Nursery Times Projects, A Closer Look

Thanks for coming back for a little closer look at the projects using the retiring set Nursery Times.  I think this z-fold card is my favorite.  It enabled such a cute little scene.

I created the Humpty's brick wall with the Simply Scored scoring tool, and I brayered the background nighttime sky.  It was simply a happy accident that I was able to pull off a daytime and nighttime scene on one card.

Stamps: Nursery Times; Paper: Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Just Eat Cake DSP;  Ink: So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom, Blushing Bride, Pumpkin Pie, Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Black Stazon; Accessories: Aquapainter, Cupcake builder punch, Simply Scored, Sponges, Brayer, Square Lattice EF, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

I wanted to show you all the pages of the coloring book I created for my daughter.  She is anxious to start filling it up.

I created the rhyme text on My Digital Studio and then stamped the images.  The pages were folded pieces of card stock.  The binding was created by punching two holes with the Crop-o-dile and running some ribbon through.  If I did it again, I would not use colored card stock, and it made the book too bulky.

Stamps: Nursery Times; Paper: Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Just Eat Cake DSP;  Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Black Stazon, Blush Blossom marker; Accessories: Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Aquapainter, Circle punches, Scallop circle punch, Eyelet border punch, Crop-o-dile, My Digital Studio, Crayons.

And the merry-go-round was such an undertaking, it definitely deserves an up-close look.  I added silver glimmer paper on the inside wall, reminiscent of mirrors.

 

Perhaps you can see the entire carousel sits on a mat of brick, similar to Humpty's wall in the z-fold card.

In this photo, you can see that I stamped a reflection image for the backside of each character and appreciate the fine cutting involved. 

I found the template online, link here.  I knew that it would rotate, but when I was doing the final assembly, I noticed the character poles going up and down.  Well, how cool is that?  That was a neat little surprise after a day's work.

Stamps: Nursery Times; Paper: Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, So Saffron, Whisper White, Just Eat Cake DSP;  Ink: So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom, Blushing Bride, Pumpkin Pie, Marina Mist, Sahra Sand, Soft Suede, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Black Stazon; Accessories: Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, 1-3/4" Circle punch, Silver glimmer paper, Aquapainter, Simply Scored, Sponge, Circles #2 die, Big Shot, Ruler, Stylus, Toothpick.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stampin' Addicts Retiring Sets Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts official good-bye party, the Retiring Sets Blog Hop! Have you scoured through the retiring list? I recommend you mark up your catalog with all the retiring sets, and by all means, grab those talking to you before they are gone! If you have been following the blog hop in order, you have just come from Twila's blog featuring the Party This Way. Weren't her projects adorable?

Today I'm featuring the stamp set Nursery Times. This set would be great for a baby card or announcement, baby book or scrapbook page, or handmade brag book.  Today I thought I would show a few not-so-straight-forward projects with this set.

First, a z-fold card.  Using this fold, each image from the stamp set can be highlighted to create a cute little scene.

I brayered the background sky and created Humpty's brick wall with the Simply Scored scoring tool.

My daughter loves coloring, and she is actually the reason I have this stamp set, so I created a small coloring book for her, along with the appropriate nursery rhymes.

And finally I woke up yesterday with some inspiration (or I lost my mind).  This project took an entire day to make, and many a time I had to keep telling myself it will be worth it.  I had to keep going as I didn't have time to change gears.

Click on the picture to see it up-close.  The merry-go-round actually rotates.  It uses a template available on the web, and I was surprised when I put it together that the little images go up and down when it rotates.  Wow!  I added silver glimmer paper on the inside wall, reminiscent of mirrors, and I even stamped a reflection image for the backside of each character.  I'll share the link to the template on Monday.

Need more inspiration?  I also made a swap card for the Leadership Conference with this set.

If you aren't yet a member of Stampin' Addicts, you can sign up here. Make sure you check out the next stop to see what Katherine put together using Pony Party. Her projects are always amazing.

 

The complete hop list:

1) Sara (lilyinkpad) -- Turtle & Co
2) Lisa (genesis) -- I {Heart} Hearts
3) Twila (tjdstampsalot) -- Party This Way
4) Heidi (hlw966) -- Nursery Times
5) Katherine -- Pony Party
6) Carmen -- Under the Stars
7) Yapha -- Season of Friendship
8) Debra (WebDeb) -- Flight of the Butterfly
9) Shelley (packerfan) -- Fifth Avenue Flower
10) Rhonda (rhondag) -- Inspired by Nature
11) Tanya (tanya27) -- Autumn Splendor
12) Kim (s1itcher46) -- Upsy Daisy
13) Betty (kittystamp) -- Nature's Nest
14) Krystal (skdeleeuw) -- Extreme Elements
15) Paula (scrapshappen) -- Borderlines

Thanks for stopping by!

