Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Technique Tuesday: Reverse Masking, Embossing with Classic Ink

Today I'm sharing a couple projects we made at our Technique Class. For a basic technique, trying Reverse Masking. This is a great way to add depth or illusion of an addition layer, perfect for a Clean & Simple card.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Warmest Regards; Paper: Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla; Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip marker; Accessories: Acetate template, Sponge.

And for an intermediate technique, do you know the trick for Embossing with Classic Ink? Classic ink dries quickly, unlike Craft ink, making it a good choice for quick and mess-free stamping, but not so good for embossing. In order to emboss with all your favorite Classic ink colors, ink up your image first in Versamark, then immediately in the Classic ink, then stamp. Cover the image with clear embossing powder. Important - make sure you clean your stamp before repeating to avoid dirtying your Versamark pad.

Stamps: Wonderful You, Warmest Regards; Paper: Always Artichoke, River Rock, Whisper White, Vellum cardstock; Ink: Always Artichoke, River Rock, Basic Black Versamark; Accessories: River Rock ribbon, Metal clip, Clear embossing powder, Paper piercer, Cutter Kit, Glue dots.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Sale-a-Bration Blog Hop Follow-Up

Thanks for coming back for further info on some of the Sale-a-bration blog hop projects. The lists of materials can be found back on the blog hop post.

Mom is the hero of the quilt block wall hanging. My contribution was to design and cut it. Like I mentioned, I am a clueless sewer.

Here is a close-up of her stitching. Click the photo for an even closer view.

And here's an outline of how it was put together.
  • Print the images on copy paper from My Digital Studio
  • Trace images on fusible web, iron onto the backside of the fabric, and cut out images
  • Iron fabric/fusible web onto the muslin square, and machine stitch around images with an applique stitch
  • Add features, such as the tail and wing, by hand sewing with embroidery floss. Mom used a French Knot and Stem Stitch.
  • The border was created by cutting a binding and folding in half. There was more detail here (insert clueless-me).
  • Attach the striped ribbon to the back with a running stitch.

Thanks Mom!!!

The Cute 'n Cubby project was created with the tutorial from Card a la Carte.

I can't share the tutorial here, but I can tell you it takes nearly one fat quarter of fabric. It must be pretty easy if I made my way through it! And it folds flat for easy travel to shoebox swaps.

I created these Cute 'n Cubbies for my roommates at Leadership as well, using Springtime Vintage fabric.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Stampin' Addicts Sale-a-Bration Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Sale-a-bration Blog Hop! Have you seen the SAB catalog yet? For each $50 spent, you can choose a free item from the SAB catalog. On top of the four stamp sets, accessories, papers, ribbon, My Digital Studio digital content CD, and even SAB-exclusive decor element, there is also selected stamps and accessories from the main catalog to choose from! Buttons, fabric, cardstock, Big Shot embossing folder.... there is something for everyone.

If you have been following the blog hop in order, you have just come from Lisa's blog featuring the stamp set Outlined Occasions. Lisa always has over-the-top beautiful projects!

For my stop on this blog hop, I thought I would challenge myself with Flirtatious designer fabric. What was I thinking?! I'll admit, the stress level was higher, but this just goes to show that anyone can do this!

First a straight-forward project. Any card maker can add a little fabric to a card for interest, texture, and touchability.

Just snip a cut on the edge of the fabric and hand tear with the "grain" of the fabric for a fun, raw edge.

Stamps: Field Flowers; Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Regals Collection DSP; Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder marker, Elegant Eggplant marker; Accessories: Color Spritzer Tool, Finial Press embossing folder, Paper Doily die, Big Shot, Flirtatious designer fabric, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.
I originally saw the Cute 'n Cubby on Sara Mattson-Blume's blog last year. I fell in love. I wanted one soooo bad! And it took me this long to get the courage to give it a try. Trust me, if I can, YOU can!

Supplies: Flirtatious designer fabric, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, Square Scallop die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.
Here is the super stepped-up project, a quilt block wall hanging. After laying out a pattern in My Digital Studio, Little Missy and I took a trip to Mom's house for a sewing day. Mom is an expert quilter. Me? Not at all!

