I Got Nothin'

Sorry, I got nothin'.  No project today.  I've got lots of excuses but no projects. 

I've been working on lots of new plans, ideas and projects for my blog, lots of changes coming, some you'll see sooner than others.  Some changes will be bigger than others.  But it all takes planning and figuring out how and what exactly I can commit to.  More on all of the upcoming (good) changes soon!

Plus, I've been gone from my stamping room all week.  Not even a moment to pick up some ink and stamp.  Here's how my week has gone, I'm the director of the art gallery at our church, this week an old show was taken down and a new one going up.  Taking down isn't the hard part, it's the putting up that consumes my days.  It's a lot of work, thankfully we only do it every 3 months :)  It's a lovely show this quarter though, if you're local head down to St. John's Cathedral, 318 Silver SW during business hours and check it out.  There's lots of great, affordable art!   

Because I'm a genius (not!) I scheduled Logan's 8 year well child check up this week--seriously!!  I don't have enough going on!?!  And Megan had her open house this week, which as a board member I couldn't miss.  So it's been, shall we say, slightly chaotic this week!  I had hoped to stamp yesterday afternoon, but I spent most of the afternoon watching silly kid shows with the kids while trying to fight off a cold.  I've felt a little off all week, blamed it on allergies from all the new stuff that's growing thanks to New Mexico's recent rainfall and being sleep deprived from the gallery work (none of which helped I'm sure!).  Thursday morning I woke up feeling icky...I couldn't blame it on allergies anymore.  I spent most of the day trying to get rid of this bug before it got worse or before it spread! 

Hopefully I'll be back with it on Monday (can't promise anything!) and have a fun project for you in the meantime our Holiday Catalog went live yesterday.  In all my gallery hustle and bustle I lost track of dates.  You can check out the catalog here, or just head to my website to start shopping. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

A Button Challenge

I'm always up for a stamping related challenge, so when this one came up I jumped on it.  Really it wasn't a challenge someone asked me to do, just one I did on my own thinking it would be fun, and it was!!!  It all started last week when I was following some comments on my friends SU Facebook page, eventually the challenge ended up being making a card with only cardstock and buttons, no stamping.  Well obviously a greeting is ok, but no stamping in relation to the button, that meant, the button couldn't be on top of a stamped flower, etc.  So there I was, what to do!!??!

I did another card, it wasn't approved, there was stamping, so this was my second card.  I LOVE this card!!  Simple and fun!!  For the holly leaves I used my XL Oval punch then my 3/4 inch circle punch, I went around the edge of the oval and punched half circles out all around until I was left with a holly leaf.  The buttons are the Vintage Faceted Buttons, colored red with my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities.  I worked and worked on what to add on my buttons-----I don't do naked buttons----EVER!!!  Nothing looked right, so I left them naked.....bare........EXPOSED!  This is a HUGE moment.  Luckily for me, since the buttons are colored it's harder to tell they're actually buttons and not just fun, red, accents.  So I was able to get over my {gulp} naked buttons.  But in the end I followed the rules, I made a card only using cardstock and buttons.  Whooohooo!!!  I'm still waiting for my prize from my challenger.......you know who you are :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Thank You X4

Since I've been embossing almost every card I've made lately I thought I should invest in the colored embossing powders Stampin' Up! sells.  I LOVE THEM!!!  I thought to show you I'd make the same card, in ever color---that I bought anyway :)  I made four of them, they're all exactly the same.  I love them, they were easy to mass produce, you could whip up a stack of these thank you notes in no time!!! 

First up is Pool Party and Crushed Curry.  Normally I'm not a huge fan of Crushed Curry, but how can you not love it when it's heat embossed!!!!?!!  Like I said the cards are all done the same, I used the Chevron Background stamp set and embossed the chevrons on the White Cardstock. I knew I was only going to need that one side embossed, so that's all I inked up!  No wasted embossing powder.  Just ink where you need it!  That is a really fun slogan :)  I used my Big Shot and my Large Polka Dot folder to dry emboss a coordinating piece of cardstock.  I love the look of the polka dots with the chevrons.  So cute!!!   

