Just in Time!

I ran across a "To Do" pad with a calendar attached to it that I bought a couple of months ago. I took the calendar off so I could "redo" it so it would fit better on my refrigerator.

At first I tried to use the "Top Note" die but it was too big for the space I wanted it to occupy. I ended up using a piece of chipboard and covering it with Orchid Opulance card stock. I used the lace punch and made a border for the top of the calendar. And then I just taped the calendar on using red line tape. The color of the calendar blended so well with the Orchid Opulance card stock, don't you think? Now just add a magnet strip to the back and it's ready for your steel metal surface.

Materials I used here are:

Calendar
Chipboard
Orchid Opulance card stock
Red Line tape
Magnet strip

These are very easy to make and would make a great gift. This would be fun project for Stamp Camp too!! This is something the kids could help out with and no big mess to deal with. Gotta LOVE that when it comes to kids and crafting!

Thank you for visiting today,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge

I whined the other day about having/needing to make a masculine card and I ended up making a sympathy card I didn't need and hope not to need either!

SO with the new SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge this week I thought I would make that masculine card. This sketch was an easy one, fun but easy. I LIKE easy and was glad I could work this into a masculine card. I have some old stamps that I thought would work. I had a pretty ship, a windmill and this covered wagon. The covered wagon was the only one that fit in the size box for the challenge. I try very hard not to change the size of the spaces that is provided for us to work in. I mean, it is a challenge after all. If you make it the size you want then where is the challenge?

SO this is what I came up with. I used some of the Stampin' Up! "Autumn Meadows" decorative paper. I still have some left. Perfect opportunity to use it up!

This card is a no thrills card. No ribbons, bows, buttons or brads! Or any other item that begins with a "B"! LOL The "Happy Birthday" was done on the computer. I find I use that one a lot. It just fits perfectly inside the 1-1/4" circle punch. Behind that is another piece of the DP from that same pack. I'm sure my brother-in-law will like this card. I just need to get an envelope and put it with the card and I'm ready!!! His birthday is not for a few weeks yet but it is always great to be ahead of the game, isn't it?

And I no longer misplace or lose cards!! I bought this big cupcake tote and I keep it on the chair in my dining room. I put things in it that I need. I call it my "remembering box." I bought it last year and it was the first year I didn't lose any cards or gifts. For big gifts I put a note in it that tells me where I hid the gift! It sure did simplify my life when it came to hunting down birthday cards and gifts. No more hunting under beds or opening up bags with gifts in them to find the right one. Just read the note and go to the place on the note and VIOLA!!! Now if I could do that in my workroom I'd really have it made!

If you have time play with this sketch. You don't need to post your finished one on SCS if you don't want to. Just play with a new layout now and then! It's a lot of fun and amazing how you can dress up your cards with just a few layers under your focal image!

I'm off to play with beads! I started a bracelet on the 18th and had to put it away to get ready for Christmas. I am going to go upstairs where it is warm and curl up with a blanket, watch a movie and work on the bracelet. If I finish it I will show you it!! I LOVE beading! Another addictive hobby! LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Penguins on Ice!

Ok, it's not exactly ice. It's a store bought vegetable cream cheese dip. I made these for Christmas eve and they were a bit hit. The family was taking photos of them!!! They are not very hard to make either. A friend of mine made these earlier this month for a Christmas party I attended. Ok, it wasn't her that made them it was her husband!!!

You do need two different size olives and a sharp knife! You also need the cream cheese, carrots and toothpicks.

The toothpick things I used were too big and they had a fork like "thing" at the bottom. I don't recommend it unless that is all you have to use. It caused the carrots to crack and I had to cut a new one.

Here is how you make them. Drain the olives. Take the larger one and cut a football shape in it from top to bottom. This is the belly of the penguin. Fill the belly full of the dip. You can do all of them first or you can make and assemble as you go. I did a make and assemble because I needed to know how many would fit around the dip container.

Slice the carrot, you want the slices to be about the size of a quarter and about 1/8" thick. Cut a "V" in the carrot slice. This will make the penguin look like he has two feet. The "V" you cut out will be used for the beak in the head piece. For that head piece you will need to cut a triangle in the middle or lower middle so the carrot "V" piece will fit into it. Don't make it too big or the "V" piece will fall through.

Ok, now you have carrots sliced with a "V" in it. Bellies filled with dip and head pieces with the carrot "V" in it. Now to assemble. Take the head piece and insert the tooth pick until you see it come out the bottom. Set the body piece under it and push the toothpick in even further until you see it come out the bottom of that one. Now push the toothpick with the olives on it into the carrot. Push slowly, you don't want to crack the carrot. If it just cracks, that's ok but if it breaks in two you really do need to make a new one.

To make my penguins stick around the plate I used a bit of the dip as a "glue." You do have to make sure the carrot is dry or it will just slide on the dip. Set them around the dip or a bread bowl. They are completely edible and TOTALLY adorable!

Have fun making them for your New Year's eve party!
Wanda

Sending a Little Love Your Way!

Sorry I'm so late at getting this posted. It's just been such a busy day. I had to take my car in to the shop today to have the engine looked at from the car accident I was involved in on the 21st. Then I had to spend time on the phone with the insurance people giving my statement of what happened. And then I had to make an appointment to have the bumper looked at and an estimate given. And I'm still waiting to see my own doctor so that's another appointment coming up. SO much of my time spent on something that wasn't my fault. But fortunately no one was seriously hurt and that is the important thing.

SO back to my post. I know it's a bit early for Valentine's Day stuff but not if you have to make a bunch of them before that big day!!! I don't mind making a bunch of something as long as I have time to do it and better yet time in between to set it aside and pick it up again a day or two later so I don't get too bored with it.

These are obviously Hershey Treasures. Not sure what gave it away!! LOL These are actually for an upcoming project that I will share with you in a few days. But they will work as a little gift just as they are too. Just stamp a bunch of these letters on the candies and put them all in a big bowl for your party!

