Back to the Islands

Little Miss Backsides - Aloha version.

From Flowers to Frogs

A few years ago Cambria Turnbow made a cute little card with the stamp that went with the flower trio punch - she turned it into three little frogs peeking over the edge of the paper. For some reason, that idea popped into my head as I was looking at the Fancy Flower Extra Large punch. This Get Well card is the result...

The colors look a little off in this photo - the frogs are wild wasabi (welcome back!) and the background is certainly celery.

Retired Product - go look

I just have to send you to Jackie Topa's blog for her hilarious interpretation of an SU demonstrator as product retires this month.  Look HERE.   Good old ornament punch - I need to get mine out and play with her again.

Casing a Serious Punch Flower

Y'all know I like to give you original stuff here. I try not to case too often. But sometimes something appeals to me SO MUCH I have to drop what I'm doing, make one and share it. Patti Lee's stuff does that to me. But today, I'm casing Heidi's Hydrangea.

I changed the colors to pink pirouette sponged with perfect plum and I used the ornament punch as my leaf but the idea is all Heidi's and I'm so glad I spotted it.

This won't be an easy card to mail due to the dimensional aspect but I love hydrangeas so I had to try this "serious" punch art.  Thanks Heidi for the tutorial - y'all check it out and leave her some comments!

In Memory

Sorry I went missing for a couple of days. 

My mother-in-law passed away after a very long illness and my hubby was in Peru on business, so I had to go boss my father-in law and brother-in-law around because... well, because it was my duty and privilege.

Today's project is in memory of my dear mother-in-law.

Her kitchen was always yellow and her radio was always on. 

Her wine was always poured and her cigarette was always lit. 

Her heart was always open and her husband always adored her. 

She lived her life exactly the way she wanted for as long as she could.

She loved to go dancing.

She loved the Dallas Cowboys.

She loved her pets.

She loved her family.

She will be missed.

back - butterfly trimmed - but just used 1/2 this time (see "little miss backside")
sleeves - word window
skirt - large oval
legs - modern label cut to separate legs
arms - wide heart to heart next to wide heart to heart hole
hand - modern label ends trimmed with small circle in itty bitty shapes punch pack
shoes - small circle in itty bitty punch pack, trimmed - throw away from spiral punch for heel
hair - 1 3/8 circle and 1/2 butterfly

Occasionally I stamp...

It is true!  Occasionally I stamp.  Images even.  Cards - with no punch characters.  Really.  Here is proof...

This one caused my sideline, Eileen (the glitter guru) to quip that the sentiment should read

"Wish you were.... on the other side of the world"

Bad day Eileen?

She is a hoot!

All these cards were made at my upline's house Wednesday night during our meeting. We drew sketches out of a hat and had to make cards with the stamp sets and paper we brought - I only brought vanilla and black stuff. Wasn't expecting to make more than one card but had plenty of time.

This was the first one I did - a warm up card - not crazy about it but it is fine and I'll use it... someday.

Silly upline had two of this set - guess who got the second one?  SCORE!

New Hostess set available in July - isn't it great?

Do  you like that element to the right of the sentiment?

I stamped the main image again - punched it with the 1.75 circle -

put that on the sentiment block and then trimmed it down to fit

It filled the empty space and matched the rest of the card.

I thought it was clever and was quite proud of myself.

Some days are like that.

Back to Dancing

I have been thinking that this character needed a name and someone on Splitcoast provided it in a comment - "Little Miss Backside" - I think that is perfect!

Little Miss Backside tucked her curls up into a black wig to go Flamenco Dancing.  I'm guessing this dress is what she was shopping for yesterday....

What you can learn from this is that

WE WILL SURVIVE WITHOUT BLUSH BLOSSOM!

I used the new in-color, Blushing Bride, for her skin and I bet you didn't even notice the difference.  Oh sure, you can tell in person but this is do-able girls, it really is!

Her dress is Poppy Parade and the top layer is Peach Parfait.  The top layer also shows a new embossing folder, Vintage Wallpaper.

Can you tell I got my sneak peak merchandise?

Back to the Mall

I promise, I will not keep up with this same girl FOREVER - but she is so easy to make, I keep coming up with more poses.  You can place this pre or post wedding in the babe's life - but based on that waist line - I'd say before kids...

Wouldn't this be great on a gift card holder?

Made pretty much the same as the bride - just fewer layers to her skirt.
Legs are small MY WAY arrows - which is RETIRING at the end of June
Shoes are throw away part of the Spiral Punch
Visa card is Medium Jewelry Punch with the knob part snipped off

Yes, the legs and feet are a little small for that big old head of hair - deal with it - I lived in Texas during the 80s - I can do "big hair" if I want (grin)

Back in the Garden

That Inspiration Fairy! – I just never know where we are going when I pull out the punches….


