Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Swirly Boat

People! We are hours, HOURS away from the release of the new 2016-2017 Annual Catalog!!!  I am so excited.  I don't know if I've mentioned here but I know I've said it to friends in person, but this is my favorite catalog ever!!!!!  The new colors are amazing, there's so many new fun stamps that I CAN'T WAIT to get!  LOTS of new framelits, it's all good!!!  We are mere hours away now!!!!!  Just wait!  I know I can't!!!!  I've been really obsessed with the new Swirly Bird set and this little boat is in that set!  Isn't it cute!  and what a great masculine card this makes! 
Those waves that the boat is on, that's in the coordinating framelits!  Aren't they fun!!!  I have lots of ideas for those waves!!!!!  I covered the boat and the sail with some of the Fine Tip Glue, it dries nice and clear just like Crystal Effects did.  For those of you who may be missing Crystal Effects try the Fine Tip Glue!  Check tomorrow for a fun post celebrating the launch of the new catalog!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Monday, May 30, 2016

Painter's Palette

Because I've been so consumed with Swirly Bird and the pineapple from last week, I haven't had a chance to use another fun new set in the catalog.  This is Painters Palette and it's so cute!  I can't wait to use it more. There's this cute little easel stamp and lots of brush stoke looking stamps and a couple really cute greetings. 
This was just a really quick card I made just because I wanted to get some ink on this stamp!  I love it!  It's simple but so pretty and really easy to mass produce if you needed a bunch of them.  This is also a good stamp set for kids.  They could stamp the easel image then draw their own picture in there.  Wouldn't that be adorable for grandparents or teachers.  Really cute! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Friday, May 27, 2016

Love You Lots

This could probably be my favorite hostess set in a long time! I love these hedgehogs!!!!  They're just tooooo cute!  This card was really simple and really quick to pull together.  I needed a quick make and take for a downline meeting with my downline Michelle and her downline. This showcased a few new products that I really love!  The new set obviously, the new color Sweet Sugarplum and some of the new Ruched Ribbon!  It's so yummy!!!!!  
The hedgehogs were colored with the Stampin' Write markers then I went over their quills (are they quills on a hedgehog......) with a Wink of Stella pen, there's nothing better than a glittery hedgehog!  We added some hearts that were punched out with the Owl Builder punch and we were done!  Such a cute card!

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

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Emerald Anniversary

I have friends that just celebrated their 25th anniversary so of course I needed a card.  When the new In Colors were released to demonstrators I knew instantly I would LOVE Sweet Sugarplum, Flirty Flamingo and Dapper Denim.  The two I wasn't sure about was Peekaboo Peach and this green Emerald Envy.  Until you see them in person it's hard to know if you'll really love them.  I'm so happy to say that I absolutely LOVE this green!  It's such a pretty green!!!  I'm not a huge green fan so this is big people!  (I also really love Peekaboo Peach too, but that's for another day).  Really it wasn't until I finished this card that I realized just how much I loved this color!    
The card is pretty simple.  I stamped the rose from Rose wonder all over and cut out 25 with the Large Numbers Framelits.  I used the new Swirly Bird set for some flowers and the Number of Years set for the greeting which I silver embossed on vellum.  I added some Silver Foil paper behind the numbers and the vellum strip over.  Really pretty! 

