Butternut Sage Designs....

SUPER CUTE and FUNCTIONAL CARD ORGANIZER

2010-01-05T11:06:00.010-05:00

Hey Everyone!

I am still on my orgnizing streak so the girls are going to be doing a two week class starting tomorrow, to create this super cute Pocket Card Organizer and 12 cards. The purpose of this album is to hold your important ready to send cards for an entire year. It's pretty enough to keep in plain view so you do not forget those important dates, and yet at the same time organized and fuctional!!!! Or how about for a very special gift!!!!!There is a seperate pocket for each month and every pocket has a calendar on the back to write the recipients name on the appropriate date. Each pocket is six inches square and easily holds your standard sized cards and envelopes clean, safe and ready to send! If you missed this class and would like the instructions for the pockets, then just jump over to my side bar and you can get them to make at home. ENJOY!

MOJO MONDAY # 120

2010-01-04T12:10:00.003-05:00

Good Monday Morning everyone! I have been away since Thursday and I enjoyed every quiet moment, and hope you have had a fantastic beginning to your NEW YEAR as well! I am a little slow creating after the 5 day lull so I used this week's MojoMonday Sketch to get my juices flowing again. Isn't it funny how when we get away from stamping everything kind of loses it's edge. Well, that is why it is a great to visit other blogs and tap into the challenges to get your creativity moving again. Here I did what I resolved to do this year, and I made some backgound paper for this sketch. I needed a sympathy card and the brown works just fine, when it is popped with black. Pair this card with a sweet embossed envelope flap and it makes an elegant sympathy card. Enjoy your day!~

A NEW YEAR, A NEW START

2009-12-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

DO any of you feel like I do when a new year begins? I always want to start fresh on New Year's Day. That means cleaning up all the left overs from Christmas and packing them away until next December, cleaning my closet, and reorganizing my house. I usually make new file folders (did you see the ones I did last year?) and then I love to get my bills in order! I do a new address book, and finally I make a fun and creative organization project. Last year I did the desk ensemble, but this year I decided to make my own business cards. I was amazed to see just how easy and inexpensive this project was.

In this sample I used my brayer and post it notes to create white space and then I stamped my images. I used a piece of post it note just a tad smaller than the card and re inked my brayer to create the darker edge. I love how they came out, and will be proud to use them to show others how much fun Stampin' Up products are for everyday items! I hope you'll be inspired to make something fun too! Let me hear what you come up with and post a link to my comments section! Enjoy 2010........Happy New Year!!!!!!

SPRUCE UP YOUR ENVIES!!!!!

2009-12-29T14:14:00.008-05:00

I want to say THANKS for all your comments, and take a minute to answer a reoccuring question. I have received a few emails today asking how I made the top note edging on my envelope posted here . That was actually an envelope I made from a 6 x 12 piece of cardstock, but in the picture above you can see that you can make a curved edging for a 4x4 note card. You can also try it for your standard envies, like I did below. Take a look!

place the top of the envelope even with the top note die so the crease of the envelope is equal to the side point on the die. Make a sandwich and run it through the Big Shot until you see about 1/2" sticking out. Reverse the motion and back the sandwich out of the Big Shot. Cut the excess paper from the Top Note Cut to the envelope crease to remove right and left edge.

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS and Challenges

2009-12-28T09:02:00.005-05:00

Good Monday Morning everyone! Are you recuperating? I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are gearing up for the last holiday in the Holiday Season!

The NEW YEAR is a time for making all kinds of promises.... only to find them broken just days later. BUT!!!! This year I am resolved to make more THANK YOU CARDS and FANCY TOP ENVELOPES!!!!!

I also love making my own background paper which you probably noticed in this card and in today's card as well. First I used my brayer and did a layer of color and then stamped my Thank You sentiments in the same color all over the paper. Easy as can be! I wanted to try a fun top note edge on my envies too....and love this idea!!! Finally I wrapped it all up and entered it into some of this week's challenges. They are always fun to do, and get your creative juices flowing, so

here I have incorporated the sketch challenge for Stamping 411 and Sweetest Sunday I just inverted it to make both, and then a New Year's theme challenge over at Cute Card Thursday and a Thank You card for Winter Wonderland , topping it off with a do anything card at

Crafty Creations! Enjoy your new week....

