Stampin' Starbucks Mama

Owl Always Love You!!

2012-02-18T21:19:00.004-05:00

I can't believe I forgot to post this sweet little Valentine I made for Morgan! I found a miniature version on Pinterest that was used to decorate little peppermint patties and I fell in love! As you can see, I used lots of punches, which made the little owl a cinch to make. The sentiment on the inside read "owl always love you" which isn't very original, I'll admit, but my 16-month-old didn't complain one bit! Thanks for stopping by - have a great week!

Enjoy Every Moment

2012-02-15T20:35:00.004-05:00

Oh, Pinterest, how I love that you're a playground for creative people!! Or at least those with fingers and a computer!! I have found so many great cards, including this one. I bought this older SU! stamp set at a tag sale at my local scrapbook store recently so I've been searching Splitcoast Stampers for projects using it. I've found a bunch!! This card is much easier to recreate than I thought when I first started - a little cutting, a little tucking, a little ripping up the pieces that I cut and tucked incorrectly! I lucked out and found a button that matched exactly, and I threaded a tiny strip of cardstock through the holes because I hate working with embroidery floss. Thanks for stopping by!!

You're Da Bomb, Valentine!!

2012-02-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

First, let me apologize for the quality, or rather the lack of quality, of this pic. I'm not sure what happened! Anyway, this is one of the cutest Valentine projects I've found on Pinterest this season and I couldn't wait to make one for Bailey. I wrapped three rolls of Rolos (Bailey's new favorite candy!) in solid red paper and then wrapped a purple pipe cleaner (that I colored black with a Sharpie) around the three rolls to make them resemble sticks of TNT. I added a little piece of pipe cleaner for the fuse and attached a tag and VOILA! One of the most fun treats you can give your little kid (or your big kid, 'cause I like Rolos, too!). Happy Valentine's Day!

V-Day Card

2012-02-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

Again, pic quality, not so good, but the idea is super cute!! I found a blog through Pinterest (shocked, no?) and the girl made her family's Christmas card in this style. I LOVE IT! So, I had the girls pose for some funny pictures and created this little collage that includes some stitching and some computer-generated text. Easy and fun! Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Sketch Challenge

2012-02-10T23:01:00.006-05:00

I complain a lot about not getting to stamp as often as I'd like. A LOT! Like, all the time!! We have a small house and Morgan's crib is in my craft room. I decided it would be a whole lot easier to move one little baby and her bed into that room than moving 3 tons of crafting supplies and Chris's 10,000 volumes out. So, a sacrifice on my part. Just one of many (cue violins . . .). As luck would have it, the planets aligned tonight and I have the whole room all to myself. But, the bad thing about not getting to do something you love on demand is when you actually do get to do it, you might be lacking a little creative mojo. That would be tonight! :( But I digress . . . Papertrey Ink is celebrating its fifth anniversary with some mega giveaways this week and thus far I haven't won ANYTHING! Today's challenge is pretty easy - choose one of the sketches Nichole Heady posted on her blog and put your own spin on it. Well, since I had no crafting mojo tonight, I took the easy way out and made this card. Not my best work, but still something I wouldn't be ashamed to give it to my #1 daughter. Here's hoping I win . . .

Another Scrap-Tacular Card!!

2012-02-06T20:58:00.003-05:00

I bought this little Jillibean Soup stamp set at Archiver's for the INCREDIBLY low price of just $4.99. What a steal, so I scooped it up!! There are 4 little round images, and I used this one to make a thank you note for a friend. I love this simple layout - it's so much fun to use a variety of paper patterns in a fresh new way. Thanks for stopping by - have a GREAT week!!

Valentine, I like the way you roll . . .

2012-02-03T11:10:00.005-05:00

As most of you know, Pinterest is the new crack, and I am completely addicted!! So, I decided to make a few little treats for Bailey and hide them in her school binder the days before Valentine's Day. I don't know why I haven't done this before now!! I LOVE making holiday treats but I knew I'd lose interest (and lots of $$) if I had to make them for her entire class. Plus, let's face it, elementary school kids really don't appreciate the creativity and effort that go into creating cute little treats and they tend to rip open whatever you give them in search of candy. Trust me, I know this to be true, because my mental age is 11 and that's what I would do!! So, Bailey is the lucky recipient of my crafty madness and, so far, she's been pretty excited!! This little treat is super simple and took about 2 minutes to complete! You can use any rolled candy, but Rolos are my personal favorite. So, go dig through those red, white, & pink scraps and stickers you know you have and get crafting!!

Use those scraps!!

