Swallowtail

Last Saturday I was able to go to a downline meeting at Janet Wakeland's house.  Although she is not my upline, she invites demos in the area to attend.  Since my upline lives on the West Coast, it was an opportunity to get together with other demos in the area.  I like getting together with other demos because it is a great opportunity to exchange ideas, talk some business, and have a great time with wonderful people.

While we were there we made a number of projects that we can share with our customers and our downlines.  Here is one of the cards that we created while at Janet's.  This is a very simple but an elegant card.  The "SWALLOWTAIL" stamp is in the Spring Catalog and is one of my favorite stamps but I did not buy it.  I was afraid that it would be hard to use BUT I see so many beautiful cards with this stamp.  I think I have to break down and get it.  I love this card.  The supplies that we used for this card were:

STAMP SETS:  Swallowtail, Best of 25 Years- Love
PAPER:  Crumb Cake, Neutrals Collection DSP, Early Espresso
INK:  Versamark, Early Espresso
ACCESSORIES:  White Embossing Powder, Heating Tool, 3/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, Finishing Touches Edgelits

Today is going to be a very busy day.  Eli is going to see Sesame Street Live and we are watching the 2 little guys.  Then this afternoon, all 3 kids and us are going to a local Easter Egg hunt.  Busy, Busy, Busy!  Enjoy your day!

Spring is in the Air

Spring is definitely in the air, and Stampin Up can't wait to show you all the new product in the 2013-2014 annual catalog. Here's a pre-sneak peek look at A Round Array!

Stampin' Up bundled it with the coordinating 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch (introduced in the 2013 spring catalog) just in time for Sale-A-Bration for 15% off!

Dates: March 15 - May 30, 2013

CLICK HERE to see the PDF Flyer for all the details.

Enjoy the Day!

March Technique Class- Card 3

This is the last card we made during March's Technique Classes.  This is a card that everyone seems to be doing right now on their blogs.  If you checked out my blog lately, you will notice that I also did this style of folded card for the "Love at First Stamp Blog Hop".  This is a TWISTED FOLD CARD.  

For this card I wanted to use something very bright and flowery since Spring was supposed to be here by now.  But here in the Northeast, it is still cold and we have been having snow off and on the last few weeks.  We are below temperature than normal for this time of year and that is why I just had to create a card that would make it feel like Spring was already here.  The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SET:  Bright Blossoms
PAPER:  Whisper White, Island Indigo, Summer Smooches DSP
INK:  none
ACCESSORIES:  Scoring Tool, Apothecary Label Framelits, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Old Olive, and Island Indigo Markers, Dimensionals

This is what the inside looks like and the pocket that created is perfect for a gift card holder.  I plan on using the ones I made to place a gift card in each one and place them in Easter baskets on Sunday.

Another busy day for me.  Enjoy the day!

March Technique Class- Card 2

Well this is the second card that we are making at our Technique Classes this month. This card used the "TRI- FOLD LATCH CARD".  I like the color combination for this card.  As a matter of fact, the color combination is what I came up before the card concept.

Check out that flower.  That flower is from the March BEST OF FLOWERS stamp set. To celebrate Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary, SU is releasing a BEST OF 25 YEARS stamp set each month for 12 months. This month the theme was flowers and that made me so happy.  The reason that made me so happy is they brought my favorite stamp.  Only this time it was smaller but it still has a special place in my heart.  My all time favorite stamp was this Hydrangea and I could not wait until I could use it again.  So I decided that I would use it this month.  Don't you just love it!  Anyway this stamp set is available until March 31, 2014.  The supplies that I used this project were:

STAMP SETS: March's Best of Flowers, Collage Curios, Teeny Tiny Wishes
PAPER:  Whisper White, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party Core'dinations Paper
INK:  Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, So Saffron
ACCESSORIES:  Pink Sharpie (non SU), Blender Pens, Black Staz-On, Pearls, Oval Framelits, Big Shot, Scoring Tool, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

This what I did on the inside of the card.  All in all I think the card came out just the way I had hoped.  It is a good feeling when your ideas work out as you had thought.  This morning I will be having my Monday group for Technique Class and then I will go back into Grandma mode in the afternoon.  

Enjoy the day!

This and That- You Will Love It!

Your life is: Awesome. Quirky. Exciting. Perfectly messy. And happening really fast. So we're happy to introduce our newest product line that lets you capture it all on-the-go.   

Stampin' Up! is happy to introduce a new product line called "This and That"! Click Here to see flyer and ALL the great extra items you can get with it!  It will debut in the 2013-2014 annual catalog.  BUT they are giving us the chance to get these exciting new products starting today.

Purchase This and That products separately or get the sneak peek This & That Bundle and save 15%.

• Special Priced Bundle Dates:  March 23-April 30 
• Remember the items that come in the bundle will be available in May and in the new catalog, but we're only offering the discounted bundled until April 30).
• You can get as many This and That products or bundles as you want - no limit

You can buy This and That products separately. But why would you do that when you can get all five together and save 15%?


This and That is a great new product line.  Check it out in this video!
 

If you are interested in this purchasing this product you can either contact me or CLICK HERE to order at my online store.

A Little Help from the Last 25 Years

Today I am showing you the Baby Shower invitation that I came up with for a close friend.  One of my closest friends is holding a baby shower for her daughter-in- law.  This will be her first grandchild and she is so excited!  She needed an invite for the shower she is hosting for her the beginning of May.

She decided she wanted an invitation that was close to the bedding that was chosen for the nursery.  So here is the card.

And here is the a pic of the bedding.  How do you think I did?

This is a strange title for a blog post but hopefully you will understand as I  continue to explain the details of this project.  The supplies that I used for this project were:

STAMP SETS:  Cuddles and Kisses

PAPER:  Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

INK:  Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight

ACCESSORIES: Daffodil Delight Seam Binding, Scallop Edge Punch, Dimensionals, Brayer

Sold as Printworks Design Stencil Dots and Stripes

Now if you are wondering how we got that peep on the card, my friend wanted the peep look exactly like it looks on the bedding.  So she decided to enlarge the picture of the peep and she cut all of them out by hand.  I got the peep and was asked to come up with something including it.  I needed to make the stripes and originally thought of the Striped Embossing Folder.  That did not work how I had hoped.  And here is where I needed help from the past 25 years.  Believe it or not I used an item (that has long since retired ) that I found over the weekend while looking for something else.  I had even forgotten that I had this item.  Years ago Stampin' Up offered this stencil with which you could create a polka dotted or striped background.  At that time they demo'd it by sponging over the openings.  I decided I would try to brayer over it.  And it worked!  I was able to get those beautiful straight lines.  I posted a picture of this handy dandy tool right here.

I am so glad that this was one retired SU item I had kept.  I think I will hold onto this.  It might come in handy again.  Enjoy the day!

March Technique Class- Card 1

Wow!  What a weekend!  What did you think of our "new" adventure of a Blog Hop?  I thought everyone in our group did a great job!  I hope that you enjoyed it and got some great ideas from those talented stampers.

Today I want to show you the cards that we are making in our Technique Classes this month.  The first card I would like to show you is the Tri-Fold Card with a Twist.  Shelli demonstrated a card similar at Convention.  The only thing that I did was to change the colors and the subject.  I decided to use a lot of bright colors that tend to give you a Spring Feel and I needed a card for Easter.   This is what the outside of the card looks like.

The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SETS:  Everybunny, Delightful Dozen, Flowering Flourishes
PAPER:  Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Whisper White
ACCESSORIES:  Pool Party Seam Binding, 5/8" Flower Trim, Sticky Strip, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Window Framelits, Colored Pencils, Blender Pens, Dimensionals

I think it came out pretty good.  Well I am happy with it anyway.  Here is what the inside of the card looks like.

The card is a single piece of cardstock with the Framelits wrapping around the base.  I plan to send these out to my family for Easter.  I hope they enjoy the card as much as I enjoyed creating it for them.

Enjoy the day!

Love At First Stamp's First Blog Hop

This is the first LOVE AT FIRST STAMP Blog Hop.  I am so excited to be here!  Our group may be small but we have some wonderful ideas for you.  If you are here then you came here  from Jennifer Gregorsky's blog  you are in the right spot!   But if you started right here, fear not! You can manage to get all the way around the entire tour just by following the links at the bottom of each post.

This post is going live on the morning of the 15th, so if you find some posts in our tour have not yet posted, please be patient.  The entire tour should be accessible at some point this evening. Keep checking back!

My challenge is focused on Father's Day.  This was challenging for me because it has a male theme and I do not create a lot of masculine cards.  I had a slow start because my mind was jumping all over the place trying to figure out what I wanted to do.  I had a rough time trying to focus until I settled on a Designer Series Paper instead of a stamp set and then everything fell very quickly into place.  I chose "PARKERS PATTERNS"( which I think has masculine prints ) for the DSP and used that in every project so everything in this post was cohesive.

