Come celebrate Card Making Day with me

To celebrate Card Making Day I will be doing a Make-and-Take at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. We will make this cute Card Holder plus six cards. The Card Holder looks just like the Magazine Holder, I got an idea from Becky Roberts but adjusted dimensions on mine to fit regular A2 size cards and envelopes.

I thought that if you make a few of these Card Holders, you can write the the occasions on the front label (Birthday, Thank You, etc.) and keep your cards in them. Wouldn't that be cute? And of course these will make such great gifts.

For the Make-and-Take, there will be two color choices. One is blue (pictured below) and another one will be in brown tones.



If you missed my last Make-and-Take for the Note Card Holders, I will have some of those available as well.


Saturday, October 4th, 3:30 pm to 6 pm at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. Please stop by at any time, it will take about 20 minutes to complete each project.

Sign up is not required but recommended as quantities are limited. To sign up please call Cranberry Hill at 408-736-9151. When you sign up, please specify the project you are interested in and I will hold the supplies for you.

:) Irina

Meet Katerina Rose!!

I became a Grand Aunt about month and a half ago, finally I have a baby girl to spoil!! Too bad she lives 10 hours driving time away from me.. Well, here are some photos..




Isn't she just adorable?! Cute-cute-cute!!!

:) Irina

Little Christmas - three cards

OK, Christmas is not little, but these stamp sets from Hero Arts are. They are so cute though! Love-love-love. These three cards are for my upcoming class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. Each of the cards uses a different stamp set.

Card One.. I cut 1/2" off on the side of the card and attached the striped paper to the inside of the card. I love how you can see the striped paper on the side of the card, but it is really inside. Crystal Effects on reindeer's nose and on the gift package. Glitter on the snow and the snowflakes.




Card Two.. I cut the bottom of the front of the card 3/4" shorter, and the scalloped border is attached to the inside of the card. The scallops were done with Fiskars punch, they already have holes in them!! I made holes in the green large scallop circle with the hand held punch. The snow on the top of the bird house was done by covering Crystal Effects with Glitter. There is Fun Flock on the bird's hat. Red rhinestones for the berries.




Card Three.. This is a spinner card. The scallop circle with the little penguin spins inside of the opening. I punched out two of the circle layers and both are raised on pop up dots. Glitter for the snow and Crystal Effects on the penguin.




This class is scheduled for:

Thursday, October 9th, 11 am to 2 pm
Thursday, October 9th, 5 pm to 8 pm

To sign up for the class, please call Cranberry Hill Mercantile at 408-736-9151.

:) Irina

Halloween Swing Card

I've seen these type of cards before and always wanted to make one. I don't know why I waited, it was so easy to make and so much fun.

The first photo is the front view of the card.

The photo below shows you how the card looks like pulled out open.

Close -up of the image above.

This is the back view of the card.

For this card I used Whipper Snapper stamps again. I just love this cat!! And how about the post sign, isn't is just adorable?! The post and the greeting ("keep out") are two separate stamps. I think the post would also look really cute on the back of any Halloween greeting card to sign your name on.

The spider web is the part of the stamp by Penny Black, I used it on the card here. It has a mouse hanging from the spider web, so for this card I only inked the web part. The spiders are the Die Cuts from Cuttlebug.

This will be the second card for my Halloween Card Class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. Class is scheduled for Tuesday, October 7th, 11 am to 2:30 pm. To sign up for the class, please call Cranberry Hill Mercantile at 408-736-9151.

:) Irina

Pumpkins, Bats and a Cat

I made this card for my upcoming Halloween class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. I think this will be the last Halloween class of the season.

This is a pop-up style card. I had hard time taking photos of it, I hope you can see the details. I kept the front of the card simple, but when you open the card there is a folded triangle there that pops out for a little surprise.

The moon was sponged with yellow and orange inks by Memento. I also sponged around the whole perimeter of the inside layer for the spooky look.

The bats are Cuttlebug Die Cut and Emboss combo. I only adhered the bodies of the bats to the cards, not the wings.

The pumpkins and the cat stamps are by Whipper Snapper, the greeting is from Imagenisce. Images were colored with Copic Markers.

I already made the second card for this class, it is a Swing style. I will show it to you tomorrow.

This class is scheduled for Tuesday, October 7th, 11 am to 2:30 pm. To sign up for the class, please call Cranberry Hill Mercantile at 408-736-9151.

:) Irina

One more Purse Card Holder

Edited to add.. This project is now available as a Class Kit, please click here for more information.

I really got into making these purses, so much fun!! This one is definitely more complicated..

For the base of the purse I used the same dimensions for the box as for the other purse that I made a few days ago, you can see it here. Then I traced a dinner plate and made a few adjustments to create a template for the front and the back of the purse. For the scallops on the bottom of the purse I punched out the scalloped circle with the purple punch by Marvy and then cut the circle in four pieces. To create a scalloped edge on the flap I inserted only one side of the cardstock strip into the scallop circle punch, I really like how it looks. Pierced the holes in all the scallops. The gold hardware on the flap is a button from my stash. The flap is being held closed by little magnets from Basic Grey (gotta love them!).

