Luv my jeans!

There's nothing better than a good pair of jeans that fits just right. And depending on the rest of your outfit, they can be dressed up or down for just about any occasion. (Luv my jeans!) This yummy jeans-inspired card (or set of cards, as the case may be) is no exception.

This was one of my gifts to my sister for Christmas. She likes to hand make cards, but sometimes has trouble with the 'inspiration and design' aspect of cardmaking--AND she's more Tex-ified than I am, and has been known to wear large belt buckles with her matching leather belt and boots. So I put together a few card kits for her, each with one finished card, plus all the pieces pre-stamped and pre-cut to make three additional cards. I included matching envelopes with the horseshoe and star motif stamped on the flap. I have to admit it looks a lot better in person, though.

Ingredients (all SU!):
Stamps: Bronc Buster
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa, Brushed Silver
Ink: Versamark, White craft
Other: Markers, white gel pen, silver embossing powder, sponge wedge, 1/4" circle hole punch

Thanks for visiting!

Last craft fair of the season

Yesterday was the last craft fair I'm going to do this season, and it was... awful.

It was a first year fair, but they seemed to have a good handle on it when I signed up in early November. It was held at a nearby high school and had more than 80 vendors between two gyms. The big problem was they didn't advertise well, didn't put out adequate signage (friends and family who knew it was there, but who were not familiar with the school, still couldn't find it), and didn't take into account the proximity of the entertainment stage in relation to nearby booths. Half the time every booth was super easy to find (once you actually found the gyms) because there was NO ONE there shopping. The other half, the entrance to the gym was blocked, all the aisles were blocked, and many booths were blocked, not by shoppers, but by hordes of kids waiting to dance or sing, and parents wanting to watch their kids dance or sing.

Needless to say, I didn't even make back my booth fee.

On the bright side, I made a new friend (Hi Kara!), and had a fabulous display! The fireplace was an eleventh hour idea (literally, 11:00 pm Friday night). Check it out!



My friend Stephanie, with whom I shared the booth, suggested I put some of my unsold stuff on Etsy. I thought it was a great idea, so that's what I worked on when I got home. Check out my new Etsy store! You can also see some recent additions in the Etsy store gadget in the left column ( <-----*pointing left*).

Thanks for visiting!

Top Note genie bag

Got lots of oohs and aahhs over these last night. I made one for each of my PTA Board members in attendance at our holiday get-together/board meeting. They looked fabulous en masse there on the table. Shoulda taken a picture of that, but alas, in my effort to get everything else into my truck, I forgot my camera bag. Oh well.

Ingredients:
Papers: Baja Breeze and Whisper White cardstock, pearlescent vellum from Hobby Lobby
Sizzix Dies: Top Note, Snowflake #2
Stamp: Snowflake from this year's Country Living Holiday Collection (SU!)
Punches: Scallop Circle, Large Oval, Trio Flower
Ribbon: Silver tulle 'ribbon' (comes 6" wide, but I cut it down to 2")
Bag: #2 white gusset-bottom bags from Sam's Club

My own Top Note die is still on backorder (* S I G H *), so I borrowed this one from my downline. Thanks Carole!

Though this is a simple idea, it wasn't mine. I'm not sure who originated it (using the Top Note), but the earliest example I could find was by Angie Kennedy Juda at Chic n' Scratch.

Thanks for visiting!

Santa bookmark

Gah. I was hoping to take pics for a tutorial on how to make this guy using SU punches, but it's not gonna happen any time soon. So I'm just gonna share the pic, and the supplies list, and maybe you can figure it out!

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Blush Blossom
Punches: Scallop Circle (beard/mustache), Scallop Square (hat trim), 1-1/4" Circle (skin), 1" Circle (cut out of scallop circle), 1/4" Circle handheld (nose and hat ball)
Other: Black marker (eyes), Stampin' Pastels (cheeks & nose), jumbo paperclip, grid paper

Hat is an isosceles triangle one inch tall, and one inch wide at the base. For the hat trim, I punched a scallop square, then put the punched piece back in the punch to trim it down (you can get two hat trims from one scallop square punch). The mustache is cut from the piece I cut out of the scallop circle for the face (you end up with a crescent shape left over).

