Stationary Box Class

Come learn how to make these adorable stationary boxes! I will be holding a class to make these on Thursday, September 25th at 7:30pm. The original idea for these stationary boxes came from Jackie over on Addicted to Stamping. The link to her tutorial is HERE. Go visit her blog and leave her a comment so that she knows we appreciate her wonderful idea!

At my class, you can choose to make either the Bella Rose box (pictured above) or the Hawaii Papaya box (pictured below). The pictures show the box closed with the lid on, the lid off and the box open, and the cards, 3x3 cards, and tags that go in the box. The box also features an address book, postage stamp holder, and pen holder. With the holidays coming up, I think this is a perfect gift idea!

Class details:

--Thursday, September 25th at 7:30pm at my place

--Class Fee is $15 and includes everything to make one box (of your choice) and detailed instructions

**If you register AND pre-pay by September 18th class fee is only $13**

--Additional kits can be ordered for $12 each

--RSVP today to reserve your spot!

Class by Mail details:

If you can't attend or live far away, you can still participate! Kits can be ordered for $12, and shipping will be $5 (priority). If multiple kits are going to the same address, I will of course combine shipping. The kit will have everything cut, scored and ready for you to stamp and assemble. All of the accessories (ribbon, brads, etc.) are included, and I will email you the pdf file with the instructions.

If you make these on your own, listed below are the supplies you will need in addition to the kit. Let me know if you need to place an order for some or all of these items.

Bella Rose Box:

Dream du Jour stamp set ($18.95)

Pink Pirouette stamp pad ($5.25)

Chocolate Chip stamp pad ($5.25)

Riding Hood Red stamp pad ($5.25)

Rose Red marker ($3.25)

Certainly Celery marker ($3.25)

Scallop Edge Punch ($15.95)

Tag Corner Punch ($6.95)

Adhesives--You'll need a strong adhesive such as Mono or Sticky Strip and dimensionals

Hawaii Papaya Box:

Eastern Blooms stamp set ($18.66 if ordered before Sept 30th, $21.95 after)

Versamark stamp pad ($7.50)

Tangerine Tango stamp pad ($5.25)

Chocolate Chip stamp pad ($5.25)

Scallop Edge Punch ($15.95)

Tag Corner Punch ($6.95)

One sentiment stamp of your choice

Adhesives--You'll need a strong adhesive such as Mono or Sticky Strip and dimensionals

New Catalog Accessory Sampler

I don’t know about everyone else, but I have been LOVING all of the new ribbons and accessories from the Fall-Winter catalog! So, if you haven’t tried these new items yet, I’d like to offer you a New Catalog Accessory Sampler.


Here’s what’s included in the Sampler:


-- 1 yard of each type of ribbon listed below (total 7 yards):


Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon
Baja Breeze Double Stitched 1” Ribbon
Tangerine Tango 5/8” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Pacific Point 5/8” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Pink Pirouette 1 ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon
7/8” Poly-Twill Ribbon
Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon


Also included:


--A random selection of 5 of the Designer Buttons (you’ll get at least one of each of the 4 colors)
--1 of each type of clip from the new Clips Assortment (total 3 clips)

--1 large and 1 small Designer Brad from the Star Assortment

--1 large and 1 small Designer Brad from the Filigree Assortment (includes the brad too)

--9 Flower Fusion Too flowers (3 of each color)



The total price for this is $12. This allows you to try LOTS of new accessories at cost, and find out which are your favorite! If you need the Sampler shipped directly to your house, please add $2 to the total. If multiple Samplers are going to the same address, I will of course combine shipping.


Contact me today (allison.ohran@gmail.com) to order your New Accessory Sampler! I will be placing the order for all of the Samplers on September 18th.


And here's the best part! To celebrate my new blog, I'm offering a Blog-only Special! If you order this Sampler by the 18th and mention that you saw it on my blog, I will add 1 yard of 1/4" Rose Red grosgrain ribbon and 1 yard of 1/4" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon for FREE! Don't miss out on this great value!

Faux Embrace

Although I actually designed this card a while ago, I just finished making some more of these a few days ago for a special order that I had from a friend. Since I had everything out, I thought I would take a few pictures of the process. This card showcases the faux silk technique. I first saw the faux silk technique over on Splitcoaststampers, and just had to try it out. There is a great tutorial HERE. If you haven't ever tried faux silk before, you should as it is really quite simple, and the results are very elegant! Begin by stamping (and coloring if desired) on a piece of tissue paper. A couple of hints--start with a piece of tissue paper that is slightly larger than what you want the finished size to be. Also, when you stamp/color on the paper, make sure there is scratch paper underneath as it will bleed through. Here I used Basic Gray ink to stamp the image from the set Embrace Life, and then colored with a Lavender Lace marker.

Next, crinkle your tissue paper into a little ball and then carefully open it again. Take your glue stick and completely cover your piece of card stock. Adhere the tissue paper to the card stock. You'll want to smooth the tissue paper a little to make sure it sticks, but don't smooth out all the wrinkles as that is what gives the silk look. Trim the excess tissue paper.

