Masculine Card

It's Thursday and tomorrow is Friday the 13th!! I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday!

Today's share is a masculine card I did with my monthly club. It's always hard for me to do masculine cards. I did see this card on another blog but I don't remember where. I bought this motorcycle stamp just for my husband because he loves motorcycles and plus I thought I could make some nice men cards with it. This one was very easy to do. On to the card...


Stamp Set: Motorcycle, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Early Expresso, Pacific Point, Very Vanilla
Ink: Brown Stazon, Pacific Point marker
Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Silver Brads

I hope that you will come back this weekend because I'll be participating in a blog hop. I'm part of a stamping group called VC Rocks and we only meet during the summer. We kicked off another summer of swaps, blogs and so much more in April with new members able to join now. I'll tell you more about it Saturday when our blog hop officially kicks off. I hope to see you on the hop!!

Happy stamping!!!

Friends Never Fade

My upline, Jackie Ross, had her open house last night. I went and had the opportunity to see the new catalog. It's amazing...all the new gadgets!!! New ribbons, new punches, new everything. I've looked through it once but I'm going to really pour over it tonight and make out my wish list. I did place an order to receive all the new colors of stamp pads, cardstock and markers. I CANNOT wait for that to come in. I've got my own open house in the works. Once I nail down the date, you will be the first to know.

Last night, we had a chance to stamp this for a make and take. It uses the new stamp set, Friends Never Fade, and the new punch in the summer mini, Punch Pack. It also uses the returning in colors, Baja Breeze and Pink Pirouette.

I'm excited about kicking off the new Stampin' Up! year!!! I'm looking for a few good hostess so if you are interested, please let me know!

Happy stamping and 4th of July!!

Eastern Blooms

I'm in a monthly swap and for the month of June the theme was birthdays. I decided to play with a set I've had for a while...Eastern Blooms. This is not a set I would have purchased just by looking at it but I've seen alot of cute camples using it.

I saw this design on the demo's stamping connection website and I modified it some. I added the dazzling diamonds though I don't know if you can tell from the pictures.

You know when you color with the markers on the first one, it always looks like a good idea until you have to do multiple copies. Luckily, I only had to do 7!

Stamp Sets: Eastern Blooms, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink stamp pads and markers
Accessories: 1/4" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds

Just a reminder that today is the last day to purchase anything from 09-10 SU! catalog! Tomorrow the new catalog comes out with a whole lot of new ideas. I'm looking for some hostesses so if you would be interested in hosting a party, please let me know. I would love to show you and your friends the wonderful art of stamping!

Happy stamping!!

Flight of the Butterfly

I'm part of a yahoo group named VC Rocks. What is VC Rocks? VC Rocks is a virtual celebration of the rubber stamp company Stampin' UP! Our annual celebration runs from mid-April through August. Its a CELEBRATION of Stampin' UP!'s new catalog release and annual convention for demos and customers, an expression of our ENTHUSIASM for Stampin' UP!'s new stamps and products, a SHARING of creative stamping and scrapping ideas through swaps, make and takes, challenges and classes, SUPPORT for our SU demos with swaps and ideas for their business and ENCOURAGEMENT of friendships based on our common interest in stamping and Stampin' UP!

Would you like to be a part of the group? You can go to the blog site and sign up but I must warn you that there are a lot of emails!!!

Anyway, one of the challenges was to create a card using bold brights, 3 layers and something with wings. This is what I came up with. Sorry for the bad picture...I took it with my phone. Details below...

I love these two colors together and I'm going to miss Pink Passion so much. Speaking of Pink Passion, this will be one of the colors retiring. I've heard through the grapevine that alot of the retired colors are being placed on back order. Stampin' Up! will fulfill those back orders through May but through June once supplies are gone, they are gone so you better get your favorites before they are gone! You can place an order by calling me or through my website.

Well, I hope you all enjoy the card share. Please come back this weekend because VC Rocks will be doing a blog hop and I'm on the hop schedule. Come check out some new and refreshing ideas using our outgoing colors.

Happy stamping!!

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Cardstock: Pink Passion, Green Galore, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Pink Passion, Green Galore, Basic Black
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Black 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Seasons of Joy

Here is card #2 from my Christmas SAS. This is the one set I did end up buying. I had been eyeing this one since the last holiday mini but never did get it.

