Well, here i go again. I decided to take Jen's lead and flip the sketch to make a horizontal card. I used the swirl stamp from the Fresh Flowers set to create a background to mirror the pattern on the gift stamp from Tag Time. I also wanted to add a little sparkle to the card so I embossed the background with iridescent ice. I also embossed the happy birthday sentiment from the Warmest Regards hostess set in detail white. I then used stampin' write markers in tempting turquoise, orchid opulence and gable green to stamp the gift image three times, each time with a different color combination. I also added Sahara sand as the base of a card an one of the mats on the main image. So now we have 4 cards with the same stamp set used for the main image, same basic layout and the same color combination, but a totally different look.
And just a reminder, all of the stamp sets featured on this card will retire June 30. Go to my website for details on how to contact me to place an order.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Another one for the challenge
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Woo hoo -- Jen decided to accept the challenge!
First Two Challenge Cards
It's still Sunday and we already have one player. Rita beat me too it and already uploaded her card. And what a card -- she really went all out with an embossed background and fringed ribbon. Her card is totally awesome! Check out her card on her blog and show her some love by leaving a comment! Here is the link: http://ritasstampart.blogspot.com/2007/05/dianes-sunday-challenge.html
Thanks for playing Rita! I know this is a challenging color combo, but I think once you put it together it works. And you did a great job with it!
As I mentioned, I still needed another Mother's Day card today, so I used the challenge to make one and here it is. I already gave it away to my sister-in-law's mom, but first I managed to snap a photo for the blog. I used stampin' pastels to create a multicolored background on the whisper white card stock. I then stamped the flowers from the petite patterns set in versamark on the tempting turquoise pieces. I colored the flowers with my Stampin' Write markers and threaded the ribbons through a hole made with the horizontal slot punch. I punched two overlapping holes to make the slot a little longer to fit all the ribbons. I also used just a little orchid opulence stampin, pastels to edge the main image card stock. I'm happy with the results -- what do you think?
Second Sunday Morning Challenge
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Pop-Corn Slider Gift Card holder Tutorial
As I promised last night, here is the tutorial for the pop-corn slider gift card holder that The Friends of the Itasca Community Library are going to present to the Itasca Community Library staff at the annual staff appreciation breakfast this Wednesday. Our Library staff is really great and we love to throw this breakfast for them every year. We bring in all kinds of yummy goodies, including a fresh waffle station, and we give every staff member a little token of our appreciation for all that they do for us throughout the year.
This year the theme will be "movies" and the colors are black and red, so our gift will be a bag of microwave pop-corn and a Blockbuster gift card packaged in a cute little holder. These holders are really neat and a great gift for anyone, anytime. This time of year everyone is working on teacher appreciation gifts, and this type of thing would be perfect! And what a nice gift this would make for your mailman or UPS person at Christmas? Or how about a great "back-up" gift to have at work for that inevitable co-worker who got you something even though they weren't supposed to? The possibilities are endless!
Becasue of the length of this tutorial, I used small photos, but you can click on any photo to see a larger detail.
FOR THIS PROJECT YOU WILL NEED:
Paper cutter
paper scorer
Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White and Summer Sun Card Stock
Basic Black and Summer Sun Classic Ink
Star Background Stamp from Background Basics
Thank You Stamp from Much Appreciated
Rough Edges Alphabet
Double Rectangle Punch
Slit Punch
Star punch (non Stampin' Up!(r) -- sorry SU doesn't carry a star punch this year)
Stampin' Pastels(TM)
Sponge Dauber
Use your paper cutter to trim an 8.5x11 piece of Real Red card stock to 6x9.25"
Wrap the Real Red card stock around a bag of microwave pop-corn and adhere along the back seam. The pop-corn bag should be snug, but you should be able to slide it in and out of the sleeve.
Use your paper trimmer to cut 2 pieces of basic black card stock. One will measure 3.75x11 inches. The other will measure 5.5x1 inch.
Slide the 5.5x1 inch piece of basic black card stock into the double rectangle punch and punch so that one of the long edges is touching the back edge of the punch. Punch two holes.
Slide the card stock over so that you can see one of the holes in the card stock in the right punch rectangle. Punch again. Continue sliding and punching in this manner until just before you reach the other edge of the strip.
Your strip should look like the strip in this picture. This will be your template for the faux film strip technique.
Use your paper scorer to score the 3.75x11 inch piece of basic black card stock at 1.75 inch and 5.5 inch marks. Fold the piece in half lengthwise along the 5.5 inch score line and fold the card stock in the other direction along the 1.75 inch score line to create a flap outside of the pocket. Run a thin strip of adhesive along the two outer edges of the card stock between the 1.75 inch and 5.5 inch score lines and adhere the card stock to form a pocket with an outside flap.
Place the black template strip along the outer edge of the pocket as shown, lining up both outer edges.
Now you're ready for the faux film strip technique, invented last night by Liz Ecsy. Originally, my plan was to use the double rectangle punch to punch holes all along the edges of both sides of this gift card holder, but I quickly realized that doing so for 25 holders would take forever. What to do? That's when Liz said "it's too bad that you can't do faux sprocket holes, like with chalk or something" and a new technique was born. Yay Liz -- she saved the day!
I know it's hard to see in this photo, but to do the faux film strip technique all you need to do is pick up white chalk (Stampin' Pastel) onto a sponge dauber and run the dauber along the template strip. The chalk will adhere to the card stock underneath. Super quick and easy! Then just repeat on the other side of the pocket holder.
Next punch 2 stars out of a strip of Summer Sun card stock.
Next use a dimensional to attach the flap to the outside of the pocket holder.
Adhere the two stars to the outside of the pocket holder and attach the pocket holder to the pop-corn sleeve by centering the pocket holder on the front of the sleeve.
Use your paper trimmer to trim a piece of whisper white card stock to 5.5x2.375 inches. Use the slit punch to cut two slits at the bottom of the card stock.
The card stock with two slits should look like this. Now you can decorate using the star background stamp and the summer sun classic ink.
Now use the paper trimmer to trim off the bottom 1/2 inch of card stock, so that the card stock measures 5x2.375 inches.
Stamp the "You're a Star" sentiment above the gift card. To make this step easier you may choose to rubber band several letters together and stamp them all at once.