MOJO MONDAY SKETCH

2009-12-28T08:52:00.001-05:00

Mojo Monday always has great sketches to get you going fresh each week. Today I used my "New Year Resolution" of making dsp and made a background paper for the circle element and just stamped the sentiment right on it. Here I used Bordering Blue! Enjoy~

Eat your heart out Tiffany and Co.!

2009-12-26T08:48:00.000-05:00

Tiffany and Co. has nothing on Stampin' Up when it comes to pretty packages. If you are in need of a last minute WOW package then why not grab the template for this one. Just check out "templates" over on my side bar! Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS

2009-12-23T16:56:00.002-05:00

I just want to take a moment to wish a

"MERRY CHRISTMAS" to all of you who visit my blog

and to those of you

who leave such encouraging comments.

Thank you for such a wonderful Christmas Present

of support.

May your Christmas Day be Merry and Bright.

and the New Year be bountiful

~Donna

LET IT SNOW challenges for a Tuesday Morning

2009-12-22T10:26:00.006-05:00

Oh I am beginning to get a little sad to see the days winding down to Christmas, because that means all my Christmas stamp sets need to be put away. SO I am trying to use them as much as I can over the next few days. Here I made a "Z" fold card for My Time to Craft, with a bit of "snow" for Tuesday Taggers, a sweet Layout for Mercy Kerin and the color just for me because I love the icy feel of Bashful Blue and White together. Enjoy your day! See you soon.

PAPER CUTS #48 and challenges all in one

2009-12-21T09:15:00.005-05:00

Heheheheheeee....so we HATE to stay inside when it snows. We bought our very first home back in 1975 "without" the realtor because he would not drive in the snow, during a blizzard. So, yesterday was no different. We shoveled out and decided to head out to see all the wonder and quiet.....all was going very well, THEN we decided to turn onto the highway/expressway and as we entered the ramp our Tourig decide it did not want to go that way and we realized we would have to brace for a thump. We skidded head on into the end of the guard rail and wrecked the car. Oh, I just laughed but poor hubby was so sick about the whole thing......it was a brand new car mind you. LOL Oh well, could have been a lot worse and after all it was "our" fault for being out.....anyway the insurance will take care of the damages and hubby has a rental and all is well here today! OH and before you ask we are absolutely A-okay and unhurt!

So, I came home and made a PAPER CUTS CARD for today with a few little added challenges built in just for me with 1. Paper Piecing 2. holiday something, and 3. JUGS Have a great day! Enjoy~Donna

170,000 visits and It's Beginning to look a lot like CHRISTAMAS

2009-12-20T10:11:00.005-05:00

Well, we are in the midst of a blizzard here in New England, and I must say it is rather exciting! Hubby doesn't need to go into work so it is just a FUN snow day for us!!!! So here I am taking pictures of the waiting before the storm last evening, and now the beauty in white this morning!

I also want to thank Nancy Riley for picking my ornament treat cup for one of this weeks entries! You'll want to stop by to visit her blog for lots more inspiration! I hope your day is fun and that you'll enjoy the rest of the weekend!~thanks for getting me over 170,000 visits too! What a nice Christmas present!~Donna

Some MORE INSPIRATION!!!!!

2009-12-18T17:09:00.002-05:00

Inspiration comes from all sorts of glimmers. Today Cheryl (see this mornings post) inspired me with her use of traditional colors against a snowy white background and deep luxurious embossing. So I took the inspiration to make my most favorite Christmas project this year.... my
scallop corner box. I am so loving this color combo on it. It just screams festive don't you think? It is a great little box to put a last minute gift into that really pops up the WOW factor!!!!! Enjoy your weekend~Donna

CASEing CHERCROPPIN

2009-12-18T09:31:00.004-05:00

I just had to make this cute note pad gift idea from a blogging friend of mine over at

