An Unusual Birthday Bouquet!

Hello and welcome back! Today's post is not stamping related, but I thought you might enjoy seeing the project I created for a dear friend's 60th birthday. She is addicted to Post-It Notes, and I've had this idea in my head for several months to create some kind of arrangement that would include 60 note pads. I tried looking on Pinterest, because I was sure someone else must have done something like this, but alas, there was nothing. So I came up with this myself, with some thoughts thrown in by another friend who is a floral arranging genius!

Here's a picture of the finished product, with instructions to follow:

My original plan was a standard bouquet, but that quickly went out the window when I realized I'd need 30 flowers and they'd be really big! This arrangement has 21 "flowers" made with 2 note pads each; the other 18 pads are small ones arranged around the edge of the container.

I purchased the container at a local home and garden store, then hit up a big box craft store for the foam and floral picks, a warehouse store for the note pads, a dollar store for the moss, and my craft stash for the rubber bands, ribbon, and cardstock.

Here's the empty container:

I used some legal size printer paper to create a pattern of the bottom of the container, then traced it onto the foam and cut it out with a serrated knife. Once I got that one to fit, I made another pattern (since the container sides flare out) and cut out the second piece.

I ran some beads of hot glue on the bottom of the container to hold the first piece of foam, then added glue on top of that to hold the second piece.

Next, it was time to make the "flowers." I added a line of hot glue diagonally down the center of a note pad to hold the floral pick.

For the pad on the other side, I added the glue down the center, plus a dot on each of the opposing corners to hold the pads together.

And here's what it looked like after gluing.

I also discovered that while the colored super sticky pads stayed together, the plain yellow ones did not. As soon as I held up the stick, the pad came off. So, I pulled out my trusty rubber band ball and added the bands to hold the pads together. At least I had some colored ones that coordinated with the pads! 

Here's what the stems looked like all lined up and ready to become "flowers"!

I added the smaller pads around the edge of the container to form a border, but did not glue them in. I wanted my friend to be able to use them. They didn't quite reach all the way around, but that's okay.

To create the "flowers," I used my retired Stampin' Up! Floral Frames dies to cut flowers from my stash of cardstock. I stuck them onto the pads using removable Glue Dots, so they'll come off with no problem when it's time to use the note pads.

Before adding the stems to the container, I used several different green ribbons to tie bows onto the stems to look like leaves. 

The arranging was the tricky part. Because the pads are so large, I couldn't get them too close together, and my container was only 15 inches wide. The center row has 7 stems, and the pads are turned so they would all fit. There are 4 stems in each of the middle rows and 3 stems in each of the outer rows. I placed the center row first, then added a couple at a time on the sides, stuffing the moss as I went. The moss is not glued in, just placed on top of the foam and around the stems. You can see on the picture above that I had added some tulle around the outside of the container. I thought it might pretty it up, but once I got it on, I didn't really like the way it looked, so I took it off.

If I were to do this again, I'd probably use fewer note pads, and I think I'd add some weight to the bottom of the container. As it is, this is very top heavy, so I hope it doesn't get moved around too much. When it's time to use the note pads, my friend can just pull out a stem, remove the die cut flowers and rubber bands and pull the pads off the stick. Unfortunately, the backings will stay, but the pads are still usable.

And of course to go along with the gift, I had to add a card. Since this friend is also the music director at my church, I wanted something with a musical theme. For that, Pinterest was very helpful. I finally decided on this card:

It's virtually an exact copy of one I found here created by Jen Arkfeld. There are a couple of tweaks - instead of using an inked spritzer to create the dots, I used a stamp from the retired Gorgeous Grunge set, and instead of candy dots, I added some rhinestones. The large one on the sentiment piece covers up a blotch of Versamark ink (oops!), and the ones in the lower right corner cover up the Stampin' Up! copyright logo that used to appear on all our Designer Series Paper (that I did not notice when I was cutting it). As we like to say, "There are no mistakes, just opportunities for embellishment!"

Jen Arkfeld's blog post contains a video, so if you would like to make this card, you can go to her post here to watch the video. Thank you, Jen, for the inspiration!