Oh, and have you noticed the paper it is made of? This is new cardstock by Bazzill (at least new to me, I've never seen it before until today). It has little embossed dots all over it!! How cool is that?! Cute-cute-cute!! Love-love-love!!!

The purse will fit six to ten A2 size cards and envelopes.

This is the second project for my "Scor-Pal Boxes and More" class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile.

The class is scheduled for:
Friday, October 3rd, 11 am to 2:30 pm
Sunday, October 12, 11:30 to 3:00 pm

To sign up for the class, please call Cranberry Hill Mercantile at 408-736-9151.

:) Irina

Silly Grapes - Thanks a Bunch!!

I made this card for my Stamping Group. The theme was Grapes, and I didn't have any grape stamps. I had an idea of making a cluster of grapes with the circle punches, but wanted the card to be kind of silly because in our stamping group we are there to enjoy each others company and to have fun. Then I came across this card, it was just PERFECT. Here is my take on it..




I used 1/2" circle punch and punched out a bunch of circles from three different shades of purple cardstock. I inked the sides of each circle with the brown marker. Placed the circles on the card in the shape of the grape cluster. Then used the brown marker to draw the faces. I used White Gel pen to add highlights to the grapes.

The leafs were cut out from the Cuttlebug Pumpkin die and emboss combo. The grid embossing on the green cardstock was done with the Scor-Pal, I then added white dots with the White Gel pen. Corners are the punch from Stampin' Up and I hand drew the doodles on them. The greeting is from Changito clear stamp set by Stampendous.

I had this little lady bug button sitting on my table.. I thought it was silly enough to be included in the card..

I really enjoyed making this card, and it made me smile every time I would look at it. Love, love, love those silly little grapes. Such a happy card it turned out to be!!

:) Irina

A Stamp in The Hand Convention

Have you ever been to A Stamp in The Hand Convention? Well, there is one coming to San Jose, CA in about a month, on October 25th . It is a one day show with tons of stamping companies as vendors.

Cranberry Hill Mercantile will be there to represent Magnolia (Tilda stamps). Besides Magnolia stamps, we will have some accessories at our booth, such as Dew Drops, Copic Markers, Memento Ink, Stamp Pads and more... We will also have a make-and-take for an ATC with Tilda.

More information about the show is on A Stamp In the Hand website here.

Make sure to put the date on your calendar. And please stop by our booth to say "hi"!

:) Irina

Purse Card Holder

Since I made the box for the Kodomo Gift Set, a few people have asked me to come up with some "boxes" for the class. I like the idea of giving handmade cards as a gift as well. Here is the first project for my upcoming "Scor-Pal Boxes" class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile (there will be three projects, all different).

It is a box that looks like a little purse. It will hold six to ten regular A2 size cards and envelopes.


Close up view of the "label" on the front of the purse.


Back view of the purse.


Faux stitching was done by using the piercing template on Tim Holtz ruler and connecting the dots with the White Gel pen. The clasp of the purse is being held in place with little magnets from Basic Grey. I placed red Dew Drops on the handles and also made a flower with the Dew Drops on the front of the clasp.

This class is scheduled for:

Friday, October 3rd, 11 am to 2:30 pm
Sunday, October 12, 11:30 to 3:00 pm

To sign up for the class, please call Cranberry Hill Mercantile at 408-736-9151.

:) Irina

Reversed Grid Sunflower

On the card I made yesterday (see this post), I used the Grid Technique. On the card today, I made an opposite. I tried to use Fall colors this time :) .

I stamped the image on the white cardstock first. Placed the layer on the Scor-Pal face down and added score lines on the perimeter to create a "frame", and then scored the lines diagonally both ways to create a grid. Sponged yellow ink over the image.

On the green layer, I also scored the grid lines. I used the raised (embossed) side of the paper and added dots with the Gold side of Zig Painty.

This card measures 5" x 6". I also made my own envelope for this card using the Scor-Pal.

Sunflower stamp is by Penny Black and the Greeting is from a set by Hero Arts.

This is the second card and envelope project for my class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. The class is scheduled for:

Wednesday, October 1st, 11:00 am to 2:30 pm
Thursday, October 16th, 11:00 am to 2:30 pm
Thursday, October 16th, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Please call the store at 408-736-9151 to sign up.

:) Irina

Sarah Kay and Rachelle Anne Miller stamps at Cranberry Hill!!

I was waiting for this day for a very long time.. And what do I see when I get to the store last night?! We finally got a shipment of Sarah Kay and Rachelle Anne Miller stamps!!

There are so many designs available, I have had hard time choosing.. For now, I got four of my most favorite ones from Sarah Kay and a few of Rachelle Anne Miller's, but I am sure I will be back for more :)

Did you see the card on Claudia's blog today made with these turtles?? Check it out here. Isn't it just super cute?

If you would like to purchase Sarah Kay and Rachelle Anne Miller stamps, please stop by Cranberry Hill Mercantile. If you do not live in the area, you can give the store a call at 408-736-9151 to make your purchase and it will be shipped right to your door!!