Did you catch the neat part? You can blow up any non-detailed image in MDS and use it as a pattern!

MDS elements: Nursery Necessities; Accessories: Flirtatious designer fabric, Pretty in Pink striped ribbon, Beautiful Butterflies die, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread, Muslin, Batting, Fusible web, Embroidery floss, Dowel.
Come back on Monday for more pictures and further descriptions. If you aren't yet a member of Stampin' Addicts, you can sign up here. Make sure you check out the next stop to see what Sharon at Created By You put together using Kindness Matters. She made some amazing projects.








The complete blog hop listing:

1) Betty (kittystamps) -- Fresh Vintage
2) Holly K (catrules) -- Fresh Vintage
3) Paula (scrapshappen) -- Everyday Enchantment DSP
4) Tanya (tanya27) -- Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad pack
5) Yapha -- Sprinkled Expressions
6) Twila (tjdstampsalot) -- Sprinkled Expressions
7) Rhonda (rhondag) -- Outlined Occasions
8) Lisa Y (genesis) -- Outlined Occasions
9) Heidi (hlw966) -- Flirtatious Fabric
10) Sharon (createdbyu) -- Kindness Matters
11) Katherine -- Designer Frames Embossing Folders
12) Shelley (Packer Fan) -- Elementary Elegance
13) Kim (s1itcher46) -- Elementary Elegance
14) Krystal (skdeleeuw) -- Stripes Embossing Folder
15) Mickey (MickeyRoberts) -- Language of Friendship
16) Carmen -- One Big Sale-a-bration MDS CD
17) Debra (webdeb) -- One Big Sale-a-bration MDS CD
18) Sara (lilyinkpad) -- Piece of Cake Ensemble MDS CD

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

FM43 Time for something new...

I have a sneak peek of tomorrow's Friday Mashup challenge - time to try out some new products. Do you have any stamps you bought recently, but they haven't seen ink yet? Well, pull them out! And if you are feeling saucy, mash it up with the following sketch.


So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :
  1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
  2. Or Make a project using "Something NEW in your stash".
  3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "using the Sketch & something New in your stash".

We received the stamp set Everything Eleanor at Leadership, which turns out to be available only in the European catalog. Are we going to get it in our next catalog? I don't know... we'll have to wait and see.

Since I haven't seen any samples with the stamp set, I was lame and downloaded the UK catalog and followed the color combo from their sample page. I know... not very creative. I told you, I'm brain dead the week after a stampin' conference. And I got to put to good use some tips and tricks I learned at Leadership using the new Sale-a-bration ribbon.

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Warm Words; Paper: Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Domestic Goddess DSP, Paisley Petals DSP; Ink: Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait; Accessories: Pool Party seam binding, SAB Everyday Enchantment ribbon & brad pack, Crystal Effects, Blender pen, Oval punches, Sponge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Make & Takes from Leadership and Regionals

I know, I've been talking a lot about Leadership. It was a super fabulous time! It is traditional for me to come home, all wiped out, and work on my make & takes. Much easier to create some stuff that someone cut and designed for me when my brain is tired.

Here are the projects from Leadership using stamp sets Mixed Bunch and Loving Thoughts, Twitterpated DSP, and Blossom Builders die-cut kit.

For the following project, the instructions were to put the batch of cards in a mason jar, but I didn't have one large enough, so I created a Fancy Favor box instead.

I did skip a treat bag using Twitterpated DSP and the Fancy Favor die. It was too similar to the "Happiness" card box above, plus I didn't have any treats! That's a bummer, huh? :)

And there is also a 3-D MDS sample and a scrapbook page. DH wasn't too happy that he had to whip a frame together for me. I also used some Blushing Bride Smooch Spritz on this framed piece, partially because I can't cracked open the box yet. Silly me!

I cut my scrapbook page down to 6 x 6" dimensions, my favorite kind. I always love the 3-D and scrapbook samples!

And here are the projects from Regionals using Send Me Soaring. The first one is a view master card. We don't often do interactive cards at Stampin' Up events, so that was pretty cool.

The second card illustrates an alternative way to use this stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

SUOC37 Focus on Occasions

It's the most wonderful time of the (Stampin' Up) year... Sale-a-bration is here!!! Click on the catalog icon below to check out the SAB catalog.

