It's been a beary wonderful weekend!

You know how it goes. You get a new stamp or several new stamp sets, and you can't wait to dive into creating something wonderful with them. Those stamps may arrive during the week, as they did in my case. And, your mind starts to form ideas on the projects you want to create. I couldn't wait until this weekend to come. I'm obssesswd with teddy bears, latey. Can you tell? I recently purchased Stampin Up's Beary Best, Bear Necessities, Favorite Teddy Bear and Button Bear from two sources (eBay and Splitcoaststampers.) Let me tell you....You have to be QUICK! These sets are rare to come by, so you have to really look and be ready to make an offer. I told my husband on Friday that I needed to carve out some time to simply create, this weekend. I haven't been able to stamp (like really stamp) in such a long time. Usually, I stamp on the fly..... in between long hours at work, household chorse, fixing meals, doing laundry, etc. etc. Same story for you? Well, here's what I came up with over the weekend.....and the weekend isn't over yet (this is the best part!)

This first card uses a cute little bear stamp from Beary Best. I punched him out with a circle punch, and then layered him over a scalloped circle (Stampin Up). The background was created using a stamp from the SU Boho Background set; and a couple of stripe stamps from PaperTrey Ink's faux ribbon set. The sentiment is also from the faux ribbon set. Add the prima flowers (of which I have hundreds of, and really have to be creative in using them without looking like I'm trying to use them up).

This next card uses stamp from Stampin Up's Favorite Teddy Bear set. I colored this cutie with prismacolor pencils. The bear looks like a 'he' bear on the stamp. I wanted a 'she' bear, so I added a little bow on her head. Again, trying to use up my stash of papers and primas. The centers of the primas are bead spacers, not brads. I added pop dots beneath her to give her dimension. You can't really see it in the photograph, but I also added glitter to the flowers.

A new lss opened in town this week (hip, hip hooray!) and I found this fun and funky floral paper, there. The striped paper on the bottom half is by Anna Griffin, and I've had it for so long, I really needed to use it up. The cute bear is from the Beary Best set. The sentiment is by Catslife Press. Added some brads to give it some 'pop.' She was colored with COPIC markers.

And finally, I made another card (see the next post, below) using this cute Button Bear image; but felt this time, he needed to hold a flower, instead. I used pop dots beneath the sunflower to give it dimension. He is colored with COPIC makers, also. Sentiment stamp is by The Angel Company. A little stitching around the image...and voila! He's done!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you're having a relaxing and wonderful Memorial Day weekend, also!

Honeeeeeey!

It's a long weekend, and you know what that means? More time to create!!! Yippeee! Today, I decided to break open a stamp set I bought through eBay. I first laid eyes on Stampin Up's Button Bear set nine years ago, but I never bought it. I wasn't interested in stamping back then. The set belonged to my friend, Tami. Fast forward to today. I was perusing through the gallery on Splitcoaststampers and voila! I fell in love with Button Bear. I also fell lin love with Bow Bear, Bear Necessities, Teddy Time, Teddy and Friends.....well..... you get the picture. I'm in love with vintage teddy bear images! I don't own all of these sets, mind you. But, when I decided I had to have Button Bear....off to eBay I went! I did look for it on Splitcoaststampers, but didn't find it at a price that worked for me. So, here is my first card with this classic set. I added Diamond Glaze to the honey and added pop-dots beneath some of the images. He's colored with Copic Markers.

Oh, for the love of chocolate!

I'm in a chocolate-theme swap on the Stamp Shack, and this is my ATC! All stamps are by Stampin Up (Oh So Sweet! set). I've had this set, but hadn't inked it up since I bought it from someone on Splitcoaststampers a few months ago. I'm glad to have the chance to use it, now. Today, we are going to take our son to Paradise Bakery at the Village Pointe Shopping Center in Omaha, NE. My husband and I stopped there for breakfast last weekend, and we had a Nutella and banana french toast. Talk about sugar shock! Literally! It had so much sugar, I got a headache and then fell asleep. My son will probably be pinging off the walls. I'm going to make sure the kid drinks a lot of water to dilute that sugar and get it out of system, quickly. Thanks for stopping by!

Thinking Green year-'round. Week One: Glass jars and bottles

Each week, I'd like to post about an item that could be kept out of the landfills; or an issue that could be resolved with a more environmentally-friendly approach. I want your opinion on this because Earth Day shouldn't happen just once a year. BTW..... sorry about the blurry image.

This week, let's talk about glass jars and bottles. My city doesn't recycle these. I don't know why. I buy Classico-brand spaghetti sauce for our dinners. We love the Sweet Tomato and Basil flavor. Granted, I could buy canned spaghetti sauce and allow the city to recycle the can. However, we DO love this particular flavor.

