My Favorite KISS

No...before you get your hopes up, KISS stands for...

Keep It Simple Stamping!

My favorite way to make cards.

Though it may seem easy, it takes a bit to make sure the composition of the card is good enough, even if it is simple to create.

Or at least that is what I like to tell myself,

so that I feel better about making simple cards.  LOL!!!

Either way, here are some cards I made recently...and they are simply made.

Happy Bark-Day colored with Prismacolor Pencils.

Added some sequins for some sparkle.

I popped him up with foam tape...love how his tongue hangs out.

Did some embossing on this fall leaves card.

This Owl card was colored with Prismacolor pencils as well.

Added some colored speckles as well.

Here's the inside of the Owl card.

I wonder if you noticed that I watermarked my pictures on this post.

Look at that...I actually remembered to when editing my photos.

I have to do all of my other photos one of these days.

I'll add it to my To-Do list!

Here is a tip that you may already know about.

Some of the clear stamps I buy, like Recollections at Michaels,

when I first stamp with them they come out like the picture above.

The image, or wording in this example, comes out splotchy 

and does not stamp properly.

 What I do is take an emery board and 'scratch up' the image or wording,

and then it comes out like the picture above.

Such a big difference!

It's awesome that I figured this out since it's usually the cheaper stamps that do this and I was at my wits end worrying that I wouldn't be able to use them.

But there are such great images to be found, I knew I had to do something.

So I hope this little tip helps you out as well.

I also did a few Fall home decor items this weekend.

 I love the Fall Season.

The weather gets a little cooler, and Football season is here.

It also means that the rest of the holidays are on their way.

I have a stash of items in my studio that I know I will eventually find something to do with, but nothing in mind when I first find them

Well, I gathered a bunch of the Fall items I could find and made this Cornucopia for display in the Living Room.

I found the fruit at a thrift store a while back, and the mixed nuts and pine cones were on a wreath that I didn't like a couple of years ago 

but kept them off of it, knowing that I would use them at some point.

The leaves I purchased last year and the flowers I purchased over the summer.

 I love the way it came out and so does my hubby.

A new item for the Fall season to decorate the house with.

 I had purchased a silver tray from the dollar store two years ago to do something else with...but it wound up being the base of this Fall Decor Item.

 Again, there are pinecones, leaves and flowers gathered from my stash.

I also added the black/purple sequined leaves I purchased from a Halloween haul.

 

I love the way it came out and it looks beautiful in our Living Room for the Fall season that is upon us.

I hope you enjoyed all that I shared and would love to see what you are up to.

Take care and thank you so much for stopping by.

Tutorial - Bless You Tissue Box Cover

Hi All.

In this blog post I am going to show you how I made the

Tissue Box Cover you see here.

You can make them for each and every holiday,

or just to match the room that you are putting it in.

Ok, here we go...

For the bottom of the Tissue Box Cover, 

cut two pieces of card stock at 9 1/2" x 5 3/8"

(Or measure the box you are covering and 

add a 1/2" for each piece for connecting.  

Remember, you have four sides to cover.)

Scor on the 9 1/2" side at a 1/2" and 5" on both dies.

See below.

Now put some sticky, double-sided tape on the 1/2" ends.

See below.

Now for the top cover,

cut one sheet of card stock at 6 3/4" x 6 3/4".

Scor at 1" on all four sides.

Then on two of the sides, cut at the cross fold up the 1" fold.

See below.

Add sticky, double-sided tape on all corners.

Next, cut a circle or oval in the middle of the top cover.

I cut a 3" circle for the box of tissues I am covering.

I used a die and adhered the die with removable tape.

Now for this, since I used my Big Shot to cut the circle,

I folded the side over the bottom plastic layer so that the paper could fit in the machine to cut the circle.

Hopefully you can see by the picture below what I mean if you are using your Big Shot as well.

Here's the circle cut.

 Now you want to decorate the pieces before putting it all together.

Here is what I did for Halloween.

Now take your top cover and fold in each corner.

Adhere the bottom flaps to the sides.

 Here it is done.

Now for the bottom cover...adhere one sheet to the other.

Then adhere the open end with the opposite end.

There you go...all done.

Now slide the bottom cover on the tissue box like below.

Then add the top cover and pull out your tissues.

I also embellished a bit more, here is my finished Tissue Box Cover.

I hope this tutorial was easy to follow and if you have any questions, 

please feel free to ask.

Take care!