Repeat 24 more times and you'll have all the gifts ready for the library staff! Aren't they cute?
That's it. Hope you enjoyed this rather long tutorial! Have fun making your own pop-corn sleeve gift card pocket holders and using the faux film strip technique!
StampWith Diane Blog GiftRAK
WOW -- I looked at the sidebar today and guess what? The blog reached 143 on the Stamping Top 50 chart. I can't believe it! LOL -- All I ever wanted was not to fall out of the top 200! But thanks to you the blog has continued to climb, which hopefully means that you find something interesting here to come back for every once in a while or maybe even every day?
Most bloggers tend to offer blog candy when they hit certain milestones, and I guess I also did that with my last referral and subscription contest. But here's the thing -- as much as I want to attract new readers to the blog in the hopes that they will like what they see here, I really believe that loyal readership should be rewarded over a random blog candy pit stop. So I want to let you know that I will be trying something a little different, and I hope you'll agree that this will be unusual but fun. On this blog we will have a GiftRAK.
For those who are not familiar with the term, RAK means a Random Act of Kindness. So on occasion I will simply select someone to receive a gift. There will be no advance announcement of the gift -- hence the randomness. You won't know what you're "playing" for or that there is even a game. Every once in a while I will simply pop-up here and let everyone know the prize and the winner. Weird, but kind of cool, right?
Of course, the winner will always be able to decline the gift, in which case I'll merely select another winner and so on down the line until I find someone who will enjoy the prize.
If I'm doing this randomly, who will be in the pool of players, you ask? Well, I want the GiftRAK to reward my loyal readers, and there really are only three way for me to know you are reading my blog: 1) you subscribe to e-mail updates by name (not anonymously, since I can't tell one anonymous subscriber from the next); 2) you leave me a comment on the blog with your name (again, if it's an anonymous comment I have no way of knowing who you are); and 3) you e-mail me a comment on a blog article to stampwithdiante@comcast.net. The subscription thing is easiest, but I know that some people prefer to use google reader or other similar service to check in on various blogs, so they have a chance to participate by leaving a comment on the blog or via e-mail.
On the day I decide to do a GiftRAK, I will randomly select a recipient from the list of subscribers and anyone who's left me a comment in the 30 days prior to the day of the GiftRAK. So if you're not a subscriber and you want to make sure you don't miss out on a possibility of receiving a GiftRAK, just leave me a comment every once in a while, and no less than once every 30 days.
Clear as mud? I hope so. Of course, I'm telling you this now because the time is ripe for someone to receive a GiftRAK but I don't want non-subscribing readers to be left out just because they didn't know the rules of my bizarre non-game. So now you know. The GiftRAK is open for business. Random gift announcements can appear at any time starting next weekend (thought I'd give the non-subscribers a week to find something to comment on if they so desire)! Keep in mind, that's not to say that there will be an announcement next weekend -- it's all random, baby! Good luck and thanks again for being such wonderful blog readers and putting up with all my crazy antics!
Senior Prom -- My Finest Hour
So I retrieved my New Wave 80's CD we were all nearly instantly overcome by a (new) wave of nostalgia. The thing we most remembered was the big hair and the goofy clothes. So of course I had to retrieve my prom photos to show everyone the big hair and the even bigger dress! LOL - so pink and so frilly! And, of course, complete with the fingerless white lace gloves! Yup, I sure thought I was all that and a bag of chips!
But the lovely, pink, a la Scarlett O'Hara crossed with Madonna look did not actually result in my favorite photo of me. Nope, my favorite photo of me ever was taken the next day at our post-prom excursion to the Indiana Dunes. How's this for a little glam swimsuit shot? J.C. Penney catalog - here I come! This is so funny
I know that this is a stamping blog, but my friend Liz sent me this e-mail and it's so funny I literally laughed out loud and kept laughing all the way to the end. I know this is probably making the rounds in the Internet and you all have probably seen it already but I don't care -- it's too funny not to share!
Pet Diary Excerpts
The Dog
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!
The Cat
Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.
The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.
The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...
Chalk full o'Nuts
Bedlam ran just a little long tonight -- what can I say, once we stampers start chatting, it's hard to stop -- so I missed the Feedblitz sweep and you probably won;t read this entry until Sunday. Sorry! It was a great night, though, so missing the deadline was totally worth it. 
Then we got down to business. Lisa and Renee had to work on invitations. Karen was stamping some images with various sets for future cards (a great way to make the best use of Bedlam, I must say!), Liz was busy making tabs for her card stock folders and Kathy and I were working on the Itasca library staff appreciation gifts. Thursday, May 10, 2007
Purple Reign
As most of my regular readers know by now, I like to post something new every night. Some nights, however, I face a serious dilemma. Like tonight, for example. I spent most of the night cleaning and setting up the stamp room for Bedlam tomorrow. (I still have room so if you'd like to attend click here for details). This left me with virtually no time to stamp. But I also did not have any "spare" projects to feature tonight, so if I didn't stamp anything, I would have nothing to show you.
I decided that the best solution wold be to stamp a very quick card. I used my new Simply Said stamp set that I earned recently for free through a Stampin' Up! demonstrator program called consistency counts. I've had my eye on this set for a while, so I was thrilled to select it as a free set!
I challenged myself to make a card out of the box of scraps given to me by my up-up-upline, Glenda Travelstead. Glenda has no patience for scraps but she knows that I adore them so every once in a while after she cleans out her stamp room I inherit the scraps. She gave me the first box when I signed up to be a demo and it has sort of turned into a tradition. Funny story about that first box -- I received it on a Friday night and spent a good part of my Saturday sorting it all into the right color folders. All the papers were piled into 50+ different heaps in the living room and the TV was on in the background. My husband came in and couldn't believe what I was watching -- apparently some sort of a wild west-cowboy marathon on the history channel. I was so engrossed in my scraps that I turned on the TV, but tuned it out immediately to the point that I didn't even know what was on! Now that's scraps dedication!
Tonight I reached into the box of scraps and first pulled out a 1/2 sheet of lovely lilac. I then kept digging to see what else I could find that would sort of all go together. I came up with this combination of various shades of purple -- lovely lilac, lavender lace, vintage violet and orchid opulence. I added the vintage violet stitched grosgrain ribbon and the wrought iron corner punch for interest.
