GulfcoastStamper

An Easter Egg for My Mom

Only 7 More Days to Sale-a-Brate!  

 I am a New England transplant living in Naples Florida.  My mom (and most of my family) are 1500 miles away in Western Massachusetts.  Although she usually makes the trip down here at least once a year it is always in the fall so I wanted to make something special to send her for Easter. She is a huge chocoholic (this apple didn't fall far from that tree, lol!) so I filled it up with some of her favorite chocolatey treats.   Although I used my Silhouette Cameo to do all the cutting, all the supplies I used to make my Easter Egg are from Stampin' Up!  

My box was constructed from some retired textured card stock in Blushing Bride.  Oh how I wish Stampin' Up! would bring back this textured paper!  I prefer textured card stock when creating 3D designs and this one has a nice subtle sheen to it that my electronic cutter loves.  I have never gotten a bad cut with this stuff.  The pretty floral is from the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper Pack.  It really could have used some flower and butterfly embellishment on the top but to be honest I simply ran out of time if I was going to get it in the mail to arrive by Saturday.   

I filled it up with some pink Easter grass and some of her favorite chocolate truffles.  Hopefully they will make it out of Florida without melting and making a mess!  The cut file I used for the egg is from the Happy Easter SVG Kit which is brand new from SVG Cuts.  

I hope it arrives on time, with chocolate in tact, and I hope she likes it!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Bear Hugs & Balloons

Only 9 More days to Sale-a-Brate!  

 

This is what happens when you are a messy stamper and all your new toys are left out on your work surface instead of being put away neatly.  Stamp sets get combined with other stamp sets and dies and punches happily work together.  This happy little card is the result of one such post-Stamp Camp prepping mess.

It seems that lately my Balloon Bouquet Punch  is always within easy reach.  I LOVE this punch!  Turns out my Little Letters Thinlits dies love it too!  I punched a bunch of the larger balloon in whisper white to make my balloons a little more sturdy.  Then I punched out my letters from the Brights Paper Stack and punched my balloons around the cut letters to spell out HAPPY.  My baby bear wasn't strong enough to keep them on the ground however and is happily floating through a clear blue sky.  

This ended up being one of my March Stamp Camp cards...so cute!  Everything used to create this card is from the Occasions Catalog with the exception of the Little Letters Thinlits Dies which can be found in the annual catty.  The Designer Series Paper is one of the FREE options from the Sale-a-Bration brochure, Perfectly Artistic.  

Thanks for stoppin' by!  

3 Challenges, 1 Card

Taking a break from Easter today to share a challenge card with you.  I love on-line challenges, they get you to move out of your comfort zone and try things you may not have tried on your own. There are several sketch challenges I try to participate in each week, many of which you never see.  But today I outdid myself in that I was able to complete not one but THREE challenges with one card design.  Here is my card...

Wow, this set hasn't seen ink in quite awhile!  I chose this set because the Challenge over at The Paper Players Theme challenge this week was "Rain or Shine".  Living in sunny Florida you would think I would go right for the "shine" in this challenge but nope, not me.  Always the problem child, lol!  The layout or sketch came from the Try Stamping on Tuesday Blog and the color combo came from the color challenge at the Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration blog.  You can click on any of the links to play along!  

You really can't see it in the photo but my little poodle is colored with my clear Wink of Stella Brush Pen.  My two girls are decked out in some fun prints that were stamped on Designer Series Paper, cut with my exacto knife and pieced onto my stamped image.  I'm not sure I would have paired these three colors together if it had not been for the color challenge but I love the way they look together (although I did add a little basic black to ground my layers) and I'm sure I will be using this combination again.  

 I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself for this one.  I am loving this card and the fact that I was able to complete not one but three challenges with only one card made me pretty happy.  I hope you enjoyed it too and thanks for stoppin' by!

Lisa 

Bunny Treats Sneak Peek

Easter is early this year (March 27th) and I have been in full blown Bunny Treat mode this week!  Since all of my kids are grown and two of the three are away at school, I need to get my Easter Treats done and in the mail. Because you are never too big for the Bunny.  We will be making the Baby version of this super cute Easter treat Friday night at my March Stamp camp!  

These Bunny Boxes are long and skinny and are just big enough to fit Hershey's chocolate eggs.  I was actually looking for Reeses eggs when I started these, (because they are arguably the best Easter candy on the planet) but they changed the shape this year and they are no longer round.  This does not make me happy. I fully intend to let the people at Hershey know my displeasure and I am starting a movement to #bringbacktheeggshapedreesesegg!  

Although the box dimensions are the same I altered the length to create three different sizes.  My Papa bunny is made with a piece of Designer Series Paper that is 12 inches by 3 1/4 inches, My Mama bunny is 9 inches by 3 1/4 inches and the Baby bunny is 6 inches by 3 1/4 inches.  All are scored all the way around at 3/4 of an inch and 3/4 again on one end for the box bottom. The top is just pinched shut and held with a mini clothespin.  Easy Peasy.  

My long and skinny Bunny Treat Boxes were inspired from a Facebook Post by Sam Donaldson (also known as Pootles).  I am a HUGE Pootles fan, I follow her on Facebook and I follow her blog.  I actually stalked her at Stampin' Up's Leadership conference last year but she hopped on the elevator before I could catch up and introduce myself.  We both share a passion for boxes and cute packaging so I channel her often and whenever I am stumped on a package or box design I find myself asking WWPD...What Would Pootles Do?  So, even though we have never met I consider her one of my very best Stampin' buddies.  Of course, she has no idea this stampin' relationship exists but that's okay. 



The stamp set I used is a much overlooked set from the Occasions Catalog, Friends and Flowers.   It may not look like much at first glance but the parts and pieces come together to make a super cute fish, gorgeous layered flowers and of course my cute little bunny.  To make your life easier, all the pieces coordinate with the Festive Flower Builder Punch so no fussy cutting.  Yeah! I created the little banner at the top using the Hippity-Hoppity greeting from the And Many More Stamp Set from the annual catalog.  (item 134276)  This set is loaded with greetings for every holiday and is a must have for every stamper. I hope you will try these yourself, they are super cute and super quick to put together.  And if you locate the egg shaped Reeses PB eggs please let me know!    

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Ice Cream Treats for FMS226

Today's card is one I made for a Freshly Made Sketches Challenge that I did not get posted in time for the challenge.  :(  I do love the way the card turned out though and I created a cute little ice cream treat to match so better late than never, right?  Here is my card:

I just love the soft pastels in the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper form Stampin' Up! and nothing screams spring or summer like ice cream.  (and since it is already 82 degrees here in SWFL we are in full blown ice cream season right now)  The ice cream cone on my card was made using the image from the FREE Sale-a-Bration set Honeycomb Happiness. You only have a few days left to earn this set for FREE as Sale-a-Bration ends on the 31st!  

My little matching treat is a tiny sour cream type container (I started with a piece of card stock that measures 3x4 inches) and topped it off with the ice cream image from the Sprinkles of Life stamp set.  It is tiny but it will hold three little chocolate Hershey's Easter Eggs.

 And here is the sketch that inspired my card...so simple but I love it!  

You can find all of the products used above in my online store 24/7.  I hope you enjoyed my little ice cream treat and thanks for stoppin' by!  

Easter Treats

Despite a busy weekend, I was able to get a little quality crafting time in!  I love cute little boxes and bags so anytime I can "spruce up" a store bought package and make a simple gift look really special it makes me happy. Hopefully it makes the recipient happy too!  I found these little boxes of chocolates at a local store and bought several of them...enough for my Stamp Club as well as a few extras to give away.  They originally caught my attention because they are shaped like shells and living in Naples so close to the beach I knew I could find a use for them,  

The box of chocolates is just a little less than 4 inches square so creating the box was super simple.  I actually created the top first because I was determined to get 4 tops out of one sheet of 12x12 Designer Series Paper but also because I could use any one of Stampin' Up!'s mini paper stacks as well.  

