by Stacey Cogswell, Independent Stampin'Up Demonstrator

Monday, October 29, 2012

Fall Cider Pocket

At the last camp we created a Hot Cocoa pocket complete with a peppermint stick, so I thought it would be fun to show you another version. 
Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
So as you can see, it's the same idea just instead of cocoa packet I've got a cider packet and instead of a peppermint stick I used two cinnamon sticks.  To make the pocket, take a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of card stock and score it at 5 1/2".  Next, using your Simply Scored Diagonal Plate score at 5 3/4" at an angle.  This created corner triangle will be folder under to the inside. If you like, at this point you could dry emboss the front of the pocket to add some more interest to the project.  I used the Orchard Harvest Designer Series paper, the Scentsationl Season stamp set with matching framelits and the super cool 1/4" Sweater trim to tie everything together.  The large circle behind the the mug, is the 2 1/2" circle punch.  For the stick in the cup I cut out a brown "candy cane", cut off the end, sponged it and wha-la....you have a cinnamon stick.   Think of all the people that would love to receive a warm cup of cider!

Smiles,
Stacey

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Fall Hello


Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
This a simple card, but it still has the WOW factor.  I simply took a piece of Vanilla cardstock and sponged it with ink.  Here I used Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie.  The only trick to sponging is to start the sponge off the paper and work onto the paper you're coloring.  Add more or less ink until you get the look you like. For this card I first sponged the cardstock and them heat embossed the image over the top. I used the stamp set My Friend.  I used Early Espresso embossing powder and cardstock along with Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie.

Give this technique a try and let me know what you think.

Smiles,
Stacey

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Wide Eyed Owl

A few months ago I saw a card in Paper Crafts magazine that I thought was a very cool and a good way to use little pieces of designer series paper..... if you're like me you can't stand to throw away even the smallest piece and you save them all, until one day you have so many of those little scrap that they start to over flow your work space and you're forced to either use them or else they will take over!....Wow, I might need a DSP scrap intervention!  Anyway, here is the card.
Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
Isn't this fun. Owls have been "big" over the last couple of years and I'm not really sure why.  I think it's just one of those things that comes around every 50 years or so, kind of like fashion.  I remember as a kid my Mom collected owls and she had everything under the sun with an owl on it, but her jewelry was the best.  I wonder if she still has any of that stuff, if she does, she'd be right back in style! 
This card was pretty easy to made.  The 4 1/4" x 11" card was folded in half and then cut on the top using the Adorning Accents Edgelit, making sure to cut only the center part of the fold.  The back of the eyes were made using large circle and scallop punches.  The center of the eye was created by adding a 1/2" punched circle to the center of one of the Natural Designer button....so cute!  The nose is the Pendent punch.  I used scraps of DSP from Orchard Harvest glued to a paper and then I cut with the Adorning Accents scallop edge before adding it to the front of the card.  Stamp a greeting and wa-la you've created a super fun card and used up some of those dreaded little pieces of paper you couldn't bare to to throw away! 

Enjoy!
Stacey

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

One more Halloween Treat!

Last July while at the Stampin'Up! convention these cute little fabric creations were being passed around by other demonstrators and I thought they were so cute.  If you're like me, I'm always looking for a way to use fabric with my Big Shot and this project was perfect.  Plus, it just one more great way to use the Big Shot and the Petal Cone die...it's a win, win! 
Created by Stacey Cogswell

It's a scissor holder!  I got the idea from fellow Stampin'Up! demonstrator Laurie Zoellmer.  Super easy to make and there is not a lick of sewing!  Just two piece of fabric, a piece of felt/batting, Wonder Under (iron on adhesive), an iron and a glue gun, plus the Big Shot with Petal Cone and Blossom Party dies.  I made this one for my neighbor with the same fabric that she helped me make a quilt out of and then I started digging through my stash of Stampin'Up! fabric and made a few more.  You might recall that I blessed at convention with about 20 boxes of fabric, so why not start using it.  If love fabric at a great price, Stampin'Up! has put last years fabric on the clearance rack....three fat quarters for only .99 cents!  I'll try to make some up with these clearance fabrics and post them next week.....until have a great day!

