BRIGHT & Cheery

Bright, isn't it?

It's a card I got as a swap at the Stamp A Thon I attended last month up in St. George, UT.

I like it, but then I'm a Bold Brights gal...

Oh yeh, Bold Brights don't exist any longer. Now they're just Brights...

Whatever, they're my kind of colors! Bright and cheery...

The background of the card is Pacific Point. Such a beautiful blue... Other colors used are Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, and Daffodil Delight, with the DSP being Old Olive. There's a splash of Night of Navy there, as well.

I like how she sprinkled colored circles all over the card to add some more "pop". And the Melon Mambo brads add another just right detail.

The ribbon is Peach Parfait stitched poly. (Item 119264 $8.95).

The little envelopes on this card were made using the Petal Card Extra Large Double punch (Item 119273 $17.95).

Very clever use of this punch! And it helps that there's CHOCOLATE in those envelopes!

The designer also used the Sizzix die Tasteful Trim (Item 120893 $42.95) from the Holiday mini. BUT, this die is still available, if you're interested!


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Tomorrow is my friend, Jay's, 75th birthday. You met him a long time ago in a photo from the Wild Animal park - we'd gone out there to look at the epiphyllums in bloom.


So, tonight I've been working on a birthday gift for him. I probably won't finish it in time to take photos of it before I have to run off to his birthday dinner - but I'll try. And, if I'm successful, I'll share it with you later.

So, Happy Birthday, Jay! And MANY, MANY more!

And it's also some other friends, Kathleen's and Anne's birthdays tomorrow, too! Neither of them is celebrating their 75th tomorrow... Just some number below that, which I'm sure is fine with both of them!

So, Happy Birthday to both of you as well!

I can't remember any other day of the year where I know more than two people who share a birthday! Wonder what the odds are????

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

It's TIME!

Yes, it's time for me to be DONE with my family calendars!

But, unfortunately, I'm not.

Here's where I am in the whole project.

ONE calendar is done to the point where I can actually start adding the dates for each month and any special occasion information.

Last night I was finally able to get all the photos and journaling done for each of the 12 pages for four calendars - that's one for my Bro & SIL, one each for two nephews and families, and finally, one for myself!

Tonight I attached journaled pages to the prototype calendar.

I started thinking last night about the months - generally I stamp the names individually, but I'm so far behind at finishing these things (I'm still HOPING to have them ready to mail by the end of March!), that I finally decided I'd try to do the month and year info using My Digital Studio (MDS).

And I did!

Here are photos of the pages I created in MDS

















I have the MDS download for making a calendar, so I just used the months info as it was already set up.

I adjusted the length of some of the names of the months, so that they'd fit better on the "Days to Remember" 6x6 calendar (Item 104144 $9.95).

I printed them out on Whisper White CS and spent the evening cutting and pasting these to the actual pages of the prototype calendar.

What I like about this calendar is that I can start it any month of the year that I want to! And I ALWAYS need to start it later than January!

If you noticed, this year's will start in April... Sigh...

Oh, and I DIDN'T have to cut the year information - I used a PUNCH! WOO HOO!

Lookie


Yep - the Tiny Tags punch! (Item 117190 $10.95 - page 202 in the big catalog)

It was PERFECT!

I'll just fake the hole in the tag with my wonderful Sharpie Ultra-Fine RETRACTABLE pen. Like this


and we're good to go!

Of course, now that the photos are actually attached to the calendar, it looks pretty bare! Need the dates, of course, but before they go in the mail, I'm sure each of the calendar pages themselves will also have the occasions we need to celebrate, as well as some stamped images of some sort!



Can't have all that white space, you know! If I go ahead and send them this way, it'll drive me nuts! So, guess they probably won't make it out of here before the end of March - although that's STILL my goal!

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Hey, did you remember that this is the last week for getting your FREE STAMPS from Sale-A-Bration (SAB)?

Well, it is. March 31st is the last day this year anyone can enter a $50 and receive a free item from the SAB mini-catalog. That's Wednesday, for those of you (like me!) who have to have your computer to tell you what day of the week it is!

So, hurry up! Dig out the Occasions mini or the big catalog and do some shopping - take advantage of Stampin' Up! - they'll LOVE IT! And so will I!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Wraskally Wabbit!

Isn't he cute?

He's looking a little googly-eyed, but he's still darned cute!

Wanna see him up close and personal?



He's made entirely with punches!

I found him on someone's website - or maybe it was Split Coast? I don't remember, sorry to say - so if it was you I CASEd him from, THANK YOU!

We made him at my Team Meeting this past Monday, and everyone fell in love with him, too!

