Scrap candy

Today's topic of conversation, incorporating stamping into your scrapbooks. There's a few ways to do this. Today I will focus on making accent pieces. Here is some scrap candy I made the other night. All these pieces are on dimensionals and can go straight from the bag to your scrapbook page. These are great for accenting your pictures or as the little something in that blank spot on your page.

Starting in the top left I used the Tag Punch on the piece of gable green. I then took some Basic Black and used the Word Window punch to make the hanger. I attached the hanger with SNAIL and then put a silver brad on it. I stamped the paisley from Polka Dots and Paisleys on Whisper White with Jet Black StazOn. I watercolored in in Pink Passion using a blender pen and picking up ink from the lid of my ink pad. I cut out the paisley and attached it to the corner of the tag. One accent done.

The top right piece is just a rectangle of Gable Green layered it on a piece of Basic Black. I stamped the circles image from Tagger's Dozen onto a piece of Pink Passion and punched it with the 1 1/4" circle punch and adhered it to the rectangle.

The bottom left is my favorite one. I made a faux tag by punching a piece of Whisper White with the 1 1/4" circle punch and layering it on Basic Black punched with the 1 3/8" circle punch. I stamped the word adorable from Warm Words on a piece of Gable Green and stamped the flower image from Tagger's Dozen in Pink Passion on Whisper White and cut it out. I layered all the pieces on each other and punch a hole in the top and threaded the Basic Black grosgrain ribbon through and tied a knot.

The last accent piece was really easy. I stamped the background flower from Polka Dots & Petals in Gable Green on Whisper White, then stamped the bolder flower in Gable Green, then again in Pink Passion. I punched it with my 1 1/4" circle punch and layered it on a piece of Pink Passion cut from the 1 3/8" circle punch. I again attached a silver brad in the center.

All the pieces are on a piece of wax paper so when you're ready to use them they come right off.

Work in progress

I've shared pics of my workspace before, but I've got another for you. I say work in progress because I'm not entirely finished with this space. First, I've moved everything to the other side of the room. I'm trying to utilize the walls without facing them. That's my number one rule for my workspace. I will not face the wall. I also decided that I love my desk that I got at Target, but I need a wider workspace than the 12 inches it provides, so I've put it up against the wall and now it will be mostly for storage. I have another "desktop" piece since they came in a two-pack that I'll probably use on the lower units to make a shelf.
Starting on the far left, I have my paper in the top drawer, but that might have to change since it's kind of far away. My Sizzix and dies are in the lower drawer. On the table top is my scrapbook and my radio/clock. In the middle I have a power strip where I've plugged in my heat gun , radio and Ott Lite. In the first basket is my ribbon and twine. The second basket holds staples, paperclips, large paperclips, badge holders, etc. Above the desk on the wall is my punch storage. I used two of those cheapie curtain rods. The smaller one is a 1.5" projection, the larger one is 2.5" projection. The key to using the curtain rod with your large punches is not to extend the rod or it will sag in the middle. I have two new large punches coming to me, so I might need another rod. :o) As you can see I'm also using the extra space to hold my water bottle, crimper, brayer, wheel handle, Crop-a-dile and Stamp-a-ma-jig. Oh, under the desk spaces is a paper holder which has all my Bold Brights paper in it (I thought this was how I was going to store all my paper, but now I just don't know). Behind that is my baskets of cards. Back to the top of the desk. On the right side are my ink pads. This is temporary until my grandpa is finished building my ink pad storage unit. In the drawers below are things such as tools, pens, cello bags, envelopes, StazOn ink pads, and embellishments. The big drawer holds my 12x12 cardstock and my paperboard (cheap chipboard).
My table has my large paper cutter and at this moment my laptop. I don't always have my laptop down there with me, but if I want it I can put it toward the back of the table and still have plenty of room. Also my Ott Lite is attached to the back corner of the table, next to the phone(hiding behind the laptop). On the right side of the table is a basket full of adhesives. Oh, and the table is covered with white poster paper to protect the surface.
Then I have my IKEA Antonius storage cart. The top is my catch-all. My catty sits up there as well as my stapler and whatever projects I just finished. At this particular moment there was a can of Diet Coke sitting on my White Sox coaster (rare occurance). The top two baskets hold my current stamps, the third one holds my retired sets that I can't part with. The 4th basket is my paper scraps and my travel paper trimmer as well as pictures that need to be scrapbooked. The fifth drawer has another scrapbook that is in progress as well as my Watercolor Pencils, Stampin' Pastels, and other odds and ends. The bottom basket holds old stamping magazines, old SU! catties, and misc. supplies like cotton balls, wax paper, rubber bands and candles that are begging to be altered.
The white blob on the bottom of the pic is my trash can, which tends to move around. My chair is a Freecycle find. The seat cushion was all tore up, so I recovered it with this awesome animal print velvety fabric I got in the remnants section.

