Check it out!

At least, I think thats the name of this set...guess I should have checked that before I started posting, huh? There are 3 stamps in the set - the other 2 are Thank You and Congrats. I had my eye on them right away, but when I pulled out the set to mount it and play...I was a bit stumped! After quite a few tries, this is what I came up with. Super simple - super quick.

The card base is Kraft cardstock with the Paisley background stamped in Elegant Eggplant. The main image is stamped in Elegant Eggplant on Whisper White cardstock (I used my Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker to check the "all of the above" box. Finish the project off with a bit of ribbon (of course) and some eyelets...and viola!

Another Fabulous Flower

OK - I promise some new stuff tomorrow. (Can you believe that there are actually new sets that I haven't even cut apart yet?!?) This is the Fabulous Flowers card that was offered this weekend...I love the way it turned out. I inked the large flower with my Pretty in Pink Craft Pad and then covered it with Irridescent Ice Embossing Powder. In real life, the flower looks more glittery and less grainy. Once it was heated, the color was closer Regal Rose than Pretty in Pink, so I colored the letters of the word fabulous with my Regal Rose Stampin' Write Marker. Each of the corners were punched with the ticket corner punch. A piece of chocolate grosgrain ribbon (I'm gonna miss this stuff) was tied around the matted Whisper White. Then everything is matted on to the Chocolate Chip card front.

Coaster Book

This is one of the projects from yesterday - its a coaster book created by covering drink coasters with patterned paper and then binding them together with book rings. We used the new double-sided designer paper Cutie Pie, On Board Accents, the Happy Everything stamp set, and Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, So Saffron, and Rose Red inks/cardstocks.

I think the Happy Album turned out great and the guests really seemed to like it - in fact, they cleaned me out of the supplies!

Here is a close up of each of the pages.

Happy Days, Happy Life, Happy Together, Happy Everything!

I'm Pooped!

The Open House was today - we had a GREAT crowd of ladies hanging out and stamping! Everyone had their choice of which projects they wanted to make and they each put their own little spin on them. We had a fabulous time, but boy am I pooped!! Needless to say, there will be no more stamping for me...the couch is calling my name! Instead, I'm gonna show you a couple of pics from this afternoon.

These were our 2 work spaces - each table was set up and ready to go with Stampin' Mist, a Stampin' Scrub, plenty of scissors and a snack!

This is my new iron photo display from Pottery Barn - PERFECT for cards! Each of the card options were out on display and then the guests picked up packet with all of the materials in it. The small bookshelf held the scrapbook pages, the coaster book, all of the stamp sets that we were using, and a couple extra catalogs. Here is the blow-up of the scrapbook pages:

Scrapbook pages are totally out of my comfort zone, but I am very pleased with the way these turned out!

Another Open House Project!

This is another great color combo...when it doubt, pull out the Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, and Basic Black! Depending on how you layer it, it could be bright and cheerful for a fun birthday card, soft and sweet for a baby card, or even a little masculine for the hubby! Love, love, LOVE!

I also love Doodle This (have you seen the coordinating Jumbo Wheel in the Fall-Winter Collection??? Yeah, that will find its way to my house very soon!) I used a Blender Pen with the Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad for the flower petals - I think its a bit softer than using the Tempting Turquoise Stampin' Write Marker. (But I did use the markers for the flower centers and the small little leaves)

Guests can either use the ribbon slot punch to attach a piece of black gingham ribbon to the punched tab or they can stamp a small greeting. Then at the bottom, brads!

Scalloped Punch

Unfortunately there were some quality issues with some of the scalloped punches that were first shipped out from Stampin' Up! There was a little metal nub along one scalloped edge that wouldn't allow it to punch correctly. (Forget punching correctly, they wouldn't punch at all!) I thought that I had one such defective punch. BUT...after fiddling with my scallop punch for 15-20 minutes (filing a little metal nub of one edge and then punching through tin foil to resharpen it) I rehabbed my scallop punch. Yay!! I can use it at my open house on Saturday.

