Earlier today, I was scanning one of my favorite websites for purses and such and came across a bag that struck my fancy.  Hubby freaked when he saw the price although it was on sale for $116 – men just don’t understand!  Anyway, since it seems pretty unlikely that I will be getting this bag anytime soon, I thought I’d make my own!  By the way, my birthday is the 21st of this month, so if anyone out there feels inclined to buy it for me, I would be very appreciative…lol.  Just kidding!  Actually the one I liked the most was a little different than this one.  But it would have taken a TON of silver brads to make.

Anyway – here’s MY version!  The colors are actually closer to the other one I was looking at, but all in all, it’s the same.

I actually started working on a tutorial for this one, but it was kinda cumbersome and hard to explain some of the steps, so I decided against it.  Essentially, it’s a “Box in a Bag” though.  Let me tell you one thing – this little bag is durable.  It’s going to long outlast the cards I made to go in it.  The squares are glued to a solid piece of card stock and because they are each individually embossed, it’s basically like having three layers of card stock!  That’s pretty significant!  Once I’ve used up the cards, I may just have to store crafting supplies in it – or use it to hold a silk flower arrangement – not quite sure yet.  By the way – I love the way the sunlight was shining in my window on this shot.  The rest of the photos are from a different angle.

I didn’t stamp a bit on the bag or the cards.  I was going to stamp either Happy Birthday or Thank You on all of them, but decided against it.  I figured that I can use them for whatever I need to if I leave them blank.

I was going to hold off on showing this one until later in the summer since the colors are more Fall oriented, but then I remembered that a couple of these colors are retiring, so I’d better show it now.  Anyway, I’ve included a couple more shots below.  I would love to know what you think.  You can click on the images to make them larger and get a better view.

Happy Stamping

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

• Paper:  Really Rust, More Mustard, Handsome Hunter and Elegant Eggplant card stock
• Ink:  Soft Suede Classic Ink and Stampin’ Write Marker
• Other:  Filigree Designer Brads, Silver Brads, Finial Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Sponges, Sticky Strip, Glue Stick, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Corner Rounder Punch, Wide Oval Punch

 As promised, here is another card using Baroque Motifs. Do you think that I may adore this stamp set?  I also used the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, which will be available January 5. If you do not already have your Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogs, let me know and I will get one out to you.

This was sort of an experimental card for me, in regards to the background. You know how it is when you are playing around and you come up with something that you like.

Here is how I did it:

First, I cut my Basic Black card base and scored. Then I cut a piece of Apricot Appeal cardstock for my card front.

Next, I stamped Baroque Motifs with Versamark and sprinkled Black embossing powder and embossed with the heat gun. Then I stamped the “Friend” stamp with Rose Red classic ink on Apricot Appeal cardstock and punched it out with the Heart punch.

I kept looking at what I had created so far and kept thinking that this was just to plain, so I took Versamark and started randomly stamping the small heart (also from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set). That was still not enough, so I took and stamped the small heart with Apricot Appeal classic ink. I purposely stamped offset on many of the already stamped Versamark hearts and strategically positioned others. In this case, I believe more was better! NOTE: The embossing acted as a resist and I was able to stamp the small hearts anywhere on the cardstock.

Then I adhered the card front to the base and completed the card by attaching the heart to the card front with dimensionals.

Well, breakfast is almost ready – Can’t you smell the country link sausage cooking now!

Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
Tarboro, NC

Supply List – all products are by Stampin’ Up!

Stamp:  Baroque Motifs, I {Heart} Hearts
Paper:  Basic Black, Apricot Appeal
Ink:  Rose Red, Versamark
Other:  Heart Punch, Black EP, Heat Gun, SMJ, Snail, Dimensionals

I needed to make several cards for upcoming birthdays, so I figured I would go ahead and share them with you too! Tomorrow, I will show you a different card using Baroque Motifs, with a different theme! For the sentiment, I used a stamp from the “On Your Birthday” set. I tried something different (for me) on the flowers.

Here is how I did it:

I cut and scored the black card base. I then cut out the card front from Naturals cardstock. I chose the Naturals cardstock because it had flecks in it and I knew that I wanted to speckle the flower petals.

Next, I took the Baroque Motifs flourish and stamped with Versamark and sprinkled Black embossing powder over the flourish and embossed with the heat gun.

Then I took 2 of the flowers from the Pretties Kit and applied pastel chalks on both sides of the flowers with a cotton ball. Then I headed to the kitchen sink with a Basic Black reinker bottle and an old toothbrush, laid the flowers into the dry sink and speckled the flowers by dragging backwards on the brush with my fingertip. WARNING: Wear a disposable glove on the hand that you will stroke the toothbrush with. If you don’t, you will have a inky fingertip like I have right now!

Next, I used the Stamp Ma Jig and stamped the sentiment. Lastly, I took the brads and put through the flowers and secured to the card front. Once you have it all together, adhere the card front to the card base.

Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
Tarboro, NC

Supply List – all products are by Stampin’ Up!

Stamp: On Your Birthday, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Basic Black, Naturals CS
Ink: Basic Black, Versamark, Basic Black Reinker
Other: Flowers-Pretties Kit, Ice Circle Brads, Black EP, Stampin’ Pastels, SMJ, Snail, Heat Gun, Toothbrush, QTip, Cotton Ball
Technique: Embossing, Speckling

Well, not really, but it sure looks like it could! I am not much of a cold weather person, as I tend to stay inside, as much as possible. When it snows, I go on the front or back steps and take pictures, but do not venture out in it much. I do love watching Buffy, my cocker spaniel, bouncing around in the snow, as it seems to make her frisky and she definitely loves playing in the snow. Don’t get me wrong – I love to see it snow, but I want to be inside where it is warm and cozy.

I made this card using a tutorial by Zindorf. I did not do mine exactly as her card, but for the most part, I followed the techniques. You can’t see it, but it is embossed and very shiny and snowy! It was a fun card to make because I got to use one of my favorite techniques, which is sponging. And, I just LOVE how the embossing resists the sponged ink. When you emboss first with clear embossing powder, you can add ink colors to your heart’s content and still have a sharp and clean image.

Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
Tarboro, NC

Supply List:

Stamp: Season of Joy, Serene Snowflakes
Paper: Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White CS
Ink: Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Versamark
Other: White Signo Gel Pen, Going Gray Marker, I. Ice EP, Sponge(s), Snail
Technique: Embossing

Technorati Tags: Brenda Cook,Stampin’ Up!,card,Season of Joy,Serene Snowflakes,embossing,Christmas,sponging