Dust Storms and Poolside Tags

 I'm sure you all have seen pictures of the huge dust storm (aka haboob) that swept through the Phoenix area last week. It was quite a sight...very ominous looking and a little apocalyptic feeling. It came through just around dinner time. We could see the wall of dirt off to the south of us, so we piled into the car and drove about a mile south to watch it come through the mountain and fields.

It was pretty cool to watch it sweep through the mountain, it looked like a volcanic eruption.

As it got closer we decided we better head back home, there's nothing fun about getting stuck in a dust storm.

The pictures tell the best story...but within minutes the light disappeared beneath the cloud of dust, turning evening into instant darkness. As amazing as the storm was, the media totally overplayed it. We get crazy monsoon storms here with strong winds that can do quite a bit of damage, but this didn't bring much of either, but it was something you don't get to witness everyday.

It did dump a bunch of dirt everywhere, including our pool, which afterward, looked more like a pond. It took several days to get it clean again. So speaking of pools, I wanted to share with you these little Poolside Tags that I made for my stamping friends this month. I used a bunch of punches to make the embellishments. I used the Blossom Petal punch for the Pacific Point faux leather scallop flower; Itty Bitty punch for the little Tempting Turquoise 4-petal flower; Word Window punch for the stamped Whisper White sentiment; Tag Corner punch (retired) for the upper two corners of the Bashful Blue tag base; Corner Rounder for the bottom left corner of the Bashful Blue tag base; and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border for the Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz and Not Quite Navy trims. All the colors together remind me of the colors you find around a pool (a clean pool)...very cool and summery-looking. Thanks for letting me share my Dust Storm pictures with you. See you next time!

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October Color Challenge #9 + Gift Tag

From Adriel:

It's the beginning of a new month

and that means a new THS color challenge!

Here's the colors for our challenge this month.

Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, River Rock, and More Mustard

I had fun with these colors and made some gift tags

with last year's "Gobble Gobble" stamp from Stampin' Up!'s a la carte.

It's just too cute not to use again! =)

I sent the River Rock CS through the Big Shot

with the Lattice embossing folder.

When you tear it, it almost looks like burlap, which is a great touch.

Now it's your turn! As always, our color challenge

is open to all of our artsy, crafty friends.

You have the whole month to create something fabulous using our color challenge.

Just post it on your blog or a gallery

and link to it using the submission button at the bottom of this post.

You can also send us a picture of your creation and we will submit it for you.

Email us at: twohappystampers@gmail.com

We'll feature 5 of the entries on our blog!

Guidelines:

Color challenge ends October 31st @ midnight Arizona time

Please keep submissions family friendly

Get inspired, get creative, and have fun!

Happy October to you!

A Few Tags

From Heidi...Each month I like to create a new tag to include as a little "Thank You" with my customer's Stampin' Up! orders. I thought I'd share a couple of them here. The challenge I make for myself each month is that I have to make them with scraps of cardstock. So the color combinations are made by what I have in a ziplock scrap bag...kind of fun! Thanks for stopping by and visiting us!

Sweet & Simple Monday

Make a set of sweet and simple gift tags perfect for a variety of occasions! These tags feature one of our favorite cardstock colors right now: Kraft. Kraft is so versatile and adds something extra to these gift tags. Of course, these tags would be perfectly fine using white cardstock... they would still look great!

1. Trim Kraft cardstock to 2-1/4"W x 4"H. Use tag corner punch on top corners to create the "tag" look.

2. Use medium floral image from Fifth Avenue Floral in Old Olive, Ruby Red or Rich Razzleberry to stamp on the bottom of the tag. (I stamped once and then also stamped again without inking up again to create a more subdued, faded look in the left-hand corner of the tag. This is optional.)

3. Stamp sentiment from Fresh Cuts in Chocolate Chip ink on upper right-side of tag.

4. Find the top center of tag and punch a hole.

You can use a variety of fibers to tie this tag onto your gift or bag. Some of our favorites are hemp twine and fine white crochet thread. Ribbon in various colors are also great!

Super simple and you can make a great looking set of tags in very little time! Hope you enjoyed today's project. Join us again next week for another sweet and simple Monday. =)

Supplies: Kraft cardstock, Fresh Cuts stamp set, Fifth Avenue stamp set, Old Olive classic ink, Ruby Red classic ink, Rich Razzleberry classic ink, Chocolate Chip classic ink, Tag Corner punch, hole punch.