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

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

My Pinapple Problem

Get something to drink, this is a long post.  Settle in though it's all good!  This new Pineapple stamp wasn't part of my first pre-order.  I didn't think I needed it.  Then I started thinking about how cool it would look to have the pineapple with a watercolored look.  Then I thought, I need teacher gifts.  How cool would it be to have a set of card for the kids teachers with a bunch of watercolored pineapples.  The stamp came last week, (Tuesday).  Most of the morning on Wednesday I worked on my 'watercolored' theory.  Well............they weren't working as I had hoped, specifically I wasn't getting the look I pictured in my head.  I tried lots of different ways, stamping on wet paper, spritzing after I stamped, spritzing the stamp before I stamped.  None gave me the look I wanted, so I tried other ways too, gold embossing the whole thing, cutting it out, thinking of making 40 cards of either of those (10 cards per teacher), made me cringe a little.  Today is the last day of school for Logan, tomorrow for Megan, so I was kind of on a time crunch, the end of May just kind of happened.  It was April last week!   
It's not that these cards aren't pretty, I'll definitely use them, it's just that they weren't coming out as I envisioned.  I really didn't want to do the typical pineapple colors.  I really wanted bright colors blended together.  Doing 40 of them really wasn't going to work in the small amount of time I had to work with. 
So I decided to scrap my watercolored pineapple idea completely and go for something else.  The cards had to fit certain qualifications for me: I wanted to use the notecards, I wanted them to be colorful, they needed to be easy to mass produce in about a day, and I still wanted to use the pineapple.  So I looked at what I liked from my 'test' cards.  I really like the gold embossed pineapple.  BUT embossing in gold meant I had to also emboss the greeting on vellum, I wasn't a fan of that idea for the amount of cards I needed to make, plus it didn't incorporate the colorfulness that I wanted, so I tried something else.  What about just embossing the bottom of it?   
Finally cards that I loved and worked per my visions!  So I stamped and gold embossed the bottom of 40 pineapples.  Really, this didn't take long at all, probably only about 45 minutes...if that, I had quite a system of doing 5 at a time.  Plus, I really got to clean out a lot of my white scraps with just doing the bottoms.  Once the bottoms were all embossed I cut them all out, because it's a simple oval they didn't take long to cut out at all!  
The pineapple tops were all stamped on the white pieces that would go onto the cards.  Because I only had to stamp the tops of them it went really quickly.  Here's where my math got funky.  I knew I had to make 40 cards.  I wanted a variety of colors and greetings, so I decided on 5 colors, each teacher would get 2 of each color card.  So in my head I had 10 cards per teacher, 5 colors, make 10 of each color.  See where my math went wrong......I ended up with 50 pineapple tops and only 40 bottoms.  I embossed 10 more bottoms and made 50 cards.  Stupid math...... But it's fine it worked out.  I'm giving the extra 10 to my mom for a women's retreat she's leading in June.  But I also love the colors that I went with for these, the first picture I used Tempting Turquoise and Daffodil Delight.  This picture shows them in 3 new colors!  Sweet Sugarplum, Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach.  I wanted colors that were bright and really colorful and fun, but not so dark that you wouldn't be able to read the black greeting over them.  These colors all worked perfectly!!!!!  Don't you love all the new ones!  They all look so pretty with the gold!  
Then I needed boxes for them.  I used the Gift Bag Punch Board to make these simple boxes.  I used a piece of white cardstock that was 12x7 and I used the directions for the 'Large' bag on the punch board.  This was the perfect size for 10 cards.  I simply decorated them with some of our gold printed vellum, I'm so bummed to see this stuff go on the retired list :(  They're so simple and so pretty! 
They fit perfectly!  I also stuck a really simple mini 'thank you' card from me, a cool pen and a gift card in the boxes for the teachers. 
The cards were simply bundled in some gold ribbon, keeping with the gold theme.  All in all I'm so happy with the cards and gifts.  Despite a couple speed bumps and complicated math :) they ended up great!  I hope the teachers all love them!  Bottom line though, even after all this I still really like this pineapple stamp, put it on your wish list for the new catalog!  Speaking of, we are down to only a week until the new catalog releases!!!  EEEEKKKKK!!!! I can't wait!!!!!!  Thanks for joining me on this really loooooonnnnnng post.  I hope it was worth it!

