Monday, August 31, 2009

Let it Snow...

with JustRite and some FlowerSoft, that is!
I LOVE this little penguin, darling as can be! I chose to stamp and color three and have them dancing in the snow. The clouds are created with a dauber and my trusty (old) SU stencil. The snow mounds are torn pieces of cardstock, edged with Flower Soft adhesive and Fresh Snow Polar White Flower Soft. I purchased my Flower Soft last Saturday while spending a wonderful day with my friend, Joan Fricker. She lives in Indiana, about two hours south from my home. Joan had a stamping friends gathering and I am so glad I was able to make it! Friends, scrumptious food, and shopping in her store (be sure to check it out, wonderful and top notch service), Joan's Gardens made for a perfect day! Joan's store products are listed on the left side of her blog! I did not take any pictures, but Joan posted some here! Thanks for the wonderful memories, Joan.
I used my Christmas Joy set for my colored Penguin image and my Let it Snow sentiment oval. After cutting out the Let it Snow oval, I rolled edges in glue (Tombow Mono Multi) and proceeded to roll the glue edges in PaletteUltraFine Prisma Glitter. This Christmas Joy set has a great mix of sentiments and images to create a wide range of cards, gift tags, or altered items. The Oval wooden 1 3/4" x 2 5/16" stamper is used for this creation.
After stamping my images in Memento Tuxedo black ink, I colored the penguins with the Copic markers shown. I went over the penguin body a couple of times with C7 and really thought it was dark enough. I LOVE the tiny, intricate, snipping of paper. So, I did not mind at all cutting these adorable penguins out to place in the snow! The fabulous ribbon is from Sharon Johnson, check out her store by clicking the tabs at the top of her blog. Plastic snowflakes are from my last years stash...trying to use those supplies!
HOPE you are having a marvelous Monday! It has turned cold here in Michigan already! Brr...I am not ready for real snow, Flower Soft polar white snow is the kind I choose! Take good care and thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Snowflakes and A Cheery Snowman!

Not your traditional Christmas colors, but fun and bright! Isn't this snowman the cutest? You can color him any way you want to! I used tuxedo black Memento ink for the snowman image and Papertreyink Fresh Snow ink for the snowflakes. Simple card construction, utilizing a cardstock frame left from cutting a circle for another project. I am really trying this year to be more conscious of using leftovers, re purposing, and being more economical minded! That leaves me more funds to buy stamp supplies!
A peek of the JustRite stamps I used. Both sets are from JustRite's Christmas release! The snowflake image can be found in A Merry Little Christmas Set and the snowman image is from the Old Fashioned Christmas Set. Using my round 1 5/8" and 3 1/4" wooden stampers. If you did not get a chance to view the Christmas blog hop, you are in for a special treat! So much inspiration to get you started on those holiday creations. I do trim my JustRite stamps before I use them, and Sharon Johnson has a great post on conditioning them as well, to get a clear stamped image.
A closeup of this adorable image! I used copic markers to color. I did not get the colors written down or photographed before I put the markers away, ugh. I have to remember to photo them before putting them away! Look at that gorgeous ribbon from Sharon Johnson's ribbon store. Click on her ribbon store tabs located on the top of her blog.
Hope you are having a marvelous Monday so far! I will be posting pictures of my new studio this week! I have decided if I wait until the room is all organized and decorated I will never take pictures! Thanks so much for stopping by and
take good care!

Monday, August 17, 2009

From Our House to Yours...

EDITED: WOW...if you have not had the chance to journey through the JustRite Christmas Blog Hop list, I would get going! Sooo many inspiring ideas and creations! In all the blog hop flurry, I almost forgot to announce the "Washcloth Cake Roll" winner! in celebration of Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply 100th Challenge Birthday Party! And the winner is: LIZ WILLIAMS! Here is what she had to say: This is just the cutest thing! I saw some toe jam the other day in a craft store that had baby socks rolled up inside a jar! Loved your clever idea so TFS!!! PLEASE send me your addy, LIZ @ bjshome@sbcglobal.net Congratulations! MERRY CHRISTMAS and welcome to JustRite's Christmas Blog Hop! I chose to make a fun, simple, and economical gift bag! Perfect for special Christmas treats, candies, or maybe an ornament? This is an idea I learned years ago when our daughter was in grade school. Now, I did tweak it a bit. I chose to use my Spellbinders die for the door, and cut inchies for the windows instead of coloring or painting directly on the lunch bag. The bag is folded over and the roof top held secure with the chimney clip (a craft size clothespin)! I also Cuttlebug embossed the roof edge, and hand cut along the design. And do I see Santa caught in the chimney? This is also an added element to the initial idea!
The JustRite sets I used in this creation are: Witch Way to the Treats Set for the door wreath, A Merry Little Christmas Set for the Santa hat, and Something Sweet Set for my rooftop message. Round wooden blocks used, (in same order as sets listed) 1 3/16"., 1 5/8", and 2 3/8". You are going to get so much use out of these new Christmas sets. I love the Witch Way to the Treats ring border for my door wreath, adding adhesive red gems after I punched it out.
The chimney is also Cuttlebug embossed. It is a cardstock strip that is folded at the bottom, allowing the Santa hat to be inserted between the two layers at the top of the chimney. Black cardstock is from SU, all other papers and ribbon is from PapertreyInk.
The Santa hat is a perfect image to color! Here are the Copic colors I utilized! I am thinking Christmas cookies for Santa would be perfect for this bag, since he's stuck in the chimney!
A peek at the back of the chimney clip. When we made these with students, they simply glued a piece of construction paper onto a clothespin for the chimney, again I stepped up the design a bit. I have to say though, the kids house gift bags turned out wonderful! And what a great way to present a gift...for teacher, neighbor, or childcare provider. Wouldn't varied sizes of brown lunch type bags, white or colored bags make darling houses too? Fun, simple and inexpensive! Gotta love that!
JustRite's design team along with listed designers have been busy creating using the fabulous new JustRite Christmas sets for this special BLOG HOP. Be sure to check out the blog list for all the wonderful ideas. AND visit the JustRite blog for your daily updates of JustRite ideas and creations. Thanks for stopping by today! TAKE GOOD CARE! Unlimited inspiration, JustRite for YOU!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Wanna Party?

