Purple Onion Designs

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! 

We are headed out to spend Christmas Eve with Sean's Aunts, Uncles & Cousins.  It is usually a fun night.  We will then probably make the rounds and stop by and visit with a few friends who have invited us over. 

I filled this pretzel container with some of the cookies I baked this weekend.  I am going to bring it to his Aunts house.  They have the same last name as us.  I thought they would get a kick out of the lid.

Once again the lettering is glittered.  I also used Glaze pens on the holly berries to give them a little dimension.

Oh, did you want to know what cookies are in there?  Tollhouse Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip with Orange (I highly recommend this twist on a classic), Snickerdoodles, Brown Sugar & Nutmeg Snaps and Double Chocolate Biscotti with Pecans.

Merry Christmas!

Quick and Simple

I just wanted to pop in and say hello to those of you who have been looking for me here.  Hi!  :)

I have been busy all week getting the last of the orders out, shopping, wrapping, writing out cards and just running around.  I made a few quick and simple cards last night.  I had to get them in the mail this morning.  Do you think I could cut it any closer? 

You can't tell from the photos but there is all kinds of shimmer, sparkles and shine going on with these cards.  The polka dot paper in the first card is all shimmery.  I used some Marvy Twinklette sparkle markers on the Merry & Bright card.  These markers really have a nice sparkle to them.  I then highlighted the words with iridescent Pebbles chalks.  The blue Seasons Greetings was done with a brush marker and then I went over it with a Sakura Stardust pen in clear.  The last card was done with red & green Glaze pens from Sakura.  I loved using the Sakura pens & Twinklette markers to color in these stamps.  The tip size was perfect and it gave each card a little pizzaz.  I just saw these as I was linking up the other markers.  I just might have to try them.  I have always been really happy with the Sakura & Marvy products I own. 

Well its off to start baking!  I'll be back sometime over the weekend to share what I made.

Christmas Candied Pens

Tatum & I were going to make holiday cards this weekend.  She exchanges them with her class and I needed to do a handful for those that appreciate & expect them.  We also had been including a little treat with her cards the past few years.  This year we decided to make these really cool polymer pens for her to give to all her classmates.  We had done them once before with some of her friends and they all loved them.    

Don't they look like Christmas Candies?  They even have a little shimmery finish to them from all the pearl colored polymer clay that we used.  I was able to find red pearl, green pearl & pearl.  There is also white in them too.  We still need to make some little tags to wrap around each one.  I love how different they all turn out. 

This was an inexpensive gift to do.  We landed up making somewhere around 40 pens for $14.00.  I also played around and made this next cane which I think looks like a Poinsetta.  It wasn't my intentions but I kinda think that is what it looks like.  The cane is reduced more than it was supposed to be.  It isn't bad for my first crack at it though.

Calendar Card

Well I got a little behind posting the projects that friends have been sharing.  We went into the city on Thursday to see the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City.  That made Thrusday a short day around here.  Yesterday I snuck out to do a little shopping and I was out way longer than I had planned.  I should of known because I was going to Barnes & Noble.  It always amazes me how long I land up being in there.  I could easily stay longer looking at other books too.  I always tell myself next time.

Today's project was done by Caroline Lau of Maya Road.  Caroline and I do a little product bartering which is always fun.  Maya Road has some really great products.  I look forward to their new product releases because they just continuously branch out and offer a wider assortment of goodies.  This time around I am looking forward to getting my hands on some of the new sheers. 

Caroline came up with a cute calendar card to send out for the holidays.    

She used the 2008 Calendar Stamp for one side and a photo of her son on the other.  The calendar will lay flat for mailing and can easily be assembled once it is received.  Its a cute (& handy) little gift item to send. 

Thanks for sharing Caroline!

Judi

Next up is the infamous Judi VanValkinburgh-Garber!  I had been a big fan of Judi's after stumbling upon her work on 2peas awhile back.  I am now lucky enough to have her on my Design Team.  Judi comes up with some of the greatest projects.  I love going through her blog (which she really does an amazing job on).  You really need to go look through all her work and studio pics.  My other passion in life is antiques, junk and shabby stuff.  Its a great day when I find a new post from Judi with some of her "finds" and how she incorporates them into her crafting world.  Go check out the Merry Jars she has been creating.  So fun! 

