Thursday, October 9, 2014

Stampin' Addicts Winter Holiday Blog Hop



Several weeks ago the demonstrators from Stampin' Addicts hosted a blog hop featuring the fall items from the 2014 Stampin' Up Holiday catalog.  The catalog has so many wonderful things we could not fit them all in one hop so this weekend we have Part Two of the hop showing off the winter products.

I am using the Gift Card Envelope & Trims Framelits Die.  Of course this die can be used to make a little envelope just the right size for a gift card.  And you can use it as a pocket on cards or scrapbook pages.  Here are two more ideas:

Join four diecuts end to end and then into a circle.  Fold the flaps down.   Add a square of cardstock to the bottom and you have a super cute, super quick box.

Cut away three of the tabs and you have a either a barn shape or a silo shape depending on which tabs you remove.

I created a framed snowy farm scene with the pieces.  I used the Festival of Trees stamp set and coordinating punch as well.  The straw in the haymow is frayed bits of Hello Honey Satin Ribbon. 

Here is a visual for creating the barn and silo shapes:
In this orientation, remove the side and bottom tabs to make a barn.
For a silo, orient the diecut in this direction and remove the side and bottom tabs.

Now it is time to see what other wonderful winter wonders our members have created.  Please click on the buttons below to continue.   The Next button will take you to Mary's Blog and her happy Holiday Home goodies and the Previous button will take you to Kim's cute Curvy Keepsakes projects.


Sunday, October 5, 2014

Stamp Review Crew: Work of Art



The "Crew" is reviewing the very popular stamp set Work of Art for this edition.  In fact this set is so popular I had to really stretch my creative muscles to come up with a unique idea.   I had several things that ended up in the trash before I hit upon the idea of using one of the "color swishes" to create a camouflage pattern to pair with the For Your Country stamp set.  
I have some guys near and dear to my heart I will be sending these to.




Tips for creating the camo background pattern:
  • The card base and background are Very Vanilla cardstock.
  • It is easiest to stamp a larger section of the background camouflage pattern,  then trim to size for stamping.
  • Use the larger "swish" image and stamp repeatedly.  
  • Start with the darkest color of ink.  (Soft Suede).  Stamp off once before stamping on the cardstock.
  • Rotate the stamp to vary the pattern.
  • Fill in with the medium (Crumb Cake) and light colors (Sahara Sand) also stamped off once leaving a bit of Very Vanilla showing through.  
  • Stamp the images from the For Your Country with Soft Suede (do not stamp off).
Now please click on the buttons below to continue on the hop.  You will be delighted with the loads of creativity!




Stamps:  Work of Art, For Your Country, Itty Bitty Banners, Just Sayin'
Paper: Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand
Accessories:  Linen Thread

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Cadbury Egg Caddy Tutorial

Oh am I excited!!  I am a guest tutorial author on Splitcoaststampers this week.    This has been in the works for almost a year and today is the day it is posted!

The tutorial is for Cadbury Egg Mummies in a custom caddy.
These little guys are just SO cute!  Nothing scary here. The eggs are wrapped in gauze and are nestled together in a box with an insert to keep them secure.   The box front has piece of acetate so they can peek out of their little hiding spot.
I made one similar to this last year with different stamps which you can see on this past post.  The new version uses the Holiday Home and Mingle All the Way stamp sets from the Stampin' Up 2014 Holiday catalog.  The Holiday Home stamp set is photopolymer (clear) making it great to do scenic landscapes and two step stamping.
The directions work equally well for Easter.  There were no current stamps with Easter images so I used digital stamps from My Digital Studio.   For the box I omitted the acetate and added grass cut with Fringe Scissors.
Guest designers for Splitcoaststampers are encouraged to make their own video to go with the tutorial.  I had been thinking it would be fun to start filming tutorials but had just not gotten around to researching how to do it.   Well this gave me the nudge I needed to "get 'er done"!



Click HERE to see the full tutorial on Splitcoaststampers!

Friday, August 29, 2014

Stampin' Addicts Fall Holiday Blog Hop


The 2014 Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog has just been released and our demonstrator group at Stampin' Addicts have been planning and prepping projects using a great selection of the new fall products!  And just a heads up... we have another hop in the works for the winter products.  There were just too many fun things to jam into one hop!!

This catalog has a big selection of stamp and framelit sets.   I have many on my wish list but the Fall Fest Bundle was at the top with its adorable ghosts and jack-o-lanterns.

