B is for Birthday Card

"B" is also for "behind" -- and that's what am I on my birthday greetings. Sorry all you February birthdays...I'm trying to catch up on cards this weekend! Here's one I made up for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration #25. I thought the colors would be nice for a masculine card, but I ended up girl-ing it up with the rhinestone brad (to match the inspiration jewelry) and the organza ribbon.
Supplies: Party Hearty, Brilliant Blue ink/marker & cardstock, Lovely Lilac marker & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink & textured cardstock, Scallop Edge Punch, Clear Rhinestone Brads, Organza Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Sketch Series #4

Well, according to my informal Sale-a-bration poll (over there on the left side of my blog), Botanical Blooms is not a very popular choice this year. This was actually the only SAB set that I pre-ordered. I love the versatility of the two-stepping (outline image + solid center). I used a very simple layout for this demonstrator group swap card. You may recognize it from as the same layout I used for my Stinky Sweet card and my Love You a Latte card.

Supplies: Botanical Blooms, Pink Pirouette ink & cardstock, Close to Cocoa ink & cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock, Candy Lane DSP, VeryVanilla Taffeta Ribbon, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Click here to learn how you can get this stamp set for FREE.

Top Note Tote

I have seen these little totes all over cyber stamping land lately. (I think Angie Juda is the original artist and you can check out her video tutorial here.) It was super quick and easy and the guests and Jenn's Mommy & Me workshop really enjoyed making them. Well, perhaps it was the M&M's we put inside that they loved....

We used the Sale-a-bration Delicate Dots DSP and coordinating Polka Dot Punches stamp set. Here's another version with different paper and stamp from the same sets:

Basically, it's two Top Notes (cut with the Big Shot), adhered (with sticky strip and SNAIL) to either side of a small white paper sack. I bought the sacks at Michael's a couple years ago and was going to make mini paper bag books, but I never got around to it. They are 3-1/4" x 2-1/4" x 6-1/2". I cut the top off the bag so it would be hidden behind the top notes. With the bag closed, I punched a handle with the large oval punch.

Supplies: Polka Dot Punches, Lovely Letters Alphabet, So Saffron ink & cardstock, Sahara Sand ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Delicate Dots DSP, Scallop Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch, SAB Ribbon Bundle, Organza Ribbon, Button Latte, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

Click here to learn how you can get the Delicate Dots DSP, Polka Dot Punches stamp set, and/or Ribbon Bundle for FREE!

Birds of a Feather Sketch Together

I was too lazy to post last night and enjoyed vegging on the couch instead. But I have two cards for you today to make up for it! Beate is back with her Weekend Sketch Challenge and I gave it a go with my Owl Together Now stamp set. I wasn't totally thrilled with it, so I tried again with some So Tweet chipboard...

Supplies: Owl Together Now, Jet Black Staz-On Ink, Chocolate Chip ink & cardstock, Baja Breeze ink & cardstock, Sahara Sand ink & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink, Whisper White cardstock, Blender Pen, Parisian Summer DSP

Supplies: A Little Birdie Told Me (greeting), Pacific Point ink & cardstock, Summer Sun cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, So Tweet Chipboard, Good Morning Sunshine DSP

On both cards, I cut an inch off the right side of the card front and adhered the DSP to the inside of the card.

Summer Colors Card

I loved the colors Stacey choose this week for her Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge #24. They reminded me of summer -- which I was more than happy to think about this cold winter week. I used a sketch I found on someone's blog for further inspiration.

I realized as I was finishing the card, that the circles should be 1" instead of 1-1/4" to be truer to the sketch. I think they almost take up too much of the card when they are bigger, like mine. Next time.... (Click here to check out the original sketch artist.)

Supplies: Life's a Breeze, All Holidays (greeting), Yo Yo Yellow ink & cardstock, Tempting Turquoise ink & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Sahara Sand cardstock, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, Pink Flamingo DSP, Rockability DSP, Clear Buttons, Crafter's Tool Kit, 1-1/4" Circle Punch

More Polka Dot Punches

I love how you can use the same products and create cards that look completely different. This card uses the same stamp set, the same DSP, and same base color cardstock, the same punches, and even the same package of buttons as the Polka Dot Flower card I posted yesterday. This one is a little brighter than yesterday's card. Which one do you like best?

