Wendy's Little Inklings

Build-a-Bear bookmark - same bookmark, 3 different ways.

Sorry about my missing post yesterday.  Weekends just have their way of taking control, without really taking into consideration what you might like to actually get done!

The Holiday Mini Catalogue is available as of Tuesday.  2 more days!!!  I have tons of fun stamps and paper from the catalogue, but since we're still in Build-a-Bear countdown mode, I have the bookmarks that I promised you a couple of days ago.  Each can be made larger by clicking on the image. 

The first is the one that we completed at my recent Mom & Me Back to School class.  These are very basic as the kids stamped them, and then coloured them in with pencil crayons.  This is a super-easy craft to do with your kids, and they love personalizing their bookmarks with their own colour choices.

It's always nice to have a bit of ribbon on the top of a bookmark, and I've used the slit punch and some Pretty in Pink grosgrain to add a touch of pink to an already very pink bookmark!  The girls at the class loved all of the pink!!!

 

One really fun thing to do with the Beary Best Friends Build-a-Bear stamps, is to used them for paper piecing.  I've stamped the stamps on some plain cardstock and some Pawsitively Prints DSP, and then cut the images out and layered them over the stamped image. 

On this bookmark, the dress, hem, flower, and balloon have all been pieced onto the original stamped bear.  Sneaky eh?

 

Finally, our last bookmark features a watercoloured bear, with some really nice taffeta ribbon!  I found that using the slit punch with grosgrain looks nice, but the grosgrain didn't stay taught when pulled tight.  For these samples I opted to staple the ribbon on, to help the ribbon stay tight and flat. 

Note:  These last two bookmarks are 3/4" shorter than the original one at the top, but the width is the same.  They appear to be a bit pudgier, but there is less white space on the bookmark.

We're coming close to the end of summer (although I know that some of you reading this already have kids in school!), so I'm trying to get some last minute things finished.  Tomorrow's a trip to the car dealership!!!  Hopefully that will leave me some "playing time".  I have two more die-cut bears that are ready to be shown off, but you may only see one of them tomorrow.  The second needs a partner, and that is still a glimmer in my imagination!

Until tomorrow... happy stamping!

Well dressed Build-a-Bears that would would look super cute in any scrapbook!

The countdown continues!  Only 5 days left until the Holiday Mini Catalogue is released, and Build-a-Bear comes to Stampin' Up!  I had promised bookmarks for today, but after putting these cuties together this afternoon, I changed my mind.  They are too cute not to share!

   These friendly little bears have been created using my Big Shot, as well as the following dies:  Stampin' Up! Bear die, Stampin' Up! Beary Essentials die, and the Stampin' Up! Beary Boy Sizzlet die.  

The cutie girlie bears on the right were created using the same dies, except that the Stampin' Up! Beary Girl Sizzlet was used for some of the accessories.  All Designer Series Paper is from the Pawsitively Prints collection.

All of the bears shown above have been CASE'd from the displays at our recent Stampin' Up! Convention.  I loved the bears in the photos, and wanted to see how easy it was to recreate them (VERY easy!).  I have a couple more that aren't quite finished yet, as well as a couple of ideas of other "outfits" that I can add to my bears.  I'm going out scrapping tonight, so maybe I'll take my Big Shot with me, and create some more fun bears.

Happy stamping (and die cutting!)

Customized Build-a-Bear Backpack Tags - Do you want one???

Day 3 of our Countdown to Build-a-Bear!  Today's project is super-cute (aren't they all?), and its timing is perfect!  Customized Backpack tags!!!  Although many of your kids have already started back to school, my monkeys don't return until September 8th.  I have made tags for two of their backpacks, and my younger kids love them. 

If you would like a custom backpack tag for your child, I can make a personalized tag for you!  The cost for each tag is $3.50 CDN, and details for each tag are below.

The girl's version of the tag features a female bear, complete with a hand-stamped, watercoloured pink dress, chocolate brown shoes, and a pink flower in her hair.

Some additional shading has been done underneath her shoes.

Watercolouring on the boy's version of the tag has been done in blue and orange, with a small amount of black at the bottom of his shoes. 

Again, additional shading has been done underneath his shoes.

The reverse of the tag contains your child's information, specifically their name, telephone number, and your e-mail address, in the Build-a-Bear font.  Classroom numbers and teacher's names have not been included so that they tags can be used for more than one year. 

Flowers have been added to the girl's tag, and balloons are on the front of the boy's tag.

Each tag has been laminated using 5 mil plastic, and comes with a loop to attach the tag to a backpack. 

**Note:  I have updated this post as of 9/30!  You can now purchase these tags on my Build-a-Bear papercrafts page here.

Please e-mail me if you have any questions, or if you are looking for something a bit more "out of the box".  I do have a Demonstrator version of the tag for those of you that are Stampin' Up! Demonstrators.  The tag is essentially the same, except that on the front of the tag I have swapped out the balloon/flower for the "Life without stamps is unbearable" image that came with the Convention Build-a-Bear.  Let me know if you would like one of these!!!

Tomorrow I'll feature another Build-a-Bear project on my blog - something simple that can be done with kids, but it can easily be gussied up into a very special project for you! 

Happy stamping!

Build-A-Bear Stamps?!? You bet! Only 6 days to go...

It's Day 2 in our Countdown to Build-A-Bear Workshop stamps and Big Shot dies.  Yesterday we saw a pretty, feminine little bear.  Today's card sample features her brother, wearing some awfully cute clothes!

