Best Wishes

This was the second card we made at the April techniques class. The technique was shaving cream and we used it to create the background with riding hood red, pink pirouette and close to cocoa re-inkers. The background used for the largest mat did double duty. We simply punched the heart out of it deep enough to leave an even border all around -- great way to economize! On top of the shaving cream background I added a close to cocoa and pink pirouette mats, then a square of riding hood red card stock to which I mounted the punched heart with dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment form the new Oval All set in close to cocoa on the pink pirouette card stock.

I tied a big bow with the wide pink pirouette grosgrain ribbon around a riding hood red card base and mounted the shaving cream background to the card base over the ribbon. I think this would make a great wedding card!

Baroque Friend

This month's technique was shaving cream and this was one of the cards we made using that technique. On this card I used re-inkers in baja breeze, pacific point and kiwi kiss, all swirled together and printed on a piece of whisper white card stock. then I stamped the decorated card stock with the Baroque background stamp in pacific point and attached it to a kiwi kiss textured card base.

I stamped the sentiment from the All Holidays set on whisper white card stock in pacific point, layered it onto mats of baja breeze and textured kiwi kiss and attached it to the decorated card base.

Finally, to add the embellishment I first used the 5 petal flower punch to make a flower out of the textured kiwi card stock. I layered this with a felt flower in baja breeze and a pacific point corduroy small brad. Finally, I attached the flowers to the card with dimensionals.

Jeweled Egg

Here's another card from this month's Easter stamp camp. this one was fairly simple. Recipe below:

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Sweet Always designer series paper, pink pirouette textured card stock

Ink: basic black, rose red

Stamps: A Good Egg

Accessories: Organza white ribbon, rich regals brads, round Fire rhinestone brads, stamping dimensionals

Spring Tulip

Here's another card from last Saturday's stamp camp. This simple tulip could be used as an Easter card or for any spring occasion. Did I mention already how much I love the versatility of the pick-a-petal set, but the way? It has so many fun uses!

here's the recipe:

Paper: textured kiwi kiss, baja breeze, whisper white

Ink: kiwi kiss, pink pirouette

Stamps: Pick a Petal

Accessories: pink pirouette striped grosgrain ribbon

Easter basket

Here's one of the cards we made this Saturday at the Easter stamp camp. It's nice and simple, but the window cut out in the floor makes it fun! Here's the recipe:

Paper: very vanilla, pale plum, sage shadow, perfect plum patterns designer series paper, acetate.

Ink: basic brown, sage shadow, perfect plum, pale plum, creamy caramel, certainly celery (everything but basic brown in stampin' write markers)

Stamps: All Holidays, Sock Monkey Accessories

Accessories: Very Vanilla Styled Hodgepodge Hardware, sage shadow 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch.

Glazed Chipboard

This was a card that I designed in March for our monthly technique class. The March technique was glazed chipboard. I love this technique because it gives chipboard a whole new look -- it almost makes the chipboard accents look like plastic accents. It's a neat effect!

Here's the recipe:

Paper: pumpkin pie, pink pirouette, regal rose, whisper white, Sweet Always designer series paper

Ink: chocolate chip craft, pumpkin pie & chocolate chip stampin' write markers

Stamps: All Holidays, A Little Somethin' (A level 2 hostess set)

Accessories: 1/4" whisper white grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, glassy glaze, On Board Essentials chipboard assortment.

Best Wishes Oval All

This is a card I designed for the occasions mini demonstrator swap I just participated in this week. There are some really amazing stamp sets in the Occasion minis and the designs I received in the swap simply blew me away.

Due to lack of time, I chose a simple design for my card. This is the first time I used a pretty in pink/bordering blue color combination on a card and i really like the way it turned out!

Here is the recipe:

Paper: pretty in pink, bordering blue, regal rose, shimmery white

ink: pretty in pink, bordering blue

Stamps: En Francais, Oval All (from the occasions mini catalog)

Accessories, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, scallop circle punch, hear to heart punch, white organza ribbon, stampin' dimensionals

Easter stamp camp

I'm Back!

Well, sort of. I may not be back daily, like I used to be, but I will be back more than once a month -- LOL!

I apologize for my extended absence. Nothing was wrong, except things got pretty busy and my laser-like focus (for the LOTR fans out there, think of it as the eye of Mordor) shifted to another activity for a while, leaving no time to stamp.

But it was (is?) only a temporary distraction, and I do have some fun new projects to show you over the next couple of weeks. Also, this Saturday, April 4, 2009, I will be hosting an Easter Stamp Camp at 10:00 a.m. at my house. If yo;d like to attend just send me an e-mail or call me. We'll be making 7 different Easter and Sprint themed cards plus a 3-d favor box for only $20.00. Very Cute! Get all of your Easter needs taken care of in one class. RSVP by Thursday, April 2, so I can prepare enough materials.