Materials I used here are:

8-1/2" x 11" label sheet (one label to the sheet)
Real Red ink pad
Regal Rose ink pad
Stampin' Up! Hearts-o-plenty wheel
Hershey Treasures
Stampin' Up! Brushed Alphabet stamps

I cut the label sheet in half and then wheeled the colors on. I cut them 1" wide on the long side. Then I stamped the letters on using Real Red ink. Stamp them about 1-1/2" from the edge of the stamped strip. You want to give yourself some play room so you can get the letter centered. Oh and the nice thing about the Hershey wrappers, they allow you to move the label without ripping it. In the event that you didn't get the letter centered. Knowing this from experience! I share my trials and errors here! Once they are wrapped you are ready to use them in a project. And like I said, I will be sharing my project with you in a few days.

You can do a lot of fun things with these. They make a great little Valentine's Day gift for teachers, neighbors, the paper delivery person, your mail carrier, etc! And a bag of Treasures has quite a few pieces in it so depending what you want to "say" with yours depends on how many gifts you can make! For me "LOVE" just says it all!!! LOL

Another fun thing about these is the kids can help make them. They can wheel on the background, stamp the letters and depending on their age, wrap the strip around the candy. And of course they must be in the room to eat that last candy that you can't use!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

So NOT Needed!

I wasn't sure what I was going to make for the post today. I thought about doing a Valentine's Day card since that is the next big thing coming up in stamping. Some stores were putting theirs out a week before Christmas. I know, it's good business to keep the shelves full but it was just difficult to think about it when I am in the Christmas mood and mode!

SO I abandoned the idea and was going to get a start on my cards I need for January. A masculine birthday card. But I just wasn't in the mood for a guy card today. I ended up with the sympathy card. A card I do not need. My hope for 2010 is to not have a need for this card the whole year! Wouldn't that be nice?

Anyway, a dear friend of mine (you know how I HATE to mention names on here) Ann sent me a wonderful thank you card using this type of layout. I liked that window idea so I ran with it. The card she sent me opened from the top and this card opens from the bottom. I also added a card stock frame around the window.

This is a very easy card to make too.

Here is what I used:

Sage Shadow card stock
Whisper White card stock
Sage Shadow marker
Apricot Appeal marker
Almost Amethyst marker
Lovely Lilac marker
Black StazOn ink pad
1-1/4" square punch

The white card stock was cut 8-1/2" x 5-1/2". Fold it in half and trim the bottom 1/4" and trim one side 1/4".

Open the card and make the window with the square punch. What I did before I punched was I took the stamp block and set it on top of the card stock. Then I lightly drew pencil lines on the card stock using the sides of the block as my markers. Make sure the stamp is centered before you draw the lines. Now take the punch and line it up on one of the pencil lines. Drop the bottom of the card stock all the way down until it rests inside the punch. This will help you keep the square even as you punch along. I punched across the card stock all the way to the other pencil line.

I closed the card and stamped the words through the window so I knew they would be where I wanted them to be. I'm not good at doing it with the card open. And I wasn't concerned if I got a little ink on the edge of the window, I was going to be covering it up anyway. But I actually did pretty good with the stamping! Shocker!

For the frame I did the same thing as for the white card stock punching but I had a big scrap piece to work with. I left myself plenty of room all around so I could trim it on the paper cutter.

For the image I used the markers to color it in and then I huffed on it several times in a row to get the ink nice and moist before I stamped it on the card stock.

After it was stamped I glued the frame in place. Then I taped the white card stock on top of a 1/4 sheet of Sage Shadow card stock and the card was complete! See, just as simple as that. I am planning on using this lay out for some fun cards in the near future.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Thank You's Abound!

This is the time of year I find myself in dire need of Christmas "Thank You" cards!!! I thought I would try to be creative when all I really needed to do was just stamp my usual way of stamping!!! These past four days have been extremely busy ones. Christmas eve and Christmas day are always busy. Plus we had a blizzard to contend with too! The day after Christmas is hubby's birthday so another day of celebrating and tonight we went out to dinner with our son and his girlfriend. They are leaving in the morning for Brussels. Our son has to go for work and his girlfriend is tagging along for a week. Fortunately she went on a good week because of the New Year's holiday. They will get lots of extra time to do a bit of sightseeing. I told them they HAVE to email me some photos. It will be a place I will not be going to in my lifetime! Photos are always nice and a message or two while he is there will be nice too. I told him he has to email me a few times a week while he is there. He will be there for a minimum of 3 weeks. That is SO long in Wanda time! But I'm sure I will survive. LOL

Recipe for this card:

Very Vanilla card stock
Real Red card stock
Garden Green card stock
Black StazOn ink
Merry Moments Decorative Paper
Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder

It's just a matter of layering. Very simple and what I like about this card layout is that you can take a small image or in this case a small word stamp and manage to fill up the card! This would be a great layout to use in a "limited supply" challenge! Scraps of decorative paper is all you need IF you are making just one card. Now I'm off to make the other 9 I need!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Blog Candy, Last one for the Year!

Ok, here is the final installment of the blog candy for the New Year's Day drawing! You can click here to see all of the candy for this fun drawing. What a great way to ring in the New Year!! I am going to have to do some, of what I call, "Creative Packing." It's amazing how much "stuff" you can get in a small area when you pack and stack nicely!!! Even I have amazed myself when I've been arranging things to make room for more. Some simple little stacking can make a world of difference!!

The blog candy here is the Stampin' Up! "God's Beauty" set and "Color Index Labels" for your Stampin' Up! card stock or ink pad colors.

So for today you can look at what is going to be added to the box and you can view what else will be in the box. And you can leave your comment for the drawing on next week's post. I will post on time for that one!!! Sometime on New Year's day the post will be on the blog and you can leave your comment to be entered in the drawing for all this fun stuff!! Sorry, due to postage fees I will have to limit this to US and Canadian residents only.

Thank you all so much for making my blog such a success by visiting it and by visiting it so often!

I hope you all had a VERY Merry Christmas! We got snow and LOTS of it for Christmas! It has stopped now and it is SO pretty outside! We truly had a white Christmas!

Thank you for visiting today,
Wanda

A Cyber Christmas Card For You!

Christmas day sure came quickly, didn't it? I hope all of you were ready. Is one really ever "ready?" I always have little things to do and most of them get done!