Thanks for visiting!

Reindeer Joy

How cute is this?!? This project started with the guy with the snowflake on his nose. I had been experimenting with punches, figuring out how to make a reindeer face with the tag punches, and then how to make convincing antlers without hand-cutting them. He turned out so well that I had to make the others to keep him company. And then I discovered that as a trio, they took up a lot of space. Not to mention the fact that they took a lot of detail time to make. So a card, even a big card, seemed a bit too...disposable...for the amount of work--and the CUTENESS factor!!--that these guys entail.

INGREDIENTS
Cardstock: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Baja Breeze
Paper: Ski Slope
Punches: Tag, Small Tag, Five-Petal Flower, Round Tab, 1/2" Circle, 1/4" Circle, Word Window, Scallop Square
Other: White gel pen, Cricut, frame

Thanks for visiting!

Pocket Card of Goodness

That's what I'm calling it, since Hot Pocket was already taken. This groovy little 'card' has two pockets on the inside to hold a packet of soup and a packet of hot cocoa. I have several set aside for teacher gifts. Here's a pic of the (potentially) warm num-yummy goodness contained in one little card:


I made two prototypes for this thing, one with separate pockets that you glue on, the other all one piece where you glue down a couple of flaps. While gluing the pockets was a lot easier on the one-piece design, cutting it out and scoring it was a royal pain in the rumpus. So I stuck with the three-separate-rectangles design. Gluing the pockets is a little fiddly, but overall it took a lot less time. Here's the cut and score measurements for each piece:


Snowflake stamp is from Season of Friendship. 'For You' stamp is from One of a Kind. D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder by ProvoCraft. Snowflake border punch is by EK Success (same company that makes SU's punches).

Thanks for visiting!

Snowman Cocoa pouch

This is a super-easy project, so much so that our PTA might make these for our 85 teachers and staff. You can get two pouches out of a single sheet of cardstock (and if you're making more than one, it's better to score first, then cut it in half). Here's some measurements for you:

Once you've got your cardstock stamped and folded, you'll only need a stapler, a cocoa packet (or a soup packet), and a scrap of colored cardstock run through your crimper:

Here's some how-to pics on the creation of that paper bow:


Snowman stamp is from the long-retired SU set Let It Snow ('arms' hand drawn). He's colored with a combination of markers and aquapainter watercoloring.

Thanks for visiting!

Countdown to Christmas

This turned out SO CUTE! I don't even LIKE Santa, but I was still tickled with how this turned out. I have a hard time calling this an Advent calendar, because the bearded dude has zilch to do with Advent. So it's just a Countdown-to-Christmas calendar.

And I can't take credit for the idea. I was inspired by Amy Sheffer's countdown calendar here: http://pickledpaperdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/10/here-i-come-wassailing.html

Mine consists of two four-inch coasters (from StampOnThis.com) covered with SU! Ski Slope paper, stamped with Baroque Motifs in acrylic paint, and bound with the numbers 1-24 in a Bind-It-All coil.

I made only three, and it took me about ten hours from start to finish, including dry time for paint and short breaks to stretch my back or pick kids up from school. I sold one at each of my craft fairs, and still have this one left.

Paper and the punches are SU! Number stamps are from The Paper Studio. 'Christmas' stamp is from Stampabilities.

Thanks for visiting!

Reindeer Gift Bag and Tag

I totally snagged the look of the reindeer from some gift-wrap in the Current® catalog. He's made with punches except for his legs, which are just skinny strips of paper. Made with SU punches, this guy is too big for a card, unfortunately, so his uses are pretty limited, but he is danged cute, I think. (FIVE commas in that sentence! *grin*)

The tag is a head (minus the antlers) with another wide oval scored and glued to the back at the top. "To:" and "From:" is/are (?) stamped on the inside.

