Simple Gift Idea

The new Holiday Mini began this month and I am a BIG fan of paisley!!! So the first thing I ordered was this cute stamp set called Paisley Prints. It's a set of 5 with a leaf, a pumpkin, two different size hearts and a little Christmas tree! :) You can look at the mini on my website click HERE to download your own .pdf copy.
I guess I was inspired by the image in the mini, because the first project I did was a candle using 3 leaves in different colors, and that's exactly how they featured it. I honestly didn't remember the catalog version when I created mine...it must have been buried in my subconscious LOL. My club members really enjoyed making their "gift sets!"

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Paisley Prints, Day of Gratitude

PAPER - Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Confetti Cream (inside card)
INK - River Rock, Pear Pizzazz, Gold, Cajan Craze

OTHER - Hemp, 5/8" Crochet Trim, Gold Embossing Powder, Word Window Punch, Green Satin Ribbon

SU! Regional

Saturday was the SU! Regional Event at the Fort Worth Convention Center. I just had my 5th anniversary as a demo and amazingly I've never attended a regional event before. Well, let me tell you, you'll have to lock me up to keep me from attending another one. That was AWESOME! It was like an intimate version of convention, which I couldn't attend this year, so I'm not feeling as sad about it now. :)

We had 6 make-n-take projects to complete and there were lots of inspiring presentations to watch throughout the day. Business ideas, and fellow demonstrators that went on stage to show us their "workshop wows." I really love being part of the Stampin' Up! family!!!

Twila, her mom, Sally, Laura, Sherry, Barbara, Mary, Jena

After the Regional was over we went to Twila Mooneyham's house for an after party. She was MORE than generous with BBQ, treats, and even THREE projects for us to do while we sat around her kitchen table chatting. As we were finishing the bird (pictured below) I was floored when she said there were two more projects for us to do. WOW Twila, really? We had a GREAT time, but were truly exhausted driving back after a full day of fun. Thanks again Twila, you ROCK!!!

The paper bird we made is somewhat similar to one in our Catalog on p.173, although I honestly think this is a cuter version with the beak, eye, and ribbon detail. The one in the IB&C is more rounded and I checked the corporate website to see if there were instructions for their version, and they have a bird, but it's a little different. It's really cute too, so I'm sharing...see below. Twila found her template on another blogger's site that was her inspiration. We affectionately referred to our birds as Twila Bird while we were making them! lol Here's a link to her blog post about it. She doesn't give instructions, but she gave us each a template to take home, so I'll probably do one for a Future Ladies Night. I really like my "Twila Bird!" :D

Paper Bird (July 2010 Art Show)

(These are the instructions on the SU! Corporate Website)

1. Cut out bird body, tail, and chest from Very Vanilla card stock using this pattern (Other Pattern #13 from Pattern Library). If the link isn't working, email me and I'll send it to you!
2. Repeatedly stamp artistic circle image in Baja Breeze ink on bird body. Apply Crumb Cake ink to bird body using sponge dauber.
3. Pierce holes along edge of bird pieces using paper-piercing tool and Mat Pack. Sew bird pieces together using needle and thread. Spritz bird using  Color Spritzer Tool and Soft Suede marker.
4. Cut flowers from Baja Breeze textured card stock and Newsprint Designer Series paper using Big Shot and Island Floral Bigz die. Punch hole in center of each flower using 1/16" Circle punch. Layer  flowers, and secure with Antique brad. Adhere flower to bird.

 tweet tweet

Celebrations Par-tay!

I've been working hard on the invites for one of my little birthday princesses. Two of my three daughters have a birthday this month, so I'm up to my eyeballs in party planning! I ordered the super cute coordinating Celebrations Party Banner, and Party Hats for the first event and also the Quick Accents and matching Designer Series Paper to scrap the whole thing after the party is over. You should see the cute photos on page 52 in the catalog, there is so much you can do with these!


The first thing I did was punch out the party hats so I could use the leftover card stock on my invites. Who could let this super cute paper go to waste?