I'm SUCH a visual person - you can write the directions til the cows come home and I will not be able to follow them.

But, give me a picture, and I'm off and running!

So, here's your visual of what it takes to make Mr. Wraskally Wabbit:


I used the XL scallop punch, the large scallop punch (1 & 1/2 times), the large and small oval punches, the 1" and the 3/4" circle punches. I used one of the flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch. And of course, a smaller circle punch for his eyes. And last but not least, the smallest heart from the Heart to Heart Extra Large punch.

Pretty simple, eh?

Generally, all I have to do is have a visual, and I can usually figure out how to make things like this.

But how in the world did the first person to come up with this even SEE Wraskally in all those punches???

So, in the first photo above, all I did was attach Wraskally to a petal cone die piece that I made exactly as it was cut by the die.



As you can see, it's long and narrow, so I had to put a small chocolate covered marshmallow bunny inside, as that's about all that will fit. The square chocolates from Girardelli will fit, too...







And here's another idea:




A cute little Easter Basket! This one was made using two of the petal cone die cuts.

I want to make a tutorial for this one, so I'm going to leave you hanging and swinging - no instructions for this one tonight! You'll have to keep checking back to see how it's made!

Hey do you realize there exactly ONE MORE WEEK of Sale-A-Bration?

Yep, that's right - -one more week to get your FREE STAMPS when you make a $50 purchase.

So, what can I order for you?

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

A Close Shave

So, what do you think this is?

Looks like icing - maybe I was getting ready to ice a cake?

Well, no... it's not icing...

Whipped cream? Maybe I was going to put some whipped cream (with food coloring mixed in) on a cake or a triffle or a sundae?

Well, no... it's not whipped cream...

OK, you give up?

It's SHAVING CREAM!

I'm creating backgrounds for my cards, using shaving cream!

So, here's what happens...

You squirt some shaving cream on to a large flat surface. I used a disposable cookie sheet that I picked up at the $1 store.

That way, if I chose to just pitch the container, it wouldn't be too expensive. Of course, shaving cream is manufactured to be washed down the drain, so in this instance, I did just that when I was finished - washed it down the sink.

But back to the technique itself.

After I squirted shaving cream on my cookie sheet, I took a large craft knife and spread it around, smoothing the top of it.

After I was satisfied it was fairly smooth, I took re-inkers of three different colors and dropped them on various places all over the top. Like maybe 3-5 drops of each color through out, so I ended up with 9-15 droplets of re-inker in all. You can use many more drops of the lighter colors than the darker ones without them overpowering the piece.

I started with my lightest color - think it was Daffodil Delight. After that, Peach Parfait (I've been on a Peach Parfait kick lately, haven't I? LOVE that color!). And finally, I added Pear Pizazz.

Then I took my craft knife and marbled all those colors together.

So much for the prep part!

Now for the fun part...

Now - you should know this up front. You will NEVER get the same thing twice with this technique...

And remember, IT'S A BACKGROUND for your card, not a main image...

So you take your card stock (whisper white, Ivory or any pastel colored CS) and put it face down on to the shaving cream. Press down, so that most of your paper makes contact, otherwise you end up with lots of white space and no marbled color. Then pick it up.

It's gonna be messy! Take that craft knife and scrape off as much shaving cream as you possibly can. Then after that, take a paper towel and wipe the balance off. Lay it aside to dry, and take another piece of CS and repeat the process.

You can re-arrange the shaving cream, re-marble it, if you will, and you'll get entirely different patterns each time.

Once you've made as many pieces in this color combo as you want, you can swirl the shaving cream around and add some other colors of re-inkers. And you'll get entirely different looking pieces!

The only down side to this technique is that your CS will FOREVER smell like shaving cream.

Now, I don't mind the smell of it for about 5-10 minutes. But to continue to smell it days after I've played with this technique does begin to get to me... I've searched high and low for a shaving cream with no scent and have yet to find one.

If you know of one, will you PLEASE leave me a Comment and let me know it's name and/or brand? I'll forever be in your debt!

So - would you like to see some results?

Here they are...


On the left, are the pieces I made using Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizazz.

Then I rearranged the shaving cream, added some new re-inkers, and came up with the rest of the pieces in the photo.

I'm sure I've added color a couple of times by the time I made those on the far right.

This is one of those techniques that you want to make a LOT of them while you've got everything out.

Then you put the pieces somewhere, and pull them out occasionally to make cards or other things.

When you're ready to use them, try running them thru the embossing folders - they look AWESOME!

Wanna see?


I used the Polka Dot embossing folder for the one above.

Or how about this one?



