Hummingbird Friends Card

by Sharon Jeffs

I first found scrapbooking through a card making company in 2001.  A close friend died suddenly and I was at a loss to deal with it.  Another friend suggested scrapbooking as my means and I’ve never looked back.  Since then I have played within a great many mediums and tend to love working  with whatever makes a mess.  I love trying out new ideas and will often try them out with my students in my class to see what others think.  My favourite medium besides all things bling would have to be glimmer mists although I recently bought some of the new Smooch spritz’s to try.  I have an absolute passion for all the tools and serious organisation strategies.  In fact if there was anything I could say that I couldn’t live without in my creative area then it would definitely be organisation!!

Perhaps soon you won't want to live without the wonderful projects from FranticStamper's Design Team. I am so excited to be posting the first of the regular Frantic Stamper Design Team projects and really look forward to the rest of the year!

Hummingbird Friends Card

Materials

      Hummingbird and Dry Flowers from Tim Holtz Nature set. (ST-CMS001 $19.95)
      Friend Text from Tim Holtz Tattered Elements set.( ST-CMS018 $19.95)
      Ranger Alcohol inks
            Copper Metallic Mixative (RAN-Alc-kit-GS $9.99)
            Espresso (RAN-Alc-essp)
            Pesto (RAN-Alc-pesto)
            Bottle (RAN-Alc-bottle)
      Range Distress Crackle Paint
            Rock Candy (RAN-DCP-rock $4.59)
      Stazon Jet Black Ink Pad (TSU-SZP-Jet $8.49)
      Tim Holtz Distress ink Pads –
            Antique Linen (RAN-DP-Linen $5.00)
            Vintage Photo (RAN-DP-Photo $5.00)
      Mini Brass Brads (Box of 200 $8.99)
      3D Square Foam Dots (BC-foam-lgsq $2.99)
      White card
      Neutral shaded card I used Bazill - Rio De Janero (BAZ-3-354 $0.59/sheet)
      Acetate sheet
      Prima Heirloom Paper Leaves – Olive (PRI-HPL-532246 $3.99)

Instructions

      Cut card to the following dimensions –
            Neutral cut to 5 1/2 inches by 11 inches and folded in half.
            White cut to 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 inch square and 3 1/4 by 2 1/4 inch piece.
            Cut acetate to 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 inch square.

      Add a felt pad to your blending tool and place a couple of drops randomly over the surface from each of the four colours of alcohol ink .
     

      Pat down onto the acetate. The colours will swirl and blend together as you pat along the surface.
     

      Continue to pat and add colour to the felt pad until you get the desired outcome you like. I prefer mine to swirl together into variations of large and small colour blotches to give a very earthy feel.
     

      Once dry, use a Stazon pad cleaner or a few drops of Metholated Spirits and rub some of the ink back so that you are left with random sections of your acetate still coloured. I took most of the ink off of the left side for stamping.
     

      Stamp with the Dry flowers over the left side with the Stazon Jet Black stamp pad, I stamped the design once again much lower to bulk up the design.
     

      Stamp the Hummingbird close to the Dry Flowers stamps then turn the acetate over and using a fine brush, add detail to the bird using the alcohol inks. I then turned back to the front of the acetate and brush on some of the Copper Metallic Mixative to the tail and wing section.
     

      Once dry, attach to the white square of card with 4 brass brads in each corner. Put aside.

      Using the 3 1/4 by 2 1/4 inch shape, stamp the Friend text using Stazon Jet black ink. Once the ink has dryed, place onto a scrap of acetate to help you with blending. Attach a Foam Blending Pad to your Blending Tool and ink up with the Antique Linen ink.
     

      To blend smoothly begin by placing the blender down onto the scrap of acetate and gently move in a circular motion over the acetate and card. Continue until desired colour is achieved without unnecessary ink lines on your work.
     

      Ink the Foam pad with the Vintage Photo ink and darken up the edges of the 3 1/4 by 2 1/4 inch piece in addition to the front of your card.

      Finally, coat the 3 1/4 by 2 1/4 inch piece with a coat of the Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint and put aside to dry thoroughly. Rub over with Ink and Blending tool once more to highlight the cracks.
     
      Use Foam Dots to attach this piece to the bottom right corner of the acetate piece, placing a few leaves under the left edge.
     
      Attach to the front of your main section to complete.
     