I designed this card to showcase the scalloped punch. The circle image from In the Spotlight fits perfectly inside the scallops to create a really cool flower-like design. The punch coordinates with a handful of other sets too! (Which, of course, I have to have!) The 5-petal flower image was hand cut...but no worries! The 5-petal flower punch will be making its way to my house very soon!

The scalloped edge along the bottom of the Regal Rose cardstock was created by removing the guide from the corner rounder and punching along the edge. If you would like a more detailed tutorial complete with pics, check out my Scalloped Edges tutorial on the left!

2 for 1

I'm not sure what happened to my post yesterday...guess that means you get two in one day today! Both of these samples are from my upcoming Open House/card buffet this Saturday.

This first one uses the adorable set, Bundle of Joy. Guests will have the option of using Pretty in Pink or Bashful Blue. If you guys are like me, there are a ton of baby showers goin' on! The giraffe is colored using Classic Stampin' Pads (Barely Banana and Close to Cocoa) with a Blender Pen. Using the Blender Pen in lieu of Stampin' Write markers gives the image a much softer look. You can't really tell from the picture, but the moon and stars image is stamped all over the Barely Banana cardstock and the swirly border is stamped along the top and bottom of the card front.

This card is one of my favorites - I wish I could take credit for the idea, but (once again) I CASE'd something I saw on Splitcoast Stampers. The flowers are stamped on to Mellow Moss cardstock using a Mellow Moss Classic Stampin' Pad. Then you take a white gel pen and highlight the flowers with little dots of white ink. Too cute, huh? I'm not sure if these look like dandilions or baby's breath...either way, I love it!

Catalog CASE

I found this card in the Fall-Winter Collection and thought that it would be perfect for my Open House. Its super-simple, but very elegant! I LOVE the new Brocade background!

I used Mellow Moss Classic ink to stamp the Brocade background stamp on to the Mellow Moss card front. The greeting is stamping with Chocolate Chip Classic ink on a square of Very Vanilla cardstock then matted on to a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock.

In my example, I used a strip of frilly Chocolate Chip ribbon (from the Winter Mini, I think). At the Open House, we'll use Chocolate Chip cardstock and brads like the sample in the catalog.

There probably will not be a post tomorrow - I'll be spending the day playing at the lake. Yay! Have a great weekend!

More Fabulous Flowers

I set aside the bling and glitter and tried for a more subtle version of fabulous. I CASE'd this idea and layout from a card on Splitcoast Stampers. The large flower is stamped in Groovy Guava and then masked*. I used the flourish from Baroque Motifs for the vines. The greeting is stamped with Close to Cocoa and then I used a blender pen to fill in the letters with Groovy Guava ink. I love the look of coloring the letters - it really makes the letters "pop"!

*Masking: You can use the masking technique to make one image appear as if its in front of another. In this sample, the flower was stamped first, then masked, and the vines were stamped last. For step-by-step instructions on how to mask an image, check out my tutorial! Just click on Tutorials on the left hand side and look for Masking.

Bring on the Bling

I think I may have stamped, cut out, glued, peeled apart, and re-stamped this card about 100 times. This was the final product (and if it hadn't been so late last night, I probably would have given it one or two more tries!)

This is a new set - Fabulous Flowers. I love the greeting that comes with it, "Dare to be Fabulous". Wouldn't that be a great card for a girlfriend's birthday??

The large flower just begs to be cut out and layered, so thats just what I did. The first layer of the flower is stamped in Rose Red. Then the Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink layers were stamped on to scraps and cut out. Each layer is mounted with dimensionals, so this card definitely has some depth!

I embossed 3 large brads with Dazzling Diamonds embossing powder and attached them to the center of the Pretty in Pink layer. I also embossed the greeting by stamping it with the Whisper White craft pad and then covering it with more Dazzling Diamonds. Around the border, I added a bit of Stickles. This was a questionable addition and I wish I had just left that part off. I should have just stopped right then and been satisfied with the finished product. But no...I wanted more sparkle.

Are there any other Stickle-challenged people out there? OR, better yet, is there someone that can give me a few pointers when it comes to the pretty little bottles of liquid bling?

Edited: When I got home, I realized my problem with Stickles...lack of patience. I didn't like the way it looked because IT WASN'T DRY! Once the Stickles dries completely, it looks much better!

