September Stamp Night Projects – Vintage Fall, Mascarade Cat, & Deer Tag

Here are the projects I did for September Stamp Nights.  The last night this month is on Tuesday since third Thursdays are now for my Scrapbook night.

The first one is my Vintage Fall card.  This is the Wonderfall stamp set with matching Autumn Accents die.  I stamped the leaves using the Rock’n’Roll technique, sponged the edges, crumpled the leaves, then sponged the creases too.  {TIP:  You have to die cut your leaves before stamping in order to line up the image on the leaf.  Ink up stamp, set upside down on table, then line up top of leaf and stem before touching down cardstock on your stamp.}

My Mascarade Cat card for Halloween is one of the cards I made while at Craftaway Studios.  I heat embossed the Frightening Feline stamp with black embossing powder on Very Vanilla.  The moon and mask are made with Champagne Glimmer paper.  I used the Tasteful Trim die with the Big Shot to cut the double scallop trim as a starting point to making the mask.  Just cut two scallops off, shape the ends with scissors, and punch eyeholes with the bigger hole punch on the Crop-a-Dile. {TIP:  Use circle punch for moon by punching almost half a circle on edge of paper, then move circle punch a little further into the edge to punch out the crescent moon.  I used the ¾” circle.}

The Deer Tag is made using the Owl Builder punch.  I used Soft Suede and Early Espresso for the deer and antlers.  The antlers are two legs of the large snowflake from the Snow Flurry die.  The nose is made with the ½” circle punch and Red Glimmer paper.  I used the Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen for the eye detail and the Early Espresso marker for the mouth.  The tag itself is using the Two Tags die and Natural Composition Specialty paper.  {TIP:  Use two-way glue pen directly on face then place eyes and nose to keep from getting glue on your fingers.}

We also put the recipe in our Technique Journal as our page for this month.

Scrapbooking designs coming soon!
Happy Stampin’!!!

Craftaway Studios – Labor Day Weekend

I just got back from a fabulously fun crafting retreat weekend with friends and downlines at Craftaway Studios.  We stayed up until 3am the first two nights and 5am Sunday night. Good thing we got late check out on Monday, because we didn’t wake up until 10am.  My main project was completing a photo frame that’s like a printer’s tray.  I’m already getting the Halloween printer’s tray project free from Stampin’ Up!, so I made this one Christmas themed.  I’ll blog about it separately with all the details.  Here are three of us (me, Tracy, & Becky).  I didn’t get a photo of Kim, ‘cause I didn’t really take any photos until the last minute and she had gone home earlier than us.

We spread out everywhere since we were the only group there for the weekend.  So, we sat together in one room and spread out all the tools, laptops, & completed projects in the other room.   I didn’t take this photo until we had straightened up some, trust me, it was quite amazing how messy and spread out just 4 ladies can get when they are crafting all day.

In between all the crafting we made simple heat and eat meals and took a good hour break at lunches and dinners to relax and talk at the dining table.  We of course talked, listened to music, and joked with each other while crafting too, “Hello?!? McFly!”.  And one time, I thought I was gonna die laughing with biscotti in my mouth!  I couldn’t stop laughing even without eye contact.  I don’t even know what triggered it!  It’s just one of those girl trip things.
I made Hanukah cards and tags, Christmas cards and tags, my Christmas printer’s tray, more cards, and Halloween projects for my class on Sunday.  I was going to scrapbook too, but didn’t organize photos before the trip.  I had plenty on my list without it though.  Here’s an overall photo of my completed projects.

I’ll post close up photos of projects in separate posts so you can get all the details.  Happy Stampin’.

“Shore” Enjoyed the Beach! – Gulf Shores, AL 2012

For quite a while, my dad has been renting condos or a beach house in the Gulf Shores/Perdido Key area for the extended family to enjoy.  I love this area…the beach is big and clean, the waves are great, and the rentals are nice.  We are big game players in my family, and I managed to play all my favorites at least once with various family members: Mexican Train Game dominoes, Racko, Skipbo, Wii bowling, Wii Pictionary, Jenga, and Backgammon.  We even did a Murder Mystery game one afternoon.  My big brother and I swam in the ocean every evening when the sun got lower.  I just had to bring my Stampin’ Up! beach towel!  Every year we get some cool logo items we can buy.  I’ve had this towel for at least a couple of years.