An anonymous commenter asked what was happening next in this characters life – ya know, after the bachelorette party and the wedding…

Well since this is a PG blog, and I’m NOT doing honeymoon scenes, I thought we’d skip on to her new house and planting flowers.

That is a lie. The Inspiration Fairy is the one that came up with this gardening scenario – I was going for sitting on the bleachers at the kid’s game with a little “go team” pennant but the Fairy said NO. I’d like to give you a clue what was happening next in the babe's life (if anything) but I just don’t know.

I-fairy says this pose could also be petting the back of a dog.

Punches are the same as before, except her upturned arm is the narrow heart to heart punched next to narrow heart to heart hole. Her toes peeking out from her jeans are also the narrow heart to heart pieces.

Belt is from ¾ inch circle next to the same punch hole – belt loops are just tiny scraps

Trowel is a petal from the 5 petal flower punch - handle is one of the my way arrows (retiring at the end of the month)

What you can learn from this is faux denim if you don’t remember it from Workshop Santa. Just rub your night of navy ink pad back and forth, up and down on your bashful blue cardstock. EASY – and you can get whatever “wash” you like by the amount of ink you apply.

Stamped Image is from Simply Said - an oldie that you can still purchase - been at least a year since I've used it and I'm wondering why - it is a GREAT stamp set.

And I left plenty of room above the flowers for a sentiment - I'll add that when I need the card for something specific.

Family Health still an issue so I don't know when I'll have time to play and create something really NEW - hang in there with me please.

Back of the Bride

I'm sure I'll have other "back of" characters now that we've started this - but my brain isn't firing on cylinders today so I did the easiest one first.

"Back to the bar" must have been at her bachelorette party, maybe?

Just like the bar chick - but instead of the bar stool, I added layers of 1/2 butterfly punches for the wedding dress.  Emboss the cardstock first, then punch. 

I went a little nuts with the embossing folders but needed the texture to show the white dress and hat on the white card.

Flowers are the retiring flower trio punch - I just had to give it a little attention before the move to the retired punch drawer.

Guest Puncher - Jessica Bowhall - Punch Art in MDS

Family health issues popped up again so my punching and posting will be sporadic for a bit.  But I went to check my saved emails to see if someone had sent me a punch project I could share with you today and found this AWESOME idea.

Jessica Bowhall sent this to me a couple months back.  Why didn't I post it immediately?  She had the fabulous idea to try punch art in MDS - My Design Studio, which is Stampin' Up! answer for digital scrapping and calendar making and digital cards and all kinds of cool projects on your computer.

Jessica made a Lowe's man inspired by my UPS man. Isn't this fabulous?

While you can't "re-punch"  or punch around a hole, you  can layer your punches and you can ADJUST THE SIZE of the punch shape!  How handy would that be when I'm trying to find just the right size eyes? 

Thanks Jessica for sharing you awesome project.  And what a great tip for those of you who don't YET have all the Stampin' Up! punches - you can still make "punch art" if you have My Design Studio!  

I'm sorry I didn't share this with you sooner - because you have missed out on all the fun of punching in MDS.  Bad blogger.  If you can find me, you can beat me with some retiring ribbon.

Retiring Punch News

The retiring lists are out at Stampin' Up! today and you can bet that I skipped over the stamps and went right to the accessories list to see what the powers that rule were doing to my punch collection.  You'd think they'd leave me alone since they are taking away all my skin tone paper.

First glance was a wave of relief - nothing TOO major will be retired.  They are "reconfiguring" lots of punches - which I think means they will be repackaged somehow - or maybe switched to that new flat style of punch.  ???

The My Way Arrows will be leaving us - and while I have found this punch handy handy handy I will survive its retirement.  The flower trio is leaving too - I'm OK with that - there are plenty of things that can be substituted. But we have BAD BAD NEWS.....

Sad........

Depressing.......

AWEFUL news......

No more slot punch!      

Woe is me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Use these for:
Eyebrows (lots of eyebrows),
dog collars (including Snoopy's),
sword hilts,
links of chain,
fingers (biker, Linus),
dog tails,
earrings,
bowling shoes,
buckles on coats and shoes.

And all that is just what i can remember off the top of my head!

Punch art will go on with out the slot punch but it is tiny and it doesn't cost much and if you don't have one you should ORDER IT SOON because it is a handy one to have.  I promise it won't leave its prominent place in the best punch drawer.  It won't be moving into the retired drawer.  Nope - I'm keeping it front and center.

