A Spooky Monster Filled House: Wonderfully Wicked

Good evening!

I hope you are enjoying all the trick-or-treating festivities.  It's looking like the bad weather is going to hold off so fingers crossed we get all the fun in before it starts.

Early this fall I saw this great project a fellow demonstrator shared using a wooden house from the Dollar Store, it was so awesome I had to run out and buy what my local store had that say to make it adding my own touches.

This house started with covering it in Monster Bash Designer Series Paper and after sanding around all the edges sponging the edges in Basic Black ink.

Next I cut out some of the creatures from another piece of the DSP to be peaking inside the windows as well as stamping a couple using the Spooktacular Bash stamp set and coloring them in with Stampin' Blends.

I used the Wonderfully Wicked bundle for the greeting including cutting the "Wicked" out of the Black Foil as well as using the dies to cut out several spooky spiders which were attached with Black dimensionals.  I stamped the bat from the Wonderfully Wicked set on Basic Black cardstock using Whisper White craft ink and cut it out with Paper Snips (I colored 2 small pears with a Dark Real Red Blends pen for the eyes).

The final touch was to add some apothecary jars from the Spooktacular Bash stamp set which were colored with Stampin' Blends and after cutting them out I added Shimmery Crystal Effects so they looked like they were filled with liquid.

Didn't this just turn out awesome?  I really did the happy dance once I was finished and love all the little touches.  These houses are so great and you could definitely do them for other occasions as well, Christmas one perhaps?

Below are easy ordering links for the products used on today's card:

Product List

Wonderfully Wicked Bundle [153041]	Monster Bash Designer Series Paper [150447]	Spooktacular Bash Cling Stamp Set [150544]	Shimmery Crystal Effects [150892]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [121045]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730]	Pearl Basic Jewels [144219]	Real Red Dark Stampin' Blends [147934]	Granny Apple Green Light Stampin' Blends Marker [146876]	Black Stampin' Dimensionals Combo Pack [150893]

Enjoy!

Diana

Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration: Totally Awesome 40th Birthday, Stampin Up! Style

Good morning!  Today over on  the Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration blog I'm sharing all the details from a recent birthday party that I made extra special using some fun and easy tools from Stampin' Up!  We share lots of great ideas, techniques, etc. 5 days a week so you're guaranteed to find something that will inspire you, please come check us out!

 

I don't know about you but I love parties and all the fun that goes along with them (if I had a perfect job it would be a party planner and personal shopper, haha!!)  So this year we lots of friends turning 40, including my husband, and since we have 4 of the birthdays within a month of each other this summer we decided to have one huge party.  Of course I decided to wait until the "last minute" but with My Digital Studio, my Big Shot, and dies I was able to pull off lots of fun elements for the perfect party that I wanted to share with you.

The first thing I did was choose a theme and since we had 3 guys and 1 girl I went with blue/lime green/white geometric patterns.  I purchased the paper lanterns, balloons, and fans at a party supply store and then added my own touches so everything was special.  The first thing we did was create a photo booth (which are so popular right now) using a black background, paper lanterns, and balloons.  We also created some mustaches and bow ties using the Big Shot, Mustache Framelit, and Bow die, along with open picture frames for lots of fun props.

Here's the photo booth all ready for fun.

Here are the open frames, mustaches, and bow ties for fun props.

Here are a couple of fun pictures of my family playing around in the photo booth.  It was so fun to see friends posting pictures from the photo book on Facebook during the party!

Of course no party is complete with out food and we had lots of finger foods and desserts for all to enjoy.  I used My Digital Studio to create food labels that match the colors and theme of the party (I love that you can change the colors of elements in MDS so everything coordinates perfectly).  Then I just cut them out and attached them to cardstock tents so they were nice and sturdy.

Here's another picture of the food (sorry I forgot to take pictures before the party so I had to take them during the party).

One more food picture, these Key Lime Tarts were awesome and who doesn't love dip in the shape of a 40?

Here's a picture showing how I hung some of the lanterns over the food buffet.

At the entrance to the party I had this table where guests could sign cards for each of the honorees (I made large cards by folding 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of cardstock in half so we had plenty of space to write and using the Envelope Punch Board to make coordinating envelopes for each of the cards.  I also used the Big Shot, dies and 2 1/2" Circle Punch to make the center piece of the paper fan (I had these throughout the party).

Of course no party is complete without party favors (even for adults) so I made these little treat boxes (filled with M&M's) using the Scallop Tag Topper Punch and I stamped texture on the boxes with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.  The tag was made in My Digital Studio.