My plan was to do three projects-  one using the stamps and framelits together, one with just the stamps and one with just the framelits.  As you will see by the end I got a bit distracted and didn't quite follow the plan but that is part of the fun of stamping... you never know just what the finished project will be until it is done!

First up is a playful little ghost who has snitched a witch's broom and is frolicking and creating mischief.  He is stamped in silver metallic ink to match the broom and details on the basket.

The basket is made with three pillow boxed from the Little Sumthin' Sumthin' Simply Created Kit.   The fringed silver paper and stick for the broom also are from the kit.   I missed this in the photo but the handle has the candy corn patterned paper from the Motley Monsters DSP on it.

Next, this card uses the stamps alone.  Colorful not-so-very spooky faces surround the center image which is from another new stamp set called Mingle All the Way.
Finally I was planning this last card to be a framelit only project.  I used the framelits to create masks for sponging the pumpkins and was thinking I would make a more realistic type scene.  But I love those happy little faces so much I couldn't resist using them again!
Now it is time to hop to more fabulous fall projects whether that is back to Twila's magnificent Motely Monsters projects or forward to Holly's happy Halloween Street projects.  




Sunday, August 17, 2014

Stamp Review Crew: Daydream Medallions Edition

Welcome to the Stamp Review Crew's blog hop!  This time the Daydream Medallions stamp set is in the spotlight.  This beautiful stamp set has been around for awhile but we are here to show you some updated ideas for using it!

Even though it is warm it is not too early start Christmas crafting!  My thinking is if I get a few holiday things done now I will be ahead of the game for once!!

For my project I combined the Daydream Medallion stamp set with a couple of new products from the upcoming Stampin' Up! 2014 Holiday catalog to make an ornament.  

I first stamped the medallion image five times and die cut them with concentric circle framelits.  The resulting circles are folded in half and glued back to back.  The tree in the center is made with the new Tree Punch.  Five trees are folded and suspended on a transparent thread so it spins around and two pieces of handcut DSP are attached to the thread at the bottom.

This really was pretty quick to make (minus the drying time).  I filmed my FIRST video tutorial if you would like to see more details of how it is made.



Now for more ideas using this super stamp set please click on the buttons below.  The next button will take you to Beth's blog and her fun projects and the previous button will take you to Ann's blog for another Christmas idea!


Supplies: 
Paper:  Whisper White cardstock, Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Daydream Medallions
Ink: Garden Green Classic
Punches: Tree Punch
Big Shot: Circle Collection Framelits
Other: Tombow Adhesive, monofilament thread

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Stamp Review Crew: Flower Patch Edition

Members of "The Crew" were excited to have been chosen to create projects for one of the display boards at the 2014 Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City which was held in mid-July.  We chose two stamps for our board: Lovely as a Tree and Flower Patch.  This current blog hop has all our Flower Patch projects. 

Several months ago I started creating animals with the Hamburger Box die and had thought a turtle would be cute.  As I was brain storming ideas for the Flower Patch set I realized the leaves could become flippers and a sea turtle was born.  The spotty Flower Patch images fit perfectly in the embossed hexagons to give this little gal some shell flair.
I guess I still had critters of some sort on my mind when I created my next card with this awesome little fellow.  
Finally, I used the flowers as.... flowers!    It is wonderful how all the images and framelit cutouts layer on one another.    The flower pot was made using the French Fry Box die.
From the side you can see that it is curved and mounted at the edges only to give some added dimension.

I had some pieces leftover from experimenting with layouts for the other projects.   They were too cute to throw away so I combined them to make a little Ghirardellie chocolate holder.
Here is a pic of the completed display board with all the super projects!
Thanks for stopping by!   To see all the Flower Patch beauties displayed please click on the buttons below to continue with the hop or you can click HERE to see the complete blog roll.  



