Dream Dancer~~

My 17 year old daughter is a dancer....and a mighty fine one if I do say so myself! So when I came across THIS in the gallery on SCS, I grabbed my punches and got to work! I made one specifically for my daughter and personalized it with her name.

The alphabet is a tiny one I got in the dollar spot and my LSS. Then for the punches; scallop circle, heart, word window, 3/4 inch circle, 1/2 inch circle and the 1/8 inch handheld circle (eyes). Blush Blossom CS is the key to the flesh tones here. All punches except the heart are SU and the heart is an EK Success, the medium heart punch. I sponged the edges of the heart and glittered the edges of the tu-tu. Add some eye lashes with a marker and you are good to go!

The trick to putting these punch things together is to lay them out first on your work space, then see how the layers have to go so that as you attach them to your project (card, notebook, whatever) you are not peeling layers up to make room underneath. Some of the assembly can be done before you adhere it to the project and some of it is just easier if you do it as you go. Also, if you add white gel pen for accent, like for the penguin or the reindeer's nose, do that last after he is all glued down. This will you keep you from smearing the gel pen. I am talking from experience here!

Who knows that next week will hold stamping wise, but I hope you will stop back by to see!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Monkey Business~~

How about that huh?!! Isn't he adorable?!!

Most of you know, I am not terribly creative on my own, but I can copy like no body's business! The secret is having all the tools right? HERE is my inspiration!
Today's notebook is punch heavy, to say the least! I used the large oval, the small oval, 1/2 inch circle, 1 3/8 inch circle, 3/4 inch circle and free handed the bananas! Whew......worth the effort I think. His eyes are black brads, which adds some nice dimension.

Tomorrow will be the last one.....promise......though I hope you are not sick of these cute little guys!

Be kind today, you never know what stress someone is under!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Gettin' Punchy Again!~~

Lovin' these things----but I think I have to stop. I have to many other things to make for the Boutiques as well! But isn't she sweet! HERE is my original inspiration for the note book.

I used a 1 3/8 inch circle punch, a 3/4 inch circle punch as well as the scallop edge Punch all by SU!

Two more over the next couple days, and then that's' it for a while!

Did you know it could snow in October in Arizona? Well, it can! We got snow yesterday....but not the kind that sticks, but it falls! It was fun to watch.....makes me start looking for my scarves, warm coats, and hot cocoa!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

I am loving these lists! A few weeks back I made some for my club girls, and now I am working on more for the Brinkmeyer Boutique. I thought maybe a Christmas shopping list would be good.
I used Merry Moments DSP and the new Snowflake Punch by SU! Notice the little flap on the inside at the top of the list? Makes all the difference. Make sure you use Sticky Tape or Scor-Tape to make these, as regular adhesive (like snail) won't hold for long. I learned that and had to go back over all mine with sticky tape after a couple days. The greeting is from Tenny Tiny Wishes.

I made a few more spiral notebooks with the punch art that I have been having so much fun with. Be on the look out for those tomorrow, as well as I actually made a card to show ya!

When was the last time you actually mailed one of those cute cards you make? Today might be the day to encourage someone and send them a smile! Just do it!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Fall Fun~~

Today's card was inspired by the cool coffee mug I saw at a friends house (hi Eileen!). We both agreed that the colors were Old Olive, More Mustard and Elegant Eggplant! So, with fall officially here in Prescott, I decided to bust out my Trendy Trees and get busy! I hope you like it!

This layout out one I fall back on often, because it is so easy to work with. I pierced holes in the scallops on the Mustard CS and used Whisper White craft ink for the greeting. Added a couple white brads and....Ta-da!

Leave me some love!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Gift Boxes~~

You might have seen these tag boxes in the current Stampin Up catalog on page 14, and if you go HERE you will find a tutorial. If you don't have a Scor-Pal, you can do the job with a scoring tool on your cutter. You will not be able to do it (with out a lot of yelling) without one of those, however! To much measuring involved!
This first one was made with silver textured CS. I created 40 tags for the box, 10 in each slot, and it is covered with a window sheet! I used a variety of SU punches to make the tags as well as a variety of stamps! I kept with the blue and silver theme here and added some bling to dress up the tags!
This second one was more traditional Christmas colors. ( I sold this one already at Bench Ranch!) I enjoy creating things beside cards too! So much so that I haven't made a card in quite a while. Guess I better get back to that huh? If you have specific questions about these, shoot me an email!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Punch Art #5...last one~~

I hope you have enjoyed all the fun little notebooks this week! I sure enjoyed making them all! The last one I CASEd from the Splitcoast gallery. There are many takes on this cardinal, each one is kind of adapted to the punches you have on hand. Mine is no exception.