And In honor of the Easter stamp camp, today we have an Easter card. Here's a recipe:

Card Stock: gable green, ballet blue, cameo coral, barely banana, almost amethyst, whisper white

Stamps: Loads of Love Accessories, Egg Hunt Stampin' Around wheel form the occasions mini catalog

Ink: Basic gray, gable green, ballet blue, cameo coral, barely banana, almost amethyst

Accessories: Large and small tag punches, striped so saffron grosgrain ribbon

Pretty Flower

I know I've been a very bad blogger lately. My apologies to everyone. It's just that I haven't had a lot of time to stamp in recent weeks and I've simply run out of new projects to show you. I do have one card I can share with you tonight. This one was so simple to put together it's almost embarrassing to post it. I started with an almost amethyst base. I took a large floower from the pretties kit and layered it with a 1" circle punched out of almost amethyst card stock and a kiwi kiss corduroy button. I then attached the flower to a piece of kiwi kiss card stock, which I adhered to the card front. I hand cut the stem and leaf from scraps of old olive card stock. To finish the card I added a knot made out of whisper white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and added a sentiment form the one of a kind set, stamped in elegant eggplant on whisper white card stock and trimmed out by hand.

If all goes well, I will have a little more stamping time this week and my posting will get back on a more regular schedule. :-)

Scalloped thanks

Here's something a little different for me -- a card created with just a single sentiment stamp and one color of ink. Yes, it's true -- the only stamp I used on this card came from the Say it with Scallops set. This set is very cute and versatile, coordinates perfectly with our Scalloped Square punch and for every set sold Stampin' Up! donates $2.00 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. And, as you can see, it does very well all on its own, paired up with some of our awesome decorative papers and accessories.

Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Say it with Scallops

Paper: Very Vanilla, Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Bella Bleu designer series paper

Ink: Not quite navy

Accessories: Scallop edge punch, scallop square punch, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, very vanilla styled hodgepodge hardware, 3/4" circle punch, stamping sponge.

Easter Tulips

Now that Valentine's Day is over, it's time to start thinking about Easter cards. My March stamp camp will be all about spring and Easter cards and projects, including this one.

I didn't use any fancy techniques on this card, though I did need my scoring blade to create the raised border on the bashful blue mat. Also, instead of layering the mats as I normally do, I shifter the so saffron mat to the diagonal. I think it gives the card an extra bit of interest. Last but not least is the lovely white ribbon from the Dress Up ribbon originals assortment. Here's the full card recipe:

Stamps: A flower for all reasons, All Holidays
Card Stock: Creamy Caramel, Bashful Blue, So saffron, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, whisper White
ink: basic black, creamy caramel, regal rose, so saffron, certainly celery, bashful blue, more mustard
Accessories: Dress Up ribbon collection, stamping dimensionals, paper cutter with scoring blade.

Sparkly Congrats

I know it's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but I've been playing with glitter again! I just love all the new colors of fine glitter and how they can make an ordinary card pop!

For this card I used the Tart & Tangy stamp set for the cherries. I inked up the stamp with my old olive and real red stampin' write markers and stamped the images on whisper white card stock, before I punched three of them with m 1 1/4" square punch. I then used 2 way glue to cover the cherries and sprinkled on some fine red glitter, and repeated the process with the stems and leaves and olive fine glitter. The final card looks really sparkly in real life because of all the glitter!

I mounted the three cherry images on a piece of basic black card stock and attached the "Jackpot" sentiment form the Game Night stamp set at the top. I attached the basic black card stock to a real red mat. To offset the black space in the upper right hand corner of the basic black strip, I added a couple of white 5/1" brads. To finish the card I attached the real red mat to the bashful blue card base and stamped the congratulations sentiment from the Hugs & Wishes set  in basic black ink directly on the bashful blue card base.

trendy trees

Here's a card I stamped today using the Trendy Trees stamp set -- new in the Spring/Summer 2009 catalog! This card is pretty straightforward. The funny thing is I use three of the new 5/8" jumbo brads on the card. Why is it funny, you ask? Well, because earlier today my friend Amy was over looking at all the new accessories and we both agreed that these big brads would need something else to work on a card -- maybe a rub-on or an embossed image on top. So what do I do a few hours later? i use not one, not two, but three of these giant brads in a row, completely naked! go figure! :-) Life is strange!

And many more blooms

Here's the last of the flower power cards. For this card I used the die cut blooms, wiht a 5.8" old olive ribbon for a stem. I used a filigree brad paired with an old olive bread for the flower center.

I know this is not my usual detailed write-up, but I'm really tired and I need to get some sleep. More details tomorrow.

scrap page centerpiece

Tonight I'm showing you a project that we'll be making at a March 25th class at the Hillside library. You might recall that I made a similar double sided upright centerpiece last year around Father's Day and then again at Christmas. The Winter version went over so well at the class I taught in Itasca that I thought I would do something similar for the Hillside class.

I look at these two sides of the centerpiece as Spring and Summer. Spring is labeled as such, though class attendants will be able to stamp their own alternate title if they wish. The Summer side is just labeled "Happy Days." It's decorated with bright flowers form the die cut blooms collection.

If you'd like to make this project contact the Hillside library. The library requires a deposit at time of registration, but the deposit is returned to you on the night of the class, so as long as you show up the class is free. Hope to see you there next month!

Still more flowers

I said it would be all flowers all the time this week, didn't I? I put this card together super fast. I started with a so saffron card base and added an old olive mat. I then cut a 5x3.75" piece of the SAB designer series paper, wrapped a piece of the so saffron polytwill ribbon around it. I stamped the sentiment from the Many Happy returns set and punched it out using the 1" circle punch. I placed the sentiment into a round label holder from the styled silver hodgepodge hardware assortment. I used two brads to attach the label holder to the designer paper.

