Category Archives: Sizzix

a spooky challenge

Posted on October 18, 2010 | 5 comments

Wow…I see it’s been a week and a half since I posted.  Life is just busy, I guess.  I did find time, though, to participate in our new Stampavie challenge.  This time Jay Jay asked us to use spooky colors.

Here’s my sample made with one of the new Tina Wenke Halloween images.  By the way, this was a VERY LIMITED collection, so if you want to purchase them, do it now!  You can search the stores that carry Stampavie images here.  I purchased mine from All That Scraps and as of typing this, there’s only a few left.

I’ve seen these candy corn cards around the net and wanted to try one.  I don’t know who started them, but I’m pretty sure they were around last year too.  This year I remember seeing one or two made with the Nestabilities dies but mine didn’t arrive in time so I made my own template.  Here’s a file for you to download if you’d like to make one too:

candycorn A2 size

Edit:  I’ve had some requests for the template and it seems as if the downloads aren’t working again.  Sorry!  If right-clicking on the link above and “save target as” doesn’t work, then here’s a jpeg you can save.  Click on the thumbnail pic to enlarge it.  The full template will show there.

Just align the left side of the template on the fold of your A2 size card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches).  Trace, cut it out, and embellish!

stamps- Tina Wenke Halloween Pumpkin with Spider by Stampavie; paper- white, Pumpkin, Crushed Curry, black, Green Galore; ink- Memento Black; accessories- Copics, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and D’vine Swirl folders, Sizzix Frills and Pumpkins & Vine dies, Cuttlebug Halloween die, Stickles.

5 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., challenges, shaped cards, Sizzix, Stampavie, tutorials and templates

cookies for Rudolf

Posted on October 1, 2010 | 3 comments

Christmas baby boy loooves Rudolf.  And cookies.  And milk.  So on Christmas eve he hops into his fave Rudolf jammies and leaves a sweet snack for the big guy….and Rudolf too.  Of course he has to sneak outside to leave Rudolf’s treat.  And if he listens real good, he just might hear him coming.

Check out the other sneak peeks of the Christmas babies on the ATS blog.

stamps- Amy Young’s Christmas Baby Cookie and Milk Boy by C.C. Designs, words- Rubber Stampede; paper- kraft, white, dp- Stampin’ Up!; ink- SU! Buckaroo Blue, Memento Black; accessories- Sizzix Gingerbread House, Copics, SU! Oval punches.

3 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., CAS (clean & simple), CC Designs, Christmas, Sizzix

warmest fall wishes

Posted on September 22, 2010 | 7 comments

Wow, we’ve had some warm weather again…nice!  I love fall weather…nice days, cool nights.

And the weather has me thinking about pumpkins…I need to get a few!  But until then, I’ll have to settle for some paper pumpkins.  :^)

And isn’t this pair the cutest?  They’re from the Swiss Pixie collection at All That Scraps.

I love to paper piece and so I thought….why not??  LOL.  Have you seen those white pumpkins?  How cute would they be painted with polka dots and plaid??  Ha!  hmmm….

stamps- Swiss Pixie Fall Scene by C.C. Designs, SU! So Many Sayings; cardstock- white, Apricot, Rust, Celery; papers- Bo Bunny, KI Memories, My Mind’s Eye; ink- Memento Black; accessories- Sizzix Vine #2, linen thread, button, Copics, Cuttlebug Pumpkin Harvest folder.

7 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., CC Designs, Sizzix

aahhhh….choo!

Posted on September 16, 2010 | 14 comments

Cooler temperatures are arriving and you know what that means…cold and flu season will soon be here.  I know, I know…bite my tongue!  LOL.  It is not pleasant to be sick but I have a project today that will hopefully bring a bit of cheer to those dreary days.  Why not decorate a boring tissue box with a fun snowy, wintery theme?  In fact, this would be a fun project for just about any season…Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc.