 

Here is my first card which uses the same sketch as all my other fellow stampers. It was designed my Jenn Campbell who is one of my stamping sisters.    I think why I was having the rough time was because the sketch was designed with a flower for the focal point.  I had to flip my brain over to manly and I came up with 
using the "JUST THINKING" single stamp from the Spring Catalog in place of the flower .  If you look closely you will see that when I  put the focal point together, I made sure I used many layers to give depth to the card just as the flower had many layers to it.   The supplies used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Just Thinking, Teeny Tiny Wishes
PAPER:  Parkers Patterns DSP,  Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
INK: Not Quite Navy
ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Window Frames Collection Framelits, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Early Espresso Marker, Basics Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Dimensionals, Silver Brads

This is one way of taking a sketch and using the main elements but changing it up a bit.  The sketch had a more feminine  feel to it because of the flower but I was able to change it up a bit with a more masculine feel to it.  

This second card also used DSP from Parkers Patterns DSP but I decided to use the  "BY THE TIDE" stamp set also from the Spring Catalog.  I used a Z Fold to create this card.  And to make it pop, I used Tangerine Tango Embossing Powder to create raised coral and a spark of color on the inside insert.  The supplies that I used for this card were: 

STAMP SETS:  By the Tide, Delightful Dozen
PAPER:  Parkers Patterns DSP, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy
INK:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Tangerine Tango, Versamark
ACCESSORIES:  Heating Tool, Tangerine Tango Embossing Folder, Sponges






The third idea is a "SQUASH BOOK" .  It is a mini album which I thought might make a great Father's Day gift.  Inside the book there are places to place photos.  What a great gift to give your father or husband with photos of their children or grandchildren!  I think every man would appreciate this.  I used Parkers Patterns DSP on the inside to add a little color to the project.  And I think the sentiment on the front of the Squash Book is perfect for photo giving.  The supplies that I used  for this project were:

Squash Book from the front and closed

STAMP SETS: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Elements of Style
PAPER:  Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Parkers Patterns DSP
INK:  Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
ACCESSOIRES:  Natural 7/16" Trim, Dimensionals, 1/8" Mini Brads

Close up of inside of Squash Book

Inside of entire Squash Book

The final project is a Gift Card Holder .  I used the Twisted Card technique.  So many men are so hard to buy for.  I know my husband is.  So sometimes it is easier on me to just give him a gift card.  This Twisted Card Technique is a really neat way to present that favorite guy (your Father ) in your life a gift card.  Again I used the Parkers Patterns DSP in the construction of this project.  It is so easy to make and I plan to show that in a future post. The supplies that I used for this final project were:

Outside of the Twisted Card- Gift Card Holder

STAMP SETS:  Teeny Tiny Wishes, Just Thinking
PAPER:  Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Parkers Patterns DSP
INK:  Not Quite Navy
ACCESSORIES:  Cherry Cobbler Marker, Natural Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Glue Dots, Window Frame Collection Framelits, Big Shot

Inside the Gift Card Holder

I hope you enjoyed all the projects I created.  I really enjoyed putting this special post together.  And I think all the people involved in this blog did a terrific job this month.














If you wish to go back to Jennifer Gregorsky's blog, please Click here for Jennifer Gregorsky's Blog


I am the last person on the blog hop.  So if you wish to start at the beginning please Click 
here for Katherine Rock's Blog


Just in case you get a little lost along the way, here is our blog order for this hop:

Katherine Rock- St Patrick's Day 
Buffy  Allen- Happy Spring 
Jennifer Campbell - Easter
Susan Peters - Mother's Day 
Jennifer Gregorsky - Memorial Day 
Gail Derea - Father's Day 

Enjoy the day!

A New Adventure- Blog Hop!

Tomorrow my stamping sisters and I  are starting a new adventure.  We will be participating in our First LOVE AT FIRST STAMP Blog Hop!!!  I am excited.  I have been busy the last few days to come up with some new projects for you to see.  

I also have been under the weather and everything is taking longer to do.  The older two grandsons have been battling colds, coughs and runny noses.  They have been passing it back and forth for the last 2 months.  I guess they finally decided enough of them having all the fun and passed it on to Grandma.  Although I enjoy getting gifts from my grandsons, getting their illness is not one of those gifts I enjoy.

But getting back to the Blog Hop...We all will be posting our projects tomorrow at 10 AM.  So please come back and take a look at what we all have been working hard to create for you.