To make the flower I simply stamped the 5 petal flower image from the Polka Dot Punches free SAB set in versamark ink and heat embossed it with whisper white embossing powder. I then punched the flower out with the 5 petal flower punch, layered it onto an old olive flower from the die cut blooms assortment, and attached both to the designer paper using one of the brads form the styled silver hodgepodge hardware assortment. All I had to do to finish is attach the designer paper to the old olive mat. Fast and simple!

Stitched Exotics Birthday Wishes

For the next few days it's pretty much going to be flowers, flowers and more flowers. I guess I've been in a floral mood lately.

On this card I started by stamping the dotted leaf images from the Stitched Exotics set and the sentiment from Sincere Salutations in versamark ink on bashful blue card stock and then heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I added a strip of the SAB designer series paper. Over the designer series paper I added a strip of whisper white card stock and some faux rick rack I made with the scalloped edge punch.

I stamped the flower from stitched exotics in regal rose ink on whisper white card stock and trimmed it out with my paper snips. I then stamped two solid leaves in certainly celery ink on whisper white card stock, and trimmed them out by hand as well. I attached the leaves to the back of the flower with SNAIL. I punched a flower from whisper white card stock and used the fine tip of my regal rose stampin' write marker to create the faux stitched outline. I attached the punched flower to the larger flower using the color designer brad. I used the designer label punch to create the corners on the bashful blue layer and on the whisper white mat. then I just attached everything to a regal rose base to finish off the card.

Saffron Get Well

Here's another card I made using the Polka Dot Punches free Sale-A- Bration set and the free Delicate Dots Designer Series Paper. I started with a Sahara Sand card base. I stamped the small flower image in so saffron ink on a 4 x 5.25" piece of so saffron card stock, and added a sentiment form the Sincere Salutations set stamped in Sahara Sand ink before attaching the so saffron card stock to the card base. I used the scallop edge punch on a piece of designer paper and attached it to a strip of whisper white paper. I wrapped a piece of bashful blue striped grosgrain ribbon around both layers and attached the whole thing to the card front.

I stamped the scalloped circle image in certainly celery ink on certainly celery card stock and punched it out using the scalloped circle punch. I stamped the five petal flower image in bashful blue ink on bashful blue card stock, and punched it out with the five petal flower punch. I attached the two images together using a brad and large flower from the Filigree designer brad assortment. To finish the card I attached the layered flowers to the card base using a stamping dimensional.

This will be one of the cards we'll be stamping at this month's stamp camp this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. There is still time to sign up, so if you'd like to attend e-mail me at stapwithdiane@comcast.net by this Wednesday. As always we'll be making 6 cards, a 3-D item and a two page 6x6" scrap layout. The cost is $20 or $15 for club members who elected not to attend this month's technique class. Hope to see you there!

Polka Dots Heart's Content

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Hope you all had a fantastic day! I'm happy to say I did -- not only did I get to stamp a bit, but Bill and I also went to see Slumdog Millionaire which, despite the less than appealing title, is a great movie and a great romance.

In honor of Valentine's Day I thought I'd post a heart-themed card. For this card I used the Polka Dot Punches stamp set and the Delicate Dots Designer Series paper, which coordinate together beautifully! Both of these are products that you can't purchase -- but you can earn for free during Sale-A-Bration with any $50 purchase of Stampin' Up products. Woo Hoo! There's nothing better than free stuff -- right? Click here to find out more about the free products you can earn as well as the other special offers available to hostesses and new demonstrators. And don't forget that if you decide to join Stampin' Up! as a new demonstrator now through March 31, you not only get the awesome starter kit for only $169, but you also get a free any price stamp set form the catalog to augment your collection.

But let's get back to the heart card. For this card I stamped the heart image in pretty pink ink on pretty in pink card stock, then punched it out with the new Full Heart punch. I took a 2.25" piece of bashful blue card stock and added a 1 7/8" white square in the center. I stamped the "Heart's Content" sentiment form the Many Happy returns set in Sahara sand ink on the whisper white card stock. I then used my signo white gel pen to create the dotted border on the bashful blue square. I attached the heart to the square using stamping dimensionals. I then added a white library clip to the top of the square and used a mini glue dot to add a knot made out of pretty in pink 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

I took a 3.5"piece of the designer paper with the different color hearts and attached it to a 3.75" piece of so saffron card stock. I added a dotted boarded to the so saffron card stock with the signo white gel pen. I attached the so saffron square to a 4x5.25" piece of certainly celery card stock, to which I also added a boarder of white dots. (This probably will only mean something to those of you who frequent SCS, but I really feel I was channeling Markie's Mom tonight with all the dotted boarders.)

I attached the certainly celery card stock to a Sahara Sand card base, then finished the card by attaching the bashful blue decorated square to the card front using stampin' dimensionals.

And there you have it. Strictly speaking not a Valentine's Day card, but a good fit for today's theme nevertheless!

garden greetings get well

This card actually goes back to January. It was a card I designed for one of my January downline meeting make and takes. It was a bit time consuming to cut out all hose flower laers, but I like the multi-color, multi-layer final look.

punchy birthday

This was another card from the faux tile class. I used the new SAB set (don't have the catalog nearby and can't remember the name -- maybe Dotted punches?) both on the "tiled" background and for the punched flowers. Since I'm a punch fanatic, I just love how the images in this set coordinate with Stampin' Up! punches. Very fun!

