Whale you be mine? Shimmery Valentine…

Today’s card from leadership is a very fun and cute card.

And you may want to click on the photo to see all shimmery details.

It was really fun to create the background, and so easy.. maybe a little messy. But hey, that IS the fun, right?! We had punched out 2 hearts with the full heart punch using sticky notes. We then paced them onto black cardstock and spritzed white shimmer spray (mix rubbing alcohol and a few drops of frost white shimmer paint in spritzer bottle) over the hear “masks”. Once dry we removed the hearts and had the masked look. VERY cool!

I think the Whale stamp set with the matching sizzlet die is just too cute to resist and will make for easy, quick and cute cards for all occasions. Mine is on the way

Supplies used:

Oh, Whale! (clear), #129132 $16.95

 

Happy Whale Clearlits, #129403 $7.50

 

Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, #121809 $7.95

 

Bitty Banners Framelits, #129267 $14.95

 

Sunshine & Sprinkles Designer Series Paper, #126922 $10.95

 

Designer Buttons - Brights Collection, #119747 $8.95

 

Frost White Shimmer Paint, #116854 $5.95

 

Stampin' Spritzer (2), #126185 $2.95

 

White Baker's Twine, #124262 $2.95

Cardstock:
Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink:
Melon Mambo

Misc.:
Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Dauber to ink up small hearts…

Today I want to close out by saying “Thanks a ton” for stopping by… Have a wonderful Sunday!

A little bit of organization

Yesterday I showed you a project made with framelits. So I thought I’d show you my newest attempt to be more organized.

Our framelits and edgelits come in plastic sleeves and can take up quite a bit of space. And if I kept them like that, they would be in a box on a shelf where I don’t see what I have. So I decided to make a wall with them.

Here is what it looks like:

This is the side of one of my cabinets. I simply covered it with magnetic sheets.

If you still have some adhesive backed ones lie we used to sell you can use those. But if you are all out like I was you can go to Lowe’s and get the magnetic vent covers, see here. They don’t have adhesive on the back but if you want to adhere them to walls or furniture, I am sure you know just how to

AND if you don’t want to do that and rather start a binder, you can cut them down to the size needed and insert into page protectors so when you flip page a little fast nothing will fly out of your binder…

I hope this little tip helps you to either stay organized or get started with that…

World Treasures

Oh MY – this is the PRETTIEST peacock stamp, I’ve seen in a long time! See for yourself:

The sample on page 98 in the catalog gave me the idea to paper piece him. I stamped him 5 times and then cut, cut, cut…
I took a close up so you can see the layers and the other new tools I’ve used today:


Edited to add....

Colors used:
Tempting Turquoise, Midnight Muse, Island Indigo, Pool Party.... just a great mixture of "blues".

I also used the “Alhambra” wheel (though I made mine into a stamp, of course). The scallop borders were die cut with the new edgelit “large scallop” and THEN I could not resist and used our new Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack:

The new piercing tool and piercing mat are PERFECT and it was so much fun to use.
Watch out… you know me… I will be using those a lot from now on!

QUICK Card and a new toy!

Today, I’ve whipped up a really quick card with hardly any stamping! But due to our nifty “Blossom Builders” kit (page 18, Occasions Mini Catalog), there was no stamping needed!

See:



And I want to direct your attention to the 4 corners of the card… do you see it?
No? Well let me show you a close-up then:



Yep! I’ve used our NEW “Simply Scored Diagonal Plate”! It is now available for only $11.95. See the details here.

AND, if you haven’t watched it… Stampin’ Up! posted a great video about this new tool:




Let me know if you need me to add this item to an order for you…

Sneak Peek - Mixed Bunch

… is such a fantabulous new stamp set, that I could not wait to show you. And you will see it in the new mini catalog….

This stamp set has it’s matching flower punch! And I know you all will LOVE that!

Here is a quick little card I made today:

I’ve also used some of our new framelits and one strip from the Adorning Accents Embossing folders (it’s a set of 3 different patterns)… In case you can’t tell in the picture, it’s a strip/row with tiny hearts. How cute is that! Then I finished it off with one of the new and huge pearls. LOVE those!

I hope you enjoyed this card… there might be more to come, Ahem… yes, there will be more

Have fun stamping!

Today = Bath Time

Well – I do bathe more often than just once a week and really don’t have to announce that on my blog!

BUT I wanted to share with you the view I had earlier – an no worries it’s clean in more than one way:

Heheheeeee – this is the majority of my clear blocks and while getting the stamp supplies into the baskets for Stamp-a-Stack tonight, I saw just how nasty some of them had gotten. So I decided it was bath time!

On a more serious note… if you get permanent ink like StazOn onto your blocks, no worries! The good ole StazOn Cleaner will take it off. I then wash them all in HOT water with dish soap to make sure that the oil film comes off again!

So now they are drying off and will be sparkly and ready for tonight!

See you all soon!

Custom A2 Envelopes

So today I thought I should share with you guys how to make your own pretty A2 aka “Invitation Size” Envelopes that will work with your 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 cards…

I pulled out my new “Simply Scored” Tool and made a little tutorial and also show you a trick for the place markers!


Edited to add - here are the steps so you can copy them onto a piece of paper and print. This way you can keep it on hand:

• Cut Designer Series Paper to 7 1/4" by  10 1/4"
• Put Paper onto the Simply Scored Scoring Tool in Portrait, score at 3/4" and 6 1/2'.
• Flip paper 90 degrees (=Landscape) and score at 2 1/4" and 6 3/4"
• Use Paper Snips to remove four outer corners  and create tabs
• Assemble

Now you can make the envelopes yourself and have it match your cards… How neat is that?!
Have a wonderful Sunday… I am getting ready to have fun at Technique Class!

New Toy Alert

You all know just how much I like my BigShot and the cool dies and all. Well there is another great big die, called “Petite Pocket” (page 221) that one might overlook. But since I saw it used at convention, I had to have.

And I’ve already put it to use… and I really, really liked the outcome!

I needed some little giftcards and wanted to go a different route than my usual little card. So here is what I did:

I did some sponging on the outside to make it stand out a little more. And I used my new favorite “alphabet” stamp set “Occasions Alphabet” and made a little greeting “banner”.

By the way, when you use this die, it cuts and scores so you better use the Premium crease pad so it won’t cut through the score lines. It also cuts out those little circle that normally are used for like a “string-wrap” closure. But I used them in a different way:

I simply took a piece of cardstock and cut it so it would fit inside the pocket.

I used my Tombow Multipurpose Glue on the back of the gift cards (just a thin line), let them dry completely and then attached to the cardstock. Now the gift cards are removable and can be redeemed one by one…

Did you know?

…. that you can add some more dimension and interest to your projects when using our embossing folders with Designer Series Paper (DSP)?! See, after you’ve ran the DSP through in the embossing folder you can sand the raised surfaces and they will become white! You can used solid colored DSP or patterned/printed DSP, Like I did here:

And this is the little card:

Actually this is a gift card holder with a Stampin’ Up! Certificate inside… Oh, that’s another “did you know”…

Did you know you can purchase gift certificates for your friends/family? Yep, you sure can… in ANY amount too, just contact me! I will make up something pretty for you!

Have fun playing with DSP, embossing folders and Sanding blocks (see page 198!).

Blue Owl

Last week I needed a baby card for one of my Thursday night stamp club ladies. And of course I wanted it to be a special one and to go along with the gift.

You see, Maria loves Owls! So we as a group got her a gift and the print on the bags on bib were blue owls! How perfect!

The card that I made for her was inspired by one I’ve seen somewhere on the internet by Dawn Olchefske. Here is mine:

And just because some of you might wonder… Here's my punch list:

• Ballet Blue Body - Wide Oval Punch
• Ballet Blue  Belly - Scallop Oval Punch, sponged in brilliant Blue
• Kraft Legs – Boho Blossom Punch (smallest flower)
• Bashful Blue Arms – Small Oval Punch
• Bashful Blue Ears  - 5-Petal Flower Punch
• Kraft Nose - 5-Petal Flower Punch
• Basic Black inside of Eyes – 1/4” Circle Punch
• Bashful Blue Eyes - Heart to Heart Punch
• Chocolate Chip Branch - 2-Step Bird Punch
• White Tag- Curly Label Punch

Search for Color Combos

Some or most of you that visit my blog also used the website that let you search for Stampin' Up! Color Combinations. Sadly that site has been discontinued due to the expenses involved.

I had saved another site and had totally forgotten about that one. You can find it via my blog by clicking on the button found in the side column!