Smiles,
Stacey

Monday, October 22, 2012

October Customer Thank You Card

One of the things I love to do is to create a special new card for each of my customer that placed an order.  It's my way of showing my gratitude for their support and now that I'm started my customer Loyalty Programs it also gives me a place their earned tokens, if they will be receiving their card in the mail.  It's a lot of fun to come up with a card and a token that have the same theme.  This month, I created a card and a token using the Day of Gratitude (page 27 of main catty) stamp set.  The token was a little acorn "stamp" and here is the card:
Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
This was an easy card to create.  I took the Crumb Cake piece (4" x 5 1/4") along with the framelit from the Apothecary Accents set and ran in through the Big Shot to create am opening.  I then took this same piece of paper and stamped it with the background stamp called Netting (page 127)  I sponged the edge with Cajun Craze ink and stamped the leaves across the bottom.  I place a piece of Very Vanilla card stock behind the opening in the Crumb Cake piece and stamped the greeting in Early Espresso ink.  I then attached the ribbons and added a popped up cut out leave.  The Very Vanilla piece of card stock was added directly to the base of the card while the Crumb Cake piece was place on top with dimensionals.  There you have it!

Enjoy,
Stacey

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Back to Nature

For today's card I thought it would be fun to try and design a card around a sketch.  Sorry I don't have the original sketch, but this is what I came up with.

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
I love the new stamp set Wonderfall in the Hoilday mini catalog, especially the acorn, so I want to make a card using just it.  I was going for a very "wood/nature" feel, which I think I accomplished, but there is something just not right about this card.  Maybe too much Crumb Cake paper or maybe it's the other color choices, especially in the designer series paper.  Too bright?  It's hard to tell in the picture, but I tried to dress it up by adding some gold glitter paper and some shimmer to the wood grain in the background.  I just don't know.  I was having an off day as you can see.  What do you think?  I'd love to hear what you think I could have done differently. 

Smiles,
Stacey

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Button Pumpkin

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
This is a super fun card to create using the pumpkin stamp (or I guess just the stem) Button Buddies stamp set.  To start; stamp the image, punch out with a circle punch, add a button, layer it with a another circle punch and a scallop punch.  Add some design series paper, punch out a couple more circles, give them some dry embossing and accent with a little espresso Baker's twine. Add any greeting and in no time you've created a super cute card anyone wold love to have.

Enjoy,
Stacey

Friday, October 19, 2012

Oldie but Goodie



Wow, can you believe it.....I've posted a project now five days in a row!  I think I'm on a roll!  I've got lots more projects to show you, so I'm going to keep going.  The next projects will be more "Fall" like, but for today I wanted to post one last idea for Halloween.
Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
Several years ago, I made this little project for a Stampin'Up! convention swap and then I took all the parts with me to convention so all my friends at convention could make them as well.  I was going through a box of old projects a few weeks ago and saw this in the box.  It's a container of orange Tick-Tac's!  This project was one of those "I designed myself without any help" projects and I was very proud of it.  It's just a piece of paper scored to wrap round the container with a hole punched out to create the center of the pumpkin, but I thought I was being really clever.   If you wanted to re-create this you could.  I know the bat stamp is retired, but you could you the new bat stamp from the Googly Ghouls stamp set from the holiday mini.  Hope you like it...it's an Oldie but Goodie!

Smiles,
Stacey

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Pumpkin Box

Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
Do you own the Milk Carton Die and want to do more with it?  Well, today you're in luck.  You might remember that last Christmas I posted a box made out of 2 milk cartons, but I wanted to show you another version.  Isn't sweet!  It's real simple to create, just cut out 2 milk cartons and glue the tabs together round in a circle to create the tube.  It's hard to see in the picture, but I sponged the paper with ink and spritzed it with gold spritz spray (most of this can be done before putting the box together.)  The flaps on the bottom of the box will fold in nicely.  At the top of the box, hold each of the "triangle" section together and use the crop-a-dile to punch a small hole, do this all around to top making 6 holes.  Feed the ribbon around and tie a bow.  Stamp/cut out a couple of leaves and I added a couple of "curly" vines.  These were made by cutting a thin strip of paper and twisting it around a pencil.  Here is a view from the top of the box.
Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
Hope you give it a try.  See you again tomorrow!

Smiles,
Stacey

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kit.