 

To make the tag I inserted a punch shape (don't change it's size so you'll be able to punch it out perfectly with our punch).  I designed one tag and then grouped all the images and copied and pasted so I didn't have to make it over and over again.  The tag says "Aged to Perfection, Vintage 1974" and once again I used the color theme so they match.

I also made signs for each honoree showing a baby picture and then a current picture as a fun tribute.  It was really simple (I did use a retired Big Shot Die but you could easily use our current letter die for the same effect).  The Happy Birthday is cut out of the Silver Glimmer Paper so it really sparkles and the cool thing is that it's an instant scrapbook page since I used a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock (I gave these to each of the honorees at the end of the party).

One final element I made was a birthday banner, once again My Digital Studio to the rescue.  I just used a punch shape and this time I enlarged it to a full sheet of cardstock, filled it in with chalkboard paper for the background and added an alphabet letter punch so I could fill it in with patterned paper that matched our colors.  I also added some star elements to the pennants before printing them out.

After I cut them out I added some bling in the form of stars that were cut out using the Big Shot, Star Framelits, and Silver Glimmer Paper.  You can see below I even nested some of the stars when I cut them out so I had different size stars and some that were just outlines.  Linen Thread was used to string it all up.



Want to know something cool about this banner?  I specifically made the 40th part it's own pennant so I can reuse the banner and all the matching decorations for another party (awesome!!!)

Last I had to share a picture of the birthday honorees, Happy Birthday!

I hope you enjoyed all the details of these awesome 40th birthday party and see how easy it is to make the perfect party items for your next party using My Digital Studio, the Big Shot, our dies, etc.  It's so easy and inexpensive and is guaranteed to impress.

 

Enjoy!

Stylin' Stampin' Squad January 2014 Blog Hop: Occasions Catalog and Valentine's Day

Thank you so much for joining us for our January Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop! Love is in the air and our talented group of design team members have a Whole Lotta Love Goin' On as we are excited to be sharing some NEW Occasions Catalog goodies and some Valentine's Day projects with you this month!

As you hop along, please be sure to comment and... show some love on every blog! We are always excited to hear from our followers!

You should have just left stop number 5 on the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop – Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu. If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn’t work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.

The first project I have for you is a fun Valentine's card. The cardbase is Bermuda Bay and I added a Basic Black layer that was embossed with the Big Shot and the Arrows Textured Embossing Folder. I added a piece of Kaleidoscope Designer Series paper that was matted with Basic Gray cardstock. A piece of Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta and Bermuda Bay 1/8" Taffeta Ribbons make a fun accent. The greeting is from the Love You to the Moon stamp set and I used Stampin' Write Markers to color in the stamp before cutting it out with the Big Shot and Oval Collection Framelits. A piece of Silver Glimmer Paper cut with the same framelits make the perfect frame and the perfect touch of sparkle.

I've really been in the Valentine mood lately so I decided to make this cute decor piece to match my card, perfect for valentine's. I started with this wood carved love sign, sanded it down and painted it with White paint. I traced and cut out a template of this letters so I that I could cut it apart and use different papers for each of the letters. I used DSP from the Kaleidoscope DSP package for the "l" and "v", Silver Glimmer Paper for the "o", and some Strawberry Slush Core'dinations Cardstock that was embossed with the Big Shot and Hexagon Textured Embossing Folder. After gluing all the pieces of paper down I did go along and sand all the edges for a distressed look.

 

I decided to used to use lots of little elements help decorate my piece, including some Whisper White Baker's Twine (to attached the little heart piece), the "love you" flag using the Love You to the Moon stamp set, the Small Heart Punch punched out the cute little hearts of Strawberry Slush DSP and Silver Glimmer Paper. I stamped the little heart and arrow with the same stamp set and punched it out with the Hexagon Punch. I used My Digital Studio and the Be Mine Digital Download for the elements and after shrinking it down I printed it out and used the Ticket Duo Punch to punch out the elements. I also added a bow made with Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon and the "xoxo" was cut out with the Big Shot and the Circle Card Thinlit die piece.

Close up of part of the Love sign

Here's another close up, love all the fun elements on this decor piece.

I really love how this piece turned out, and the great thing is that with the color palette in the Kaleidoscope DSP this piece isn't over the top girly, perfect for a house full of guys. These wood decor pieces are great accents for all sorts of places, such as your mantel, table, or even window transoms, love them!

 

I hope you've enjoyed today's projects and you have plenty of time to get your valentine projects done. Make sure to continue you on the hop, the next stop is Darla and Nancy, just click the "next" button below. You can get to any of the hop sites by clicking on any of the links in the list below.

