Back to Tim's Tags

I can't believe it's the end of December already!  After getting all my Christmas cards done about a week before Christmas, I took a nice break only to realize that I still had 8 tags to make before the end of the month!  Why before the end of the month you ask?  Well, Tim gives away prizes if you get all 12 done!  I made a goal to get them all done this year, and well, it's not gonna happen.  lol

I did get my daughter, Kelly, to make the tag from Day 5 with me.  It was a tough technique for her (as a beginner), and she got a little frustrated.  She was happy with her final result, but it was after hours of work.

I do like the way my Day 5 tag came out--I think it's my favorite this year:

 

I usually don't like this particular technique because I haven't had much luck with it in the past, but I like the way this tag turned out.  Here's a look at Tim's tag:

 Since Kelly was working so long on her tag, I started working on the tag from Day 6.  I was really anxious to try this one cause I've been wanting to work with some metal.  I thought I'd paint in all the background colors, and be slick and just brayer black over the top to hit all the raised images.  Unfortunately, that didn't work so well.  Yeah, I covered all the high points, but I also got a LOT of the low points too, and I had to repaint some areas.  Needless to say, I'm not too crazy about this one, but it took me so long to paint it, I wasn't about to start from scratch again.  Here it is in all it's glory:

And, here's Tim's tag from Day 6:

As you can see, mine doesn't look anything like Tim's.  lol

And, finally, I finished Day 7's tag yesterday.  This one came out pretty good too:

And, here's a look at Tim's:

It's after midnight, so it's officially December 31st.  I'm going to post these to Tim's blog, and then get to bed.  We're having our family Christmas at my sister's tomorrow, and we have to leave around 11am since she lives in South Jersey.  I guess that means I'm not going to get all the tags done this year, but I did get farther this year than I did last year.

OK, so here's my vow for next year ... I'm going to have all my Christmas cards done before December 1st so when Tim starts his tags, I have nothing else hanging over my head, and I can keep up with him.  :)

Happy New Year!!!

Free Event!

I signed up for a new meetup group in our area, and I offered to teach rubber stamping or scrapbooking here in my home.  I chose tomorrow for the date, and not only did I get 2 new people to sign up, but Anabel is coming too!  I told Denise, who can't wait to come, and now Patricia & Joeffre from work are coming as well!  I'm so excited!  I've got 2 really cool holiday cards to make with everyone, and it's just going to be a fun time.  No fee, no orders, just fun stamping with some friends!

Back to Tim's Tags: Day 4

This tag was a lot of fun to make cause I was really in a zone.  I had a few problems, but I really like how the tag turned out.  Once again, I didn't have the die Tim was using (snowman die & the "25" movers & shapers die), so I decided to go with the umbrella man die and cut off his umbrella.  Then, I used the pine tree die and put that over his shoulder.  Since I couldn't cut out the 25, I used what I had that would fit, and it was a keyhole.  I know, it makes no sense, but I wanted to do all the techniques, and I had fun, so that's what counts.  I think the most fun I have in making these tags is trying to find something in my stash to substitute what I don't have.

I also didn't have his snowflake die, so I used a smaller snowflake die and just made 3 instead of one.  I also didn't have his snowflake On the Edge die, and here is where I had the most trouble.  On his tag, he used the Edge die to cut out the snowflakes from packaging plastic.  I've been saving tons of this stuff, so I was determined to use some.  I tried using several Sizzlit snowflakes I have, but none of them would cut entirely through the plastic, and they were too detailed to cut by hand.  I tried using my old Stampin' Up! snowflake punch, and got one cut, but then the plastic got caught up in the punch.  After fighting with it to get it all out, I stupidly tried to cut a 2nd one ... bad move.  Not only did it not punch all the way through, I almost broke my punch trying to get it back out!  When I finally got it all out, I decided to try sharpening the punch with some aluminum.  I tried a third time, with the same results.  After wasting over an hour playing with this, I decided to just use the one snowflake.

