Cottage Lane Stamper

Wow! Can't believe it's September already!  The summer has flown by.  You know what that means.  Sending in applications to reserve tables at craft fairs.  I will do my two usual ones this year.  With my chronic fatigue and Fibromyalgia I have to pace myself. One of my staples at the craft fair are my mini-cd calendars. Last week I printed out all the calendars and yesterday I cut them up.  I usually do 4 - 6 months per sheet of paper, depending on how big I make them.  The calendars shown above are about 3.5" x 3.5".  This year I'm making them a big taller so I have more room for the design. This morning I stamped January.  What takes me the longest is coming up with a designs. Sometimes getting an idea that looks good to me can take hours/days and lots of trial and error.  Once I had my design down stamping was a breeze this year with my Stamparatus ! Usually I have to reprint and re-stamp several.  I love it too, ...

With Halloween coming up I wanted to give the ladies in my stamp club a little treat.  I saw this by several people on Pinterest, so here is my version. These are so easy and quick to make, you could literally pump out quite a few in an hour.  I filled mine with Hershey Nuggets with almonds, both in Milk and Dark Chocolate. Here's a little video and below are some written instructions with a few photos. Instructions: Start with a 6" x 6" piece of DSP, I used the Halloween Night Specialty DSP available in the 2016 Holiday catalog which coordinates with the stamp set and Edgelits.  Stampin' Up! is doing more of this, calling them Suites, where everything goes together, cardstock, inks, DSP, markers, etc.  Using your Envelope Punch Board, line up the left edge of the paper at the 1 3/8" line.  Punch and Score. Slide the paper over to the 4" mark, punch and score Rotate the paper to the left, lining up the score lines with the marker on the p...

Making a bow with the Stampin' Up! Envelope punch board is not only easy but it gives you a little flexibility in the size of the bow. One thing to remember when making the bow is that the strip of paper must be 1" wide.  I tried with 3/4" and it was not a good idea.  You can also used  boarder punch on your strip before punching it with the Envelope Punch board to make it a little fancier. I've made them from between 6" and 10", all you have to do is make sure you start your center punch at the half way mark of your strip and then when it was a little longer I would increase the length of the distance away from the end for the end punches.  For example 6" strip I punched the two ends at the 1 inch mark.  For the 8" strip I punched it at the 1 - 1/2" mark.  On the 10" strip I made this punch at the 2" mark.  Play around with it and have fun.  I'd love to see how yours turn out.  Here's a little video on how I did ...

Today we can now share the 2016 Holiday catalog from Stampin' Up! So many beautiful and fun things to choose from.  I already have a second list going. Check it out: 2016 Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog I've made a couple things from the Candy Cane Lane Paper, which I love, love, love.  I'm almost out of it.  And I'm a DSP paper hoarder!  :-) This is one of my milk cartons with a Yankee Candle Votive that I'll be selling at the upcoming craft fairs. The paper is Candy Cane Lane DSP #141981 .       This "Cracker" is make with the gingerbread make from the Cookie Cutter stamps set, #142043 .  Love this cute little guy!  This is also in the catalog this year.  My one grandson LOVES penguins so this was a must have. This is found in the Annual Catalog, called Snow Place #139738 , it comes in a bundle which makes it so much nicer.  There is so much more! I hope you have the time to check it...

Haven't taken an new photos of my projects but between looking at the new Stampin' Up Holiday catalog (that comes out to the public in September) and working on my crafts for the upcoming holiday craft fair in December, I've been busy. Every year I  make some cute mini calendars that I sell.  These are the ones I made for last year's craft fair.  These are sold in a mini cd case (upper right of photo)  A couple years ago I also made some in the standard cd case size, but it was a lot of work coming up with designs for two different sizes,  Yesterday I came up with a new idea that I'm working on.  I also sell my cards, crocheted dishcloths, some cake stands that I have made   I also make some gift card holders, treat bags, exploding purses (my friend and co-vendor loves these :-).  This year I'm adding some little boxes with Yankee Candle votives and some little holders with Bath & Body hand sanitizers, all in h...