Walking Through a {black & gold} Winter Wonderland

How do you feel about Christmas cards that aren't the traditional Red & Green?

I tried a little "out of the holiday color box" card with the (sadly) soon-to-be-retiring Wonderland stamp set and I think it is quite elegant:

To create the stars on the background, I squoze 5-6 drops of multipurpose glue into an empty button or brad container and added a few drops of water, then mixed it with an Aqua Painter. Then I tapped the Aqua Painter on my hand over the top of the embossed card stock so it splattered all over it. Finally, I sprinkled gold glitter over the splatters and shook off the excess. 

On this version I used gold baker's twine in the button, but I can tell you the gold cord trim is MUCH easier to thread through the holes. 

For a .pdf tutorial of this card, click here! 

Thanks for ordering from my Stampin' Store and don't miss the Online Extravaganza going on right now through November 30, 2015: Click below to shop!

Still time for some haunting...

This bag is easy to make and fun to stuff with treats for co-workers, friends and special little ghouls and goblins and uses the Gift Bag Punch Board:

Click on the picture or HERE to download the .pdf tutorial and have a Happy Halloween!

Thankful Fall Wreath Card

Glad I had a moment to stamp today because the challenges at TGIF and Friday Mashup were a perfect pairing:

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Though I'm not blogging as much, I'm sharing DAILY on my Facebook page Creative Juice by Loni and often on Instagram!  Support a small business by ordering your crafting supplies (including those used for this card) from my Stampin' Store :)

Salt Star Background for The Kindness Projects

A friend asked for cards for a teenage boy who needed some encouragement and it was so 

delightful to create something to bring a smile to someones face (I hope!):

Boys are hard to stamp for sometimes. Especially teenage boys. So I pulled out the Calling All Heroes stamp set (Item #138002...only available while supplies last!) and put on my thinking cap. I started by turning my cardstock to landscape for a different look to the circle card thinlit die. I used a 4.25" x 7.25" piece of Pacific Point card stock and didn't run it all the way through; just over the circle side and back. 

My friend Lou Ann showed me how to make a starry night with salt so I decided to incorporate that into my card, too:

Start with a Daffodil Delight (or white) piece of card stock and sprinkle salt over it. Place it between the cutting pads and run it through the Big Shot on the Multipurpose Platform with all tabs closed. Shake/brush off the salt (remember to wipe off the cutting pads too!).

Next, brayer over the salt-embossed paper with a dark color (I used Night of Navy). Make sure the salt/dot impressions are pushing DOWN and your ink won't reach them, creating a starry, starry night. Add a city or space-scape and voila, the milky way appears!

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Please purchase the supplies to create your own from Loni's Stampin' Up! Store.

If you want to create something as a random act of kindness, I suggest visiting the Kindness Projects blog and sharing your he(ART)-felt good works!

Birth-Date Color: A Thai-Tradition!

At convention Stampin' Up! announced that the 2017 Grand Vacation demonstrators can earn will be to Phuket, Thailand! Now I have a goal :)

Did you know that according to Thai tradition, each day of the week is assigned a color and the color for the day you were born is supposed to be your lucky color?! Find out your lucky Stampin' Up! color by finding out which day of the week you were born on and then click here for your SU! Birthdate Hue.

In honor of the birthday I recently celebrated, I created this monochromatic card in MY color (Melon Mambo) and used this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

What is your birth date color? Leave a comment below! 

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Order supplies in YOUR lucky color from my Stampin' Store!

A Gift Bag for the New Mr. & Mrs.

Is your refrigerator covered with wedding invitations like mine? 

You need to make a few of these to have on hand: Just drop in a gift and go! 

Click for Gift Bag Tutorial!

I'm kind of in love with the new Mint Macaron In-Color for 2015-2016: It's so elegant! Paired with the new Tip-Top Taupe (another new In-Color) it's a perfect marriage of color (pun intended). The gorgeous Dotted Lace trim comes in all 5 of the new hues, too. I picked up the handled-bag at the dollar store, but everything else can be found in my online store.

And if you don't have the Bow Builder Punch, order it immediately. Seriously.

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Serendipity that this coincides with the #TGIFC08 challenge and co-ordinates with their colors, too:

Thanks for checking in and wishing you wonderful weddings!

Need an Excuse to Run Away? Join a Club!

Stamp club members look forward to a night with adult conversation over crafts and often linger longer while family gets to bed or significant other is watching sports :) Some clubs meet in the daytime while the kids are at school, so their family is none-the-wiser!

There is ALWAYS food, laughter, friendship and STAMPING.

If you need an excuse to exercise those flabby creative muscles, a stamp club will help you tone them up! Download a club form to answer questions you may have and get it to me ASAP to join as most clubs begin in JULY.

