"Belli Challenge #27-Birthday"

This weeks Belli Challenge is Birthday. Each week Chris posts a challenge You can find the info here.
I decided not to make a card this time. Although I might do one later. I like to make these and put them on the top of birthday presents. You can wrap them in the matching wrapping paper as well, which looks cool. I find the garland at Michael's for $1. They have a bunch of different colors and some shapes. I am going to do these as one of the 3D items for my upcoming stamp class. They are super easy and real fun. And there is the wow factor. People like em'

*I used a roll of lifesavers to make these. After I wrapped them, I tool my paper piercing tool and poked a hole in the top and shoved the garland into the hole.*

There are quite a few of us that do the challenge each week check out their blogs to see what they came up with for the challenge.
Holly Brown
Laurie Serino
Shelly Koskinen
Jennifer Greco
Chris Dickinson
Christi Thorsen
Ceal Pritchett
Lorie Ames

Paper: Making Memories
Accessories: Lifesavers, Garland, Tacky Tape

"Sunflower Shaker"

I made this cool shaker card yesterday. I saw one on Kathy's desk and I had to make one. It isn't a normal shaker card because the middle that holds in the shaker stuff is organdy material, not a baggie or acetate sheet. It is super cool. Easy card to make but takes a while because there is a lot of steps. The card is a tri fold and is made out of double sided 12 x 12 paper. So first cut the paper 5 1/2 by 12 then score at 4 and 8. You might have to cut a thin strip off of one end so that it will close smoothly.

The flower and leaves are a sizzix die cut. You will have to make two of each because the same image that is on the front is also on the reverse side inside the card, like this picture. The scanner messes up the colors a little on this but in real life it matches perfect and looks real good.
After you cut out your die cut, you need to cut a circle out of the front of the card and the inside flap. For that I folded the card so and used a small circle nestabilities. Don't put the back flap of the card through or you will have a hole in the back of your card. The die cut flower we used didn't have the big hole inside either so we ran that through the cuttlebug with the same circle nestabilities so the would be the same size.

After you have your circles cut, you can adhere the flower and stem to the front and inside of the card. The card will still open three ways so on the opposite sides of the flowers, put tacky tape around the circle to hold down the material. Then you take a piece of organdy material (purchased at JoAnn's) and fold it in half and place one part on the tacky tape. You then put tacky tape around the circle on top of the material. Then put in what ever you want to "shake" remove the red line from the tape and fold the material over so it makes a pouch of shaker stuff.

Then after the "shaker pouch" is secure, you can adhere the front cover to the inside so that it will open like a regular card. If it sounds kind of confusing, sorry, I should have taken pictures while I was making it. It was super easy to make there is just a lot of steps and it takes a while. But it is so worth it cause it looks super cool.
Paper: Really Rust, Close To Cocoa, More Mustard, DP
Accessories: Sizzix Die Cuts, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Organdy Material, Beads and Sequins, Tacky Tape

"New Friend Gift Set"

I am meeting a new friend today. She found me through my blog and we found out that we are only live like four miles from each other. So today I am going to her house to meet her and stamp. I thought I would bring her a little gift set. I haven't made one in a long time. I know that you probably miss all the non card items too. So I will make it a point to make more. School will be starting soon too so they will be coming out of my ears. I have a lot of ideas for this school year, some old some new. I found this paper the other day at my local stamp store and it matches the in colors. Which I never use. So it was nice to un wrap my assorted pack of in colors that I have had for like eight months. LOL
Here are some links to directions for...Wrapped Hershey Bar, Gum Holder, RSVP Pen
Paper: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, DP
Accessories: Crimper, SU Circle Punches, Giga and Mega Scallop Square, SU Scallop Punch, Ziploc Baggie, Black Brads, Hershey Nuggets, Hershey Bar, Tacky Tape Sheets, Micro Beads, RSVP Pen, Heat Gun, SU Word Window, Trident Gum, Velcro Dots, Chocolate Coins, Scor Tape

"Clickabella"

I am kinda busy today but I took a little break to make a card. My friend Carrie gave me some new Bella's for my birthday. I got this one, which is clickabella, teddybella (the pregnant bella) and huggybella. The paper I used for this card is Bo Bunny. That is my favorite brand of paper. I love everything they come out with. This paper is double sided and the reverse is the same colors but polka dots. I know there isn't a greeting on this card and this time I did it on purpose. LOL Tonight is family fun Friday so no stamping for me until the kids go to bed. We got rented a movie, got some movie candy, and a couple of the blockbuster tubs of popcorn. Every Friday for family night we either play board games or have movie night. The kids love it and it is at least one night that we all are together. I hope you all have a great weekend.
Stamps: Stamping Bella
Paper: Ruby Red, Summer Sun, Whisper White, Bo Bunny DP
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: White Grosgrain Ribbon, SU Markers