There are several ways to join in the festivities -

{Shop} - For each $50 you spend in Stampin' Up products (and they have the BEST products!), you earn a FREE item out of the SAB brochure. On top of the four stamp sets, accessories, papers, ribbon, My Digital Studio digital content CD, and even SAB-exclusive decor element, there is also selected stamps and accessories from the main catalog to choose from! Buttons, fabric, cardstock, Big Shot embossing folder.... there is something for everyone.

{Host} - This is the best time to host a workshop, for both your guests as well as extra SAB incentives for you, so be sure to book your workshop today! There is a darling free tote with a $150 workshop and a free hostess bundle with a $400 workshop.

{Join} - But that's not all! Sale-a-bration is a great time to sign up to be a demonstrator. During SAB, the starter kit is only $125, plus you can choose from a bonus free paper pack or digital download every month for the rest of the year!

On to today's creative item... today's Stampin' Up Only Challenge is to create a project using your favorite new Occasions mini item. Bordering on... stingy? Here's another Bordering on Romance sample. This set really didn't catch my eye at first, and I'll tell you, I'm having the most fun coloring it. But what's up with stingy? Well, I ran some of the DSP through my printer, which happened to be dirty with crayon. Don't ask how that happened! Anyway, some of the DSP didn't fair too well, but I couldn't bear to toss it. So I threw it into this layout, and you can hardly tell!

The new edgelits make such a nice designed edge to the card. I cut the Baja Breeze and Whisper White pieces separately, but I suppose I could have ran them through together. Embossing is recommended to be done last.

This sample is for our recent sideline meeting. We get together every quarter and share shoebox projects, finished swaps, and business discussions. Sharing stamping with friends is just another perk of being a demo!

Stamps: Bordering on Romance; Paper: Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP; Ink: Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, White Craft, Black Stazon; Accessories: Aquapainter, White baker's twine, Circles #2 die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Adorning Accents edgelits, Big Shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, January 23, 2012

What a Haul!

I made it back from Leadership with a throbbing toothache - Ow! Very hard to travel when you are in pain. And my bag didn't arrive with me, but luckily they delivered it this morning. A little patience from Little Missy to get her souvenirs, but we are good to go.

Here is a pictorial display of the haul I brought home, which also including a sprinkling of stuff from Regionals. You've seen the bag, matching folio, and chocolate. We also got mini catalogs to hand out, a "My Way" pin, plus stickers to put on the pin so the text can be my way. Nice little detail.

Here are the stamp sets - Fresh Vintage plus Everyday Enchantment DSP, Everything Eleanor plus large pearls, Mixed Bunch, and Loving Thoughts. Also the make & take packets are in there, which I plan to work on today.

Look at all the accessories we got! We newbies got In Color brads for finding 9 other newbies that had the same color newbie pin as us. And there is an On Board Journal to create our own Creativity Journal like Carrie Cudney's. There is a list of challenges she printed out for us to try.

And here are the gifts from my roomies. Aren't they the cutest things? Rosemary brought some microwave dessert, which would have been fun. Too bad we didn't have a microwave in our room. There are some "Smarties" from our Canadian friends, which are different than the U.S. "Smarties".

I'm not going to show you what I made for my roomies yet, because I did the same project for the upcoming Sale-a-bration Blog Hop. So stay tuned...

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Leadership Day 3

Today is the last day of Leadership - waaaahhhhh! :) It has been a great time! Lots more news today. I'll apologize in advance, since some of the info posted is targeted to my fellow demos who aren't here.
  • Stampin' Up will be offering a 30-day trial of My Digital Studio. This is for everyone, starting February 1.
  • I have a free three-month subscription to Stampin' Success, our exclusive SU demo magazine, to give away to a potential recruit. Anyone interested?
  • We saw some more new product with the Sale-a-bration recruit incentive bundle, which includes two stamp sets, ribbon, and paper. This is available to all demos, not just Leadership attendees. I have to say, seeing new product is the most exciting part for me. I just love it! You need to come to these events so you can share in the excitement!
  • We also heard some training on how to encourage our downline. There is another incentive if we recruit, and our downline recruits, and the Leadership attendees as a whole get 500 downlines to recruit, we will earn the Summer Smooches bundle. They didn't really show the product to us, but I hear there is fabric in the bundle, and it will be available in April. Something to tide us over until the new catalog comes out, perhaps?

