Photograph Card

Isn't this a fun idea? Use Staz On ink to stamp on a photograph for a very different card...

Images © 1990-2011 Stampin' Up!

Dazzling Diamonds and Embossing Class - Maybe

As October approaches and we head for Breast Cancer awareness month, I thought it would be fun to create a class and learn two new techniques while creating some very simple and yet meaningful note card sets.....

If you think it would be fun to learn how to use Heat and Stick Powder and combine it with Dazzling Diamonds and craft ink to create this dazzling note card or simply make a some stylish embossed cards, send me an email reeveelizabeth@hotmail.com and if enough people are interested I'll add it to my Fall class schedule.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

Ribbon of Hope note cards.

Fall Classes

I'm going to be putting together a Fall class schedule soon. If you would like to attend a class to learn how to create the quilt card and if enough people are interested I'd love to offer it in the Fall - Please email me reeveelizabeth@hotmail.com

My Swap

Last week I promised you I'd show you close up pictures of my Stamp Club swaps and so here they are:

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

How do you create this? Hmm, well, here are a few notes to get you started:

1. Run the white background Whisper White through your Big Shot, using the texturz plate of your choice - it takes just seconds to create all this beautiful dry embossing.
2. Take another piece of card any color you like and a square punch and punch out your favorite designer series paper squares - I used Razzleberry Lemonade #115675 - Page 162. It's double sided so I punched out just two or three from each sheet.
3. Starting in the centre - glue your squares onto the card.
4. Run the card through your Big Shot, using the Top Note Die to create the outer shape of the quilt.
5. Take a black Stampinwrite Marker and x stitching onto each square.
6. Decorate your card as desired - I used two of our brand new punches from page 186 - Butterfly #116629 and #116630 Modern Label and of course some of our fabulous in color ribbon.
7. The buttons on the inside of the cards were created with my Big Shot and the Buttons #5 die on page 196.

Stamp Club Project From Friday Night

As soon as I saw this technique, I knew I had to buy all the ingredients and share it with my stamp club. This technique was demonstrated at the Seattle regional and I was absolutely blown away the first time I saw it.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

Of course it helps to have fabulous products to use, such as the Bride Speciality paper #115669 - Page 158 - actually, it shouldn't be called paper because it is sturdy enough to make a box from. The Organza Ribbon #114319 - Page 183 is delicately delightful and one of my ladies was stunned to find that it is only $5.95 for 15 yards.

To create the leaf design we ran Handsome Hunter card stock through the Big Shot using the Little Leaves #114511 Sizzlits Die - no cutting required - now that I love.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!

OK, I know you want to know how the roses were created, so here goes:

1. Using White Craft Ink, stamp Rose from Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set #113436 Page 98 on Shimmery White Card Stock #101910 - Page 159.
2. Emboss images using clear embossing powder.
3. Spritz with water making sure small amounts of water pool on the petals.
4. Take three or four of your favorite color reinkers and put a spot of each color on a plastic lid.
5. Using an Aqua Painter #103954 - page 192 pick up a little of one of the inks and touch it on one of the pools of the water. You will see that the ink spreads through the water but stops where the image is embossed. Continue with the same color and then change to another color - repeat until your rose is how you like it.
6. You can use your dry Aqua Painter to remove any excess liquid, or I used the corner of a paper towel to soak up the excess.
7. Leave your image to dry. Once it is dry cut it out and attach to your card.

This is one of those hit and miss techniques and no two creations will look exactly alike, just like in nature. The more you experiment, the more fun you'll have.

Thank you Patty for sharing this fabulous technique that you saw in Seattle.

Have fun!

Flight of the Butterfly

Take a look on page 187 of the new catalog and you'll see that punch number 31 "Butterfly" #116629 is now available and of course it makes this fun card even easier to create.

Now hop on over to page 108 and you'll find this fabulous stamp set "Flight of the Butterfly" #111564

The grass was created using the stamp from "Inspired by Nature" #111656 on page 96 of the current catalog.

Make the butterflies flutter by attaching them to strips of our window sheets and scoring/folding the center of the card accordion style and you have something totally unexpected.

