Blog Candy

Sorry for the delay.  I was sick all yesterday and wasn't able to post.  The winner of the Christmas blog candy is Joyce/Nicole.  Congratulations girls!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Mine is continuing, as my husband's family will be here today.  I'm hoping to feel better by the time they arrive. 

Til next time,

Merry, Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!  I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday afternoon, but after three meltdowns, I just had to let some things go til today.  So no picture of my wonderful salad, but here's the recipe. 

You are going to truly love this salad.  I promise:

Wendy's Winter Fruit Salad

1 large head of Romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 cup cashews
1/4-cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 apple, cubed
1 pear, cubed

Dressing:
1/2-cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tsp. finely chopped onion
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2-tsp. salt
2/3-cup oil
1 TB  Poppyseed

1.  In a blender or food processor container, combine dressing ingredients, except for oil and poppyseed.  With blender running, add oil in a slow, steady stream, until thick and smooth.  Add poppyseed, process.
2.  In a large serving bowl, combine all salad ingredients; toss to mix.  Pour dressing over salad; toss.

Enjoy!  This will feed a crowd of 8 to 10

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!

Love, Wendy

One More

I have one more little Christmas project to sneak in here.  I forgot to post the stocking gift card holder I made for our mailman.  I think the Winter Post set works wonderfully for a mailman gift, don't you?

Now for some Christmas blog candy.  I have some brand new SU stamp pads to give away.  Leave a comment here to enter.  I will annouce the winner on the 26th.

The Eve of Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  I will be posting my Winter Fruit Salad recipe a little bit later.  It's a wonderful recipe that my kids (and everyone else) just love.  So check back this afternoon for that. 

I keep mentioning the holiday houses that I've been making this season.  Well, with the hustle and bustle of the season, I didn't get to make as many as I thought I would.  That's okay, because this template will lend itself to many occasions, not just Christmas. 

So, here they are:

This is the first house I made using Lauren Meader's Homemade house template and stamp set (PaperTrey).  Being the first one, I went hog-wild on the decorations.  Paper is DCWV and I used all kinds of punches from Martha Stewart (gotta love MS punches). 

Here's another view of this little gingerbread house.  I forgot to mention that the roof lifts off to allow for goodies inside.  I just love this house!

Now that I had confidence in constructing these structures, I proceeded to create a cabin retreat for my friend Ali.  She and her family are building a cabin in the Sierras, so I knew she would love this.  I stamped strips of Creamy Caramel with the Weathered BG stamp for siding and used "styrosoft" for the snow.  The wreath was cut with another MS punch and I used my Nesties for the house sign. 

Here's a view from the back.  Notice the chimney.  I had some texture paint leftover from one of my son's school projects that I used to make the chimney look like stone. 

This is the last little house I made, and in keeping with my love of all things that woof, I had to make a dog house.  This is for a friend of my daughter, who just got a puppy.  I just used the template base and roof pieces for this.  I punched strips with the SU Scallop Edge punch and adhered to the roof for shingles.  The opening to the doghouse was created by using the backside of one of the door stamps from the Homemade stamp set.  How cool is it that you can use the back side of acrylic stamps?  I had some DP with paw prints (unknown manufacturer) in my paper stash, just dying to be used for this project.   Lastly, I used the MS icicle punch to make the grass, and a bone punch to make bones to scatter around.  We filled this with dog treats and a toy for Rocky.

I'm sure there will be more houses in my future.  I'm thinking Valentine's Day. 

Will be back later this afternoon with that fantastic salad recipe,

Countdown

I'm sure many of you feel the same way, the countdown starts on December 1st and continues through the frenzy of Christmas and the week after.  I didn't do as much shopping this year, so that meant more gift making.  I enjoy Christmas and try to make the season special from the decorations to the baking.  There's something for everyone.  So, it's no wonder by this time, I'm burnt out.

I have some houses that I made as gift boxes that I plan to post tomorrow, as I have a few more to photograph.  So, tonight I'd like to share some digital stamps that I've been using.  I never thought I would get into digi stamps, but then came Mo.  Do you know Mo?  She is a book illustrator who has decided to share her illustrations with all of us.  I am just having the best time watercoloring these images.  See below:  For a close-up view of each image, just click on it.