Next we have Blushing Bride and Cherry Cobbler.  I used the same greeting on all of them and kept with the monochromatic color scheme and used white embossing powder on vellum.  To adhere the vellum to my card I cut it an inch longer than I needed it and then scored it 1/2 inch on each end so that it wraps around each piece of cardstock.  Then it's adhered in the back and you can't see the adhesive. Plus it looks so cute wrapped around!!!  When you emboss on vellum, make sure you hold your embossing tool off to the side until it's really hot, then move it around on the vellum, until everything is melted, if you hold it in one place too long you'll scorch your vellum, that's also why waiting until it's really hot is good too, the embossing powder will melt sooooooo fast!  Finally I added a Silver Glimmer Paper heart.  So cute!!!!  These cards were all quick and easy, and FUN!!!!  Do you have a favorite color......??????

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

A Thousand Thanks

I'm on such an embossing kick lately.  I just stocked up on most of the embossing powders, especially the colored ones, so I think you'll see lots of embossed cards in your future :)  I do believe though that embossing is the biggest 'WOW' technique ever!  It doesn't matter if you've been stamping for 20 years or 20 seconds, when you see the powder melt into stamping magic, it's pretty cool!!!!  Every time I emboss something I'm always amazed at how great it looks!!!  This card is no exception!  There's LOTS of gold embossing on this card!!!  I knew I wanted a lot of gold on this card, but I wanted a little color in there too, I've never met a color paired with gold that I didn't like, but I knew I wanted a softer, not so overpowering color, I went with Lost Lagoon.  I stamped the splatter, from Gorgeous Grunge with Lost Lagoon, then put it away, everything was going to be embossed!!  I used the stripes from Gorgeous Grunge as well, embossed of course along with my greeting from Lots of Thanks. 

For the stars I considered using gold paper, but I wanted the stars to really matched the embossed look and texture of the greeting and stripes so I embossed a scrap piece of white cardstock in gold (just press you Versa Mark pad over a piece of cardstock and cover with embossing powder) and punched out the stars with my star punch from the Itty Bitty Essentials Punch Pack.  For the solid gold line above the greeting, that's just a scrap from the piece I embossed and punched the stars out of.  I also covered the edges of my cardbase with versa mark and embossed in gold as well.  This really doesn't use as much embossing powder as you would think.  Now I didn't cover the entire piece of cardstock, you're only seeing the outside edge, so really the base of the card is only embossed about 1/2 inch in, around the entire card.  Embossing powder seems to last forever!!  Plus it gives that same gold look and texture throughout the entire card.  This card is GORGEOUS!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Grateful

I love the layers on this card.  There's so many fun layers, this is one of those cards that really look better in person.  There's so much going on, but it all goes together so well!!!  I started with 3 pieces of DSP all from the Color Me Autumn DSP, it's in the upcoming Holiday Catalog.  You don't have to wait much longer it goes live this Thursday, August 28!!!  The pieces of DSP that I choose look like solid pattens but when you look at the 12x12 piece it's such a fun pattern, there's lots going on.  I glued them all together on a scrap piece of white, you'll never see it so it can really be a scrap piece, you could also just use printer paper.  It's just something to hold all the pieces of DSP together.  I stamped and embossed the flower from the Too Kind set.  I used Clear embossing powder, but it didn't really give me the look I wanted to I took some Sahara Sand ink and my sponge and sponged the ink over it.  The Sahara Sand worked great in this case, it's not an overly dark color and it has the habit of blending well into it's environment.  Sahara Sand seems to work with EVERY color, it's kind of the chameleon of the inking world.  It was the perfect color to really bring out those flowers yet not mess up the DSP.  It worked great!!! 

 

To bring in more of that Sahara Sand color I cut out some scallops with my Striped Scallop Thinlit and attached just one line of scallops to the bottom layer.  I added the greeting from the For All Things Stamp Set, in the Holiday Catalog, with some Memento Black Ink.  This is the ink that works great with our Blendabilities but I love the clean, smooth look that you get with this pad.  It's my new go to black!  Finally to finish the card, I added more layers of cardstock and some Cotton Ribbon tied off with some Linen Thread.  I love this finished card.  I wish the photos did it justice, in person the layers and embossing really stand out! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Paper Pumpkin....So CUTE!

If you haven't signed up for Paper Pumpkin, you NEED to!!!  The kits are amazing.  I was blown away by last months, this month is awesome too!!!  If you haven't subscribed make sure you do here by September 10, you can get your first 2 months for 50% off!!!  Use the code HALFOFF2 and get 50% off the first two months! After that, keep the creativity coming for only $19.95 + tax per month (shipping included).

This month's kit had really cute cards and envelopes.  There were 4 mini cards with matching envelopes, aren't they stinkin' cute!!!!  I love these, they're the perfect size for lunch box notes.  I'm really excited about them!!! 

