New stampin' stuff! -- colorful seasons and Beautiful Bouquet

The new annual catalog is here, and WOW! are there ever some amazing products in it!  I love this time of year, when we get new stuff to play with!

My Open House is coming up next Friday, and these are the two free projects everyone gets to make.

First on my list of must haves, was the Colorful Seasons bundle.  If you're looking for ONE set to make cards for ALL occasions, this is it!  There is this awesome little branch die, with little pretty flowers to put on in for a spring time card, maple leaves in two sizes,with cut out ones to layer on top for fall or summer, and intricate, gorgeous snowflake dies for a winter card, PLUS!!! the cutest little beach chair die and beach chair stamp along with a little icy drink stamp, and even a tiny lemon stamp for your drink!  Truly a must have bundle.  For this card, I wanted to create a summer beach feeling, so I reached for another useful stamp set, High Tide stamp set, a set that carried over from the Occasions catalog.

Ok, here's a step by step on how to create this card.  Start with a Whisper White panel -- 3 3/4 x 5".  Start by sponging your sand first.  Take some copy paper, and tear it in a jagged pattern. Put your torn edge of scratch paper about 1" from one of the short edges of your white panel.  Sponge in a circular motion using Soft Suede ink.  Make this layer of ink the darkest, as you want to give the impression of depth.  When it's the shade you want, move your mask/torn copy paper down a little, moving your torn edge around to create a different looking layer of sand dunes -- sponge with soft Suede again.  Move your mask a third time, making that third layer of sand. Now, decide where the edge of your "horizon" is going to be -- place the STRAIGHT edge of your copy paper mask here, and sponge towards your sand dunes using Bermuda Bay ink.  Keep sponging, trying not to get too much blue into your sand.  You want to create the look of a horizon, so make that edge by the straight part of your mask dark.  Next, stamp the water from the High Tide stamp set in Bermuda Bay ink, taking care not to stamp it in your sand.  Use more Bermuda Bay ink to sponge in the sky, making it lighter than your water.  Stamp the grasses and birds from High Tide set in Old Olive and Early Espresso inks, respectively. The "Just Breathe" sentiment is from the Colorful Seasons stamp set. Finally, die cut that adorable beach chair out of Crumb Cake cardstock and add to the center of your sand and you're done!  I used a tiny bit of chalk marker on my water to create the look of sun glistening off the water, as well as some clear wink of stella.  Gotta add some shimmer and shine somewhere, right? :)

This second card features several new products as well.  First, the new In Colors -- here I've combined the new Berry Burst and Powder Pink -- lovely combo!  The Powder Pink calms down the brightness of the Berry Burst. There are two new background stamps that made my first order -- Marbled background and burlap background.  I LOVE how the marble one looks when stamped!  It is truly spectacular, and looks different than you would think it would.  Adds a subtle, gorgeous look to your project.  I used the largest stitched square die to die cut the white piece, and layered it onto a scalloped square cut from Berry Burst. The flowers are stamped in So Saffron, Berry Burst, and Powder Pink from the Beautiful Bouquet bundle, and die cut with the coordinating dies. I love the uniqueness of the dies that come with this set -- that bouquet of stems is so versatile.  With one pass through your Big Shot, you have the base of your bouquet, and then you can just add whatever flowers you want.  Those little die cut blue flowers here, were cut with other dies in the set -- from Pool Party card stock.  I think these little dies would be gorgeous for a simple card featuring white or cream and black and crumb cake -- like for a wedding card.  Can't wait to play with it some more.  Two other new embellishments I used on this project, are the Berry Burst woven ribbon and the new Glitter Enamel dots.  If you don't get any other embellishments from the catalog, you MUST get these dots!  They are gorgeous, and each color fades out into white, so you can find a shade that will match almost any project you're working on!  I think this gives you so much more bang for your buck, because you don't end up with half a package of your least liked colors, sitting around in your craft room forever -- just waiting for you to create a project in that color scheme you don't like!

Ok! that's it for today! Come to my Open House next Friday to see and play with LOTS of new products!  There will be door prizes, chocolate, and lots of crafty inspiration -- not to mention, a big table of retired stuff marked down to 50% off it's original price!!!!!

Hey, Chick! Have a Happy Day!

Happy Saturday!

