Workshop: Make & Take

Goodness....me and dental work don't mix! I've had things stamped, I was just recovering from a crown, and didn't get around to photographing or blogging them til now....so I'll make up for it!

Saturday I had my first workshop in months. We had a good time and the host made her first "not construction paper" card ever! That's my favorite part- seeing people excited to try something new and do something they thought was too hard for them. Of course it didn't hurt that I expected beginners and kept things fun but very simple. *grin.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sprinkles of Life
Ink: Watermelon Wonder, Tip Top Taupe
Paper: Whisper White card stock, In Color Envelope Paper
Accessories: Tree Builder Punch, White Bakers Twine, Dimensionals

Honestly, it can be so overwhelming to look thru the catalog the first time, and see allllll the pretty things and not know where to begin. I thought this make & take was a great place to start- a punch that coordinates with a stamp set, and covers all sorts of occasions, with just a bit of pretty paper and a quick bit of twine added for a little personality. My attendees stamped Tip Top Taupe sprinkles on their cupcakes, and chose their own words- and that is the beauty of stamping! Doing it YOUR WAY!
I'll share the rest of my workshop samples this week...!

Making Spirits Bright!

Oh yeah, I'm switching gears today! For my workshop tomorrow, I'd like to show some sneak peeks to upcoming classes, so people are more likely to sign up. That meant I had to create a few sneak peeks! So here's the first- and I used the current Retro Sketch for the layout!

Supplies:
Stamps: Among The Branches
Ink: Smoky Slate, Real Red, Cucumber Crush, Soft Sky
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Silver taffeta ribbon, Big Shot, Banners Die, Woodland embossing folder, Dimensionals

In Color Kindness

Oh look- a title that doesn't include the word "autumn", hahaha.... But autumn has definitely arrived here now! Wasn't I just complaining about the heat? Yesterday made up for it! I got to wear a cozy sweatshirt all day and my house got down to a pleasantly chilly 68* before I closed windows, haha! The leaves on the mountains started turning firey reds and oranges about a week ago and yesterday's storms brought snow to some of our mountains!! Alrighty then...!

Anyway, back to the stamping... The newest In Colors seem to blend summer and fall and this card does too I think....the hot summery colors with the richer autumny colors, and I like how it worked out. The butterflies are punched out and popped up on Dimensionals, and the wings were curled in a bit too. I started to use the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, but I stretched the rectangles...and then left off the narrow front strip anyway! But I'll link it up since that was my inspiration...

Supplies:
Stamps: Kinda Eclectic
Ink: Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron, Delightful Dijon
Paper: Watermelon Wonder, In Color Envelope Paper
Accessories: Itty Bitty Butterfly Punch, Dimensionals

Autumn Butterflies!!

When I take too long of a break from stamping, it always seems to take a while to get going again. Yesterday wasn't super productive in my stamping, but I love this card I created! 

This time I used the sketch from the TGIF Challenge blog. But instead of circles, I used two butterflies! I stamped the fern twice for the different shades, and stamped the honeycomb-looking image on the other side for a bit of balance. I layered the two ribbons, and attached them with a stapler on the straight end, and Glue Dots on the tapered end. The big butterfly is cut from Cajun Craze card stock, and the little butterfly is punched out- and they both have a Candy Dot on them for a bit of accent! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Basics

Ink: Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Rich Razzleberry

Paper: Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla card stocks

Accessories: Burlap Ribbon, Into The Woods Ribbon, Neutrals Candy Dots, Itty Bitty Butterfly Punch, Buterflies Thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, stapler

This will be another in my Thank You card class. I know I'm holding one at my mom's next week, and I have yet to set a date for a local class... 

But if you love this card- you should know the Butterflies Thinlits are on the Weekly Deals, which you can view HERE! 

Autumn Trees!

Wow- I haven't stamped in about a week and a half! And I have upcoming events I am trying to get ready for and feature ahead of time, so that isn't so great.... But I'm stamping today!! And yeay for a break in the {much-needed-and-enjoyed} rain so I could snap a picture of my first creation!! 

This card uses the latest Nacho Average Challenge sketch, and I am pretty sure we'll be making this card in my upcoming Thank You Card Class! 