Thanks for looking see you soon!!!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Picture Perfect Birthday

First I have to apologize for these pictures.  This card was stamped late and night and then mailed early the next morning.  I didn't have ideal lighting to work with.  But this card came out so pretty I had to share!  I started with stamping the rose on some white cardstock then layering up DSP and other cardstock around it.  
The leaves were stamped then cut out.  I used an Xacto knife to cut along the side of the rose and stick the leaves under.  You could have just easily masked the rose off with a post it note but I thought this added a little more texture and in my opinion a little easier.  We are just over a week away from the new catalog!  I'm so excited!!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!! 

Monday, May 23, 2016

June Stamp Set of the Month

Every month I feature a stamp set and when you purchase that stamp set you receive the supplies to make 3 cards!  June's featured set will be Birthday Blooms.  I've been so obsessed with this set lately I had to feature it!  These are the three cards you'll receive supplies and instructions for.  The first one in Island Indigo is my favorite.  For this card I used a Blender Pen to color the flower but I stamped it on Vellum in Staz-On then colored the BACK of the vellum.  The ink will dry on the vellum, it takes a little longer.  But the softer color you get from coloring on the back is soooooo pretty!!! 
The second card is so cute and easy enough to make a stack in no time! 
Finally the third card also colors the smaller flower with a Blender Pen.  Again a card I just love!!!! 

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

Friday, May 20, 2016

#imbringingbirthdaysback Bloom

The ever amazing Shannon West had a birthday last week.  Shannon is the creator of the #imbringingbirthdaysback movement.  Because of her more birthday cards are being mailed to people around the world!  I know in my case I've mailed more birthday cards this year than ever!  And it's fun!!!!  Shannon may still be opening birthday cards, she received tons of them from all over the world.  Who better to get them then Shannon, she deserves it!  This was the card I mailed to her.  I mentioned yesterday that I colored the flower with the Wink of Stella pen.  This was the first one I tired it on.  It's gorgeous!!!!  
Because this is a darker color than the Wisteria Wonder from yesterdays card I was able to do more shading and really get into coloring it.  This flower is so pretty to color to!  By far probably my favorite image to color, using ANY coloring technique!  I just love the Rich Razzleberry on this flower! 
This flower is full of shimmer!  After it was colored I fussy cut it out and attached it to my card.  If you love to color, if you love glitter, I hope you'll try watercoloring with your Wink of Stella!  It's so beautiful and like me you'll have a hard time returning to Blender Pens and Aqua Painters!  Possible but hard :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!! 

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Wisteria Blooms

I have a few cards that I made prior to my new stuff arriving that I wanted to share, we'll get back to new stuff I promise!  This was the Mother's Day card I made my mom.  I was inspired by a card that my friend Kim posted on a Facebook group I'm in.  I thought it was so pretty I made my own!  It's a take on the spotlighting technique, where you stamp an image then color part of it to 'spotlight it' In this case anything stamped on the white in the center.  But if you look closely you'll see that the inside images all line up with the outside images. 
I've been doing a lot of watercoloring lately using Blender Pens and Aqua painters but I got to thinking, "A Wink of Stella Pen is like an aqua painter I wonder if it would color like one......."  It does!!!  Plus it colors with glitter!!!!  You guys I found my new favorite way to color!!!!!  I have another example to share tomorrow with this technique but it's soooooo pretty!!!!  You use the Wink of Stella pen exactly the same way that you would use a Blender Pen or Aqua Painter, pick up a little color on the tip of the brush and color with it! In person the glitter and shimmery shine is out of this world!!!  Keep in mind though when coloring with your Wink of Stella, it uses quite a bit of your shimmer in your pen.  Just something to keep in mind before you color 100 cards :)  I have another card tomorrow showing more of coloring with the Wink Of Stella!!!  

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Dapper Denim and Swirly Bird

Dapper Denim is one of the new In Colors.  It's so pretty, it's darker and richer than Pacific Point but not as dark as Night of Navy.  I just love it, I'll be reaching for it a lot!  Plus it pairs beautifully with gold!  I used one of the flowers in swirly bird and heat embossed them with some gold on the card base.  I also heat embossed the greeting and set it aside.  
I took a label from the Lots of Labels framelits and stamped another flower from the Swirly Bird set.  To jazz up the tag a little I layered some glitter and some Dapper Denim cardstock on the bottom.  I attached the greeting and some ribbon.  Let's talk about this yummy Ruched Ribbon!  You'll need it, it's yummy and so pretty, and soft and fun to work with.  You'll want it!  Trust me!  We are two weeks away from the new catalog debuting!  I can't wait!!!!!