The top is a 6x6 square of DSP, scored at 1" on all four sides.  The base is just a smidge smaller at 5 15/16ths, also scored at 1" on all 4 sides.  The box of chocolates is a tight squeeze but it works.  (the recipient may have a hard time getting the chocolates out of the box but at this point my job of making it look pretty is done and getting it out is their problem, right lol?) 

A very simple and cute stamped image using the Easter Lamb single stamp from the Occasions Catalog (item 140740) dresses up my box top.  Did you notice all the sparkle on my cute little lamb?  Three words....Wink of Stella.  If you don't know what that is or if you don't already have it, we need to talk!  A little Dotted Lace Trim in Mint Macaron (item 138424) tied with a pretty bow and my chocolates are ready for giving.  

Thanks for stoppin' by!  

Birthday Bear Hugs

When I first saw the Bear Hugs stamp set and matching dies in the 2016 Occasions Catalog I passed it over thinking it was a little too cutesy for me now that my kids are grown.  Then I started seeing some of the cutest samples posted on our demo site and on Pinterest and it quickly made its way to the top of my Wish List.  Now it's one of my most used sets from the Occasions catty.  I love these bear images but the accessories that go with them make it so versatile and just right for any occasion.  

This is one of the cards we made at my Super Bowl Bingo Bash back in February.  Today my Papa Bear is the bearer of a beautiful birthday balloon bouquet (say that three times fast) from the Balloon Celebrations stamp set.  This is another favorite of mine from the Occasions Catalog and the matching punch makes it so easy and fun to create a multiple balloon bouquet.  Stamp and punch...easy peasy.  (and available as a bundle to save you 15%) 

I lined the inside of my card with the Happy Birthday pop up from the Party Pop Up Thinlets Dies also from the Occasions Catalog.  I love the way the Melon Mambo stands out against the black background of the card base.    

Are you on my #imbringingbirthdaysback birthday list yet?  If you are, you just may see this card show up in your mailbox on your special day!  If not,please leave me a comment with your name, address and birth date or you can email me directly at GulfcoastStamper.com.  

Thanks for stoppin' by!

#imbringbirthdaysback

Whew, where did February go?  One minute I was looking forward to my Super Bowl Bingo Bash and the next thing I knew it was March!  I did not mean to be away from my blog for so long, but February was a busy month...my 26th Wedding Anniversary, Valentines Day, my husbands birthday, a birthday trip to Tallahassee to see our middle son who is junior at FSU (and a few rounds of golf for same son and husband) and a detour to Orlando on the way home to see our oldest son who I think is going to follow in my fathers footsteps and be a life long student. Fortunately for him (and me) he has a beautiful girlfriend who is very supportive and willing to put up with his making a career out of higher education, LOL.  Anyway, sometimes life gets in the way and there is just not enough time in the day to do all you want to do.  But, it's a new month, so let's get back to some stamping!  

So, have you heard all the skuttlebutt going around the web about the Stampin' Up! movement #imbringingbirthdaysback?  Our very own Shannon West had an epiphany one day while cruising around Facebook.  She noticed how many posts were Happy Birthday messages...quick, easy and soooo very impersonal! (We are all guilty of that though, right?) Shannon made a vow that she would send a hand stamped birthday card to anyone that wanted one and it exploded!  So much so that Shannon created a hashtag stamp and Stampin Up! is now producing that stamp for all of us!  You can read the whole story from Shannon HERE and how the #imbringingbirthdaysback movement has taken hold!  

I LOVE this idea and you can join the movement too! Offer to send your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc., handmade birthday cards and “tag” them with the #imbringingbirthdaysback stamp (item 143573) which will be available to order again on Monday, March 7th at 12:00 am MT.  (the first release was last Monday and the stamp sold out in 4 hours!) Together, we can bring birthdays back! Watch a video here, where Shannon shares her story on Good Things Utah.  

In addition please stay tuned for details on a special class in April that will revolve around the #imbringingbirthdaysback movement.  If you would like to be included on My Birthday Card List please leave me a comment or send me an email at [email protected] with your name, address, and dob!  Let's all Bring Birthday's Back!