Top Note Brackets

This page is for my Ranch Album - odds and ends of photos taken at the ranch in Roy. I usually end up taking tons of photos everytime we go up there, but only use a half dozen or so for my Family Scrapbook and in the kids' individual scrapbooks. So, I also have a Ranch Album - for those 'extra' photos!

One time when we were playing over at the dam, I stopped taking pictures of the kids in the water and started chasing a tiny, beautiful blue dragonfly. It's not a real dragonfly - I'm not sure what they are really called, but they are so pretty and they don't hold still! I ended up taking some pictures of several plants and captured one photo of my bug - but not as close to him as I had hoped! You can barely see him in the center photo along the bottom of this scrapbook page - if you click on it, it's a lot bigger.

Anyway, I haven't ever scrapped these pictures before because I usually focus on the kids in my pages. Brian already thought I was crazy for scrambling around on my hands and knees taking these photos and then even more so when I had them printed. So he'll just laugh when he sees that I scrapped these pictures!

I created the brackets on this page by running two pieces of Night of Navy cardstock through the Big Shot with the Top Note die. Then I moved those two pieces about a half inch off the die and ran them through the machine again. I'm pretty happy with them and they are a perfect size for scrapbooking - whether to frame a photo or a title. The bottom border of Night of Navy cardstock is punched with the Scallop Edge punch and then each scallop is poked with my paper piercer. I used the Taffy Alphabet, stamped in Night of Navy Craft ink, for the title, with the ampersand from Short Order alphabet. The rest is handwritten with a Night of Navy marker. AND I used Orchid Opulence AGAIN! who knew I would use that color so often!

Stamps: Taffy alphabet, Short Order alphabet
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Blush Blossom, Orchid Opulence, Night of Navy
Ink: Night of Navy Craft
Accessories: Night of Navy marker, Scallop Edge Punch, Top Note die

Starting the thank you cards

Another Water Misting card and one Thank You card done, several more to do. I made this card for the Color Challenge on Splitcoast today - CC199 So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter. So Saffron is one of my favorite colors and I like Bravo Burgundy, but Handsome Hunter isn't on my top colors list. However, they make a striking combination from the Rich Regals color family.

I used my Watercolor Wonder Crayons - the three challenge colors - directly on the rubber of the stamps from Inspired By Nature. Then I misted it pretty heavily with water and stamped it onto Very Vanilla card stock. I trimmed it down narrow, distressed the edges with my Cutter Kit and then added some So Saffron sponging. I layered this onto a narrow mat of Bravo Burgundy and a wider mat of So Saffron. I also distressed the So Saffron mat.

I put this onto a Handsome Hunter card base Gate Fold style- as you can see it opens at the center of the card. The Handsome Hunter piece is 5 1/2" x 8 3/4", scored at 1 1/4" and 5 1/2" Then, I used two ends of a Top Note die cut on each side of the front to anchor the image. The Top Note die cut on the right is adhered to my card stock layers. However, the Top Note on the left is adhered only at the edge with Pewter Brads and then Stampin' Dimensionals to pop it up a bit. This Top Note piece acts as an anchor to keep the front of the card closed.

For the inside of the card, I stamped only a small portion of the grass image onto the right side of a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and then stamped a 'thank you' message from the Much Appreciated stamp set in So Saffron ink.


Stamps: Inspired By Nature, Much Appreciated
Cardstock: Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Ink: WaterColor Wonder Crayons - Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter, So Saffron
Accessories: Top Note die, Cutter Kit, Metal brads, Sponge

Scrapbooking A Bit - with Challenges

Here is a page I scrapped last week, working with some of the challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. The Scrapbooking Variety Challenge last week, SBVC55, was 'Reindeer Games' - choose a row of elements off a Bingo card. I also worked with the Color Challenge last Tuesday, CC198, So Saffron, Orchid Opulence and Cameo Coral - tough one, eh?! AND I followed the Scrapbooking Sketch Challenge, SBSC169, as well - phew! Actually, it all seemed to come together pretty easily, even if it's not my favorite page - its' a finished page, right?