I did copy the idea for the card from Michele Force. She does some great stuff. She is a Texas native...in Allen. Check out her website. You will love her stuff.

As you know, I'm all about keeping it simple, and I love that this card does. Not very much to it. I did try using the small grosgrain but I liked the look of the wide. Then, I wanted to stay away from the traditional Christmas colors so I thought these colors worked well tomorrow. Come back tomorrow for some more card ideas.

I did forget to tell you about one more special SU! is offering. In celebration of Stampin' Up!'s twentieth anniversary, spend $20 on any Stampin' Up! product and get 20 percent off any stamp set from the Fall-Winter Sampler--no limit! Choose from any of the stamp sets below:

111564 Flight of the Butterfly $31.95 $25.56
112911 Vuelo de la mariposa (Spanish Flight of the Butterfly) $31.95 $25.56
111676 Puns from the Past $27.95 $22.36
111660 Just Jawing $25.95 $20.76
111624 Dreams du Juor $18.95 $15.16
111700 Thank You Kindly $13.95 $11.16
111714 Wow Flowers $12.95 $10.36
112955 Flores llamativas (Spanish Wow Flowers) $12.95 $10.36
111600 Bella's Bloom $12.95 $10.36

Offers like these don't come around every day! Contact me TODAY to place your order

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Seasons of Joy
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue, Real Red
Accessories: Real Red Wide Grosgrain, Dimensionals

Christmas

I did a Christmas Stamp-A-Stack about a month ago. This was one of the cards I did. My goal for this SAS was to not purchase any Christmas sets but use what I have...even the non-Christmas ones. I didn't have any current Christmas sets so I did end up buying one set. This card uses a non-Christmas set - Priceless. I also used the 5-petal flower to make the poinsettia. I actually copied this from someone off of Splitcoast and I can't remember who.

This is very easy card to make, and I bet these would be easy to do in mass if you wanted to send out handmade Christmas cards this year. Come back tomorrow and see another design.

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Sets: Priceless, All Holiday
Cardstock: Garden Green, Hunter Green, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Garden Green, Hunter Green, Real Red
Accessories: 5-Petal Flower Punch, Gold Brads

Technique Tuesday

Today's technique is a fun and simple one. It's called Smackin' Acetate. It doesn't require much to do it at all.

Scribble markers on acetate. If you don’t have a marker handy, try a blender pen and reinkers. Spray water on the acetate. For a fine mist, hold the bottle about 6 inches away and spray a couple of times. Place acetate on neutral cardstock. Rub your finger over the acetate to spread the water mixture. Let cardstock dry. Stamp image on cardstock.

This makes a great masculine card...even if you decided not to do the technique. You could use a brown for the trees. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Lovely As a Tree
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Ink: Black Stazon, Always Artichoke, markers
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardward, Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon

Technique Tuesday

Good afternoon stampers!

Sorry I have been MIA for the past few days. I wish I could say I've been doing some productive things like stamping but I haven't. Anyway...

Today's technique is one I haven't heard of or seen much of. It is faux stained glass. There is not much to this technique.

Stamp an outline image repeatedly on Whisper White cardstock using a waterproof ink such as Stazon, purposely overlapping the images. Color in the overlapping areas. A blender pen works well for this. Optional: Color in the background and /or the rest of the images in different colors.Variation: Use glossy cardstock and color with markers.

To see more samples of this technique, go to Splitcoast and you'll see some. You may even see a version of this card. I wish I could say I come up with these layouts on my own.

I'm working on a couple of classes for the next couple of months - my holiday stamp-a-stack in November and a calendar class in December (just in time for Christmas). Come back and check out the details later.

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Merci
Cardstock: Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Ink: Black Stazon, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive
Accessories: Large and Small Oval Punch, Aquapainters

Technique Tuesday

Today's technique is Pastel Embossing. This technique combines embossing and chalk pastels. It's pretty easy to do.

Ink stamp in VersaMark and stamp onto the cardstock. Pour white embossing powder over the stamped image and heat the image with a heat tool until fully melted. Once the image has cooled, use a blender pen to pick up the desired pastel colors. Apply directly to the embossed image. It’s best to start with the lightest color and work to the darkest. It’s easy to add more color and depth this way. Continue adding colors until you reach your desired look. Let the cardstock dry a few minutes before handling. Apply to card and finish card. Not much to it at all!