Now to go see what they are doing to my stamp collection...

Big Rig - Guest Puncher - Sue Bishop

Sue Bishop sent me this punch art and this message
"I want to share with you a card that I made for my husband - who is a truck driver/heavy equipment operator. We have been together 6 years now, and it has been the best years of my life. I wanted to give him something special for our anniversary, so I tried my hand at punching out a big rig! I think it turned out really well - and I was so glad to have the trio of small punches - the small circle was just the right size for the lights on the roof. I did make it with magnets on the back of it, so it can go on our fridge - but he wants the whole card displayed! I was lucky enough that he has mega pictures of trucks he has driven, and the red Kenworth was his favourite so that is what this is supposed to be."

Well Sue, I think it turned out really well too!  And thanks for letting me share - in case there are some other punchers who love "truck drivin' men"

Sue also sent this information to help you if you need to make this project:
Everything on it is Stampin' Up!, except for the words - they are computer generated. The tires are the round tab punch, but the edges have been left off - I punched a piece of paper that was fitting just inside the two notches that show you where to fold the tab. The silver pieces are the Brushed Silver card stock, and the big red pieces were cut, and then corners rounded. The windows used the small tag punch.

Memorial Day

Extending sympathy to all of you who have lost loved ones in military service.  The service and sacrifice they made deserves our utmost respect. 

May your memories of these heros bring you comfort.

Back to the Bar

When I was making the back view of a blog babe (Joan's idea - see yesterday's post), I thought I'd try her sitting on a bench looking at a sunset on the beach. 

Well, somehow.... she wound up on a bar stool with an umbrella drink in her hand.  Maybe the Inspiration Fairy was having a hard day and needed a little extra somethin' to relax?

Let's hope she doesn't poke her eye out with that umbrella turned like that.

For safety sake, you might want to put the drink in her other hand.

Parts list:
Hat - wide oval and 1.25 circle - run through Square Lattice Embossing folder
Hat band - circle next to oval HOLE
Hair - scallop oval
back - butterfly
swim suit - butterfly - trimmed out back with scissors
arms - wide heart to heart next to wide heart to heart HOLE
hand - modern label tip punched with small circle in the new punch pack
Stool - all word window parts
Legs - middle arrow of My Way Arrow
Shoes - medium jewelry tag punch, trimmed

Drink from Cheers to You stampset.

Yeah, yeah the groovy guava cardstock and the pattern paper on the card are retired - but the wild wasabi in the suit is coming back!  Woo Hoo - Come on July and new catty stuff!!!!!  Retirement list comes out June 1 - oh!  that is Tuesday!!!!

Back on the Beach - Guest Puncher, Joan Hargrove

Remember Joan Hargrove?  She was the guest puncher that brought us the Nun and Priest a few months back.  Well, that wasn't all she sent me - I have been holding out on y'all.  She had a couple more great ideas. 

Joan took my butterfly blog babe and had her face the other direction.  Then she added two more girls for a trio of beach babes. 

How cute is that?   Don't answer, I already know that it is darling!  Joan is one clever girl.  I just held up on sharing because this is a summer theme - perfect for Memorial Day Weekend and the unofficial start of summer.

Tune in next time to see what I did with Joan's back of a butterfly blog babe idea.

Guest Puncher - Pam Findlay

I can only claim a little inspirational credit for this one...

Pam Findlay needed a card for her daughter's tennis coach so she combined my Opening Day baseball with Set to Serve Love tennis player.

I love her idea to combine these two characters and I LOVE her idea to use my FAVE embossing folder (new Square Lattice)  for the strings on the racket.

She reports that her daughter wasn't that crazy about this because she wanted a spinner card.  Oh well, can't please everyone, can we?  The rest of the team loved it.

Great job Pam!  Thanks for sharing your improvements.

How about you?  Have you fixed, combined, altered or improved some of my ideas?  I'd sure love to see what you have done...  You know where to find me!

Pool Boy!

On the VC Rocks group I talk about, we have a "virtual" hotel and there is lots of silly talk about who the "pool boys" would be.  I issued a scrapbook challenge to them this week and the winner is to get a punch art creation from me - so I thought a punched pool boy would be the appropriate prize.

Well, it is a BOY in a Pool!

Oops! His arm and foot are supposed to be in the water - I'll adhere that arm a little better before I mail it off!

