Unfrogettable Stamping!

February 2012 downline swap - Clean and Simple in a Jiffy cards

This month our team swap was hosted by Gerin Martin, who chose our theme of "Clean and Simple in a Jiffy" cards.  The criteria was that these cards could be made in 10 minutes or less... I love it because I always seem to find myself needing a card in a jiffy!  You may remember my card, which I posted here.  Above is Gerin's card... isn't it bright and cheerful?!

Here is the card that Carolyn North created.  Great colors for spring!

This is Jaime Penney's fun card - I love this color combination!

Sherri Gough designed this card - I liked the layout so much I CASE'd it for my Stamp-a-Stack last week, changing the colors just a bit.

And the last one for today is this card created by Kathy Kennedy.  I love this for a wedding card!

Thanks for stopping by - I am still trying to get caught up from the huge swim meet last weekend.  I promise to share the rest of the swaps with you tomorrow!

Fabulous Friday and a Simply Paper Design Challenge

I love using one project to fill several commitments and this card does just that!  I had promised my sister Cindy Blekas that I would start using her Simply Paper Design Challenge sketches and color combinations each month from her blog Simply Cindy Crafts and I also needed to design a card for Fabulous Friday this week on the Sisters in Stamping blog featuring a Sale-a-Bration item.  This is the card I came up with which ended up fulfiliing both... I changed the sketch just a teeny bit, putting the sentiment in the center of the strip versus in the bottom corner but I think she'll let me slide!  As a bonus, I also used it in my stamp-a-stack class last night!!  Gotta love that... So do you recognize the Sale-a-Bration items - there are 3 different ones included.  I used the stamp set Elementary Elegance for the image and sentiment, Everyday Elegance Designer Series Paper and the ribbon is from the Everyday Elegance ribbon and brad pack.  The colors I used are pulled from the DSP:  very vanilla, pool party and soft suede.  The curly label punch and 2-1/2" circle punch made quick work of the cutting.

Don't forget that you can earn one of these exclusive Sale-a-Bration items for FREE with a qualifying $50 order!  Email me your order this weekend while I'm working at my kids' swim meet and you'll also earn a chance to win a $25 gift certificate!  See this post for more details...

Here's the sketch and color combination for the Simply Paper Design Challenge for February... I will do another card later with cherry cobbler, whisper white and basic black, I promise!  Why not give this sketch a try?

For even more inspiration with Sale-a-Bration products, please be sure and hop on over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today!

Have a wonderful weekend!  Stop back by as I'll be sharing my downline swap cards over the next couple of days...

Swim Meet Special!!!

To view our awesome Occasions Mini Catalog and Sale-a-Bration brochure (to choose your FREE item!) online, click here.

Check out all the products that I carry in my online store here.

Mixed Bunch in red

This month my downline swap theme was "Quick and Easy Cards" and I came up with this one using the Mixed Bunch stamp set with the coordinating Blossom punch (LOVE it!!) from the Occasions Mini catalog.  Basic black, real red and whisper white is a color combination that I use often as I think it is so pretty!!  The Big Shot and Vintage Wallpaper impressions folder made quick work of the basic black strip and then I punched out my birthday sentiment from the Sincere Salutations stamp set with the wide oval punch.

Here is a close-up of the punched flower... this image was stamped with jet black StazOn and embellished with a tiny real red flower from the Itty Bitty punches and a basic rhinestone.  It was popped up over the whisper white organza ribbon with stampin' dimensionals.

I will share the rest of the swap cards with you as soon as I get a chance to get them photographed.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you are inspired to create a quick and easy card with your punches and Big Shot folders!!  If you'd like to purchase any of the products used on today's card, please contact me or place your order in my online store here.

Happy snow day!

Well it finally happened... we got our first snowfall of the season yesterday!  My kids were thrilled... we thought it was going to be a snow-less winter for us here in central Virginia.  Here are our dogs playing in the snow, Beau (the beagle) and Mika (the Golden Retriever) this morning.  We are all enjoying a no-school snow day here, lounging around in our jammies until swim practice this afternoon!! 

Kelsey and Brandon decided to have a snowball fight before the snow completely melts.  They're both sporting their Christmas hats - Kelsey's is a fun faux-hawk knit hat and Brandon's is the black Bomb Angry Bird.  Amanda opted to stay warm indoors, playing on Pinterest.  Teenagers!!

So on to the stamping... I held my Diva Day for my 4th quarter top 3 demonstrators this weekend, treating them to a brunch of bacon quiche, grape salad and mini eclairs on Saturday morning.  Everyone got half of the Spring Fever Simply Scrappin' kit from the Occasions mini catalog in an alterable canvas tote bag (I have found some awesome ideas for these on Pinterest!) along with an 8" x 10" picture frame and dry erase pen.  Our first project was to create a dry erase board using pieces from the Simply Scrappin' Kit along with various embellishments from my stamping stash with the picture frame (an idea first shared by my downline Angie Kinzie during our shoe box swap in December).  The second project was creating a fun fabric flower pin using the Twitterpated designer fabric from the Occasions mini catalog similar to the one we made at Leadership in Nashville last year.

