Sponge Dauber Storage

I have seen a lot of sponge dauber usage on Pinterest lately and wanted to try it for myself. I was stumped on how to store sponge daubers so I hopped onto the internet and found this tutorial by a UK Stampin' Up! demo. I loved her idea! She had discovered that the sponge daubers fit perfectly in Stampin' Up!'s wood mount stamp cases!

I immediately ordered my sponge daubers and as soon as they came in, sat down to create my storage boxes. However, I soon discovered that her measurements didn't quite work with my storage cases...they must be a slightly different size in the UK so after a bit of puzzling, I cam up with the dimensions to re-create the idea using US measurements.

This is my first tutorial so please be gentle!

First, I measured off the interior of the wood mount stamp case and marked it off on my grid paper. The dimensions are 7 1/4" by 5".

The sponge daubers need 3/4" square slot to keep them in place and not shift around. Unfortunately this left me with 1/4" open space around the perimeter of my case so I added an additional piece of cardstock around the perimeter to keep everything nice and tidy.

You will need seven 7 1/4" by 3/4" and ten 5" by 3/4" pieces of cardstock. Make a mark on each piece at 1/4" from each edge and then 3/4" after that. (I also made a corresponding mark on the opposite side of the cardstock to give myself a guide when cutting.) Next make a small notch at each mark, just wide enough for a sheet of cardstock. I would suggest making a notch that's just over halfway deep onto the cardstock, to ensure the strength of the paper when assembling everything.

The next step is to assemble like this: 

I found it was easier to build the outside like this and then fill in on the inside:

The end result should look like this and fits perfectly inside Stampin' Up! wood Mount stamp cases:

Next I pulled out my trusty label maker and labeled all of my sponge daubers. They almost look too pretty to use!

The last step was to create a color chart. I cut a piece of white cardstock to 7 1/4" x 5" and re-created my grid onto the cardstock. Then I inked up my sponge daubers and went to work! I used abbreviations on the color names to keep everything as neat as possible:

This little stamp case can hold 54 sponge daubers, all neat and tidy as you please! I am sooooo thrilled with my new sponge dauber holder. Many, many thanks to Sam Donald, the originator of this idea.

I would love to hear feedback from you on my first tutorial, and please let me how you store, or plan to store, your sponge daubers!

Stampin Supplies:

Paper: Whisper White (100730)

Tools: Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Wood-Mount Stap Cases-Full Size (127551), Sponge Daubers (102892)

Clean and Simple Saturday - Get Well Wishes

Hello there and welcome to Clean and Simple Saturday!

I created this card to highlight heat embossing. It is a very simple, yet very effective tool. Here I have heat embossed my flower image with white embossing powder. Next I used a sponge dauber to daub Soft Sky ink over the image which brings the image out in a very soft way, giving the whole card a very feminine and romantic feel.

I paper pierced the edges to add a bit more impact and layered my image with Soft Sky, adding impact to the image. A simple sentiment stamped in Soft Sky completes the card.

Beautiful. Simple. Done!

Thank you for stopping by...have a wonderful weekend!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Best of Flowers (133342), Express Yourself (130339)

Paper: Whisper White (100730), Soft Sky (131203) Cardstock

Ink: Versamark (102283) Pad; Soft Sky (131181) Classic Stampin' Pad

Tools: Heat Tool (129053); Clear (109130) Stampin' Emboss Powder; Paper Piercing Tool (126189); Stampin' Pierce Mat (126199); Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: None

A Spooky Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here is my last Halloween post for this year...another card for the little ones...

And once again, yep, I am using Spooky Bingo Bits! This stamp set is retired but a good alternative would be the current stamp set, Halloween Hello.

A layout on CAS(E) This Sketch, CTS#37, inspired this card. Isn't it fun?!? A few spooky images from Spooky Bingo Bits paired with a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes, add in some super cute paper from the Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper pack and there you have a super easy, super fun card!

