Have a Meowy Christmas

This card is from my first guest blogger, Jordan Sparkman.  Jordan is my 9 year niece.  She made this card in My Digital Studio.

I made this card for my mom.  She and I love cats.  We have an orange cat at home named Stubby.  He has no tail but otherwise he looks like the cat in this card.  ~Jordan

And from Jordan and I, have a Meowy Christmas!

Creatively yours,

Jordan Sparkman and Sharon Cheng

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Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of some of the new designs and tools from the 2012 Occasions mini catalog.  This is a hybrid card that combines digital designing and traditional card making techniques.  The Christmas Wishes image and coloring is digital.  I used the My Digital Studio version of the Apothecary Art stamp set. I copied and pasted so that I could print 9 images on one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of Whisper White card stock.  Each image is then die cut using the Labels Collection Framelit and Big Shot.

This is the first card that I made with the Apothecary Art Stamp brush set.  This card is 100% digital.  You can  more details about how I made this card in my December newsletter. 

One thing I missed when making the digital card was using the coordinating Framelits dies.  The nice thing about the Labels Collection Framelits is that there are a total of 6 labels in different sizes so you can make coordinating mats.  And the Apothecary Art images are designed to fit the Labels Collection Framelits.

There are two things that don't show up well in this photo. One is that I've used our new Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details on the roses to give the card extra bling.  The other is the bottom edge of the card front.  While you can see the embossed impression from the Adorning Accents embossing folder, you have to look carefully to see the coordinating cut edge.  For that edge, I used the Adorning Accents Edgelit Die.  One advantage of the Framelits and Edgelits is that these dies let you see exactly where you're placing the design before you cut the card stock.

As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, we can pre-order items from the new catalog one month ahead of time.  Otherwise, the items in the catalog are available to order starting January 4th.  If you would like a copy of the Occasions mini catalog, please contact me at sharon@sharoncheng.com.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

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Last Items From Our Demonstrator Christmas Swap

Here are the last pictures of the items from our demonstrator Sneaky Santa Christmas gift exchange.

I was the lucky person who got this glass block which was made by Rose Conkwright.  The first picture shows how she etched and embossed the glass.  The second photo shows how it looks when you turn on the lights inside the block.  I enjoy having this as one of the Christmas decorations in my home.

Teresa Goff made this vase filled with ornaments.  My photo doesn't do this project any justice.  You can barely see one of the snowflake rub ons that she added to the vase. 

Terry made this scarf using some of our Stampin' Up! exclusive fabric.  It's nice and warm with the fleece backing.  I love the fleece and fabric button on the scarf.  The big button is from our Holiday mini catalog.

It's been a lot of fun sharing the talent in our group.  Several people have asked where we get our ideas.  The answer is from many different places.  Stampin' Up! has a demonstrator-exclusive site that has over two hundred thousand samples!  There are many other Stampin' Up! websites where you can find lots of ideas using our products.  Many of us are Pinterest fans.  You can see how I got some of my ideas on my From This to That Board.  And we share projects in our monthly demonstrator meetings. These are just a few of the places where we get our ideas.  The more ideas you see regularly, the more opportunities you have to be inspired. 

If you have considered becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like more information, please contact me at sharon@sharoncheng.com.  We have both business-building demonstrators and hobbyists in our group.   There is a special for demonstrators who sign up during Sale-A-Bration which starts on January 24th.  You can get our starter kit at the discounted price of $125 AND a free paper pack or digital download every month for the rest of the year.  This may be the best way to use any Christmas money that you get and give yourself a gift that keeps on giving!

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng

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Still More Christmas Projects from our Demonstrator Swap

Here are still more pictures of the items we had in our swap for our demonstrator Christmas party.  I was talking to someone from Stampin' Up!'s home office and he said he was impressed with the quality of work that our group does.  I had to agree!

This 12 x 12 canvas was made by Karen Parker.  It hangs up on the wall with a picture of someone who has been naughty or nice!

Linda Brown made this machine applique towel using our Big Shot stocking die.  Linda is a talented seamstress who combines her love of fabric and sewing with Stampin' Up! products.

Marilyn Young made this fabulous shadow box filled with flowers.  Notice how she did some doodling in the flowers from Flower Fancy.  Marilyn teaches this technique in some of her classes.  You can find out more on her blog at Blessed Creativity.

I'll post the last of our Christmas projects tomorrow.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing the diverse creativity in our group.  It's so inspiring to be with this group of women!

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
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Looking for a Last Minute Stocking Stuffer?

Are you looking for a last minute stocking stuffer?  Check out this mini dry erase board.  I made it by designing a 4 x 6 inch image in My Digital Studio and putting it in a 4 x 6 inch acrylic frame.

