Inspiration where you find it!

Hi Stampers!
I was flipping through the Sunday Target ad and I saw this:

Please excuse the photo- it is a dark and dreary day here and I'm having a really hard time with my lighting in my photos.  I don't know why but when I saw this ad I immediately thought of using the ideas to make cards.  Here is card #1:

And here it is open:

I went out of bounds on my card- I didn't want to be constrained!  Mostly what I used is a lot of punches-1/8", 1/2", 3/4", 1 1/4", 1 3/4" circles, word window, Round Tab (#119864), and the Circle Scissors Plus cutter (#112530).  If you look really closely you can see I used the negative of the scallop punch as a stencil for the waves for my whale.  The card stock is Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, Tempting turquoise, Whisper White.  I used Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Basic Black Stamp pads.  I used Fox and Friends, again, for the whale.  That little set is getting a lot of use lately!  The greeting is from the hostess set Happiest Birthday Wishes.
My next card is here:

 The little owls are so in right now and the Owl Builder punch (#118074) makes this easy!  The branches are from my Sizzix Little  Leaves Sizzlet Die (#114511).  My colors here are Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, and Whisper White.  The only ink pad I used for this card is the Basic Black!  I made a diagonal dry embossed background that you may be able to see using my Simply Scored tool.  I put my corners on the black line that I showed you previously and scored at every 3/4", turned the card and repeated.  Stampin' Up is going to release a new diagonal plate for the Simply Scored tool soon!
Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine Treats

I realized I will be seeing my nephews and godchildren over the weekend and thought I better come up with some valentine treats!  It's a good way to be popular with children if you didn't already know...

I recycled the owl from Fox & Friends because let's face it- he is too cute and he works well for boys and girls.  I also stayed away from pinks too; I chose my colors mostly from the packet of m&ms I tucked inside here:

Isn't that cute?  To make it I started with a piece of Real Red card stock cut to 4x6 1/2 inches scored at 3" and 6".  After I ran it through the embossing folder I glued it with snail along the 1/2 inch tab to make a sleeve.  I punched a slit on the top through both thicknesses.  Then I took a strip of Pacific Point card stock, 1/2" x11", folded it in half, pushed the fold down into the sleeve, and fed one end through the front slit and one end through the back slit leaving a "hammock" to insert the m&m package (or whatever else you can think of).  The top ends of this strip are then glued together to keep them from pulling back through the slits and thus dropping your treat on the ground.  I pull of the strip of card stock and your treat emerges!  Isn't that great?  If I was smarter I would have taken photos while assembling this project, but hey, I'm a new blogger and still learning as I go!
Let's see, I used Real Red, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point, and Whisper White card stock, 2 circle punches, heart, and a scallop punch, "be mine" is from Outlines Occasions SAB stamp set, the heart Framelits, dot embossing folder and Texturz plate for the Sizzix.

Hostess thank yous!

Hey Stampers!

I've done it again, go me!  I needed to stamp some thank yous for my latest workshop (thanks Betsy) and I wanted a valentiney theme but- not too valentiney- so this is what I came up with.  Owls seem to be all the rage and I thought this one is especially cute.  I pulled out the old color coach, found Early Espresso and Bashful Blue would make nice coordinating colors with my real read heart, and off I went.  The little hearts dry embossed in the background come from a new embossing folder found in the new mini catalog.  The punches used were the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop circle, and heart punches.  Maybe next post I'll have some  numbers for you to order!  You can always go directly to my website from the link to the right and shop.
Thanks for stopping by!  Mary