The snowflake paper is not SU, mostly because I tend to be kind of stingy with my beautiful SU papers and didn't want to 'waste' it on something that in all likelihood will be thrown away. The bag is from my LSS. Inside is a big piece of red tissue paper, folded nicely.

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Ruby Red, Basic Black
Punches: Wide Oval, Five-Petal Flower, Tag, Small Tag, 1/2" Circle, 1/4" Circle handheld, Ticket Corner
Other: Handled bag, snowflake paper (The Paper Studio), hemp twine, white gel pen, red ribbon, red tissue paper

Thanks for visiting!

Craft fair goodness

I just got home from another craft fair and I'm really happy with how the day went! I shared a booth with my friend Stephanie, who is a Gold Canyon Candle rep (see link in the left column! FABULOUS candles!), and our spot was the first booth you got to when you walked in the front door. TOTALLY made up for the crappy spot I had two weeks ago. We both did really well.

I've got one more craft fair this season, three weeks from today. I sold out of quite a few things, so I've got some stamping and sewing to do! Stay tuned this week, though. I'll be posting pics and details on a bunch of the stuff I've been selling. (Yes, I've been holding out on you!)

Here's a front view of today's setup (before I rearranged it six more times!)


Thanks for visiting!

Digital Page: Spring Has Sprung

I'm a graphic designer, so you knew it was only a matter of time before I started seriously dabbling in digital scrapbooking. I actually started this page about six months ago (when it was actually spring!), but re-visited it this morning and decided to share it.

Recently when albums were on sale at Hobby Lobby, I picked up five 8x8s. My intent is to make at least three duplicate albums--One for me, one for my mom, and one for DH's mom. I chose 8x8 because I can easily print that from my home printer (after I get the print head replaced) on high-rez paper.

While I do use purchased digital page elements sometimes, I usually prefer to make my own. Everything on the page above is 100% original, either photographed by me, or created by me in Photoshop or Illustrator.

Here's a sketch for you, derived from this page:


Thanks for visiting!

Craft Fair Fare

I am knee-deep in craft fairs right about now. I had one this past weekend for which I was pitifully unprepared (though I sold more than I thought I would--Yay!). It was held at a church which hosts this craft fair every year, and it's a HUGE fair, filling two gymnasiums, hallways, classrooms, even sidewalks. My friend Carole and I shared a spot, and we were tucked away in one of those classrooms (the Monkey, classroom, actually, with a tiny table and toddler toys). We didn't get a whole lot of traffic (lots of people poked their head through the door, but only about half of those actually set foot in the room). By far my best-sellers were items priced $1.50 and under (stocking-stuffer things), with only a handful of higher priced items purchased.

Here's the scary thing: I only have nine and a half days of craft time left to prepare for the next one! (Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!)

One of the applications required a picture to be submitted, so I hauled out some of what I have left and photographed it. Would you like to see some of the stuff I had with me? Wouldja? Huh? Wouldja? Yeah, I thought so... Here ya go:

Quick update

Just a quick note to let y'all know that I'm here--I haven't forgotten! I'd been experiencing really crappy internet access and it took me a while to narrow it down to the modem. Replaced it and all is speedy again! I'll be sending invoices for the 13x13 bags sometime today. We had six birthday parties last week, are helping run the book fair this week and carnival on Friday, so it's been a little chaotic around here!

Bulk Buy for 13x13" zip-seal bags

***11/12 UPDATE: All bag orders have been delivered to participants! Thanks!***

Hey gang... SCS has done away with their bulk buy forum, so I'm going to see if any of y'all (particularly those who are demos) would be interested in this. I need to order more 13x13" zip-seal bags, but they only come in lots of 1000 for the best price. I don't need quite that many so I'm hoping to share the cost with at least three, four or five other people. These bags are roomy, durable, come pre-opened in another zip-bag to keep them all together.