Since I couldn't put the snowflakes down the edge, I decided to just layer it on top of one of my 3 grungepaper snowflakes.  I also decided to add some of Stampin' Up!s mica flakes from the current Holiday Mini Catalog.  You can kind of make out the larger clear snowflake layered on top of the bluish one.

Here's a picture of his tummy with the keyhole and some sheet music (from SU's First Edition DSP).

 Finally, I used a couple of SU's buttons with the tulle tied through them.  I love this look!  Tim had a great tip on how to get the tulle through those tiny holes, and it worked like a charm!  I swear, that man's a genius!

Here's what Tim's tag looked like:

Oh!  I just noticed that he added a charm to his ribbon.  Oops!  Oh well, I think my tag has enough bling on it.

Techniques with Ranger Stuff

I'm sooo behind in posting the cards from last month's Techniques class, so I'm taking time out from working on my Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas (and before tonight's Techniques class) to post the pics and some info about them.

For this first card, I used some acetate (or any recycled plastic from packaging), and colored the backs with some Ranger Alcohol Inks.  They dry pretty quickly, so I then used some Ranger Paint Dabbers, and went over the Alcohol Ink until covered.  When dry, I die cut them into leaves, added some black Sharpie to draw leaf veins on the fronts, and hit them with the heat gun to melt and shape them a little.  I decided to pull out some River Rock card stock for the base, and stamped it with Versamark ink and the Canvas background (love this stamp); added some retired Autumn Spice DSP from 2010's Holiday mini catalog, a strip of Cajun Craze punched with the Scallop Trim Border, and a little hemp bow around the stems!  Added my sentiment with some Early Espresso ink and it's done!

This next card was done on Old Olive cardstock base with some First Edition DSP.  I sponged some Crumb Cake ink on the DSP before adhering to 'age' it a little, and then wrapped some purple hemp around a tied a knot.

I stamped the flower on some watercolor paper using Black StazOn, and colored it using our Watercolor Crayons and an Aqua Painter.  I painted the center of the flower weith Daffodil Delight, but it didn't 'pop' enough for me, so on my finished card, I added a So Saffron button with some Linen Thread tied through the holes.

To make the frame, since I don't have a scalloped square frame die, I just cut a scalloped square of Elegant Eggplant cardstock.  Then, using my paper cutter, I cut out the inside leaving a 1/2" border all around.  I inked the inside and outside edges of this as well to 'age', and to really make it look old, I covered the frame with some Ranger Rock Candy Crackle Paint.

This last card was one I made at Convention (I believe).  It's been displayed in my classroom for about a year now, and my students have been patiently waiting to make it. 

It's made using our new Letterpress Plates.  The trick to using these plates is to use watercolor paper, and our Craft Ink.  I squeeze a drop of ink onto some scrap plastic to use as a palette.  I then apply the ink using a Dauber directly to the areas I was colored on the letterpress plate.  I carefully laid the watercolor paper on top and ran it through the Big Shot.  You end up with a stamped, slightly embossed image ... just beautiful!  I added some Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, a Melon Mambo card base with a layer of Regal Rose cardstock in between.  One of our Basic Rhinestone Jewels finishes it off with the perfect elegent touch.

Day 3

Just finished my tag for Day 3, but I think I need to pick up some pine needles.  I don't have the holiday leaf die that Tim's been using, and without the holly and pine, it's just missing something.  I was able to do part of his technique of using the Cut 'n Dry felt to make my own stamp pad, but I didn't have his Christmas stamp with matching embossing folder.  I used this retired background stamp from Stampin' Up!, and it worked OK, but I couldn't follow up with embossing the stamped words.  I decided since I couldn't emboss the words, I'd 'highlight' a couple of holiday words by taking my AquaPainter and coloring over 'Joy' and 'merry' to make them stand out.