These picture from Hawaii 2007 seemed like a good match for the color challenge, especially when I found this Cameo Coral dsp in my stash of retired paper. I also have the coordinating stamp set, Embrace Life, and used it to add the same pattern to my On Board chipboard letter and create the large stamped, cut out flowers. I used Tombow Mono Multi (the liquid stuff in the green bottle) to cover the letter G an stuck it to a piece of Orchid Opulence card stock. When it dried, I cut it out with my Hobby Blade and Mat Pack. I stamped the rest of the title in Orchid Opulence Classic Ink (who knew I would EVER be reaching for Orchid Opulence Craft Ink??!!)

I tore along the flower images of the dsp border and added some of the charms given to the kids by the hotel, Hilton Hawaii Village (great place to stay, btw!) to the bottom of the chipboard letter - pierced with my paper piercer. The tickets are a few of Brian's from his conferment and sessions - we ended up in Hawaii thanks to his hard work! (He took all the courses necessary to get his CPCU designation, a property and casualty insurance 'thing', and the Conferment Ceremony for 2007 was in Honolulu. Hurray! I think the 2008 ceremony was in Denver!) I also stamped the Hawaiian word for 'Congratulations' in So Saffron ink along the bottom.

Stamp Set: Contempo Alphabet, School Book Serif Aphabet, Embrace Life
Cardstock: So Saffron, Orchid Opulence, Cameo Coral, Ginger Blossom dsp (retired)
Ink: Orchid Opulence, So Saffron, White Craft
Accessories: Hobby Blade, Mat Pack and Paper Piercer

Hidden Journaling

Here is a page I created last week using the right side of one of the Sketch Challenges (SBSC167) on Splitcoast. I've started the left side, but need to order some pics to finish it. I stayed fairly true to Sally's sketch, except my photos are horizontal, instead of the vertical ones she had. I love having a great starting place when I'm scrapping and sketches seem to be my favorite.

I used some (really old!) retired DSP called Tree House, from my paper stash. (I am trying to use and not hoard some of my supplies!) I used a Creamy Caramel card stock base, sponged the edges, and then matted the photos with Night of Navy and Whisper White card stock. The title is stamped in Night of Navy Craft ink, using the Type Set Upper and Lower Alphabets and then handwritten with a Night of Navy Stampin' Write Marker.

The little strip of paper and ribbon pull above the three boys is a hidden photo and journaling piece that is just behind that Night of Navy panel. I left a pocket sized area open by only applying adhesive outside of where my tag will fit. This tag pulls out completely and has an extra photo on the front and my journaling on the back along with the roster of this team. Because it is near the top of my page, I don't have to cut the page protector - it can be pulled out of the top of the protector.

I sponged the edges of the Creamy Caramel base with Creamy Caramel ink and then with Whisper White Craft ink. Sponging, especially a 12x12 area, can be messy, but here's a trick - use a large binder clip to attach to your sponge. Then hold the binder clip when you're inking up and your fingers will stay clean!

Stamps: Type Set Alphabet (retired)
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Tree House (retired)
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Night of Navy Craft, Whisper White Craft
Accessories: Navy grosgrain ribbon, Hodge Podge Hardware Antique Brass, Sponge

Sympathy Cards

The most difficult cards to make and the most difficult cards to send - sympathy cards. I'm not too sure of myself when it comes to creating sympathy cards and just don't know what images or sentiments are appropriate. Last night, I ordered the sets God's Blessings and Always in My Thoughts, but they won't arrive until next week and unfortunately, I need two sympathy cards this week.

For this Sage Shadow card, I stamped the angel from Holy Triptych in Basic Grey ink on watercolor paper. Then I used a few markers and blended with my Aqua Painter. (I want to practice my coloring some more, and will probably do that with the Aqua Painter and re-inkers, which seems more comfortable for me than markers.) I cut all the layers out using the Curved Rectangle set from Spellbinders in my Big Shot machine. The base card is just centered on the die with the fold inside the top edge, so it doesn't get cut. I popped up the Perfect Plum layer on Stampin' Dimensionals. This card is a CASE of this wedding card I made, which is CASE'd from Lori Craig's card here.