Thanks for coming by today! I hope you’ve enjoyed my project and you'll give it a try!

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Some Punch fun...

Greetings! Kathy here, again!

We will be starting our regular and frequent Design Team blog entries in about a week. I'm looking forward to what is coming to the blog; I've gotten a sneak peek at a bunch of the projects, and they are all fabulous! In the meantime, though, I don't want you to get too bored and go away, so I've prepared a little something for you.

About a week ago I got a package in the mail from Fran as a "Welcome" to the Design team. Included in the package was a Brackets Whale of a Punch. At first glance, I thought... I probably won't ever use that. You see, I am a stamper and card maker... I really don't scrap. And when I first looked at those brackets I saw only brackets, and thought of journalling inside brackets, like I've seen in magazines. But then I took a second look, and ideas started to flow...

I'd like to share a few of the things I found in that bracket punch:

Cupid

MATERIALS:

      EK Success Whale of Punch - Bracket ( EK-PSPWP50 $13.99)
      Nankong Mega Crawling Baby punch ( MG-0023 $14.99)
      1/4” Large Heart (1/4”) Fiskars hand punch ( FIK-hnd-lgHrt my.yahoo.com $6.95)
      Martha Stewart Crafts Punch - Butterfly 1 ( MSC-PU-283010 $10.59)
      Scrap of craft card-stock
      2 1/4” square of light tan card-stock
      Scrap of white card-stock
      Small scrap of red card-stock
      Small scrap of yellow card-stock
      Adhesive of choice (I used Zig 2-way Glue Pen 5mm Chisel Tip - $2.99)

INSTRUCTIONS::

PUNCH:

      From Craft card-stock
            1 x Curly bracket
            also hand cut long, thin strip for arrow
      From light tan card-stock
            1 x crawling baby
      From White card-stock
            1 x curly bracket
            1 x butterfly
      From red card-stock
            1 x 1/4” heart
      From yellow card-stock
            hand cut hair shape

PREPARE:

      • Cut the white curly bracket in half. Discard half.
      • Fold the butterfly in half, at a slight angle so the top of front wing lies a little lower than the back wing.

ASSEMBLE:

      • Glue wings to back of the crawling baby. Curl the front wing forward.
      • Glue hair to the top of the head.
      • Glue curly bracket to the more extended hand of the baby.
      • Glue the heart to the strip of card stock to form arrow.
      • Glue the white half-bracket onto baby to form sash.
      • Glue arrow across bow and second arm of baby.

Flippers the Fish

MATERIALS:

      EK Success Whale of Punch - Bracket ( EK-PSPWP50 $13.99)
      1 1/2” EK Success Circle Punch ( EK-PSPNP-9 $13.99)

      American Craft Ultimate Gel Pen -
            Black ( AMC-ULT-blk $1.59)

      1 1/2” x 2 1/2” strip of orange card-stock (trim just a little off of 1 1/2” width)
      Scrap of orange card stock
      Scrap of white card-stock

      Adhesive of choice (I used 
Zig 2-way Glue Pen 5mm Chisel Tip - $2.99)

INSTRUCTIONS:

PUNCH:

      From white card-stock
            Two curly brackets
      From orange card-stock
            Two curly brackets
            Double-punched circle, to form football, as follows:
                  • Turn the circle punch upside down so that the hole is visible
                  • Insert the strip of paper into the punch from the bottom rather than from the side.
                 
                  • Punch once.
                 
                  • Insert the strip into the punch as normal, but align the punched end a little more than half-way across the punch.
                 
                  • Punch again

ASSEMBLE:

      • Glue the two white curly brackets onto the football to form stripes. Trim at the edge of the football.
      • Glue one of the orange curly brackets onto the back of the football, between the two stripes, to form fins.
      • Glue the other orange curly bracket onto the back of the football, at the tip to form a tail..
      • Use the black gel pen to trace along the white stripes.
      • Use the black gel pen to draw an eye.
      • Use the black gel pen to add little hash marks on the fins and tail.

