Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sweet Baby Cakes


I just ADORE babies! I think my two grandchildren are the only ones we're going to have, so I get all excited when someone tells me they know someone who's going to have one. I immediately offer to make them something. Lately, I've been hooked on little gift sets. Isn't that tiny bib the cutest? It's made with the largest scalloped circle Nestibility from Papertrey White CS. It has a nice weight. (All supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted.) I cut another scalloped circle from PTI's Sweet Blush DP and layered it every so slightly just above the scallops. The neckline is cut with the 1-3/8" SU circle punched placed about 1/2 way into the top crease.

If you click on the picture, you can see that I added tiny pearls all around the edge after I sponged it. I inserted the ribbon by making slits in the fold, and taping the ribbon to the inside. They make the inside look cute too! Those little flowers came from JoAnn Fabrics. The butterflies are all punched with the Martha Stewart butterfly punch in Sweet Blush, layered with another butterfly punched from a really old SU swirled vellum, the edges are sponged and then I added three tiny pearls for the bodies.

The little Bun in the Oven is a Timeless Template. The sentiment on the oven is from SU's Nursery Necessities (best baby set they've had I think). I sponged all the edges, used the remaining flowers for burners and added more pearl accents...I left the door slightly ajar so you could see how the box opens if you're unfamiliar with it. There is a clear vellum window accented with more butterflies. See my little sock "cupcake"? I finally made one I'm happy with. Takes a bit of practice to get it just right but it's not hard.

The little gift bag is simply a white lunch bag cut down about 2-1/2 inches. I punched the handle with the SU oval punch. Covered first in Sweet Blush then DP. The ribbon wraps around the entire bag, through the handle and ties in front. I cut one of the flowers from a scrap of the DP and placed it on the tag along with another butterfly.

Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings and Happy Stamping,

Charlene




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Monday, April 27, 2009

Tim Holtz once again

So sorry for the long absence!  We switched IP carriers and the new one did something to our computer to cause it to crash...completely.  Nothing like a blue screen to raise your blood pressure...thankfully, we have Carbonite online backup.  We just signed up a few weeks ago...thank goodness!

I love this Tim Holtz set so much, I decided to do another card using the car instead of the truck this time.  I used the same color combo as before (Baha Breeze, Chocolate Chip Parisian Breeze Specialty and white.  I stamped the car and sentiment in Tim Holtz Distress Walnut ink.  While I was playing, I tried swiping the car with the pad to see the result...  see the car on the bottom?  Same ink, but swiping rubbed off some of the ink leaving cool lines and a lighter shade of the walnut. 

The car on the top was stamped in the normal press on method.   These stamps have really great details and textures on them.  I like both images but decided to use the darker one on my card.    I used my little Janome Sew mini to meander the stitching around the edges...it was quite fun to deliberately make wavy stitches. I'm usually stressing out trying to get my stitching straight! I used my SU distressing tool to distress all the edges and then sponged them in walnut ink.   I'm loving those big SU pewter eyelets too.  Gives the the card a more masculine feel.
  I wish I had thought to take a picture of the inside as there is a really cool sentiment that I placed off to the side beside strips of the DP....they say the mind is the first thing to go......
It's nice to be back...I have another baby project coming.  I can't wait though for a photo box...my lighting is terrible!
Blessings and Happy Stamping,
Charlene
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Monday, April 20, 2009

Flowering Birthday Notes

Don't you just love red and black together?  I know I do.  When I first set up housekeeping, those were my colors.  Red plates, black placemats, even a red and black kitchen table and chairs..um, that would be back when they were chrome and plastic...yep, I'm old!  I've since transitioned into more earthy colors with pops of black, but I still add a bit of red in when I can.  I didn't realize even realize that until I started thinking about it just now.  Isn't it funny how our minds work?
At any rate, today is my friend Renee's birthday....Happy Birthday, Renee!!  I know she likes red so that was my starting point.  I have this package of black and white papers from Making Memories in an 8 x* size which meant no piecing on my box (Timeless Templates).  The stamps are Papertrey's Women of Life, the CS is Papertrey black,  Poppy Red and white.  I like the heavier weight for box construction especially.  The notes are resume paper cut into fourths.  The message on the notes are stamped with JustriteStampers Brayton font...oh how I wish there were more vowels in those sets.  I had to go back and stamp the final E separately and there are about 50 notes in there!! 
The flowers on the notebox were cut out, layered and popped up on dimensionals.  I made the leaves with those cute flowers you can find in the wedding department at Michael's.  A real deal!!  I colored a couple with my SU Certainly Celery marker, cut them apart, then glued them under the popped up flowers.  Those cute black and white flowers are paper Primas from PTI with brads from the Target $ spot.  Those are button at the base of the flower panel.  I left them without stitching because they have 4 holes that look like flowers and the red CS shows through.  Sorry for the shadowy photo...it's almost birthday time so I'm hoping my DH remembers my photo box....some major hinting may be in order!  Those white dots were added with a Sakura gel pen.  Thanks for visiting!  As always, I appreciate you and your thoughts.
Blessings and Happy Stamping,
Charlene
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Enjoy the Journey

Do you struggle like I do with "guy" cards?  We girls are easy...give us flowers, butterflies, cute little critters..doesn't matter, we're happy.  Guys are another story!  So I was thrilled when I found this cool Tim Holtz set at Michael's.  The images are already shaded and beautifully done.