I chose to use Penny Johnson’s Snowy Cuddles image on my box cover.  Love those snowmen!  It looks like Jay Jay, Leann and I were all having fun with them lately!  (Instructions to make the basic box cover are at the end of this post.)

pj-tissue-cover-1-diane-zechman.jpg

Here’s a close up of the front…and the cute snowmen!  They were colored with Copics and then I sponged around them with Distress ink.  The die cut snowflake and the ground underneath the snowmen have some chunky snow glitter applied (Anna Wight style!).

pj-tissue-cover-2-diane-zechman.jpg

A view of the top…I cut a large oval in the box top and then diecut a smaller opening in just the layer.  The top layer hides the larger oval opening.  I just thought it might be easier this way.  Then I finished it with 2 punched and distressed hearts and an additional die cut, glittered snowflake.

pj-tissue-cover-3-diane-zechman.jpg

And here’s a pic of the side.  Lots of embossing and sponging on this project!  But I love the sponged distress ink on the kraft paper!  The sides were embossed with a Sizzix folder and the edges of the lid were embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

pj-tissue-cover-4-diane-zechman.jpg

This was such a fun project.  I hope it inspires you to make one of your own!  Here’s a pic with directions.  I couldn’t upload the PDF file..it was too big.  And the downloads haven’t been working anyway.

Just click on the thumbnail to enlarge the pic, then save and print.

tissue-box-cover-copy.jpg

If you want the PDF file, you can download it here on the Stampavie site.

EDIT:  I now have a video tutorial and step-by-step instructions with pictures on the SCS site.  You can find the video and link here.

Thanks for stopping by!

stamp- Penny Johnson’s Snowy Cuddles by Stampavie; paper- Kraft, White; ink- Tea Dye Distress, Memento Black; accessories- Copics, Sizzix Snowflakes #3 folder, Cuttlebug Winter Borders folder, Spellbinders Labels 13, Labels 3 and Create A Flake 1, Magnolia Doohickeys Tilda Lace die, Martha Stewart Lace Scallop Heart punch and Snow Glitter, Crystal Lacquer, ribbon, buttons and thread.

14 Comments

Posted in 3D and altered art, Scor-Pal, Sizzix, Stampavie, tutorials and templates

a taffy treasure

Posted on July 20, 2010 | 8 comments

Are you playing along with the Dirty girls this week?  I haven’t had as much time this year to join the challenges but I’m trying to participate as much as I can.  It got me to thinking today…it has been 4 years since I was asked to join the dirt pile.  Time sure flies and so much has happened since then!

I knew that I wouldn’t have the time to hostess a challenge this year but I still wanted to participate.  So I was happy that I could be a sample maker for Tracy‘s challenge.  Be sure to check out her project and texasjodylynn‘s too…they are both fabulous!

Here is what I made…

taffy-treasure-diane-zechman.jpg

I started with the Sizzix Suitcase die and then embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder.  I was originally planning to add a girl in a swimsuit to the front and make a beach-y scene.  But she was just a bit larger than I wanted, so I turned to Amy Young’s fab mermaids instead.

Her hair is covered with Stickles and Liquid Pearls were added to her earring and belt.

taffy-treasure-close-diane-zechman.jpg

Salt water taffy was the perfect thing to fill it with, I thought.  But after a few stores, I wasn’t sure I would find any!  If only I had planned ahead, I could have asked my friend, Susan, to bring me a bag home from her vacation at the beach last week.  Then I finally found a small bag at WalMart.  I guess I was just so elated that I didn’t realize till I was home that it was sugar-free.  Oh fudge!  But it actually tastes quite good…who knew?!  And thankfully it has no sucrolose.  We are trying to avoid that and other artificial sweeteners.

I hope you get a chance to play along with Tracy’s challenge…it’s a fun one!  Have a great day!

stamps- Sweet November’s Treasure Tempestwind & Eddy and AmyR Summer Sentiments by C.C. Designs; paper- Baja Breeze, white; ink- Baja Breeze, Memento Black; accessories- Sizzix Suitcase Bag die, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Japanese Scales folder, Fiskars boundary waters punch, Copics, Liquid Pearls, Stickles, Labels 13 Nestabilities, Crop-A-Dile, eyelet, ball chain, cell phone bling.

8 Comments

Posted in 3D and altered art, CC Designs, challenges, Sizzix

lotsa dots!