The stamp set that came with this month's kit is really cute, it has lots of great greetings and that sweet little polka dot that stamped on all the cards.  The cards are printed on the outside with those awesome stripes, and the envelopes were so easy to put together! 

In addition to the 4 mini cards and envelopes, and stamp set, and Hello Honey Ink there were 4 full sized cards also with envelopes!!!  I love these die cut cards! There were also banners in the kit to stamp your greetings on.  Also included was brads and linen thread for the envelopes and some beautiful, sparkly pink sequins!!!  EEEK!!  I love those!! 

In addition to all that you're seeing now, there's so much left, I have tons of banners left, extra die cuts, there's so many extra pieces!!!  The kits are incredible, I can't wait until next month!!!!  Remember you only have a couple weeks left to get the kits for 50% off the first two months!  Don't wait sign up today!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!! 

Hogs And Kisses

Today is Logan's birthday, he's 8 today.  How time flies.  For the kids cards I always try to do fun cards that they'll enjoy.  I had this thought for a pig and originally he was going to hold a birthday cake and the inside would read something like 'it's your birthday pig out', or something along those lines.  Well the days past, we got busier, time got away and well, then we're hours away from his birthday and making a pig holding a cake seemed more time consuming than I could handle.  So I started searching Pintrest for other pig cards with pig puns, I'm not sure why I was still stuck on the pig.....But then I came across this card made by Kristina.  I loved the greeting on her card, so I quickly printed it and started my card, it says "Birthday Hogs and Kisses".

The little pig couldn't be easier, he's just a selection of circle punches, his body is the 2 inch, his ear is the 1 1/4 and his nose is the 3/4.  Ears are the points of the new Sweetheart punch. and finally his legs are the Pansy Punch.  Couldn't be easier!  I used Blushing Bride cardstock then sponged it in Blushing Bride and Chocolate Chip.  I wanted the look like he had been playing in the mud.  The outside of the card is made to look like a barn.  It was quick with scraps of Real Red. Sponge in Chocolate Chip and you're done!    

I put him in a window and used a little spring on his bottom.  So when you open the card he's got a wiggly pig bottom.  I think Logan will just love that.  He has a very generous tail :)  The card is a 4x4 card.  It will fit in a regular envelope, but making one would make this card extra special.  I hope Logan enjoys his birthday card and his day. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Nutty Or Nice?

This stamp set is in the upcoming Holiday Catalog.  I was instantly drawn to it.  I think this little nutcracker guy is so cute.  There's also a Santa in the set, he's cute too!!!  I knew they would be perfect to use with my Blendabilities.  If you're a fan of mine on Facebook you saw a little bit of this card on Sunday when I was making it.  Megan was stamping with me, I asked her what she thought of my card she said, "Welllllll, it's pretty good. But I'm not sure about that weird guy on it." She cracks me up sometimes!!  The finished card is a 5x5 card.  So I would need my handy Envelope Punch Board to custom make a matching envelope.   A couple other sneak peeks on this card: the sequins, they come in a package with snowflakes, they're so pretty!!!  The star embossing folder-LOVE IT!!!

The mustache on this guy and on Santa coordinates with the mustache framelit.  I never knew I needed it until this stamp set came along :)  I didn't use the framelit to cut this mustache out, I wanted a really close cut, so I just cut it with my scissors this time.  I love the look the Blendabilies give.  Just the right shading, so fun!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Two More

I have two more birthday cards from my Birthday Card Stamp A Stack class over the weekend.  When I do this class I always *try* to do a masculine card.  Sometimes that doesn't work out :)  I love this card though.  We used the painters tape technique.  If you haven't heard of this you take a strip of painters tape (you could also use Washi tape, but you end up throwing the tape away so why waste the Washi!!!!), with your strip you place it, sticky side down on the pad, then place it on your cardstock.  Pull up the tape and see the ink that's left behind.  Isn't that the coolest thing ever!!?!?!  Every time you do it, it will be different.  So fun!!!  After we did that twice, once in Crumb Cake and once in Marina Mist, we stamped the birds from the Wetlands Set (my go to guy set!).  So fun!!!

