Be scared!

Halloween Card by Els Brigé

Witch by Jaine Drake

Layout by Jill Hildebrand

Layout by Jill Hildebrand

Card by Jill Hildebrand

Card by Agata Pfister

Layout by Jolene Johnston

Trick or Treat!

Love,

Ally and I have created some back-to-school themed projects to share with you today!

I have a dirty little secret to share – and I’m sure many of you can relate … I HATE packing lunches!  Most of the time, my kids bring home half of what I sent with them!  So I had an idea…

We sat down and made a list of their favourite foods (Mom-approved, of course!) from four basic food groups:  Grains, Protein, Dairy and Fruits/Vegetables.  Once we had about 8-10 items in each category (or more or less, if your children are more/less fussy than mine), I sat down and created this:

It’s a menu planner!  So, how does it work, you ask?

Well, when you were younger, did you ever have one of those books where each page was cut into three or four sections and you could mix and match the girl’s clothes and shoes?  Same idea!  The album, made from 6×6 pieces of chipboard, was decorated using patterned paper, cardstock and of course, myStamp BOX stamps, Funky Circles and Lots of Dots Alphas.  I then printed all of the foods from our list onto cardstock and trimmed them to 1.5″ x 6″.  A small strip of patterned paper, a stamp of colour and a quick punch with my Crop-o-dile, and voila!

Each child plans their lunch by mixing and matching the cards, ensuring a well-balanced lunch that they will eat, because they are in control of the situation!  I will also add some milk or water, and a small treat or extra snack to round out the lunch!

To add a little sunshine to their day, I created a little envelope from kraft paper and attached it to the inside cover:

Inside, I tucked teeny note cards that I created, using the Seal It and Itty Bittys stamp sets.

I will slip one into each of their lunches every day, to remind them how much I love them!

And here’s Ally…

Hello!  In order to get ready for a new grade, I thought I’d better complete a layout about my son’s first and last day of Kindergarten from last year so that’s what I did.  The journaling boxes from the “Your Story” stamp set worked perfectly to journal the details of each of my photos.

Stamp Sets Used:  Letterboxes, Mini Alpha, Fleurishing Punctuation, Your Story, Neighborhoods, & Mini Pennants

Thanks for visiting – and Happy Back-To-School!

and

The top border was stamped using Timelines and Graphic Borders. I like inking with several ink pads for a fun, multicolor look. The journaling card was stamped with sentiments from Passport to Adventure. I decided to change up the Bingo card from a recent Crate paper collection by making my own title. I stamped the word Epcot using the Lots of Dots alphabet and then trimmed around each circle using some (old!) deckle scissors. A large piece of sanded Core’dinations cardstock adds extra texture to the background, too. I hope you enjoyed my layout!

Supplies: Timelines, Graphic Borders, Passport to Adventure, Lots of Dots, Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Core’dinations cardstock, Crate Toy Box paper and trim, Bo Bunny Zoology charm, Karen Foster Design Scrappers Spools, American Crafts Slick Writer, Basic Grey Precision Files, deckle scissors.

1. Die cut a piece of shrink plastic to any shape you like. Just remember to choose a larger shape than your finished project – it is called SHRINK plastic after all!

2. Choose your favorite myStamp BOX stamps and stamp your design using a permanent ink such as StazOn (by Tsukineko, one of our preferred product partners). Be sure to stamp onto the side that is slightly rougher. This project is a great way to help kids learn how to preplan spacing and how to stamp words or names with repeat letters (such as the two t’s in Matthew). Crafting is fun AND educational!

3. Here are my boys with their stamped, die cut shrink plastic pieces.

4. Here comes the fun! Follow the instructions on the package for how to heat and shrink your plastic pieces. I like to use my embossing heat tool and heat-proof craft mat right on my scrap desk to speed things along. The kids started squealing in panic when their precious pieces of art started to curl and twist. After a few seconds they straightened back out perfectly fine. *CAUTION: Shrink plastic is VERY HOT! Please do not allow children to touch the hot plastic.

5. Here’s a quick look at the original dies we used to cut the plastic and their finished, shrunken size. Sometimes the comparison helps you realize just how much they shrink!

6. I love to use Alcohol Inks to color my plastic pieces. These inks are formulated for non-porous materials and provide vibrant, rich colors. A word of caution however – they can provide those same vibrant (and fairly permanent!) colors to your clothes and carpeting, so watch the kiddos when they are working over your craft mat.

7. Once the pieces are colored and dry, use a Crop-a-Dile to punch a hole for easy hanging. This tool cuts through the plastic like butter – even my six year old could do it!

