Create With M.E.

Another Find~Wood is Good!

I did it again.  I wandered the aisles of the home improvement store while my husband was doing some serious shopping to finish up our beautiful patio.  I found some Cedar Shelf Liner paper in a roll.  I have been staring at it for a couple of weeks, not sure what I was going to do with it.  I knew it would involve the Big Shot but wasn't sure in what way. I also know we sell beautiful wood sheets and this is NOT to take away from them but you can see this material is a little different.  The colors are deep, the paper is super thin (Whisper white thin) and yes it has a cedar fragrance of course.  Mmmmm the smell of Christmas! Ergo....Christmas Trees come to mind!

I have been playing around with Connie Babberts folded Christmas trees ever since I saw them earlier this week.  I knew I wanted to show them to my downline at my meeting on Friday so I had a forest full of them sitting on my desk. Yes they can be addicting and you can't just make one.

I'm not sure I am in LOVE with this card but it's kinda cool.  It's a start I will say.  I tried a lot of different ideas with the Cedar shelf liner paper.  I embossed it.  That worked okay but wasn't the look I was going for so I settled.  You know how it is....an idea to come back to when I have more time.

Right now time is not plentiful.  My schedule is full so here is the card I hope you are inspired by it.

 

Today's Featured Artist~Linda Yearsley

Each month I invite my downline to come and stamp with M.E. in my Studio. We call it our Stampin' Bee!  We have SO much fun together laughing, eating and stamping together.  We love sharing so we always do a swap of some kind.   I want to show you a swap that one of my downline gave to me last month.  Linda shared this adorable box with me.  I LOVE it!

Linda never misses a detail.  Her designs are beautiful and complete.  The paper is from the Frightful Sight collection (#122351) in the Idea book & catalog.  So adorable.  Check out the back on her box...remember what I said NO detail left behind.....

She embossed it with the Spider Web Textured Embossing Folder (#120889) see what I mean.  Adorable and check out how much CANDY this box #2 holds!!  Can you believe she gave this to me 3 weeks ago and there is still candy in it!!  Well, not for long.  I think I'm feeling a sweet tooth coming on!

No pressure Linda but we have a Stampin' Bee coming up Friday!! ;-) 

If you want to order the supplies to make your own Halloween treat box click on my signature box below or on the link in the upper left hand column of my blog.

 

 

Here Kitty, Kitty~Black Cat, a sure sign Halloween is near!

It's almost October so that means our Holiday Rampage is about to start. YAY!  We start with Halloween so this is a little Halloween inpiration for you.  We made this card at my September Forget Me Not Card Keeper Class.  It's an easel card using the "out on a limb" (#123822 wood or #123824 clear) from the Holiday Mini catalog.  Note the dazzling diamonds glowing on the halloween clouds. That's what really makes this card fun!  We cut our little black halloween cat out and sat him upon a Designer Series Paper fence.  So cute! 

To get your Halloween supplies coming your way today click on my signature block below or on the Order Online link in the upper left column of this blog. 

Crystal Clear~2 more C's for M.E.'s 3 C's

Okay unless you are on my email list or friends with me on Facebook you look at that title and wonder what the heck is M.E. talking about.  Well, hopefully it will keep you reading for a minute or so to find out. 

I started a new class in my home a couple of weeks ago and it's such a joy to me.  It is called M.E.'s 3 C's.  Coffee, Cookies and Cards.  It's a time to encourage each other, refresh and renew around the kitchen table and enjoy 3 of my favorite things.  Coffee, Cookies and Stamping!

We are meeting every other week and I even have an assortment of teas for my non-coffee drinking friends! tehehe.  Last time I even stamped my cookies with our new Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp!  That is totally fun and available October 1st to order so stay tuned.  Today I made one of my favorites, GingerFairy Cookies.  I don't even know how to explain these other than they are ethereal.  Out of this world yummy!  I got the recipe from a spring issue of the Cooks Country magazine.  It's claims to be a version of an 118 year old recipe.  I could eat the whole batch usually but today I shared it with my friends.

Each time we meet we create a card together.  I totally copied an idea from my upline Meg Loven.  We made this card at our September meeting.  I loved it so much I wanted to share it with my friends.  I guess that is what I love most about learning at our meetings, it's always something I can then turn around and share with my customers and friends and you! 

This card is made with a 8.5" x 4.25" piece of window sheet for the base of the card. It's a little hard to see in the picture but in person it's so cute.  Then the inside is even stamped.