I used the SU little laves Sizzix die here under the bird, the Signo white gel pen for his eye, as well as these punches: 1 3/4 inch circle, 1 1/4 inch circle, large Star (beak) and Word Window. The feet and tail were made with old SU punches I have from days gone by, but look at what you have and I bet you can make it work. If not, then maybe you need to BUY some punches!

Here is just a detail shot of the bird so hopefully you can see more closely what I have done here. You can also go to the gallery on SCS and use the search window (on the left) and search Punch Art. There you will find hundreds of reasons to go Punch Crazy!

Tomorrow you will see more with punches, but not notebooks! Stay tuned for some fun!

On another note, Monday is the day we find out if we will have a grandson or a granddaughter! Super excited! It will be a joyous spring for us to be sure!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Punch Fun #4~~

Get ready to sing............





Oh such cute-ness huh! I adore the singing reindeer, he even has a red nose! Next time I will put him on a non-red background so his red nose is more visible! I think he is just the cutest!

Reindeer uses the punches: Word Window, 1 3/8 inch circle, 1 inch circle, Large Oval, Small Oval, Snowflake (new), 1/2 inch circle, and the hand held rectangle (teeth). The song book I cut with just a straight cutter, simple.

I have one more for you tomorrow! HERE is the link to Mercedes Weber's blog where you can see the original inspiration for my note books. She does some cute stuff! She made tags, which is also fun.

See you here tomorrow, same Bat time, same Bat channel!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Punch Fun #3~~

Did you smile? I knew it! Is he not adorable?!!

Penguin dude uses these punches: 1 3/8 inch circle, 1 3/4 inch circle, Large Oval, Wide Oval, 1/4 inch circle, and an old SU! flower punch, but the current Boho Blossoms punch does the trick too! A little white gel pen for his eyes, and voila! The scarf is just free handed and straight cut.

What do you think? One more tomorrow, and you will "sing" with cutness-joy (made that up!) when you see it!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Punch Fun #2~~

Who doesn't love a snow man!

Remember my motto "the secret to a happy stamper is having everything you need on hand to complete a project"? Well, you NEED punches! I mean, really! You can do so much more than make holes in paper with them!

This fun snowman uses these punches: 1 3/4 inch circle, 1/4 inch circle, Large Star (nose), Word Window, 1 3/8 inch square.

Easy peasy.....no, I won't finish it!

Tomorrow's notebook will make you smile!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Finally~~

Between vacation and being sick, I have been a terrible blogger! My apologies! I hope you will forgive me after you see the next few items! I have a post scheduled for every day this week, 6 days straight!

These little guys come together so easily! I have made about a zillion of them , but these are my first with the punch art! Don't you just love it! These are 3x5 spiral notebooks that I recovered and decorated! You can buy them anywhere, but your warehouse stores have the best price! HERE is a link to Angie's site and a video to watch to make your own!
At the end of the week I will post a link to the blog where I got the ideas for the punch art, so you can look forward to that. But in the meantime, you can enjoy mine!
These little notebooks are going with me to the Bench Ranch Boutique this weekend. I think they will be popular! The rely heavily on punches, but I do adore my punches. I haven't met an SU! punch I didn't like!

Santa uses these punches: Scallop Square, Word Window, Scallop Circle, Three Flower, 1 3/4 inch circle, 1/2 inch circle, 1/4 inch circle, the corner rounder, and the 1/8 inch handheld circle. He has some glitter on the "puff" on top of his hat as well as on the hat band.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's notebook.....

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Bench Ranch Pre-Holiday Boutique~~

Local friends.....this coming Friday, October 23rd, I will be involved in a wonderful Pre-Holiday Boutique in Mayer! Come out and join us to kick off your holiday shopping season!

The Bench Ranch Clubhouse will be all decked out and festive with 14 different vendors for you to shop and browse with! There will be ME! and my Stampin Up! display, as well as Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, handmade jewelry as well as local artisans and their hand crafted items for you to enjoy. Stop by the Club House at 12000 E Highway 69 in Mayer this Friday from 7-9:00 PM.

I will be hosting a $2 make and take for you to take part in as well!

Hope to see you there!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

San Diego~~

Hello friends.....I am currently in San Diego visiting my daughter and her hubby (and the gran-baby-belly!) I will be posting some photos soon, and maybe I will even find something cool for my craft room at Ikea today! Hope your week is going well and that you find some time to stamp and encourage someone!