I also finally reached for the very vanilla hodgepodge hardware again. It was the perfect accessory to set off the sentiment (from the bitty birthday set).

The colors I used, both in ink and card stock, were pale plum, perfect plum, certainly celery and mellow moss. I also used very vanilla card stock. It's a pretty straightforward card. Nothing too complicated. But I like the colors and the flowers.

More Thoughts and Prayers

Here's another card I stamped with my new Thoughts and Prayers set. I used not quite navy and sahara sand stampin' write markers to ink up the image, and sahara sand ink for the sentiment. The card base is sahara sand and the mats are not quite navy. I stamped on very vanilla card stock. I also used some natural twill and not quite navy brads for decoration. Nice and easy!

Faux Tile Toille

Here's another card for this month's faux tile technique class. For the tiled background I started with a piece of barely banana card stock. I used my paper trimmer with a scoring blade to create the tile pattern. Rather than using square tiles, I created more of a subway tile pattern with .5"x.75" tiles. I used more mustard ink to stamp the Bella Toille background on the barely banana card stock. I then sponged some so saffron ink over the top to give the tile a little more depth. I added an old olive mat and adhered the tiled background to a more mustard card base.

I stamped the image form the Dream Du Jour set on whisper white card stock in basic brown ink and colored it in using more mustard, so saffron and old olive stampin' write markers. I sponged some so saffron ink along the edges of the card stock before adhering it to a chocolate chip mat. For decoration, I added a tab made with the new Old Olive striped grosgrain ribbon and attached it to the image with a barely banana brad. I adhered the image to the tiled background with stampin' dimensionals.

Simply Said - Happy Birthday

Here's a simple card using the Faux tile technique, which is the technique we'll be learning at tomorrow's class. I started with a piece of whisper white card stock and used my paper trimmer with a scoring blade to create a 1/2" square grid. I then stamped the flowers form the Simply Said set in basic brown ink, and used my stampin' write markers in regal rose, apricot appeal, lavender lace, and certainly celery to color the image. I then sponged on some bashful blue ink in the background.
I added a lavender lace and apricot appeal mats. I then added a larger certainly celery mat. I used my mat and paper piercer from the crafter's tool kit to create the pierced boarder.
I stamped one of the dotted flowers from the simply said set in regal rose ink on the regal rose card base. I added the sentiment in the bottom right hand corner with basic brown ink. To finish, I wrapped some white organza ribbon around the card front and attached the main image to the card front using stamping dimensionals.

Bold Bright Birthday

Here's another Bold Bright Birthday card. This time I used the Party Hearty set ($26.95 on page 39 of the idea book and catalog). I used the direct to stamp technique with my stampin' write markers in yo yo yellow, real red, only orange, green galore and glorious green to stamp the rows of multi-colored hats, cleaning the stamp in between each impression so that the order f the colors would be different in each row. I also used 2 way glue and a variety of fine glitters as well as real red and green galore brads to decorate the hats. I stamped the Party Hearty sentiment with basic black ink.

To finish the card all I needed to do was to mount the stamped whisper white piece of card stock to a yo yo yellow mat and then to a green galore card base. Fun and easy!

You only live once

Yet another card using my new Fifth Avenue Floral set. I started this card by stamping the flower and stem on watercolor paper using basic gray ink. I used the aquapainter and elegant eggplant ink to watercolor the flower, using stampin' write markers in so saffron and certainly celery to color the center of the flower and the stem. I sponged the edges of the watercolor paper with certainly celery ink. I attached the floral image to mats of pale plum and elegant eggplant, decorating the latter with some 1/4" certainly celery grosgrain ribbon.

I used certainly celery card stock for the card base, adding an elegant eggplant and pale plum mats. I stamped the sentiment from the Fifth Avenue Floral set in elegant eggplant ink in the lower right hand of the card. I attached a strip of certainly celery card stock that I had crimped using the paper crimper over the mats. To finish the card I adhered the floral image to the card front.

Birthday Gifts

Here's a third and final card I made this week using the Bitty Birthday set. As with the other two cards, I used colors from the bold brights color family. I don't use these colors frequently, but they somehow seemed appropriate for birthday cards using this fun little set.

I started with a yo yo yellow card base and stamped the happy birthday sentiment from the Happy Everything set ($18.95 on page 137 of the idea book and catalog) in basic black ink. I added a strip of green galore to the card base and overlayed it with a strip of tempting turquoise card stock.

I took a strip of whisper white card stock and stamped it with one of the stamps from the itty bitty backgrounds set ($14.95 on page 119 of the idea book and catalog) first in yo yo yellow ink and then in only orange ink. I attached the stamped strip over the tempting turquoise strip.

I stamped the bag image three times on whisper white card stock in basic black ink and punched all three out using the small tag punch. I colored the bags using stampin' write markers in tempting turquoise, green galore, yo yo yellow, real red, only orange and pink passion. I mounted the colored images onto mats punched with the tag punch out of real red, pink passion and only orange card stock. I finished the card by mounting the matted tags onto the card base with stamping dimensionals.

The easiest card ever!

I love this card, all the more because it was so superbly easy to put together. I started with a Kraft card base. I added two 3.5" squares of the Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper ($9.95 on page 161 of the Idea Book and Catalog).

