Stampin' Addicts Summer Mini Blog Hop

I love blog hops, but unfortunately I have been way to0 busy to participate in this blog hop round. :( But there are lots of great creations by my friends and fellow demonstrators over at Stampin' Addicts to check out!

Here's the entire blog hop list. Start anywhere; they will take you in a circle.

1. AlliOhran (Allison): Builder Wheels (flowers)
2. Yapha: Builder Wheels (Birthday)
3. Carmen: Sweet Scoops
4. cre8tivestamper (Barbara) In A Word/Square Lattice Embossing Folder
5. CindyE (Cindy): Itty Bitty Bits
6. catrules (Holly): Elements of Style
7. broncomom (Joyce): Mostly Vintage Stencil
8. Stampin'Shell (Michelle): Rough Type
9. dmdezigns (Dawnmarie): Presto Patterns DSP
10. Melissa: Watercolor Trio
11. MaryR (Mary): Simply Adorned charms
12. lilyinkpad (Sara): Favorite Thoughts
13. tjdstampsalot (Twila): Blissful Bride
14. willsygirl (Sarah): Bouquet Bunch
15. s1itcher46 (Kim): A Little Bit of Magic
16. Pepesmom (Trina): Sentimental Journey
17. skdeeleuw (Krystal): Go, Graduate
18. hcarnes (Heather): First Day
19. rhondag (Rhonda): Island Oasis DSP/Island Floral/Tropical Party
20. HollyLogic (Holly): Island Floral Bigz Die (Christmas ideas)
21. LisaMNaples (Lisa): July Fourth/Red, White & Blue jumbo wheel
22. WebDeb (Deb): All a Flutter
23. Tanya27 (Tanya): Motorcycle

Happy hopping!

Summer Mini Swap #2

Here is the second swap submission I created for the Summer mini swaps I am participating in. This one is a "WOW" swap, requiring several layers of cardstock and several embellishments.

Here I used the Sentimental Journey stamp set to create the travel series. I also used the coordinating Travel Journal DSP, which gives the card quite a masculine flair. I made this card when the volcano in Iceland had closed down the airports in Europe (where my in-laws live). The situation of stranded passengers, including my brother-in-law, reminded me of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

These photos shows the Gold Glow Smooch Spritz I used on the background. I love the effect the Smooch Spritz gives.

And here is an up-close shot of the custom-made button, by glueing a stack of buttons cut from Sahara Sand and Travel Journal DSP. The button is then covered with Crystal Effects.

Stamps: Sentimental Journey, Pedaling Past; Paper: Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Kraft, Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Travel Journal DSP; Ink: Soft Suede; Accessories: Gold Glow Smooch Spritz, Old Olive satin ribbon, Linen thread, Crystal effects, Topnote die, Buttons #5 die, Backgrounds I Texturz plate, Big Shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Mini Swap #1

I am participating in a couple Summer mini swaps, to get some great samples to share with my customers. Here is the first one I created as my submission.

This card uses the stamp set Pedaling Past, and I also created my own DSP by coloring the Presto Patterns Specialty paper Old Olive with a brayer. I colored the bicycle with Watercolor Wonder crayons and an aquapainter.

Check out the vintaging created with Log Cabin Smooch Spritz. It has a shimmery tone to it.

Stamps: Pedaling Past; Paper: More Mustard, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Bashful Blue DSP, Presto Patterns Specialty DSP; Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive; Accessories: Brads, Watercolor Wonder crayons, Aquapainter, Sponge, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, Brayer, Word window punch, Modern label punch, Scallop edge punch, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Buffalo ATC

This is the ATC I made for the Buffalo shoebox swap gathering. I had to make 32 of these! Yikes!!

I created a vintage look with the clock from the Sense of Time stamp set and a new set from the Summer mini, Sentimental Journey (sneak peek!). The antique water pitcher image is from the Country Living a la Carte card kit in the Occasions mini, only available until April 30. And I created a custom-made button by glueing a stack of buttons cut out of Sahara Sand cardstock and Old Olive DSP. The button was then covered with Crystal Effects.

I'll have another project with a home-made button in the next couple days, and I will give an up-close view of the button. So stop back to check that out.

