Valentine Shaker Tag

Did you know that 141 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion? This is according to www. history.com. They also report that most of those cards are purchased 6 days prior to Valentine's Day. So this month the Jacksonville STARZ wanted to help you create a more personal Valentine with time to spare. 

For the hop, I made this cute little tag to put on a gift. You could also add this to a card face!

I recycled quite a bit for this project. For the base of the card I used some of the chipboard that comes in the DSP packages to prevent the paper from bending. I just glued a piece of the Stacked with Love DSP to cover up the ugly cardboard looking stuff. I cut off the the corners by eye-balling it. I placed the Project Life Card (the heart is already cut out for you) about where I wanted it and then glued two black hearts right about where I wanted the confetti to be. Be sure to glue these hearts down really good. You don't want the confetti to get stuck under them. 

Next I used redline tape to adhere a piece of scrap acetate to the back of the Project Life Card. Then I used the scrap ends of my dimensionals to make the shaker part. It is important to make a complete box around the heart, so that the confetti cannot escape. Oh and make sure your dimensional strips are adhered really well.  I used the Confetti Start Punch to make the Confetti, as I don't have the new Confetti Heart Punch yet. I poured the confetti onto the black hearts and then adhered the Project Life Card over the top of it. 

As an after thought I added the ribbon with the Rhinestones, which was kind of hard to do since the card was adhered to the tag, but I made due. I also added some Real Read Hearts on the front.

Here's a close up picture of the tag.

Here are the products I used to make this cute little tag:

Everyday Adventure Project Life Accessory Pack [135301] $9.95	Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack [137779] $6.95	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246] $4.95	Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon [134563] $5.95
Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787] $16.95	Confetti Stars Punch [135861] $21.95	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper [135315] $4.95	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482] $6.95

I hope you enjoyed this little valentine tag. Please remember to leave a comment before you head on over to Sheilah's blog.

Here is the blog roll just in case you missed any of the other Jacksonville STARZ posts: 

Sheilah, Lee, Maria, Monique, Susan, & Amanda

My first ATC ever!

I know it is past Christmas, but I just wanted to share this ATC (Artist's Trading Card) I made for a swap I participated in through Swap-Bot. The challenge was to make a Holiday ATC using a page from a book. I used a page out of an old New World Dictionary. I tore it to the right size and crumpled it up. Then I distressed it with some Soft Sued ink & Early Espresso, and misted it very lightly with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold Mist. 

I cut the snowflakes out of Baked Brown Sugar and Whisper White Card stock using the Snowflakes from the Snowflake Card Thinlits die. I also sprayed the card base and snowflakes with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold Mist. I offset the snowflakes as I layered them into one and added a rhinestone to the center.  The ribbon is long retired, as I've had it for a reeeaaalllly long time. Oh and I almost forgot, I the base of the card is Early Espresso cardstock.

I was very happy with the result and ended up making two of these ATC's. The second one was for a Snowflake swap, so I used the page from the dictionary that had Snowflake on it.

Paper Pumpkin for the Holidays

Welcome to this month's installment of the Jacksonville Starz Blog Hop. This month we are doing our first Sketch Challenge.

Here is the sketch...                          ...and here is my interpretation.

The majority of my card is created out of various pieces from the November 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit. The only parts that are NOT from the kit are the Large Oval Punch, Lost Lagoon and Whisper White cardstock, and the Playful Polka Dots embossing folder. Everything else is from the kit!

To create this card, I randomly stamped the snowflake with Lost Lagoon along the top of a Whisper White card base. The Lost Lagoon cardstock is embossed with the Playful Polka Dots embossing folder. I took one of the Snowflake cards and cut one of the snowflakes off. I also stamped the Happy Holidays greeting on the scraped card and punched it out with the Large Oval Punch. I attached one of the lost lagoon snowflakes to the big blue snowflake and cut off the excess. Then I used the little circles (scraps) from the foil reinforcements to further embellish the snowflake.

Product List

• Simply Snowflake Refill Kit
• Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock
• Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad
• Large Oval Punch
• Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

The November 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit came with so many pieces:

Simply Snowflake Refill Kit

• Photopolymer stamp set
• Lost Lagoon Stampin’ Spot (mini ink pad)
• 8 Blue die-cut snowflake cards
• 8 White snowflake cut-outs 
• 30 Die-cut snowflakes (15 blue, 15 silver foil)
• 24 Die-cut tags (12 blue, 12 white)
• 8 White squares (2" x 2")
• 24 Silver foil tag reinforcers
• 8 White envelopes
• Silver Metallic Baker’s Twine (10 yds) 
• 50 Adhesive-backed rhinestones
• 3/8" Silver Metallic Washi Tape (3 yds) 
• 100 Adhesive dots 

This video shows how to put the cards and tags together as they were originally designed to be. However, I see so many possibilities with this kit! 

If you are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, you can order the refill kit for only $7.95. If you are not a subscriber, there is no better time to sign up. Sign up by December 10th in order to get this month's kit. Simply click the Paper Pumpkin Tab at the top of the page in order to sign up. You can even order 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, or 12 month pre-paid subscriptions through my online store. You can find these listed under kits. These prepaid subscriptions would make an awesome gift for your crafty friends and family!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed my card. Please leave a comment and follow my blog. I have big plans for 2015. Now hop on over to "All Kinds of Crafting with Amy". 

