Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Nugget Box class

Are you interested in making a cute little sweet treat for your sweetie, a friend, a grandchild? Well, this class is for you! Let your someone special know you care on Valentine's Day! This class is January 20 at 1 pm at the AZ Scrapbooking Store in Green Valley, AZ. Class price is $20 and includes 3 templates, Nuggets, paper, ribbon, and use of stamps and inks. Please bring your paper trimmer, a bone folder, scissors, adhesive, Pop Dots, and Stardust Clear Gel pen. Since I'm using store products I didn't use TAC images but our I Heart You would work wonderfully!


Monday, December 28, 2009

Final Christmas card for 2009....

I had a secret sister through our Paper Wings group and this is the card I made for her. I didn't want to post this until after she got her gift as I didn't want to give myself away! I really enjoy Paper Wings and anyone can check out the gallery, you don't have to be an "angel" to look.


I used Winchester SWIC pattern paper and Core'dinations cardstock. Don't you love this Vintage Santa?? I may have to order him but I borrowed the set from a customer. I also used the Giga Scallop Circle & Mega Circle punches.

Here you can see that I faintly colored the Santa suit using my H2O pencils and Niji water brush.

I think I'm now done posting Christmas cards for this year! I sent out about 60 cards so I still have a few left over to have for next year - or maybe another drawing!! There were some I just didn't get cards out to, like my AZ Stampers group. Maybe I'll make some New Year cards...

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Worked over work area

My folks gave me a Cricut Expression for Christmas and I really had to rearrange me stamping area to accommodate it. I had to move my stamps to a smaller desk top and purchase a shelf for my big table. Here's the results:


Here's the work table. Isn't that Cricut a beautiful red?? I have yet to figure it out and plan on taking a class where I teach on Basic Cricut usage. I tried watching the Cricut DVD but that drive no longer works in my computer. Darn. And I doubt that my table will remain this clean for long but doesn't it look good!


My stamps are now about 2 feet from me to my left. This area will probably not remain this clean either but it sure is encouraging me to create right now! I now need to clean my computer desk and a couple bookcases but that will come (someday...). I have lots of ideas I want to work on and 4 classes in January, 2 at Green Valley Recreation and 2 at the AZ Scrapbooking store. I need to get my samples for the GVR classes done and start getting my kits together. I finished my posters for the GVR classes and will get them taken in to the office on Monday.

So, it's off to play! What new "toys" did you get for Christmas??

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Gone to the birds...

Well, not really, but this is a gift for a special person, our daughter! She says she wants something I made so this is what I came up with! I purchased a plain wood birdhouse from Michaels a couple months ago. I used my paints and made it bright! I dry-brushed white gesso on the roof to try and make it look a bit "aged". Hubby really likes that! After painting and stamping I did put on a couple coats of glossy spray varnish for protection before adding the rhinestones, flowers, and butterfly.


I stamped a small flourish on the front and a larger one on the back from the Swirly Gig set using
Noir PH ink. Hubby drilled the holes for the flowers. I used Ivory Cardstock Strips and green rhinestones around the base.



On this side I stamped a phrase from the Be Still set.


And here I stamped a phrase from the Beyond Measure hostess set.



How do you like the "visitor"? I purchased him in a pack of 4 and decided to use orange because the dots in the swirls are orange.
I have to admit it was a real bugger to paint the swirls. I used a very fine tipped paint brush. The dots were created using a tooth pick!

I hope to hear from the daughter soon as to what she thinks of this. I may have to make another for me!! Did you have a good Christmas? What a blessed week I've had! My brother and sister-in-law were here and we had a good time! My sil sang at our local church along with a few others on Wednesday night - tremendous blessing! I praise God for family!!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christ-Mas!!

Today is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, son of God! I praise God for His sacrifice of sending His ONLY son to live and die for us! Isn't it amazing His great love! Have you wished Jesus a Happy Birthday? Even if you don't love Him He loves you!! I pray that all my readers feel His love today! And I pray blessings upon each and every one of you!


Thursday, December 24, 2009

Subscriber posting changes

Now you need to click on my blog name (Stampin Hot...)or  TITLE such as "Special Gift Card Holder" or "Our Final Farewell" due to recent changes I made through Feedblitz for my subscribers. This was done so that you would go directly to my blog that I may track my visitors and other analytical information for better marketing. I hope this doesn't inconvenience you. I just really want you to visit my blog!

Also, Feedblitz, wants you to do the following:
  • Add feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com to your address books or email whitelists immediately.
  • Only unsubscribe using the links Feedblitz provides in each email, and not your ISP's spam or abuse buttons.
  • Look out for the message from FeedBlitz advising you that the change has taken place.
This is for your protection from spam emails. I hope to change the settings after the first of the year to give you time to add the feedblitz email address listed above to your address book/contact list. If you have any questions, please contact me!! I may be making other changes but will keep you updated when I do. Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!