2012-01-31T13:00:00.001-05:00

Here's another Pinterest find!! I found this card on a blog called A bit of this. A bit of that. and I was curious to see if I could CASE it. It was a little harder than I thought because, as usual, I chose the wrong size square punch, but the paper is so beautiful, I hope it will pass as a good card! I used my new SewEasy stitch piercer to make the holes for the back-stitching and it was surprisingly easy to use. There's also a new Sew Stamper that stamps your stitches instead of you actually sewing them. Genius!! I intended to buy the cross-stitch one at Archiver's but somehow ended up with another SewEasy piercer, so I guess I'll just have to go back!! See you soon!!

Cupcake Thanks

2012-01-30T13:00:00.001-05:00

My sweet friend, Michele, gave me a CUTE cupcake card with a Starbucks gift card for my birthday so, of course, I HAD to create a cupcake-themed thank you card for her!! I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest, so I don't know who created it originally. I think it's a great birthday thank you that would be easy to mass produce. The cupcake is a little punch I found for next to nothing at Marshall's of all places. Super simple, but super cute! Thanks for stopping by - hope you're having a great week!!

Inky Antics Pop-Up Magic!!

2012-01-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

Sadly (aka fortunate for my bank account!), we do not have an Archiver's in Knoxville and the closest one is in Atlanta, so I don't get there very often. Oh, but when I do, it is completely magical!! Last weekend, I took a "mental health break" and drove to my fave city for a few of my favorite things, including Archiver's. I bought a beautiful turquoise faux leather photo album that I can't wait to fill with pictures from this year's adventures. And, in addition to a few little odds & ends that I haven't seen locally, I bought another cute stamp set from Inky Antics that has coordinating honeycomb paper that's used to make images that pop-up when you open the card!! Imagine those cheesy cardboard party decorations but so much cuter! The set is called Cupcake Birdy HoneyPOP Clear Set and I used magenta and brown honeycomb paper for the cupcake. To create the pop-up image, you simply stamp the image on the honeycomb paper, cut it out, and attach it to your card using a very strong adhesive. I made this card for my stampin' buddy, Jane, whose birthday is today. So, if you have the chance to visit Archiver's, don't pass it up - it's a gold mine of fun & unique paper craft products!!

We Click!

2012-01-28T13:00:00.001-05:00

Isn't this the CUTEST Valentine you've ever seen?!?! I searched for the Perpetual Bliss stamp set from Paper Smooches on Splitcoaststampers and found this card that I CASEd in its entirety. This is such a simple layout but I just don't think I could love this card more!! I made it for my sweet hubby but I might just make a few without the heart to give to my friends who are rabid photographers. Thanks for stopping by - now go make some Valentines!! Time's a'wastin!

Inspired by Pine

2012-01-25T22:12:00.008-05:00

I'm back to blog-stalking after a brief hiatus and there are so many amazing projects out there that I can't wait to make!! Since this is my birthday week, I have slacked on my household responsibilities and had a little more crafting time. I found this card by Heather Nichols, who is a Papertrey Ink design team member and while I didn't have the tools she used, I was able to duplicate many of the touches that make her card special using some of my assortment of supplies! My designer paper is by PTI and I love the combo of Hawaiian Shores and Pure Poppy. I've mentioned before my love of medallions and I made this one using a 2" scalloped circle punch, 1 3/8" and 1" circle punches, and SU!'s Designer Label punch. I used my Diamond Lace Ed ger Punch by EK Success to fashion the scalloped edge along the designer paper. A few buttons and a piece of coordinating ribbon and VOILA! A lovely card!! You could also omit the buttons and center the medallion for a beautiful, easy-to-mail card. Thanks for the inspiration, Pine!!

Scraps Galore

2012-01-20T09:00:00.001-05:00

So, the things I learned when I made this card are 1.) that the cards that look the easiest to make are typically the hardest and 2.) there's no such thing as an easy card!! This is another Pinterest find and I really like the concept, but I'm not sure I like my execution. This is a fantastic use for all those scraps I have in my craft room! The pieces are 1-inch wide and of varying lengths with the tiniest bit of stamping thrown in. The original had a row of miniature rhinestones at the bottom but, since I didn't have any, I simply used my paper piercing template and a marker to draw a row of dots. That small detail really anchors the card. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

I LOVE Paper Smooches

2012-01-19T20:44:00.005-05:00

At the end of last year, I borrowed a couple of Paper Smooches stamp sets from one of my stampin' buddies and tonight, I finally got a chance to use one of them! This is one of the cutest stamp sets I have ever seen (it's called Sunny Side Up) and the quality is amazing! The images are super crisp and versatile and lots of fun to use. I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest and I made it for my prayer partner in the confirmation class at our church. Making cards for a boy when I'm so used to making them for girls has been challenging, but I'm finding a few ideas on-line that I like. :D Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Friday-eve!