I wanted to share a couple of cards featuring Sale-a-bration freebies, since SAB is almost over -- ends on March 31st.  Get them before they're gone!  Free product with every $50 order, AND SU just added a few new things to the line up this week.

Two of THE most popular Sale-a-brations sets, have been "Hey Chick" and "Delicate Details".  I just LOVE the chicken with the messy hair.  She just makes me laugh!  For this card, we used the new Watercolor pencils with watercolor paper, and either Blender Pens or an Aqua Painter to color them in -- so folks could try out both options to see which one they liked best.  The chicken wire background, was made by inking up the inside of the hexagon embossing folder, and using it as a "stamp" to create the background.  Colors used: card stock -- Heavy weight white, water color paper, Crumb Cake, Espresso.  Ink: Early Espresso and water color pencils.  Also featured: stitched dies, layering circle dies, classic label punch, and the Metallic Enamel shapes.

This card features the Delicate Details set.  I layered three of the stamps on a block, using my grid paper to make sure the stamps were straight.  We then stamped them in Versamark and embossed them with white embossing powder.  Of course, we sponged some Espresso ink on the edges of the panel to create more of a vintage look. Folks could choose to make either the chicken card or this card -- two different Sale-a-bration sets with completely different looks -- one cutesy/funny, and one elegant.  Those little wood hearts, are from the sending love embellishments and the little flower embellishments are the Falling in Love embellishments -- by far my favorite product from the Occasions catalog -- elegant, intricate, and beautiful! These detailed border stamps also work perfectly for the edging on a note card.  Super simple, but so stunning!  Pair them with the "So Very Much" SAB set, and you have easy peasy, gorgeous thank you notes!

Ok! that's it for today!  Off to enjoy a day with my family!  Maybe the first bike ride of the season, or swimming, or skiing, or bacon and eggs!

Have a Happy Day!!!!

All Occasions Card Class

Happy Saturday, Stampers and Scrappers!

Yep! I'm once again posting to my long neglected blog.  AND, I have some cute cards to share with you from my recent All Occasions card buffet class.  Here is the lineup:

This first card features the Drapery Fold technique, and the card design is one I saw on Lyssa's blog and loved.  To learn the dimensions for scoring your designer paper, see this link.  We used the Regals Paper stack for the DSP on these.

This cute card features a free Sale-a-bration stamp set called "Tasty Trucks".  It is the cutest set that you can add cupcakes, ice cream, or tacos to, to make it a custom truck -- with adorable sayings to go with.  We used the new water color pencils and blender pens to color in the truck.

I called this card "Washi Tape Madness".  I have collected way too much washi tape over the years, and am determined not to buy any more until I have used some of my collection up! Ha ha!  For this card, we simply took a Whisper white panel and added our strips of washi tape, and then die cut the circle with the layering circle framelits.  That cute little scalloped border at the bottom, is made using the top edge of the best badge punch.

This card was inspired by a card SU posted with the new Glitter paper selection that was added to the Sale-a-bration freebies.  I didn't have any of that yet, so I used the Blushing Bride Glitter paper.  This card features the Stylish Stems thinlet dies.  I die cut the two flowers out of my white front panel, and then put two squares of the glitter paper behind the die cut outs.  Those little leaves are from the same die set -- I lined up all four leaf designs on my Big Shot plate and ran them through.  Some Blushing Bride sequins and retired ribbon that I had added that final pretty touch.

The Paisleys and Posies stamp set carried over from the Holiday catalog last year, and I hadn't had a chance to play with it much.  This is a super simple card using just the stamps, but the coordinating dies are also beautiful! Colors used here are: Blackberry Bliss (retired), Mint Macaron, and Sweet Sugarplum.

This "High Tide" stamp set from the Occasions catalog, is one of my favorite new sets.  You can stamp it simply, or go all out with this set.  Colors used: Smokey Slate, Dapper Denim, Whisper White, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, and Memento Black.

This Heartfelt Sympathy stamp set had not seen ink even once, so I had to use this set!  I had some retired Baked Brown sugar card stock, which I used for the base, and combined it with Soft Suede and Very Vanilla.  The swirls are stamped with the Falling Flowers stamp set -- another set I haven't used enough.  That gorgeous little embellishment on the front, is from the Occasions catalog -- Falling in Love embellshments.  I LOVE these!  They are so elegant, and add that perfect touch to this card!

