Autumn Leaves Card

Awhile back I told you that I came up with my swap card for a special demonstrator dinner that I will be going to in October and that I couldn't post a picture of it until after the event. Even though I love it, the creative perfectionist in me made me realize that it wasn't the right card for this swap. Some of the reasons include: The fact that I don't know yet how many people will be participating in the swap and I only have so many of the Designer Labels. It's also a fall themed card that uses an older set (With Gratitude) which limits the time my fellow demonstrators can use it as a sample for their businesses. My goal was to design a card around a stamp set that is new in the Fall-Winter IBC.

Well, I have been trying to create "the perfect card" for the swap before I totally toss this card idea out the window (so to speak)... and it finally happened today! What does that mean to you??? I get to share the original card with you! Here it is:

Here's a close-up so you can see the dimension:

There's nothing saying that I won't be making more of these cards to send out to family and friends between now and Thanksgiving. :)

In case you were wondering, here are the supplies I used:
Stamps:
With Gratitude
Sanded
Card Stock/Designer Paper:
Naturals Ivory
Always Artichoke (craft & classic ink)
Mellow Moss
Really Rust
Junto DSP (from the Spanish Supplemental Catalog: Celebrando Creatividad)
Punches:
1/16" circle (for the brads)
1" circle
Designer Label
Scallop Edge
Other Accessories:
Big Shot & Leaves #2 die
Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware (Designer Label Holder & brads)
1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon - Always Artichoke
Linen Thread
Sponge
Clear Embossing Powder
Heat Tool

As far as my "final" swap card goes, you'll have to wait until after October 24 to see!

Happy Stampin!

Another Non-Stampin' Project: Screen Tote

Last week, I went to a Stitch & Gab group at Fran's house. This group was very diverse in the projects they were working on. There were ladies cross stitching, knitting, crocheting, sewing, smocking and one lady was even clipping coupons. Well, I had never met Fran or most of the other sweet ladies in the group before that day--this is a military spouses group.

Fran showed us a purse she made out of pet window screen. Another lady, Genean, mentioned that she would love to learn how to make one and Fran offered to teach her. Being a bag-obsessed multi-crafter, I asked if she'd be willing to teach me too and Fran said "Sure!" We ended up meeting on Sunday for the class and I made a large bag--which is more of a tote. I plan on using it for a project bag (knitting, card making, whatever I happen to be working on).
Here it is:

Now, keep in mind that this purse/tote/bag is made out of pet (vinyl) window screen with fabric panels. It is super durable and stands up on its own--perfect for knitting! I still need to find a button for the top closure, but I'm not waiting for that to start using it! I will be proudly showing it off at my Stitch & Bitch group tomorrow night (this is a different group of mostly knitters that I met online).


I promise to post a stampin' related project soon! :)

Creative Hair Craft?

During a recent trip to Austin, Texas, we took a tour of the state capital and visitor's center. I was walking along enjoying the workmanship of the vintage hand stitched clothing, beautifully made quilts and then I got to THIS (click on the picture to get a closer look):

The placard reads: "In the 1880's, women often used their hair as a medium for making jewelry as well as home decorations. These items served as mementos of family and friends."

Now, I'll admit that the details of this piece are amazing and I have been known to recycle just about anything for a craft project... but HAIR???!

I'd love to hear if anyone reading this has made something out of human hair... anyone?

By the way, as a knitter and a shedding pet owner, I have seriously considered taking up spinning to utilize all the fur that floats around the hardwood floors of our house. I'm not sure how well dog and cat fur spin into yarn... but it's been a thought I've had. :)

Have a great weekend! Do something creative today!

Workshop Success!

Well, we had a fun time stampin' last night! The group of ladies that came to my workshop were somewhat (or very) new to stamping, so I'm glad I kept my projects simple. Here's what we made:

The hardest step for them was lining up the scallop edge punch. It can definitely be tricky. The key is to use the scallop edge guide (silver picture of the scallop edge) once you've made the first punch. If you don't, there's no tellin' what your scallops will look like... or if they'll even end up scalloped! But, once you've mastered the punch, it sure does make for a pretty edge!

I did do one more step on my card after I took this picture. I used the 1/16" circle punch to make little eyelets in each scallop. You can't really see it on this picture, but the right inside edge of the card has a strip of Naturals White card stock to create a contrast with the scallop edge.