FM56 Texty Grad

It's Kim's turn to challenge us at the Mashup.  Today we are focusing on graduations.  I don't have any upcoming grads in my life, so this will be a "just because" card for me.  Oh, and you get my post a wee bit early, because it's the Stampin' Addicts Retiring Set Blog Hop tomorrow (don't forget to check that out!).

image © Bakerella

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project for "Graduation".
2. Or Make a project using " Text or Definition Stamps and/or Paper".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a " Graduation project with Text or Definition stamps/papers".

Don't you want to make (and eat) those grad cap pops?  Holly's killing me with those graphics!  I thought a spring card would be a nice mortar board card, and I haven't made a spring card before.

I used black linen paper from the Taste of Textiles Specialty paper pack for the cap (check out the nice texture of the paper), text paper for the rolled diploma, colored a 5/8" brad with a sharpie, and created the tassel from crochet thread.

The backside of the cap has a space for a personal message,

and the card folds flat for mailing.

Stamps: Word Play, Something to Celebrate; Paper: So Saffron, Basic Black, Whisper White, Taste of Textiles Specialty DSP, First Edition DSP;  Ink: Basic Black; Accessories: Basic Black taffeta ribbon, 5/8" brad, Black Sharpie, Crochet thread, Dimensionals.

Edit to add: Here is the link to the spring card tutorial.

4/4/13 update: I created a video showing how to make this graduation spring card.  Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 5th Birthday, Rapunzel!

Recently we had Little Missy's 5th birthday party. I had her almost convinced to have a canned party at a local "fun" place, but all was thrown out the window when she visited Disney World, met Rapunzel, and then saw a Rapunzel cake at Baskin Robbins. So much for taking it easy.

I started on the preparations for the party back in February for the Stampin' Addicts Birthday Blog Hop. That gave us a great jump start on our ideas.

There are a ton of DIY ideas out on the internet.

We decorated the front door with Rapunzel hair and banners. Upper right are the party favors; more on that below. Lower left shows Little Missy shooting a Nerf bow & arrow at a Wanted poster of Flynn. We dipped the ends of the arrows in ketchup so the kids would see if they hit their mark. :)

To go along with the Rapunzel theme, all the royal guests had their hair braided.

I had high expectations for the cake, complete with a Rapunzel tower. The local pastry shop didn't let me down!

For party favors, Jen Timko got me thinking about Fun Flowers fabric hair ties as an appropriate favor for a Rapunzel hair party. I ended up wrapping them around the 1 x 8" cello bags filled with color-coordinated M&M's, as they didn't fit in the Petite Purse (Boo!).

And for a thank you card, I will be making a stack of these, following Lisa Young's tutorial.

I added a photo of the royal guests on the inside for added personalization and a memento of the occasion.

Thanks for stopping by!

Soaring at the NJ Shoebox Swap

This past weekend was the semi-annual Northern New Jersey Shoebox Swap. Always great to get together with the ladies for a day of fun stamping, chatting, and eating! If you are in the NY/NJ neighborhood and want to join in the next one, just contact me.

Another one of those Occasions mini stamp sets that haven't seen ink yet. Easy excuse to pull it out.

Fun spring colors and fun texture! This set is so easy to pull together a whimsical card.

Stamps: Send Me Soaring; Paper: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Domestic Goddess DSP; Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Pool Party baker's twine, Blender pen, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Circle punches, 3" Circle die, Scallop #2 die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Have a Tea Party!

I thought it would be fun to put together a Tea Party class. I have many coffee and tea sets, so finding some ideas was not a problem at all. Actually the opposite... trying to narrow things down was more difficult.

Little Missy and I kinda went crazy with this one, because I always wanted to have a tea party, and she always has pretends ones with anyone who will sit still with her. To create the mood, we laid out table settings, including tea cups and name place holders. The guests made the petite purses, which match the name place holders.

Stamps: Tea Shoppe; Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Mocha Morning DSP; Ink: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Whisper White Craft; Accessories: Black satin ribbon, Chantilly lace, Silver brad, Clear rhinestone brads, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle punch, Boho Blossom punch, Sponge, Vintage Wallpaper EF, Labels Collection framelits, Petite Purse die, Petal Cone die, Big Shot, My Digital Studio, Dimensionals.

For the first project, we made a vintage teacup card with Beau Chateau DSP.

