Scrap-a-Doodle Stamping

Hello!

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I am a retired teacher and a paper crafter. I LOVE all types of paper crafting and have for many years, actually since I was a kid. On my blog, I try to post things that you might be able to use. My creations are not always the most creative but maybe they will give you an idea that you didn't have before or give you a bit of encouragement to try your hand at something new to you. Feel free to copy any of the ideas or designs that you see here. Most of them were copied from some place else to start with. I do not post things that are exact copies from someone else without giving them credit but I do often take an idea from another person or a book or website and then make my own changes to it. Generally, any paper piecings or templates that I post on here are my own originals but you are still free to use them as you see fit. My purpose for this blog is to try to express my creativity a bit, share with others and maybe, once in a while, get a new SU! customer.

I am a Christian and I do post things that have to do with my beliefs from time to time. That is an important part of who I am and the biggest reason I share things...because Christ shared so much with me, His very life so that I could have eternal life. If you want to know more about that, then email me or check out the link on the sidebar about it.

Thanksgiving Pumpkins & Leaves mixed media

Here's another Thanksgiving card that I put together. I enjoy it when I can put stamps from different sets together & they look great. That's so easy to do with my Stampin' Up! stamp sets. On this card I used the images from the Autumn Splendor (#116503) set with the pumpkins in the Autumn Harvest (#110372) set.

I made masks for the pumpkins first. (When I make masks, I keep them in the set with the stamps that they match so I can use them again later.) I then stamped the larger pumpkin on to Whisper White cardstock. Using the large pumpkin mask, I then stamped the smaller pumpkins to look like then are slightly behind the large one. I stamped these in Pumpkin Pie ink. Next, I used the pumpkin masks and stamped the leaves around them. I stamped the leaves in Really Rust, More Mustard, and Creamy Caramel ink.

Sometimes I enjoy using more than one medium to color my images. Since I had stamped on Whisper White cardstock, I thought the background looked too stark. I used my Stampin' Pastels (#105542) and a cotton swab to dust Bordering Blue around the leaves. I rubbed Pumpkin Pie chalk to accent my pumpkins over the Pumpkin Pie ink.

I inked the outer edges of the image with Creamy Caramel ink. I wrap some of the Old Olive 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon (#113883) around it and tied a knot. I matted this on Pumpkin Pie and Creamy Caramel cardstock.

I finished this up with a circle brad (#112571) in the top left corner. I didn't want the bright silver look of the brad so I dabbed a bit of Burnt Umber acrylic paint on it. Then I blotted the paint off. That left a smidgen of color on the brad with the circles filled in with the color.

The Happy Thanksgiving greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set (#115370) on More Mustard cardstock. I cut it out with the Word Window punch (#105090). I LOVE, love, love the Word Window punch.

Pheasant Autumn card

 I put a happy birthday greeting on this card because I needed a manly looking card for a birthday but it could just as easily have a happy birthday greeting, like yesterday's card.

All of the stamps for the pheasant and the different grasses for this card come from the Autumn Days (#1154523) stamp set. I used Glorious Green for the card base and Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel cardstock for the layers. I stamped Really Rust ink for the pheasant. I cut out a pheasant to use as a mask so I could stamp the different grasses without stamping over the bird. I stamped the grasses with More Mustard, Old Olive, and Pumpkin Pie inks. The ribbon is Pumpkin Pie 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon (#110715).

Happy Thanksgiving fall card

Well, Thanksgiving is just a little over 2 weeks away so now is the time to start sending out those Thanksgiving cards. Here's one that I've put together. I'll post a couple more in the next few days so you can have more than one idea.  I used Really Rust, Old Olive, More Mustard and Whisper White cardstock. I cut the Old Olive and the Whisper White cardstock with the Top Note die (#113463)  and my Big Shot.(#113439). I cut the white Top Note die cut around the perforated edge, then adhered it to the Old Olive die cut.

I had fun stamping leaves with the Autumn Splendor (#116503) stamp set, found in the holiday mini. I used Really Rust, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Bravo Burgandy, and Close to Cocoa ink pads.