Supplies: Polka Dot Punches, All Holidays, So Saffron cardstock, Sahara Sand ink & cardstock, Certainly Celery cardstock, Bashful Blue cardstock, Delicate Dots DSP, Organza Ribbon, Button Latte, Scallop Edge Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Corner Rounder, Mini Glue Dots

Polka Dot Flower Card & Blog Candy Winner

I absolutely love products that coordinate -- like stamp sets that having matching punches (the Sale-a-bration Polka Dot Punches, for instance) and stamp sets that having coordinating paper (like that Polka Dot Punches set!) and ribbon that coordinate with paper (like the Sale-a-bration Ribbon Bundle). Are you catching a theme here?! The Sale-a-bration catalog is filled with coordinating products and it should be no surprise that I love them all! (If you haven't taken advantage of these free gifts during Sale-a-bration, click here for details.)

This 3" x 6" is one of my monthly stamp club projects and incorporates three of the Sale-a-bration gifts: The Polka Dot Punches stamp set, the Delicate Dots DSP, and the Ribbon Bundle. I love this simple layout. I CASEd it from a card I saw at a recent demonstrator meeting. (I think it was Lia... or maybe Donna?)

Which Sale-a-bration gift is your favorite? Click to vote for your favorite in my Sale-a-bration poll (over there on the left side of my blog).

In addition to the Sale-a-bration products, we also used the Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates for the Big Shot. Here's a close-up so you can see the Polka Dot texture on the Chocolate Chip square:

Supplies: Polka Dot Punches, Garden Greetings, So Saffron cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Delicate Dots DSP, SAB Ribbon Bundle, Button Latte, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates for the Big Shot, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Corner Rounder, Mini Glue Dots

Oh! I just realized I didn't "draw" a winner for my 75K Blog Candy. So I hopped over to random.org to generate a random number...and the winner is #15:

• Michelle Ryan said...
  I like the Love You Much (even though I didn't manage to get it put together before Valentine's Day...).

Congratulations, Michelle! I'll send you an email later tonight!

Quiet Time Card

What a difference an hour makes! During lunch, I was ready to pull my hair out. The baby hadn't slept a wink all morning and was screaming, my 3-1/2 year old wouldn't eat lunch, and I was trying to get my 5 year old out the door to catch the bus. Oh yeah, and I was still in my PJ's! But an hour later, the house was quiet, the girls were sleeping, I was dressed and STAMPING! I sat down with Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge #42 and came up with this card:

I'm not terribly fond of this greeting, but I don't have any others this size. Most of my greeting stamps are small. Guess it's time to get some new ones. (wink!)

Supplies: Best Wishes & More, All Holidays, Really Rust ink & cardstock, More Mustard ink & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink, Whisper White cardstock, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, 1/4" More Mustard grosgrain ribbon

Simple Sympathy Card

I love watching your comments roll in for the blog candy to see what your favorite stamp sets are. I was actually surprised to see the overwhelming majority say "Thoughts and Prayers". I didn't realize how popular that set would be. I like it to and it's one of the first new stamp sets that I bought. Mostly, it filled a need -- I don't have any other sets quite like it in sentiment. I just love the tree too! Here's an easy sympathy card I made up for a family member. I also used the design in a recent card class.

The background was made with the Watercolor Vine jumbo wheel. We rolled it several times to fill the card front with pattern. The stamping is simple in Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke (I love those greens together!) and I added some texture with the edge distresser tool from the Cutter Kit.

Supplies: Thoughts and Prayers, Watercolor Vine Jumbo Wheel, Mellow Moss ink & cardstock, Always Artichoke ink & cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock, Cutter Kit

Peek-a-boo Valentine Treat

I think I've heard of this treat called a peek-a-boo treat box before...and it sounds cute, so I'm going with it! It reminds me of those fake books. It looks like a book on the outside, but the inside has a cut out and holds something else entirely. Here's the outside:

And "Peek-a-boo!" Here's the treat revealed on the inside:

As you can tell from the second photo, the heart is stuck to a "belly band" -- a thin piece of cardstock that wraps around the box. I recommend using sticky strip to adhere the ends of the band together. SNAIL isn't strong enough, and you may find it will fall apart.

I love this heart from the Polka Dot Punches stamp set. It coordinates with the new Full Heart punch. And best of all, this stamp set is available as one of the free Sale-a-bration gifts when you place a $50 order or host a workshop. Click here for details.

The dimensions for the treat are 2-1/2" x 8-5/8". Score at 2-1/2", 2-7/8", 5-3/8", 5-3/4",8-1/4", 8-5/8". Punch the Full Heart in the last square and apply Sticky Strip to the very last 3/8" strip. (The photo here shows the strip flipped so that the end with sticky strip is at the right instead of the left. Also, I had to alter this image because I realized as I was getting ready to post that I punched the heart upside down. It appears correctly in the photo now, but I had to cut and paste it, so the shadows aren't natural.)

If you are holding the cardstock as pictured, you will fold the treat box back & under(away from you) so that strip A adheres to the other side of strip C. I hope this all makes sense. It's really not as complicated as I'm making it seem!

Supplies: Polka Dot Punches, Happy Heart Day, Candy Lane DSP, Pink Pirouette cardstock, Riding Hood Red cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink & cardstock, Full Heart Punch, Sticky Strip, Paper Cutter with Scoring Blade

Happy Birthday Garden Card

Since I am late again for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge, I stuck with a simple layout. I like the clean-ness of it and added some color by carrying the flowers into the inside of the card. The front greeting is the Birthday Wish stamp, one of the "Under $10" items in the Spring-Summer Catalog which highlights individual stamps (mostly greetings).

Supplies: Garden Greetings, Full of Life, Birthday Wish, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Tangerine Tango ink & cardstock, Pixie Pink ink & cardstock, Whisper White ink & cardstock, Wide Oval Punch

75K Blog Candy

My 50K Blog Candy is still unclaimed, so it's back up for grabs!

To be entered in the drawing for this blog candy, please leave a comment on this post and tell me which new stamp set in the Spring-Summer catalog is your favorite. (Please include your email address with your comment so I can contact you if you win!) I'll use Random.org to select one winner on Wednesday, Feb 18 at 9:00 pm (Central Time).

75K Blog Candy includes:

• So Many Scallops stamp set
• Love & Happiness Rub-Ons (includes one sheet in each color: Black, White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive)
• Prints Designers Series Paper (five 6x6 squares in each color: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Rose Red, and Almost Amethyst)
• Purely Pomegranate Love Notes & Envelopes (10)

I'm always looking at the "numbers", so for those of you who are also interested, here are some more blog stats, as of today, 2-15-09:

• Days Blogging: 278
• # of Posts: 265
• # of Hits: 78,500
• Stamping Top 500 Rank: 143

It amazes me some days to watch the hit counter. It's like having one of those Sally Field moments, "You like me! You really like me!". Knowing you're out there and following my creative journey keeps me motivated to stamp and continue to share.

Happy Heart Day Projects

[EDITED 2/14, 5:30 pm to fix (again!) the link to Pillow Box Pattern. It should be working now!]

The kids had their Valentine's Day parties at their respective preschools today. We worked on valentines for their classmates all week long. I love the way they turned out!

(The red ones are Thomas' and the purple ones are Claire's.) First, I stamped the elephant in Basic Black on a 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" piece of Whisper White. The kids colored them in with crayons. Then I used the Crop-a-Dile to punch holes for the suckers while they colored/stamped/stickered/signed the colored pieces (which were 2-3/4" x 3-3/4"). I threaded the suckers and then used Tombow Multi adhesive to stick them together. Here's a close-up of the one I did. (The crayons are Crayola!)