Finally this last card could be used for a masculine card or for a childs birthday.  I was inspired to do this card based on a card that I received from my friend Carmelita (she took some cards to convention for me and swapped them!).  One of the cards I received back, made by Sharon Denison, was the card I was inspired by.  Isn't this one cute!!  You could easily make a whole bunch of these in a million different colors!!!  The balloon is the largest Oval Framelit, the bottom of the balloon is the heart from the Itty Bitty Essentials Punch Pack.  I love this card!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Birthday Cards

Did you enjoy last week and all the wonderful Blendabilities ideas???  I did!  While all that was going on, I was preparing for a class I had over the weekend.  It was my Birthday Card Stamp a Stack.  I do this class at least once a year.  I think I've done it twice this year.  It's always a hit.  We ALL know people that have birthdays, it's nice to have a large supply to go to.  Here's the first two we made.  My guests got to make 8 cards, 2 each of 4 designs.  8 cards can take a while so the cards were simple and easy to mass produce!  There's nothing more frustrating than being stuck on a card for a long time, much less 2 cards!  This first card we used the Work Of Art Stamp Set.  I'm loving this set, it's so fun and one that you need in you stash of stuff!!!  It's become my go to set!!  I used the Crumb Cake notecards for this card and I pulled out some colors from the Subtles group, So Saffron, Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party.

There's lots of layers on this card, but it's easy to put together.  The star framelits and DSP make this card go quick!  We used the All Abloom DSP stack.  It's a beautiful DSP stack!!!!  A quick greeting on the bottom and a sneak peek at the new stars embossing folder and this card is done!!!   I have the last two cards to share tomorrow.  Check back!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!
 

Blendabilities Meets Christmas Bauble

Day 5 of our Blendabilities week. I'm teaming up with my friend Kim to bring you the best of Blendabilities!! After you're done here, head to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you.  Today is our final day.  I've had fun, I hope you have too!!  Today, I'm sharing what Blendabilities are for, COLORING!!!!  I'm using the new Christmas Bauble stamp that's in our upcoming Holiday Catalog.  It's a beautiful stamp, and so fun to color.  There's lots of big spaces and lots or room for creativity!!!  I wasn't sure how I'd like my Crumb Cake/Daffodil Delight ornament but I LOVE IT!!!  The colors are so pretty together.  I'm all about non traditional Christmas colors.  The stamp isn't the only sneak peek on the card.  See those awesome stars?  That's a new embossing folder.  I was selective on which stars I wanted embossed so instead of sending it through the Big Shot like you normally would.  I placed my cardstock over the open embossing folder on the side with the debossed stars (the side where the stars go in, not pop up).  Then I used my tool from my Simply Scored board and just went over the stars that I wanted to show.  So fun and an easy way to be selective! 
As for the ornament.  I mentioned before that I used my Crumb Cake and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities, I also pulled out my Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive ones for the holly.  I added some glitter, not a lot.  I also added some Crystal Effects over the center of the ornament.  It gives a lovely shine and glossy finish.  If you still want to know more about Blendabilities make sure you come to my class on Saturday, September 6.  This class is available for local customers only, if you're local and don't have a demonstrator come on down!  If you're already one of my customers come on down!!!  If you're not local, this class isn't available as a kit right now, sorry!  But feel free to head to my website and shop for your Blendabilities today!  The best way to learn is just to use them!!!  Here's all the details on my class. 

Saturday, September 6, 2014
9:30AM St. John's Cathedral, 318 Silver SW, Albuquerque NM
Learn all there is to know about Stampin' Up!'s new alcohol markers, Blendabilities.
This class is $25 paid in advance, you'll receive 1 package of Blendabilities (your color choice), and one stamp (your choice of Blended Bloom, Kind Koala, Vivid Vases, or Snapshot).  You'll get four pieces of cardstock to practice on, then you'll make one finished card with your stamp set.  You get to keep the Blendabilities and stamp set you receive at the class!  RSVP WITH PAYMENT by August 25th.  Make sure to include what color Blendabilities you want and your stamp of choice.  Contact me for more details or to RSVP.   

Now it's time to head over to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you today! Make sure to check back here tomorrow for another Blendabilities inspired project. Don't forget to shop now for your Blendabilities!!!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Blendabilities Meets Thinlits

Day 4 of our Blendabilities week. I'm teaming up with my friend Kim to bring you the best of Blendabilities!! After you're done here, head to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you.  I pulled out my Smoky Slate Blendabilities for this card, it's more of a subtle look than my last 3 projects but I love the finish look.  We'll get to the markers in a moment.  Let's talk about the rest of the card first.  Remember last week when I created my own Black Glitter Embossing Powder.  Well I had some of that left so I thought I'd pull it out for this card.  I knew I'd be using my Smoky Slate markers, so I also grabbed my Silver Embossing Powder.  I stamped all the triangles, using the triangle background from the Dotty Angles set, in Versa Mark.  Then I randomly sprinkled on some Black Glitter Embossing Powder and some Silver.  I love the multi colored embossed look!  So fun!!!!  The texture on this card is CRAZY FUN!!!