I cut the Modern Label punch(#116630) from Really Rust cardstock. I stamped the greeting from the Teeny Tiny Wishes (#115370) stamp set in Really Rust ink on More Mustard cardstock. I then cut it out with the Word Window (#105090) punch. I just love using this punch!! It makes cutting out greetings SO much easier.

In the top right corner, I placed a Circle Brad (#112571). I ran some embroidery thread through 3 buttons from the Playground Designer Button (#116313) set and attached them to a strip of Pumpkin Pie 1/2" striped grosgrain (#110715) ribbon. I then place adhesive on the back of my ribbon and wrapped it around the left side of the card. All of this goes on top of a Whisper White card base. Then I can stamp another greeting or write my own on the inside.

Definitely Decorative Joshua 24:15

I am so happy with the way my Definitely Decorative decor element turned out! I had gotten one in with my Starter Kit but didn't put it up anywhere until this summer. I had been looking at several items in the decor catalog and finally order the "Serve the Lord" (#114773) with my last order. This is available in 3 colors, black, chocolate or white and 3 sizes. Because ALL of the walls in my house have the textured finishes, I knew I couldn't put any of these there so I had to find an area in my home with a smooth serface. The space on my fireplace mantel was a bit small for the small size to fit, but I ordered it anyway! This item comes with the "As for me and my house, we will" right above the larger "Serve the Lord." I had no problem cutting the top part off and placing it to the side of the other. It fit perfectly.

If you order any of these decor elements items, I would recommend that you also order the application with it. (#114285) It's just $1.95 and well worth it. When I put up my first item from my starter kit, I did it backwards and it was a lot more work than it should have been so I've got some pictures to help you do it the right way.

Peel off the thicker, solid backing sheet. When it's peeled off, the item will look backward.  Place the back, sticky side on your smooth surface and use the applicator tool to burnish over the paper before you peel. Then carefully, peel the sheet off. If any of the letters or other parts try to come off with the paper, press it back onto the smooth surface, burnish it, and then try again. Be sure you have the placement of your item where you want it before you do this. You can put the sticky paper over it & using the tool, take it off and reposition it but it's a bit more time consuming to do this. It's just better to make sure you do it right the first time! (I know from experience.)

Start at a corner and carefully peel the solid sheet off.
I had a small piece that I had to fold over the moulding but it was no trouble at all. It went very nicely.

I really like how it turned out. 

There are so many different types and styles of the decor elements. I got the Vintage Ornaments (#117967) in Real Red to put on my windows when it gets closer to Christmas. There are so many different sayings, flowers, alphabets, kids items...I could go on and on but the best way for you to know what is available is to look at a Definitely Decorative catalog. If you don't have one and are interested, email me you snail mail address and I'll zip one out to you for free.

There are several items that, I think, would look great in an elementary classroom. If I had seen these while I was still teaching, I would have been totally broke buying these to go in my classroom. There are also some really great items for children's rooms but you just need to look at your own catalog.


 

Operation Christmas Child

I want to share with you about a charity that has special appeal to me and that is Operation Christmas Child or as it is sometimes called Christmas Shoeboxes. I've been participating in this for several years now through my church. Many churches take part in this but you don't have to be in a church that does this in order to take part.

The program is run by the Samaritan's Purse organization which is led by Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son. In this program, people just like you and me fill up a shoebox with things like small toys, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, mittens, candy and many other things. Each shoebox is then taken to a child around the world who probably would not have any kind of Christmas celebration otherwise by people from the Samaritan's Purse organization. To find out more about this program, go to Operation Christmas Child . You can find out all about this wonderful ministry at the website or, if you want to call me, I'll be happy to tell you all I know about it.

Here is a picture of my shoeboxes for this year. I use the plastic shoeboxes that you can buy for $1 or less at many stores. I get mine at Wal Mart. But, you don't have to use this type. You can use just a regular cardboard shoebox that you have sitting in your closet. My decoration of the shoebox is with a bandana that I put on the inside to give the box color. It also gives the child a bandana that he or she can have to use in whatever way they need.

I'm a bit slow in putting this information on here this year. I think I'm running behind on everything!! The National OCC Collection Week is Nov. 16-23 this year. Check out the website to see if you can find where your local collection area is. If you live in Central Texas, you can bring your shoeboxes to Immanuel Baptist Church at 25th and Central in Temple during that week. If you don't live in this area, I'm sure you will be able to find a place near you or you can mail donations to the address on their website.

