The final punch art project for the Halloween Class

This is probably my absolute favorite punch art project from the Oct. 11 class. His name is Mr. Bones. Who would have thought you could make an entire skeleton from nothing but scraps of paper? Isn't he adorable? Remember space is limited, so contact me today if you would like to join us to play along!

Punch Art for the Halloween Class

Maybe you are looking for something a little scarier than the cute kitty from yesterday for your Halloween cards and projects. How about a brew full of the eye of newt? This will be the second punch art project offered during the Punch Art Class on Oct. 11. Don't forget to email me to save your spot. The cost is $5.00, and you will get three great punch art projects to try!

October Classes

I'm starting up my classes again this coming October. First on the agenda is a punch art class. Since it's October, why not a Halloween punch art class. This is my first project for that class...a cute little punch art black cat. Isn't she cute? Want to learn how to make her yourself? Join us at 7 PM on October 11 and add this little one to your punch art collection!

Ghoulish Card

I love this new stamp set. It just makes the cutest Halloween cards. Now I just have to figure out who to send Halloween cards to! Do any of you send cards out for Halloween? This one was super simple. Just a few quick stamps. Still find it adorable though!

My Maintenance Guys

Boy, saying goodbye yesterday was harder than I thought it would be. I have three maintenance guys that I have gotten really close to over the past 18 months. Even though this was a retired set, I thought it was perfect for them.

My last day of work

So, for the past year and a half I have been working for a small property managment company in the maintenance department. I've been answering phones and dealing with things like broken disposals and clogged toilets. Starting Monday I will be working for Edward Jones, so today is my last day. Since the current company was so small we were more like a family than co-workers. I will miss each and everyone of them. So, in order to say a proper goodbye to each one of them, I made them all a card. Today is the day I deliver them. I don't think I've ever given this many cards at once before! I hope they like them.

Halloween Card

I love this frightening feline stamp. Unfortunately I don't have one yet, but my upline does. We made this at our downline meeting Sunday. Gotta love the google eyes!

UPS Man

Here is another Blinkin, Thinkin, Inkin, punch art card. My one co-worker is madly in love with our UPS guy (she is happily married, so it's just eye candy). If you want to make her mad let her know that the UPS guy likes you better than her! I figured since I was leaving it was time to give her sole custody of the UPS man. What better way than to have him grace the front of her card!

Ode to St. Louis

One of my co-workers lives in St. Louis. He drives across the bridge every day to join us here in lowly Illinois. So, I thought I would make him a card that could make him feel as if he were at home. I have to say that I really like the way this one turned out. It was simple to make, a few sponged colors for the sky and the cloud and a couple quick punches with ovals turned this card into a home away from home.

Office Olivia Card

This is another co-worker card. This punch art was designed by Ellen Kemper of Blinkin Thinkin and Inkin. I love her site because she has taken all the guess work out of punch art. I guess you could say I'm a punch art fanatic! This is for our office manager at work. The purple hair is a bit darker than her's, but it was the closest I could come to her actual color. I really like these colors together. It was just a matter of raiding my scrap bin to see what color combos I could find!

Just Believe Card

This is another thank you card for a co-worker. I know that the ribbon is retired, but I needed something to put on the card, and there it was! I've owned this stamp set for quite a while, but I rarely if ever use it. I'm just not the flowery type of girl ya know?

Punch Art Pool Card

Today's card is for one of my favorite co-workers.....Carlos. He is a porter for us and that means that he does all of our outside work. He picks up litter, breaks down large items by dumpsters, he cleans and maintains the pools etc. This is hard work, especially this summer, but you've never met a harder worker. Oh, did I mention that he is going to be 80 next month? Exactly! So, I figured a card showing someone relaxing in a pool would be perfect, especially since the only time Carlos has ever been in one of the pools he cleans is when he accidentally fell in! This is a punch art guy from Blinkin Thinkin & Inkin. If you've never visited her blog, you don't know what you are missing. You will probably see even more ideas from her pretty soon. She is absolutely amazing!

Plane Card (Retired)

Some of you may not know, but next Friday is my last day at my current job. I have been offered a great opportunity with Edward Jones in St. Louis, and it was just too good to pass up. That being said, the people I currently work with are wonderful and I am going to miss each and every one of them. So, I decided to make everyone a goodbye card (plus it was a great excuse to stamp!). Today's card is for an ex pilot that I work with. I thought the best stamp for him would be the Plane and Simple airplane. Now this uses a retired stamp and some non SU dsp, but I couldn't resist. It just looked so good with gumball green and marina mist! Don't you agree?

I had to share

I saw this on another SU Demo's blog and had to steal it to share. It is exactly why I Stamp! Don't you agree.....it's so true!

My first SU! Order

I'm so excited...it's like Christmas at my house. I finally got my first SU! order after about two years. Now I just need to find some time to play with it! Can you tell all the amazing things I got? Any suggestions on what I should play with first?

It's Time for Cake!