This card is our 2009 Christmas card this year. The snowman was made in March when we had a wet heavy snow. It seems that our snows here are pretty dry ones. Which I find extremely disappointing. A wet March snow is nice but the snow doesn't last long. I LOVE to make a snowman in late November and have it last for a month or so.

Now this snowman is a very special one. In all the years I've been married, this is the first time hubby helped me make a snowman. And the best part about it is we got to make it REALLY big. Usually they are smaller because I can't lift the balls. So making this HUGE snowman made my day.

I like to make them so they face my workroom window. Not head on but at an angle. Head on would kind of creep me out. Having a snowman looking in the window would make me want to shut the blinds!!! LOL When we got finished with this guy and went indoors the neighbor called and thanked us for making a snowman that they could see from their four season porch. I was glad that they could enjoy it too.

The mittens on the snowman are borrowed. I allow all of my snowmen to wear my mittens while I take photos! Then I take them back and go indoors.

Don't you just LOVE the nose? It is plastic. It originally had pick up sticks in it. LOVE Easter clearance items!! I even bought a jump rope with carrot handles so I have two more noses if I ever get a chance to make more than one snowman in the same snowfall! That is rare! I also cut a big dowel and drilled holes in it and added a smaller dowel so I can just poke it into the snowman's face or body. I did paint the dowel pieces black so my next snowman will have a perfect face and buttons!! And the best part is I don't have to find all the rocks in the lawn in the spring! These eye/button pieces are big enough to be found easily!

Anyway, back to the card. I just trimmed the card to fit the card stock and added the "Merry Christmas" layers in the upper left corner. I did the words on the computer and punched them out with a 1-1/4" circle punch. It was easy enough to make this year. My cards usually consist of lots of layers. So many in fact that I need to take my card to the post office to see if I can get by with one stamp!

I wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas. I hope your day is wonder-full!
Wanda

Do it Yourself! Weekend Project

I can't believe it's Christmas eve. I'm all ready for the next two days. Well, lets just say I'm ready for today. I need to do a little more cleaning to be ready for my company on Christmas day. If the company arrives that is. We are in the midst of a blizzard. I LOVE snow but I didn't order this for Christmas. I usually put my order in after Christmas! But the temps are suppose to be around 32 or 33 which means it may be snowman snow. SO I may not have to clean and will be found out in the yard making a snowman. I did have to resort to drastic measures last week and I will share it with you later. It's kind of embarrassing to let the world know but I do have to show you what desperation can lead to!!

Anyway, this little project is not one of desperation. Though it ranks pretty close to it. I was wondering if I could make a giant snowflake rubber stamp using the snowflake die cut. I had gotten a piece of plumbing rubber and ran it though the Sizzix machine like you would card stock. And out came a wonderful snowflake rubber stamp!! How cool is that? You can do this will all of your die cuts that have an image of interest!

I have a few that have flowers on them and I think it would be fun to cut some of them out and use them as a shadow behind the original die.

The white image is cut from card stock. The red one is cut from rubber and the final photo is the rubber piece the snowflake was cut from. I kept it because there is still lots of rubber left to use on it. I thought about using it as a stencil but a card stock one is much better, it's thinner and I can make one anytime I need one!

Isn't this fun? And SO easy too!!! I think this giant snowflake rubber stamp would make a great background image. You could also use it on your card stock after you die cut out the original snowflake though you would have to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the image stamped evenly. I think it would be almost impossible to stamp the image and then run it through the Sizzix and cut it out. You'd have to be pretty darn good at that to cut it out around your stamped image!!! I tried several times and failed each time.

Have fun with this idea. Now you'll be going through your dies to see what you can make a rubber stamp with, won't you?

Have a Wonderful day and thank you for visiting,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge

This is the card I made for the Wednesday Sketch Challenge over at SplitCoastStampers. I was very happy that I had some time to play again!!! With Christmas just around the corner and a million things to do I REALLY needed to take time off and have some fun.

This sketch was a very challenging one for me. I knew I needed to make a wedding card so I found the stamp I wanted to use and ran with it. This is what I got!!!

It might be a little hard to see but I used the swirl stamp in the set on the dress and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.

Materials used here:

"To Have and to Hold" by Stampin' Up!
Lovely Lilac ink
Lovely Lilac card stock
White card stock
White embossing powder
Lovely Lilac marker
Heart Punch
Circle punch
White grosgrain ribbon
Embossing folder
Sponge

This was a pretty quick wedding card to do. It took me longer to figure out what stamp I wanted to use than it did to put it all together!

If you have time I highly recommend you play with the sketch. You don't need to download your card to SplitCoastStampers. You can just make it for yourself to enjoy! Just play along and have fun!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Last Minute Stocking Stuffers! Weekend Project

Well, this was a very fun gift to make. Isn't it amazing how you can make a little dollar item look more expensive by just putting it in decorative packaging?

I used the Stampin' Up! Sizzix "Fancy Favor" bag. I used a piece of polka dot acetate from the "Night & Day" decorative paper pack. I think this was the first time I used this die and didn't cut off the scallop on the top!!!

I LOVE gingerbread boys (not as much as I LOVE snowmen) and I thought it would make a cute little stocking stuffer gift.

After cutting the acetate piece out I taped the side and then the bottom. I ran a piece of red card stock through the Sizzix but only cut out the scallop. I cut two of them so I could do the front and back, top and bottom. I added a little holly and berries. The kind of get lost at the bottom there and I had glued them on so I couldn't move them without ruining the card stock.

I added some paper shreds behind the gingerbread boy. I wanted him to show through the bag. Then I took the Crop-a-Dial and punched holes in the bag for the ribbon. I took a large eyed plastic needle (usually used for knitting) and threaded it with the ribbon. Doing this made it pull through all the holes at once and with ease too! I tied a bow in the front and that was it! Simple! Quick and easy too! Gotta love the quick and easy part.

Hope you're getting all of your Christmas things done! Just a few days left. I am going to go do some baking now and I think I am done other than getting the house vacuumed and dusted! It will be nice to have an evening just to hang out in the living room and enjoy the lights on the tree and maybe a Christmas movie!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

SO, I'm Making This Snowman....

... I wanted to try out this new die cut for over a week now. You know me and snowmen!!! I got all the pieces cut out. I'm back and forth to the Sizzix Big Shot and I'm cutting out the white and finding out I need more white pieces so I'm back over there cutting more. I wanted the hat, arms and boots brown so I'm back over there cutting them out. I wanted the buttons, eyes and mouth black so I'm back over there cutting them out. Oh and don't forget the orange nose!!! So after many times of getting up after realizing I needed a part in a color other than white I finally sat down to do the assembling.

It was pretty easy to assemble. I thought it would be more difficult because of all the "fun" I had running back and forth to do the colored pieces. The only thing I really had a problem with is the buttons. I asked myself several times "what is this" when looking at the odd button piece. Once I figured out how it went on the snowman it was a breeze too. It was just odd how you had to fold it and the only thing in the instructions that said a thing about them was a little line that said the buttons, arms, hat and smile do not have tabs. SO you were pretty much on your own there!! SO if I can put this guy together, anyone can. I'm not usually good about following directions but I managed to do it here!!!

Isn't he cute? The only thing I wasn't happy about with it is the size. The hat made him too big to fit in a regular card. And you can't trim the hat to fit. The arms stuck out too far but for that all you do is move them inward a little and they will be shorter and work. Maybe if the hat was moved closer to the eyes. Oops, just tried it and the only way to get the hat down low enough is to put it just above the nose. NOT a good look! Design a stocking cap?? That may work. Or go without a hat. But I will cut my card just a bit bigger and hand deliver it so it will be ok for me!

The instructions said you can also use this body form to make a bunny, chick, a pair of pumpkins ... and of course to just be creative! I'll have to try the "creative" thing with this sometime.

On a serious note. I would make these again and I don't regret buying this die cut!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Cover It Up!

Another Santa Theme item for you. Making sleeves is a perfect way to cover up these little Russell Stover candies. I bought some of these for stocking stuffers. I REALLY didn't want to wrap them and it dawned on me that these things are from Santa and to be put in the stocking, SO why not use the "Santa Theme" on them!!

All I did was take a piece of red card stock the same width as the box. I wrapped it around the box and then made sharp folds on the lines the wrapping created. I glued the red on the back of the package. Then I tore some white card stock for the fur on Santa's coat. I glued it in place.

I took a piece of black card stock cut 3/4" wide and wrapped it around the box to form a belly band. Not that this needs a belly band, sleeves don't usually require one!

Next I punched out 3/4" circles from black card stock and glued them in place above and below the belt.

For the buckle I used a 1" piece of More Mustard card stock and a piece of black card stock that measured 3/4". I glued them in place and it was all done. I made quite a few of these and it didn't take long at all. I LOVE projects that go fast and don't make me wish I hadn't begun them!!! Always a good thing when that happens. So now I need hide these until Christmas eve when Santa comes!

You can make these sleeves with pretty much any size box (depending if you want the card stock to be one piece or two) Though with the "fur" part you can always hide the seams of the paper there and it's always ok to have a seam in the back. So you actually could make this a very big sleeve if you went as far as to use 12" x 12" card stock! I like to keep them small. The bigger the box you do the more difficult it is to get those circles for the buttons. I like punching better than using a circle cutter. It's more convenient and I'm all about convenience and easy!!

For more "Santa Theme" items click here.

Thanks SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Blog Candy

Here is the blog candy for this weeks addition to the pile of loot!!! I will be holding the drawing for this on New Year's Day! You can leave your comment on that post and a name will be drawn from there.

This tin holds "Accents & Elements" by Stampin' Up! These are wonderful for scrapbooking and for stamping. It contains lots of flowers and borders and tabs in some very fun and fabulous colors!

Next week is the last week I will be adding to the box. Which is a good thing since the box is getting pretty full! And then the following week I will create the post where you can leave your comment to be entered in this drawing. This drawing covers my Blogoversary, my latest "Chatty Cathy", my blog reaching 90,000 hits (wait and see what I offer when it reaches the 1 million mark!!) and of course to celebrate the New Year!! Got to check all the items out!!! Just click here to see them!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Hey! Let's Twist! Weekend Project

Fun song isn't it? But it has nothing to do with this project! I had gotten some FABULOUS homemade caramels for Christmas from a wonderful friend. These caramels are to die for. I have never made them and they look like they would be a LOT of work and time. I make too many other things so not making caramels is an ok thing!

These caramels were in a cute baggie and wrapped around the baggie was a twist tie "thing" but not your ordinary twist tie "thing." This one had designs on each end. SO I thought, "why not try this with decorative papers." I thought of the papers because it would be quicker but it can be done with rubber stamps, decorative brads, buttons and even the large eyelets. Well, they can be done with almost anything you can think of put in the space you are working with.

Materials for this project are as follows:

Twisties
1" red card stock
3/4" decorative paper (Giving credit where credit is due, it's a Debbie Mumm design)
glue
1" circle punch
3/4" circle punch

That's it. Just a few items needed to do this and a few minutes. Using decorative paper it doesn't take long at all to whip up a bunch of these.

My ties are silver. They came from some left over baggies packaging. I just never seem to throw anything away. Sometimes it's a good thing but on the other hand, how much "stuff" can you keep around too? I now have the answer to that question. You can collect and keep it as long as you have room for it. Once you run out of space (like I have) you must either use it or re-evaluate why you are keeping it or how much you still want to hang on to it! That is where I am at now. I must go through "stuff" to see what "stuff" I am going to keep before I add new "stuff" to the mess!! Back to the silver twisties. Personally I think the white ones would work the best. They are made using paper and glue sticks much better to paper. You could use glue dots or red line tape on the silver but it might make the circle too bulky.

Good thing there is not a tv show about messiest cupboards! They would cancel the show if they saw my cupboards. The gals who come over to stamp are not allowed to open cupboards. They are ALL told that if they open them they have to clean them!!! No one opens them! I don't even like to open them!!! LOL

Anyway, have fun making these. They sure do add a lot to your baggies! A perfect way to dress up a plain old sandwich bag!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Santa Theme Candy Bar Holder

Hubby LOVES candy bars so I bought him a couple for Christmas. I did have to hide these. I bought Christmas candies and he's eaten most of them. See why I had to hide the candy bars. I didn't want to wrap them up in wrapping paper. They aren't "special" ones, just Cadbury. But I didn't want to just set them under the tree either. SO I thought i would make a "Santa Theme" holder for them. But I ran out of red card stock. I substituted Rich Razzleberry for the red but it's quite the same. But here it is anyway.

