Spa "Favor" It!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on favors to match the Hanna Stamps Spa Riley invitation. No candies in these take-home favor bags! What I put inside are little bags of bath "caviar" -- or crystals, for a less fancy name.

The mini tin bucket (from Michael's) is covered with designer series paper from SU! The favor holder is cardstock that measures 2-1/2" x 8-1/2" and scored like a "w" in the middle. Decorate the front of the favor then fill the small bags with the bath crystals. To keep the plastic bag in place inside, simply adhere it to the cardstock with a mini glue dot or double sided tape. Trim the top corners with the corner rounder punch then punch the top center with the slot punch through both thicknesses. Cut celery ribbon about 6" long and pull through the slot holes and tie.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this Spa Riley. Remember to join us at the SCS Hanna Forum on Monday, March 2nd starting at 9:00 pm eastern for fun chatting and lots of chances to win prizes!

Let's Have a Spa Par-tay!

This is one of the brand new Riley stamps from Hanna Stamps to be released on Monday, March 2nd. Spa Riley is soo cute and a must-have.  It's perfect for note cards and is an excellent image for spa parties.  This spa party invitation is made with all SU! papers and ribbon and colored with Copic Markers.

I've also been working on spa favors to match this invitation, which I will post later.

Hop on over to the other Hanna DT members' blogs to see their sneak peeks (their links are on my side bar). Have a great weekend!

Adela

Paper Dolls To-Go

Hanna Stamps has some AWESOME new stamp sets coming out on March 2nd and I'm so excited to show you a preview of one of them...

When I was a little girl, I used to look forward to getting the McCalls magazine -- not for the boring articles (I was just a kid!), but for the Betsy McCalls paper dolls that was included in every issue.  I loved cutting those paper dresses out; very cheap entertainment for me.  Nowadays, all you have to do is click a button and you can dress yourself in an elf costume and dance like one.  Wee Hanna, one of the new sets from Hanna Stamps brings back sweet memories of my childhood days when my mother was still here with me.

When I first thought of making this project, I thought of my neighbor's granddaughter.  I watched her visit her grandmother since she was just a newborn and whenever I caught her eyes, I'd smile at her and she would give me the cutest and sweetest smile back. Anyway, I'm making this Hanna set with Alexis in mind. She may be too young still to play with it now, but that's okay... Here's what I've included in the paper doll tin:

The tin includes the following which I've already colored:

1 doll

4 outfits and accessories

1 doll stand

It also includes extras for the child to color:

2 dolls

16 outfits and accessories

The tin is a mini lunch box which I simply covered with DSP using sticky tape. The side is covered with 5/8" red grosgrain ribbon. For her name I couldn't fit all the smaller sized letters in the circle, so I just used her first initial even though I wanted to use her entire first name. Then, I figured out a very easy way to do it. 

TIP Using the JustRite base (what holds the individual alphabets) for any word or name:  Simply pop in the letters you need to spell the name or word, attach it to an acrylic block (I just use double-sided tape), ink it and stamp it onto card stock. It works great!

Visit the other Hanna Design Team members the next few days to see their sneak peeks of Hanna's new sets. You can find their links on my side bar at the right.  Also, on Monday the 2nd of March at 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm EST, we will be having our release party over at SCS Hanna Stamps Forum. Join us for some fun chatting with fellow Hanna fans and maybe even win one of the prizes!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday!

Adela 

Bad Hair Day?

One of my sisters is a hair stylist and I have been wanting to make a card for her using this stamp from Stamping Bella. So, here it is finally. I decided to go for the sleek monochromatic look, which is much like her style. I used PTI's new white ink for the sentiment, but the first one I stamped smudged, so I stamped it again, but this time I embossed it with clear EP. No smudging now!

Since I wanted to give her a gift card, I needed a pocket of some sort to slip it into.  Here's what I came up with.

I took a sealed 3" x 3" envelope, trimmed off one edge and punched a half circle in the center of that. It looked a bit plain, so I added a sentiment and another Bella image. Glue the envelope to the inside of the card and now you have a nice pocket and a white place to sign.

"Can"tainer and Flower Tutorial

"How did you make those flowers?"  I have been asked that question a lot since posting this 3D project, so I thought I'd go ahead and post my tutorial now.  I had planned on posting this earlier with the original post, but I didn't have the time then.

When I first started stamping -- about 2-1/2 years ago -- the only online store I knew of was Stampin' Up! But they didn't have these type of flowers and I had no idea where to get them.  I was a TOTAL newbie! So what did I do? Well, I went to Joann's floral section and picked out a stem with flat flower petals that looked decent and in the colors that I liked.  The flowers had to be easily removed from its plastic stems and not fray easily. I have several small containers of these flowers that I've collected for a couple of years now.  In the Supply picture, you can see on the top right two plastic containers with these petals. 