:) Irina

Christmas Hibiscus?

When I showed this card to one of my friends today, she said "Christmas Birthday?! Interesting.." Well, I didn't even realize that my card does look like a Christmas card even though I used a flower that just screams "summer", Hibiscus.. Interesting indeed..

This was the first time I tried the Grid Technique, I also made this into the Gate-Fold Card. And, I also made my own envelope. All using the Scor-Pal(thanks again, Diana :) ). Love, love, love how this project has turned out!!

I took tons of photos to show you all the details.

Scalloped circle with the greeting is raised on the pop-up dots and attached only on about 3/4 of it on the right side. It overlays the image and it also keeps the card shut.

I made the grid on the Scor-Pal at 1/2" intervals, then stamped the flower over it and sponged some yellow ink around the image. Added some stickles to the flower.

I stamped the same flower image inside of the card and on the front of the envelope. On the back of the envelope, I punched about a third of the oval with Blue Marvy punch and stamped the greeting in that area.

The Hibiscus stamp is by Penny Black, I just love their Brushstroke line!! Background stamp (on the green layer of the card and also on the flap of the envelope) is by Hero Arts. The greeting is from clear stamp set by Inkadinkado..

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This will be one of the projects for my "Scor-Pal Cards plus Envelopes" card class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. The class is scheduled for:

Wednesday, October 1st, 11:00 am to 2:30 pm
Thursday, October 16th, 11:00 am to 2:30 pm
Thursday, October 16th, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Please call the store at 408-736-9151 to sign up.

:) Irina

Pocket Card x 3

I made these cards for my upcoming class at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. We will make six cards at the class, two of each design.

Each card measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" and has a pocket with the note inside.

These cards are somewhat on the simpler side for me, but I love the little surprise they provide with the notes tacked inside of the pockets... something different.

At the class, they will have a choice of the greetings.

All patterned paper used on the cards as well as the clear Flower stamp are from Daisy Bucket Designs. Greeting stamp is from the Hero Arts stamp set.

This class is scheduled for:

Tuesday, September 30th, 11 am to 2:30 pm
Friday, October 10th, 11 am to 2:30 pm

Please call Cranberry Hill Mercantile at 408-736-9151 to sign up.

:) Irina

News from Stampin' Up!!

I am so excited about this!! Now you are able to shop with me at any time, day or night ;) in the convenience of your house (or office, hehehe). Starting September 8th, you can place your order 0n my Stampin' Up website, make your payment and the order will be shipped directly to you. How cool is that?!

Here is the link to my Stampin' Up website (you can also find it on the side bar on the right), http://irina_blount.stampinup.net .

Of course I will still provide you all the customer support that you might need and will answer all of your questions!!

:) Irina

The Winner of the Blog Candy

WOW!!! I think this is the first time I got so many comments on any of my posts.. There were 76 comments plus 26 of you had mentioned my Blog Candy on your blogs. That made it 102 entries!! And, on top of that my number went down from 398 to 390!!! And it is all thanks to all of you!!

I had to write down a lot of names... I think next time I am going to ask those of you who qualify for the second entry to make two comments. That way I will be able to use random.org to pick the number. Would be much easier..

I had my son pull the name, and the winner is.. Lori Barnett!! Here is Lori's comment:

"Lori Barnett said...
awesome about your blog! I love the winter tilda card. VERY CUTE! I don't have any of those stamps but would love too. Someday I'll get some to add to my growing stamp collection :)"

Congratulations Lori!! And now you'll have some of Tildas to play with :). Please email me your address and your choice of Tilda and/or Edwin images. Also please let me know your preference of the paper and ink for your stamped images.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated!! I loved reading all your sweet comments!!

Hugs,
:) Irina

a Teaser

I just wanted to share a few photos of the card that I made for my very first Guest Designer work for a tutorial for Scor-Pal. I can't tell you any details, you will have to wait until Diana posts a new issue of Winter Magazine on the website.





;) Irina

P.S. Check out my Blog Candy here. You have until 10 pm PST this Thursday to enter..

Birds Galore Notecard Holder

Edited to Add.. The date for this Make-and-Take has been confirmed for Monday, September 22nd. You'll have a choice of the Bird or Cupcake design (or make a few). Please call the Cranberry Hill Mercantile at 408-736-9151 to sign up.

From the Birds Galore clear stamp set by Inkadinkado, this bird is my favorite. And how about this yummy patterned paper by BoBunny!!

This project will be a Make-and-Take at Cranberry Hill Mercantile. I am working on another one with the Cupcakes.. Tentative date for the Make-and-Take is Monday, September 22nd.

The Notecard Holder was made out of 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock. There are two pockets in this Notecard Holder to fit four 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" notecards and four envelopes.

Each notecard has patterned paper on the front and embellished with the scalloped red circle with the stamped bird image inside of it, and a layer of the white cardstock on the back. The same image is stamped on the back of the notes and on the envelopes.

I think this set would make a great gift!!

:) Irina

P.S. Check out my Blog Candy here. You have until 10 pm PST this Thursday to enter..