To make this you will need two pieces of card stock
Two candy bars (large 3/5 oz size ones)
Scrap card stock

For the main part of the holder cut the card stock 7" x 7-3/8". On the 7-3/8" side score at 3-1/4" and 4-1/8".

For the holders cut a piece of card stock 8-1/2" x 8-1/2". Score at 2-1/4" and 2-7/16". Turn and score other end at 2-1/4" and 2-7/16".

Turn card stock on the other end and score at 1/2" and repeat for the other end.

Cut the piece you just scored in half so you have two scored pieces.

Looking at the 1/2"scored end clip the score lines up to that 1/2" mark. These are the flaps to the bottom of the holder. If you don't add this step the candy bars will fall out of the holder.

Repeat for the other holder.

Glue holder together. It's just flap over flap. Just make sure the top front flap is the last one you glue so the bottom front is smooth with no raw edges facing front.

Insert the candy bars in each holder. Glue or tape them in place inside the base holder.

Decorate as desired. I didn't decorate the inside of mine. I just kept it plain and simple because hubby is just going to take the candy bars out and toss the holder! I know him SO well!!! LOL

Here I uses the "Santa Theme" making the front out of torn card stock and circle punched buttons.

The buckle is a 3/4" piece of black cards stock wrapped around the holder and used as a belly band. It is not attached permanently. A piece of More Mustard card stock was used to make the buckle.

These are very easy to make and it sure does dress up a candy bar or two! And they make a great guy gift! To see more Santa Theme items click here.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

See the Candy? Weekend Project

I LOVE making boxes with the Sizzix die cuts and acetate! I made this one using the Stampin' Up! Box #2 die. This has to be one of my favorite die cut boxes. I find LOTS of uses for this one. My favorite is to use card stock (it's much cheaper that way) and use a piece of acetate as a window. But this time I thought I would make a clear box so you could see what is inside. It's not like it's a gift and what is inside a secret! I'm not a big fan of these Christmas Peppermint Nougat candies but I like the look of them. It reminds me of the canes I make with polymer clay. You start out with this big clump of clay and by the time you reduce it you have a cane that is ready to slice like these candies! I didn't make any clay "candies" this year. I will have to put that on my list to do next year. I usually make them and use them for earrings. They are SO cute. It looks just like the candy too!

Click on the photo to see it up close and personal!

Onto the "how to" of this box. I ran a piece of acetate or window sheet through the Sizzix machine. The lines didn't score enough so I just took a ruler and a stylus and scored them deeper. I taped the box together and filled it with the candies.

Then I took a piece of Real Red card stock and cut it 7" long by 2-1/2" wide. I set it on top of the box and marked where I needed to score it. I marked one edge and scored it and lined it up on the box to mark the next edge. I wanted it to be pretty accurate. I did the same with the stripped paper. It came from the Stampin' Up! "Merry Moments" decorative paper pack.

The "Merry Christmas" was done on the computer and I punched it out using a 1-1/4" punch. The black layer is cut using a 1-3/8" punch and the scallop was punched using Real Red card stock.

I affixed it to the side of the box and added a couple of holly leaves. I thought it needed something more so I added the bow to the top. I ran the ribbon under the card stock and tied the bow on the top. So actually this is just a wide belly band for the box. It slides off so you can get to the candy without ruining the card stock!

These are fun to do and make great gifts.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge

I do believe I have made a Crazy for Cupcakes card for the Wednesday Sketch Challenge before. Oh well, one can never have enough birthday cards now can they??

This was another fun sketch at SplitCoastStampers. I look SO forward to playing along with these. I didn't think I was going to be able to post it last night, their website was a bit slow and the page just sat there. But I had "stuff" to put away from making the card so I just walked away from the computer and when I came back it was downloaded!!

Let's hope the photo downloads fine on Blogger and I will be happy here too!! Isn't it all about keeping me happy? I think it is, just ask hubby!!! LOL

To make this card I used the following materials:
Stampin' Up! "Crazy for Cupcakes" set
Cottage Wall Decorative Paper
Rich Razzleberry card stock
Basic Black Card Stock
Whisper White card stock
Crocheted flowers
Button
Rich Razzleberry ink pad
Markers
and my technique used here is layering and sponging.

I am SO amazed at how well the glue dots stick. I used to to put the flowers together (there are two of them here) and I used it to put the button on. Everything is stuck on very well too!!! Great stuff!!!

I had a birthday card for a friend but I am going to give her this one instead. I like it MUCH better than the one other one. I just LOVE these colors.

If you have time play with the sketch. I post them on here so you can see what it looks like. Th layers are numbered so you know which shape goes where!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Run, Run Reindeer!

Love that Christmas song!!! I LOVE almost all Christmas songs. But there is one that I usually turn the channel on the radio when it comes on. It's the "Carol of the Bells." Even the "Ding Fries are Done" version doesn't help me like the song.

Anyway, onto this cute project. I have seen these done in SO many various containers. I happened to have these jars so I thought I would see what it looked like and I actually did like how it turned out!!

These don't take long at all to make either. If you don't have a clear container and don't have Sizzix dies to make a clear container using an acetate sheet you can always use a baggie (they come in a lot of different sizes) and you can make a header for the top! Simple as that.

The words on here were done using the computer. I couldn't find a stamp that said that.

For this project I used the following materials:

Real Red card stock
Whisper White card stock
Basic Brown ink pad
Real red marker
Stampin' Up! "Festive Favorites"
Victoria Lynn 2" Glass Cruets
Martha Stewart "Peppermint Candy" punch
1" round punch
1-1/4" round punch
Glue Dots
Red Hots
Hemp

I made this one for my niece. I know she's going to LOVE it. She's SO into things like this.

These would make a great little teacher's gift too. And it's something that the kiddies can help with. Filling the jars, punching things out and even adding the red dot on Rudolph's nose! Adding that dot is something kids would LOVE to do the most. It's like the most important part of the outside of the packaging!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Ho Ho Ho Chocolate Candy Box!