 

Then I die cut the 'thx' from the Circle Card Thinlit.  I love all the little 'extras' that come with the flipcards :)  After I cut it out I started coloring it with my Blendabilities.  It's darker on the top and get's lighter as you go down.  This was really hard to photograph, it's so prominent in person.  After it was colored and dried, it needed something else, it was the ONLY thing not sparkling on the card-can't have that!!!  So I sprayed my Vanilla Smooch Spritz once into a small container and gently painted the smooch spritz over the letters.  It's the perfect amount of shine and shimmer!!!  And how cool that you can paint it!!!! It was something I'd never tried, sooooo glad it worked!!!!  Finally to finish the card and to add a 'pop' of color I added some flowers punched out of Blendabilities colored glimmer paper.  Beautiful!!!!  This is my favorite of the week......so far......I have one last project to share with you tomorrow, check back, there just might be a sneak peek....or two!!!!

Now it's time to head over to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you today! Make sure to check back here tomorrow for another Blendabilities inspired project. Don't forget to shop now for your Blendabilities!!!

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Blendabilities Meets Glimmer Paper

Day 3 of our Blendabilities week.  I'm teaming up with my friend Kim to bring you the best of Blendabilities!!  After you're done here, head to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you.  Today, I'm loving all the sparkle on this card.  Now you didn't really think I'd go a whole week without using glitter did you? :)  I'm totally in love with our new Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper!!  It's beautiful on it's own but look at the amazing color you get when you color them with Blendabilities!!!  So pretty!!!  Now, I will caution you, that this technique isn't the best technique for your markers.  The glimmer paper is rough and lots of coloring on it could tear your marker tips.  If you plan to do a lot of coloring on rough surfaces such as glimmer paper I would suggest getting a set of markers specifically for that purpose and another set for coloring.  At only $11.95 it's easy to do!  For this card I used the Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities. 

There's soooooo much glimmer on this card it's crazy!!!  I cut the glimmer paper into strips the smallest is 3/4 inches, the middle is 1 inch the largest one is 1 1/4 inches.  It doesn't take a lot of ink to color them, and unlike dying your glimmer paper with our reinkers the Blendabilities dries almost instantly!!!  The glimmer paper adds so much interest to the card that I didn't think it needed a whole lot more so I just added a quick greeting and some ribbon.  So pretty!!!

Here's a quick look at a few other colors on glimmer paper.  I did the light, medium and dark with all the colors.  Most of them go dark to light except for the blue on the end it goes light to dark.  Not sure what happened there :)  Starting on the top left and going clockwise we have Smoky Slate, Old Olive, Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight and Coastal Cabana.  They're all beautiful!!
Now it's time to head over to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you today! Make sure to check back here tomorrow for another Blendabilities inspired project. Don't forget to shop now for your Blendabilities!!!
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Blendabilies Meets Megan

Well, meets Megan's hair anyway! :)  It's day 2 of our week of Blendabilities.  I'm teaming up with my friend Kim and we're sharing tons of Blendabilities tips and projects this week.  When you're done here check out her blog for more ideas!!  Today I have a project that I thought about for 2 days before making it.  I love this sweet hair clip, pictured in Megan's (my 3 year olds) curly, blonde locks.  I use my Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities and I love how it starts light in the center and gets darker!!!  To make this bow I pulled out my leftover Satin Ribbon from my July Paper Pumpkin Kit (Yay! Paper Pumpkin!!!!).  I cut about 18 inches of ribbon, it might have been less, I didn't measure so I really have no idea :)  I was probably close to 18 inches though.  I started with my lightest shade and started coloring the ribbon.  I was shocked how easy it went on the ribbon!!  Amazing!!!!!  I moved to my medium shade, then my darkest shade blending them as I went.

I was sure that I'd have to wait a while for them to dry, NOPE!  They dried so quickly, they're alcohol markers so I guess when you think about it, alcohol does dry quickly.  To finish the flower I folded the ribbon in half long ways and then took a needle and thread and sewed the long ends together.  So basically I was left with an 18 inch piece of colored ribbon folded in half and sewed together.  The reason I wanted to sew it was because I wanted that clean folded edge on the outside.  Plus when you sew it together it and pull the thread it scrunches up the ribbon giving it that fun wavy look!  Then I just pulled out my trusty glue gun and started gluing it, a little at a time in a spiral.  To finish I used a blob of hot glue and a hair clip and stuck it on the clip.  Add a button, if you want.  DONE!!!  So pretty, so cute!!!  I love it!!!!  I can easily make a dozen of them, one in every color of Blendabilities!! 