Stay tuned - I'll be posting more cards like this - look below in the top right corner for a hint of what's to come!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

London Seminar

A New Catalog/A New Look To My Blog aaaand A New Feature

I've been wanting to add a new dimension to my blog for a while and I'm thrilled to be able to share it with you...... Sit back, relax and enjoy the new "Mini Movies". I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I'm enjoying bringing them to you. Don't worry, there will still be lots of projects and announcements too.

Have a fabulous 4th of July weekend!

Scallop Edge Punch - Deal Of The Week July 1-5, 2009

By now most of you know how to use the Scallop Edge Punch, but for those of you just discovering it, here is a little sample of how it works.

• Practice on scrap paper first before you start punching scallop edge.

Step 1

Step 2

• Center your strip of card on the punch, so that an even amount of card is on both ends and punch the center scallop.
  Step 3

• Next slide the card along – when the punched scallops come out at the end, line them up with those printed on the top of the bunch base – this will help not to over punch already punched scallops. Repeat at the other end or until desired length scallop is achieved.
  

Step 4

Step 5


Step 6


Step 7


Step 8

I hope this helps a little. It's not the easiest thing in the world to explain, it's way easier to actually have a go, but hopefully the pictures have helped a little.

Every time my ladies use this punch, it gets a WOW!

Bling

Did you know that by removing the outer casing of the rhinestone brads you can create "bling" of your very own? - Add that to some glitter and fabulous satin ribbon and what a "wow".

Images Copyright Stampin! Up! 1990-2010

London Seminar

And Many Mower Birthday

Do you recognize the striped paper in the background? Yes, I'm still using pieces from the Best Ever Simply Scrappin' Kit - the colors were my inspiration for this card.

Notice how there is a little shading under the mower to make it look like it is grounded and not in mid air.

You can't quite see it, but the Riding hood Red strip on the left side of the card has texture on it to add a little interest and the circle brad in the corner reflects the circles in the wheels and on the golf ball. This card is tied together with color inspiration from the designer paper, stamped images and shapes.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Even if the person you send this card doesn't play golf, they'll appreciate that you took the time to change an ordinary white circle into the illusion of a golf ball, just by taking a few seconds to run it through your Big Shot with the texturz plate.

And Many Mower With Texture

I promised to give you more details on the cards I posted yesterday.......

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

On this card, there are two additional things that will subconsciously make you think "golf". The first is that the image is inside a large white circle (Circle Scissor Plus), which gives the thought of a golf ball. Next..... Have you ever noticed the texture of a golf ball? I chose to run the background papers through my Big Shot using the textures plates, to create a texture that looks a bit like that of a golf ball.

Fun Twist On Attaching Ribbon

Now I know this is another card created with the Circle Scissor Plus, but that's not why I chose it to show you. I wanted you to see the fun way the ribbon is attached. Just add a strip of sticky strip and bunch the ribbon as you attach it.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

To create this fun pocket card, simply cut out the circle size of your choice, cut a coordinating piece of designer series paper slightly smaller and score evenly on three sides, then just fold and decorate. Fun and quick.

London Seminar

How To Make A Pocket

Do you remember a few weeks ago Kirstin sent me a card with a check in and I loved it so much, I posted it, then I loved the idea so much I made it with my stamp club?

Here are some pictures to show you how to do the same:

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Step 1. Cut your card to the height you want the finished card to be, then times that measurement by three and cut the card to that length. Next score that same distance in from both ends. You should now have three equally scored sections.

Step 2. Score corner to corner on the center square and fold as shown above and below.

Step 3. Fold the card as shown below. The card will now feel like it is upside down, so just turn it so it looks like the second picture and it will look right. Once you are happy with it, add adhesive - remember, where the pocket is, you just need to add adhesive down the edge, so that you can slide your check, money, recipe or greeting into the pocket.

Now you can just decorate the front however you wish. Thanks again Kirstin for such a fabulous treat.

I Love The New Occasions Mini!!!!!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Click here to see why: http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/Occasions09_US.pdf

Some Wow Projects

Soooo you think these circles were just cut, put on a mat and stuck on? ......

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

.....Look a little closer and you'll notice that each piece of designer series paper has not only been punched, but then punched again once or twice so that it nests into the neighboring circle.