My future plan is to add the extra shelf on my Target desk, get a larger (longer) table for my main working area, get a chair on wheels as well as a mat for it and possibly a different storage system for my stamp sets (maybe a book shelf). I'd also like to paint the room (to match the Purdue curtains) and utilize more of the wall or at least hang pictures or something so they're not so plain.

I still have some stuff on the other side of the room that I don't use very often that I don't know what I'm going to do about, yet. I have an over the door shoe hanger that has some scrapbook store embellishments, sharpies, and I don't even know what else!!! I also have a dresser and some storage boxes that need to make their way over (maybe).

Well, thanks for taking the time to stop by my stampin' space!

The new catalog

If you've not yet taken a look head on over to the Stampin' Up! website to view the new catty. Better yet, click on the catalog cover below and be directed there.

I'm getting excited

I just got back from NYC this morning (I was supposed to be back late Tuesday night) and waiting for me was my new Fall/Winter Collection catalog and a box of catties for my customers. Unfortunately I was too tired to look at it since I had just driven/rode in a car for over 12 hours to get home. They kept canceling our flights, so we had to get rental cars to get home. So after getting 5 hours of sleep I woke up to finally scan through my catty. I'm excited and I'm going to go broke after seeing what is in there.

In the meantime I have another card with the Prints Designer Paper so show you. I also broke out the Sweet Shop ribbon, which I have been hording, only using a few pieces here and there. I think it makes for a nice transition between the DSP and the card front. Oh, I can't wait to order some more of this paper in different colors and 12x12 sheets.


Recipe:
Stamps: Unfrogettable
Paper: Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Prints Designer Paper
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Sweet Shop ribbon
Technique: Masking, Watercoloring

Birthdays

My neighbor and my sister-in-law share a birthday, but they live in separate states, so they would never know if they got the same birthday card. So I killed two birds with one stone. I was really pressed for time so I didn't have time to come up with two different cards. I did change them up a little bit with opposite colors. I think they turned out really cute and again I've been watercoloring everything lately. Also, I used my new favorite color combo again. I find lately that I've been putting ribbon on a lot of my cards. I used to not use ribbon, but I think it just gives it an extra bit of interest. Rumor has it there won't be as many grosgrain ribbon colors in the new catty, so I guess I won't have to buy a lot more since I currently only have white, black, cream and chocolate. Also included is more Prints Designer Paper, which I'm totally going to stock up on. I love it!!!!!

Recipe
Stamps: Unfrogettable
Paper: Rose Red, So Saffron, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Prints DSP
Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Cream grosgrain ribbon
Technique: Watercoloring

Christmas in June

Call me crazy, but I really had the urge to make a Christmas card the other day. So here is my Christmas in June. I finally got around to a few of the recent sketch challenges at SCS and this is one of them. I wasn't sure that I would like the triangle cuts, but I think they work, here. I've really been in a watercoloring mood, so I'm glad I had a Christmas stamp that could be colored. Actually it was during this Christmas urge that I realized that I don't own a Christmas stamp set. I guess I'll just have to buy one from the new catty. :o) I think that Real Red and Old Olive is a pretty good combo for Christmas cards. It's no Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme, but since those colors won't be available any more I guess RR and OO will have to do.


Recipe
Stamps: Greetings Galore
Paper: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Old Olive
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Real Red, Old Olive, So Saffron
Accessories: Cream grosgrain ribbon, paperclip
Technique: Watercoloring

OMG

A demo in California just got her complementary copy of the new SU! catalog. It's pandemonium on the demo side of SplitCoastStampers. Oh, I hope mine gets here soon. Back to SCS to stalk the thread.

Father's Day card

I made this card for my father-in-law. This is really the only "manly" stamp set I have, so it's my "go to" set. My husband was not surprised to see that I used it for another card. I also thought it was appropriate since my FIL drives a white truck. I'm sure he'll love it. Recipe:
Stamps: Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories
Paper: Old Olive, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Watercolor pencils, blender pens, tag punches, hemp twine, Crop-a-dile
Technique: Watercoloring

Cute card

I had to send a card to my sister-in-law. Her cat, Brutus, passed away and she's pretty upset about it. I'm hoping this cheered her up a bit. I'm so thrilled with how it turned out.
Recipe:
Stamps: Greetings Galore
Paper: Old Olive, So Saffron, Whisper White, Rose Red Prints Designer Paper
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Old Olive, Rose Red, So Saffron
Accessories: White grosgrain ribbon
Technique: Watercoloring


I love the Prints Designer Paper and cannot wait to get my hands on it in 12 x 12 sheets come July 1. I also love watercoloring from my ink pads. Just squish the ink pad to get some ink on the lid and use a blender pen to pick the ink up and color. And this is my new favorite color combo. I've used it every time I've stamped this week (which means you'll probably see it again here soon).