There are a few days left to join the group - on May 30 the doors lock.  VC Rocks

EDIT to add the "parts list"
Head - word window


Nose - wing from Two Step Bird

Body/Suit - small oval

Hat - small oval and modern label

Sunglasses - scallop border

Legs - square next to square hole

Arms - oval next to oval hole

Foot - modern label repunched with word window

Hand - modern label repunched with new small circle in the punch pack

float - rectangle - rounded ends with large circle punch

Pool - coluzzle (dust off first)

Atypical Fun in the Sun

Yes, that is me in the photo - on a vacation 4 years ago - a very rare photo since I am usually the one behind the camera.  Martha's Vineyard - what a great trip!

This page was my submission for a challenge that I issued to the VC Rocks group - to do a scrapbook page with the theme "light".  These ladies are primarily card makers and usually ignore my scrapbooking challenges but the few that have trickled in have been great!

The punch tip from this page is to use the petals of the 5 petal flower as your sun rays - the sun is approximately 2 1/2 inches - use your circle scissor plus for that.

I used the alpha from the summer mini "rough type" clear mounted for the "atypical" beside the photo - oh wow is that easy to do with the clear mount!  I'm a wood mount girl but for alphas?   - no more wood for me! - this was so easy to get right the first time.

3D flower Wedding Card

I'm a little behind the trends sometimes  - OK, most of the time. 

I have seen some fabulous, FABULOUS flowers made out of punches.  Rhea has an awesome one from my precious ornament punch.  Well, I'm sure she used HER ornament punch since mine never went missing, but you know what I mean.

Then my online buddy, Patrice, showed me how to make flowers from the scallop circle punch here.  And I immediately went and tried it - too easy!  And these are my first three flowers - I had to play with sizes!

The one on the card has 8 punches - the smaller two have 4 and 6 and they all look fabulous.

I followed Patrice's directions except my middle name is "impatience" so mine were still a little damp when I assembled - that was OK - I think it made it easier to do the last scrunching.

This card uses my fave embossing folder, the new Square Lattice, and also the lovely Finial Press.  And I think everything is popped up on dimensionals.  Obviously this has to be a "hand delivered" card so why not just keep on adding dimension?  Well, that was my thought process, anyway.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (my current go-to sentiment set) and I stamped with Sahara Sand ink because I wanted the monochromatic look - I tried Soft Suede but even that was too dark.  Wishing SU still sold Organdy ribbon - that was perfect for wedding and baby cards....

Easy Breezy Stamp and Squeezy

No, it isn't a punch character but it is a card ALL out of punches....

Some things are just so cute you need to copy them AT ONCE.  That is how I felt when I saw this card by Erica at PinkBuckarooDesigns.  Of course I changed it a tad (but not much).  I wrote a detailed tutorial for a make and take here - but you probably won't need it.

Coyote on a Card

Just thought I'd show you the card that Friday's coyote wound up on....

Friend to Friend Duck

I have a lot of punch going on with this card...

The duck came first.  I spied a little duck smelling a flower (clip art in someone's signature line on a forum I was reading).  So cute!  It had a little movement and was just darling.

Of course, anything THAT cute had to at least be ATTEMPTED with punches and this is the result.

Head - 1 inch circle
Beak - smallest heart to heart
Wing - narrow heart to heart - rounded at the point with scissors and trimmed on one end for "feathers"
Body - 1.75 inch circle trimmed just a little on one side
Foot - 1 inch circle trimmed - section cut off can become the hidden foot
Tail  - little plus sign looking punch in the punch pack in the summer mini - layered 2 of these

Draw on eye and eyebrow.

One key to the duck's "cuteness" is some sponging.  I used bashful blue on the whisper white paper and tangerine tango on pumpkin pie paper

Mutt on a Card

I have on online friend that had to put her precious pooch to sleep this week. Anyone who has gone through this with a beloved pet knows it is hard and sad and well, just awful.

Sympathy cards for dogs may seem silly but let's face it - most dogs are more lovable than some of your relatives, aren't they?

This card is on its way to my friend.  Hope she feels the love I tucked inside.

Paw prints are from D is for Dog.

EDIT: Punch directions can be found HERE

Coyote

Back when I did Road Runner, Patti requested Coyote.

It took me awhile but I think I got pretty close.

It looks like a long list of punches but it is just 5 of them this time. 

Heart to Heart, Small Oval, Word Window, Modern Label, 1 inch circle

Ears - pieces of small oval

Head - narrow Heart to Heart

Eyebrows - narrow Heart to Heart next to narrow Heart to Heart hole

Eyes - small Heart to Heart

Muzzle - Word window repunched to make shorter and piece of word window trimmed

Nose - scrap bit off my desk - you could use the tip of the word window or small oval

Chest - small oval next to small oval hole

Body - word window

Arms - wide Heart to Heart next to wide Heart to Heart hole

Hands - small oval on both ends of modern label

Leg - narrow Heart to Heart next to narrow Heart to Heart hole

Other leg - small oval next to small oval hole

Feet - small ovals trimmed by hand

Tail - 1 inch circle trimmed by hand

Draw lines on muzzle and dots for eyes.

Of course you will need an ACME box or a giant boulder or some kind of "catch Road Runner" prop for it to REALLY look like Wiley Coyote!

Try "outlining" his eyebrows and muzzle with black marker - I think they would look better but I don't have time to remake this if I'm gonna get it scheduled to post at midnight.  I'm headed to bed RIGHT NOW.

Ruh-roh...

I am bad with names and I am worse with birthdays so... I like to have an assortment of pre-made BELATED birthday cards.

Once upon a time I made the "I Forgot Elephant" and the "Forgetful Fish"  And now I give you "Ruh-roh, I forgot your Birthday!"

How to make Scooby Doo:
Head - small oval flatten a little at top and a 1 inch circle repunched with the edge of the butterfly
Ears - smallest Heart to Heart
Nose - 3/4 inch circle at corner of paper
Eyes - newest small circle in punch pack - stuck in a larger circle punch and snipped
Neck - piece of Modern Label
Body - piece of Full Heart
Front legs - Full Heart punched next to Full Heart hole (pointed end)
Paws - small oval around ends of Modern Label
Collar - 3/4 inch circle around 1/2 inch circle hole

I used Chocolate Chip, Kraft and 2 returning in-colors - Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango.  I think the current Dusty Durango ribbon still works with this so there ya go...

I tried making Scooby's back end but didn't think I got it very well so I made him a Partial Scooby Doo.

Here is a photo of my attempt - the sizing just wasn't right...

Somebody Sam

You might know this character as Yosemite Sam but that is not his name at our house.

Living close to Six Flags over Texas means we had season passes for years (too many years).  With my girls being 5 years apart, theme parks were a challenge since one was able to ride many more rides than the other. 

The Yosemite Sam ride was a multi-person boat ride in a cool and dark tunnel as you move down a slow moving river watching the Warner Brother characters in a western tale.  This is the perfect "all ages" ride and quite a welcome relief from the heat.

But with the dark and the sound of "gun fire" it was scary to "kid who lives at home" when she was a little tyke.  For at least 2 summers she rode in terror with her eyes shut tight.  I finally convinced her to open her eyes at the end where she saw Sheriff Bugs had "Somebody Sam" in jail.  After that she was ready to ride!  But the name she used stuck in our family vocabulary.  I have to make a conscious effort to remember Yosemite - because Somebody Sam just pops out.

Here are his parts:

Hat - approx 2.5 inch circle trimmed

Head - black 1 inch circle

Eyebrows - narrow Heart to Heart

Eye - plus sign from NEW punch pack trimmed

Moustache - part of Full Heart

Nose - word window re-trimmed to make shorter

Ears - small Heart to Heart cut in half

Body - Full Heart trimmed

Arms - Wide oval around small oval hole

Hands - 1/2 circle at ends of modern label

Legs - 1 3/8 circle near 1 inch circle hole

belt - oval near oval hole trimmed

buckle - scrap

kerchief - standard hole punch, small Heart to Heart cut in half

and his boots are the smallest Heart to Heart - trimmed as shown

I didn't do his guns.  I don't like guns.  You are on your own for that.

YES! A Name Change is in Order

It is official, I will have to change

"College Girl" to "The Graduate".

I love these tri-shutter cards - it is fun decorating each little "spot"

Last post was the card I'm sending to "regular graduates".

This is the card we gave THE GRADUATE.

I confess, there is a significant amount of contraband on this card but I wanted to use what I wanted to use!  (stomping foot and putting defiant look on my face)

In keeping with her school's colors, I used bravo burgundy and whisper white.  (And black and silver.)  So glad I had the brushed silver paper because it looks so much "fancier" than using basic gray.

The TU is an old old old sizzix die that I have had for a decade (or two) because the SU ones are TOO BIG for the space I had.

The 2010 is the SU Simple Numbers die which I have found to be a NECESSITY (not a luxury) in my stack of dies for the Big Shot!  I ran the numbers through the Square Lattice embossing folder (like I have been doing so many things lately)- just give in and buy it - it is FABULOUS for adding texture to small things!

All the stamps except "go you" are some that my bestest customer Samantha gave me when she realized college girl was graduating.  "Go You" is from the new Go Graduate set in the summer mini catalog.

OK, lets get down to the part you came for - The Happy Graduate!

If she looks familiar it is because the tennis player and the graduate are basically the same character. 

(This is why I knew the hair change and smaller nose would make the tennis player look more feminine)

Head - 1.25 inch circle

Nose - 1/2 inch circle trimmed on each side

Mouth - piece of small oval, draw on teeth

Hair - 2 key tag (retired) snipped with small star,  piece of circle punch for bangs

Neck - My way arrow

Body - small oval for shoulders, butterfly punch for dress - snipped straight at hem

Gown - large ovals (front) about a 2.5 circle (back) small oval (sleeves) - all run through the new Square Lattice embossing folder

Mortar board - 1 3/8 inch square punch

Arms - oval ring from large oval around small oval hole

hands - 1/2 inch circle at end of modern label

legs - wide heart from Heart to Heart next to the hole from that same heart

Shoes/Feet- 5 petal flower trimmed 

Diploma - scrap punched with small oval until I got the look I wanted.  Just play with it!

Decorated the three panels on the back - 2 with mushy stuff and signatures and the third one with a little band to hold CASH.  She will be picking out her "real" graduation gift when she gets settled into her own place.


Now, cross your fingers that before too long "The Graduate" can be known as "Career Girl".

Go Graduate!

Hello! Hello!

If you are on the inaugural VC Rocks Blog Hop and just arrived here from Tina Taves blog, WELCOME to my acre of blog-land.  If you are a regular reader, you already know you are welcome (and thank you and please, and all those other magic words your mama taught you)

As you read this, I am on my way to see my college girl GRADUATE!  Yes!!!!  She is walking the stage after four years of hard labor with a double major.  Anyone need to hire a smart, beautiful English/Communications Major?

With my mind on graduation, I decided to focus today's post on the Go Graduate stampset in the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini catalog.

The feet are actually on one long stamp - 10 feet long! 

 (Ten feet - as in 5 pair of shoes or 50 toes - NOT 120 inches, heh heh heh) 

• I colored the shoes with black marker and water-colored the robes with an aqua painter and black ink.  Then I punched them using the 1.25 inch square punch. 
• Stamped the hat on white and punched with the 1.25 inch square punch 
• I used the Medallion background stamp for the "pattern" squares - stamped in black on whisper white then punched in various spots with the 1.25 inch square punch.
• I ran black cardstock through the Big Shot with the new Square Lattice embossing folder (also from the summer mini) for the darkest squares.      helpful hint: EMBOSS then PUNCH with the 1.25 square punch - the embossing draws up the paper just a tiny bit so those squares will be just a tiny bit smaller if you punch then emboss.  You wouldn't notice the size difference except on a card like this with all the other squares.
•  Added a bit of black grosgrain ribbon to one of the 2 basic gray squares
• The sentiment from Go Graduate was stamped in a strip 4.25 x 5/8 inch.  Mounted on 4.25 x .75 inch strip of black.
• Making the mortar board is simple - I used the 1.25 inch circle punch.  Punched in twice with the 3/4 inch circle.  The flat top is a 3/4 inch strip of cardstock - hold it on an angle (45 degree) and snip twice to make your rhombus shape.
• The "button" on the top is a brad.  Don't have a black brad?  No problem.  This is actually a silver brad that I rubbed on my Stazon ink pad (LUV that stuff)  I punched a hole before I inserted the brad - keeps the cardstock from 'bending' when you poke the brad through.

• The tassel is a piece of white grosgrain - raveled and tied in a knot.  To ravel your ribbon, make a straight cut (NOT a pretty diagonal one) then pull just a little bit at the cut and you should be able to get one long strand to come loose.  Just hold on to the rest with your fingers (don't drop it!) and you can tie it in a knot.  You will punch a tiny hole in your mortar board for your brad - so thread one end of the grosgrain through that hole and adhere on the back.  I trimmed off about half of the "above the knot" ravels off  - leaving an amount I could get through the hole.

I am personalizing the graduation cards I send out this year by using the school colors as the card base. This one is Real Red but I also will be making a green, a purple, 2 maroon and 2 blue. I was expecting more announcements - oh graduates.... where are you?

I hope you will take time to check out the rest of the stops on the VC Rocks Blog Hop.

VC Rocks is a fun fun fun high volume of email yahoo group (that I have mentioned several times before). 

VC stands for virtual celebration (or virtual convention) and the group was started for demos who were not attending the "real" Stampin' Up! Convention in the summer.  This summer marks the 10th anniversary of the group - and we have many ladies who go to convention AND celebrate virtually.  We also have many SU fans who are not demonstrators who join us as we swap, have classes, challenges, games and general merriment.  VC Rocks is accepting new members through May 30 then we lock the doors and PARTY through the summer. I started this blog last summer primarily because of the encouragement of the VC Rocks ladies and I'd have missed out on all THIS fun is it wasn't for them!  We'd love to have you join us.  There is still time!

The next stop on the blog hop is Barbara Furlong's blog   Please stop by and see what she has created.  If you get lost along the hop you can find all the blogs here.

WHAT?

I am so sorry I haven't punched anything for you all in the last couple of days.  I have spent plenty of time with paper and punches but I'm working on non-blog items.  'WHAT!' you exclaim, 'YOU HAVE A LIFE OUTSIDE THIS BLOG?' Yes, it is true.  I am unfaithful to the blog occasionally and actually craft things that you will never see here.  Shameful I know.  Begging your forgiveness.....

As part of my remorse, I am giving you a link to another great project - an item that I have attempted but set aside in the round failure bin next to my desk.  Look HERE - Rachel Capps punched a fabulous guitar and she has a tutorial WAY more detailed than the ones I give you all - don't get too spoiled with her post. She also has a fabulous "bat man belt" for those of you with superhero needs.

I will have a post for you tomorrow.  I'm participating in my first "blog hop".

Set to Serve Love

The title of this post includes every detail I know about tennis.  But I have received NUMEROUS requests for a punched tennis player so .... here ya go punch fans










While I consider this a woman it is almost a unisex player.  The hair is the new COG punch  (makes me think of short dread locks)

Change the hair and make a smaller nose to make her more feminine.
Fatten the belly or lengthen the shirt a bit and you'll have a man.

To make the tennis player:
Head - 1.25 inch circle
Nose - wing from two step bird
Mouth - piece of small oval, draw on teeth
Hair - Cog
Neck - My way arrow
Body - word window
Shirt - 1 inch circle, trimmed flat at belly, snipped with small star for neck
Sleeves - ends of word window
Arms  - oval ring from large oval around small oval hole
hands - 1/2 inch circle at end of modern label
Shorts - 1/2 butterfly punch trimmed at leg holes
legs - wide heart from Heart to Heart next to the hole from that same heart
Shoes - butterfly re-trimmed with small oval
Racket - ring from large oval around small oval hole  and strip for handle and retired canvas background stamp on oval for strings
Ball - 1/2 inch circle - draw on white line

The Years are Racing By...

I got a request for Lightening McQueen (from the movie Cars for those of you who might not have little kids) but was not very successful with my attempt (Sorry)

I did wind up with this cute little red car though, so by putting him on a checkered background I hope you get the "race" idea.  This will be a birthday card - because the years "race by"

I made the background by using a Stamping Spot directly to paper.

Added the checked gingham ribbon for his "road"

The sentiment stamp is retired (sorry again)

For the car:

Car top - large oval - trimmed slight slant on each "end" - draw line near top

Card body - wide oval - trimmed flat top and bottom to make it approximately an inch thick, snip in on bottom corners with 3/4 inch circle punch for wheel wells - trace edge of large oval for "hood"

Windshield - part of butterfly punch - snip flat on one "eye"

Color of eyes - blue and black circles from new punch pack

Headlights - slot punch - trimmed to slant

Grill/Mouth - small oval next to small oval hole

Tires - 3/4 inch circle - trimmed flat on each side

A Little Birdy Told Me

Just a quicky card using some bold bright paper that is being retired in June.  The bird was inspired by a card by Annaka Crockett on page 23 of the current Paper Crafts magazine.

SU Punches - beak just a triangle scrap.  Pattern Paper is from my stash.

Happy Mothers Day!

Look what was on my desk this morning!

Look that my desk was clean enough to set something on it! 

I have been a cleaning out/cleaning up fool this week which is why I haven't had  many posts.  Still some scrapping stuff to weed through but I'm planning some punch time this afternoon (after hubby hops a plane).

I think breakfast will be a taquito at What-a-burger (Texas chain).  Lunch at my fave Tex Mex.  And for dinner I'll send 'Kid still at Home' out for a Pizza.  You can tell I don't require fine dining on "my" day - just NO COOKING!

Happy Mothers Day!  Hope you are pampered too!!

Pink Leggo

Most of the time my projects have a looooooooooooong list of punches. Today I have a project that requires ONE punch and just a tiny bit of easy trimming.

