My Sweet Girl

The girls in my house have to stick together.  We are outnumbered.  You can see just how affectionate my girl is just from this photo Seriously, we were sitting on the couch, and she leaned her head on my shoulder.  True story!  I just so happen to have my phone in my hand and here you have it.

It is not often that I stick to a color pallet that I have in mind, it usually takes twist and turns and then I have a whole rainbow of colors I swore I would stay away from.  But this time I stuck to my my original gold and pink pallet pretty well.

Mary-Ann

Jillibean Soup Blog

I am pretty excited to share that one of my Mini Album projects has been highlight or spotted over at the Jillibean Soup Blog today.  Click here to check it out!

Or, I shared it before on this blog and you can see the complete album here!

Catch-up

I have been very busy lately, researching and then buying and then waiting on my new computer.  I can probably go days without using it but when gone from the house and at the apple store, all I can think to do has to do with that machine!  It is frustrating.  Thought I was prepared but I wasn't!  So in the meantime, I sorted my sequins.  I stopped at MY favorite little antique store last week and found the PERFECT solution for these little guys.  I can not wait to share it with you, problem is, I didn't have enough to fill what I bought and now need to wait for more to arrive in the mail.  As long as the display looks pretty right?  Isn't that what it is all about!

Oh these colors make me happy!  I also signed up for the Studio Calico ColorTheory class that starts in March so I am pretty excited!  I need color to put an end to this drab winter.  

Be back soon!

Mary-Ann

Tutorial: Gift card holder

Yesterday I was on The Rubber Cafe blog but forgot to post here!!  Not sure what I was thinking.  I shared how to create a gift card holder card.  I've also included a tutorial on how to magnify your stamps!

I started with the cream card stock cut 8 1/4 x 5 1/2, folded in half. Before I started layering my papers, I needed to find out how large I need my first block of paper to be that will hold my gift card pocket.  

To create the transparent pocket for my gift card, I traced the edges of my gift card on a page protector I had on hand.  I traced these lines slightly larger than the card.

I ran it through my sewing machine to create edges.  

I used my paper trimmer to cut out the block, being sure to cut on the OUTSIDE of my sewed lines.  

Not happy with the look, I put it back in my sewing machine and sewed all three sides to create a more uniformed look.  

I added this pocket to paper.  Then I layered a few other papers for design.  This is how the pocket looks on the completed card.

For the next step of the card, I wanted to add the cool thermal coffee cup to my pocket. The stamp itself was slightly too small for what I had in mind. So, I stamped it on paper and ran it through my copy machine magnified by 150%. Be sure to use cardstock that is sturdy.

Next I laid down my print paper over the copied image

And ran it through the copier again, I wanted to use the patterned paper on the center of the cup.

I carefully trimmed out both copies with fine tip scissors and attached the floral paper to the cup.  Now I have the really cool stamped thermal coffee cup, but at a much larger scale.  You could do this technique with any of the stamps.

I stamped and trimmed out my title.

You can see from this angle that I layered my title around my coffee cup with various levels of foam tape.

Here is my completed card.  Any type of gift card can be added, for any event!

Tata,

Mary-Ann