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Sets: Heartfelt Thanks, Wonderful Words, Floral Background
Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Old Olive, Black
Ink: Pixie Pink, Black
Accessories: Versamark, White Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Chalk Pastels

Techniques Tuesday?

Well, I started this post yesterday and didn't get to finish it. So you're technique Tuesday is now Technique Wednesday this week.

Today's technique is dry debossing...not to confuse this with dry embossing. What's different about this is you do is just like you were going to dry emboss by laying your cardstock over the template and start tracing the open areas of your template with your stylus.

What you do next is ink up your background stamp. With the raised images facing down, stamp the background stamp over it. The ink won’t stay on your debossed image, leaving it the same color as the cardstock. At least that's what is suppose to happen. I did get a little ink on the debossed images. It's something different.

I hope that you will make plans to attend my World Card Making Day event, 10 cards for $10. I'll be teaming up with my friend and fellow demo, Sheri Scudder. You will stamp 2 cards of 5 different designs. The event is Saturday, October 4 at Sheri's house. Address and info is located on my SU! website. I hope to see you there!

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Canvas Background, Seeing Spots
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Seeing Spots Brass Template, Wild Wasabi Striped Ribbon

Another Embrace

I spent the majority of the evening last night getting my projects ready for tonight's techniques class. For the first time, I've got everything cut, packed and ready to go. I can actually go home and rest before my class tonight. I can't wait!!! I'm counting the hours until quitting time today!

After getting my projects done, I was able to do another card. Not much to this one. I've got one more to do than I will show you the completed the project. I also hope to work on some other projects plus go through all my retired stamp sets and purge those I'm not using anymore. I'll be selling those so be watching out for the next post that will hopefully have pictures.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you find time to stamp something!

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Embrace Life
Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Whisper White, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink: Ruby Red, Black Stazon
Accessories: Aqua Painters, White Taffeta Ribbon

Embrace Life

Still working on my cards for my card box and here is another card I came up with.

It definitely needs some color added to it. I just wasn't in the creative mood last night and it was midnight when I finished this so I just put it together before I went to bed.

I've got two more cards to put together. Once I get those done, I'll show you them plus the box I made to put them in.

I hope to work on a couple of other projects this weekend so I'll have something new to share with you next week. I'll be busy tonight getting my projects ready for my techniques class tomorrow night. Nothing like waiting to the last minute!!

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Embrace Life, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Whisper White, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink: Black
Accessories: Groovy Guava Double-Stitched Ribbon

Birthday Card

Sorry I didn't post yesterday's technique. I thought I had the card with me, and then later found out I didn't. Sorry! I'll make up for it by posting two techniques next Tuesday.

I actually got a chance to do some stamping last night. I'm trying to use up some of my old designer paper so I played with the Ginger Blossom paper and Embrace Life stamp set. I'm working on a card box (which I will show you later) but here is one of the cards that will be going into it. I'm working on about 3 more to go in the box. I hope to get them done tonight.

I also had a chance to work on another project but I've got to get pictures of it and download them. Once I get that done, I will share with you. I think you are going to love it!!

I've also got to get ready for my techniques class this Friday evening. I've got the projects designed in my mind...I've just got to get them done now.

Coming up is National Cardmaking Day! I bet you didn't know such a day existed!! On Saturday, October 4th, I will be teaming up with a fellow demo, Sheri, and we will be hosting a 10 for $10 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at her home. You will make 2 cards of 5 designs. You may even donate a card or two to the Ronald McDonald house in Dallas. This will be a come and go event, and I hope you make plans to join us. It will be a fun time! For address info, check out my website.

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Embrace Life, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: River Rock, Ruby Red, Whisper White, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink: Black Stazon, Ruby Red
Accessories: Groovy Guava Double-Stitched Ribbon, Pop-Up Glue Dots, Aqua Painters

Flower for All Seasons

Well, I worked on my swap card a little this weekend. I didn't have enough ribbon to finish them with a knot so I had to come up with something different to do. Although I like the look of this, I don't love it. I think it needs something else but I'm done playing with it. I did do a little sponging on the edges on the blue piece even though you can't really see it. I'm glad this is done. It was only 62 cards but it was very time consuming.

I hope you'll come back tomorrow for Technique Tuesday.

