Quick Thank you Notes

Have you ever found yourself in need of a quick thank you note and don't have a lot of time to make one. If you are like me I refuse to buy cards. It just doesn't seem right to me. Yesterday I needed a thank you for our PTA and of course I needed it soon. I was all set to start on one when I remembered our

Simply Sent Card Elements & More. I had purchased a set at the beginning of the catalog period and had only made one. The set I used is Thanks x2 Card Elements & More and this is a perfect item for both beginning stamps and stampers that like to just have quick and easy cards on hand. This kit comes with a Classic Stampin' Spot, Grosgrain Ribbon four stamps, 8 envelopes and 8 printed, die-cut and embossed cards (2 designs, 4 of each). I just needed to stamp a couple of places, tie the ribbon on and this than you was ready to go. I took a picture of both designs and of course you can see them in the catalog on page 168. They were so easy and look really nice. Sorry for the quick post but I am off to pick up DD from track practice. As always thanks for stopping by and have a great day, Tonya

Clearly for Mom

Good morning, it looks to be a misty day here, so what better way to spend it than stampin'. Now for those of you that are at work or have to work today, I am sorry :( It also means that we probably won't be playing baseball tonight and will instead have to make up the two games. I don't like to have rain outs as it messes with the rest of the schedule, but enough about our household you came to see a card, correct.

I do have one for you today and it is a little different in that the base is made out of our window sheets. These are in the Occasions Mini and are great for so many things. I started off by running a 4x5 1/4 inch piece of Shimmery White Card stock thru the Big Shot with the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die. I sponged the flowers with both Perfect Plum and Pale Plum Classic Ink and our Sponges. This added more color to the raised areas than the recessed. I also sponged around the flowers with Mellow Moss Classic Ink. I stamped the Mother's Day sentiment from the All Holidays Stamp Set directly on the shimmery white and then again on a scrap piece of Shimmery White Card stock. The scrap piece was punched out with the new Scallop Oval Punch also from the Occasions Mini. Just a quick reminder there are only two days left to take advantage of the Get Connected Promotion. If you need more info please contact me and I will be happy to help. Now back to the card. I punched out a wide oval from Mellow Moss Card stock and layered the Scallop Oval on top of that with dimensionals. Now the tricky part with using window sheet is that any adhesive you use tends to show thru. So to solve that problem I used mini glue dots to add the flowers inside the window sheet and placed them in such a way that the embellishments and sentiment would cover them. There are three mini glue dots along the edge of the card where I added the Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon and there are two where the Happy Mother's Day is placed. The Oval Sentiment is actually on top of the window sheet and covers up the glue dots. When I get ready to send this card I will simply add a message inside that will appear to float in the center of the card. If you have any questions about this project please let me know. All supplies are from Stampin'UP. Thank you for stopping by today and have a great day, Tonya

Crazy!

I feel like today's post should be titled Tonya Who? I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Life has gotten a little crazy at our house and while I have been creating and stampin' I just haven't had anything that I could show you at this time. I will share the baby shower invites but I really want those that are invited to receive their's first. Some do follow my blog so sorry. I have also been working on a couple of lighted glass blocks for a special order. These presented a challenge in that they wanted a outline around the name and then the extra details. I did get them finshed but I forgot to take a picture of the finished project. I will share one another time. Now back to today's card. One of my DD's friends is turning 13 today and of course that meant a special card just for her. Like many teens and preteens she like the skulls and even the cherries that seem to be all over the place. So of course the Rockabilly Specialty DSP was our first choice. I used CarReal Red Textured dstock for the base and a 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 piece of the cherry Rockabilly Paper was added. I then some 5/8" Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain Ribbon tied in a square knot. The cupcake image is from Crazy for Cupcakes (love this set) and is stamped in Basic Grey on Whisper White Cardstock. I used both Kiwi Kiss and Real Red Classic Ink and the Aquapainter to color in the candle. The cupcake liner is made by stamping the cupcake image on a polka dot piece of the Rockabilly Paper and them the base is cut out. Before I attached the base I added Crystal Effects all over the Icing area and them added some Real Red beads I had in my craft room. They are retired from Stampin'UP but matched the projects perfect. After letting that dry all night I used dimensionals to pop up the cupcake line. I also used the ticket corner punch on the corners of the image. I used dimensionals to attach the image to my base and then moved onto the

