Stampin' Up! Cookie Stamps - A foolproof tutorial!

The fabulous Cookie Stamps in the Annual Catalogue and the Holiday Mini are lots of fun to use, and with a few little tips and tricks, anyone can create a perfect batch, first time!

Firstly - the recipe:
It's important to have a recipe that won't puff up too much during baking, as this spoils the imprint.
The cookie set comes with two recipes, and with a little tweaking I'm sure they are great.  However, who needs to be mucking around with conversion from sticks of butter to grams at this frazzled time of year?
Luckily, the recipe I tried first was a real winner, and here it is (with a few modifications from the recipe I found at Lovely Living)

Sugar Cookie Recipe - Australian Metric Measurements

250g of soft butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups  plain flour
1/2 teaspoon  baking powder
1/2 teaspoon  baking soda

 Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using an electric mixer.

Add vanilla extract

Add eggs one at a time, mix well after each egg is added.

Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl

Add sifted flour mix to the butter/sugar mix about half a cup at a time 

Continue mixing until the mixture forms a dough

Turn out of bowl and knead until smooth.

 Bag the ball of dough and refrigerate  - the fresh soft dough is too sticky and soft to work with

(amount of time varies with how rushed you are...  30 min at least, you can speed the process up a bit by flattening the ball and popping in the freezer a few minutes... )  Now is a good time to preheat the oven to 200degC, a little less for a Fan Forced oven.

 Pinch off balls of dough about the size of a 50c piece, place on tray covered with baking paper

Prepare a saucer of about half icing mixture and half cornflour

With the handle attached, grind the chosen stamp into the saucer, then flick the rim of the stamp to remove excess.  A bit messy, but saves lots of frustration!

Holding the stamp directly above the ball, centred as well as you can, smoosh it down firmly until the edges of the dough appear at the sides of the stamp

Use a finger to help separate the stamp and flattened cookie if needed.

Re-dust, repeat! 

The cookies do spread a little during baking, so be sure to allow some room.

Bake at 200degC for about 5 minutes, or slightly longer - you are aiming for golden on the edges without too much browning.

Cool on tray a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool

Package up in gorgeous little bags like those in the Holiday Mini, and watch tummies rumble as you hand out these delicious gifts.


In a real hurry?? (like your daughter tells you she needs a plate to take for party day at 9pm the night before...)

Here's the quickest way to whip up a batch:  ALDI Christmas Gingerbread Cookie Mix (a whopping $1.99 if I recall correctly)

I got some of this to try for quick gingerbread men, but thought it was worth a try given the short time frame.  I decided to be scientific in my approach and just leave the recipe completely unchanged - all that needed to be added was an egg and a tablespoon of water, mix, then knead into a dough, ball up, and repeat as above with the cornflour/icing mixture.  Perfecto!  Good to know!

I hope that helps solve some of the kitchen dramas I've heard about, these stamps are so much fun they are worth a second try.  Let me know if you've got any other suggestions we can add to this tutorial.  Happy baking!

Christmas Ornament Class - Tuesday 6th November

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The stunning ornament from the front cover of the current "Holiday Catalogue" is not difficult to make, when you are shown how!  Come along to my class next Tuesday 6th November and make one to take home.  These make a great 'more than a card' gift, and I'll show you how you can make it into a gift or bottle tag that can then go onto your lucky recipient's tree!

Class:  Tuesday 6th November, 7.30 -9.30pm

Cost:  $15 includes tuition and materials, and use of my tools and equiment to complete at least one large ornament.

Bring: yourself!

Ideally, eat dinner before you arrive, but I hope to find time to bake some Christmas themed yummies as well.

Places are limited, so please call me 0403 175 790 to book a spot.  For attendees of the class, I will have a special offer on the purchase of the Holiday Keepsakes bundle so you can go forth and make many gorgeous ornaments, wreaths, place markers, cards and more!

A lovely handmade birthday present! And a plug for home-grown businesses

I was given this beautiful padded zip pouch, camera strap slip cover and keyring/grab handle for my birthday by the lovely Nicky Adamson, after I had long admired hers.  It was made by a very clever friend of Nicky's, Sandra.  There are some great funky gift ideas for all kinds of gadgets, from iPads to iPods to Kindles on Sandra's Facebook page, "Six Threads".  There are a selection ready-made to choose from, but Sandra can also custom make to your colour/size requirements.

