Week 15 (April 8th) - Adorable Little Boxes!

     This week is a little bit of a cheat! Instead of making a card, I decided to make a little gift box. This still counts for my challenge. The cheating part is that I followed instructions from my most favorite crafter and her blog. Here is the link to her tutorial...
http://www.qbeesquest.blogspot.com/2012/02/clear-top-candy-box.html

And here is how I decided to make them!

They are super easy and fun, and I think everyone should try one! :)

Make sure to order your clear sheets for the tops from www.mbreamstamping.stampinup.net

Week 14 (April 1st) - Collage Card Set

     I am not a huge fan of craft paper, simply because it is not very bright! I am totally a color person, so neutral does not really appeal to me. However, I felt very inspired during a recent trip to Michael's when I found some packs of paper that included craft paper, along with some very bright blues, reds and pinks. It was even better when I found the matching embellishments! So I bought the paper and embellishments, with the intent of making a new card set. It was a goal of mine to make more matching sets during my card challenge year, so these items seemed to be perfect for that.

Instructions coming soon!

From Stampin' Up
card stock: Primrose Petals, Crumb Cake,
Pool Party, Real Red
Classic Stampin' Ink: Midnight Muse, Real Red,
Raspberry Ripple
Live Laugh Love wood stamp set (retired)
Pretty Petites clear stamp set (Sale A Bration 2013)
Posy Punch clear stamp set (retired hostess set)
Sweet Essentials clear stamp set
Happiest Birthday Wishes clear stamp set

Michael's
Assorted Craft Paper Melodies and Lace
Assorted Jewels Melodies and Lace
Assorted Paper Flowers Melodies and Lace

     These cards were very simple to make....they are all 4" x 4" square cards. The papers used as the bases of the cards are all using the Stampin' Up papers listed above. All of the decorative square and rectangle pieces were cut from the assorted Michaels paper. I am not going to list all of the dimensions for these cards, as the pictures are very easy to follow! All of the stamped images use the inks and stamp sets listed above. And of course, these sentiments are fairly simple and straightforward, so any sentiment set would do. Sweet Essentials is actually a great set to use, since it has a good variety of words. 

Feel free to contact me with any questions!

Week 13 (March 25th) - Mother's Day

     Yes, I made my Father's Day card before my Mother's Day card! That's just because that one was easier... technically my Mother's Day card was planned in my head first. I am VERY pleased with my card, however, it was ALOT of work, and I was happy when they were finished. Apparently, the hard work was worth the effort, because two of them sold at my recent show!

From Stampin' Up

card stock: Primrose Petals, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade

Stampin' Write markers: Primrose Petals, Bashful Blue, 

Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush (retired In Color)

Fancy Flower punch

Posy Punch clear stamp set (retired hostess set)

Something to Celebrate wood stamp set (retired hostess set)

Festive Paper Piercing kit

paper piercing tool

Big Shot

Labels Collection framelits

Snail adhesive

Stampin' Dimensionals

Michael's

Inkadinkadoo Floral clear stamp set

-Cut a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Primrose Petals card stock. Score in the center and fold, making a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card 

-Use the biggest Labels Collection die cut as a template on the front flap, and trace the design with a pencil. Cut along your pattern with scissors (you can not run this through the Big Shot because it is too wide, but also because running it through will cut out the whole label, and you only want half of a label to serve as the front of your card)

-Using the paper piercing kit, pierce along the edge of your cut card flap. 

-Run a piece of Whisper White card stock through the Big Shot using the third largest label die (you should have used the largest to trace your flap design. 

-Choose one of the floral images from the Inkadinkadoo stamp set, color it with Primrose Petals, Bashful Blue, Lucky Limeade and Concord Crush Stampin' Markers, and stamp the image twice on your white die cut piece. 

-Color one of the flowers from the Posy Punch stamp set with Primrose Petals and Concord Crush Stampin' Markers. Punch it out using the fancy flower punch. Attach it to your white label piece using a Stampin' Dimensional. 

-Attach your white label piece to the front flap of your card using Snail tape. Trim the top edge that will be hanging over. 

-On Whisper White card stock, Stamp Happy Mother's Day, using the Primrose Petals Stampin' Marker and the stamp from the Something to Celebrate stamp set. 