So, if you are on the same boat as I am, and would prefer to keep this glass jar out of the landfill, what would you do with it to reuse it? I already have one idea in mind, but I'm curious to see what your suggestions would be. Would you use it for something practical? Something decorative? What about glass bottles? I have been re-using the Starbucks Frapuccino bottles for gifts, but what about other glass bottles? Should I just completely avoid buying glass "anything" since I can't recycle them?

I'd prefer to re-use, if possible, but I'd love to see what your suggestions would be.

WOW! Arte y Pico award and a Nestabilities Tutorial for ya!

Wow! Michelle Wedemeyer from Michelle's Rubber Room has nominated my blog for the arte y pico award. This award is given to bloggers who share their art and creativity making their contribution to the blogging world. Never in a million years did I ever expect to be honored with this, especially, in recent months. My full-time job requires quite a bit of traveling and covering several facitilies for the company I work for; so by the time I get home, I am too pooped to create. But, when I do have some spare time, I do try to get into my studio and start stamping, cutting and scoring to my heart's delight. There are some rules attached to receiving the Arte y Pico. They are:

1) Each award winner has to show the award that she has been given and provide a link to the Arte de Pico blog so that everyone will know the origin of this award. (Click on link above.)

2) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and contributions to the blogging community.

3) Each of the nominations you make has to have the name of the author and a link to her or his blog so that everyone can visit them.

4) And finally, leave a comment on each of the blogs you nominate, so that the authors can pass this honor along.

Now, as you can see on the side-bar, I am a HUGE fan of a billion-and-one bloggers out there. I'm randomly choosing five blogs which I've enjoyed visiting in recent months, and nominating them for this award. They are:

Pam of Stamping with Serendipity.
Stacy of Stacy's Memory Triggers.
Tami of Dapple Designs.
Deborah of Cards and Things.
Jovi of Inky Impressions.

Woohoo! Now, go forth and check out these blogs!!!!

Onto today's tutorial, we are going to learn how to make this gatefold card using the largest die from the Spellbinder's Nestabilities Large Classic Scallop Circle Set.

Here's a list of supplies you'll need (aside from a die-cutting machine and the Nestabliities die I had mentioned above).
1) Strong paper adhesive
2) Scoring Tool
3) Scissors
3) Paper Trimmer
4) 2 coordinating scrapbook or rubber-stamped papers: one paper cut using your Nestabilities circle die; and one strip, one-inch wide and at least 10" long.
5) 1 sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock: one piece cut 4" x 7"; die-cut one circle using your Nestabilities circle die
6) Coordinating colored cardstock cut 3 7/8" x 8 1/4" wide. With my card, I used a red piece of cardstock for this.

1) Score your 4" x 7" white cardstock, 1 1/2" from the short ends. Score your 3 7/8" x 8 1/4" colored colored cardstock in half, from the short side (so now, you'll have two sections that are 3 7/8" x 4 1/4" each).

2) Take your white cardstock and cut off the corners. Come up slightly on the scoring, before you cut the corners off at an angle. This will help you TREMENDOUSLY when you go to fold in your side-flaps (trust me).


3) Cut your scalloped cirlces in half.

4) Take the white scalloped circles and trim very slightly (1/16th inch) on the flat side. Again, this will help you when you fold in your flaps. If you placed the flat edge along or on top of the scoring, it will add unwanted bulk to your card, making it awkward to fold your flaps in.

5) Add adhesive to the inside of the flaps.

6) Adhere your white scalloped half-circles. **It is very important that you do not adhere your edge on top of the fold. Try to place it just to the OUTSIDE of each fold. If you do this, you should have no problems folding in your flaps and not adding unnecessary bulk to your card. This is what it will look like.

7) Add adhesive to the outer flap and all over the white half-circles. Adhere your patterned paper to the flaps on the other side. This is what it should now look like.

8) Take your colored cardstock and position the 3 7/8" x 4" section on the back of the card. Adhere it to the back so that the fold falls forward and over the front of the card. This is what it will look like from the back of the card.

9) This is what it will look like from the front.

10) Fold the colored flap down, the side flaps over, and this is what your card will look like.

11) Time to add the 'belt.' Wrap your one-inch wide strip of paper around the card. Adhere the ends after you've got the strip nice and snug around the card. Create a stamped image or embellishments for the 'buckle' or the center of the strip.

Now, it's your turn! Have fun! It's fast and easy, and I hope you enjoy making your version of this simple tutorial!