Happy Halloween!

Kristina Werner, who is very famous in the blogging/stamping world, is an SU employee. She posted photos from SU's Halloween celebration here on her blog. Be sure to check out the video at the end; it's hilarious!

Look at the card I got!

Remember those swap cards I made? Now I'm going to start showing you some of the cards I got back! I can honestly say that every card I got was very high quality; Crystal does a great job of attracting great swappers.
Today's card is by Sue Begger. I love all of the Sizzix dies that she used; I'm so jealous of the folks who have one. I especially love the Top Note die. I also like the chalkboard technique combined with the Upsy Daisy stamp set, and the colors she used are so pretty!
I am leaving on Sunday for Florida to train a class for work. I will be gone for 3 weeks, and I get to come home for a weekend after 2 weeks. That means I won't be doing much stamping, but I will keep my regular posting schedule. I have a few things I've made but haven't shown you yet, and I have more swap cards too. I'll still be checking my e-mail too.
Happy stamping!

Merry and Bright

This Christmas ornament is definitely Merry and Bright! I used Beate's sketch from last weekend to create this card. For the ornament, I started with a piece of chipboard from the Country Living Holiday Collection. I covered it with VersaMark and poured on the gold EP. It didn't look smooth enough, so I repeated those steps. I cut a bigger circle out of Riding Hood Red textured cardstock with my Coluzzle and adhered the chipboard to it. Some DSP, Alpine ribbon, snowflakes and a rub-on sentiment complete the card. I adhered the ornament to the card with Dotto so it can be easily removed to hang on the tree.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season; Paper: Kraft, Junior Varsity DSP, Riding Hood Red textured; Ink: White StazOn, VersaMark; Accessories: gold EP, heat tool, gold elastic cord, 1/16" hole punch, Alpine Ribbon Originals, Chit Chat rub-ons, Country Living Holiday Collection chipboard
Happy stamping!

New comment format

Happy Tuesday! Blogger is offering a new format for comments where the comments are listed directly below the post instead of in a separate window. I decided to try it out. Please leave a comment here to let me know if you like the new format or not. If most people don't like it, I'll switch back.
Happy stamping!

A Quick Christmas Card

Last week's demonstratable card challenge was to use masking or reverse masking. We were also supposed to use scraps and a bonus was to use rub-ons. I already had an oval cut to use for reverse masking, so I think that qualifies as a scrap! I decided to make a Christmas card and take the colors from the Alpine Ribbon Originals from the Holiday Mini. The colors in the ribbon are Very Vanilla, Kraft, Real Red, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.
I stamped the tree from Scandinavian Season in VersaMark and embossed it in gold. Then I put the cut-out oval opening over it and sponged on Old Olive. I used the scallop border punch on the bottom of the card and then used the Scandinavian wheel in Real Red across the inside of the card. I sponged Chocolate Chip around all of the card's edges and added the rub-on sentiment. The last thing to do was tie on the ribbon. I'm not totally pleased with the result, but I think it has promise. I'm going to fiddle around with it some more and see if I can come up with my card for this year. I have to decide by Saturday so I can take all of the stuff with me to Florida.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian wheel; Paper: Kraft; Ink: VersaMark, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Real Red; Accessories: Chit Chat rub-ons, Alpine Ribbon Originals, Coluzzle, gold EP, scallop border punch, sponge
Happy stamping!

Fun times in Georgia

Mama has 2 friends that stamp with her. Pictured here is Beth on the left and Norma on the right. Even though I live far, far away, I am their demonstrator! They take turns being hostess, and I mail their projects to them. I have never demonstrated in person for them, so we scheduled an all-day stampathon. (It was like a Stampin' Up! Regional event except not as much talent on display from the demonstrator!)
For the workshop part of it, they made the Inspired by Nature bleach card, the Lovely as a Tree moonlighting bookmark card and Lauren Meader's tote bags. Then I demonstrated a ton of techniques for them. Here's a partial list: dry embossing, faux dry embossing, rick rack, dazzling diamond dust, folding using punches, watercolor banded brayer, emerging color, wax paper resist, baby wipe, shadow embossing, magic pastels, emboss resist. I think that's most of them; I may have missed one or two. Norma and Beth took notes, although one of Norma's notes said, "Ask Beth!" Mama decided to rely on her great memory as well as Beth and Norma's notes.

Mama didn't want to be in the picture, but Beth tricked her into coming over to look at something. Because I didn't use the flash, she didn't even know that I took the picture until we all started laughing.

Mama and Beth are wearing cute buttons I ordered from Lorien that say "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eyelet." I just love that saying, and I actually did lose an eyelet that afternoon so we all had a good laugh over that!
Here is Daniel playing ship captain at the Georgia Aquarium.

This was a HUGE tank filled with all kinds of fish and a couple of kinds of sharks. In this picture, you can see the shark at the top. Daniel and Jessica are at the bottom to give you some perspective on the shark's size.

I had a great time in Georgia, but I am happy to be back home too. I actually got to stamp yesterday! I'll post that card on Monday. Now I'm getting ready for a 3-week trip to Florida for work. I know, I know, it's a rough job! But I have to get a lot of stamping done so I'll have stuff to post for you while I'm gone!

I also had about 250 blog posts to look at on Google Reader. Yikes! I'm still not quite caught up, so if you're in my blogroll, don't give up on me. I hope to finish getting to everyone's blog today.

Happy stamping!

A short post

This is a short post because I'm at my mom's and she has dial-up internet. I wasn't able to get this one posted before I left, and I'm flying back on Wednesday when this will post.

This card was for today's Workshop Wow. The challenge is to make a card without using any punches and also to use rub-ons. I used my newest set and paper pieced the cupcake. I added some glitter for the sprinkles. I will add some details after I get back home, and on Friday I'll post a couple of photos of my mom and her friends at our all-day stampfest!

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes; Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Junior Varsity DSP; Ink: Chocolate Chip; Accessories: aquapainter, watercolor wonder crayons, Chit Chat rub-ons, Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, fine cosmo glitter

Last but not least!

Here is my last swap card. Isn't it gorgeous? It's not often that I'm as happy with a project as I am with this one.
I used my favorite new stamp set, Inspired by Nature. I stamped the grass image onto Always Artichoke with bleach. I was expecting to get a pale yellow, but I got a beautiful pale plum instead! On top of that, I stamped the flowers with Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed it with clear EP. I kept the card simple because I wanted the image to be the star.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Inspired by Nature; Paper: Pale Plum, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip; Ink: Chocolate Chip craft; Accessories: bleach, ticket corner punch, key tag punch, clear EP, Chocolate Chip narrow grosgrain ribbon, Rich Regals brads
Happy stamping!

Scallop punch turkey

This week's workshop wow challenge was to make something for Thanksgiving using punches. I decided to make this adorable turkey that was in the October issue of Stampin' Success. I wasn't quite sure what to do with him though, until Caville posted the demonstratable card challenge to make place cards. Isn't it great? I think this would be perfect for the Thanksgiving table. (Shirley, don't get any ideas; I'll be in Florida for work for 3 weeks before Thanksgiving!) It would also be a great project for your kids to help with.
The place card is made from a quarter sheet of cardstock folded in half, so you can get 4 from a full sheet. The front of the card measures 4 1/4 X 2 3/4. I used Very Vanilla sponged with Always Artichoke layered on the front.
The turkey feathers are scallop circle punches in Real Red, Always Artichoke and More Mustard from the Patterns hostess pack of DSP. His body is a 1 3/8" circle punch. The head is a 1" circle punch. The hat is a 3/4" square cut in a pilgrim hat shape. The eyes are from the double circle punch, and the buttons are 1/4" circles. His beak is from the ticket corner punch. (The one in the magazine used Boho Blossom punches for feet, but I don't have that punch. And I think he looks fine without feet!)
The next pictures show how to fold the feathers. (I think they would make a nice flower too!)

The first step is to count 5 scallops and fold up.
Next fold in half at a 90 degree angle to the other fold and then unfold it.
Fold the two edges in to the center line (like folding a paper airplane).

Happy stamping!

Third swap card

This card has Jana written all over it; I used 2, yes 2, shades of purple on this card! I got the color combo from the color wheel and SU's In Color combo chart.
If this were a full card, I would start with a Lovely Lilac card base and stamp the front with Canvas using Elegant Eggplant ink. Then I would take a 4 1/4 X 2 3/4 piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock and emboss one end with the little flowers from the Flower Frenzy brass template. (Bonus: the template fits EXACTLY on the 4 1/4 end of a card!) I covered the seam with the new So Saffron polytwill ribbon. Since part of it is covered by the focal image, I cut just enough that the ends would meet in the front.
I used the oval template of the Coluzzle to cut out the white and kiwi layers. I stamped the branch image and then lined up the brass template over the image. The Empressor makes it easy to emboss without a light table! I adhered the ovals with dimensionals.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Canvas; Paper: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant; Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant; Accessories: Coluzzle, Empressor, Flower Frenzy CBT, So Saffron polytwill ribbon
I am flying out today to visit my mama for a week. I'm super excited to have an all-day workshop with Mama, Norma and Beth; even though they have been my customers for a long time, I have never done a workshop for them in person since I live in Minnesota and they live in Georgia. I am going to show them lots of fun stuff! Hopefully I will remember to take pictures to post when I get back. I have posts scheduled for you while I'm gone, so don't feel neglected!
Happy stamping!

JanTInk's one sheet book

This week's 3D challenge was JanTInk's one sheet book. It is adorable! It would be perfect for school photos. For mine, I decided to print my favorite Bible verses on computer business cards and put them in the book. I am actually keeping this one for myself, but this would make a great little gift for someone who needs some inspiration.
You get 10 pages if you don't count the front and back which adhere to the cover, and it uses 1 sheet of 12 X 12 paper. I chose Urban Garden because it's my favorite! Yes, I used a whole sheet of DSP all for myself!!
You can find Jan's great directions here on SCS.