Every time I hold a camp or a class I like to give each of my customers a little something special that I've made.  These gifts usually have something to with the theme of the camp and it gives them one more idea using the products from that class or camp.  The September Googly Ghouls Class was no different. All the projects were designed around the Ghoulish Googlies Designer kit.  These kits come with 20 pre-printed tags, 10 little bags, 50 wiggly eyes and 10 pieces of Baker's Twine for only $7.95.  It's a great deal and you can make all kinds of things with the elements....not just treats, but cards as well! (See post on 8/12/12  for some ideas.) After designing the projects for class I had  a few extra pieces from the kit left over so I took these pieces and made these little treats.....one for everybody to take home!
Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
I stamped/cut out a little bat (from the Googly Ghouls stamp set) for each and created a 3-D pumpkin by gluing four 3/4" circle together.  The stem from the Perfectly Preserved stamp set was stamped and cut out as well. The tag was made using the stamp set Tiny Tags (page 124 of main catty) and the tiny tag punch.  I used the 1/2" Striped Satin ribbon to tie the mini cello tube at the top. These little cello tubes are great!  They are 1" x 8" and you get 50 of them for only $2.50. If you want to make a super cute little treat for someone, these work great! 

Enjoy!
Smiles,
Stacey

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Creepy Mummy Card

Are you ready for another Halloween card?  Have you seen the new stamp set Googly Ghouls in the Holiday mini catalog on page 27?  I just think these little guys are more funny and cute that creepy, so I tried to think of a way to make them look more creepy......in the middle of the night the inspiration came to me...why not make a little teeny tiny coffin for the mummy to be peeking out of.  Pair this with some dark shaded clouds and you've got a pretty cool looking card.  Are you ready to see it?  Well, here it is!
Created by Stacey Cogswell
Copyright Stampin'Up!
So does the mummy now look creepy or does he still look cute?  Is is possible to make a smiling mummy creepy....hum...I don't think so, but I still love the way this card turned out.  I used the new 1/2" striped Satin Ribbon from page 26 of the mini catalog, dry embossed the background with the Square Lattice folder, scallop punched the bottom edge and heat embossed both the greeting (sorry it's retired, but I just had to use it!) and the design on the coffin door.  The paper colors are Basic Gray, Black, Whisper White and Pumpkin Pie. I used a scalloped mask and Basic Gray ink to create the clouds for the background. Lastly, the final detail...a wiggly eyeball!  You can buy a sheet of 50 adhesived-backed googly eyes for only $2.50.  Just think of all the little guys you could try to make creepy with these!

Smiles,
Stacey








Monday, October 15, 2012

Spooky Monsters...Oh My!

I thought it would be fun to post some of my current (plus some oldies but goodies) Fall/Halloween projects.  I want to post something every day (yes, I said everyday) for the next week, maybe more to get those creative juices flowing right so you can go right into the Christmas projects. So here goes....day one!

Halloween is coming up fast and if you're one of those people that likes to make little spooky treats then these little guys are for you!  My friend and fellow demonstrator made these for me...aren't the cute!  Can you guess what she used to make them?  Yes, it's the Petite Purse Die!

Created by Linda Ryals
Copyright Stampin'Up!
Here are some close up views of each purse.  Which one is your favorite?  I think mine is the mummy.  I love the way the closure tab looks like a tooth!



Enjoy!  Thanks Linda for sharing!  Make sure to come back tomorrow for another "spooky" project.

Smiles,
Stacey

Thursday, October 4, 2012

New Discovery with Framelits

I just love all the new Framelits that Stampin'Up! has come out with in the Holiday mini!  I've been going to town making all kinds of samples using these and the coordinating stamp sets and as I was doing this I discovered something really cool.  The "mug" die from the Holiday Framelits and the "jar" from the Cannery Framelits are perfect to layer!  I get all giddy just thinking about it!  It's so cool when you figure out something else to do with you tools and make then stretch further.  Let me show you what I mean:

Cut out a mug and cut off the handle piece, then.....

Cut out a jar.


Then cut the jar again with the same die.

Now layer them.
Isn't that cool!

Now stamp an image and make a little project.


Hope you like it and now are as giddy as I am!
Smiles,
Stacey