Crop Drop and Roll...

I went to my local monthly crop again last Friday, and somewhere between the chit and the chat I managed to SCRAP! That in itself was somewhat amazing, since my sister came with me! LOL!!!

I printed off 24 of my sketches that I've never used. Isn't that wacky? I almost completed 2 layouts, which is why I couldn't post them sooner. It's hard to be totally prepared at a crop...at least for me it is, so they both required some additional stamping when I got them home.


I did this one first and aside from the "title" and the flourish, it was done at the crop. I added those Monday afternoon.

Stamp Sets: Brocade Basics, Priceless
Paper: Bella Rose DSP, Pink Pirouette; Kiwi Kiss card stock
Ink: Riding Hood Red Classic
Other: A smidge of ribbon, Square Fire Brads, Paper Dasies


These brads are so cool, and you get 80 in four colors (pink, red, pumpkin, yellow) and two sizes for $10.95. Stampin Up! also carries Square Ice (lilac, light blue, turquoise, green) as well as round versions of both!


This layout came together really easy, and I love this DSP. Maine Blueberry...YUM! The Inspired by Nature set has this awesome grass stamp that I knew would be perfect for this page, layered over that the title is stamped with Lovely Letters.


The little dandelion image is from a new set in the 2008 holiday mini. LOVE this set, it's way cute!!! You can download a copy of this catalog simply by clicking on the image on the right! I'm totally looking forward to the next crop...my pictures are piling up!

The Art of C.A.S.E.ing

Copy And Share Everything!
I love lots of the samples in the Fall Winter 2008 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog. One in particular, on page 101, uses the same stamp set I was dying to play with. Upsy Daisy...my favorite stamp set at the moment! ;)
If I were to sketch this card my version follows the sketch to the T. But I used a more contrasting color on top instead of going with a more monotone look.
I found the perfect little scrap to use as the paper strip. Do you have the new scallop border punch? Everytime you punch a scalloped edge on something, you get this skinny little leftover strip. Well since I never throw anything away, I have all my Night of Navy scraps tucked away with my Night of Navy paper. I knew it'd be just right for this card...as soon as I added some faux stitching!!!
For my niece's birthday I CASEd the same card again. This time I made a pink/red version with the Bella Rose paper. The "label" in the center of the card was done with the tag punch. It was pretty easy. I just slipped each side of the paper into the punch from the bottom. Easier than trying to cut straight edges. And then I went around it with a marker to give it a little extra pizazz.

Building Bob

Inspiration
I spent the last two evenings making these cute invitations for our daughters birthday party! One thing about having the internet at your fingertips is the wealth of resources available... I just did a search in the SCS gallery for "SpongeBob" and found this cute invitation designed by Carrie.


Problems
I didn't have any red felt, I don't have the Simple Shapes stamp set, and I don't own Gable Green in Classic ink. So I had to improvise and while I was at it I also made a few other minor tweaks. As far as stamps, I managed to find two circles from different sets I could use, and I'm happy with just the two variations of spots. To get by with Green Galore, I just stamped off on my mat before stamping on Spongebob....perfect!

Tweaks
The first change I planned to make was to his pants. Spongebob wears a belt, so I decided to draw it on with my black journaler, easy! For his tie I used Real Red textured paper, and I decided to paper piece his collar since the nose is done that way...and it's too cute!

Measurements are as follows
Card base 4-1/4 x 5-1/2"
Body 4-1/4 x 3"
Shirt 4-1/4 x 1 - 1/2"
Pants 4-1/4 x 1"

And the assembly goes on...

Cut the body in a random wavy pattern.

Stamp circles overlapping on his body

Cut circles with punches to assemble eyes

Add eyes

Draw on eyelashes and add nose

Draw on smile and dots on cheeks

Make yourself a template to trace and cut out neckties

Draw belt on pants

Punch a square and cut it in half

And then cut those in half

Assemble shirt and add collar

Bunches of Bobs

*Republished in 2012 to embed photos from Slide.

