I CAN Stamp, CAN you?

One of my favorite parts of the month is club weeks!  I love getting together with my club ladies once a month for loads of fun.  They are always so excited and enthusiastic and we laugh...a lot!  This last month I had them all bring an empty, clean soup can with them for one of our projects.

I know, it looks a lot like my memory jar project!  I love that project so much I wanted to share a part of it with my club girls.  So, we decorated some cans with product from the Tea for Two suite that they could use on their desks or put a fun bag of treats in to give to someone special.

It was a super simple project and pretty straightforward, so I'm not going to go into great detail (however, ask away if you have questions and I will try to answer).  I do have one little tip for you if you're covering cans...run the paper long the side of your table or work surface so that it gets a curve to it.  This way, the curve hugs the can making it easier to apply the paper and less likely for the seam to pop open.  One more little tip is to use the right adhesive for the job...I like Sticky Strip or Tombow, or a combination of both, for this kind of project.  And, one last tip...it's easier to get the paper onto the can straight if you start applying it from the middle and work to the ends rather than end to end.  When I start in the middle, I find it's easier to get the paper to go on straight!

All the products used for this can project, can be found in the Spring Catalog (specifically the Tea for Two product suite).  Head on over to my online store and order your Tea for Two stuff today so you can start creating fun projects like this one!

Have an inspired day!

Spring Hat

Hello!  I hope that last snow we had on the weekend was our spring snow storm of the year and I can put my shovel away...but I won't yet. just in case!

I was inspired by a swap I received a few months back from my friend Donna.  I tweaked her project a bit to make it my own and here's what I came up with!

Isn't it cute?!?!?  I'm not usually a hat person, but I can't stop making these.  I tried to make this one into a straw hat by using Crumb Cake cardstock and embossing it with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  Here's a closer look at the embellishments.

I used the Elegant Soiree DSP, punches, pearls and ribbon to embellish.  This little beauty is made from an empty embellishment container and the best part is that you can put a treat inside.

How fun is that?!?!?  So what do you think?

Have an inspired day!

S-P-R-I-N-G

I am convinced that Spring has to be just around the corner and we are NOT going to get anymore snow!  I've even been checking daily to see if my tulips are coming up...nothing yet, but soon I'm sure!

So, do you ever start a project and squeal with delight when it's finished because it's so fabulous?  I totally did that when I finished the S-P-R-I-N-G frame project for the Festive Frames class last week.  Check it out...

I can honestly say I love EVERYTHING about this project!!!  I started with the Springtime Vintage DSP to choose my colors and went from there.  Here are some close ups of some of the elements.

The flowers were done with the Fun Flower die which you can find in the Occasions Mini right now...love that die!!!  They are Baja Breeze sponged with Night of Navy and Pink Pirouette sponged with Rose Red.  They're finished off with some pearls and Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding for leaves.

Check out this bird!  He (or maybe it's a she because it's pink?!?!?) is punched from Rose Red cardstock.  The wing is some Springtime Vintage DSP and the eye is a pearl.  Did you notice the nest?  I *heart* the nest!!!  I found a roll of really old Hemp Twine in my cupboard and it was perfect for the nest!  I wrapped it around my finger 3 times and then tied the ends around the "nest" to keep it together.

I really love how the butterfly turned out!  My butterfly is cut from the Springtime Vintage DSP and has a row of pearls for the body.  To give the wings some dimension, I curled them with my bone folder (by running the wings between my finger an the bone folder...similar to how you would curl ribbon with scissors). 

Did you notice how the butterfly is flying from the cute button flowers?  Those buttons are from the Springtime Vintage Designer Button package...also in the Occasions Mini!  The leaves are from the Apple Blossoms level 2 hostess set and the grass is...yep, you guessed it...Springtime Vintage DSP!

Check out the sweet little tags...

They were punched with the Jewellery Tag punch and attached to the Baja Breeze Seam Binding bow with a sweet little pin.  You can find those pins in the Vintage Trinkets.