8. For a final step add a generous coat of Glossy Accents to the top. Use a pin to pop any air bubbles that form, and allow it to dry overnight. No touching!

Here’s a peek at the finished charms. I added a simple loop of ball chain so the kids could add their tags to backpacks for summer camp, lunch bags, even longer chains to use as dog tags. You could use these charms on diaper bags for babysitting playgroups or the travel bags you take on vacation. It’s fun to craft with your kids – I hope this project helps you fill some rainy summer days with stamping fun.

Supplies: Repeat After Me, Lots of Dots, and Back to the Basics mystampBOX stamps; StazOn ink; Shrink Plastic; Adirondack Alcohol Inks; Ranger Glossy Accents; Spellbinders dies; We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-Dile; embossing heat tool.

For most of us it was a challenge to work with these subtle hues, but the end products are all spectacular! Get inspired to leave your regular colour range and try out a new and different palette.

Marsha Valk stamped and embossed on felt with the “Abundant Blossoms” and used white gesso on plaster eggs. She finished the eggs with the solid shapes of the Abundant Blossoms set.

Allison Cope used the oval stamp from “Back to the Basics” for her egg shapes. The background is done with the checkered stamp from “Graphic Borders” and the sentiment comes from “Straightforward”.

Jolene Johnston’s Easter Card was stamped with the flower shape from “Oversized” onto the background. The sentiment is from “Mention It!”.

Birgit Koopsen created a pastel coloured travel diary. She used “Seal It” stamps and the bracket from “Just add Notes”.

Jaine Drake hid her Easter eggs in this sweet little birdhouse. It comes with a matching tag and is decorated with stamps from “Border Lines”.

Agata Pfister let little button rain drops come out of her rain cloud from “Wishing you Sunshine”. The sentiment is from “Mention It!”.

Rebecca Keppel made this Spring colour inspired layout of her daughter. She stamped the “Colourful Companions” Butterflies on white cardstock and used “Summer Alpha” letters for part of her title. *smile* comes from “Sigh, Gush, Gasp”.

Janet Zeppa created the eggs in this cute Easter basket with the oval shape in our “Back to the Basics” set.

Sue Sykes used “Colourful Companions” and “Mini Pennants” with her patterned paper. The sentiment comes from our popular “Straightforward” set.

Linda Abadie outlined the Colourful Companions butterflies on this card, coloured some of the spots in and used a sentiment from the “Itty Bittys” set.

Jill Hildebrand stamped “Floating Leaves” on green acrylic paint for this Passion Play layout and used “Lots of Dots” letters for part of her title.

We hope to get you to take out your pastels and try a new favourite colour combination.

To you and your families a very HAPPY EASTER from the entire myStamp BOX team!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

For the remainder of March, all of our Design Team members have been paired up to create inspirational projects to share with you!  Stay tuned to the blog for LOTS of great inspiration.

Since today is St. Patty’s Day, we thought we would bring you some Irish inspiration.

Melissa has created this fun glass to toast with the finest green beverage of your choice…

She has used the Mini Alphas for her sentiment and the cute flower centered circle is from the Lots of Dots alphabet set.  To ensure that her ink is permanent, she’s used StazOn on the glassware.

I decided to wish Spring an early arrival.  I’ve stamped a St. Patrick’s Day quote all over this plain-jane green plastic watering can to spruce it up.

The quote reads:

St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming a winter’s dreams into summer’s magic. ~ Adrienne Cook.

I used a variety of different stamp sets to complete the quote:

Royal Flush, “St. Patrick’s”, “magic”;  Color Me – Sentiments, “day”;  Mini Alphas, “is an enchanted”, “transforming”, “Adrienne Cook”;  Lots of Dots, “time”, “summer”;  She Says – He Says, “=”;  Rough Copy Alphabet, “a day”, into”;  Color Me – Sentiments, “to”;   Garden Sketches, the bee;  Colour Me, “gin”, “a”;  Funky Alphabet, “winter”;  Lots of Dots Sentiments, “dreams”;  Funky Flowers, leaves, dotted lines;  Let It Snow, snowflakes.

We hope these green goodies have inspired you to create today!

Happy stamping!

&

Next start by placing your letters on your acrylic block to spell Merry Christmas in the shape of a tree.  I tried to do these line by line so I could get the look I wanted for the shape when I was stamping.

Once you have finished stamping your tree should look similar to the one below.

To make the tree stand out from your background paper cut out around the edges.

To give my tree some dimension, I stamped 5 of the letters and cut them out and adhered them with Helmar Zap Dots, a fabulous product from one of our product partners.

