Stampin' & Scrappin' with Donna

IT'S FRIDAY, ISN'T IT?

... and I'll bet you are looking for today's installment of "Fake It Friday"!

Sorry to disappoint, but I've got photographic evidence to explain why I haven't had time to explore the 'net this week ...

I've been a busy little beaver ... getting ready for tomorrow's craft sale at York United Church (near Caledonia; over Hamilton way)

My cousins are members of this tiny parish and this sale is one of their biggest fund-raisers of the year... people line up early in the morning to be the first in the door to get the most delicious frozen meat pies and to-die-for baked goods - seriously - I saw the line-up last year with my own eyes!

I've made a ton of small items for my "TOONEY TABLE" and Roy is bringing his Nature Photos too. A lot of it is ready to go, but I'll probably be stamping well into the wee hours tonight 'cause I tend to suffer from the "just one more idea" syndrome. <grin>

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow - everyone knows each other at this event, I can do some shopping for the holidays, the lunch is terrific, and I get to catch up with this branch of the family all at the same time! 

Hope your weekend involves something festive too - if not, then grab your stamps and make it so!

cheers,

FAKE IT FRIDAY: VOTIVE CANDLE COVER

Time for another installment of FAKE IT FRIDAY ... where I C.A.S.E. (Copy And Share Everything) from my favourite Stampin' Up! Divas - the creme de la creme of the creative craft blogworld!

Today we visit Jan Tink (actually Janine Tinklenberg) over at her blog: "Stamps, Paper, Scissors". I just love Jan's humour and individualistic approach to stamping ... plus she breaks her projects down to the simplest steps, so that even I can succeed on my very first try - now THAT'S TALENT!  <grin>

By using her Movers & Shapers die with her Big shot, Jan found a super easy way to make a votive candle cover  - get this - with NO MEASURING REQUIRED to get the four windows to align evenly! This woman deserves an award, I tell you ... what's the craft-world-equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize, I wonder?

Anyway, here's the cover I made following Jan's video tutorial, which you can view HERE.

Another great feature of this project is that you can make two of them from a single 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of card stock, with absolutely ZERO wastage. 

You'll need four squares of vellum paper or vellum card stock, each one is only 2-1/2" x 2-1/2", so dig into your scrap bin.

SUPPLIES I USED (100% STAMPIN' UP!):

Stamps: Medallion, Autumn Days, & French Script (retired).

Inks: Creamy Caramel & Close to Cocoa Classic ink pads; Always Artichoke & More Mustard Markers.

Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Movers & Shapers: Curly Label Bigz die, Big Shot die cutter, Chocolate Chip ribbon (retired), Sticky Strip.

Thanks Jan, for another inspirational project! I can't wait to make some more!

cheers,

Donna

FAKE IT FRIDAY: STAIR STEP CARD

I may be down with a cold, but thanks to TypePad's "write now; publish later" feature I already have today's edition of FAKE IT FRIDAY all ready to share with you ... enjoy!

TIME is one of the reasons that I call myself a fake ... I don't seem to be able to find the time to lock myself away in my studio just to experiment and create on my own. Instead, I rely on a short list of my "Favourite-Uber-Talented-Stampin' Up! Demonstrator-Divas" to inspire me whenever I need a new project for one of my classes. Hence the title of these posts: FAKE IT FRIDAY...

The stair step card was making the rounds of all the blogs a few months back, and while they looked fun, I was never moved to try it myself ... that is until I saw Amy Celona's version - WOW!

Amy's been one of my go-to Stampin' Up! Divas for some time now. She always gives clear and concise directions to her projects, and she shares sooo much detail on her blog, UStamp4Fun.com, that I imagine her heart is truly "two sizes too big" - definitely NOT a Grinch, this gal!

Without further ado, here is the card I made earlier this week following Amy's Stair Step Card tutorial, which you can view here

I've taken a second shot so you can see how it looks from the side.

Amy has an excellent diagram of the folds and cutting required with all of the measurements, so I won't go into details here. One tip: the only cutting you need to do is on the single solid line shown on her diagram. It took me a minute to figure that out.

SUPPLIES I USED (100% Stampin' Up!): "A Wish for Peace" & "Yuletide Christmas" stamp sets; "Mellow Moss" textured card stock, "Handsome Hunter" & "Very Vanilla" card stock; "Chocolate Chip", "Handsome Hunter" & "Apricot Appeal" Classic inks/markers; Blender Pen, 2-Way glue pen; "Dazzling Diamonds" glitter, "Designer Label" punch; and Clear Rhinestone Brads.

