Roses

Like I previously mention, I'm in love with the Spiral Flower die. I make 56 flowers and glued them to a 4 inch foam ball and then put it on this 4 inch white vase. I looks absolutely beautiful and these flowers won't die!

If you don't own this die, I think you should purchase one today! Don't forget we are in the middle of Sale-A-bration so if you spend $50 on merchandise you will be able to choose a free item from the Sale-a-bration catalog. Contact me for more info.

Mason Jars

I had some mason jars up in my cabinet for about a year, I finally decided to do something with them. This was the project we created at Stamp Club in January.

I have to admit that I am totally in love with the Spiral Flower die. I can't stop making those cute little flowers. The Fringe scissors have to be another favorite of mine too. I love the look of the finge flowers and the scissors make the process so quick and easy. Since I'm confessing my love for craft items I will tell you that I also love the chevron burlap ribbon, it is so nice and easy to work with. I will have to buy more and hoard it, I mean use it on everything!

Corner Bookmark Smooches

About a month ago, my friend Olivia texted and asked me to make a corner bookmark so she would have a sample to follow. I of course said I would do it but up until this week I still hadn't done it. My intentions were good but I just hadn't had the time to do it at a decent hour and I didn't have the energy to stay up late to work on it. So on Monday night I was determined to make one but laid down with Malachi to put him to sleep and then I woke up and it was 2 AM. I got up and changed into my pjs and went back to bed. So all morning Tuesday I kept thinking I need to squeeze this in today so I could use it as a make and take at my SU! demonstrator meeting that evening.

So finally when the kids were down for a nap and I had gotten a few things done around the house I crept into my craft room and started creating but then Kaiden woke up. I put his bouncer in my craft room near my desk and all was well so back to creating I went until I heard "Mom?" Malachi was awake. He came into my craft room and I thought I'm never going to get this done but to my surprise Malachi was content to play on my stool so I kept creating. I did have to take the scissors, glue, and paper cutter away from him at different points but for the most part he did well with just spinning on the stool.

I ended up with one failed attempt at a bookmark and then I started on this one. I am much more happy with this bookmark than my first one. I love it when all of a sudden my creativity flows and I love what I made. After I made this I quickly cut my supplies for my make and take and then the boys and I moved over to the family room to read a book. I guess these are the adventures of a crafty mom.

So if you have a toddler in your home, I hope you find time to craft soon.

Petite Purse

SU! is having a sneak peak with the Summer Smooches line that will be available in the New Catalog beginning June 1st.

One of the sneak peaks is the Petite Purse die and it is adorable. It is small but it can fit a chap-stick, small candies, mints, or other small items. I think I might make these for an upcoming tea party I am planning. I think they would be adorable sitting at each place setting.

Hope you enjoyed my little creation and hope you'll be back to see more Summer Smooches creations.

Thankful Treat

A couple weeks ago I showed you a Fall card that my stamp club made in at club in October and here I am trying to plan for my stamp club in November. Where did the time go? I had very good intentions of showing you this cute little box many many days ago but I have been so lazy.

Laziness and major crafting block has kept me away from my craft desk. The bad thing is that I've had this picture ready to share for days and I just didn't get around to it. So I finally am sitting here and typing and sharing.

The box was created with the Milk Carton die just like I did when I made the Halloween Bat. So cute. I just love it! Well since I have a SU! party, Stamp Club, and I am participating in a Blog Hop I should get to work, even if it is 11:30pm.

Batty

In all seriousness I never had the intention of buying the Milk Carton die until I went to the SU! Convention in July and they showed some really cute projects where they used two milk carton dies to create a hexagon box. I got the die last month and like always I had good intentions of making one of those hexagon boxes, I even have a beautiful idea in my head but there it still lies.

Anyway yesterday while I was searching around for stamping ideas I cam across this idea for the bat hexagon box by Monika Davis. Way to cute! You can visit her blog for complete instructions at Stampin' Together at Monika's Place, she created a great PDF for everyone to see and use.

I was missing one of the items that she used and it was the perfect pennants die but I knew Grandma had one so what did I do, I drove to her house to pick it up. I was pretty determined to make this cute little bat. What a paper crafter won't do for a project.

Scrapbooking

I started out paper crafting because I wanted to create a scrapbook of my wedding. That was 7 years ago. Ultimately scrapbooking lead me to making cards and that lead me to Stampin' Up! So now I do all of the above.

One of my club members asked me when my next scrapbook class would be so that made me get to work on a class. The class was last weekend. This is one of the layouts we created. The great thing about me creating for classes is that is gives me pages to add to my own scrapbook.

I am currently trying to work on another class but this one isn't for scrapbooking. It will be a gift class where we will make coasters, a journal, and a couple other items. I am hoping to finish up my samples this weekend but the flu bug has hit my house. Malachi is feeling much better and I am getting there. So here is to hoping for a productive weekend.

April Big Shot Die Club

If you love your Big Shot you will want to be apart of the Big Shot Club.

This club meets once a month. At Big Shot Club you will make a project using a Big Shot die or embossing folder. You will also get to take home either a die or embossing folder. Each month will be a new die or embossing folder.

This month you will receive the Floral Fusion die and the Little Leaves die.

This month club will be held on April 28th at 7:00 PM. Club fee is $15.00, payment must be received one week prior to the club date.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Big Shot Die Club

Last night was my Big Shot Die Club and the die of the month was the Simple Flower Embosslit.

I had real good intentions of making lots of samples with the die but life got the better part of me. So some of those half finished projects are still on my messy desk. I was able to finish two projects before work on Thursday and one right before people showed up at my house. I will show you a couple of them.

My first sample is a See's Candy Bar wrapped in a piece of Bashful Blue card stock that I stamped with an image from the Just Believe stamp set in Marina Mist ink. I then tied a ribbon around the candy bar and tied a knot. I cut the die with Bashful Blue paper then brayered it with Marina Mist ink, added a rhinestone and glued it right on top of the knot. So simple and it used one of the many See's Candy Bars that are sitting on my kitchen counter.

Our church was selling them for a fundraiser and I took a couple of boxes to sell. One of those boxes made it to my kitchen counter and there it stayed. So I just paid for the box of candies because I felt bad that I never even tried to sell them. I figured I should start using them for SU! samples, projects, and gifts. I can't waste such delicious chocolate.

The second sample is the one that I created right before people arrived at my house. I guess I am in a blue mood because it is another shade of blue. This one is Baja Breeze and Basic Black. I used the Fancy Favor Box, First Edition DSP, and Basic Black Satin Ribbon. The rhinestones and the pearls are perfect for the center of these flowers.

Well I promise to be back with something that isn't in the shade of blue tomorrow.

One of many...

I've neglected my blog for the past week. I did do some creating for a friend of my grandma's. She wanted some scrapbook pages done. She actually asked me to do them a while ago but I kept putting them off, well I finally got around to making them. So between getting those pages done, Disneyland, San Diego, and taking care of my little family, I just didn't have time to create for my blog.

Yesterday I was determined to make some projects but I wasn't getting very far. I think I had too many ideas floating around in my head because I would be working on a project and then remember another project I wanted to work on so I would pull out the stuff for that idea. That happened several times before I realized I was never going to get anything done. I did manage to finish this card, after I stopped starting new projects before finishing the last one.

I saw a card by Ann Schach on her blog that inspired me, only problem was I didn't have the texturez plate she used or anything similar. So on my last order I added the Texture Plate Kit #4. My card is different than her card but yet has some similarity. After I textured the More Mustard piece I brayered it with Early Espresso. The Plane and Simple Stamp set was perfect for this card.

I hope to finish one of my other half done projects tonight but we shall see.

The Petal Cone Again

It's the Petal Cone die again. I've said it before, I really love this die. I've just found so many great things to do with it. It's always great to realize that I didn't just buy a product that I will rarely use. Believe me when I say I have plenty of those items.

I began paper crafting in 2004 after I got married. At that point I bought so much stuff, some of the stuff I really didn't even know what to do with it. I guess I have a problem, an obsessive compulsive need to have, buying problem. In March of 2007 I became a SU! demo and since I love the fact that all their paper and ink coordinate, I just had to have it all. So when you add up the past 7 years of purchasing craft stuff, you can imagine that there has been numerous items that I bought and then realized that I could have lived without them.

Just before Malachi was born I had to get things cleaned out and I donated a lot of stuff to my sister's school. Some stuff I'd never even opened the packages. The other thing that happened with the arrival of Malachi was I realized I didn't want to work full time anymore. That sure did cut into my crafting budget, although it is well worth it! So over the past year I have definitely made my purchases more wisely.

So I said all that to say this, the petal cone has been a good investment for me.

Now to actually tell you about the project, This time I cut part of the bottom of the cone, this shape looks more like a take out box. I used the Sale-A-Bration Bliss Stamp Set, Fun Flowers die, First Edition DSP, and Baja Breeze Seem Binding Ribbon. I filled the box with some chocolate and now all I have to do is deliver it to someone special.

Real Fun Flowers

I was inspired to make this card when I saw Mary Brown's card that she made for the Mary and Connie's Color Challenge. This is a great color combination. This was the first time I had seen Mary & Connie's blog and I am so happy that I found it. They have some great color challenges and layout challenges. I will definitely be visiting their blog again.

I hadn't used the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder in a long time, so it was good to get it out and use it. The fun flowers die is becoming one of my favorite dies. The flowers are so fun, I love the different shapes each flower has.

Fun Flowers

I got inspired to make this card when I visited Dianne Sisneros's blog, she created a cute 8x8 scrapbook page. I had purchased the DSP from the occasions mini but hadn't even opened the package and this gave me the perfect reason to open it. I also used the Fun Flowers die to cut out the flowers. When I first seen this flower die, I thought I don't need another flower die cut but after seeing all the samples, I realized that I needed it. Really it was a need, not a want! Who am I kidding, I wanted it.

Once again I did the scrunched ribbon. The other night I tried to show some fellow demonstrators how to do the scrunched ribbon and for the life of me I couldn't get the ribbon to scrunch but as soon as they left I did it within seconds. I hope I didn't scare them away from trying it at home.

All day Friday, I kept thinking I should work on some cards or a scrapbook layout but the laziness in me won. Finally in the evening I got to work on this card. In the process I made a few mistakes and set some stuff aside but in the end I used those other pieces for other cards. So I ended up making three cards. I will share the other two over the next couple of days. Enjoy your weekend.

Ice Cream

Today I am showing you another Petal Cone creation that I copied from Holly at http://inkpaperstamps.com is the Ice Cream Cone card.

Like I said before, I am loving this die and I am just showing my love by creating and sharing.

This card is so simple to make. You only have to cut out the shape once and cut off the tab. Run it through a Texture Impression plate and sponge the edges for dimension. I did use the Tasteful Trim Die for part of the ice cream and of course I sponged that too. I guess I was in a sponging mood because I sponged the little banner too, after I stamped Happy Birthday.

Simple and cute. Makes me want to get an ice cream. Although its another chilly day in So Cal but Baskin Robbins has my favorite ice cream right now, Love Potion 31. It is a seasonal ice cream so I have to go get it before they run out. Yummy!

Merry Christmas Banner

Here is the Merry Christmas banner I made. I got the idea for this project from the December Stampin' Success magazine. I used the Table Setting die and the Bells & Boughs Stamp Set. This is the reason I purchased the set. Grandma and I both made these Merry Christmas banners. I hung mine over a mirror in the living room.

When taking these pictures I had to make sure the house was picked up because the mirror was showing more than just the project. LOL! I had to stand on the couch at an angle so you wouldn't get my big head in the reflection.

I also took this close up picture so you can see the banner a little better. It was a pretty simple project and it came along rather quickly. The coloring was what took the longest. I just love die cuts because it makes cutting things out so easy. I really am glad that SU! decided to add the Big Shot to their product line. I have been purchasing die cuts for several years and I do have a rather large collection of die cuts from another company and I have two other die cut machines but I never even use those other machines. I still use my dies for scrapbook pages but I can now use those dies with my Big Shot and I don't have to mess with changing out the platform etc... I love my Big Shot and the exclusive Stampin' Up! dies. Ok, I just love Stampin' Up!

Dasher, Dasher

Black isn't normally a color I use on a Christmas card but I really like the elegance of the Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black. I've also been dying to use my new embossing folder from the mini catalog.

The Dasher stamp isn't new and the wood block has the ink stains to prove it but he still is a favorite. This is another simple Christmas card but with a 9 month old baby, things have to be done quickly so this is great. Hope you enjoy it.

Items Use
Stamp Set: Dasher
Card Stock: Cherry Cobler, Basic Black, & Whisper White
Other: Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Basic Black Ribbon

Wicked Fancy Favor

I wanted to make something for the girls in my stamp club, so I thought what better than a box with candy since it's Halloween this month.

I used the Fancy Favor die with my Big Shot and the Wicked Cool stamp set. These little boxes came out pretty cute and it didn't take me long at all. I am liking the waffle paper, it adds a little to each project I use it on. Since these were so easy to make maybe I'll make some more for my sisters or something. hmmmm......

Items Used:
Stamp Set- Wicked Cool
Ink- Basic Black
Card Stock- Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Other- Waffle Paper, Fancy Favor Box, Big Shot, Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Circles # 2 die

Greeting Card Kids

One of the first stamp sets I ordered from the SU! Idea Book & Catalog when it released in July was Greeting Card Kids. This stamp set is so adorable.

This is one of the cards we made at my card class on World Card Making Day. I used the web embossing folder on the Basic Black card stock and then sprayed it with the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

Items Used:
Stamp Set: Greeting Card Kids
Paper: Basic Black, Perfect Plum, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Stazon Black
Other: Water Color Crayons, Blender Pen, Pumpkin Pie Striped Ribbon, Basic Black Ribbon, Circle Punch, Web Embossing Folder, Big Shot

Don't forget to shop the Clearance Rack on my website, http://rosecastillo.stampinup.net/ Stampin' Up just updated it with some great items including some Big Shot dies.

Fangtastic Spook Page

I was working on Halloween scrapbook pages this month and this is one of the ones I created. I actually created two layouts but my other page is the one I ended up using for my class and a swap.

I love the web embossing folder, I've been using it on all of my Halloween stuff. Even though I didn't use this for a class I can add it to my scrapbook and I will eventually add some pictures to it, hopefully. I have several scrapbooks with pages but no pictures, in this world of digital photography it seems that I forget to get my pictures developed. I love that we don't have to buy film anymore and that we can see our pictures instantly but I do wish I was better at developing my pictures.

This week I am working on creating cards for my class this weekend so hopefully I will have time to share them with you this week but if not, I will share them next week.

Items used:
Stamp Set: Fang-tastic
Paper: Wicked Fun DSP, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Basic Black, Cajan Craze, More Mustard
Big Shot: Web Embossing Folder, Alphabet Simple die, Tasteful Trim die

Spooky

I have been trying to post new projects on my blog at least once a week but this week I fell behind. The good thing is that it wasn't because I didn't have time to create, it was I just hadn't had the time to take pictures and blog about them.

Anyway, Fall is my all time favorite time of year. I love the colors, the pumpkins, the smell of pumpkin spice, seeing kids dress up in cute costumes and Thanksgiving. So to get ready for this wonderful time of year I pulled out my fall decorations. So my house is officially in the fall mood. Although it looks like I might need a new scarecrow because mine is falling apart. I'll have to go and look for one this week.

Normally I don't decorate for Halloween and I just do the fall theme stuff so that it last all the way through Thanksgiving but this year I am a little more into the Halloween stuff, I guess because we have Malachi. I am looking forward to dressing him up in his skunk costume, he is too cute. So to add a little bit of Halloween to the house I created this banner, I also had my stamp club make one.

This past Tuesday my house was full of ladies and several Big Shots. We used the Pennant die, circle die, alphabet set, and web embossing folder all on the big shot. We also used the waffle paper and the bitty bat punch. I hope everyone enjoyed making their banners and will proudly display them at home or work.

OK, I am off to finish prepping for my scrapbook class tomorrow morning.