Well, I have to rush off to knit on my red scarf with a new Stitch and Gab group! I'm at a point where hopefully too much gabbing won't make me mess up on the pattern. :)

Happy Stampin... and Knittin!

The Red Scarf Project

As with many crafty people, I am not monogamous to just one craft. At any one moment, I probably have half a dozen various craft projects in progress. Believe it or not, many of those projects are knitting related. Right now, on my various sized knitting needles, I have a pair of socks, stuffed toy turtle, lace scarf and (most recently started) a RED SCARF. I plan to donate my red scarf to the Red Scarf Project. As soon as I heard about this project via an email I received on Friday, I ran out to find the perfect color red yarn (limited by the selection at Hobby Lobby) and cast on for this 60" long scarf.

One of the reasons I love knitting, is because it is so portable and can be done almost anywhere. Last night, my family and I went to a jazz festival at a park in downtown San Antonio and... yup, you probably guessed it... I brought my red scarf to work on! Before the sun went down, I was able to get about 6" of this cable patterned scarf knitted. I still have a ways to go... but I feel confident that I will finish it in time for the October 31 deadline. I will be sure to take a picture of it before I send it off, so I can show you all.

With all this talk about knitting, you might be wondering about my workshop preparations (or not), but don't fear! I have finally decided on the two projects we'll be doing (I think). As of right now, we'll be making a card and Halloween bag topper. You'll have to wait until Wednesday for me to post a picture of what we make... I don't want to give away the surprise to any of my guests that are coming to the workshop (who may be reading this)... and it's also possible that I may change my mind--again. ;)

Happy Stampin... and Knittin!

Serif Essentials Alphabet Word Cubes

Getting ready for my workshop, you'd think I would be coming up with projects for everyone to make. Well... it seems like I've been doing everything BUT! Of course, making sample projects to display are just important... right?! Well, here's one of those sample projects I've been sidetracked making:

These are made using the Serif Essentials Alphabet dies, Summer Picnic Designer Series Papers, coordinating card stock, silver brads and Birds and Blooms Sizzix dies. My first thought was to make "CREATE". Then I realized that I could use a couple of the same letters, turn the other cubes around and add the letters needed to spell "WELCOME":

THEN, I realized that I could add the letter "H" to the back of another cube and spell "HOME":

So, right now, if you were to come over to my house (or come to my workshop at 7pm on Tuesday), you'd see "WELCOME" on my mantle. By the way, the 2 1/4" cubes are made out of card stock. Four of the cubes use one intact piece of card stock (scored and cut out of one sheet for each one) and the other three were pieced together using the leftover pieces of card stock (can't be wasteful!)

Since this project involved no stampin', I'll say:

Happy Craftin!

Spooky Spider Decor Elements

If you like decorating for Halloween, here is a fun product I think you'll like--Spooky Spider Decor Elements:

The spider comes in three sizes in either black or white, so you can use them for different applications. Perhaps hang a medium or large one in your front window and apply a small one on a candy jar (as in the picture). These spiders are only available until October 31! Contact me today to place your order!

Pocket Silhouettes

Have you checked out the Never-Before-Seen Stamps Sale? There are 10 great stamp sets at 15% off until September 30--see the link on the right for the complete list. One of the sets I have been playing with lately is Pocket Silhouettes. It's on sale for $16.11 (reg. $18.95). I have 3 cards to show you!

The first card uses the stamp off technique, where you stamp one image with a fully inked stamp and then stamp again without re-inking, creating a lighter shade of the original color. It's a simple card using Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant and Always Artichoke card stock, classic ink pads and ribbon... can you say "COORDINATE!"? I distressed the strip of Elegant Eggplant card stock by crumpling it up (a great way to get out any frustrations of the day) and inked the creases, then sponged around the Very Vanilla layer with Always Artichoke ink. For the ribbon, I wrapped a piece of Always Artichoke ribbon around the front of the card stock strip and then tied on small pieces of the three colors of ribbon.


This is another relatively simple card using the Top Note Bigz die in the Big Shot. The base of the card was folded and sent through the die-cut machine leaving the folded edge intact. The front of the card is just adhered directly to the base. Along with the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set, I also used the square background stamp from the Fresh Cuts set with Whisper White Craft Ink. "Thanks so much" is stamped directly on the white taffeta ribbon using Basic Black classic ink.


My final card has a creative fold that creates a pocket inside. I "cased" this fold idea from a card I saw on splitcoaststampers.com.