So what's the dilemma? Well, I'm not sure that I love this card. But it's the only thing I have to show you. To post, or not to post -- that is the question, which by now has been answered. I decided to post even thought I do not particularly like the card. I apologize if you think this was a wrong decision and a waste of your time. My thought was that different people appreciate different things, and someone out there may just appreciate this card. Tomorrow evening I will be working on a special project for the Friends of the Itasca Community Library, and I hope that will be much more interesting! Have a great Friday!
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Flip Flip Hurray!
Yes, you guessed it! It's another flip book. This time made with the Just Delightful Simply Scrappin kit, which I earned during this year's Sell-A-Bration. It was just sitting in my drawer waiting to be used on a project as special as this one. Making these flip books with simply scrappin' kits is a total breeze, and in June you can learn how by taking the Flip, Flip Hurray class (date to be determined).
But wait, there's more! I'm having so much fun making these books that I decided to give them away during my retirement hostess pajamarama. This event will be an invitation-only hostess appreciation event for customers who hosted an in-home party or a hostess level catalog workshop since July 2007.
Every hostess will get a flip book plus we'll make a 3-D explosion box card and a couple of greeting cards using both retired sets and sets from the upcoming catalog. Of course we'll also have munchies and maybe watch a chick flick (I'm thinking Music and Lyrics or The Holiday maybe?). Hostesses who choose to take advantage of the catalog purchase special will be able to pick up their new catalogs and everyone in attendance will get to will be among the first customers to see what new fun things Stampin' Up! has in store for us in the Fall-Winter 2007 Collection. If you've hosted a party or a catalog workshop watch your e-mail for details. And if you haven't, it's not too late! Click here or e-mail me at stampwithdiane@comcast.net for more information.
And now, without further ado, here is my latest flip book. Click on any of the pictures to see more detail.
WOO HOO -- Going to Convention!
I am so excited -- I was fortunate enough to register early this morning and on July 25th I'm heading out to Denver, CO for the annual Stampin' Up! convention! Although I became a demonstrator in June of last year I was not able to attend last year's convention because of my work vacation schedule. So instead I stayed glued to my e-mail and splitcoast waiting for scraps of information to trickle in from the demonstrators who were attending. Not so this year! I will be there, soaking up the excitement, taking bazillions of photos of displays, other demos and various SU personalities (note to self -- purchase large memory card for the camera), swapping cards, using brand new stamp sets, enjoying the SU PJ stamping party, picking up lots of stamping tips and generally having a great time with my stamping friends.
My buddy and convention roomie Sara is flying out with me at 6:00 a.m. (Yikes -- get the caffeine drip ready!) and her mom has graciously offered to get up at the crack of dawn to drive us to the airport! But no matter, I'm sure we'll be too excited to sleep the night before anyway (you know, like the kids in the Disney commercial?). And our flight gets us to Denver early so we'll have plenty of time to look at displays, swap and go shopping at the Stampin' Up! memento mall!
In Denver we'll meet up with Jen and her sister Carrie, our sideline, whom we'll get to meet for the first time! And, of course, there will be tons of other SISers there too! IF you're going to Session I of Convention I'm sure you will know us when you see us, because when we're together we are a stitch!
I will do my best to put up a post with pictures later tonight, but today is Bill's (my DH's ) birthday, so I may not have time. But I did want to share this news with you because it's just too cool! Woo Hoo! If you're reading this and you're going to session I too leave me a comment and maybe we can figure out a way to say hi in person in the Mile High City!
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
My second challenge card
Well, you knew I wouldn't be able to stay away from this challenge after making just one card, right? Ever since I stamped my first card on Sunday this other card has been walking around my brain. The more I tried to ignore it the more I thought about it so tonight, after my pastels students left for the night, I grabbed my in full bloom set and started stamping.
the first thing I wanted to try was the scrap mosaic technique that my friend Liz used on a swap card she gave me recently. This technique is perfect for someone who loves scraps as much as I do! It feel so good to make use of those tiny little bits of card stock left over from other projects!
Anyway, I arranged my certainly celery and apricot appeal scraps haphazardly on a strip of whisper white card stock, stamped flowers across the whole strip with versamark and embossed it with iridescent ice. I then stamped the bees on the apricot appeal base in versamark and embossed them in detail white.
For the main image I stamped the leaves (Is that what those things are? I'm not enough of a botanist to be able to tell) with certainly celery on a piece of whisper white card stock in a pinwheel motion. I used a cotton tipped swab to apply certainly celery pastels to the leaves and apricot appeal pastels between the leaves ( it was right after class and the pastels were out anyway, so I just had to use them on this card). I stamped the flower on apricot appeal card stock with versamark and embossed it with detail white. I then used the versamarker to color in the flower and embossed the petals with iridescent ice. I cut out the flower, punched an 1/8" circle in the center and threaded a celery grosgrain ribbon knot through the flower center, leaving the tails of the ribbon to stick out like leaves. I then distressed the edges of the certainly celery mat with my thumbnail and attached the image to the card using dimensionals.
The "thank you" sentiment is from the little hellos set. I stamped it in certainly celery and punched it out with the small oval, inking the edges with apricot appeal ink. I punched a certainly celery mat with the large oval punch and attached the whole thing to the card front using another dimensional.
I don't think this card is as nice as my first card, but it certainly is different, so I'm still happy with it.
Another challenge participant!
Woo Hoo. Another brave stamper jumped into the challenge fray! This card was sent to me by Rita. Rita says "I love In Full Bloom, but wasn't too sure about the colors until I saw them together. My card is very simple but I like the way it turned out. I put Stickles in the center of the flower to add a little glitter."
Note: for those of you who are Stampin' Up! aficionados and do not use stickles, you get the same effect by using a 2 way glue pen and some dazzling diamonds stampin' glitter.
I like the way your card turned out too, Rita! Sometimes simple is exactly what it's all about. So come on everyone, show Rita some love and leave her a comment on her card here, and also check out her blog: http://ritasstampart.blogspot.com/http://ritasstampart.blogspot.com/
And be sure to leave a comment on Marie's blog on her challenge card!
