My kids are 5 and 7. They will go and play all day, but when I work on my cards or scrapbooks, or any such project in my craft area, my kids follow me like lost puppies and want to join right in.
This particular project is great for a variety of occasions, I first had my kids make Christmas cards for the grandparents.
I found stencil sets (6 per book) at Amazon.com (you will find I am a HUGE Amazon fan) from Dover Little Activity Books, each one is $1.50 (and if you buy 3 the 4th is free). The stencils are made out of sturdy paper and they have a wide selection- we personally own 2 Christmas books, dinosaurs, and fairies.
I use white paper the size of a card, have then trace the stencil on the “front,” then color it.
For Christmas they used colored glitter glue to decorate the traced designs. Whatever they use, it makes a cute card, it’s easy enough, and it keeps them entertained for quite some time. On top of that- it’s inexpensive and the grandmothers will LOVE IT! What more could you ask for?
On my last post, a video, I showed you how easy it is to make your own designer paper. I promised that I would also show you what I had in plan for that paper. I’ve used the paper for what is referred to as a “One Sheet Wonder.” Basically you use one sheet of paper to make a set of coordinating cards, I’ve seen anywhere from 6 to 10 cards- I used my paper to make 7 cards.
Cut the 8.5″ x 11″ paper into fourths and then into different shapes and sizes to use for making your cards.
Using coordinating ink, paper, and a few embellishments you can create a set of coordinating cards. These make great gifts too!
Tempting Turquoise cardstock and classic ink; Orchid Opulence cardstock and classic ink; Pixie Pink cardstock and classic ink; Whisper White cardstock; Versa-Mark; Always and One of a Kind stamp sets.
Tempting Turquoise cardstock and classic ink; Pixie Pink cardstock and classic ink; Orchid Opulence cardstock and classic ink; Whisper White cardstock; Turquoise ribbon; Versa-Mark; One of a Kind and Whimsical Words stamp sets.
Green Galore cardstock and classic ink; Orchid Opulence cardstock and classic ink; Pixie Pink cardstock; Whisper White cardstock; Always and Whimsical Words stamp sets.
Orchid Opulence cardstock and classic ink; Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore classic ink; Whisper White cardstock; One of a Kind and Whimsical Words stamp sets.
Published on
February 4, 2010 in
Blog.
I love to work with designer paper, the only problem is that it’s not always easy finding paper that coordinates with the paper and ink I already have (if only I had them all!). The current Stampin’ Up catalog makes this easier by listing the exact colors used in their paper assortments, but I want to show you how you can create your own designer paper.
http://stampforfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/CreatingDesignPaper_conv.flv
So I’ve been working with my new loot from my demonstrator’s starter kit. I’m learning to use some new stuff, specifically the pastels, the two step stamps, and the Versa-Mark. At first I just played around a little trying to get a look at the stamps and the colors, etc.
Then I started to put together some cards. Each one was playing with something a little bit differently. My first card was with the bird from the Always stamp set, I really like this bird. I wanted to use a single card color and white so I chose something darker, Perfect Plum. Here’s what I made, I like the way it turned out with the white contrast against the dark background color.
Perfect plum cardstock, classic ink, and designer series paper; Whisper white cardstock and craft ink; Always stamp set.
Next I wanted to try out the pastels. This is what I created, simple and elegant.
I wanted to play with my alphabet set and figure out good ways to use it. Here’s what I made.
Whisper White cardstock; Pixie Pink, Tempting Torquoise, and Green Galore classic inks; One of a Kind and Jumble Alphabet stamp sets; pastels.
I also worked on the two step stamping and the Versa-Mark, but I don’t love what I’ve created yet. Not even liked it enough to post it. It is yet to come!
I keep an acordian folder hanging from the table where I work. When I’m working on scrapbooks I toss pictures in the folder when they don’t make it on my page. When I’m making cards I add scraps of paper, ribbons, stickers, etc to the folder- if it’s something I don’t want to save.
I do save lots of scraps, but I throw things in this folder as well. This is my kids’ folder. They know they can go there and take out whatever they want to make their “projects.” They love to use these scraps and pictures for cards, frames, books, and all kinds of other things. It’s a great way for me to keep my supplies cleaned up a bit and it allows them to have new things of their own to work with.
Published on
January 28, 2010 in
Blog.
Well, it took some time to get the video uploaded, it’s a big file. Also, in the video I keep talking about how excited I am. Although it doesn’t sound like it, I really was chomping at the bit to get into that box. I’ve be working on some new projects with my new goodies (my daughter was home sick today so that slowed me down), check back for the postings. And… I’m looking forward to hosting a workshop for you in the very new future! Go ahead and book a date before my schedule gets too full.
http://stampforfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/DemoKit.m4v
So here’s the deal… I’m having technical difficulty loading my video from yesterday on my site. So for today you get a craft for your kids to do.
This is a simple projects for your kids, making cute little magnets. For this project you will need: bottlecaps, pictures and/or paper for stamping images or drawing. You will also need ribbon, glue, and magnets.
Have your child cut the pictures into small circles so that the pictures fit inside the bottlecaps. Add a dab of glue to the pictures so they will stay in place.
Add ribbon from the back of the bottlecap as a decorative effect. Once the magnet is attached your project is complete.
My kids love to do these types of projects and we often use them as gifts for grandparents.
Please note: My 5 year old daughter made these (I only helped a little bit) so you could get a true representation of what our final project might look like!
Published on
January 25, 2010 in
Blog.
The word is in… and I’ve been tracking my package all the way from Utah… my starter set will be arriving tomorrow! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am. I’ve also registered for an online account with Stampin’ Up so that all of you can order from my online site. You can do this anytime from stampforfun.com by clicking on the “SU Store” tab or by going to http://griet.stampinup.net. I’ve also set up links to all the current catalogs on the sidebar of this site so that you can quickly browse anytime you want. Come back soon to check out what came in my starter kit box! This will be my first video, I hope I can get it to work.
Published on
January 25, 2010 in
Blog.
If you place an order at Snapfish.com (I plan to order a 5×7 enlargement) you will receive 100 free 4×6 prints. You will still have to pay shipping and handling costs, but this is still a deal. And no fighting traffic, they come straight to your door. Use the code PRINTSNEW when checking out. Hurry, this deal ends on Wednesday (Jan 27th).
In the 2009/2010 Stampin’ Up Idea Book and Catalog there is a stamp set and punch that coordinate. This is a great idea and I hope that Stampin’ Up starts doing this more often.
The stamp set is Flight of the Butterfly (item 111564) and the larger butterfly can be punched out with the Butterfly punch (item 116629). I love using this stamp set and have created tons of little butterflys to use on my cards.
Whisper White and Old Olive cardstock; Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, and Rich Razzleberry classic ink; Whisper White craft ink. Stamped images punched using the Butterfly punch. Overlay stamping accomplished with the Stamp-a-ma-jig.
I made a set of cards using this stamp set, here is one example.
Chocolate Chip cardstock as card base; Old Olive and Whisper White cardstock; Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Pumpkin Pie classic ink; Whisper White craft ink.
There are a few other stamp sets that coordinate with punches. The new I {Heart} Hearts stamp set (in the Occasions mini catalog) coordinates with the Heart to Heart punch and the Full Heart punch. I just purchased the One of a Kind stamp set and I suspect it coordinates wit the Boho Blossoms punch (there’s nothing that says so in the catalog), I’ll let you know what I find out. There are also several stamp sets that coordinate with the shaped punches (like ovals, squares, etc).
[Update 25 Jan 09: A friend just pointed out that Heart to Heart punch also coordinates with the Love You Much stamp set. Thank you, Joan.]
I look forward to Stampin’ Up introducing more and more of these coordinating sets!