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

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Pop of Pink Swirly Bird

Today's card I'm sure will inspire you to get the Swirly Bird Bundle.  I love everything about this card and there's tons of sneak peaks here.  Where or where to start.....That adorable swirly frame is from the Swirly Scribbles bundle, those flowers and leaves are from the Swirly Bird set and yes you guessed it framelits to cut out the flowers and leaves!  I know you love that!  The DSP is new from a pack called Pop Of Pink, it's all Melon Mambo, Basic Black and White!  OMG! It's gonna be fun to use!!!!    
*Note: There's a little splotch in the left leaf.  I think I must have set something on the card, I didn't notice it until writing this blog post.  The leaf has since been replaced with a new leaf :)*  The flowers are stamped in Melon Mambo and the new Peekaboo Peach, the leaves are the new Emerald Envy.  Love this green!!!!  It's got some blue it in, it's just gorgeous!!!  I added a little Wink of Stella to the black swirly frame to make it sparkle.  I finished the card with some new Thick Melon Mambo Bakers Twine.  Lots and lots of new stuff to make this card!  I have one more Swirly Bird sample, in case you're still not convinced you need this bundle....though I don't know how that could be ;)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Monday, May 16, 2016

Swirly Bird

Mark it down right now, you want to have the Swirly Bird Bundle on your wish list.  When you first look at the set you might not think this is a must have set, there's lots of odd shapes, flowers, leaves.  It's quite an assortment.  But they all work!  And they're beautiful!  The bundle includes the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits and these are awesome!!!  I love how they layer on the flowers.  They're fun alone or with the set!  Look at that Ruched Ribbon under the greeting!  LOVE!!!!!    
Can you see more new colors on this card?!?!  The big flowers and the base are the new Flirty Flamingo, the smaller flowers are done in Dapper Denim and Sweet Sugarplum, the leaves are made with Emerald Envy and there's some splatter in the background that's done with Peekaboo Peach!  To add a little extra something to this card. I colored the swirls layered on top of the flowers with some clear Wink Of Stella.  You'll see more samples with this set in the next couple of days, just in case you're not convinced you need it just yet :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Friday, May 13, 2016

Hedgehogs!

I told you that you wouldn't want to miss today's post with these hedgehogs.  Am I right!?!?!  How stinkin' cute!!!!  These guys are in the same set as the elephant from yesterday.  I couldn't love them any more than I do.  PLUS check out some new colors on this card.  The card base is Sweet Sugarplum.  So pretty!!!  For the hedgehogs I stamped them in Black Staz-on and colored them with my Blender Pen.  Then I took out my aqua painter and did a wash of Soft Sky on the whole background. 
I tried to be careful around the hedgehogs with my wash but some of the water still got to them and the bled in a couple of spots.  It didn't change the look of them too much so I was ok with it.  Aren't they the cutest!!!!  I just love them!!!  I have many more sneak peeks coming next week!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

NEW STUFF! Sneak Peek!

