July SULD Meeting

Our SU! stamping group go together this past Saturday for a huge shoebox swap. Everyone designed a full card and then the rest of us got to make one. There were 19 of us, so it was a long day of stamping, but it sure was fun! What great projects too.

In preparation for the meeting, Debbie Williams and I made these favor boxes and put everyones' names on them so that we each had some chocolates to snack on. Debbie Naylor (my real sister), our totally awesome upline, made us each an owl notebook - isn't it adorable? I didn't get this paper, but I might have to now!

There sure were some cute and beautiful cards that day. Please check out some of my stamping sisters' websites to see their projects. I've got them linked on the right side of this blog.

Meg's Wedding Favors

Saturday was a great day! Debbie and I helped our friend make wedding favors/name-place holders for her upcoming wedding in October. We decided to make the Box with Scallop and decorate the outside. Debbie came up with the brilliant idea of putting the names on the boxes to serve as name-place holders for the reception tables.

While Debbie and I cranked out the boxes on our Big Shots, Meg got the unlucky task of cutting out the circles. The Cutter Bee circle cutter is good in that you can do circles in any size, but it wasn't made for large production. We ended up spending a lot of time cleaning up edges.

Meg chose the champagne glasses stamp to decorate the boxes. She colored them in with the Copic gold Spica pen, then put a layer of Crystal Effects over the glitter. I really think these look great.

We were crafting machines, but it all came together in the end and it sure was fun. Lessons learned? Start earlier than you plan, have cookie/coffee breaks with chocolate, and listen to 80's music :) Oh, and have a cat supervise ;) That's a picture of my male cat, Kimba - he had fun watching and sleeping in the window.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Decored Dresser

I'm kind of obsessed with these decor elements now! I bought a bunch of them after getting an idea that I'd put them on my stamp dressers. I am using the different decor elements to let me know what kind of stamps are in each drawer. I have more ordered so I can finish reorganizing, but this dresser is done.

In the top drawer, with the hearts, I have all current stamp sets. In the drawer with the flowers, I have all of my flower stamps, in the drawer with the words "Life is Good", I have my word/sayings stamps, and in the bottom drawer decorated with those cute monkeys, I have my animal stamps.

I'm going to complete another dresser with Christmas, Thanksgiving/Halloween/Easter, Thank You/Friends, and All Occassion. I'll post that one when I'm done.

You can see where I used to have labels on the drawers and pulled them off - some of the laminate came off :( But, I think the decor elements are so pretty that you aren't too focused on my little mess ups!

Have a great day!

Cards For Some Special Siblings

One of my stamping group sisters has a son that has been battling cancer for a while. He recently had a bone marrow transplant and his sister was his donor. They are still in the hospital, here in DC, healing. I wanted them both to know that they are being thought of and wishing them both good health and a full recovery. I made the "Hang in There" card for Dante and the "Never Forget You're Never Forgotten" card for Julia. Their mother told me that they received the cards and it made their day. I will try to make some more as it is a small thing I can do for them.

Thinking of you all, Evita, Dante, and Julia!

To Have And To Hold

I made this wedding card for a friend and used our groups sketch challenge for this weekend (Fall To Layout 98). I thought the new Lap of Luxury DSP was perfect to pair with the retired To Have and To Hold wedding stamp set. I used Blushing Bride (how appropriate!), Basic Gray, and Very Vanilla. It's simple, yet elegant, I think. I did use a Copic Spica clear glitter pen to color in the champagne, hearts, and flowers. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Bridal Shower Gifts

One of my friends is getting married in October. Her colors are Rich Razzleberry and Chocolate Chip. Friend and fellow demo Debbie Williams and I are helping her with the wedding favors which will also serve as the name cares/place holders on the reception tables. I'll post pictures of those later, once we get them done!

Her shower is in a month, so I wanted to make sure I got her gift done. She likes to paint in her spare time, so I got her a gift certificate to her favorite art store. I'm also going to find some earrings to put in the box. I first made the box. I bought a bunch of the SU! magnetic boxes when they were on sale. They are super easy to put together and were very easy to alter. I used the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP to cover, then used some of that luxurious Chocolate Chip wide satin ribbon. I stamped her first initial with the Lovely Letters stamp set, punched it out with a small circle punch, punched out another circle and the scallop circle, and put it all together. I finished off the box with a little chocolate pearl.

I then made this gift card holder using a Sizzix die. It is very easy to assemble and leaves a lot of room for altering/decorating. I used a couple of retired sets (can't remember their names) for the inside and some Razzleberry Lemonade DSP scraps. I used other Chocolate Chip ribbon and used the Razzleberry polka dotted ribbon - I just turned it around so it showed the solid side. I stamped another initial and punched out more circles before adhering it. I'll put a little note behind the gift card and use it as my card as well!

Well, I thought I could put the gift card holder in the box, but it doesn't fit! So, I'll put the earrings in the box and put both in a gift bag. I think I'm going to take a plain gift bag and will decorate it with more Razzleberry DSP, ribbons, and a tag to match. I'll post a picture of that after I make it!

I think she'll really like these since they are specialized to her wedding colors and are just for her. I know the wedding planning is consuming her, so it will be nice to receive something that is just for her :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!