Stampin' Up! supplies can be ordered through Heidi by clicking HERE. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at: twohappystampers@gmail.com

Shabby Valentine Flowers

From Adriel:

We've been having fun making some Valentine items for our shop and classes. The new Valentine paper in the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini catalog (can't remember the name of the paper) is so much fun, with one side of the paper having glitter on it! So much fun! =)

I made these shabby flowers and thought they would be great on some Valentine gift tags. I made a tutorial for these shabby flowers awhile ago and you can find it HERE if you want to make some yourself! Have fun! =)

Holiday Gift Tags

From Adriel:

Now it may seem a little early (okay, a LOT early!!) to be thinking about holiday gift tags. You're right, it is. But we have to stay ahead of the game! We've got a holiday gift tag class in November (I think... or is it October?). We try to make our projects ahead of time so we know how many supplies to order and also for pictures and such. In addition, it's wise to make these projects ahead of time so that you can work out all the details and design, blah, blah, blah...With that being said, I worked on the project for our gift tag class. I've been eyeing the cute box with tags in the SU catalog. I found some directions that produce a box that is very similar. I had to tweak the acetate lid a bit, because it didn't fit properly, but I don't remember my changes at the moment. Perhaps I can share those a bit later. =)

All in all, it makes a cute little set. The multi-colored stamped images, however, are not going to be conducive for a class setting. I'm going to have to re-design the actual gift tags that go in this box. But at least I have the box pretty much figured out and the whole set made a cute picture. =)

For more details, read further... =D

You can check out the tutorial for the box and lid HERE at Valerie's blog. As I said, I made some changes to the lid. It was too tight, I thought. I just added a bit more give... easy enough. =)

I made the box out of SU Kraft CS and the acetate I made out of some transparency sheets (had some lying around) that you can buy at an office store. The lovely red ribbon is sadly (sniff, sniff) retired Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon from SU with vanilla trim. I'm sure we'll put it to good use for the holidays and miss it immensely when it's gone! =( All of the tags I made are from the SU Hostess set "Christmas Punch" that coordinate with the punches the sell. So cute and easy to create with! =)

Almost forgot to mention that the white "twine" I included with the gift tags is a fine crochet thread that you can find at a local craft store. I've wondered about that myself and read a response somewhere about it and bought some the other day. It does the trick and it's better than embroidery floss... too thick in my opinion. ;-)

Anyway, that's my sharing for the day. I hope you enjoy your Monday and the rest of your week. =)

What's New With You?

From Adriel:

Well, as ambitious as my plans yesterday sounded, I actually did get most of them done! Yay! =) I just have to finish up my meal-planning and shopping list. I may be able to reward myself this afternoon with some creative time...

Just to let you know, September's newsletter is now up! All of this month's classes are listed in there, along with a classes at the Tumbleweed Rec. Center. There's a fun tutorial in there and specials from Stampin' Up!. You can view this month's newsletter HERE or by clicking on the special newsletter button on the side of our blog.

The big news is the Tropical Stamping Bunco Night on September 29th! All the details are in the newsletter! We have a limited number of spots for this event, so if you are planning on coming, let us know. =)

I'm sharing another gift tag with you today that I made with the new set from Stampin' Up! called "Charming". It's so pretty and it's now available for ordering!

Thanks for stopping by today! =)

Another Gift Tag

From Adriel:

Today I'm busy catching up on life that got ahead of me while I have been doing other life! =) Laundry, statbook for our restaurant, checkbook, dinner menu for the next week or two... not sure if I'll get it all done today, but I'm going to try!

With that being said, I don't have much time for a lengthy post today, so I'll just share another gift tag I created last week while I was experimenting. Still have some gift tag ideas that I'm going to play with soon. =) Blogger is still being a pill, so I'm only sharing one pic today! Thanks for stopping by and come back soon! =)

I've Been Creating!

From Adriel:

In the last post that I authored, I was expressing my feelings of missing being creative. Well, I've had some time this past week to do some creating and I've really enjoyed it! My mom and I have a fun event planned for our stamping friends next month that will include smoothies, gift tags and Bunco! All the details are going to be in September's newsletter, so look for that on our blog soon!

