Inkin' up the Dogs!

My blog is officially on hiatus....

Hello! Just a quick note to let everyone know that everything is okay in my world--just very busy!!

I'm sure it won't come as a surprise, since I haven't posted in almost 6 weeks...but I have to give up blogging for now.  I decided to go back to school, and study a new career.  After being in banking for 20 years, I am following my passion and studying Veterinary Technology.  I am an animal lover, and for several years I have had a dream to work with animals.  Life is short and I'm not getting any younger!  So at the age of 40, I am going back to college!  My program will take about 2.5 years. 

In the meantime, I still plan to be a demonstrator for Stampin' Up!  In the event that I have time for stamping (16-20 hours a week studying leaves me NOT much time!) I will do my best to share it with you.  The posts will most likely be few and far between though.

Thanks for understanding, and I hope you are all having a great summer!!!

Flower Trio

Today I am showing you the final two projects that we made in my May stamp clubs.  We made a pretty card with a coordinating candy bag:

 

On the card, I demonstrated how to use punched circles to make a large scallop border.  We just applied them to our card in a row next to each other, and they make a nice accent on the bottom of the card! 

We stamped the flowers from the set "Happy Together" (which was announced today that it is retiring.  Sad because I loved the little birds in that set and I just got it!)  After we stamped the flowers with Melon Mambo ink, we used a Daffodil Delight marker to accent the petals and the center of the flower.

The cello bag is filled with jelly beans, and it has a flap button closure and a belly band accent. 

 

The button I used on this bag is a clear button.  I added a piece of designer paper (punched out with the 3/4" circle punch) to the back of the button.  I added a piece of baker's twine for the finishing touch.  The bag is actually closed with a staple.  I just used a mini glue dot to add the button over top of the staple for a decorative touch. 

We used another piece of designer paper to create a belly band accent around the middle.  We scalloped the edges of it with the scalloped edge punch.  We added the little tag in the middle to finish the band off. 

This coordinating set makes a quick and cute gift idea for a friend, neighbor or co-worker.  Cello bags are handy to have on hand because you never know when you might need a "little something" for someone!

Thanks for visiting today.  It's a beautiful day here in Ohio and I hope it is where you are too!

Supplies:  Happy Together, Great Friend, Something to Celebrate (retired) stamp sets; Melon Mambo, Whisper White card stock; Melon Mambo & Pacific Point classic ink; Daffodil Delight marker; Ice Cream Parlor designer paper, ribbon, and buttons from Sale-a-bration catalog (no longer available);  1-1/4" circle punch, oval punches, scallop edge punch; clear button; bakers twine; mini glue dots; small cello bag.

 

A new technique! With shaving cream!

Another project we did at my May stamp clubs, was this card using the shaving cream background technique. 

 

This technique isn't really new---it has been around for a long time! I first learned it several years ago at my friend Heather's house before I was a demonstrator.  I had never shared it before with my stamp clubs though, so it was new to most of them!

This technique requires shaving cream, re-inkers in the color of your choice, a stick to stir with, a tray to mix your shaving cream up in, and some paper towels. 

I really can't explain the technique any better than Beate Johns from Splitcoaststampers does in this tutorial, so if you just click on that link--you will get a full blown tutorial with pictures and everything! 

We had fun making these backgrounds, and then we also got to use another new product from the Summer Mini Catalog on our cards.  We used the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch to make our flower.  We topped it off with a button, and stamped the stem directly onto our background card stock.

 

If you have never tried the shaving cream technique before, you should give it a try! 

Supplies:  Bold Blossom stamp set; Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry card stock; Old Olive ink; Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry re-inkers; shaving cream; Button and Baker's Twine; Rich Razzleberry taffeta ribbon.

Sail Away

There are some great new stamps in the Summer Mini Catalog, with one of my absolute FAVORITES being the "Sail Away" stamp.  I think it's just gorgeous.  At May stamp clubs, we made this card with it:

 

It is such a nice stamp for a masculine card.  It's easy to color, and it looks great when you're finished! This is a single stamp selection, and is available for only $9.95.  I think it belongs in everyone's collection!