Its here, its here!!

My new catalog order finally arrived!! I spent a good portion of the evening cutting out stamp sets, but I did have a little time to put a couple to good use. Garden Silhouettes is a Level 2 Hostess Set and normally this type of image isn't my thing, but after seeing a couple of projects by Valerie Stangle, I thought I'd give it a try!

One of the cards that Valerie had in her gallery inspired this card. The stem image is stamped on to River Rock cardstock and embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I sponged River Rock ink all around the stem and along the distressed edges of the cardstock. There is a layer of Whisper White cardstock under the River Rock for some added dimension. Then I attached pewter brads in each corner (I roughed them up a bit whacking each one with a hammer after they were set). Then the matted image was mounted on to the card front with dimensionals.

The Bordering Blue card front was stamped in Bordering Blue with the Canvas background stamp. Add some sheer organdy ribbon and you're done!

Card Candy

I recently traded one of my retired sets on SCS. I traded it for this set - Perfect Presentation (Level 2 Hostess Set). Well...I open the package and Julie M. has included a little Card Candy sampler she put together using this set! How cute is that?!?

Best I can tell, the colors are Always Artichoke, Brocade Blue, Purely Pomegranate, and So Saffon. GREAT Christmas colors - fabulous job Julie M!!!

FYI - Card Candy is a little sampler of stamped items ready to be used on a project. Just peel them off the piece of plastic or wax paper, attach a dimensional and mount them on a card or scrapbook page!

Guests that come to my open house just might see a few different Card Candy sampler sets as door prizes! Hint, hint.

Open House Sneak Peek

This is one of the projects from my upcoming Open House. There will be a card buffet - you pick which projects you would like to make and you may make as many as you would like (as long as supplies last). There will be a number of projects featuring brand new sets from the Fall-Winter Collection as well as a few favorites that were carried over from previous catalogs.


Bugs & Kisses is one of my all time favorite kid stamps. The greetings are adorable and there are so many different ways you can incorporate the bugs into your project. This stamp set is even great for scrapbook pages!


This card is 5 1/4" x 5 1/4". I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the Green Galore layer has a border of ants stamped along the edges - so cute! The scalloped squares were punched with my Marvy Mega Scalloped Square Punch. (My fingers are crossed that SU! will add a scalloped square to their arsenal of punches...the scalloped circle was added in the Fall-Winter Collection, so there is hope!) I used my Crop-A-Dile to set an eyelet in one corner of each scalloped square. Then the squares are mounted using dimensionals.


I love the way this card turned out - I hope all of my guests do too!

Something Blue

I think I mentioned earlier that the theme for the July Stamp Camp was "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue"...Well, this is the Something Blue! It features both of the new blues - Soft Sky and Blue Bayou.

The hello flower center is punched with the small circle punch (I think its the 1/2" punch?) and then popped up with a dimensional. The 5-petal flower is simply cut out, layered on top of the one below it and attached with a brad.

The polka dot patterned paper is from the Prints Designer Paper Series. It comes in 16 different colors. Each package has 12 different designs (2 each of 6 double-sided sheets) in that particular color. From swirls and strips to polka dots and argyle print - this stuff is FABULOUS. I'm gonna have to stock up!

SU! Snob

I will be the first to admit, I am (for the most part) a Stampin' Up! snob. Especially when it comes to stamps, cardstock, and ink. Don't get me wrong, if I find some cute patterned paper or a crafty little tool or punch at the local craft store, it might just make its way into my buggy! But I love, love, LOVE SU! products.

That being said...I recently found a really cute line of acrylic stamps - PaperTrey Ink. (The website is www.papertreyink.com) I've purchased two of their sets and I think they are just adorable. This butterfly set is from Butterfly Kisses (I also have the Green Thumb set). I'll admit, I felt a little guilty at first - ordering a stamp set from someone else felt like I was cheating on Stampin' Up! or something...but I hadn't tried acrylics before and the images were just so darn cute! After stamping with them, I'll have to say acrylic stamps are a little different than rubber stamps - some of the differences I like, some I don't.