It's a 3" x 3" card. I started with a 3" x 9" piece of card stock, scored and folded it at 3" & 6", then I opened it up and scored from the top of the 3" scored line diagonally to the bottom of the 6" scored line. Here's the tricky part: on that diagonal scored line, fold the right half of the card back (away from you), then fold the last 3" section up. This should create the diagonal pocket. Now all you have to do is use your favorite adhesive to secure the non-pocket edges and decorate.

I used the Round Tab Punch for the... tab on the pocket insert. Of course, the ever versatile Scallop Circle Punch and 1 3/8" circle punch work perfectly for the focal point on the front of the card. The Chocolate Chip arrow type accent came from a scrap of the Bella Rose DSP I had leftover from another project using the Top Note Bigz die. The colors used are Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Naturals Ivory/Very Vanilla.

As you can see, with these 3 cards, I'm set for thank you cards. :) The other saying that comes with this set is "friend to friend". If you like the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set, be sure to take advantage of the special price! You can either contact me directly to place an order, or go to my official Stampin' Up! website and place your order ONLINE! I'd love to send you one of my thank you cards for placing an order. ;)

Happy Stampin!

Upcoming Workshop!

I'm excited to tell you that I have scheduled my first workshop since we moved to Texas. Over the last few months, I have been busy meeting new people, stampin' (as you can see from the projects I've been posting on my blog)... oh yeah... and blogging! But, for whatever reason, I have been putting off telling my new friends about my stampin' obsession. Well, I'm delaying NO MORE! My workshop will be next Tuesday, Sept. 23 at my house on Randolph AFB. If you are in the San Antonio area, I would love for you to come! Please RSVP by Sunday, Sept. 21!

Weather Non-Event...

Who knew that such a huge hurricane could be so close, but yet cause very little eventful weather here? The most I can say we've had is record high temps (100 degrees!) and one 5 minute spurt of rain, along with a light breeze! Yup, it's September in San Antonio, Texas!

Randolph AFB is one of the staging area for the air relief efforts in the storm affected areas. I can hear the low hum of the helicopters on the flight line from our house. I also know that many of the people who evacuated from the Galveston and Houston areas came to San Antonio to stay out of harm's way. It's definitely a good thing that the weather stayed north/east of here.

Well, as far as my creativity today... I did do some stampin! I worked on my top secret Stampin' Up! San Antonio Regional SCS Dinner swap card idea. (Boy, that's a mouth full!) I came up with a winner that I'm excited about. But, unfortunately, I can't share it with you until after the event on October 24. :)

I also did some scrapbooking and completed a 2-page layout of our new house.

This I find ironic, since we found out a couple days ago that we will be moving (yet again) in February. If you don't know, we live in base housing and just moved in over the summer. The powers that be have decided that our 1930's house needs to be renovated. Because of the asbestos under the flooring in the kitchen (that will be ripped up during the renovation), we have to vacate this house and move into another. We won't know until 30 days out which house they'll move us into. Although they did promise that the "new" house will have already been renovated. Which is good, because one of the scrapbook pages I made of our current house is titled "Pink Bathroom". Who knew they made tiles THAT color of pink???! And, just so you know, the entire bathroom has the same tiles!

I'm hoping the bathroom in our new "renovated" house will be a little more on the neutral side--although, now I have the perfect shower curtain to coordinate with the pink tiles. ;)

Life in the military is always an adventure. As the saying goes "Home is where the Air Force sends us."

Happy Stampin!

Sparkly Snow Swirled Tri-Fold Card

Even though it's 90+ degrees outside and winter doesn't even seem possible here in Texas, I have been having fun with the Snow Swirled stamp set (don't forget, it's on sale until the end of this month). Being from northern Wisconsin, I'm partial to snowflakes of any kind. Believe it or not, I actually miss the snow... well, sort of... just not the cold that usually comes along with it!

Here's one of the sparkly cards I was making when I learn my valuable lesson about embossing powder and ceiling fans not working well together (refer to Sept. 1 post):


I believe this is my favorite card so far. The colors used were: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss and Sahara Sand. The center snowflake was stamped with Not Quite Navy craft ink and embossed with Iridescent Ice EP--I love that look! The strip of Not Quite Navy cardstock was crimped to add texture and then cut in half. I wrapped two pieces of the double sided Satin Ribbon around the two card stock strips and then attached them to each side of the card front. After attaching the center front layers to the left side of the card using dimensional adhesive, I tied a shorter piece of ribbon on to create the faux bow. Be sure to click on the photo to get a closer look at the sparkle!