I had lots of leftover card stock after punching out the banner pieces too. In the catalog it simply says you get over 100 letters etc. with multiples of popular letters. I decided to take invetory and give you the specifics here.
The set includes 30 white brads for assembly and the following letters/numbers:
4 letter "A," 3 letter "B," 3 letter "C," 3 letter "D," 4 letter "E," 4 letter "F," 3 letter "G," 3 letter "H," 4 letter "I," 3 letter "J," 3 letter "K," 3 letter "L," 3 letter "M," 4 letter "N," 4 letter "O," 3 letter "P," 2 letter "Q," 3 letter "R," 4 letter "S," 3 letter "T," 3 letter "U," 2 letter "V," 3 letter "W," 2 letter "X," 3 letter "Y," 2 letter "Z,"and 2 party hats and 2 stars. It also has 2 of each number 1 - 9 and 1 zero.

After punching it all out I'm amazed by how much excess patterned card stock I have to play with, so I punched some stars from the various patterns to use on the insides of the invites too. Her birthday is Sunday and the party will be on the 25th. All I need to do now is finish typing up the details for the insides and put them together. My goal is to make sure they'll be ready to pass out on Monday when I bring cupcakes to share with her classmates. What 'cha think? I'm lovin' them!!! :)

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Party This Way, Short Order Numbers

PAPER - Real Red, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Bashful Blue
INK - Real Red, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz

OTHER - Star Extra-Large Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, White Gel Pen, White Thread

Little Scrappy Things

We always do a 6x6 page at Club and I'm sure you've noticed how much I love doing them. They are so quick and easy since you really only need one photo. I have a bunch of them in a small album and they represent a nice variety of family pictures over the years that my girls can easily enjoy...not to mention share with their friends without me fearing for the pages inside! ;)
The heart image you see was done with the emboss resist technique. You stamp with VersaMark (a clear pigment ink), heat emboss with clear embossing powder, then brayer a dye based ink in any color over the top. The ink doesn't stick to the embossing powder, but you do need to wipe the excess off with a damp paper towel. This image was prefect for this technique.

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Baroque Motifs, I {Heart} Hearts

PAPER - Greenhouse Gala DSP, Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
INK - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Versa Mark

OTHER - Full Heart Extra-Large Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Brayer with Rubber attachment

At my last Ladies Night we made this fun little mini scrapbook. I may just be putting first day of school stuff in there, but really haven't decided yet.

Here's what the inside looks like...

...and the back matches the font. I LOVE this paper!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - In a Word, Upsy Daisy, Paradise

PAPER - Greenhouse Gala DSP, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
INK - Baja Breeze, Real RedWhisper White, Certainly Celery

OTHER - Scallop Oval Extra-Large Punch, Embosslits Beautiful Wings, Assorted Ribbons

Blissful Birthday

This card was created for my brother Bruce, and my Stampers Club enjoyed recreating it when we last met. It was really easy to do thanks to the Big Shot and all it's really fun die cuts and embossing folders! I'm Finally posting today since I'll be giving it to him in a few hours.

I chose my color combo right from the new Color Coach. I really like how it has a "Dynamic Duo," "Creative Combination," and "Sweet Set" for each color. The Color Coach will continue to be an invaluable tool for my crafting.

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS -Birthday Bliss

PAPER - Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
INK - Chocolate Chip, Markers: Marina Mist, Certainly Celery

OTHER - Sizzlits Swirly Decorative Strip Die, Textured Empressions Perfect Polka Dots

Digi Dabble

It's almost time to make another calendar. That was a big project last year, and since then I have only used My Digital Studio to make a few 12x12 pages. My only excuse is my undying love for ink and paper. ;) But I will continue to dabble, it's a lot of fun!

MDS can scratch that crafty itch likety split. I really like the built in templates, you can just drag and drop photos in. It's amazing how quickly you can do a page!
Templates are set up as "albums" with multiple coordinating pages. You can also choose one or two by just deleting the extra pages before you build your "project." And the template will still be there for later use if you decide to build additional pages from it. These are from the Designer Template Sunny Day 12x12 album.
I really liked the look of this page the way it was, but I only had one photo I wanted to use. Once I started tweaking things I couldn't stop! LOL Actually I didn't spend too much time on this. An easy thing to do with an existing layout is copy and paste items to move around. That saved me time from browsing through all the other various embellishments available. I also added more background paper and several drop shadows for dimension. Not the best quality photo, but I LOVE it!