This is my son's gift card holder.  He is an awesome video gamer and this image just fit him to a tee.  I stamped printed the image twice on watercolor paper and heat embossed with fine black EP.  This keeps the ink from running while watercoloring.  I never knew that printer ink stays wet long enough to emboss with, but it does!

Here's another favorite, Wynken, Blynken and Nod.  I added stitching and a wave designed with a Creative Memories ruler.  I just love the charm of these images.  Yes, you could say I'm addicted.  Head on over to Mo's Digital Pencil Too and check out all the incredible artwork.  I know, just call me the enabler.

I'll be back tomorrow with houses and a great salad recipe.

Til next time,

Snowman Thank You

I have big plans for this snowman!  I love the fact that the SU Snowman (Simple Seasonal Thanks) from the Holiday mini catalog is so big and roly-poly.  He can be used in so many ways.  Below, I have used him to create a packet of thank you notes for a friend's son. 

I stamped my snowman on Whisper White cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I then paperpieced his hat an scraf with SU DSP from last season.  The hat brim is accented with Liquid Applique and I added dots with pearlized dimensional paint (fabric paint).  I used a template from the Resources section on Splitcoast for the card holder.  It's actually supposed to be a purse, but this is for a boy, so I didn't think his dad would appreciate that.  I added a snowman to the front of the box, popped up on Dimensionals and a computer-printed title.  I plan to include some crayons for Aiden to personalize his snowmen.

This was an incredibly easy, fun and economical gift. Like I said, I have big plans for this snowman.  Can you see him holding a snowglobe, or maybe with a Sweet Center's tummy full of white candy?

Well, I'm off to finish those houses I keep mentioning.  I will post them soon!!!

Til next time,

Quick Christmas Cards

Okay, I know you're reading the title of this post and thinking, I must be on the wrong blog, Wendy doesn't do quick anything. Well, I was writing Christmas cards and realized I was three short. So, I pulled out my Cuttlebug and embossing envelopes and had three cards made in the time it normally takes me to make one.

The first card features a little snowy scene that I highlighted with glittery gel pen, a red satin ribbon, tiny silver bells and brads.  The sentiment is from Anna Griffin.

The second card is a Christmas tree that I embossed on glittery CS from DCWV and then just added star brads as ornaments, SU border punch, ribbon and a sentiment from Anna Griffin.

The last card, has one of my favorite color combos, blue and green.  I used a CB die to cut the snowflake, layered it with an image from SU's Riveting set and topped it with a brad.  The paper is from DCWV and the ribbon from Martha Stewart and SU.

Okay, the cards are done and in the mail.  Now, it's on to Christmas treats to share.  I have some darling Christmas houses to share, so I have to get craftin'.

Til next time,

Dogone Dog Christmas

I love dogs, as you can see by my sidebar, Lucy and Biscuit are my constant companions.

   

So, when I see a cute dog related stamp, I just can't resist.  Just look at this cute image from Penny Black.  The three images tell a story.  They are all on one stamp, but I separated them to better layout my card.  I colored with Prisma pencils and baby oil, cut them out with my Nesties and cut the dog out completely.  I can't wait to send this to a fellow dog lover.

Recipe:  Stamps:  Penny Black.  Paper:  Provo Craft.  Ink:  SU black.  Accessories:  Snowflake brad, dog bone button, white button, SU gingham ribbon, machine stitching, Prisma pencils, baby oil, Nestabilities.

Til Next Time,

TLC250 Snowman Love

Okay, so I succumbed to the Technique Lover's challenge again.  I just can't leave a new technique alone.  The ideas start rolling and then the morning is history.  Here's what I came up with:

Of course, the other problem is that I can't ever keep anything simple.  There has to be ribbon, brads, fabric paint, stickers.....the list goes on and on!

I started by watercoloring this cute little snowman image from an old SU set called Snow Globe.  He just fit perfectly on this little tag box/bag.  Then I added some snow.  Did you know you can emboss with fabric paint?  Well, I wasn't getting enough texture with my white Craft ink, so I gave it a go.  I painted the craft paint below my snowman image and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  It woked like a dream.  I tried stamping and embossing the snowflakes on my main panel and that did not work so well, too gloppy.  So, I would restrict its use to large areas that you apply with a brush.