Supplies:

Stamps: Among the Branches, Teeny Tiny Wishes, 

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzelberry, Mossy Meadow, Tip Top Taupe, Early Espresso

Paper: Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White card stocks, Into the Woods DP

Accessories: Big Shot, Woodland embossing folder, Banners Dies, Hexagon punch

Cards In the Mail!

Fall has definitely arrived! At my daughter's soccer game last night, most parents had on jackets and I was bundled up in a blanket we keep in the car, and still cold, haha! It's that time of year where the mornings and evenings are nice and chilly and the days are still quite warm, but I am so much in the mood for it, I don't mind the changed clothes at all, haha!
I haven't had much time for stamping this week....I'm busy with things like this:

27 jars of pears so far...and I'll come close to doubling that number...

So today I am sharing the beautiful Cards in The Mail I have received lately and haven't had a chance to share with you. The names of the creators are on each photo. Enjoy!!

Autumn Thanks!

How is your Labor Day weekend going? Ours is busy and I can't seem to shake this migraine...ugh. In happier news, wow- I stepped outside this morning and it was almost too cold! Maybe fall is coming after all?? How exciting is that?! I am so done with the heat, and fall is my favorite anyway! And the new crisp air leads into today's cards perfectly!

When I saw the latest Freshly Made Sketch, I thought of two ways it could work, and I went ahead and did them both!!
The first card shows basic card making supplies, using the sketch and also shows how the stamp set works just fine without the coordinating die.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Scenes
Ink: Memento Black, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Soft Sky, Delightful Dijon marker (leaves)
Paper: Old Olive, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Accessories: Into The Woods ribbon, Gold buttons, Olive Baker's Twine, Blender Pen (pumpkins), Stamping Sponge (sky and grass)

And this one uses the super fun die instead of the ribbon, and moves the sentiment just a bit.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Scenes
Ink: Memento Black, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Soft Sky, Delightful Dijon marker (leaves)
Paper: Old Olive, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot, Hearth & Home Thinlits, Gold buttons, Olive Baker's Twine, Blender Pen (pumpkins), Stamping Sponge (sky and grass)

Project Life on cards!

This week marks my 16th wedding anniversary! We're stretching out the celebration, haha... On the actual day, we got to be parents, lol! Our daughter had a soccer game that evening, and all the other things that go with life. However, that day, my sweet husband sent me this:

And in his lunch that same day, he found his favorite candy bar, and this card that I made him!

Supplies:
Stamps: Words of Truth, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink: Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Memento Black
Paper: Whisper White card stock, Project Life Lets Get Away Card Collection
Accessories: Hexagon Punch (flagged ends), Dimensionals

It didn't work out quite the way I had pictured it in my head but I like how it turned out! I stamped three of the Gorgeous Grunge images around the edge of the card base. Then I stamped the two splotches to fill up the heart. I added the stripey, heart card from the Project Life card kit as the card front, mounted on Dimensionals. Then I mostly randomly glued down the black statement words, and the big REMEMBER. And here's the seriously understated inside:

Cute, sweet and simple! Plus I love this set!

PS- Another night we took these pics:

The Holiday Mini is here!!!

If you went thru the Blog Hop yesterday, you saw plenty of items from the new Holiday Mini! If not, go back and look!! I've seen several people online say the same thing I think- this is possibly our best mini catalog since I joined 11 years ago!! Consequently, when I attempt to tell you my top ten favorite things..........the list is a little ridiculous, haha! However, Stampin' Up! has really emphasized bundles this time around, which means your stamped images can be punched out or die cut, with coordinating supplies, and if you buy it as a bundle you save some cash! Of course I'm a fan of that!!

Anyway, after all that, here are my Top Ten Favorite items from the new Holiday Mini:

First up, my favorite bundles!!
This one is the Festive Fireplace stamp set, and Festive Fireside Framelits. I LOVE this fireplace and all the things that can be created with it!!

This one is the Happy Scenes stamp set, and Hearth & Home thinlits. This is sooo pretty, and you saw it in action in yesterday's blog hop! Also, the outside images can be used alone, and the flower box part of the die can go with the fireplace above!!

This one is the Sparkly Seasons stamp set, and the Seasonal Frame Thinlits Die. I cannot wait to make my own snowglobes- and with the dies, it's so easy to do!!