Stampin' Supplies:

My Digital Studio™118108 $79.95

For more information about what My Digital Studio can do, visit my website.

COOL Creations

Here are two yummy little cards made with the Sweet Scoops stamp set in the Summer Mini.

The set has 8 images and is available in both wood mount and clear mount...rubber stamps that will cling to acrylic blocks. They come in a case the size of a DVD box. It's a great option for space saving and I like being able to see what I'm stamping on a little easier. Or should I say I can see it more clearly. :)

W 117078 $18.95
C 120078 $14.95

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Sweet Scoops

PAPER - Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla
INK - Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo

OTHER - Scallop Edge Punch, Textured Impressions Square Lattice, Clear Embossing Powder

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Sweet Scoops

PAPER - Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla
INK - Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Sahara Sand

OTHER - Scallop Edge Punch, Machine Stitching

The Good Stuff

Today I had an open house to celebrate our brand new catalog and give everyone a taste of some of the new things. I used new Designer Series Paper on both projects and everyone's favorite was the Newsprint DSP!

The card is a little square 4-1/4 x 4-1/4 card. I intentionally left it without a sentiment so it can be used for just about any occasion. I call this a "5 minute card" since it can be done super quick...especially since I had the supplies pre-cut for everyone! ;)

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Inspired by Nature, Circle Circus

PAPER - Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Newsprint DSP
INK - Basic Black, Daffodil Delight

OTHER - Scallop Circle Punch, 5 Petal Flower Punch 

This is a mini scrapbook page. The photo spot is 4-1/4 x 5-1/2, and I used just one glue dot under the photo corners so it will be easy to add a fun picture at any later date. Isn't this paper "funky fabulous" too? I love it!!!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Awash with Flowers (2 step stampin')

PAPER - Baja Breeze, Greenhouse Gala DSP, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie
INK - Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi

OTHER - Photo Corners Punch, Textured Impressions Square Lattice


One more thing. I just had my 8 year-old assistant pick a name from the jar. The winner of the doorprize is Jayne! Congratulations Jayne!!! :)

Sister Love

Today is my sister's birthday! Happy Birthday Barbara!!!

I gave her this card last weekend at a family celebration, and she LOVED it! :) I can't take credit for the layout, or even the color combo. I CASEd a card I thought was BEAUTIFUL, and why reinvent the wheel, right!? The card I saw was a thank you card made by a fellow SU! demonstrator, Chris Smith. I made a few changes of course. lol

Copy
And
Share
Everything

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Vintage Labels, Candle Crazy builder wheel (Summer mini)

PAPER - Only Orange, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip
INK - Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette

OTHER - 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Corduroy Button, Big Shot Texture Plates Kit#4, Textured Impressions Perfect Polka Dots, Flower Daisies #2 Die

real RED whisper WHITE & brilliant BLUE

Here is a fun little 6x6 scrapbook page suitable for a single photo, a little trio, or even a collage. I really LOVE my little 6x6 album and have lots of fun pages in there that span a large time frame. It's portable and would make a great gift too! Since we have family plans for the 4th this year, I'm expecting to take the usual 400+ photos so I'll likely mount this onto a 12x12 and morph this into a DPS...but I don't have to! ;)

The page was made with Textured Card Stock as the base, and two of the accents are stamped images using the rock-n-roll technique. All I did was ink the image in red, then I carefully rock-n-rolled just the outer edge of the image in blue before stamping! Totally easy, really cute effect!!!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - July Fourth (Summer mini)

PAPER - Brilliant Blue textured, Whisper White, Real Red
INK - Brilliant Blue, Real Red

OTHER - Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Curly Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Glad to Have Dad

This is for my father-in-law. This was the first time I've spritzed the paper with a little water before using a texture plate. The difference is amazing. I got a really good impression, and then I smeared ink over it to add even more depth!
I think I'm going to add a fishing hook and some line before I send it to him, but since it will be a workshop card tonight, with a birthday sentiment option, I didn't want personalize it too much. So you'll just have to use your imagination to envision the final awesomeness of this card! LOL ;)