Well, I was in a Fall Mood today since the air is crisp and the leaves are falling here in Central Illinois. I love Fall and all the beautiful colors that go along with it.  Here is my version of Megs card.  I changed a few things but the general idea is still the same.  I used the gently falling stampset as the focal point. 

I want these cards that we make at our Friday morning 3 C events to be positive and uplifting cards of encouragment just like this gathering is an encouragement to me.  So this card is for a friend.  Here is the inside greeting.  I love the new set called Blessings from Heaven.  It's so encouraging!  I can see using it a lot! 

The Crystal Clear window sheet causes the reflection in my picture but that's what makes this card so unique, the clear base.  It's such a different idea from the "norm" and I love it!

To order your Stampin' Supplies 24/7 click on my signature below

 

It's not in the name~telescoping or yo-yo card

As designers we are always on the lookout for new styles of cards. Whether it's a fancy fold or this completely different round-style card. I have seen it called a telescoping card but the other night when I presented it at my monthly Forget-me-not card keeper class one of the gals (Hi Janet!) called it a yo-yo card and I loved it!

 

We used the new Spice Cake Designer Series Paper and the set Gently Falling.  The base scallop is More Mustard and the ribbon is the adorable ruffled ribbon in the coordinating Pool Party color.  I surprisingly love this color combination.  It's not something I would normally have put together but it's very attractive to me in the Spice Cake paper. What do you think of this paper showcased in the Holiday Mini Catalog?

A few short years ago, btBS (before the Big Shot), this card would have been so difficult to create and even harder to duplicate.  Cutting, drawing, tracing, cutting, cutting, figuring, cutting, calculating phew....well you get my point.  Now it's as easy as putting a circle or scallop circle die on the Big Shot and running the paper through it. I love my Big Shot! No measuring, no calculating on what size circle cut we need with the circle cutter.  Easy Peasy lemony squeazy... and to top that off you can cut multiple circles at once.  I can cut up to 8 layers of circles at a time with the Bigz die which would mean 4 cards at once if cutting the inside and Designer Series paper layers together or 8 cards if you cut each layer separately.  That's awesome if you ask me.  Here is the inside of the card and the reason we call it a telescoping card. Cool huh?

We finished off the inside with some Rock n Roll.  Rock n Roll technique that is.  We inked it in More Mustard then rocked in Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.  Delicious!!

To complete YOUR "Yo-Yo" card as shown you will need;

The Big Shot #113439

1 More Mustard layer cut from the Scallop Circle Bigz Die #113468

2 layers cut with  a 3.5" Circle Bigz Die one in Whisper White and one out of Spice Cake Designer Series Paper

1 More Mustard layer with the 2 3/8" scallop punch

1 Whisper White layer with the 2.5" Circle Punch. 

3 brads and about 2" of ruffled ribbon 

The Gently Falling Stamp Set from the Holiday Mini catalog. 

Click below to be taken right to the Holiday mini catalog for your online shopping experience. Not only will you get to make these great cards anyone who places an online order with M.E will get an extra special FREE tutorial sent directly to their email.  It utilizes the "It's a Wrap Holidays" set incase you want to preorder it now. Because I know after you get my PDF file you will HAVE to have it! Go...GO!

 

 

 

Decor Elements~Use them to add a part of yourself to anything!

I am in the process of doing a complete make over of my living room/office area. With 4 active children, who are now big adult children, my furniture had been WAY past it's prime. The couch was broken and worn and the recliner had not been reclining in a couple of years! Yes, when I said past I did mention WAY past. So I did what any good homemaker (anyone who makes their house a home) would do. I painted all the walls and steam cleaned the carpet before the new furniture arrived. Well, I vowed this time not to let any of that "old" decor back into the room so I am starting from square one.

I found these pictures at a discount home dec. store they were appealing to me because I love birds and they had nice color to them yet somewhat neutral in the background. I looked at them for a long time (a week) and finally decided I needed to add something to tie them all together. Ah Ha! Decor Elements would do the trick. I would make a vignette' out of them. My kids keep saying why do you say the word vignette'. Because I like to make them and the word is a pretty word! Small groupings of items to make a beautiful "picture" or view. I make them on my front porch, I make them in my stamping area, I now make them on my living room wall! Ha Ha. So the Decor Elements are the words "Love, Hope, Faith and Life" in the corners of the paintings I just added them to each canvas to make them a whole unit. I know you are wondering and some will ask about the branch. Although this could be made from Decor Elements vinyl this is actually a sticker that I had. Not wall vinyl at all but being in the darker corner you can not tell. This could be painted on to if you are a great free hand artist which I am not. Purchase your Decor Elements to create your own Vignette' (see such a beautiful word, say it outloud with M.E.! Vignette....ah lovely) by clicking on my signature and going to my Stampin' Up! store.

