Many ways to use a single image...

This afternoon I stopped by the Christmas show at the Convention Center, where the Christmas shopping frenzy began for lots of people. I was pleasantly surprised to find a stamp maker as a vendor! The man in business is just as sweet as he can be, and loves his stamps! His company is Stamps by Impression, and he has over 2000 stamps on his website. I bought a couple with the girls' names on them, and a ballet stamp (art coming soon). But my biggest excitement was something I wasn't even planning to get originally, but I'm so glad I did! It is this poinsettia!

The image above as well as the first one below were started the same, using watercolor crayons (coloring multiple shades directly on the rubber), a spritz of water onto the rubber, stamp on watercolor paper, and my spray tool spritzing some caramel and green ink. Oh, and also my Frosted Lace Stickles for sparkle. I decided to make the first card a torn window and age it with some sponging. The second I went much simpler, but thought this was still nice, just a little different personality.
This next one you may have to click on to get a better look. I ironed a piece of velveteen paper onto the rubber. It embosses the velvet. I chose to keep this simple to let the velvet stand out. It's kinda rustic and elegant together.
Lastly, I went for a sparkly, more monochromatic look with caramel, vanilla, and a bit of khaki green? I tied in the caramel color with copper brads, and I used Star Dust Stickles for some sparkle. The background stamp is the old holiday print background from Stampin' Up. My lighting has gotten bad in my craft room, so my pictures are seemingly getting worse and worse. I wish you could see these in person!
I'm going to be selling some things, if you're local and want to see, let me know. I have creations as well as stamps. If you're not local, let me know and I can send you a list and any pics by request.

More ideas hopefully to share this weekend!

Mmmm...banana bread! (but not all for me)

Ok, so maybe I had to open one up to make sure it came out good. ;) Today I baked a double batch of my famous Banana Bread- but I baked it in 8 wide mouth pint sized canning jars. They baked for the same length of time as a regular loaf.
Tips:

• Make sure that you grease the insides of the jars well.
• After filling the jar 1/2 full with batter, wipe the rims REALLY well.
• Wipe the rims again immediately after removing the jar from the oven.
• Immediately place the lid and screw on the ring after wiping the rim.
• Downside: These do not keep like regular canned foods. I will be freezing them until it's time to hand them out. They're only good out for about a week in a jar.
  

I used leftover PAPER- that's right, PAPER! It looks deceptively like the old fabric way of covering the top. I cut an 8x8 square of paper and pressed it over the cooled jar. Hang a cute tag on the bow. I also cut out circles to label the tops with the name of the bread.

Birthday card and more 2009 calendars for Christmas!

My team lead at work asked me to make a girly birthday card for her mom. I liked being able to use Beate's weekend sketch challenge (WSC54) for this card. My favorite color this time of year is chocolate brown and I love the Houndstooth background stamp from Stampin' Up. It's so cozy this time of year, like a good sweater. I used a scrap of Tres Jolie paper by My Mind's Eye, which I sponged around the edges in light pink ink to better match my "Blush" paper by Basic Grey behind it. I used my new Stampin' Up scallop edge punch for the scallop border. The sentiment was from Warmest Regards by Stampin' Up. Accessories: ribbon, hardware, Prima flowers and pink rhinestone. I stamped a sentiment on the left inside corner (below) along with a pink flourish from Carte Postale, both stamps are from Stampin' Up.
I completed 4 more calendars today, so below are some pictures to see. Not much different in approach this time, though I used my Sizzix and a couple of circle punches for the April flowers.
Papers for these calendars are from Stampin' Up and Basic Grey. Stamp sets used were Serene Sunflower, Inspired by Nature, Best Blossom, and A Tree For All Seasons, all from Stampin' Up. I used Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Marigold and Sahara Sand ink colors. The clips were from Making Memories which I found at Michaels. These calendars will make fantastic teacher gifts (since we now have 5 "school" teachers for our 2 girls, plus a ballet teacher...) as well as friend/coworker/neighbor gifts.

More gift ideas coming soon- watch for new posts soon!