Here's a look at Tim's tag:

You can kind of see that the words "Seasons Greetings" are embossed.  I think these sets of stamps with embossing folders is a really cool idea, but they're just not in the budget now.  Maybe I'll win some or something.  lol

It's still kind of early, so I think I'm going to try & play catch up and get today's tag done as well.

Day 2

I finished yesterday's tag, but my sister just got here, so I'll have to catch up tomorrow.  I had alot of fun with this one.  I didn't have Tim's holiday embossed paper, so I made my own from my Stampin' Up! Designer Series paper, and embossed it with some of Tim's Christmas stamps.  You can't really tell from this picture, but the right side has some words up the edge, and the left side was embossed with a pine branch stamp.  Tim used the reindeer die to cut out the canvas/grungeboard focus point, but since I didn't have that, I decided to go with the tree.

Here's Tim's Tag:

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas! Day 1

Here we go again!  I had so much fun making this first tag!  Although I followed along with Tim, I did a few things a little differently.  Like the tag itself ... I did the opposite of Tim ... I used the de-bossed side and added the white embossing powder to the snowflakes, instead of the background.  And, I didn't have his pinecone die, so I made some pineconish roses. lol  Instead of die-cutting the word "Noel", I used his movers & shapers die "DREAM", some Martha Stewart gold glitter, and backed it up with some black cardstock.  I also didn't have the dies for his greenery, so I used a couple of my own.  Here's a look at Tim's Tag ...

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

As I'm sitting here updating my blog, I noticed that I haven't posted since June!  I mean, I know it was slow around here, but I didn't think it was that long!  The summer was very slow around here because everyone was off enjoying vacations.  Then, in late September, early October, I was on my vacation ... 3 days in Disney World, and my 4th Tim Holtz Cruise (to the Caribbean)!  Now that I have all my pictures back, I really should post about some of our adventures.  Well, that's for another day.  Four days after I returned home from vacation, I underwent surgery on my left rotator cuff.  Why, oh why, did I do that?  I mean, it wasn't really bothering me, but the MRI showed a complete tear, so I figured I'd better get it fixed.  Well, yesterday was the 4-week anniversary since the surgery, and it still aches!  I'm a third of the way through physical therapy, and I return to work at Michaels next week.

Speaking of returning to work, I'm going to resume my classes here in my home classroom.  I'm going to return to the same schedule:

Evening Classes:
1st Monday of the month:  Techniques Class, 7:30pm, $15  (Nov. 7th)
2nd Monday of the month:  Scrapbooking Layout, 7:30pm, $15  (Nov. 14th)
3rd Monday of the month:  Stamp-a-Stack, 7:30pm, $25  (Nov. 21st)

Morning Classes (following the 1st Monday of the month):
1st Wednesday:  Techniques Class, 10am, $15  (Nov. 9th)
2nd Wednesday:  Scrapbooking Layout, 10am, $15  (Nov. 16th)
3rd Wednesday:  Stamp-a-Stack, 10am, $25  (Nov. 23rd)

This month's crop night will be held on Friday, November 18th, 6-11pm, $15

I've finished my card making appointments, and the orders are all in.  I've already scheduled 4 dates for card-making sessions, and here are the dates for the final 6 sessions: 
Saturday, Nov. 19th 2pm-4pm
Sunday, Nov. 20th 2pm-4pm
Friday, Nov. 25th 7:30pm-9:30pm
Friday, Dec. 2nd 7:30pm-9:30pm
Tuesday, Dec. 6th 7:30pm-9:30pm
Friday, Dec. 9th 7:30pm-9:30pm

And, finally, Stampin' Up! is having another great promotion!  If you book a workshop, and your total party orders are over $350, you'll get an EXTRA $35 to spend on top of the great benefits you already receive!  So, it's another great time to host a workshop!  Contact me today to schedule one anytime before December 15th to take advantage of this deal.


































