October Control Freaks Blog Tour - focus on Inspiration for projects "For the Men in our Lives"

Welcome to our Control Freak Stampers October Blog Tour.  Our tour officially begins Friday morning, but who wants to wait????  So glad you could join us. Our tour features some of your favorite Control Freak Stampers sharing projects made with Stampin' Up! products.  You may have just come from my fellow freaker, Jason Casper's blog,  I bet you enjoyed his projects and inspiration.  :) 

Our theme for this month is: "For the Men in Our Lives.  Sooooo, here we go...

We are hoping to inspire you with our Masculine Inspiration projects.  I don't know about you but I have to really work at getting projects done with a masculine feel.  I'm using the words INSPIRE & INSPIRATION so they will, maybe INSPIRE me to do great things.  

This first card was one I taught at our October Stamp Camp South.  I prepared 15 cards ahead of time and we had about 50 ladies at the event,  It was one busy evening, but fun.  We crinkled the leaves after cutting them out and sponging them so they would look just like real leaves.  Then we molded them into real leaf shapes.

Stamps:  French Foliage, Best Dad Ever
CS:  Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla
Ink:  Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze , More Mustard
Misc:  Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Twine, SU Dimensionals

---------------------------

This next card came about at 2:00 AM the night before last.  Thank goodness I didn't go to bed instead of designing it.  I'm always more creative after midnight.  This was my first time using the new Framelits - Window Frames Dies and I LOVE them!!!!  I decided to use my Serene Silhouettes stamp set and used the birds stamp since I hadn't tackled it yet.  I love bird stamps anyway so was happy to finally use it.  The new Core'dinations Card Stock is wonderful!!!  Don't miss out on it.  I'm ordering more so I'll have plenty of it after the Holiday Mini is finished.

Stamps:  Serene Silhouettes, Itty Bitty Banners

CS:  Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso Core'dinations, Whisper White

Ink:  Basic Black, Not Quite Navy

Misc:  Big Shot, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Framelits - Window Frame Dies, Framelits - Bitty Banners Dies, Sanding Block, SU Dimensionals

---------------------------------

It was time to break out two new stamp sets so the next two cards use the Horse Frontier Set and one uses the Papaya Collage set.  The first one is more masculine and the second has a slight feminine flair. We have many friends and family with horses so this was fun to do.  I didn't take the time to make the trees look like fall but they look fine being green...just pretend it is the middle of summer.  :)  These cards came together quickly

Stamps:  Horse Frontier, Lovely As a Tree, Papaya Collage

CS:  Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, More Mustard

Ink:  Basic Black, Garden Green, Crumb Cake, More Mustard

Misc:  Sponge Dauber, SU Dimensionals

--------------------------------------

Now for my 3D project.  It started out with the intent of being masculine but somewhere along the way, well, it got prettied up a bit!  I'm sure that the man who gets this gift card holder will be just fine with it...since it will have a gift card in it.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  :)

Stamps:  Bootiful Occasions

CS:  Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla

Glimmer Paper:  Champagne [on pg 18 in Holiday Mini catalog] [A must have!]

DSP:  Snow Festival [on pg 10 in Holiday Mini catalog]

Ink:  Midnight Muse

Punches:  Large & Small Star, Large Tag & Small Tag

Misc:  Midnight Muse 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, Window Sheet, Linen Thread, Glue Dots

------------------------------------

Hope you like my projects.  Leave me a  message.  I love hearing from you.  Now it is off to the next stop on our tour, Dannie Graves blog.  Wait until you see her great projects.  :)    Thanks for stopping by...

Happy Stamping!   Judy  :)

Last of the Birthday Jewelry Pieces

This month we celebrated two birthdays at our Rubber Ducky Club.  First up is Michele Templeman.  Her birthday theme was Halloween.  Michele loves bling like I do so I wanted to really Bling it up.

I found a big pink jewel at a big box store so used that for the main focus.  The back of the pink jewel is attached to a Tim Holtz Ornate Plate.  I found a couple of pink round jewels to attach to the sides of the piece.  Luckily they were the same color of pink.  I Love Pink!  Anyway, I took some Stampin' Up! Rhinestone Jewels and colored them with alcohol ink to make them a lime green.  I found some lime green embroidery thread and tied a bow on top.  I used a couple of Halloween Scrapbooking stickers to attach a witches hat on the top and a coldren on the bottom.  I finished up the back of the piece with a piece of the Champagne Shimmer Paper that is new in the Holiday Mini catalog.  I glittered the ghost and then added Crystal Effects to it.  Love how it turned out.  It definitely makes a statement.  :)

Next up is Jane Price.  Her birthday theme was Moose.  I bought a couple of Moose charms to help get me started.  I spent a couple of days awhile back looking for a specific die I own but couldn't find.  In my search for the die, I came across a Moose punch I forgot I had....so put that aside to use on Jane's piece.