Stamps: Tea Shoppe; Paper: Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Beau Chateau DSP; Ink: Marina Mist, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Early Espresso striped grosgrain ribbon, Victorian lace, Crumb Cake seam binding, Hat pin, Pearl Jewels, Sponge, Vintage Wallpaper EF, 3" Circle die, Scallop Circle #2 die, Big Shot.

Then a tea bag holder card with Timeless Treasures. This one would be great to send to a sick friend.

This card uses Mojo Monday sketch #213. Here is the inside.

Stamps: Timeless Treasures; Paper: Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Attic Boutique DSP; Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, River Rock, Early Espresso; Accessories: Pearl Jewels, Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Scalloped Dotted Ribbon border punch, Sponges, Paper Doily die, Ovals die, Big Shot.

I wanted to show my ladies the project from San Antonio Regionals designed by Debi Pippin. I have lots of Sale-a-bration paper, so that was a good choice for a design palette.

One side holds a tea bag while the other holds a 3 x 3" notecard, plus shortbread cookies in the center. I got hubby involved by asking him to make the cookies. This little treat would be perfect for a tea party place setting for your own party or perhaps a shower favor.

Thanks for stopping by!

FM55 Ghostly Sketch

Rita is bringing us a ghostly challenge today at the Friday Mashup.

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using the " Sketch ".
2. Or Make a project using the " Ghosting (aka VersaMark Resist) Technique".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the " Sketch & the Ghosting Technique".

Phew, this one took some thought. I just couldn't decide on an image that I liked. Do I use the ghosting technique on the main image or the background? Decisions, decisions...

I also played along with the Stampin' Celebration challenge. So glad to see Krystal and her team back again! She puts together such beautiful collage pictures!

The ghosting image is Bella Toile background. I stamped in Versamark, let it dry for a while, then brayered with Blushing Bride. I also did a bunch of sponging to match the vintage look of Bella Toile.

This is also one of the projects we did at the recent Techniques Class.

Stamps: Simply Soft, Bella Toile BG, Kind & Caring Thoughts; Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Glossy White, Blushing Bride DSP; Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Stazon, Versamark; Accessories: Pearl jewels, Blushing Bride stitched poly ribbon, Scallop Edge border punch, Modern Label punch, Brayer, Sponge, Blender pen, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Shot at Faux Mother of Pearl

It was finally time to share the Faux Mother of Pearl technique with my Techniques Class. I've made many faux mother of pearl samples... I guess you can say it is one of my favorites. But I did struggle with new samples, and it is always a challenge to create a card that also works on a 6 x 6" technique page.

There are so many images that work well with this technique, but I had to go back to last year's spring set, Easter Blossoms. Just love it! I used a sample from last spring's Stampin' Success as a jumping off point.

And here is the technique page.

Stamps: Easter Blossoms; Paper: Rose Red, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP; Ink: Rose Red, Baja Breeze, Stazon; Accessories: Chantilly lace, Rose Red seam binding, Frost White shimmer paint, Blender pen, Sponge, Framed Tulips EF, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

SUOC43 Last Spring Fling

Sigh... so many stamps in the Occasions mini and so little time... Sadly, I have several sets I haven't used yet. So I grabbed one of them for this week's Stampin' Up Only Challenges, sending the Occasions mini out in style with one more go 'round with mini products.

I'm prepping for my technique class with Faux Mother of Pearl, so why not grab a few scraps for this card as well? Vintage cards work great with this technique!

Yes, I am crazy. I hand-cut and paper pieced all those watches. I used the Saturday Sketch Challenge #250 from Stamping411 for this card.

Stamps: Rue Des Fleurs, Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP, Attic Boutique DSP, First Edition DSP; Ink: Pink Pirouette, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Stazon; Accessories: Frost White shimmer paint, Blender pen, Sponges, Circle Scissors Plus, Paper Doily die, 3" Circle die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art Imitating Life Imitating Art

My niece recently got a tattoo for her birthday. It looks very similar to some stamps I have, so I thought I would try to make a matching card.

I used the reinker spreader technique and the Mojo Monday sketch #212.

I'll have to show you her tattoo so you know what I was aiming for. She'll have it colored in soon, so I had to punt with the colors based on what my sister told me she is thinking about. How'd I do?

Stamps: Embrace Life, Everything Eleanor; Paper: Tangerine Tango, Shimmery White, Whisper White, Sweet Pea DSP; Ink: Stazon, Pool Party reinker, Bermuda Bay reinker, Pumpkin Pie reinker, Tangerine Tango reinker; Accessories: Pool Party baker's twine, Water spritzer, Aquapainter, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!