We have three cards so far, and my theory is holding. But in my original post I did say we needed 5 stampers so come on, I know there must be at least 2 more of your out there ready to take on this challenge. Step right up, don't be shy!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Birthday Best
Just a very quick post today because I have to get ready for the fourth and final session of my stampin' pastels techniques class tomorrow. Nights like this I wish I had a magic wand or some elves who would clean up the stamp room for me, KWIM? But of course I had to show you a new project, so here is a birthday card I stamped for my boss this weekend.
This color combination -- always artichoke, bravo burgundy, so saffron and very vanilla -- seemed very masculine to me, so I went with it and stamped a pretty simple card using the birthday best set. This is yet another great set that will be retiring in June, so I'm glad I'm getting a chance to use it before it's gone.
Just in case you were wondering, I don't always leave the inside of my cards blank. When I'm making a card for a specific person or purpose, I usually try to decorate the inside of the card as well. Here I stamped the sentiment from the Birthday best set in bravo burgundy and then I stamped the balloons first on the very vanilla insert and then on three different pieces of card stock in the three colors. I trimmed out the color balloons and attached the m to the very vanilla insert for a bit of a 3-D effect. See what I mean about this set being really great? It really does make the perfect Birthday card.
WooHoo -- We have our first challenge contributor!
For those of you who don't go back to look at the comments, we have our first participant in the Sunday Morning Challenge. Marie decided to make a card even though she dislikes both the In Full Bloom stamp set (shocking!) and apricot appeal (even more shocking!). Now that's what i would call a real challenge, and she rose to it beautifully! You just have to see her awesome card! Here is the link: http://marielovestostamp.blogspot.com/2007/05/stamp-with-diane-sunday-morning.html
Same stamp set, same colors, same layout, and yet our cards are so different from one another! Marie did a great job on hers -- and now it's your turn! So come on, play along with us -- it's fun!
Sunday, May 6, 2007
My challenge card
As promised, I'm uploading my card entry for my Sunday Morning challenge. It's funny, but this really was a challenge for me.
You would think that since I picked the sketch, colors and the set to use for the challenge, designing the card would be easy, but it really was not. It still took me a while to decide which colors would be used where, which background stamps to use and which sentiment.
I finally decided that I wanted to use all sets that were going to retire in June. So I stamped the cheesecloth background in apricot appeal ink onto the apricot appeal base. I then stamped a background from petite patterns in certainly celery onto the certainly celery strip. I added a basic black mat to give the main image a little definition and stamped the flower in basic black ink. the image was colored with apricot appeal and certainly celery stampin' write markers. I then used the direct to paper technique to color the edge of the whisper white card stock in certainly celery. I then added a black gingham ribbon knot, attached with a glue dot.
The sentiment is "enjoy happiness" from Expressive Flexible Phrases. I stamped it in certainly celery on whisper white card stock and punched it out with the word window punch. I created the apricot appeal and basic black mats out of strips of card stock and the 1/2" and 3/4" circle punches. I then added two black eyelets for some extra interest and popped up both the sentiment and the main image on dimensionals.
I do like the final product, but now I'm dying to see what you all come up with. It seems that Steph and Tracy do not own this set, so the rest of you will have to fill in. Just leave a comment with a link to your card or e-mail it to me so I can upload it here. Also, feel free to leave a suggestion for a set to use next week, and maybe we'll play again!
A little Sunday Morning Challenge -- who wants to play?
I woke up this morning thinking about my Friday post and how I said if you gave 5 stampers the same colors, layout and stamp set to work with you'd have 5 very different cards. Well, I decided to actually test this theory, so I'm issuing a challenge to my readers.
Here are the challenge particulars:
Main Image Stamp Set: In Full Bloom
Colors: Certainly celery, apricot appeal, whisper white (and you may, but don't have to use basic black ink and card stock for accents)
Layout -- as you see in the photo, thought you can play with the dimensions to make them fit your card just as long as the basic layout is the same.
Permitted: Any background stamps, sentiment stamps, accessories, embellishments, techniques, etc. Be creative!
I picked the In Full Bloom set because I love it want to stamp with it myself before it retires and also because it's a pretty popular set so I hope at least 5 of my readers will have it and be able to play.
This challenge is open to everyone. It will run for 1 week, though I plan to make my card today and if you do as well let us know so others can be inspired. If you make a card and upload it to your splitcoast gallery or to your blog or web site, leave a comment here with a link. Or, if you prefer, e-mail me a photo/scan of your card to stampwithdiane@comcast.com with permission to upload it here and I will be happy to post it for all other readers to see.
Now I hate to single anyone out, but I know some of my friends visit fairly frequently, so Grace, Karen, Jen, Jo, Liz, Nadine, Nancy, Sara, Steph, Tracy and everyone else who leaves me comments, I hope you have this stamp set and colors and can participate. I'd love to see what you all come up with and if my theory bears out.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Seaside Memories Flipbook
This is the flip book I completed last night using the Seaside Sketches Simply Scrappin' kit. I stamped a few images, but afterwards realized that even the little stamping I did was not necessary -- the entire book could easily have been completed using just the adhesive die cuts in the kit (except maybe for the title and a few sentiment stamps, which I still have not added). The photos show the book in the order of it being opened. Click on the individual picture to see a larger version. Look for a June class featuring this project!
Friday, May 4, 2007
Comissioned Art
Ordinarily, I do not consider myself an artist. I stamp because I cannot draw my way out of a paper bag and with a rubber stamp in hand someone else has already done all the hard work for me! But to be fair, there is a lot more to stamping than reproducing a drawn image. Give the same stamp set, layout and color schemes to 5 different stampers and I guarantee that you will have 5 different cards. That's where our personality and creativity come through as card makers. And it's pretty flattering when other people recognize that and compliment your card.
One of the highest compliments someone can pay me is to ask me to make them a card for someone else. It's really nice to think that they like my work enough to give the card to someone else. So needless to say I was very happy when a co-worker requested that I make a couple of cards for her -- a card for an expectant mother and a new baby card.
I just had to use the Swell News stamp set for the expectant mom. I cannot believe this set is retiring! I paper pieced the dress (that's the technique I couldn't remember the name of last weekend where you stamp on designer paper and then cut out a portion of he stamp and adhere it to the same image stamped on card stock) from one of the amethyst designer papers in the palette o'prints pack (available this month for $9.95 with a $35 product purchase.) I think she came out kind of cute!