The camera strap cover is a fantastic idea, which I'm sure you would agree if you've ever been to a gathering of cardmaking or scrapbooking women, a good half of whom have a camera that is either identical, or looks pretty much the same (Canon, 300-1000D anyone??)  It is also very clever in that it is padded slightly, which makes it more comfy to leave around your neck.  It also has a nifty elasticated pocket on one end, for your lens cap or SD card pouch!    The strap winds neatly around the lens, offering some protection and padding.  The zippered pouch is beautifully constructed, with a full lining and light padding.  The camera fits inside it easily with the standard kit lens attached, and the whole shebang fits inside my handbag.  It's just perfect for those occasions where I really don't want to take the separate camera bag with all the bells and whistles, but want something more snazzy to snap with than the ol' iPhone!  Love it so much, thank you Nicky and Sandra!

Current List of Stamp Sets for Sale - May 2012

Cupboards have been emptied, and quite a number of wood mounted stamp sets have hit the pile for re-homing.  Some are well used, and quite a few are new and unmounted and would make great gifts.  All are bargain-priced at less than half their catalogue price!  Some might be stained on the rubber or wood block, but this has no effect on stamping performance.  All stamps are in great condition.  UPDATED 5th MAY 2012 - I have included lots more new sets from my latest ruthless cull!

Postage is available via satchel, with up to 500g costing $9 and over 500g costing $15.  If you'd like several sets, I can combine into a large satchel.  Pick up from Cherrybrook is also available by arrangement.

This would be one very large post if I made pictures for all of the sets, but since Stampin' Up! stamps are so widely admired,a simple google images search will pull up lots of ideas about the sets and what you can make with them!  Where I have easy reference I have included the 6 digit item code.

Stamps A la Carte - single stamps in clamshell boxes  $7.00 each

Sweetness Unlimited - 117721 (Welcome Baby Sweetness Unlimited sentiment)

Stamp Sets in clamshell boxes- $12.00 each

Bella's Bloom (new, unmounted) 116330


Stamp Sets in clamshell boxes- $15.00 each


Birthday Bakery (new, unmounted hostess set) 121452
Good Neighbours (new unmounted) 118780
Good Neigbours (new, unmounted) 118780
Sweet Summer 123286 (mounted, unstained)
Yummy (new, mounted) 115243
Sweet Little Sentiments (mounted, lightly used) 115736
Botanical Blooms (new, mounted) 115237
Bliss (new, unmounted) 123282
Bliss (new unmounted) 123282
Congrats (new, unmounted) 115239
Picture This (new unmounted, rare hostess set) 119157


Stamp Sets in clamshell boxes - $20 each


In the Spotlight - Hostess set, for many occasions, including Christmas
Rustic Rooster (new unmounted) 115744


Stamp sets in clamshell boxes - $25 each

Friends 24-7 115808 - one of my favourites..
Greetings Eight (new unmounted) 115792
Echoes of Kindness (new, unmounted) 115940


Stamp sets in clamshell boxes - $30 each

Asian Artistry - 119159 - Hostess  set from a mini, rare!

Stamp sets in clamshell boxes - $35 each

Occasionally - (new, unmounted set of 28 icon stamps) 112372


To purchase, please leave a reply here in the comments, and send me an email - michelle.dyson@bigpond.com  with your list and contact details.  Happy shopping, I'll cross them off as they find new homes :)

Update...

It's been a little while, life has been somewhat hectic, in a creative way though!
I hope to get back to regular posting very soon, but in the mean time I have a little rush of catch-up posts to make up for my slackness.

 These are the fastest, easiest easter treats for my kids to hand out to their classmates!  I was a bit over chocolate, even before easter got here (did I actually say that?? ).  I had also found a mega jar of Jelly Belly beans at Costco that if I didn't parcel them up and ship them out, would have found their way into my tummy...  (maybe it was sugar I was over rather than chocolate?  Yeah, that sounds better!)  50 something packs of beans made short work of the jar, so that worked out really well.  I used skinny cello self seal bags, and had an idea to use the new Sizzix Framelits Labels Collection from the Autumn Winter mini as a topper for the bag.  Just like the fabulous "Top Note" Sizzix Bigz die we've had for ages, the Framelit shapes are symmetrical, and can be folded in either portrait or landscape to form a bag topper.  The best thing?  The SIZES!  I had no idea until they arrived that the largest Framelit shape is much bigger than the usual nested dies, big enough to use as a decent sized card.  So, there was a die size for pretty much any bag, including the mini bags I was using.  I was able to cut the label Framelits three sheets of cardstock at a time (pretty amazing) on the Bigshot, and was able to use up lots of scrap cardstock.   You can check out the Framelits on page 18 of the mini catalogue, $49.95, 125598.  The Designer Label punch was perfect for the front label, and I whizzed up a batch of those using the chick stamp from the "Best of Everything"set, 124946 $47.95.  I inked up in Daffodil Delight ink, but then I rolled the edges of the inked stamp onto a Peach Parfait inkpad, to get more contrast for the edges against the sharp white label.  A little greeting from good old "Teeny Tiny (something for everything) Sentiments" and a dab of SNAIL, and they were done!  I did gather them all together for the pics above, because they looked so cute and colourful.  They went down a treat apparently, so all was good there. 

