I Need Ink

I am going through stamping withdrawal. I have not stamped in over a week...maybe 2! I have been so insanely busy with work that I have not had 2 minutes to myself for nearly 2 weeks. But, alas, the conference and camp are over (and they were a huge success!) and now it is back to regular hours and some time for me! Yipee! I have a ton of housework and laundry to catch up on but stamping is also important so I plan to do some today. I have a box of SU stuff sitting and waiting for me to play with and I can hardly wait. I should have something to post later today - hooray!

One Cool Dude

I have been so busy with work this past week that once again I have had no time to stamp. Not good. And then when I did have some time this weekend between loads of laundry and cleaning I just did not have the energy. I seem to be battling a cold/flu that is really trying to get the better of me but I am working hard to fight it off (gotta love Cold FX!) So, I pulled this card out that I made a couple weeks back. It will likely be used at an upcoming stamp-a-stack. The snowman is from the new set Two Cool Dudes and the sentiment is from Wishing You Cheer. It's hard to see but there are white snowflakes from that set stamped on the Bashful Blue background. The silver is the elastic cord that SU has brought back again in the Christmas mini coming out October 1st. I doubt I will have much time to stamp this week as our big conference for cheer is this weekend and since I run the whole thing I will be busy, busy. However, my hubby is off to Vegas for a couple days so I will maybe have some time in the evenings if I am feeling up to it. I really think all weekends need to be 3 days. Anyone agree?

Halloween Boxes

These are the little boxes that I saw on Rochelle's blog. I have included the template. They are quick and easy to make. She used Hershey kisses but I found these little chocolate balls that work great.

Halloween Candles

I made these Halloween candles last year for the kids' teachers. I think I will do some again this year along with some chocolate boxes. Rochelle at Impressions has some cute box templates that I am going to try. I also want to get started on treats for the kids at school so I am not rushing around on the 29th trying to get them done. The kids don't have school on the 31st so parties will be on the 30th. At least I still have over a month. At the rate I am completing projects these days I will be lucky to have them done by then! Thankfully things are slowly slightly with work. Another 10 days an the conference I am working on will be over and things will get back to normal. Whatever that is!

On another note, our lot purchase went through yesterday so the beautiful piece of land where we will build our dream home is actually ours! Hopefully there will be a big hole in our lot next week at this time. I am planning to scrapbook the building process and I am anxious to get it started. I am actually hoping to do it as the house is built instead of waiting till the end. Well, I think I may just head downstairs to do a little stamping before my hubby gets home!

New Stripes

We did this card at Sunday's stamp-a-stack. It uses the new striped background. I love it! This is Creamy Caramel on Kraft paper with Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red. It also uses the new square scallop punch. The deer and sentiment are stamped with Chocolate Chip.
I want to try this stamp using markers to colour each stripe. I think it could make some fun cards. Maybe I will sneak downstairs tomorrow and play a little! I had intended to do some today but we are having the most incredible weather (25 celcius today!) so I took advantage and did some yard work. The rest of the week is supposed to be even warmer so hopefully I can get most of my fall cleanup done. Happy Stampin'!

Pacific Snowman

This is yet another card for a Christmas stamp-a-stack. This uses the new Pacific Point in colour. I think I may cut the scallop pieces so they match the Pacific Point piece. Not sure if I like the overlap or not. Next SAS is Friday, October 10 at 7pm. My last one filled up quickly so register early to avoid disappointment! Email: stampin.leanne@shaw.ca

I am hoping to get to do some stamping tonight but I am way behind on laundry so who knows if I will get a chance. I have a few other cards to show you so maybe I will have time to post again later today. Plus I have pics of the paper shares to post. It never ends...

DVD tin Album

This project was a featured tutorial last week on Splitcoast Stampers. (I think it was last week; maybe it was this week!) I had started a photo album of my kids for my mother in law and when I saw this project I moved the pics into this instead. This uses the clear envelopes sold by Stampin' Up. It's a really easy project and would make a great gift with or without photos included!

DVD tin Notepad

This is one of the DVD tin projects I have been working on. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I love the colours! I used my little calendar stamp on post-it notes. The beads from the pen came from my local dollar store (Dollarama). They have several colours...of course I bought them all...but at 2 for $1 how can you go wrong? There are enough beads to make at least 6 pens I would say. The notepad is one from Wal-Mart. It's 5x8 but they need to be 5x7. I just cut it down myself (which was done in stages because it's so thick) but I will be taking my other ones to Staples to see if they will cut them down for me. Next time I will just buy the pads at Staples! I am in the middle of a massive craft clean up. I cannot wait for my new crafting studio! (Still a long way off...like about 8 months!) I am trying to get somewhat organized so that when it's time to move it will be easier to pack. We are *hoping* that the house will be started next week. I am so anxious for that hole in the ground! Not sure how much stamping I will do tonight as it's "meet the teacher night" at school.

Halloween Matchbooks

These are the Halloween treats I made a couple years ago. They are little matchbooks with treats stapled inside. I just measured the size of the candy and cut the cardstock accordingly. The kids (and parents) thought they were super cute. Tomorrow I will post pics of 2 DVD tins I have been working on. No time to take pictures today and now it's too dark to get a good shot.