Adhere tree to your card base and embelish as you like!  I added some red Core’dinations cardstock to my background to give it some pop!  And here is the finished card:

I hope that you found this tutorial helpful and will get a start on those Christmas cards!

Happy Scrappin’!

This week’s challenge is all about pretty pockets!  Yup… I want to see some use of a pocket on your creation.

To get you started, I thought I would show you a few ways to use or create a pocket on your layouts or cards.

Sweet Treat

Stamps sets used: Let It Snow, Mention It!, Symbols.

First off, I started by using a kraft envelope that I punched the edge of using a snowflake design.   I don’t have anything store d in this particular pocket but you could add some journaling or another picture or two.

For the second part of this layout, I used the top of brown paper bag as a pocket to slip in my journaling tag.  I stamped a few subtle ice cream cone images from the Symbols stamp set.

I used some fun snowflakes from my Let It Snow! stamp set to stitch and attach along with a fun statement tag from the Mention It! stamp set.

The next way to add a pocket to the design of your work is to create a faux looking pocket.  For this, I used some Moda fabric swatches and stitched it up to look like a pocket you might find on a shirt or pair of pants.

This particular pocket has no actual pocket but you could certainly create a space behind it to drop in a fun tag or gift card.

Have a Very Merry Christmas

I used the edge of the journaling box from the Just Add Notes stamp set and the stamped in the “Winter Greetings” message from the Winter Flakes stamp set.  I also used the Winter Flakes set to stamp and layer my snowflake images.  The beautiful greeting on the embossed banner is from our Lines of Life stamp set.

And the final reason that you might add a pocket to your layout would be to store something in it.  In my case, I wanted a layout to store the 2 pieces of art that I had kept from my son’s pre-school year.

Just Like Mom

For this page, I used some of our fun papers from Kiki Art, one of our generous partner companies.  I used the Wishing You Sunshine stamp set to continue the cloudy patterned paper by Kiki Art and stamped out my title using the alphabet stamp sets, Color Me and Lots of Dots.  The Color Me alphabet set was perfect for that “child like” drawing quality I wanted on my page.

I created the pocket by popping up the red cardstock with long lines of foam adhesive to create a space behind to slip in the artwork my son created.  So fun and so easy to do!

There are so many ways to include a pocket on your creations and I can’t wait to see what you come up!

Happy stamping everyone!!

If you’ve seen my posts in the past, you know that I adore myStampBOX Alpha stamps and I love showing you how versatile they can be. Today I want to share a layout I created not only using some of the myStampBOX Alpha stamps, but using a colouring medium with them to create a title that matches my layout.

On my “AKA Monkey” layout I used both the Lots of Dots Alpha set and the Tall Outlines Alpha set. I then took my watercolour pencils and coloured in the “monkey” part of my title before cutting out each letter. This ended up working perfectly for this layout as I didn’t have any letter stickers in my stash that would work with this layout!

Here’s a little close up of the letters coloured in!

Other ways to add colour to your alpha stamps is to use paint, chalk, markers and even stamping them on patterned paper!

Happy Stamping!
CHERIE

I’ve been making these cute little containers to store the cookies in, and matching recipe cards to give away with each little tin. I’ve been saving all those little tins from flavoured teas, mini or large sized pringles chip tins, hot chocolate tins, any tin that has a lid works great. You simply select the paper you want, attach with glue, and then embellish as desired. Easy but oh so pretty, and lots of fun to make too. I used the myStampBOX “Merry Mr. Snowman” set and my Copic Markers for the Ornament on the Tin and the Invitation.

For the Recipe Card, I pulled out my “Lots of Dots” alphabet stamps, stamped them in VersaMark and embossed them with Cranberry Embossing powder from Ranger. I’ll then write in the recipe for my cookies…. once I decide which ones I am making!

This is my last Blog post here at mSB before the holiday. I’ll take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy, healthy and crafty Holiday Season.

Lara

I arranged the paper bits on the card stock and fixed them with small glue dots. Then I sewed them onto the card stock for a unified look. Then I distressed the edges of the white sheet. The stamp sets I chose for my layout were “Lots of Dots” and “Just add Notes” and I stamped them on white and yellow scraps to spell out the title and for the date.

Now I printed a few pictures of Caspar scattering dandelion seeds and printed them onto white card stock. I used an old and almost dead toner cartridge for this (it even has a line running down the page). The resulting print looks very similar to a transfer, but with much less work involved. I kept the cartridge for projects like these, I will only recycle it once it is truly empty

The background for the page is a green sheet that I cut out in the middle to save card stock for one card (ok, I don’t do this all the time, but once I was on my quest, there was no stopping me). I tore the edges off for a more rustic look.