Here I am, at my car boot sale stall, just after the completion of set up.  I managed to sell a few of the retired sets on offer, and quite a few cards from the donation box were purchased to benefit the Dural Rural Fire Brigade.  Thanks so much to the lovely customers who were able to drop by for a visit.  Unfortunately, the drawcard, car stopper of a Jumping Castle for the kids was a last minute no-show, so traffic was a bit lighter than expected.  I did manage to make quite a few swap cards, so it worked out to be a fun day.  Off to find more neglected pics in my blog folder!

Flirtatious fabric-covered Journal with Fabric Flowers

I made this for a special relative, to record some important stuff as she goes through her cancer treatment.  I've made it pretty and girly, although it is a very plain and practical blank page journal on the inside.  It's so hard to think of what to give in these situations, but I think if it were me, a special place to record everything from diary entries to family recipes to hopes and dreams for the future would be useful.

I started with a hard-bound plain journal, and painted the spine bindings to make sure their black colour wouldn't show through.  I then added some Pellon padding to the front and back covers.  I removed the whole inner page section, so I could fully cover the bindings.  I used the purple Flirtatious fabric and Sticky Strip (super strong!) adhesive to attach the fabric around the bindings.  I used the wonderful iron-on fabric adhesive to back the dark pink fabric, and used this to line the end papers. Hot glue came in handy for re-attaching the pages inside, and I then ironed on the fabric endpapers to hold it all in place. 

Some Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon went around the outside to hold loose papers, and from the centre to make a page marker, embellished with some retired "Pretties Kit" beads and pearls.  I then cut several sizes and colours of flowers using the "Fun Flowers" Bigshot die, from the three Flirtatious fabrics.  But, to make it fast and easy, I used the iron-on fabric adhesive before I cut them, so they could be ironed straight onto the cover.  I made a little fabric 'yoyo' from a circle of wisteria fabric and added a button centre.  A monogram "A" finishes  it off.  It took a little while, but the result was worth it, I think. 

Hand made gifts for some very special teachers

 My kids had some very special teachers last year, so I wanted to make some special gifts to thank them for their hard work.  Mr 10's teacher was able to appreciate his quirky character, like his useful ability to remember collecting notes and classroom organisational type stuff, while conveniently forgetting things like how to spell and times tables.  So, together we made Mr M a noticeboard to keep track of paperwork!  I built a deep rebate frame with some chunky moulding.  The insert is a piece of "Wonderwall" noticeboard stuff I chanced across at Spotlight one day, it is like the wall panel stuff that velcro sticks to, but with a thick EVA foam backing attached so it can be used with pins as well.  We used a papier-mache type technique to cover the frame with the school colours, using little bits and bobs of all kinds of patterned paper, some from my stash and some from now retired DSP prints packs.  The ribbons are Purely Pomegranate and Blue Bayou Stitched Grosgrain from in colors a couple of  years ago, and they are attached on with Build-a-brads and Corduroy brads.  I gave the frame a good coat of glue varnish to make it nice and durable.  I hope he finds it a useful tool, and remind him of one of his more challenging students!

 Miss 6 had a pair of teachers last year, in a 3/2 jobshare.  Mrs W was lovely, and I only found out that she is actually the sister of one of my lovely customers when I gave her this crafty gift - a very small world it is indeed!
I made a covered clipboard with some interesting adhesive fabric paper, and a wide variety of ribbons to match the colours.  The fabric paper isn't SU, but the colours were so perfect for Pool Party, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Regal Rose and Chocolate Chip  The tin to match has a Calypso Coral and So Saffron ruffled flower on the top, and contained a stash of erasers, merit stickers, and some owl santa chocs.

Mr Mc was quite charmed by Miss 6 I think, and she had a ball in his class.  As Mr Mc moves about the school in his dual role as Deputy Principal, I thought he might find it useful to have a tote tray for some of his most needed supplies.  It's an MDF caddy, covered with some DSP in newsprinty style papers, and some lettering and a crown cut from some offcuts of black core gold matboard.  Mr Mc uses a crown avatar for the class blog, and is definitely king of his little charges, so that explains the decoration!  I sponged gold shimmer paint all around the seams, and added some erasers, merit stickers and Santa Owl chocs.