I'm almost always drawn to the scrapbooking supplies, and this Project Life Seasonal Snapshot stamps, cards and accessories seems just my style! I also like the mix of things- all the seasons are covered and that means you can get a lot of milage out of the stamps- and the accessories!

This one is the Jingle All The Way stamp set, and Sleigh Ride edgelits die and I can just imagine so many beautiful cards, made quickly, with these supplies!

Another thing that I almost always fall in love with, is the autumn DP. This year is another winner- the colors and patterns of the Into The Woods DP are both pretty and fun!

I really like all the DP in this mini, but this Home For Christmas DP might be my favorite! I love the vintage prints and can't wait to play with them!!

Hands down, my favorite embossing folder in ages, is this Woodland textured impressions embossing folder. You've seen this on my blog already, and it was featured in the blog hop too! I was reminded this summer on our camping trip how much I love the aspen areas of my state, and this folder makes a great aspen forest!

Then we enter accessories....I think my favorite one is the Spider Web Doilies, and Halloween isn't even my favorite!

And finally, a tool! I haven't tried this Fine Tip Glue Pen yet, but from what I have seen, this is going to be the best product ever for attaching the die cut words, and as it shows- sequins and anything else that is small and tricky to adhere! It sounds like a great product that I am excited to get in my hot little hands!

What about you? Have you checked out the new Holiday Mini? If you don't have your own copy, check it out on my sidebar!! What are your favorite things? What will be first on your order??
You know, if your wishlist is msasive like mine, you can always host a workshop and earn some of it for free.......! Let me know!!

Blog Hop: Step It Up September Style!

Happy September to you! This is my favorite time of year- the back to school and cooler temperatures are coming and I am excited! I am done with the heat and ready to move on, so yeay for a new month and upcoming season! And the first of the month means a new, fun blog hop!

Again we're showing how to step up your cards. Last month, my card was all about how the Big Shot can step up your card making. It absolutely can, and it makes it so easy! And I love my Big Shot and use it all the time! But since it took me, a demonstrator, over a year to get to invest in the Big Shot, I wanted to take this month to show how to step up your cards with supplies any card maker already has!
So here is a perfectly nice, autumny card, with great autumn colors, and a timeless tree image. I like the little "how are you" and it can go to anyone, anytime. I used the latest sketch from the Viva la Verve blog.

Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Honeycomb Hello

Ink: Soft Suede & Delightful Dijon markers

Paper: Delightful Dijon, Soft Suede, Tangelo Twist

Accessories: 1 1/4 inch circle punch 

However, with a different technique, a more interesting punch, a textured twine in place of plain card stock, and some fun designer paper- wow, it makes a difference, doesn't it??
For the above card I used two markers to ink up the tree. This time I stamped it in Soft Suede, and then sponged the Delightful Dijon for the leaves, and a bit of Mossy Meadow for some grass. I also popped the tree and greeting pieces up on Dimensionals for an actual pop, instead of a flat, mailable card, haha...

Supplies:
Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Honeycomb Hello

Ink: Soft Suede, Delightful Dijon, Mossy Meadow

Paper: Delightful Dijon, Soft Suede, Into The Woods DP

Accessories: Hexagon Punch, Old Olive Bakers Twine, Dimensionals

What do you think? How easy is that, to step up a card and make it more interesting, just by swapping out a few of the supplies! 

Now, click below to hop over to Cheryl's blog and see how she stepped up her projects. Then hop thru the rest of the blogs, and leave us your thoughts! 

Christmas in...August?

I don't know if you have noticed the lack of scrapbooking as much as I have, but I have definitely been missing it...! Yesterday after church my kids pulled out scrapbooks. While listening to my son carry on about how he remembers this and this, I was noticing all the "in-betweens" that weren't scrapped yet...and feeling a little guilty that I'm so far behind... And suddenly, he noticed too! haha! When there's one layout separating two Halloweens...and only a few between birthdays...yeeeeah, I have a lot of work to do!
So! Later in the evening, I pulled out my son's box of printed, un-scrapped photos, and got some pages done! ...with an emphasis on Christmas, apparently...! But hey, he now has all of Christmas 2010 scrapped and THAT is a good thing!

As my starting point, I turned to challenges on Splitcoaststampers.com. These two pages obviously use the same sketch, just flipped. And I used a "stashbusters challenge" too! Which means the supplies used are now retired, altho there IS a new Project Life kit on page 37 of the new Holiday Mini!
I used 3 colors of cardstock, 2 tags, 3 types of accents (punches, sequins and stickers) and I stamped the title!