And since I'm running out of time to post these, here are a couple more Valentine's Day Projects with this Happy Heart Day stamp set.

Click here for the Pillow Box pattern. It's much larger than the Big Shot die. For this project, I cut off one end of the pillow box to fit the bag of candy.

Stinky Sweet Card

I pulled this card out of the archives to post this week anyway and it just so happens to work perfectly for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge! I love the combination of black, white, and red! For this card, I stamped the skunk in Whisper White ink on Basic Black cardstock and colored in his stripe with a white gel pen.

Supplies: Pun Fun, Friend by Definition background, Real Red cardstock, Basic Black ink & cardstock, Whisper White ink & cardstock, My Way (arrow) Punch, White Gel Pen, Bold Brights Brads

Emboss Resist Flower Card

At Stamp Club last month, we made this card using the card using the "Emerging Color" Emboss Resist technique. We started with a 3" x 3" piece of Raspberry Tart DSP and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder the largest flower from Petal Pizazz. Then we brayered Rose Red ink over the flower. The embossed image resists the ink, which we buffed off with a cotton ball, revealing the color (or in this case, patterned DSP) underneath.

Supplies: Petal Pizazz, Cameo Coral cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Rose Red ink & cardstock, Versamark ink pad, Raspberry Tart DSP, Clear Embossing Powder, Wide Oval Punch, 1/4" Rose Red grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Sketch Series #3

Here's another sketch I find myself using over and over again. You may recognize it from the Frog & Flowers card or the Mr. Twigster card. I love the balance the card elements create with this sketch. It's also a great layout for using DSP. This card uses some of the Candy Lane DSP that was featured in the Love You Much Bundle.

Supplies: Love You Much, Candy Lane DSP, Pink Pirouette ink refill & cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock, Riding Hood Red cardstock, Close to Cocoa cardstock, Basic Brown ink, Certainly Celery marker, Blender Pen, Fire Circle Rhinestone Brads, Trio Flower Punch

Blue Bird Card

Kristina Werner's latest Color Inspiration Challenge inspired me to get out my Good Friend stamp set. That's the one with the big bird. It's a fun stamp set, but I find it hard to use the entire bird without taking up a whole card. So for this 3" x 6" card, I ended up cutting off his tail end.

I still feel like the card needs something, but I can't figure out what. Maybe it's because his tail is cut off and I feel like the cardstock should be moved over...hmmm. What do you think?

Supplies: Good Friend, Taken with Teal ink & cardstock, More Mustard ink, So Saffron cardstock, Old Olive cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Scallop Edge Punch, More Mustard grosgrain ribbon

ISO Blog Winner

I was cleaning out the closet in my stamp room the other day and found my 50K Blog Candy all packaged up and ready to send. (Click here to see the original post.) The winner never contacted me with her address! So, Lee Ann, if you're out there still -- send me an email with your address so I can mail your prize!

I'll give Lee Ann another week, and then I'll repost the Blog Candy and pick a new winner.

Echoes of Kindness Card

I'm a little late at posting this for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge. We made a different variation of this card yesterday at my All Occasions Card Class in Springfield (well, Rochester really). It was a great class and I had a good afternoon hopping around town to deliver orders and visit with some friends before I headed home.

This card incorporates two fun new toys...I mean tools. We used the Circle Scissor Plus to cut the two circles and the Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates for the Big Shot to make the embossed background.

I love the way the flower turned out. We stamped it in Versamark and then brushed the Stampin' Pastels with a Q-tip. Then, we stamped the greeting over it in Chocolate Chip. I love the gentle line drawing of this hostess set, Echoes of Kindness. I can't wait to play some more!

Supplies: Echoes of Kindness, Cameo Coral cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink & cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock, Versamark ink, Circle Scissor Plus, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates for the Big Shot, Crafters' Tool Kit, Silver Brads, Stampin' Pastels

Circle Cutter CASE & Manager Reception Photos

I CASEd another card from the Spring-Summer catalog (pg 55) for my demonstration last weekend. I flagged this project the first time I saw the catalog. I just love the layout and the metal edge tag -- everything! I changed around the colors just a little bit to work with what I had.