I had lots of fun making these, and the thinking cap is on again already for this year!  I'd love to read your comments and ideas for teacher gifts - always helps to start early with inspiration!

We're BAAAACCCKK!

Kim and I are back from a week in Bawley Point, and after a jam packed weekend are ready to go with bloggings again. Thanks very much to everyone who was able to come to our Summer Mini Catalogue Launch yesterday, we hope you enjoyed seeing many of the products in use! I'll be posting pictures of the Make and Take projects we offered soon .

For now, here's a project I made for a Secret Santa. Underneath is a tin that I saved from a china mug I bought, and was nice and easy to decorate with flat smooth sides. The papers are the delectable Bella Rose Designer Series. I used the wonderful Circle Scissor to cut the layers for the top of the tin (after demo'ing a number of times yesterday I can confidently say I am now a Circle Scissor expert!!!) using Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette cardstock to match the paper. It's so easy to pull a project together like this when everything matches so nicely - it's a simple matter of choosing a paper design you like, a couple of the matching cardstocks, some matching ribbon and stamp using matching ink colours! And with things like the Pretties Kit flowers, used here in the hat pin, which can be coloured with reinkers to match any colour you like, you have an ideal finishing touch to match. I have also used the Eyelet Border punch to decorate the strips on the tin base. The stamps are from the "Dreams du Jour" set, and I watercoloured them using a blender pen and inkpad puddle. I added some layered flowers to the central motif, and glazed them with Crystal Effects. It did blur the ink a little, but I decided I liked the soft effect and left it that way. I hope my recipient Angie finds it useful as a keeping tin for bits and bobs.

Teacher Gifts with Raspberry Tart and a Happy New Year

Two thousand and ten. Twenty Ten. Neither of those sound right, although the preferred version seems to be the first. Dunno why really, I grew up in the previous millenium (yeah, I'm THAT old! ) and we were firmly in the habit of saying Nineteen Ninety-one etc. All I know is that the years are accelerating!

Here are a couple of pics of the teacher gifts I made for Ciaran's main teacher. As with last year, I also made some mini fruit cakes again . I took a Heaven Hot Chocolate tin, saved from when they still made that delicious stuff, and decorated it using the yummy Raspberry Tart papers and matching Kiwi Kiss/Vanilla double sided satin ribbon. On the top I layered two Felt Fusion flowers and a Kiwi Kiss corduroy button from the Spring Mini. I tied them together with some (retired) pink Organza ribbon, as it had the right degree of "floatiness" (and I could thread it through the button holes!) The pencil erasers (still very much in demand in Year Two) have been decorated using scraps of various Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers. The little cards with ribbon snips were stamped on Confetti Cream using some of the cute images from the Teacher's Pet stamp set. I jazzed them up a little with either scallop or eyelet lace border punches, and layered them onto Bold Brights cardstock. I coloured the images using a blender pen and Watercolor Wonder Crayons. They are blank at the bottom and the back, so the lovely Mrs Ward can write a little note to the recipient. I hope she liked it, must make a change from coffee cups and chocolates, as useful as those are!

Look what I got!

Here is a pic of the card and goodies I received recently from the Secret Santa exchange I participated in. I love Secret Santa, and it is always nice to make something very special for a recipient who has no idea it's you! (at least to start with, the clues usually start to appear after a while) We've all been getting trickier and trickier though, with parcels going on scenic routes to disguise their origins, putting the team leader's return address on many of the parcels, lifting card ideas from red-herring blogs and more. Lots of fun!! I received a bunch of Riding Hood Red Designer Series paper, a pack of the utterly delectable Dots and Designs Rub-ons from the Summer Mini, and some totally yummy ribbon - the red polka dot grosgrain and a half pack of Valet Ribbon Originals. My card gave me the idea for the birthday cards I made this week too, so cute!! Thanks so much Secret Santa, it's just perfect, and I can't wait to have a play, with the rubons in particular! Now to see if MY recipient, who has opened her parcel can pick me out....

Mini Gift Box - step by step

Yeah, I know, it was supposed to be LAST week. I always forget just how hard it is to get anything done when school hols are on and both kids are home. Especially when the weather dictates that they are in the pool while I sit poolside with a book! Anyway, better late than never, here is my step-by-step photo tutorial on how to make a cute little box, out of just half a sheet of A4 cardstock. This is a box we made at the recent Stampin' Up! Regional training, using the Hello Again set. I have made it several times since, because it is easy, fast and economical. I hope you like my instructions and photos - click on each image if you would like to get a clearer view.

