Ain't easy being green

Hi Stampers!

I'm up to a new challenge today!  Shelli Gardner, Stampin' Up! Co-founder and CEO has a monthly challenge on her blog So Shelli and I thought I'd step up my game this week by coming up with a project for this month's challenge: Green and Growing.  Now I've told you here in the Redwood forest that spring comes slowly, but we do have green and growing.  The rainforest is ALWAYS green.  A couple of weeks ago I stamped a card with the tiny yellow violets that were just peeping out, the first of our spring flowers.  This week Forget-me-nots are dotting the perimeter under the giant redwood trees.  They are so cute and perky!  Isn't it funny that the giant redwoods have the tiniest flowers?  This project is a tribute to them:

 Oh, and the Easter Bunny.  I started with a clear plastic cup that I traced for a template by rolling it along my scratch pad with a pencil.  How come "Red Solo Cup" is now rambling through my brain just by typing the words "plastic cup"?  And will it ever go away?  I wanted the grass to be lush so I cut a second row of grass and added that as well.  Our grass here is infilled with moss so I used Lucky Limeade for the fill, cutting thin slices and running it through our Crimper tool.  I LOVE this tool- it is one of the older things I have in my tool box but I use it regularly.  The egg is from my hen house.  I wish I had Aracauna chickens so I would have blue green eggs, but don't tell my Rhode Island Reds- they have been staunch layers for 3 years now!

As an aside (another one) I have to tell you that I'm amazed that I don't have any colored plastic Easter eggs lying around here.  When my girls were small the plastic Easter eggs provided WEEKS of entertainment for them.  I'd get a bunch of plastic eggs and a couple of Easter baskets and they would take turns hiding them from each other.  Surprise and delight were not just limited to the filled eggs left by the bunny on Easter Sunday.  Of course that meant weeks of finding errant eggs post said holiday, but the rewards were worth the inconvenience.  My little darlings are grown and gone now, and the last of the plastic eggs disappeared.  Sniff.

The bunny is an assortment of punches and some daubing of Pretty in Pink ink to color the back of the feet.

Thanks for stopping by!
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set #115370
Basic Black stampin pad #101179
Pretty in Pink stampin pad #101301
Garden Green card stock #102584
Lucky Limeade card stock #122926
Pool Party card stock #122924
Daffodil delight card stock #119683
Whisper White card stock #100730
Large oval punch#119855
Extra large oval punch #119859
Scallop circle Punch #119854
1 1/4" circle punch  119861
 1 3/8" circle punch #119860
Owl punch #118074
Boho blossoms punch #119858
5 petal flower punch #119880
Sticky Strip #104294
Dimensionals #104430
Crimper tool # 101618

Raining rain, Raining Flowers

Hi Stampers!
It seems like it's been raining FOREVER here in the rainforest, and the forecast is for more rain all week.  There is only one thing to be done- make it rain flowers.  Yep, the stamp kind.  I know, I told you we won't have the profusion of flowers most of you are experiencing until June, but here in my workshop I can have anything I want.  Within reason.  And aren't flower stamps reasonable?
To make it more fun, I'm joining a challenge.  Makes me think I'm stamping with all my new friends out there ;O).  That's you, of course!  I found this Mojo Monday challenge here- and I'm supposed to label this MOJO 234.

This is the last week of Sale-a-bration so I want to use my Everyday Enchantment collection products while they are still available.  The way my DSP fit together made me think of a quilt so I punched some holes with my mat pack (#105826) and paper piercing tool (#116631) and then inked with the uni-ball signo gel pen (#105021) to make it look like I actually pulled out my sewing machine.
I hope it's raining flowers in your world today!
Thanks for stopping by!
Raining Flowers stamp set #122765w 122767c
Teeny tiny wishes # 115370
Poppy Parade card stock #119793
Poppy Parade stampin pad #119782
Everyday Enchantment DSP
Everyday Enchantment ribbon
Calypso Coral card stock #122925
Calypso Coral stampin pd #122939
Pool Party card stock #122924
Pool Party stampin pad #122938
Whisper White card stock #100730
Lucky Limeade stamp pad #122935
Blender Pen#102845
Bold Brights brad #119740
Dimensionals#104430
 

the Easter Bunny!

Hi Stampers!
I was going to totally CASE a cute easter bunny card I saw on another blog, it was the cutest little thing ever, BUT it turns out I didn't have all the punches I needed.  This tends to be a common theme for me when I'm going to copy something so I have learned not to be thwarted.  It turns out I was a PRO at make circle bunnies in elementary and high school- I drew them in the margins of my notebooks, on the covers of my textbooks (yes, they had brown paper covers on them!  I wouldn't deface a book!), everywhere.  I know the basic concept so I thought I'd work out the circle bunny with the punches I did have and it turned out to be easier than I thought!  Isn't that the way it often is?  A little daubing, a few marker lines, and this is what I came up with:

Thanks for stopping by!
Teeny tiny wishes
Everyday enchantment DSP, Brads, and ribbon
Pool Party card stock
Calypso Coral card stock
Basic Black card stock
Whisper White card stock
1 3/4" , 1 1/4", and 3/4" circle punches
large oval punch
oval punch
Heart punch
Cupcake punch
word window punch
 