Special Gift Card holder

My folks have a 2009 Nissan Altima and dad has it washed often. So, I thought, why not buy him some gift cards to our local Octopus Car Wash?? This is one gift I know he'll use! Well, I needed to make a card holder for the tokens and came up with this card. I thought, since this is about his car I had to use the Cars set stamped in L'Amore PH ink to match the red Bazzil cardstock.



The Holiday Greetings stamp is an old Gift With Purchase stamp that I kept. I had to stamp it in Noir PH ink so that it would show. I also swiped the white cardstock with the Noir to make it stand out a bit more.


I tried to take a pic of the cute little tree from Christmas Minis that I stamped all over the cover using the Frost Dazzle VersaMark ink. Can you see them?? In person they are just so cute and make a good background for the car. Inside I created a pocket using the red cardstock and slid the wash tokens into it.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and check out my Livin' Hot blog. I posted a great breakfast recipe that we just loved!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Easel Card Class

Looking forward to my January 6 class at the AZ Scrapbooking store! We're making Easel cards! Class price is $20 and includes a handout, paper, and instructions! What do you think of these?
I can't use TAC stamps, must use what the store carries, but our I Heart You set would work wonderfully! The paper is by Core'dinations, Imaginisce, and Creative Imaginations. If you are interested in this class call the AZ Scrapbooking Store in Green Valley, AZ at 393-7755 and make your reservation! Class starts at 1 pm.





Great cookbook offer

I've been following a cool blog called $5 Dinners for some time and Erin is having a wonderful giveaway!!! Each day for the next 2 weeks she'll be choosing10 lucky people per day to give this cookbook to!! How cool is that!! Enter daily!! Just click on this LINK to enter!

Yes, I know this isn't stamping related but I like to bake and wanted to share this with you!

Take a peep at this!

We have an annual family Christmas party and do a gift exchange. Everyone draws a number and when your number is drawn you can either pick a gift or steal one. This year I made these Holiday S'More jars. I think the little snowman peeps are just adorable!

I used one of our Purchase with Purchase sets to stamp the recipe card. It's called Holly Jolly and you get 3 smalls stamps for $2.95 with a qualifying $30 order.


This is a closeup of the lid. I used the Christmas Circles and Tag Tidbits sets along with the Giga Scallop Circle, Mega Circle, and Extra Jumbo Circle punches. I used L'Amore and Viridian Leaf PH inks. Can you see where I used my Souffle Gel pens on the holly of the large circle? I also use Pop Dots to raise up the ornament circle.

And here's what went into each wide-mouth quart jar:
1 1/2 c. crushed graham crackers, packed into the jar bottom
Seasonal Peeps, placed around the inside leaving the middle open
1/3 cup packed brown sugar, added gently within the circle of the peeps and lightly packed
1 1/4 cup M&Ms or choc. chips, gently added to the top of the jar.
Seal with lid and sealer ring.
Decorate jar as desired.

The recipe card attached reads:
Holly Jolly Snowman S'Mores
1. Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the peeps into bits with kitchen shears or cut up with a knife. Return the bits to the mixture and mix well.
2. Melt 1/2 cup butter, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pat into a greased 8" or 9" square pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars. Enjoy!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Beyond Measure

Are you getting tired of the challenges from Paper Wings during our Holiday Celebration? Well, here's one from a sketch challenge.


The colored paper is from DCWV. The loopy white pieces are from a package of Bazzill white Cardstock strips. Cool stuff! I used Beyond Measure hostess set and Watercolor Plants stamps and my Bordeaux PH ink.


Here's a closeup of the card. Can you see the little circles in the background? They were created using the Background Builder hostess set and Frost Dazzle Versamark ink. Just a little pizzaz. I like the sketch as it creates a clean simple card. What do you think?

Friday, December 18, 2009

It's out of the box...

This card is the result of another Paper Wings challenge during the Holiday Celebration we had last week.


I used some TAC™ retired paper called Kamalaht. The stamp is from the Hieroglyph Horses. Isn't it cool! I used a technique from the newest Technique Junkies newsletter to create the horse. I also used Versamark Ink, Noir PH ink, Transcendence Embossing Powder, my brayer, black cardstock, and 5 mini black brads. The line where the brads are located is actually a design in the paper so I took advantage of it to line up the brads.


Here's a closeup of the horse. It and the black paper are all one piece. This would make a cool masculine card. I will have to play with this technique some more!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

I'm seeing circles everywhere!

