A Stampinpalooza good time & a very cool tutorial for you!

I know, I am a bad bad blogger. I am not even going to give you an excuse (although I have MANY). I am just going to apologize and move on.....

Blogland, I am sorry.

However I can not promise not to do it again. I will however promise that I am working on something. Something that I hope will allow me to blog regularly again. Not often, but regularly.

For now, I would like to share with you some thing I demo'd at Stampinpalooza this past weekend. For those of you who don't know what Stampinpalooza is, I will give you some background. Stampinpalooza (or Palooza to us regulars) is an all day stamping event in Toronto that takes place in June and October, and is organized and hosted by the uber talented Stampin' Up! Demo (and my awesome Upline), Caroline LeBel! It is ALWAYS a blast, and this time was no exception!

I have had the great pleasure of presenting at all of the Palooza's. This time I decided to show a selection of things that you can do with the awesome Petal Cone Die for the Big Shot. This die rocks! It was released in the last mini catalogue (Occasions Mini) and is still for sale, in fact it has made it's way into the new Catalogue due out July 1st!!

Here is a picture of the Petal Cone in all it's cone-y goodness. You can close it with the "petal" flaps, or make it like a basket as per the pic below. But it's a cone. what else could you possibly do with a cone???

Oh, let me be the one to tell you that you can do LOTS with the Petal Cone die. Here are just a few of the AMAZING things that you can create with the die:

• Ice cream cones
• cupcakes
• Mobiles
• banners
• Heart shaped cards
• baskets
  
• Chinese take-out boxes

Now, if you are still paying attention, which I hope you are, your jaw probably dropped when you read that list. I know mine did. And by the time you got to Chinese Take-out boxes, you were just too flabbergasted to even comprehend what you were reading. Well, I share your sentiment my bloggy friends. I too could not believe my eyes, until I made one, and then a second one, and then a third and so on.

Look at it! Is that not the cutest thing you ever did see? It's not a big box, it's just a cute little thing, but it holds it's fair share of candy, or jewelery or even a mini cupcake (yum!). When I was demonstrating it the comments I was hearing sounded a bit like this:

"When I saw that die, I was like "what would I want a cone for" but now I am like "how can I live with out this die"??"

Or something like that. Truthfully, the consensus was that people were generally not aware of all the very cool things you can make with it. I honestly believe that is one of the most versatile dies we carry. So, with out further ado, here are the instructions for making your very own mini Chinese Take-out containers:

1. Cut two petal cone pieces using your Petal Cone die for the Big Shot.

2. Fold each of the cut pieces in half along the score line.

3. Place in a paper cutter and line up the score line below the "half circle" at the top of the petal cone along the 3" line and slice off the bottom of the cone. Repeat this step with the other petal cone piece.

4. Line up the now blunt end of the cone at the 1" mark and score the cone piece. Repeat this step with the other petal cone piece.

5. Cut along all the score lines on the bottom of your petal cone pieces just up to the new score lines you just created. These pieces will form the bottom of the box.

6. Using Sticky Strip adhere the sides of the petal cone pieces together by the flaps.

7. Fold up the bottom of the box and adhere with a piece of sticky strip.

8. Decorate your box as desired and fill with whatever treat or gift you desire.

If you don't already have this die, I suggest you purchase one pronto! Stay tuned in the days to follow for more Palooza updates and pictures of other things made with the Petal Cone die, including my 3rd place winning name tag.

Cheers,

Wanna see something from the Open House this Saturday??

Here is something seriously cute that we are making at my Open House this Saturday. If you are able to make it please RSVP.

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?? It'a bookmark that folds over your page. The bookmark is made using the Two Tags die for the Big Shot but you first fold a piece of paper in half and then place it on the die so that you don't cut the top of the book mark. It's kind of hard to explain, much easier to see in person. So come on by the Open House this saturday and I can show you!!

The Owl is the new Owl punch and I LOVE him! Honestly at first I thought "oh, this is going to be so fiddly" but he's not at all! He's really easy to assemble. I have also incorporated a few of our new colours with this project, Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft), Cherry Cobble & Early Espresso. And the tummy on the Owl is our returning in colour Baja Breeze!

Here's a picture of him in a book doing his job! Don't you just want to make one of these??? These little book marks make the best presents for Teachers, Grand-parents, kids, really anyone who loves to read, and still reads REAL books, not the digital kind (I have to admit I am a digital convert......... I love my new Kobo!!). But I still have some real books, like cookbooks, and this is a reference book on Direct Selling that I am reading. So these bookmarks coming in super handy even for me!

RSVP for my Open House this Saturday and learn how to make these super quick, super easy gifts!



Cheers,

Finally some stuff!!

I have a few things to share today. The first are the Monogrammed note cards I made for Kieran's teachers. I made two different designs. The one on the left uses the beautiful and now retired Baroque background stamp. I did it in two different combinations, Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip. If you like what you see, contact me ASAP to get yours before it is gone! And the second one uses the Boho Blooms background stamp which I did in Bashful Blue with Basic Grey, or Pretty in Pink with Basic Grey. I love making monogrammed note cards. I think it is such an elegant gift to give someone. I give them as hostess gifts when I am invited to someone's house for dinner, teacher gifts or gifts for those people who have everything! The letters are from the very beautiful "Lovely Letters" set which I am glad is sticking around. There is a beautiful new monogram alphabet set in the new Catalogue. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Well it looks like the baby is awake!! I will be back later with a scrapbooking layout I was able to put together in under an hour (a HUGE feat for me!) using a very fun technique!

Cheers,