I always find it easier to start with a sketch so when I saw this Verve sketch challenge, I'd thought I'd use one of the sketches as a starting point.  Now I can't submit it for the challenge and the image is a bit large for the placement they chose but overall, I'm happy with how it came out.

The base cardstock is SU Textured Chocolate Chip, the layers are Baja Breeze and SU's new Parisian Breeze Specialty Textured DP.  Love this paper!! 

I stamped the truck and sentiment  in Tim Holtz's Distress Walnut ink onto watercolor paper and heat embossed both with clear embossing powder.  Then I distressed the edges with the SU distressing tool before sponging them with the Walnut ink.  The truck panel is popped up on dimensionals.  SU large eyelets were added using my Crop-a-dile.  Easy peasy...for once!

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings & Happy Stamping!

Charlene
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Friday, April 10, 2009

Bunny Cookies Hatching Everywhere!

Edited to add:  I've had some questions about the quantity for a cake.  The author says she makes two batches when she wants to cover a cake.  Unless yours is a single layer, I recommend doing that.  It's so easy it wouldn't take much extra time.  Also, Gillian's bunny is the first addition of pink gel color,  I just kept adding more white instead of more color to make the pinks, making lighter bunnies.  Hope that helps.

A super quick post today...lots to do and no time to get it done. The story of my life. We're getting ready to gut and remodel our laundry room ourselves...so if my posting suffers, I apologize in advance. I'll post before (YIKES!) and after pictures though.

On to the bunnies. Apologies for the background...I just grabbed the last tiny bit of Easter grass I had left to keep the overhead lights from blinding you....missed a spot as it got pretty thin.

These aren't paper and ink bunnies...they're sugar cookies covered with my very first attempt at fondant. Oh my goodness...so easy and soooo much fun. Kinda like playing with Play-doh. I found a Mini-Marshmallow Fondant that's super easy and inexpensive. I had read and heard that fondant very often doesn't taste good and can be tricky to make but since this is made with mini-marshmallows, it's yummy, took almost no time at all and can be made several days in advance. What's not to love about that? Just be sure to roll it thin as it is sweet. One thing I found is, that depending on the humidity, you may not need all the confectioner's sugar called for in the recipe. You'll end up with a too dry product that will tear. Start with 3/4 of the 2 lb. bag the recipe calls for and only add more if it feels too sticky.

I used Royal Icing made with meringue powder to decorate. Kids and adults alike LOVE to see their names on anything and cookies are no exception. The cookie cutters are Martha Stewart's Hatching Bunny that I found years ago and just love. I think you may still be able find it on ebay or other online sites but the prices have gone way up.

The fondant is rolled out and cut with the same cookie cutter so it makes you look like a pro. I made about 18 of these guys...they pretty big, 8" x 5" so there's cookie enough to share.

Give it a try and link your creations here....this fondant can be used on cakes as well. The recipe instructions are clear and give lots of good tips.

Happy Easter, Happy Baking and Happy Stamping!

Blessings,
Charlene

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

TLC215 - Hello Friend

Yeah, I finally got time to do a Technique Challenge on SCS.  I rarely get them finished the day they're issued, but I do like the challenge of trying something new.

Monday's challenge was to make a flower pot pocket card using the directions found here.  The original was a bit too small for me, so enlarged the top to 3-3/4" instead of 3-1/2".  The scoring stayed the same.

I used SU Brocade blue for the base.  The DP is Making Memories "Chloe's Closet", pretty blues, greens and yellows just right for spring.  Some of the flower bases are from the same line as are the buttons and ribbon.  I almost never treat myself to a complete line, but they were on sale and what's a girl to do?

 I punched  the rest of the flowers  using Punch Bunch small and medium daisy punches and  Brocade Blue and the Chloe's Closet paper. I added the saucer at the bottom.  The leaves, border and butterfly are all Martha Stewart punches.  The tag is from the Cuttlebug small tag set.  The leaves are Certainly Celery and Old Olive.  I adhered the leaves and buttons, which are tied with embroidery floss, using  Mono-Multi.  Don't you just love how the flowers just "bloom" right out of the pocket?  The sentiments are from Papertrey's  "Friends til the End".  Thanks for stopping by.  Love to know what you think!

Blessings and Happy Stamping Friends!

Charlene
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Saturday, April 4, 2009

LSC214 - Life....

This card was inspired by Friday's Limited Supply Challenge 214 on SCS. It's a 1-2-3...1 piece of CS,
2 kinds of DP, 3 embellishments.

I made the card with a few friends in mind who are going through some challenging circumstances but isn't just the perfect sentiment for us all? Remember when we were kids and playing in the rain was FUN? We didn't worry about wet hair or clothes or what anyone would think about us. No wonder Jesus told us to "consider the little children..." in more ways than one, they teach us how to love and live.

Off the soapbox and onto the card! Pretty simple. I distressed all the black edges with the SU distressing tool. The DP is Papertrey Everyday Blessings and the polka dot piece is actually not DP at all but cut off the ED Blessings paper wrapper!

The stick-on pearls are from Michael's. The sentiment is heat embossed on Vellum that has tiny, tiny irridescent dots that are barely visible but reminded me of raindrops. The ribbon is Michael's sheer black - 1 inch and I paper pierced the corners. Inside has a strip of black overlaid with a strip of the striped DP.

Love to know what you think! I'm working on creating a signature for the blog but I am sooooo NOT techy!!

Have a beautiful weekend,

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Charlene

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