First Coffee, then Presents.

Love this saying!  This is a digi set from Verve, and I'm using it to play along with this week's Merry Monday inspiration photo, using the current Freshly Made Sketch:

Finally another card for my Christmas card stash!  Paper is Christmas Delivery by Carta Bella, dies are Your Next Stamp & Memory Box, Verve sentiment.

New Ai Popcards

The Art Impressions Design Team are helping to launch 6 new PopCard stamp/die sets today!  These are wonderful 3D cards that go from flat to a full pop-up scene on the inside when you open the card.  I am showing Kitten Vanity PopCard (Sku #4945):

 I made two cards, both with slight variations, so here is the outside of one, and the pop-up inside of another.

I cut an oval opening in the front of the card, so that you can see that there is something fun on the inside.  And here is what pops up:

 The PopCards include all the images & the sentiment that you see here, as well as all the dies to cut each image out.  The dies come with special slits that are cut into the stacking pieces that fit onto the PopCard template.  *The template die is sold separately.  Head on over to the Ai blog to see the other designs, and what the Design Team has come up with.  Our current challenge is "Third Dimension" - we want to see your 3D cards!

Halloween edition of Tuesday Threads with Karen

Happy Halloween, Ai Sewing fans!!

I have the October edition of Tuesday Threads with Karen Day to share with you today.

Two of the fabrics in the Shop Hop collection designed by Ai owner/illustrator Bonnie Krebs, are a subtly patterned bright orange, and a wonderful limey green... and given that my posting day was the 31st, I decided to make a little Halloween decor:

I've created a little pumpkin placemat/hotmat/potholder.  I'm choosing for it to be part of my Halloween decor, and if I had a bowl of candy to put out, it would be the perfect thing to set it on.  I started out by sketching out my design to make a pattern:

I drew my pumpkin shape, and added a 1/4" border as a seam allowance, and drew on my stitching lines.  I cut out two of these in the orange fabric, then cut apart the stem and cut one of it from the green fabric.  I used Therm O Web's HeatnBond Lite fusible adhesive and ironed it onto the top orange piece.  I cut a piece of Therm O Web's High Loft Fusible Fleece about the same size as the pumpkin, and fused it onto one of them.  I stitched the pumpkin pieces together with a 1/4" seam, clipped the edges and turned it inside out.  After slip stitching the bottom edge shut, I ironed the pumpkin so that the edges were flat and nicely rounded.

 I cut apart my pattern along the stitching lines, and pinned it onto my pumpkin to use as a stitching guide using orange thread to indicate the grooves on the pumpkin.

   I switched to green thread and zigzagged around the stem - this finished off the raw bottom edges nicely.  And there you have it!  Do you remember the mug rug that I made last month?  Just imagine how cute a small version of my pumpkin would be as a mug rug!!  Lots of possibilities...

 Have a happy & safe Halloween - and happy sewing :o)

Freshly Made & Inspired By

I'm playing with a couple of challenges today, as I needed a card for my niece's birthday later this week.  I've used the Freshly Made Sketch for this week, along with the inspiration photo from Inspired By All The Little Things (love this!):

So excited to play along with Inspired By - I miss being on the team!  Patterned papers are Dreamin' by CTMH; Sentiment is Verve; Coffee cup die is Memory Box.

You are the Pumpkin Spice in my Latte

It is my baby's birthday today.  She's 20 (no more teenagers!) and is spending the semester in France... so here is the birthday card that I shipped overseas for her big day... I think she'll love it:

 And of course, with a card this cute, you can't just make one... so I'm going to bore you with all four versions :o)

Happy Birthday, Paige!

Ai Holiday Mansion

 Have you seen the fabulous Holiday Mansion Set (Sku #4926) that Art Impressions released this summer??  It is the most brilliant idea to have a sweet little house that comes with shutters and a full set of dies to cut out the window panes, and two doors on hinges:

 How cute is that??  The other brilliant part of this set... is that there is a companion set of stamps & dies called HM Accessory Set (Sku #4927).  If you notice the tree, wreath, bells, reindeer & Santa - these are part of the accessory set, each designed to peek out from between or behind the windows and doors.

 After stamping and colouring with Copic markers, I positioned all the dies on both the house and all the accessories.  One quick pass through my Cuttlebug, and everything was cut out and ready to assemble.  I added some Stickles to sparkle up the snow a little, and added some sparkle to the background as well.  The sign was created by cutting it out from a piece of patterned paper.  Here is one of the sentiments that comes with the set that I added to the inside:

 Now - what I haven't mentioned yet, is that these are only 1/2 of the accessories that come in the set - a whole set of Halloween images (ghosts, pumpkins, boarded up windows, monsters) mean that you can colour the mansion completely differently to make a spooky haunted house.  I love when you can get an entirely different look from the same stamp set.  Head on over to the Ai website to pick up your own Holiday Mansion!

Copics used - Pinks R85, R83, R81

Reds - R37, R35, R32

Blues - B02, B01, B00, B000, B0000

Greens - G63, G61

Yellows - Y26, Y23, Y21, E50

Greys - C5, C3, C1

Browns - E55, E53, E51

A new Card Kit!

Hello everyone!  Hope you're enjoying a crafty Saturday :o)  I have the latest OCS Card Kit ( #21 ) to share, but first an ad - if you're in the Bolton area, stop by the One Crazy Stamper store today, there is a Garage Sale going on!  Gently used or (a ton of) never before used products are up for grabs at some amazing prices.  First come first served - bring some cash with you!

And now for the newest card kit... Here is Polar Sleigh RR006 from High Hopes Rubber Stamps:

He is a little different from our other card kits - as you'll be creating a little scene.  Everything you need to create four cards is included in the kit - card bases & envelopes, cut pieces and stamps.  You need some ink, adhesive, pop dots and the colouring medium of your choice to complete them.  The stamps are unmounted rubber, so you'll want to pick up some EZ Mount stamp cushion if you don't have any at home.  The sentiment is Think Snow 2 - also included.  You'll get a full colour instruction sheet including Copic colouring suggestions.  These are available right now in the OCS store here!  And if you're heading to the Creative Festival in Toronto next weekend - you can grab a few card kits there at the booth.  Happy stamping!