Season of Joy

I love the Bermuda Bay with the Real Red for Christmas!  I'm also loving the Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon!  The greeting is from the Four the Holidays set in the mini catalog.

The Holiday's Begin!

This is Adri's beautiful gingerbread house.  Last year she put as much candy on it as she could fit, but dropped it before we could get a picture.  This year she toned it down a bit.  Very 'creative'!

Tori set aside 3 hours for this lovely master piece.  Although it actually only took 2 hours, maybe less.  She looks forward to grandma's get together every year.  She's been planning this look for days!

Justus kept it simple this year with no bleeding reindeer or Santa's (thank heaven)!  He said all of the gifts under the trees are for him.  These lego's were very handy.

These aren't all of the wonderful gingerbread houses that were made today by the Sorensen clan, but it's most of them (note - some kids piled on the treats to eat later... great idea!).  Don't they just look tasty!  Adri ate a lot of hers on the car ride home.  Hopefully she's not too sick for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  Thanks for the fun Grandma!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day everyone!

Delightful Decorations

Here's my card trade for Stamp Club.  I tried to show all of the different ways you can use shimmer paint.  For the ornament I mixed the White Shimmer Paint with Ruby Red reinker and then used a sponge dauber to apply it directly to the stamp.  That was stamped right onto Whisper White paper and then I used the Ornament punch to punch it out.  The curly Q's behind the ornament are from the Season of Joy stamp set.  And shimmer paint was applied directly to the stamp with a sponge dauber and then stamped.  On the Certain Celery piece of paper I stamped all of the 'snowflakes' with the shimmer paint/ruby red ink mix.  The Peace on Earth was stamped in just Ruby Red ink and then I lightly sponged over it with a sponge dauber and shimmer paint.  I sponged all around the edge of the celery paper with the shimmer paint as well.

Delightful Decorations

This is the card we made at stamp club last week.  I decided to take pictures with the camera, rather than scanning it, so you could see all the sparkles!  It really worked!!!  We embossed the ornaments with clear embossing powder and then with a sponge dauber we rubbed the White Shimmer Paint directly over them.  You can wipe the excess paint off the embossing with a tissue, but whatever comes in contact with the paper stays there.  For this middle part on the green ornament we used the dauber with shimmer paint directly on the stamp and then stamped it on the green paper, punched it out and used a dimentional to attach it.  The sparkles on the red paper were made by using rubbing alcohol mixed with a little of the shimmer paint in a spray bottle.

Delightful Decorations

On this card I used the new Frost White Shimmer Paint.  You can't see the 'sparkle' on the scan, but in person this stuff is awesome!  I mixed a little bit of the shimmer paint with a few drops of Ruby Red reinker and then used a sponge dauber to ink up the little circle stamp.  So each of the circles 'shimmer'.  I also mixed some of the Shimmer Paint with a little alcohol in a mini spray bottle and spritzed that all over the card.  In the light the whole card sparkles.  I tried daubing  shimmer paint onto the greeting that I had already stamped in Craft White, but that didn't work so well.  All it did was lighten the white.  It was fun to try different things though.

Delightful Decorations

Halloween is finally over!  Now it's time to move on to some Christmas card ideas, right?  This was a swap I did with some other demonstrators.  I used the new set Delightful Decorations and the Sparkle & Shine wheel from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  I also used the awesome Ornament punch from the mini.  I can never pass up a coordinating punch and set.  The colors are Real red and Old Olive and the greeting is from the Sincere Salutations set.  It's hard to see but I used dazzling diamonds on the snowflake on the ornament and embossed the wheel with Iridescent Ice powder.

Holiday Blitz

This is a card that's cuter in person.  There's lots of fun embossing on it!  I used the Whimsey wheel on the black and embossed in white.  The pumpkins are also embossed.  First I stamped the face stamp in Basic Black ink on Whisper White paper.  Then I inked the pumpkin stamp in Versamark, then carefully just inked up the pumpkin with the Dusty Durango pad, then used the Always Artichoke marker to ink up the stem and leaf.  I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to place the stamp over the face and then embossed with clear powder. 

Holiday Blitz

I decided I better make a Halloween card since it's in a couple of weeks.  I stamped the cute ghost from Holiday Blitz in black and then punched it out with the large tag punch and dolled it up a bit.  The pattern paper is from the Razzleberry Lemonade pack.  I used the two sizes of star punches and then dimensionals to make them pop our a little.  Love that look!  The colors are Crushed Curry & Pumpkin Pie.  The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Lovely As a Tree

This was my card trade for club Friday night.  I used the same medallion and the clear embossing, but used a little different layout.  The card stock colors I used are Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Dusty Durango and Chocolate Chip.  I used the Watercolor Crayons to color the acorn and leaf and then punched that out with the 1 3/8" circle punch and layered that onto the 1 3/4" Chocolate Chip circle.  The ribbon is attached with a fun Circle Brad.

Wonderful You

This is the card we made at club last night.  We learned how to make this cute medallion by using our Scallop Punch and a piece of paper cut at 2 3/4" X 2 3/4".  It adds a nice touch!  We also embossed with clear embossing powder on the black card stock.  In person it looks so shiny and elegant.  Thanks for coming girls - it was a fun night!

Happy Everything

I received a card with this same cut star on it (thanks Celeste!) and have wanted to do something similar ever since.  It took me awhile to get around to it, but I finally did it.  I actually had to whip a couple of these cards up pretty fast to add to a stack of cards I was giving as a gift.  As usual I'm always short on 'guy' cards.  This cute star was the perfect way to add a little somethin', somethin' to a card without 'girly' stuff.  At least I hope it looks guyish.  I punched the star out of the front flap of the card and then placed To the Nines designer paper on the inside so it showed through.  Then I punched the small star out of Chocolate Chip card stock and attached it with a brad.  The holes around the star are done with the paper piercing tool.

Wanted

I saw this layout on another card and really liked it.  It's a fun way to use pattern paper and the different punches.  I've used the To the Nines Specialty designer paper.  The colors are Sage Shadow, Sahara Sand and Chocolate Chip.  The greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and it's stamped in Vanilla Craft.

Justus is 14!

We had Justus' birthday party last night.  It's hard to believe he's 14 already!

Justus chose to have something 'pumpkiny' for his birthday dessert.  So I found a recipe called Pumpkin Surprise.  Luckily it was really yummy and everyone including the birthday boy liked it.  Justus and I are a little matchy in this picture, that was just a coincidence.  But, HELLO!  He's taller than me.  UGH!

Jake and I decided to open a checking account for Justus for his birthday.  We figure it will help him earn his Money Management Merit Badge and help him on his way towards his Eagle.  He loved it!  Everyone gave him money, so of course he was in heaven.

This is Justus' invite.  I used a retired Stampin' Up! set for it -- thanks for the loan Tracy!  I'm really wishing I would have held onto some of my old sets!

Justus' actual birthday was on September 16th.  So we made him dinner and brownies.  Adri insisted on candles, but the candles didn't cooperate so well.  Justus was trying to hold them up as we sang Happy Birthday to him.

The girls gave him their gifts.  This is a small tape measure that Tori found for him.  He's been wanting a small one to keep in his pocket because apparently he measures a lot of things???  Anyway, we had a good laugh because we could only find a pink and a purple tape measure so Tori picked purple.  He loved it!  Adri gave him lighters because you never know when you're gonna need a light???  Seriously the things this kid carries around in his pockets.  It's gotta weigh a ton!  Adri also gave him an air horn.  She decided that it would be a good idea to wake him up with it on his birthday morning and then make him breakfast.  The kid does love his food, so breakfast was a big hit and the air horn was too.  Luckily he didn't get kicked out of school when he blew it in the hall!

Have a great year Justus!

Lovely As a Tree

I decided to pull out the vellum that I haven't used for awhile and this is what I came up with.  This would be a great guy birthday or thank you card.  With vellum I usually don't attach it with any kind of adhesive unless I can hide it in some way.  The vellum is mostly attached with the two brads and then I used the corner punch at each corner and that helps hold the bottom of the vellum.  I used the Aquapainter to color the tree and I actually added in some Not Quite Navy, which is what the corners are, but it's not overly obvious.  It just added some color.

Baby Gift Ideas

I stamped this burp rag with the Stampin' Up! Craft Pads.  After you stamp it, you let it dry, then iron it to heat set.  You can wash these and the color will stay!  A great way to accessorize any baby outfit.  To make it look cute I rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon.

I also wanted to make some hair accessories to match the baby outfit.  I've used the felt flowers and Button Latte designer buttons to add to a ribbon covered clip.  I also made a matching flower that can be worn on a headband and used a Circle Fire Rhinestone Brad in the center.  So cute!

If I have time I like to make a card to match a gift bag I already have on hand.  In this case I used the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set and my NEW matching butterfly punch and of course one of the Button Latte designer buttons.  I also had a leftover button from last years in colors I threw on for some extra color.

Bugs and Kisses

This card is for my darling 'little' nephews who just turned 18 today!  My oh my how time flies!  Just yesterday I was zooming down to Cedar City with my mom to see the darling little twins that would make me a first time aunt!  Good thing my sister had twins so there were more babies to pass around - good job Kari.  Now they're almost out of the house!  HOLY COW!  I guess we'll let them graduate high school before they move out however.  Have a great day guys!  Hope you like your blog card!!!

All In The Family

I was nominated to do baby shower invites and this is what I came up with.  I've been wanting to use this little stick baby ever since I got it.  This was my chance.  I had to pull out some of my Sale-A-Bration items to make it just right.  I still love that Polka Dot Punches set and won't ever be able to part with it.  The colors are Rose Red, Regal Rose and I threw in the Certainly Celery for fun and because the Delicate Dots paper matches so well with the Polka Dot Punches stamp set.  I love how it turned out, but after coloring 40 babies and all the punching I'm worn out! ;)

Holiday Blitz

I had to make a Fall card for a swap I'm in.  I have to admit that it got me very excited for Fall weather - my favorite time of year!  This is a pretty simple card.  I stamped the leaves in Dusty Durango, Soft Suede and More Mustard and then used the Aquapainter in the same colors to color them in.  I decided to offset the circles a little for a funky look.  I did some paper piercing added the mustard grosgrain ribbon and put it on the Soft Suede card stock with the Sanded background stamp.

Upsy Daisy

Oops!  I meant to post this card AFTER the one we made at Stamp Club (below).  I still don't know what I'm doing in the blog world - I may never catch on!  Anyway, this is my card swap for Stamp Club.  A different way to do the Joy Fold.  The pattern paper is from The Razzleberry Lemonade pack.  The colors are Crushed Curry and Pumkin Pie.

Circle Circus

For Stamp Club this month I thought it would be fun to use all new stuff from the catalog.  So I used my two newest sets - Circle Circus and Teeny Tiny Wishes - along with my new pattern paper Razzleberry Lemonade and the cute new polka dot ribbon and showed them how to make a Joy Fold card.  The colors are Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo.  They turned out really cute and the Joy Fold was a big hit!