Supplies: Garden Greetings, Wow Flowers, Certainly Celery Patterns DSP, Certainly Celery ink & cardstock, Baja Breeze ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Pale Plum ink, Versamark ink, Winter White embossing powder, Circle Scissor Plus, 5/8" Celery Grosgrain ribbon, Metal Edge Tags, 1-1/4" Circle Punch

Garden Greetings is a great stamp set and very versatile with four different greetings. It was a gift at Manager's Reception during Leadership Conference last month in Orlando.

For this year's Manager's Reception, SU! reserved the Island of Adventure park at Universal Studios. We got to meet Marvel superheros like Spiderman (who recorded a special message for my kids!) and Captain America. We had an incredible buffet meal and then got to ride several rides, play free arcade games, get caricatures drawn, and dance in the street to the DJ'd tunes. It was a very fun night!

It was even more special because I got to share it with my parents. (Does that sound cheesy?!) My mom is also a demonstrator (and a Manager, obviously) and since we live in different states, we don't get to see each other as often as we would like to. I love attending Stampin' Up! events together! And many times, my dad will tag along (almost definitely in January to escape the Michigan winter). Since Mom is not a big fan of roller coasters, she strolled with Elise while Dad and I went on a few rides. It was great not to have to stand in line! I found this picture on the demonstrator website from the Manager's Reception highlights of me and Dad in the front row of the Incredible Hulk Coaster. Click here to see this coaster in action. So fun!

We even got to chat with Shelli and Sterling Gardner! Here's a picture of all of us:

Which reminds me...Elise got even more time with the Gardners during the regional seminar that followed Leadership. Shelli spotted Mom comforting Elise while I was working on the make & takes and Shelli insisted on holding her so Mom could stamp too! Sterling even got in on the baby love! At one point, Mom went to get Elise back, but Shelli said she wasn't ready to hand her over yet! Hee hee! Really, can you blame her?! Elise is a beautiful little baby... (but I'm not biased -- wink!)

Wonderful Daughter 6x6 Scrapbook Page

I made this 6" x 6" scrapbook page for my Circle Scissor Plus demonstration last weekend. I used the circle cutter to cut the photo, the So Saffron frame around the photo, and the Certainly Celery circle (which had been run through the Big Shot with the a Texturz plate). There's almost TOO much going on...


The picture of Elise is from October, the day we brought her home from the hospital. She's almost four months old now!

Supplies: Warm Words, Wonderful Favorites, Tea Party DSP, Certainly Celery cardstock, Pretty in Pink ink & cardstock, Regal Rose ink, So Saffron cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Organza ribbon, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates for the Big Shot, Button Latte, Fire Rhinestone Brads, Circle Scissor Plus, 1-1/4" & 1-3/8" Circle Punches, 1" Circle Punch

Big Heart Card

Here's another sample from my Circle Scissor Plus demonstration last weekend. To make the ring, cut the smaller circle first, then adjust the size of the circle without moving the cutter and cut the larger circle. You can make rings any width you want -- thick or thin.

Supplies: Love You Much, Short & Sweet (greeting), Very Vanilla cardstock, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Pink Pirouette cardstock, Candy Lane DSP, Circle Scissor Plus

Botanical Blooms Rose Card

Demonstrators can pre-order certain stamp sets, including Sale-a-bration stamp sets to work on samples before the promotion begins. (I love getting first crack at new sets! Just another perk of being a demonstrator...) I sat down a couple weeks ago and made some samples using the new Botanical Blooms stamp set. You can get this set for free during February and March by placing an order or hosting a party. Click here for all the details.

[The finished card measures 3" x 6".]

Supplies: Botanical Blooms, Rose Red ink, Whisper White cardstock, Old Olive ink & cardstock, Basic Black ink, Kraft cardstock, Wide Oval Punch, Vintage Brads, Black Gingham Ribbon, Raspberry Tart DSP, Mini Glue Dots