Don't worry - I'm not leaving SU! in the dust (not when there is a box full of new rubber SLOWLY making its way to my house!) but I can appreciate the cute-ness of these images.

Can you guess which set is my favorite??

Could it be Baroque Motifs? Why, yes it is!! This is a card that I did for a swap I was in up in Michigan. I have a stampin' buddy (Glenda, a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator) that I met two years ago. She always sends me e-mails asking if I'd like to participate in her downline swaps! I always do - she has a great group that comes up with some super cute ideas and layouts! It never fails once the package arrives with my swaps in it, I usually end up CASEing atleast one element off each one. Layouts, color combos, embellishments...they really are a creative group!

For my swap, I used Always Artichoke, River Rock, and Groovy Guava. I stamped the flourishes in each corner of the cardfront in River Rock first. Then I used the SAMJ to line up the Artichoke for a shadow effect. It wasn't the fastest card, but I LOVE the way it turned out!

Not-So-Patiently Waiting

I am anxiously awaiting the delivery of my new catalog order - full of new rubber, ribbon, patterned paper, and punches! I received a shipment notification today...that means hopefully this time next week, I'll have more goodies to play with! So in the meantime, I have to play with the new stuff that I pre-ordered from the Preview Catalog. (Boohoo, right?)

I decided to pull out In the Spotlight again and try for something a little less Christmas-y. This is color combination is great for masculine cards - its Blue Bayou (one of the new 2008 In Colors), Sahara Sand, and Always Artichoke. I haven't decided who I'll be sending this card to, so I haven't added a greeting yet.

I've been neglecting my twill tape lately - seems as if I always go for ribbon when given the choice. Without any ribbon in either of the three colors (and not wanting to stain my fingers by dyeing my own) I opted to add a little twill tape and a buckle for added embellishment. All in all, I think it turned out pretty good...if I do say so myself!

Nice & Easy...

I was digging through my ribbon drawer this weekend and came across some super-cute striped ribbon...I just had to use it on a card! That ribbon inspired the color combo for this card: Night of Navy, Pretty In Pink, and Certainly Celery (ahhh...at home with my pinks, greens, and blues!).

I pulled out one of the two new wheels I got with the hostess bundle All About Occasions. (The bundle comes with two jumbo wheels - one birthday and one thank you - and a small stamp set) I wheeled the thank you wheel all over the Certainly Celery card base and then thoroughly cleaned and dried the wheel. Then I inked the "thank you" portion of the wheel with my Night of Navy marker and the "you rock" portion with my Pretty In Pink marker. I wheeled those words on to a scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock and trimmed it down a bit.

I didn't have a whole lot of the super-cute striped ribbon left, so I only used an inch or two to form a loop and then stapled that to the piece of Pretty In Pink cardstock. I layered the Whisper White cardstock over the Pretty in Pink making sure that I covered the staple. I layered the matted greeting on to the Night of Navy cardstock with dimensionals and attached the whole thing to the card front. The card looked a little bare, so I added a few brads in the bottom right corner!

Two small pieces of advice if you are going to recreate this card:

1) Don't press too hard or else you will leave the impression of a staple on your top piece of cardstock. See between the "t" and "h"???
2) Use the Wheel Guide! Its super obvious when you start to wheel the words downhill!

Purple and........

Remember me saying that using shades of orange is out of my comfort zone?? Well, I'm equally uninspired by shades of purple. Ok, maybe not equally uninspired...but I can't seem to find color combinations that I love.

I found these notes on the clearance rack at the local craft store - they were marked down and they came with these cute vellum envelopes. I figured a cute little scalloped note might bring out the purple-lover in me. No such luck!!

I think the card turned out OK - not as cute as it was in my head, though. I'm really pleased with the layout...but I think its the color scheme thats just not doing it for me! It seems like no matter which shade of purple I'm trying to work with, I always end up pairing it with some shade of green. Lovely Lilac & Green Galore, Lavender Lace & Gable Green, Perfect Plum & Mellow Moss, Elegant Eggplant & Always Artichoke, Vintage Violet (retired) & Old Olive.

Certainly there are other color combos out there! If anyone out there has color purple color combos they want to share - leave a comment and let me know some of your favorites!!!