Now it's time to head over to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you today! Make sure to check back here tomorrow for another Blendabilities inspired project. Don't forget to shop now for your Blendabilities!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Blendabilites Meets Back To Black

Are you ready for this week!!!??!  I'm so excited!!!  It's a whole week of Blendabilities!!  These markers are so very fun to use!!  All this week I have fun projects all featuring the markers.  I hope you'll get inspired and get lots of other great tips!!  I'm teaming up with my friend Kim, who's also a demonstrator.  She loves Blendabilites just as much as me so we thought we'd team up and each share a project every day!  Double the projects, double the tips!!!  Whoo Hooo!!!  After you're done here, head over to Kim's blog.  Today, I'm showing the use of Blendabilies on our Back To Black DSP.  This DSP is fun, but it's only black and white, so I added color!!!  I blocked off three sections of the DSP and used my Coastal Cabana Blendabilities to color it.  I started on the left with the lightest of the three and moved to the right getting darker and darker.  The great thing is since the markers are sold in a 3 pack, you know they're going to coordinate and blend well together.  Where the colors meet, they've blended together so they seamlessly change to the next color.

This is just one pattern of the 12 patterns in the Back To Black package, could you image the endless possibilities!!!??!  So fun!!!  You can also use the Blendabilities to color the Love Story Project Life cards.  Those are beautiful in black and white but why not add some color and really customize them to your scrapbook page!!!  Finally I want you to notice the little butterfly on this card.  I added one of our Vintage Faceted Buttons to the center, but I colored it with the medium shade of the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities first.  Doesn't it really pop!?! 

Now it's time to head over to Kim's blog and see what she has in store for you today!  Make sure to check back here tomorrow for another Blendabilities inspired project.  Don't forget to shop now for your Blendabilities!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Watercolored Snowflake

I have a fun card for you today, this was my demo at the meeting last night.  I LOVE this card!!  I saw this technique somewhere, on Pintrest? You Tube?  Somewhere, but I can't seem to locate the card I saw it on.  I'll keep looking, if I run across it, I'll make sure to post it.  I don't even know what the technique is called.  I'm going to try to talk you through it.  Before that though, some of you have requested tutorials on some of my cards.  Especially this rainbow one that was posted a few weeks ago.  I want you to know that I have heard you, and I'm looking into ways to do that, either PDF's or videos.  Both of which take time, of which is running low right now. I'm hoping that once the kids are back in school (next week!!!) I can sit down and figure it all out.  I'm not promising anything, but if something does happen to work out, you'll be the first to know :) Back to the card. 

The magic of this card is that the snowflake is stamped and embossed in black, yet it's watercolored too????!  Magic????  Here's how I did it.  I stamped the snowflake first in Coastal Cabana on Watercolor paper-that's key, use Watercolor Paper!!!  Then I gently spritz it with water until the colors were gently spreading.  I grabbed my heat tool and dried it quickly before they spread more.  Then I stamped directly on top of the previous snowflake, this time in Night Of Navy and spritz it again, letting the colors run, and drying it with my heat tool.  Finally I stamped in Versa Mark and embossed in Black.  You're left with a beautiful embossed, watercolored image. 

You can do this with ANY line image stamp!  This set, Endless Wishes (it's in the Holiday Catalog by the way!!!!) happens to be in Photopoymer which makes lining it up easy!  If you're using rubber, make sure you use your Stamp A Ma Jig.  For this to work the images have to be perfectly lined up.  I wanted to make sure that I stamped it exactly the same every single time.  So instead of rotating it to find the right angle.  I mounted my stamp, then put a piece of washi tape along the top of the block, this way I knew that the washi tape always goes on top, perfect placement every single time!  I hope these tips help!  Next week you're in for a treat!!  I have a week of Blendablities planned and I'm partnering with my friend and fellow demonstrator Kim!  You'll get double the ideas and projects!!!  I'm so excited.  Don't miss next week!! 

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!