My first year to participate in this, I packed one shoebox to give. The second year, I packed 2 boxes and my giving has grown each year. I shop for items all year round. Anytime I find something on sale that I think would be good for this, I buy several of the items. That way, in the fall when I'm getting ready to pack my shoeboxes, I don't have to go out and spend a bunch of money all at once. The candy that I put in my shoeboxes, I bought the day after Halloween, when it was all 50% off.

I challenge you to be a part of some child's Christmas by packing a shoebox. It's fun to buy all of those cool things and it gives you a good feeling inside to know that you are helping someone else. If you have given shoeboxes in the past, then I challenge you to give one more than you did last time. One more will mean that one more child will get to enjoy Christmas and have a chance to learn about our Lord Jesus Christ.

November Birthday Floral

I have to put in a note about the shooting on the base at Ft. Hood. My sil is stationed there and is safe. Everyone who I personally know there is ok. My  prayers continue to go out to all of those involved in this tragedy.

Can you believe that we've already had a whole week of November? This year is almost gone. In just a few weeks, it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas is just one month later! Before we know it, the new year will be here. 2010--A Space Odessey... Remember that movie?

Here are a couple of birthday cards for fall birthdays. Sometimes I like to mixed colors together to see what I come out with. Today's cards used the Pick a Petal (#115042) stamp set and several paper pieces from my scrap box. I think the scraps originally came from the So Saffron Designer Series (#112152), the Certainly Celery Designer Series (#112154) and the Bella Birds paper from last year.

   The Pick a Petal set is a lot of fun to play with. You can create creatures, weird looking people and other things as well as loads of flowers.

Have fun with it!

TOPS Fall Rally Scrapbook page

As I've mentioned on this blog before, David & I are both members of TOPS. If you don't know, that stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly. We have both made it to our weight goal and so now we are "KOPS" which stands for Keep Off Pounds Sensibly. We went with some other members of our chapter to the Fall Rally in Sept. One of the activities at the rally for a scrapbook contest. Since our chapter is just a little over a year old and most of us didn't really know what kinds of things were done, no one had been keeping a scrapbook. Well, since that's one of the things that I do, I volunteered to keep our chapter scrapbook. Well, I'm a bit slow but since I'm a grandma anyway, what do you expect? lol Anyway, I finally got a layout done for the fall rally & I thought I would share it with you.

It's a 2 page spread. The left side has a title of Fall Rally 2009 and the right side has "It's My Time" which was the rally theme. Left side

right side  I just LOVE this Designer Series Paper, Autumn Meadows (#116769) that's in the current mini catalog! It is just gorgeous! This is the second layout I've done with papers from this set. For my mats, I cut Really Rust and Creamy Caramel cardstock. I cut the leaves for the journaling with some Sizzix Original dies that I've had for about 7 years. That's one BIG reason why I love my Big Shot machine (#113439). It will cut just about any size dies. I can use the old original dies that I've had for years as well as the super ones that I find in my SU! catalog. AND, I can use any dies or embossing folders that I've accumulated through the years from other companies! They all work in the Big Shot! The letters from the titles are from a Sizzlets alphabet set that I've had for a number of years. Another really cool thing about my Big Shot is that when I'm cutting Sizzlets, I can load up several to cut in one run through.    

Here's a QUICK TIP for you. At the top of the Fall Rally page, there is a centerpiece that I cut out of one of the pictures. I wanted it to pop so I put it on some Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430). I only had a few left on the sheet so I cut part of the outside edge that's left on the dimensional sheet. Sorry, it's a bit blurry but I think you can get the idea. As scrapbookers, we always like to use every scrap that we can!

If you are interested in weight loss or a weight loss support group, look for a TOPS chapter near you. You can go to www.tops.org and click on "find local chapter" to see where one meets near you. TOPS is a great group where you can find lots of support, encouragement and some accountability. If you are in the Temple area, you are most welcome to come to our meetings. We meet at 5:00pm every Wednesday at Immanuel Baptist Church at 25th & Central. You would be very welcome to join us!