It shows off the new Tulip Embossing folder quite nicely, don't you think? I'm still cogitatin' as to how I'm going to finish this one, but notice that I did mount it on Peach Parfait CS.

And here is a finished card made using the Shaving Cream technique...


And, finally...

On this one, I took a piece of CS I'd put through the Shaving Cream technique, then ran it through Mr. Big and the Fun Flowers die, and made the flowers.

I sponged Cherry Cobbler ink on to the edges of the petals.

I also embossed the image from Bliss (SAB set) with VersaMark and clear embossing powder. I love how doing that makes a very dark image - and I didn't apply any color!

So, what do you think about this Shaving Cream technique? Have you ever tried it? Do you know of an UNSCENTED shaving cream that I could use for this in the future? Please let me know if you do!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

More Resist(ance)

I thought I'd show you what I did with another piece using the Emboss Resist technique.

I showed you - well, ok, described to you - how to do this technique here.

Gosh - a LOT longer ago than I'd imagined! February 12, 2011...

Well, things languish on my workbench and stamping tables for a while, it seems!

Anyway, this one was just laying there, begging me to play with it. I ignored it for about a week, and then couldn't resist (ha ha) any longer.

So I sponged on Peach Parfait and Regal Rose, blending them well - and look how beautifully it turned out!

I mounted it on Peach Parfait CS, then mounted that on to some of the new DSP that I, as a demonstrator, could order this month. We demonstrators do get perks, you know! Hee hee

You'll be able to order it after April 1, so just hang in there. I'll be showing you more of it as time goes along.

Or, of course if you DID want to get this earlier, you could contact me and sign up for my Stampin' Up! Team - we're always looking for those who love to stamp!

Back to this card, though...

The DSP is called Paisley Petals, and has some lovely paisley prints, as well as some nicely subdued sheets. This is one of the subdued pieces, and the colors I'd chosen worked wonderfully well with it.

Talk about lucking out! I had NOT had anything in mind when I started sponging it other than the two colors I saw in my brain!

I mounted the entire piece on to Cherry Cobbler CS, and then I added one of the banners from the Petal Cone die - I always seem to have some of those hanging around...

After I stamped the banner with the "Happy Birthday" from the "Something to Celebrate" Hostess set (in the Occasions mini), I attached it on the left side, curled it a little, attached it in the middle, then curled it a little more, and attached to the right side. So, it's got a little 3-D effect! I cut about 1-1/2 inch off of the entire piece...

I had a piece of Victorian lace lying around on my work bench, too, so tied a knot in it, and attached it to the card with a mini-glue dot.

And, voila!

A pretty decent birthday card, wouldn't you say?

I just found out one of my DL just celebrated her 60th birthday this past week! I was amazed! Happy belated birthday Laurie! This one's for you!

So, why don't you dig out those pieces of emboss resist you made after reading my blog entry a month ago - and play around more with them!

Then, post a photo in the Comments column! I hear from some of you occasionally via email or Facebook, but always love to see those Comments, too!

Thanks for stopping by - come back again - SOON!

Oval the Whole Card

Isn't this unusual?

I made this card at the Stamp A Thon I attended a couple of weeks ago.

*I* would have NEVER thought up this idea! That's what I love about going to stamping events held by other demonstrators.

There's always at least one idea that I personally would never have come up with. Stampin' Up! demonstrators (and their customers!) sure are a creative bunch!

This card is made from Blushing Bride CS (one of this year's "In" colors) and Whisper White CS, with Chocolate Chip CS as the accent color.

And those ovals? Very different, aren't they?

Very easy to make, as well, BUT, you need to know the secret -- and guess what?

I'm going to TELL it to you!

Are you ready?

OK, here goes...

You punch the SMALLER oval first, THEN you punch the larger oval around the smaller one.

Isn't that easy?

I really like how we punched the ovals NOT perfectly aligned. I think most human's natural instinct is to punch them perfectly aligned, and that's what makes this card so unique.

Want to see a close up?

Here ya go...



And I really like how we added those AWESOME pearls to the card. Adds just the right touch!

Items used for this card:
1-3/4" x 7/8" large Oval punch (Item 119855 $15.95)
1-3/8" x 5/8" large oval punch (Item 119863 $15.95)
Basic Pearls (Item 119247 $4.95)
Blushing Bride CS (Item 119796 $6.95)
Whisper White CS (Item 100730 $8.50)
Chocolate Chip CS (Item 102128 $6.96)

Do you need either of these oval punches, or those pearls?

Call, email, or place an on-line order. And remember, when you place an on-line order, be sure to select me as your demonstrator so that you get preferred pricing!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Ms. Maisy (Regrets)

Isn't she cute?