Here are photos of my Divas, sporting the tiaras I picked up in San Antonio last month (thanks to Dawn Rapsas for sharing that idea!!) along with their finished projects.... so proud of the hard work these wonderful demonstrators did last quarter!  Who will be my Divas this quarter I wonder?

Jennifer Rawlings - Top Diva for 4th quarter 2011

 
Sherri Gough, #2 Demonstrator for 4th quarter 2011

Kris Burdeaux, #3 Demonstrator for 4th quarter 2011

Here are some close-ups of my fabric flower... I love the trinket keys and beveled windowpanes... the stamp set used was Clearly for You and the shimmer comes from Moonlight smooch accent ink.  The fabric layers were cut with the Fun Flowers L bigz die and the First Edition DSP flowers were punched out using the 2-3/8" scallop flower punch.

Thanks for visiting today!

Fabulous Elegant Bird Big Shot die

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are featuring new Big Shot accessories from the Occasions Mini catalog.  I decided to use the Elegant Bird Bigz die, which I just received in my last order.  I had a hard time deciding what to make - a scrapbook page, 3-d item, fabric project... but finally settled on this monochromatic wedding card.  This is not my usual style but I am really pleased with how it turned out and hope you like it as well.

The bird and wing were cut out with a quarter sheet of very vanilla card stock and then I ran both back through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  I then sponged both with crumb cake ink to make the texture really pop, going darker on the edges to make the bird stand out against the very vanilla background.  I also embellished the bird with a basic pearl for the eye.

To create the ribbon embellishment, I found an antique brad that matched the color scheme of the card and opened up the prongs in the back nice and wide. 

Next, I cut a 16" piece of crumb cake seam binding ribbon and wrapped it around my fingers a couple of times and then put it in the prongs of the brad and closed it.

Cut a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of very vanilla card stock and run it through the Big Shot with the Framed Tulips embossing folder and sponge lightly around the edges with crumb cake.  Add a hole in the bottom corner with a crop-a-dile for the brad and attach your ribbon embellishment.  Pull the loops apart and poof them for added interest.  I did add a little more texture by fraying the ends of the ribbon by pulling on a thread and trimming the excess.  Attach this piece to an 8-1/2" x 11" very vanilla card stock base.

Next, attach the bird to the card with several stampin' dimensionals.  I added the wing using the tab and Tombow multipurpose adhesive and then added a stampin' dimensional underneath so it would be raised above the bird's body.

Because this is a wedding card, I stamped "Congratulations" from the Love & Laughter stamp set found in the Occasions Mini catalog with soft suede ink on very vanilla card stock and punched it out using my modern label punch.  I sponged the edges with crumb cake and added it to the card with stampin' dimensionals.  I embellished the punch with two of the tiniest pearls and voila... you're done!  I like this card so much that my Card of the Month club ladies will be making one at our next meeting... hope they like it!

Thanks for stopping by today... please be sure and visit the Sisters in Stamping blog today after Noon EST to see the wonderful creations my friends came up with using the new Big Shot accessories from the Occasions Mini catalog.

If you'd like to order any of the products used to recreate this card, please contact me via email or order online.

Thanks and have a wonderful weekend!!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day and that your sweetie gave you something nice.  My DH surprised me at midnight last night with a handmade card and gift certificate to my favorite coffee shop!!  I didn't get a chance to make Valentine's cards this year for Brandon's classmates (swim meet this weekend), but I did manage to create some candy bar holders for my kids' swim coaches... they love chocolate and it's always fun to present candy in a more jazzed up way using my Stampin' Up! products.

This project started with a piece of real red card stock cut to 8-1/2" x 8".  I stamped all over the card stock with 2 images from the I {heart} Hearts stamp set using real red and chocolate chip ink.

Next, I laid my candy bar (one of the extra large ones) inside and figured out where my sides would come around (the width is the 8-1/2" side) and put sticky strip along one side and in the center at the bottom.

I sealed up the sides and bottom and then ran the bottom part of the pouch through my crimper to add some texture and security to the base.

After crimping the bottom, I stuck my small oval punch inside the top part of the pouch and punched out a half-oval on one side in the center and then lined it up on the bottom to create a matching half-oval (this makes it easier to pull the candy bar out).  I turned the punch upside down but photographed the punch right-side up so you could see which one I used.

To embellish, I attached an 8" piece of chocolate chip scalloped dotted ribbon to the front of the pouch and then brought it around and taped it down to secure (this will be hidden by the owl).

To create the owl embellishment, use whisper white card stock and punch out with the 2-3/8" scallop circle punch and use the owl 2-step punch with chocolate chip and a scrap of real red patterns stack DSP. 

Glue everything down with Tombow multipurpose adhesive and add some googlie eyes.  Attach with stampin' dimensionals to the front of the pouch.

And you're done!

