Stamping In My Neighborhood

Not my usual stuff

This is definitely not one of my typical cards.  First of all, I tend to rarely put anything other than rectangles on my page.  But the Big Shot makes it so easy to get this scallop circle shape, I decided to give it a try.  I also knew I wanted to use some of my beautiful Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon, so I selected the combination of Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie from a chart that SU provided us with for the new In Colors.  It's a great fall combination. 

It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but I used the Paper Piecing technique on the large flower.  It's actually three layers!  Sure it takes a little time to cut out each layer, but not that long and when you add them with dimensionals, it really adds realistic dimension to the flower.

I had to make something a little out of the ordinary because this was going to one of my friends (and former downline) for her birthday.

I did not fall off the face of the earth!

Sorry it's been so long.  I've been consumed with directing my church's Vacation Bible School.  It took place last week so I'm a little freer now.  Although with family visits upon us, just a little bit, so don't look for daily posts quite yet.

Here's a card that I did at my July workshops that people absolutely fell in love with.  I CASEd it from someone else, although to be honest, I've lost the details of that in my mess that I call a craft room.  Anyway, it would make a gorgeous wedding card.  Also a nice sympathy card, I think, with perhaps a little tweaking.  Not that the two occasions go hand-in-hand, lol.

The card features the Fresh Cuts stamp set.  The large image is one stamp and the writing in the background says "thinking of you".  I added some dry embossing using my Big Shot and the SU Backgrounds' Flourish Texturz plate.  The ribbon is the white organza, one of my absolute favorites.  It combines satin with sheer...beautiful.

Crushed Curry, anyone?

This is another card I'm featuring at most of my July workshops.  The floral image was created using the Reinker Spread technique.  The stem is a die cut created by the Little Leaves die and my Big Shot and Old Olive CS.  The stamp set was Fifth Avenue Florals and I added a little interest with the Scallop Edge punch.

This Crushed Curry base color is really warm and inviting.  It's going to look especially great with the fall cards I have planned in my head.

My fall calendar is already starting to fill, so if you are interested in hosting a workshop, please schedule now.

Cute little boxes...little effort

I just love my Matchbox Die for my Big Shot!  Here are two matchboxes I did at a workshop last night.  The first one is just one I demo'd, showing how to use the Thick Window Sheets (they are thick!) to create a see-through cover.  The box itself is made from Rich Razzleberry cardstock, which is one of the new In Colors.  The tag is from the Matchbox Messages stamp set.

The second box shows a stamped cover.  I stamped it with Fifth Avenue Florals.  At the workshop we actually used Embrace Life because I thought I left my FAF set at home.  Turns out I had moved it to a different bag during my set-up.  I found it when I was cleaning up.  Embrace Life worked well, but nothing beats Fifth Avenue Florals!  The colors are Certainly Celery and Tempting Turquoise.  It really is much cuter in person.  The boldness of the Turquoise and the softness of the Celery didn't translate too well in the photo.  Actually, I guess you get that impression, but you don't get a true sense of the lovely combination.

A New Catalog Year is Upon Us

Did you miss me?  I was on vacation.  A lot has happened since my last post...namely that a new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog was unveiled!  It's fabulous.  Lots of great new stamp sets.  Lots of great new stamp sets and very attractive price points!

And, of course, there are new In Colors.  This year's colors are Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay.

Also, Stampin' Up! has announced they'll be having Deals of the Week throughout July.  Today they unveiled the one that runs until 11:50 AM (Eastern time) next Monday...the Doctor's Bag that goes with the Big Shot.  It's on sale for $20 off!  If you would like to order this bag, click on the Shop Now button in the upper left column of this blog.  That'll take you to my online store.  If you've been eyeing this fabulous bag, NOW is the time to get it!

If you would like to schedule a workshop to get a copy of the Idea Book & Catalog for free, or to see the new In Colors in person, or if you want to place an order personally rather than online, please contact me today!

I'm going to leave you with a card I did using the new In Color, Soft Suede.  The actual Soft Suede color is somewhere between the one you see as the base of the card and the color you see on the far right in the first image of my In Color cardstock packages. 

