Tropic beauty

I have some great bloggers to follow and that has made me a little nervous.  I took inspiration from Claudia's Hawaiian excursion with some help from Pinterest.

Sorry that the picture is sideways but I'm sure you still get the idea.  I started with scraps of pumpkin pie, calypso coral, and cherry cobbler card stock that I cut with the mustache  frame lit.  The bottom petal is a full one and the remaining petals were cut in half.  I painted them with dazzling detail to give a little sparkle.  The bud was also done using the same frame lit but in gum all green and embossed with clear powder.  The stem was cut with the word window punch.  The background is whisper white card stock embossed using lovely lace (one of my favorites) and adhered to pear pizzazz card stock.  The side flourishes are also in pear pizzazz using the flowering flourishes stamp set.  The final touch was an expression frame lit in gum ball green.

I hope you all enjoy and welcome back Claudia!

xoxo,
Robin Aho

My Play Date with Stampin' Up!

Hi, Everyone!  It's Joy again :-)
Today I was fortunate to have a couple of hours just for me.  So I gathered some Stampin' Up! goodies and decided to play.
I pressed some inkpads onto a transparency, spritzed with water and than ran some tags made using the Angled Tag Topper Punch (#133323) and a page from my art journal through the inky goodness.

Then I played with random stamps, including Dotty Angles (#133658) and the hostess set Bloom with Hope (#133952). I punched out some butterflies from the tags and some scraps of DSP using the Bitty Butterfly Punch (#129406) and was inspired to create this art journaling page...

The writing is a re-working of a quote from some one I can't recall (sorry quote buffs) and reads

"am I a woman dreaming I'm a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming I'm a woman?"

Thanks for visiting while Claudia has been on holiday and have a happy, creative weekend!

Art Journal Page using Stampin' Up supplies

Hey guys!  you all know how I love love love to create art journal pages.  For those of you that don't, journal an Art Journal is something you do just for yourself!!  It can be anything and everything! Just image playing with paints, inks sprays dies stencils and just letting yourself do whatever your imagination can come up with.  There is no right or wrong.

This page was done using almost all stampin'up supplies.  The LACE and the SATIN FLOWERS were purchased.  I mixed my own colors using reinkers and glimmer paint for the background.

Here is a closer look:

I cut the corset from a free hand sketch.  And that was just part of the fun.  Size of my journal pages are 9 x 12 but you can use any size paper you wish.  This one is actually the cardboard piece that comes on the back of designer paper packs cut to size.  It was sturdy enough to hold up to my 'playing'.

The quote....  Happiness is that sublime moment when you get out of your corset at night...Joyce Grenfelt...was found online with a google search for corset quotes. I typed it on computer, printed out, tore around it and distressed it.


 Hope you like it as much as I do!! I'll be happy to answer any questions.


Sandra

Watercolor Fun!

Hey guys!

This is Sammy filling in for Claudia. I had some trouble logging into my account so I have to use my mom's.

Anyway onto the card! My card is called watercolor fun! I always love the ocean/sea life theme stamps. I had never really seen an underwater themed card with boats! So off I went! As all of us know the blendablities are no longer. :( So I started with watercolor paper and an aqua pen! I soaked the water thoroughly. Then I started painting with Lost Lagoon, then blended the middle with island indigo and finally ending with night of navy. Once I got the color and shading I wanted, I let the paper dry. I then stamped the boat from the open sea in memento so that only the top of the boat showed. Using gorgeous grunge I stamped off in night of navy at the bottom of the page then again at the top of the page with island indigo so that it looked like air bubbles. I wanted it to look like the colors got lighter closer to the top. Finally, I stamped the school of fish (cause we all know there is a ton of fish down there!) in the silver and just placed them all over the page. Once everything was dry I glued the watercolor paper to the back card, which was night of navy. Lastly, I stamped my greeting and used a dementional to pop the greeting off the paper! Then ta-da! You have an underwater card.

Hope everyone enjoyed it. :)

Sammy

Ink: Island Indigo, Lost Lagoon, and Night of Navy
Paper: Night of Navy, Watercolor Paper
Stamps: Open at Sea, Endless Greetings

     

Paper Flowers

Hi!  Guest blogger Nance' Seifert here.

I love making paper flowers for cards. I thought I would show you how to make them using punches. Start the flower by punching a circular base using green card stock. I used the Cog punch for my circle (retired). I punched the petals from Daffodil Delight card stock using the Blossom Petals Builder punch (retired). Use a darker color ink and sponge the ends of the petals that will be toward the center. I used Pumpkin Pie ink. Gently score down the middle of the petal with the score tool and fold in half to shape.

Glue the petals side by side around the circle.  Do the same thing for the next two rows, alternating the petals.

To make the center, punch a small circle out of Early Espresso card stock and glue to the center of the flower.  To make the center more realistic, I used the distress tool on the card stock and made a pile of paper fluff.  I glued the fluff to the small circle.  I used a broader shaped punch for the leaves and glued them to the bottom of the flower.

I used Whisper White card stock for my card and embossed it using the "Framed Tulips" embossing folder (retired).I stamped the ferns from the "Butterfly Basics" stamp set using Mellow Moss ink (retired). The longer leaves were cut using the Sizzlit "Little Leaves" die. They were glued to the bottom of the flower.  The flower was placed on the card and secured with dimensionals.

The little butterfly from "Butterfly Basics" was stamped with "Baja Breeze", punched with the "Bitty Butterfly" punch and adhered to the card using dimensionals.  The greeting is from "Sincere Salutations" (retired).  It was stamped directly on the Whisper White card using Early Espresso ink.

This is a fun technique.  It is amazing how many different flowers you can making using punches and colored card stock.  Give it a try!

Supply List

100730 Whisper White Card Stock

119683 Daffodil Delight Card Stock

133676 Mossy Meadow Card Stock

119686 Early Espresso Card Stock

137154 Butterfly Basics Stamp Set

(retired) Sincere Salutations Stamp Set

126945 Pumpkin Pie Ink

(retired) Baja Breeze Ink

126974 Early Espresso Ink

133645 Mellow Moss Ink

(retired) Framed Tulips Embossing Folder 

(retired) Little Leaves Sizzlit 

(retired) Cog Punch 

(retired) Blossom Petal Builder Punch 

129406 Bitty Butterfly Punch

125624 Score tool

126189 Paper Piercing tool

104430 Stampin' Dimensionals

118491 Clear Mount Blocks

110755 Multi Purpose Liquid Glue

126889 Stampin' Trimmer

129407 Stampin' Trimmer Rotary Addition

Fun with Scraps!

Greetings everyone!  Hope you are enjoying the vitamin D that Claudia and Rob have been sharing with us.  Today I'll be sharing with you my love of "Scraps".  "Saving Cuts and Random Attractive Paper snippets".

Okay I made that up but it has you thinking doesn't it?

Hands up....how many of you have a stash like this?

This is my stash.  It sits on my desk ready at a moments notice.  When the stash starts to overflow, then it's time to break out the Top Note die and make some card foundations. This is a great technique for those that don't like to fussy cut.  It's also great for feeding that OCD side too. 

Step 1: grab several sheets of a light colored card stock. I prefer SU! White as it is slightly thinner than darker CS.

Step 2: cut each sheet in half and then in half against.  You end up with a 4.25 x 5.5 " pieces.

Step 3: apply your favorite adhesive across the CS foundation.

Step 4: start ripping and layering your scraps onto the foundation.  It's okay if nothing lines up or if everything hangs off.

Step 5: place your scrap foundation on the Top Note die and cut.  Other die cut shapes work too.

Don't forget to get out your favorite SU! Stamp set and stamp on the back ground. 

Here is an example of what can be done with scraps or that beautiful DSP you have been holding on to:

Now go have fun with those "Scraps"!

Theresa Wade

Bokeh Technique

I have never written a blog post before, but I am excited to try this out! I really am so honored that Claudia would allow me to assist. 

Pinterest is a double-edged sword for me. It is the ultimate over-stimulation station. However, I was looking up photography techniques one day and read about the bookeh technique. In typical fashion, one click led to 100 additional clicks. I began to think that I could use the technique for cards too. So here is my take on the bookeh technique. 

I absolutely LOVE to use the sponge on backgrounds, so this was right up my alley. After sponging a few colors randomly, you use white Kraft ink on the top. I used different size circles for my card. I really like how it turned out. I hope you do too!

Happy stamping! 

Allysha

Coloring My World after Blendabilities

Hi, Everyone!  And Aloha to Claudia and Rob! This is Joy, from the Tuesday group filling in while Claudia and Rob have a fabulous time in Hawaii J 

I know a lot of us enjoyed coloring our images using the blendabilities.  I’m here to tell you that even though they are now discontinued your coloring life will go on!  It’s time to re-introduce you to the Aqua Painter. 

 This tool is wonderful for coloring and you don’t have to fill it with water if you don’t want to (some of us are a little water faucet challenge, card carrying member here, as Claudia would tell you if she were here…if she could stop laughing long enough that is! <sigh>).  Anyhow….lol.

My creative color wheel has been stuck lately on the Red-Orange-Yellow group, so I grabbed Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist and Poppy Parade (sorry, I know it’s retired but I just love this color!) ink pads. 

