Thoughtful Branches Christmas

Here's one of the three cards we made tonight using the Thoughtful Branches set. It is available in August, while supplies last.

Dino Shaker Card

I wanted to find something new for my stamping friends so I scoured the Internet to find this fantastic idea from Kirsteen Gill.  Use the tree punch to make dinosaur bones!! What?!?  It wasn't the easiest if you were doing a whole lot, but wow does it make a cute card!

Silica Gel Bead Shaker Cards

One of my favorite ideas from my demo last week was to dye silica gel bead with reinker.  I'm talking about those little packets that come in shoe boxes, purses etc., that if you're like me, you usually pitch.  I put out the call on Facebook, and my friends were great at rounding them up for me.  Who knew?  There a big packets in electronics.  That will make a lot of shaker cards!

I found this idea on Pinterest from Carrie Rhodes.  It's so simple but does require a little planning ahead.  I liked to dye my beads and let them dry overnight.  

Open several packets into a container.  I used empty embellishment boxes.  I may not save my silica packets, but I have saved a ton of those because I knew they'd come in handy some day!  Squirt 3 or 4 drops of reinker into the container, put the lid on and shake. Open up and give then just one spritz of water and then spread them on a paper towel to dry.  Voila! Shaker beads of any color.  

I figured I'd would send some people home with a sample so I made this Sweet card for my swap.  

For this submarine card, I mixed a few colors of beads for a slightly different effect.

The fun thing about these beads is that they take up dye differently.  So you'll have a different look and size even with the same color.  I'm looking forward to doing more of these!

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Candy and Glitter Shaker Cards Too

This snowman is sparkling in a pile of Stampin' Up glitter.

I walked the bulk candy aisle to find the smallest candy I could.  I layered two pieces of the foam strips to make this window high enough to accommodate these Sixlets.

A Whole Lot of Shaking Going On

Paper works great as a shaker too!  I snipped coordinating pieces of card stock with my fringe scissors for these easy little shakers.

The confetti punch has me really planning ahead for graduation!

I mixed a few paper hearts with sequins for this little one.