Then I added this  piece of card stock on the back to hold the dry erase marker.  It's a quick and easy project that you can personalize to fit that special person in your life. 

In a hurry?  You can get the image and instructions for free when you like my Facebook business page. 

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX
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More Demonstrator Gifts

Here are some more of the gifts that we had at our Christmas party.  This arrangement was made by Gail Peterson.  You can find her blog at Gail Peterson's Crafts.   In the close up picture here, you can see how she stamped and punched out different embellishments.

This is how the arrangement looks in a vase.

Joni Lawrence made this Christmas tree out of rosettes.  She used our red glimmer paper to make the tree skirt and the ball on top.  You can her blog at jonilawrence.com

Judy Hogan made her project using a silver picture frame.  It's a beautiful home decor item to celebrate Christmas.  You could use the same idea for a wedding gift.  Judy's blog is at bluebonnetstampers.

Believe it or not, there are still more gifts to post.  I plan to get that done this weekend!

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX
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Demonstrator Gift Exchange

At our Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Christmas party, we have a gift exchange.  Here are some of the gifts that the demonstrators in our group made.   The tree was made by Cheryl Hart.  She used the First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper to make the ruffles.  The antique brad in the middle of the star looks great.

Christi Beck made a combination of gifts.  The Workshop binder is a great way to organize ideas by month for 2012.  The CD Calendar in the top right corner is a hybrid project with a printed calendar and stamped embellishments.  The third project is a notepad in one of our clear mount stamp cases.  What a cute combination of projects.

This stunning necklace and earring set was made by Cindy Peterson.  Many of the flowers are made using Stampin' Up!'s Deck The Halls Designer Fabric.  I love how she used buttons and antique brads in this project. 

Keep checking back for more of the projects that were a part of our gift exchange.  As you can tell, this is a talented group of women!

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX
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Christmas Frame

At our demonstrator Christmas party, we have a Sneaky Santa gift exchange.  The gift that I made was another Pinterest-inspired project.  When you go to my Pinterest From This to That board, you can see where I got some of the ideas for this project.

The frame was brown wood that I painted white.  Kilz primer did a great job of covering the dark brown.  I did figure out that if you are going to add the wires, it's easier to find a frame with wider pieces of wood.  I ended up having to go to a hardware store to get wood screws that were small enough to not go all the way through the frame.  I'm working on a second frame where the wood is over an inch wide and it was much easier to add the screws and wire.

DH helped me attach the wire to the screws.  We put the screws on opposite sides of the frame.  While they were firmly attached, they were not in a far as you could go.  He then wrapped the wire around the screws keeping the wire as tight as possible.  When you tighten the screws a little more, that pulls the wire tighter.  I hope this make sense.  I'm glad he figured out how to do that.  You can get the miniature clothespins from my online store.

Here are some close ups of the individual items.  The red and silver glimmer paper look much better in person.  All of the images in this project come from My Digital Studio.  I printed them on either First Edition Specialty Designer Series paper or Very Vanilla card stock.  To print on the First Edition paper, I cut the 12 x 12 sheet to 8 1/2 x 11 so it would fit in my printer.  

Welcome Christmas stamp brush set

The images are from the Welcome Christmas stamp brush set except for the word tree. That is part of the Home for the Holidays digital kit.  What I love about digital designing is that you can change the size of the image to fit your project. 

Have fun making your version of this project.  I'll post some of the other items that were in the Sneaky Santa gift exchange later this week.  

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng

Richland Hills, TX

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Quick and Easy Stocking Stuffers

Every year we have fun helping everyone make their stocking stuffers for family and friends on their Santa list.  This year we have 4 projects to choose from:  a bookmark, reindeer pencil, candy purse and snowman pail.  You can pre-order kits in any amount you would like, so mix and match your projects to fit what you need.  The cost for each kit is $1.

At the class you'll make one of each project so you'll have a completed sample to take home.  Then you'll take the rest of your kits home to assemble.  You do have to pre-register for this class and let us know how many of each project you want to make so we can have them ready for you.

Date:  Saturday, December 3rd
Time:  1 to 4 p.m.
Location:  Bedford, TX

We have a limited number of snowman pails, so if you want to make this project, please register early.  Once the pails are gone, we won't be able to take any more orders for these kits.  To register, please e-mail me at sharon@sharoncheng.com.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
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From This to That: Pumpkin Bling

Several of my crafting friends have been inviting me to go to Pinterest for several months.  I avoided it because I knew it was going to be something that could get me into a lot of trouble.  Fun trouble, but still a lot of trouble.  Well, I finally went for it and I was right.  Thanks to Pinterest, I have more ideas to try out than I have time.