I really like how Amy added the extra side panel - her version has more pizazz than the traditional stair step card, yet it's just as easy to make. This style of card would work well for birthdays (both adult and kids), Hallowe'en, Father's Day, a "We've Moved" announcement card, invitations ... oooh, now I've got all kinds of ideas to try out! I hope you'll give it a try too!

Tomorrow I'll show you how I altered the mat behind the greeting using the punch, and how I added colour to the church stamp using a blender pen - a couple of kewl tricks you can add to your arsenal.

cheers

FAKE IT FRIDAY: EASIEST SPINNER CARD EVER!

Time for another installment of FAKE IT FRIDAY, when I reveal my sources for all the amazing things I teach in my classes - nope, they're not all my own ideas. There, the secret is out & I feel SO much better; sigh.

Today's Stampin' Up! Diva is Angie Kennedy Juda, who hangs out at ChicnScratch.com ... Angie makes the cutest, neatest, fun-est stuff ever; great for gifts, craft bazaars and just plain fun to make for yourself! I check out her YouTube tutorials and her blog on a regular basis; you should too!

Today's project: a spinner card - not a new idea, but it can be very frustrating to make if you don't layer the pennies and card stock "just so". In fact, I'd pretty much given up teaching this card in my classes because of the "hit-and-miss, will-it-spin" factor. Well worry no more...

Angie's tutorial shows a no-fail method to get the mechanics of this card to work EVERY TIME! (providing you follow the steps EXACTLY and don't try to modify anything ... ask me how I know!) I also love the 3x6 size of Angie's card - the shape accents the sliding feature; it's clean and simple, and adaptable to any occasion.

Here's my attempt, following the tutorial found HERE ... btw, ignore the reference on the video to Sale-a-Bration (she used a stamp set from last year's Sale-a-Bration event on her sample. Sale-a-Bration 2010 starts on Jan 5th).

I'm pretty literal, so when I was rifling through my stamp stash to see which image I wanted to spin, I decided on the pair of dice from the set "Game Night" - an obvious choice, don't you think? And of course, I needed a gambling phrase, so I chose "Good Luck" from "Fundamental Phrases"... all supplies used are by Stampin' Up!©

A few notes: (click on the photo for a closer view)

1) Be sure to chose an image that will actually hide the penny (my dice were a little small, so I punched a 3/4" circle from Whisper White card stock to cover the penny first.) 

2) It's easier to stamp the phrase when Angie says to stamp it, but it's not impossible to do that step last if you forget - I did!

3) It's worth it to take the time to make a REALLY ACCURATE template that you can use over and over - don't skip this step! (Yeah, I tried to save time and it's just too hard to line up your word window punches on both layers without doing the tracing first!)

I had a good chuckle when Angie made the comment about how hard it is to line up when she has an audience ... too true! THAT'S why I leave the video-making to others and also why I practice so much before I actually face my classroom audience!

I hope you try the slider card soon - and send me a pic of your results; I'd love to see your creations!

cheers

MY APOLOGIES FOR YESTERDAY

If you tuned in yesterday (Friday) for the latest installment of FAKE IT FRIDAY, I'm truly sorry to have disappointed you. What with getting ready for our booth at the MADE FOR YOU craft show in downtown Guelph, I just didn't have the time to test out any stampin' projects.

FAKE IT FRIDAY will return next week (Friday the 13th ... oh-oh!) with my attempts at another fabulous demonstrator diva's creation.

PS: the Craft Show was today, and our wares were very well received by those who attended. A larger crowd would have been nice, but all in all, it was a good learning experience that we'll take with us to our next show. Thanks to all my stamping friends who stopped by to give an encouraging word - you gals rock!

cheers

Donna

FAKE IT FRIDAY: GLASS ORNAMENTS

I can't believe it's Friday already - I love doing this weekly segment 'cause I get to surf the web for ideas and try out new things, and at the same time tell my hubby that I'm working!

Today I've chosen one of my all-time go-to gals for inspiration, Diana Gibbs of Arizona. Diana and her sister Jacqui are both very talented stampers whom I'm proud to call my friends. Funny thing is that even though Jacqui lives much closer to me (only an hour away) I usually see Diana more often in person - at Stampin' Up!'s Convention and Leadership events; go figure. However, I am part of Jacqui's Yahoo Group for demonstrators, and I love all the kewl things she shares online, too!

For today's post, I decided to try Diana's demo of Embossed Glass Ornaments (link). It probably won't surprise you to hear that I already had a supply of plain glass ornaments in my overstuffed "things-to-stamp-on" cupboard (aka my dollar-store treasure chest), so I pulled out a couple of different shaped ornaments to try today.