 

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Anastasia R. of Stampin' Blondie
2. Cynthia R. of Ink-a-Doodle Creations
3. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
4. Kathy P of Katrina P's Creative Corner
5. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
6. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana
7. Darla R. & Nancy K. of Stampin With Darla and Sisters
8. Jamie H. of Unique Ink
9. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
10. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
11. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
12. Bree R. of Craft-Somnia
13. Kristina M. of Mama's Sanity
14. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
15. Jennifer B. of NW Stamper
16. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
17. Heidi B. of Stuck on Stampin'

Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration Blog: New Year's Table Decor

Good morning peeps!  One of the things I love about crafting and all the wonderful products Stampin' Up! offers is that you can do so much more than make cards and scrapbook pages.  I love being able to make gift wrapping, and home decor as just a few other projects I'm able to create.  Today over on the Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration blog I'm sharing this fun New Year's framed piece to celebrate this fun, once a year event.  This frame was super simple by using My Digital Studio.  I used the Midnight Cheer digital download and included in it is an 8 1/2" x 11" framed piece.  All I did was shrink the whole thing down so it would fit in a 5" x 7" frame (this way you can actually print 2 on each page for double the fun) and changed the date to 2014 before having it printed using Stampin' Up's professional print services.   

When my order arrived all I had to do was cut it down to size and added some fun rhinestones and a Neutrals Glimmer Grads as fun accents.  Around the frame mat I randomly stamped stars from the Simply Stars stamp set in Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake, and Summer Starfruit ink (note:  since my mat was shinny I had to carefully stamp so it didn't smear and then set it aside to dry but you could also use the heat gun as well to speed up the process.  The final touch was to add some ribbon accents down the top right side so I added some 1/8" Silver Ribbon, Basic Black Chevron Ribbon, and Midnight Muse 5/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon for fun.

 

I love to make different framed pieces for all the holidays as fun decor on my mantel, the next project is for Valentine's Day and has some of the same elements as this item.  I hope I've shown you another fun way to use My Digital Studio and how easy it is to create fun projects for any need (these would also make great gifts).

 

Happy Crafting!

 

Diana

Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration Blog Post: Thanksgiving Tablescape

Good morning!  I'm so excited to be sharing a fun project today over on the Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration blog.  Since Halloween is tomorrow and then it's time to start thinking about Thanksgiving I'm sharing this great Thanksgiving tablescape I created.  When Stampin' Up! released this years Holiday catalog I was really excited to see the Thankful Tablescape Simply Created Kit however since we visit friends from college and their family each year it's a large gathering and one kit would not be enough (and it was too expensive to buy multiple kits) so I decided to use elements from the kit to create this great projects (and I still have lots of pieces left for other fun projects. 

The first project is this fun napkin ring.  I took two of the coordinating pieces of DSP from the kit and cut them down and layered them and used sticky strip to make the ring.  Next I wrapped some Linen Thread around the ring a couple of times.  I took some leaves (some were from the kit) and some were cut out with the Big Shot and the Autumn Accents Bigz Die and Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper (this DSP package has the same, plus some additional patterns as the Tablescape kit, perfect).  I took the leaves crumbled them up and sponged them with Sahara Sand Ink (I'm going to state this now so I don't have so say it several other times in this post, anytime I used the paper cut leaves I crumbled and sponged them in the same way).  I also cut an acorn with the same Bigz Die and cut it out twice, once in Chocolate Chip (that was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder) and a second time with the Champagne Shimmer Paper and trimmed so you just use the top.  The acorn is attached to the leaves and the napkin ring with a dimensional and is finished with a bow I made with the Linen Thread.

Next up is a name card and this was another area that was going to need more than the ten elements that come with the Tablescape kit so I used the Labels Thinlit Die and the Big Shot to cut the flip card base in Sahara Sand.  I added a strip of Sweater Weather DSP down the center and wrapped some Linen Thread around the middle.  For the label I cut a piece of Very Vanilla with the matching label framelit in the set so it just fits inside the base and stamped using the Truly Grateful stamp set, the wheat image in Sahara Sand and the greeting in Tangerine Tango.  I also added a leaf that was cut the same as above for the napkin ring.  The name banner is a piece from the same Thinlit card set (love all the different pieces that come in this set).  The final touch was to add a piece of Early Espresso Core'd'nations cardstock that is embossed with the Woodgrain Embossing folder being being sanded and attached to the base.  I tore along the edge for a more rustic texture.

Next up is a candle for the center of the table and I wrapped around the candle with the Textured Wood Paper Ribbons and some Burlap Ribbon.  I also added several leaves and an acorn to to the candle so the same elements and colors from all the pieces coordinate.  I added one of the Naturals Designer Buttons (with a bow tied with Linen Thread) and the greeting is from the Harvest of Thanks stamp set and was cut out with the Itty Bitty Banners framelits. 