Stamps: Sense of Time, Sentimental Journey, Vintage Vogue, Dinner Party, Sanded BG; Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Afternoon Tea DSP, Old Olive DSP; Ink: Soft Suede, Basic Black, Old Olive, More Mustard; Accessories: Brad, 1" Circle punch, Sponge, Craft knife, Linen Thread, Crystal effects, Buttons #5 die, Big Shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Trendy Earth Day

For Earth Day last week, I created a Trendy Trees card, which was also a card we made at this weekend's workshop. I took a picture of the card, right before going to bed late. In the morning, prepping for the workshop, I was shuffling things around and my daughter was also sitting at the stamping desk. All of the sudden, UGH! A smudge! Good thing I took a picture of it before that happened.

This card was inspired by 'Sheri Smith' on SCS.

Trendy Trees is one of the stamp sets that is 20% off as part of the Two-Step into Spring promotion, only until April 30! To take advantage of the sale, simply go to my demonstrator website and click "Shop Now".

Stamps: Trendy Trees; Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Sweet Pea DSP, Old Olive DSP, Certainly Celery DSP; Ink: Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive; Old Olive ribbon, Word window punch, Modern label punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Our second project at the workshop was a cute little Treat Cup card, using the Something Sweet stamp set, both available in the Occasions mini.

I am particular to square cards, which works great with the Treat Cup stamp sets. And the colors were picked to coordinate with the M&Ms. I love combining paper crafts and candy - such fun!

Stamps: Something Sweet; Paper: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Welcome Neighbor DSP; Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery; Accessories: Brad, Large oval punch, Scallop oval punch, 1-3/4" circle punch, Treat cup, M&Ms, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunshine Award

I was awarded the Sunshine Award by Rubber Redneck, Holly Krautkremer, yesterday! How awesome!! Holly has a great blog, and I just love her western style! I am always amazed that there are people out there reading this blog, that I am not just talking to myself. Thanks, Holly!!

So it is my task to pass this award on to 12 other deserving bloggers. So hard to pick just 12! The guidelines are:

1. Put the Sunshine Award on your blog and/or within your post.
2. Pass the award to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award. The hardest part, of course, is narrowing it down to just 12 blogs!!

These are just some of the blogs I enjoy visiting. I chose some blogs that I visit daily as part of the Stampin' Addicts blog group, some I have had a personal connection with (met, swapped with, etc.), and also some of the big demos who just produce fabulous art and share with us! I hope you enjoy my picks!

1. Candace - CJ Lawlor Designs
2. Jackie - Addicted to Stamping
3. Jan - Stamps, Paper, Scissors
4. Jennifer - Stampin' on the Fly
5. Krystal - Krystal's Cards
6. Lydia - Understand Blue
7. Lyssa - Song of my Heart Stampers
8. Mary - Stampin' Pretty
9. Michele - Stamps Well with Others
10. Michelle - Freedom in Creating
11. Sarah - Sarah's Ink Spot
12. Yapha - Rubber Stamping and Card Making with Yapha

So feel free to leave a comment for them, if you love their stuff like I do, and thanks for stopping by!

Big Shot Club - Session #3

Good Morning, Everyone! We had the Big Shot club on Tuesday. Phew! Classes are done for the month. I thought April would be a little quieter than March; I was wrong! I just need to make it through May 1, and then it will calm down? One can hope.

Anywho, on to the project sharing. The focus of this class was cutting "alternate materials". For the first project, we cut wood sheets with the Big Shot.

The leaves were cut with Leaves #2 die and sponged. The wood sheets are really nice! They are very thin wood, so I actually could cut them on my rotary paper cutter, and they have cardstock on the back so you can adhere them easily. The sentiment, from the set Wandering Words from the past Holiday mini, is embossed in gold, always a challenge to photograph. For the envelope-type fold, I cut the base to 5-1/2 x 8-7/8" and scored the top at 2-1/2" and the bottom at 2-1/8".

Stamps: Wandering Words; Paper: Soft Suede, Autumn Traditions DSP; Ink: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Versamark; Accessories: Corner rounder punch, Gold embossing powder, Sponge, Linen thread, Corduroy button, Wood sheets, Leaves #2 die, Big Shot.

For the second project, we die-cut self-adhesive cork.

This one is a clean-and-simple (CAS) design, inspired by 'KandiPants' on SCS.

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly, En Francais background; Paper: Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla; Ink: Basic Black, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Scallop edge punch, Scallop circle punch, Saffron grosgrain ribbon, Linen thread, Button, cork, Basket & Blooms die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

For the last project, we played with fabric. Here Heat 'n Bond was ironed onto the fabric, and then die-cut. The diecut fabric is then ready to iron onto your project. The Heat 'n Bond makes it easier to cut the fabric cleanly and can also be cut in a large rotary paper cutter.