Brackets the Steer

MATERIALS:

      EK Success Whale of Punch - Bracket ( EK-PSPWP50 $13.99)
      1 1/2” EK Success Circle Punch ( EK-PSPNP-9 $13.99)
      1 1/4” EK Success Circle Punch (EK-PSPNP-11 $13.99)
      1” EK Success Circle Punch ( EK-PSPNP-13 $13.99)
      1/4” Round Fiskars hand punch ( FIK-hnd-1/4 $6.95)
      1/8” Round Fiskars hand punch ( FIK-hnd-1/8 $6.95)
      Marvy Super Jumbo Daisy Punch ( MAR-SJ-daisy $13.99)
      Stewart Superior Memories Ink - Artprint Brown ( STE-MP-artp $4.99)
      American Craft Ultimate Gel Pen -
            Pastel White ( AMC-ULT-wht $1.59)
            Black ( AMC-ULT-blk $1.59)

      3” round Hydra Sponge ( yellow sponge - 55¢)

      4 1/4” x 5 1/2” piece of white card-stock
      small scrap of black card-stock


      Adhesive of choice (I used Zig 2-way Glue Pen 5mm Chisel Tip - $2.99)

INSTRUCTIONS:

PUNCH:

      From white card-stock
            1 x 1 1/2” circle
            1 x 1 1/4” circle
            1 x 1” circle
            2 x 1/4” circle
            1 x daisy punch
            1 x curly bracket
            4 x square bracket
            also hand cut small rectangle for tale
      From black card-stock
            2 x 1/8” circle

PREPARE:

      * Cut about 1/4” off two sides of the 1 1/4” circle, making a rectangle with rounded ends.
      • Cut two individual petals off of the daisy, rounding off the cut end.
      • Using the 1” circle punch, punch the 1”circle in half, making a football shape.
      • Trim the foot of the square brackets to form a triangular shape at the end of the stem.
      • Use the black gel pen to color the triangle and the portion of the stem next to it.
      • Cut little slits in the “tail” to form hair.
      • Sponge artprint brown ink around all of the white parts EXCEPT the 2 1/4” circles.
      • Sponge additional artprint brown ink on the 1 1/2” circle to form cow spots.
      • Fold the daisy petals slightly to form ears.

ASSEMBLE:

      • Glue two of the square brackets together to form a front and rear left leg (point the triangles at the foot toward the left.) The rear leg should be higher, and behind the front leg, sticking out slightly toward the left.
      • Glue two of the square brackets together to form a front and rear right leg (point the triangles at the foot toward the right.) Try to align similarly to the other leg pair, but have the rear leg stick out toward the right.
      • Glue the leg pairs to the body circle (1 1/2”) so that they extend beyond the circle by about 1 1/4”.
      • Glue the tail in place on the rear of the body circle, sticking out to the right.
      • Glue the football shape at one end of the head (the 1 1/4” circle which has been squared off) to form a snout.
      • Glue the 1/4” black circles to the snout, centered vertically, and about a quarter inch apart horizontally, to form nostrils.
      • Glue the 1/4” white circles just a little above the snout. They should be glued so they are touching.
      • Glue the 1/8” black circles onto the 1/4” white circles. Using the white gel pen, add highlight marks to the black circles.
      • Glue the daisy petals in place at either side near the top of the head to form ears.
      • Glue the curly bracket behind the head, very close to the top, forming borns.

Punchy the Owl

MATERIALS:

      EK Success Whale of Punch - Bracket ( 
 EK-PSPWP50 $13.99 )
      1 3/8” EK Success Circle Punch ( EK-PSPNP-10 $13.99)
     
 1/2” EK Success Circle Punch ( EK-PSP-02 $4.59)
      
1” McGill Daisy Punch ( McG-76700 $7.99)
     
 1/4” Round Fiskars hand punch ( FIK-hnd-1/4 $6.95)

     
Stewart Superior Memories Ink - Brown ( STE-MP-brown $4.99)
     
American Craft Ultimate Gel Pen - White Pastel ( AMC-ULT-wht $1.59)

     
Brown marker or colored pencil (optional)
     
3” round Hydra Sponge ( yellow sponge - 55¢)

     
 4” x 4” scrap of craft card-stock
     
 1 1/4” square of yellow or orange card-stock
     
 Small scrap of white card-stock
     
 Small scrap of black card-stock

     
Adhesive of choice (I used Zig 2-way Glue Pen 5mm Chisel Tip - $2.99)

INSTRUCTIONS:

PUNCH:

     
From Craft card-stock
     
     
 1 x Curly bracket
     
     
 2 x 2” Scallop Circles
     
     
 1 x 1 3/8” Circle
     
     
 1 x 1/2” Circle
     
From Yellow/Orange card-stock
     
     
 1 x 1” Daisy Punch
     
     
 also hand cut one small triangle for the beak
     
From White card-stock
     
     
 2 x 1/2” Circle
     
 From Black card-stock
     
     
 1 x 1/4” Circle

PREPARE:

     
• Cut 1 of the scalloped circles in half. Trim if desired to form wings.
     