So in a crazy mixed up way, I combined several different techniques to make this blingy pumpkin.  In real life, the mica flakes are more white and look like frost on the pumpkin.  I thought it would be fun to share the different ideas and techniques that I combined to come up with this project.

1.  Covering a pumpkin with text paper.  I went to the Dollar Tree and bought this plastic pumpkin.  I then covered it with Stampin' Up!'s First Edition Specialty paper.  This is a pack of 24 12 x 12 papers with different texts on them.  Unlike pages from a book, it's acid free.

121878 First Edition Specialty $12.95

2.  Dyeing Mod Podge.  Then thanks to some instructions on coloring mason jars, I realized that I could dye the Mod Podge I was using to make my pumpkin orange.  I used Stampin' Up!'s craft ink refills to dye small amounts of Mod Podge in Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive.

105164 Pumpkin Pie Craft Ink Refill $4.25

101425 Old Olive Craft Ink Refill $4.25

 3.  Add mica flakes.  While the pumpkin was wet with the Mod Podge, I added the mica flakes.  I sprinkled the flakes on top of the wet Mod Podge.

124115 Mica Flakes $350

4.  Adding Silver Glimmer Paper.  After adding the mica, I realized that the pumpkin stem needed some bling too.  So I covered the stem and made some tendrils with Stampin' Up!'s silver glimmer paper.  To do that, I soaked off the back of the silver glimmer paper.  I put the silver glimmer paper in the sink for a few minutes and then rubbed off the wet paper with my fingers.  I cut 1/4 inch strips of the silver glimmer and wrapped it around the stem and some pipe cleaners.  I dyed the silver glimmer with, you guessed it, Mod Podge that was dyed Old Olive green.

124005 Silver Glimmer Paper $4.95

And that is how I came up with this pumpkin with lots of bling.

I hope you will visit my my boards in Pinterest and be inspired to create a project that fits you.  If you are not a member of Pinterest, add a comment here and I'll send you an invitation. 

Visit my online store to get your supplies for this project.  Remember that when you purchase $25 or more in product, you are eligible for my Rewards Program.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

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25 & Counting Advent Calendar

Stampin' Up!'s 25 and Counting stamp set is perfect for making advent calendars.  I saw an advent calendar made with pill boxes and had to make this one using the Holly Berry Bouquet Specialty Designer Series Paper.

Here is a close up of the calendar.  I put magnets on the pillboxes so they would stay on this cookie sheet memo board.  You can also use magnets to attach the pillboxes to your refrigerator.

Other items I used to decorate these pillboxes are the scallop square punch (119884 $16.95), the Buttons #5 Sizzlits (113440 $4.95) and the 1 inch circle punch (119868  @12.95).

Visit my online store to get your supplies for this project.  Remember that when you purchase $25 or more in product, you are eligible for my Rewards Program.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

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Halloween Display and More

I LOVE Stampin' Up!'s silver glimmer paper.    It's so easy to cut, punch and die cut.  And it adds a little bling to your projects.  I used it in this project which also features the Gift Givers stamp set and Pick Your Poison Designer Series Paper.

What I also like about this project is that you can change out the Halloween tag to fit other occasions.  You can see some of the other tags throughout this post.

This display block is a great way to show your hand crafted  work in your home.  Some of the techniques used in these tags include dry embossing, wax paper resist, making a dahlia fold cross, and making a rosette.

 

 

Another fun thing is this is a green project that recycles the wood blocks from my stamps.  Many of you know that I've been converting my wood mount stamps to clear mounts.  Click here to see the details on my July 6, 2010 post. 

I've made several different projects using the wood blocks and wanted to do something special with the large wood blocks from my background stamps. 

To get more information about any of the techniques I used for these tags, please contact me at sharon@sharoncheng.com or leave a comment on this blog.

Visit my online store to get your supplies for this project.  Remember that when you purchase $25 or more in product, you are eligible for my Rewards Program.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

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Get a Big Shot For Free

Stampin' Up! just announced one of their best specials ever.  When you sign up as a demonstrator in October, you can get a Big Shot for free!  You can also choose $100 in free product instead of the Big Shot. 

The Big Shot is one of my favorite tools for creating handmade cards, scrapbook pages and gifts.  With the large dies, you can cut many different products including card stock, fabric, leather, magnet sheets, and chipboard.

To see some of the things you can do, check out the Christmas project I did last year.  I used the Big Shot to die cut and emboss almost everything you see.  Using the Big Shot made it easy to make the kits for this printers tray.

Contact me today for more information about the Big Shot and becoming a demonstrator.   You can email me at sharon@sharoncheng.com or go to my website.  