Posted on June 28, 2010 | 2 comments

It’s time for another Stampavie challenge!  And I want to thank those who played along with my sketch in the last one…I enjoyed seeing your beautiful cards!

This time Jay Jay challenged us to use dots.  I hope I have enough….  😉

hc-ll-gift-box-diane-zechman.jpg

I stamped the Loopy Lops Gift box for my image…I know I’ve said it before, but I ♥ Loopy Lops!

The dotted dp is from the DCWV Summer Glitter Stack (still one of my fave packs!).  I also used a dot embossing folder, dotted Prima flower, and I dotted the gift box with the brush tip of a Copic marker.  The punched border has some dotted party hats too!  I have seen a few stampers using their straight border punches in creative ways and I was anxious to try this as well.  Cute, huh?

When I was ready to take a pic, I just couldn’t help placing the dotty bucket in there too…lol.  I use these $1 bucket tins for little garbage cans while I am working so I just happened to have this sitting in front of me.  🙂

Wanna play along?  You can check out the info in the challenge catagory on the DT blog here.

stamps- Helz Cuppleditch Loopy Lops Gift Box by Stampavie; paper- Apricot, Regal Rose, White, DCWV Summer Glitter Stack; ink- Memento Black; accessories- corner rounder, oval Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Party punch, Sizzix Snowballs folder, Copics.

2 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., challenges, Sizzix, Stampavie

my last CHA samples…

Posted on February 18, 2010 | 3 comments

for this year, anyway!  Hopefully there will be more in the future.  :0)

Today is Day 33 of Stampavie’s 40 Days of CHA Samples and I am sharing the cards I made with the uber-cute Penny Johnson images!

This image is called My Little Lamb.  So sweet!  This is not the normal size I work with…it ended up being a 6×6 card.

pj-my-little-lamb-diane-zechman.jpg

And this one is called Bobby And Me.  I love that Stampavie came out with some more cute boy images!

pj-bobby-and-me-diane-zechman.jpg

I hope you’ll keep stopping by the DT blog and see the last of our samples over the next week!  Tomorrow Kittie will be back with her Sarah Kay cards.  :0)

first card:

stamps- Penny Johnson’s My Little Lamb and Rachelle Anne Miller’s Sentiments 1 by Stampavie; paper- green, white, black, dp- EK Success; ink- Memento Black; accessories- ribbon, Copics, Primas, Liquid Pearls.

second card:

stamps- Penny Johnson’s Bobby And Me by Stampavie; paper- Real Red, Brocade Blue, white, DCWV The Pets Stack; ink- Memento Black; accessories- wiggly eyes, circle Nestabilities, ribbon, paper piercer, Sizzix Friends, Flowers & Butterfly set, Copics.

3 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., CHA, Sizzix, Stampavie

a beachy birthday

Posted on September 25, 2009 | 9 comments

beachy-stair-step-diane-zechman.jpgHello!  Today I have a stair step card to share.  This is the first time I had a chance to try one.  And I have to say…they are a lot of fun!

A friend asked me to make a birthday card with a beach theme.  I wanted to make something special and I think the recipient liked it.  (hope so!)  This card is actually a duplicate of the one I made.  The original is exactly the same except it has a birthday greeting on the front.

You can find the directions to make this card here.  It is very simple though….just start with a piece of cardstock 5 1/2 x 10 1/2.  Then score it at 1 1/4, 2 1/2, 4 1/4, 6, and 8 1/4.  Fold it up mountain & valley style and decorate!

The front fold was wheeled with a seashell wheel (not SU!) and the rest of the card was stamped with little speckles to resemble sand.  The two little sand dollars are diecuts but you almost have to touch them to realize it.  The tiny shells by the diecut sand castle, however, are real….they were attached with bits of Scor-Tape.  And the fold in the back has a layer punched with the EK Success Beach Scene punch…love that punch!  I just colored over some of the punched images in that border with markers.

Here’s the nitty gritty….

stamps- SU! Sketches, Summer by the Sea and Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Rollagraph seashell wheel, AmyR Beach Sentiments; paper- Fossil, Vanilla; ink- SU! Caramel, Memento Black; accessories- Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, sponge, ribbons, Primas, EK Success Beach Scene punch, Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles, Cuttlebug From The Sea die, real shells, stick-on pearls, pop dots, Sizzix sand castle, Scor-Tape.