More scrapbook pages

Two more scrapbook pages for you. The first one is the kiddos (and my mom) and their Build-a-Bears that they made at the baseball game. Great American Ballpark is one of a few ballparks where you can make a Build-a-Bear. The kids had a great time making them and picking out the outfits. This was my first time using my new slit punch. I like the subtle effect that it gives. Again I used my "Have a Ball" set which is just perfect for baseball pages. I also used Short Order Alphabet. I added some brads from the HodgePodge Hardware to the slits. The matting is Yo-Yo Yellow.





The two-page spread is just the kids being goofy. They had such a great time at the game. The pep squad came around and gave Faith a pompon and Taj and Jared got soft baseballs. Taj loved the loud music that they played and was all smiles the whole night. No stamping on these pages, but I used some grosgrain ribbon and a paperclip. I also used my 1 3/8" circle punch and my 1 1/4" circle punch.

Some stampin' fun

I wanted to share a link with you. Better Homes and Gardens had some ideas for creating Father's Day cards. Most of the projects feature Stampin' Up! products.

BHG link

Insider info

I got the goods for you. Yesterday SU! demos got a sneak peak of some of the items coming up in the new catalog. There will be some new punches including a star and a scalloped circle. There will be a Pretties kit, which seems to include dyeable fabric flowers, half back pearls, hat pins and beads. There will be some coordinating products like the Wanted stamp set, Outlaw designer paper and Star punch which is called Boho West. There will also be two more, Corner Office and Tapestry. A new Simply Scrappin' Kit. Tons of ribbon. Some stitched grosgrain, wide grosgrain, taffeta and some new ribbon originals. Oh, and I'm really excited about a Polka Dot background. I can't wait until the new catty gets here.

Scrapbook pages

Here are the scrapbook pages I promised. This first one is my favorite. I love the top picture of Faith and her Build-a-Bear, Fluffy Girl. This is my first 8x8 scrapbook so I'm keeping it kind of simple. I'm used to 12x12 where you can put a lot of embellishment, but I don't want to overwhelm the photos. I stamped the words and punched them with the Word Window and threaded them on some hemp twine. I also added some hemp twine to the top corner of the bottom picture, which is of me and Faith (and Fluffy Girl).

This next page is actually my first page of the baseball game section of the scrapbook. I always keep my tickets from events for scrapbooking. They're the best embellishment! Again, the page is really simple. I stamped Cubs at Reds in Real Red with Short Order Alphabet. And I'm so glad I have "Have a Ball" which is a retired set. It is such a great set, especially for sport themed scrapbook pages. This is a retired set that you hang on to forever. I stamped the images in Basic Black, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip and cut them out as close as I could.

I think I'll save the other pages for another day. I hope you liked my pages!

New feature

I've added a subscription link if you're interested. If you sign up you will receive email notice when I make a new post. So go sign up!!!!!!

Another challenge card

I did this one for a sketch challenge on SCS. I really love how it turned out. I love how bright it is. I really like how the Canvas BG in Night of Navy looks on Whisper White. I started with those strips and I wasn't quite sure what my color combo was going to be, so I had to check the trusty Color Combos site.

I also had some trouble with the butterfly. I had to cut it out 3 times to get one that I didn't accidentally cut of an antenna. I also popped it up on a dimensional. The Night of Navy and Real Red edges have been distressed.

BTW, what do you think of my new watermark? Way better than the old one, huh? I had some fun playing around with Photoshop to make it. I made a couple of them, but I liked this one the best. I also made my header and I think it's too cute. Any way, thanks for looking!!!

Recipe
Stamps: You Make Me Happy, Canvas BG
Cardstock: Gable Green, Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Gable Green, Night of Navy, Real Red
Accessories: White Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensional
Technique: Distressing

Miss me?

Sorry I've been pretty non-existent. I just finished up my last quarter of school, so I will have plenty more time on my hands. I'm also feeling uninspired lately in anticipation of the new catalog on July 1. I've been working on a scrapbook from when some of my family came to visit last fall, but it is in desperate need of some embellishment. I'm holding out until the new catty is released to see what fun new stuff is in there. I did get a chance to work on some SCS challenges on Friday, though. It was 90 degrees outside, so the basement was the only cool place. Good thing all my stamping stuff is down there.

I've done crayon resist before when I was a member of a stamp club. I haven't done it since because I didn't have any crayons, or so I thought. I found some crayons in my old college stash so I was all excited to use them. To do a crayon resist technique stamp your image on glossy card stock (I used StazOn), then take a crayon and accent your stamped image. Wherever you color with crayon will resist the ink. Then ink your card stock. You can use sponges, a brayer, a stipple brush. Then wipe off the crayon and the white will be revealed.

I love the way this first one came out. I think it kind of looks like denim.

Recipe

Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisleys, Warm Words

Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Night of Navy

Cardstock: Glossy White, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Technique: Crayon Resist

Accessories: Black grosgrain ribbon

This is my second crayon resist card. I couldn't stop at just one. I was looking through my retired sets and I thought that this set was perfect for crayon resist.

Recipe

Stamps: Delight in Life, Warm Words

Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue

Cardstock: Glossy White, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Technique: Crayon Resist, Masking

Accessories: White gingham ribbon, paperclip, Ticket corner punch

Since I'm working on a scrapbook, I'll have some pages to share with you soon. Hopefully in the very near future.

Palette O'Prints paper

I'm in love with this paper. At first I was afraid to cut it, but once you POP, you can't stop!!! I can't wait to get it in 12x12 sheets in the new catalog. I've seen a sneak peak and it's going to be available in some of the new In Colors and 16 from the classic color families. I'm looking forward to doing some scrapbooking with it, but for now, with my limited stash and it's limited size, I'm sticking to cards. This first one was done for a challenge on SCS. The object of the challenge was to leave a wide open space. And I was so excited to use my Short Order Numbers set for the two squares that say happy and birthday.

The next two were made for sketch challenges on SCS. The first one I used my relatively new Polka Dots & Petals set and some So Saffron POP paper. I also used some punches on this one. The second one is my favorite of the three. I love these flowers from You Make Me Happy and I just love Rose Red and my new Sweet Shop ribbon. The centers of all the flowers are popped up on dimensionals as well as the two outer flowers.

If you want to get the sampler pad of Palette O'Prints you're running out of time. The promo is over at the end of May.

Just noticed a comment

OK, the email address I had listed to notify me of comments was incorrect, so I just realized I had a comment I hadn't read before. The poster said they couldn't see the images on my site. Who can see them? Who can't? Let me know so I can try to fix it if needed. Thanks!

Exciting day!!!!

Today is the day that demos can preorder the new catalogs. Unfortunately the catalogs aren't shipped right away. They won't ship until the end of June so they won't get here too early before July 1. I'm actually going to hold of on ordering catalogs for now until I confirm some customer reservations (for $5 through June 22). July 1 can't get here soon enough. I'm so eager to see the new catty!!!!!

I love this paper

First I want to apologize for my lack of blogging. I have been incredibly sick for over a week and I'm just now feeling better. Not only was I not blogging I wasn't stamping either. But I'm back and I want to share with you a sample made with this month's promotional item, Palette O'Prints. To learn more about this promo, visit my Stampin' Up! website. This paper is so cute. It's double sided designer paper and comes in 4 colors and 6 designs. It's a stack of 48 6x6 sheets. The colors are Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Rose Red, and Almost Amethyst (hint: it matches the colors of the Sweet Shop ribbon). This is a preview of paper that will be available in the new catalog in 12x12 sheets.

Recipe: Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley, Polka Dots & Petals, Ink: Rose Red, Paper: Palette O'Prints, Rose Red, Very Vanilla

Retiring stamps

The retiring list is up. Check out my SU! demo site for the link.

I also want to let you know that if you are interested in any wheels to buy them right away as once they run out of them they're gone. If there are any you are interested in let me know. I can tell you if they're going fast or gone.

UPDATE: All retiring wheels are now available. SU! has released an announcement that states the wheel vendor will continue to produce wheels until the end of June.

A fun project

Since I can't imagine my 5 year old neice surfing blogger I think I can share her birthday gift with you before I give it to her. I was so excited to get my SU! order this week because I had some new ink and paper coming as well as an alphabet. I've really been wanting an alphabet stamp set and with the April promo I decided to go with Short Order Alphabet. I also got the numbers set, as it's sooooo cute. I also went ahead and got Polka Dots & Petals, which I'm hoping makes the IB&C. My theory is since all demos were given Polka Dots & Paisley as a gift and Polka Dots & Petals coordinates that they'll keep them both. In addition to my stamp sets I got Chocolate Chip ink, paper, and ribbon. And I love pink and brown together. I also through in some green for a little more color. And I got this great frame at Target for $3.50.

Recipe:

Paper: Certainly Celery, Pink Passion, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Certainly Celery, Pink Passion, Chocolate Chip

Stamps: Headline Alphabet, Short Order Alphabet, Polka Dots & Petals, Warm Words

Accessories: Spring Bouquet Flower Punch, Chocolate and White grosgrain ribbon, pewter Hodgepodge Hardware

I love SCS

Just a quick post to tell you how much I love Split Coast Stampers. The challenges are great. They really get the creative juices flowing. My favorite is the sketch challenges, mostly because you can complete them with whatever products you have. I have a hard time with the color combos since I don't have all the colors, yet and also with the limited supplies challenges, because I have limited supplies. So here is another card for a sketch challenge. I love how bright and cheery it is.