Since this post is graphic light today, how about some pics? For Melissa -

We B Swappin' -

For the classes, I have to mention a couple items, in hopes they google me and I win a stamp set! What we won't do for free stamps, huh? ;) Bonnie Thurber taught a class here at Leadership 2012 called Getting the Most from your Title. She challenged us to put together a six-month plan to promote to the next level. I'll have to put some thought into this plan. Amy Swartz and Paula Critchlow presented Including a New Generation in Your Stamping Business. We looked at how the 25-35 year old demographic lined up with the five pillars of leadership, and we have to choose a couple items from each point to incorporate into our business. I guess my biggest hole would be I still have a "dumb" phone. I need to get a little more mobile with my internet communicating. And Carrie Cudney taught Why Women Buy. I loved this class, because I just find the study of sociology fascinating. I also found that I shop like a guy - oops!

We ran into an interesting store on the way to Rosario's called the Jewelry Box. How about this lady to greet you?

San Antonio kickers -

Finally, I have to say something Lydia posted a few years back. For the demos out there who don't have a downline and would love to come to Leadership, stick with it! I was in your shoes for three years, watching Leadership come and go from the sidelines. The efforts you make now will pay back in the future... maybe not today, but soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

FM42 Piercing Rood Kapje Blushing Espresso

Today is a color challenge at the Friday Mashup. It is a perfect time of year for a warm drink, so today Rood Kapje, or Little Red Riding Hood in Dutch, is bringing Grandmother a latte.


So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :
  1. Make a project featuring "Paper Piercing".
  2. Or Make a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red & Early Espresso".
  3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red & Early Espresso with some Paper Piercing" .

*With all of our Challenges that have a Stampin' Up! Color Combo, you may substitute any colors with similar ones you have on hand.

*Here is a link on how to do Paper Piercing Paper Piercing Tutorial

I went digging in my old DSP for some paper with a similar color combo. Out jumped Bella Rose DSP.

I used the Clean&Simple layout #169.

I used some paper piecing, not piercing, on the main image.

Stamps: Let's Get Together by There She Goes; Paper: Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP; Ink: Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso; Accessories: Piercing Tool, Backgrounds I Texturz Plates, 3-1/2" Circle die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Leadership Day 2

Evening, Everyone! Some exciting news from General Session today. We got three all-attendee give-aways, including a not-yet-released stamp set. Here's a pic with my roommates.

There is an exciting new accessory coming out for the Simply Scored on March 1. They provided us with some ideas on how to use this product immediately after introducing it. Isn't that awesome?

And they are laying out a new schedule of catalogs and mini catalogs. There will be two mini catalogs, Spring and Holiday, running five months each. This will allow Stampin' Up to introduce Holiday products earlier, which is great! This will also shift the main catalog dates slightly, so the current Idea Book & Catalog will end on May 30*. This is a month earlier than originally planned... so keep that in mind for the retiring stamp sets time frame.

*For my stamp club ladies, we will have to move our June meeting into May to capture the end of this catalog season.

Brian Pilling challenged us to share our experience with the Sharing the Stampin' Up Opportunity class online. I also have to include the key words Leadership 2012.

I had attended this class at Convention, but found it so useful that I attended again. So Brian, I wanted to tell you I found your discussion on bonding and celebrating particularly helpful recently in my recruiting experience. Thank you!

There were some break-out classes, focusing on business, which I found particularly helpful. A busy day, and my dogs were hurting. We had a nice steak dinner (what's Texas without a bit of meat?) and then... we checked out the taping of Extreme Makeover, Home Edition for some wounded soldiers in the area. We actually became part of the audience. There was a boat parade on the River Walk.

Many service men and women were on hand, Ty Pennington did the presenting, and Lee Greenwood sang God Bless the U.S.A.

I know, I know... but where's the crafting? How about a couple of my favorite display projects?

Thanks for stopping by!