Father's Day Event Books

My Stamp Club ladies were here today.

And they made event books like the one I showed you here.

Everyone's was different - that's the fun part!

I'll show you a couple of pages of each one - pages that show their creativity and cleverness!

The one above is the cover of Anne's - she's Dr. Destructo's wife, so she's planning to use hers for Father's Day.

Here's an inside page from hers...




She also had pages in there for Dr. Destructo's creative endeavors (read remodeling), and his puppy dogs. And she would have loved it if I'd had a stamp set with a fishing theme, but I don't know anyone that fishes - besides them, that is!

Here's Irene's book. She didn't say who she was making hers for, but she's an avid scrapbooker, so I'm sure she had someone in mind.



She's a big paper tearing, scrunch up the paper fan, as is evidenced by this page.


Almost every page of her book was similar to this - but she was quick to point out when I was taking photos that she still needs to add hardware and other accessories. So, hers, at least, is a Work In Progress...

Del likes to scrunch and mist and tear for her scrapbooking too.


Del's the one who turned me on to SteamPunk, so she worked hard to lend that look to her book.

The cogs punch (which, by the way, is retiring at the end of the month!) is a great tool for the SteamPunk look...

And here's one of the inside pages for her book.




Kathleen decided she wanted hers to open like a calendar, instead of a book.



The tall ship is a perfect cover for her book!




And I love how she used corner pieces all thru her book! Not something I'd have ever thought to do!

I tell ya, I learn more from my creative stamping guests than I teach them most times! And I love it!

Here's the last photo for tonight. It's another one of Kathleen's pages, and I love her little flags!




A clever little added touch, don't you think?

That's all I have to share with you tonight! Hope you enjoyed seeing other's creativity!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

A Father's Day Gift

This is the top of a box I've made to give as a Father's Day gift.

It will be filled with handmade cards.

Most men don't do like the task of getting cards for special occasions, (at least in my experience), so that was the premise behind this gift.

They get the gift of not having to go purchase cards for a while!

Here are some other angles of the box, then I'll post some of the cards and how I created them.

This is the inside of the box that will hold the cards.

I used Sahara Sand CS and some of the Nautical Expedition DSP.






















These are pix of the side and front of the box. I braided some of the Cherry Cobbler/white Baker's Twine, and used it as the tie closure for the box. I had a little piece left over, so adhered it to the box's side. I also adhered some linen thread tied in various knots.

And here are the pieces I prepared before going on a card making spree!


I stamped the images from The Open Sea in Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy and Early Espresso on Confetti Vanilla CS and then proceeded to cut a good many of them out, or use them with punches. I liberally added brads and Baker's Twine and Linen thread, and any other thing I could think of! LOL

And here are some of the cards I created!























I love working with this stamp set and DSP. They just so EASILY create a lot of card ideas!

I hope you enjoyed the photos of this project. If you have any questions about dimensions, leave me a comment!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Color Challenge - Perfect Plum & Old Olive!

The other day I was blog hopping, as is my wont, and I came across a Color Challenge using the colors above.

Gotta tell ya - not my first choices of colors!

BUT, I decided since they WEREN'T my first choice that maybe I needed to try and work with them and see what I could come up with.

Now, a little reminder...

I'm a very simple stamper.

Until about three years ago I didn't even like adding ribbon to a card...

And then, one day, lo and behold, I looked at the samples I'd been playing with, and they all had ribbon!

How did THAT happen?

Don't know... but ever since then, a card looks a little bare without ribbon...

ANYHOO...

Back to the color challenge that wasn't really "turning me on"...

Old Olive
Perfect Plum
Marina Mist
Basic Black

I'll admit, once I got working with this color combo, I was able to come up with a few simple, useable cards.

Wanna see?


And when this one was "done", I kept looking at it and thinking it needed just one more thing - and that's when I added those beautiful pearls. Did you see them?

Go ahead, look again... I'll wait...

Besides limiting my color selections, I also limited the stamp sets I used.

I saw this color challenge as more masculine colors, and wanted the stamps to match the mood.

