My Happy Place

Walrus Easel

This was another card we made for my stamp club this month.  It's called an Easel card.  Your recipient can display the card you send them for all to see.  Isn't that what we really want?  We hate the thought of our lovely card just getting tossed in the trash! 

Here is a link to the technique.

Recipe: Stamps: Cold and Cuddly, Christmas punch(level 2 hostess set)

Ink:  Basic Gray, Soft Suede, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal

Other:  3 inch circle cut with my circle scissors plus, scallop circles#2(I have been using this one a lot lately!), scallop oval punch, button, stampin' dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Dashing Dasher

Can you stand another Dasher card?  I hope so cuz I'm not putting this stamp down for a very long time!  I cased this card from Amy.  I changed the colors, papers, and a few of the details.  We made this at stamp club this month.

Recipe:

Stamps: Dasher, Holiday Best(greeting-Level 1 hostess set)

Ink:  Chocolate chip, Old Olive, Real Red

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White, Garden Green, Merry Moments designer paper

Other:  scallp circles#2 sizzix die, eyelet border punch, Little Leaves sizzlit die, tag punch, Movers and Shapers tag(layered under tag punch), 1/4" circle punch, petals-a-plenty embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Let's Talk Turkey!

I made these fun turkey treat holders for my stamp club ladies and hostesses this month.  They are a complete case from Connie of Constantly Stamping.  You can see her video tutorial on these treat holders here.

I keep thinking they remind of the NBC logo - NBC proud as a peacock.  Do you remember this?  LOL!

I've been busy creating in my craft room for some parties and classes.  I'll be back soon with more stamping project to share!
 

Oh the things you can make.....

with the ornament punch!  My upline, Karen, had a meeting last month and one of the demonstration tables was the wonderful things you can make with the ornament punch by Carol Nordquist.  Here are some of the ideas she shared.  I converted the basic ideas into cards of my own design. 

Don't you love the fishes?  Just stamp the ornament from Delightful Decorations and punch out with the ornament punch.  Turn the ornament on it's side and back it with the 5 petal flower punch.  And the 5 petal flower punch is on sale for only $10.99 through October 11!  The water is the negative from the Swirls sizzix die.

The leaves are made by punching out the leaves and a piece of whisper white cardstock out of the ornament punch and simply cutting off the top part of the ornament.  Then draw in the lines of the leaves with a stylus and a foam mat.  Then take your sponge daubers and dip them in ink and then on the back of the cardstock vellum.  Attach to the whisper white cardstock behind it to make the colors show up better.

You can create a vase by punching out the ornament up to this point in the cardstock.  Just leave off the point.  I brayered the dusty durango cardstock with dusty durango ink to give it the look of a terracotta pot.  So easy!

 
How about some acorns!  I embossed the chocolate chip cardstock with the Perfect Details Sizzix plate and then punched out a curve with my wide oval punch.  Next place your ornament punch upside down in the cardstock and punch out just the top.  Then punch out your creamy caramel cardstock with the ornament punch and sponge it with some close to cocoa ink.  Adhere the two pieces together and you're done!

Okay, this guy was a lot of work but so worth it in the end!  I CASE"d him fromthecountryrose on SCS.
 Do you see the ornament punch on him?  I ran the Build-a-Bear through the Big shot in blush blossom cardstock and then placed the ornament head over the bear head for the elf.  So fun!

All of these projects were made with Stampin' Up! products.  You can order them from my online ordering website here or contact me at krhopperstad@juno.com. 

I hope you enjoyed these ideas.  Thanks for stopping by!
 
 

A Day at the Zoo

I'm having a scrapbook class on Wednesday. Participants get to choose to do 1 layout, 2 layouts, or all 3.  This Zoo page is one of the choices.

The pictures are from my family's visit to the San Diego Zoo during our California vacation 2 years ago.  The day started out a little rough with my youngest, Sam, not wanting to go to the zoo.  Can you imagine?  He was having a little trouble with the fast pace we were keeping trying to hit all of the sights we could while in California.  After a bit of cajoling we got Sam to come around and we all enjoyed the day!

Recipe:

Stamps:  Animal Stories, Whimsy Jumbo Wheel

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, old Olive jumbo ink cartridge

Paper:  Old Olive, Brilliant Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Rose Red, So Saffron, Tall Tales designer paper

Other:  Stampin' Up! Billboard Sizzix alphabet, Serif Essentials Sizzix alphabet, Hearts and Brackets Sizzix die, Swirls and Scribbles Sizzlit die, Top Note die, 1 3/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, Square Scallop die, Little Leaves Sizzlit die, spiral edge punch

Bermuda Bird Friend

We made this card as a make-n-take at Deb's party last Friday night.  I got to use my Bermuda Bay ink(finally!)  I LOVE this color!  I used every stamp in this stamp except one.  It was fun to use the little pieces and flowers to make my own background paper.