inside. I cut a Whisper White inside liner and again used the ticket corner punch. I stamped the cherries from the Tart & Tangy Set (which matches the paper perfectly) after I had inked it up using both the Old Olive and Real Red Stampin' Write Markers. If you don't have any of these they are great to start out with and with dual tips they are also great for journalling or adding that personal touch inside your cards. This card was left blank so my DD could add her own message to her friend. I hope she likes it. If you would like to purchase any of the items to make this card please contact me or simply go to my website and you can order online. All products are of course from Stampin'UP unless otherwise noted. Well, I am off to clean my house and do some more laundry but I will hopefully get time to stamp today too! Have a great day and thank you for stopping by, Tonya

Abby Who?

Today's card is definitely not your everyday run of the mill stamped card. In fact I didn't stamp on it at all. I love a challenge and a stamping challenge is even more fun, so when I got a call last week asking what colors Abby Cadabby was it set this card in motion. First I had to look up who Abby is. Having three boys and a teenage daughter there isn't a lot of Sesame Street being watched at our house. After I found little miss Abby I started thinking that she could be made using our punches. The result is this card. I pulled out punch after punch and just started playing. I also had to use the Hearts Set Sizzlit 4 pack from the Big Shot to make Abby's face. The following is the list of punches I used: Trio Flower Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, and 3/4" Circle Punch. I used the Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker, Ruby Red Stampin' Write Marker and Lavender Lace Stampin' Write Marker to add some details to Abby's face. Her wand is made all sparkly with Dazzling Diamonds and 2-way glue. The card stock colors used on Abby are Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White, Ballet Blue, YoYo Yellow and Riding Hood Red. Abby of course has wings made from Vellum and more Dazzling Diamonds. Since Abby is so bright and colorful I didn't want the background to take away from her so I just sponged the background with Ballet Blue Classic Ink and Whisper White Craft Ink to make a cloud like background. So what do you think does it look like Abby? I know this isn't a card that many will want to duplicate but it is fun sometimes to give a challenge a try. I had fun making Abby come to life! Thanks Christi for the challenge and thank you for stopping by today. Hope you have a great day, Tonya

Simple Sympathy Cards

Sympathy cards are not something that are exactly fun to have to make simply because of the circumstances that you need them. My downline however had a death in her family late last week and since she didn't have any sympathy sets herself she asked if I could make a few for her. These are the same layout and stamp set just a little different in color and accessories. I started with the Big Shot Top Note Die and cut out two Very Vanilla Top Notes. On these a stamped using the Thoughts and Prayers Stamp Set. This set is new this year and is perfect for sympathy cards as well as thinking of you. The main images are inked up with our Stampin' Write Markers so that I could have dual colors. After I did that I layered the top note on two texturized pieces of card stock in Chocolate Chip and Old Olive. On the first image I add a strip of Old Olive Ribbon across the bottom to draw the eye to the sentiment. On the second image I added a knotted piece of Taffeta Riding Hood Red Ribbon. I am working on some Baby Shower
Invites today. They are all Stampin'

UP but not current stamp sets, I will share when I can though. Also I will be sharing a rather unique punch project that I felt challenged to do. I love a challenge and this project was definitely that. Come back tomorrow to take a peak. As always thank you for for stopping by today and I would love to hear from you. Baseball season starts tonight so I hope to get some pictures of my baseball players to scrapbook. Have a great day, Tonya

Club card share

Good afternoon, hope you are all enjoying this beautiful day. I wish we could have the great weather all weekend but I fear that will not be the case. Today I am sharing with you one of the two projects that we made at club this week. Of course it uses products from the Occasions Mini. If I haven't mentioned it before I love this mini! :) It has so many great new products in it and of course it is nice that everything is available until the end of June. It gives everyone plenty of time to get the goodies from it. Today's card is a pretty simple layout and one I tend to use from time to time. It can be changed so easily just by changing a few accessories. I started with a Baja Breeze Base and after folding it in half I stamped the Butterfly from the Great Friends Stamp Set randomly on the card with Baja Breeze Classic Ink. I used the Eyelet Border Punch again today to punch out the white strips that are above and below the Walk in the Park DSP. I also added the 5/8" Whisper White Satin Ribbon after I knotted it on one end. This was wrapped around the DSP and I Snail Adhesived the end to the back. The sentiment is also from the Great Friends Stamp Set and is stamped on Whisper White Card stock in Basic Gray. Again today I punched out the sentiment with the Large Oval Punch and mounted it on a Scallop Oval Punch out in Cameo Carol. The finishing touch is the Baja Breeze felt flower from the Flower Fusion Set. I added a silver brad in the middle and added it to the scallop oval. The card would be great for a Birthday, Mother's Day or any other special occasion that you may have. As always are supplies are from Stampin'UP and can be purchased thru my website or by contacting me. I hope you have a wonderful day, Tonya