Fun and Festive Fall Goodies

The next Ladies Night projects

The little bag was inspired right out of the new Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter catalog; it's on page 29! I filled mine with candy to give it a more festive purpose, and used a pretzel for the stick.
The tag is Kiwi Kiss card stock with "Happy Halloween" stamped repeatedly on it. I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch around the Perfect Plum scallop circle, overlapped a Tangerine Tango piece with pumpkins from Thoroughly Thankful, and added a black cat from Window Dressing. The cat was heat embossed with silver embossing power before I colored him black and trimmed him out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The card is a simple colorblock design, that I've added some distressing and quick doodling to. I used leaves from the level 2 hostess set Fall Flair, floral branches from the Eastern Blooms set (15% off through 9/30), and the sentiment is from a Level 1 hostess set Best Yet. The center features a die cut flower and leaves from the Birds and Blooms Sizzlits Set. I did the polished stone technique on glossy white paper using gold pigment ink, and Classic reinkers in Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss, and Riding Hood Red. The die cut leaves, scallop circle, and center button give it a nice finished look.

Customer Satisfaction Survey

Stampin' Up! is inviting you to share your thoughts and opinions about its products, the catalog, online options, and me, your demonstrator! Please click here to take a short 10 minute survey.

Your responses are confidential. You will not be asked for any personal information and your answers will not be disclosed to other parties. You will not be subjected to any marketing or sales efforts as a result of your answers to this survey. The deadline for completing the survey is Wednesday, September 24, 2008. Thanks!!!

Guess What!? Exciting News!!!

Today is the beginning of a new era with Stampin' Up!
I'm sure you are aware I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and I also have an "official" SU! website. It has come a long way in functionality and personalization from what it was "back when." The catalog used to be online as a seperate link, and you could access it from my website, and I was linking it on my blog...but wait...the new one isn't. Why, you might wonder!? Well as of TODAY, you can go directly to my website and do your online shopping! Yup, that's right! The 2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog is now available right on my website. From my homepage (http://sally.stampinup.net) click on the blue box that says "shop now" and do some exploring! You can search for a specific item, browse by product type, there are even new projects you can browse and select items of interest from!!! We've come a long way baby!

A Slight Boo Boo

I announced the arrival of the 2008 Holiday Mini catalog in my September newsletter. While I have a copy, I realize the mailings have not yet gone out. Oops!!! Once they do, I will update the sidebar on the right and include a .pdf version like the other brochures you see there.

So stay tuned, the Holiday mini is coming soon!

Sketch Time!

Here's the sketch I posted yesterday over on Splitcoast. I was hoping to utilize a little time this afternoon to scrap it, but the day got away from me. So, I'm sharing it with you regardless, and will post again if I manage to use it soon!
Hope it inspires you!!! Oh, and if you use it and post somewhere, leave me a comment with a link, I would LOVE to see it!

Papered Over

What would life be like without ModPodge? Isn't it just the greatest for gluing paper all over everything???

I just got several packs of Designer Series paper in my last SU! order and I so love them all. I got Windsor Knot for a clipboard class. I decided to paint the clipboards with acrylic paint and just add a strip of paper instead of covering the whole board. It gave me a place to stamp, which is important for a stamper! I choose a dotted pattern even though the stripes were my favorites, but the color scheme is awesome either way. My attendees snagged up those stripes and wouldn't you know, they're clipboards turned out fantastic!

Doing the beaded pen wasn't hard, but it was a learning experience. If you lay five strips of sticky strip on a piece of wax paper it makes transferring the tape to your pen easier, BUT if those strips are butted up next to each other you'll end up with a slight gap in your beads....so here's a tip: space them just a hair apart and the pen will come out perfect!!!

The day after my workshop a certain crafty child of mine, yeah you know the one, wanted to make a clipboard too. She choose the Bella Rose paper, and I gave her a flower out of the Eastern Blooms set to stamp with...ummm, her clipboard is GORGEOUS! How did that happen? LOL! Well I wanted the class clipboard to be neutral, not feminine, and it is. But Miss Thang wanted hers to be ALL GIRL!

This Saturday I'm doing another workshop. This time we're making little recipe files. This was a cute project we saw at convention. Mine is different from the one that was shown to us there, but the idea is the same...converting PopTart boxes! hehehe Like I needed an excuse to buy PopTarts! This is the Maine Blueberry paper. Isn't it yummy?