Yes, I know you have seen flamingos from punches before - but this is a little different look and seriously - this is nothing but the two step bird punch.

Body - bird with beak trimmed off

Neck and Legs - branch with all but the end leaf cut off

Head and Beak - wing



Ta da! Flamingo or Pink Leggo as my girls used to call them....

Happy National Nurse's Day

I heard a little rumor that today is National Nurses Day.  Where would we be without our fabulous nurses in our schools, our hospitals, our clinics and offices?  Thanks for all you do ladies and gentlemen - you are, literally, Life Savers!

Re-posting my nurse in your honor.  We recognize that your feet are always movin'.  Hope everyone you know takes time today to thank you for all your hours of service. 

BIG HUGS to you nurses!

In another galaxy on another blog....

Despite the quick creation of the school bus, I am at a lull in punch creativity - several things in work but nothing has reached the sharing point.

But to keep you busy while I punch, I am going to point you in the direction of another galaxy - Monica Steele has a "newish" blog and she has some really cute Star Wars characters on this post.  She doesn't have directions but these characters are not super complex so you can probably copy them without too much difficulty. 

And if you are a Star Wars fan (or love one) you WILL want to copy what Monica has come up with.  Go check it out!

Somedays the time is right

Got a request TODAY for a school bus. 

Nope, I never thought about making one - when do you need it by - yadda yadda - no promises - I'll try..... and then....BINGO - I made a school bus. 

Beth needs one for her grandson's birthday and she must have made a deal with the Inspiration Fairy because it fell into place in just a few minutes.

Yes I cheated - the "school bus" was added onto the photo - but you certainly could stamp it.

Start with a 3x4.25 rectangle - snip in with your 1.25 inch square punch (or trim with your trimmer)

Round your corners - my corner rounder wouldn't "fit" correctly so I just stuck the corners into a 1.25 circle  punch as far as it would go and punched - instant rounding

Windshield - part of word window

Windows - 3/4 squares - rounded by sticking into the 1/2 inch to round the corners because the pieces are too small to hold to stick in the corner rounder

2 stripes are from trimmer

Tires - 1.25 circle and new circle punch (in the summer mini)

Bumpers - shortened word window

Stop sign - 1 inch circle - trimmed with scissors into octagon

Headlight and Taillights - 1/2 inch circle

Sooooo Easy!

I'm home!

I haven't gone three days without posting since the blog started - did ya miss me?

It was a great weekend!  Well, the blow out on the way down wasn't so fun...

But before I tell that long story - here is one of the pages I did this weekend - using Rocker Chick

 

Real 'music playing' guitar sculpture in Seattle - from our trip there in '09

Stop reading if you just came for punch stuff

If you want to hear my tale of the tire, read on...

Picture little old fat gray haired me on the shoulder of the Interstate, semis whooshing by at 70 mph, unloading all my scrapping equipment onto the side of the road so I could get to my spare tire.

Picture me huddled as close to the car as possible, loosening lug nuts and jacking up the car.

Picture me so proud of myself as I think I have got this thing conquered!

Picture me with black hands and black knees as I struggle and struggle and cuss and stomp because the tire WILL NOT COME OFF.

Call hubby - out of town - doesn't answer phone.

Call hubby's best friend - doesn't answer phone.

Call a roadside assistance number for hometown (even though I am way down the road) and ask what I could possibly be doing wrong.  She says to kick the tire - top bottom and both sides.  NO PROBLEM - I am plenty frustrated and can kick the dickens out of that tire.  She says "not too hard or the car will come off the jack".  I say "uh oh, I am in trouble".

Kicking does no good - traffic still whizzing by - I'm getting hotter and dirtier with each passing minute - approximately 45 minutes out there so far....

Picture me about to cry but pulling it together as I pull out the phone book I keep in the trunk and look for a wrecker service to come save me.

As I am dialing, my knight in a shiny white pick-up pulls over and I'm saved.

Except

HE can't get the tire off either. 

Fortunately in Texas, knights have tools so he pulls a long pole (not a lance) out of the bed of his truck and uses leverage to "unstick" my tire - puts on the spare and gives me directions to the tire repair in town.  This knight even helps me reload the car and gives me a bottle of water to pour over my grimy hands.

A LONG wait at the tire shop and I am back in business - 3 hours later than I wanted to arrive but there - safe and sound.

Thank goodness for Knights driving White Trucks!

Sending hugs to all those husbands, brothers, dads, boyfriends, and car smart women who have ever stopped to help a stranded old lady!  Please know that she really really really appreciates the help!