Time is running out!

Good morning, tonight is our Thursday night club meeting and I will share one of the projects with you tomorrow but for today I am sharing the final card in the Oval All Note Card Class. Remember that you need to RSVP if you are attending. This allows me time to get the supplies prepared for you and make sure I have enough for everyone. This card is made with Cameo Coral and I am sorry the color looks a little off. I have taken pictures on different days and they all look the same. Hopefully it is just my computer. I used the Walk in the Park DSP the Eyelet Border Punch to make the strip in the middle. I placed two pieces of Cameo Coral on either side. I stamped the Oval All sentiment on Whisper White card stock and punched it out with the Large Oval Punch. Then punched out a Scallop Oval from Cameo Coral. I added a little color to the sentiment with the blender pen and the Cameo Coral Classic Ink Pad. I also used the new 5/8" Whisper White Satin Ribbon from the Occasions Mini. I layered it under the scallop oval then cut the edges at an angle to finish it off. If you would like to make this and the other three cards at my class please let me know. As always thank you for stopping by. Have a great day, Tonya

I'm Back from the Easter Break!

Good morning everyone! I took a couple of days off from posting because the kids were home from school and of course it was Easter! We had a great weekend and I am so thankful that the rain held off until after we got to do the egg hunt at my Grandma's. I am hoping I got some good pictures that I will be able to scrapbook with. I hope that your families all had a great Easter, too! Today's card is the third in my Oval All Class. If you need more info on that you can check out My website the link is on the upper left of this page. I love the new Oval All Stamp Set it is just so much fun to use and the Scallop Oval is a must in my opinion. I really don't know how I got along without it. Those of you that are attending Stamp Club this week will get to use it for yourself. I also used the Butterfly Die for the Big Shot and added clear rhinestones that I removed from the clear Rhinestones Brads. I added the butterfly's flight with the Basic Gray Stampin' Write Marker to help give the card something extra. All supplies are of course from Stampin'UP as is everything on my blog.

Just a quick reminder that Stampin'UP is running a get connected promotion this month. So for every $40 you spend from the New Occasions Mini you get to pick one of the stamps from the Under $10 section in the back of the Spring Summer Catalog. If you don't have a catalog and would like one leave me a comment or email me and we can make arrangements to get you one. Also remember that the Occasion Mini is available to order from until the last day of June. Thank you all for stopping by I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment and let me know what you would like to see more of on my blog. Have a great day and I will see the Tuesday Stamp Club this evening, Tonya

Jelly Bean Treats

Good evening! I hope that everyone had a chance to enjoy this beautiful day! We had a busy day but I did want to share these little Easter Treats that I made for my Grandmother and Mom. I will give them to them tomorrow for Easter. Both were made from Simply Orange Juice Bottles. I am not a coffee drinker so some other bottles were out but I do like this orange juice. I filled both with jelly beans, the one on the left is Jelly Bellies which my mom loves! I used the A Good Egg Stamp set and instead of just coloring in the chick I stippled him with the aquapainter. I used two colors on the egg shell to give them a marble affect. Remember those kits that used to do that? On the left one I used Tempting Turquoise and the Big Shot Daisy #2 die to make the flower that I put my chick on. The other one uses the Scallop Punch and the Pennant Die also for the Big Shot. The tops are the same just different colors and I used the Pennant Die again and the 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches. I stamped the Easter Wishes from the All Holidays Set in the center. I also added a belly band around the middle of the bottle which is made from Glorious Green Card Stock that has been crimped. I was thrilled to discover that the Glorious Green matched the lid so well. So what do you think? I am off to finish dinner before our baseball crew arrives home. If I don't get a chance to post tomorrow, I hope that you are have a wonderful Easter spent with your families. Thanks, Tonya

