Saving with RemARKable Bundles

Posted on September 10, 2015 by mauistamper

This month the RemARKable Blog tour is focusing on the great savings you can enjoy with the many bundles offered from Stampin’ Up!

The Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing folder was at the top of my Holiday Catalog must-have-list so it was easy for me to choose that bundle – the TIEF plus the Among the Branches photopolymer stamp set.

The Mini Treat Bag is perfectly sized for Halloween treats and this great image fits perfectly in the Spider Web doilies.

The Woodland TIEF is a great background and shows up beautifully when the treat bag is made from the glassine sheets. A couple of tiny pearls colored with permanent black marker add the final touch.

Same stamps and accessories, but now there’s an Autumn feeling. The message underneath “To You From Me” is “and tasty dishes” – but I wanted to use this for a birthday, thinking of you, or other message.

If you look closely, you’ll note that I ran the TIEF through with the trees being de-bossed. If you really like that concept it’s as simple as turning your card inside out.

I love the elegance of this look, with the sparkle of the glimmer paper, the soft Mint Macaron color, and the shimmer on the trees added with white craft ink and Dazzling Diamonds.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s tour – check out the beautiful work of the other RemARKables! Head on over to see what Heather Mathieson is doing next.

Here’s the full tour list:

Anne Matasci <— YOU ARE HERE

Weekly Deals!

Posted on September 2, 2015 by mauistamper

Fresh new deals this first week of September – and a BRAND NEW Holiday Catalog!

These great deals are available September 1 to 7 – check them out HERE!

And while you’re shopping, be sure to feast your eyes on the new Holiday Catalog – loads of great new ideas!

A calendar for September

Posted on September 1, 2015 by mauistamper

I chose an old favorite for my September easel calendar. I must not be the only one who likes it, because it’s still available in the 2015-2016 Annual Catalog:

Stamps: Summer Silhouette
Color Palette: So Saffron, Hello Honey, Early Espresso
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds

I’ve been a little wild and crazy with the Dazzling Diamonds lately, and I hope I don’t get too careless. Mr. Maui Stamper is NOT a fan of glitter on the run. If it is firmly attached to something – anything – he will tolerate it, but glitter in the air, on clothing, or (especially) on the furniture drives him crazy.

But look at those beautiful sparkly bits! It absolutely had to be done. Can I let you in on a little secret? I just added those Dazzling Diamonds a few days ago with my new, about-to-be-released Fine Tip Glue Pen from the Holiday Catalog. Tombo will always be The Wonder Adhesive in my book, but the Fine Tip Glue Pen is going to need some special recognition too.

Be sure to visit Cheryl and Crystal to see what they’ve created for this month – and stay tuned if you’d like a set of blank 2016 pages for your own creative calendar!

A remarkable friend

Posted on August 28, 2015 by mauistamper

If you’re lucky, you have a remarkable friend. She is generous, thoughtful, and knows just when to send you a really DUMB meme that will make you laugh until you…well, you know. I needed a card for a remarkable friend, and Stampin’ Up! heard me loud and clear:

Stamps: Remarkable You, Gorgeous Grunge
Color Palette: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Gold
Tools: Aquapainter, Lost Lagoon satin ribbon (retired), Winter Wonderland DSP (Holiday 2015), Gold Washi (retired), Island Indigo Baker’s Twine (retired, other colors available), Iced Rhinestone Embellishments (Holiday 2015)

I’ve used just a tiny piece of the Winter Wonderland DSP (Designer Series Paper) but every sheet in that assortment is gorgeous. There’s new gold washi in the Holiday 2015 catalog too, but I had this on hand. And check out the Iced Rhinestone Embellishments!! Can I get a chorus of “More is MORE!!” here please??

Pool Party and Island Indigo are one of my favorite color combinations. I can use it all year without feeling out of season – maybe that’s why I like it so well!

Happy birthday, my Remarkable Friend!

Weekly Deals: Sparkles in the House!

Posted on August 25, 2015 by mauistamper

Lots of glimmer in the DEALS this week:

It may be too early to start shopping and decorating, but shopping for holiday craft supplies is right around the corner. Be sure you stock up on Glimmer paper and Glitter – not to mention ribbons and cording and rhinestone jewels and…

Shop HERE.

What does the Minion say?

Posted on August 22, 2015 by mauistamper

As a counterpoint to the Angry Birds card, we created a Minion card.

Stamps: None (GASP!!)
Color Palette: Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Thinlits Circle card and the Big Shot; 2 1/2″, 2″ and 3/4″ circle punches; Owl Builder punch; Stampin’ Dimensionals; Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive); Fringe Scissors

This is an easy card, but it takes a little time, and your fingers will likely get all Tombo-ee (yes, that is a word.)

Begin with the Circle Thinlet card in Daffodil Delight. You’ll need 2 pieces of Pacific Point (mine were 1 1/2″ tall) for the overalls, plus narrow strips to make the straps. The “button” on the straps is from the Owl Builder – a real button would have made this card too thick for standard postage.

I used a 3/4″ strip of Basic Black for the bands near the eye (what the heck are they for, anyway??) And you’ll need to punch 2 Whisper White 2 1/2″ circles, a 2″ Daffodil circle (that you’ll cut in half), and a 3/4″ Black circle for the eyeball. The glasses? goggle? monocle? is created by punching a 2″ Smoky Slate circle, then centering the round opening in the 2 1/2″ circle punch to cut out a ring. I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to give it some height over the eye.

This is what the card looks like laid out flat. There’s a plain Whisper White circle on the back of the eye to write a message, but here’s where I got stuck. What does the minion say? No idea.