For the second card I used the Feathered Friends set. I really like this set and don't use it nearly often enough, and it too is going to retire in June. So I thought I would take it out and play while I still can. This is what I came up with, based on the request that the card be made in various shades of pink. I used the Itty Bitty Backgrounds sets for the various dots on the white card stock and Swell News for the safety pins on the pink background. I also used more of the designer paper from this month's special pack for the polka-dot boarder layer. The ribbon is woven through slots made with the double rectangle punch. Simple, but effective!
My co-worker really liked the cards, which made me very happy. Hope you enjoyed them as well.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
The Flip Book is Done!
Remember this flip book that I started working on way back when and showed you in this post? Well, I finally finished decorating it, just in time to find out that all of the image stamp sets I used are going to retire at the end of June. No matter, though, this is a present for a friend and I know she won't care one bit that I used retired sets.
As I was working on this project I really fell in love with the concept, so I actually started working on another one tonight using a simply scrappin' kit. I'm hopeful that I can get it done fairly quickly so I can show you that one too!
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
More Natural Beauty
As promised, here are the three additional cards you'll be making as part of the inspiration sheet stamps by mail class. All cards will use just the materials included in your package, including a few select pre-stamped pieces. The instructions will explain how to create all the cards, including how to use the stamping sponge to create the multi-color backgrounds featured here and on the leaf card. You really will feel like you're at class, but you can work in the comfort of your home. The only tools you'll need is an adhesive of choice and scissors/paper snips.
Pastels Revisited One last time
If you're a customer or demonstrator and you've missed the last few sessions of the stampin' pastels techniques, this Tuesday you have one last chance to make 8 cards, each using a different pastels technique. Customers will find more information on the events page of my website. Demonstrators who need more information about the in-person class please e-mail me at stampwithdiane@comcast.net. The registration deadline is this Friday, May 4, 2007. Hope to see you next week!
Just as a reminder, here are the 8 projects we'll be making at the class:
And the winners are . . .
Well, it's definitely time to announce the winners of my blog subscription contest. But before I do, I just want all of you to know how much I appreciate your subscriptions! I hope you 're enjoying the blog and find at least some of the posts useful in your crafting.
And now, without any further ado, the winner of the subscription contest and the free level 1 hostess set of her choice is 1craftygal! yay! I will contact you via e-mail for your choice of hostess sets and your snail mail address.
And the winner of the referral blog is Allison F of the Stamping when I can blog. Congratulations, Allison! You get a stamp set of your choice of up to $15.00 U.S value. Woo Hoo! I will contact you as well for your choice of sets.
Thank you all for playing and subscribing or referring other subscribers! Hope you all keep reading and hanging out and maybe even leave me a comment every once in a while! Thanks again!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Stamps by Mail -- Natural Beauty
Once again I have to tweak my May schedule because I just realized that I scheduled my inspiration class for the Saturday of memorial Day weekend. I don't know about you, but even I draw the line at going to school on a long holiday weekend. So instead of making you come to class, I will send the class to you through a stamps by mail program. 
Check out my events page for more detailsAvailable Retiring Inspiration Sheets
Through the end of June, 2007, I will be offeing the following inspiration sheets (while supplies last) FREE to any customer who purchases the corresponding retiring stamp set:
Artifacts
Autumn Leaf Prints
Balmy Breezes
Best of Cluck
Burst Into Bloom
Designer Label Punch Box
Do the Hula
Flower Fest
Four Seasons Decorative Paper
Fun Filed
Merry
Natural Beauty
On Gossamer Wings
On The Move
Treat Yourself
Wishing you the best
World Tour
Going out in Style
It's May 1 and Stampin' up! has released the list of sets and wheels that are going to retire at the end of June. It's a long list to make room for lots of cool fun stuff in the new catalog in July. You can see the retiring sets listed alphabetically here and listed by catalog page number here. Review the list and call me to order any of the sets you just must have (it's OK if that's the whole list -- I have plenty of order forms -- LOL!) before they're gone in June!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sharing projects I love
Tonight I wanted to share some cards created by other cool folks. This first project is a baby announcement made by a first-time stamper who literally had only a 10 minute stamping "class" from me before she ordered all the materials she needed to make these birth announcements for her new granddaughter. I wish I could take the credit for the design, but it's a design copied directly out of the Idea Book and Catalog -we just changed the colors from blue to pink! I think the announcements came out great, and her new granddaughter is just adorable. Wouldn't you agree?
This second project was created by my good friend as an invitation to her son's birthday party. This too is a copy of a design featured in last year's summer mini, though Diana did slightly modify the invitation insert and gave the cowboy a cool little striped shirt with her markers. She also used the Cowboy Kid stamp set (not available right now, but could possibly be available again in July -- cross your fingers!) to stamp the favor gift bags for all the kids who attended the party. So cool!
This last card was designed by one of my fellow SISers -- Dawn Mondro. I loved it so much I copied it for my all occasion card club. I didn't have the It's Your Birthday set, so I had to modify the design somewhat, but I kept the layout the same and, most important of all, I kept the glitter. The glitter really just makes this card pop! You can see my version of this design in yesterday's post.
Don't forget, this year's retirement list is coming out tomorrow! I can't wait! And now that April is almost over, it's also almost time to draw the winners of the subscriber and referral drawings. I have a meeting tomorrow night so I won;t be able to draw then, but I will try to do it Wednesday or Thrusday and, as promised, will post the winners here. Stay tuned!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
All Occasion Card Club
Join the Stamp With Diane All Occasion Card Club and never get caught without an appropriate greeting card again! We'll meet once a month for three months (May - July). Each month every member will make 4 copies of 4 of the 12 designs pictured below (every member gets to select the order in which they want to make the cards and may select a different sentiment than the sentiment featured on the sample card). (If you cannot make it to any month's class, you will be able to make the cards at my open stamp night.) The class fee is payable at registration and includes 48 cards (4 each of 12 designs) plus a Forget Me Not Keeper to store the cards. See my website or e-mail me at stampwithdiane@comcast.net for details.
A really cool swap card!
Yesterday I told you all about the fabulous Stampers in Stitches meetings and the awesome swap cards I came home with. I still am not able to show you all the cards, but I really loved this card and wanted to share it with everyone and the designer, Mavis Kim, kindly gave her permission for me to post it here.
