Tuesday 31 January 2012

Gettin' My Birthday On (Part Two)

 This is card #2 of 4 that was part of my Birthday Stamper's Dozen last week. This is the true feminine card featuring lots of flowers, pearls, and pink. (The epitomy of feminine is flowers, pearls, and pink -am I right?) 


 
The colours are Lucky Limeade, Very, Vanilla, Always Artichoke, and Blushing Bride. For the background, I stamped my flower in Lucky Limeade and stamped off once to make it a little more subtle. The leaves are made from another flower stamp, but I cut two of the petals off to make leaves. The coordinating punch for the Mixed Bunch stamp set makes this card a breeze! No fussy cuts to worry about. Pop up the flower focal point with some Stampin' Dimensions to give the main image some lift.

This is a pretty quick card. To mass produce, take a full sheet of Very Vanilla and cover the whole sheet with the Lucky Limeade flowers and Blushing bride smaller flowers. Then cut it into 3 3/4" x 5" pieces. The sentiment "Best Wishes" is backed with a piece of Blushing Bride that I punched using the Modern Label punch and then cut in half to extend the label. It's also popped up using some Stampin' Dimensionals.



Hope you enjoy! Make sure to leave a comment if you like what you see so far! 

Keep Stampin'!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies: Items are found in the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalogue unless otherwise noted
Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch (Occasions Mini Catalogue), Short & Sweet
Card Stock: Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Always Artichoke
Ink: Lucky Limeade Classic Ink, Blushing Bride Classic Ink
Accessories: Basic Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, Eyelet Border Punch, Modern Label Punch, Blossom Punch (Occasions Mini Catalogue)

Monday 30 January 2012

Gettin' My Birthday On...

January is a great time to do a Birthday Stamper's Dozen. Then, when a birthday sneaks up on you, you'll have a great stash to pull from! Here's one of the four designs we made at a recent Stamper's Dozen class I held. I called this the "gender neutral" card, but I think it leans a little more to the feminine side. Although, the pink square can flip over and become a more masculine design of circles on white. I think a comment may have passed my lips that went like this, "And if you really want to make it masculine, you can add a bee stamp. Bee's are prickly, like men". Ahem. Maybe that's not a true statement for all men, but my husband has a 5 o'clock shadow about 2 hours after he shaves. Must be the Italian in him ;)

Anyways, getting back on track! I sponged using a Stampin' Sponge cut into eight wedges (for my frugal-self) with Basic Gray on the edges of all four pieces of Twitterpated Designer Series Paper (DSP), the Basic Gray scallop square (cut with the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine) and  the center 2.5" square of Whisper White. Then, I stamped the main image of a birdcage from the Nature Walk stamp set in Basic Gray and the more grassy-like image in Pear Pizzazz which I stamped off once first to make it a little more subtle. I punched two of the 4 petal flower from the Itty Bitty Punch pack in Riding Hood Red and added a Basic Pearl to each, folded the petals for some added dimension and adhered using Multipurpose Liquid glue. A quick spritz with the Color Spritzer tool with my Basic Black marker and there she be!

I felt like the card front looked nice as is and didn't really want to add a sentiment out there so....



I opened 'er up and stamped off once using the frame from Elementary Elegance (A Sale-a-Bration stamp set) and then stamped the "Happy Birthday" using Basic Gray full strength. I love being able to use the same colour and getting a different look just by stamping off on scrap paper once or twice. The "Happy Birthday" stands out enough to be noticed but the frame is a subtle background and can be written over if you tend to be a wordy-birthday-card-writer. Is there anyone else who dislikes writing in cards? I always feel like I have to fill up the WHOLE space so I start printing REALLY big! With stamps, I can stamp away and fill up some of that space leaving me the ability to write a sweet, succinct message :) Yay!!

Hope you've enjoyed the post today!

Happy Stamping,

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies: Items are found the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalogue unless otherwise stated
Stamp Sets: Nature Walk, Elementary Elegance (SAB Catalogue)
Card Stock: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP (Occasions Mini Catalogue)
Ink: Basic Gray Classic Ink, Basic Black Marker
Tools: Big Shot Die-cutting Machine, Scallop Squares Duo Bigz Die, Itty Bitty Punch pack
Accessories: Basic Pearls, Stampin' Sponge, Colour Spritzer Tool