I stamped the rose image from the Fifth Avenue Floral set ($15.95 on page 106 of the idea book and catalog) in Not Quite Navy ink on a square piece of whisper white card stock. I added mats in kraft and not quite navy, securing all three layers together using Not Quite Navy brads from the earth elements brads assortment ($8.95 on page 174 of the Idea Book and Catalog). To finish off the card I attached the image to the card base over the designer paper. So very simple, yet so very striking!

So Very Pink!

As promised, here's another card featuring the Bitty Birthday set. For this card I started with a pixie pink card base to which I added a yo yo yellow strip of card stock. I ran a pink passion strip of card stock through my paper crimper and wrapped a cheater bow made with very vanilla taffeta ribbon around the crimped paper before attaching it to the yo you yellow strip.

I took a piece of watercolor paper and stamped the cake image on it with going gray ink. Using my aquapainter I colored the cake layers with pixie pink ink. I used stampin' write markers in orchid opulence and yo yo yellow to color in the cake base, candles and candle flames. I also sponged the edges of the watercolor paper with yo yo yellow ink. I covered the "frosting" areas of the cake with my 2 way glue and added some of the Rose Pink glitter from the Fine Cosmo glitter collection. I mounted the finished image on a mat of orchid opulence and attached it to the card front with stamping dimensionals.

To finish the card I stamped the sentiment on watercolor paper in basic gray ink, punched it with the small oval punch and sponged the edges with yo yo yellow ink. I adhered it to a large oval punched out of orchid opulence card stock and attached the sentiment to the card base. I think this makes a fun "girly" birthday card!

Thoughts and Prayers

Here's what I hope is a masculine sympathy card using the new Thoughts and Prayers set (featured on page 58 of the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog for $25.95). I took the color inspiration from the To The Nines Specialty Paper assortment ($11.95 on page 158 of the idea book and catalog).

I started with a kraft card base. I cut a mat from the specialty textured designer card stock assortment and decorated it with three 5/16" brads from the new Neutrals Jumbo Brads assortment ($7.95 on page $174 of the idea book and catalog,) before attaching it to the card base.

I stamped the tree image form the Thoughts and Prayers set on very vanilla card stock with chocolate chip ink. I sponged the edges and center of the very vanilla card stock with always artichoke ink and added a chocolate chip mat. Then I stamped the sentiment form the Close as a Memory set (also on page 58 of the idea book and catalog) in chocolate chip ink on very vanilla card stock and added mats of always artichoke and kraft. Finally I adhered the image and sentiment to the card base to finish off the card.

More New Goodies!

I've been having a lot of fun playing with my new stamp sets and accessories. This card is a perfect example!

I started with the decorative mini envelope cut out of the So Saffron Patterns designer paper using the Big Shot and Stampin' Up! exclusive Scallop Envelope die. I cut a piece of whisper white card stock to fit the inside of the envelope and stamped it with the birthday greeting from Sincere Salutations using kiwi kiss ink. I added some Riding Hood Red polka dots using the Itty Bitty Backgrounds set. I rounder the top corners with the corner rounder punch and adhered the stamped card stock to the inside of the envelope.

I adhered the envelope to a piece of Riding Hood Red card stock. I attached the riding hood red card stock to a 4 x 5.25" piece of Kiwi Kiss card stock. I decorated the bottom of the kiwi kiss mat using a cheater bow made of the riding hood red and so saffron ribbons from the Dress Up ribbon originals assortment (the ribbons in this assortment, featured on page 178 of the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog, are absolutely gorgeous!).

I attached the Kiwi Kiss mat to the so saffron card base. I stamped a flower from the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set (featured on page 106 of the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog for $14.95) in riding hood red ink on whisper white card stock. I trimmed out the flower by hand and added crystal effects to the center of the flowers. I covered the center of the flower with green microbeads, and attached the finished flower to the envelope with a stamping dimensional.

Oh So shimmery!

As some of you might have noticed, I've been away for a few days. Somehow over the past several months life has sped up even more than usual, and it's becoming harder and harder to fit everything in. Last week, unfortunately, stamping had to take a back seat. This week should be better, as I've actually had some time to stamp today and have several projects lined up for you.

Tonight's card reflects my re-discovered love for glitter! My first order from the new catalog arrived, giving me a chance to play with our two new fine glitter assortments: Fine Galaxy and Fine Supernova (these can be found on page 180 of the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog for $13.95 each). The colors in the new glitter assortments are fabulous and coordinate great with the Fine Cosmo glitter assortment!

For this card I stamped the balloons from Bitty Birthday set in basic black ink on whisper white card stock and added strings to the balloons with my basic black stampin' write marker. I used 2 way glue to "paint" the balloons, one color at a time. Each time I "painted" a portion of the balloons, I covered it with the fine glitter and shook off the excess before moving to the next color. I used the aqua glitter from the Fine Supernova assortment for the stripes on the center balloon. I then filled in the rest of the center balloon with the celery glitter from the Fine Cosmo assortment. Next I used the orange glitter from the Fine Supernova assortment for the balloon on the right and the red glitter from the Fine Galaxy assortment for the balloon on the left. I know it's impossible to see in the picture. But I love how all the glitter makes this card shimmer in real life!