 

Don't you love these jars?!!  Next are some recent creations that Judi has done with some of the new stamps.  Once again look at how great this Damask stamp looks.  These were some Basic Grey chipboard ornaments that she painted, stamped and glittered.  You could do this with wood ornaments too.

It is always fun to see how everyone uses the stamps.  Judi used the star from the new Superstar set for this holiday card.  It didn't occur to me right now to use that stamp for a holiday card.  Duh.  Once again take notice to the damask stamp.  The "warmest wishes" sentiment is a freebie stamp.  You know those little surprises you find in your packages from me.  :)

In the clear

I think we might be good now.  I think we might be in the clear.  The site was up and running this morning.  Yeah!  It is the first time in the past 4 days that it was not down.  :)

Since I have been consumed trying to fix things around here and get all the orders out I have not had any creative time.  I have received a couple of emails over the past few days with some goodies to inspire you.  They are from some extremely talented artists.  I'll post them over the next few days.

The first is from the amazing Barbara Smith.  I was fortunate enough to meet Barbara online several years ago.  We then became members of a small online group that we still participate in.  Barbara is one of the few online friends that I actually have met in person.  We usually get together for a little scrap/stamp shopping when I am down in Florida visiting my family.  Barbara is also the featured artist in the current issue of The Stampers Sampler.  She is so deserving of that spot! 

Check out this AMAZING card that I just found on her blog as I went to post a pic the following card.

That is the Harlequin stamp that she formed into a star.  How cool is that?  And that coloring! 

The background was done with stamps from the Ornamentals & Flea Market set.

Next is the card I had originally just planned to post.  I love the non-traditional images & colors that she used.

This card uses the scallop stamp set and the Happy Holidays stamp.  I like how she added the little white dots around everything. 

**After I posted the card above Barbara shared this next one with me.  It is her newest creation.  Here is the same Harlequin background.  Are you dying or what?  I love the shading around all the Harlequin pieces.

Website and Email Issues, oh my!

I know many of you have been trying to get on the site the past few days to place an order.  I realized on Friday that the site was down.  I worked for several hours to get it up and running again to then find my email was gone.  It wasn't down it was GONE.  I know some of you had emailed to let me know about the site being down and got bounced emails.  This was why.  I literally had to argue with 4 or 5 people that I did have the email address for over 4 years and use it daily.  I was told it was absolutely impossible.  They just wouldn't believe there was a bigger problem.  After many phone calls I finally got to a supervisor that looked into it for me.  After looking into it and working with a tech team they were able to find and restore it.  I can't even begin to tell you what a sickening feeling this was.  I have so much information saved within my emails.

My site went back down on Saturday and then again on Sunday.  I really apologize for those of you who do keep trying to place an order.  I am about to call AGAIN to get the site up.  They will need to find out what is causing this and there are a few other issues as well.

I have extended the sale till Wednesday December 12th.  I have lost one of my email lists to even let everyone know what is going on.  This is one of the things I hope they can restore for me.  So, if you are part of any groups or message boards please pass along this information.

Thanks so much!

We've been Grinched!

Tatum was Grinched the other night by one of her friends.  They do something similar at Halloween called Booing.  Grinching starts off with a little good old fashion ring and run.  Upon opening your front door you will find a little decorative shopping bag with an ornament inside, a picture of Dr. Seuss's Grinch and the following letter:

You've Just Been Grinched!

You've been selected as the recipient of this ornament.  The Grinch made it just for you!  And you don't want to disappoint the Grinch!  The following are his demands...If you want to see any presents under your Christmas tree!

1.  Hang up one copy of his festive face where all can see so you don't get Grinched again!

2.  Make or buy two ornaments.

3.  Send them to two unsuspecting friends-you must include pictures of the Grinch and a copy of this letter so the next Grinchee can send off his/her ornament!  Make photocopies if necessary.

4.  Bring your package to your friend's house.  Ring the bell and take off!  The Grinch would be extremely disappointed if you were to get caught.

5.  Don't break the chain if you want a Merry Christmas.

Tatum & I landed up making our ornaments for her to Grinch away tonight.  I have to say that I don't think either of us wants to part with them.  This was a fun project for us.

