Dance Card Box

My 7 y.o. son decided he wanted to try dance lessons this fall. He wanted hip-hop but I didn't think I could stand the attitude! I would have loved for him to try ballroom but I knew he wouldn't go for that so we compromised on acrobatics; sort of dance and gymnastics combined. He has already been to gymnastics classes so he agreed. His teacher is a lovely bubbly lady who truly loves to teach kids. She deserved a gift to say good bye as we are not continuing next session (Too hard to drag everyone out in the cold and snow. My disability makes me very sensitive to even short amounts of time in the cold.) I had just ordered a Just Rite Stampers Monogram set; thankfully it arrived in time to make monogrammed cards for her. I decided to put them in a handmade box. I will post the cards shortly. This also works for Ways to Use It 193 - Pearls The stamps are from CTMH. I wanted the images to look soft so I used grey ink, I wasn't sure if that was a good idea wondering if I should use brown instead to go with the brown of the box. I decided to colour the image anyway and see what I thought. I decided I liked it just fine.

Thank heavens considering I am new to Copic markers and it took me half an hour to colour the ballerina alone! I added some bling to her; the tiara is coloured with sparkly pink gel pen. The necklace is created with several stitches worth of silver thread for the chain and a heat set rhinestone for the pendant. The tutu is accented with Perfect Medium and rose gold Pearl Ex.

The shoes were a challenge. They had shadows around them so I coloured them in. When I cut the image out, I couldn't decide where to trim; it didn't look right leaving the shadows on, so I trimmed close to the image instead. The paper is folded and the Nestabilities die was placed just over the fold to create a tag with two pages. I added the tag with a short thank you message; it felt weird to put a thank you card in with a gift of cards!

This box uses the stretchy belly band technique to hold the ribbon on. This keeps the receiver from struggling to retie a bow or replace the ribbon and allows you to decorate the bow! For instructions, click HERE!

For a final accent, I stamped Dance on each side. This was tricky because I had already made the box! I made it work though! The images are adhered with foam dots, the ribbon has a half pearl in the center. Last but not least, the Copic colours I used are in the last photo.

RECIPE
Paper: pink pirouette, pretty in pink and close to cocoa cardstock; ballet paper-Karen Foster
Ink: regal rose, going grey, close to cocoa
Stamps: CTMH Dancing Dreams
Accessories: silver stretchy cord, white organza ribbon, foam dots, half back pearl, Nestabilities, Copic markers
All supplies by SU! unless otherwise noted.

Blog Template Changes

As much as I loved the background I used to have, I understand that it can be hard for some computers to download if they are not using high speed internet. I had a custom banner made but apparently, I don't know how to upload it correctly. So please bear with me as I continue to make changes to get just the right look! Feel free to leave comments letting me know what you think! Thanks, Rebecca

Baroque Sympathy Card

Not too much to say about this card. I hate having to make sympathy cards for obvious reasons. It is pretty easy to see how it goes together so no real instructions. I used Mojo Monday sketch week 64 from Poetic Artistry.

Card base is river rock, the next layer is close to cocoa with retired DSP on top. The scalloped strip is vanilla with scallops cut with SU! scallop edge punch. All layers are distressed or sponged (or both)with either chocolate chip ink or old olive ink. The card base is 5.5 x 7.5" scored in half, simply because that is what I had available! The sentiment and floral panel are popped up with foam dots; the flower and three dots are stamped on a separate piece of CS and cut out, the flower only is also popped up.

RECIPE
Paper: close to cocoa, retired DSP, river rock, vanilla
Stamps: Warmest Regards, Stippled Stencils
Ink: chocolate chip, old olive, bravo burgundy
Accessories: Foam dots, 1 3/8" square punch, two way glue pen, sheer ivory ribbon, scallop punch. All products SU!

Pony Party Scrapbook Page

I created this page quite a while ago, my 'baby' in the photos is now almost 8 years old! Isn't he cute? The party was a great success; we invited all of his little friends and they all rode ponies for an hour and a half, then played with water the rest of the afternoon. I am posting this page now because I am hoping to get on the Jacksonbelle Embellishments Design Team. Wish me well. I love this page because it represents who I am as a scrapbooker while showing a range of techniques and products.

Please click on the photos to get a better look. The border at the bottom is stamped and distressed. The mare and foal are stamped and water coloured. The 'pony party' and 'pony up' letters are die cut. The cowboy lettering is a vellum sheet. The 'leather' on the left side of the right hand page is a sticker as are the cowboy boot and the horseshoe. The photo corners are created with hemp twine. There is a metal plate on the upper right photo on the left hand page. Photo corners hold an interactive element with journaling underneath.

