Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Stampin' In the Garden!

Moving to a new house just over a year ago, I no longer had a vegetable garden, a favorite thing of mine. Sure, I was able to grow some flowers and things, but I really missed growing fresh veggies. So, this year in April, my hubby built me a garden! The kids and I planted it in May, and soon afterwards things started to appear.


I love to go out there and dig in the dirt, and see what's blooming and growing each day. It's therapeutic. The best part, however, is being able to run out there when I am making dinner, and pick some fresh herbs, or veggies to add to our meal. One thing was still missing though, and I think I've solved that now. With a little STAMPING, of course!


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Yes, we made garden signs! They are so cute! My husband started with cutting up some 1/4" plywood for the words (approx 3" X 5"), and made maple posts (2' long) to put them on.


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I stamped all the names with the Schoolbook Serif Alphabet set with black Craft ink. In order to get them nice and straight, I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, a fabulous tool for this project! Then I also added some various leaves and flower stamps on most of them, and colored a little bit along the shade lines with markers.


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After that, I set them out on some newspaper and sprayed them with about 4 coats of outdoor varathane.


Here they are all assembled....


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I encourage you to try stamping some signs for your herb or veggie garden too! You will love them, and be able to re-use them for years! You could also do this for flowers, roses, and they'd made wonderful gifts!


Have a sunny day!


Jo-Ann


stampinwithjoann@shaw.ca



Friday, July 17, 2009

Polka-Dot Ribbon Swap!

I am now offering a Ribbon Swap for the beautiful new Polka-Dotted Ribbons! These are in the new In-Colors for 2009-2010: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Dusty Durango and Crushed Curry. Signup by June 23rd to participate!


I will split up the ribbon colors evenly among the participants, so you will get up to 6 colors of Polka Dotted ribbon, approx one spool's worth, for the cost of one spool! I LOVE Polka-Dots! And this is a great way to get a good variety of colors!


 Bermuda Bay ribbon Bermuda Bay


Melon Mambo Ribbon Melon Mambo


Crushed Curry Ribbon Crushed Curry


Rich Razzleberry ribbon Rich Razzleberry


Dusty Durango Ribbon Dusty Durango


Soft Suede Ribbon Soft Suede




Maximum 6 people per group. Group one is full, group two currently has 4 spots left, and I will add more groups as needed.


Simply email me to signup for the swap, choosing one of the above colors. If you need it shipped, add an extra $3.00, and send me your mailing address. Payment is by cash, cheque, Visa or Mastercard and must be received before June 23rd.


Email me at stampinwithjoann@shaw.ca to get in on this!



Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Catalogue Tabs

Have your new Idea Book & Catalogue yet? You have to see it! It's fabulous! And, to make life easier, I like to add divider tabs to the pages for quick reference.


Here are the 2009-2010 catalogue tabs that I did with my Stamp Clubbers recently. I made up an Excel file of double-sided tabs that you print out, and punch out with the Round Tab Punch. And we sure got punching!


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We used the In Colors for the top tabs (Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, and Melon Mambo). For the side ones, we used Certainly Celery.


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If you would like your own copy of the brand new 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalogue, or a copy of my Excel Spreadsheet to make your own tabs at home, email me at stampinwithjoann@shaw.ca


Happy Stamping!


Jo-Ann



Monday, July 13, 2009

Gift Jam

Hello Stampers! Here's a little idea to make for gifts during our fabulous summer season. You could do this with pretty much any fruits or veggies that you are harvesting!


The kids and I made some Strawberry Freezer Jam, and packaged it up for gifts for their teachers a few weeks ago.


 Here are my little helpers...


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Then, we put the jam in cute little jars, and stamped some white fabric with the strawberry stamp from Tart & Tangy.


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We also made some matching tags, and the kids wrote little thankyou notes to their teachers on the back of them.


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We used Real Red, Tempting Turquoise and Gable Green for the colors.


Hope you like them!


Jo-Ann