There are so many things I love about this card! It appealed to me right away and the longer I looked at it the more cool things I found. First, it uses Not Quite Navy card stock, ink and brads. This is a color I have a particular difficulty working with, and I just love the fact that I now have a super cute card to use it on. Second, I love the double coloring on the elephant -- making his ear darker really adds a great touch. Next is the paper piercing in the corners of the main image and the upper left hand corner above the not quite navy mat (this is a little hard to see in the picture). The paper piercing adds such a nice touch! Next is the very subtle crosshatch background from the Looks Like Spring set on the Ruby Red portion of the card. It's so subtle you can hardly see it int he photo, but it adds such a nice texture to this card IRL. And last, but certainly not least, is the tree-color design on the white strip created by stamping the same pattern from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds set in three different ink colors to form a fantastic confetti-like pattern.
So Mavis, you rock! I'm wild abotu this card and am definitely going to have to CASE it as soon as I get the Wild About You set!
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Let the music play -- Par deux
a) you are not interested in listening to the music (this is a stamping blog, after all)
b) you didn't even know the music option was there
c) you knew the music was here but can't figure out how to make it play; or
d) you listened to the music but are too polite to tell me how much you dislike the songs I chose.
If the answer is D, please let me know and tell me what music you like. My tastes are varied and I might be able to accommodate your wishes so you have something to listen to while playing hangman (because that's why you all come here, anyway, right? I know that's why my DH visits the blog- LOL!)
I
f he answer is A, I can totally understand and that's why I disabled the feature that makes the music play automatically. Of course, disabling that feature may have caused problem b and/or c. If so, I hope this post will help. If you scroll down your page you will find in the right hand column something that looks like this picture. To make the songs play in a random order while you're reading the page (or playing hangman -- I swear I won't tell) just press the solid arrow button I've circled in red. To keep the music playing even after you read the page click on the Launch Standalone Player button, which will open the player in another window. you can then choose the songs you want to listen to in whatever order you want, one at a time. Pretty cool, huh?
So now that you know how to let the music play, I'd really like to know what you think of these songs. I won't try to bribe you for your opinions with blog candy, but I will send a hand stamped card to anyone who leaves a comment on any of the songs in my play list that they heard for the first time here. Just leave a comment here on the blog and send me your snail mail address to stampwithdiane@comcast.net. I know it's kind of PITA request, but it is totally optional, so you can feel free to ignore it and the music player, and those that do respond will help me improve the song selection! Thanks in advance and happy stamping!
Super SIS Saturday!
What an awesome day! I am absolutely exhausted, staying up "till early morning hours to prepare for my demonstration and then getting up way too early on a Saturday morning to make it to the meeting, but it's the kind of exhaustion that is so worth it!
At today's meeting the ladies who had just returned from the Stampin' Up! reward cruise to the Panama Canal gave presentations on all the things they learned on the cruise. As you can tell form the picture, we were all listening and watching intently so that we could share all the new hints and tips with our customers. I, for one, can't wait to share the super cool new folder project and stamping on tiles! Plus, I learned another awesome technique using the stampin' pastels! WOW! Based only on the comments from the other attendants, my presentation seemed to go OK. 
will not be available until the new catalog comes out in July. It's a really cool set and the card design is lovely as well -- I especially love the glitter!Friday, April 27, 2007
who's that girl?
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Classy Ladies and Orchid Opulence
I almost didn't have anything to post tonight, not because of lack of inspiration but because I was fortunate enough to spend another evening with my fellow SIS demos who attended my pastels class. We laughed and stamped and snacked and really enjoyed ourselves! But since you already saw all the pastels projects several times over, at the end of the evening I had nothing new to show you.
Fortunately, the challenge on splitcoast today was to use Orchid Opulence in a card, and this just happens to be one of the colors I came to like recently (after ignoring it for almost a whole year). So I had a reason to stamp a quick card. I grabbed the On Gossamer Wings set (one of my all-time favorites) and decided to use a layout from a previous sketch challenge. I knew I wanted to use Elegant eggplant as the base and I had to use orchid opulence, but the third color (Blush Blossom) took a little longer to find. These were also the three colors I used to stamp and color, with a little bit of sage shadow thrown in for the leaves. It's not bad for a card stamped on a real time budget.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Double Challenge
I actually had the idea for this card all day, right after I found out that this was the sketch for today's sketch challenge. I wanted to combine the sketch with the color challenge from yesterday, which was to use pumpkin pie, bravo burgundy and always artichoke. I also wanted to do some paper piercing -- a technique that is very striking and effective yet one I hardly even use.
I used the blender pen to color in the flower and distressed the edge of the pumpkin pie mat. Definitely not my finest hour, creatively speaking, but it's the best I could do tonight.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I've been Tagged
Grace and Elizabeth, two lovely Chicago stampers who share their creativity with us on the stampinonthelakefront blog, have "tagged" me in a game of blogger tag. What this means is that I now have to share 7 little known facts about myself with you and then tag 7 more bloggers. I don't know which is more difficult!
I guess I'll start with the facts (just the facts, ma'am)
1. When I was a junior in high school I came in second in the IIT model bridgebuilding contest and was interviewed by WGN news.
2. One of my favorite books from childhood is Comet in Moominland, by Tove Jansson (I recently re-read it and still love it!).
3. I'm a total anglophile and I go through withdrawal if I don't get to visit London every couple of years.
4. My DH and I have been on four cruises, always with my parents.
5. I graduated undergrad from Michigan State University and my college roommate and best friend lives in Trenton, MI-- way too far away from Chicago!
6. I was born in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland.
7. I really, really, really like Swedish hard pear cider!
OK, I guess that wasn't so bad. Now to tag seven other bloggers. This is really difficult because there are so many bloggers out there that I want to know obscure things about. Limiting the list to seven is almost impossible. Here is my best try:
I have to start with my upline, Jen. I can't wait to see what seven obscure facts she comes up with!
Next is Alesha Walls. I don't think she has been tagged yet and I would love to learn more about her!
The next person is Lisa from My Little Inkspot. She's in the process of moving to Colorado, so probably won't respond in the near future, but when she settles in I'm sure she'll have at least seven facts to share.
Next I have to tag Anna Wight -- I just love her blog. A Little of this and a little of that, all beautifully illustrated with her amazing photography!
My fifth tag is for Jen70. I love her cards and her splitcoast limited supplies challenges and I'm sure she'll come up with some interesting tidbits for us.
My sixth tag is Steph, mom of the adorable Brooke. She's the one who inspired me to post my first tutorial and she's a Leo! But still, we need more info!
And last, but as everyone knows by now, certainly not least, Meg, who just started her blog (How awesome is that?).
One last medallion card
Yesterday Nancy commented that she was tired of snow and ready for spring, so I had to make one last medallion card just for her. I used the Spring Flowers (or is it Spring Showers -- I can never remember) double sided designer paper and the Doodle That set. I also used the linen background stamp and cocolate grosgrain ribbon. Simple but cute! But of course I do love snowflakes, and I have a personal challenge to make 10 Christmas cards every month, so here is another card I made last night with the four seasons double sided designer paper. I punched the little snowflakes out of the paper with a 1/2" circle punch and then centered them on 3/4" circles punched out of night of navy. Just in case you couldn't tell from all the snowflakes, I added a little tab that says "winter". Cool!
Monday, April 23, 2007
Demo for the Stampers in Stitches meeting
This Saturday we're having a Stampers in Stitches meeting and I am so excited. All of the demos in our group who earned the cruise to the Panama Canal will be there to tell us about new things we can expect in the next catalog. There will be lost of pictures and project displays (yes, of course I'm bringing the punch brunch display in the hopes of winning some more free stamps in the display drawing!). Hopefully we'll get to see pictures of the new in-colors, which sound really cool! And we'll be stamping several projects, including a project with a new stamp set that will not be available until July and a mini accordion scrapbook that will be demoed by yours truly.
I can't take the credit for the design of this cute little mini scrapbook -- that honor belongs to a very talented demonstrator Janine Tinklenberg (a/k/a Jantink on Splitcoast). I modified her direction somewhat so that the book could be done using 8.5x11 card stock, instead of a 12x12.
So are you curious yet? Wanna see a preview of the project. OK, OK. Here is the outside (measuring 3x3"):
And a couple of views of the inside (the pages are 2.75" x 2.75"):
If you've ever been curious about what it's like to be a demonstrator and be a part of a really cool group of stampers, please join me at the meeting as my guest for free. I guarantee you'll have a good time and get not only lots of "inside" information but also get to make some super cool projects. For more details please see my website.
Glenda, our group leader, has extended the RSVP deadline but if you'd like to come with me you really must let me know ASAP! So call or e-mail me at stampwithdiane@comcast.net. Come on, what are you waiting for? I could use the moral support!
More square steps medallion cards
When I posted my tutorial a couple of days ago, I only had time to take photos of the technique and I didn't actually have time to create a card with the medallion I created. Well, today I decide to remedy that, and since I used the winter themed sheet of the four seasons designer paper, I figured I could make a card with the medallion and make a holiday card to fulfill my New Year's resolution!
So here is the card I created with the medallion from the tutorial. Instead of the spring bouquet punch, I used the snowflake punch along with the 1 1/4" circle punch to create the center of the medallion. I then added a snowflake that I punched out of the same designer paper with the 1/2" circle punch for the center of the navy snowflake and added a bashful blue brad in the very center just for good measure. To add more interest to the card I used the double rectangle punch to create holes through which I threaded white grosgrain ribbon. I stamped the bashful blue base with the linen background stamp inked up with bashful blue ink and I added the greeting from the Snowflakes set (one of my favorites!). I'm quite pleased with the end result -- what do you think?
Of course, the reverse side of the medallion is really just as cool. So for my next card I decided to use this reverse side. Continuing with the snowflake motif, I once again used the snowflake punch with the two circle punches to create the centers for my three medallions. I thought these were decorative enough in themselves, so I added a simple sentiment made with the Everyday Flexible Phrases set (get it for 20% off this month only) and left it at that. Again, I'm pretty pleased with the results (What, twice in one day? Call the psychologist -- this may be a breakthrough --LOL!) but I'd love to know what you all think. Second session of demo-only pastels class
Just a reminder that the deadline to sign up for this week's pastels technique class is today, Monday April 23. We'll be making 8 projects using 8 different pastels techniques. This session is open only to Stampin' Up! demonstrators. A picture of the projects is at the bottom of this March post. Space is limited and we are almost at capacity. Please e-mail me at stampwithdiane@comcast.net if you have any questions.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
D'oh!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
How to make a square steps corner punch medallion
For two days in a row now I uploaded cards using the square steps medallion, and yesterday Steph asked for a tutorial. Well, tutorials are not really my thing, but this is such a small project I thought I would give it a shot. So here goes.
Step 1: Start with a 2x2 square of designer paper or card stock. Here I'm using one of the patterns from the Four Seasons Double Sided Designer Paper pack. 
Step 2 --hold your punch upside down and slip in the square all the way until the corner is up to the corner guide. Punch. Repeat on all four corners.
This is what the paper looks like when all four corners have been punched.
Step 3. Push each of the punched corners to the back of the card stock so that the flip side of the paper shows in the front. This technique creates the most dramatic effect when the pattern is very different on both sides of your square (like here).
This is what the medallion looks like with all of the corners pushed back. Now attach something to the center (on my cards I attached flowers punched with the spring bouquet card). That's it. You're done.Friday, April 20, 2007
Just a slight modification
Edited to add: New pictures of the projects, taken during the daytime. They're a little bit brighter so everything is easier to see.
To my surprise, people actually really liked the plain and pink card I made yesterday. What really amazed me is the the reaction was uniformly positive among men I showed the card to (My DH and co-workers) -- something I never would have expected given the pinkness of the card. But nevertheless, I felt the need to come up with something different for the punch brunch, and here it is. Similar to yesterday's card and using some of the same punches and techniques, and yet somehow a little more, I don't know, grown up and sophisticated.
The center medallion on the card is similar to yesterday's medallion, but instead of card stock I used a piece of the Au chocolate designer paper. Of course, the designer paper is chocolate and vanilla in color and no, your eyes are not deceiving you, there's not a hint of vanilla on this card. So what happened? I simply decided to add color to the designer paper with my brayer. And to add even more interest, I brayered each side with a different color, so that when the punched paper was flipped, the difference would be more pronounced.