It's getting closer and closer to Christmas and there are still a lot of things I want to make and show you!!

I LOVE altering boxes and making giving the simple things a better look!

I took the Stampin' Up! "Matchbox" Sizzix die and made this cute Santa holder box. It is a lot cuter than the original box they came in. I should have taken a photo of it before it went out in the trash but I forgot. But it was a long box and each Santa was placed in a plastic form. They were each anywhere from 1/2" to 3/4" apart from each other too. Unless you have HUGE stockings it couldn't be considered a stocking stuffer.

SO I ran a piece of "Merry Moments" decorative paper through the die and for the cover I ran a piece of clear acetate through. I assembled it and found it to be too deep for the three Santas. I built up a platform for them to sit on. It worked but it sagged in the middle so I made another one out of a piece of cereal box. Then I put the first one I made on top of it. In doing this I realized that the bottom could hold three Santas as well. SO this little box holds six Santas and now it's a PERFECT stocking stuffer.

And to finish it off I took a piece of black card stock 3/8" wide and made a belly band for it. But the belly band wasn't enough I wanted to make it more of a Santa Theme so I added a piece of More Mustard card stock and made it look like a buckle. Now it was a Santa box for sure!!!

The little insert measures 3-3/8" and is scored on each end at 3/8". It fits inside the box perfectly and now it's ready for that special Christmas stocking!!!

You are more than welcome to copy my ideas here but if you do please give credit where credit is due and add a link on your post back to my blog. Thank you.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Want to Play a Game?

I'm a bit late again posting tonight. I finished wrapping gifts. I think I did anyway!!! I didn't see anymore bags sitting around with "stuff" in them!!! And I have one more gift to shop for and I'm done with that too!!! Color me VERY happy. Tomorrow I have errands to run and groceries to get and then I will be baking my holiday quick breads and I am done and can finally sit back and enjoy the rest of the holiday season with very little stress!! I LOVE that!!

I thought this snowman image would be perfect for the BB's I bought last year and never used. I had every intention of making one of these but ran out of time. Probably a good thing to because last year Stampin' Up! didn't have the Sweet Treat Cups and these things are perfect for this game!!! It was SO easy to put together too. Wanna know how??? Well, too bad, I'm going to tall you anyway!!! LOL


Here is the recipe I used:
10 pieces of white card stock
StazOn black ink
BB's
Glue Stick
Embossing Powder
Versa mark
Markers
Tacky Glue
Dimensinals
Stampin' Up! Sparkle and Shine Wheel
Stampin' Up! Snow Buddies set
Martha Stewart leaf/branch punch
1-1/4" and 1-3/8" circle punch
Stampin' Up! Scallop Punch
Stampin' Up! Sweet Treats Cup
Double sided tape


Stamp your image on a piece of card stock that is larger than the Sweet Treats Cup. I cut mine 3" x 3". I stamped the image in the middle. Ok, I didn't really stamp my image in the middle. I had a larger piece of card stock and I stamped the image and cut my card stock after. Seriously I'm not that great at centering without a Stamp-a-ma-jig!! Now the secret is out. Here you thought I was good at this stuff!!!!

Once the image was in the center I colored it with markers. That means I had stamped my image with StazOn. I prefer StazOn because it doesn't lift off when color over it with markers. It will lift off a bit with blender pens but not as much as with regular black ink. I then set my candy cup over the image and drew a pencil line around the whole thing. It's still under all the "stuff" on the square. It won't show but don't make it really dark, try to keep it as light as you can.

Next I cut out 8 more pieces of card stock 3" x 3". I used a glue stick and affixed the pieces all together. Make sure you get them even as you glue and stack them together. Glue the snowman to the top of the pile. Punch out the holes. I started with the buttons and it looked cute. Then I did the eyes. If I was going to do it all over I wouldn't have done the eyes. Once the BB's land in those holes the snowman kind of creeps me out!!! It looks like he was squeezed TOO hard!!! Add one more piece of card stock to the bottom to cover up the holes. Unless you want the holes the same color as the background you are affixing it to.

Then I punched out the leaves/branches and the red dots and glued them in place. I made the background in place and added the layered "Merry Christmas."

Isn't this a great card for kids??? Maybe they won't be so creeped out by the eyes!!! LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Gift Card Card!

Nope, I didn't typo stutter!!! I actually made a card using a photo copy of a gift card. There are SO many gift cards out there that have such cute scenes on them. Some of them you are able to cover up the store name on them and create a wonderful card. I needed a couple of gift cards for gifts and of course I was drawn to the adorable snowman. And look up in the sky, see Santa and the reindeer? How cute is that?

Well, since the gift cards were to be given away I wanted to see if I could make a card with it so I photo copied it onto 30# copier paper. I wanted some paper with a bit of substance like that of most decorative papers. I didn't want it thick like card stock and card stock and my printer don't always get a long!

After I made my copy and stared at the image for a bit longer I knew how I was going to do the layout for the card. Simple, I wanted a simple card.

SO, I rounded the corners because the gift card was rounded on the corners and the corners where were white. I could have kept them sharp and cut into the image more but I liked the rounded look. I tried to pick colors that were in the gift card. Real Red went with the scarf and Night of Navy went with the blues in the card. After I put it all together I thought it had a bit of a patriot look to it!! Not what I was going for but it's ok.

The Merry Christmas was done on the computer. The punches are by Stampin' Up! And the snowflake background was from the Cuttlebug "Snowflake" folder. One of my most favorite embossing folders!! I put it all together and this is what I got. I like it. I still LOVE to look at that adorable snowman. You can click on the photo for a closer view. You can do this with all images on my website.

I also have another gift card I want to make into a card but this time I'm going to use the actual gift card instead of a photo copy. And I'm going to use re-positionable tape. This way the gift card can be removed without ruining the card itself. And I may ask these people to save their used gift cards for me so I can make cards with them (using permanent glue/tape). Some of these gift cards are a real piece of art!! And it's recycling too!!! I LOVE to recycle odd things like that when I can!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Blog Candy! I Didn't Forget This Time!

