HAWAII INK'S SURPRISE

My dear friends and fellow Stampin' UP! demonstrators conspired against me and totally surprised me with a great going away dinner at a local restaurant.  I walked into the restaurant thinking I was going to talk to my supervisor about my plans for our next duty station and was stunned to see some really good friends gathered around a table waiting for me.  We shared a really great night chatting and having fun!

My friend Alice from A Paper Angel blog made me this awesome card that also has a great ornament attached.  Alice is super creative and pays great attention to detail.  I have yet to see something she has made that I haven't wanted to re-create.

My Supervisor Lisa C. gave me this great card as well as the rockin clipboard below.  I love the DESIGNER SERIES PAPER that was used on the card (it's retired).

AWESOME CLIPBOARD

made by LISA C.

My friend Whitney was the sneaky one who planned this surprise for me. Whit has an awesome studio that I go and work in quite a bit.  She is always busy making something new and I am always taking photos so I can remember what she has done.  You can see her work on Whitney's Stampin Studio

GIFT BOX WITH WRAPPED CHOCOLATES

made by Whitney using the SCALLOP ENVELOPE BIGZ DIE

NOTEBOOK TIN

Okay, this is the coolest thing ever!  Whitney recently taught a class about embossing aluminum tins, how cool!  You use the EMBOSSING BUDDY to take the static away from the container so the embossing powder will only stick to the stamped image.  Stamp the image with VERSAMARK and then coat with EMBOSSING POWDER of choice.  Use the HEAT TOOL to magically transform the image from powder to a shiny embossed surface.  SOOO COOL!

INSIDE VIEW OF NOTE TIN

WRAP AROUND CARD USING LARGE SCALLOPED CIRCLE DIE

Made by Whitney

I LOVE MY STAMPIN' UP! GROUP!!!

SWAROVSKI GIFT EARRINGS

~SUPPLIES NEEDED~

Needle nosed pliers

Roundnose pliers

wire cutters

2 brass Earring wires

2 2" brass head pins.

2 4 mm cube ~ emerald

2 6 mm cube ~ crystal

2 8 mm cube ~ siam

2 10 mm flower ~ marguerite

2 brass bow beads

~CREATING THE GIFT EARRINGS~

Take the 2" head pin and place the beads in this order:

8 mm cube - siam, 6 mm cube ~ crystal, 4 mm cube ~ emerald and brass bow bead.  Secure with wrapped loop (instructions on snowman post).

Attach earring wires to the gift's loop.

SWAROVSKI CHRISTMAS TREE EARRINGS

~SUPPLIES NEEDED~

Needle nosed pliers

Roundnose pliers

wire cutters

2 Sterling Silver Earring wires

2 2" Sterling Silver head pins.

2 4 mm bicone ~ siam

2 6 mm flower ~ marguerite

2 8 mm flower ~ marguerite

2 10 mm flower ~ marguerite

2 12 mm flower ~ marguerite

2 4 mm cube ~ emerald

~CREATING THE CHRISTMAS TREES~

Take the 2" head pin and place the beads in this order:

4 mm cube ~ emerald, 12 mm flower ~ marguerite, 10 mm flower ~ marguerite, 8 mm flower ~ marguerite, 6 mm flower ~ marguerite and 4 mm bicone ~ siam.  Secure with wrapped loop (instructions on snowman post).

Attach earring wires to the christmas tree's loop.

SWAROVSKI SNOWMAN EARRINGS

SUPPLIES NEEDED~

Needle nosed pliers

Roundnose pliers

wire cutters

2 Sterling Silver Earring wires

2 2" Sterling Silver head pins.

2 8 mm round faceted ~ white opal

2 6 mm rondelle ~ siam

2 6 mm round faceted ~ white opal

2 4 mm rondelle ~ jet

2 4 mm cube ~ jet

CREATING SNOWMAN~

Take the 2" head pin and place the beads in this order:

  8 mm round faceted ~white opal, 6 mm rondelle ~ siam, 6 mm round faceted ~ white opal, 4 mm rondelle ~ jet, and 4 mm cube ~ jet.  Secure with wrapped loop (instructions below).

Attach earring wires to the Snowman's loop.

WRAPPED LOOP INSTRUCTIONS~

(FROM BEAD & BUTTON)

With the tip of the needle nose pliers, grasp the wire directly above the bead.  Bend the wire (above the wires) into a right angle.  Using round nose pliers, position the jaws vertically in the bend.  Bring the wire over the top jaw of roundnose pliers.  Keep the jaws vertical and reposition the pliers so the lower jaw fits snugly in the loop.  Curve the wire downward around the bottom of the roundnose pliers.  This is the first half of a wrapped loop.  Position the jaws of your needle-nose pliers across the loop.  Wrap the wire around the wire stem, covering the stem between the loop and the bead.  Trim the excess wire and gently press the cut end close enough to the wraps with the needle-nose pliers.

SWAROVSKI SANTA CLAUS EARRINGS

I made these earrings last year to help raise funds for Relay for Life.