Supplies:
Stamps: Skinny Mini ABC
Ink: Memento Black 
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Old Olive card stocks
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Glue Dots, Hello December Project Life cards (2014), Hello December Project Life Accessory kit (2014)

These two pages are the same paper layout and I kept it very simple. This time I used the retired All Is Calm DP, and the same PL Accessory kit as before. All the little sticker labels come from it, and I think they're so cute!

Supplies:
Paper: Old Olive & Cherry Cobbler card stocks, All Is Calm DP
Accessories: Hello December Project Life cards (2014), Hello December Project Life Accessory kit (2014)

Next up are eeeeven simpler pages, letting the Christmas Morning photos be the star!

Supplies:
Stamps: Taffy Alphabet (long retired)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Whisper White & Cherry Cobbler card stocks
Accessories: Holly Berry Bouquet buttons (long retired)

The fourth in this series (yes really) kept with another very simple layout, but I used several accessories.

Supplies:
Paper: Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Hello December Project Life cards (2014), Hello December Project Life Accessory kit (2014), Glue Dots

Finally, for this layout, I used THIS sketch, and really played it up I think...Since I knew I was going to need to seriously embellish the layout, I picked another Stashbuster Challenge. This time I used 2 patterned papers, die cut accents, sticker accents, stamped accents...and sequins and washi tape! I pulled out the Nov 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit for the stamps and some of the embellishments, and I really like how it all worked together!

Supplies:
Stamps: 2014 Nov Paper Pumpkin
Ink: Soft Sky & Lost Lagoon
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive & Soft Sky card stocks, All Is Calm DP (retired)
Accessories: Big Shot, Banners Die, Hello December Project Life Accessory kit (2014), Nov 2014 Paper Pumpkin kit, 2013-2015 In Color Sequins (retired), Glue Dots

Ten pages later, it was past time to call it a night, and I think I definitely added to his scrapbook stash, hahaha...too bad it was only one event!
...and I remembered why I avoid scrapping Christmases....I take waaaay too many pictures!!!

Leaves for Saturday...and research!

Ha! How's that for a title?! Well, read on!

First, we'll start at the end, haha, with the finished project- a sort of funky, autumny card, full of brand new Holiday Mini products that just arrived yesterday! (yeay for being a demo and getting to pre-order items!) Which is why I'm posting on a Saturday, I didn't get to play with it til today! I used the latest Freshly Made Sketch and the Nacho Average color Challenge and came up with this:

Supplies:

Stamps: Among the Branches

Ink: Delightful Dijon, Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay

Paper: Hello Honey, Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss card stocks 

Accessories: Woodland Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Burlap Ribbon, Dimensionals

Maybe the Bermuda Bay is a little odd, but I like how it worked out actually! I also kept it an accent color for this card, and maybe that's why I like it... And I DO like this card, despite several, shall we say..."rough drafts"!

I have a new Pinterest Board just for the new Holiday Mini (HERE) and I have seen dozens of ideas using this fantastic new embossing folder. Lots of those ideas show the trees colored, and the background is left white. Um....I have found one post where the person tells exactly how she colored her trees...you can see her post HERE. I wanted fully colored trees...HMM. So here's what I tried:

1. Someone said ink was put on the raised tree images...I figured a stampin' spot would be easier to control so here's that attempt....
I started adding leaves and decided I really didn't like this 'forest' so I tried again!

2. Somewhere else I saw to sponge ink on the raised tree image...Nope, that doesn't work either...but it is less muddy sooo... But nope, I really don't like this one either!

3. This time I used a marker, laid almost parallel to the paper, so it only got to the raised tree image, and wouldn't ink up anywhere else... That worked out the best, but I already know I have customers who will struggle with that method for an entire card front. HMM. So if you know of an easier way, please leave a comment and let me know! hahaha!!!

And there was still a snag on this third attempt, LOL!!! The color challenge called for Hello Honey. I got out my box of In Color markers and apparently had put back the wrong yellowy marker in that box! This card was actually made using the Delightful Dijon marker instead of Hello Honey! No wonder it was "too dark"!
...some days..............hahahahaha...........