Oval All Class Card 2

Good afternoon, as promised I am back with a second post today. If you look closely on this card though you will notice that the creator of this card was not me but rather my DD. She was helping me make cards on Wednesday and came up with this one that I thought needed to be in my upcoming Oval All Class. All supplies on this card are Stampin'UP and while it looks like a lot of work it is pretty easy because of our great punches and the Circle Scissor Plus. The sentiment was stamped twice once in So Saffron, then cleaned and inked with BajaBreeze, but before Kaylee stamped it she used the Stampin' Write Markers and colored the Just For in Cameo Coral and the You in Old Olive. She then huffed (breathed lightly to remoisten) on the stamp and stamped it on Whisper White. Both stamped images where then punched out with the Large Oval or the Scallop Oval Punches. She used almost all the circle punches to create the various circles on the card. The edge of the card was scallop punched and a BajaBreeze piece of card stock was added. What you can't see is that the BajaBreeze piece is scalloped on the inside also to add an finished edge. Well, the kids are home today so I don't think much stampin' will get done but we will see. Hope you enjoyed Kaylee's card. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and talented daughter. Thanks, Tonya

Easter Chick

I had hoped to post on Wednesday even had three cards ready to go but the lighting wasn't good enough to take pictures and not distort the color. I will post one of those cards later today, but for now I wanted to share a Easter card with you since Easter is just a few days away. Those of you that attend club got to see this card last month but for my blog readers that aren't in club I wanted to share. The Easter set I used is A Good Egg and I just love this little chick. I have used him so much since he was released last year. On the left side I wanted to mimic his egg shell cracking so I got out my Texture Plates for the Big Shot and ran a strip of Bashful Blue Card Stock thru. I used the diamond plate in the Stampin'UP Backgrounds I, which makes me hope there will be a Backgrounds II in the new catalog. But back to the card, I then used the diamond texture to cut along the lines and make the zigzag edge. I used Sale-A-Bration paper on this card but Tea Party or Rainbow Sherbet would work great to. The chicks shell was stamped twice on DSP and then cut out. I used dimensionals to pop up both layers. Since the sentiment I wanted to use was You Crack Me UP. I decided to make the chick a little nontraditional in color. I watercolored him Bashful Blue with the aquapainter and the Bashful Blue stamp pad. I finished off the card with 1/2" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in So Saffron and Bashful Blue. All supplies are of course Stampin'UP. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend and thanks for stopping by. Tonya

Birthday Cards for Boys

Having three boys it always seems that I am in need of birthday cards for boys. My boys however like to wait until the day before or the day of a party to let me know that they have one. So card making time is usually limited and since I really like to make a card with a person in mind I don't tend to make blank cards in advance. Another fun thing I like to do is match the card to the wrapping paper that we are using. This takes the place of a bow and since I used a clear envelope everyone can see the card. So onto the recipe of the card. I started with a base of Pacific Point then added a Basic Black layer. I used another layer with Pacific Point Patterns Designer Series Paper. I used the new Circle Scissor Plus to cut out a Whisper White Circle which I turned into a Baseball with a Real Red Stampin' Write Marker. I pulled out my Sporting Stamp Set and Just Baseball Stamp Set and stamped the bat and the All Star which goes along with the wrapping paper. After I cut out the bat I used dimensionals to pop it up. The finishing touch was the Green Galore Star that I punched out with our Large Star Punch. The birthday boy enjoyed it from what I was told and my DS thought it was just the perfect card for his friend. As always thanks for stopping by, the kids start their Easter Break today at 12:40 but if I get a chance to stamp later today I will post again. Thanks, Tonya