This Mickey and Minnie idea, is from Pinterest, so can't take ANY credit for this design.  I thought it showed a brilliant way to use the swirly scribbles thinlet dies.  We used the bow builder punch for the bow.

The "Beautiful You" stamp set caught my eye the first time I looked at the Occasions Catalog.  It has so many lovely sentiments in addition to the pretty lady.  We used gold and clear wink of stella to color in her dress and hat.  The lacy look, is another die set I love! -- the So Detailed thinlet dies.  It cuts so easily, even though it is so intricate.  LOVE that! Colors used: Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla.

Last, but not least, this thank you card features two free Sale-a-bration stamp sets -- Delicate Details, for the lacy border on the bottom, and the So Very Much set that has that gorgeous thank you sentiment.  We stamped the Delicate details border in Early Espresso, and then stamped the Thank You in versa mark, and embossed it with copper embossing powder.  It looks so elegant in real life, and yet not hard to create.

Ok! that's it for today!  Sabina and I are having a "girls' weekend", as Daddy and brother are off to a jiu jitsu tournament!  We have play dates planned, and maybe a chocolate cake???

Don't forget to check out the Sale-a-bration freebies you can get for FREE with a $50 through the end of March!  There are some beauties this year!

Flourishing Phrases meets emboss resist

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

Quick post to share with you today.  For my last hostess stampers' club, the hostess wanted to do the "emboss resist technique", and this is what I came up with!  One of my most favorite products in the new catalog, is the Flourishing Phrases bundle.  The stamps and dies in this set are BEAUTIFUL! and useful for so many occasions.  For this card, I embossed the flourish image on Whisper White card stock, using Versamark and clear embossing powder.  I then used two new In Colors -- Peek-a-boo Peach and Flirty Flamingo -- to sponge over the panel.  The ink doesn't stick where the embossed image is -- thus "emboss resist".  I then die cut a flourish from gold foil paper and added that over top.  A little piece of the new Peach In Color ribbon adds that special touch. (I haven't purchased In Color ribbon in a few years, but this year's ribbon is amazing!  It is slightly gathered so it has such fun texture to it, yet it isn't hard at all to tie!) I layered this panel onto Watermelon Wonder card stock, as the Flamingo color goes so beautifully with the Watermelon -- an In Color from last year's collection.  Of course, there needed to be some bling, so I added some Rhinestones as well as In Color enamel shapes.

Ok!  Off to get on with all that's on the agenda for the day!  Namely, a baby fox themed baby shower for a dear friend of mine!  I used the new fox punch to make a super cute little banner for her new little guy.  That little fox is beyond adorable.... Ok, ... I digress. :)  More on all that later!

Don't forget about Bonus Days this month!  For every $50 you spend in July, get $5 free to spend in August on anything you wish!

Shaker cards!

It's Canada Day AND my birthday!  Yippee!  When I used to live in Canada, it was always fun that everyone was celebrating on my birthday.

I've been playing with some of my new toys, and boy! are there some incredibly fun ones in this new catalog!  I've been wanting to make shaker cards for a while, but have been frustrated with not being able to find narrow adhesive foam strips, and cutting the wider strips in half with my exacto knife was just not floating my crafty boat!  SU to the rescue! -- they came out with these little foam adhesive strips! Pure Genius!  These make shaker cards a breeze, because they can bend a little, as well as fitting on a pretty small border.