I hope everyone has a safe and not-too-spooky Halloween! My babies are all grown so I will be relegated to handing out candy (sigh) but at least it will be cutely packaged candy! lol

Stampin Supplies: 

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes (127802), Spooky Bingo Bits (retired) Halloween Hello (131721) would be an alternative set

Paper: Very Vanilla (101650), Basic Black (121045) Cardstock; Witches Brew (132185) Designer Series Paper

Ink: Pumpkin Pie (126945) Classic Stampin' Pad; Black (101406) StazOn Ink Pad

Tools: Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Hexagon Punch (130919); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: None

Thanks for stopping by!

Not-So-Spooky Halloween

Today's card was created with the younger set in mind. I love Halloween images but don't want to scare the little ones! This card uses Spooky Bingo Bits, a retired stamp set. It could easily be re-created with the current stamp set Halloween Hello (131721), I just don't happen to own that set and I do this one! So there you have it!

This stamp set has never sen ink, and I don't know why! These images are just darling. The little yellow monster is my favorite! The inspiration for this card came from a card by Ashley Marostica. I loved her idea! I chose a color scheme based on the Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper and then added Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant for some more pops of color.

A little BOO!!! adds an itty bitty scare in Elegant Eggplant with a little help from the 1" Circle Punch and the 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Die. A few candy dots for jewelry!

I hope my nephew will like his card and not be toooo scared!! 

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Spooky Bingo Bits (retired) Halloween Hello (131721) would be an alternative set

Paper: Pumpkin Pie (105117), Basic Gray (121044), Elegant Eggplant (105126), Very Vanilla (101650), Basic Black (121045) Cardstock; Witches Brew (132185) Designer Series Paper

Ink: Pumpkin Pie (126945), Basic Gray (126981), Old Olive (126953), Elegant Eggplant (126969), Summer Starfruit (126991) Classic Stampin' Pad; Black (101406) StazOn Ink Pad

Tools: Stampin' Trimmer (126889); 1" Circle Punch (119868); 1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch (127811); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: Brights (130931), Regals (130932) Candy Dots

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Birthday Wishes - The Paper Players #169

Happy Monday Stampers! Sorry to be so chipper about it...this is my short week at work so I am always happy about that!

Today's post was inspired by a Facebook posting of a delightful pillow...the colors really spoke to me and then I found a great sketch over at The Paper Players and away I went! lol

Aren't the colors in that pillow FANTASTIC?!? My Stampin' Up! mind immediately knew they were Smoky Slate, Real Red, Pool Party, and Midnight Muse...lol. I do that all the time, could that possibly be a sign of addiction?...nah...

Here's what these wonderful inspirations led me to create:

I kept true to my pillow inspiration in that the focus is the Whisper White and Smoky Slate with large pops of Real Red and little pops of Pool Party and Midnight Muse.

The Designer Papers used here are from several different lines...making this card a good example of how wonderful Stampin' Up!'s coordinating products are. I always know I can mix and match from across the entire product line and not worry that something won't match. Aren't those Candy Dots delish? The perfect accent!

This adorable sentiment can be found in the A Dozen Thoughts stamp set, I have found this set to be very useful...the fonts are very much on trend and with such a variety of sentiments you are bound to find something that will work on your card!

Please let me know if this pillow and/or my card have inspired you to creat something!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Make a Cake (126742), A Dozen Thoughts (131059)

Paper: Whisper White (100730), Smoky Slate (131202), Real Red (102482), Pool Party (122924) Cardstock; Subtle (130132) Designer Series Paper Stacks, I Am Me (130138), Polka Dot Parade (126902) Designer Series Paper

Ink: Midnight Muse (126860) Classic Stampin' Pad; 2012-2014 In Color (126856), Real Red (100052), Smoky Slate (131898), Subtles (131263) Stampin' Write Markers

Tools: Big Shot (113439), 53); Apothecary Accents Framelits (127003); Stampin' Trimmer (126889), Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: 3/4" Smoky Slate (131152) Chevron Ribbon; Brights (130931), Nuetrals (130934), Subtles (130933) Candy Dots