Embossed Motifs

Here's the card I mentioned earlier this week - an embossed Baroque Motifs. I'll tell ya, this set was a great purchase! Its so easy to make an elegant card. Quick too! From start to finish, this card probably took under 5 minutes.

I used Night of Navy cardstock for the card base and for the image. I used Brushed Silver for the matting. I embossed the image with silver embossing powder and finished the project off with narrow silver organdy ribbon. (I will make one suggestion - use the Embossing Buddy. I didn't and for some reason my cardstock was a little extra "static-y". Hence the extra blobs of powder.)

This is another card that could also work as a Christmas card. Emboss a greeting in the lower right corner or on a tag attached to the organdy ribbon! Fabulous!!!

Stepping out of my comfort zone...

I hope you all had a great holiday! I was able to hang out in my craft room for a little while yesterday, but unfortunately I spent most of that time cleaning up. After a good session of stamping, it normally looks like a tornado came through the room...but then when I go back down to work on more stuff, the mess is a total creative block. So, I had to spend a little time doing some housework. (Don't worry - the urge to clean up didn't make its way to the rest of the house!)

Anyway...I was able to get a few things done. This card is one from an upcoming stamp camp. I have a handful of weddings to attend this summer and with that on the mind, the theme for the July Stamp Camp is "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue". Something Old is a vintage card, Something New is a project using one of the new stamp sets, Something Borrowed is a layout borrowed from the new catalog, and Something Blue uses two of the new blues from In Color 2008 Blue Bayou and Sky Blue.

This card is my Something Borrowed. I used the layout and color combination featured on the "Yappy Day" card on page 75 of the new Fall~Winter Collection. This color combo is WAY out of my comfort zone. I'm generally not very inspired by shades of orange, but I went out on a limb. I figured since the combo made it into the catalog, it HAS to be a good one, right??? Its Brocade Blue, Wild Wasabi, and Pumpkin Pie. (The original sample also threw in some Chocolate Chip, but I couldn't find a place for it!) I substituted the Double Line Doodles stamp set in lieu of Yappy Day. The flowers and stems were colored with a Blender Pen and the eyelets were set with a Crop-A-Dile. This is a simple, all-occasion card - but you could easily stamp a greeting on the piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock for a little more WOW. Maybe stamp it using a craft pad and then emboss with clear powder? Hmmm...maybe I need to go back and rethink this card!

Happy 4th of July

Just a short note to say Happy 4th of July! I hope you all are able to spend time with family and friends, enjoy a few hamburgers and hot dogs, and catch some fireworks. Take a few minutes today to say a little prayer for the soldiers, past and present, that put their life on the line to protect our freedoms!

Lovin' River Rock

I'll have to admit, when I first saw River Rock (In Color 2008) I wasn't all that excited. Let me just say that my opinion has totally changed! This color is FABULOUS! I'm lovin' River Rock and Soft Sky right now.

This card uses one of the new sets, Baroque Motifs. The swirly image is just divine. You should see how it looks embossed (hint, hint - that may be coming soon!). I can't take total credit for this design though - I cased the combo and layout from SCS.

For those of you that may not have heard of Splitcoast Stampers, you need to check it out! I've said it before and I'll say it again - its a great resource.

Tomorrow is a holiday, so I'll be able to spend atleast part of the day in my stamp room! You know what that means?!? More stuff to show off...I mean more stuff to show you!

Christmas in July?

With temperatures in the high 90's here in Alabama, it may seem a bit odd to be thinking about Christmas...but this set (In the Spotlight - 2007 Level 1 Hostess Set) just oozes with holiday spirit. Throw in "be merry" from Warm Words and you have yourself a full-fledged Christmas card.

This layout really lends is self to mass-production. You can randomly stamp an entire sheet of Whisper White, cut it into strips, and assemble the card in no time flat. Except for the inking of the large circle stamp - I used Stampin' Write markers for the large circular image and that was a little time consuming.

Trust me - this set has MANY more uses other than just Christmas cards. And I have the samples to prove it...but you'll have to wait for those. Come on - I can't show you everything at once!