RubberStampingDiva.com

 This page was a gift for my daughter’s Kindergarten teacher.  She had her own daughter in March and is no longer teaching at the school, but for the past nine years she has watched Alyssa and her classmates grow from little Kindergarteners to these graduating 8th Graders!  It took several tries to get the second picture (with all the 8th Graders on the Playground)…Mother Nature, exams, etc. all working against us…but in the end we managed to get the shot with all of them in the same spots they were in 9 years ago.  WOW!  Nine years?  I can’t believe she’s been in the same school for nine years…and now she’s off to High School…where has the time gone?  <<sigh…>>

This page is made up of leftovers from Alyssa’s 8th Grade Scrapbook (and no, I didn’t help her!)  Not enough cardstock on hand for full photo mats so I got creative with these funky, triangle mats (IOW-I got 2 mats out of 1 rectangle!)  The stickers are Mary Engelbreit, the journaling was done on the computer (the poem is, God Made Teachers - author unknown), but the mortarboard and tassel are my own paper pieced creations

Update: Since posting this, I’ve actually had a few GACS Moms contact me and ask for their own page…YIKES!  How much should I charge?!?!

Just in case you thought I couldn’t create unless paper was involved, I thought I should post this project.  I am in a Christmas Swap with some girls from across the country and I was very tempted to do something paper related.  I considered cards, ornaments, planners and scrapbook pages but then I remembered making these stars as gifts the very first year my hubby and I were married (16 LONG years ago)…Well, I knew I just had to share this idea!  They can be a little tweaky/time consuming/complicated but when they are done, they are so neat! 

I think they capture the child-like essence of the holiday while still looking elegant and even evoking a little of the true meaning of the holiday.  I hope the other girls are pleased….come to think of it, I hope the other girls don’t read this before they get their box of swaps!!! 

For those you who are curious, I made 10 of these for my swap and I sealed them with Krylon Triple Thick spray.  They are held together with a TON of hot glue….no, I didn’t burn myself (thank heavens!) and yes, they are butt-ugly from the back (glue globs, etc.) but that’s ok because nobody needs to see that part

As some of you already know, my whole household has been turned upside down by sick kids, a sick hubby and then wouldn’t you know it?  I had to come down with a Sinus Infection too!  The inspiration for this creation?Fever delirium…I was lying in bed, staring at my supplies scattered on the craft table (wishing I had the energy to play) and I must have drifted off to sleep…I dreamt up this little 3-D Punch Art Turkey!  I saw exactly how he would go together and just how cute he would be as a place card holder at this year’s Thanksgiving Family Feast!

For those of you who are having trouble visualizing how he goes together, I promise to make a tutorial in the morning…but I am running low on steam and am still recovering  For now though, here is a close up shot of Tom Turkey:

His beak and waddle are made using SU!’s 3-Flower Punch (retired?) and his wings are simply double-punched circles…and yes, they really do stand on their own!  Feel free to add wiggle eyes if you like, but I prefer ol’ Tom just the way he is!

For those of you wanting to know what I have in mind for the new year…here’s a sneak peek!

Now, this recipe book features a retired SU! set but the good news is that in the *NEW* Spring/Summer Idea Book & Catalog we are getting a brand new recipe set! I am so excited!!! I thought this would make a great gift for anyone who loves cooking or baking…it looks too cute to be stuck up in a cabinet, so you can coordinate this to match your kitchen and display it on an easel like I’ve done here. Your class fee will include all your supplies and the new “From the Kitchen Of ” stamp set! Go to: Upcoming Classes & Events for complete details and to register today!

It’s that time of year again…time to think about gifts for friends and neighbors, teachers and co-workers….why not make them this year? I created this Floating Image Ornament last year to fill this exact need! It was simple enough to break down and mass produce and easily dressed up or added to other items when the occasion called for it. This exact set may no longer be available, unfortunately but this same basic idea would work with so many other sets (Snow Burst from the Holiday Mini Catalog leaps to mind!) Adding a little glitter or fake snow to the inside of the ornament would add a little *bling* to this ornament. Or if you chose a set that needs a little more color, you could color the back of the acetate with a Sharpie Marker or add some real sparkle using the RICE technique (Check back on Monday for that tutorial.) No matter which way you decide to decorate your own Floating Image Ornament, I’ll bet you get asked the same thing… “How’d you do THAT???” Download complete instructions here: Floating Image Ornament Instructions

So many projects, so little time! I have been blessed recently with this deluge of creative inspiration and I finally have the space to work in (now that “THE LAB” has been overhauled) but of course, now I have no time to play! Isn’t that always the way? Be careful what you wish for and all that jazz…

In between science projects, cheerleading, doctor’s appointments, lunch duty and Trunk-or-Treat, I am literally stealing moments to stamp out some of these ideas before I explode! Example: Fill pot with water and put on stove to boil, race to THE LAB and crank out a project before said pot boils over, run back to kitchen, relieved to see that pot has NOT boiled over (yeah!) Space Cadet Sam forgot to turn stove on (ooops!) Oh well, I never claimed to be Betty Crocker….Carol Duval’s evil twin maybe….but Betty? Never!

Now back to this little project…I’m looking for cute, inexpensive (read this as cheap!) Christmas gifts this year and thought this might work…Floating picture frames jazzed up with stamping! I stamped on the glass with Staz-On and added to the doodles with Sharpie on the opposite side….giving this a very dimensional look. It’s hard to see from the photo but it also says “cherish” across the bottom. Admittedly, the photo I have in the frame is not ideal, but it’s the only one I could find on short notice…you get the idea…now, go stamp out the ordinary!