There were more than the usual nests of loggerhead turtles this season.  One was bound to hatch the week we were there, and sure enough it did!  The volunteers dig a trench for the turtles to travel to the waves from the beach nest.  It’s a long trek for a little turtle.  There was even a fox on the beach waiting, but he left because we were there lining the trench.  The turtles get confused by the lights on the houses, so the volunteers use red flashlights to lead them to the water.  I was honored when one of the volunteers asked me to take over her flashlight to lead the turtles.  She needed both hands to turn around the confused ones heading back to the nest.  I got to control the flashlight for quite some time and wound up crawling along the path leading what was left of the 118 baby loggerheads to the waves awaiting them.  I saw it through start to finish which was about 90 minutes long.  They journey to feeding grounds with lots of floating seaweed before returning as adults to lay eggs of their own.  Here’s the trench the next morning.

The beach house was big and every bedroom had its own attached bathroom!  The fenced private pool made all the kids happy…but  I prefer the ocean.  Here’s a photo of the house and a photo of me and my daughter on the balcony.   We’ll be back next year according to my dad!  Yay!

Notice the “Stampin’ Up!” logo on my sleeve…I wasn’t even trying to get that in the photo…happy co-inky-dink!

August Stamp Night Projects – Double Embossing, Gingerbread Man, & Brayered Landscapes Technique

Vacation was a blast.  I’ll post a couple of beach pictures soon.  Here are the projects I did for August Stamp Nights.

Here’s the first project.  This is double embossed using the isolated embossing technique.  Emboss background first, and then emboss the Designer Frames rectangle frame using one plate on top, fully closed platform, shim(s), and cardboard cutout of frame to isolate just that portion!   {TIP:  Try different thicknesses of shims and cardboard pieces until you match up the right pressure to avoid de-bossing your embossed background.  I save the cardboard backings that come with the dies to use as shims later.}

I also try to walk it through with my fingers on top of the little frame to keep the top plate from see-sawing while going through.

The second project is based on a card I saw on our shared demonstrator site.  I changed the background and inverted the Perfect Polka Dots folder to make it look like a graham cracker.  {TIP:  With this larger ribbon wrapped around, you’ll want to use more aggressive tape to be sure your background cardstock stays stuck down.  The thicker ribbon puts more pressure on the cardstock and will lift up your mat if not secured well.}

The third project is a 6x6 Halloween themed scrapbook page with a card option for my non-scrapbookers.  The Howlstooth & Scaringbone designer series paper is from the Holiday Catalog.  The stamp set is Toxic Treats.  I demonstrated brayering landscapes for the cemetery.  {TIP:  When brayering, ink the brayer in the middle of the ink pad, start rolling before you get to your paper, and lift up at the end of the stroke.  Use light colors first and wash your roller if moving to a vastly different color to avoid messing up your inks.}

Here’s the photo of the monthly page for our Stamp Night Technique Journal, Brayered Landscapes.  I used Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, and Always Artichoke.  {TIP:  For brayered mountains, use ripped scrap moved around for different peaks at each distance.  Do foreground mountains first at full strength color then don’t re-ink for lighter and lighter mountains farther away.}

I really like how my sample came out that I demonstrated in the Tuesday Stamp Night…wish it was on cardstock instead of a post it note!

Getting ready for my 2nd Christmas/Holiday Card Stamp-a-Stack this Sunday!  Woo Hoo!  I’ll have all my holiday cards done in no time.

Join my SCRAPBOOK CLUB {Barbara’s Crop Circle} - Complete 20 Pages in 4 Months!

Need some help with your Scrapbooking?  Want to catch up on some pages? Want to try it but don't know where to start?  Why not join Barbara’s Crop Circle!



This is a 4 month Club.  You can join for a fixed $25 per month or minimum order of $30 per month!  I will be designing all of the pages.  Each month you will get two double page spreads and a single page…that’s 5 pages a month or 20 pages in 4 months!!!  Let me know ahead of time if you are a 12x12 or an 8x8 scrapbooker.



Barbara’s Crop Circle will meet on the following 3rd Thursdays at 7PM:



SEP 20th

OCT 18th

NOV 15th

DEC 20th



Crop price $25 per session or minimum order of $30.



Please RSVP to reserve your spot in the club by September 1st so I can order the supplies!!
NOTE:  ALL titles on pages will be flexible.



Long-distance?  No problem.  Contact me to calculate postage to have a kit shipped to your location!

Happy Scrappin’