We will be making this card at my upcoming stampers techniques class.  I used a new embossing folder, petal burst, to make that cool background -- simply emboss a 5 1/4 x 4" whisper white panel and then sponge Bermuda Bay, Wild Wasabi, and Perfect Plum inks over it.  The pattern really pops with the sponging.  For the shaker part, I start by die cutting either the jar (from the Jar of Love bundle) or the window frame from Hearth and Home thinlets.  I then adhere the die cut to an equally sized window sheet (for the jar one, simply die cut a jar out of the window sheet.  For the window one, cut a window sheet rectangle 2 1/2x 3").  Use your embossing buddy to rub over the window sheet to help prevent your shaker contents from sticking to it due to static.  Next, apply your foam adhesive sheets around the back side edges of your die cut/window sheet piece. Carefully add your shaker contents.  For the window one, I just un-threaded some silver and Bermuda Bay sequins from our sequin trim, and for the fairy one I used some clear micro beads I had on hand.  Separately, stamp your background panel -- for the left hand card, I used the Sheltering Tree stamp set, for the right hand side, I stamped that darling little fairy from the new Fairy Celebration set on a die cut whisper white jar.  (You can punch out the fairy's wings with the small butterfly punch, so I stamped the wings on velum and punched them out with the butterfly punch, and then layered them onto the fairy "in the jar".) I colored the fairy with my blender pen and ink pads.  I added adhesive to the wings and coated them with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  She is one beautiful, sparkling fairy in a jar!  My almost 6 year old daughter is having a fairy themed birthday party this year, and for her invites we are using this same set and she has spent hours coloring in the fairies with her markers.  Such a fun stamp set for little girls!!!

You are now ready to assemble your shaker piece.  Remove the liner from your adhesive foam strips, and carefully line up your background piece onto your shaker.  Burnish it a little to make sure it is stuck well, then adhere your shaker piece to your project base.  That's all there is to it!

Ok!  I'm off to enjoy my day! :)  Happy July Everyone!

New catalog Open House!

I am so thrilled with the new SU catalog this year.  I'm not sure I've been this excited about a new catalog in long time!  SO MANY beautiful new dies and products!

My New Catalog Open House is coming up next Friday, June 17th, at either 9 am or 6 pm.  We will be making 2 make 'n takes, featuring some of my favorite new products.

On this first card, we are using the new Irresistably Floral specialty DSP.  This paper has a white background, with an embossed design in it,s o when you add ink to it, the pattern pops.  There are also these new foam brayers which you just roll over your ink pad, and roll over your paper, then grab a paper towel to wipe off the excess ink, and Wa La you have this beautiful background in any color scheme you want!  Gorgeous and easy.  I paired two new In Colors, Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo inks together on this card -- such a pretty summer combo.  Those gorgeous little flower die cuts, are from the Flourish Thinlets.  Lovely little flowers and leaves and a die cut flourish in this set. The sentiment is cut with the new layering ovals dies.  This set of dies is a much tighter nested set of dies than the recently retired ones, and each oval has a coordinating little scalloped layer.  So cute!

 This card features one of my absolute favorite products in the new catalog -- the detailed floral thinlet dies.  These were first on my list of must haves.  So intricate and beautiful!  Again, I am using Sweet Sugarplum with Rich Razzleberry.  In the second photo, you can see how I used the clear Wink of Stella to color in a few of the big flowers in the design to add a bit of subtle, elegant shimmer.  Some silver Dazzling Details adds that little pop to the center of each flower.

Ok!  Off to make breakfast for my littles!

Drapery Fold Technique

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

I recently saw this "drapery fold" technique idea, and just had to share it with my peeps at the last stampers' club.  I have seen several different fold dimensions, but I really liked this tutorial done by Lyssa Zwolanek.  It is really easy to follow, and simple dimensions as well.  You'll start with a strip of designer series paper -- 11 1/4 x 4".  Score at 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10".  Cut a "wedge" off the bottom -- angling up from the 3" score line to the opposite short edge, leaving about 1 1/2" of that 4" side in tact.  Accordian fold your DSP and this is what you get!  So easy, and yet so awesome!  Lyssa did a great job with her photo tutorial, so be sure to check that out for step by step instructions.

For this card, we used Sahara Sand as the card base, and strips of paper from the Timeless Elegance pack, which has sold out already, unfortunately.  However, you could do this technique with any DSP that has a coordinating pattern on the opposite side.

Also featured on this card, are the Botanicals dies as well as the Blossom Bunch punch for the flowers.  The sentiment and that lovely little frame, is from the Rose Wonder stamp set and coordinating die set.  I really love the sentiments in that stamp set.  Simple, elegant, and coordinating messages for the insides of your cards.  We used Soft Suede ink to sponge around the flowers, to enhance that vintage look.  And, last but not least, some clear Wink of Stella adds that gorgeous shimmer to the flowers!  LOVE that stuff!  Easy to apply, dries quickly, and zero mess!

Only two weeks until the NEW Catalog will be here!  Yeah!  Grab your last retiring must haves before they are gone!