Top Note Bigz Book

Check out my latest craftin' project! After finding this awesomely creative idea from the brilliant Lisa Somerville (a fellow demo), I ran to my craft space and created this little book using the Exclusive Stampin' Up! Big Shot Top Note Bigz Die (which happens to be available for you to purchase starting tomorrow, Sept 1).

The front and back covers are cut out from chipboard coasters and covered with Bella Rose Designer Series Paper and Chocolate Chip cardstock. The stamp set I used is Dreams du Jour. I used whisper white cardstock for the inner pages, but you could use copy paper for a journal or additional pieces of chipboard for a more sturdy album. My crop-a-dile came in handy to punch through the chipboard and all the layers of the inner pages for the binding holes.

In order to make some pink satin ribbon, I rubbed white ribbon over the Pink Pirouette ink pad. Makes for inky fingers, but looks oh so good! Just be sure to clean your fingers before going on to the next step.

By the way, who says you have to get dressed before noon on a lazy weekend morning???

Oh, hey, don't forget to leave a comment sometime this week to be entered in my drawing for blog candy!

Nothing like winning a door prize! Especially when it's FREE SCRAPBOOKING GOODIES!

I went to my first spouses' social at Randolph AFB on Thursday. This month was the activities social where they had booths set up for all of the different club groups we can join, along with various base and community organizations. Each of them provided a door prize to give away at the end of the social. Since there were so many people that attended, my new friend & neighbor, Sherri and I figured there was no way that our names would be drawn. Well, one of the last names to be called was MINE! And would you believe the prize I won was from the Scrapbooking Group!

Here's my loot:
As you can see, it was filled to the brim with all sorts of wonderful goodies--papers, stickers, chipboard and even a punch!

I'd like to "pay it forward" by offering my first BLOG CANDY! For those of you who may be new to the blogging world, that means I'm giving away my own prize! If you're interested in having a chance to win, leave a comment and make sure there is a way for me to contact you if your name is picked. I will draw for the winner in about a week. Good luck!

Flying Bear

Although I wasn't able to attend the Stampin' Up! Convention this year, I was able to see many of the projects that were demonstrated--thanks to my fellow demonstrators who took pictures and shared them with me.

One of the projects that was demonstrated was a flying bear card using the Under the Stars stamp set. While I was stamping with Jennifer on Monday, we figured out the basic assembly of the mechanical part of the card and, today, I finally sat down and created an actual card using this technique. This card is really similar to the one that was demonstrated at Convention, so I can't take credit for it's design.

You make the bear fly by pulling the tab at the bottom of the card. If you are interested in the inside workings of this card, feel free to email me at bbstampin@yahoo.com. I'd also love to hear what you think!

Subscribe to my blog!

I have finally figured out how to add the option for you to subscribe to my blog and receive updates via email. Check for the link on the right side of the page, just below my profile. Enter your email address and follow the last 2 steps and you'll receive my blog updates as soon as I post them!

Inspired by Nature - Brayered Scene

Would you believe it was the first day of school today for my boys?! I took full advantage of my first day of freedom and had a playdate at my stampin' friend, Jennifer's house! We tried a technique that Jennifer found on Michelle Zindorf's blog. Our rustic scenes were made using a brayer, sponges, and masking. It was a perfect technique to use with the Inspired by Nature set. Since we were playing at Jennifer's house and I wasn't quite done with my card, I waited until I got home to add my oval hinges & pewter brads. Here are our cards side by side (my not-quite-so-finished card is on the left).
We used Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Basic Black, More Mustard, Barely Banana and Close to Cocoa ink on Whisper White cardstock and then layered on coordinating cardstock.

Here's my finished card:




Feel free to email me if you'd like more information about this technique.

Brayer Resist Technique

Skeeters Brayer Resist Card
Originally uploaded by bbstampin

These skeeters are inviting you to dinner! Wanna come? Having lived in several places that were well known for having the "biggest" mosquitos, I was excited about the Under the Stars stamp set and the coordinating Skeeters wheel. While I was planning what type of card to create, I thought "when are skeeters known to appear most often? At Night!" So to get the evening sky look, I thought the brayer resist technique would be perfect to use.

THE TECHNIQUE:
Roll the Skeeters Wheel over Versamark Ink Pad.
Roll stamp wheel across glossy card stock (reink wheel in between rows).
Ink up Brayer by rolling over Not Quite Navy Ink Pad.
Starting off the edge of the glossy card stock, roll brayer repeatedly back and forth--reinking brayer as many times as needed to reach desired color intensity.

Give it a try!

Nothing like the smell of NEW rubber!

I am so excited! My order from the new catalog arrived last night! I didn't realize how many stamp sets I bought--but don't they smell good! LOL I am working on putting them all together so I can start STAMPIN!

The cool thing about all the new stamps is that they are diecut--so all I have to peel and stick!











Another toy I ordered is the NEW Sizzix Diecut Machine called the BIG SHOT! This is a new product for Stampin' Up! and will be available for customers to order starting on September 1.












This baby is awesome! The regular dies cut through just about anything--chipboard, fabric, metal... Nothing will be safe in my house--especially if my youngest son, Nicholas finds out about my new toy! LOL

Happy Stampin!

Fall-Winter Idea Book & Catalog Arrives!

I am so excited about the new catalog! There are so many great new stamp sets and beautiful designer series papers! I placed my first order for products in the catalog and am hoping they arrive by next Friday. It's so hard being patient! Check it out for yourself at the link on the right. Be aware that it is a PDF file and may take a few seconds to download--it's 212 pages!

Here is one of my most recent creations:

I made this card to send to my brother-in-law, Greg, and his fiance, Tara, on the announcement of their engagement.

THE INSPIRATION: We received their "save the date" card (shown below the card) and I immediately thought--Hey, those look like Stampin' Up! colors! Quickly running to my craft space, I pulled out the cardstock and ink pads to match (Chocolate Chip, Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue and Whisper White). Baroque Motifs just screams wedding to me, so I pulled that out. I had just received the Lovely Letters set that I earned for free and knew that would be perfect too! Of course, I had to pull out my circle punches... that was a no-brainer.

Playing around with the layout... the card you see is NOT what I had originally envisioned. I first thought to stay as close to the postcard's layout as possible, but I just wasn't feeling it. It took a while, but as soon as I turned the orientation of the card, I had it! The "forever" stamp came from Fundamental Phrases.