If you are in Utah, but not in Utah County, I can find a demonstrator close to you OR help you start a Stampin' Up! business of your own!

Just want to host a party one time? Of COURSE!

Let's plan a crafting class that your friends will want to attend! We can even do one online. 

Just give me a call at 801-376-8685. 

Watermelon and a Slice of Summer

"If watermelon exists, why don't airmelon, 

firemelon and earthmelon exist?" ~the elemelons

Lucky for you, the papermelon exists thanks to the Cutie Pie Thinlits from Stampin' Up!

Now download a tutorial to make your own! 

If you need the supplies, please order them from my Stampin' Up! store and I'll send you a card :)

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This new Cutie Pie Thinlit is one of the many new beautiful and clever products in 

The NEW CATALOG which arrived June 2nd:

Yep, I'm late in updating the blog: A daily dose of Creativity is on my Facebook Page, so come over and follow me there! 

Wedding Wishes

Do you ever dream of crafting? I woke up this morning with the TGIF and Friday Mashup challenges on my mind along with a card floating around inside there, too! So I ignored all housework after exercising and spent a happy hour in my stamp studio...

...and these are the results:

For the first one I colored directly on the Something Lacy background stamp with my markers (Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder). 

Then I tried embossing Something Lacy on vellum cardstock and colored it from the back using the same colors: 

 Both turned out lovely and I'm prepared for 2 June weddings! #tgifc04 #fm210

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I invite you over to my Creative Juice by Loni Facebook page where I post everyday...join the community there to exercise more creative muscles daily!

Colors, Mashups, Retirement and Special Card

Give me a good challenge...or three...and set me loose! Today I was anticipating the opportunity to join the inagural challenge over at TGIF Challenges with the uber-talented Mercedes and her "dream team" of creators and serendipity happened when the Friday Mashup gave me an excuse to use my Chalk Talk stamp set once more before it retired! Here are the challenges~ A color combo, sketch and retired set:

And this is my creation:

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That was fun~ I may have been a little excited to be the VERY first TGIFChallenge entry...it's a stampin' thing, I guess!!

Chalk Talk was one of my favorite retiring stamps and if you love it, get it today in my store! I've shared a few other projects using this soon-to-be-gone set on my Creative Juice by Loni Facebook Page ...join me there for daily inspiration, fun and creative juice. 

We'll Miss You...Retiring Stampin' Up! Products

It's that time of year when we clear out the old to welcome the new, but there are always a few painful goodbyes: Like the Top Note die for the Big Shot and some of my favorite punches!



Are any of your favorites on the retiring list? They are only available while supplies last in my store.
Use hostess code UC6RKPXM when ordering through May 15 for a chance to win a Designer Series Paper Stack!

Let's Hear It For the GUYS!

It's easy to make frilly cards, but not so easy to create for the men in our life, but the new Guy Greetings stamp set offers TONS of versatility to create for husband, father, grandpa, etc. When I saw the Friday Mashup sketch 202, I knew instantly what I wanted to create!

Since the challenge was to "mash-up" this sketch with a masculine theme, here is the finished card:

My favorite is the little nuts and bolts made from silver foil card stock! And on the inside: 

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Hoping the Guy Greetings set makes it into the new catalog because it is so MANLY! Get yours in my Stampin' Store!
If you need more masculine cards, mark your calendar for the "Moms, Dads, Brides and Grads" card class which will be on Saturday, May 9th in Spanish Fork, Utah! More details coming on my events page and my Facebook Events Page soon!

Friendship is a Sheltering Tree

Whenever I get a new catalog from Stampin' Up!, I grab some post-it flags and prioritize my list: Green flags are "MUST HAVE", yellow flags are "Cute...but do I really NEED it?" and pink/red flags are for "Awesome project: Try it!"

The "Sheltering Tree" stamp set from the 2015 Occasions Catalog was the first to get a GREEN flag! Here are a few of the ideas I came up with:

 This one is on the front of our large notebook. 

The Sheltering Tree set only comes in Photopolymer, and here's a hint to get it to stamp perfectly every time: Place your Stampin' Pierce Mat (or a mouse pad) under the card stock you are stamping on! This helps because Photopolymer stamps don't have the foam cushion that our wood and clear mount rubber stamps have, so the mat acts as the cushion on the other side.

If you love trees (like I love trees), then grab this stamp set from my Stampin' Store and start planting some creative seeds with it! If you order it before March 31st, add a few accessories to total $50 or more to choose a Sale-A-Bration Reward FREE! 

*** In case you haven't heard, the Blendabilities Markers are discontinued until Stampin' Up! comes up with a new and improved version sometime in the future, but the silver lining for Sale-a-Bration is that there were 4 NEW reward products added March 1st: