It's a Boy for Freshly Made Sketches

It's just that time of life for me! Not only are my own daughters having babies and giving me grandchildren, but my nieces and nephew are also having little ones. One of my nieces, Katie, just gave birth to a little boy, Logan! So a card and gift are in order and I decided to do the shaker card thing again, since I've been having so much fun with it.

Freshly Made Sketches new Challenge sketch is simplicity itself and I decided keep it fairly Clean and Simple.

• I love this combination of colours: Mint Macaron, Lost Lagoon, Silver and Whisper White. It's such a clean look.

Mint Macaron                  Lost Lagoon                          Silver

• The Star Framelits gave me a shape to use for the shaker card opening! I liked the look of the star used in the sketch and I thought it would work well for a little boy baby. I used the Be the Star stamp set to add those little sprays of blue and silver stars on the top and bottom of the opening.
• Out of some Silver Foil Sheets, I used some of the Baby's First Framelits to die cut some booties and blossoms for the the shaker bits. Hmmm! Booties and Blossoms sounds like the name of a Baby Store, doesn't it?
• Fun Foam with adhesive on one side is perfect to use as the spacer for shaker cards! You can die cut the shape with a framelit very easily and it will match up perfectly with the hole in the card. The adhesive backing makes it simple to seal the cavity after filling it with the shaker bits and attaching the whole thing to the card base.
• It's a Boy is one of the sentiments from A Dozen Thoughts stamp set. After I stamped it in Lost Lagoon ink, I die cut it using one of the Bitty Banner Framelits, but having the second flagged end positioned off the paper so there would only be one.
• The Congratulations is from the Made with Love stamp set, also stamped in Lost Lagoon ink.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

A Dozen Thoughts Wood Stamp Set [131056]	A Dozen Thoughts Clear Stamp Set [131059]	Be The Star Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135734]	Be The Star Wood-Mount Stamp Set [135731]	Be The Star Clear-Mount Bundle [140251]
Be The Star Wood-Mount Bundle [140250]	Made With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set [138662]	Silver Foil Sheets [132178]	Mint Macaron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [138337]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
Versamark Pad [102283]	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad [133644]	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Heat Tool - Uk Plug [129054]
Baby's First Framelits Die [133735]	Stars Framelits Dies [133723]	Bitty Banners Big Shot Die Framelits [129267]	Big Shot [113439]	Silver Sequin Trim [138399]
Fuse Fast Adhesive [129026]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Personalized Back to School Pencil Box

It is getting to be time to think about back to school! Helping your child be successful this year can be as simple as helping them to be more organized. As a former teacher, I know that many children do not understand how to have their desk arranged, their tools in order and all ready for the task ahead. Too many children spend the better part of every lesson in search of a paper, book or pencil that they need for the class. Of course, then they miss vital instruction and become frustrated as they try to complete activities for which they haven't absorbed the information they need.

You can help your children avoid this by actually teaching them how to organize their school belongings. An important tool for this task is a pencil box to hold their pens, pencils and erasers, pencil crayons and markers. Did you know that a Stampin' Up! Wood Mount Stamp Case is just the right size for this job and you and your child could work on personalizing it so that your child is excited to use it.

Now, mind you, I'm a fine one to talk about a messy desk, because as soon as I'm finished this blog post, I need to go into my Craft Cave and bring order to the creating chaos that has built up over this past week!! So I understand how the kids lose sight of this. But I also know that having a place for everything and everything in its place is vital. So let's take a look at how to make a personalized pencil case courtesy of Stampin' Up!

• Each of these Wide Stamp Cases has a sleeve on the outside into which you can slide an embellished piece of paper which will give you the personalized look. The case is 7 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 1 1/4", so it's big enough to handle pencils, pens and pencil crayons and markers.
• I chose a piece of the new Into the Woods Designer Series Paper available Sept. 1 from the new 2015 Holiday catalogue for its fall colours and themes, but any Designer series paper or cardstock would do. Choose one that your child particularly likes but not a really busy pattern. The School House Designer Series Paper from the Annual Catalogue is available right now and would be appropriate as well.

• Cut a piece of paper 6 15/16" x ll 3/8" to fit inside the sleeve of the case. Then, using the colour scheme of the DSP series, stamp, die cut and add some embellishments. I used the stamp set, Be the Star, because it has great encouraging sentiments and images that you can stamp and die cut with the coordinating Stars Framelits, for ease of assembly.

• I used some of the sentiments and stamped them in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink right on the design paper, and stamped and die cut the images to add on. I backed the images with cardstock cut with the next largest Star Framelit to add emphasis and I also used the Medium Star Punch to create an extra star for the name plate.
• The name plate is die cut using the Lots of Labels Framelits on Whisper White and backed with a coordinating colour from the Designer Series Paper palette. The child's name is die cut using the Little Letters Thinlits, as well as the word Pencils on the spine of the case.

If you like the idea of this personalized pencil case and you would like to help your child make one, there are two ways of doing this:

1. If you live in my area, register today for my Mom & Me class this coming Saturday from 1 - 3 pm.
2. If you don't live near me, then make sure you are signed up to receive my monthly newsletter and you will get a bonus photo tutorial with step-by-step instruction and a list of supplies and measurements. The newsletter comes out Aug.31 and you can sign up for it here:

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Are you a fan of the Minions? Join me tomorrow for a new look for one of them!

Celebration of 100 for As You See It Challenges

Well, it's a great way to end the week!  As You See It Challenges is 100 today!! ( 100 weeks of challenges, that is!) I can't believe we've made it that far!! And so, of course the theme is Celebration! And celebration calls for bling and glitter and sparkle and bright colours! And a celebration calls for guests and presents, too, and we have both - fabulous guest designers AND...BLOG CANDY for one lucky winner!

Here's the challenge:

I decided to go for my Colour Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper for this occasion, and since I'm in love with Watermelon Wonder, I chose the paper of the same colour and paired it with black for a bit of a formal touch! I love that the paper is already embossed. It's perfect for this challenge, adding to the sparkle of the celebration.

• I haven't really used my Star Framelits much, but I made up for it here. I die cut stars from Gold Glimmer Paper and Gold Foil. I was going to use silver, but the Watermelon Wonder is such a warm colour that the silver just didn't work. I used two consecutive sized framelits to create and star and a frame from the Gold Foil. I also used the new Medium Star Punch and the star from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack. I was star struck, basically.
• I love this sentiment from Project Life Remember This Stamp Set. I've used it on many cards and it was the perfect one for this theme! It is die cut with a die from Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits and backed with a simple rectangle of Basic Black.
• I added a piece of Basic Black Stitched Satin Ribbon and tied a separate bow with it as well, adhering it with a Glue Dot. It just adds to the formal side of the design.
• If you are going to try to glue something to the Glimmer Paper, Glue Dots or Fast Fuse are pretty much your best friends! You're welcome!

That's my sample, but there is lots more fun over at As You See It Challenges!  Go on over there and PAR-TAY!

And that's a wrap for the week! Hope your weekend is amazing! We're expecting gobs of rain here, but that will be a welcome relief as there is yet another forest fire burning in the area! See you Monday!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Project Life Remember This Photopolymer Stamp Set [135786]	Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper [138439]	Gold Glimmer Paper [133719]	Gold Foil Sheets [132622]	Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [121045]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad [138323]	Stars Framelits Dies [133723]	Medium Star Punch [138293]	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787]
Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits [135707]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Fuse Fast Adhesive [129026]	Glue Dots [103683]	2-Way Glue Pen [100425]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]