Loving the new Glitter Paper!

I'm loving the new mini catalogue! The glitter paper is so easy to work with - no more going to work with sparkles on my face, and the Framed Tulips folder make it a breeze to create a WOW background. Tomorrow I'll post what I did with the scrap from the glitter paper.
Stamps: Artistic Etchings
Paper & Ink: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Love Letter Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Heart Punch, Oval Punches

Just Believe Birthday Card

I love this stamp set and yet I only finished mounting it the other day to make this card. So many stamp sets, so little time! This was my mom's birthday card this year and also part of a challenge over at A Charming Place.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes & Just Believe

Cardstock & Ink: Baja Breeze, Whisper white, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Framed Tulips embossing folder, Rosettes, Baja Breeze seam binding

Paper Tube Gift Card Holder

The challenge over at A Charming Place this month was to create a Gift Card Holder out of an empty Toilet Paper Tube. We bought my Mother-in-law tickets to a play at a local theatre, so I knew that a toilet paper tube was going to be too short (plus all of my rolls were quite full), so I cut an empty wrapping paper roll to size instead. The flower on the tag is attached to a clip which holds the tickets on the back side of the tag. This way she can use the tag as a bookmark later. Who would have thought recycling could look so great!

Paper: Deck the Halls, Early Espresso
Tag: Table Setting Die
Punches: Five Petal Flower, Three Flower, scallop edge
Accessories: Crochet Trim, Neutrals Brads


Joy Christmas Frame

This was one of my mom's gifts this year. I can finally post it! I had her take some family pictures of us on Christmas day to put into it later. The frame is just a cheap wooden frame, but I really like how it turned out. All the flowers and embellishments were created with Stampin' UP! products.

The white flower was created with satin ribbon, an antique brad centre, and a pearl.
The red flowers were created with the five petal flower punch and the island blossom die plus a stylus and pearls.
The little vanilla flowers were created with the three flower punch and neutral brads.
Best of all, the Deck the Halls Paper ties everything together! I added a top coat of Smooch ink to the holly leaves and berries that doesn't show in the photo, but shimmers beautifully in the light.

Cambodia Scrapbook Page: Souvenir Challenge

This page was part of my last month's challenge over at A Charming Place. I challenged participants to use a souvenir on a project. Unfortunately, this page sat on my table in pieces while I waited for my Mojo to return. Now that I have my first full week of school behind me, I think I'll be ready to spend some more time in my studio playing with the thousands (literally) of pictures I took.

This box from our flight from Siem Reap back to Phnom Penh was the inspiration for the page. I also added my ticket stub from the flight. Please tell me that I'm not the only person in the world who would even consider ripping apart the snack box from a flight to save it for a future project?

The "cambodia" tag was cut from the snack box, attached to the Hodgepodge piece, and covered with Crystal Effects for a custom embellishment. I also cut the logo from the Angkor Air box to add to my page.

Stamps: Sentimental Journey
Ink & Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point, Concord Crush
Accessories: Paper Daisies, Vintage Brads, Basic Pearls, Floral Fusion Die & Big Shot, Hodgepodge Hardware
Charms: Arrows from A Charming Place

Travel Challenge at A Charming Place

Greetings from Cambodia! It's my month to hostess the challenges over at A Charming Place! Of course, when I signed up for August, I had no idea that I was going to be gone for a quarter of it. This is why I've scheduled this post for today and also why I've chosen Travel as this month's theme. You have all month to participate in the challenges. Each challenge you complete earns you one entry into the draw for a $15 gift certificate to A Charming Place. Believe me, $15 goes a long way there! I am also offering a $10 gift certificate to the first person who completes one of my challenges and posts it in the Charming Place Gallery and then posts a link to it in the appropriate challenge thread on the forum. Are you ready for this month's challenge?

Create a project that is inspired by some other country/city in the world. Use a french script background, scrapbook a Mexican recipe or that fabulous vacation. Any type of project goes, but it must contain at least one charm. Don't have any charms? Place an order in my online store this month and I'll mail you a selection of charms to play with (sorry, Canadians only). Have fun!

 Check out my sample, inspired by Paris! I used my new Artistic Etchings set on this card. Did you happen to notice the background? I made it using the wax paper resist technique. To create this background, run a piece of wax paper in an embossing folder (here Vintage Wallpaper) through your Big Shot. Sandwich your embossed wax paper between two sheets of Whisper White cardstock and iron. I placed a piece of scrap paper over top. Use your brayer to add ink over top to reveal the pattern - your own Presto Patterned Paper!

Stamps: En Francais, Artistic Etchings
Ink & Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Accessories: Charms, Crochet Trim, Pewter eyelet, brayer, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz

Stampin' UP in Cambodia

We were at Hagar's House of Smiles yesterday. Hagar is an organization that works with the people who fall through the cracks. In this case, Smiles is a program for children with mental disabilities. I got the chance to do some stamping with kids who have likely never stamped before. I was unsure about how it was going to go, but God reminded me that creativity is universal. I pre-cut boxes with the Big Shot at home. All we had to do was assemble, stamp a Build-a-bear stamp, color it in with markers and then attach it to the completed box - an easy task in Canada, but we needed to be able to do this on the floor, in the middle of the day heat, with kids who had never done anything like it and who have mental disabilities ranging from mild to severe. Oh, and none of them speak any English!

I discovered some talent in one little boy sitting across from me. He couldn't have been more than five or six. I should have seen the artist in him when I passed around the paper and he insisted on red. I started demonstrating how to fold the box. I wasn't finished folding along the score lines when I looked up and saw him holding his completed box up for everyone to see. He had taken my completed sample that I had shown them earlier and copied it perfectly. He then told everyone else what to do. Next we stamped the Bears on a matted piece of paper. He watched me open the ink pad once. I had it closed and was working with some other kids when I looked up to see that he had found the flower stamp in the case, opened the ink pad (not always easy even for seasoned stampers) and was stamping flowers all the way around the box. We were not permitted to photograph the kids, but we could photograph their projects. Here's his completed work.

My other little buddy couldn't wait for the stamp. He decided that he'd rather make his own version.

They were so proud of their work - just like any kid in Canada would be. The main difference is that these are the kids who will probably never own their own set of stamps or even a dollar store ink pad. I paid more for the stamp set than their parents make in a week. Still, this truly was a House of Smiles. It was a short visit, but so much fun! Today we're heading out to Place of Rescue for a tour before we begin English Camp on Monday. I can't wait to meet the kids and see the place I've been praying for for the past six years.