This card is the result of a "Bingo" game on Paper Wings last week during our Holiday Celebration. We were given a list of stamp sets from which we chose 16 sets that we had in our stock. The caller would call a set every so often and, if we had that set, we had to create a card and upload it to the gallery. The first angel to upload 4 cards won. Well, I didn't win. I only had 2 of the called sets.

Christmas Circles was the set called. I decided to use Pop Rockz SWIC since it has a sheet of circles paper. I stamped noel from the Tag Tidbits set in each circle with Bordeaux PH ink.


I stamped the 2 different circles on white cardstock and punched each out using the Mega Circle and Extra Jumbo circle punches. I also used the little phrase from the Tag Tidbits since it fit so nicely in the small circle. The green ink is Chartreuse Ph ink. Can you see where I used my Stardust Clear Gel pen?? And the ribbon is from my stash. Oh, I also used Pop Dots to raise the circles for more dimension. I think I'm done making Christmas cards for a while. But I'm still sending cards!! Did you get all yours out??

I had some problems publishing this post, it was supposed to go live on the 20th! Oh well, you get 2 posts today!

Let the Earth be glad!

Have you ever purchased a pack of really cool paper and there was a sheet of tags in it? Have you had brain burbs as to what to do with them? It's even harder to use them as the focal point of a card! That was a challenge on Paper Wings last week.


I started with More Mimi SWIC and tag. I stamped the tag in Noir PH ink with a phrase from our Be Still set. It's one of my favorites! I run some Mimi ribbon through the tag and added some more of the paper as a backing on the tag so that it would show up on the card. I edged the background piece with Burnt Umber PH ink. I used various Bitty Blossoms and paper posies as embellishments along with some Lime Green Scrappers Floss and a safety pin!


Here is a closeup of the ribbon tie, floss and safety pin. It just doesn't photo that well but you get the idea! This card can be used for almost any occasion but I don't think a guy would appreciate it! LOL!

Monday, December 14, 2009

I've been mugged!

I was challenged to use a set that I purchased but never inked. Well, the mug is it!


This mug is one of our great Hostess stamps that you can receive FREE with a $100 net order! Isn't it cool!! I also used the set Just Because and used my Noir PH ink for both. The paper is Mimi SWIC which is now replaced by the More Mimi SWIC! The More Mimi is double-sided. I colored the mug using my Prismacolor H20 pencils and a blender pen. I also used Mimi Ribbon to cover the joint of the 2 pattern papers.


Here you can see that I added some bling using my Stardust Clear Gel pen. I think I mentioned that it is my favorite bling maker!

Now that I have this posted I think I'll go make me a cup of hot chocolate!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

More Paper Wings challenges...

I got to play again with a challenge. We were given a picture of a really cool stack of red, black, and white polka-dotted packages to draw inspiration. This is my take:


Stamps: Build a Background Hostess Set, Sprigs and Little Cupcake
Inks: Noir & L'Amore PH inks
Cardstocks: red, black and white
Flower: Neutral Mix Bitty Blossom
Other: red brad, Stardust Clear Gel pen, Prismacolor Pencils, Pop Dots


Here you can see the little candle and the glitter that I added. It just needed that little bling. I like how this turned out. What do you think??

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Paper Wings Challenge.... and result

We had a great challenge for us "angels" over on Paper Wings Tuesday. It was a "Limited Supply" challenge... we were only allowed certain things that we could use. The challenge was:

one 3x3 sheet of color cardstock
one 2.5 x2.5 sheet of white cardstock
one 2x2 sheet of colored cardstock
snowflake stamp
1 image of your choice
1 ink pad color of your choice
black ink



Here's what I can up with. I used a small snowflake from the Ornamental Snowflake set and stamped on the dark green cardstock using Brilliance Moonlight White ink and swiped the white on the edges. I punched my white cardstock with an EK Success pine tree border punch. Then I stamped the pine bough from the Good Timber set with Noir PH ink on my light green cardstock. Can you see the white on the needles and branch?


I used my White Gel pen to accent the branch to give a hint of snow! I also sanded the edge of the paper using a sanding block for a bit more emphasis.


I decided to use this little creation on a card so I created this card. Again I used the small snowflake and white ink on the light green card, added the 1" sheer green ribbon. I dug out the snowflake punch, punched 2 out of white, and added the little brad that almost matches the light green paper. I also used my color duster and added just a hint of Starry Night PH ink on the edges of the punched snowflakes before assembling. The text is from the Be Still set and stamped in Noir ink. I really like how this turned out! What do you think??

I hope to get a couple more challenges done this week and get them posted. My life is starting to get crazy with Christmas right around the corner. I have yet to finish some gifts and get them wrapped and mailed!! I still have 2 that haven't arrived yet!! Hopefully... How are you coming along with your Christmas preparations??