Hurricane Update: Ike is on the way to Texas and he's huge! From the satellite pictures, he looks just as big as Texas. I wanted to let you know that the area I live (near San Antonio) is looking safer than it did yesterday, as the projected path keeps moving more north/east of here. We are expecting some rain and possibly some high winds... but nothing too serious. The rain will be good for the area, as we are in a drought--although, flooding would be bad. Many people from the Galveston/Houston areas have evacuated, as that is where Ike is expected to make landfall early Saturday morning. Please keep them (and the people who have stayed behind) in your prayers.

Online Ordering Now Available!!!!

I am so excited to announce that the long awaited Online Ordering is now available! Even if you don't want to place an order today, go to my website and check it out: http://www.brendabromen.stampinup.net/. Click on the Shop Now button at the top right of the screen. Of course, if you'd like to try it out and place an order... that would be good too! :)

A couple features I'd like to point out are: The search feature--when you're looking for something in particular. And the Projects Page--when you need some inspiration and you want to know exactly what supplies were used to complete the project.

I'd love to hear what you think, so feel free to comment here or send me an email.

Happy Stampin!

Altered Clipboards

Well, I had a wonderful birthday! Aside from the Serif Alphabet that my husband gave me, would you believe that I got a "lifetime supply" of gel pens?! My sister gave me an awesome gift that any scrapbooker would drool over--100 gel pens (including every color of the rainbow in metalic, pastel, neon, glitter, pearlescent...)! I haven't done much stamping or scrapbooking in the last couple days... but I did knit (one of my other crafting passions) on my birthday.

Here are a couple projects I made a little while back that I thought you'd enjoy. They are 2 versions of a similar project--one using supplies from around the house and the other using one of Stampin' Up!'s wonderful accessories.

As with most crafters, I have a stash of all sorts of things "I might be able to use for something". Just ask the movers, that most recently packed and carried all my stash, just how much I have! I guess you could say crafters have been "green" since before "green" was cool--why would you want to throw "it" away when you can cover it in pretty paper and create a beautiful gift?! :)

Well, digging through my drawers and bins, I found a couple clips and a chipboard coaster to use with this project. I covered the coaster & binder clip base with Stampin' Up!'s beautiful Bella Rose Designer Series papers, then embellished them with stamps and ribbon. You could do something similar with a piece of sturdy cardboard. This is a great project to display a special photo or message.

With the same idea in mind but sort of upgrading the project to the next level, I used one of Stampin' Up!'s chipboard clipboards and decorated it similarly to the above project. I also used the Crop-A-Dile to add a couple Jumbo Eyelets to the bottom left corner. This project would also be a pretty way to display a photo, but it could also be a wonderful "to do" or shopping list holder! I kept the embellishments on the main part of the clip relatively flat, just in case.


Now, go dig through your own stash and see what you can make!

Happy Stampin!

AND THE WINNER IS.....

Congratulations go out to "Shell", as she is the winner of my first ever BLOG CANDY! Thanks, Rainy for introducing her to my blog... maybe she'll share some of her winnings with you. :)

By the way, here's the blog candy she won:


Happy Stampin... and Scrappin! :)

Look What Mr. Fed Ex and Mr. Brown Delivered Yesterday!

What a great day! It's my birthday on Sunday and look what arrived for me on Friday:


While I was anxiously awaiting a delivery from Mr. Brown, "Mr. Fed Ex" came with a package for me! It's been a tradition that my birth mom sends me flowers on my birthday (thanks, Mom!), but when the flowers arrived via Fed Ex, I sort of had to laugh. They were safely strapped inside a very tall and narrow box. What a nice surprise! Here's a picture of me with my boxed flowers (photo by Nicholas):

Well, a few hours later, Mr. Brown finally showed up with the package I expected (an order I placed that included my husband's gift for me--Big Shot Serif Alphabet dies--WHOOHOOO) AND another package with birthday gifts from my sister! Thanks, Deb! I can't wait until tomorrow when I can open them!

I'm a happy stamper! :)

Top Note Accordian Book

Another reason why I had such a wonderful day on Friday.... I had a play date with my stampin' friend, Jennifer. Boy, what an experience to have 2 creative minds working together!

