Anthologies

About 2 months ago, I discovered a new scrapbooking store in my area called Anthologies. (It's actually closer to Ft. Worth, in Hurst, but a lot of the local scrapbook stores in my area have closed.) I started following their blog and reading about this class they held monthly called "Scrapstashers". The premise of this class is that you are told only a few days before what scraps and supplies you need to bring and in what sizes. You don't find out what you're putting together until you get to the store. I find it exciting to use my scraps and to not know what we're doing until we get there. It adds a mysterious element to the class. Since it takes me almost an hour to drive over to the store, I haven't done any of the other classes. If you're in the DFW area you should check them out sometime. It's a great store with a super nice staff.

Here are the projects from the February Scrapstashers class:

Isn't this little tin carrying case just darling? They called it a "chocolate survival kit" and suggested that we stuff it with chocolate. I don't need to add that tempation to my scrap space so I think I'd better leave it empty!

Supply List (all supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Sending Love DSP (117153), Pretty in Pink (100459)
Ribbon: Pretty in Pink (117289), Chocolate Chip(117287), White Sheer (Michaels)
Other: Tin (Maya Road tin, the package for their chipboard shapes and letters), Buttons (Oriental Trading), Scissors, Heart Template (cut from Cricut), adhesive

Gift Bag:

I think this is a super cute bag and a great way to use up scraps. It takes a while to notice that it's just a plain brown paper bag. No one would say you're "brown baggin' it" with this cute creation. I also think it will be really easy to use this idea for any season.

Supply List (all supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Sending Love DSP (117153), Pretty in Pink (100459), Chocolate Chip (102128)
Ribbon: Pretty in Pink (117289), Very Vanilla (117291)
Other: Scallop border Punch (118402), Flower Punch (Fiskars), Brown paper bag (Grocery store), Buttons (Oriental Trading), adhesive

Baby Cards

A friend at work recently asked if I had any "baby boy" cards and after looking through my stash I realized that I didn't. So, I set out to work. I think I found the reason why I didn't have many- I don't have very many "baby" stamp sets. I've now got my eyes open for sets that could work for babies. Feel free to leave me a comment about your favorite baby stamp set.

Supply list (all supplies Stampin Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Whisper White (100730), Barely Banana (102701), Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper (117161)
Stamps: Baby boy (not SU), Short and Sweet (115060)
Ink: Close to Cocoa (103139), Bashful Blue (105209)
Other: Scallop Trim Border (118402), Paper Trimmer

Gift idea- Coffee samples

One of my other pleasures in life is saving money. I clip coupons and get pure satisfaction when I save money at the grocery store. I strive for a 40% savings or more :). We were lucky enough to score free tickets to the Mavericks vs Lakers game a few weeks ago and on the way out they were passing out free Community Coffee. Matt and I don't drink coffee so he almost gave his free sample back. Luckily, I was close enough to intercept and knew I wanted to dress them up a little bit and use them as a gift. I have a good friend that moved to Dallas about a year ago from Louisiana where I hear that Community Coffee is all the rage. She will be one of the lucky recipients of my spruced-up freebie.

For those of you that don't have a way to get free Community Coffee samples....what about trying this idea with a packet or two of hot chocolate, or kool-aid for a kid?

Right now I'm really enjoying 3-D altered projects and making something beautiful by recycling something ordinary. It's amazing what a little bit of patterned paper and some embellishments can do to an ordinary object.

Supply List (all supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):

Paper: Real Red (102482), Sending Love DSP (117153)

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370)

Ink: Staz-On Black (101406)

Punches: Modern Label (116630), Scallop Border punch (EK Success)

Other: Sticky Strip (104294), Community Coffee Samples (free, sorry!)

Desk Candy

I don't have much on my desk at work, but last May I bought this cool magnetic frame from Creative Memories with the bright idea that I'd make a calendar page for each month and decorate it all cutesy. I even bought the calendar pages to use with it. Fast forward 9 months and I've finally done something with it and brought it to work. I really like the results and it's adding just the touch of cheer to my dreary desk.

Supply List (all supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):
- Paper: Real Red (102482), Sending Love Designer Series Paper (117153)
- Stamps: A Happy Heart (111758), I {Heart} Hearts (118571)
- Ink: Chocolate Chip (100908), Real Red (103133), Pretty in Pink (101301)
- Markers: Real Red (100052)
- Punch: Small Heart (117193)
- Other: Frame (Creative Memories), Calendar page (Creative Memories), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Rub-on letters (American Crafts), small magnet (Hobby Lobby), small clothes pin (Michael's)

PPA 26 Challenge- Anything But a Card

PPA (Pals Paper Arts) is a challenge blog led by demonstrators in my Stampin' Up group. This week's challenge was "Anything BUT a Card" and I'm so glad I got my box of goodies in the mail yesterday. Just in time! I purchased the tin mailbox from the $ spot at Target and was planning to decorate it for Valentine's Day. My idea is to put a small something in it each day for the "14 days of Valentine's" for my sweetie. Execution will be the challenge.

Supplies Used:

Mailbox Tin- Target $ spot

Stampin' Up- Sending Love Designer Series Paper

Stamps: A Happy Heart, I {Heart} Hearts- both from Stampin' Up

Ink: Staz-On Jet black, Stampin' Up Riding Hood Red, Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink

Other: Stampin' Up mini Heart Punch, Stampin' Up Stampin' Dimensionals

Baroque Motifs Birthday Gift set

I put together a set of 6 cards and a matching bag for my friend Calie's birthday last week. I love how versatile the Baroque Motifs set is. I saw this card design on Splitcoast Stampers. The site has become an awesome resource for me. I love how you can search by a stamp set.


Supply list (all supplies by Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):
Cardstock: Whisper White (100730), Old Olive (100702)
Stamp set: Baroque Motifs (113490)
Ink: Old Olive (102277), Close to Cocoa (103139)
Other: jewels from the $ spot at Michaels, craft bag

A 'scraplift' for my wedding album

Here's another sketch site that I visit from time to time when I'm looking for inspiration. I really like the way the black, white and red work together. Now I'm thinking it could have been cool to do the whole album in black, white and red, but I think I'm too far in to change that now!

Supplies:
cardstock- red (Creative Memories), black and white (me & my big ideas)
brads- silver (the paper studio), red flower (chatter box)
ribbon- a scrap
letters- rub-ons (american crafts "eddie" font)