Recipe:  Stamps:  A Good Friend

Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red, Bermuda Bay

Other:  Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon, stampin' dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cupcake Elephant

I had this idea of having this elephant from the new stamp set, Animal Stories, balancing a cupcake on his trunk.  I don't think I'm too original there but I do love the way this turned out!  This is my third and final swap for a WOW card swap I am in.  I can't wait to see what swaps I get back!  There's a lot of putzy elements on this card.  I can't believe I made 11 of them!  I did and I lived to tell the tale.  The elephant ear and leg are stamped twice, cut out and popped up on stampin' dimensionals.  The cupcake is stamped, colored, cut out, and popped up on a stampin' dimensional.  The party hat is stamped, colored, cut out, and popped up on stampin' dimensionals.  The scallop background is done by punching out 6 of the scallop squares and stacking them side by side to give a bigger mat. 

Recipe:
Stamps: Animal Stories, Matchbox Messages, Short and Sweet(cupcake), Owl Together Now(party hat)
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Raspberry Lemonade designer paper, Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay( the swirls)
Other:  Scribbles Sizzix die, Stampin' Up! Sizzix Matchbox die, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, square scallop punch, Stampin' Up! Sizzix Top Note Die, Eyelet border punch, googlie eye, stampin' dimensionals, crystal effects

Thanks for stopping by!

Giraffe swap card and stamp-a-ma-jig background

I finished up my Wow swaps for a swap group I joined on SCS.  My final WOW card is this giraffe card.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Animal Stories, Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Basic Black
Paper:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Custy Durango, Tall Tales designer paper
Other:  Dusty Durango polka dot ribbon, small oval punch, large oval punch, modern label punch, googlie eye, crystal effects, eyelet border punch, stampin' dimensionals, dusty durango stampin' write marker, stamp-a-ma-jig

When using the Circle Circus stamp set as a background I discovered that one of the open ring stamps in the set fit around this other stamp in the set.  I stamped my circles in crushed curry and dusty durango and stamped over them in black with the open ring stamp using my stamp-a-ma-jig.  It really jazzes it up!

Here are the steps to this background.  It's a little putzy but worth it!

i hope you found this helpful.  Now that my swaps are done I get to go play with some of my new stamping toys!   Yippee!  Thanks for stopping by today!

A cloudy day

This was the third card for my stamp clubs this month.  We used the circle scallop punch to sponge a cloudy background behind the bird.  It's fun to make a scene for your focal point sometimes instead of keeping the white background.  We made the grass with the blender pen and Certainly Celery and Kiwi Kiss ink pads.  Then we finished off the bottom by sponging Kiwi Kiss ink. 

Recipe:
Stamps:  Pun Fun, Heard from the Heart
Ink:  Jet Black Stazon, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss
Paper:  Washington Apple dp, Rockabilly dp, Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss
Other:  Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Lovely Lilac watercolor wonder crayons, blender pen, circle scallop punch, stampin' sponge, Word Window punch, Eyelet border punch, Pigtails ribbon originals, Flower Sizzix embosslit, Birds and Blossoms Sizzix die

Speaking of clouds, it's been cloudy and rainy here for about a week.  Ever since my kids got off of school.  But yesterday, the sun finally came out.  It was a beautiful day!  It felt wonderful and there were so many kids walking, biking, and playing outside.  Finally, it felt like summer! 

Nuts about you!

Whew!  Life's been crazy busy lately!  I know it's that time of year where the school year is winding down and summer is starting up.  But it's been especially crazy around here.  My middle son, Nicholas, is in traveling soccer so we've had a ton of soccer.  We had a soccer tournament out of town this past weekend.  We brought the whole family this time.  My 15 year old daughter, Rebecca, started coming down with hives(or so we thought) and had tons of homework to do.  She planned to do some swimming, come to a soccer game or two but mostly hang out in the hotel room and do her homework.  Well Saturday morning comes and Rebecca is covered in red spots all over her face, chest and back.  We don't know what to make of it.  We go to the morning soccer game and leave her behind in the hotel room.  When we came back to the hotel I took her to the local clinic in the town we were in.  They diagnosed her with chicken pox!  Whoah!  Wasn't expecting that!  I drove her back home and helped her get through some projects for school.  She was supposed to have finals this week and this was her last week of school.  I had to call the school to let them know she couldn't come in.  It turns out she only had to take of the finals to raise her grade but the rest of them gave her a pass.  She had all A's going in them anyways.  It pays to be a good conscientious student sometimes.  So between regular life, traveling soccer, and the chicken pox, it's made for a busy time.

So I had this idea stuck in my head for awhile but didn't have the time to put it to paper.  Does that ever happen to you?  This is based on a sketch from someone's sketch blog but I'm too busy to find it right now. 

Recipe:  Animal crackers
Ink:  versamark, close to cocoa reinker
Paper:  Sunshine Garden, chocolate chip, watercolor paper
Other:  kiwi kiss ribbon, scallop circle from Sizzix pennants die, 1 3/4" circle punch, silver brads, black embossing powder, aquapainter

My kids' last day of school tomorrow.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that but it's coming anyway.

Thanks for stopping by!