SUPPLIES NEEDED~

Needle nosed pliers

Roundnose pliers

wire cutters

2 Sterling Silver Earring wires

2 2" Sterling Silver head pins

4 1 1/2" Sterling Silver head pins

2 6 mm Swarovski rondelle with black crystals

2 6 mm Swarovski faceted round siam beads

2 8 mm Swarovski faceted round siam beads

6 3 mm Swarovski bicone siam beads

4  4 mm Swarovski rondelle crystal ab

2 4 mm Swarovski faceted round light rose

6  3 mm White seed beads (hands & hat topper)

2 3 mm Crystal seed beads (on very bottom)

CREATING THE ARMS~

Take the 4 (1 1/2") head pins ~ on each head pin, layer one white seed bead and one 3 mm bicone siam. Secure with wrapped loop on head pin. (loop instructions below)

CREATING SANTA~

Take the 2" head pin and place the beads and arms on the head pin in this order.  Crystal seed bead, 6 mm rondelle ~ black, 6 mm faceted round bead ~ siam, 8 mm faceted round bead ~ siam, two arms, 4 mm rondelle ~  crystal AB, 6 mm faceted round bead ~ light pink, 4 mm rondelle ~ crystal AB, 3 mm bicone ~ siam, white seed bead.  Secure with wrapped loop.

Attach earring wires by bending loop back enough to slide the loop above Santa's hat on and then bend the wire back.

WRAPPED LOOP INSTRUCTIONS~

(FROM BEAD & BUTTON)

With the tip of the needle nose pliers, grasp the wire directly above the bead.  Bend the wire (above the wires) into a right angle.  Using round nose pliers, position the jaws vertically in the bend.  Bring the wire over the top jaw of roundnose pliers.  Keep the jaws vertical and reposition the pliers so the lower jaw fits snugly in the loop.  Curve the wire downward around the bottom of the roundnose pliers.  This is the first half of a wrapped loop.  Position the jaws of your needle-nose pliers across the loop.  Wrap the wire around the wire stem, covering the stem between the loop and the bead.  Trim the excess wire and gently press the cut end close enough to the wraps with the needle-nose pliers.

HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Tampa Bay Sea Cadets getting ready for the Veterans Day parade.  These Sea Cadets are awesome!  Shelby was the smallest of the group in the parade (she is in the black pants).  They did an outstanding job in the parade, it was super hot outside and not once did the cadets complain.

EOD (EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL) TRAINING

  The cadets were so lucky to be able to attend an EOD demonstration on the Air Force Base.  Not only did the cadets get to try on the complete bomb suit, they got to watch a robot demonstration and they got to try out the Segway.  The EOD unit on the base did an awesome job showing these cadets what EOD was about. 

Shelby learned how to operate the Segway. 

I WISH ~ COLLECTION CONTINUED

NUGGET PURSE

INSTRUCTIONS~

Cut Card Stock to 5" x 1-1/2"

Score at 1-1/2", 2-1/4"& 4".

Round corners on the shortest end.

Cut DESIGNER SERIES PAPER into a 5-1/8" x 1/4" strip.  Use STICKY STRIP to adhere to card stock.  

Using the 1/16" CIRCLE PUNCH, punch holes on the 1-1/2" score line at 1/4" from each end.  Cut a piece of 1/4" GROSGRAIN RIBBON to 7-1/2".  Thread through the holes to create the handle.

Use the 1/16" CIRCLE PUNCH to punch through sticker accent, and the front two layers of the purse.  Use SILVER BRAD to secure the purse layers together.  Use a piece of STICKY STRIP to secure a Hershey's nugget to the bottom of the purse.

MINI POST-IT NOTE KEY CHAIN

LARGE POST-IT NOTE COVER

INSTRUCTIONS~

Measure the notepad for dimensions.   I measured the height of the stack of notes and added just a little bit more length to adjust for the score lines.  I also added about 1/16" to each end to ensure the post it pad would be completely covered.  You can see on my larger notepad that a bit of the paper shows up because I didn't plan on the score lines taking away from the measurements.

ALTERED NOTEPAD

INSTRUCTIONS~

Measure notepad to be covered (make sure to measure the height of the notepad).  Apply STICKY STRIP to the edge and along the spine  on the front and back cover as well as applying a strip to the spine itself.  Starting on one edge, line up the DESIGNER SERIES PAPER with the edge and very carefully attach to the notepad.  Work your way to the other edge one line of STICKY STRIP at a time.  Using the opposite side of the DESIGNER SERIES PAPER  measure it to have an inch on each side of the notebook.  Use STICKY STRIP on each end and on the spine of the notebook.  I used the sticker accents from the I WISH SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' KIT to embellish.

I WISH ~ CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

These are too darn cute! Using the DESIGNER SERIES PAPERS from the I WISH SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' KIT I made the large ornament using 11 scalloped circles and the small ornament is made with 10 rounded tabs.  Fold in half (alternating colors) and score.  Use the SNAIL to adhere the panels together.  I did run STICKY STRIP along the center to help keep the ornaments together.  I also used STICKY STRIP on the 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon loop.  The small ornament has a round sticker embellishment (with silver brad) from the I WISH SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' KIT adhered to the ornament using a STAMPIN' DIMENSIONAL.