Supply for "Can"tainer:

Can - washed and dried

Card Stock or Pattern Paper - cut to fit around can

Sticky Tape

Various Embellishments

Place Sticky Tape on back of CS or PP along both side edges and partially on top and bottom edges as shown. Remove red tape cover off one of the sides.

Adhere the exposed sticky side to the can evenly and remove the red cover from the top and bottom edges only for now.

If adding lace or borders, attach adhesive to them now.

At the top/bottom of CS, fold the lace/ribbon under and adhere. Add additional sticky tape on top of that then proceed to cover the can completely. 

Here's the can completely covered. Now you're ready to embellish it.  I decided to keep this very simple. I attached Dew Drops along the top and bottom edges with mini glue dots. 

Since I wanted to use this especially to hold my new glitter markers, I thought I'd put my initials on here. Using JustRite, I

 stamped my initials on white cardboard and cut it out with my Nestabilities. To add a little color, I tied a ribbon onto a sewing pin, attached it through the label and adhered it to the can with dimensionals.

Supply for Flowers:

Artificial Flowers - taken apart

Bamboo Skewers

5/8" Ribbons

1/4" Moss or other Green Ribbon

Buttons

Mini Glue Dots

For each flower, you'll need two flower pieces. On the back center of the flowers, attach about 3 mini glue dots. Place the pointed end of the skewer on top of the glue dots of one flower then sandwich it with the other one.

For the center of the flower, you can attach buttons with glue dots or tie a knot with the 5/8" ribbon, clip it at an angle and attach to the center of the flower. Last step, tie the moss or green ribbon onto the "stem" for the "leaves" and that's it!

My Father, My Hero

Yesterday my dear, sweet, funny father celebrated his 91st birthday and I wish that I could have been with him to celebrate.  Sometimes it feels as if he might outlive most of the people in our family.  He has had a long eventful life. He's fought in two wars and was even a prisoner of war during WWII. He has now gotten to the point where age has taken some of his logic and memory away. The last few times I saw him, he couldn't remember my name, but he always asks about both of my girls by their names. He keeps asking me why I didn't go home for Christmas, when I actually was there.   I really need to spend more time with him before there is no more time to spend with him.

I made this card for him because he loves his church and I also wanted to make something more gentle. The sentiment and card stock are from SU! as well as the new pattern paper.  The cross is from Papertrey Ink. I added a couple of blings just because and cuddlebugged the card stock bottom.

In real life, the pattern paper matched the going gray card stock pretty well, but looking at this picture, I'd say I made a mistake.  But, I'm sure he wouldn't notice that at all.

Thanks for stopping by and why not give your dad or father-figure a hug today!

Adela

"Can"tainer Challenge Anyone?

Head on over to Paper Craft Planet for our very first 3D Tuesday Challenge, where we'll be making boxes, bags, mini-books -- just about anything but cards. You can join the 3D Tuesday Group at PCP if you'd like to play along or if you want to be notified when I post a challenge.

A couple of nights ago while I was making marinara sauce, I was trying to figure out what to do for the first challenge.  I had emptied a can of tomatoes and thought, why waste a perfectly good can?  So that's the challenge for this week:  Take a plain old can and make something creative with it.  Here I've made a decorative "vase" with embossed white card stock and real lace.

Stamp: JustRite

Paper: White Card Stock, White Cardboard

Ink: Sahara Sand

Acc: Cuttlebug Folder, Nestabilities, Dew Drops, 1/4" White Grosgrain Ribbon, 1" Lace, Moss Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Sewing Pin

Faux Flowers

Bamboo Skewers, Buttons, 5/8" Vanilla and Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbons, Mini Glue Dots, Moss Taffeta Ribbon, Petals from Silk Flowers

Hope you play along and thanks for stopping by!

Adela

Lots Going on at Paper Craft Planet

Two exciting new features have just been added to Paper Craft Planet! Check out the new Scrappy Sunday -- a weekly Scrapbook Sketch Challenge. Our very own Jen Tapler will be heading up this challenge and will be posting a new sketch for you to play with each Sunday. Use the sketch as a guide for creating a scrapbook layout, add your photos, journaling and embellishments and upload to our gallery with the specified tag and feel good about preserving your family's memories one page at a time! The first challenge began on Sunday, so go check it out. Don't forget to join the group to stay up to date with all the latest.  Here is the first Scrappy Sunday Challenge and a picture of Jen's sample.  Make sure you use the tag sb022209 (all lower case) when uploading your photo to the PCP gallery.

