Teacher Appreciation Week

Hello! Were you beginning to wonder if I would ever post again? April was an exceptionally busy and crazy month at our house and blogging, stamping, and a whole lot of other things had to get pushed to the back burner. I don't like it, but it's life. We are all back to normal now, so I hope to be posting a little more often.

Did you know that it is Teacher Appreciation Week? I am a former teacher and I just don't think it is possible to thank teachers enough for all that they do for our kids. I made a couple of little handmade gifts to kick off the week and thought I would share them with you. The picture above is a set of ten thank you cards that I made for my son's Kindergarten teacher and aid. I used five different color combinations (two cards of each combo) and the one shown is one of my all time favorites- Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, and Pear Pizzazz. If you look back through my blog posts, you will find this combo used more than once! I used the marker to stamp technique to get the different colors on the stamped image. Don't you just love Stampin' Up's markers? They are so versatile!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: So Many Thanks
Ink: Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz markers
Paper: Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Accessories: Cello Bags, Big Shot, Top Note die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, 1 3/4" circle punch, 2 3/8" scalloped circle punch, 2 1/2" circle punch
Techniques: Marker to Stamp



This is the gift that I made for my son's specialist teachers. I know that they sometimes get forgotten so I always try to do a little something for them as well. I made this bag topper using the Petal Cone die in my Big Shot. The white circle layer was punched using the 2 1/2" circle punch. The sentiment is from "Thank You Kindly" set. I filled the bag with M&M's and put a little poem that I found on splitcoast on a slip of paper inside the bag. Here is the poem:

Green is for the inspiration you give each day.
Blue is for your patience in showing the way.
Orange is for your warmth and caring style.
Yellow is for the way you always smile.
Red is for the lives you have touched this year.
You're a very special teacher, that is clear.
You place knowledge into our children's hands
And melt into their heas and lives forever.


Supplies Used:
Stamp: Thank You Kindly
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Cello Bags, Big Shot, Petal Cone die, 2 1/2" circle punch


Have a great evening! I'm so glad that spring weather has finally arrived! Hope you're enjoying it too!

~Marla Pin It

Because I Care Thank You Card

Hello! I hope that you are all staying warm and enjoying the winter weather! It is VERY cold here, but we haven't had much snow, so we aren't snowed in (which I am very happy about)!

I made this card this afternoon for a friend who requested a collection of thank you cards. I absolutely love this stamp set. It is called, "Because I Care" and it is a level one hostess set. It is my favorite of all our great level one hostess sets because it is so pretty and versatile. This image is great for lots of different types of cards.

I decided to try something a little different for this card. I have seen several cards online where people made a background by inking up the clear blocks that are used with our clear mount stamps and stamping with the block itself. I had never tried this technique... until today! I made the rectangle in the background by inking up Clear Block E with Crumb Cake ink and stamping it onto my Very Vanilla cardstock. I think it gives a very nice effect. What do you think?

To stamp the hydrangea image, I colored directly on the stamp with my markers- Cherry Cobbler for the flower and Pear Pizzazz for the stem and leaves. I stamped the flower again and popped it up with dimensionals. I finished the card by adding a knotted piece of Early Espresso satin ribbon and the "thank you" sentiment from the set "Thank You Kindly". I was really pleased with the way this card turned out, and I hope that you like it too!

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to have more cards to post soon!

~Marla

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Because I Care (hostess), Thank You Kindly

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (pad and marker), Pear Pizzazz marker, Crumb Cake pad

Paper: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Clear Block E, Early Espresso satin ribbon, dimensionals

Technique: Stamping with Clear Blocks

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In Color Thank You Notes

Hello! I hope that you are experiencing the cooler Fall temperatures where ever you are! It has been so nice here the past few days. Fall seems to have finally arrived! After a long summer of many days of 100+ temperatures, the change is definitely welcome!

I made these cards to send to my customers who attended my recent birthday card SAS. It was a fun event with a great group of ladies. I really enjoyed it even though I was coming down with a little cold that day. If you were able to join me for this event, watch your mailbox for one of these cards! They should be arriving in the next day or two.