See you tomorrow!!!

Easter Buffet Favor Box

Usually when I plan a Halloween  or Easter Card Buffet,  I like to add a 3D project.  I guess because I think these are the 2 holidays that you are more likely to give a small candy treat to friends and children.  So this Card Buffet was no different and this is the 3D project I came up with.  Again I used the Fancy Favor Box die to create this project.  When this die was first available from SU, I resisted buying it thinking I would never use it.  I caved in and bought it.  I use this die so much for so many projects.  I realize now that I should have bought it sooner.  I really got my moneys worth when I bought this product.  

A few years ago I saw this cute little rabbit and put it in my files for a future use.  Although I saw this little bunny on one blog, apparently she found it somewhere else.  She found it from LorisDreamStampin.  I hope this gives the correct person their acknowledgment.  But whoever created this little guy did a great job.  I think he is adorable and perfect to grace the front of this basket.

I am hosting the Easter Card Buffet at my house on March 17 at 2 PM.  If you are interested in attending my Easter Card Buffet, please contact me for more specific details on pricing or if you would like to register for this event.

Carter ( 5months old ) has already arrived this morning and is sleeping in Grandpop's arms.  The other 2 boys will be arriving this afternoon after their naps because their parents have an appointment to go to.  So we will be in full Grandparent mode today.  Enjoy your day!  I know I will enjoy every minute of mine.

The Best of...Flowers

Stampin' Up is celebrating their 25 year Anniversary this year.  In honor of this big occasion, they have been releasing a "Best of" set each month.  Each set brings back  stamps from sets from the last 25 years plus one new stamp which has never been seen before.  This month's set is Best of... Flowers!  I love it !  This set contains 2 of my favorite stamps.

My all time favorite was the Hydrangea.  I was so upset when that stamp was retired.  I used that one a lot.  The bunch of flowers was another one of my favorites.  I am so happy that they brought them back.  I had gotten rid of them but now I will be able to create cards with them again.  

A reminder that all "Best of" stamps sell for $14.95 and are done only in Clear Mount.  They will be available until until March 31, 2014.

As a special incentive to collect the Best of stamps, SU is including a collector's card and 25-year proof of purchase sticker with every Best of set. Collect six stickers, and send it in to redeem a FREE set of your choice valued up to $14.95! Free sets must be redeemed no later than April 30, 2014.

Enjoy your day!

"BRAND NEW" Photopolymer Stamps from Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up is introducing a new way to stamp!  Starting March 1 Photopolymer Stamps are being made available along with our Wood stamp sets and our Clear Mount stamp sets.  Stamping Up is starting by offering the Designer Typeset Photopolymer Stamp set.  This is the only Photopolymer stamp set available at this time.  

• Photopolymer stamps will be offered on a trial basis. Based on popularity, we hope to release more photopolymer stamp sets over the coming months. At this time we don't plan on offering a line of photopolymer sets as expansive as our wood-mount and clear-mount lines.
• Available on all order types beginning March 1, 2013. 
• Not available in wood-mount or clear-mount.  
• All photopolymer will be packaged in cello bag w/insert, but don't forget you can store them in our clear cases.

What makes them so great?

• They're entirely transparent for perfect placement every time! 
• They are durable. The photopolymer material is designed to last. 
• Can you say sticky? (Don't worry; in a good way.) These stamps stick amazingly well to our clear blocks.
• They're age tested. They won't yellow or cloud up over time. 
• They use FDA, food-safe material. How far can you stretch your stamping creativity? 
• We could go on, but we'll let you try them for yourself.

They are clearly a great choice.

 CHECK this out...




Here is what the "NEW" Photopolymer  Stamp Set looks like!

Contact me if you would like more information on this new way to stamp at Stampin' Up!

Enjoy the day!

Card 4 from the Easter Card Buffet

This is a quick post because I have a number of errands to run today before Emmett comes for me to watch.  My oldest daughter's birthday is soon and we are getting together as a family Saturday evening to celebrate.  When it is someone's birthday, they get to choose what they want me to make for dinner and what kind of cake they want.  So I have to get as much done tomorrow as I can before the baby comes because I will be busy with all three on Friday.

This is the final card that I created for the Easter Card Buffet.  The stamp set that I used is from the Spring Catalog and is called "SPRING SAMPLER".  It is a set of 24 small images that have to do with Spring.  the images are so cute.  Again I used colors that I associate with Easter.

Well I am off.  Hopefully I am able to get everything  I need to do. Enjoy your day!