Celebrate Swapping

Our demo meeting is tonight and we have kind of a different swap theme.  One we've never done.  The theme this month is use your most hated Stampin' Up! color.  So it was a toss up between Tangerine Tango, Garden Green, Tangelo Twist and Mossy Meadow.  Sense a theme in my most hated colors? :)   I don't know if I 'hate' them I just really don't like them and hardly ever, ever, ever use them.  I went with Mossy Meadow in the end.  I looked up in my Color Coach what colors coordinate with Mossy Meadow and used those, so I also added some Calypso Coral (not a favorite of mine) and Bermuda Bay (this color I like!).  I used the High Five stamp set.  It's a fun set that wasn't on my wish list but every time I went through the catalog I would stop at this set.  Something was calling me.  I'm glad I got it!

The stars are punched out of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  WHICH. IS. THE. BEST. GLIMMER. PAPER. IN. THE. WORLD!!!!!  I love this paper.  I just got it, and I'm already out :(  I will need to heavily restock this paper.  It's so sparkly and fantastic.  BEST. EVER!!!  Keeping with sparkle from the paper I decided to try something, I mixed Dazzling Diamonds glitter with Black Embossing Powder.  I ended up with glitter black embossing powder!  Shut the front door, it's so stinkin' cool!!!!!  I used 2 parts black embossing powder and one part glitter (note: when I say 'parts' I have a plastic spoon that I used, 2 spoons of EP and 1 of glitter, all dumped into an old button container.  There was no measuring!).  Just make sure you have more embossing powder than glitter.  The embossing powder is what will stick to your Versamark and melt.  The glitter won't.  I love my swap.....even though I used Mossy Meadow.....I'm so excited to see what colors will come up as people 'most hated color'!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Lovely Leafs

I'm warning you now, the Holiday Catalog will blow your mind!!  There's so many fantastic products in it!!  You'll love it!!!  I know I do!!!  This is more of the same set from yesterday, For All Things, that will be in the Holiday Catalog.  It's fun and has LOTS of shimmer to it!!  The leaves are stamped and embossed in clear on Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow and Hello Honey.  Then I cut them out, yes there's no coordinating framelit for this set.  But I don't mind, I actually enjoy the fussy cutting, even though I've been spoiled by framelits and punches :)  The texture the embossing gives is wonderful!  Really the leaves are the most complicated part of this card.  I added a greeting from the same set and some Crumb Cake Seam Binding.  Now the shimmer!!!
 

Once the card was assembled.  I thought it still needed something.  I got out my Vanilla Smooch Spritz.  I haven't used this in forever!!!  I sprayed it.  I wanted a more concentrated spray so I sprayed from only a few inches away.  If you want a more spread out splatter spray from farther back.  Then I took a wet aqua painter and some Crumb Cake ink and splattered that around the card too.  I'm so pleased with this card and the pictures don't do it justice with the amount of shimmer and shine and texture on this card.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Welcome Fall

Ok, well maybe not quite yet.  In terms of the calendar anyway.  I'm 100% ready for fall to arrive.  I'm done with the summer heat, I'm done with the summer rain----don't get me wrong, I like the rain and appreciate it, I just like it more when it's reasonably spread out through the entire year, not a years worth of rain in a week.  Our house is at the bottom of a hill.  So when the rains come, guess where it goes...??  Not fun.----Most of all though I'm ready for school to start, one week...ONE WEEK!!!  I think I'll survive, more importantly I think the kids will too :)  In the meantime, how about a sneak peek at a new set to get us in the 'fall' mood.  This set is call For All Things, it's coming in the Holiday Catalog!!!  It's perfect for Thanksgiving!

There's lots of images in this set, a lot of them are the sketchy, watercolor look (Think Work Of Art stamp set).  I love it!!  I love that with one stamp you can get an image that looks like you used a brush and paint for.  I stamped that image in Mossy Meadow, our new In Colors are PERFECT fall colors!!!!  I embossed in gold the branches over it.  So pretty!!  Keeping with the gold theme.  I used some Champagne glimmer paper to layer the card on.  So sparkly and pretty!!  I love it!!!  I have one more sample tomorrow from this set :) 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Crafting Request