First I brayered a piece of Glossy White card stock with a multi color background that worked well for a sky backdrop and punched it out with a scallop oval punch.  The Moose was punched out of Gold Mirricard.  The trees in the background were made using the Serene Silhouettes stamp set.  I took a sponge dauber and only inked the two lower clumps of leaves and trunk.  It was the perfect size to make this scene. I then put black embossing powder on and heated it...so now the background is done.  I found a little old grass punch that I had to stand on to get it to punch each time.  No wonder I hadn't used it in years!!!  I cut out the white clouds from more glossy white card stock.  SU Dimensionals made the moose stand out and I buried his hoofs in the grass.  Nestabilities dies were used to cut the two outside ovals in black and Pumpkin Pie.  Whaa laa a Moose Jewelry Piece.

I got my last Pearls & Lace Jewelry piece for my August birthday...last night from Michele Templeman.  Now...to find time to finish my Shadowbox.  I can't wait until it is finished.  I"ll share the results when it's done.

Michele likes little stamps and tags so there is a lot on this small piece.  I saved a place in my shadowbox for it...and it turns out that it has the subtle pink that goes with the others already received.  What more could I ask???!!!???!!!   :)   It's been a fun year but I think we are all ready to go onto something else.  Each new year brings another challenge.  

Happy Stamping!   Judy  :)

Rubber Ducky Card Projects for October

Jane Price was our ring leader this month.  She prepared for us to make these two nice fall cards.  The first one is a cute Halloween card.  She didn't remember who the stamps were made by...but they sure are cute.  The second card is a Fall card.  We stamped and sponged 15 pumpkins and folded them in half and glued  them together.  I only attached 5 pumpkins together so I could mail this card.  I had to press it hard to be able to scan it.  It should have a full 3D pumpkin fanned out on the front of the card.

We got our first snow a couple of days ago here in Littleton.  It was just an inch but it was a nice surprise.  The cooler weather is wonderful.  It won't be long before the Trick or Treaters come and show off their costumes in exchange for candy. 

Happy Stamping!   Judy  :)

French Foliage & Wonderfall Cards

I have three wonderful cards to share.  These were among the cards taught at recent Stamp-A-Stacks.The first one makes great use of the Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies [on pg 30 of the current Holiday Mini catalog].  The Summer Starfruit color is so stunning on this card!  The  dies create a window on this card.  Very clever!  The main image is inside the card.  Lisa does such nice cards.

                                                      Lisa Gray - French Foliage

The next two cards are also great fall cards.  The first one was taught at our August SAS and the second one was taught at our September SAS.  If you didn't attend, you really missed out on some amazing cards!  Sharon's blog 

    Sharon Madsen - Wonderfall                                         Sharon Madsen - Wonderfall

Fall is a great time of year.  The leaves are so pretty...ON the trees.  I'm happy the temperature has finally come down.  It was one long and hot summer!!!!   :)

Happy Stamping!   Judy  :)

Halloween & Fall Cards

Here are a few cards I received  from the Upscale Swappers in August and September.  The first three are Halloween and the others I'm sharing are fall themed.  Vey nice cards indeed.  :)

             Lisa Gray - Googly Ghouls                                              Candy Leggett - Frightening Feline

Neida Salazar - Googly Ghouls

 
                  Laura Barto - Wonderfall                                     Lisa Horton - French Foliage

             Judi Cayton - Wonderfall                                        Deb Currier - Perfectly Preserved

Aren't these nice?  I just LOVE cards!!!!   :)

Happy Stamping!   Judy  :)

tour de FREAKS - Halloween & Fall Inspired Blog Hop

Welcome to the Control Freaks September Blog Tour. So glad you could join us. Our tour features some of your favorite Control Freak Stampers sharing projects made with Stampin' Up! products.  You may have just come from my fellow freaker, Sandy Mathis blog,  If you did, WOW, weren't her projects great?!?!? 

Our theme for this month is: "Halloween & Fall".  Sooooo, here we go...