Clearly Quick

Today's card that I am sharing with you is a really quick one. I sketched the idea on Sunday and just got to make it today took me about 5 minutes. I started with a base of Basic Black, added a background of Taste of Textiles 12x12 cardstock. If you haven't tired this pack of cardstock be sure and give it a try. They are all great. Now for the easiest part of all. In the new Occasions Mini we have Printed Window Sheets. They are item # 115122 Clearly Thanks. These are 8 1/2 x 11 window sheets with four designs on each sheet. Just cut out the one you want for your card or scrapbook page and your done. The one I used had the dandelions on it but I wanted a sentiment to so I got out my Black Stazon and stamped directly on the window sheet. Want to know a easy tip for stamping on a window sheet if you don't like it the first time you can remove it with Stazon Remover. Ask me how I know this. I used glue dots at the very top to adhere this to my card front then used White Taffeta Ribbon to cover those. The rhinestones are from our Rhinestone Brads. I just used my tweezers to take the jewel out and adhered them with glue dots too. Simple yet pretty and really not a lot of work. I may use this for a sympathy card. What do you think? Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great day, Tonya

Matchbox Die

Today's post shows you one of my favorite new items in the Occasions Mini. The new Matchbox Bigz XL Die and coordinating Matchbox Messages Stamp set are so much fun to play with and make super fast and easy treat boxes. The ones I made today are meant to be party favors for a baby shower but you could also make these for a wedding shower or even graduation treats. The die can be purchased on my website or simply by emailing me. The box is made with no adhesive and I just used a few glue dots to hold the wrap around cover in place. I used the new scallop punch to make a window so you can see the goodies inside. Then I cut a piece of our new window sheets. I am so glad that Stampin'UP had brought the window sheets back I have almost used all the supply that I had from when they retired them before. I then used the scallop that I punched out and add the sentiment on a tag that is also made using the Matchbox Die. I used Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon on the box.

Of course I couldn't make just one box so the second box is done in Pretty in Pink and Riding Hood Red with a baby girl in mind. I didn't make the window on this box. I made the tag by cutting out the tag shape I wanted twice once in whisper white and once in Pretty in Pink. I used Dotto which is a repositional adhesive to hold down the whisper white tag while I lined up my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the Sweet One lined up straight. I trimmed around the stamped image and then mounted it to the Pretty in Pink Tag to give it a small border. On this box I used the Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon to finish it of. One more thing to mention if you purchase the Matchbox Die this month you will recieve one Free under $10 stamp from page 208 of the Spring Summer Catalog. Also for those you that have been waiting for the Extended Premium Crease Pad it is now available to purchase. Sorry today's post took so long I had it almost finished early today but our schedule got crazy. If you have any questions about any of my projects please leave me a comment and I will be happy to answer them and always thanks for stopping by my blog. Tonya

Walk in the Park with Daisies

The card that I am sharing with you today was made for a very special individual. It is a gift certificate holder and I of course needed to make the card to fit the certificate. I used a full sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 Baja Breeze cardstock and scored it at 4" and 8" on the 11 " side. This left three inches to fold up and make the pocket for the gift certificate. I used sticky strip on both sides to make sure the pocket stayed together. The picture below is of the inside.

The front is the new Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper found in the new Occasions Mini. The flowers are made using the Big Shot, Cameo Coral Card stock and the 114520 Flower, Daisies #2 Big Shot Die. I used several layers of flowers to get the look I was wanting and used half back pearls from our Pretties kit for the centers. The ribbon I used is White Taffeta Ribbon. The sentiment is from the new set 113792 Great Friend which can also be found in the Occasions Mini. I used the Large Oval Punch to punch out the sentiment and then layered it on the all new Scallop Oval Punch. They work perfectly together. If you would like to purchase the products to make this card you can do so at my website http://tonyaball.stampinup.net/ As always if you have any questions about this project please feel free to contact me I would love to help. Thanks and Happy Stampin' Tonya

Spring Note Card

I can't help but laugh a little as I post this card with the title that I picked. Spring really seems to have left us today. I was a little shocked to see that snow had once again blanketed the ground. Today I am going to share the first of the four designs for the Note Card Class that I will be holding May 1st. The info is in the last post as well as my website which can be found at tonyaball.stampinup.net Please contact me if you have any questions. I haven't made many note card sized cards but I am finding that I like this smaller size. They are just the perfect size for sending a quick note in the mail or with a gift. The new Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper is so spring like and pretty. I really like the basic gray, baja breeze and cameo coral color combo on this set. Well, I am off to create something new. As always thank you for stopping by. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think, I would love to hear from you. Have a great day, Tonya