• Trim about 1/4” from one side of the 1 1/2” craft circle, making a flat edge.
     
• Cut the 1/2” craft circle in half.
     
• Cut the orange flower in half. Remove 1 petal from each half.
     
• Sponge brown ink around outside edges of all brown or white pieces.
     
• Draw “feathers” on whole scallop and wing pieces as desired.

ASSEMBLE:

     
• Glue wings to front of chest, attaching only near the top of the wings.
     
• Glue head to chest with the flat edge on top.
     
• Glue bracket to top of head to form ears.
     
• Glue white circles below the bracket, making sure they touch each other.
     
• Carefully glue beak into place, inserting under the white circles.
     
• Glue black circles onto the white circles, making eyes.
     
• Glue the craft half circles over the eyes, making lids.
     
• Use the white gel pen to draw highlights on the eye centers.
     
• Glue the partial daisies at the bottom, from behind the chest piece, to form feet.

I hope I've inspired you, a little bit, to look again at your punches and see if you can find some things hiding!

Until next time!

Smiles,
Kathy

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Introducing the First-Ever FranticStamper Design Team

We told you that exciting things were coming, and they are about to arrive! We have selected 8 talented full-time contributors for the design team at FranticStamper, plus a team facilitator. Over the next year, starting in March, these contributors will be filling this blog with varied and exciting projects using products available at www.franticstamper.com. We hope you will enjoy what these amazing artists have to offer!

We would like to allow the members of this first-ever FranticStamper Design Team to introduce themselves.

Hello! I am Anne Harada. I was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM and lived there for over 40 years!  I now live in Ft. Worth, Texas with my best friend and husband, Carl.  Our daughter, Leslie, and granddog live in nearby Grapevine Texas.  I work full-time for a software engineering company as the only woman in a 40-person office!  My passion for stamping and paper crafting is surpassed only by my love for God and my family.  I have been incredibly blessed and I am grateful that I can share my enthusiasm for this craft with others whenever I get the opportunity.




My name is Debi Wind, I am single with no children but have a Maltese named Peanut who is definitely a sweetie and is my "child".  I moved to Louisville, KY from Kansas City, almost 6 years ago, to be closer to my aging mother.  To me Kansas City will always be home.  My alma mater is the University of Kansas...Rock Chalk Jayhawks, go KU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Although my art is my #1 love, I am a huge NASCAR fan and my favorite driver is Kevin Harvick.  I am, also, a huge motorcycle fan and the day it turns warm enough to ride my friends and I hit the road.  I am, also, active in church, volunteer as a tutor, and am active in the Kentucky Calligraphy Guild.




Hi Everyone, I'm Erika Taylor and I'm ecstatic to be working with Frantic Stamper. Let me tell you a little about me. My wonderful and ever encouraging husband Mark is my biggest supporter and fan. He is the first one to see anything I create and always lets me know that he is proud of what I do and who I am. We have two zany and crazy children. Morgan is 2.5 and Markus is 5. You can often find both of them in my craft space with me stamping away. Small town Saskatchewan is where we hang our hats right now and we love the peace and quite of rural living.





Hi, my name is Joanne Wardle. I live in Yorkshire in the UK with my husband and two sons aged 12 and 8. I work two nights a week as a radiographer, which thankfully leaves me enough time to craft.









Hi. I’m Kathy Berger, and I am acting as the facilitator for the Frantic Stamper Design Team, as well as an occasional contributor. I live in Livermore, California, work part time at the National Lab as a computer scientist, and teach karate a couple of days each week. I’ve been married to Bob since 1987. We have a daughter, Beth, who is 18 and a freshman at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In my spare time, I stamp, read, and take care of a menagerie of the world’s wackiest cats.