Standard A4 sheet, no trimming, just cut in half as if you were making two A5 folded cards, and then into A6 rectangles, four from one sheet.

I have drawn pencil lines on one of the pieces to indicate where to score - 1" in from each side and each end. Do this for 2 pieces if making one box, or all 4 if you are making two.

On the left hand side is the box base. Cut in to the horizontal score lines from each short end. For the other half of the box, which will become the lid, cut two corner pieces away completely, up to the score lines. On the other side, cut just to the score line from the short end, as for the base. Take a circle punch and take a half chomp half way along the longer edge.

Decorate now, it's easier when flat! I have used Versamark and the Winter Post stamp set here, and a band of the same snowflake stamped in Baja Breeze over the top. It's also a great size for using your Stampin' Around wheels - then it is an easy matter of using the co-ordinating stamp set to decorate the tag or accent for the box.

Apply Sticky Strip super strength double sided tape to the corners as shown. Then remove the red liner plastic and assemble the lid and base.

After making the lid and base, add another piece of Sticky Strip along the back edge. A bit lower than where I have placed it would be better...

Line up the lid flap with the back of the box base and stick into place. Done!!

Now you can decorate it as you please. I have added a simple tag stamped with the snowflake again, and overstamped with a silver embossed reindeer. I added some Dazzling Diamonds, using my 2 way glue pen. I mounted the 1 3/4" circle onto a 2" scallop circle punched from Brushed Silver metallic cardstock. Then I tied a piece of white taffeta around, and looped a piece of the sadly retired silver cord around it to complete the box. It's a great size for a little treat, and quick to make!

Phew! What a week!

My apologies for it being a while between posts, but this last week has been a little more hectic than usual. We had our Solar Electricity system installed, so I actually look forward to the next bill, which I am hoping will be minimal or even in credit! In addition to that, there was Stampin' Up! Regional training on Saturday and a Christmas Market at Normanhurst West Primary school, along with preparation of associated swaps and goodies to sell. Phew!

Regional training was a fantastic day, and my guest Kay also enjoyed herself immensely, and is ready to join me on the StampInkPaper team. It is great to catch up with members of my wider team, see presentations from top demonstrators, and stamp with a huge room full of happy people. Kim Tonnet and I, along with my Supporting Demonstrator, husband Andrew can be seen above enjoying some swap making, along with some liquid refreshment

The Christmas Market last year was a great day, this year however it fell on one of the hottest days in Sydney - 41 degrees of stifling heat... Sensibly, visitors thought better of an outing and stayed close to air conditioning! It was very quiet, and most stall holders packed up just after lunch. We headed home for a good swim in the pool. A pic above shows Ryn smiling behind our stall.

The top three photos are of some of the goodies we had for the stall.

First is a small box made from an A5 sheet of cardstock, decorated with some stamps in the about to end Spring Mini catalogue, Soft Summer and Great Friend. I made it using a half sheet of Pale Plum cardstock, then stamped using Perfect Plum. The butterfly was inked up with markers in Pale Plum, Perfect Plum and Lovely Lilac, using the thumping technique, to give a tie-dyed effect. It was very easy to make, and would be the perfect size for something special for a special someone.

Next up are some decorated notebooks, using some of last year's Retired Designer Series papers - Summer Picnic, Ginger Blossom and Apple Cider. The pens I made to match by spraying the ink tube with adhesive, and rolling in glitter for a bit of bling! Just the thing for your Christmas list, shopping list, reminders, etc. The wire spirals have been prettied up a bit with some ribbon snips.

Then we have some more mini Pizza box notelet packs, with stamped sheets inside. These are similar to the other Pizza Boxes I made a while back, but in retired colours of Cranberry Crisp, and using the (sob) retired set Stem Silhouettes.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some more pics.

In the meantime, my Stampin' Crop day is on Saturday, 28th November, and there are a couple of vacancies. Great chance to stamp up a storm and finish off those Christmas cards! Interested? Call me on 9484 9447 if you're close enough to Cherrybrook to join us.

Gift Voucher and Wish List services

Stuck for a gift? Left it far too late to shop for the perfect thing to please and spoil your loved one with? Never fear, StampInkPaper is here!!

I am pleased to be able to offer the following services, here's a little about how they work:

GIFT VOUCHERS:

I can post your recipient a hand-made card containing a voucher to the value of your choice. There is no additional charge for the card or the postage, as long as it is by standard post and within Australia (need Express Post? - contact me for more information)
If you've left it rooly ROOLY late, I can send your recipient an e-card with a PDF voucher, just supply me with their email address.

Vouchers are only redeemable through myself, Michelle Dyson, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, and have an expiry date of 2 months from date of issue. I can take payment by credit card ($1 fee applies) for instant despatch or by bank deposit or cheque (if you have enough time up your sleeve for fund clearance)

Your recipient can then contact me with what they would like to order, and it can be sent to them, ta da!

WISH LIST SERVICE:

Do you have family or a partner who says "but I never know what to get you!" ??
Aha! No such excuses allowed any more! Now you can provide them (or myself) with your personalised Stampin' Up Wish List, and give them my contact details. I arrange the rest, including gift wrapping, card for them to write in to give you and delivery. Easy Peasy, you get what you want, and what bloke wouldn't jump at the chance to arrange it all with a single email or phonecall? Everybody happy!!

Simply contact me at michelle.dyson@bigpond.com to be sent a file or hard copy to have on hand.

Punch Art Puppy and some Pizza box Notelets

Here are a couple of projects I have been working on recently. The top one was based on a recent Splitcoast Stampers tutorial for making mini pizza boxes from a 6 x 11" sheet of cardstock. They were very easy, especially so when using a Scorpal board! You can find the link to the instructions online HERE. I decided to create some 3x3 notelets to go inside them, but they are a good size for lots of little gift items, such as cards, chocolates, Pandora bracelet packed with gold charms... you know the kind of thing!

I added some of the wide striped grosgrain ribbon around these examples, in Baja Breeze and Pacific Point. On the tops, one box I embossed with 5th Avenue Floral images, and the other I just stamped in Versamark. I made matted panels of Whisper White stamped with the 5th Avenue, and then popped some up on Stampin' Dimensionals and added blue chunky sprinkles in the centres with the trusty Tombow Multi glue.

For the notelets, I tooks some high quality copy paper (Canon High Grade) - this is a nice smooth bright white, and is 100gsm rather than standard 80gsm, so a little heavier in weight. It is very nice to stamp on, with little to no show-through. I cut the sheets into 3x3 squares, and stamped images from the 5th Avenue Floral set across the top in Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze and Pacific Point. Just the ticket to pop in with a delivery or a note for the teacher. Hope you like them, my recipients did!

The Punch Art card was inspired by this card on Splitcoast, by LeeAnn Greff , which was in turn inspired by a similar doggy card. Thanks LeeAnn! I made him in Basic Gray because the little friend of my son who's birthday it was for has a black puppy. I inked the edges in black, so there was enough definition. It is composed of several punches, including circles for the head, body, feet and muzzle, the word window for the ears and eye patch, a quarter circle for the nose, the horizontal slot for the tongue, and hand held circle punch for the eyes. I also used my Stampin' Write marker to add some whisker spots and pupils for the eyes, and toes on the feet.

The background is done on Whisper White cardstock, and the grass is stamped off several times in Kiwi Kiss ink using the Inspired by Nature set. I then cut out some cloud shapes and used them to mask off some areas of the sky, before sponging with Bashful Blue ink. Thanks to Kim Tonnet for the idea of the cloud shapes, she used it beautifully on a card she made recently.
The card base is Real Red, and it has been stamped in Real Red ink using the Sanded background, but that's probably a little hard to see!
To finish, I stamped 'happy birthday' in Real Red ink from the Family Phrases set - this set goes really well on kids cards because of the font style. He was a big hit with the recipient, and my son also used his twin (I made 2 cards at the same time) for a presentation he did in class on "interesting jobs". He was going to talk about his dad, who does have an interesting job, but the potential for interesting props like cards, stamps, ink and punches swayed him to decide on me ha ha! While looking for ideas for this card I found lots of super cute punch art, so maybe soon I'll get around to creating more!

Super Fast Last Minute Easter treats...

I had all good intentions of making 30 or so of these gorgeous carrot treat boxes for Ciaran's classmates:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/828447?cat=500&ppuser=140436

However, as per usual, the timeline got a little tight. So tight, that at 7.45 am (for an 8am planned departure) I changed plans and very quickly assembed some cello bags with a quick punched tag. I used the brand new (and just ESSENTIAL!) Curly Label punch, and a couple of Easter themed stamps, the bunny from Occasionally, and the Easter Wishes greeting from Occasional Greetings. I stamped in Brocade Blue onto Apricot Appeal cardstock, punched and stapled over the folded edge of the bag. I even made some with Marshmallows, at 8.05am (yes, we were running a little late by this stage) when I was belatedly asked about the nut-free status of the chocolate... Much more appealing than a couple of loose eggs plonked onto a school desk, and I thought they looked quite nice all together in a bowl. Phew, crisis averted again, Mum to the Rescue! Now to see if I can squeeze in making a couple of larger scaled carrot boxes for the Easter Bunny's visit on Sunday???