And this one is even diet.....although I'm not sure why you would want to eat it. This is a cake for one of my co-workers 50th Birthday. I had just made a banner a week before, so I wanted to do something different. We had a potluck at work, and since I'm not very fond of cooking, I decided I would make the party favors. The papers on this are long retired, but once again they are some of my favorites. I figure I should use them before they disinigrate. My daughter's comment was, Mom....this could be your wedding cake!

Aviary card #2

Ok, yesterday's Aviary card was a disaster, but I like this one a lot better. I had never really masked before, so I figured I would give it a try. I like the layering of the colors. This is a little 3x3 thank you card. You can never have too many of those can you? Not sure who I will give it to, but one of my new goals is to mail or give away more cards. I had so many cards made and not given out when I moved they took up an entire box. I managed to give most of them away to the troops downrange, but I don't want to be a hoarder....so, if anyone would like this card, let me know. I'd be happy to send it to you :). It's a win win situation. You get a card, and I get to say I'm doing what I promised myself!

Aviary

This is one of the current stamp sets I already had, but have never really used. I got it out and the only stamp that was mounted was the little owl. Definitely time to break this one in. This is not my favorite card, but I figured I should show you anyway. Maybe one of you will have a great idea on how to improve on it. It looked great in my head, but when I got it put together it definitely was missing something. I added the pearls hoping that would help it, but it still needs something. Any idea what?

Bookmarks

My Mom called recently and asked for a stamping favor. Now I can never turn my Mom down, but when it involves stamping, why would I want to. Remember I mentioned a few days ago that I was getting remarried in Vegas next month? Well, while I'm doing that, my parents will be house, dog and kid sitting. Since they will be in Illinois, my Mom had to change the date of the book discussion date she leads. She wanted a reminder to put on the books so everyone would remember the date change. She asked for bookmarks, and this is what I came up with. I know the stamp is retired, but he was perfect for this project. The jumbo paperclips have been sitting around my house, so I figured it was time to use some of them up. I think they ended up turning out pretty darn cute!

Sympathy Card

I rarely have a reason to create a sympathy card, which I suppose is a good thing, but recently I needed one. My new Upline's father passed away and I wanted to let her know I was thinking of her. I remembered her saying that this was one of her favorite stamp sets, so I thought it would be appropriate. I'm sure the DSP is retired, but everything else is current. It is a simple card to make, but I love the way it turned out.

Blog Finds CASE

Here is another blog find CASE. The same day I found the chocolate card, I saw these great present cards. After I put them on blog finds, I also discovered that there was a tutorial on how to make the stacking presents. If you would like, you can find it here. As you can see, I used the same retired paper I used to make the happy birthday banner from the other day, but I still love that paper. The sentiments on this card are also retired, but you have to cut a girl some slack. I made the mistake of stamping with the new ink pads before I signed back up to be a demonstrator, and absolutely fell in love. Who knew that stamping could be so easy....anyway, those things aren't cheap and the majority of my demonstrator kit was ink pads. So, I'm working on updating my stamp sets, but for now, I still have more retired than current sets. Some of them hadn't even been put together yet.....so, every once in a while you will see them on my blog. I'll try to warn you when I use them though. I promise!

Why I do Blog Finds......

I have been asked repeatedly why I do the Blog Finds of the Day. I even had one demo ask "What's in it for you?" Well, honestly, I do it for me. I am an amazing CASEr. I love finding wonderful works of art and copying them. I think that in order to become a better stamper, you have to stretch your creative muscles and CASEing is one of the best ways to do that. So, I do blog finds for myself. Since I'm spending the time and energy to find these awesome artists, I figure why not share them. So there, my dirty little secret is out......I don't do blog finds because I'm a wonderful person, I do them for solely selfish reasons. If other people find them useful, well, that's just an added bonus.

Today's card is a great example. I found a similar card for the July 31 edition of blog finds. I loved it, and had to recreate it. This is the birthday card that went with yesterday's banner. She is a chocolate fiend, and and I thought these little paper chocolates were the perfect accent. Come back tomorrow to see what I did on the inside of the card......and yes, it was another find for the blog finds!

WARNING- RETIRED CONTENT

Ok, I warned you. This is a Happy Birthday banner I made for one of my co-workers birthdays. I absolutely love this paper, but it retired years ago. I decided it was time I stop hoarding it, and start using it. I think the addition of the NOT RETIRED Lovely Letters worked so perfectly for this don't you?

Final Button Buddies Card.....At least for now

Yes, I know your all silently applauding that the Button buddies run is over. Well, don't get too excited. Since my choices of stamp sets are limited, I will be utilizing the same ones over and over for a while. The good thing about this is that if I can show my customers how to use one stamp set for several different cards, they may be more inclined to purchase it. This is a thank you card I made for one of my neighbors. Once again, I cased it off of Splitcoast Stampers from Mel Sharp. I changed the colors a bit (because I had to find the right buttons). I really like the way this turned out though. It's a perfect card. If you give any of these Button Buddies cards a try, or if you have some you would love to share, I want to take a look. Leave a link to your card in the comments, or send me an email. The more ideas I have for the few stamp sets I own the better. Thanks for putting up with my Button Buddies obsession for the past several days. Tomorrow there will be something different, I promise!