All the instructions for this project are posted on SCS under Shipping Tag Box/Bag.  I didn't have the appropriate size shipping tags, so I made my own per the instructions given.  See the recipe below for supplies used.  Okay, now I have to go get the errands done.

Recipe:  Paper:  SU Bordering Blue, DCWV, WC.  Stamps:  SU Snow Globe (ret).  Accessories:  SU ribbon and silver cord.  Heart punch, hole punch, Nestabilities, gel pens, SU markers, pearl white fabric paint, embossing powder, SU re-inkers, acrylic snowflakes, brads, white gel pen, decorative scissors, corner punch.

Til next time,

Is it Christmas or Not?

Recently, I was organizing my stamps and thought about putting them into catagories.  You know, Christmas, flowers, etc.  Well, as I was going through the stamp sets, it was apparent to me that catagorizing my stamps this way would not utilize them as well.  So many non-Christmas sets work very well for Christmas and visa versa.  I have used elements of my Christmas sets for other occasions through the year too.  To illustrate this, I created two cards today.  The first card was created using the SU Choo-Choo set, as well as the Loads of Love and Loads of Love Accessories sets.  These are not Christmas sets, but look how well they lend themselves to Christmas themes. 

Here's a tip:  To make the peppermints, I used the snowflake stamp from Delightful Decorations, stamped in Real Red and punched with the 1/2" circle punch.  At the bottom of the card I did the same thing, but layered the CS using the faux button technique, which gave the peppermints more dimension and sparkle.

Okay, so my second example was created using the God's Beauty set, but can you also see where I tucked in a Christmas image?

Give up?  I used the Patterned Pines stamp set from the SU Holiday Mini catalog.  There is kind of a Celtic cross pattern I created with the trees from this set.  I stamped in silver and then embossed.  Cool huh?

It's really a waste of money and stamps to only use your holiday stamps for one season a year.  So get out your Christmas, Halloween, |Thanksgiving, Easter, 4th of July...... stamps and see what other ways you could use them on your everyday cards.

By the way, I would love to hear how you organize your stamp sets. 

Recipe for the above cards: 
STAMPS:  Patterned Pines, God's Beauty, Choo-Choo, Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories, Delightful Decorations.
PAPER:  SU I believe it's called Picnic?, SU Bella Bleu, Almost Artichoke, Whisper White, vellum.
OTHER:  SU re-inkers, Real Red and Glorious Green, Black ink pads.  Ribbon, pearl beads, liquid applique, glitter.

Til next time,

Technique Lover's Challenge at SCS

I have a very messy house and even messier craft room, so I had decided to put a moratorium on stamping yesterday.  My plan was to clean, clean, clean.

Then, temptation overtook me and I took a gander at this week's Technique Lover's Challenge over at Splitcoast.  Well that was the end of my plans for cleaning.  The stocking above is a actually a gift card holder.  The gift card fits right below the cuff and you can leave a sentiment right above.  Claire Brennan (Waltzingmouse) generously provided the stocking template that we can all download.  I have so many ideas for these little stockings!!!

Recipe: 
Stamps:  JustRite
Paper:  Frances Mayer, DCWV
Ink:  SU, Anna Griffin, Tim Holtz
Accessories:  Rhinestones, glitter pen, stickers, punches

Let me know if you decide to make one of these stockings, I would love to see what all of you come up with.

Til next time,

Holiday Lounge Ornament Tutorial

I recently made a discovery that blew my socks off!



SU's Holiday Lounge Designer Series Paper is perfect to use with vintage photos from the 50's and 60's.  Vintage is a nice way to say that I'm old!

I pulled out some photos of my family from way back when; some holiday, some not, and decided that I would make photo ornaments.  I hope to have a whole tree covered by Christmas. 

Check out the following tutorial:

All SU products used, except the jingle bells.

Here are the basic elements of your ornament:

* 1-3/4-inch circle punch

* Two 2-inch circles of Holiday Lounge DSP

*Two scraps of HL DSP to stamp with your ornament top from the Sweet Centers set.

* One 1-3/4-inch circle punched Post-It (make sure you punch where the sticky part is).

* One Sweet Centers Treat Cup (Optional).