"Card Class Baby Cards"

Here are two more cards that we are going to do at my upcoming card class. They have requested baby cards. This is what I came up with. This is the hardest class for me to come up with something to make. My next two classes are in October and November. I love to make fall cards and with Halloween and Thanksgiving it will be easy. But for some reason I have trouble with months with no holidays. I feel like I am in a slump. Mostly because I don't have any new Stampin' Up stamps. I only got one stamp set from the new catalog. Nothing seemed to grab me that I "had" to have. I sure hope the new catalog has something for me. I NEED NEW STAMPS!!

I went to my local stamp store yesterday and I got some new paper and I did buy one new stamp from Memory Box. It is a cute penguin with her hair in rollers. My friend Carrie also gave me three new Bella's for my birthday and I can't wait to ink them up as well. So I have some new things to work with, I just don't have anything new Stampin' Up. I will be doing stamp camp again so that will give me an opportunity to see some new samples and I hope to find something cool to buy.
Stamps: Baby's Firsts, Warmest Regards
Paper: Pretty In Pink, Ballet Blue, Whisper White, DP
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: White Grosgrain Ribbon, SU Markers, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

"Wedding Wishes"

I am making this card for my upcoming stamp class. They had asked if we could do a wedding card. I made this one in my stamp camp and I thought it would be perfect. It really does look more elegant in real life. This one uses going grey but I am going to use basic grey cardstock since we can no longer get going grey. I ran the vellum cardstock through the cuttlebug and attached it to the card with glue dots. I got the silver satin ribbon at Walmart. What do you think? I think it is pretty.
Stamps: Mini Mates (retired)
Paper: Going Grey, Basic Grey, Whisper White, Cardstock Vellum
Ink: Basic Grey
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Embossing Folder, SU Circle Punches, Hand Held Hole Punch, Silver Cord, Silver Satin Ribbon, Corner Rounder

"Birthday Cupcake"

I hope you all had a good weekend. I did. I love just hanging out and not having any plans. What do you do when you have no plans? Stamp of course. I love how this card turned out. I found the paper at my local stamp store. It goes perfect with this stamp. The cupcake stamp is from the set of 4 Hero Arts cupcakes. After I colored the image of course I had to stickle it. I put stickles on the candle flame, the frosting and the plate. It just shimmers.
Stamps: Hero Arts
Paper: Taken With Teal, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, DP
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: SU Markers, Stickles, White SU Gel Pen, White Grosgrain Ribbon

"BBQ Invite"

I wanted to make a card with my new clear BBQ stamps today. I made one in red and one in black. They didn't turn out as cute as I had imagined but they work. The BBQ stamps are the clear ones from Michael's. There is the grill, hot dog, a bucket of beer bottles, and two greetings one saying grillin' and the other one says BBQ. The BBQ one was too big for my square so I used tiny alphabet stamps also from Studio G. They are wood mounted. and only 99 cents. My friend Shelly sent them to me.

Stamps: Studio G Clear And Wood Mounted
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, DCWV Summer Stack
Ink: Stazon Black, Real Red
Accessories: Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Giga and Mega Scallop Square, SU Markers, Black and Red Brads, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer

"Owl Always Be Your Friend"

I finally got a chance to stamp last night. I really missed it. The stamps I used for this card are Hero Arts Clear Stamps. I have had them for about a month and just last night got them inky. Owls are in right now and I couldn't resist buying them. The paper is Basic Grey. It is kinda a light celery color but the scan doesn't show that very well. I thought it went perfect with the owls. I colored the image with Prisma Colored Pencils and popped it up on SU dimensionals. This weekend is going to be nothing but hanging out. Tony is going to watch Golf and Baseball (Go Twins) so I am going to stamp. Lupe (my neighbor) and I worked on the wedding favors for her niece this week. So far we cut, scored, cuttlebugged and put together almost 100 Hershey Bar wrappers. We still need to put ribbons on those and add the tags. And we have to do 100 more. They are turning out cute. When we get those done we are also doing 200 peppermint sammiches. I'll show them to you when we get them all done.
Stamps: Hero Arts
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Basic Grey
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Prisma Colored Pencils, Brown Brads, 5/8 Inch Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

"Belli Challenge #25 Envelopes"

This weeks Belli Challenge is envelopes. What is a Belli Challenge you ask? Belli=Embellishments. You can find more info here.
For my envelope project I made a small gift bag. You can find the tutorial here. It was so easy to make. I didn't stamp on mine. I decided to add pattern paper instead. After I sealed the envelopes, I adhered the paper on and then cut out the notches for the handle. I filled them with paper shred and added some peppermint sammiches. I also made a tag for the front with the one I punched out to make the handle. Talk about recycling. LOL These would be quick gift card holders as well. Thanks for looking. You should check out the other ladies on the design team. They have some super cute projects using envelopes as well.
Chris Dickinson
Christi Thorsen
Holly Brown
Shelly Koskinen
Laurie Serino
Paper: SU East Coast Prep, Bo Bunny Jack Frost, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black
Accessories: SU Large Tag Punch, Envelope, SU Scallop Punch, SU Circle Punches, Paper Shred, York Peppermints

"Diaper Cake Help"

The wife of one of my husband's co-workers is having a baby in September and the other wives are planning a baby shower. I want to make her a diaper cake but I have never made one before. Do you know where I can find some good directions and or pictures of some? I want to have the "WOW" gift at this party if ya know what I mean. LOL So, if you know where I can find some good/easy directions for diaper cakes can you link me to some? You can e-mail me the link or post them in the comments. I just don't know where to find them. I would appreciate it a lot.

I don't know if they know what they are having yet. This is going to be their first baby. She is also a stamper so I know she will appreciate what ever I make.
I love making this card for new mommas. The card is confetti white and the colored paper is covering the front so the inside and back are confetti white.
Stamps: I'm Here, Wonderful Words
Paper: Confetti White, Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Green Galore, Gable Green, Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue, Cardstock Vellum
Ink: Basic Black, Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Green Galore, Gable Green, Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Silver Brads
Paper:

"Yosemite Vacation"

We are back from our vacation. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything as gorgeous as I did in Yosemite National Park. We were on the Valley Floor surrounded by beauty beyond belief. This picture is our view from directly behind our cabin. It was breathtaking.

This is the view from the top of the first picture. It is called Glacier Point. It was directly above our cabin. 3200 ft above. If you look by the grassy field in the middle you can see the swimming pool. It was about 70 yards from our cabin door.

Here are Sarah and Molly playing on a big rock in front of our cabin. There were several rocks bigger than this one around our camp. Every kid in the camp was climbing the rocks.

Here are my three tree huggers, hugging the giant cedar tree. The camp was full of trees like this one. The pictures are kinda hazy because of the smoke from the wild fires in CA. You couldn't smell the smoke but you could see it.

This is the famous "El Capitan" People climb this rock. (crazy people) It is so huge. We took a 4 hour guided tour up to the top of Glacier Point and saw the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

Another famous climbing rock is the "Half Dome" Absolutely stunning. People come from all over the world to climb El Capitan and Half Dome.

This is another picture from the top of Glacier Point. The waterfall on the top right is called Nevada Fall. The lower falls on the left is called Vernal Falls. On the way down the mountain we stopped at a viewing spot that showed Bridalveil Falls with a rainbow going through it. It happens the everyday at the same time and we were lucky enough to see it. It was hard to photograph it but I did get a post card of it for my scrapbook.

Before we did the tour to Glacier Point we went to Yosemite Falls. It was so gorgeous. I can't even describe it. This picture is what we saw from the beginning of the hike to the lower falls. That hike was 30 minutes. 15 there and 15 back. The hike to the upper falls was 6-8 hours. You could go all the way to the bottom of the falls and feel the spray from the water. It was truly awesome.

This is another picture of the falls. It is by far the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. I wish it wouldn't have been so hazy from the fires. I did take quite a few pictures of the falls. We even found a couple that spoke English to take our family picture. Believe me, it was hard.
I have a couple more pictures from the hike to show you. I could have stayed there forever. It was so pretty. We were only there for 4 days but it felt like longer. It was so nice to get away.

The thing I wanted to see the most besides Yosemite Falls was the Giant Sequoias. You know the famous one that you can drive through that you see in all the Yosemite Brochures and on the Internet? That is the one I wanted to see. Turns out that it blew down in 1969. Yes, I said 1969. I felt like a dork when I asked the guy at the info desk and he looked at me like I was stupid and told me it blew down 39 years ago. My question is why is it still in the brochures? The Giant Sequoia forest was about 27 miles south of where we were and we didn't make it there. Yosemite is 4 hours south of Sacramento. I can't believe it was our first time there. But I guess when you live there you don't see the sites like the tourists do.

