Bun in the Oven

I was at a local scrapbook store and found this oven stamp from Art Gone W*ld and thought it would be perfect for a someone who is expecting a baby- unfortunately they did not have the coordinating oven mitt and content inside stampset so I had to make do. I used base whisper white CS and used real red . I stamped the oven on the red and then cut what would be the inside to make a recessed window- see technique here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/recessedwindow/ I then took a basic grey cardstock and drew in the back of the oven and the racks using a black pen and mounted the bread (from comfort food set- SU retired) I stamped on white cardstock and colored in and mounted with dimensionals. I stamped another oven in white, cut out the oven door- around the top and sides and scored the bottom to allow it to open and mounted it on the red CS. I did stamp the oven mitt and colored it in but should have put the hanging tab on the left instead of center but oh well- too late. I then hand wrote the sentiment and pierced the margins to add a little more interest.

Inside is a sentiment from Occasional Quotes(hostess set) and a gift card. I stamped a few images from Clear Art st*mp company to add some baking accoutrements and voila! a fun little play on word card for someone expecting.

Lynda

My little list book

You've seen them before- the yellow notepads- you buy them by bulk and have an office supply store cut it in half for you lengthwise to get these notepads. I've covering them and giving them as gifts for a while but I was never happy with the closure. After my Christmas card closure idea I made this variation and it is not bad and I like the neatness of it.

It has a little pocket on the left for any loose papers or to add something in.

I took an 8 1/2x 11 poppy cardstock and scored it at 2 5/8, then another 2 5/8, then 1/4, 2 5/8, 1/4. This is all detemined by your notebad width and thickness. So score it 2 times, the width of your pad, once the thickness, once the width then the thickness again and what is left over is the closure. Because the pad was not quite 8 1/2 inches, I scored the bottom 5/8 inches so that the pad would fit perfect (and folding over the CS makes it more sturdy- for getting kicked around in your purse bottem!)

I used an oval cutter to cut the closure part.

I folded over the cover part and punched out a heart - but you can punch out any shape.

I also cut out the bottom of the pocket so that the pocket bottom would not be so bulky

When you open it up this is what it should look like.

Ii stuck a piece of packing tape on the pocket side so that the sticky would peek out from the other side- I KNOW you will be tempted to touch the sticky part but DON'T or you will not have a very strong closure and will have to rip it off- carefully and replace the tape. I freehand cut the S shape so the pocket could be easily used but you could just do it at an angle using your cutter. Try to do this before you add the tape so it does not stick to your cutter.

I took another cleanly cut piece and laid it - STICKY SIDE UP - so that it is sticking to my finger on the picture -on top of the heart shaped punched out that has the sticky side peeking through it and centered it and stuck it to the heart- this is going to be on the closure but I wanted it centered to the heart. It is now somewhat free floating but once I close the notepad it will be centered perfectly on the closure to receive the sticky from the heart shape.

When you close the closure flap over the note pad and put the cover on it the sticky heart sticks to the tape on the closure flap and keeps it closed. I just hated the velcro ripping off the notepad as I kept using it and magnets were more bulky although I like it a little better.

This is what the closure mechanism looks like.

I covered the notepad top with a decorative paper to match the cover.

Put a lot of sticky tape to adhere the notepad to the base.

and these are a few variations on the card. The DSP on top is Sunny Garden. The green DSP is Certainly Celery and the saffron paper is retired Sale-a-bration paper that just happened to match. I also punched out 3 little hearts (small heart punch) from the Glimmer paper from the new Occasions Mini- you get 2 12x12 sheets of most fabulous paper - it punched- like butter!- I was worried because it had a lot of texture but no worries! I stamped Love from the Valentine Defined set on the bottom. The one on the left is going to a sweetheart of a gal who babysat my 3 little monsters over Christmas- She did not want to be paid but I just have to thank her in some way! They are some vouchers for my workshop that she attends faithfully as a thank you. How to make those using MDS will be another post.

You know those Weeble? They wobble but they don't fall down.... remember?

I feel like someone just whacked me and I was really wobbly for a while but I think I am finally standing upright again and better than ever! Thank you all for your support through these difficult times - All your words of encouragement really hit home and I so appreciate them!

and more Fun Posts to come- I have been making a bunch of stuff- just didn't have time to post but I'll be better!

xxxooo

Lynda

My Playdate

I have a few girlfriends who asked me for a playdate- my kids have them, why can't I? Just casual, bring stuff to play with -sort of thing. It was so much fun. Margery brought over a make and take of this dog card- above using the Owl punch for the face and large oval for the body- is he not the cutest? The right side is the close up of the face and if the dog is sick, the variation on the right. Does he not look absolutely ill?

These are the incredibly creative ladies at work, Makani to the left, Margery, and Sachi- who made this most yummy salad that even my KIDS ate it!

Bonnie, Makani and Sheryl made the trek over a big hill to come play. Bonnie is holding the make and take I made- a little notebook holder- I will post details on that later.

We had been playing with the idea of the owl punch being used as a face of Rudolf in the December workshop and Margery was playing with it and made a squirrel face so I went NUTS- and had to make the whole squirrel with it (hee hee). Here is the detail on the squirrel, holding the nut from the Day of Gratitude set.

The background is Woodgrain in Soft Suede. Ribbon is pumpkin and DSP is from Margery. I was at the Used stamp sale at Cranberry hill last year and I bought this ziplock bag full of cut up paper from Marsha- I bought it because it had some flocked paper and I thought I would it use it -some day- and the day had come at last- I punched out the owl body and the large oval for the body, black and white CS for the eyes, pretty in pink for the nose- heart is form M*chaels- $1 punch- used a black marker for the facial expression. The hand is from the Boho blossoms punch that I free form cut from the small flower leaving just the 3 scallops. I tried to figure out how the tail should be after I made the body by drawing it on a scrap paper and used it as a template to make a tail- I had my kids decorativve scissors near by so I grabbed it to make the scallop part. The sentiment is from PTI- My Punny Valentine set. The scallop and oval is made using Nestab*lities.

I love how the exchange of ideas took the little dog into this squirrel. Each of us kept egging each other on, adding the background, the tail, the nut, looking for the perfect sentiment all came out of us just being together and talking. This is Margery's version with the curly tail.

I love you girls!

Lynda