Sunday 22 January 2012

Sweet Valentine

Valentine's Day will be here before we know it! At my last technique class, we were showcasing things from Stampin' Up!'s new Occasions Mini that started January 4th. I love, love, LOVE this catalogue. So many great new tools and beautiful stamp sets. Here's a 3D item that we did: (CASE'd from Carla Blake at www.craftingonhat.blogspot.com) and tweaked a bit to simplify it as this was just one of three projects.
 Sorry I'm not the best photographer. My colour quality is a little off too. I used the Everyday Enchantment DSP (Designer Series Paper for you newbies out there) from the Sale-a-Bration catalogue (which starts TUESDAY!! EEK! Are you excited? I'm excited). Coordinating colours are Riding Hood Red, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, and Pool Party. Yum.
 Here's a different angle. To make the box (which contains two chocolates. I forgot to take a picture of it open - ooops!) you'll need the new Hearts Collection Framelits (Mini Catalogue Pg 6 Item# 125599) for the Big Shot Die Cutting Machine. Cut out two of the largest Heart Framelit in DSP and two using the firm card stock backing that comes in each package of DSP. This helps it to be sturdy without being too thick for the Framelits. (They shouldn't really be used for anything heavier than that. Cut single sheets only or else you won't get a very clean cut).  Once you have all your pieces cut, glue them together (I prefer Tombow Multi for this). I sponged the edges of both hearts with Soft Suede Classic Ink. Then take an empty button or brad container and attach it to the heart top and bottom with glue dots. Wrap a piece of DSP around the outside of the container and secure with sticky strip.
The Fun Flowers Bigz Die makes such a pretty addition to the box, don't you think? I cut two of each size with the Big Shot using Riding Hood Red card stock and then stamped an image from Bordering On Romance (Mini Catalogue Pg 11 Item# 125480(W) 125482(C)) using Real Red Ink. (Mainly because I don't own the Riding Hood Red ink pad yet. I will soon, just not yet. Gasp). I also sponged around the edges using Real Red and I really like it. It's subtle and I was going for subtle. To bling things up a bit, we added one of the new Large Pearls (Mini Catalogue Pg 26 Item# 125577) which conveniently are self-adhesive having a glue dot on their backside. I then tied a bow using Lucky Limeade Organza Ribbon from the Sale-a-bration catty (sad looking, but still a bow) onto a trinket crown (for the king or queen in your life) and affixed with another glue dot. Love those. The finishing touches were a couple of leaves and a snippet of Crochet Trim. Gorgeous. Too bad I already showed my husband to see what he thought. Now I have to come up with something ELSE for him that he hasn't seen yet.

Do you like it? I think my stamp club liked it. They certainly liked the chocolates that were to go inside. Good thing I had extras. It's always good to create and eat chocolate. Gets the creative juices flowing...

Come back again. I've got LOTS more projects to share! Even some of my own never-been-seen-before-my-very-own-personal-creations!

Have fun!

Tamara

Supply List:
Hearts Collection Framelits (Mini Catalogue Pg 6 Item# 125599)
Large Pearls (Mini Catalogue Pg 26 Item# 125577)
Bordering on Romance(Mini Catalogue Pg 11 Item# 125480(W) 125482(C))
Big Shot Die Cutting Machine (IB&C Pg 215 Item#113439)
Fun Flowers Bigz Die (IB&C Pg 221 Item# 121812)
Trinket Crown (IB&C Pg200 Item# 121891)
Mini Glue Dots (IB&C Pg 206 Item# 103683)
Tombo Multi (IB&C Pg 206 Item# 110755)
Sticky Strip (IB&C Pg 206 Item#104294)






Tuesday 17 January 2012

Welcome to my first ever blog and first ever blog post! It's a new year so I thought I'd give this a shot. I find so much inspiration from visiting other people's blogs that I think it's about time I contribute to the idea pool. A lot of the things I post will probably be CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything) and tweaked to my own style.

What's my style? Hmm...depends on the day, time, mood..you get it. My style changes like the tide. Depends on what's inspiring me at the moment. I'll be sure to give credit where credit is due when I post projects. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions on things you'd like to see.

As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'll only be using Stampin' Up! products for all of my creations. This helps me to utilize products that I will be able to provide to my customers and gain an expertise in those products.

Enough of the boring stuff, you're probably wanting to SEE something I've created!



 I promise I'll try to work on my photography skills :) This cute card was for my sister-in-law for her birthday. A little tearing, a little faux stitching and some cute accents. I created the flower using the 2 3/8 scallop circle punch. I roughed up the paper by bending, folding, scrunching until the two layers of cardstock separated enough that I could peel them apart. Then I just layered them and an Antique Brad for the flower center. Add some pretty Crochet Trim and a little greeting and there she is!

Hope you've enjoyed my first ever blog post! Be sure to leave me a comment with what you think!

Supply List: (Items are from the Stampin' Up! 2011/2012 Idea Book & Catalogue unless otherwise stated)
Crumb Cake Cardstock (CS) (120953)
Early Espresso CS (119686)
Not Quite Navy CS (100867)
Old Olive CS (100702)
Very Vanilla CS (101650)
Early Espresso Classic Ink (119670)
Stampin' Sponge (101610)
Linen Thread (104199)
Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker (100082)
Springtime Vintage (retired) Designer Series Paper
Antique Brads (117273)
Victoria 5/8" crochet trim (118481)
Fabulous Phrases (W 117002, C 120501)