~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Christmas Tag Class~~

The samples for our upcoming tag class are finally done! I hope you enjoy them. In the original email, it stated you would be making 24 tags for $12, but that has now changed to 32 tags for the same $12! I created the really cute Dasher reindeer tag, not previously mentioned, and decided you should make some too!

Class is for locals only......Tag Class is October 24th at 9-11:30 AM til about noon. If that one fills up I will be doing a second one also that same day at 6:30-9 PM.

In this fun and easy for ALL skill levels class, you will create:

4 Top Note Tags (with the fun jute I got today!)
8 Christmas Punch Tags (with the brand new Ornament Punch)
10 Multi-colored Tags (originally 6)
3 Folding Tags (the ones with the Candy Cane)
3 Long Tags (to the left of the Folding Tags)
4 Dasher Tags (SU's best selling new stamp!)

That is 32 tags to get you ready to start wrapping (as soon as you start shopping that is!) I hope you can join us! This was a fun class to put together, and I think I am using all the ink pads I own!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

New Toys~~

Today is all about new toys! This is the new Delightful Decorations stamp set, paired with the new Ornament punch! You know how I adore my punches! Quick and easy for sure~~~~

I started with Kraft CS and added some Merry Moments DSP that I punched with my Scallop Edge punch by SU. I then tied some Old Olive gross grain ribbon around the card. I drew the lines, representing the strings for the ornaments, with my Bravo Burgundy and Old Olive markers. Next I stamped the two ornaments with matching ink onto Very Vanilla CS, punched with the Ornament punch (smile*) and adhered with Dimensionals. I stamped the Merry Christmas greeting, from Teeny Tiny Wishes, directly onto the card front with Bravo Burgundy ink, and tied some button twine around the ornament tops.....voila!

I think it is so cool how SU makes stamps and punches that go together! I am spolied now, and I wish they had a punch for almost every shape! They are getting close! There are even Rub On's that match this punch!

If you want to get a jump on your Christmas cards, here is a way to do it fast and easy, but with a big effect! Imagine the color options, you wouldn't even have to make them all the same! Variety is the spice of life right?

I am almost done with my samples for the Tag Class, so look for those soon! I also have two Holiday Boutiques coming up in November, so if you are local, you can look for information about those as well. They are both the weekend of November 13th. You may not be interested in buying MY stuff, since most of you can make it yourself, but it would great for you to support the Citizens Cemetary and see all the wonderful hand crafted items that maybe you DON'T know how to make, and get some Chrismas shopping done!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli

Awesome Opportunity~~

Something awesome happened to me this week! I got a phone call from Cookie Brinkmeyer, who owns the landmark Brinkmeyer HOME here in Prescott, AZ. She is hosting the third annual Holiday Boutique in her home, to benefit the Citizens Cemetery here in town.
She invites about 30 crafters to contribute items to be sold at her boutique, and I am number 21! (insert huge smile!)
We all agree to donate 10% of our sales to benefit the Citizens Cemetery, and naturally, we get the opportunity to showcase our hand crafted items! ( And hopefully bring in a little cash~)

I currently have some of my cards for sale at Bucky's_Bean_Bag on historic Whiskey Row (local). Cookie called and said she had bought some of my cards there, and thought they were cute, and well done! I was honored and excited, but it was not until later that I understood the significance of the Brinkmeyer home! Now I am even more honored and excited!

I have been working for days already to prepare for the Boutique (hence the lack of posts this week), which will be November 13-15. Today's post showcases some covered list pads like the ones I have been working on. The other projects I have been crafting will show up on the blog soon!




I bought 5x7 steno pads and had them cut in half at an office supply store for like $1 per cut. They can cut about 10-12 at a time, so it was only a couple dollars to have this done! I then cut my CS at 8 1/4 by 5 1/2. Then scored at 2 5/8 and 2 7/8. Be sure to cover the top part of the pad (as shown below) with some DSP to carry the pretty-ness to the inside. Use a generous amount of Sticky Tape (do you have yours?) and adhere the pad to the cover. Decorate with
co-ordinating DSP, ribbon and inks, and ta-da! Cute cute cute!


Pads like these are going to the boutique as well as some other fun items. Boy, do I have work to do! I have never tried something like this before, so I am curious how it will go.

Tomorrow, October 3rd, is National Card making Day! Make a card (and send it) for someone you love! Use that stampin' stuff girls!

A handmade card in the mail will surely encourage the receiver and brighten their day!

~~Stamping Smiles~~

Shelli