I added a tempting turquoise and only orange mats to the balloon image, decorating the only orange layer with some white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. I added a triangular piece of real red card stock to the yo yo yellow card base and adhered the matted image to the card front with stamping dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from the Bitty Birthday set on whisper white card stock in basic black ink and punched it out with the word window punch. I added a mat in only orange punched with the large oval punch and decorated the sentiment with tempting turquoise brads from the bold brights brads assortment. I adhered the sentiment to the card front with some more stamping dimensionals to finish off the card.

As an aside, the Bitty Birthday set I used on this card, featured on page 39 of the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog, is one of my favorite sets in the catalog. At only $12.95 for three great images plus a sentiment, it's one of the best values around! You'll see a couple more cards in the upcoming week featuring this set!

All my forgotten toys

Sometimes I get an urge to take out tools and accessories that I haven't used in a while. Usually the result is something like this card -- a bit overdone.

It started out innocently enough. A summer sun base and a strip of confetti white card stock on which I stamped the balloon and sentiment from the crazy for cupcakes set. I punched the corners of the confetti white card stock with my ticket corner punch. I filled the balloon in with crystal effects, and then covered it with red microbeads. I then added a real red mat on which I also punched the corners. So far, so minimalist.

I took a strip of ballet blue card stock and punched it in the center on the top and bottom with the scalloped edge punch. This created two slots through which I could weave the stamped image. To make the strip more interesting I ran it though a paper crimper and wrapped a striped red grosgrain ribbon around the center of the strip. I attached the strip to the card front, making sure to not adhere the center so that the image woven through the slots could be removed.

The card still didn't look done to me, so I grabbed my color spritzer tool and stampin' write markers in real red, summer sun and ballet blue. I spritzed the card front with real red and ballet blue. I spritzed all three colors onto the confetti white strip. As a final touch I wove the strip through the slots in the ballet blue strip. The recipient of this card will be able to remove it later and use it as a book mark long after the rest of the card was gone.

Heartfelt Sympathy

I made this card for my cousin's wife, who recently lost her dad. I used the Close as a Memory stamp set and stampin' write markers in mellow moss, perfect plum and pale plum to stamp the flowers on confetti white card stock. I used basic gray ink to stamp the sentiment on a strip of mellow moss card stock. I layered the mellow moss card stock on a so saffron base, added a strip of perfect plum patterns designer series paper below the mellow moss strip and added some so saffron ribbon that I tied in a simple knot. I added the confetti white piece over the top and finished the card with a photo corner that I punched out of pale plum card stock and paper pierced using my crafter's tool kit.

A necessary CASE

Today I decided to follow the advice I so often dispense to beginner stampers who complain that they are just not that "creative" -- I copied a card from the new Idea Book and Catalog. I've done this in the past, to a point -- I often copy the colors and layout of a card I find in the catalog, changing out the stamp set. This time, though. I copied basically everything, except that I modified the card from a square card to a regular 4.25 x5.5" size.

I briefly toyed with substituting another stamp set, and I still may do so in the future, but sine I own the stamp set used in the book I decided to just go for an outright CASE. After all, that's the whole reason Stampin' Up! creates these samples for us in the first place. So that those of us who for whatever reason cannot come up with our own design can just follow their lead.

You can find the original card on page 41 of the spring/Summer idea Book and Catalog. Again, the only thing I changed was the size of the card and adding one little detail -- I used crystal effects to adhere red beads over the cherries on the cupcakes. You can see the detail of that in the second photo. For me, it just added the right bit of interest, though the card would have been perfectly fine without the beads as well.

Here's the recipe:

paper: ruby red, more mustard, chocolate chip, confetti white, old olive patterns designer series paper

ink: basic gray, chocolate chip, more mustard, ruby red

stamps: crazy for cupcakes

accessories: chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, red bead duo, crystal effects

top note garden greetings

I'm not quite sure what to think of this card. I can't decide if I like it or not. It looks a little plain to me, but then adding anything might make it too "busy".

The base is pacific point. I added the Big Shot Top Note mat in whisper white and in baja breeze patterns designer series paper. I trimmed the designer paper top note along the perforations to make it slightly smaller.

The flower from Garden Greetings is stamped in pacific point ink on whisper white card stock and trimmed out by hand. I attached it to the card using white taffeta ribbon and a baja breeze decorative button.

I punched the sentiment from the Garden Greetings set with the word window punch and then used the punch again to shorten the card stock. I layered the sentiment on a 3/4" circle punched out of baja breeze card stock and a curly label shape punched out of pacific breeze card stock.

I probably should not have posted this here but my stamping mojo is still on vacation (perhaps visiting Forks, Washington?). It's a bit frustrating, and if I still can't get anything going over the next few days it will be time to reach for the coldwater creek catalog again. For now, though, this is a as good as it gets.

Good Friend

This card is basically a CASE of one of the Make and Takes we made at Leadership, except that I scaled it down to a regular 4.25x5.5" card, added a pacific point base, and changed the designer paper and color of the striped ribbon. What I love about this card is that it's really easy to stamp and quick to put together. And if you use a different sentiment you can use it for just about any occasion. Pretty cool!

The Good Friend set is part of the Retro Fresh style watch in the Spring Summer Catalog. You can see it and many other coordinating stamp sets and accessories on pages 10 and 11 of the idea book and catalog. This is a really fun collection -- perfect for spring!