Candle Holder~Big shot, its not just for paper!

Have you ever had one of those projects that you have seen online but have never attempted because when you stamp, it's usually because you need to, not because you just want to make something cute?  Well this is one of those projects that I have been wanting to play with ever since I saw it online.  I LOVE my Big Shot and I LOVE that it will cut through SO many different materials.  Including Metal! 

Last week I was shopping at my favorite Home improvement store, the one where you "save big money". I was getting paint for my living room because new furniture was on it's way.  Well, after 6 weeks of being draught conditions here in Central IL the skys decided let loose and rain like the dickens outside.  So, I decided, that even though I was ready to check out with my paint supplies, I would just wait it out by shopping around the store.  I LOVE to look for fun stuff that I can use in "outside the box" ways.  I came upon this:

I had no idea at the time what I was going to do with this aluminum coil but for $5.62 it didn't break my budget and I thought I could probably make something fun out of it.

So, when I was thinking of projects to do for my Create With M.E. team meeting later that week this roll (which was still in the bag) came to my mind.  Ah Ha let's make those cute little candle holders with it!  So I started out cutting it into sheets the size of my Flower Folds Die which was about 12.5 inches. It's cuts pretty easily with a pair of tin snips.  Here is what it looks like before I cut it with the die:

I found that with MY big shot I had to use a shim of 6 x 12 cardstock under my die to allow it cut through the aluminum cleanly and score the fold lines.  I just used a piece of retired cardstock "scrap" from my box under my desk (you have one of those don't you?)  Comes in handy for these little projects.

Althought you would think it would be a tough "cookie" to cut and it looks like I am straining in this picture it really cuts quite smoothly and nicely with the Big Shot Machine ( Did I mention I love my machine!)

How cool is that?!  Like Butta!  4 beautiful cut and scored flowers from the Flower Folds #115970 Big Shot die!

My daughter Abby who was my photographer said this was a very important photo so I am including it! Now it's time to emboss the flowers with the Finial Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder #115963

I was getting the best impression if I used both of the shims that came with my machine and a folded scrap of Designers Series Paper under my folder.  I was able to run those metal flowers in my folder for a nice crisp deep emboss with no harm to my Big Shot or the folder.  It's amazing!

Make your usual "sandwich" and run it through

See how nice the impression is!

Here are all 4 flowers done.

Now it's time to be really careful so you don't cut your fingees.  Yes that is not a typo I said Fingees.  Be alert and aware and you will be fine.  Fold the 3 large flowers with the petals up.  That means having the embossed side up fold on the score marks folding the petals up.  On the smallest flower you will have the debossed side up and fold the petals up then turn it upside down to use as the base. 

Now using your fingers or a bone folder *note* if you are a hand model use the bone folder you don't want to take any chances on cutting your hand. Fold the petals back slightly.  Do this on the 3 largest flowers only, folding the largest one the most and the smallest one not so much. This makes your flower go together easier and look more natural.  Remember I was the head designer at a local florist for a very long time so I know my flowers! LOL  In other words trust me! 

This is what all 4 should look like now. Now it's time to assemble!

Love the way this came together.  I used a couple of different adhesive type products to put mine together.  I will tell you the truth I like the Stampin' Dimenssionals the best but honestly I am not positive they will hold up to lighting the candle for any length of time but I really think they will since the candle is in it's own cup.  You need a little something in between each layer to pop it up otherwise my "glue" of choice would have been Crystal Effects.

I wanted you to see how the base holds the candle holder up. You do not have to put it on a base if you want it to sit directly on the table but I like the little foot on it.

And here is the finished candle holder! 

You can make 9 candle holders out of one roll along with some additional items (come back to see) which makes each Candle holder about .72¢ ea I mean really you can't beat that.  So what are you waiting for?  Go shopping at my online store to get YOUR Big Shot coming by clicking on my signature below and then at your favorite home improvement store and see what beautiful things you can make out of someone elses utilitarian item.

Items used to create this project:

Big Shot #113439

Extended Cutting Pads #113478

Flower Folds Big XL Die #115970

Finial Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder #115963