Another gloomy day in Middle Tennessee. :D

But that doesn't mean you can't have FUN stampin'! It's PERFECT weather for stamping, and getting ahead on your gifting!

Speaking of gifting: A LOT of you have asked about getting a tutorial for these boxes. My answer is: As a policy, NO PAID CLASS that is offered in my home CAN or WILL be a free tutorial; it's just not fair to the people who come to take the class. HOWEVER, if there is enough interest when I show what we've done online, I will offer a tutorial you can download, AND/OR a class kit you can purchase. If you need more justification, email me! :D

I will do my best to get both of these together to be able to offer you next week. :) I know you understand - if you put yourself in my atendees' shoes, WHY would you ever take another class, if I'm gonna show or tell other people how to do it for free online? And most of you know that I'm really paying my bills right now; how would I be able to do that if no one came to my classes? :D I think this will be a win-win situation for all of us! So keep your eyes out for that.

NOW. On to today's "showcase". :D This little bat has been flying around the net for a few weeks; DEMOS, if one of you feels you're the originator of this idea, let me know and I'll post the credit to you! I did tweak him a bit, to make him friendly and fun. :D

Isn't he just TOO CUTE?!?!?! I love Smarties - they're a fun candy to use in business. :D And they're just GOOD. LOL!

The bat is the largest butterfly on the Stampin' Up! exclusive Beautiful Butterflies die, the one that faces the edge with no body cut. We folded a 4-1/4"x5-1/2" piece of Basic Black card stock in half (the HAMBURGER way! :D) and placed the folded edge on the edge of the die where the body would be. Run the die through your Big Shot, and then cut STRAIGHT across from the fold to the wings. Voila! A black butterfly with a tab-like body. :D

Keep him folded in half, and cut two parallel slits in that tab, from the fold to where the wings would be.

Using your 1" circle punch, take "bites" out of the STILL-FOLDED wings. Keep going until you get the shape you want to your bat! (If you're "scared" to do it with your nice bat, use scrap paper to practice!:D)

Now UNFOLD. :D OOH and AHHH over your cute bat body!

To insert the Smarties, fold the inner part between the two parallel cuts OUT, and the two skinnier parts IN. If your Smarties won't fit, snip JUST a little further into the bat. It won't hurt him! :D Don't make a BIG cut, or the Smarties won't stay by themselves!

His face is a 1" circle punched out of Basic Black. We just free-handed his eyes and mouth with fangs with a white gel pen - and went back with a Basic Black marker to put centers into his eyes.

Isn't he ADORABLE??? :D I'm telling you, once you get the hang of him, you could whip out as many as you needed for your kid's class, EASY. Decorate the edges with something flow-y and spooky. Run the card stock through your Big Shot with one of the Texturz folders - there's SO MUCH you could do to fancy him up! Use him for a party decoration! Make the tab body smaller - move your fold in toward the middle of the die some - and don't put ANYTHING in him, just make BATS! :D It's SO fun to do!!!!

OK, I'm off to finish up tomorrow night's showcase of MY DIGITAL STUDIO! (You'll get to see it next week; I'll put it up here for you to look at.) I'm having a BLAST learning about this program - I'm getting training to become certified with it, so you'll have every confidence I can show you how to use it and LEARN it - it's not just digital scrapbooking, ladies. It's PAPER-CRAFTING software, and INCREDIBLY versatile! :D

Gotta jet. Have a WONDERFUL day - and take the time to STAMP something, will ya?!??! :D