PS. To all those who mentioned that the Twilight books were great -- you were right! :-)

scalloped hugs & kisses

Here's a quick and simple card featuring products form the Love you Much bundle. Start with a close to cocoa card base. add a strip of riding hood red card stock, punched at both top and bottom with the scalloped edge punch. Add a strip of candy lane designer series paper, punched with the Heart to Heart punch. Stamp the hugs and kisses image in riding hood red ink on pink pirouette, very vanilla and riding hood red card stock. Punch the pink pirouette image with the scalloped circle punch. Punch the very vanilla image with the 1 1/4" circle punch. Cut out the heart from the riding hood red image by hand and add to the very vanilla circle. Layer the very vanilla circle over the pink pirouette circle. Attach the pink pirouette circle to the card base with a dimensional.

Waiting for Mojo

I'm getting better, but not feeling very creative right now, so I have nothing new to post. Sorry! Hopefully I'll be back to my normal self soon and my stamping mojo will return as well.

Garden Greetings

I know it's impolite to post and run, but I'm sick and don't have the energy to do a description of everything I used to make this card. I actually went to the doctor on Friday and the medicine seemed to be helping yesterday, but today I was even worse than before. I went ahead with my hostess and club member open house, but then I just laid around for the rest of the day. I haven't been able to really sleep, so I'm tired, and I haven't had an appetite, which also doesn't help the energy level. I just hope things get better tomorrow.

I will come back and update this post with details when I'm able. For now just enjoy the card.

An Ode to Bella

Have you seen Twilight yet? I went to see it for the second time today and it was even better than the first time! Now I can't wait to read the books and for the movie to come out on DVD!

In case you didn't know, the female lead character in the story is Bella Swan, so I though it was only appropriate to stamp a card tonight with my Bella's Bloom stamp set. This was the first time I stamped with this set, which I picked up at 20% off with the Catalog Sampler special going on through tomorrow. It's such a lovely, delicate set. I can't wait to use it on other projects!

The sentiment on this card comes from a brand new Level 2 Hostess set called A little Somethin'. As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I could pre-order one of the 4 Level 2 hostess sets featured in the Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog and, let me tell you, it was a tough choice! I decided to get this set, which has images that coordinate with many of Stampin' Up!'s punched, but I will be doing my darnest throughout the next few months to earn the rest!

I started the card with a rose red base and added a piece of designer paper from the new Raspberry Tart assortment. I then used my old olive, rose red and pretty in pink stampin' write markers to color the sentiment and stamped it on a piece of whisper white card stock. I punched out the image using the 1 3/4" circle punch and mounted it to the card front.

Using the same stampin' write markers I inked up the flower images. I added some of the stems by hand with the old olive marker and used the stamp-a-ma-jug to add leaves to the two side flowers. I punched the top two corners of the whisper white card stock with my ticket corner punch, adhered it to an old olive mat and added two rose red brads at the top. I mounted the image to the designer paper and used a glue dot to add a knot made with pretty in pink 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Don't forget to check out all the different promotions that end tomorrow, including the catalog sampler promotion where you can get any and all of the stamp sets in the sampler at 20% off with a $20 purchase. And be sure to pick up any stamp sets or accessories that are on the retired lists -- after tomorrow they'll be gone forever! Once you have a list of your must haves just click the shop now button on the right hand side at the top of the promotions page and place your order on-line! It doesn't get any easier than that!

Then tune in Monday for the unveiling of the new Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog. If you're anything like me, you're going to love it!

It's official -- team favorite make & take

So here are the three little love notes that were tucked into the folder, along with coordinating envelopes. Aren't they cute? The ladies on the team said this was their favorite Make and Take out of the four that we did, and I have to agree with them. These are just so cute and fun to make.

I used our textured card stock in pink pirouette, riding hood red and chocolate chip trimmed to 3x6" and folded in half for the love note bases. Remember, the In Color textured card stock assortment is still on sale until Sunday, so take advantage of this opportunity and stock up! You get 4 sheets of each in-color in the assortment -- plenty of card stock to make lots of cards, love notes and other accents. The textured in-color card stock assortment is regularly $12.95, but you can get it through Sunday for only $8.99 -- what a deal! Just go to my web site and click on the shop now link in the upper right hand corner to place an on-line order any time. (Be sure to check out the other inventory blow-out products as well, like the rhinestone brads and hodgepodge hardware, all on sale at unbelievable prices!)

Anyway, back to the projects. I used the scalloped edge punch on the bottom of each love not and lined the bottom with a piece of bella rose designer series paper. I hid the seam by wrapping a piece of coordinating taffeta ribbon around the front of the love note. Then I adorned each love note with an image from the Love You Much stamp set, either punched or cut out by hand. I stamped all images using riding hood red ink.

As a reminder, here's what the love notes looked like all tucked into this folder. The dimensions of the folder are 7.75" x6". the 7.75" length is scored at 3.75" and 4". The 6" side is scored at 3.5".

Again, this idea is base don a project we did as a make and take at the Leadership Seminar. I simply modified the size of the folder.

Stampy Nation Make & Take Sneak Peak

Tomorrow night I'm hosting the belated Holiday Party. for Stampy Nation, my team of demosntrators. While I would have loved for everyone to get together in December, it just was not possible, so I thought meeting in January, after I came back from Leadership and had all the news, goodies and new catalogs, would be a great alternative time.