All my letters were cut with my beloved Big Shot and the Simple Alphabet.  The squares that the letters are on were stamped with the small flower from the Vintage Vogue set.  The background of the whole project was also stamped with a stamp from the Vintage Vogue set.

All in all...I love it and it looks so pretty hanging on my wall in my front entrance!

March Madness time...sorry about the unfinished post last time!  Long night the night before and I was distracted and pushed post instead of save.  Anyway, the kids chose #5, which means Rebecca wins!  Congratulations Rebecca.  For today's prize, I have a package of Subtles Glimmer Brads up for grabs.  Leave a comment telling me your favorite part of spring and I will randomly choose a winner from all the comments.

Bingo Square:  Perfect Plum Flower

Have an inspired day!

Two-Step Into Spring

Well, Sale-A-Bration is officially over for another year, but don't worry, Stampin' Up! has a new special for you this month.  We're Two-Stepping into Spring with a sneak peek at a set that will be offered in the new Idea Book & Catalogue in July as well as some fabulous two-step stamp sets at 20% off.  Check it out.

And, Stampin' Up! has added more items to the clearance rack!  There's some awesome deals to be had and some products that I know some of you were looking for at the end of last year!  Click the link on the right to go to my website and start shopping!  These items can only be purchased online and are only available while supplies last!

I'll be back later with a scrapbook layout to share!  Have an inspired day!

Lisa

Beautiful Butterflies

WAHOO!!!!  It's my 100th post!!!  Can you believe it?  When I started I thought I would post once a week or so and see how it goes.  Well, I've definitely been posting more than once a week and I'm loving it!  I've had people from all over the world check out my little blog, I've been featured on LNS Blog Finds of the Day a few times, I've learnt a lot about my computer and the blogging world.  I've received some much needed help from some great Stampin' Up! Demonstrator bloggers and I've received some fabulous comments from quite a few people including some of my stamping heros!!!

Ok, on to what you came here for...a super fabulous project!

It's a butterfly house!  Isn't is fabulous?!?  This was the Manager's project at the last meeting I went to for my upline's group.  I love, love, love this project and the best part is, it's super easy to do!

Here's a closer look at the house part.

That's right, it's the Mini Milk Carton...again!  I told you I would be showing you lots more ways to use it!!  This time it was cut from the Shades of Spring DSP (from the Occasions Mini).  Now, I have to say, that pack of DSP definitely is not my favorite, but the more and more I play with it the more I'm coming around with it!!!  For me, it works best in small doses...and there's still a few patterns on some of the sheets that make me shudder!

Anyway, the mini milk carton is the butterfly house.  It's made like the bird house I made here, only with a smaller hole for the door, and a skewer stick inside it!  To help the house from sliding around (and to make it pretty), there's a piece of Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon tied around the skewer.

Here's a closer look at the pot...filled with Werthers!

The pot is just a terracotta pot painted white.  There's a scallop circle cut from a chipboard coaster glued to the bottom.  Before I glued it to the bottom, I sponged around the scallops with Old Olive ink.  Then tie a piece of Certainly Celery Satin ribbon around the pot and decorate with butterflies.

So easy and so darling!

The butterflies are Old Olive and Certainly Celery and are all sponged with Old Olive ink to accentuate the embossing on them.  They are scattered all over the house and pot.  I love it!

So, in honour of my 100th post, I'm going to give away a Stampin' Up! Beautiful Wings embosslit die (when I get it...they're backordered right now!).  All you have to do to be entered to win is leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite part of my blog is.  I'll do the draw and announce the winner on April 5, so go ahead and leave me a comment and you might be the lucky one to win this fabulous die!

Have an inspired day!

In Like a Lamb

Mmmmmm, the smell of spring is in the air!  It was so gorgeous today that I had a couple windows open and I swear it smelled like spring.  The sun was shining, the neighbourhood kids were out playing in the street and it was just a great day!  Hopefully we won't see anymore winter...but I did see in the long range forecast that it's supposed to get ugly again next week.  Cross your fingers that the forecast will change! 

