GRAD CAP BOX

Here's a small gift box to hold some cash! You can make your own tassels or order them HERE.

Dress Card

I made this card for my friend, Suzanne, who helped me with a project for my upcoming Paper Crafter's Tea Party class. I used two scallop punches for the dress (from K&Co.'s Black and Ivory Fusion stack pack papers) and joined them at the waist. Then I placed a large glue dot on the back to attach a piece of narrow ribbon to hide the place where the two trimmed scalloped pieces joined. To attach the dress to the card, I used foam tape to give the card a little dimension. I cut the shoes freehand and added the Studio G "Thank you" saying. When I was all done, something seemed to be missing and it was a little gem on the dress belt and the shoes! If you make a bunch of these cards, it's worth making a scallop template for the top and bottom of the dress to get the right cut lines quickly every time!

Ribbon Organized!

I've just re-organized my ribbon stock. Now I'm in Organized Ribbon Heaven and it feels GREAT! Ribbon is definitely one my weaknesses because finding just the right ribbon width, color and texture can make or break a paper craft project! This wonderful organizer was previously a toy bin, and I placed all of my ribbons by color in each bin. It took quite awhile to do it, but now I can pull out a bin (or several bins!) and quickly see which color and texture would go best with my project.  (The storage bin fits perfectly on one side of my craft room closet.) I found this toy organizer - gently used - at my local Salvation Army store for $19 - oh, what a find!....but you can find a new one at Target.com or Amazon.com with a search for "12 bin toy storage"...or find a deal on one at a neighborhood garage sale. I have to warn you about one potential problem, though...I was so excited to show my husband my new ribbon organization system...BUT when he saw the VAST amount of ribbon I had, he asked if I was running a ribbon store out of our house!

A Wedding Card

We're going to a wedding soon and I dropped off our present and card today with the bride's mother. One of my favorite color combinations is white with off-white and pink! I used my computer for the HUGS, KISSES and JOY words and used mini roses from Michaels. For the  off-white component on this card, I used an embroidered ribbon. Oh, how I love to go to weddings! BTW --- to prevent ribbon from fraying after cutting, select a red sticky tape slightly narrower than the ribbon width, place a strip of sticky tape across your card --- slightly extending it beyond the right and left sides of the card, remove the red protective covering, place your ribbon on top of the red sticky tape and press down firmly to adhere, then use the card border on each side to trim the ribbon exactly to the edge. Remember to use sharp scissors when trimming ribbon! 

Basic Grey Card Class

I went with two friends to a Basic Grey card class this week at Scrapbook Island. We had all of the supplies to make 12 cards in two hours....but we only made it through 5 of the 12 cards since we had to do all of the cutting of the pieces and card fronts AND still get in some visiting! These cards were made with a sheet of Basic Grey stickers and a stack of 6x6 papers. I'm not sure about the grunge look --- it's definitely out of my usual comfort zone...but it's always good for creativity to think outside of your box once in awhile!

A Little Piece of Happiness Sent by a Friend

I  LOVE it when one of my card making friends sends me a card, and this one - from my friend Mel - has been sitting on my desk in my craft room for several weeks. I wanted to try one myself because this card just makes me happy every time I look at it! Well, I finally had the chance to try it while on a stay-cation this week, and I hope you'll try making one yourself. 


Punch out a 1" circle and use a pencil to draw around that circle near the middle of the card. Next - begin stamping equally around the pencil-drawn circle with a leaf-type stamp using green ink. Then take a second flower stamp in a color that will match the outer background layer of color and stamp around the circle again. Add your saying in a white 1" circle with a few layers of color behind it. (I used a 1  1/4" and a 1  3/8" punch for the layers behind the saying.) Then add some ribbon and a bow before adhering the white stamped background layer to the card front. Here are my first few attempts below. Thanks, Mel, for the idea to make your lovely card! 

Stampin' Up Stamp Sets: Pocket Silhouettes and Vintage Labels

FREE Box Tutorial

Get your FREE tutorial for this versatile box just by clicking HERE....then use your imagaination to decorate it! BTW - I'll be showing how to make these quick and easy leaves in my July 18th Paper Crafter's Tea Party class at Scrapbook Island (in San Jose, CA). 

FREE Scallop Rose Tutorial

Make these beautiful roses to embellish all of your paper craft projects! My step-by-step tutorial is FREE and it's ready to view and print by clicking HERE. Enjoy! (See my April 3rd, 2010 blog entry for additional scallop rose pics)....and my next tutorial will show you how to make the green box shown in this picture. Subscribe to this blog in the lower right corner or upper left "B" box at the top of this page to find out when more FREE tutorials are posted...and thank you, Leslie Ann in Canada, for sharing this wonderful idea with me --- I can hardly stop making them! 

Scallop Rose

My crafting pen pal from Vancouver, Canada - L.A. - suggested I try making this easy rose using a circle scallop punch. I love how it turned out as an embellishment on an Easter treat box for my dear mother-in-law. I'll give you the step-by-step details later in the week....stay tuned! (Subscribe to the posts for this site in the right column and to get a notification when I post the tutorial.)