Happy Birthday Brittney!

These stamps are going to get a LOT of use between now and new catalog time!  I just love them and they are so much fun to use.

Today is Brittney's

 

 

Thank you for looking in today!  Have a great week!  Monday is a holiday for me, so a short week at the office!  Wooo Hooo!

 

~ Donna 

 

 

 

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Happy Birthday Arizona / Happy Valentine's Day

Just a quick review of this year's Valentine's Cards - Wishing you all a very fun Valentine's Day!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for looking in today!

~ Donna

Happy Birthday Swirly

Today is my Sister-in-law's birthday and we'll be going to see her to celebrate.  Mom made her favorite dessert - apparently it's Coconut Cream Pie.  So, I had to make some adjustments to the stamp set that says we should "celebrate with CAKE".  Can't use that when we're having PIE, right?

So, I tried a trick I was thinking about the other day and it worked like a charm! Simply ink up your stamp inking the area you want to stamp with.  Don't worry about going over a bit, because it will not stamp on your paper, I promise!

Take a piece of scotch tape and cover up the inked area that you don't want to stamp on your paper.  Be sure the tape is long enough to reach over to the wood block - or clear block if it's a clear mount or photopolymer stamp. You want to be sure the tape doesn't move.

Here it is in the color I actually used.  I didn't know if you'd be able to see it, so made the sample in black too.

See how nice it stamps! You'd never know there was something missing.  Great, right?

I filled in the word PIE with my Sophisticated Serifs alpha stamps.  I love these stamps and wow, it worked perfect for this card.

The swirly stamp is from Snuggles and Smooches.  I just love how they can be used for something other than "valentine's" as it was designed.  I love to doodle, so these swirly stamps remind me of doodling!

Inside is "Happy Birthday" from Sale-a-Bration's Big Day.

Thank you for looking in today.  See what stamps you can alter with a piece of tape.  Share them with me and I'll be happy to post them for you!

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Guest Stamper ... Linda Weedon

A couple of quick cards to post today brought to you by my Guest Stamper, Linda Weedon!  Auntie Weeds has a LOT of nieces and nephews to make cards for and I think she comes up with some of the greatest ideas!

This one uses "Work of Art" from the Annual Catalog (w-130514  /  c-130517).  The "Be my Valentine" is a retired set (sorry) but it's such a cute one and one I haven't give up yet either!  Some just have to be keepers, right?

These cuties are obviously from the Owl Builder Punch (118074) and Stacked with Love DSP from this year's Occasions Catalog.  Everyone has a little monster they can make their Valentine, right?

Thank you Linda for letting me show your cards today!  I love them!!

~ Donna

Dental Valentine's

On Tuesday, I had my dental cleaning and with Valentine's Day this weekend, I thought it would be nice to take them a little treat.  I know, I know, you probably can't figure out why I would take something nice to the Dentist!  Well, I truly LOVE my dental staff.  I've been going to this group since I was pregnant with my oldest child, who by the way, will be 33 next Tuesday!  Yikes!  A couple of the girls in the office I've known for the full 33 years.  That's longevity.  Been through a couple of Dentists during the years though due to retirement and sadly, losing one to cancer last year. 

Anyway, enough about that, on to the treats.  Oh, and I told them at the office "yes, there is chocolate inside, but I know you all have toothbrushes!"  They thought that was funny!  LOL  Besides, even Dental Hygienists and Dentists can't pass up chocolate!

I made some of these a couple of years ago when I first started with Stampin' Up! and thought it would be fun to make them again, especially with our fun Valentine "Stacked with Love" DSP.  It's the perfect size!

Aren't these adorable?  So much fun and fast to make.

Here's how to make them:

Begin with sticky strip along the short edge on the side you want as the outside.

Then turn over your paper over and place two strips on each side of the long sides.  Don't go all the way to the end so you can pull the backing off after you've made a tube.

Remove the backing from the Sticky Strip.  It's very easy to grab if you poke it with your sharp paper snips or piercing tool.

Carefully line up DSP and make it into a tube.

Use your bone folder to make sure you have a strong bond.

Pinch the edge together on one end - keep the short seam close to one of the sides rather than right down the middle.  It will be less obvious if it isn't running down the middle.

Use your bone folder and press the edges together for a tight seal.

Fill the tube with candy, small gifts, a love note or something fun.

Peel the backing off the other end and press the edges together - BUT - pinch it together in the opposite direction as the other end...

... like this:

Sour cream tubes usually have creases on the ends - which also helps keep it with a tight seal.  When I first made these years ago, we sold a Paper Crimper (which I still have and use) but if you don't have one, you can get the same results using our Simply Scored and scoring tool.

If you have a crimper - simply insert the end and crank it 2 - 3 clicks.

 

Thank you for looking in today.  I hope you try making these great little treats.  Think about how you will decorate them for Easter, Birthdays, Fourth of July - really any holiday!

Happy Hump Day!
~ Donna

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Confetti Hearts Valentine

Another quick and easy Valentine Card.

This was so fast, I surprised myself.

 

• Begin with Basic Black card stock cut 8 1/2" 5 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4"
• Select a piece of DSP from the Stacked with Love paper stack and cut it to 5 1/4" x 4"
• Cut a strip of Whisper White card stock 4" wide (height doesn't matter just yet) and punch it with the Confetti Hearts punch, then trim the bottom to match the top of the border.
• Cut a strip of Real Red 4" x 1/4" inch bigger than the Whisper White strip ended up being.  Attach under the Confetti Hearts.
• Tie a ribbon or the white cotton twine from Painted Blooms (Occasions Catalog) around the Confetti Hearts and Real Red.
• Stamp sentiment (Good Greetings used here) and cut into a banner or use one of the framelits dies that will fit the sentiment.

Done!

 

Don't forget to cut an additional piece of Whisper White for inside (5 1/4" x 4") for another sentiment or just a place to write to your Valentine.

 

Thanks for looking in.  Don't forget to come back later and see what this week's Weekly Deals are.

 

~Donna

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Masculine It's Your Birthday Card

It's time for another masculine birthday card.  Here is what I came up with for this challenge!

Very simple and quick to put together.  To cut the circle rings I used the Circles Collection Framelits (130911) picking three together that would make two different sizes.  I cut Real Red and Basic Black at the same time.  I recommend putting the Red on top though when cutting as I had to buff off a little of the Black that stayed on the Red.

In this first card I used two Real Red's of the same size.  In the second card I used a Real Red and a Basic Black in two sizes.

To get the stamp all on one line (the stamp actually has "birthday" under "it's your") I inked up the top of the stamp first very carefully with my Memento Black stamp pad and stamped it onto whisper white (which really should have been Very Vanilla after I realized the DSP was with Very Vanilla!) and then carefully cleaned it off with a wet wipe so the bottom of the stamp stayed dry and clean.

Then ink up the bottom of the stamp, the "birthday" and carefully line it up with "it's your"  BUT move it over a bit so you have room for the rings to go over the card stock without blocking any lettering.

The stamp set used is "Big News" (wood mount - 134015 / clear mount - 134018) This set doesn't come in Photopolymer - I wish it did! 

The DSP used is Flashback (133699)

Thank you for coming in today.  I hope you had a good weekend.  I had a great weekend stamping with a  new group of friends.  Love teaching people how much fun stamping is and how much fun it is to work for Stampin' Up!

Happy Monday!

~ Donna

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