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: A Flower for All Seasons, Happy Everything
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Brocade Blue, Confetti White
Ink: Brocade Blue, Black Stazon, Watercolor Crayons
Accessories: Watercolor Crayons, Aqua Painter, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Large and Small Oval Punch, Dimensionals

Lovely As A Tree

Well, I didn't get a chance to work on my swap card last night. I played with another card design.

I always have a hard time with masculine cards. The only thing I don't like about it is the color. I think it needs another color in there besides the browns. Masculine cards are always hard for me because I tend to say with the neutral colors. I'm a simple stamper but I think this is too simple. I think it needs something else.

I didn't put any type of greeting so this is ready to go for any event. I bought my hodgepodge hardware before they were discontinued. Now I've got to use them up.

Hope you all don't get too much rain this weekend. Stay inside and do some stamping. I know I will!

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Lovely As A Tree
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware

A Flower for All Seasons

I purchased a new set from the catalog recently and decided to play with it. I bought this set for another swap I'm participating in. It reminds me of the set in last year's catalog, A Tree for All Seasons. I'm liking this new set a lot.

This is one design I came up with. I think it needs something so I'm working on another design. I'll show that one tomorrow. Of course when I picked this set I didn't think about all the coloring I would have to do. I have to do 62 cards!! I'm watercoloring these so it's taking some time. I hope to have them finished tonight. Wish me luck!

I also added some crystal effects on the flowers and on the pot to make it look like dew. This was a suggestion from Darla. I don't know if you can see it in the photo or not but it's there.

I hope you enjoy the card share today. I always enjoy sharing them with you. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: A Flower for All Seasons
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Brocade Blue, Confetti White
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain, Aqua Painters, Watercolor Crayons, Crystal Effects

Lovely As A Tree

One of the hardest type of cards to design are masculine cards. At least they are for me. Finding the right colors isn't too bad. It's when it comes to embellishments, I tend to question whether or not ribbon is good on a card or not. I need to start using buttons and brads. You can never go wrong with those type of embellishments.

To help me with more masculine designs, I joined a swap. Here is the card I came up with. I'm not too sure about the ribbon but it helps having the hemp in there.

I was going to do something with the trees but the technique I was going to do on it didn't come out too good. I didn't want to waste all the pieces I cut out for the swap. It's not the best but I think it came out pretty good.

I hope you enjoy today's card share, and I hope you come back tomorrow.

Happy stamping!!!

Stamp Sets: Lovely As A Tree, Happy Everything, Canvas
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Black
Accessories: Chocolate Chip 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread

Heartfelt Thanks

Today's card share is a very simple one. Sometimes I can get caught up in the embellishments and forget sometimes a simple card is just as pretty.

I used colors that I don't use much. I thought it came together really well. This uses the stamp set Heartfelt Thanks. This has been in the catalog for some time, and I really thought it would retire this catalog year. Well, at least it will be around until the end of the year.

Have a good weekend, and I hope you will find time to stamp something.

Happy stamping!!

Stamp Set: Heartfelt Thanks
Cardstock: Barely Banana, Mellow Moss, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss, Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace markers

Technique Tuesday

OK stampers! It has been awhile since I last posted anything. Sorry for that!

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend. I did. It was nice to sleep in and not have to about work. Anyway...enough small talk...on to our technique.

Today's technique is cracked glass. It is very hard to see in this but the image is suppose to look like cracked glass. It doesn't require a lot of work but there are a lot of steps involved so you can check out a tutorial at the splitcoaststampers website. The tutorial calls for use of the glassy glaze embossing powder. If you don't have that one, you can use clear embossing powder which is what I did. I think I would have gotten a better effect using the glassy glaze. Oh well...live and learn.

Stamp Set: Embrace Life
Cardstock: River Rock, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink: Black Stazon, River Rock, Ruby Red
Accessories: Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Blender Pens, Clear Embossing Powder

Come back tomorrow because I have a really cute project to share.

Happy stamping!

Card Share

Sorry I've been neglecting you all. I've been getting ready for my class tonight plus I've been sick. It's no fun being sick plus trying to get ready for a class. All I want to do is sleep!!

Today's card share uses a hostess set from our last catalog. I like how this stamp set can be very versatile. This card could almost use any sentiment you want to use with it.

Stamp Set: Morning Soft
Cardstock: Green Galore, Black, Glossy White
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Photo Corners Punch, 1/16" Hole Punch, Silver Brads

Enjoy your weekend and happy stamping!!