I made three of these candles in different sizes, the one above is for my table, this one to the right is larger and it's a gift for our Thanksgiving host, and will be used with the rest of the tablescape elements I created, and the candle below is the smallest and is in my living room since it's open to the dining room and is perfect on the coffee table.

Coordinating coffee table candle.

The final item I just wanted to show you is a Thankful Journal I created using just the elements from the Thankful Tablescape Simply Created Kit (all I added were the rings on top and the Naturals Button).  This is a journal I taught in a class earlier in the month and is a perfect keepsake to record what each person is thankful for along with their picture. 

It's amazing how much project is in this one kit, and I still have lots of pieces left to make cards, and any other project I may desire.  I hope I've given you some fun ideas for this kit so you can give it a try and see what you can come up with.  It really make decorating for fall and Thanksgiving a breeze.

 

Happy stamping,

 

Diana

Sweetheart Topiary, Simple Home Decor

Good morning all!  So I love to decorate for the holidays and put up my Valentine decorations while I'm taking down the Christmas decorations.  I also like to create at least one new thing to add to my decorations each year.  Last year Robin Merriman shared this fabulous topiary with sweetheart candies (see Robin's creation HERE) and I knew I wanted to make one as well, unfortunately I ran out of time last year so I bought the candies on clearance last year and have had it on my list of things to do since.  So during my Christmas vacation I bought the styrofoam cone and started planning my project.  This is so easy to put together, it just takes some time (perfect if you want to watch a great movie).  I used my hot glue gun to glue the hearts in place (I was amazed at how heavy the cone became once it was covered in hearts).   To decorate the top I made a huge bow with Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon and added a small heart punched out of silver glimmer paper to the center. 

 

Aidan loved the cone without any decorations (he said it was "perfect" love him!) but I wanted to add a little so I stamped some hearts from the Hearts a Flutter stamp set and cut them out with the matching framelits and glued them on the cone (this is a great way to hide any imperfections in the candy gluing) along with more silver and red glimmer hearts.  This cone is so cute and looks perfect on the mantel with the lights and other decorations.

Enjoy,

 

Diana

New Year's Picture Frame

I hope you're having a blast enjoying the last few hours of 2012.  I have one last project to share with you but I had to wait since this is a gift for a friend that we're seeing tonight and I wanted it to be a surprise.  I love to commemorate holidays and events with pictures and share those pictures so I thought this picture frame would be perfect for our friend to remember our great times together.  I used the New Year single stamp set for this project as well and embossed it with Silver embossing powder.  Next I cut it out with the Window Collection framelits and then trimmed off the top and bottom curves before sponging the edges with Pool Party Ink and adding two In Color designer printed brads.  I have lots of frames in my stash just waiting to be used.  I sponged around the inside edge of the frame with Platinum Shimmer Paint and then added a bow of Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon and a designer brad (it's retired but says "Genuine" around the edges which is fitting for our friends).

 

I added Pool Party and Island Indigo cardstock inside the frame so it matches and is already for the perfect picture.  I love to decorate picture frames and give them as gifts with pictures which I think friends love since it's personalized and unique.  We've had so many changes and events in our family this year and can't wait to see what 2013 brings.  We love all our friends and family and appreciate all the love and support.

 

Take care and Happy New Year and have a fabulous 2013!

 

Diana

Patterned DSP Flowers, oh my!

One of the things about convention that I love is all the creativity that your exposed to all the fabulous opportunities to learn new techniques and projects.  For the past two years during convention Stampin' Up has offered additional evening classes that you can sign up and pick a class that you're interested in.  One of the extra classes I took this year was on mixing patterned paper and Carrie Cudney was the instructure and it was wonderful.  We made this great decor item uses tons of different designer paper.  We painted directly on the First Edition DSP very lightly and the canvas frame.  Once the paint was dry we used stamps and craft in to stamp on the paint and then sanded it so it was distressed.

We then made lots of flowers with different size scallop circle punches and designer papers.  Some were four petal flowers and other were cone type flowers.  These flowers were so fun to make and then we finished them off with stems and leaves made with different designer papers and even new Naturals buttons for the centers. 

This class was so fun and the fact that I was able to finish the project during the two hour class was definately great for me.  As an added bonus, while we were waiting for the paint to dry Carrie shared several tips for mixing different types of DSP so they'll work perfectly and even shared several completed projects so we got even more great ideas.

I hope you enjoy and if you're interested in making a project please let me know and we can see about setting up a class if there's enough interested.

Happy stamping,

Diana