In addition to the square steps corner punch and the spring bouquet punch, this card also makes use of the new spiral punch and the designer label punch. So it truly is a perfect punch brunch project!
And , just as a reminder, here are all four of the cards we'll be making at the Cinco de Mayo Punch Brunch. See my web page for more details and if you want to join me make sure to RSVP by May 1.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
A woman's prerogative
We have pictures!
Woo Hoo! Whatever glitch we were experiencing yesterday is fixed and I can once more upload photos. So here are two more projects we'll be making at the Cinco de Mayo punch brunch. The first is a flower and butterfly card made exclusively with punches -- not a single stamp in sight! I did sponge the bashful blue card stock with bashful blue ink just to give it a little texture, but otherwise all of the shapes (except for the little certainly celery strip that serves as the stem) are punched either from the Au Chocolate designer paper or chocolate chip card stock. You can stamp whatever sentiment you want inside or just leave it blank and use for just about any occasion. Such a cute card and so fast and easy to put together! 
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Fiesta!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
May events will come out, tomorrow!
I am soooo glad I did not promise that the May events list would be ready today, because I simply did not have any time to get it ready. I also did not have any time to stamp :(. But never fear -- I will get the list out tomorrow and I have something to show you tonight even thought I did not set foot in my stamp room. You see, this weekend I started working on a flip book and I took pictures of my progress so far.
What's a flip book? It's a brag book with lots of pages inside that you have to keep flipping to get to the next layer -- kind of like peeling an onion (and if the pictures are really sweet it may make you cry too). Of course I did not come up with the flip book template -- that honor belongs to a brilliant stamper and paper crafter whose name, unfortunately, I cannot think of at the moment. The only thing that I did was determine which images were going to be stamped where in my flip book and what colors to use. 
I'm having a ball decorating this book and I'm thinking of offering a class on how to put together and decorate a flip book. The cost of the class would probably be about $20 and I think it would probably last 2-3 hours. If you would be interested in taking this class, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail to stampwithdiane@comcast.net. I would need a minimum of 4 interested students to offer a class, and I thought this would be a great way to gauge interest. Thanks in advance for your help! And feel free to tell me what you think of the book so far (especially if you happen to like it -- LOL!)Monday, April 16, 2007
A little preview of a special May event
In the next couple of days I will be posting my May schedule of events, including a super special event that will take place early during the month at which we will make four projects, including this card. I copied the pinwheel idea from a stamper whose splitcoast name is Homew2. It's a fantastic idea as it really gives the card a lot of dimension and does a great job of featuring the double sided nature of this designer paper. To make the card even more special, I embossed the greeting and the brads with very vanilla embossing powder and tied on vanilla wide organdy ribbon. I also used dimensionals to attach the close to cocoa layer to the card base.
To me, this card is just sumptuous and rich and delicious looking. And it is only the beginning! I can't wait to show you the other projects we'll be making and to tell you more about this exciting event! But right now it's getting late and it's a work night, so I must be off to bed. Happy Monday!
Sharing and learning
It's funny, but when I first signed up to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I thought it would just be for the discount for myself -- I really didn't think I was good enough to be a demonstrator for others. But then I did my first workshop demo and liked it and I found that the more workshops I did the more comfortable I felt and the more I enjoyed them. I just love sharing this craft with others, and workshops are he best way to introduce new people to stamping.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
After Remembering You - Part Deux
Yesterday I posted the Silly Sealife cards I made using the basic black ink, watercolor wonder crayons and aquapainter from the Remembering You Simply Sent kit. I really liked those cards, but I wondered what else I could come up with using the supplies in the kit, and maybe a little bit more. Here were the parameters I set for myself -- what could I do with the above mentioned items from the kit plus the Remembering You stamp set, some confetti white card stock, a pack of Rich regals card stock and a rose red marker. And here are the results (so far). On the first card I stamped the outline of the flowers in basic black ink. I then used the always artichoke watercolor wonder crayon to stamp the leaves. Next, I inked up the solid flower stamp using the rose red marker. I tapped the stamp with the aquapainter to add a little water and stamped. I then created a little pool of ink with the marker on top of the lid to my stamp set, picked up this ink with the aquapainter and filled in any white spots on the flower petals. Finally, I lightly colored the confetti white card stock between the flowers with the brocade blue watercolor wonder crayon and blended with the aquapainter for a very subtle background color effect.
I matted the confetti white card stock on Always Artichoke, using the square steps corner punch in just one corner for a little bit of interest. I adhered the image to a Rose Red card front and stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the card.
For my second card I inked the outline flower stamp with the rose red marker and stamped it onto the confetti white card stock. I colored the flower center with the brocade blue watercolor wonder crayon and blended the color with the aquapainter. I created another pool of rose red ink with the marker and used the aquapainter to pickup this ink and fill in the flower petals. I then used the always artichoke watercolor wonder crayon to lightly color in the background and blended with the aquapainter. I matted the image with always artichoke and set it aside.
Using the brocade blue watercolor wonder crayon I colored the solid flower stamp. I tapped the stamp with the aquapainter and stamped the flower onto a strip of bordering blue card stock. (I used bordering blue card stock instead of brocade blue on the theory that if my supplies truly had been limited I would have used the brocade blue card stock to re-create more cards from the designs in the kit. I figured that the colors were similar enough for this not to matter and I think I was right.) I repeated this several times.
When I was finished with the solid stamp, I used the rose red marker to ink up the outline stamp and stamped the outlines over all the solid flowers. I then adhered this strip to a regal rose card base, and adhered the always artichoke card stock on top. I used the rose red marker to ink up only the "your special day" portion f the sentiment, and stamped it at the bottom of the card.
I really enjoyed my very own little "limited supplies challenge" and I'm pleased with the cards I created. Hope you like them too!
Cool Workout for your brain!
For those of you who never scroll down past the first article, I would encourage you to do so today to check out the Workout for Your Brain section in the right hand column. There is some truly interesting stuff there today. For example, did you know Titanic sank today? Or that today is Leonardo DaVinci's birthday (figures he was an Aries!)? Or that Two Bald Eagles just hatched on Catalina Island for the first time in 50 years? Very cool! The Match-Up game is kind of fun today too! Enjoy!
