Stampin' & Scrappin' with Donna

BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY

Today's card was a lot of fun to make ... Julie's colour challenge this week just happens to be my FAVE colour combo, I got to try my hand at colouring white ribbon to get the green I needed, and I even designed my own card template for this week's Cuttlebug Challenge ... my stampin' mojo was in full swing for a change!

CHALLENGES MET:

EBK COLOUR CHALLENGE: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, So Saffron & Garden Green

CUTTLEBUG CHALLENGE: shape card

ABC CHALLENGE: B is for Buttons

PILE IT ON CHALLENGE: boy card, + at least one other challenge

*** click on photos for a closer look ***

SUPPLIES USED: (100% Stampin' Up!)

INKS: VersaMark, Tempting Turquoise & Garden Green (to colour the ribbon)
PAPERS: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, So Saffron & Garden Green card stock

STAMPS: Animal Stories (pg 88) & Beautiful Baby (on dormant list)
ACCESSORIES: So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, Whisper White Taffeta ribbon, Sherbet Designer Buttons (Aug. special), Scallop Edge, 3/4" Circle & 1" Circle punches, Paper-Piercing Tool & Mat Pack, Hobby Blade, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds #1Texturz Plates, & Big Shot Die Cut machine

TIP FROM THE FRUGAL STAMPER: There's no need to own every colour of ribbon on the market - stock up on white ribbon and colour it yourself to match your projects!

Here's How: Simply hold a piece of ribbon against the ink pad with a dauber, piece of sponge or scrap card stock. (classic inks work well). Next, slowly pull the ribbon through with your free hand, keeping a light pressure on the ribbon with the sponge. Repeat the steps to get a darker shade ... if it gets too dark, just rinse it under the tap, let dry, & try again.

cheers, Donna

RECYCLED GIFT BAG

I'm introducing a new category for my blog subjects today: ALTERED ART, which just happens to be a passion of mine.

(Categories? What's she talking about now? I'll tell you - each time I post to my blog I assign one or more categories to the post. They are listed in small print at the end of each post. Why? Well, if you are interested in a certain category you can click on it and all the related posts will appear, one after the other for you to peruse. It's also helpful if you are trying to find a particular post weeks or even months after it was made - been there; done that; many times!) To see all the categories that I use here, scroll down and look at my CATEGORY CLOUD on the bottom left of the screen - the larger the print, the more posts there are in that particular category. Here's another tip: If you're lost in a sea of past posts & want to return to the most recent post on my blog, just click on the words on the red banner at the top & presto - you are home again!)

OK, back to ALTERED ART ... I was a child of the 70's when environmental recycling and reusing was first in fashion, and I was raised by parents who were kids during the Great Depression and had to just make do with what they had (yes, I'm THAT old!) .. so it's only natural that these habits have such a strong influence on my crafting projects today.

Today's project is fun and simple, AND has the added bonus of making me use up my stash of retired Stampin' Up! designer papers and ribbons. After unpacking some holiday shopping yesterday, I didn't want to throw away the cute bag with string handles - you know the type - so I set out to hide the store name & turn it into a one-of-a-kind gift bag for someone's future birthday.


Here are the before and after shots:

Take up the challenge - next time you have a container or bag that is still perfectly good, grab your stash of stamps, ink & paper (S*I*P) and see what you can come up with! And if you email me a picture of the results, I'll post it here for everyone to see.