These were very quick and simple cards to make. They are made using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder in the Big Shot. I brayered over the ebmossed images with three of our new in colors- Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, and Concord Crush. You can brayer the ink onto either side of the embossed image, depending on which look you prefer. The two different ways are displayed in the first picture. I punched out the scalloped oval to make a little window for the sentiment. Easy, peasy- you've got to love that!

I hope you have a wonderful day and week! Thank you for stopping by!

~Marla

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Thank You Kindly

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade

Ink: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Scalloped Oval Punch, Large Oval punch

Techniques: Dry Embossing, Brayering

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FINALLY!!!!

I finally got a chance to sit down tonight and stamp. Each day this week, I hoped to get the chance and it just didn't happen. Now that we have a week of school behind us and are settling into our new routine, I am hoping to get more opportunities to stamp.

This is an official Marla Reed original! I didn't CASE this one- can you believe it? My sweet boy started Kindergarten last Monday and I intended to make a card to send for his teacher and her aide on the first day, but it just didn't happen. I am going to send these in on Monday to thank them both for helping him have a great first week of school. I used the set from the Summer Mini catalog called, "First Day". I think it is such a cute set and I bought it mostly for scrapbooking, but it makes great teacher cards, too. If you are interested in ordering this set or any of the others from the Summer mini, please contact me as soon as possible because Tuesday, August 31st is the last day that we can order from the mini catalog. The Holiday mini starts the following day, September 1st. If you would like a copy of it, please leave me a message, give me a call, or email me and I will arrange to get a copy to you.

I hope that you enjoyed the card! I hope to have lots more for you in the near future. Take care until then!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Thank You Kindly, First Day
Papers: Real Red CS, Old Olive CS, Whisper White CS
Ink: Staz On, Real Red marker, Old Olive marker, Blush Blossom marker, Early Espresso marker
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1 3/8" circle punch, Scalloped Circle punch Pin It

New Colors!

Hello again! It is day four of VBS week and I am having a great time, but I'm so exhausted! I sat down this afternoon and made these two cards for our VBS coordinators. I hope they will like them and I hope you do, too!

These cards are direct CASE's of some cards that I saw on splitcoast. They were made by flowerbugnd1 and cjoman, but I don't know who had the original idea. These look like they would be difficult (or at least they did to me), but they were actually quite simple and quick to put together. The flower petals are made with the 3/4" circle and large oval punches. I punched the circle first and then punched the oval so that the circle was off centered. I made six petals and then layered them to make my flower. The yellow circle in the center was punched with the 3/4" circle punch as well.

These are three of our new core colors- Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, and Daffodil Delight. They can be ordered starting tomorrow when our new catalog year begins. I'm really excited about all the color changes that have taken place. The new color collections are all so pretty and work so nicely together. Can't wait to get all the colors!

If you are coming to my new catalog party on July 10th, you will be getting these cards as a little gift from me to thank you for coming and I will even show you exactly how they are made!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Thank You Kindly
Paper: Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 3/4" punch, Large Oval Punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, 2-way glue pen Pin It

Thank You!

Hello! Thank you for stopping by my brand new blog! For my first posting, I decided to show you the thank you card that I made for the teachers at my son's preschool. It was my very first attempt at making an "ornament punch rose" and I think it turned out nicely. The base of this card is a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock cut at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and folded in half to create a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card (this is a standard sized card and the one that I make most often). I layered a 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" piece of Old Olive cardstock over the card base. The top layer is a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of designer series paper (DSP) from the Sweet Pea paper stack, which is sadly no longer available for order. The sentiment is from a set called "Thank You Kindly" and it is stamped using Old Olive classic ink onto Whisper White cardstock. The sentiment is punched out with the Scallop Oval Punch and layered over a piece of Rose Red cardstock punched out with the Wide Oval Punch. The petals for the rose were punched out of Pretty in Pink cardstock with the Ornament Punch and then I sponged Regal Rose ink onto the edges of the petals to give them some depth. The leaves were cut freehand from Old Olive cardstock. If you go to splitcoaststampers.com and search the gallery for "ornament punch rose", you will find a great tutorial for making the rose. I tried to post a link, but I couldn't get it to work.

Thanks again for stopping by! I am very new to blogging and somewhat technologically challenged (just ask my husband!), so bear with me as I attempt to figure this out!

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