We decorated small drawstring bags with Build-a-Bears. I have previously shown the girl bear, and here Faith created a boy bear.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Shot Quilt Block Swap - They're Back!

I got my Big Shot Quilt Block swaps back. They are so creative! Imagine if you were making a bed quilt, cutting fabric with the Big Shot would make it soooo easy!

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Creators clockwise from top left: Heidi Baks using Scallop #2 and 5-Point Star dies, Amaltais (amastamper) using Hearts & Brackets die, Heidi Baks using 5-Point Star die and Button Latte, Kathleen Brill-Myrice (kjbmusic) using 5-Point Star die, Tina Raspuzzi using Flower Folds die, Pam Gardner (taximomjpg) using Build-a-Bear, Scallop #2, and Serif Essentials dies.

I can't wait to finish these off into a wall hanging - my first one!

Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Birthday Party (Cont'd)

Continuing from yesterday, here are a few crafty things I prepared for the birthday party table and party favors.

I filled favor tins with M&M's and decorated with a Tinkerbell stamp by EK Success. Of course, I used coordinating circle and scallop circle punches from Stampin' Up.

I created origami pirate ship place settings for each child. Cardstock and construction paper were too thick for origami, so I brayered copy paper with black ink, and then decorated with Stampin' Up supplies.

I was inspired by 'icelilly' on SCS, and the instructions for the origami folding is here.

Stamps: Pirate Time, Happiness BG; Paper: Going Gray, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red, Copy paper; Ink: Going Gray, Ruby Red, Basic Black; Accessories: Toothpicks and flag pattern from Pirate Party Kit, 1/2" Circle punch, Brayer.

Decorated bubbles for party favors.

And one of my favorites - dressing up the cupcakes! Now the only thing my daughter said was she wanted a "pink cake". So, pirate party or not, we were having pink frosting!

Food flags come as part of the Stampin' Up Pirate Party Kit, and I used the Perfect Setting die and pirate and Tinkerbell patterned paper to create the cupcake holders.

These are the Tinkerbell ones.

Close-up of the pirate cupcakes.

Lots of fun to create this themed party. Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Birthday Party!

This past weekend we had my daughter's birthday party. My baby is three! She is just getting into birthday parties and birthday cakes, so we thought we would have a "kid party" for her. What fun to make decorations and favors for her, huh?

The colors in the Stampin' Up! Princess Party Kit weren't really speaking to me, so I asked her if she wanted a pirate party instead. Sure - pirates and Tinkerbell!

Here are her party invitations -

I hope they aren't too scary for the other kids, but she thinks "skelits", as she calls them, are funny.

Stamps: Pirate Time, Beware Pirates; Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Rockabilly DSP; Ink: Basic Black, Going Gray, Chocolate Chip, Versamark; Accessories: Black embossing powder, Black grosgrain ribbon, Real Red grosgrain ribbon, Pirate Party Kit.

A party banner from the Pirate Party Kit.

And pirate eye patches.

Here she is dressed up like Tinkerbell. We had to follow the treasure map...

and use the eye patches and toy telescopes...

to find the bounty.

A close-up of the treasure map and treasure chest (from the Pirates Party Kit). The treasure chests were filled in gold coins, of course!

I'll share more party crafting tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

Country Living A La Carte Card Kit

I had to buy the Country Living a la Carte card kit offered in the Occasions mini. The stamp set, called Dinner Party, is just so elegant! I am particularly thinking about ATCs with this one.

I used the patterned cardstock that comes with the kit, which kinda says porcelain to me, and the antique water pitcher image, to create this little notecard.

I stamped off the pitcher image, to lighten it a bit. After stamping the sentiment, I used the coluzzle to cut the circle and popped it up with Dimensionals. This was one of the stamp club projects this week.

You can see the complete kit contents in this post, which includes cardstock, stamps, ink, and envelopes. Don't forget the kit is only available until April 30!

Supplies - Stamps: Thank You Kindly; Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Country Living a la Carte kit (including Dinner Party stamps, Ballet Blue ink spot, Patterned cardstock), coluzzle, Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. Happy Birthday, Janneke! My little missy is 3 today!!

Boston Shoebox Swap

This past weekend we traveled to Boston for another shoebox swap. What fun! Thanks Andi for hosting! Here is the project I brought along, featuring products from the Occasions mini.

This is a little matchbook; a tutorial found on SCS here. I stamped the front with the Vintage Vogue stamp set, and popped up the F. The Designer Series Paper is from the Sweet Pea patterned pack. I used clear-mount stamps with acrylic blocks, which made placement super easy.