Another SAS card

This is another card we will be making at one of my Christmas card stamp-a-stacks. Haven't decided which cards will be made at which events yet. Guess I need to do that soon since the first one is on Sunday! This uses Wishing You Cheer on Very Vanilla with Old Olive and Riding Hood Red. I have come to love this colour. It looks so nice with olive and browns.
Tomorrow I hope to post the DVD tin I started today. It's super cute and another project we will likely do at my gift workshop coming in October.

Halloween Kisses

Got this super idea from Rochelle at Impressions. She has so many amazing ideas! These will be cute for the kids to hand out at school.

Directions: Cut cardstock to 5 x 5 1/2. Along the 5" side score at 1.5, 2.5 and 4 inched. Fold along the scores. To add the kisses use a glue dot or snail to adhere the 2 on the ends and just place the other 4 inside the tent. Use sticky strip or something stronger than snail to stick the tent together at the back.

Santa & the Gang

This is a card I designed for one of my many Christmas stamp-a-stacks I will be hosting over the next few months. It uses the Deer Friends hostess set. The reindeer were stamped by colouring the stamp with a chocolate chip marker and then coloured the nose black or real red. Used the 1 inch punch for the reindeer and the 1 1/4" for the black. Santa is stamped in black and coloured with real red plus some pastels to give his face some colour. He is punched out with the 1 1/4" and then I used the 1 3/8" to punch the red piece.

Parker's Tin

You can't make something for one kid and not the other. So, I asked Parker what kind he wanted. He chose light and dark blue with stars. The little stars are tricky as I had to use the 1/4" punch for the magnets and also the dimensionals. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and he likes it so that's all that matters. This project will definitely find its way into a stamp camp one day soon! This would be cute using Santa and the reindeer from Deer Friends. Might have to try that tomorrow if I can find some time to stamp. I made a few cards for my upcoming stamp-a-stacks that I will share over the next few days. I am also working on a punch box tin but need a few more things first.

Tic Tac Toe Tin

I bought a bunch of CD tins from PaperWorksCo . Wasn't sure what I would do with them. And then I thought of this! The outside is decorated with Chocolate Chip cardstock, designer paper, and the big scallop is cardstock on chipboard (made using the Big Shot). The J is embossed in silver. (It's for my daugher Jenna). For the inside I cut a piece of designer paper and made a grid with ribbon. Cardstock would be simpler but this ribbon just looked so darn cute. Then I stamped kitties and puppies from the All in the Family Accessories stamp set. They are punched out with the 1 inch circle punch. Then I took some old magnets (business card kins..really thin) and used the 1/2" SU punch. I was so happy it punched thru the magent, and easily. Then I used a dimensional on the magent and stuck it onto the 1" circle. The dimensional is important as you want it to be easy to pick the peices off. You need 5 of each game piece. There is 1 more circle (puppy) not shown that is stored on the inside of the tin lid. This is such a simple project but I think kids will like it. It's perfect to keep in the car to keep them busy while you drive, or even in restaurants.

Big Flake

What a week! I was so swamped between kids back to school, work, prepping for my new cheer team and life in general that I had NO TIME to stamp. Ugggh! I got a box of goodies on Thursday and barely had time to look at them, never mind use them. This big snowflake die was in the box. I didn't mean to order it, I actually wanted the 4 small ones but I messed up when I ordered them. Ooops. As soon as I saw it I knew this was what I would use it for. The card is Night of Navy and the flake is in Whisper White covered with 2 way glue and dazzling diamonds. Celebrate from Wonderful Words is embossed in silver on vellum paper and that is attached with silver brads. Super quick and really pretty. Looks much better IRL. This is one of the cards we will make at my stamp-a-stack next weekend. I can't believe the response I have gotten for Christmas cards in September! I have space for 1 more person and then I am full, full, full. This will be my biggest S-A-S ever. Hope it's not too crowded. While I still have some housecleaning and laundry to get to tomorrow I really hope to stamp some more as I still need to plan the rest of my cards for next week. And some sleep would be nice. Hope you are having a great weekend.

I'm in Love!

I am so in love with this chipboard book! It was one of my purchases from PaperWorksCo and I finally got around to covering it yesterday. I used more of my paper from Costco. I have yet to put pics in it; I think I may wait and use it for our family pics this fall. While it was time consuming to cover it was so worth it. I can't wait to do more of these! They will make awesome gifts.

On another note, today is the first day of school here. Parker starts grade 4! I can hardly believe it! Jenna will start grade 1 tomorrow as only half go today, half tomorrow and then the whole class on Thursday. I know Parker will do great but I am nervous for my little Bear as she is such a mommy's girl and cried at playschool and kindergarten. However, I know she will get over it quickly and will love grade 1. And I will have the house all to myself...sigh...

First Coaster Box

I made myself this coaster box using my new chipboard coaster and some of my Costco paper. Isn't it cute? I want my new stamp room to be decorated in these colours. Just love brown and pink together. Anyway, these boxes are pretty simple but they are a little time consuming - especially lacing the ribbon. I used a chipboard letter from SU and covered it with Rose Red Cardstock and tiny Pretty in Pink dots from my smallest hole puncher (can't remember the size). I also cut the "legs" of of a rhinestone brad and used a glue dot to stick it to the ribbon. Tried crystal effects first but it just didn't want to stay. Overall I am pretty pleased with it. I will have to perfect the art of coaster boxes as I want to hold a gift workshop and this will be one of the projects.