 

I Can't Believe There's NO Stamping!

Can you believe it?  Not one bit of ink ... none, zip, zero!  But, can you see it?  Those swirls are stitched!  I've been wanting to make this spread for a LONG time (a couple of years!).  I used the In Stitch'z templates from Bazzill, and as soon as I saw these in the store, I pictured them being used just like this.

I created these pages while I was at Kelly's Anime Convention in Somerset last weekend.  In fact, one of my graduates, Dawn, from my SDU course at Michaels, came down to the convention with her daughter, Arianna, and her friend, Maria (two adorable girls!).  We walked around a bit with the girls until they felt comfortable, and then Dawn & I went up to my room to create!  I worked on these pages, and Dawn made some awesome cards with her new stamp supplies she got from my workshop.  We had a great time, and I'm so glad they came down.  We're gonna have many Anime Conventions in our futures!  lol

Getting back to the pages, here they are close up.



I used Baja Breeze for the background, Crumb Cake for the sand, and Whisper White & Marina Mist for the waves.  The envelopes were made with Marina Mist using the retired envelope template, and I created my own template for the little Crumb Cake tags.  I also added a white eyelet to each tag and some of the same fiber I used to stitch the swirls.

I really enjoyed making these pages, and my mind's racing with other projects to come!

Hooo, Hoooo, Hooooooo!

 Everybody has been asking for this card, and we finally made it!  I had to order a new XL owl punch because I don't know what I did with mine (why is it the expensive items are the ones I misplace?).  This card is almost exactly the same as the one my friend, Pat Mitello, designed, except she used Marina Mist cardstock, DSP & ribbon.  I had to change to Old Olive because I didn't own any Marina Mist DSP, and I really like this card in the green.

Pat designed this card for our group's shoebox swap in January to promote items from our Sale-a-Bration mini catalog.  Both stamp sets used were FREE from that catalog:  Punch Bunch & So Happy For You.  We also used the Woodgrain background stamp as well.

Although this card is adorable, lots of punches and steps were involved, so my other two cards for this week's Techniques class were much quicker to make.

Here are the deets:  Old Olive cardstock, DSP & 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Naturals White cardstock for the base layer, Early Espresso cardstock for the awnings, small circle, branch & ink, Whisper White cardstock for the owl & woodgrained piece; Soft Suede cardstock for the large circle ring, and Crumb Cake cardstock for the sign.

For punches:  2-1/2" Circle, 1-3/4" Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, 2-Step Bird XL, 2-Step Owl XL, 1/16" Circle, Scallop Edge Border.

For accessories:  Basic Pearl, Linen Thread, Versamarker, Embossing Buddy, ruler, heat tool, Stamp-a-ma-jig & Crystal Effects.

 This card looks real complicated, and I have to admit, I was nervous myself about making my first one, but it's so simple!  This card (actually all 3 cards) I made at the shoebox swap in January.  This one was based on a design by Dale Morin.  I changed the DSP and the saying inside, but the rest is all Dale.

We used Very Vanilla cardstock for the base, Real Red cardstock for the "ribbons", and Sending Love Specialty DSP for the ends.  Oh, and how could I forget the fabulous Glimmer paper for the heart!  I'm not a glitz lover, but this paper is awesome!  Thanks Dale, for getting me to try some!

We also used Real Red ink inside for the saying from the All Holidays stamp set.  For accessories, we used the Full Heart punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch, the Movers & Shapers die with the heart from the Punch Windows die set, and of course, the Big Shot.

And, finally, this last card was based on another design by Dale.  Almost everything is exactly the same, except she used the Easter Blossom set from the Occasions mini catalog, and Marina Mist satin ribbon.  Since I don't have that set, or that ribbon, I substituted a stamp from Artfully Asian and we used 5/8" Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon.