Voilà, now it just needed to be assembled. The title spells “Pusteblume” (blowflower), which is the German word for dandelion seed head.

Share your recycle tips with us in your comments, if you like. We love to learn some neat tricks from you. Now I need to try some other layout ideas using my mini scraps.

Happy recycling!

Bettina

I really enjoyed making these little alphabet fridge-magnets, using my darling “lots of dots” alpha and some leftover chipboard embellisments and scraps of patterned papers, paper-flowers etc. I stamped the entire alphabet on my cardstock and punched the circles with my little circle-punch. Added the embellisments, used some 3D foam tape to make dimension and added a self-adeshive magnet on the back. 

Perfect for sweet notes on the fridge, or for the kids to play and learn,  a nice little gift for a little preschooler, or simply to add some fridge-”art” to make you happy. 

Happy creating!

~gudrun~

I see a lot of layouts that include a mixture of alpha stickers or rubons for the title, but it never occured to me that it would be just as easy to use different alpha stamp sets as well.

I made 3 layouts all using the same 3 stamp sets on each layout….lots of dots, letterboxes & splash me a little.

After experimenting with this a little, i decided that the next layout I work on is going to have the same 3 alpha stamp sets…just all jumbled up in one word..for a completely differernt look.

I had a lot of fun working with multiple stamp sets(alphas) on one project because You can use a different coloured ink for each word, or the same coloured ink for all 3 stamp sets..really, the possibilities are endless.

Would love to see your projects using multiple alpha stamp sets!!!

Cheers til next time!!!!

I first coloured a butterfly from the Colorful Companions set in a solid red colour.

Next, I took an orange marker and coloured just the edges/tips of the butterfly wings.

Then I stamped my image to create this really cool two toned butterfly image. Just a note…if you aren’t very quick the marker ink might dry a bit, just breathe on the stamp and the warm breath will moisten the ink again.

Below is my completed card using the butterfly image along with another card using orange and green on a flower from the Abundant Blossoms set. They “HEY!” is from the incredibly cool and versatile Lots of Dots Alpha set!

Hope you’ve learned a new technique today! If so, give it a try…I think you’ll really like the outcome!

Happy Stamping!
Cherie

Lots of new and exciting things happening at myStampBOX today! We are announcing a winner, but first are celebrating Canada Day with a new stamp set: “Lots of Dots Sentiments”. The great thing about this stamp set is that it coordinates with the “Lots of Dots” and “Lots of Numbers” sets. These sets work great together! You can use a sentiment and customize it with your own words from the alphabet set. I would love to see what you will come up with!

I’ve tried a few very simple cards, for a variety of different occasions: new baby, anniversary and thank you.

Here I used the “baby” sentiment and a cute rattle stamp from the “All year round” set.

This sentiment is made up of the “love” stamp plus letters from the alphabet set and from the numbers set.

Here I used the “thanks” sentiment and tried to colour coordinate it with the thread that I sewed under the composition. “To you” is done with the alphabet set.

To win the Lots of Dots sentiments stamp set, you can leave up to two comments, each entry will win you a ballot. You must do one or both of the following:

1. leave a comment, please include your first name and last initial, plus your city/country

2. on a second comment post a link to the place where you have posted about my Stamp BOX’s  blog (on your own blog or in a forum), again you need to include your name and last initial, plus your city/country – Good Luck!

This contest is open until July 13, the winner will be announced on July 14. Make sure to check the blog and to send in your address, if you win!

Now it is my great honour to announce the winner of the contest from June 1st, who will receive the “Tree for all Seasons” stamp set: Kelsey B. left this comment: Those are super cute! Be great for outdoor pics! From Fredericton, NB.

Send us your snail mail information, Kelsey. Congratulations and enjoy this sweet set! Thanks to everyone who has visited our blog this month and left us a comment.

Come visit us often, our talented Design Team is always showing their stunning work and sharing techniques in their tutorials. You surely will be inspired!

Happy Stamping, love, Bettina

Supplies: Prima Paper, Stampin Up Ink and Cardstock, my Stamp BOX Rustic Outlines Stamps, my Stamp BOX Abundant Blossoms Stamps

Supplies: My Mind’s Eye Paper, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Creative Chaos Card, Prima Flowers, my Stamp BOX Rough Copy Stamps

Supplies: Three Bugs in a Rug Paper, Prima Flower, Bo Bunny Ribbon, my Stamp BOX Lots of Dots Stamps

So break out those alpha stamps and get creating. There’s no limit to your cardmaking with alphabet stamps!