The cost would be $8.50 per 50 bags, plus shipping. 50 bags weighs 20 ounces, plus the weight of the priority mail box, so shipping for 50 bags will average about $7.00. 100-150 bags can fit in an $8.95 flat-rate box.

Please email me if you're interested. There are still 250 bags up for grabs. I have SENT paypal money requests to those who've contacted me as of 10/22 at 11:00 am Central.


Bags reserved so far:
S. Mings -- 100
P. Glisson -- 150
T. Oakley -- 50
C. Kerr -- 100
N. Benedek -- 100
A. Matasci -- 50

I'll also update this post with current status, so if you're interested, be sure to check back.

Blogiversary Blog Candy WINNER!

This morning I copied down sixteen display names (everyone except my son) onto strips of paper, folded 'em up, and put 'em into my sadly-too-little-used beach comber hat. I put the hat on my head (upside down! Or would that be downside up?), swirled the slips around, and.... picked one! Wooohoooo!

So... without further ado... Ladies and gentleman (sorry, son!), please put your hands together for...

inkedx2

Congratulations! Please email me a shipping address (stampalooza * gmail * com)!

Thanks, y'all!

Blogiversary Fry Box

This was a relatively quick project--an easy container for a teacher gift. I printed the fry box pattern onto my red cardstock using the draft mode on my printer. Cut it out and assembled it. The flower on the front is stamped with black craft ink on Whisper White, then embossed with black Embossing powder. I then used various bright markers to color it in. I thought it looked kinda plain still on the front of the box, so I added a 1/2" paper button (kind of a pain in the posterior to make), and added faux stitching to the yellow piece. The 'thread' in the button is a thin sliver of white paper.

For the 'fries', I ran strips of red CS through my crimper, and they're held together in a fan-ish shape with a small binder clip inside the box. Also in the box are a post-it pad, band aids, and a pack of soup mix. I thought this might be a good teacher goodie.

This pattern makes it really tough to make a 'belly band' around the box, so if I make another of these, I'll probably find/design a different pattern.

Ingredients:
Stamps: One of a Kind
Paper: Taken with Teal, Real Red, YoYo Yellow, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black Craft ink, summer sun, various markers
Accessories: Black embossing powder, white gel pen, crimper

Blogiversary Blog Candy!

Yesterday morning, before my day went sour, I opened up my stats in StatCounter and did a screenshot of the year's statistic summary. What interests me particularly is the first-time visitor number. Check it out:
I'm guessing about half of those came for my inkpad holder, and nearly another half for the five petal punch chrysanthemum (both available under the 'DIY' category in the right-hand column). Nonetheless, I am still really stinkin' excited about those numbers! Woohoo!

To celebrate, I'm giving away some good ol' Blog Candy! On Monday morning, I will put all the usernames of the WCPWFMB (Way Cool People Who Follow My Blog) into a hat and randomly draw one. The winner will receive the goodie package pictured below. All you have to do to enter that drawing is locate the WCPWFMB box in the left-hand column under my Cool Links, then click "FOLLOW THIS BLOG". That's all! Here's the booty:What's included:

• Two Blush Doodle notecards and envelopes


• Two Burgundy Friend notecards and envelopes


• Four handmade gift tags


• Four sheets Accents & Elements Christmas stickers (great for scrapbook pages)


• Nine pieces scrapbook page candy in colors to match A&E stickers

So add yourself to the elite WCPWFMB and all this could be yours!

Blogiversary Bluebonnet!

Ooohhh! I am SO proud of this one! This started as a 'small' embellishment for the kids-in-the-bluebonnets photos that nearly everyone who's ever spent a spring in Texas has. So I put this photo (which I took myself, crawling around on my elbows in a field by our library) in front of me, and looked at my punches:

I reached for my Five-Petal Flower punch (same punch used for my chrysanthemum). Each petal group consists of 3/5 of a five-petal flower punch--a two-petal group, then a single petal glued between them. Here's a close-up:
I used Ballet Blue cardstock, and sponged Lovely Lilac in the center before cutting petals apart. For the topmost petals, I used a combination of blue and white punched pieces. I sponged Ballet Blue in the center of white five-petal punches. The very tippytop white piece is just a corner of the new scalloped square punch.