The base of the card is Wild Wasabi with a layer of Very Vanilla.  The frame is the Framed Tulips embossing folder run through the Big Shot.  The stamping was done on Glossy paper w/Black StazOn ink.  Springtime Vintage DSP is at the bottom.  We added some Basic Pearls, white crayon, and sponged on Marina Mist & Wild Wasabi ink.

It's All Gotta GO!

This weekend is my BIG yard sale I'm having with 3 other Stampin' Up! demonstrators (rain or shine).  We're holding the sale on Sunday, June 5th from 10am-4pm here at my home, but all our customers are invited to a special PREVIEW sale on Saturday, June 4th from 10am-1pm!

Although we can't sell items from the just released retiring lists from this catalog, we do have LOTS of items from the past:  stamp sets, papers, inks, scrapbooking items, storage, all type of bags & totes, and more!  And, everything's priced to go!  I mean low, low, LOW prices!

We'll also have lots of household items too, including furniture, a boys bicycle, oversized snowboard with bindings, and a boat dock box.  And, that's just my stuff ... just imagine what the 3 other demonstrators will be bringing to the sale!  All I can say is, IT'S GONNA BE HUGE!

Last Chance!

Today's the big day ... the sad day ... the day we find out which sets will be retiring from Stampin' Up!  I usually look at this day with dread, but also with anticipation.  Why?  Because in just one month, the new catalog will be released with LOADS of new stamp sets & accessories!  And, don't forget, FIVE new In Colors!  Oooh, I just got goosebumps!

There are 3 retiring lists to click on:  Stamps, accessories & Definitely Decorative.  There are plenty of stamps, but the accessories & Definitely Decorative items are only available while supplies last, so it's recommended that if you want to order something, you should do it directly from my website here, since the website always has the updated list of items still available.

Lots of Roses!

One of my customers requested specific colors and roses for this month's scrapbook page, so I always try to please.  As soon as she requested it, the ideas started flowing in my little brain.  I originally was thinking of using paper flowers, dyeing them & layering them, but too many people signed up for my classes, and I'd litterally have gone through hundreds!  And, after all, this class is to teach you scrapbooking with rubber stamps, so of course, I used the retired set, Roses in Winter.

I had 4 ladies here for yesterday morning's class, and they were all beginners, soooooo, almost 5 hours later, they finally finished!  lol  I worked on this spread over the weekend doing a little here & there, but I don't think it should've taken that long!  lol  We'll see if it goes any faster for my evening group.  We were supposed to have the class this past Monday, but a couple couldn't make it, so I re-scheduled the class for next Tuesday (there's still room if you want to join us).

Here's a closer look at the pages:

Here's the left side page, and below, the right:

We used lots of different techniques on these pages that are hard to see in these pics.  For example, we used Versamark ink in a cartridge and rolled the Rough Texture jumbo wheel over the Crumb Cake base pages.  We also stamped a base layer of about 20-25 roses directly on the Whisper White cardstock.  Then, we stamped an additional 15 roses and 20 leaves on more Whisper White and cut them out.  We popped them up with Dimensionals and layered them all over the stamped base of roses.  The rose colors are So Saffron, Regal Rose, Rose Red, and the leaves are Garden Green.

We used the Top Note Bigz Die for the journaling block and trimmed off the outer edge on the Crumb Cake so we could layer it on some Regal Rose.  I stamped some roses off the edges, but I might just make a couple more roses and cut them out and pop them up on the journaling tag.

We also used the Scallop Edge punch along the bottom, and punched strips of Regal Rose with the Dotted Ribbon punch, which we then stitched 'X's in them with white embroidery floss and layered them above the scalloped edge.

And, finally, for the title, we used the Headline Alphabet with Regal Rose Craft ink and Whimsical Upper Alphabet with Rose Red Craft ink, which was then outlined with White Gel Pen.

These ladies were so cute ... they were saying "but my daughter doesn't have curls," or "I have no pictures of girls with curls."  lol  As I said, they're beginners.  So, I suggested Spring themed titles, or Mother's Day, etc.  Since it's Spring now, I told them they could always take their kids to the park and take some pics and make the title "Spring Fun," or "Spring has Sprung!"  So, one lady opted for the latter, one did "My Beautiful Girls," one did "Easter 2011", and the 4th lady had to leave, so she's going to finish her pages at her next class.

Can't wait to see what my evening class comes up with!

Ooops! I forgot!

As I was designing the scrapbook spread for my next class, I realized that I never posted the cards from last week's Technique class.  Ooops!

This first card was soooo very simple!  We used a product called Flower Soft on the tops of the flowers.  I chose to use this product because a couple of weeks ago, some of my students & I went to the Heirloom Stamp Festival in Allentown, PA.  One of the make 'n takes was with Flower Soft, and it was so much fun to use!  I mentioned that I had some of this, and the girls wanted to use it on a card, so what's my motto?  You ask for it, you get it!  The cardstock was Perfect Plum & Whisper White; Herb Expressions stamp set; Framed Tulips embossing folder; Perfect Plum ink and an Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon bow.  Simple!

This next card was watercolored because another student stated that she wanted to try watercoloring.  We used watercolor paper, Cajun Craze & Early Espresso cardstock; Black StazOn ink and the following watercolor crayon colors:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Basic Gray, Always Artichoke, More Mustard & Pumpkin Pie.  We also used a buckle from the retired Hodgepodge Hardware in Aged Copper on some 1/4" Twill Tape.  The embossing folder was one of Tim Holtz's Alterations called Woodgrain.

And, finally, this last card had lots of techniques:  3-step stamping, stamping off, Color Spritzer, Distressing, and our Pearl Jewels.  I used our retired notecard & envelopes, but you can still get them ... they're just a little bigger than these.  We stamped using the retired Roses in Winter set (love, love, LOVE this set!  I just used it on this month's scrapbook spread!), with Regal Rose, Old Olive, Marina Mist & Basic Black inks.  We used the Chocolate Chip marker in the Color Spritzer tool, and the Tea Stain inkpad from our Distressing Kit.



Beautiful Retiform Cards!

I just love the retiform technique (my up-upline, the very talented Karen Barber) taught me this technique several years ago, and I wanted to bring it back into play again.  I'm having a special class tomorrow night (and again on Wednesday morning) teaching this advanced technique, and I wanted to show you the cards because they are just gorgeous!

For this card, I wanted to use some botanical stamps, so I wanted to use some green.  One of my favorite students, Denise, suggested this color combo.  I wouldn't usually use such dark colors for this technique, or a pink AND a purple (soooo not me!), but for Denise, I try to please.  I like how it came out ... it's important to go outside your comfort zone once in a while.

You need three colors of ink beside the Basic Black, and lots of Post-Its.  You also need a ruler with a cork bottom and a Zig Painty Pen (we don't sell anymore, but you can still purchase at Michaels).

Colors:  Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Basic Black
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Old Olive
Stamps:  French Filigree, Bella Toile (both retired), Teahouse, Asian Artistry, Wings of Friendship, Bliss, Because I Care, and All a Flutter.

For this card, the colors are more me.  Plus, I used a beachy, islandy theme, which is sooooo me!  I actually messed this card up a little, but I think it still looks great.  Hopefully, I'll find some time today or tomorrow to fix my mistake before class tomorrow night.  It won't affect the class, it's just I'm a little anal.

Colors:  Marina Mist, Cajun Craze, Sahara Sand, Basic Black
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Marina Mist
Stamps:  Balmy Breezes, Cheesecloth, Old World Map, Seaside (all retired), and En Francais

If you're interested in taking this class either tomorrow night (April 25th at 7:30pm), or Wednesday morning (April 27th at 10am) for $15, please email me ASAP so I can have your supplies ready.

Inspired by Sue

Just before I started working on the cards for my stamp-a-stack class, I received an email from my downline, Sue Siebert.  She used to take classes from me years ago, and when her family moved to PA, she decided to become a demonstrator herself, and she has really come into her own lately!

Anyways, she started blogging (click here to see it), and she suggested I check it out.  I loved the cards she made for her stamp-a-stack (she refers to it as SAS), and just looking at them really inspired me!

Here's the first card I created:

And, here's her card that inspired mine.  I really loved this card, but I try to change things up a bit:

I believe she used Bravo Burgundy & Whisper White.  The stamps sets are Lovely as a Tree and the saying is from On Your Birthday (love that set!).  I changed the colors to Always Artichoke & Naturals Ivory.  I used Lovely as a Tree, but went with a different image.  The saying is from Occasional Quotes.  I also used the Square Lattice embossing folder, and the Word Window punch with a gold brad like she did.

Here was my next card:

And this was Sue's card that inspired it:

I believe Sue used Rich Razzleberry & Whisper White for this one.  She used the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and highlighted areas with a white gel pen.  She also used some retired dotted grosgrain ribbon, a saying from Sincere Salutations, the Scallop Oval Ex.Lg.punch & the 2" x 1-3/4" Oval Ex.Lg. punch.

I decided to change the color to Blushing Bride with the Whisper White and I used the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  I liked the look of the gel pen, so I colored in the flowers in the embossed image.  I used some poly stitched ribbon and a Med. Jewelry Tag punch with the word Love from the Tiny Tags set held on by some silver elastic cord through the knot.

And, finally, here's my third card:

And, here is Sue's card that inspired it:

She used some retired items on her card:  Close to Cocoa cs & DSP, and the felt ribbon from last year's (?) holiday mini.  She also used Whisper White cs run through the Big Shot in the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, Chocolate Chip cs, the owl stamp from Forest Friends with the 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Ex.Lg. punch, and Sincere Salutations with the Scallop Oval Ex.Lg. punch.

I decided to go with Basic Gray as my card base, and the Whisper White cs plus the Baja Breeze Print Patterns DSP, both run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I put on some Basic Gray taffeta ribbon and used the Just Beachy and Make it Count (both retired) stamp sets.

You can see how easy it is to take any card, scrapbook page, sample from our Idea Book & Catalog, product label, magazine ad, etc. and use it to inspire your own creations!

Fall Pages???

I know, I know, why would I choose a fall layout in the beginning of Spring?  Because YOU asked for it!  My students saw these pages in my scrapbook and said "that's what we want to make at our next class!"  So, ask and you shall receive!  The left side of the layout was originally designed by my wonderful, up-up-upline, Tina Rosenkrans.  We all made this page at one of her fabulous "demonstrator only" events along with lots of other great projects.  The original page I made was titled "Fall Fest", because that's what the event was called.  I wanted to use this layout a few years ago for a scrapbooking workshop, so I re-did it with an apple picking theme, and designed the right side page for a matching spread.

The original pages used Creamy Caramel for the base pages, and we all know that's retired, so in my morning session, we used Kraft cardstock, and the pages came out wonderful!

I had just enough leftover Creamy Caramel for the night session, so we used that, along with Cajun Craze (to replace the retired Really Rust), and some Brushed Gold cardstock.  Luckily, I held onto my retired Fall Whimsy stamp set, and the retired maple leaf punch.

Monday's Technique Class

I gotta say, everyone LOVED these cards! We did two really cool techniqes, and the third card I made really simple since the first two were pretty involved. This first card was bringing back my old favorites, micro beads! What you do is find a squared off image (for ease of cutting), color it in with bold, bright colors, cover entire image with Sticky Strip, and cover with clear micro beads for a stunning, stained glass type of look. I also used Baja Breeze for the card base, textured Basic Black, Old Olive some Newsprint DSP & some black hemp. The image is another old favorite of mine, from the retired Ageless Adornment set. This next card uses the Creat-a-Cupcake stamp set with the Build-a-Cupcake punch. You can't see it, but I made a wire spring for under the cupcake, so when you pull the card from the envelope, it pops up! Just adorable! I also used Sunny Garden DSP, Pear Pizzazz cardstock, and two little brackets from the Tim Holtz grunge set Many Minis which we colored with Pear Pizzazz ink. Oh, and I finished off the card with a wrapping of Peach Parfait Poly Stitched Ribbon.