Soon after Jennifer walked through my door, she couldn't wait to try an idea that came to her on the drive over. Finding some "scrap" paper, she went to town with her idea on my Big Shot... Her brilliant idea was to accordian fold paper just small enough to fit between the edges of the Top Note Bigz Die and then punch it out to create an accordian style book or card. Between the two of us, this idea evolved over the 4 hours she was at my house. You could say we were Happy Stampin! :)

Here is the book I made:







You would not believe all the different things Jennifer and I came up with to make out of the Top Note Bigz Die! It's another one of those "thinking out of the box" moments. When you have a chance to give the Big Shot Die Cut Machine and Top Note Bigz Die a try, be sure to take a closer look at the scrap pieces! Check out the cover of my book and you'll see a couple scraps that made the brackets on the sides.

Happy Stampin!

Blog Candy Clarification!

Okay, as y'all know, I'm new to this blogging and blog candy thing... From a few of the comments that I have received, I have realized that the wording of my original offer has been interpreted a little differently than I intended. My husband even warned me, but I assumed y'all knew what I meant. (yes, honey, you were right!)

HERE'S THE CLARIFICATION: The prize that I won from the OSC Scrapbooking Group was my inspiration to give a prize away. When I said "I'll be giving my own prize away", that meant that I would be coming up with my own prize to "pay it forward". Soooo, whomever wins my blog candy prize, will not be receiving everything in the picture that I posted. I haven't finalized exactly what I will be giving away, but it will be a combination of some of the items from that picture AND something(s) from Stampin' Up! (since it is my business and all). :)

Sorry for the confusion. I hope whomever wins is happy with the prize and is encourages to "pay it forward" in his or her own way.

Happy Stampin!

Blast Off with Another Surprise Pop-up Card!

Who doesn't like surprises? I have another pop-up card that is sure to surprise and impress anyone! I used the Surprise Pop-Up Card tutorial found here.

Here it is closed and ready to fit in a standard envelope.
















Here it is popped up and ready for a special message for that special someone.
















The rocket stamp came from Pun Fun and the sentiment came from Family Phrases. If you have questions about any of the products I used or need help while making your own surprise pop-up card, feel free to contact me.

BLOG CANDY ALERT: This is my final call for you to leave a comment and be entered in my first drawing for BLOG CANDY! The deadline is tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 5th). I will announce the winner on Saturday! Good luck!

Sparkly Snow Swirled Pop-Up Card

Okay, as promised, here's one of the sparkly cards I was working on yesterday when I learned that ceiling fans and embossing powder don't work well together. :)

I don't know if you can tell, but all of the snowflakes (inside and out) are embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder. I used craft ink for the Not Quite Navy and White flakes. In order to emboss the Baja Breeze flakes, I inked the stamp with Versamark ink first and then inked it up with Baja Breeze classic ink. If you give this technique a try and need to stamp the image more than once, be sure to clean the stamp in between each stamping. That's something you don't want to learn the hard way. :)

I'd like to share another tip with you about how I created the striped cardstock. I used the recipe card stamp from the "From the Kitchen" stamp set. I used several different colors of ink, including silver, (cleaning the stamp in between colors, of course) and just inked up the lined section and carefully stamped the lines on the cardstock strip. I challenge you to look outside of the box when using your stamps. It adds value to your already valuable stamps! I'd love to hear of what "outside the box" ideas you come up with.

Are you wondering how to create the pop-up feature? Well, basically you punch a 1-3/8" circle out of cardstock and cut it into a spiral. Then attach the outer end of the spiral to the bottom inside of the card with Mono Multi Adhesive (a little goes a long way) and let dry. Flatten the spiral, then put another little dab of Mono Multi Adhesive on the inside end of the spiral and close the card to adhere the spiral to the top inside of the card, let dry. Then open up and attach snowflakes, balloons, or whatever you'd like to go along with the theme of your card! I also anchored the ends of the spirals with extra snowflakes. It adds a fun surprise!

Happy Stampin!

Things I Learned While Stampin' Today...

1. Don't use fine Iridescent Ice embossing powder while ceiling fan is on.
2. Don't rely on pre-occupied (video playing) son to turn ceiling fan off.
3. Embossing powder flies farther when ceiling fan is on HIGH!

.

.

.

.

.

4. My craft space doesn't look all that bad with sparklies all over... :)

I will share pictures of my sparkley projects tomorrow after I stop sneezing from the embossing powder up my nose! LOL

Happy Stampin!