Birthday Box

My neighbor/friend Peggy is crazy wonderful.  One of many reasons is because she remembers EVERYONE'S birthday and sends them a card, ON TIME.  Now I may remember birthdays sometimes, and I have LOTS of cards, and I may occasionally remember to sign and send said cards, but not usually all of the above and on time.  Bad, bad me.  Anyway, Peggy also manages what she calls my "Puck & Cluck" (dog and chickens) when I'm on the road, and if my dog thinks she's special she gets extra gold stars around here.  In fact, more than gold stars, I thought I'd leave her a gift this time.  I had some cute birthday cards from a recent Stamp-a-stack class so I thought I'd  make up a quick box and give them to her.  I know she doesn't read my blog yet so it will be a surprise.  I'll say it's from Puck.

Isn't it cute?  I used retired Taken with Teal card stock and Espresso ribbon for the box and bow, but everything else is in the current catalog.  I caked on the layers because it is so much fun!  The heart is a Framelit heart.  I used 3 different impressions folders (heart, background white, and the scallop edge), the 5 petal flower punch, 3/4" circle punch (that I clipped with scissors to make fluffy), a flower shaped brad, and of course, Teeny Tiny wishes.  What would I do without that set?
I should talk about the banner because it has become all the rage and it is so easy to make the banner edge.  I feed the end of my strip of paper into the corner of the square punch and snip it off- voila!  The square punch has officially become my most used and under mentioned punches.  Everyone should have one- and if you want your own just bop on over to my website and order it!  You'll be glad you did.
Here is the opened box:

  Do you think she'll like it?

Rugged and Manly and Stuff!

I don't know about you but my Valentine is Rugged, and Manly, and Stuff, as we say in our family.  That's code for cute in the more macho fashion I guess.  My Valentine also has a birthday on Valentine's day so I do double duty on that day.  This year I thought I'd move away from the pinks and start with an earthier color palate. I let the Designer Series Paper Well Worn dictate the color scheme- River Rock, Not Quite Navy, and for the red, Cajun Craze.  I saw this cute standup card/treat holder at my friend Julie's Blog, but she hadn't posted a tutorial yet, so I made up my own pattern using a 7x7" square of DSP to make 3x3" card fit nicely in the front slot-

and then there is room in the back for a tasty treat!  I think these would make fantastic place cards for a table as well!

The little card uses the new Heart Framelits die for the Sizzix machine, the Background 1 (#114512)  Texturz plate and Perfect Polka Dots (#117335) Embossing folder, the cutter kit (#106958) to distress the heart and background, Teeny Tiny wishes stamp set for the greeting, the 3/4" circle punch, and Antique brad (#117273), and some Crumb cake seam binding.  A little sponging around the edges gives a time worn look, and notice that I used the punch from the holder to back the brad on the card and tie it all together!
Thanks for stopping by!

Elegant Bird

Today I wanted to try out my new Bigz Die Elegant Bird (#125593) and use some of the DSP that I have stashed away.  I chose Timeless Portrait DSP and it dictated my color palette- River rock, Island Indigo, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla.  I love how these colors look together!  I've used the Island Indigo very little and I'm happy to see that I'm really drawn to this color with the contrast of the cherry cobbler.  This card started with an unusual fold:

Here it is opened up so you can see it.  I took a piece of River Rock card stock 4 1/4 x 11 inches and scored with my trusty Simply Scored tool at 2 3/4" and then again at 5 1/2".  The hidden space can be used for your message or decorated to match the outside of the card.  I'm going to give this to my husband to send to his mother for her birthday so I left plenty of room for a nice message that I know he will want to write!  I finished the card with a sentiment from Teeny Tiny wishes stamp set, the word window and modern label punch, a flower with the 5 petal flower punch (in Island Indigo and River Rock), a nice bow with the white taffeta ribbon(#109070), and a glimmer brad to hold it together (#121003).  This card has a lot of impact without a lot of work!
Thanks for stopping by!
Mary

Sale-a-bration Days!

Good

Good Morning !  After working for 3 days I have finally worked out how to upload a photo to this blog.  I can't believe how easy all those bloggers out there make it look, throwing up a post daily, in addition to creating some lovely project to write about, photographing it, etc..  I never know all the intricacies involved!  Hopefully it gets easier as you practice, as in all things.  I figure if nothing else, learning something entirely new to me will stave off the dementia yet another day!

I designed this card for a Stamp-a-stack class I gave recently, and it is timely as the Designer Series paper used for the butterflies is the Everyday Enchantment from the Sale-a-bration Brochure!  I love it!  Since I'm usually challenged trying to use the DSP I pleased to have a project that uses it.  The best part of this DSP is that is absolutely FREE when you purchase $50 in Stampin' Up! merchandise!  Gotta love that!  

I guess next thing to figure out is how to add links so you can head on over to my website and order yourself some of this great paper!  Three more days and I'm sure I'll have it!.....