Wayyyyyy cooooool!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Will you ever just give someone a CD or DVD again? I love this as a beautiful way to give a collection of photos or events.

From London Regional

Glitter Cards

There's nothing quite like glitter to step your cards up and there are sooooo many ways to apply it, here are just a few.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!

There are sooooo many ways to apply glitter, but one of my new favorites and least sticky on your fingers is to use are sticky cuts - you'll find all the glitter and glitter products you'll ever need on page 180 of the Spring Summer 2009 Idea Book and Catalog.

From London Regional March 2009

My 3d London Regional Swap

Big Shot Texturz #1

This weekend I’ll be attending the Stampin’ Up! London Regional Conference. One of my favorite things about attending events like this, is that I get to swap with fellow demonstrators – that means you make a pile of card fronts and or 3d items – they can all be the same and then you exchange them with fellow stampers who have done the same.

In my last post I talked about the card stock sample ring I made for myself and it was that idea that gave me the inspiration for my 3d swap.

Not every demonstrator is lucky enough to own a Big Shot and so I created little sample booklets so that demonstrators can showcase the current in colors and the exclusive Stampin’ Up #1 Texturz dry embossed images. I also ran one image through on white card stock, so that they could showcase that too.

I hope my fellow demonstrators like them. They were quite time intensive to make, but I think it was worth it.

On my personal sample, I chose to hold it together with a special brad to showcase that Stampin’ Up! now offers some fabulous new brads.

When I first discovered Stampin’ Up! one of the first things that impressed me were the color families. I loved that I could mix and match any color in a color family and I couldn’t go wrong.

One of my first goals was to see each beautiful color of card stock with my own eyes, because while the catalog is fabulous, there is nothing quite like seeing the real thing.

It took about six months before I achieved my goal and when I became a demonstrator I decided that everyone deserved to see these beautiful colors and so I created a binder with a sheet of each color card stock – It was big and heavy, and I loved it …..

….Then after four years of carting the binder round, I got smart and created a color ring with a smaller sample of each color and I’ve been using it ever since. You wouldn’t believe how often I pull it out to help my ladies with their color inspiration. I loved it so much, I made one each for my stamp club members.

Here it is, yum, delicious all those beautiful colors in one place.

Now when the new In Colors come out each summer, I punch a piece of each and just because the ink is new too, I stamp a sample of each color on a small circle and put it in the center of the sample, open up the ring, and add it to make my collection current. It's such an easy tool to use and keep up to date.

Ooops I almost forgot to give a big shout out to "Mr Crop-A-Dile" without whom I couldn't have punched through so many layers of card at once to create the hole for the ring -

- If you'd like to know more about "Mr Crop-A-Dile", you'll find him on page 189 of the Spring Summer 2009 Catalog and if you'd like to meet him, his number is 108362 - he's very creative, he'll punch extra holes in your leather belt, punch holes in the top of tin buckets so you can add eyelets and ribbon, he cuts through thick and hard items like a hot knife through butter - just ask my ladies, they are a huge fan of his.

I know this is just the beginning, so watch out for similar items in the future.

Tips For The Seeing Spots Scrapbook Pages

Because the ladies were left to their own devices to create these pages any time over the retreat weekend as their FREE make 'n take, here are a few tips to help. There were full instructions on the make 'n take table, along with picture tutorials for each project.

• Don't forget to clean your stamp before changing colors
• When stamping the background on the whisper white, stamp off the edges of the paper to give a more finished look to the edges and vary how far in the stamps go.
• Rotate your stamp or the paper to give a more random pattern.
• This one is huge - Stamp your letters for the words and then punch them out. It's really hard to stamp an image on a small circle once it is punched.
• I used the rule of three - in other words, I used three colors of ink and three colors of card. Because I used white card as my third color, I made my third ink color chocolate chip to make the page pop. The rule of three works for most things, even flower arranging (my Mom taught me that - Thanks Mom - Miss you)
• To punch the boarder with the scallop edge punch is easy once you know how. There were step by step instructions and photos for the ladies to use. I will post a mini tutorial here later or tomorrow.

Now I'm off to make 100 swaps for the fabulous Stampin' Up! London regional I'm attending. I'm soooo excited I can't wait, especially since Christy and Terri are joining me.