Chocolate-free Chocolate Sliders

In my tutorial somewhere down below about making the chocolate bar sliders, I mentioned that the pattern could be modified to suit a number of chocolate-bar -ish shaped items, such as CDs, paper backs etc. Well, I have tested it out on a couple of DVDs, with (I think!) great success. By a happy co-incidence, a 12x12 sheet of our Designer Series papers fits very neatly around a standard plastic-cased DVD, with just enough for a strip of double sided tape to seal. And, the excess length is 2 inches, the perfect size for a decorative band when reversed to the opposite side.

Here I've used a pattern from the Outlaw pack

Here's a quick run down:

*Trim 5cm from one side of the 12x12 sheet and set aside

*Score approx 10cm in from the short edge, and again 1.5cm further in, and fold along these lines. Place the DVD against the fold and mark on the inside where the other side of the DVD ends.

*Score along this mark, and again 1.5cm further out. Fold and test with DVD.

*Place DST along the very edge of the underlap and all the way across the bottom edge. Remove both liner tapes, but seal the vertical seam first, then the bottom edge, pleating the sides at the base before scoring or crimping to get a firm adhesion.

*Punch a half circle through both layers at the top, and a horizontal slot about 1cm below this for the ribbon to thread through. Cut enough ribbon to go right around the DVD lengthways with overlap for tying and thread this through the slots.

*Slide the DVD inside, which pushes the ribbon down to the base.

*Decorate with the scrap band, a few layered punches, a stamp or two to personalise and it's done! Hubby was quite impressed with the contents as well as the wrappings, so all was good!

Ring in the New, plus a bit of Blog Candy

These gorgeous mini tear-off calendars are available through suppliers such as Educational Experience, and several demonstrators purchased some to make some gift calendars. Here is my version, using the "Eastern Blooms" set and Ginger Blossom Designer Series paper from the Summer Mini. The River Rock base is stamped in River Rock with the branch stamp, and also stamped with Linen background, to create depth and texture. Next, I used the Scallop edge punch from the Summer Mini to edge a piece of Ginger Blossom and Very Vanilla cardstock. I used the Eastern Blooms set to re-create the patterned paper design on the cardstock, and attached it to the card base. The colours used were Groovy Guava, Ruby Red and River Rock, matching the paper. I mounted the little calendar on Ruby Red, and used a length of River Rock Double Stitched ribbon to finish. I found a roll of adhesive magnet strip at the local $2 shop - yes, it was $2! and a piece of this on the back attaches this nicely to the fridge. What do you think? Leave a comment here about your favourite thing about New Year, and I'll send a calendar and ribbon assortment to my favourite response. Entries close next Monday.

A forest of tiny treats!

Thanks very much to Jayne Mercer for the idea for these little treats, which she made in a different version for her team members attending our retreat this year. My kids were very taken with them, and I decided to put a Christmas spin on them and use them for my son's classmates this year. I guess they are either lollipop flowerpots or topiary trees, depending on your point of view. I used last year's Holiday Thyme designer series papers, available this year in a different colourway as Wintergreen. The double sided papers lend themselves beautifully to the folding technique, and the punches for the tops are quick and easy. You can either use up small scraps, or alternatively, there is almost zero waste when cutting from a 12x12 sheet, which makes 12 lollipop trees.

Here's the method:

Cut a 12x12 sheet into 2 6x12" pieces, and then cut the 6x12" pieces into 2 inch strips, each 6 inches long.

Score from each end at 3/4" and 2 1/2", giving you four score lines.

Decide which is the facing side of the paper and fold back the 3/4" flaps to show the reverse.

Pinch these folded edges together and fold the strip in half - this will make a crease at the bottom which falls between the 2 score lines.

Using scissors or your trimmer, cut a wedge from the bottom fold slanting out to the bottom of the folded flaps at the top, to create a flowerpot shape.

Use your 1/16" hole punch to pierce through all layers at one side of the top folded section, and secure with a brad

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Insert your lollipop, and then secure the other side with the punch and brad again.

For the topper you could use several punches depending on what you have on hand, or even hand-cut some triangle shapes for Christmas trees. But, the scallop circle punch I have used here is quick and easy, and layers nicely with the 1 3/8 and 1 1/4" circles.