My name is Kris Hankins.  Although I am a native Californian, I have spent most of my 28 married years living in the Midwest, Southwest, and now Louisiana.   My husband and I enjoy spending time with friends and family, and our sweet dog Holly.   Our favorite get away is almost always the beach.   I am an avid gardener.  You’ll frequently find me in my yard getting my hands dirty.   I love to swim, play card/board games, and enjoy architecture, home decorating, and many forms of art.






Hi!   My name is Lis (short for Lisabeth) Whiting. I grew up in upstate New York and am now living in Southern California. I have two sisters. Lorraine lives in New York.  Livia lives in Southern California.  We get together each week to grocery shop and do other things.  Its great fun.  I have one 10 year old kitty named Ike.  He is orange, with a cattitude!  I love him dearly.









I’m Pauline, aka Polinka, 27 years old and living in Saint-Louis, France. I would love to have children someday soon, but in the meantime I am enjoying time with my boyfriend and family. I’m a happy auntie to 4 young childrens, that I love to scrapbook : Théo, Clara, Noah and Alessio. I also have a cute little cat called Dobby, like Harry Potter's house elf. 







My name is Sharon Jeffs and I come from South Australia.  I live with my two daughters, Emma (14), Sarah (10) and my husband Matt.  I work full time as a school teacher in a fairly classroom of year 6 and year 7 students and absolutely love it.  When at home I tend to spend a great deal of time avoiding house work by either creating in my scrap area or reading.  Most days seem pretty hectic in my household, from feeding our menagerie of pets (we have 3 cats, 2 dogs and 5 chickens) and getting organised for each days classes to getting  kids to dance classes and netball games.  One of my alltime favourite ways to relax though is to lie down with my Blue Russian cat Mistoffeles (who I adore) and have a cuddle.

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Another teaser...

Hi! Kathy here again.

We are still getting things lined up for our exciting new adventure here at Frantic Stamper Happenings, but in the meantime, to keep you coming back for more, I thought it would be fun to give you another little preview of things to come. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Changing Image Card

When the card is opened the image in the circle almost magically changes to a different image!

      * This card has been adapted from the Peek-a-boo card designed by Dawn Griffin

Materials

    Card-stock

          (CoreDinations Super Assortment-Roy G Biv 12"x12" COR-Pk-12roy: $36.99)

       White
            8 1/2” x 9 3/4" (card back)
            8 1/2” x 5 1/2” (card front)
            5 1/4” x 2 3/4” (top layer)
    Black
            5 3/4” x 3 1/2” (layer)
            2 scraps, about 2” square each
            1/2” x 8 1/2” strip
    Yellow
            5 1/2” x 3” (layer)
            scrap, about 3” square
            1/8” x 8 1/2” strip

    Punches

       1 1/4” EK Success circle punch        (EK-PSPNP-11 -$13.99)
       1 1/2” EK Success circe punch        (EK-PSPNP-09 -$13.99)
       2” EK Success scallop circle punch        (EK-PSPNPCS-002 -$13.99)
      

    Ultimate Gel Pens 


       White Pastel        (AMC-ULT-wht-$1.59)
       Black        (AMC-ULT-blk-$1.59)

    Ribbon 


       4” of 1/2" wide black twill        (TWILL-Blk-75¢/yd)

    Stamps 


       Heidi Swapp Clear Stamp
           Happy Birthday     (HS-CS-64179-$1.99)

       DMD Clear Stamp sheet
           Light the Candles     (DMD-CS-10405-$10.00)

       My Sentiments Exactly
           "B" Sentiments     (MSE-Y560-$14.59)

       Matching Borders/Focals
           Happy/ Day     (HOTP-CS-1022-$17.99)

    Ink 


       Versafine
           Onyx Black     (TSU-VFP-Blk -$8.99)

       Adirondack
           Lemonade     (RAN-ADP-Lemon-$4.99)

    Adhesive of choice 


Instructions

    • Score the card back, in landscape orientation, at 3” and 6”. Score the card front in portrait orientation at 1 3/4”.

    • Z-fold the card back by valley folding at the 3" score line and mounain folding at the 6" line. Mountain fold the front on the score line. The card should be able to be aligned as shown in the diagram

      
    • Use the edge of the folded-back panel of the front of the card as a guide to punch a 1 1/4” circle in the card front. The hole should line up just to the left of the edge of the folded panel, and should be punched into the card as far as the punch will reach.

      

    • Align the right edges of the back and front of the card. Using a pencil or disappearing ink pen, trace the punched circle from the front of the card onto the front of the first layer of the card back.
     

    • Punch the 1 1/4” circle through both of the top two layers of the card back, carefully, punching out exactly over the circle traced from the card front.

    • Affix front panel of the card back to the back of card front, aligning the right edges. (Apply glue to the front of the first layer of the back of the card ONLY. Otherwise, the card will not work!)

    • Using a pencil or disappearing ink pen, lightly trace the circle onto the inside of the card back. Open the card. Lightly trace the circle onto the panel that slides into place.
      
    • Open the card to find the traced circles. Stamp images in the traced circles and color. If pencil was used to trace the circle, carefully erase the pencil.
      

    • Using the 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" circle punces, punch two rings out of black card stock scrap. Using the scalloped punch and the 1 1/4" punch, punch a scalloped ring out of yellow card stock. (To make a ring, always punch with the smaller punch first, then with the larger, punching with the first hole centered in the second punch.)
      
     • With a paper piercer and using a piece of plastic canvas as a guide, pierce a line of holes along the edge of the black layer. Draw lines between the holes with the white gel pen. Attach the black layer to the card front, centered at the top.
     
     • Stamp the white front layer with random swirls using the yellow ink. Stamp the “Happy”, “B”, and “Day” with black ink. Attach this panel to the yellow card layer then to the black card layer (the black layer is offset to the left, not centered.)

    • Attach the yellow scalloped ring to the card with the holes centered on the hole in the card front. Using the black gel pen, add a little dot to each of the scallops. Attach one black ring on top of the yellow one. Add drawn stitch lines to the black ring with the white gel pen. Draw little bows to finish the faux stitching.
     

    • Attach the other black ring to the inside front of the card. Add the black strip and then the yellow strip on the inside left of the card. Stamp the “Happy” and “Birthday” on the inside of the card using black ink.
     

    • Turn the card over to the back side. Open up the back of the card. Close to the fold, apply a narrow line of adhesive or glue.
     
    • Close the card and turn it back over. Attach the ribbon, which has been tied in a knot, to the card front.
     

    • The card is finished. Mail it in a standard A10 business envelope.

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Exciting things are coming this way!

Hi! My name is Kathy Berger, and I am "guest blogging" for Fran today. I wanted to give you a heads-up that new and exciting things are coming to this blog. Be sure to stay tuned, and let your friends know, too!

As a little teaser, here is a fun project for you to try. There just might be more stuff like it in the near future!

Magic-Lid Box

This 2"x2"x2 1/2" box appears to have a separate lid, but in fact is a single piece whose lid opens and closes almost like magic!

Materials

• White card-stock, 6 1/2 x 8 1/2”
• Scor-Pal (Scor-pal; $39.99)
• Hot Off the Press, Botanicals Stamps (HOTP-CS-1013; $17.99)
• Vivid Inks (Vivid Dye Ink Pads Mini Size Pad; $2.50)
  Ultramarine, Aqua, Shy Blue, Teal
• Versamark Ink Pad (TSU-VMPAD; $8.09)
• Seafoam White Embossing Powder (1 oz; $3.75)
• 3” Round Hydra Sponge
  ((yellow sponge; $.55)
• Strong Double-sided Tape, (SUZ-tape-1/4” width; $3.55)
• About 18” Soft Blue Organza Ribbon
  (1/4" - CR-ORG4-Sblue; 30¢/yd)

Instructions

• With the card-stock in the landscape orientation on the Scor-Pal, score at 2, 4, 6, and 8 inches.
• Turn the card-stock to the portrait orientation. Score at 1, 2, 3, and 5 1/2 inches.
• Fold on all score lines. Cut as shown in the figure below; all solid lines are cut lines, while dotted lines are score/fold lines.

Decorate the Box

• White emboss, using the Versamark ink and your choice of Botanical stamps, randomly on the portion of the box form that lies between the 3" and 5 1/2" score lines.
• Sponge the various blue Vivid inks over the same region, covering all of the white card stock.
• Use a tissue to wipe the ink off the embossed images.

Assemble the Box

• First, valley fold the top one inch panel forward, covering the top half of the cut out triangles. Then mountain fold (away from you) on each of the vertical folds, forming a squared tube. Use strong double-sided tape on the 1/2” wide, 2 1/2” long tab to adhere the tab to the inside of the tube.
• Next, fold the bottom panels in to create a bottom for the box. Use strong double-sided tape to adhere the two outermost panels to the two inner panels.
• Carefully push down the top of the box. As you do the lid will reveal itself. Once the top is all the way down onto the rest of the box, use red liner tape to attach the small tab to the inside of the lid. Leave enough space when attaching the tab so that the “lid” to move easily up and down over the remainder of the box.

• Use a small piece of strong double-sided tape to attach the ribbon to the side of the lid, simply as decoration. Tie a ribbon into a bow.

The box is completed!

I hope you've enjoyed this project. Check back often for more information on what is coming to Frantic Stamper Happenings.

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CHA Winter 2010 - So much fun

It's day 2 of CHA Winter 2010. We're exhausted.... but we're bringing you back so many new goodies!!

Here's a quick summary of what we have so far:

--Lots of new stamps from: Tim Holtz, Inkadinkadoo, Impression Obsession, Hampton Arts (new company for us), Prima, Imaginesce, Stampendous, and we're still searching for a few more.

--Tons of gorgeous new flowers from Prima and Petaloo. Prima has really outdone themselves this year! Incredible stuff coming very very soon.

--We've ordered the new paper/embellishment lines from: Webster's Pages, Cosmo Cricket, Making Memories, S.E.I., Best Creations, Bo Bunny, Basic Grey, Little Yellow Bicycle and Melissa Frances.

--We also picked up a couple new companies for us: My Mind's Eye (by popular request), Glitz Designs (OMG, these are gorgeous), and Au Dela Des Cimes (a fantastic French company).

--Let's not forget The Girls Paperie (also new)! This one is going to be a winner!

--About a million new punches from: Martha Stewart, EK Success, McGill, Marvy and Punch Bunch. There's something for everyone here, from the card maker to the flower artist.

--New stencils from Dreamweavers

--We have 2 great new tools from Zutter for you: a fantastic cutter for thick items (like chipboard and matboard), and a cool motorized distresser! (this is probably the coolest new tool I've seen here)

--We've got great new dies from Sizzix (including Tim Holtz' new line + dies for the Sizzix big PRO machine... dies to make boxes, cards and even 12"x12" decorative edge papers). Of course, we also bought all the new Spellbinder dies. As usual, these are to "die" for!!

--Want more Tim Holtz (don't we all)! OK, from Tim's imagination, we also have all his new embellishments from his Idea-ology line + see below for ink.

--INKS inks inks: Tim's 12 new distress colors are probably the biggest announcement! You've seen them previewed on the site. We've also picked up the 4 new metallic Staz-On colors from Tsukineko as well as their new Spritz.

--We have lots of new embellishments for you too: ribbons from Offray, 5 new little chalk palettes from Craf-T, new button assortment from Buttons Galore, and whatever we seek out tomorrow.

There is still a lot of shopping to be done tomorrow. We've yet to hit 2 of our favorites: October After and Graphic 45... but don't worry, we're not out of money yet. We still need to stop at Tattered Angels, Clearsnap (new smooch colors, new colorbox colors and new Fluid Chalks too) and American Crafts.

Our work is definitely NOT done!!

-Fran

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CHA Anticipation

it's almost 6AM and in less than an hour, we'll be heading down to the CHA convention and stand in line. We've already been able to see some sneak peeks last night.

We attended 3 preview events: Making Memories, Creative Imaginations and S.E.I.

I'm really excited about the 2 products from Creative Imaginations: Mudd Puddles and Real Wood.

Mudd Puddles is a textured and colored sand mixed with glue, which can be applied to any surface. What does it look like? Well, sand of course! Think of a beach layout with waves of sand!

Real Wood is a very thin wood veneer with a paper backing. It's amazing. The sheets are die-cuttable, embossable (you can run them through a Cuttlebug or other with embossing folders), printable, etc. You can make your own really cute wood embellishments.

At the S.E.I. preview party, we were treated to their beautiful new lines. We purchased: Juliette, Claire and Jocelyne as well as 6 new colors of Suede papers.

At the Making Memories preview event, we saw the cute new baby lines called Pitter Patter as well as a travel line that will be coming out in a few months. We also got to see the 12 new Slice cartridges. I'm very excited about them, but 2 are especially wonderful: Cooking and Paws&Claws. Oh... also the beach one is pretty cool. Well, let's be realistic, they are all cool.