The second new feature is 3D Challenge, which will begin this Tuesday. I'm so excited to be involved with this new addition. I love making 3D projects so for me there was no hesitation to take on this new weekly challenge.  So, if you enjoy 3D projects, join the 3D Challenge Group -- we'll hook up every Tuesday to make projects like boxes, bags, mini-books -- anything that isn't a card or a scrapbook.

Hope to see you tomorrow at PCP to see what I have for you in our very first 3D Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

Adela

From "Me, Me, Me" to "You, You, You"

My best friend inspired me to make this card. She often teases me by addressing me as "Me Me Me," so when I saw the new stamp set from Stampin' Up!© with the "you, you, you" sentiment, I knew I had to get this set. This card is 5" x 5" and all supplies are from Stampin' Up!© The layout I used is from the PCP Saturday Sketch Challenge. To play the challenge, upload your photo to the PCP photo gallery using the tag "sk022109" (sketch challenge 02/21/09). We'd love to see your version of the sketch.

Stamp: Three Little Words (SU!)
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red Classic Ink Pad, Rose Red Stampin' Marker
Acc: Flower Fusion, Button Bouquet, Linen Thread, 1" Rose Red Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Red Hemp, Butterflies Sizzix Die, Sponge, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Sticky Tape

As you can see, I substituted the horizontal layer of the sketch with a butterfly die cut.  The previous card I made (Teacher Hanna) also used this same layout but is much closer to the actual sketch.

Well, I'm so HAPPY that the weekend is here and that I can SLEEP in if I want to.  Thanks for stopping by.

Adela 

Teach... Your Children Well

I've had that song stuck in my head since I started making this card -- you know, the one by Crosby, Stills and Nash? Anyhoo...  When I first saw this Teacher Hanna stamp set from Hanna Stamps, it reminded me right away of my niece who's a kindergarten teacher. She even resembles her! So, this card is for her.  I even put her school's initials on it.

Stamp: Teacher Hanna

Paper: White, Barely Banana, Basic Gray, Pink Pirouette, Bravo Burgundy, Parisian Summer DSP

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Fresh Snow (PTI), Copic Markers, Bravo Burgundy Ink, Rose Red Ink

Acc: Script Cuttlebug Folder, Prima Flowers, Dew Drops, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Silver Brad, Alphabet Brads

"Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,

So just look at them and sigh... and know they love you."

Thanks for stopping by!

Adela

Spread Your Wings

I love this new designer series paper from Stampin' Up!© called Raspberry Tart, so I just had to make something with it right away!  I made this one this morning with the Wings on Things Big stamp set (Molly Stamps) using the butterfly stamps.  For the sentiment, I used the Wings on Things Small.

Stamp: Wings on Things Small and Wings on Things Big

Paper: White, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, More Mustard, Raspberry Tart DSP (SU!)

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Rose Red Ink

Acc: 1" Double Stitched Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon, 1/4" Old Olive Twill Ribbon, Cuttlebug Folders, Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Swarovski Crystal Embellishment, Sponge, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Thanks for stopping by!

Adela

How-To: Elegance in About 20 Minutes

This 5" x 5" card is very easy to make and shouldn't more than 20 minutes -- 30 minutes at the most.  Everything I used in this project is from Stampin' Up!

Supplies:

Stamp: Polka Dot Punches, Holidays & Wishes

Paper: Very Vanilla (5" x 10" scored/folded in half); Bella Bleu DSP (4-3/4" x 4-3/4")

Ink: Basic Gray, VersaMark

Acc: Heart Punch, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Pretties Kit Half Pearls, Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Sponge, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip

With the Basic Gray Ink and sponge, sponge lightly the edges of the front of the folded Very Vanilla and the DSP. Set aside.

Stamp the Heart on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla.

Dab over the heart image with VersaMark until the image is covered.

Pour Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder over the heart image.  The powder should stick to the paper.  Now you're ready to melt the powder with the heat tool.

After embossing, punch the heart image out with the heart punch and set aside.

Attach the ribbon across the front about 2/3 down from the top.  Adhere both ends of the ribbon to the back of the DSP.  To keep it firmly in place, I use sticky strip.

Attach the DSP to the Vanilla card base.  Next, attach the heart over the ribbon with dimensionals then stamp the sentiment below the ribbon as shown. 

Now, you can decorate with the half pearls from the Pretties Kit and tie a bow beside the  heart. And you're done! Of course, you can always add more embellishments to your liking.

Thanks for stopping by!

Adela

"Striking" Party Set

Here's a little party set I made with the Bowling Hanna stamp set from Hanna Stamps.  I was thinking how perfect this set would have been for all the bowling parties I had for my girls -- there just wasn't anything like it available at the time.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to give them a bowling party again, whether they like it or not!

This popcorn favor box (found here) can be used to hold prizes for games or fill with goodies to give out as favors for after the party. Depending on whether it's a party for girls or for boys, this box can be decorated to your liking.  The ribbon on the sides can be removed or changed to just a tied ribbon (not a bow) for a boy's party or for both.

Stamp: Bowing Hanna

Paper: White, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst, Uptown DSP

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers, Almost Amethyst Ink

Acc: 5/8" So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, Nestabilities, Slot Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Popcorn Favor Box

Here's a close up of the actual invitation. What I did was stamp several of the accessories included in the set and used them to decorate the card with. 

Stamp: Bowling Hanna, Please Come (SU!)

Paper: White, Black, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst, Uptown DSP (SU!)

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers, White Gel Pen (Ranger)

Acc: Cuttlebug Folders, Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Stickles

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful Monday!

Adela

Dream Big

I've wanted to make a tag for a long time now, but to be honest, I'm really not sure what they're for. But, I really like how they look. I guess I can always tie this onto a bag or gift as an embellishment, or maybe give it in place of a card? Anyway, whether I use this or not, I had fun making it and I like how they look so I'll probably make more of them in the near future!

Stamp: Wings on Things Small (Molly Stamps)

Paper: White, SU! DSP

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Bashful Blue

Acc: Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon, Sponge, Oval and Heart Punch, Swiss Dot Cuttlebug Folder, Pearl Dew Drops, Prima, SU! Button, Heart Charm, DMC Floss, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

My Desert Valentine

It's Friday and I'm so happy that it's a long weekend -- yay!!  Today's Hanna Stamps Challenge is to make a Valentine's Day card without using red or pink in it.  Here is what I came up with for that challenge -- GI Jon Riley thinking of his sweetheart back home -- and missing her.  If you'd like to play along, please use the key words HSC56 when uploading on SCS.  I'd love to see what you come up with!

Stamp: GI Jon Riley, Things Riley Would Say, Route 66 (Hanna Stamps), Today's Forecast (Molly Stamps), Holidays & Wishes (SU!)

Paper: White, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Copic Markers

Acc: Stardust Stickles, Window and 1" Circle Punch, Swirl Cuttlebug Folder, Natural Hemp Cord, Dimensionals

I hope all of you have a wonderful day and a fabulous weekend.  Stay safe and thanks for stopping by.

Adela

Window Dressing

This card was a lot of fun to make because I got to be a window dresser for a quaint shop! This isn't the main image of the recently released Hanna Stamps set, In Vogue, but it sure is a cute piece. Oh dear, since I keep nodding off, I'm going to make this a short post today. I haven't been getting much sleep lately and I think it's best that I keep this short before I start typing my dreams. Can you believe I've done that several times in the past? I did that recently in an email where I started typing something completely out of context and clicked "send." Boy did I get a fast response from that email! Just now I woke up with a very long line of "llllll's," where my finger landed on the keyboard as I was nodding off. So, here's the recipe for the card and if anything above does not make sense, you'll know why!

Stamps: In Vogue, Everyday Sentiments (Hanna Stamps)
Paper: White, Kiwi Kiss, Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette, Berry Bliss DSP
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Stampin' Marker Perfect Plum, Copics At You Spica
Acc: Cuttlebug Folder, Rectangle Nestabilities, 1-1/4" Pink Pirouette Grosgrain Ribbon, Lace, Dew Drops, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Sticky Strips
Technique: Paper Piecing

Thanks for stopping by!
Adela

For My Friend

My Stampin' Up! shipment finally arrived on Friday with the goodies from the new catalog! One of the things that I was looking forward to was using the Sizzix butterfly die, so I couldn't wait to start using it.

Stamp: Elegant Cheer (SU!)

Paper: Vanilla, Kiwi, Pink Pirouette, SU! DSP
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack)
Acc: Butterfly Sizzix Die, Vanilla Organdy Ribbon, 1/4" Old Olive Twill Ribbon, Hodge Podge Hardware, Pretties Kit, Self-Adhesive Rhinestones, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Fiskars Border Punch, Cuttlebug Folder

AWARD

Every time I read a comment from one of my readers, it brings a smile to my face.  No matter how I'm feeling that day, especially when I'm sad or in pain, getting feedback from visitors and friends always make my day a little bit brighter. I grabbed this award from Marianne of I Like Markers because I thought it was a perfect way to honor those special Commenters who give me consistent encouragement and to let them know how much they mean to me.  To name a few, they are:

Heather 

Candy

Norine

Stef

Kim

Tracey

Sparkle

The last few weeks have not been very nice for me in many ways, but I'm so grateful that I have you, my readers and my online friends.  Your kind words and support have meant a lot to me and I would just like to thank you all for that.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Adela