I have a different kind of project for you today.  It turned out much cuter than I thought it would, I'm totally loving the final result.  But let's get to the back story and how this started.  Dan texted me one day last week from work and said his co worker Scott had a crafting question.  Well bring it on!!! He wanted to make a frame for his wife with a picture of their son in it.  Now the question ended up being more of a request for me to do it, rather than a how to question for him to do it.  No problem, I was happy to help.  I asked Dan to have him write down exactly what he wanted done so that the instructions wouldn't get lost in translation.  So Friday, Dan brought home the frame and the instructions on a post it note.  The instructions read, "LOVE YOU MOM!"  That's it!!!??!  No color requests, nothing!!!  Dan said that I had creative freedom.  Well that doesn't help me when it's not my finished project!  What if they hate it???  What if my visions are not theirs??!!  So after many, many different trials of what to do, where to put it, etc.  This is what was done.  I covered up their son's face with a post it for this picture mostly because I don't think Scott knew this would get posted on my blog and I didn't want to upset him about posting the picture of his son.  Plus this post is more about the frame.  I did pull in the orange and blue from his shirt for the letters colors.  I used the new alphabet framelits.  I. LOVE. THEM!!!  I had just unpacked it from my most recent order just hours before Dan brought the frame home.  Worked out perfectly!!!! 

I asked Dan if he knew what their son liked to play with.  Dan said cars, like all little boys I suppose.  So I made a sweet little car.  Looks like a VW Bug :)  I used Marina Mist and lightly sponged it in Smoky Slate.  The car is circle punches, most of them are cut in half.  I used the 1 3/8" for the body of the car, the 1 1/4" for the windows, the 1" for the wheel bases, the 3/4" for the tires and the 1/2" for the hub caps.    But really you could modify this car to be any size by changing up the size circles you use.  It's so sweet and super cute in person.  Dan's taking the frame to work today to give it to Scott.  I hope he likes it!!  More importantly, I hope the Mom likes it! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Paper Pumpkin Ideas

Let's talk Paper Pumpkin today.  The kits are getting good!!!  This month's kit blew me away, there were supplies for 6 cards AND 6 boxes, not to mention the ROLL of satin ribbon, the bakers twine, the ink, the 10 piece stamp set and all the little embellishments!!! This is the time to sign up for Paper Pumpkin!!!  I didn't make any of my cards like it said in the directions, actually I'm pretty sure I only glanced at the directions for a brief second.  But that's the great thing about Paper Pumpkin, there's instructions if you want them, otherwise let your creativity run free!!!  Here's a few of the cards I made.  This first one is super cute!!!  I stamped the 'Thanks' over and over again without reinking, it continues to get lighter and lighter.  For the sweet heart, I used the negative image from one of the sticker embellishments and sponged Pool Party lightly over the words.  So cute!!!! 

Now let's talk a little about how Paper Pumpkin works.  It's a subscription, you sign up online and every month you're sent a little red box that has everything you need!!!  Sometimes you will need scissors or adhesive but those are easy to come up with.  You can cancel anytime, but you won't want to!  They make great gifts!!!  So here's the sweet part!! Sign up before September 10 and get your first 2 months for 50% off!!!! After the first two months, the price for each month's kit will go to the regular price: $19.95.  Enter the Promo Code, "HALFOFF2" when you sign up.

For this card I sponged some Pool Party stars along the right side of the card just like I did the heart in the first card.  Then I added some extra stars on top!  Don't you love those silver stars!!  In the kit there's a bazillion of them!!  I keep using them but I don't seem to run out of them!!  And they come in two sizes this smaller solid star and a larger frame of a star (you'll see it in a minute!!!).  To hold my bakers twine in place along the bottom of my card, I used a small (probably 1/4 inch) hand held punch and punched a little notch out of the side.  This gives the twine a little spot to 'sit' in and doesn't slide off the card.  No adhesive required!!  Plus it's super cute!!!!!

I guess I'm really into the sponging thing lately :)  I did it on this card too!!!  I love this one, it's my favorite!!!!  This time though I used the 'wish' stickers and laid them on my card, then I sponged over it.  When I was done sponging I removed my letters.  If you remove them quickly they won't damage your card.  There was no sticky residue left and they didn't tear the cardstock when I took them off. 

Here's the last card, and that silver star frame I told you about!!  This one has a few more layers, I just cut up one of the extra card bases to layer it up.  I embossed the 'Happy' in silver embossing powder to match the stars.  It still needed something though, so I added a Blackberry Bliss star.  I used the stars in the kit and covered it with ink and sprinkled clear embossing powder over it. 

I did it a couple of times until I got a nice rich Blackberry Bliss look.  A couple of tips, use the white side of the star to do this, the ink won't stick to the slick, shiny silver side.  WORK QUICKLY, before the ink dries.  For some extra shine and gloss I covered it in Crystal Effects :)  So what are you waiting for???  Sign up for Paper Pumpkin today!!!!  Go here and remember to enter the code HALFOFF2.  This offer is only available to NEW subscribers of Paper Pumpkin.  Remember to mark me as your demonstrator. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!