Robbin's Valentine's Day workshop projects

Robbin invited some of her friends and family over to my stamping studio earlier this week for a fun Valentine's Day workshop.  I demonstrated how to make the altered picture frame above and then gave it to her as part of her hostess gift for having the class.  The medallion was created using the new Designer Rosette Bigz XL die for the Big Shot currently featured in our Occasions Mini catalog.  I showed everyone how I created the embellishment as well as how the rest of the picture was put together.  Here are some close-ups below...

 

Another project that I demonstrated was this easy sour cream container which holds chocolates.  Do you remember seeing it in my post on Thursday when I shared Melody's party projects?  I love it when I can use a project for several stamping classes!!

The last thing I demonstrated was the emboss resist technique with this fun Valentine's Day card that I CASE'd from my good friend Karla Anders (it was her Fabulous Friday project for our Sisters in Stamping blog yesterday - she gave me a sneak peek earlier!!).  This was also the make-n-take for all the guests who attended.  The colors include cherry cobbler, pink pirouette and whisper white along with the Sprinkled Exressions Sale-a-Bration stamp set (FREE with a qualifying $50 order!).

If you are interested in hosting a private class and learning how to make fun projects like these, please contact me to schedule a date.  I have several class options available so please email me for more details!

Fabulous Sweet Shop product suite

 

If you've had a chance to look through the Occasions Mini catalog, I'm sure you noticed the super-fun Sweet Shop product suite on pages 32-36.  That is the focus of our Fabulous Friday projects this week on the Sisters in Stamping blog and my project is this 12" x 12" scrapbook page featuring the Mouthwatering stamp set, Sweet Shop DSP and Jelly Bean brads.  I also used a few Big Shot items (scallop square, Timeless Type sizzlit alphabet) and punches (Blossom from the Occasions Mini, triple layer bouquet, 2-1/2" circle, scallop edge border) along with the ribbon from the Sale-a-Bration bundle.  Aren't these In Colors fun?!

Here are some close-ups with details below...

I used two layers of the Blossom punch with calypso coral card stock (separated by a stampin' dimensional) and a flower from the triple layer bouquet punch with pool party card stock to create the flower embellishment.  I used my Snips and cut each petal into smaller petals and added a Jelly Bean brad to the top.

The ice cream cone and cherries from the Mouthwatering stamp set were inked using my stampin' write markers (calypso coral, chocolate chip, lucky limeade and poppy parade) and punched out of the whisper white card stock using the 2-1/2" circle punch.  Adding dazzling diamonds with a 2-way glue pen helped to set off the images and they were popped off the page using stampin' dimensionals.

For even more inspiration with this fun suite of products in the Occasions Mini catalog, be sure and visit the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!  Come on back tomorrow - I'll be sharing the Valentine's Day projects from Robbin's workshop earlier this week.

 

Hearts galore!

Melody and her friend Mary hosted a Valentine's party for their friends yesterday and asked me to come up with some projects for the guests to make.  Melody had seen my post from Leadership and fell in love with one of the Sale-a-Bration display projects and also requested an easel card and sour cream container to hold some chocolates.  Above is the easel card - it features the red and silver glimmer paper, the Paper Doily sizzlit from the Occasions Mini and several punches.  The only stamping on this card is the sentiment from the Candy Conversations stamp - I cut the words apart from the hearts and double-mounted the set on the wood block to give it some greater versatility.  The cool thing about an easel card is that it closes flat to 4-12" x 4-1/4" for mailing in a regular medium envelope (see picture below)...

In addition to the card, everyone made this sour cream container which they filled with an assortment of Dove chocolates and Hershey Kisses (yum!).  It starts with a quarter sheet of crumb cake card stock that was stamped with the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set and textured with the Houndstooth impressions folder.  The "Be my Valentine" sentiment is from the Delightful Dozen stamp set and fit perfectly in the scallop oval punch (love it when that happens!).  I closed the container with poppy parade ribbon - makes it easier to get to the chocolates inside without having to destroy the pretty packaging.

The next project is a heart pocket made from the Petal Cone bigz die that I photographed from one of the Leadership displays.  Although it looks like DSP, the naturals ivory and calypso coral card stock were stamped with images from the Sale-a-Bration stamp set Fresh Vintage using poppy parade ink.  Pretty, right?!  The "love you" on the tag (also from the petal cone die) is from the Short & Sweet stamp set.  I taught everyone how to make a fork bow with the poppy parade ribbon and a giant fork... they loved it!  Melody had found some large antique keys at a store and we wrapped ribbon around each with a tag that said "Key to my Heart" (from a retired stamp set) and slipped them inside the hearts.  Add a note to your sweetie and this is a great Valentine's gift!!

We had such a good time - the food was wonderful, the ladies were all dressed in various shades of red and Melody had decorated the table with a great Valentine's theme.  There were even fun Valentine's goodies in a heart bucket at each seat.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and feel like even those who had never stamped before had fun making these projects!!  Thanks for a great time, Melody and Mary!!

If you'd like to host a themed party like this one with several make-n-takes, please contact me to find out about pricing and availability.