We also purchased the pink Slice as well as all new pink slice accessories. The newest accessory for the Slice is the HANDS FREE kit. It's a magnetic cutting board with a magnetic cradle that holds your Slice firmly in place against the board. Once you select the shape you want to cut, you just walk away and let the machine do the work without having to hold it. This is such a nice improvement!!!

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Hi everyone!

It’s been over a month since I last wrote…. A lot is going on (as usual).

Our move went fairly well. We still have a few odds and ends to bring over, and of course not everything has a good solid home yet, but we’re making progress.

I’ll try to shoot another video for the blog this weekend.

Several mishaps since we moved: the cost of putting in the 2^nd floor in the new warehouse was almost double what the “estimate” from the contractor. And of course they want paid “now”. (money doesn’t grow on trees yet…. )

We’ve been plagued by a series of employee illness… and today is my turn. If I could stay home, I would, LOL!

I’ll spare you all the details…. But so far, we’ve had to struggle. Things will get better.

So of course, now we’re behind on orders AGAIN!!! I hate that we can’t be super fast…. I want to be super fast again!!!

CHA is just around the corner. Trying to save money (due to this major cost overrun), so we’re driving this year. We’re leaving on January 22^nd in the afternoon, so we can make it over the pass before dark. For those of you not familiar with the area, the “pass” is the Siskiyou mountains. The I-5 freeway, which runs all the way down the western part of the US from Washington to California, has 1 MAJOR mountain pass: The Siskyou pass. It’s about ½ hour south of here and they close it OFTEN at night when they have snow storms. You see, the pass is ½ way between Oregon and California… so the road crews that clear it are ½ California crews and ½ Oregon crews. I’m sure you can figure out that 2 government agencies working together can be a nighmare…. A lot of time, the Oregon side will be clear, but the California side is not, so they close the whole dang freeway. We’re talking THOUSANDS of commercial trucks lining the side of the freeway for miles upon miles when this happens.

On a better note, CHA is bound to bring us many wonderful new products! I’ve already got a few things posted on the “sneakpeek” page on my site…. And will be adding more in the next few days.

Speaking of peeks, take a look at http://www.cosmocricket.typepad.com/ to see Cosmo Cricket’s 3 new lines. If you leave a comment nominating Frantic Stamper as your favorite store, we can win a full collection (which would really help financially right now) + YOU can win too!!!

I’ve seen the new Basic Grey lines, but I’ve been sworn to the utmost secrecy. We can’t reveal ANYTHING, other than “it’s gorgeous”. Sorry to tease….

Tim Holtz has tons of new products in the works including 12 new distress inks (we are taking pre-orders) + dies from Sizzix due out in March as well as a MOTORIZED die cut machine with Tim’s name on it! I’m sure the Idea-ology line from Advantus will also have new products. We love Tim!!

Well, I must get back to work. Lots of orders to get out the door before we leave.

Hugs,

Fran

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Construction update

I just got back from a trip to the new warehouse. They are really moving along. The 2nd floor trusses are almost finished and they can start laying some flooring hopefully tomorrow.

I hope you enjoy this little video tour. I'll take a better one in a couple of days... I'm just learning this new camera.

It sure is getting exciting how fast the work is going. Pretty soon, we will be in there building our shelving and moving just after Christmas!

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Construction begins

Hooray!!! Finally, construction has started on our 2nd floor in the new warehouse.

I went there Saturday to drop off a few things, and lo and behold, there were workers there! They were chalking out where the studs were going and they cut the hole between the 2 units.

Then, last night I went to meet with the electrician to figure out our lighting and where all the outlets need to go. The carpenters were there again, but this time part of the new walls were framed in.

In this picture, you can see the studs for the inner walls. These walls have to be put in so the joists for the upper floor can rest on them . That shows you where the ceiling heigth will be.

The joists will be 24" high, so the new floor will be at the same heigth as you see at the top of the bathroom. The little corner pictured above will be our "break room" with a sink, cabinets and a little fridge, etc.

The joists should be here on Friday (crossing our fingers) and they said it would take them "no time at all" to get them in. We'll see about that!!!

Yesterday, I ordered all the shelving we will need. That was a major chunk of cash!! Whew!! But it will be so nice to have ROOM to put everything!!

I'm so happy things are progressing along so well. I'll go back over there later this week and take some more pictures.

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