CherCroppin's Stamp Pad in Florida! Isn't just the best! I CASED Chery's design first and then made a super easy redo to give to my girls in class tonight!!! This works up very quickly and makes a great teacher gift, co worker something extra gift or to give to anyone else on your "friend" list. Enjoy~Donna

QUICK in a snap Gift Card Holder

2009-12-18T04:19:00.002-05:00

Well, we are certainly getting down to the wire before Christmas now aren't we. I am so far behind, so I made some cute little gift card holders today! They were quick and fun, and the bells made them festive! So if you need a quick little something why not grab my template and make a couple for yourself! I have the instructions and paper dimensions, as well as some pictures too for all the details! Enjoy~Donna

Hot Chocolate gift pack

2009-12-16T13:29:00.011-05:00

OUCH it's cold here in the northeast....brrr so maybe this is a perfect gift to send out today! This is a 6"x6" and 2 1/2" deep square box, with a scallop square window made from the Bigz Die Stampin' Up Scallop Square. Isn't just great! I decorate the lids with punched and embossed circles and then I filled these miniature clear paint cans with all the goodies you'd need to make some warm hot chocolate. Care to join me?

Enjoy!~Donna

Stamp Class Christmas Party Tonight

2009-12-15T23:01:00.004-05:00

Well, we had our Stampin' Christmas Party tonight and after supper we all moved into the stamping room and had a Yankee Swap and made a card using a mojo monday sketch. The girls had complete access to all of my stamping things and had a ball creating their very own cards! It was fun for me to see what everyone came up with. I think I have decided to do that more often! I hope you are having a great week....I'll be back with more later....thanks for stopping in to visit~Donna

Creative Boxes and Gift Wrapping

2009-12-11T08:52:00.002-05:00

For me Christmas is all about the packaging.
I have been hired to wrap gifts for the president of Boston University, countless weddings and as a family we have taken extreme measures to out-do one another in the gift wrapping department, from replicas of mail box receptacles (my brother is a post master) to a full to scale model of my sisters home, stone walls and shrubbery not excluded! LOL. So, it is just natural for me to decorate the most mundane gifts! This is a shower gel that will be going into a stocking this year and I dressed it up using the Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment "for your shower"....... it just made me laugh! You can make any item a beautiful gift when you take some cardstock and dress it up! Here I scored lines in it, but you can do the same thing by using a crimper or running it through your Big Shot before wrapping it around a package. Use you imagination and have some fun! Think outside the box!!!! Have a great day!~Donna

Stampin' Up! and a THREE CORNER GIFT BOX

2009-12-10T13:03:00.003-05:00

Shelli Gardner the CEO of Stampin' Up demonstrated this adorable triangle box at convention this year! I decided to make mine much larger from a 12"x 12" piece of cardstock to hold a large gift. When finished my box was 12" on the long side and 8" on each of the triangular sides; that is the bottom side that is visible in the photograph. I used left over Halloween paper from Cast A Spell along with the NEW wide striped Grosgrain ribbon for my box. I also used grommets in the back of the box to slide the ribbon in and made a coordinating flap to tie it all together. It is functional, but decorative at the same time. In this case I thought outside the box to make a gift presentation a bit on the unusual side! Hope you like it and will try something new today too! Enjoy~Donna

ps: sorry I do not have a tutorial for this because it was not my original idea.

Tri Fold Photo Card and bead challenge!

2009-12-10T09:45:00.014-05:00

I made this card for the Cute Card Thursday challenge using beads from Stampin' Up! and also some beads that I made using shimmer paint. I love that shimmer!!!!! You can see that I used a texturz plate also. I first daubbed a white craft ink pad all over the plate and then laid my cardstock on top. I ran it through the Big Shot allowing the recessed areas of the texturz plate to show up darker than the area that I daubbed with craft ink. I really like that effect too! I made this card a tri fold card in order for it to hold a photo card for some friends of mine who would enjoy seeing my grandson, Colin. You can see a quick pictorial below of just how to do that. Have a great day and I'll see you soon! Enjoy~Donna

Pictorial:

to make a tri fold photo card take a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" card stock and score it in the middle horizontally and vertically as shown in the first picture. Remove the upper left corner of card stock. Fold the Right top down over the right bottom and then fold the left bottom over to the right bottom. Decorate as desired!