Here’s the back side, laid flat. Note that the “hair” is angled off to the side – otherwise it gets smushed (also a word) when the card is closed.

My card is CASED from THIS version, but there are many other versions in the CraftyWeb. Have a blast creating your own!!

Quick and easy tags – and a Reunion Story

Posted on August 20, 2015 by mauistamper

Last weekend I made a whirlwind trip to attend my high school reunion. I took goodie bags for the people who made it happen – and they worked very hard! Before I left, I made up some simple tags for the bags:

Stamps: Wild About Flowers, Gorgeous Grunge, Tin of Cards
Color Palette: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Basic Black, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Stamp n’ Write Marker, corner rounder punch

A hand-made tag is a lovely personal touch and I made 10 of these in about 15 minutes – you can’t get much quicker than that! I cut our new heavy-weight Whisper White card stock into 2″ x 8 1/2″ strips and punched the each end with the Tag Topper, then cut them in half and rounded the opposite corners. Stamp, stamp, stamp and done!

Last week I shared THESE tags, and they were quick too.

My trip, while insanely fast, was well worthwhile. I got to spend time with my parents, which is always special. My sister and her family joined us on Friday night for drinks (my niece has just turned 21) and then dinner. I got to spend time with a dear friend from high school. And I reconnected with people I knew, and built new relationships with people I barely knew.

Sally and I were friends in high school, college frosh roomies, and then went our separate ways for about 35 years. A year or so ago, she tracked me down and we picked up where we left off. If she hadn’t messaged me to say that she was coming to reunion and I should too, I wouldn’t have attended. Lesson one: reach out to old friends.

Lesson two: EVERYONE feels nervous about attending reunion. I talked to a lot of different classmates, and it seemed we all felt the same apprehension as we approached the event. And yet, as we shared our stories, we laughed and agreed that we were so happy we’d made the effort.

I talked to people with whom I’d had classes or been in clubs together or shared a summer job. And I also talked to people that I’m pretty sure were never on my radar in high school. But I enjoyed renewing old relationships and especially developing new ones, and that made the trip worthwhile. Lesson three: The people you most enjoy speaking with may not be the people you thought you were coming to see.

Sally is escorting her youngest to college this weekend – it will be a bittersweet time for them both. I’m home, slightly reeling from traveling over 5,000 miles in a weekend. And we are both the better for the adventure. And still crazy after all these years.

Weekly Deals for August 18th to 24th

Posted on August 18, 2015 by mauistamper

Hey there, crafty friends – it’s Tuesday and that means DEALS:

If you’re like me, it’s starting to dawn on you that it’s time to start planning for Christmas crafting. (I KNOW.) But if you’re like me (again), there’s nothing more annoying than starting a project and realizing you don’t have enough ribbon…or buttons…or that punch board. ‘Nuff said.

Shop HERE and let go of worry.

Punching out the Angry Birds

Posted on August 15, 2015 by mauistamper

Recently, one of my regular stampers requested projects for kids. I looked at what I had on my shelf and found stamps suitable for feminine or baby cards, but not really for KIDS.

Off to Pinterest, the Black Hole of the Internet!

I found some great ideas and they weren’t even in mason jars!! Score.

This was inspired by THIS great card, and I CASED it pretty liberally. The Red Bird is punched from the 1 3/4″ circle, and the Yellow Bird is the old style Heart Punch. I think you could get that shape using a square and a corner rounder.

The white body portions are 1 3/4″ circles punched twice. The orange beak is the Itty Bitty Heart (trimmed) and the head and tail feathers are from the retired Boho punch. I think you could get the same look from the Flower Fair framelits.

The eyebrows are the end of the stem from the bird punch. The birds aren’t angry until you add those eyebrows, so work them!! The eyes are from the Owl punch, and I used the 1″ square for the yellow beak.

The Word Window and the Woodgrain TIEF make up the slingshot, and the linen thread finishes it off. I trimmed a strip of Garden Green with Fringe Scissors, and the embellishment at the top is from Amazing Birthday. We had to stamp SOMETHING!

These are last year’s bags – the current bags are plain, so you could even add some clouds as Sarah-Jane Rae did to her card.

Everyone loved the end result – but we agreed that these birds take a lot of little pieces!

Check out the RemARKable Bundles!

Posted on August 13, 2015 by mauistamper

Welcome to the RemARKable Blog tour – this month, it’s all about bundles!

There are heaps of great bundles in the Annual Catalog, and I chose to focus on the Flower Patch stamps and framelits. I don’t know about you, but when I create a card with a set like this I often have a lot of little pieces left over. I pulled out those pieces to see what I could do:

I ALWAYS need tags, and 9 times out of 10, I need a tag AT THE LAST MINUTE. Can you relate?

As I worked on color combinations for these tags, it occurred to me that the best thing to do would be to make a lot of pieces, mix and match them to form pleasing combinations, and put them together to create a little stash for myself.

If I weren’t sharing these with you today, I would have left them without a sentiment. That way, I could add the exact phrase I needed when I was looking for a last minute tag.

Stamps: Flower Patch, And Many More, and Work of Art
Color Palette: Whisper White with Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Real Red and Soft Suede; Blushing Bride, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Smokey Slate; and Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Tangerine Tango and Tip Top Taupe.
Accessories: Flower Fair Framelits; Ornate Tag Topper Punch; Blushing Bride and Pool Party 1/4″ cotton ribbon; 1/8″ striped ribbon (sneak peek from Holiday catalog)

If you’re like me, you have lots of bits and pieces all over your crafting desktop. Grab a Tag Topper punch and craft up some tags!