Can you believe I actually remembered to post this week's blog candy for the official New Year's Day Blog Candy post? Shocker, huh? I had such a busy day too. I spent most of my day baking cookies! Tomorrow it's going to be breads. Oh and while the cookies were baking I was wrapping gifts. Or should I say, "trying to" wrap gifts!!! Every time I sat down to wrap a gift the timer would go off or I'd have to mix up another batch of cookies. I did manage to get about half the gifts wrapped. I'm SO glad breads take more time to do so I should be able to finish up the wrapping tomorrow. How great would that be??? Keep your fingers crossed for me there!

I did bake some cookies that need icing on them. I have not decorated cookies in YEARS!!! It should be interesting. I bought the icing in the new cans that come with decorating tips. We'll see how that goes! I look at them and this interesting baking day comes to mind. Way back when I was just married my sister had purchased an electric spritz maker. I don't think I ever laughed that hard baking cookies, nor have I ever laughed that hard baking cookies sense!!! That machine pushed the cookie dough out so fast that we couldn't get it to make a good one. We took turns and laughed at ourselves and each others attempt! I think we did get one normal looking cookie out of the whole batch. And we ran that same dough through the machine many times in hopes that we'd get one good cookie and that was what we got, ONE!!! My sister still has the machine and she still brings up that fun day of cookie baking. It still brings a smile to my face when I think about it!! Maybe we should get together for old time's sake and give that little machine one more try. Machine one, sisters zero!!! We shouldn't have let the machine win!!

Ok, here is what I almost forgot!!! I almost forgot to tell you what is in the photo!!! There is a package of the Stampin' Up! "Long Notes (cards & envelopes), a package of Magic Mesh and a Stampin' Up! eraser.

Anyway, come back on New Year's Day to leave your comment on that post and you will be entered in the drawing for all these fabulous items!!! There's 5 weeks of them plus this one! Click here to see all the items!

Thanks for visiting,
Wanda

Technique Friday???? Technique Page

Ok, it's not Technique Friday. It's really Technique Tuesday but a few days late!!! But at least I got it in this week!

This is a very fun technique to do too! It's called "Reflections Technique." You can make any item you stamp look like it's reflecting off a pool, pond, lake or ocean depending on the image you use!

I chose this image because I was going to cut them in half for each technique page I was making but it looked silly cut so I left it whole. Once the image is colored in it gives the appearance of reflecting off water. I have done this technique a few times quite a while ago and liked it back then. I just don't think about using it when I'm stamping. I think lately I'm more into layouts than I am techniques!! Though it is very important to combine both!

The image used here is from the Stampin' Up! "Farm Life" set.

This technique is #16 in this set of 20! Only 4 more to go and I will be sending out emails to those who have purchased the sets before and then announcing when the set is for sale in my web store.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

A Bigger Note

I am so use to making smaller note holders and this one was a bit of a challenge for me. While sorting through some "stuff" in my workroom I ran across a small legal pad. I thought it would be fun to make a fun holder for it. I was going to use card stock when I remembered I had bought a package of the Stampin' Up! "Thoroughly Modern File Folders." Another one of those "why did I buy these?" purchases. I thought the looked cool but really had no plans for them. I will probably be cutting them up to use in projects. And as I am looking at the package right now the word "Sizzix" is going through my head!!! I'm going to have to check out the die cuts and see which ones will work with these!!!

If you don't have these file folders you can cut card stock to work too. It's not quite as heavy but it will do the job!

To make this I kept the factory fold and cut the back side at 7-1/2" and then I scored above the original score at 7/16". Then I marked the front at 7-1/2" from that score and cut it.

That is all you need for the holder. Very simple and quick.

I did have to cut the notepad down a bit. I didn't want a long full-size one. I cut off enough so the notepad is now 6-1/4". I added a piece of white grosgrain ribbon and then a piece of Soft Suede on top of that. I did tape them in place with the Sticky Strip tape. I wanted something that would hold.

Then I added Stick Strip to the back of the notepad and taped it in place.

For the pen I took a one inch piece of Soft Suede card stock and rolled it around the pen. I saw where it overlapped and cut it there. I didn't measure the length of that piece. It will vary a bit from pen to pen. I used glue to hold the card stock. Tape would work for a while but then in time it will come apart. Glue is the way to go here, including affixing it to the inside of the folder.

These make quick and easy gifts. Great items for teachers too!

On the front I did decorate it with a couple of ovals layered on a scalloped layer. The word "notes" came from a custom stamp I had made.

Have fun making these. They are simple enough that even the kiddies can help work on them with you, giving little gifts a more personal touch!

Thank you for visiting today,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge

Here is my card for this weeks Sketch Challenge over at Split Coast Stampers. This one was fun because the areas on the sketch were pretty big so you could really use your imagination and larger stamps here! I chose to use the Stampin' Up! "Snow Buddies" set. I have only used one snowman a couple of times and the rest of the set wasn't even assembled. SO I put it together (a way of procrastinating!!! LOL) and off I went to make my card.

I actually had a LOT of fun making this card. The background is done using Handsome Hunter card stock. I also used Rose Red and Not Quite Navy on the focal parts of the card. The stamp set came with the snowflakes and since I had just put them together I might as well use them, right? I embossed them with white embossing powder. I was going to use white craft ink but it takes so long to dry and it's not as vivid as the white embossing powder is.

I stamped the snowmen and their hats on a piece of white card stock. I cut them out and colored them. I taped the hats in place. I could have stamped the hat on the snowman but I thought it would be easier to just do them separately. It was not all that much easier. Smaller pieces to cut out are not always fun to do and I found it a bit difficult to tape the hat in place, there wasn't much room to work with there. The Dimensional on the back of the hat is actually what is holding it in place. I used a Dimensional on the snowflakes too. They are from two different Sizzix die cuts. And I added a half round pearl from the "Pretties Kit" to the middle and it seemed to finish off the snowflake.

Like I said, I had a lot of fun making this card. I wish I could make a real snowman. We are having snow right now. Actually we are in a storm watch. The winds are suppose to pick up and make it more of a blizzard. NOT fun. Tomorrow when I get done shoveling the driveway I'm going to be bringing in some snow so I can make a small snowman. We don't seem to get much for snowman snow until March. SO I feel it's getting a bit desperate for me and I'm just going to have to go out and bring snow in so I can have my snowman. This one is going to take some thinking to make too. Being it's small I will have to come up with some "stuff" for the eyes, mouth and buttons. I'll have to raid the cupboards to see what food stuff will work!!!