My friend, who is also named Jen (what a coincidence!), was very excited to receive this gift! When she posted it on Facebook, she hinted that this was a week's supply of Post-It Notes - I hope they last longer than that! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi



Supplies used for the card (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Another Great Year (retired), Gorgeous Grunge (retired), Number of Years
Paper - Melon Mambo and Very Vanilla cardstock; Brights Backgrounds and Modern Medley DSP (both retired)
Ink - Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo Stampin' Write marker
Accessories - Basic Rhinestones, Black Embossing Powder
Tools - Paper Snips, Heat Tool, SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals

Paper Plunge 46 - Primary Colors Challenge

Hello and welcome back! It's unusual for me to post two days in a row, but when you enter two different color challenges, it's pretty much impossible to combine them into one card. Today's card is for the challenge at The Paper Plunge. Since it is back-to-school time for many (my "kids" are in their 20s, so not so much for me!), the ladies at The Paper Plunge decided on a Primary Colors challenge this week - red, yellow, and blue. I've done rainbows and gradations before, so I wanted to try something different and just use those pure colors. Here's my card:

I used Real Red, Daffodil Delight, and Pacific Point with two of the stamps from Gorgeous Grunge to create the background. I was afraid that the image wouldn't show up very well stamped directly onto that, so I used the new Basic Black Archival ink (my new favorite black ink!) and stamped the "vintage" You Rock onto vellum, then layered that on top. It looked wet, so I used my heat gun to dry the ink. I pulled the ribbon from my stash of retired Stampin' Up! ribbons and simply tied a knot in each color and added them to the bottom.

It is so much easier for me to choose my ribbons, now that I have organized them. I used to have all of my retired ribbon spools just randomly thrown into a box, but I could never find what I wanted. Then I had an epiphany! I've had these elfa drawers under my work table, but they've been filled with lots of random stuff. I emptied them out, added the utensil organizer (which just happened to be a perfect fit!), and now I have my ribbon organized by color. It is so awesome! Check it out:

I originally organized them by type, but this way makes much more sense. And it's so pretty!

I don't have anyone in mind for this card yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

CYCI 58 - Designer's Choice Challenge

Hello again and welcome back! This week's challenge at Can You Case It? is a Designer's Choice - basically, anything goes!

I think these are the hardest challenges for me - I like at least a little bit of guidance, but here goes:

So this week, you get a two-fer! My inspiration for these cards came from something I saw on Pinterest. I just used quarter sheets of cardstock in three different colors, used an edgelit to trim them at staggered lengths, and then used the positive on one card and the negative on the other. Not difficult at all, and no waste! I would have to say that the trickiest part of these cards was lining up the Little Letters Thinlits, but using a layer of wax paper under the dies helped the cardstock pop right out! 

Now that you've seen my cards, and the others designed by the team, why not have a go and enter our challenge this week? I'd love to see what you come up with!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Can You Case It? 54 - Designer's Choice Challenge

Hello and welcome back! This week's challenge at Can You Case It? is a Designer's Choice Challenge, which means pretty much anything goes! You can use any colors, stamp sets, designs - the sky is the limit! So, without further ado, here's my card:

And here's the inside:

I was inspired to try this design when I saw a video tutorial on Split Coast Stampers by Julie Davison, a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from Central Illinois. It's hard to tell from the photo, but this card is kind of 3-D.

I got my first box of product from the new Occasions Catalog and the Sale-A-Bration brochure this week, so I absolutely had to use some of it for this week's card. I used Julie's tutorial, but changed the dimensions just a bit so my card would be a bit wider. It will still fit in a standard A2 envelope.

I used some Pool Party Core'dinations cardstock from my stash for the base. Stampin' Up! doesn't sell this any more, but you could use any 12 x 12 cardstock. I cut my cardstock at 5-1/2 x 12, and scored along the 12-inch side at 4, 7-1/2, 8, and 11-1/2. Instead of a circle punch, I used one of the Window Frames Framelits to add the opening. Everything else followed Julie's tutorial. I like the extra dimension you get from the pop-up.

For the front of the card, I was very excited to try my new Butterfly Thinlits. There are several technique videos out there that show the best way to cut these butterflies out with minimal effort, but my favorite tutorial is by Patty Bennett. All you need is some wax paper and a dryer sheet, and your butterfly will pop right out. I layered my Crushed Curry butterfly with one cut from vellum paper, and then added the baker's twine bow.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

PCCCS 127 - Sketch Challenge

Hello and welcome back! I'm here today with my entry for the challenge at the Paper Craft Crew. Here's the sketch:

PCCCS127 sketch

And here is my card:

I usually make standard sized  A2 cards, but this sketch called for a square card. I cut my card base to 5-1/2" x 11" so that it would fit into a standard sized A9 envelope and wouldn't require extra postage like a square envelope. I built up my card front, and then cut the center circle out with a framelit. I cut a piece of Naturals Ivory cardstock to 5-1/4" square, placed it inside, and drew around the circle with a pencil so I could determine the placement of the stamp. I love this stamp set! And since it is photopolymer, I could see exactly where my penciled circle was. I added the party hat and balloon for a touch of color and then glued the inside into the card.

I have several friends with January birthdays, so one of them may just get this card in the mail this month!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog