Author Archives: mauistamper

So RemARKable! A Brights World Card Making Day

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So glad you came back for more… at post time, it’s midnight in Hawaii, but you East Coast early risers are greeting the sun!  A special shout out to all the crazy all-night crafters at the RemARKably Hot Retreat this weekend 🙂

Choosing a favorite color family is out of the question, but the Brights are easy and fun to work with.  Face it – they’re like opening that fresh box of Crayolas on the first day of school, all shiny with their perfectly shaped crayon tops and intoxicating with that special waxy-Crayola smell.  Brights inspire me in the same way – fresh and lively!

Wouldn’t this card brighten up your birthday?  I’ve made a special effort to see that ALMOST every card in today’s blog hop can be popped into a (Stampin’ Up!) envelope and mailed without extra postage.  There are a couple of exceptions, but with rules, as I said in my first post, I make ’em, I break ’em!  The Brights just don’t seem to have any bad color combinations.

That being said, there MAY be some color combinations meant only for Very Special Friends.  Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo sound like dancing words…or cocktails…or a dance you do while drinking (plenty!) cocktails!!  Life’s too short, and to quote my son “YOLO, Mom – You Only Live Once”.  Sounds good to me.

I struggled with a place to put a nice “Merry Christmas” on this card, but friends, if this doesn’t say it out loud I don’t know what would!  I assure you I stamped a greeting on the inside – and the insides of these cards will be part of the follow-up posts later this week – but who could argue with ornaments on a tree?  Not this girl!

Do you feel brightened up?  My Maui friends are up past their bedtimes, my Easties are greeting the day, and the Westies – well, I’m guessing most of you are sound asleep.  Bright Dreams!

Now head on over to see what Stampin’ Riri has in store for you…

Next Stop on the World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Tour

It’s RemARKable!! An In-Color World Card Making Day

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Aloha, and welcome to Maui!  You’ve reached the western-most destination on today’s World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Hop!!  (Go ahead – say that 5 times!!!)  I’m happy to be part of this adventure and hope you’ll enjoy all the fabulous cards the talented RemARKable artists have created.

There will be FIVE posts today in honor of WCMD, so be sure you check in throughout the day.  The posts aren’t going anywhere, so if you want to come back and browse we hope you will.  Be sure you leave these hard-working bloggers a little bloggin’ love – we appreciate each and every one of your comments so much.

I think I’ve found a fun way to organize my posts – we’ll explore one of the Stampin’ Up! color families each round.  I’ve packed a lot into each post, so if you’re looking for specifics on each card, check back later this week. I’ll start with the most popular, so be sure and “vote” for yours!

Let’s get started with the 2012-2014 In Color Collection – Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple:

  Love that Patio Party Designer Series paper and I will tell you right now that it was a struggle not to use that Summer Silhouettes stamp set for EVERY SINGLE POST.  My absolute fave!  This is definitely a card for that girlfriend who lives out loud!!

I’ll confess that I wasn’t a big fan of this particular crop of In Colors  until I started to play with them, but I’m a convert now!  Oh, Summer Starfruit!  I apologize for saying you looked like – well, I don’t want to share the exact words I used but it wasn’t pretty!  This not-quite-yellow, not-really-green hue is a natural companion to loads of combinations, but especially my favorite blues and greens.  The versatiity of this color caught me completely by surprise and once again I must admit I was wrong to judge a book by it’s cover.

Gotta have some bling on a Christmas card, don’t we??  Our latest glimmer paper is Champagne (ooh, just the word makes me think party!)    Love that sparkle – and just for good measure, I added some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint AND a couple of rhinestone jewels.

The Watercolor Winter set in our Holiday Catalog is my favorite of all the Christmas sets.  I’m a poinsettia girl, and they grow – and bloom – all over  in the islands.  Not at my house, of course – I grow bugs on plants much more successfully than the plants themselves – but I catch my breath when I come around the corner on certain roads and see an entire poinsettia hedge blazing in red on the side of the road.

And yes, for you eagle-eyed, rules-checking blog readers, I DID use Early Espresso and Crumb Cake on that card.  It had to be done.  And she who makes the rules gets to break them too.

All right!!  Hele on (get going) to see what Maria has in store for you!  Mahalo for stopping by, and see you back in 6 hours 🙂

Next Stop on the World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Tour

A special gift for a special couple

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I spent a wonderful day on Saturday celebrating the marriage of my God-daughter to the love of her life.  It was a whirlwind trip from Maui to LAX and back in the blink of an eye but it was worth every moment, penny and hair-raising mile on So Cal freeways to spend some fabulous family time together.  I’m sorry to say I don’t have a decent photo of the weekend to share – I was too busy talk-talk-talkin’ – but I can show you what I made for the bride and groom:

Tiff and Jason's Bridal Smash BookThis is primarily retired product as I was working with their wedding invitation, so no product list.  It’s a smash book for their wedding day, bound with a couple of giant office book rings so that there would be plenty of room for cards, table numbers, photos, or whatever suits them.

Tiff and Jason's Bridal Smashbook insideI used Prints Pack Designer Series paper to cover the inside of the cover, front and back, and included their wedding invitation and some embellished pages to get them started.

Tiff and Jason's Bridal Smash BookYou KNEW the Summer Silhouettes stamp set would have to find it’s way into this project!  Love love love those images!!

Tiff and Jason's Bridal Smash BookI had such a great time playing with images, colors and papers inside the covers.  It was a wonderful weekend and I am grateful they invited me to share their day with them.

Lot of news in the Stampin’ Up! world including new pricing for MDS print projects, free  piercing templates with purchases and more – check my Online Store for the details!

And mark your online browsing calendar for this Saturday, October 6 – I’ll be part of a RemARKable Blog Hop featuring some extraordinarily talented artists for World Card Making Day!  5 posts throughout the day – a super-abundance of inspiration – don’t miss it!

RemARKable World Card Making Day Blog Tour!

Booo Spideys

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Still playin’ with the spiders from the Googly Ghouls stamp set.  These are decidedly un-scary spiders.  I think it’s the lack of hair (as in hairy legs) and teeth.

  • Googly Ghouls stamp set
  • Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry and Basic Gray card stock
  • Staz-on Black ink
  • Tangerine Tango, Basic Black and Rich Razzlberry Stampin’ Write Markers
  • Color Spritzer
  • Crystal Effects
  • Black striped satin ribbon

 

Solve one problem, start on another – my photo is really washed out.  I need to change my “photo studio” set-up, mostly because it’s nothing of the sort.  But that rant is for another day.

I am really crazy about that new black striped ribbon from the Holiday Catalog.  It is shiny, luxurious, and can cross between elegant and spooky.  It has that softness you need for a card.  Doesn’t it seem like Stampin’ Up! has really gotten the ribbon texture thing DOWN lately?  They’re all so easy to work with.  I think the product design people need some high fives.

Couple things about this card…I just eye-balled the alignment of the spiders but if you really want them straight, use that trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig.  I extended the spider-silk line up the card with my Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker and you can too.  Use a light touch – I used a ruler to keep me on the straight road.  And (I ask myself) WHY DON’T I USE CRYSTAL EFFECTS MORE OFTEN???  So, so awesome!  You just have to plan ahead and allow time for it to dry.  (*lightbulb moment: this is why I don’t use Crystal Effects more often.)  You may not be able to see it in the photo but it is on those spideys and it makes them pop!

 

Be of Good Cheer

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I’ve seen a couple of these wreaths – the first one I saw, and the one I used as my inspiration, was by Michelle Suit.  When I saw hers, I immediately saw a home-spun Christmas wreath.  The wreath part came quickly and easily, but it took more than a few days to decide how to embellish:

Stampin' Up! Christmas Wreath Be of Good Cheer DSPYes, you’re right – they’re clothespins.  Others have chosen to hot glue them to a frame, but as much as I love how easily and securely hot glue attaches things to each other, I also have issues with the stringy bits and the hot globs that inevitably stick to my fingers.  I figured a clothespin could just as easily be pinned to a form and that’s what I did.

Be of Good Cheer DSP Stampin' Up! Christmas WreathThe new Champagne Glimmer Paper is fabulous – as I said, it took me a while to figure out that’s what I needed.  And if you haven’t tried the new tulle (this is Cherry Cobbler) well, Just You Wait, Missy!!  Fabulous!!

This wreath measures approximately 16″ across.  I’m offering something new – a private class.  You choose the time and place and invite the guests, and I’ll bring the party!  Cost is $30 for all supplies.  If you are interested in the wreath as a kit, leave your contact information and I’ll be glad to work out the details with you.

Be of Good Cheer Stampin' Up! Wreath

 

The Stubborn Stamper

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My dad used to call me Hard-Way-Heumphreus (yeah, when I was married 31 years ago it wasn’t hard to give up all those vowels).  When I decide to learn something  new I don’t want to read the book or take the tutorial or even watch the YouTube video all the way through.  Does this create an eensy weensie bit of frustration?  YES.  Does that cause me to change my ways?  Um, no.  I guess I’m a slow learner.

All that is to offer a pitiful explanation regarding my latest absence:  I have been trying to teach myself Photoshop.  Specifically, how to create a watermark in Photoshop Elements 10.  For the Mac.  I kept finding videos that used previous generations of PSE.  I would get to a certain point and get stuck and all the click-alt-commanding in the world wasn’t getting me what I wanted.  And I got cranky…for a little while.

But I have projects to show you and  the stubborn part of me decided that tonight I Would Win.  And I did 🙂

It’s getting late and oh, did I mention I’ve been having a DISCUSSION with Photoshop?? So I’m not going to post the full details, but if you really want them leave me a comment and I’ll fill in the blanks.  This is the Petite Pocket die with the the fabulous Frightening Feline stamp (not at all frightening and only $.8.95!) embossed in Tangerine Tango.

Let me save you a little trouble, too.  The only candy bar I found that fit into the Petite Pocket is the….drumroll please…Heath Bar!!!  You guessed it?  Seriously?? I’m very impressed.  You could substitute Pixie Stix or maybe some Halloween minis or beef jerky (but UGH why would you want to do that??) – I like chocolate.

The battle is not entirely over.  Photoshop is playing with me – I’ve discovered I saved the files in the wrong format for WordPress. But I made the watermark, and I got the photo into the post, and that’s good enough for this stubborn stamper tonight.  Tomorrow’s another day, Miss Scarlet.  Let’s just hope I remember it all.

Checkin’ in on my Stampin’ buddy

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Crystal had back surgery last week, and on Saturday Cheryl and I stopped by to visit:

Keep Calm and Stamp On Stampin' Up!It would be lovely if I would focus on my subject now, wouldn’t it?  She had a room full of visitors so we didn’t stay for long.  She also has the cutest 2 year old boy on the face of the earth, so I hope she will get some good rest in the hospital, because things at home are going to be busy.

Here’s a better look at her card:

Keep Calm and Stamp On Stampin' Up!

  • Carry On (Hostess) stamp set
  • Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Raspberry Ripple, Elegant Eggplant and More Mustard card stock
  • Baja Breeze, Raspberry Ripple, Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade and More Mustard FFIP
  • Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots TIEF
  • All kinds of Designer Buttons and Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals, the paper piercer and paper snips

Don’t know what posessed me to use these colors together but I am surprisingly happy with the combination!

Crystal had me cracking up on Friday afternoon when she texted me from the hospital.  They wouldn’t let her have any water yet – something about not having to do the surgery over, I don’t know – and she was trying to get everyone she knew to bring her water.  She texted me “I will give you ALL my stamps for water.”

You know that’s desperate.  It’s also heavily medicated – she was on some big-time pain-killers – so I didn’t take her any water.   Besides, there was that things about having to do the surgery over.  Hmmm…no.

Can’t wait til she’s well enough to stamp again!

Embossing, Blinging, and the Big Shot

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Honestly, I am surrounded by such creative people!  At our team meeting this past week, Peggy not only prepared delicious treats for us, she had a paper treat too:

Joyous Celebrations Stampin' Up!