Happy Stamping!
Cherie

While walking into my lss, their new shipment of glossy cardstock, and the clear resist pad (Ranger) caught my eye.

I thought..well how hard can it really be to figure out? Well aparently for me, it was quite hard!!! LOL I am going to be totally honest when I say that all the ideas I had in my mind failed, so until I figure out how to have better look using the resist pad, here is what I did accomplish using those supplies.

Card #1 “welcome”

I inked the butterfly stamps using the clear resist pad, and stamped directly onto the glossy cardstock, and then used my heat tool to speed up the drying process.

I rolled my brayer over a multi colour ink pad and then rolled it over the images on the cardstock, so that you can see faint images of the butterflies.

Because I didnt want every butterfly to be white, I stamped over some of the butterflies using green ink pad.

Supplies:   alpha stamps: my Stamp BOX (lots of dots), butterfly stamps: my Stamp BOX (colorful companions), multi coloured ink pad: Stampin up, black ink: Ranger, glossy cardstock: Bazzill, may flower punch: Fiskars, clear resist pad: Ranger, brayer: Stampin up, flower and brad: Dollarama

Layout #2 “Life is good”

To create a background like this, you will need a clear resist pad, glossy cardstock, embossing powder, heat tool(optional) and any stamp from my Stamp BOX(of course) along with any patterned paper, or embellishments you would like.

I used one butterfly stamp from the set Colorful Companions, and repeatedly dipped it into the clear resist pad, and then stamped it all over the glossy cardstock( I didnt want the butterfly’s to look too perfect, so I stamped whole butterflies, half of a butterfly, parts of a wing(you get the idea) Because I didnt want to do any heat embossing, I used my heat tool to help speed up the drying of the stamped images(except for some along the top..You will see why in my next step)

To help lead the eye to the picture, i sprinkled bright green embossing powder on some of the butterflies along the top of the layout, but because I wanted a “raw” look I didnt heat emboss the images, I just left it with the embossing powder on the images.

You could heat emboss part of the background, or even all of the images!!

For the title, I used the alpha set (Letterboxes) 2 different coloured ink pads so I could alternate the colour of the letters. I stamped them onto cardstock(using normal ink) trimmed out each letter, and adhered them so there is a small space between each letter.

Just as an experiment, I stamped butterflies onto white cardstock(using the clear resist pad), used my heat tool to dry the images, and then applied an even layer of hot pink spray paint over the images( It didnt work as well as I had hoped..hence the reason there is no pic;)

I would love to see any projects you have created using glossy cardstock, stamps, and a clear resist pad.

Happy Stamping!
Cherie

Today I’m going to show you how to make a fun and easy back ground for your cards using the alphabet stamps, “Lots of Dots“.

When I first saw these stamps I immediately thought of typewriter keys!  So I thought I would create a simple back ground and card around that idea!

Let’s get started…

Step One:
Arrange your alphabet stamps on a large block. (I even arranged mine just like the format of a traditional keyboard!)

I kept one letter on a small acrylic block just in case my letters didn’t reach across the entire card.

Step Two:

I created a card base; 5.5″x8″ and then folded it in half to create a 5.5″x4.25″ card front.

Step Three:

Ink up your stamps and stamp directly on the front of your card.  TIP: I tend to allow my stamps to go past the edge of the card to start.

Reapply your ink and line up your letter stamps again.  Repeat your pattern until your entire card front is covered.

Step Four:

Accessorize your card with  a fun tag that reads “You’re just my type!” and some simple ribbon.

And here’s the final card…

You’re Just My Type!

by Allison Cope

Supplies: stamps: my Stamp BOX (“Lots of Dots” alphabets);  cardstock: Prism, Bazzill;  ink: Ranger;  ribbon: BasicGrey;  pen: Signo;  tools: Spellbinders Nestabilites.

Here’s a second card using the same technique as above.  I have used only the “O” and “X” from the Lots of Dots stamp set and created a love filled card!

I *heart* U Card

by Allison Cope

To create the tag, I took a die cut and stamped the title using the letters from the “Rough Copy Alphabet” and the small heart from the “Seal It!” stamp set.

Supplies: stamps: my Stamp BOX (Lots of Dots alphabets, Rough Copy Alphabet, Seal it!)  cardstock: Prism;  ink: Close To My Heart;  ribbon: Making Memories;  tag: My Mind’s Eye;  glitter glue: Ranger;  other: thread.