Recipe: Stamps: You Make Me Happy; Cardstock: Whisper White, Tempting Turquois, Gable Green, Lavendar Lace; Ink: Tempting Turquois, Gable Green, Lavendar Lace; Accessories: white grosgrain ribbon

I'm really in love with this stamp set. It's the only one I purchased from the Spring Mini and I'm really glad I did. I'm debating on Polka Dots & Petals to go with Polka Dots & Paisley which was a gift from SU! Then I might need the Designer Series Paper, too. That's enough from me before my wish list gets any longer that it already is.

A good stampin' day

The weather is crummy. I'm feeling lazy. But I've got just enough energy to share some recent cards with you. The first one I made for a SCS sketch challenge. This isn't how it started at all. I was originally going to do Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink and Basic Black and do a bridal shower card, but instead I ended up using Certainly Celery, Basic Black and Very Vanilla. I used Canvas and All the Best. I added a little hemp twine in the corner with the double circle punch. I'm happy with how it turned out. It's hard to tell in the pic, but I also inked up the edges of the Very Vanilla piece with the leaf on it with a little Certainly Celery.Since I didn't use the above layout for the bridal shower card I ended up using a different SCS sketch challenge for it. I used Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, and Basic Black. I used a blender pen to pick up ink off the lid of the Pretty in Pink pad to color in the dress. To give it a little something extra I put a little piece of white grosgrain ribbon on a paper clip in the corner. I used crystal effects to keep the end of the ribbon from fraying.

New project to share

I work with a great gal who loves Altoids. She always gives me the tins when she's done, so I thought I'd make an Altoid tin album for her to put pictures of her daughter in. She loved it! I love it, too. I'm so happy with the way it came out. Now that I've finished one and it was so easy I'm going to try to plan a class for making one. For now, here's the finished product.

Name frame

I made this a week ago, but I had to give it as a gift before I posted it. Yesterday I gave it to my sister-in-law at her bridal shower, so now I can share with you. It's my first name frame. I didn't have any current Designer Series Paper on hand so I had to use some retired paper I had lying around. I'm pretty happy with it considering my time constraint (I had to borrow an alphabet stamp set) and lack of supplies. I'm having a name frame class in May, so check out my Stampin' Up! website for more information.

April promo

Hey, stampers!!! You have to check out my Stampin' Up! website and check out the new promo for the month of April. Say It With Stamps! 20% off select alphabet and greeting sets with no minimum purchase. My order for the month just got a little longer!!!

This was fun!!!

I never thought I could make a pop-up card. I'd seen them so many times on SCS and thought they looked difficult. I was very wrong. One of the challenges during VSN was to make a pop-up card, so I thought I'd give it a try. I went very simple with design since I was afraid I would screw up. I used Polka Dots & Paisleys and stamped the flower image all over the Yo-Yo Yellow piece, then stamped the sentiment in Tempting Turquois. I stamped paisleys all over the Tempting Turquois base and Happy in Yo-Yo Yellow on my Whisper White piece. Here's how it turned out.

Spring is Here!!!

It's a beautiful day. And a Sunday, which usually means I'm good for some blogging. It seems like the rest of the week just gets the best of me and I really only have time to blog on Sundays. Anywho, on SCS this weekend was VSN (Virtual Stamp Night). I had no idea it was this weekend and I wasn't prepared for it, but I ended up participating a bit on Friday night. It was a lot of fun. Every hour a challenge is posted and you have 45 minutes to complete the challenge. There were 5 challenges on Friday and several more on Saturday. I only had time/supplies to participate in 4 challenges on Friday. The first challenge was emboss resist. Basically you emboss an image using clear embossing powder. When it is dry you color the rest of your cardstock and the embossing will resist the color from the ink and your image will show through. This is really easy to do. Here's my sample.

I started with a piece of Pale Plum and using Versamark I stamped the large flower from Looks Like Spring and embossed with clear embossing powder. I then brayered Perfect Plum ink over it and wiped the excess off my embossed image. I layered it on a piece of Pale Plum, placed that on a piece of Perfect Plum, stamped my sentiment in Perfect Plum and added the white grosgrain ribbon.

I'll share one more with you tonight. I'll save the other two for another day. This one was a lot of fun as the theme was tie-dye. This used the wax paper resist technique. You start with a piece of glossy cardstock cut to the desired size. For my card I stamped the main images with Jet Black StazOn with the retired set Groovy. Then take a piece of wax paper and fold it and crinkle it. Place a piece of scrap paper under your cardstock. Lay your cardstock face up and the wax paper on top. Then another piece of scrap paper on top. You then iron your paper sandwich on a dry setting, melting the wax paper onto the glossy. I then stippled the Yo-Yo Yellow, Real Red, and Brilliant Blue on my piece of glossy card stock and wiped off the excess and mounted it on my card base. Viola, a tie-dyed card.

Punch happy part 2

I was having such a good time with the inspiration challenges on SCS last weekend. And I was punch happy, so when I saw an inspiration piece with retro squares I knew I had to use my new square punches. This time it was bright colors, though. I really wish I had a square stamp for the last corner, but a rectangle had to do.

My goal for this week (once I finish my distance learning class) is to work on my scrapbooks. I've been so into card making and doing the challenges that my scrapping has really taken a back seat. I just ordered the pics from the San Diego trip, which means I'll have 3 scrapbooks in progress. Time to get on it.

Punch happy

Well, this card got so many comments on SCS that I just had to share here, too. I recently bought the two largest circle and square punches from SU! to use on my giant paperclips. Talk about perfect timing because this week's inspiration challenge subject had layered circles on it. I immediately thought of my punches. This is what I came up with. The two smaller circles are from my SU! punches and the larger circles are from my Sizzix die. I'm really happy with the way it came out and apparently people liked it because I've never gotten so many comments on a card. I don't think all the comments from all my other cards even add up to the amount of comments I got on this one.

I also love the colors, so spring-y!!! Gable Green, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Barely Banana, and Perfect Plum.

I had to throw the Perfect Plum in there as it's my new favorite color. Enough blogging. I need to stamp some more!!!

It's feeling like spring outside!

I love spring. It's so cheery and bright. Not to mention that I can start getting out my cute sandals and flip flops. I've really been in a springy mood with my stamping, too. I'm using a lot of my Soft Subtles ink and paper. And Marigold Morning from the In Colors. Oh, and flowers. I love flowers. I wish this set wasn't retired because it makes great spring cards. I'm sad I never really got to demo this set. Oh, well, at least I have it to play with.

Also, in case you hadn't noticed, I really enjoy a simple style to my cards. Not that I don't love to look at some of the more detailed cards, but I myself have a hard time piling on the layers. I also don't want to put $10 worth of product on one card.

My stampin' space

I've really needed more storage in my stampin' space. Everything always seemed to end up on my work table so there was no room to work. I would slowly add things to the table, but never put them away. Now, thanks to the great desk I bought at Target yesterday, things are within reach, but off the table top. I love my new desk. I've been very creative the last two days with my new desk. It's a lot easier to work without the clutter. I also got some new stamps, ink and paper, which helps with the creativity. Well, without further ado......my new stampin' desk.

Bookmark fun

I really dislike going to WalMart, especially on a Saturday, but I have been enabled to make bookmarks out of jumbo paperclips. You can pick these paperclips up pretty cheap at Wally World, so I decided to grin and bear it. I'm glad I did. I had so much fun making these bookmarks this morning. Good thing hubby finished off a box of Girl Scout cookies so I could use the box as my "chipboard." I don't have any round punches, so I used my Fiskar's Shape Cutter to cut out the circles in "chipboard" and cardstock. I colored the edges of the "chipboard" with a Sharpie and adhered the cardstock to the "chipboard." I then stamped my image on another piece of cardstock and cut it out with the Shape Cutter in the next smallest size. I then used Crystal Effects to sandwich the tip of the paperclip between the two circles and placed it under my IB&C to hold it until it dried. I also did one with the tag punches. These were fun and I think they turned out cute.

Busy busy

I have been very busy doing everything but stamping. I've been working full time, trying to keep up with my schooling (which is hard when the computers at the school keep crashing), and keeping up with my husband, pup, and house. I usually rely on my weekend for some stamping, but last weekend my in-laws were in town. At some point during all this crazyness I was able to find some time to stamp. I was surveying my stamping supplies when I realized I had some ribbon that I got in the $1 bin at Michael's quite some time ago that I have never used. So my goal was to use it. Here's what I came up with.

I was having a lot of fun with Chocolate Chip paper and this ribbon matched the Chocolate Chip and Gable Green. I left the bottom corner blank for now. I'll stamp a sentiment when I have a "purpose" for this card.

A little more Chocolate Chip and more $1 ribbon. I inked the flower Rock'n'roll style with pixie pink and pink passion. I just love pink and brown together and the ribbon had two shades of pink, white and brown, which set the tone for the whole card. The flower and matting is also up on dimensionals.

I hope you like them and thanks for looking.

Scrampin'

I did some scramping today. Also known as scrapbooking with stamping. I had been stalled on my scrapbooking as I needed some refill pages for my book. Well, I got my refill pages so it was back to work. I'm working on my sorority pages. This two-page layout was from a basketball game that my roomie and I went to. I stamped the basketballs and hoop. The letters are die cut and the circles I cut out with my Fiskar's Shape Cutter. It was a quick and easy two pages.