For the grass, I used Mellow Moss and a hobby knife to cut the grass blades. Added center veins with my MM marker, then dragged the pieces across my MM ink pad.
Finally, as I was putting the page together, it occurred to me that I needed a bug. It's a flower and grass... we need a bug. As I was trying to figure out how to accomplish that gracefully (somehow my Bugs & Kisses stamps just wouldn't do), I noticed that the trio of petals on my bluebonnet sorta looked like the back end of a bee. So I got out my trusty Five-Petal punch again. YoYo Yellow butt...er, ABDOMEN, white wings, and a black 1/2" circle for the head. Wish I had a 3/8" circle punch, though. Stripes added with marker.
Finished the page off with some Styled Silver Hodgepodge and some white Taffeta Ribbon, and viola! A HUGE bluebonnet embellishment on an otherwise very simple page.

Blogiversary Color Challenge

I'm in the mood for a challenge, how about you? This is a color challenge, the color scheme is below. Doesn't matter what you make: Card, scrapbook page, alterable, etc. Just post a link via the comments to an image of your creation online so I can ogle. I've not done this yet myself, so I'll be working on it tomorrow.

Happy Blogiversary!

Rebel Inker will be one year old tomorrow! I have several things planned for this multi-day 'celebration,' so stay tuned! We'll have projects, a challenge, a tutorial, and perhaps... oh, I don't know, some BLOG CANDY! (Pssst! Check out the new feature in the left-hand column, over there under my Cool Links. Way Cool People Who Follow My Blog. It may or may not have anything to do with blog candy. *wink*.... *wink*)

Well, it would be silly to have a blogiversary party without a card, so here's a birthday or anniversary card, appropriately using a scrap of Maine Blueberry (left over from the October SCIAK):
RECIPE:
Stamps: Boatloads of Love, Short & Sweet
Paper: Kiwi Kiss card base, Not Quite Navy mat, Bashful Blue large oval, Whisper White for boat and sentiment, scrap of Maine Blueberry
Ink: Boat stamped in Basic Gray and watercolored with various colors. Clouds stamped in Bashful Blue and watercolored with Ballet Blue. Sentiment stamped in Not Quite Navy. Bashful Blue oval distressed with Bordering Blue.
Accessories: Aqua Painter, silver brads, Large Oval punch, Small Oval punch, Ticket Corner punch, Night of Navy Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, SU Markers for detail work

More fun to come!

Photographing scrapbook pages

I've got something super-special in the works for this week! Stay tuned for my 'Blogiversary' celebration, starting Wednesday. In the mean time, several people have asked how I photograph scrapbook pages, so I thought I would share my secret with you!

Ta-daaaaaa!

October Scrapbook Class-In-A-Kit

I've finally managed to get two of the October SCIAK layouts photographed AND off of my camera! So here's a peek at two of the six pages included in the Maine Blueberry kit. Each of these are half of a brand new layout.

Here's the first, featuring a huge new paper flower:


And here's the second, featuring a cool lace-up technique:

The October Scrapbook Class-In-A-Kit includes:
--All materials necessary to complete THREE two-page 12x12 layouts (for a total of six pages), including cardstock, designer paper, ribbon, brads, buttons, stickers, page candy, etc.
--Custom stamp made from SU rubber scraps
--Photos of completed layouts
--Video instructions on how to assemble the pages (so you can scrapbook at your convenience!)
--Extra paper

ITEMS YOU WILL NEED TO COMPLETE THE LAYOUTS:
--Scissors
--Paper trimmer (big enough to trim 12x12 paper)
--Adhesive (liquid glue)
--White craft (pigment) ink

COST OF KIT: $17.00 (plus $6.50 shipping for those out of town)

ORDER/PAYMENT DUE BY: September 26th

KITS READY BY: October 8th

PAYMENT: Send appropriate payment (including shipping if necessary) via PAYPAL to:

COMING NEXT MONTH: Autumn Vine from the Holiday Mini

Paper buttons video tutorial!