A Stamp Simply's 100th Challenge Birthday Party! What a great time and reason to celebrate! Sharon Johnson is hosting a 100th Challenge birthday party in honor of all of you who check out Stamp Simply challenges and have played along over the last 100 weeks! So, it only follows that today's challenge is to make a birthday card--that's it--how simple and how fun! Today, many of the designers who have worked with Stamp Simply in the past in any capacity--Retired Designer, Guest Designer, Party Participant, whatever--have been invited to join in the celebration to bring some fun projects and ideas to all of you! I've had this cute washcloth cake roll just begging to be tagged! It's fitting in celebration of Sharon's Stamp Simply success! The base and clear lid is the packaging I purchased the cake roll in. There are two washcloths, one white and one brown, folded and rolled. What better way to add a tag than to get out my trusty JustRite stamps! The outer border ring comes from JustRite's Favorite Occasions Set, and the center is from What's Cookin' Set. Both stamps use the 1 5/8" round wooden block. Using Memento Espresso ink, I stamped on PapertreyInk white and spring rain cardstock. Tag is punched and layered for dimension.
Here is a photo showing the cake roll out of the container. I slid off the beautiful wide blue striped ribbon, (found at Sharon's ribbon store) to show you the inside ribbon embellishment. Utilizing PapertreyInk ribbon, button, and punched cardstock to embellish the roll is perfect for a finishing touch! Do you have a favorite cake roll or cake recipe? I love a yummy cake roll, and thought I would share a recipe and a link to some of my favorites.
Family Favorite: PUMPKIN CAKE ROLL
3 Eggs
1 Cup White Sugar
3/4 Cup Pumpkin
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
3/4 Cup Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Cup Walnuts, chopped
Powdered Sugar
For filling mix thoroughly: 1 Cup Powdered Sugar, 6-8ounces Cream Cheese, 4 Tablespoons Margarine, 1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg ahead of time. Beat eggs on high for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar; stir in pumpkin and lemon. Stir together dry ingredients and fold in. Grease regular cookie sheet and line with greased wax paper, making sure to get the corners too. Spread mixture and sprinkle walnuts on top and tap into mixture. Bake 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Invert on cheesecloth or thin dish towel, covered with powdered sugar. Roll and cool in refrigerator 1 1/2 hours. Carefully unroll and spread on filling. Reroll slowly and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate. Yum! Slice and enjoy!
Here are a few more that you may enjoy! Great info and recipes, I can't wait to try the lemon cake roll! Oh my, they all look luscious!
Catch the all the links for inspiration after inspiration:
1. Pat, The Rubbermaid-BLOG Candy offering
2. AJ, The Willow Garder
3. Janine, 2BKrafty-BLOG Candy offering
4. Tammy, Stamp Happy- BLOG Candy offering
5. Jennifer, The Buck Stamps Here-BLOG Candy offering
6. Julie, OuttoImpress
7. Barbara, Paper Pursuits, BLOG Candy offering
8. Deb, Dream In Color
9. Jenny, One Krafty Kat-BLOG Candy offering
10. Jerri, A Touch of Grace
11. Joan, Joan's Gardens-BLOG Candy Offering
12. LeAnne, Wee Inklings
13. Barb -ME, Explore.Dream.Discover- BLOG Candy offering
14. Darlene, Dar's Crafty Creations
15. RoseAnn, Paper Delightz-BLOG Candy offering
16. Leslie, Running with Scissors
17. Heather, Bits and Pieces
18. Sabrina, SJButterfly Dreams-BLOG Candy offering
AND OF COURSE, our hostess,
19. SHARON JOHNSON. Leave some well deserved congrats and love on Sharon's blog . Warmest regards and heartfelt congratulations to you my friend!
CakeRoll BLOG CANDY
If you would like me to send you this washcloth cake roll, please leave a comment with your name and contact information on this post. I will announce the winner here on my blog Monday, August 17 after 10am. Good Luck! Take good care!