Back to Basics for the Beginner Stamper,and Challenges

2009-12-09T11:45:00.005-05:00

BACK TO BASICS...do you remember the first time you ever picked up a rubber stamp and ink pad and had no idea how to make a card? I can! It seemed so intimidating and overwhelming to me at the time. Then I took baby steps and learned little by little about the product and what they could do and in time I was feeling quite confident and making my own designs, and using products in ways in which they were not intended.
WELL today I wanted to take a minute to address the simplicity of stamping. Here I used only two stamps and a minimal amount of paper to create a card that is clean and simple. A new stamper needn't be intimidated when they make a card if they practice using challenges for inspiration, and going slow as they manuever the stamping world. I hope you'll enjoy the card that I made today. I perused the internet and used a variation from the Color Throw Down challenge and tried a simple beginners layout. I did add some embossed lines but you don't have to in order to still have a lovely card. So why not visit some challenge blogs today yourself and see what creative ideas they have for you to try. Unitl later have a great day and I'll see you soon~Donna

FOUR Challenges in ONE CARD!!!!!

2009-12-08T11:12:00.004-05:00

Today, I should be preparing for class however once I get into my stamp room it becomes difficult NOT to put my hands to stamps and paper! Today was no exception and after looking at some challenges for Tuesday I decided to make another card! LOL!!! So, here ya go

"a layout" ..."a theme" ...." a design" and of course "glitter" be sure to check out the sites of these lovely gals and go make a card for goodness sakes!!!! Enjoy~Donna

GLITZY DASHER PAPER CUTS!

2009-12-06T23:59:00.001-05:00

Oh my isn't this just the BEST girlie Christmas card? Way different colors for Christmas but they just seemed to scream out to me when I got a grab name for a 14 year old this year. Of course I had to put her gift into one of my BOXES ! I know the recipient doesn't read my bog so, I can go ahead and show it to you first but shhhhhhh...it's a secret! You can see all the dimensions for this week's card over in Paper Cuts so Enjoy!~Donna

*as always you can visit my side bar to see any of my tutorials and templates area

DID YOU EVER HAVE A LIGHTBULB MOMENT?

2009-12-06T16:05:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone, I have a surprise for you!

I have to say I don't think I have ever talked about any project on my blog other than Stampin' Up! BUT I could not let this slip away without showing it to you. I have never seen anything so darned cute in my entire life! I really, really, really love these and am racking my brain to figure out HOW I can make it stampin' UP! related but that is for another time. RIGHT NOW I need you to go to my good friend Debbie Pamments blog and see the rest of these critters! WOW! Is all I can say.....how about you? Enjoy!~Donna

THANK YOU LeAnne!!!

2009-12-06T15:01:00.002-05:00

I was out all day yesterday and just got my mail, and lo and behold there was a "box"!!!! It smelled soooooooo good even before I opened it and I couldn't wait to see what was inside.
LeAnne Pugliese sent me this beautiful card along with some awesome goodies of candles, candy and gift cards made from the Winter Post stamp set! I wanted to show the card because it was so nice to feel the work of another stamper. LeAnne has treated me to a bow idea that blew me away! I love what you did LeAnne, I will be copying, I mean CASEing your idea. You need to do a tutorial because I know a lot of gals who are bow challenged and would love this! It is really pretty. Come on back tomorrow for a funky Girlie Christmas Paper Cuts Card! See you then~Donna

COLOR THROW DOWN CHALLENGE

2009-12-05T17:19:00.001-05:00

I am always trying to do a challenge to keep me going in different directions. We all tend to have a "STYLE" and that is awesome but, sometimes it is really fun and yes CHALLENGING to do a challenge, because it takes you outside of your comfort zone. For me it has always been color. I am afraid of color and that is why my home is done in soft shades of green and cream. Over a year ago I began doing color challenges almost weekly starting with Kristina Werner the Vespucci of challenges. So, today I attempted to do the Color Throwdown Challenge and even though it had me in a fuss I did it! LOL. Why not try it for yourself? Enjoy~Donna