I had some OLD velvet pants sitting in a box waiting to be made into something.  Luckily I had a green and brown.  I cut 4 large triangles (2 for each ornament) and we heat embossed the pieces of velvet.  You will need a solid image stamp, spritz bottle with water and an iron.  Place your stamp face up on an ironing board.  Spritz your velvet with some water and then place it face down on the stamp where you would like your image.  Then apply the iron to the fabric and iron for 20-30 seconds.  You will be ironing on the back side of the fabric and the stamp will make an impression on the front side.  You need to watch steam holes on the iron since they can make an impression in your velvet.  You will keep repeating this all over your fabric.  I used the leafy scroll stamp from the Ornamentals set and Tatum used the dotted circle from Circle Set I.

I should tell you before I go on that I really do not sew.  I totally wing it.  I bought a sewing machine about 3 years ago because I absolutely love everything that is stitched!  So, this project can be done by anyone.  We sewed a bunch of buttons on as tree ornaments.  We used mostly buttons from this great collection.  I am addicted to these buttons and loved the colors of this particular set.  Next it was time to machine stitch the two pieces together.  I then stuffed each a little.  I also made tree trunks this way and inserted them in the bottom.  We then used some coordinating beads to make a hanging loop.  Here are the finished ornaments:

 

Yes, dear Tracy...

I received a cute email from my friend Tracy two nights ago.  She had just received the new Damask stamp and wanted to know if it was possible to love a stamp.  :)

Now I was pretty certain that this was possible.  So, I decided to check this hypothesis out for myself. 

   

I was going to do a whole little gift wrapping thing with this stamped paper.  I really am not ready to wrap anything.  I decided to just use it as a background for the photos.  I will land up wrapping someone's gift with this gorgeous paper.  It is just some blank newprint paper used for packing. 

I actually pulled out the heat gun and embossing powder for the card and tag.  <Gasp>  The white is embossed.  There isn't an ink pad out there that will give you that bold opaque finish.  I have tried a whole bunch of them.  My favorite is still Colorbox White Frost.  It is a wet juicy pad and does work the best for me.  It just won't give you that opaque finish like embossing. 

So, yes dear Tracy it is possible to love a stamp!

Tutorial Anyone?

One of the things I wanted to do on this blog is offer a lot of information.  I learned almost everything I know about stamping from the internet.  I wasn't someone who was introduced to stamping by a friend or a home stamping party. I stumbled across this art form kind of by accident.  I became intrigued (which lead to obsessed...lol) and continued to find as much information online as I could.  The following is a tutorial I wrote up a few years ago on using a stamp positioner called a Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Since the stamps are unmounted it is not often I need to use a stamp positioner.  I am able to see through the acrylic block for 99% of my projects.  I usually eyeball everything but once in awhile I need something 100% perfect.  The example I used below is a rare event but I wanted to show you why I would need a stamp positioner. 

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with stamp positioners. It is a handy little device if you need exact placement of an image. The majority of us stamp by eyeballing where we want an image. Sometimes you need an image to be in an exact spot and you can’t afford to goof. A stamp positioner is your answer. It is also a good tool for those who are nervous to put a stamp to paper. The one that I use is called a Stamp-a-ma-jig by EK Success. It can be found at most major craft stores. A real cheapy item when bought with a 40% off coupon. So here is how it works:

The Stamp-a-ma-jig comes with a purple plastic handle and a square piece of plastic as seen below. The handle has two right angles at the bottom of it. This is where you place the plastic sheet.

1. Place the Stamp-a-ma-jig on your work table with the plastic butted up against the right angle corner of the handle. 

2. Ink up your stamp and stamp the image on the plastic by butting the stamp into the right angle of the handle. Make sure you use a non permanent ink on the plastic sheet. This way you can wipe away the image from the plastic. You can use a permanent – waterproof ink on your actual project.

3. Now remove the stamp and take the plastic with the stamp image to your project. Position the stamped image exactly where you would want it on your project. In my example below I was trying to perfectly align the “t” & “h” from the Pink Flamingo alphabet set. These two letters are designed to be joined when typed together. It would be hard for me to get the exact placement on this if I did not use the positioner.

4. Carefully butt the positioner up against the sheet of plastic once you have it in the location you would like. You want to make sure you do not shift the plastic.

5. Now carefully remove the plastic so your handle is not moved. Ink up your stamp. You can now use whatever type of ink you like.

   

6. Take your inked stamp and butt it up into the right angle of the handle (just like you did to stamp your image on the plastic) and stamp your image.

7. Now lift your stamp away, move the handle & viola!

 

You now have a perfectly positioned stamped image. Now you can easily wipe away the ink from the plastic sheet and it is ready to be used again. Here is what the finished card looks like: