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.