The Carrot or the Stick

I say the carrot! 

This cute little concoction came to me last night after my phone rang at 12:24 AM! Falling asleep wasn’t that easy so of course my mind wanders to stamping.  Who knows how I came to be thinking about carrots, but that is what came to mind. 

Now to make thinking about carrots even stranger…I talked to a friend this morning who told me she wanted a carrot pattern for Easter!  OMG! Do you hear the twilight zone song in your head too?  So, I figured if two of us are thinking about carrots maybe some of you are too.  It’s not too early to start planning Easter gifts, but this project is not for Easter.   I think it is a perfect gift for someone that has helped you out or done some other good deed.  Just a reminder, all photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

I had a carrot pattern that I ended up altering.  I added the twist closure to the top of it and added some frayed ribbon for the carrot greenery at the top!  I would love to hear what you think of my carrot twist box.

 

Recipe – Carrot Twist Box
Stamps: Very Vintage Wheel, Vintage Vogue, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Inks:  Creamy Caramel, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Paper: Only Orange, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Sponge, 3/4” Circle Punch, 1-1/4” Olid Olive Striped Grosgrain, Dimensionals, Bone Folder, Dimensionals 
Technique: 3D Twist Closure

We all love carrots when we do something right…so make someone’s day and give them a carrot!

Enjoy!

Creating with Children

Have you ever shown a child one of your creative works of art?  They are always so impressed and excited about your project!  The joy and smiles show in their eyes and it always gives you such a great feeling of accomplishment, doesn’t it?  So remember when you have a child creating with you return the favor and let them know that they did a great job with their precious works of heart!

I had two events this week that involved children.  I had such a fabulous time because the children were so excited to have the time to craft and spend time with each other! There were squeals of delight, big smiles and giggles throughout our stamping time together.  Now I think that sounds a little bit like us stampers when we get together too!  I guess that means we never grow out of the fun times!  Don’t forget to involve your children or someone else’s when you craft the next time…your world will definitely be changed for the better!

Here are photos of the projects I created this past week for these fun events. Parents helped with all aspects of these projects and no stamps, or ink pads were hurt or damaged in the making of these projects.  ;) Feel free to click on any photo to view a larger photo.

Recipe – Valentines Day
Stamps: Fundamental Phrases, I {Love} Love Wheel, Extreme Elements
Inks:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Sending Love Specialty Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Heart punch, Heart to Heart Punch, Stamping Up! Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit

Recipe – Happy Birthday Molly
Stamps: I {Love} Love Wheel, Fundamental Phrases, Love You Much, Love Bandit
Inks:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black 
Paper: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Sending Love Specialty Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Real Red Marker, Punches – Small Heart, Scallop Circle, 1-1/4” Circle, 1-13/8 Circle, Heart, Heart to Heart, and corner punch, Stamping Up! Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit, Real red 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, stampin’ dimensionals, red satin ribbon, clips assortment

Enjoy!

When do you use hearts?

I always thought that hearts were only for Valentine’s day.  Maybe you were like me at one time.  I stayed away from hearts because I thought they were too girly…so when Stampin’ Up! came out with the I {heart} Hearts stamp set I immediately looked passed the set.  Everyone I knew was saying things like that is one of my must have sets….and I said “Really????” in disbelief.  So I purchased the set to see what I could do with hearts.  These are two of the projects that I designed. Both for different events other than Valentine’s Day, but both could easily fall into the Valentine’s Day category with a change of the greeting.

Recipe – Mother’s Day
Stamps: I {heart} Hearts, Well Scripted
Inks:  Bravo Burgundy, Creamy Caramel, VersaMark
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Gold Brad, Kind Thought Brocade Stencil, Sponge, Champagne Shimmer Paint, Sponge Dauber
Technique: Distressing, VersaMark Resist

Recipe – Happy Anniversary
Stamps: Medallion, I {heart} Hearts
Inks:  Real Red
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red
Accessories: Punches – Modern Label, Heart to Heart, Word Window, 1-3/4 Circle, Dimensionals
Technique: Can you see the I {heart} Hearts image in here?

If you haven’t given {hearts} a chance…this might be your opportunity to stamp your heart out!  ;) This fun set comes in both clear block cling mount and wood mount.

Enjoy!

Butterfly Bitty Box

This is a project I created last year.  I am thrilled to find out that the shimmer paint will continue to be available due to its popularity.  So if you didn’t get it yet…you still have some time to purchase it! You’ll notice a slight twinkle on the third layer of the butterfly, but it more beautiful in real life.

I spent a lot of time at the end of the year playing with my stamp pad re-inkers.  Re-inkers are not just for reinking your stamp pads as you can tell by the second layer of the butterfly.

It is fun to layer images to create 3D effects, try adding dimension between layers to get a different look when creating your cards, projects and scrapbook pages.

A friend of mine suggested this color combination to me and I am just hooked on it!  Thanks, Cindy!

Stamps
A Great Friend

Inks (Pages 155-157, 190)
Rich Razzleberry
Old Olive

Paper (Pages 155-167) 
Rich Razzleberry 
Old Olive 
Whisper White
Household Glossy Photo Paper

Accessories (Pages 158-205) 
Stampin’ Up! Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die 
Stampin’ Up! Bitty Box & Envelope Bigz XL Die 
Big Shot
Hemp Twine 
Paper Snips
Dimensionals
Sticky Strip
Frost White Shimmer Paint

Reinkers 
Bermuda Bay
Rich Razzleberry
Old Olive
Household Alcohol
Cotton Balls

Enjoy!