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Forest Friends, Enjoy Every Moment, Jumble Alphabet

PAPER - Kraft, Brocade Blue, Whisper White
INK - Old Olive, Brocade Blue, Close to Cocoa

OTHER - Top Note Die, Distressed Texturez Plate

I don't think I could ever make a card worthy of my wonderful father, but I hope he will like this one.  I went with a checkerboard pattern using nine 1x1" squares. The game pieces are from a stamp set called Game Night, and my dad LOVES to play games!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Game Night, Medallion, Jumble Alphabet

PAPER - Confetti Cream, Summer Sun
INK - More Mustard, Night of Navy, Close to Cocoa

OTHER - 1/2" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Friday ya'll!

Sally

Stampers Club Projects

The little beauty on the left is a fun size, 4 x 4" square and I made it using only ONE stamp set, Simple Friendship. I love these stamps, and you'll be happy to know this set isn't going anywhere! :) I stamped the butterfly on my scratch paper and then edged the stamp with a Close to Cocoa Marker before stamping it on the card stock. Click on the image below to see it up close (there are also flowers stamped in the background).

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Simple Friendship

PAPER - Whisper White, Barely Banana, Close to Cocoa. Kaleidoscope DSP
INK - Bermuda Bay, Barely Banana, Close to Cocoa

OTHER - Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Paper Piercer

The birthday card was made using my favorite technique, polished stone! I really like the result I got with these colors. For a tutorial on this technique, click HERE. And look at me, again I only used ONE stamp set! lol

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Upsy Daisy

PAPER - Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Glossy White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
INK - Dusty Durango, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Metallic Gold, StazOn Jet Black

OTHER - 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Rubbing Alcohol, Clear Acrylic Sealer

Lastly we did a fun little treat holder. It's made from a Big Shot die called Pillow Box, and I just punched a window to reveal what's inside! :)

Stampin' Supplies:

PAPER - To the Nines Specialty (designer card stock)

OTHER - Pillow Box Die, Curly Label Punch, Chocolate 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

P.S. Wanna join us for some crafty good fun? I'm currently looking for members to join the July - December club. Members get FREE stuff for being in the club, and you have to do is place a monthly order and have a good time! Click HERE for more info!

Last Chance List!

The Last Chance List is here!!! If you have your eye on a specific stamp set, June might just be the last month you'll be able to order it. You'd better check your list and check it twice!

Stampin' Up! has also released a list of retiring Decor Elements (self adhesive vinyl art) and a list of accessories, which is being depleted quickly and updated daily. For more info on these limited Accessories, visit my website. The best way to get 'em is to order online!

Samantha's Card

One of my nieces got married a couple of Saturday's ago and I have been holding off on posting this card, so she wouldn't see it here first. The bride was absolutely GORGEOUS and she and her new hubby are so happy! :)

The card was made with the colors from her wedding, Handsome Hunter and Sage Shadow. I wish I could have really captured the sparkle on this card in the photograph.  The dress is made up of two layers. Very Vanilla card stock with Vellum over the top. The Vellum layer was embossed using a template for the Big Shot, then I traced over it with Two Way Glue and dusted the whole thing with Dazzling Diamonds. I also coated the hunter piece with Smooch Sprtiz! :)

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - All Holidays

PAPER - Very Vanilla, Vellum, Handsome Hunter, Sage Shadow, Cottage Wall DSP
INK - Handsome Hunter

OTHER - Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions, Scallop Circle Die, Dazzling Diamonds, Two Way Glue, 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Rhinestone Brad, White Gel Pen, Smooch Spritz

Creative Catch Up

Well as I mentioned before, there have been many things to cross my craft table that I haven't shared here yet. Sadly a few of them found homes before I thought to photograph them, but here are a few things I can share with you now...