Now I have made these before (that is to say, I've stamped on acetate, coloured the image and inserted it into the ornament) but I really liked the added effect of embossing the inside of the glass with "Iridescent Ice" embossing powder - it really adds something to the finished project!

Once again, I can't stress enough how important (and sensible) it is to read the instructions THOROUGHLY before you start. Just wish I could get that message through my own thick skull. (chuckle)

What did I do wrong? Well, let's just say that Diana wasn't kidding when she said the glass gets really hot when you're embossing!!!! So ... after I soaked my burnt little fingers in cold water I tried again, this time holding the ornament with a towel ... that was another bad idea. Towels will start to scorch before the embossing powder has fully set. Plus, my EP just wasn't setting evenly - some spots were fine while others stayed powdery.

I finally admitted defeat and went back to Diana's site for another look-see - let me tell you, things went much easier once a) I switched to holding the ornament by the neck with my tweezers (duh), and b) I pointed my heat tool all over the OUTSIDE of the ornament (I was aiming it inside, through the tiny opening ... double duh!)

I had to guess what size to make the acetate circles, depending on the size of the ornament. One ended up too small and the design was turning upside down once it was inside. I ended up pulling it back out with my tweezers (you'll need three hands to do that!) and instead of stamping all over again on a larger circle, I just glued my small one to a larger one, using a glue dot behind the red bow - it worked fine!

They ended up looking pretty kewl ... my hubby was even impressed, and that's saying something! I think I'll offer these in an ornament and tag class in December - they'd look nice tied onto a gift as a keepsake, don't you think?

PS: Be sure to visit Diana's blog HERE and Jacqui's blog HERE - and tell them I say HI!

cheers,

Donna

FAKE IT FRIDAY: BRAYERED ROSES

Here we are with my second installment of FAKE IT FRIDAY (my OCT 16 POST explains the concept & wacky title) ... today I'm featuring another of my all-time-favourite-uber-talented Stampin' Up! divas, Patty Bennett.

Whenever I need inspiration or a reminder to loosen up, just try it and have fun, I visit Patty's blog or watch one of her YouTube videos. Afterwards, I'm usually RUNNING to my Stampin' Studio to try out one of her ideas; she's just THAT talented!

So to get ready for last Saturday's STAMP-4-FUN event (a quarterly day I host for my downline and other local demonstrators), I was searching through the maze of YouTube videos, looking for ones that used Sizzix embossing folders - I wanted to show my team some kewl techniques that they could try with these folders and their Big Shot machines. I found several good ones, but this video by Patty was BY FAR the best, giving me the most WOW for my viewing ... and I think the gals were pretty impressed on Saturday too!

I won't go into the technique steps - you can see how to do it on Patty's original video HERE - but I DO want to share my results and some tips (AKA: mistakes I made along the way) ... (remember, you can click on the photos to see a larger view) ...

The "Manhattan Flower" embossing folder gives an elegant look to plain white card stock (photo 1), but this time I wanted to add some colour. As Patty points out in her video, you can try to drag an ink pad across the top of the card to "catch" just the raised embossed image, but it rarely comes out clean (photo 2).

Instead, Patty advises flipping over to the backside (the "de-bossed" side) to add your colour ... now I'm excited! I pull out the same colours Patty used and I dove in, starting with the pink... oops!

NOTE TO SELF: Remember to remove most of the ink from the brayer BEFORE you go NEAR the card front. Otherwise you get ... photo 3.

My next attempt was much better - just a hint of pink, then add the yellow. (OK, so I think this one is too light on the pink and too heavy on the yellow but then again, I'm not partial to yellow roses. Some of the other gals preferred this version - to each her own. (Photo 4)

Here's the one I REALLY like - after colouring, I cut out around the outside edges of the embossed roses, stamped some leaves on another piece of card stock and then adhered the roses on top. It's not exactly like Patty's card in the video because I wanted mine to be a standard 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" in size. (Photo 5)

All in all, I really love this technique and can't wait to try it with my other embossing folders and some different colour combos. The way I see it, the more looks you can get with one product, the better - so thank you Patty for giving new life to the embossed look!

cheers,

JUST A QUICKIE...

Just popping in to tell you that ...

1. My NOVEMBER classes are now posted online - check it out HERE!
2. The October STAMPIN' SAMPLES Newsletter went out today - watch for it in your inbox!
3. It's time to sign up for the CHRISTMAS CARD MARATHON on Sat Nov 14!
4. Tune in on the 23rd for the second installment of FAKE IT FRIDAY! (You can see last week's episode HERE)

Hope your day includes a bit of creativity!

cheers

FAKE IT FRIDAY: CRIMPED ENVELOPE CARD

How do you like the title of my new blog feature?