Hamburger Box Sea Turtle
Stamps: Flower Patch
Paper: Mossy Meadow, Pistachio Pudding, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Pistachio Pudding
Big Shot: Hamburger Box Die, Flower Flair Framelits, Honeycomb Embossing Folder
Punches, ½” Circle, ¾” Circle, 1-3/4” Circle
Accessories: Chalk Marker, Tombo Adhesive

Awestruck Card
Stamps: Flower Patch
Paper: Park Lane Designer Series Paper, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight
Big Shot: Flower Flair Framelits, Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits
Punches, ½” Circle, ¾” Circle
Accessories: In Color Sequin Assortment, Tombo Adhesive,  Stampin Dimensionals


French Fry Flower Pot Card
Stamps: Flower Patch
Paper: Park Lane Designer Series Paper, Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Calypso Coral, Old Olive, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Old Olive
Big Shot: French Fry Bigz L Die, Flower Flair Framelits, Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits
Accessories: Fringe Scissors, Basic Rhinestones, Tombo Adhesive, Stampin Dimensionals

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Purple Perfect Peacock

Purple Perfect Peacock... that is a bit of a tongue twister!   Now I know that peacocks are not really this color but it is fun to come up with different color combos using the Blendabilities markers.
I love the combo of Rich Razzleberry marker with the Blackberry Bliss paper from the Park Lane Designer Series Paper.  When looking through papers in the new catalog the one that really attracted my attention was this dark purple floral design.  So it was a natural choice that my first card would include it.

The detail in the Perfect Peacock stamp is incredible!  So fun to add layers and layers of color. If you click on the photo it will enlarge to see the color gradient and variation a bit better.
I used the Blendabilities markers for several other things on this card as well.  The "bow" is white ribbon that I colored with the darkest Coastal Cabana marker and then pulled apart the strands.
And the rhinestones are colored with the darkest Rich Razzleberry marker.
I thought the sentiment from the Flower Patch photopolymer stamp set fit this card BE YOU TIFULLY!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Perfect Peacock, Flower Patch
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tempting Turquoise Classic, Blendabilites: Coastal Cabana, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive
Paper: Whisper White, Park Lane Designer Series Paper
Big Shot: Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits
Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, 3/8" Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon (retired)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Swallowtail Celebration

The vibrant colors of the Blendabilities markers make this butterfly look so lifelike.
For something different on the card front I trimmed the butterfly along the right edge.  Because the markers do bleed through to the other side, I added a second full layer of Whisper White cardstock on the inside that is trimmed just a smidgeon smaller than the original layer.  This also made the card a nice heavier weight as just a single layer of Whisper White is fairly thin.

The sentiment is stamped on the inside layer.  I was looking for a birthday-type sentiment with a pretty font and I came up with one from the long retired Send A Celebration set.   This set has some line images that would be great colored with the Blendabilities so you may be seeing some more cards from this set in the future.

This is the back of the card.  It is a bit easier to see the cut away from this view.
Supplies:
Stamps: Swallowtail, Send A Celebration (retired)
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Blendabilities (Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight assortments)

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Stamp Review Crew: Wetlands Edition

Welcome to the latest Stamp Review Crew Blog Hop.  At each stop you will see ideas using the Wetlands stamp set.  We have our blogs permamently linked in a circle but if you encounter any difficulties just click on the banner above to be taken to a complete list of Stamp Review Crew members and blog links.

For my project I paired the nature-themed Wetlands stamp set with two NEW In-Colors, paper from a NEW Designer Series Paper Stack, a NEW stamp set and a NEW Big Shot die all of which will be available beginning June 1 in the NEW catalog.
Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey are two of the five new In-Colors. Blackberry Bliss is a dark purple that depending on the color it is with can look very masculine or distinctly feminine.  Coupled with Hello Honey and Sahara Sand it works well for a desk set that would be great for Father's Day (even with the pink notepads!)

On the first three items below, the swashes of Sahara Sand are stamped with the wonderful new Work of Art stamp set.  I can tell already that the brush stroke images of this set will be ones that I reach for many times.
6-1/2" X 10-1/2" paper,  scored at 1 and 5-1/2" on short side,  2-1/2",  3-1/2" and 9-1/2" on long side.
Just a tiny bit of the new Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack can be seen peeking out behind the goose on the pencil cup.  Oh and I almost forgot-- the satin Hello Honey ribbon is NEW too!  
This little paper clip holder is made with the new Hamburger Box Die.   I have been having great fun with this die and just learned a fantastic tip for assembling it from Jackie Susnik.  Instead of making the "V" fold pleats at the corners,  use a scissors to clip one side of the "V" and treat it as a tab.  Then it is very quick to fold on the remaining scorelines and adhere the tabs.  It cuts the assembly time WAY down and the tabs hold it securely.  That little tip just took this up a notch in my book!
I added a very simple post-it note holder to round out the set.
3-1/2" X 11" paper, scored at 1", 4-1/2" and 8"

Thanks for stopping by!  Please click on the "Next Blog" button to continue on to see Jill's beautiful creations or the "Previous Blog" button to view Cindy's.