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

Stampin' Up!'s Basic Rhinestones Aren't So Basic

This is a card that I made at Marilyn Young's card buffet last night.  I must confess that I did "cheng it up" to use a new technique that I learned at our September demonstrator meeting.  Notice the Lucky Limeade rhinestone in the center of the flower?  Yes, it is a Stampin' Up! basic rhinestone.

Judi Martin told us how to color Stampin' Up!'s clear rhinestones with a Sharpie marker to make it the color that you need.  It's easiest to color the rhinestone while it is still on the sheet.  Let it dry and then place it on your card. This is a technique that I'll be using a lot. 

Item 119246 $4.95

This is how the rhinestones look before they are colored. Enjoy making your custom-colored rhinestones.

Visit my online store to get your supplies for this project.  Remember that when you purchase $25 or more in product, you are eligible for my Rewards Program.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

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Stampin' Up!'s Convention Was Fabulous!!!

Eight of my Stampin' Up! demonstrator friends and I went to Stampin' Up!'s convention in Salt Lake City. We had four days filled with fun and friendship. The theme was Grow.  The displays and classes all had a gardening theme.  The classes were about growing as a stamper, demonstrator and friend.  

At convention, there are lots of classes, swaps and opportunities to visit with other demonstrators. This year they had some extra classes with over the top projects. Here are the houses that they made in the Village of Cuteness class. 

Stampin' Up! went out of their way to delight and surprise all of the convention attendees.  There was a large display area that featured different papers and fabrics.  Here is part of the display using the Flirtacious Specialty paper and fabric. You can see more photos from convention on my Facebook page. 

 

In the display area they also showed the Christmas box that is part of the current $99 Starter Kit Special. If you join my Stampin' Up! team by July 31st, you will get the kit for this Christmas Box in addition to your starter kit.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

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Owl Punch Rose

Punch art is so much fun.  I made 17 of these for a swap and have taught this project in several workshops.  I found instructions for this rose on Valita's blog and changed the flower and leaves slightly.  I added an extra row of petals to make the flower larger and scored the leaves to give them a little more dimension.  You can click on any of the photos to see a close up of the jpg.

Here are the supplies you will need to make the rose.

Two-Step Owl Punch
2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch
1 1/4" Circle Punch
5-Petal Flower Punch
Tangerine Tango Card Stock
Pear Pizzazz Card Stock
Rose Red Classic Ink Pad
Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink Pad
Always Artichoke Classic Ink Pad
Sponge
Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint
Multipurpose Liquid Glue
Mini Glue Dots
Bone Folder
Paper Snips

Punch out 12 owl bodies in Tangerine Tango.  Trim the feet to form a rose petal.  Sponge with Rose Red.  Lightly sponge with Cherry Cobbler.  Roll the petal lengthwise and then roll back the top edge.  Make a 1/2" cut at the center bottom of each petal.

I used a chopstick to help me roll the petal lengthwise first and then to roll back the top edge.

After cutting a 1/2" slit at the bottom of each petal, you'll cross over and glue the two halves to form a cup in the petal.  The petals will be tighter as you get closer to the center of the flower.  You control how much each petal is cupped by how much you cross over the bottom halves.  If you look closely at the picture above, you can see how the bottom of the petal on the left is a narrow "V" shape.  The petal on the right has a much wider opening on the bottom.  It's much easier to see the detail if you double click on the above photo.

You'll make 3 of the inner petals, 4 of the medium petals and 5 of the outer petals.

Punch a 1 1/4" circle and attach the five outer petals to form the first ring of petals. 

Stagger the medium petals to form the second row.

Add the inner petals for the last row.

To form the center of the rose, punch the scallop circle and cut in a spiral.  Sponge with Rose Red and Cherry Cobbler.

I put a mini glue dot on the first part of the spiral and rolled it around a chopstick.  You'll roll from the outside of the spiral to the center.  Your flower will be very tight to start.  Let it unroll a little so that it forms a small flower that fits the opening in your rose. 

I used mini glue dots to attach the rolled flower to the last part of the spiral.  I then glued it to the center of the rose using the multipurpose liquid glue.

I spritzed each rose with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint mixed with hair spray.  The mixture was about  10% shimmer paint and 90% hair spray.

For the leaves, I punched the 5 petal flower out of Pear Pizzazz card stock.  I scored the center of each leaf.  I then sponged it with Always Artichoke and very lightly with Cherry Cobbler.  Cut out the leaves and attach them to the rose using mini glue dots.

I put the rose on a Bitty Box that I die cut out of Chocolate Chip card stock using the Big Shot.  The top of the box is layered with Paisley Petals paper and then the rose with leaves.

I hope you enjoy making this Owl Punch Rose.

Visit my online store to get your supplies for this project.  Remember that when you purchase $25 or more in product, you are eligible for my Rewards Program.

Creatively yours,

Sharon Cheng
Richland Hills, TX

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