Stamps: Holy Triptych, Holidays & Wishes Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Watercolor paper Ink: Basic Gray, Markers - Pale Plum, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Creamy Caramel,Blush Blossom Accessories: AquaPainter, Gray Taffeta ribbon

For this Mellow Moss card, I used a couple of markers directly on the rubber of the Inspired by Nature stamp. Then I lightly misted it with a bottle of water and stamped it onto Very Vanilla card stock die cut with the Big Shot Top Note die. I cut the Very Vanilla piece with my Paper Snips, just inside the perforated line of the die and layered it onto another Top Note die cut in Perfect Plum card stock.

The 'cherish' sentiment is from Baroque Motif stamp set and is punched with the Designer Label Punch, then layered over a 1 3/8" Circle Punch, on Dimensionals. I sponged all the Vanilla card stock edges with Perfect Plum ink and added a strip of Le Jardin dsp down the the left side.

For the inside of my card, I added a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. I misted my stamp again, without re-coloring it, and stamped it here. I plan to write over the top this faint, second generation image.

Stamps: Inspired by Nature, Baroque Motif Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Le Jardin dsp (retired) Ink: Perfect Plum, markers - Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa Accessories: Sponge Daubers, Designer Label Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Top Note Die


On a Personal Note - With all our traveling and our move to Minnesota, I haven't kept in touch with my friends in the past year. We changed addresses and phone numbers and as a result, only our closest family even knew how to get in touch with us. I was very sad to find out recently that one of my good friends in Montana died this fall. Her daughter called me when I sent out my Christmas letter and told me a little of the details. I feel like a jerk and I'm so sorry that I didn't have a chance to talk to her one last time. As much as newsletters and Christmas cards are joked about, it is certainly one way that we all can keep in touch with each other throughout our fast-paced and ever-changing lives. So, write a letter, send a note, mail a card, make a phone call and let the people that you care about, know that you are thinking of them and let them know what you are up to.

Another Little Gift Wrap

Remember those little Harajuki Lovers perfume solids that Lindsey was giving to her friends a few weeks ago? Well, she has just a couple more to give away, so this time I made a little 'box in a bag' for it. This little bag is super easy to make, just the way I like it!

Diana Gibbs has a great tutorial on her blog to check out - I made a 4" square for the base and then wrapped it with a piece of 8 1/2" designer series paper (long retired, but one of my favorites!) that is about 5" tall. For the base, I just snipped the corners, instead of the diagonal score that Diana does. A 1" strip of Mellow Moss cardstock is punched with my Scallop Edge punch and wrapped it around the base. The top is held together with two Round Tab punches attached to the dsp, hole punched and tied with the Vanilla wide grosgrain. Be sure to use Sticky Strip to hold it all together.

I made the tag from some scraps of the dsp and Mellow Moss; the strip of Very Vanilla is stamped with the To/From out of the Winter Post stamp set. The corners are punched with the Tag Corner punch and then it is tied off with a piece of Mellow Moss gingham ribbon. I heated the tips of the ribbon with my Heat Gun to get a little curl on them. Then I cut up some strips of the scrap dsp, crimped them and wrapped them around my paper piercer for a twist. Those are tucked into the bag instead of tissue paper.

Stamps: Winter Post
Ink: Always Artichoke
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Le Jardin designer series paper (retired)
Accessories: Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain, Mellow Moss Gingham, Round Tab Punch, Tag Corner Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Mat Pack, Crop A Dile

More Little Gifts Packaging

The Christmas baking in this house has not happened, so no fabulous little trays of cookies for my neighbors! But I did tuck a package of my most favorite cookies - called Stroopwafels or Carmel Cookie Waffles - into this box for our neighbors across the street. Love those sweet things! They are one of the things I used to order from a place in Montana, when we lived in Colorado. I happily found some fabulous ones sold in Minnesota, land of the nordics where you can also buy lefse at Sam's Club. The cookies are from Holland though. (The store in Montana makes their own fresh version of these Dutch treats every day.)

I also added a tin of wrapped Hershey nuggets and a couple of Tracer's Play-Dough stacks. The candy canes are tied to the top of the box with a strip of ribbon. They are wrapped with a little tag of the designer series paper, punched with the Slit Punch to slide the candy cane through. I pulled the snowman box out of my Christmas stash and love that the colors on it are matching the Wintergreen designer series paper.