Blog Roll: Maria Willis, Rose Ann Marr, Monique Zimmer, Amanda Sevall, Cari Verschueren (you are here), Amy Unick, Sheilah Stamper, Susan Best, Lee Conrey

Tis the Season

It is that time of year, and I am going to try to post a new holiday card every week until Christmas. 4 weeks = 4 cards! For my first card I used another Mojo Monday sketch.  

The Designer Series Paper is from the Trim the Tree Stack Pack. The cardstock is Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, and Garden Green. The Noel is cut from the Wondrous Wreath framelits. I searched all over the place for my Gold Foil paper, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I had to work around it. I used a gold sharpie and colored a section of whisper white cardstock. Here's a better picture of the shine. Sorry, its a little fuzzy. I really need to work on my photography skills.

Creative Challenges!

Welcome to this month's installment of the Jacksonville Starz Monthly Blog Hop. This month we decided to do a color challenge.

Even though I helped pick out the colors, I really had a hard time coming up with something, not to mention I had a creative block. I also found out that my Basic Gray Ink Pad is dried out, and I don't have any refill for it! :( I guess I know what I'll be ordering in the near future!

Anyway, I paid a visit to one of my favorite challenge blogs Mojo Monday to help get the creative juices flowing. Mojo Monday plus Jax Starz Color Challege equals this super simple cute card.

Product List

• 1-3/8 Inch Circle Punch (Hello Honey)
• 1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch (Pool Party)
• Papillon Potpourri Clear-Mount Stamp Set 
• Six-Sided Sampler Clear-mount Stamp Set (greeting)
• Hello Honey 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Hello Honey 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon
• 2014-2016 In Color Backgrounds Designer Series Paper Stack
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock  (Card base is 3.5 x 11" Scored @ 5.5")
• Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
• Basic Gray 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (mine was dry, so I used my stampin' write marker instead)
• Bitty Butterfly Punch 

I hope you liked my card. Please leave a comment before you head over to Lee's blog!

Also, don't forget to check out the rest of the Jacksonville's shining Starz: Lee Conrey, Amanda Sevall, Maria Willis, and Sheilah Stamper

Happy Hauntings

Welcome to the Jacksonville STARZ Blog Hop. This month our theme is Halloween.  Pinterest is just booming with ideas for Halloween, which led me to create these "Pinspired" projects.

The card is "Pinspired" by Lynn Pratt & Karen Morris. I really love how the tombstones turned out. I changed Lynn's original card by changing the coloration and making the tombstone haunted by a ghost instead of a bat. I used Karen's technique to create the bats using the Butterfly punches.

For instructions on how to recreate this card Click Here

Product List

• Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131202]
• Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [121045]
• Perfect Plum 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [101889]
• Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131199]
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]
• Old Olive 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100702]
• Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker [100082]
• Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad [126980]
• Elegant Butterfly Punch [127526]
• Bitty Butterfly Punch [129406]
• Decorative Label Punch [120907]
• Owl Punch [118074]
• Fringe Scissors [133325]
• Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad [126973]
• 2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch [120906]

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These cute little Monster Treat Boxes are "Pinspired" by Debbie Henderson. I must admit that I had no intention of purchasing the Curvy Keepsake thinlit, but after seeing the creative things that Debbie did with it, I couldn't resist. Even my husband loves these little guys!!!

I used the 3/4" circle punch for the eyes and eyelids.

Frankenstein's nose is the scrap left over from the handle of the Curvy Keepsake Box. His pupils are made from the 1/2" Circle Punch. I created his hair using the Large Oval punch with little triangles cut out of it. I finished up his mouth and stitches with a Black Stamp'n Write Marker.

Dracula's teeth are the tips of the Pennant Punch, and his nose and pupils are from the owl punch (since I still had it out from making the card). I cut a scrap piece of Basic Black with the Curvy Keepsake thinlit, and then I used a 1" circle punch to shape his widow's peak. I finished\up by giving him bloodshot eyes and bloody fangs with a Real Red Stamp'n Write marker. I can't wait to make more creatures!

I hope you enjoyed these "Pinspired" projects. Now make sure you click the next button, so you can check out Amy's awesome creation!!!

If you missed any of the other Jacksonville STARZ fabulous crafts, please make sure you check them out.
Amanda Sevall
Priscilla Thoreson
Maria Willis
Amy Unick
Lee Conrey
Susan Best

Lisa Tyndall

Monique Zimmer

Stamp, Stock, & Save

For those of you who do not know, October 4th is "World Card Making Day", and Stampin' Up! is so excited about it, that we're having a ridiculous 15% off sale on some of your favorite products! From October 1-6 , you'll be able to purchase select ink, paper, envelops, and adhesive-all at a 15% discount! Select stamps are 20%!

To top off the savings, I will be offering additional free shipping on orders of $50 or more placed at my World Card Making Day Event on October 4th! 

Click HERE to see a PDF of all the great deals!

• Deadline is Monday, October 6, 2014; 11:50 PM (MT)