I've been working on an assortment of gift tags and have just been playing around with some ideas. The one above I made using the new set, Charming, that will be available to order on Sept. 1st out of the Mini Catalog. I really like this set and the mini medallion that I used on this tag. I have more tags to show you, but blogger is acting up again and won't let me move my pictures around. They all get stuck at the top! I'll have to save the others for another time. Anyway, happy Saturday to you and thanks for stopping by! =)

Misting with Markers

From Heidi...I was making tags today using the new Hostess Stamp Set "Of the Earth." This little set creates a very organic look. Since the stamps are solid stamps, not outline, they're great for embossing, or using with techniques like Misting, which is what I used to create the soft watercolor look on these tags. I used the Earth Elements Stampin' Write markers: Old Olive, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, and Not Quite Navy. The "Thank You" is from last year's "Note of Thanks," which was stamped in the new In-Color, Soft Suede onto Kraft CS. Thanks for letting me share!

Happy Hello

From Heidi...The picture says it all...Hope you have a great day!

Another Set of Gift Tags

From Adriel:



I'm showing off these gift tags today. Cute, huh? =D

A couple of weeks ago, I found a YouTube video for making the shabby flowers with the scallop circle punch. I showed you that one already... if you missed the post, click HERE for my tutorial and a link to the video. Anyway, I found another video the same day (or the day after) on making handmade lollipop flowers. I'd love to share the video, but YouTube wasn't working when I wrote this post... I will have to add the link later. =)

UPDATE: YouTube started working but the video I watched is now private! WHAAAT? Anyway, found this video that is not nearly as good, but it will give you an idea of what to do along with my tips at the bottom! =) View video HERE.

Here's what I ended up doing to make my lollipop flowers: Instead of cutting circles out by hand, I just used 3 different sizes of circle punches. I did distress the edges of each circle with scissors... I don't have a distressing tool at the moment. I crumpled up each circle so it looks really distressed! Then, I applied ink to the edges of each circle. I used Chocolate Chip ink to distress the edges instead of the circles instead of white paint. I used Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive to attach the layers together. All I had available was a spray bottle with water, so I spritzed each flower lightly (very lightly) and then "molded" each layer how I wanted it. Once it dries, it's very stiff so the flower keeps its shape very well. I added half-pearls to the center of each flower and attached my flowers with pop-up glue dots to my gift tags. =)


Thanks for stopping by!

Shabby Flower Tutorial

From Adriel:

This tutorial is featured in our newsletter this month. I wanted to share it on our blog as well! I saw the original idea for this on a YouTube video that you can view HERE if you like. But if you'd like step-by-step written directions, here you go!

Supplies:
1 - 3”x3” piece of card stock
2 - 3”x3” pieces of designer series paper
Scallop Circle punch
Rhinestone brad
Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive
Small silk flower (or paper flower)
Scissors
Paper piercer (not shown in supply photo)

Step 1: Punch out a scallop circle out of each piece of DS paper and card stock.


Step 2: On the two DS paper scallop circles cut a slit at each scallop.


Step 3: Crumple the DS paper scallop circles in hand until desired look is achieved. Scallop circles should be nice and crumpled. The more crumpled, the more “shabby” the flower will look.

Step 4: Use adhesive to attached scallop circles one on top of the other, starting with the card stock on the bottom.

Step 5: Pierce the center of the flower with a paper piercer or a needle.

Step 6: Put the silk flower in middle of flower and attach the rhinestone brad through the middle, through all the layers of the flower. Flower is now completed and ready to use on a project.

Here's some gift tags that I showed you guys last week that I made using the shabby flowers... TONS of fun, right?!?! I sold these tags this weekend at a vendor fair we did over the weekend. I ended up stringing thin black ribbon with white polka dots through them. Didn't get a picture of them with the ribbon before they sold, but they were even more fun with the ribbon added! I ended up using smaller paper flowers instead of the silk flower and used a button in the middle instead of a rhinestone brad.

Hope you enjoyed looking! Try the tutorial out and see if it's easy to follow or not. Let me know! =D

Fun, Shabby Gift Tags

From Adriel:

Aren't these fun? Kind of loud, with a bit of a grunge look... very shabby! I intend on using black ribbon with white polka dots for stringing these tags... that will be the icing on the cake! =)

The DS paper was from last year's Spring/Summer Stampin' Up! catalog... had a few pieces left that worked great for the flowers. The tutorial for these flowers will be in our June Stamping newsletter... out in a couple of days. I saw this idea on YouTube and made some minor changes, but not significant. If you can't wait for the newsletter and want to try your hand at these flowers right now, click HERE to view video.