I've been lost in my stamp room for the last couple of days.  My pre-order arrived Monday and we'll between that and finally having a hard copy of the catalog in my hands I've been quite content!  There's a couple stamp sets that I just haven't been able to put down!  This is one of them!  It's from a new Hostess sets called Lots of Love.  There's plenty to love about this set!  I love this elephant but there's some little hedgehogs, you guys the hedgehogs!  I'll share them on a card tomorrow!  But first the elephant!
This elephant is so cute though!  I stamped him in Staz-On and used a blender pen to color him.  I used Pool Party and Smoky Slate.  I love the blue-gray color that he is!  I masked some clouds for the sky, they're pretty light.  To finish him off, I added some grass and some hearts!  The hearts are colored with a Wink of Stella pen and then covered with the glue from the Fine Tip Glue pen. Those of you a little sad that Crystal Effects is leaving fear not the Fine Tip Glue works the same!  This card is a 5.5x3.5, so it's not your stand size but I think it worked perfectly for this little elephant!  Check back tomorrow for the hedgehogs!!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Bright Bouquet

There's a lot of birthday in my family in May 3 in just one week!  I've been stocking up on my birthday cards this month.  I watercolored these flowers weeks ago and just had the paper sitting on my desk I wasn't quite sure what I would do with them.  I finally just decided to cut them out and stick them to a card.  They're colored pretty simply using just ink and an aqua painter.  I love the watercolored lines between the darker and lighter ink. 
There's a lot of bright colors in this bouquet!  Perfect for any birthday!  I used Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Island Indigo, Watermelon Wonder and Rich Razzleberry for the flowers.  The leaves I stamped and colored in Cucumber Crush.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Retiring Stamp Set Class 2

My last two cards from my class just might be my favorite!  This card using the Market Fresh set is sooooo cute!!!!!  This card had a LOT of pieces! But once you get them all sorted out it's a quick card to put together.  Instead of coloring the lettuce I decided to paper piece it.  So it was stamped 3 times once on the Vanilla, once on the Old Olive and once on the Crushed Curry.  The Old Olive and Crushed Curry pieces were cut out and glued over the image on the Vanilla piece.  If you don't like to color this is a great way to add more color to an image!  The card base is 2 pieces held together by the label framelit in the center.  It's a fun unique way of making cards! 
Finally the LOVE you card.  I pulled out my Larger Than Life Alphabet again and made this card.  So cute!  It's a great masculine card if you needed one.  The pops of gold really bring this card to life! I also used the Dots for Days background.....I'm really going to miss that background stamp :( 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Monday, May 9, 2016

New Catalog Stamp Camp Sign Up Is Here!

I couldn't be more excited for this years New Catalog Stamp Camp!  The new catalog is fantastic and I can't wait to share it with you!!!!  I hope you can join me for my new and improved stamp camp!

June 18, 2016 9am
St. John's Cathedral, 318 Silver SW in downtown Albuquerque

This year's Annual New Catalog Stamp Camp will be bigger and better than ever!!!! Space is limited you'll want to reserve your spot early! PLUS we'll have the hugely anticipated Retired Stamp Set Sale!!! We are only able to accept cash or check for the Retired Stamp Sale.
The sale runs from 9am-10am. Stamp Camp doors will open at 10am.
The cost for this event is $25.
At Stamp Camp you'll receive:
--First access to the much anticipated Retired stamp set sale! Items discounted 50% off and more!!!!
--A set of 2016-2018 In Color Markers (A $15 value!)!!!!
--Your own copy of the brand new 2016-2017 Annual Catalog!!
--Supplies to make 6 cards using all new stamps, accessories and colors!
--And perhaps a few more surprises!!!!!

There's more information on this event on the sign up page.  You MUST register online if you plan to attend.  Registration is first come first serve, registration will remain open until June 11, unless capacity is reached before then. 

For the rest of the details and to register go here

Retiring Stamp Set Class 1

Over the weekend I held my annual Retiring Stamp Set class.  I hold this class every year, usually the month before the new catalog is released.  It's one last chance to use some of those stamp sets that will be retiring.  I always try to use sets that I either haven't used ever in a class or at lease in a long time.  The first card features Perfect Pennants.  There's so many fun greetings in this set, but I don't believe that I've ever used this one.  I saw this card on Pintrest.  I loved how simple and elegant it was, I immediately CASEd it for my class! 
I'm sure that I've used Vivid Vases in a class, no cards are coming to mind but it's such a pretty simple stamp that I'm sure I must have!  We just used some Stampin' Write markers to color the flowers and add a few highlights to the vases.  This stamp is so much fun and makes the best cards!!! 