This other little bag is for another neighbor and includes a Play-Dough stack for their little boy and a few treats, as well. I hung a couple of candy canes onto the ribbon tie on my way out the door, too.

It's always so easy to coordinate a gift set with Stampin' Up's papers - I love that I can grab some card stock, ribbon and ink that matches the paper I am using. Easy, Peasy - just the way I like it!


Stamps: All Holidays
Cardstock: Wintergreen dsp (retired), Wild Wasabi (retired), Blue Bayou (retired)
Inks: Blue Bayou (retired)
Accessories: Blue Bayou double stitch ribbon (retired), White grosgrain ribbon, Nestabilities die, Crop-A-Dile, Silver Eyelets, Slit Punch

Sweet Treats

One of my favorite Christmas treats are the Hershey Candy Cane Kisses and they are not easy to find! One year my friend Jackie and I looked in every store within a 20 mile radius in Denver to find just a few bags of them! This year I bought several bags as soon as I saw them on the shelf. Another yummy Christmas treat is Peppermint Cocoa - and these adorable little stir sticks, Candy Cane Marshmallows, make me happy!

Lindsey made them last night and packaged them up, two to a bag, tied onto a Top Note wrapped Cocoa Packet. Hers were just like the Cocoa Packets Trace and I made for his teachers, (see below) except she added these stir-in treats to one side of the ribbon ties. (I didn't get a picture of her finished gifts as she took off with them this morning - only one more day of school until Christmas break!)

I got the idea to make these from Julie Buhler who made these candy cane coated marshmallows. I thought they looked super cute and so easy to make. Her blog, Paper Pleasing Ideas, is one that I love to read. She is a creative and fabulous stamper from Canada and often has great tutorials (written and video) on her blog. You should definitely check it out!

Lindsey had fun making them and can't wait to give them out to her friends today. And see that little bit of platter showing in the photo of the marshmallows - that beauty is a gift from Dee, an incredible scrapper and friend that I miss from Colorado! Thanks girl!

Little Gift Packaging

This morning, Trace and I made a whole bunch of these little Play-Dough packs for his pre-school classmates. He was lots of help, stacking up three packs together with glue dots and stamping Warm Wishes on the tags. I wrapped them with a strip of Dashing designer series paper and tied them off with a piece of Old Olive twill ribbon. Used my last of the twill ribbon, too - I didn't have even one tiny piece left! The tags are cut from Real Red, although I see that front one looks very Rose-ish. He can't wait to put one in everyone's cubby at school tomorrow!

For his teachers, we made some Top Note die wraps for a couple of cocoa packages. All you need for each one is three Top Notes die cuts- two Real Red or Glorious Green, and one Very Vanilla. I ran mine through the Big Shot with two sheets of cardstock at a time, cut to 4x5 inches. I used my scissors to cut just inside the perforation lines on the Very Vanilla pieces for the top layer. Then stamped and sponged and tied the ribbon through. (I stacked the three layers for each set together and punched them with the Crop-A-Dile, so all the ribbon holes line up.) Then I tucked two packages of cocoa inside each wrap. The cocoa packages are very light, so I put a small piece of double stick tape to the front of one to tack two of them together. Also, I put a piece of double stick tape on the front and back, so that they stay put inside the Top Note wrap.I'll add a candy cane and a gift card to them on our way out the door in the morning.

Stamps: Winter post, Many Merry Messages
Paper: Dashing DSP (retired), Real Red, Glorious Green, Very Vanilla
Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Bordering Blue, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Old Olive Twill ribbon, Real Red grosgrain ribbon, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Nestabilities Die

Merry Christmas 2008

Digital Scrapper I am not. Dang it. I want to know how to create digital scrapbook pages and I want to be able edit my photos quickly and easily. But I can't. I have Photoshop Elements and I can barely use it. It's ridiculous. I know it is a user friendly program and even the Elements software package has a lot of editing and creating capabilities. But I'm not capable. Creating two text lines and two border lines on this photo about taxed the entire extent of my digital scrapbooking abilities!