I'm in love with the wonderful "Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kit" in the Holiday Mini catalog on page 27.  It couldn't be cuter or easier to use!  I'll start out with a simple card using the Howlstooth & Scaringbone Designer Series Paper.  This Tangerine Tango and Basic Black stripped DSP just screams "Jail House Rock" to me.  Did you notice the cute mummy peeking out over the edge of what looks like a tombstone?  This card was so easy to put together using the kit.  I used lots of Dazzling Details and Googlies of this card.  I love that Stampin' Up! has Googlies in the kit...and we are able to purchase more Googlies separately.  How cool is that?!?!?!?!?

]

Stamps:  Googly Ghouls  [pg 27 in Holiday Mini]

CS:  Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

DSP:  Howlstooth & Scaringbone  [pg 24 in Holiday Mini]

Ink:  Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade

Markers:  Tangerine Tango, Lucky Limeade

Accessories:  Ghoulish Googlies Bundle, Dimensionals, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Sponge Dauber,

          Dazzling Details Glitter Glue

------------------------------------

I recently had a play date with my friend, Mary Carr.  We made lots of Halloween Treat Holders and a Luminary.  Using the Ghoulish Googlies Kit, we decorated lots of treat holders.  We took the 8" pieces of Pumpkin Pie Baker's Twine, folded them in half, threaded each through the hole on each of the tags and tied a bow.  They were the perfect length.  The inspiration for all these treat holders came from many blogs so decided to give them a try.

Stamps:  Googly Ghouls

CS:  Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie

DSP:  Frightful Sight [retired from last year]

Ink:  Basic Black, More Mustard

Punches:  1 3/8" Circle punch, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle, Merry Mini Punch Pack-Star punch

Ribbon:  1/2" Basic Black/Basic Gray Striped Satin Ribbon [pg 26 in Holiday Mini], 

    1/8" Calypso Coral & Lucky Limeade Sheer Ribbon [from 2012 Sale-a-Bration catalog--retired] 

Accessories:  Big Shot, Petal Cone Bigz Die, Spider Web Embossing Folder, 

    Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kit, Designer Ribbon Slide [pg 31 in Holiday Mini catalog], 

    Tiny Stapler,  1" x 8" Cello Bags, Candy [yummmm], Paper Snips, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, 

    one pair of non-SU googlies, Sponge Daubers, Scoring Tool, Dazzling Detail Glitter Glue

------------------------------------

Luminaries are a favorite of mine and my customers.  A Halloween Luminary was top on my list. 

It took more time deciding what to do than it did to actually make it.   

Side 1

Side 2

Stamps:  Googly Ghouls
CS:  Basic Black, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
DSP:  Howlstooth & Scaringbone, Frightful Sight [retired]
Glimmer Paper:  Champagne  [pg 18 in Holiday Mini]
Vellum:  Paper Weight [retired]
Ink:  Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Lucky Limeade
Ribbon:  1/8" Sheer Organdy Ribbon - Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade
         [from Sale-a-Bration catalog - retired]
Punch:  1 3/8" Circle punch; 1/4" Circle punch; 1/8" Circle punch;  1 3/8" Square punch
         non-SU cat, bat, ghost, grass trees punches
Accessories:  Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kit, Scoring Tool, Dimensionals, 
         Battery Operated Tea Light, Sticky Strip Tape, Sponge Daubers, Dazzling Details Glitter Glue...
         about everything but the kitchen sink.  :)

Now it is off to the next stop on our tour, LeeAnn Greff's blog.  Wait until you see her great projects.  :)    Thanks for stopping by...

Happy Stamping!   Judy  :)

"Egyptian" Themed Jewelry Piece

Here is my latest jewelry piece made for my friend, Gail Scase.  Her September birthday theme is "Egyptian".  I had to research the Egyptian theme to get myself on the right track.  I spent almost as much time as I spent researching Steam Punk back in March....so it is all a learning experience.

I purchased a wonderful art pendant image of the Goddess Bast which is perfect since Gail loves cats.  The original statue was part of the riches discovered in 1929 upon the excavation of King Tutankhamen tomb.  I can't wait to give it to her.  

Since I had some extra time to play, I stamped and decorated a gift box to present it. 

For my piece, I used some black ribbon from last year's Holiday mini.  I found some purple glitter tape  and used the scallop square punch to punch the two purple accents on the sides and I used a 1/8" hand-held circle punch to add a dot of color to the bottom and top of the piece.  I used two charms of lotus flowers and white pearls to represent Egyptian Lotus Flowers and Egyptian Pearls.  WaaLaa!!!!   :)

Happy Stamping!    Judy   :)