Oh yeah, I have a foot update. My foot was pain free the day we left. I was careful not to over do anything but the pain was totally gone. When we got home there was a message from my doctor on the answering machine giving me the results for my blood work and x-rays. You're not going to believe it but all my tests came back in the normal range. So I guess not walking and having so much pain you can't put a sock on is totally normal. I wonder what it is called when you can walk and have no pain. LOL
Thanks for sharing my vacation with me. I really need to stamp. I am having serious withdrawals.
*We did rent a cabin. They also have three sided tents, tent cabins, and cabins with bathrooms. There are also several campgrounds that you can tent or RV in.* You have to book your vacation to Yosemite about a year in advance. They sell out super fast. When we booked ours lie 8 or 9 months ago, the only thing we could get was the three nights we got. There was nothing else available.*

"Hot Hot Hot"

Wow! Monday it was 103 degrees, and that was at 8:00pm. Yeah, that is nuts I know. But guess what? Today and Wednesday it is supposed to be 105 degrees. I can't believe it. Good news though, we won't be in Sacto, we will be in Yosemite National Park. Woo Hoo. However the temp there is going to be in the upper 90's. LOL I Can't wait. We are going to have a good time. We are staying in a cabin so that is cool. What isn't cool is that the cabin has no plumbing and the lady said that she thinks there are no outlets but is almost positive that there is one light. I sure hope so. We booked our trip 9 months ago and still didn't get a cabin with a bathroom. Those go first. They have an outdoor swimming pool, a bunch of places to eat, and lots of things to do with the kids. They even have crafts for the kids to make and stories around the fire at night. We hope to see the waterfalls and drive through the tree and do some hiking.

Update on my foot. They took blood and x-rays and will call me Tuesday morning. She said that it is either Gout or Cellulites, which is a bacterial skin infection. Which makes sense cause the steroids that I am on for my eye make my immune system low which is one of the causes of the Cellulites. I am pretty sure that is what the problem is. Or a stress fracture.

The card I posted on Sunday is a shaker card. I forgot to mention that. Here is where you can find directions for that. The next time I make one, I will do a tutorial for you. They are super fun and a big WOW card for the person that gets it.
Stamps: Archivers Exclusive
Paper: Cameo Coral, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Black 5/8 Inch Grosgrain Ribbon, SU Markers, Bling, Stickles (on the popsicle)

"I'm So Sorry"

I am so sorry that didn't get anything new posted today. Since I didn't get anything new stamped I decided to post one of my favorite cards to make. I made this one last year but I don't think I ever posted it. I wanted to stamp so bad last night but I spent the day and night on the couch. I can't walk right now. There is something wrong with my foot. It is swollen and so painful. I didn't hurt it or drop something on it so I don't know what happened. I am going to the doctor on Monday to get an x-ray. I have it wrapped with an ice pack and Tony is letting me use his crutches cause I can't put any pressure on it. I can't even wear a sock cause that hurts too bad. We are going on Vacation on Tuesday to Yosemite and I am so bummed that I am hurt. I hope that they will find out what is wrong and give me something for the pain so I can enjoy Yosemite. I am so excited to go and see the waterfalls, drive through the trunk of the big Redwood trees and go hiking. Tony said that I might have to stay back and not hike but I don't want to do that. Why do things like this happen out of the blue? If I can figure out how to sit tomorrow where my foot doesn't hurt I would love to stamp. I need to ink up my penguins!!!
Stamps: Treat Yourself, Something To Celebrate
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Accessories: Cupcake Sprinkles, Exacto-Knife, Small Baggie, SU Markers

Saturday Update

I hope you all had a safe and fun fourth. We had our block party on Friday night and it was a blast. I am so mad, I brought my camera but didn't take a single picture. Good thing my neighbor did, I will have to get some copies. We didn't have as many people as previous years but it was still fun. We had a bounce house, sno cone machine, cotton candy machine, carnival games and a margarita machine. Lost of food and lots of fun. At night we blew off fireworks for about 40 minutes and it was awesome. All the kids got glow sticks and had those poppers and sparklers. I plan on stamping today. I had to clean up my area the other day and I didn't want to mess it up to stamp but I am ready to mess it up now. I am totally going through stamping withdrawls. My best friend Shelly sent me some new stamps for my birthday and I can't wait to ink them up. They are penguins and super cute, so stay tuned.....

"Stamped Tile Trivet"

My best friend Shelly sent me this stamped trivet that she made. It's 8 x 10 Pretty cool ha? She stamped everything and then sprayed it with an acrylic sealer. She used a glossy finish on it. I have a vase on it right now and when I went to take the vase off it stuck and left a vase bottom ring on the trivet. I don't know if that is because of the gloss finish or because of the humidity.

On the back she put strips of felt on it so it won't scratch the table. I am pretty sure she used regular ink and not stazon for this. I am waiting for her e-mail reply to get the full details and then I will let you know.

*I just heard from Shelly and yes she did use stazon ink. *