A simple card design, but the Beary Best Friends set of stamps doesn't require a lot of embellishments (that's not to say that you won't see me embellish them!).  It's a terrific set for kids - they LOVE to colour in the bears!!!  When I cracked my set open last week, two of my children immediately hijacked my stamps, began stamping bears, balloons, flowers, party hats, etc. and coloured them all in.  They also proceeded to cut them all out, so I now have bears everywhere!!

Come back tomorrow for yet another sneak peek of the upcoming Build-A-Bear stamps and dies that are being released on September 1st.

Happy stamping!

The Countdown is on... only 1 week until Stampin' Up! Build-A-Bear stamps arrive!

I'm SOOOO excited that Stampin' Up! is partnering up with Ellison & Build-A-Bear Workshop to bring new Build-A-Bear stamps and Sizzix dies to the market!!

You can purchase these as of September 1st, but I'm going to start the sneak peeks of these wonderful new products today.  For the next week, I will spotlight a different project each day, beginning with this really cute card. 

Isn't this just the cutest little card?  I used the stamps from the new Beary Best Friends set to create the bear, and added some of the new Pawsitively Prints Designer Series Paper.  This paper was designed specifically to be used with this collection, and it suits the stamps (and the dies!) very well!

There isn't a stamped sentiment on the card, but one could easily be stamped inside.

Too cute!  Stay tuned until tomorrow for a card featuring a very cute boy bear.

Happy stamping!

A Scrappy Friday

Hey - did you know that I scrapbook too?  I'll bet you didn't because it's been FOREVER since I posted any scrappy layouts on my blog!

Two weeks ago I actually scrapped a couple of layouts.  First ones in months.  Did I mention that I'm more than 18 months behind in my scrapping (I know, some of you are snickering because you're either completely caught up or you're more behind than me!).

Anyhow, here's what I did.  There's lots of snow in them.  Yes, I know that it's August. 

All of you diehard Stampin' Up! stampers/scrappers will note that there's very little Stampin' Up! on these pages.  I confess... I own A LOT of stuff (more snickers here from my friends who know that's an understatement), and I have to use it.  This is where I use the things that I just can't live without, but that Stampin' Up! doesn't sell.  Hence the Basic Gray paper.

Happy scrapping!  Back to stamping tomorrow (unless I actually do some more scrapbooking tonight!).

A Quick Treat for my Stamp Club members

My stamp clubs ended at the end of July, and will be starting back up in September.  As a thank-you to each of my stamp club members, I made them all Butterfly Post-It note holders.  I also gave them white Gel-Pens with butterflies attached, to give them something to write with in all of the cards that have dark cardstock as their base (something that I'm famous for creating!).

The Stampin' Up! Beautiful Butterflies die for the Big Shot was one of the best investments that I've made in recent memory.  I use it ALL THE TIME!  Flutterbys just seemed like a great touch to add to the front of the holder.  The Razzleberry Lemonade paper is perfect for the background.  Our new In Colours are gorgeous!!!

Today is Mom & Me stamping.  Wish me luck!

Happy stamping!

A Flutterby Birthday Card

I held a Mom & Me Birthday Card class two weeks ago, but didn't get a chance to post all of the cards on my blog.  This was one of the three cards created by the kids at the class.

It's a super-easy card - I die-cut the butterflies ahead of time using my Big Shot, and all they had to do was glue, sparkle the edges of the So Saffron butterfly with Dazzling Diamonds, and stamp the sentiment using a stamp from the Heard from the Heart set.

Christopher, my 6-year old son, went to a birthday party yesterday afternoon.  I gave him a choice of a bunch of different cards that he could take, and he chose this one.  For the Flutterbys.

Happy stamping!

Tis the season... to move!

Summer's always a big time for neighbourhood moves.  I moved into my current house on January 7th, 2002, and let me tell you - that was not fun.  While it wasn't snowy that day, the ground hadn't completely frozen so the moving van almost got stuck in the muck that was our front lawn.  Family members have also moved in the winter, and everyone's got a story about either being stuck in the snow, or feeling like their fingers are going to fall off from the cold.  To be expected - I do live in Canada!  Land of ice, snow, hockey, and really warm and humid summer days!!!

When I was in my card-making frenzy last weekend, I made 4 cards to give to people that have either recently moved, or are moving soon.  There were two versions of the card - three daytime, and one nighttime (just for something fun to do!).

Here's the daytime version:

The nighttime version is similar, but it has a moon!

I used my Neighbourhood wheel to create the houses, and Heard from the Heart for the sentiment.  Lots of house cutting, but I love the effect!  The "bushes" on the daytime card were created using some of my punches.  Something fun for the cards.

I'm still plugging along on my 2000 holiday cards.  They're coming along!!! 

Happy stamping!

Thursday's Mom & Me Stamping Class - It's Back to School Time!

I'm a tad behind at the moment.  Actually, I'm really behind on a lot of things!!!  I think that I'm at that point in the summer when I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  So, this post is a bit late, but hey - it's summer!

Thursday's Mom & Me stamping class will focus on Back to School items.  We will be making a bookmark, a laminated backpack tag, and a decorated beverage container (Is it a mug?  I'm not sure what to call it!).  Here's the sample of what the decorated mug will look like:

Cost:  $10/child, which includes all materials including adhesive for their projects
Date:  Thursday, August 20th
Time:  10:00am
Place:  2 Tavistock Avenue, Brooklin ON

Please RSVP by 6pm Wednesday to 905-655-9347 or wendy@wendyslittleinklings.com.  I hope to see you here on Thursday - if you come, you'll be one of the first to see and stamp with Stampin' Up!'s new Build A Bear stamps!!!  The weather's not supposed to be all that nice, so why not come over and stamp!

Happy stamping!