make, an idea I've had in my head for quite some time. I've been looking for something cute and small to keep my notepapers and writing utensils in, which seem to always be hiding from me when I need them.  You could use this for almost anything - I found a few bottles of SU ink refills fit perfectly in the bottom section! 

My last item is a set of mini gift cards and envelopes in a matching box - perfect for a quick and easy last minute gift!  Once again, all these cute designer prints can be found in the SAB Welcome Neighbor paper pack.  Can you spot the two discoveries I found when making these?  They might not be new ideas to you, but they sure were to me.

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting, I hope you enjoyed my projects as much as I did creating them.  Please continue on the tour by visiting Sharon who will be showcasing the Whimsical Words stamp set.

Stampin' Addicts presents: 2010 Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop

It's almost Sale-A-Bration time, one of my favorite times of the year!  Mark your calendars for yet another wonderful blog tour presented by Stampin' Addicts!  The tour opens at noon on Saturday Jan. 16 and will run through midnight Monday, January 18.

23 SA forum members will be showcasing items from the Stampin' Up 2010 Sale-A-Bration mini catalog - giving you some great project ideas to use with these items that you can earn FREE (one item free with each $50 SU purchase)! 

Dedicated to all things Stampin’ Up, Stampin’ Addicts offers SU-oriented galleries, challenges and special events. Membership is free of charge, and is open to Stampin’ Up! fans everywhere. Click here to check it out (tell 'em Joyce sent you!), it's a great place to hang out!!!