SO there you have it, my card sketch challenge and a dumb snowman story!!! LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

To Who?

One of the things on my ever growing list of "Things To Do" was to start wrapping Christmas presents. I did succeed in wrapping 3 gifts!!! Then I got distracted. Can you believe this??? It all started so innocently too!!

As I was getting the to and from tags out of their package I thought of how cute these were and how they looked like little books. "Little books?" Oh, I know how to make "little books." Seems like anything could distract me from wrapping presents!!! I think it's one of those things you have to be in the mood for. The ambiance was all wrong too. I usually wrap them in the living room with the TV on playing some Christmas movie. And in there is the four foot worktable that has the adjustable legs set to just the right height for sitting on the couch. I'll have to save that "job" for another day!!!

As you can see I ended up in my workroom playing around with copier paper and the tags. Hope I have enough tags for the presents!!! But it's not really a big problem. After all I am a stamper and I have several sets with "to and from" in them!!!

So these are the cute little notebooks I came up with using those holiday tags. Aren't they just TOO cute??? They measure 2" x 2-3/4" and are perfect for the purse! They make great little stocking stuffers too! I'm going to toss one in the box for the New Year's Day blog candy post.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

I Copied Carolina!!!

I was doing a little blog surfing and found a cute card on Carolina's Creative Pad. In fact it was SO cute I had to try to copy it. I didn't have the same elements as she used but I converted Stampin' Up! products and made it work for this card.

I used the Petals-A- Plenty for the background. The first time I ran the card stock through the Big Kick Sizzix machine I ran the whole piece of card stock through. It's so funny how you can't stamp on texture. Actually it's funner that I don't pay better attention to details like that!!! LOL

I used the "Merry Christmas" from the "Teeny Tiny Wishes" Stampin' Up! set and Real Red card stock. Then I punched out a red bulb and added some pearls from the Pretties Kit. I added some ribbon around the top layer of the card and tied a separate bow. I don't like to add the ribbon and bow all in one. I never get the bows to lay right. Adding them separately allows me to work with them more and get them to lay the way I expect them to!

This is basically a simple and quick card to make. It doesn't take long if you put the card stock in the embossing folder the right way the first time!!! LOL And this was a very fun card to make too.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Oh My!

That was all I could say when I was working on this card and when I finished it. I struggled with this card. As most of you know, I am a "layers" person. I LOVE cards with LOTS of layers. This one didn't fit that bill. and as I worked on it all I kept saying is "Oh my." Nothing on it was turning out the way I wanted it to and the more I did to it the uglier it got. But I decided to post my ugly card on here anyway so you all could see that not all of my cards are beautiful or perfect!!! I like you struggle with designs and layouts too.

And seriously, I am almost ashamed to show you all this card!!! It's just awful!! My intent here was to make a simple card. Not a simply ugly card! I don't have much to say about it either!!! LOL

I did use the Stampin' Up! "Delightful Decorations" set and the punch that goes with it. I stamped the image on white card stock and used white embossing powder. After punching it out I sponged the bulb with Real Red ink.

The background on the Old Olive card stock is done using VersaMark and the "Sparkle and Shine" jumbo wheel.

The paper is from the "Merry Moments" package. I have used up almost all of my first pack and a few from the second pack. Why is there always one design in a package that you think is the absolute best and you use it up, wishing the whole time that the whole package was full of that design only??? Like I've said lately, I have quit hoarding my decorative papers and in using them I sometimes wish I had hoarded a piece of it!!! It's a tough addiction to totally overcome but I am on the road to recovery!!! LOL

I do thank you for stopping by and having a look at this card. You are permitted to say "Oh My" too!!! LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Blog Candy! Just Squeeking by Here!

I nearly forgot this weeks Blog Candy for the New Year's Day post! I am not sure what time Blogger does it's big mail post but I'm really hoping I'm getting this in before it all goes out. If not it will be posted on Sunday morning. Well, it's not like it HAS to be posted tonight. New Year's Day is a ways off yet. Shhhh, I know it's coming up fast but I don't want to think about it. I'm trying to get done with all of my Christmas "stuff." The shopping, the baking, the wrapping, the house decorating oh and let's not talk about the Christmas cards. I'm still working on them!!! I'm hoping to find some time to finish them up tomorrow!!!

Anyway the blog candy here is a package of olive colored eyelets and a container of Hero Arts Valentine's Day stamps. These stamps measure 3/4" x 3/4" and there are 9 in the container. The lucky winner will receive these in plenty of time to play with them on their Valentine's Day cards!!!

So here is today's blog candy. If you'd like to see what the other items are that will be in the box sent to one lucky person just click here. With this one there are 5 weeks worth so far!! A few more to go before the "BIG" post and drawing!

There will be a quiz!!! LOL
Have a great day, Wanda

Sparkle and Shine Bulbs Card

Talk about a quick and simple card to make. I used the new Stampin' Up! "Sparkle and Shine" jumbo wheel. I LOVE wheels. This one was perfect for a quick and simple card.

I used the Embossing Buddy on the Real Red card stock. I didn't want any of that white embossing powder sticking where I didn't want it to. I got a few grains here and there but not too bad. I had an empty cartridge for the wheel so I inked it up with VersaMark. If I had to make a lot of these cards it would be VERY easy to do with the cartridge in the wheel. I then embossed it in white.

I layered the red piece (cut 4" x 3") on top of a piece of white card stock (cut 4-1/8" x 5-3/8").

I stamped the "Christmas Greeting" on using Black ink. The words came from the Stampin' Up! "Grateful Greetings" set.

Before I taped the white layer on I added the ribbon and tied a knot on. When I add my ribbon like this I cut a piece about 6" long and I tape the edges on the back. Then I slip a piece of ribbon on and tie it in a knot. Doing the ribbon this way allows it to lay nicer and it's not as bulky because there is only one knot in it. Plus it allows you to slide the knot where you want it. I LOVE that part the most!!!

If you need a quick Christmas card, this is the way to go!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda