Lots of Love Buffet Sneak Peek

My Lots of Love Stampin' Buffet is coming up in two weeks!  That means sometime on this long holiday weekend, all of the projects for the class will show up here on my blog and on my Facebook page.  However, I still have a lot of work to do before I can get them all posted.

However, here is a sneak peek at one of the projects that will be available to make at the class, a Valentines Sampler:

Colors: Real Red, Coastal Cabana, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White.  Stamps: Banner Blast, Fabulous Phrases, Occasions Alphabet, Itty Bitty Banners, Perfect Pennants, A Round Array, and Tag It.  Big Shot: Hearts Collection and Bitty Banner  Framelits; Circle & Label Card Thinlits; Fancy Fan, Chevron, Adorning Accents, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Punches: Small Heart, Cupcake Builder, Little Labels Pack, Full Heart, Banner, Owl Builder, Large Oval, 7/8" Scallop & 1-1/4" Scallop Circle, 1" Circle.   Accessories: Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Pack, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, White Baker's Twine, Large Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Candy Dots, Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Delicate Details Lace Tape, and Basic Metal Buttons.  Other: 8x8" Shadow Box

Where do I even begin to describe this?  I have seen plenty of these around including one that was featured in the last Stampin' Addicts Blog Hop by Sara Mattson-Blume, but I tried not to look at any of them when I put mine together so it could be original.  You can see from the extensive list of products used in it, it really is a sampler of stamps, Big Shot items, punches and accessories.  I pretty much just pulled out anything Valentine's or love-related and went to town. And most people probably don't think of teal blue/green when they think of Valentines, but I love the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Pack that is in the new Occasions Mini Catalog and knew that I had to use it in this.

I picked the 8x8 size because I have seen frames and shadow boxes this size at two different stores lately and I think it is the perfect size--not too big and not too small.  Each white square is 2"so it isn't a lot of real estate to work with, but sometimes that is easier.

It took me the better part of one day to put this all together, however at the class, you should be able to put it together in under 2 hours because I will have most of it cut out for you.  You will just need to stamp and assemble (or stamp and take it home and assemble).  Watch for more details on pricing in the class information in the coming days.

And I've joined a new blog hop group, The Stamp Review Crew,  and will be participating for the first time this coming Monday.  All the stops are featuring the same stamp set, Chalk Talk (one of my favorites!) so you will see just how versatile one stamp set can be.  We'll see you then!

Christmas Frame Insert

These frame inserts have been a fun way to mark different seasons this year. So of course I had to make a Christmas-themed one. 

Colors: Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, and Cherry Cobbler. Stamps: Snowflake Soiree.  Big Shot: Window Collection Framelits; Typeset Alphabet Bigz, Snow Flurry Bigz.  Punches: Decorative Label Punch, 1-3/4" Circle, X-Large Oval, Large Oval, Butterfly, Cupcake, and Owl.  Accessories: Be of Good Cheer Designer Series Paper, Silver Glimmer Paper, & Rhinestone Jewels, White Gel Pen.

I love the look of punch art but I just don't do it enough.  I found inspiration for this Santa by looking at several other punch art Santas on Pintrest.  My original addition to it was to use the top of the butterfly punch for the mustache.  Others had used the wing from bird punch to make it, but I don't have that punch so I improvised. 

This is just one of the projects you can make at my Christmas Stampin' Buffet on November 16 or 17.  It is $6.  I am currently not offering it as a kit because I am doing a bit of traveling over Thanksgiving and I am not sure I'll be able to get them shipped in time.  But if there is a demand for them, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

And as promised (drum roll please . . .) the winner of the One Big Sale-Bration CD  full of MDS content is NANC.  So Nanc, please email me your mailing address (paulastamps@gmail.com) and I will get it right out to you!

Googly Ghouls Card and Frame

I had so many comments on the Frame I featured last week on the Blog Hop.  I am so happy everyone liked it.  Today I am going to share with you the details on that and the card I made. 

So without further adieu, here are the details on the frame:

Colors: Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White.  Stamps: Googly Ghouls.  Big Shot: Typeset Alphabet Bigz, Circle #2 Originals.  Punches: 2-3/8" Scallop & 1-3/4" Circle Punch. Embellishents: Polka Dot Parade Designer Series Paper, Many Marvelous Markers, Googlies.  Other: 8-1/2x11" Document Frame.

When I made the Family Frame last spring, I envisioned seasonal inserts for the same frame. Then Stampin' Up! went and retired the two larger alphabet die sets.  And the new Typeset Alphabet dies are much smaller and just weren't quite going to work for a 10x13 frame.  But I had made these smaller frames as teacher gifts at the end of the school year and thought I'd give that a whirl with the new dies.

The Polka Dot Parade Designer Series Paper is cut into 2-1/2" squares and layered on a piece of Basic Black Card Stock.  I used the Circle #2 die to cut 2" circles since that is missing from our punch line up.  They are the middle circle in the mat stacks under the letters.  For the Googly Ghouls, I stamped them in Staz-on, colored them with the markers and cut them out.

I have visions of making a similar frame with the Howlstooth & Scaringbone Designer Series Paper and the Toxic Treat Stamp Set but I haven't had a chance to yet.  Both will be offered at my Spook-tacular Stampin' Buffet coming up in about a month.  But starting today, I am offering the Googly Ghouls Frame Insert Kit so you can get one of your very own!

And now for the card:

Colors: Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum and Daffodil Delight. Stamps: Googly Ghouls,  Punches: 2-3/8" Scallop & 1-3/4" Circle Punches.  Tools: Heat Tool and Paper Piercer. Embellishments: Basic Black Embossing Powder, Many Marvelous Markers, Googlies, Basic Black Scallop Dotted Ribbon, Howlstooth & Scaringbone Designer Series Paper.

I made this for the Stampin' Addicts Holiday Catalog Swap. It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but I stamped the witch in Basic Black Craft Ink and then Embossed her with Basic Black Embossing Powder to give her some dimension and shine.  Then I colored her with the markers and cut her out.  I originally had a Tangerine Tango circle behind her, but thought it needed just a bit more color so I changed it to Perfect Plum to make it just a bit more "Halloweenish."

And if you missed the rest of the Blog Hop Projects, all the blogs are deep linked together so it's not too late.  Just start here.

Stampin' Addicts Holiday Catalog Blog Hop: Ghoulish Googlies Bundle

Welcome to stop #12 on the Stampin' Addicts Holiday Catalog Blog Hop.  If you're hoping in order, you've just come from Betty's Kitty Stamps Blog.  (Isn't that cat just awesome?  I've just added it to my wish list.)  If this is your first stop on the hop, no worries: all the blogs are looped together in a circle so you won't miss a thing.  If you get lost along the way, or just want to chat about the hop, visit the main hop thread on Stampin' Addicts.

First of all, there are so many amazing things in the Holiday Catalog, I had a hard time picking what to use for the hop.  But several years ago, Stampin' Up had a Halloween set called Booglie Eyes that I never bought and I've always regretted it.  So when I saw Googly Ghouls, I was not going to make the same mistake twice.  And the Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kit is only $4 more when you buy it in the bundle with the stamps so who wouldn't do that? Right?  You get enough goodies to make ten treat bags and you will have left over tags for other projects too.  And honestly, I just can't stop creating things with this stamp set.  It is so cute!  If you come back on Wednesday and Friday next week, I'll be sharing more information about the blog hop projects.

The first project I'm sharing is actually a CASE of a project that was demonstrated on the Main Stage at Convention by Shannon West.  It uses all the things that come in the Ghoulish Googlies Bundle: the glassine bags, tags, stamps and adhesive-backed googly eyes. I added texture, color and bling to the bag in a technique that Shannon demonstrated and I'll tell you more about on Wednesday so be sure to come back.

If you've hopped along with Stampin' Addicts before, you know that I LOVE banners.  I make a new one every Halloween (and this year, I've made 2 already).  I was actually going to show you the other one I made, but then I got the idea to use the tags from the Ghoulish Googlies Kit as the background for the letters on a completely different banner.  And I love how they layered with these die cuts from the Framelits Labels Collection.

I easily could have made a card using the cute tags from the kit too.  But I made this card for a Holiday Mini Swap a few weeks back and decided to feature it instead.  I just love that witch image. The Designer Series Paper on here is from the Howlstooth and Scaringbone pack also in the Holiday Mini. 

This Halloween Frame was so fun to put together and pretty quick with some circle punches and die cuts.  I love the bright fun colors in the Polka Dot Parade Designer Series Paper Pack; four of the six are perfect for Halloween.  And of course, the Ghouls make an appearance here with their googly eyes. Love those things!  Come back on Friday to learn more about this project and how to get a kit to make your very own.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at the Ghoulish Googlies Bundle and that I've convinced you that you have to have it too. Don't forget to come back on Wednesday and Friday to learn more about each project.  Next stop on the hop is Heidi's RunningwScissorsStamper Blog and a look at Perfectly Preserved.  She always has fabulous projects share.

Teacher Gifts

I know, I know.  I'm a few weeks late posting these.  They are the gifts I made for my boys' teachers this year and they both feature products that recently retired.  I hope you will forgive me and just enjoy the project and the idea behind them.

Actually, I got the idea for them from the Family Frame insert that I made a couple of months ago.  A teacher friend of mine was at my house making one and we started talking about how I could turn it into a teacher's gift and well, this is what I came up with:

Colors: Lucky Limeade, Coral Calypso, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Early Espresso.  Stamps: Fruit and Flowers, retired greeting.  Big Shot: Serif Essentials Alphabet(r), Timeless Type(r).  Punches: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Heart Trio(r) Accessories: Berry Blossoms Designer Series Paper(r), Lucky Limeade and Coral Calypso Ruffled Ribbon, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestone Jewels. Other: 8-1/2"x11" frame.