Add you desired embellishments. Here I layered the Whisper White card stock onto Basic Gray and then added the Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware frame (now retired), and the sentiment. The sentiment is from the set Fundamental Phrases. I stamped the sentiment first and then used the Small Oval Punch to punch it out.

This card also has a unique fold to create a pocket on the inside. I did not come up with the idea for this particular type of unique fold. I know they showed this unique fold at at least some of the Stampin Up regionals this year. Anyway, to make the base of the card, start with a 4" by 12" piece of Lavender Lace paper. Score at 4" and 8", and then score diagonally connecting the lines. The black lines show where I scored.

Next, fold the right side of the paper down, so that it goes behind the rest of the card stock. You'll want to adhere the two triangles together. Then, fold that bottom section up and use a very small line of adhesive to glue the left side of the right (back) panel to the middle of the card. This creates the pocket. It sounds confusing, but once you try it, it is actually quite easy!
Then add the front to your card (the faux silk panel) and a note to go in the pocket. This also works really well as a nice way to give a gift card!

Stamps: Embrace Life, Fundamental Phrases
Ink: Lavender Lace, Basic Gray, Lavender Lace marker
Paper: Lavender Lace, Whisper White, Basic Gray
Accessories: tissue paper, glue stick, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, pewter HPH frame, Small Oval Punch, Round Tab Punch, sponge
Technique: Faux Silk, Pocket Card

I've Been Featured!

When Jen C. over at Crazy Stamp Girl sent me an email asking me if she could feature my ribbon tutorial on her blog, I about fell off my chair! Seriously. :-) I am so honored! Talk about making a girl's day! The post that caught Jen's eye and is now featured on her site is THIS ONE.

This all came about because I left a comment on Jen's blog on her Scalloped Baby Banner Tutorial post, and she found my blog from there. Go check out THIS POST on Jen's site to see the baby banner--it is SO cute! Jen is very creative as she figured out how to make the ever popular banner without the Big Shot--she just used her scallop punch!! Jen has lots of other great projects as well, so go check her out by clicking HERE. You may even want to leave a comment. *wink, wink* :-)

And just for fun, I asked Jen to tell me a little about herself so that I could introduce her to all of you. Here is what she said:

"I first started stamping after the birth of my first child 4 years ago. Just on & off--nothing serious.

After awhile, I was invited to a Stampin' Up! party (my very first) by a mom from our playgroup. And, I must admit, I was hooked from the beginning. From there, I booked & hosted my own stamping workshop (and earned lots of free goodies). Not even a month after that, I signed up to become a demonstrator! It's been almost 2 years since I signed up and I am still hooked! I love Stampin' Up!, I love their products and I love getting to meet and stamp with new people. It's a great way for me to enjoy a little time away from my full time job as a mom of three."

Again, Jen's blog is Crazy Stamp Girl--go check her out! Thanks Jen for bringing me a month's worth of smiles!

Tic Tac Toe Anyone?

A while ago I was at Target and noticed that they had some fun travel games for kids that came in little tins. It got me thinking that it would be fun to make something similar, and this is what I came up with. I started with an empty Accents and Elements Tin (the larger kind that the Flower Fusion come in). I chose Real Red and Brilliant Blue since they seemed like perfect colors for a children's game, and I used the new stamp set Wow Flowers. After you slide off the belly band, you open it up and there's storage on the right side for all the pieces and the left side is where you play. I drew the lines with a Sharpie poster paint marker that just happened to be the perfect color.

Here is a side view of the game piece. I started by stamping the images in Brilliant Blue and Real Red on scrap Whisper White paper and then punching them out with the 1 3/8" circle punch. I put them face down in Xyron adhesive (I didn't use the Xyron machine, just the adhesive) and then stuck them to the flat side of the vase fillers (found at Target). Since the vase fillers aren't perfectly round, I trimmed where necessary around the edges. Then I attached the magnet with a large glue dot.

I think this would be a perfect gift idea for any child. Even though my son isn't quite old enough to understand the idea of Tic Tac Toe, he still loves playing with the magnets and having a little tin to carry them around in!

Stamps: Wow Flowers
Ink: Real Red, Brilliant Blue
Paper: Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White
Accessories: A&E Tin, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, corner rounder, large vase fillers, large glue dots, magnets, Sharpie poster paint marker, Xyron adhesive

A Little Blog 'Bling'

I had a pleasant surprise over the long weekend . . . Dragana Skoro over at Happy Inker gave me a blog award! Thank you so much for making my day! :-) Go check out her blog!

So here are the rules of the award:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog
2. Link the person you received your award from
3. Nominate 7 other blogs
4. Put links of those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.

So here's my list (in no particular order):
1. Vera from http://www.verastamps.com/
2. Kim from http://kimsstampinroom.blogspot.com/
3. xiumaiyuki from http://xiumaiyuki.blogspot.com/
4. Steph from http://stephsstampinstuff.blogspot.com/
5. Angela from http://aninkandasmile.blogspot.com/
6. Natasha from http://palmtreesandpogosticks.blogspot.com/
7. Kristin from http://sunshinesmilesstamps.blogspot.com/

So, go check out some of these blogs! I'm off to let these great girls know I've nominated them. Thanks again Dragana for the smile. :-)