I got a new digital hard-drive camcorder and made my first blog video tutorial on how to make super-inexpensive, super easy buttons that match your cards or scrapbook pages EXACTLY! Please tell me what you think of the video! I'm using the software that came with the camera (CyberLink PowerDirector Express). Not as impressed with it as I am with Pinnacle Studio (which I don't have on this computer or I'd use that!), but it may be because it's just... different (and not as fully featured, but it's the Express version).

The music in the video is Maroon 5's 'Makes Me Wonder'. Here's the YouTube version:


You can get a smaller, but better-quality Windows Media File version by clicking here.

Making the template: I cut one circle from scrap cardstock, fold it in half, mark where I want my holes to go, and pierce through them. I make a template for each size button, so when I make a bunch, the holes on all of them are reasonably the same.

Gluing the stack: I put glue on only three of the four blue circles. Then I stacked them with the non-glued one on top.

Order SU products online!

Woohoooooooo! Online ordering from the Stampin' Up! website is now available! And it is TOTALLY FABULOUS! I am so impressed and excited.

I humbly invite you to check out my Demo Website to check it out. When you get there, just click on the SHOP NOW button in the top right corner.

Woooohhoooooooo!

Last day to order September SCIAK

Just a reminder that August 27th is the last day to order the September Scrapbook Class-In-A-Kit. I'm excited to have received a wonderful response to this! For more details, CLICK HERE.

That Girl! (Demo Scrapbook Challenge)

This month, the Demo Scrapbook challenge is to take any previous challenge sketch and re-run it, but with new stuff! This is my sample, using the April 15 sketch located here. In other words, I took my Tea Party! page and re-worked it. I actually did this on a scrapbook retreat a few weeks ago, and used the owner's Sizzix machine for the title, so I don't remember at all what die set it was.

Be sure to check out my 'DIY' category (menu in right-hand column---->) for tutorials on the Five-Petal Chrysanthemum (flower on left page), Loopy Punch Flower (flower on right page), and faux chipboard technique ('buttons' and flower 'brad' on right page).

INGREDIENTS
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette
Designer Paper: Bella Rose
Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Punches: 5-Petal Flower, Large Oval, Small Oval, Photo Corners, Boho Blossoms, 1-3/4" Circle, 1" Circle
Ink: Cardstock colors, and Basic Black, Bravo Burgundy, Baja Breeze
Other: Aquapainter, Signo Gel pen, Clear embossing powder (for faux chipboard 'brad' in center of loopy flower), Crop-A-Dile, sponge daubers, Sizzix BigShot and alpha dies

By the way! This is one of the layouts (with just a few minor modifications) that will be included in my September Scrapbook Class-in-a-Kit.

Raving about retreat!

I just got back from a FABULOUS weekend at a scrapbook B&B in Bowie, Texas, called Hobby House Hill. I totally can see why she's pretty much booked every weekend through 2012. The food by itself was worth going to stay for a few days!

Anyway. I got quite a bit done, and I thought I'd share two of the layouts I did while I was there:

SU's new Pacific Point (2008-2009 In Colors) was the PERFECT shade of blue for this layout. DSP is from Marcella K. Stamps are Boho Backgrounds and Baroque Motifs.

This one uses a sheet of my hand-stamped DSP (see DIY section). Big pink 'M' is from the dollar bin at Michaels (came in a package of two--silver stickles added to white dots).

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Box du Jour

I made this little box for today's demo challenge at SCS. I think it turned out really cute! Card is 3x3; box is sized to hold cards and envelopes.

INGREDIENTS
Stamps: Dreams du Jour stamp set (coming soon to SU!), Doodle This
Cardstock: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red
Designer Paper: Scrap from Bali Breeze
Ink: Bashful Blue, Basic Black
Accessories: SU Markers, 1/4" Celery grosgrain, Signo gel pen