Stamp your desired image onto cardstock and use the 1 1/4" punch to cut out, 2 per tree. Layer this onto a 1 3/8" circle, and then attach these to the scallop circles. Here I used the snowflake circle from "Season of Joy" - gone now from the Spring mini, hope it will return in April (please?)

To attach the scallops to the stick, I found that foam tape was ideal. Cut 2 small lengths and position them with a small gap in between, enough to wedge the stick into. This allows the 2 sides of the scallop to stick well, without the thickness of the stick causing problems.

I finished the trees with a stamped tag and ribbon, and they were done! The kids were happy, or so I am led to believe!

Some OTP fun with Teacher's gifts

I had several teachers to create thankyou gifts for this year, as my son has two classroom teachers, and has also participated in Learning Assistance for reading and Reading Recovery programmes. Here is a sample of what I created to thank them for their mammoth efforts in helping him achieve his best.

I made some mini Christmas fruit cakes in a Baba cake tin (they look like a mega muffin pan with tubes in the centre, or a baby ring tin) with the mixture that won't fit inside my smaller round cake tin. Nice and easy, they take just 50 minutes to cook, and the finished cakes sit nicely in a large muffin case. I wrapped them in cello and added a topper made from Confetti Cream cardstock, punched and embossed using the delightful Labels 1 set of Nestabilities. I have stamped them with a sneak preview of an upcoming set... And that's all I'm going to say about that, except that I think it is going to be on LOTS of wishlists!!!

Then I chose some of my most favourite patterned papers (other than the SU DSPs of course!) - Basic Grey Blush - Devotion. Kind of apt really, given the handful that is my firstborn child!! and used these to decorate a Heaven Hot Chocolate tin (sadly, this delectable treat has disappeared from supermarket shelves, sob!) You can't really see from this picture, but I used Baroque Motifs background stamp to stamp the lid, and added a chipboard monogram of the teacher's initial. I used the flower motif to stamp the scallop circle in the flower centre. I experimented a little here, using a Colorbox Queue chalk ink as the base (because it matched the dusty opaque pink I was wanting), then I used the Stampin' Write Marker "thumping" technique over the top of the pigment ink, with my Ruby Red marker. Nice!!
Thumping is a method of adding touches of colour by lightly dabbing over the top of a base colour with a second of third colour, to get a sort of mottled or marbled effect. I've used it with dye inks before, but not pigment ink as a base, so now I can't wait for more colours in the Stampin' Up! Craft inks so I can match away to my heart's content, and have the lovely opacity that pigment inks add!! I trimmed the tin with vanilla taffeta ribbon and added a rhinestone brad to the centre of the flower. Inside, the tin is full of erasers. Yes, pencil erasers! Covered in small pieces of Blush range papers to match the tin. From my time in the classroom doing reading groups, I knew that LOTS and LOTS of erasers are a very good thing! I also added a small stamp for the teacher to use for her marking.

Finally, I made a matching series of cards, this is one of them. It uses Ruby Red cardstock as a base, and the Scallop Border punch from the Summer Mini along the bottom edge. This is underlayed with a strip of Confetti Cream to show off the scallops. A strip of Blush Devotion is also matted with Confetti Cream. I added a tie of Vanilla Taffeta ribbon, and used the Square Scallop punch to punch a stamp from the "Say it with Scallops" set. I matted this with a slightly larger nesting square scallop punch by EK Success, who make our lovely SU punches for us.

off to do some vacuuming....

Bookmark these instructions!

Well, I didn't quite get to write the tutorial or post yesterday, but in my defense I DID take all the pics - so here are the instructions as promised...

Start with a 6x6" square of double sided Designer Series Paper - this means you can make 4 bookmarks from ONE sheet of 12x12! Place it with the face side chosen down

Fold the square in half diagonally

Fold one point back down to the long fold

Fold both pointed ends of the long fold back up to the top, to form a smaller diamond/square

Tuck the folded points down under the flap

Use a Crop-a-Dile or similar to make a hole through all layers, near the top of the folded point, you can sort of wriggle it so it doesn't make a hole through all the layers, sort of between the fold (you'll see what I mean when you try it)

Feed a folded ribbon length through the hole, a paper piercer will help, and pass the ends through the loop

Decorate a scrap of co-ordinating cardstock, here I stamped off an image from Simply Said in Old Olive and a monogram-style C from the Wild West alphabet in Not quite Navy. I layered this on a circle scallop of Not Quite Navy cardstock and stuck it firmly to the front - Sticky Strip is best for this so it won't come adrift.

Present finished bookmark to delighted child :P Easy peasy!