Have a fabulous weekend!

9 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., shaped cards, Sizzix, Stampin' Up!

magnetic bird bookmark card

Posted on May 13, 2009 | 4 comments

magnetic-bird-bookmark-diane-zechman.jpgHere’s another project from one of the gatherings I recently attended that I wanted to share with you.

This was my Shoebox project that I prepared for the ladies at my table to make at the Syracuse gathering.  I had this idea running through my head for weeks (ever had that happen? LOL).  It didn’t turn out exactly how I envisioned but I was pleased with it in the end.  My apologies to my tablemates, though…I thought I had Artichoke paper for my card base.  But I couldn’t figure out why it didn’t match my Artichoke ink.  Duh!  It really wasn’t Artichoke paper…I accidentally pulled the wrong color!  Aaagh.

The card base has the fold at the top…and the bottom of the front is folded up to form a pocket for the bird to sit in.  It is kinda like a pocket card only the whole thing would be upside down and the sides are not attached.  Make sense?

The bird and flowers are a Sizzix diecut.  They have a branch attached to them so we had to cut the bird and flowers apart.  The bird has 2 layers of cardstock to make it sturdier.  I wished I had some of the Tim Holtz Grunge paper…that may have made a nice, sturdy bookmark??  I haven’t tried that stuff yet…maybe next time.

The flowers and sentiment on the top were stamped with Basic Brown and watercolored.

You can click on the thumbnails below to see the magnetic part and how the bird is used.  I diecut a heart and folded it in half for the wing…then attached some Basic Grey magnetic snaps which are sticky back and easy to apply.

magnetic-bird-open-diane-zechman.jpg magnetic-bird-1-diane-zechman.jpg magnetic-bird-2-diane-zechman.jpg

stamps- Friends 24-7; paper- supposed to be Artichoke but I think I pulled Handsome Hunter??, Sage, Choc. Chip, Cameo, Blush, DCWV Green Stained; ink- Basic Brown, Coral, Artichoke; accessories- Sizzix Bird w/Vine, QuicKutz flourish, heart Nestabilities, SU! Photo Corner punch, Cuttlebug Spring Floral, Basic Grey Magnetic Snaps, Scor-Tape.

And here’s a photo of another one I made several weeks ago for that raffle basket I made up.  This one has a bit of bling for his eye.

birdie-bookmark-diane-zechman.jpg

Thanks for stopping by….have a blessed day!

4 Comments

Posted in 3D and altered art, bookmarks, cards, etc., Scor-Pal, Sizzix, Stampin' Up!

big bird clothespins

Posted on May 6, 2009 | 2 comments

3d-swap-clothespins-diane-zechman.jpgWow…that title brings back memories of Sesame Street.  LOL.

These are a few of the giant clothespins I decorated for a 3D swap I was in at the gathering I went to in Buffalo, NY.  (I have several other projects to share from both gatherings I went to recently.  I’m still playing catch-up and I’ll try to get them posted soon!)

I started with some giant wooden clothespins and white-washed them with watered down acrylic paint.  Then I decoupaged the designer papers on the front and also applied them to some chipboard coasters.  The coasters were then used to die cut the bird, branch and flowers.  The only stamping on these are the words which were stamped with Stazon ink.  Some ribbon and bling were added to finish them off.

Sorry this is short again!  I have to finish up some little card inserts with a bible verse that we are including with a small gift for the ladies at church on Mother’s Day.  And I also still need to get my own Mother’s Day cards done and in the mail…tomorrow.  LOL.

stamps- Embrace Life; paper- SU! Afternoon Tea; ink- Stazon Black; accessories- Cuttlebug Flower die, giant wood clothespins, white acrylic paint, decoupage glue, chipboard coasters, Sizzix Bird w/Leaves & Flower die, glue dots, Scor-tape, ribbon, gemstones (cell phone bling).

2 Comments

Posted in 3D and altered art, Sizzix, Stampin' Up!