She belongs to my friend and DL Patti (hi, Ms. Patti). Her name is Maisy, and she's about 2 years old now.

She's the subject of today's blog post because Patti made this card using My Digital Studio (MDS) !

And not only that, Patti used the MDS DVD from the Sale-A-Bration catalog to make the card - and it's a FREEBIE once you've purchased $50 in other product. Did you even notice it was there? It is - on page 7.

Yes, I'll wait while you scramble to find your copy...

Don't have one, you say? Call or email me, and I'll be happy to get one to you!

The DVD has all the stamp images (they're called stamp brushes in MDS) from the SAB catalog, as well as the Ice Cream Parlor DSP, ribbon, buttons, and die cut adhesives. Lots of fun things to play with!

I've been seeing photos of Maisy for as long as Patti's had her, and wanted to meet her in person. So, Patti brought her down to my house about 6 months ago.

And, she's just the CUTEST thing! A long haired dauschaund (sp???), so she can be a little stubborn. But definitely CUTE...

I used to have a corgi/spaniel mix dog named Georgi who could be pretty stubborn, too, so maybe that's just the way dogs are!??!

Me, mostly I've been a cat person, so when I got Georgi, it was a learning curve for me. We finally got to the point where he could read my mind, and he was a great little dog. And very smart.

He'd go next door (he loved my neighbor, Richard) and bark at their front door and they'd let him in. And when he was ready to come home, he'd bark again, and they'd let him out, and home he'd come... They always had dogs, too, so I guess Georgi went to visit... Although *I* think he was more interested in Richard, than the other dogs...

He would sit out in the front yard and guard both Richard's and our home. It was so funny to watch. He'd stay in the yard, too, with the exception of visiting Richard.

And he'd greet the neighbors with a wag of his tail and a smile... Oh - and my customers, too! Great little dog. Seriously thought about having him cloned!

Anyway, back to Maisy and MDS. Patti used a lot of the accessories from the SAB catalog to embellish her card, and I think she did an awesome job!

She printed this more as a postcard than a greeting card - so there are other possibilities besides greeting cards. And, hopefully, she's going to use this in a scrapbook at some point too!

So, do you now NEED the SAB DVD? Call or email to place your $50 order and it's yours!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

To The Showers!

The Kidz have suddenly discovered the shower.

Not sure why they're almost three years old, and it's taken them this long to find it!

Velvet comes in to the shower when I'm done each time, and licks my legs dry for me. She's done that since she was a tiny kitten.

But Melie and Mudge... Well, either Velvet's more of an Alpha cat than I thought and has decreed the shower off limits for them, or they are much slower than I thought!

So, here they are, chasing something in the shower pan. Don't know if either of them caught it before it escaped down the drain (eeewww!) or what. I didn't stick around to keep tabs.

I also caught all three of them munching out on their breakfast the other day. It's really HARD to get the three of them in the same photo, let me tell you!


From top to bottom: Velvet, Mudge, Melie...

Looks like Mudge is eyeballing Velvet's food, but trust me, she won't go near the dish until Velvet leaves! Cause if she does, Velvet will more than likely turn around and bat her. She knows this from experience! Hee hee

And I FINALLY got a decent photo of Smedley (Melie) sitting up in his domain - the rafters in the garage...


He lounges up there even when I've got people sitting at the tables below, stamping. And every once in a while, he decides to come down while people are at those tables and manages to startle at least one of them!

He's a little shy of others, but lately, he's been letting people pet him, as long as they don't move too quickly.

He's NOT shy with me - he's a whiner! He constantly wants petted and brushed. He actually stalks me around the tables in the Stampin' Garage. Too funny!

I'm not trying to stalk you, but have you given me your order for Sale-A-Bration so that you can get your FREE PRODUCT? This is the BEST DEAL Stampin' Up! offers all year. Spend $50 and get a $15 item FREE!

Call, email, place your order on my website - just don't miss out on Sale-A-Bration this year - it all ends on March 31st... HURRY!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Plane and Simple

I've liked this set since I first saw it in this year's Occasions mini-catalog.

Plane & Simple - wood mount - Item 121903 $21.95; clear mount - Item 121964 $16.95.

This card has such a masculine feel. Basic Black, Whisper White and Basic Gray card stocks were used. Very crisp and clean - very masculine.

Besides the bi-plane and the goggles, the set also has happy birthday, Happy Father's Day, and thank you stamps, as well as a compass, and two stamps that are design elements.

There were a few other cards on display that used this set, but, unfortunately, I had a very shaky camera hand that day, and this one and one other are the only "postables" (is that even a word? hmmm...) that I can share.