Of course, the one thing you absolutely have to do at a Stampin' Up! demo meeting is stamp, so I prepared a few make and takes. Due to Stampin' Up! rules I can't show you many of them, as they use new products and stamp sets I picked up at Leadership (don't worry -- I'll post them next week!). More to the point, I wouldn't want to show you all of them since my team members actually do read this blog! So this is just a little partial teaser.

You can see part of the project in the first photo. I know, it looks like a CD folder mini scrapbook, but it's not. It's actually a love note folder, inspired by a note folder we made as a make and take at the Orlando regional meeting.

In the second photo you can see that the folder looks like when it's open, and you can see the love notes tucked into the pockets. I suppose I could show you the love notes, but that might be revealing too much and spoiling the surprise for tomorrow night, so you will just have to tune in tomorrow to see them! I'll have more details on the whole project tomorrow as well! I know I just can't wait for the party attendees to make these. I hope they think these are as cute as I think they are!

Raspberry Tart Valentine

Oh how I love the new Raspberry Tart designer Series Paper from the Spring/Summer 2009 Idea Book and Catalog! Once again, Stampin' Up! put together a color palette that I never would have come up with on my own, and it works beautifully!

On this card I placed a square of the designer paper on a mat of rose red card stock and adhered the matted designer paper to a kiwi kiss card base. I then added three 3/4" circles I punched out of kiwi kiss card stock and use glue dots to adhere three large vanilla half pearls from the pretties kit over the circles.

Next I took a piece of cameo coral card stock and attached it to a rose red mat. I slipped a piece of very vanilla taffeta ribbon through the round label holder from the styled vanilla hodgepodge hardware assortment (Sale Alert -- the hodgepodge hardware is on sale now through Sunday!) and tied the ribbon around the rose red card stock. I then used a dimensional to attach a 3/4" circle punched out of kiwi kiss card stock in the center of the label holder. I stamped the heart from the Sweet Celebrations set on very vanilla card stock in rose red ink and trimmed it out by hand before attaching it with a dimensional in the center of the kiwi kiss circle. I stamped the heart three more times in rose red ink on the cameo coral card stock beneath the label holder, and stamped the sentiment form the Best Yet hostess set next to the hearts. Finally I used dimensionals to attach the rose red square to the card base.

Easter Wishes

As stamped images go, this is one of my all time favorites. I have a feeling I'm going to break tradition with this stamp and continue to use it even after it retires on Sunday. the bunny is just too cute! He reminds me so much of my Stewie!

For this card the image is stamped in basic gray on whisper white card stock. I colored the image with blender pen and pastels. I used a sponge dauber and the faux frosting technique to create the clouds. In addition to the whisper white I used creamy caramel, bashful blue and barely banana cards stock. The sentiment from the All Holidays set was stamped in creamy caramel on whisper white card stock, then punched with the designer label punch and fitted into a styled silver designer label. The tab in the top left hand corner of the stamped image was made with the small oval punch.

Don't forget, both the styled silver and the styled vanilla hodgepodge hardware assortments are on sale right now as part of the inventory blowout promotion! These fun accessories really do wonders for cards and scrapbooks, and at the sale prices they're a great value!

February 14

As you can probably guess, the inspiration for this card was a red and white toile bulletin board. To create the look on the card I stamped the Bella Toile background on a piece of whisper white card stock. I then added the cris crossed 1/4" real red grosgrain ribbon. I mounted the "faux bulletin board" on a mat of basic black and mounted that to a real red card base. Next I stamped the curly label frame with a stamp form the quick and curly set in real red on whisper white card stock. I stamped the Feb. 14 image from A Happy Heart in the center, also in real red. I cut out the frame along the outline by hand, and added a basic black mat punched with the curly label punch before attaching the image at one of the ribbon intersections. For the other ribbon intersections I stamped the I "heart" you sentiment from A Happy Heart and cut out the heart in a circle by hand, then mounted each heart on a 1/2" circle punched out of basic black card stock.

It's a bit of a different look for me, but I've very pleased at how well this card matches its inspiration!

A bit of faux spotlighting?

This was the second card I made for the single layer swap and I really liked it until I realized, after all the cards were stamped, of course, that I could have easily, with a single step, made it even better. I hate when that happens, don't you?

In any case, for this card I used the Inspired by Nature set to stamp the flower silhouette in chocolate chip ink on a very vanilla card base. I then used the Dreams Du Jour set to stamp the sentiment and the butterflies, also in Chocolate chip ink. Using my 1 3/4 and 1 3/8" circle punches I created a double mask, covering the butterfly with the smaller circle and placing the larger open circle around the smaller one so I could create the faux pumpkin pie layer with a sponge dauber. To finish the card I colored the butterfly with my stamping write markers (I used more mustard, really rust, summer sun and creamy caramel) and added a bit of pumpkin pie ribbon at the spine of the card.

By now Leadership should be over and if all goes well I will be having dinner with my upline Jen, my up-up-upline Glenda, my Orlando downline, Jill and her downline, Nancy! How cool is it that we'll have so many "generations" of my Stampin' Up! family from 3 different states all in one place? Woo Hoo! And tomorrow Jill and I will go tot he Orlando regional meeting -- I'm really looking forward to the bonding time! It's been almost 9 months since I last saw Jill, so we'll have a lot to catch up on!