To make this card, we actually stamped the image twice on Whisper White card stock.  The first image, we punched out with the 2-1/2" circle punch.  When we did this, the top of the boat was cut off just a little, but it doesn't matter because we're going to layer another image on top of it.  We hand cut the second image all the way around the boat, and added it with a dimensional to the top of the first image.  This adds nice dimension to the card. 

We used blender pens to color the sail on the top image, and the waves on the bottom one. 

 

We put the card together, and added another new product called Bakers Twine to finish it off.  This Bakers Twine is fun stuff! And again...I think it works great for a masculine card. 

 

This was a fun card to make, and works out perfectly for Father's Day I think!  Thanks for stopping by today to check it out.

Supplies:  Sail Away, Something to Celebrate (from Occasions Mini) stamp sets; Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White card stock; Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy ink; Early Espresso Baker's Twine; 2-1/2" circle punch; Blender Pens.

Manhattan Mother's Day

One of my favorite accessories for card making is embossing folders.  I think they add such a nice dimension to a project! For this card, I used the "Manhattan Flower" embossing folder:

 

I used a sponge dauber to accent the embossed areas, and I also used it to accent the edges of the card.

For the greeting down at the bottom, I used the Extra Large Oval Punch and the Decorative Label Punch.  The Decorative Label Punch was featured in the Occasions Mini Catalog, and is still available to order.  It is item #120907.  Contact your friendly neighborhood Stampin' Up! demonstrator to order yours today!

To accent the greeting label, I used Basic Pearls.  Pearls come 150 to a pack, and have 3 different sizes in the package.  The cute little small size are all hooked together, so you can add them to your card all in a row---like I did here!

 

Thanks for visiting my blog today! I hope you enjoyed your time here!

Supplies:  All Holidays stamp set; Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla card stock; Pear Pizzaz, Baja Breeze classic ink; Extra Large Oval Punch and Decorative Label Punch; Basic Pearls; Manhattan Flower embossing folder and Big Shot; sponge dauber; White Organza Ribbon.

May Stamp Club Preview

Here is a preview of the projects we will be making at May Stamp Clubs!

 
 
 
 

We will be playing with shaving cream, among other fun things!! Hope to see you there!

 

Triple Layer Punch Triple Play!

Today is the first day of the Summer Mini Catalog!!  There are some great new items in the Summer Mini, including new TRIPLE LAYER PUNCHES! It's kind of like a "dial a punch", where you pick which image you want to punch.  They're very cool!  These punches are much thicker than the regular punches. When using them, you have to set them on a table and stand up to punch.  I use both hands and just press hard! Voila!

I made these three little cards today using the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch:

 

These are all 3x3 cards, just to give you an idea of the size of the punch.

The first card I made shows you several different flower designs:

 

I only used the Triple Layer Punch here, with the exception of the white and blue center on the larger Melon Mambo flower.  Those are just regular circle punches.  

The second card uses the Triple Layer Punch and the two larger circle punches to make watermelon slices:

 

The watermelon is made using the 1-3/4" circle punch along with the 1-1/4" circle punch.  The Triple Layer Punch actually cuts out the "seeds".  How cool is that?? 

The last card reminds me of a sunflower.  I used a flower from the Triple Layer Punch, and I layered it with the 1-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch:

 

For the stem I used the Bold Blossoms stamp set, which is also featured in the Summer Mini Catalog.

I hope you add one of the Triple Layer Punches to your Summer Mini wishlist! They're very versatile.  There are two different ones, a "Doily Triple Layer Punch" and also the "Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch", which is the one I've shown you today.  

I hope you've enjoyed these samples! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:  Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Whisper White card stock; Ice Cream Parlor designer series paper; Bold Blossoms & Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets; Early Espresso, Garden Green, Pacific Point classic ink; Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch, 1-3/8" scallop circle punch; circle punches; Rhinestone Brad; Button; White Bakers Twine.