This is a birthday card for a sweet little man in our lives. He just turned the BIG 3 and he LOVES trains! I wish I had taken more than one photo, this one is a bit blurry and you'll have to excuse the background, but I am thrilled with the way the card came out *patting self on back* and so I just had to share it with you anyway! ;)

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Headline Numbers*

PAPER - Only Orange, Basic Black, Going Gray, Whisper White
INK - Going Gray Craft embossed with Silver, White Gel Pen

OTHER - 1" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Corner Rounder, Word Window Punch, Key Tag Punch*, Silver EP

*retired 

One of my newest cool toys is an embossing folder for my Big Shot. They make such a wonderful deep impression and were designed with cards in mind, so you can run a 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 (or smaller) piece through and get great results...but in this instance I used a 6x6 piece of card stock and created a mini scrapbook page. I also dredged the paper across my White Craft Pad to make the flowers pop even more.
The tulips were created using the bird wing from the 2-Step Bird Punch, just punch three of them, edge the paper with a darker shade, and voila. It's so easy!This is going to be GORGEOUS with the right picture on it!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Extra Postage
PAPER - Almost Amethyst, Brocade Blue, Sage Shadow, Whisper White
INK - Ballet Blue, Whisper White
OTHER - Textured Impressions Elegant Bouquet, Two-Step XL Bird Punch, Dimensionals

Now even though my Mom passed away more than 10 years ago, there are still many special women in my life and I try to celebrate them too! We sent this card to my husbands mother earlier in the month, and she loved it! :) I love the Circle Circus Stamp Set!!!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Circle Circus, Jayne's Type Alphabet

PAPER - Orchid Opulence, Pale Plum, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
INK - Orchid Opulence, Pretty in Pink, Summer Sun

OTHER - Gold Brad, Summer Sun Corduroy Button, Butterfly Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, 1" & 3/4" Circle Punches, Small Heart Punch, Dimensionals

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. It can be a challenge to find time for it, but at the very least, there are plenty of bedtimes stories read around here...even if we don't always do it at bedtime! LOL This is a bookmark that used to be available in our catalog, but even now that it isn't it would be pretty easy to cut your own simple rectangle, punch a hole and round the corners.  It measures about 5-1/4 x 2". Or even better make one using the Two Tags Bigz Die for the Big Shot!

Stampin' Supplies:
STAMPS - Of The Earth, Flight of the Butterfly

PAPER - Whisper White
INK - Bermuda Bay, Summer Sun, More Mustard

OTHER - Brown Grosgrain Ribbon

Lost in a Fog

For some reason April was a whirlwind of a month for me. The month wasn't void of crafty things though. I had club night, ladies night, posted many a sketch on Splitcoast, but between the crazy weather and all the home improvement stuff I was working on, my blog suffered!

I still have several things that I need to photograph and post, so stay tuned for more craftiness to come!

For now I'll leave you with today's sketch:

To see pages created with this sketch, visit the SBSC237 Gallery!

Color Renovation

The new catalog will be here in just a few short months, and the anticipation builds for a new group of In Colors. Well guess what? There's a whole lot more going on. Stampin' Up! has done extensive research on the sales of the existing colors and the decision is in...it's time for a change! So hold onto your hat, get your big girl panties on, and say goodbye to the following colors:

Pink Passion           Almost Amethyst       Glorious Green
Pixie Pink               Bordering Blue          Handsome Hunter
Pale Plum               Brocade Blue             Sage Shadow
Orchid Opulence    Ballet Blue                 Mellow Moss
Lovely Lilac           Brilliant Blue             Green Galore
Lavender Lace        Taken with Teal         Gable Green


Barely Banana        Ruby Red
Yoyo Yellow           Cameo Coral
Summer Sun           Blush Blossom
Apricot Appeal       Creamy Caramel
Only Orange           Close to Cocoa
Really Rust             Going Gray

Well they aren't exactly out the door just jet, but these colors will only remain available through the end of June 2010. With that in mind you'll want to get yourself a reinker and/or pick up some more paper while you still can! Visit my website for easy online ordering.

The remaining colors are being re-categorized into 4 groups of 10. We'll have 5 NEW colors in addition to the In Color Collection and some In Color's from past catalogs are making a comeback!!!

Image - "Rainbow Ocean" by Thelma 1 at deviantart.com