And here is the inside, which holds a Ghirardelli square.

A close-up of the inside sleeve. For some reason I was stamp-challenged when I made this, so forgive me that it isn't perfect. The inside sentiment is from the set Garden Whimsy, and I stamped the leaf and popped up the flower inside.

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Garden Whimsy; Paper: Taken with Teal, Whisper White, Sweet Pea DSP; Ink: Old Olive, Taken with Teal; Accessories: Brads, Faux dew drop, Glue dot, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Mini Sneak Peek

It's my niece's birthday today, and I thought I would create a card for her with a set from the upcoming Summer Mini (starting May 1). This set, called Sweet Scoops, has both hard and soft ice cream images, of course your choice of cones, plus a cherry, sprinkles, and a texture stamp which is perfect for the kissing technique. Definitely a build-your-own ice cream cone or sundae! It says summer all over it!!

This card is a CASE of Cindy Major's card. I love the combination of colors, layers, and shapes! My daughter said, "That card is yummy!" :)

Stamps: Sweet Scoops, So Very, Happiness; Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Cameo Coral, So Saffron, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Sweet Pea DSP; Ink: So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black; Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Paper piercer, Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon, Corner Rounder punch, Scallop Trim edge punch, Coluzzle, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Simply Adorned Charm Insert Swap - They're Back!

I got my Simply Adorned 1 x 1.25" charm insert swaps back. Yeah! They are so beautiful and varied. Thanks you, Ladies! Beautiful work!

Creators, starting from top left: Kandice Williams, Tara Angus, Lisa Wellman, Paula Wright, Heather Carnes, Melissa Huie, Angie Pegram, Kim Bolzenthal, Missi Roeber, Holly Podkowa, Trina Caraway, Heidi Baks.

I am offering a Simply Adorned charm insert class. Purchase the 1 x 1.25" rectangular charm and one of the chains, and you will receive the class for FREE! We will be creating three inserts at class. If you can't make the class, I will create the inserts for you. This would be a perfect Mother's Day present or birthday gift. Make sure to register and pay by THIS FRIDAY, April 16th! All the details are on my Meetup group page.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Spring Picnic Parade

The Occasions mini has the cutest little hostess set in it - Picnic Parade. I saw these animals, and it reminded me of Richard Scarry characters, which I loved as a child, and my daughter adores now.

I simply used the same layout for my main panel as in the mini, blatently copying the colors and all. Why reinvent the wheel, right? And my challenge for the day was to use the DSP which was a boo-boo from the previous night. I had such fun coloring these animals with my aquapainter! This one is a birthday card for a friend who loves little cartoony animal stamps.

Stamps: Picnic Parade, Sanded; Paper: Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Whisper White, Dusty Durango DSP; Ink: Stazon, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Real Red, Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Real Red marker, Old Olive marker; Accessories: Aquapainter, Neutrals Watercolor Crayons, Circle punch, brads, Dusty Durango grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Shot Club - Session #2

In the second Big Shot Club session, we focused on texture. First up, using Texturz Plates to create texture.

Here we used a brayer to ink up the Kit #4 texture plate with Soft Suede and then ran it through the Big Shot. That created the color on the Always Artichoke piece to simulate woodgrain.

Stamps: Forest Friends; Paper: Soft Suede, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Dusty Durango DSP; Ink: Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip marker; Accessories: Brads, Sponge, Brayer, Texturz Plate Kit #4, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

The second project illustrated the use of embosslits.

Here we used the Backgrounds I texture plate and highlighted the resulting patterned with Whisper White craft ink and a sponge dauber. The Simple Flower embosslit plus Perfect Plum ink was used to create the pansies. A tutorial for the flower pot card can be found here, and this particular version is a CASE of 'Renee1' on SCS.

Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White, Lovely Lilac, Orchid Opulence, Lavendar Lace, Really Rust, Certainly Celery; Ink: Perfect Plum, Whisper White Craft; Accessories: Sponge dauber, Brads, Twill ribbon, Scallop edge punch, Little Leaves die, Backgrounds I Texturz Plates, Simple Flower embosslit, Big Shot.

And finally, we tried an advanced trick with embossing folders, embossing your paper while leaving a void in the middle for stamping.

I started by using my Coluzzle and cutting out an oval in the center of two A2-sized pieces of cardboard and gluing them together. I found I needed a cardboard shim underneath, so the sandwich from the bottom is: Shim under Tab 1, Tab 1 multipurpose platform, Oval cardboard piece, Embossing folder with cardstock inside, Top cutting plate. This unembossed center creates such a nice effect! This card is a CASE from 'stamperkay'.

Stamps: Autumn Days, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla; Ink: Soft Suede, More Mustard, Mellow Moss; Accessories: Modern Label punch, Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon, Finial Press embossing folder, Cardboard oval template, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

The next Big Shot Club, scheduled for April 20, we will be focusing on creating projects with "alternate materials". Please join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Simply Adorned Charm Insert Swap

Have you seen these Simply Adorned Charms in the Occasions mini? These charms are designed to allow you to swap out the insert, great for any girl who has the prerogative to change her mood! I ordered the 1 x 1-1/4" square charm and chain. The chain had a really nice toggle clasp, and the charm has a lobster claw clasp and a beveled front, which allows the use of some bulkier embellishments on the insert. These would be really great for inserting some photos or using for Christmas tree decorations!

I am currently participating in a charm insert swap. These are really fun to make, almost like making inches! This is my contribution.

A closer look...

We are decorating both the front and back, so this is the backside view.

I used the Poppin' Pastel technique to color the background, and then I sealed it with acrylic fixative.

Stamps: Garden Dreams; Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black; Ink: Versamark, Basic Black; Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Gold embossing powder, Acrylic fixative.

Thanks for stopping by!

Big News: Color Renovation!

Stampin' Up! announced today they are going to shake up their color families for the new 2010-2011 catalog (starting July 1). They will be eliminating less popular colors and bringing back some of the In Colors we have been clamoring for!

What does this mean?

• 25 core colors are staying
• 10 current and past In Colors are coming back
  
• 5 new core colors are being added
  
• 5 new In Colors will be introduced each catalog year and each group will have a 2-year life span
  

Here's what the new Color Collections look like (click on the picture for a better view).

*Note that Crumb Cake is the new name for our loved neutral Kraft.

And here is what is retiring.

What does this mean for you?

• Some exciting new colors to choose from
• Some old favorites are back
• And the time to stock up is now! The retiring colors are available until June 30, so make sure you grab all the cardstock, ink pads, and reinkers you will need!

If you are like me, and you have all the colors in cardstock, ink, pastels, watercolor crayons, don't despair! Starting with the new catalog, there will be transition kits available to both demonstrators and customers to help make a smooth transition to the new Color Collections. Change is good! I'm excited to start trying all these new, fresh colors!

Thanks for stopping by!

Quilt Block using the Big Shot

I am participating in a quilt block swap using the Big Shot to cut the fabric. So off to Mom's I went to raid her fabric stash (and have her help me with the sewing part!). I started designing by laying out various die-cut shapes, and the shape from the 5-Point Star die said windmill to me. My husband is Dutch, so of course that had to be the first design to try.

My mom had cute Dutch fabric we could use, plus wood grain patterned fabric, so it came together pretty easily. The base of the square is muslin pieces with batting sandwiched in between. I finished it off with buttons from the Button Latte collection.

You can use this square to make a pillow, a hot pad, a front to an apron, whatever you can think of! I am going to put my squares from the swap together to make a wall hanging.

Supplies: 5-Point Star die, Big Shot, Button Latte, Fabric, Thread, Sewing machine.

My mom sent me home to try one on my own. Here it is -

I followed the general instructions for this square found here.

Supplies: 5-Point Star die, Scallop Circle #2 die, Big Shot, Rick Rack, Fabric, Thread, Sewing machine.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Ensemble

It was a good friend's birthday recently. Well, what in the world am I going to get her (and her husband was no help!)? I received a beautiful swap card from Kris (conductorchik) at the Binghamton shoebox swap, featuring a recessed window.

I built on that card to create a birthday ensemble.

I put Belgian chocolates in the little topnote purse and Strawberry Cheesecake Jelly Bellies in the shoe. I just couldn't wait until she opened it; it turned out so good! Satin ribbon makes everything so pretty and elegant! And my daughter wanted to hold the shoe sooooo bad! [While I was excited, it was also hard to give them away!]

A closer look at the purse and shoe -

I found the shoe template through this link on SCS. Here's the trick - print on copy paper, cut out and attach on your DSP with Dotto temporary adhesive. Then cut out your template again. This way, you don't get any printer lines on your DSP!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Very Vintage wheel; Paper: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink DSP; Ink: Close to Cocoa; Accessories: Satin ribbon, Halfback pearls, 5-Petal punch, Scallop Trim border punch, Scallop Trim corner punch, Topnote die, Big Shot, Cello bags, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, Tombo Multipurpose glue.

Thanks for stopping by!