The stamp sets I used were On The Grow (Item 123075 [W] $15.95) and The Open Sea (Item 123030 [W] $26.95). Both these sets are available in the new Summer Mini-catalog.

Don't have one? Call or email - I'd be delighted to get one in the mail for you!

Or you can go to my website and see it online, if you'd rather.

Here's one using The Open Sea.




I added some of the new Bakers Twine to this one, and used the largest stamp in The Open Sea as a background stamp to add some visual interest.




I used the Baker's Twine on this one, too, and the threw in a little embellishment using So Saffron. I also put Crystal Effects on the flowers in the basket on the scooter - gives it a little pizazz, which I thought it brightened it up a bit.

I think that's why I'm not crazy about the color combo - it's too dull for my taste! But I was able to create using them, so this was a good challenge for me to undertake.

I love those bright colors, ya know... And they're always my first choice.

Just a reminder that May is National Scrapbooking Month and that Stampin' Up! has a scrapbooking special for you!

Several stamp sets on sale for 30% off, and a LOT of My Digital Studio (MDS) downloads available - also at a discount!


30% Off Stamp Sets
Page Description Wood-Mount Item Wood-Mount Sale Price Clear-Mount Item Clear-Mount Sale Price
54 Party Hearty 111532 $18.87
54 Célèbre en grand (French) 111722 $18.87
87 Grunge Rock 117080(W) $14.67 120555(C) $11.17
94 Animal Stories 116716 $11.17
106 Printed Petals 116679(W) $13.97 120444(C) $10.47
108 Simple Friendship 113397 $18.17
147 Word Play 120308(W) $29.37 120651(C) $20.27
162 Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower 120272(W) $22.37 120648(C) $16.77
17* Días Felices 115720 $13.27
20* Cumpleaños 112899 $11.17

*From Celebrando Creatividad

Are you interested in any of these sets? Call or email - I'd be pleased to order them for you.

For the MDS downloads, you'll need to order them online from my website, as they're downloaded on to YOUR hard drive - ready to be used immediately! How handy is that?

Thanks for stopping by - come back again soon!

Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax

I mentioned I'd be making more Thank You cards, this time using some items from the upcoming Summer Mini-catalog.

And here's the first one.

I've spent the evening getting to know the stamps from The Open Sea, and the Designer Series Papers (DSPs) entitled Nautical Expedition.

And I really like them!

I like the color combo (Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso and Basic Gray). The colors all just work so nicely together!

Instead of my usual Whisper White or Ivory card stock, though, this time I used Confetti. The texture of the card stock just seemed go better with the subject matter and color combo.

Not sure WHY I don't use that card stock more often. It's quite nice. It's a rougher textured card stock, with flecks of color through out it. It seemed to speak more of the Open Sea!

Here's another...



I put at least one sheet of each color of CS thru either the Polka dot or the Square Lattice embossing folders, and used them under a lot of the images I stamped in Black Staz-on on the Confetti CS.

And of course, I sponged around the edges of some of the pieces. It's amazing how much that little bit of sponging adds to an item!

And, finally, for tonight...


You might notice I've used a little cord on a couple of these cards. On the card above I used our Linen thread. It's just the right texture and size to fit with the stamp images and DSP.

One the first card I used some Baker's Twine that we'll be selling in the Summer mini.

Want to buy some of these things? Sorry - you can't until May 1st! I know - I'm such a tease, huh?

Well, now you know SOME of what you'll be able to purchase out of the Summer mini. Stay tuned, cuz I'll be playing with more of the items, and will be sure to post those photos, too!

In the meantime, remember, the Occasions mini expires on April 30th! So dig it out and go through it one more time to make sure you've purchased everything you want/need from THAT catalog!

I just purchased one more thing from it the other day - finally decided maybe I needed the Notes and Details set - it's got some stamps that I might find useful for scrapbooking, so I purchased it in the clear mount - less expensive and more space saving. Storage IS becoming a problem!

I still prefer the wood mounted sets, though. Something about the feel of the wood mount in my hand...

Whether you're a wood mount or a clear mount afficianado, I'd be pleased to have you order whatever you need through me! Just go to my website and click on the "Shop Now" button.

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!