Here's the other one.



I like how the designer collage stamped the images, using Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Basic Black inks, then cut the piece into three and layered them.

She used Crumb Cake, Whisper White, and Basic Black CS.

Then she took the "J" from Define Your Life, which defines a Journey. Very appropriate for the plane image!

See anything that tripped your internal creative juices? Maybe this set would be PERFECT for making cards for someone in your life?

Well, call or email me and give me your order and we'll make sure you get the set!

Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon!

Flora

This stamp set and punch, which are designed to match, were very popular in classes and swaps this past weekend.

And I'm not surprised!

The stamp set is called Build A Blossom (Item # 121923 - wood - $25.95 or Item # 121994 - clear mount - $18.95). The matching punch is called Blossom Petals Extra-Large punch (Item 121808).

Lots of elements to this card: Springtime Vintage DSP, Rose Red seam binding and cardstock, Build A Blossom stamp set, Blossom Petals punch, and Eyelet Border punch. And they all work...

These tools have multiple outputs! Don't believe me? Look...



Yeh, I know. It's BRIGHT!!!!

I did try to tone the photo down a little, but then the colors didn't look anywhere close to what they really are...

This one features Daffodil Delight CS, another piece of Daffodil Delight which was run thru the Square Lattice embossing folder, some satin ribbon, and an Antique Brad. The petals for the flower were stamped using Tangerine Tango ink.

And here's another...



This one's more subdued.

The designer used Rich Razzleberry CS, the Framed Tulips embossing folder, some Old Olive 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, and an Antique button.

But isn't it interesting the colors and combos three different stampers put on these three cards?

That's the beauty of it all!

You say you like one part of the first card and another part of the third one? Well, all you have to do to combine them is choose your color combo and work your magic with the stamps and punch, and viola! You've got your own card! And you didn't have to dream it all up from scratch!

Want to play with this stamp set and punch? Call me and book a workshop, and tell me you're interested in these items and you can be sure they'll be featured at YOUR workshop!

And don't forget, we're still celebrating Sale-A-Bration (SAB), so you and your guests will receive, FREE, one item from the SAB catalog for each $50 you purchase! How can you go wrong? FREE STUFF!

Call me!

Thanks for stopping by... Come back again soon!

Took a Little Break

Didja miss me?

I went out of town for a stamping event and got so wound up in the preps for the trip, I ran out of time to post for a couple of days.

But the road trip was worth it!

We had a very fun "girls weekend" that included stamping, shopping, eating, and gambling, not necessarily in that order...

Here we are, at Jill's Stamp A Thon in St. George, UT


The photo was taken at the end of a very long day spent stamping, but we'd had so much fun all day, we weren't even tired!

Roxy and Colleen attended with Susan and I...

I thought today I'd show a few of the display items, and another day (or two or three!) share photos of some swaps I received and the items we made at the Stamp A Thon.

Here's a quilt Jill made using the Sew Sweet fabrics. It's darling!


Here's a close up of those fantastic buttons!



She used the Sweet Stitches fabrics for the main quilt and chose other fabrics in the same color families for the buttons, so that they would make a statement.

Did you notice there are some real buttons on the quilt too?

Go ahead - scroll back up there and check them out.

They're the Designer Big Buttons (Item 122302 $8.95) and match the Sweet Stitches fabrics perfectly!

And here are some fabric flowers that had been made using various Big Shot dies and fabrics other than those that Stampin' Up has sold.



Pretty, aren't they?

And you know what? They're EASY PEASY!!!

Want to learn how to make some? Contact me and let's set up a "play date"!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Distressing Thoughts

This is our Distressing Essentials kit, Item 118762, $19.95.

It comes in this very strong plastic holder with a slide closure.

And here is a look at the "guts" of the kit.


There's a sanding block and an emery board.

These are for sanding DSP off the edges of chipboard, or roughing up something fairly flat.

There are three different rasps. A round one, an oval shaped one, and a square one.


You can use these to get in close around an alphabet piece, when you've adhered DSP and need to trim it down.

There are four ink spots, in colors that we don't carry in the regular sized pads.


The colors are Tea Stain, Charcoal, Mahogany, and Navy.

There is also a stamp in this kit. It's just a flat piece of rubber, which you adhere to the wooden block.

Its purpose is to shade the edges of things - you ink up the stamp and rub the ink on to the card stock in a circular motion, working from the outside in to the middle. Adds just enough color to make things look aged. Works pretty slick!

This is one of those tools that makes your stamping life a little easier.

Need one? Give me a call or an email - I'll be happy to order it for you next week when I put an order in...

Thanks for stopping by - come back again...