1.  Place your Post-It circle in the center of one of your 2" circles.  This will help you mark where you need to punch.  Then, place your 2" circle into your 1-3/4-inch punch.  I sometimes use another Post-It to act as a handle while I punch small pieces.

2.  You now have your frame for your picture.

3.  Stamp the ornament top on your scap DSP.  Make sure you stamp the opposite side of the design you wish to see on your ornament.  Cut the ornament top piece, excluding the wire hanger.  Be sure to leave a little tail at the bottom (refer to photo).  Use the 1-3/4-inch punch to slice a small curve into the bottom of the ornament topper.  This will allow the top to sit flush to your ornament.

4.  Now the fun part.  Time to put your ornament together.  I made a photocopy of the photo I wanted to use.  I also punched out some embellishments with the party hat punch (retired).  Feel free to add what you like here or leave it plain. 

5.  I punched my photocopied photo with my 1-3/4-inch punch and adhered it to the second circle.  I then added pieces of Dimensionals around the border of the circle. 

6.  Add your embellishments (if desired).  Place one of the ornment top pieces at the top of your ornament, lining it up with the edge of the circle.  Adhere the other ornament top pice to the first top piece, making sure the side you want to see is showing, back and front.

Adhere your frame circle over the photo, lining up edges.  Now you can add a hole to the top for ribbon and embellish as desired.  I added a little glitter and a snowflake punched shape.

And here is the finished product:

Here is one I did with the Sweet Centers treat cup and a stamped image from the Winter Post stamp set.

I added some jingle bells to make it a shaker ornament, but you could add glitter, buttons, whatever you want.  I'll add my decorated tree when it's all done.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  I'm still working on the lighting, as my studio is quite dark.  I may have to bring in my husband's spotlight to get clearer photos. 

Til next time,

TLC247 Snoopy Dreams Come True

There's a great Technique Lover's Challenge going on over at Splitcoast this week.  The technique is to use a Coluzzel or Nestability to extend your image outside the line.  I decided that a sleeping Snoopy would fit this challenge.  I used a standard square Nestability to make my square.  After coloring with Prisma Pencils  and Gamsol and gel pens, I kind of lost my mojo and couldn't figure out where I wanted to go with this card. 

I pulled out my basket of Cuttlebug folders and came across the Journaling Card folder.  I ran some textured bright blue cardstock through, I found it was much easier to see how I wanted to format the card.  Here's a tip:  Primary colors go well with images such as Peanuts, Disney or Sesame Street. 

I distressed the blue CS with some sanding, added a strip of glittered CS at the top with my sentiment and ribbon, and then came the really fun part; I made some 5-layer buttons (sans the buttonholes) shaped like snowflakes.  If you haven't tried this technique, I highly recommend it.  It has to be my favorite of all the Technique Lover's Challenges that I've participated in.  Check it out on SCS.

Supplies: 
Paper:  DCWV, SU Whisper White and Real Red
Stamps:  Stampabilities Decorated Dog House, SU In the Stars
Ink:  StazOn Black,  SU Barely Banana, Brilliant Blue
Accessories:  Gel pens, Prisma Pencils, white button, ribbon, Nestabilities square, snowflake punch, SU Photo Corner punch, Cuttlebug Journaling Card Embossing Envelope.
IN OTHER NEWS:

You may have noticed I have a new badge in my sidebar 

Thank you Sue Daly  for choosing me for this award.

Here are the rules:
1.Post it on your blog, along with the name and blog link to the person who sent it to you.

2.Pass the award on to 15 other bloggers that you've newly discovered.
3.Remember to contact the bloggers and let them know they have received this very cool award!

Here are the people I have chosen to receive this award:
1.  Jen Diercks
2.  Heidi Karpen
3.  Jeni Sannes
4.  Monika Davis
5.  Carrie Fitch
6.  Lynn Weiss
7.  Jennifer
8.  Antoinette Chavez
9.  Shannon Fudge
10.  Sharon Lougheed
11.  Melyssa Connolly
12.   Debbie Cobari
13.  Ashley Cannon
14.  Carolina Buchting
15.  Beth Norman

I hope you are familiar with the names above, but if not check out their wonderful blogs.

Til next time,