I am not going to include a recipe because I did this so long ago, I really cannot remember; the cardstock, scrapbook paper and stamps, watercolours and ink are Stampin' Up! The stickers, book plate, photo turns and vellum quote I can't possibly know anymore, sorry!

Hot Chocolate Blend Gift

I got the idea for this gift from another blogger, sorry, I forgot who. After getting all of the ingredients I had to decide how to layer it in the jar and how much to put in each jar. The recipe called for large amounts to be premixed then poured into each jar. I just figured it out somehow; I'm not sure but I think I used algebra! Who ever said you'd never use it again after high school!
The original recipe didn't use chocolate chips or marshmallows. All of the ingredients are so pretty; I had to layer it! In addition, it contains fruit sugar (texture in between granulated sugar and icing sugar; dissolves faster then regular sugar), hot chocolate powder, instant coffee and non-dairy creamer (you could use milk powder). The food recipe is below. You will have to figure out how much room you have in your jar, then divide it into 15, then what ever number you get, multiply it by the 'parts' number listed below. I prefer working in metric (come on now, I am Canadian!) so if your measuring cups use both, this is the time to try it out. If you prefer I will put approximate amounts below.

OK, now for the paper crafting. The lid is covered with cocoa DSP and the edges are wrapped in white twill tape glued with white glue at the seam,  then a chocolate grosgrain ribbon is wrapped around and tied. The twill is held on with 1/8" red line tape around the bottom only, the grosgrain isn't glued; the lid has a lip on the bottom edge, between that and how tight I tied it, it isn't going anywhere. The label is cut with Nestabilities in chocolate chip and white CS. I used the Nestie as a stencil and sponged on cocoa ink. The white layer is popped up with foam dots. In the corner are a button and caramel gingham ribbon both held on with glue dots.

I spelled out the words with letter stamps, they are REALLY tiny. TIP:To get them straight, I used a ruler as a stamping block! Because they are clear, I could see through them to the ruler line to make sure the base line of the letter, not the extra around it was on the line. You don't have to be out by much to really see it with such tiny letters. they are about 1/4" high, the lower case a bit smaller. One funny thing, this was to be called Mix not Blend but there is no lowercase X in the set, a manufacturing error!
 
 
I slit the mat of the label so the ribbon could pass through.  You can also see how I clip the ribbon ends to hold them while the glue sets. This photo didn't work out last time. Do not put the clips directly over the glue or it will spread beyond where you put it, possibly sealing your loop.

This shows my stretchy belly band technique. This will allow the recipient to remove the label if needed. I would recommend this when adding the mix back into the jar; it needs to be mixed up before use otherwise the first two cups will me nothing but chocolate chips and marshmallows! Actually, why am I complaining?.... :)You can see directions and more photos here. I figured it out roughly and this gift costs about $6 Canadian to make, not including paper crafting supplies. Although the $60 we spent on ingredients and $1 for each of 12 jars at Dollerama was nothing to sneeze at, when you realize how much this makes it is a pretty cheap gift. I can't even imagine how much some of you spend at Christmas! I just realized I should probably add the ingredients, how much to use and directions to mix before using so I will fold cardstock in half and cut out with a circle nestie leaving a tiny bit of the fold uncut as a hinge and write everything in there. I have some coffee and chocolate word stamps so maybe I will collage stamp those on the CS before I cut it. Hopefully I can just do a whole row of these down a sheet of cardstock and after writing in them, I'll simply glue them on the lid.

Enjoy and happy stamping! Rebecca

Paper RECIPE: Paper: chocolate chip and white CS, cocoa DSP
Ink: close to cocoa Stamps: Williamsburg font Letter Stamps by Technique Tuesday Accessories: red line tape, foam dots, glue dots, white glue, chocolate grosgrain and satin ribbons, button, cocoa gingham ribbon. All by SU! unless otherwise noted!
Food RECIPE: in order of layering from bottom-hot chocolate powder 4 parts, non-dairy creamer or milk powder 4 parts, instant coffee 2 parts, fruit sugar 3 parts, handfuls of chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, marshmallows. if you want it really easy, fill about 1/4 with hot choc powder, 1/4 with the creamer or milk powder, a bit less than 1/3 of what is left with coffee, a bit less than half of what is left with sugar and top with goodies!