Yep, it's time to confess to all of you .. I'm a fake. I am NOT the creative guru or artistic genius that I attempt to portray here on my blog. Don't get me wrong ... once in a very long while, when the muses are with me, and Jupiter is in line with Mars, and I hold my tongue just the right way, I CAN come up with an ORIGINAL crafty idea. Then I'm exhausted and I go to bed ... KIDDING!

But most of the time (and I mean 99.5% of the time) I C.A.S.E ideas from much more creative people than my humble self. (C.A.S.E can mean "copy and steal everything", or "compliment and stamp everything", or whatever phrase helps a lurker like me live with my fake self!)

Now, there are a LOT of very talented stampers out there who LOVE to share their ideas; in fact I count myself lucky that I know a few of them personally. What about me? I don't feel I have anything new to offer in the way of creating tutorials or videos or PDFs "cause I'm a pretty average crafter. (I think we've established that fact ... moving on.) I'm content to turn on my computer or go to demonstrator trainings and surf/snap away to my heart's content. Then I go home and practice, practice, practice before I get together with my team, my Stampers Club members, my workshop hostesses, or with you right here in cyberspace so I can share what I've found ... I DO love to share!

(Beavers! Beavers! Beavers! ... Sharing! Sharing! Sharing!  ... oops, sorry about that. After 20 yrs as a Leader, old habits die hard. Bet you can't guess what my Beaver name was!)

So, rather than jump on the tutorial/video/class planner bandwagon and expose my own lack of originality to the ENTIRE world, I've decided that each Friday I will find an interesting project designed by one of those uber-crafty demonstrators, I will make the project following their well-planned instructions and I will share the results with you here ... mistakes and all!

Of course, I'll also supply you with the original source so you can see how the truly gifted meant for the project to be, but it should also (hopefully) be fun to see what I come up with, since I never quite seem to follow the instructions to the letter. (Hence my need for lots of practice.) I think you've got the concept, so enough chatter. Without further ado, here's today's "FAKE IT FRIDAY" project:

I might as well start close to home - Andrea Walford is probably on every stamper's top five list of blogs to stalk 'cause she always gives projects her own unique twist, and never ceases to amaze in the talent department. She also lives about 15 minutes from me and I get to see her at various demonstrator events. Lucky, huh?

Now that she has added video tutorials to her repertoire, I'm so glad that you all get to hear and watch how she does her magic, and ... GASP! ... see that she even makes the occasional mistake just like us mortals!!! Seriously, I really do enjoy hearing her encouragement and enthusiasm coming through on those videos - I sure feel less intimidated when I have visual and audio instructions while I try to duplicate someone's projects or techniques.

So, Andrea made this really kewl do-hickey with a removable lid made from the top note die. Her unique twist was to add a pull-out card inside the pocket, which makes the whole thing much more versatile. (You can read/hear her suggestions for using this project on the original post, so I won't repeat them here. I bet you can come up with even more!) The lid was really what caught my eye, so I pulled out my stash this morning and gave it a try...

First off, I didn't have the Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! that Andrea used - I know, I know ... it's hard to believe that there's a package that I DON"T own yet, but there I was. I could have placed an order right away and tried this project another time, (yeah, right ... I must have a zillion bookmarked projects to make "someday"...) anyway, I'm happy to report that my frugal side won out and I decided to make it now with what I have on hand. AND I used retired ribbon, too! (Is that my hubby I hear, cheering from upstairs?)

So... the instructions on Andrea's video are EXCELLENT ... and I would recommend listening to them carefully. I wish I had.

Pay particular attention to the part about where to punch the holes for the brads ... it's very important to place them as close as possible to the edges of the die. Otherwise, the lid won't fit over the pocket and you've basically got to start over ... ask me how I know ;-)

It was fun to dust off my crimper and use it again after I-don't-know-how-long; we used to make this type of pocket gift holder out of a plain white business envelope back in the day... stamp-cut-crimp ... it got pretty old pretty fast. I'll be the first to agree that Andrea has given the idea a fresh new look by using Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper and the Top Note die ... I'll be making more of these!

Here's the link to Andrea's original post featuring this project ... I hope you watch her video and try it for yourself. And be sure to tune in here next week for a new episode of "FAKE IT FRIDAY" - featuring another of my favourite Stamping Goddesses!

cheers,

Donna

PS - In Beavers, they called me "Bubbles" - hey, cut it out; they were 5 & 6 year olds!!!

SUPPLIES I USED: (100% Stampin' Up!)

Merry Moments DSP; Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla card stock; Very Vanilla Craft ink and embossing powder; heat tool; corner rounder punch, Very Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware (brads); Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon (retired); Yuletide Christmas stamp set (Holiday Mini) - available through my online store!