I've been busy

I'm working full time right now, so my stamping time has turned in to homework time because my homework days are being consumed by work. I don't know if I can keep this up for 3 more weeks. I did have some time to stamp today, though. I should've been doing homework, but I needed to do something fun. So I stamped. And now I'm going to share.

This was my first attempt at a pocket card. I apologize for the finger in the first picture. The fold wouldn't lay flat enough for me to take the pic. The bottom is folded at 2" and the top is folded at 2.5". The black and white paper in the inside slides out. I used Yo-Yo Yellow paper for the base and Whisper White and Basic Black for the inside. I used Yo-Yo Yellow ink for the dots and Pink Passion, Gable Green and Basic Black ink. The eyelets are from Joann's.

I've got a few more, but I'll save them for a snowy day. Thanks for checking in.

More of my Sunday work

I haven't had time to stamp this week, but I have some more stuff from Sunday to share. These cards were made for a Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers. This was my first attempt at sketch challenges. It was a lot of fun and I felt really inspired. I hope after looking at these you'll be inspired, too.

This card was made using Only Orange and Whisper White. Images are from the retired set Simply the Best. I used a dimensional to pop up the smile image.

This card was made with Tempting Turquious (my new favorite color), Basic Black and Whisper White. And I used Polka Dots and Paisley, which will be available in the Spring Mini.

To cut the circles for both cards I used my Fiskar's Shape Cutter. I was excited to use the Shape Cutter which I haven't used in ages.

I hope you like it!!

Stamping fun

I had a wave of stamping fun today. I whipped up a bunch of cards while watching Harry Potter. Maybe Harry is my inspiration. It helped that I printed out some of the sketch challenges from SCS. I made 3 cards for the sketch challenges and a few more just because. I actually made a birthday card for my neice and her birthday isn't even until April. Here's some eye candy for you.
I used my new SAB set Very Punny for this one. I also just got the Dotted background stamp. I used Real Red, Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock.



This one is a single layer card. I wanted to try out my Big Blossom. I inked it up with Pink Passion. I then used So Very with Basic Black. I'm not sure if the happy was the best choice, but I love how bright the flower is in real life.

I think that's all I'm going to post for now. I'll save some for another day. As always, thanks for looking!

Sneak Peak

Sorry I've been away for a while, but I've been crazy busy with school and working full time through March. I did however get all the samples for my AOII stamp-a-stack done. Here's a sneak peak of one of the cards we will be making.
I used Hearfelt Thanks with the Poppin' Pastels technique. I look forward to a day of stamping with my sisters!!!

I should be doing homework

The servers were down for scheduled maintenance today, so I couldn't get any of my questions answered on my home work, so instead of just moving on to the next question, I grabbed a movie and headed downstairs. I made two scrapbook pages and started working on what I'm going to demo for my upcoming SAS. If you're lucky and I get my homework done tomorrow (and put the Christmas tree away) then I'll upload my pages. As a teaser, I tried to make a page look tie-dyed and I don't know if I like it or not, so I will want your opinion. OK, I should do something productive, then go to bed.

Stampin' on

Well, it's been a crazy few days, but I'm back at home, unpacked and cleaning like a mad woman. Tomorrow is my Open House (stop by if you have a chance) and I had left my stampin' room a mess when I went to California. Well, it's clean now and I even had a chance to whip up a thank you card for Shelli with my new Polka Dots & Paisley set. I'm pretty nervous about sending her this card. She is stamping royalty. I hope she likes it. I used Tempting Turquoise for the base of the card. The paisley are stamped with black StazOn on Whisper White and colored in with watercolor pencils and blended. The flower is stamped in Pixie Pink on Whisper White and mounted on Pixie Pink. The flower is then mounted on Orchid Opulence and the sentiment is stamped with Basic Black. Last, but not least, silver brads are attached in the bottom corners.

Thanks for looking and let me know what you think!!!!

Stampin' Up! promo

I'm so excited to tell you about this great deal in Jan. and Feb. during Sell-a-bration(SAB). If you've ever thought about becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator now is a great time. During SAB new recruits can pick a free stamp set of their choice (up to $39.95 value) in addition to the great items already included in the starter kit. But here's the kicker, new recruits will also receive the stamp set Polka Dots and Paisley that was sent to all the demonstrators in December. This set will be available in the Spring Mini. So if you are interested in becoming a demonstrator contact me at stampin.heather@yahoo.com and we can talk.

More posts to come next week when I get home from San Diego.