I stamped a flower image from Bloom with Hope  several times on Whisper White card stock  using Staz On ink.  I filled an empty embellishment container (yes, for those of you that know I’m a supply hoarder, I actually emptied a container…lol) with a little tap water.  Giving each of the inkpads a few gentle squeezes BEFORE opening allow some of the ink to transfer to the lid of the ink pad, then when you open the ink pad there is a little pool of color on the lid for you to use.

Start with the dark color first then the next lighter color, etc.  Because I like a more watery look I dipped my aqua painter in the water frequently to dilute the ink color.  I did go a little too heavy on the Poppy Parade, but I couldn’t help it, I just love that color!  After they dried I cut them out, added some Gold Glitz Dazzling Details to the centers and set aside so they could dry again.

Now here I must admit to being a little lazy.  Instead of die cutting an oval for a mask and then sponging my layer, I cut up one of the WaterColor Wonder Designer Note Cards (retired) and used it for the background of my image layer.  Added a little Tangelo Twist with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set, layered it on Whisper White card stock and then Tangerine Tango card stock.  I didn’t like all that space between the base color and the white, it really needed something to help breakup all that orange.  I mean I love it, but there wasn’t a place for the eyes to rest.  About that time I was wishing I had ordered some of those Brights Candy Dots (item#130931)  last month!  I found some old Summer Sun (retired) brads and cut the prongs off so I could add them to the card…Candy Dots would have been soooo much easier!

Finished off with some White Organza (love this ribbon…so classy!) and 1/8 Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon (retired).

And here it is!

Thanks for stopping in and visiting while Claudia is enjoying her well-earned incentive trip to Hawaii!

Happy Stamping J

Products used that aren't retired:

Aqua Painters  #103954

Tangelo Twist Ink Pad  #133646

Daffodil Delight Ink Pad #126944

Staz On Ink Pad  #101406

Tangerine Tango CS 8 ½”x11 #111349

Whisper White CS 8 ½”x11 #100730

Bloom w/Hope Hostess Set (Clear)  #133952

Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set(Clear) #130517

Gold Glitz Dazzling Details #133755

White Organza Ribbon #114319

Stampin’ Dimensionals #104430

Spring Basket

Hello ladies,
My project actually started as a Mother's Day gift and after I made it I realized that I did not have
the time to make a bunch of them and get them in the mail to arrive on time for all the Moms in my family.  Let me apologize because most of the items used for this project are retired.  I bought the baskets & blooms (retired) a while ago because I liked the basket. The  backround stamp leafy glade was stamped on natural white in marigold morning (both retired).  The butterfly is cameo coral (retired) and I used one of the butterfly thinlet dies.  Of course I had to put a little bling on it. It looked a little plain so I picked some of my roses to make it look like a Spring Basket, It was very easy to make.

Sharon

Aloha from Honolulu

.... Or almost anyways! Today starts my  vacation, YAY! And it is thanks to YOU and Stampin' Up! I do love my job and appreciate your continued support! Without you, I would not be able to earn incentives like this trip! Thank you so much!  Please read further down too, to get the info on my blog assistants..

Today I am going to share the items we got for our trip. I got them of course a couple of weeks back, but saved to show them off until today!

Inside a fedex envelope, I got this beautiful burlap envelope. It's big!

And it held these items:

Our own little SU travel guide (things to know, events etc...), our travel documents (not pictured), name tags and luggage tags.

Those luggage tags are the most beautiful ones I have ever seen!

They are leather and embroidered. So I am NOT going to put them on while we are travelling, since I don't want to chance them getting lost!

Doesn't Stampin' Up! just treat us well! They really do!  More on how... while on the trip. But I will post the via Facebook since I am not sure how much internet access I will have. If you don't use Facebook, but would like to see, you can keep coming back to my blog and see info on the right side bar...

While I am gone, the blog will NOT be on vacation LOL. I've got some help from a group of very talented stampers. I call them my blog assistants! If all goes as planned, there will be a blog post every day for you! Let me introduce the girls...in no particular order... So you know who's talking to you each day ;-)

Robin (Monday #2 Club):

Sammy (Tuesday Club):

Nance (Tuesday Club):

Sandra (Thursday Club):

Theresa (Monday #2 Club)

 Allysha (Tuesday Club):

Sharon (Thursday Club):

Joy (Tuesday Club):























So please be sure and come back every day, I am sure the girls will post some great stuff. And I know each one has their own different style so you are going to be in for a treat! Also, please be son kind and comment on their posts to show them some love, OK?!

THANKS for post for me girls! Can't wait to see it all!