Roses I can't kill

I do not have a green thumb.  At all.  If you give me a plant, it WILL die.  Unless, of course, my husband is put in charge of it, then it'll probably make it.  But look at these roses.  They'll last forever.

Once again I was inspired by fellow demonstrator Patty Bennett.  It's a technique that is a take off of one I use in one of my advanced technique classes but it incorporates one of my favorite Big Shot items...the Manhattan Flowers Textured Impressions Die.  This item, which is only $7.95 by the way, makes gorgeous rose impressions every time.  For those of you who own it, you can use it with no tabs and you'll get a great impression, so if you're running it through your Big Shot and it's feeling tight (and the impression you gets distorts the paper some), try using the thinnest setting of the platform, which is no tabs.

To create this card, I brayered Summer Sun, Rose Red and Cameo Coral on the cardstock.  I did not apply even layers, and I was a little selective in where I put some of the darker areas.  The photo didn't come out very well for some reason so you can't necessarily notice those facts.  The leaves are from God's Beauty, a Level 1 hostess set.

Contact me today if you would like to schedule a workshop and learn, first-hand, how to create this card AND have the opportunity to earn that hostess set (among other things) for free!

Matchbox Dresser

I've seen some beautiful matchbox projects all over the web, including dressers.  One of my fellow demonstrators and cyber friend, Lyssa (who I got to meet in person at Leadership), is even collecting 100 different things you can do with the Matchbox Die.  Anyway, I wanted to make a quick project for Father's Day.  Guys aren't too flashy, generally, so I wanted to keep this manly and simple so a man could keep this on his work desk without too much ribbing.  I decided to go with a plain, borwn dresser.  And there was no stamping involved.  Had I had the time, I might have added some drawer liners or stamped images to put on the tops of the Rolos, but I didn't.

What would YOU put in there?  There are four drawers.  Candy in some and office supplies (like paper clips) in others?  A love note in one?  Let me know your ideas!

Oh, and yes, the top and the bottom of the dresser are made with the Top Note die...another Must-Have!

So Girly!

I've seen some variations of this card in several places so I thought I'd give it a try.  The dress is really simple to make...if you use the Scallop Bigs die with your Big Shot.  I first created a pattern by die-cutting a piece of chipboard and then cutting a wedge out of each side to give it a feminine shape.  Then I die-cut a scallop from Real Red Designer Series Paper (had some left over from last catalog's hostess benefit), traced the pattern onto the reverse and cut it out.  Having the pattern means I won't have to carefully measure and count scallops each time...a good time-saver!

I then added a narrow white grosgrain sash with a scrap from my scrap bucket and a pink Fire Circle brad.  I mounted the dress to a piece of Basic Black cardstock with dimensionals (after embossing "adorable" from Warm Words on the black), then mounted everything to a Whisper White card.

I think this would make a great Sweet 16 party invitation, bridal shower invitation or just a great card for a girly-girl.

Mother's Day Card

The second I saw the Manhattan Flowers Impressions Die for the Big Shot I knew I'd be ordering it the second I got it.  I had to wait 6 weeks since it did not become available until March 1st...oh the torture!  But I knew it would be a great tool to make quick, beautiful, elegant cards.  And I was right.  So I ordered the supplies knowing that I'd use them in a Stamp-A-Stack I had scheduled tonight.   I was really going for a very simple look, as you see in the first image.  Just the embossed card, a little daubing of ink, a greeting and some gorgeous white organza ribbon.

But then I saw a card done by Patty Bennett that had one little addition...vellum cardstock.  This is just soooooooooooo beautiful.  So, of course I decided to let the SAS participants do one of each.  What a great Mother's Day card (or any card for a woman), and it would make an even lovelier wedding card.  One of these days I'm going to get serious about promoting my card-making services and this will be an option in the wedding section.  And, honestly, it doesn't get much simpler.  In case you are wondering how the vellum is attached:  I used SNAIL on the left edge, where the ribbon is. 

I'm going to be demonstrating this card in my April workshops.  To schedule a workshop with me or for more information on joining a Big Shot Club, please contact me.