Merry Christmas and I'll see ya next year

Well, it's Christmas today and I have a few minutes on my hands to give you an update. I have not yet received the free stamp set that Shelli sent all the demos. If it doesn't come tomorrow then I won't get to see it for 10 days. As soon as I get it (and have time to use it) I will whip something up so you can see this great set. It will be available for purchase in the Spring Mini. I won't be posting for awhile as we're (my sister, the kids and my mom) leaving for San Diego on Thursday and will be back on the 7th of January. That means no stamping for over 10 days. How am I going to survive? Oh, wait, I'll be in San Diego. I'm really excited about the trip and I know we'll have a great time. So, I'm signing off and I'll see ya in the new year!!

Had some fun today

I wanted to make something for the gals on my bowling team, so I thought I'd do some etching. I got each of them a votive holder and I picked a different flower for each of them. These are really easy to do (but very hard to photograph). Emboss your image on the glass (any color embossing powder is fine) just like you would on paper. It will take longer to heat the glass than paper, so be patient. After your embossing powder is set you're ready to etch. If you aren't going to put the cream over the entire surface of the glass than you'll want to mask off the areas you don't want etching cream on. Put a decent amount of etching cream on the surface and let it sit for about 7-10 minutes. After the time is up you can scrape the excess etching cream back into the container (you'll want to do this as the etching cream isn't cheap). Then rinse your glass and rub off the embossing to reveal your image.

Open House

You’re Invited to a Stampin’ Up! Open House!



Come learn an easy craft!
See the versatility of rubber stamping!

" Scrapbooking " Cards " Gifts " Much More . . .

Come join us!
Refreshments, Snacks & Fun Provided!

Hosted by Heather Hawkins
Independent Demonstrator

Date: Thursday, January 11, 2007
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: My house
RSVP by January 9th
stampin.heather@yahoo.com


Bring a Friend!

10% off orders placed during the event.
Free limited edition stamp sets with qualifying purchases.
Demonstrations
Beginner? Learn the basics
Old Hat? Learn a new trick

Make-N-Take
Take home a project you make yourself!

Book a Party Today!
Book your own workshop and receive a
2006-2007 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book & Catalog! FREE !

I tried a new technique

This technique is called Foxi Oxi. You use OxiClean to bleach your ink. Here's what I came up with. I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and dabbed Yo-Yo Yellow ink on it. I then sprinkled OxiClean on the cardstock and sprayed it with water. I'm impatient, so I used my heat tool to dry the paper. I then wiped off the excess OxiClean. I then stamped the leaves with Gable Green Ink and as you can see the OxiClean kept on bleaching and only left bits of Gable Green and lightened the rest of it to a more yellow-ish color. Then on my card I stamped the 3 bars in Gable Green and stamped the saying in Basic Black. I then layered my bleached paper on top. All the stamps are from the set "All the Best." If you'd like to learn this technique contact me and we can set up a class or workshop.

Quickies

I about killed myself taking my huge SU! box down to the basement, but I made it. I only smacked myself in the face causing me to bite my lip while trying to adjust the box to one arm so I could open the door and turn on the light. I unpacked everything and tried to decide how I'm going to organize it. Well, I didn't do much. Most of it is still on the floor. However I did get a few minutes to whip up two cards really quick.
This card was made with a Sell-a-bration set. This is one of the stamp sets that will be available for free in January and February with a purchase of $50. These sets cannot be purchased, only earned.

I also had a chance to play with Heartfelt Thanks that came with my starter kit. I was eager to use my new stamp sets and ink, but a little afraid of using my SU! cardstock. I only have two Bold Brights assortment packs and one Whisper White pack and I feel I need to save it for my open house and workshop in January. The ribbon is from Michael's.

I hope you like my quickies. Let me know if you want to learn more about Sell-a-bration.

Sorry for the lack of blogging

I had a pretty busy weekend last weekend and I have some commissioned mosaics I have to finish by Monday. I did get my 33 lb. box of Stampin' Up! stuff on Tuesday. I already mounted all the stamp sets and have looked at everything else. I have yet to actually do anything with the though. Hubby's out of town until tomorrow and the dog is demanding so hopefully I'll have something to show you soon.

Stampin' Up! special

Just announced this morning, Stampin' Up! is having a Holidays at half off promotion. They have selected 6 stamp sets that you can receive at 50% with a $30 purchase of non-promotional merchandise. This offer is from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31. The stamps sets are:

Love Ya Bunches p. 80
$17.95 reg.
$8.98 promo price

Rough Edges Alphabets p. 197
$19.95 reg.
$9.98 promo price

Merry p. 49
$22.95 reg.
$11.48 promo price

Tag Time p. 24
$26.95 reg.
$13.48 promo price

Mini Mates p. 62
$29.95 reg.
$14.98 promo price

Sketch It p. 25
$34.95 reg
$17.48 promo price

Let me know if you want to take advantage of this great offer. Also, Sell-a-bration is coming in January, where all customers can earn free limited edition stamp sets.