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments! Have a great day!

Flower Tags

From Adriel:

I don't know what it is about gift tags, but they are almost instantly gratifying. They don't require an enormous amount of time to make. You can make them in all kinds of shapes and sizes. You can make a bunch in a decent amount of time. I think part of the fun of creating these is seeing how much detail you can cram on a small piece of card stock!




We recently bought the tag corner punch from Stampin' Up! and our tag horizon just broadened! =)

Thanks for looking and thanks for your comments! =)

Gift Tags Galore!!

From Adriel:

Hope you all had a great weekend! What can I say? It went by way too fast... =(

We're looking forward to stamping with some of you this week at our SAS! The sponging technique is a great way to add more interest to your projects. I think you'll like the cards we'll be making and you're going to fall in love with the Sixth Avenue Floral set!

In the meantime, here's some gift tags to inspire you that we've made for spring and for our Etsy shop.


This set of tags is very simple and made with soft earth tones. We used the Sale-a-Bration set "Botanical Blooms" and the scallop edge punch as well as the eyelet border punch. The rounded corners add to the softness. Hemp cord finishes off these tags for an added earthiness!

This set of tags is made with bright pastels and the hostess set, "A Little Somethin'", which works great with various punches. By using the Stampin' Write markers, you can get a multi-colored image! Layered with other punched shapes and some marigold yellow ribbon, they make super cute tags!

This set of tags is sweet and girly, using primarily the curly label punch and the Boho Blossoms punch. The Boho Blossoms are the main focal point of the tag and rhinestones added to the centers make them extra special! White satin ribbon finishes them off for added girly-ness! =)

I hope we gave you some fresh ideas for making your own gift tags! Dress up those gifts you plan on giving or even your baked goods with a beautiful tag! =)

Valentine Gift Tags

From Adriel:

Here's some cute tags I made using the Love You Much set! This stamp fits perfectly in the scallop circle punch! I just colored in parts of the stamped image with Stampin' Write markers to add some color and interest.



Here's the tag on a Valentine candy jar. Who wouldn't like to get something like this? =D



Thanks for looking! Remember, the Love You Much bundle is only available at the discounted price for a few more days! January 31st is the deadline for ordering! You can order by clicking HERE and clicking on "Order Now".

Heart Gift Tags

From Adriel:

I hope all your weekends were nice and relaxing. We took the kids on a picnic and enjoyed being outside (I should mention here in AZ, the weather is so nice at this time of year). Sunday (very early, like 4:30 AM early), our store got broken into. We were rudely awakened by a call from alarm company and my husband looked at the cameras (that he can view from our computer at home), but didn't see anyone inside the store, so he thought it was a false alarm. Well, after we went back to sleep for a few more hours and woke up (again), he checked the recording from the cameras and sure enough, there WAS someone in our store (at 4:30AM). I guess I should mention that we own a Tropical Smoothie Cafe here in AZ. Anyway, my husband went tothe store and had the police meet him there. The door was kinda messed up, but NOTHING was stolen!! Really, that is a blessing from God, and I truly mean that. The guy had plenty of time to take stuff (since we passed it off as a false alarm initially and no police were sent at the time), but he left pretty quickly and didn't take anything! This is the second time our store has been burglarized, and the second time God has protected it! I just want to take the time to tell you what God did for us. Our Lord Jesus deserves all the praise and glory and I just want to give Him that, even on this blog! =D

I know we've been showing a lot of Valentine stuff, but that's what we've been making!! I don't think I showed these cute heart gift tags yet. They don't necessarily have to be used for Valentines Day. They could be used anytime!!

These were fairly easy to make and look really nice! I used the curly label bundle which came with the punch and a set of coordinating stamps. I stamped Kiwi Kiss ink and Pale Plum ink on white CS. I punched those out with the curly label punch. Then I stamped Versamark on Kiwi Kiss CS and Pale Plum CS and embossed with white embossing powder and punched those out. I then used the 3-heart stamp from the Love You Much set along with the Heart to Heart punch and used dimensionals to pop those up on the tags. I added silver eyelets for stringing hemp twine through and that's it! Lots of fun and a sweet way to dress up a gift for anytime, especially Valentines Day.

BTW, that curly label set is great! I love the shape of the punch and the stamps coordinate so well with it! I'm ready to make some more... =D

Thanks so much for reading and looking! I hope you all have a wonderful week!