So this is the cover photo for our annual Christmas newsletter. I still need to find, edit and add some comments to the rest of the photos for the inside. What did we do this year? Where ARE we this year!?! lol! 2008 was a very very busy year for this Rindal family and I can't even begin to consolidate it into a few photos with a few captions. We traveled to over a dozen states from the east to the west to the south and then moved to the north! We watched or played nearly a hundred baseball games and about 60 softball games - including Softball World Series and Baseball Elite World Series. We sold a house and lived in hotels for months. But Christmas is around the corner and I am challenging myself to get our year in review done this week! Ack - did I say that out loud?! Better get back to my photos!

A Sweet Gift Box

Lindsey is going to a Kid's Cookie Exchange Christmas party this weekend (I am so jealous!) and besides bringing 3 dozen cookies to exchange she is also bringing a gift for the hostess. I made one of these candy style wrappers for her gift - a Perfume Solid of Harajuku Lovers G. (It's like a little chapstick well of solid scent.)


Lindsey's friend has gone shopping with us a few times and the girls keep showing me these perfumes. They're called Harajuku Lovers Fragrance and there are five different dolls, each with their own scent - Love, Music, Lil Angel, Baby, and G. Lindsey's friend loves the G scent, which is a tropical scent. According to Gwen Stefani, G is quirky, unique and undeniably cool - very fitting, right?! Apparently the Harajuku Girls are backup dancers for Gwen Stefani who, by the way, has a lovely perfume herself, called 'Lamb' that I really like. Anyway...

This gift box is an easy little favor that comes together with Designer Series Paper, Cardstock and Ribbon - the only stamping I did, is on the gift tag.

Start with a 7 3/4" x 11" piece of cardstock. Score it at 2", 3", 4", 7", 8", and 9" on the long side. Then score at 2 1/2", 5", and 7 1/2" on the short side.

I just use a ruler and Bone Folder with my Grid Paper for all my scoring. Be sure you have a mat or several pieces of grid paper to give a little cushion for the score lines.



Fold all the score lines and crease them well. Then insert the 1 3/8" Square Punch in at an angle, lining up the corners to the edge of your cardstock. Punch out the triangle. Fold the cardstock on one of the score line and then punch again, lining up the inside corner to the center score and the diagonal corners to the outside score lines. Click on the photo to get a little closer look. Punch out the diagonal squares and triangles on each side of the cardstock and then add pieces of Designer Series Paper to the outside. I used some retired paper cut to 2 3/8" x 2 7/8" (three pieces) and 2 3/8" x 1 7/8" (six pieces) to decorate this one.

Finally, draw some jagged edges, cut them with sharp scissors and the box is ready to assemble.
Your final scored and cut piece should look like this. I used Tombow Mono Multi Adhesive to adhere mine closed on the glue tabs. But you could also use Sticky Strip for a good hold. I tied some Wide Grosgrain Ribbon around the ends and added a simple gift tag. Another way to decorate these boxes would be to randomly stamp the cardstock before scoring and cutting. This would be even faster and easier than decorating them with the designer series paper.


For the tag, I just layered a scrap of the designer series paper onto the coordinating cardstock, the corners clipped with the Tag Corner Punch. Then a 1 3/8" Square Punch of Very Vanilla cardstock and stamped the To/From sentiment out of the Winter Post set. I added a Jumbo Eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile and tied the gift tag onto the box with a double strand of Linen Thread.
I made a couple of extra Gift Boxes, maybe for Lindsey to gift the other Harajuku Perfumes or maybe to hide another Christmas treat. I want to make some larger ones, too. Maybe I'll try some with more sides than three, to hold some cello bags of Carmel Corn.


Cardstock: Wild Wasabi (retired) with Dashing DSP (retired) and Sage Shadow with Wintergreen DSP (retired)
Ink: Real Red
Stamps: Winter Post
Accessories: 1 3/*" Square Punch, Tag Corner Punch, Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, Bone Folder, Real Red Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Very Vanilla Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread

Snowflakes

This beautiful card is the first Christmas card I have received this year. My friend Elva stamped it using the set 'Snowflakes' which retired last year. I like the different blue inks she used for the snowflakes and then layered on the blues again for contrast. The inside of the card is stamped as well as the envelope. I love stamped envelopes - I think they give a little sneak peak to the recipient that makes it exciting to receive in the mailbox!

The layout Elva used is a classic that looks great with nearly any stamp set or wheel. I was so glad to get 'happy mail' today.