Scrap Kits: July - December

Whew, I finally caught up my pages from 2011. I am very excited to start the grid scrapbooking in 2012. I'm hoping I can stay on top of it better! High hopes, I have high hopes.

Stamp Club: January 2012

Stamp Sets ~ Sweetheart, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock ~ Ridinghood, Vanilla
Ink ~ Ridinghood
DSP ~ Enchanted (SAB)
Punches ~ Word Window, Modern Label, Scallop Edge
Folder ~ Vintage Wallpaper
Ribbon ~ Narrow Taffeta

Have a great day! It feels like spring here!

Organization: Punches

Hey Friends! I thought I might show you some of my newest organizational methods in the stamp room. Today we will start with punch storage.

I have had my punches in a rolling Sterilite Cart with shallow drawers for a couple years. It worked fine for the old lever style punches. But once I st

arted accumulating the new compact style punches, I was getting unhappy with the drawers. They weren't the right fit for the new narrow punches. Those need to be stored on their sides for maximizing space, and in the drawers they had to lie flat. I also hated stacking them and scratching the tops.

My new favorite thing to do when searching for storage is to hit resale stores! I'm getting better at seeing old things and imagining new ways to use them. So at the antique store one weekend, with Miles in tow, I saw this little rack for $10. I didn't kn

ow it was a wine rack until the worker told me it was. But it does have a Napa Valley stamp on it so I guess he's probably right. I wasn't sure what punches it should store, but I knew I could use it for something!

Then at the next antique store that day, I saw this crate with blue jars in it. Who knew...when I was on the hunt for blue jars months ago, I couldn't find them. Now here were three very nice ones, with lids, and all I really wanted was the crate. It was also stamped "Napa Valley". The price sheet on it was weird, something about getting the crate free with the purchase of the jars. All I know is that I left the store with three blue jar

s and the perfect crate for storing punches...all for $10.50.

After I found the second crate, I knew how it would work. Flat punches in the crate, on my hutch. And bulky punches on the rack, against the wall. :)

See how snug they look?

Oh, and here are the afterthought jars, which I re

ally do like. :) Right now they are on display in the stamp room...storing wooden craft supplies. Now I see these jars more...they run about $5 average. So I guess I got a deal on three jars AND a crate for $10. THAT'S why I love to go on the hunt. It's a little time consuming, but well worth it! I usually end up with something "perfect" for what I need. :)

How do you like to store your punches? We'd love to hear!

I am linking to:

March Sampler Cards $6

I wanted to finish showing you all the layout and card samples using the 1st Quarter Samplers by today. Whew, I barely made it!

These are the cards I made using the March Sampler. It features the Sweet Shop designer paper in the Occasions Mini. The card bases are the 2 12x12 pieces of cardstock, Soft Suede color, cut into 8 4x8" card bases.

I did the same corner rounding of the designer papers as I did for the layout.

• Trim designer papers to 3-3/4" squares, except the ice cream paper
• Corner round the 3-3/4" squares if you want
• Trim the ice cream paper into strips 3" long. You will need three strips for three cards

I used a birthday stamp from Happiest Birthday Wishes, it's a hostess stamp set. I'm sure we all have plenty of birthday stamps to choose from! Or host a stamping workshop to earn your own Happiest Birthday Wishes! :) I stamped in Soft Suede using an ink pad, $5.95. Or you can use the Soft Suede marker for $3.50 if you prefer. It's great when the ink matches the cardstock!

Who doesn't need a stash of birthday cards! If you haven't already signed up for the Jan, Feb, and/or March Samplers, you can still do so! Let me know which months you want and how many of each month. Some are getting duplicates so they can do layouts AND cards. :) Sign up for the whole quarter and get a punch on your punch card.

Thanks for the tremendous amount on interest in these Monthly Samplers! I am beyond blown away by the response!

March Sampler Layout $6

The March Sampler features Sweet Shop from the Occasions Mini Catalog. You will receive:

2 12x12" Cardstock in Soft Suede
6 4x4" DSP in Sweet Shop
6 3x3" Journal Cards in White
1 Foot Sweet Shop Twine
1 Sweet Shop Brad
Punch Outs for Ice Cream Cone

As you can see I put the decorative/journal quadrants along the sides this time. I also corner rounded the DSP. You could corner round your pictures too. I didn't corner round the white cardstock, but you could do that too.

Here is the first page:


Here is the second page:


Here is a close-up of the accent piece. I made the ice cream cone with the Pennant Punch and Scallop Circle Punch. That twine is so easy to work with! I also like to cut the prongs off my brads and then glue dot them....minimize that bulk when you can!


Coming up next will be March Sampler Cards! And tomorrow is our deadline to sign up for the Jan, Feb, March, or Quarter Samplers. There's still room for YOU! :)

February Sampler: Cards

Helllllllo, it's me again! I made my 8 cards with the February Sampler this afternoon, and I knew you'd want to see! So many of you are purchasing the samplers to make cards...I think that's so cool!

So here I cut the 12x12 Vanilla Cardstock into 8 4x8" pieces to make card bases. Folded in half, those pieces become square 4x4" cards. Put these in SU's medium envelopes. They aren't square, but they fit great. And no extra postage will be required with a "normal" envelope! :)

Then I cut the 4x4" designer papers (DSP) down to 3-1/2" squares. Save those pieces you are cutting off because I used those strips for two of the cards!

Layer your 3-1/2" designer papers on top of 6 of your card bases. For the 7th and 8th cards, use your strips of DSP as shown above. One card with the scrap pieces got the embossed heart and brad, how cute! The other scrap piece card got the ribbon. :)

For the other 6 cards, stamp your image with the stamps of your choice. Here I chose "Triple Treat Flower". It is an individual stamp that can be purchased for $8.95, page 18 in the Idea Book & Catalog. It's a fun stamp because it coordinates with three of SU's punches. But I didn't use the punches on these cards because I want to make them as simple and accessible as possible in case you want to use the same stamp. You don't have to have the punches to have fun with this stamp! The Triple Treat Flower can also be earned for FREE during Sale-A-Bration, with a $50 purchase!

However, I did use my set of 2010-2012 In-Color Markers to ink the stamps, that's how some are multi-colored. If you don't want to purchase ink pads, markers are a great alternative for inking stamps! The In-Color set of 5 markers had 2 of the colors that coordinate with the Enchantment DSP, Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz. I also used my Crumb Cake ink for one of the flowers, and I like that look too. You could almost stamp them all in a light brown, and it would look good...if you aren't up for coloring with markers.

If you would like to make these exact same cards with your February Sampler, you would need:

Triple Treat Flower $8.95
In-Color Markers $14.95

If you purchase both items from me, outside of Stamp Club, you will qualify for another punch on your punch card! Remember, 12 punches in 12 months earns $12 free!

Remember, until January 31st, you can reserve your Jan, Feb, Mar Samplers or the whole quarter for a punch on your card. Each month's sampler is just $6.

Occasions Shares Are Ready

Thanks to all those who signed up for an Occasions Share! :) They are all ready for you.