It is said that March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion or vice versa.  Well, I think it definitely came in like a lamb, so in honour of this, I have a lamb card to share with you today.

And, since March is my Birthday Bonanza month, I decided to make my lamb card a birthday card.  I used the Pun Fun and A Little Birthday Cheer (which you can earn FREE with Sale-A-Bration) stamp sets for this card.  I chose some springy colors...Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink and Soft Suede.

I also used the SU Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder on the Bashful Blue piece.  I love SU Embossing Folders.  They create such a deep and crisp impression in the cardstock.  Here's a closer look at the dimension.

And, here's a closer look at the little lamb, which is attached to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  To color her, I just scribbled on her with my White Gel Pen.  The heart is the smallest heart from the Heart to Heart punch.  I punched it out of Pretty in Pink cardstock and sponged around the edges with Rose Red.  I carefully cut around the lamb's arm to tuck the heart in behind it.

So cute!  Remember that during the Birthday Bonanza, shipping & GST is on me!

That's all for today!  Have an inspired day!

Think Spring

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...actually it's not that bad!  It's snowing, but warm.  It's just kind of an "ugh...more snow...I'm ready to be done with snow" kind of day!

A few weeks ago the Groundhog saw his shadow (at least around here he did!), which means 6 more weeks of winter.  Did you know that the Groundhog is right aobut 75-90% of the time?  The thought of 6 more weeks of winter really made me long for spring...or at least a chinook!  I love the smell of spring, seeing the trees start to bud, and watching everything come to life after a long winter of dormancy.  To me, spring just feels like a new start...it's refreshing!

February's Mantle Messages class was spring themed.  I had the girls questioning why we did spring...they're so excicted to display their projects, but it's too early!  Well, I did spring, becuase I needed to use some springy colors to break up the monotomy of winter and because next month we need to to Easter. Spring just fit into my Mantle Message schedule!

Anyway, here's a look at the project...

It's so long that it's hard to get a good picture of it!  This time around I chose to go a little different route!  We've been using chipboard coasters for the Mantle Messages, but I just got my Scallop Square Die and wanted to use it!  All the backgrounds are cut from On Board Longboard and Chocolate Chip cardstock with the Scallop Square die.  I *heart* that die!  I stamped the background with Chocolate Chip ink using the En Francais background stamp and then sponged around the edges with Chocolate Chip ink.

The flowers are cut with the clear Flower Die using the Sweet Pea DSP in the Occasions Mini.  There's so many patterns to choose from in that DSP pack that it was hard to pick just 6!!!  I'm loving all the choices in that paper pack and really hope to see more like that in the new catalogue in July (hint, hint, hint...if anyone from Stampin' Up! is reading this!!!).  Each flower was sponged with a coordinating ink color.  Because there's so many patterns and colors to choose from in the paper pack, I let the class participants pick whatever design they wanted for their flowers.  They all turned out so different and so pretty.

The centers of the flowers are textured So Saffron cardstock punched with the 1 3/4" Circle Punch and then sponged around the edges with More Mustard ink.  And, in the centers I put the letters to spell spring.  The letters are cut with the Go Go Boots Alphabet from Chocolate Chip cardstock.  I think the letters are the only part not sponged on this project...besides the ribbon!

I wanted the ribbons joining the squares to look like leaves, so I put two pieces of Old Olive Striped Ribbon between each scallop square (they're attached to the backs of the chipboard squares and then a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock is put on to finish the backs).  I then tied a piece of Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain to each striped piece.  I think it achieves the look of leaves, and at the very least brightens it up a bit by adding some green to the mix!

I'm thrilled with the way this project turned out!  I think it's my favorite Mantle Message to date, and I can't wait to display it on my mantle!

Have an inspiring day!