-Trim your Mother's Day piece into a strip and cut a triangle out of the end to give it a banner look. Using Snail tape, attach this to a piece of Lucky Limeade and trim to make a border.

-Attach the finished Mother's Day "banner" to the front of the card, slipping it under your large flower.

Don't forget, you can order Stampin' Up products from me any time by going on my personal stamping site www.mbreamstamping.stampinup.net

Week 12 (March 18th) - Happy Father's Day

     I am WAY behind in posting my weeks, but fear not! The projects are actually complete! As I mentioned in my last post, I was spending night and day getting ready for my first show of the year, on top of preparing for my very first Stampin' Up regional event. Both events happened this past Saturday, so now I can finally sit down and talk about the projects I was making (which also went into my show!)

     The first new card I made, was a Father's Day card. I had been waiting and waiting for a good occasion to use my new hexagon embossing plate from Stampin' Up, and I thought Father's Day was a nice manly occasion that would fit the hexagons. Plus, I had never made a Father's Day card, and I had been asked at previous shows if I had any in stock. So now was as good a time as ever! 

     I am very pleased with my first "manly" card attempt, and believe it or not, it was fun to cut out all those little hexagons and place them on the card. Yeah....they are hand cut! :)

From Stampin' Up

Card stock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip

Classic Stapin' Ink pad: Old Olive, Bashful Blue

sponge daubers

Big Shot

Honeycomb embossing plate

Decorative label punch

Snail adhesive

Stampin' Dimensionals

Something to Celebrate wood stamp set (retired hostess set)

From Michael's

American Craft Fall Stripe ribbon

DCWV Fashion District patterned paper

-Cut a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Crumb Cake card stock. Score and fold in the middle, creating a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card. 

-Put the paper in the honeycomb embossing folder. You will have to keep the card closed in order for it to fit when you are running it through the Big Shot the proper way (you are only embossing the front flap, not both front and back together)

-Run each piece of patterned paper through the machine as well. This will create the pattern on the paper that you can then use as guidelines for cutting out all of your little hexagons. 

-I used five different patterns, cutting three hexagons out of each and then placed them randomly using my Snail tape.

-Once all the individual hexagons are attached to the front, you can run a piece of ribbon across the top where the pattern ends. I used Snail tape on the back of the ribbon to keep it in place, then trimmed the ribbon at each edge.

-Stamp Happy Father's Day in Old Olive Ink on Very Vanilla card stock and use the label punch to punch it out. 

-Using a sponge dauber, ink the edge of your label with Bashful Blue ink.

-Punch an additional label from the Chocolate Chip card stock and cut in half vertically. You will place this behind the Vanilla piece and attach with Snail tape, making a frame on each side. (see picture)

-Using dimensionals, place your finished label on the front of the card in your desired location. All finished!

Catching Up!

     Don't worry! I have not abandoned the weekly posts after only three months! I have been VERY busy getting ready for two upcoming craft shows. Weeks 12, 13, 14 and yes, probably 15, won't be up until after the completion of the first show on April 13th. I do in fact, have the projects done for those first three weeks. I do not, however, have the time to write about them!
     Just a little preview....there will be a Mother's Day card, a Father's Day card and a new five card set. I am very excited about all of them, and I can't wait to post them.
     I will take a few minutes to talk about all of my exciting events! On Saturday, April 13th, I will be part of a very small craft show that is in conjunction with a fashion show/fundraiser for the Souderton Telford Business and Professional Womens Foundation.
http://www.soudertontelfordbpw.org/event/fashion-show-luncheon/
I am very excited about this one, because I was actually ASKED to be there, and there is a limited number of vendors that will be there. The only unfortunate part, is that I myself will not be there. My wonderful sister will be filling in for me, as I will be down in MD for a Stampin' Up regional event. We both knew it was too good of an opportunity for my new official business, "LilyRose Paper Crafts"(more on THAT piece of news later!)
     The other craft fair I am attending is part of the two day Relay for Life event that will be held at Upper Dublin High School on May 17th and 18th (the craft fair is on the 18th). All the benefits go toward the American Cancer Society, including 20% of each participating vendors sales. SO come check out LilyRose Paper Crafts and buy some stuff for a good cause!