This is Gumball Green and Real Red but looking at that goofy photo you would never believe it.

Joyful Celebrations Stampin' Up!

We embossed, we blinged, we stamped and punched and ran things through the Big Shot!  Peggy had stamped those tiny red bows ahead of time and painted each one with Crystal Effects so that it would be shiny.  Her “paint brush” was a TOOTH PICK.  I’m telling you, this woman is amazing!

The stamp set is Joyous Celebrations and we had a very joyful time putting this together.

Don’t forget you can get that Gumball Green ribbon for FREE with your $40 order!  Click for details!

Free ribbon with $40 order

Googly Spidey

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The Maui Stampers met last night for a team meeting.  We worked REALLY hard on a sales project for the first, oh, 20 minutes…and then we had to take a goodie break because we were at Peggy’s house, and she had prepared some yummy treats for us!  (I shoulda taken a picture, but then you’d be hungry and my goal is to make you want to stamp, not to eat.)

Once we were fortified, we went back to her dining room and made cards.  This is the one Crystal brought for us to do:

 

Ghouglie Ghouls Stampin' Up!

 

 

  • Googly Ghouls stamp set
  • Basic Black and Tangerine Tango card stock
  • Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP
  • Staz-on Black ink pad
  • 1 1/4, 1 3/8 and 1 3/4 inch circle punches
  • 1 1/4 inch square punch – for the flags
  • Spider Web TIEF
  • Champagne Mist shimmer spray
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals

I am a fan of spiders AS LONG AS THEY STAY OUTSIDE.  Spiders do not belong inside my house.  They can be as big as they want if they stay outside, and we have some pretty big spiders in Hawaii.  I am NOT a fan of poisonous spiders.  We have a few poisonous one here but fortunately they seem to stay out of my way.   However, when we were visiting my beautiful oldest daughter in beautiful Perth, Australia, she discovered a NOT so beautiful Red-Back Spider living inside one of the chairs in our condo.  That chair was immediately evicted from the condo.  Apparently the Red-Back is one of a number of lovely, extremely deadly spiders that live in Australia.  It’s a really, really nice country, but it does seem to have more than a fair share of Things That Can Kill You.

Well.  And now you know how I feel about spiders!  None of the above applies to rubber-stamped spiders, so this happy fellow is welcome in my house.

Want to be a Maui Stamper?  Join the fun by September 16th and this cool project with all the supplies except the ink will be part of your Starter Kit!

Stampin' Up! Maui Stampers

Not-so-Frightening Feline

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So…what do you think of my new look?  I had a lot of fun with MDS2 over the weekend.

Now on to stamping…I think the world of the Stampin’ Up! design team.  They have created some fantastic artwork and constantly challenge me to justify yet another purchase.  However, I have one small complaint:  names.  I don’t want to make a big issue about it, but some of the names that have been given stamp sets seem like a bit of a stretch (and don’t EVEN begin to ask me about colors!!)

Frightening Feline is a perfect example.  There is nothing that I can see that is frightening – except perhaps for the word frightening that appears at least twice in the graphic art.  Goofy, yes.  Sleek, certainly.  Whiskered – well, I could see that too.  But not frightening.  Stampin’ Up! has a tremendous affection for alliteration and that’s all I can imagine is behind this name.

Enough grumbling…

Cheshire Smile

  • Frightening Feline single stamp
  • Whisper White, Tangerine Tango and Basic Black card stock
  • Staz-on Black ink
  • Tangerine Tango FFIP (Firm Foam Ink Pads)
  • Tangerine Tango patterned DSP (Designer Series Paper)
  • Big Shot and Chevron TIEF (Textured Impressions Embossing Folder)
  • 1/2 inch Striped Satin Ribbon

It’s just a teeny piece of that Striped Satin Ribbon but I will tell you it is luscious!  I would love to see this product linger, Stampin’ Up!  You can even name it whatever you like 🙂

Stampin' Up! Free In Color RibbonSpeaking of ribbon, there’s a fabulous promotion for September – get a roll of 2012-2014  Stitched Satin Ribbon FREE with every $40 you spend.  Time to comb through that wish list!