Stamping with friends is double the goodness

Posted on September 13, 2009 by mauistamper

Christmas Cards with In Color Style

Yesterday was my annual Christmas card list with my wonderful upline, Crystal. It’s really fun to run a class with her – she has great ideas and her view of the world matches mine pretty well – a good mix of “just right” versus “whatevah”. She also makes an absolutely divine banana cake (you can’t go wrong when you put chocolate chips in banana cake) and between that and a pot of Peet’s coffee we were guaranteed a great day. Add great stamping friends and some pretty fine cards (well, hers were fine as could be) and it added up to a perfect day.

We didn’t have any glitter but we did have the fabulous new Shimmer Paints from Stampin’ Up! If you have Glitter Issues in your house the way I’ve got them in my house the Shimmer Paints are an excellent solution. Plenty of sparkle that stays where you put it! If you can stand another Christmas card, this week I’ll post one with the Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint that will convince you of the exalted status of Shimmer Paint. I love a little sparkle, but my wonderful husband doesn’t appreciate finding glitter embedded in the finish of the kitchen table, or even worse, on his cycling shorts. Glitter on the cycling shorts is absolute blasphemy. We have to be very, very careful with glitter in my house.

Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Breeze, and Whisper White card stock
Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Breeze, and Old Olive Classic Ink
White Craft Ink
Delightful Decorations and All Holidays stamp sets
Old Olive narrow grosgrain ribbon
Ornament and Scallop Edge Punches
Clear Rhinestone Brads and 1/16″ circle punch
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by.

One thing leads to another…

Posted on September 8, 2009 by mauistamper

These crazy bees! There’s something a little psycho about them. They’re sort of, I dunno, too happy. Especially for creatures who exist to work, work, work. All the same, they crack me up and I have made a LOT of cards using this stamp set. These bees started out as components of the Thursday Sketch Challenge at Stampin’ Addicts but by the time I added all the layers (including over-the-top scallops) these bees were too fat to go side-by-side on a card. I pushed them to the side of my stamping space to languish in the heap of “stuff to make something out of”. The muse was feeling generous, though, and before I finished for the night, the bees had been given a home.

Get Well Bees

Just Buzzin’ By and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry and Old Olive cardstock
Chocolate Chip Classic ink and Colored Pencils (just like the ones you had in grade school
Big Shot, SU Little Leaves Sizzlet, and SU Perfect Details Texturz Plate
Old Olive Ribbon from Elementary Ribbon Originals
Small and Large oval , 1 1/4″, 1 3/8″ and scallop circle punches
Stampin’ Sponge

Have you noticed that almost every card I make uses the Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370, $36.95) stamp set? I know, I know, it’s an expensive set. But seriously, it covers almost everything. An excellent value. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.

There’s one thing that bugs me (get it, bugs me???) about this card. The bees are facing the wrong direction. The two on the bottom have their backs to each other and need to be switched. However, I used Tombo Multi Purpose Adhesive (my absolute all time favorite) and if you know Tombo, you know I’m gonna tear this card to smithereens if I try to switch these two. But it bugs me all the same.

I guess I’ll just have to get over it.

Cheerful Flowers Part Two

Posted on September 7, 2009 by mauistamper

I felt so much better today…lots of texts from my college student made it seem like she wasn’t really 5,000 miles away. I started playing with the layout from the Stampin’ Addicts Thursday Sketch Challenge and after a couple of false starts, came up with a card that made me happy.

Sweet Stems

Sweet Stems and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, and Regal Rose cardstock
Certainly Celery Designer Series Paper (this pattern is retired, but new patterns are available)
1 1/4″ and 1″ Circle punches, Scallop Edge punch
Bermuda Bay, Certainly Celery, and Regal Rose ink
Regal Rose Ribbon

I usually start by choosing a stamp set, then a principal color. Sometimes I stick with those choices, sometimes I don’t. This time, I reached first for the Bermuda Bay, then Certainly Celery, and finally (hey, these are flowers, you can’t have just blue and green) added the Regal Rose. This isn’t a sketch I would have designed on my own, but it’s fun to stretch yourself with the challenges. The end result is whimsical and fairly simple.

Sweet Stems (113726, $16.95) is currently on the Dormant List from Stampin’ Up! That means it’s not in the catalog, but it’s still available for purchase. You can order it directly through me or through my Stampin’ Up! website.

I’ve spent too much time this morning reading WordPress tutorials, playing with watermarks, and studying other people’s blogs! Time to quit laboring and get outside on this Labor Day holiday.