 

 It's very easy to use, you can just simple drag and drop the color(s) you need inspiration for into the little boxes on the search page.

While you don't have to sign up for an account, you can do that with a free one. I did just that, because I think if we all share our favorite color combos, we can make this a great search tool again...

Have fun searching and sharing!

Great Video for our new punches

I am so happy to tell you that Stampin’ Up! just posted a video that shows you how to use our new punches. I know we all are very excited about those, but may have encountered some confusing moments when we tried to use the corner punch.

And as a refresher, here is the info on those punches:

 

118072	Pinking Hearts Corner Punch	11 (mini catalog)	$9.95
117649	Pinking Hearts Border Punch	11 (mini catalog)	$15.95
118870	Scallop Trim Corner Punch	11 (mini catalog)	$9.95
118402	Scallop Trim Border Punch	9 (SAB)	FREE

Those and all of the others can be found in the Occasions Mini Catalog!

Go practice with your new punches, have fund with them and let me know what you’ve created with them!

January Hostess Gift

This month I had lots of fun making the hostess gifts… It’s one of those that uses no stamping but incorporates several tools that lots of have…

Here it is:

 

This is another sample on how you can use “My Digital Studio” or “My Digital Studio Downloads” in your crafty endeavors…

Without doing a step-by-step, I am just listing a rough list of tools used to create this project:

"My Digital Studio" Program, "Medallion" MDS download, Inkscape (free) program, "Sure Cuts a Lot" Program, and Cricut Machine...

Did you know that Stampin’ Up! has a slew of vinyl colors? You can view them online, just click here.

And the cool thing is, that each package comes with two sheets of vinyl, along with two sheets of transfer tape (approximately 14-1/4" x 24") for $12.95! This is not only cheaper than the competitor brand ($9 for the Vinyl plus $9 for the transfer tape) but is also a little bigger!

Don’t forget you can cut the vinyl with your dies and die cutting machines as well! Lots of fun and great projects ahead…

Happy Monday!

Blogger's Challenge - Color Combo

Oh this week was a challenge right after my own heart. We were to use Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive and Ruby Red. This was so easy for me - I guess I am an "Earth Elements" kind of girl and didn't even know it :-)

I did a minimum of stamping on my project - you really have to look closely to even see it because it's done in VersaMark on Chocolate Chip.

I am so loving my new Big Shot Machine and the dies that I have! So of course I had to play some more with it... This project came together in MINUTES!

I think it turned out pretty cute - but see for yourself:

The strip of Mustard Cardstock under the flower is from the Big Die! Since I didn't really know what to use those 2 strips for, I figured they could go on the basket/tote like a decorative border?! If you know what they are actually ARE for, please let me know!

Supplies Stamps: Stitched Exotics Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive and Ruby Red Ink: VersaMark Accessories: Brads, Dimensionals, Tacky Tape, Liquid Glue Tools: Big Shot, Sizzix Bigz XL Die - Baskets & Blooms, Sizzix Sizzlits Die - Birds & Blooms

Have a great weekend!

Limited Wall Space

Today I thought I'd share with you how I've solved my problem of limited Wall Space... I've seen so many times now the wonderful storage solution of hanging all the punches on like towel bars on a wall. BUT in my stamp room there is no open Wall left, especially not at my work station! That whole wall is windows! So I asked my hubby if we could still do that sort of and we DID!

He used 2 curtain rods for each row of punches. One for the punch to sit on and the other a little further in to lean on, since we didn't have the wall to hold them up...

I totally LOVE my new punch storage "wall" - Here it is:

Did you know: How to assemble Stamp Sets

Well, I know most of you think now, what is she talking about "WE KNOW how to do that!". And of course I don't doubt your ability at all. But I came across an awesome tip by Stampin' Up!. See the perk of being a demonstrator is that we get a monthly magazine called "Stampin' Success"! And this months issue had a great article about how to mount TWO STEP stamp sets for easy usage, and also how to mount regular stamps but so they are perfectly centered and straight. Just think about you sometimes fight with aligning the 2nd stamp over the first stamped image of a 2-step stamp set. Or how frustrating it can be when you stamp a greeting and it comes out crooked.

Well if you follow the tips in the following pictures (please click on them to enlarge!), then these situations will be a breeze for you in the future!