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

Friday, May 6, 2016

Gift Bag Punch Board Box

Isn't this box so cool!!!  And it's made with the Gift Bag Punch board!!!!  It's really easy too!  You'll be making tons of these in no time!  I learned how to make this box from my wonderful friend and fellow demonstrator Nikki. She demoed this box to us at a recent downline meeting.  This is the tutorial she used to make the box.  It's so fun to make.  I've just made about 22 of them :) 

 
 
All the measurements for the box are also on the link.  For the lid though, Nikki adjusted the size to better fit the box.  The lid for this box is a piece of cardstock cut 3 5/8x3 5/8 score at 3/4 on all four sides then assemble as normal.  Isn't it just the cutest!?!  It's the perfect size for treats!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!  

Thursday, May 5, 2016

My Hummingbird Problem


Over the weekend on Facebook I posted this picture and commented how for months these hummingbirds have caused so many problems, no matter what I did I couldn't get them to line up.  They were ok and I was getting better but they weren't perfect.  Some of Stampin' Up!'s layering stamp sets are meant to line up perfectly some are not. This one I wanted to line up perfectly but just couldn't figure it out....even though it's a clear stamp.  I have serious problems.  After giving up.....or so I thought.....I decided to try one more time but this time I was stamping them in a whole new way.  The result.....
PERFECT hummingbirds.  They're lined up so wonderfully.  The wings, the tail, the beak, the EYES!  Those darn eyes that would never line up in the past were lined up!!!!!  I finally did it!!! I conquered the hummingbirds!!!! I stamped a few more to make sure it wasn't a fluke.  I was so happy I stamped another, this time photographing how I did it in case these hummers have been problematic for you too. 
Once I figured out what my problem was it was easy to fix.  I had been stamping the birds in the order number printed on the stamp sheet (the plastic sheet the stamps come on in the stamp case).  Forget that!  My problem was that the last one you stamped was always the darkest color and the hardest to see through.  So instead of ending with the darkest I started with the darkest.  On the stamp sheet this stamp is listed as number 4.  Nope, do this one first!  You'll thank me later!  
Next I did the stamp labeled as number 1.  This is where it gets a little strange I'm gonna talk a lot and it probably won't make sense but hang in there I have a point.  I stamped number 1 second, though if your number 3 ink color is darker than your number 1 ink color I'd do that one second instead of this one.  Got it!  Good! Basically you're moving from darkest to lightest, however that ends up arranging on your stamps do it that way.  This is the most solid hummingbird stamp.  I stamped it in Tempting Turquoise.  You can see how clearly it's already lining up!  
Then you'll stamp your last layer, depending on your ink colors that could be number 1 or number 3 on the sheet.  Have I completely confused you yet? :) If you wanted to add some more color to his neck this is also the time where you would stamp your little neck piece.  That would be number 2 on your stamp sheet if you're keeping track.  I don't have it pictured here but I added mine with some Blushing Bride, you'll see on the finished card.  Now here's where I really loose it.  After lining it up so beautifully and so perfectly I did this......
I'm totally and completely in love with this card.  He was stamped on watercolor paper through the whole tutorial.  I added another wing, cause birds have 2 wings. Then I sprayed it with water and my color spritzer.  The colors bled a little until I heated it with my heat tool to dry it and stop the spreading.  I didn't want to wash him out completely.  The rest of the card is super super simple.  A quick embossed greeting on vellum and that was it. 
I went back in after it was dry with a Project Life pen and re drew his eyes.  If you are having trouble with this hummingbird try going darkest to lightest.  It worked for me.  Then loose your mind completely and spray him down with water.  I do love this card though!  And I'm pretty sure it's because he was stamped so perfectly :)  I'm so so so glad I finally figured this out and this hummer and I can finally be friends.  He's been torturing me for quite some time :)

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