I didn't design this last card, but I did have to update it a little. I found my muse among all my swaps from past years and there was no name on the back. This leads me to believe that it was designed by a local Stampin' Up! friend who created the design for a Shoebox Swap, and I made it myself during the event. I've made hundreds of cards over the past 8 years as a demonstrator at all sorts of events, so unfortunately, I can't give this person proper credit.

Anyhoo ... the base is Bravo Burgundy with a layer of Very Vanilla. I punched a 1-3/8" Square hole in the Vanilla and adhered some vellum to the back before attaching to the card base. The sentiment was from All-Year Cheer I (retired), and the maple leaf stamp from Autumn Leaf Prints (also retired). I also stamped the same leaf in coordinating colors on the 3 scraps of cardstock and punched them out with the retired maple leaf punch. Very quick & simple, but very stylish.

This Friday is my 2nd Crop Nite, and I'm soooo looking forward to it! I've been organizing my scrapbooking supplies in my new craft room, and I've got piles of finished pages just waiting for photos! I could probably fill at least 2 books if I ever get these pages done! lol

Big Weekend!

This weekend marks the 2nd birthday for Paper Secrets, and they're having a party with lots of yummy prizes! You can check them out by going to http://papersecrets.friendhood.net/forum or clicking the big box above.

Cards, cards, cards

Last night was my stamp-a-stack class (everyone makes 12 cards plus matching envelopes--3 different designs, but 4 cards of each design). I had a few of my usual students, but a new student, Debbie, also came. She had requested in advance that I make some masculine cards and some sympathy cards. I was having fun working on the card above as the masculine card while Rick was (finally) anchoring my last 3 shelf units to the wall on Saturday. Now, I can finish moving my stuff into the classroom. I had decided on the colors and basic design, but I thought the background needed something ... the plain Sahara Sand cardstock looked too dull. I had recently replaced my Old World Map background stamp (I had sold mine years ago when it retired, and have regretted it ever since!), so I stamped it with Versamark, and when I added the strips & the artwork, I didn't like it. I decided to go with the Square Lattice embossing folder instead, but I was too lazy to get another piece of cardstock--I just flipped it around, and decided the background could be on the inside ... wa-laa!

Everyone loved it! We usually only stamp the fronts of the cards, but I might start doing more on the inside.

This next card was the sympathy card, but the rest of my students don't really want to stamp sympathy cards, so I also made the same card with a Get Well sentiment, and changed the orientation, so they had a choice with this one. This card wasn't as involved as the first one, but you had to color the stamp with 2 markers, so it was still a little time consuming.

The last card was a very quick, simple card (they're usually all quick, simple cards at a Stamp-a-Stack because you need to complete 12 cards + envelopes in 2 hours), and it might just be my favorite. I love the simplicity and the colors.

Some Versamark flowers for the background with a simple sentiment, a 2-step stamped flower with a single layer, and some Crystal Effects in the center of the flower--done!

The new student sent me an email today telling me how much she enjoyed herself at my class. She said she was so excited that she just wanted to stamp some more when she got home, but she had to get to bed. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop thinking about the class, so she just laid there thinking about stamping and she couldn't fall asleep. I felt so bad for her cause there's nothing worse than not being able to fall asleep. On the other hand, she made me feel so good knowing that she had such a good time and she wants to come to more of my classes! I think next time she comes, I'll send her home with a sleeping pill! lol