This is for the amazing first grade teacher my younger boy had this year.  The saying on it reads, "We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill"  I've always thought this was a great saying for a teacher because who gives more than they do?  The stamp came from a hostess set from a few years back, but I won't give it up since I love this saying so much. And I really do love these alphabet dies and was so sad to see them retired.  But again, no way am I giving them up.  I love them.

Colors: Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze, Naturals Ivory.  Stamps: Daring Adventure.  Big Shot: Serif Essentials Alphabet(r), Timeless Type(r). Accessories: Well Worn Designer Series Paper (r).  Other: 8-1/2"x11" frame.

My older son also had a fabulous teacher this past year. I chose the saying, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing - Helen Keller" for Mr. Hassett because he loves adventures and was so excited to talk about our National Park trip and other adventures he has been on. As you can see, I kept this one a little more simple (less embellishments) for a man.

The Family frame inserts were 10"x13".  But I also wanted to make these smaller so they could be displayed in the classroom, if the teachers choose.  So I shrank down the squares to make them fit in the frame.  (And of course, I didn't measure them before I gave them away so I couldn't tell you exactly what those measurements are.  Sorry).

This is the week I get serious about convention swaps so I should have lots of new projects to share with you over the coming weeks.  Everyone send mojo my way so I can get them done in the three weeks I have until convention starts.

Spring Fling!

On Friday I showed you a sneak peek of on of my Spring Fling Stampin' Buffet Projects and promised to share more with you today. All the projects and class details are now posted on the Spring Fling Stampin' Buffet page.

In addition to the Family Frame Insert I showed you on Friday, I am also offering this Spring-themed insert that can go in the same frame:

Colors: Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Gray, and Whisper White.  Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness, Fabulous Phrases, Loving Thoughts. Big Shot: Serif Essentials Alphabet, Little Leaves, Fun Flowers, and Beautiful Wings Embosslit.  Punches: Itty Bitty Shapes, 5-Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer, Tiny Tags, Word Window, Curly Label, Modern Label and Extra-Large Oval.  Accessories:  Twitterpated Designer Series Paper, White Taffeta Ribbon, Twitterpated Buttons, Baja Breeze and Blushing Bride Pleated Satin Ribbon, Pearl Jewels, Baja Breeze 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, White Grosgrain Ribbon.

Each insert on it's own for you to make at my class is $10, or you can make them both together for $16.  This one is customizable too.  I used BLOOM on this sample, but you could spell out SPRING or MOTHER or other five or six letter word.  You can also choose to make the letters Basic Gray or Baja Breeze instead of Blushing Bride to make them stand out a bit more.

Can't come to the class but still want to make one of your own?  The cost for the kit with everything precut, punched and die cut and shipped to you is $15. (No frame or stamped images included).   If you want this one and the Family one together, the cost is $25.  I have created a KIT page here that even includes a Paypal option.  Check it out!

Family Frame

My Spring Fling Stampin' Buffet is coming up in just two more weeks!  Saturday, April 28th from 11-4 at my house.  (I'm still trying to add a second date, but with my boys baseball schedule, I'm not sure yet when that will be.)  I'll be posting all the projects and more details this weekend but I wanted to give you a little preview today.

This is probably the project I am most excited about.  I know several other demos have offered this project as a class and I did a little sleuthing and as near as I can tell, the original idea came from Dawn Derrick over at Periwinkle Press.   Here is my take on the Family Frame:

Colors: Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Basic Black.  Stamps: Just Believe and Elements of Style and Fabulous Phrases.  Big Shot: Polka Dot embossing folder, Serif Essentials Alphabet, Little Leaves and Swirl Scribbles.  Punches: Decorative Label, Extra-Large and Large Ovals, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer, Blossom, 1-3/8 and Scallop Circle,  Itty Bitty Shapes, Small Heart, and Dotted Scallop Ribbon.  Accessories: First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper, Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding, Basic Black striped grosgrain, pearl jewels, scallop dotted ribbon and vintage lace.  Other: 10x13 frame.

I filled every square with accents, but you could choose to leave a square or two for a family picture instead.  I also picked Pear Pizzazz to go with the Black and Vanilla for my frame because it matches the colors in my house.  For the class, you can choose an accent color besides Pear that might match the decor in your own home. You will just need to let me know before the class so I can have it ready for you.  The cost to make the insert alone is $10.  If you want me to provide the frame (and I will try to buy the same one I have shown here if I can get them) it will be $25.

I will also be offering a second spring-themed frame insert that I will feature here on my blog next week.  And I can see myself offering other seasonal inserts at future stamping buffets too if there is interest.

Can't come to the class but still want to make one of your own.  The cost for the kit with everything precut and shipped to you is $15. (No frame included). I now have a page here that includes this kit plus another one now.  Check it out.