 

Elegant Bouquet Sympathy Card

Today I have a simple and elegant card to share with you:

 

I used several layers of Very Vanilla card stock to create this card.  I distressed each of the layers with my Crumb Cake ink pad.  I used the "Elegant Bouquet" embossing folder in my Big Shot for the middle layer.

The stamp set I used is Pocket Silhouettes.  Boy do I love that set.  It is so versatile, and I have used it many, many times!!

To finish the card off, I used a piece of Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon. 

I hope you like today's card.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:  Very Vanilla card stock; Close as a Memory, Pocket Silhouettes stamp sets; Crumb Cake ink; Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon; Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder in Big Shot.

Faux Silk Technique

Today I have a card to show you that uses a really fun technique called "Faux Silk". 

 

As you can see from the photo, our image is stamped on what appears to be a silk-like fabric.  To do this technique, you just need some stamps, ink, card stock, a glue stick, and tissue paper.  The kind that you buy at the dollar store to wrap gifts and put in gift bags is perfect!! 

1) Stamp your image on a piece of tissue paper and give it a minute to dry

2) Scrunch up your tissue paper into a really tight ball, then carefully open it back up

3) Apply glue with your glue stick to a piece of card stock, and be sure to cover the entire piece.  Then adhere your tissue paper stamped image to the card stock, smoothing it out, but not TOO much because you still want it to look wrinkly.

4) At this point, you could either trim the tissue paper to match the size of your card stock, or in my case, I used a punch to punch out the image.  I used the extra large 2-1/2 inch circle punch for this card. 

 

This technique is really easy to do, and it provides pretty results.  I hope you give it a try soon!

Supplies:  Perfect Plum, Whisper White card stock; Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Perfect Plum markers; Melon Mambo classic ink; Blessed Mother & Something to Celebrate stamp set; Tissue Paper; Elegant Eggplant ribbon; 2-1/2" circle punch; glue stick. 

 

 

Summer Pinwheel Card

For Christmas this year, I received one of the most beautiful cards from my friend Nancy who lives in Maryland.  Nancy's card had the most beautiful pattern on it, which looked like a Star of David..... I loved the pattern on her card so much, I knew I had to figure out a way to use it on a card with my stamp clubs soon.  The pattern also reminded me of a pinwheel---so I decided with some bright and colorful paper, I could make it into a Summer Pinwheel Card!

 

To make the base for the pinwheel design, we just layered two squares together, overlapping one another so you get 8 points.  These squares were cut 2-3/4" each.  Be sure to use adhesive to stick them together before moving on to the next step.  Your two pieces put together will look like a Star of David. 

Next we used squares punched with the 1-1/4" square punch out of Designer Series Paper.  I love the colors in the "Build a Bear Workshop Pawsitively Prints II", so we used that.  It is so bright and cheery, and really reminds me of summer, which I am totally ready for right about now!!!  We used two different designs, and just alternated them on our points.  Start with the point at the top, and work your way around.  When you place the first square, go LIGHTLY with your adhesive, because you'll need to lift this first square back up at the end.  When you go to place the last square down, you will need to tuck it behind the first (original) square that you placed.  This will complete your pretty pattern!

For the last step, we added a circle punched with the 3/4" circle punch and a rhinestone brad for the center. 

 

Then we added a few more stamps to complete our card, and that was it.  It really was MUCH easier than it looks, and so very pretty! 

I want to mention that the stamp set we used here is called "So Happy For You" and it is only available for a few more days as part of Sale-a-Bration.  You can get this set FREE by placing a $50 order---but you must do so before tomorrow (Thursday March 31st).  This is a great set for your collection because it has 5 different greetings in it, as well as some fun little image stamps.  If you would like to place a Sale-a-Bration order, please contact me!

Thanks for stopping by today to check out my Summer Pinwheel Card.  I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any questions, please leave me a comment and I will respond back!

Happy Stamping!

Supplies:  So Happy For You stamp set; Poppy Parade, Whisper White, So Saffron card stock; Pawsitively Prints II Designer Paper; Poppy Parade, So Saffron classic ink; 1-1/4" square punch; Rhinestone Brad.