Here is what the inside looks like. I used the pattern that made 3" X 4" pages.

I made my cover from Baja Breeze textured cardstock. It was 4 1/2" wide and 8 1/2" long. I scored on the long side at 3 1/4", 3 1/2", 6 3/4" and 7". This made the cover 3 1/4" X 4 1/2" with a 1/4" allowance for the thickness of the pages, and it also gave a 1 1/2" flap.

I made a belly band from Basic Gray textured cardstock. It was 3/4" wide and 10" long. I scored on the long side at 4 1/2", 4 3/4", 9 1/4" and 9 1/2". This leaves 1/2" to adhere to close the band.

Tip of the day: Decorate the cover before you adhere the pages inside! I didn't, and now the cover doesn't lay flat for stamping.

Here is a close-up of one of the inside pages with the business card attached. I printed the verses in gray ink and used the ticket corner punch to give them a little pizzazz.

Supplies(all SU except business cards): Stamps: none; Paper: Urban Garden DSP, Baja Breeze textured, Basic Gray textured, business cards; Ink: none; Accessories: ticket corner punch, Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon

Happy stamping!

Thinking Pink

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This week's demo challenge was two-fold: 1. Use pink on your project. 2. Make a card using something that wowed you in the past but you had forgotten all about. We've all done that, right? I chose Cracked Glass. You can find the instructions in Beate's great tutorial.
For this card, I used Beate's sketch from the previous week; I just love that 3-panel layout! The stamp set I used is Flores Suaves; it's from SU's new Spanish catalog, and it's gorgeous! I chose the tulip image and inked the stem with Basic Gray then stamped off once before inking the flower with Pink Pirouette. I stamped the bee with Basic Gray and then colored the wings with Pink Pirouette using an aquapainter.
SCS has a new monthly challenge called Cards for a Cause. Each month, they choose an organization that would love to receive your hand-crafted cards. SCS collects the cards and sends them to the organization. This month's recipient is Chemo Angels. You can learn more about how you can help in this thread.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Flores Suaves; Paper: Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray, Parisian Summer DSP; Ink: Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray, VersaMark; Accessories: aquapainter, Glassy Glaze EP, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, Pink Pirouette striped grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

Scallop envelope box

Remember my post about my upline's meeting where she let us use the Big Shot? Well, I FINALLY got my box put together. It is so cute! It uses 4 scalloped envelopes.
Here are the 4 envelopes cut from designer paper. I used dimensionals to stick down the scalloped envelope flaps.
The next step is to fold in the side flaps and adhere the flaps to each other. (Sorry I don't have a picture of that; I was having camera issues.)

Here is a view of the inside of the box. After this picture, I adhered the flaps to the inside of the box.
The last step is to fold in the bottom pieces like you're closing a cardboard box. I put a 3 3/16" square of cardstock in the bottom. You can add a handle to create a basket. On the SU site, a demonstrator used it as a Post-It note holder, so I decided to do that.

The box is 3 1/4" square and 2 1/4" tall.

Happy stamping!

A quick card

Here is just a quick card using Inspired by Nature; I'm pretty sure this is my favorite set! I actually CASEd myself on this card, but you haven't seen the original yet (unless you are Debbie or Pauline). I used last week's color combo from SCS: Baja Breeze, Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. Since the images are so pretty, I kept the rest of the card simple.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Inspired by Nature, Fundamental Phrases; Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust; Ink: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip craft; Accessories: ticket corner punch, double rectangle punch, word window punch, Chocolate Chip narrow grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

World Card Making Day

Tomorrow, October 4, is World Card Making Day! So be sure to make something! In honor of the occasion, SU is offering 20% off all Simply Sent kits 10/4-10/11. Click here to see the flyer.
Happy stamping!

Another swap card

Here is my second swap card for Crystal's new catalog swaps. This may look a little familiar since I made a pinwheel card a long time ago. It's fun to try different things with your punches! What have you done with your punches lately?
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Heard from the Heart, Sanded; Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Junior Varsity DSP; Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive; Accessories: ticket corner punch, small tag punch, Rich Regals brads, Flower Fusion
Happy stamping!

Sock Monkey swap card

I signed up for a new catalog swap hosted by Crystal. I try to do her new catty swap every year because the quality is so good. This year she did smaller groups so I signed up for 4. Since I only had to make 6 of each one, I was able to do what I felt were really good cards. I haven't gotten my swaps back yet, so I've been waiting to post. But the wait is over!
You all know I love the Sock Monkey, so I was happy to make a card with him on it. He is so versatile! It would be easy to make this a birthday card by swapping out the cupcake for the hearts. In fact, this is very similar to the Sock Monkey spring card that I made for Daniel's birthday.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Sock Monkey, Whimsy jumbo wheel; Paper: Whisper White, Kraft, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red; Ink: Creamy Caramel, Black StazOn; Accessories: scallop border punch, round tab punch, Real Red narrow grosgrain ribbon, watercolor wonder crayons
Happy stamping!