Category Archives: Stampin' Up!

Bubbly Circles Under the Sea

Posted on by
1

I am fascinated with color.  I love to explore the moods of individual colors and color combinations, to mix and match different tones and hues of the same colors.  You know where this is going, don’t you?  Yep – blues and greens.

Circle Circus Blues and Greens

  • Circle Circus and Word Play stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi and Rich Razzleberry card stock
  • Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi Classic ink pads
  • Whisper White Craft ink pad and White Embossing powder
  • Big Shot and Elegant Lines Embossing Folder
  • Scallop Border and XL Decorative Label punches
  • Brights Designer Buttons and white crochet thread

Don’t you love the Razzleberry with Baja and Wasabi?

The bubbly circle cracks me up.  No particular reason, it just makes me laugh.  Maybe I watched the Little Mermaid with my daughters too many times, but I keep thinking of all those undersea creatures talking underwater.  It seemed to me at the time that they needed little bubbles floating up when they talked, but that could just be the effects of being a SAHM with three active kids.

I love our Linen Thread, but I couldn’t bring myself to use it with all the crisp white on this card.

Back to the Circle Circus

Posted on by
Reply

When is a circle more than a circle?  When it collaborates with others to form a topiary:

Circle Circus matter of Moments

  • Circle Circus and Elements of Style stamp sets; Vintage Vogue wheel
  • Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake and Certainly Celery card stock
  • Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake and Certainly Celery Classic ink pads
  • Modern Label punch, XL Decorative Label punch (Holiday Mini), various circle punches
  • Big Shot, Top Note die and Lattice Impressions folder
  • Hemp twine, Antique Brads, Stampin’ Sponges and Stampin’ Dimensionals

I had the brilliant idea to twist two strands of Hemp Twine together to make the trunk of the topiary, but my execution was flawed – there’s not enough space between the “topes” and you can hardly see it.  This card is finished, but I’ll be back to the drawing board to try that one again.

The new XL Decorative Label punch makes a pretty terra cotta planter, doesn’t it?  I cut it in half and sponged it with Cajun Craze and Old Olive.  I was trying to get a moss-stained look but I think it would be more effective on a lighter color of cardstock – next time I’ll try Peach Parfait.  Oh, and please don’t judge Daffodil Delight – that’s operator error with the camera.  It’s a lovely buttery shade, not that bright yo yo color!

A Holiday Mini Sneak Peak

Posted on by
1

Robbie is flying out tonight on the red-eye to go to a huge family event in Northern California, and being the amazing and generous soul that she is, she INSISTED I take her brand-new, Holiday Mini Sneak Peak for demonstrators Big Shot die to play with because otherwise it would be lonesome at home.  Now that I have it, I may not give it back:

Sneak Peak Sizzix Bigz Treat Holder in Mambo

I didn’t intend to do anything more than put this Candy Wrapper Box together so that when Robbie returns, I could show her how to assemble the box.  Ha!  If you don’t have the Big Shot yet, you’d better change the channel, Cherie.  Imagine this in Pumpkin Pie with bats and spiders…in Night of Navy covered with stars and snowmen…in Bashful Blue with that cute little onesie rolled around it…you get the idea.

  • Cute by the Inch Hostess Level II stamp set
  • Melon Mambo and Whisper White card stock; Retired Designer Series Paper
  • Regal Rose Classic ink pad
  • Big Shot and Candy Wrapper Bigz L die
  • Pretty in Pink 5/8″ Satin ribbon; Rhinestone jewels
  • Heat tool;  hideously messy non-SU glue
  • Jewelry tag medium punch, 1″ circle punch

Now don’t go thinking I’m rubbah-dulteratin’  (courtesy of Jan Tink) by using a non-Stampin’ Up! flower.  Shannon West showed us these flowers at convention and I’ve been wanting to try them since I got home.  I considered taking photos for you but thought I’d better figure it out first…good decision.  Shannon used our Sticky Pages to form and hold the ribbon into a flower, and since I didn’t have any Sticky Pagges on hand I decided to use a very sticky clear liquid glue – something similar to what hot glue would be if it were liquid.  I won’t name names.

To make the flower, you snip almost all the way through your ribbon at 1/2″ intervals and then use your heat tool to curl up the “petals”.  At this point, I discovered my first challenge.  Any surface appropriate for holding the ribbon flat in order to blast it with the heat tool was not going to survive the blasting, and my fingers were not either.  I ended up warping my old cutting mat (I need a new one anyway, no biggie) because the alternative was holding that ribbon across my lap and believe me, that was not going to happen.

It took a while for the ribbon to heat up, but once it started to curl the edges rolled up quickly and I was on to step 2.  I punched a 1″ circle from a scrap of cardstock and covered it with the Glue That Must Not Be Named.  Shannon had worked so quickly and smoothly, but she wasn’t dealing with those funny stringy bits of glue – you know the ones.  I had to add more and more glue as I worked my way around the circle, mostly because a significant amount of the GTMNBN was at this point stuck all over my fingers.  Not only must it Not Be Named, it does Not Come Off of Fingers very well.

Candy Wrapper Ribbon Flower

The final result is very pretty, especially with that blingy Rhinestone in the middle covering up the messy end bits all covered with GTMNBN.  I want to point out that this was my very first attempt at this technique, and I’m sure I’ll get better.  I’ll also get some Sticky Pages (#114300, $6.95 for two 12×12 sheets and worth every penny).

Ah madame, what a fine chapeau…

Posted on by
Reply

The Stampin’ Up! convention isn’t like most conventions.  It has many of the same elements – networking, education, inspiration – but there are some things that are unique.  One of the things I noticed this year fell into a loose category I would call “Stuff People Wear on their Heads”.

I didn’t get photos of everything – I missed the headbands that had clips to hold cards in them, and I neglected to get a photo of the group that wore tiaras.  But I did manage to take pictures of a few hats I thought went above and beyond:

The Canadian

This woman told me her hat has been to twelve conventions.  It didn’t occur to me until just this moment to ask her if she had also been to twelve, but it would seem logical, no?

Green fleece hat with flowers

This hat was one of many similar to be found  in the Convention Center.  The wearer told me her upline had made them for the entire group.  In honor of our Flower Power party on Wednesday night, they each had a large peace symbol embroidered on the top.  Most of them had been adorned, but this one was one of the most thoroughly embellished.

The Bize Bees

There is a lot of effort here!  I can’t imagine carrying this hat all the way from anywhere, especially on the plane from Maui, but there was a group of women who all wore them.  When I asked to take their photograph, they not only obliged me very cheerfully but asked if I would take one with their camera as well.  Of course I obliged.

I asked permission before I took each photo but didn’t tell them they were destined for the blogosphere.  Like an uber- rookie photojournalist I didn’t even think to ask their names.  If this was you, thank you for your generosity in letting me take your picture and I hope you enjoy being a part of the Maui Stamper!   The Maui Stamper team is already hard at work thinking about what we can wear (and carry on the plane) at Convention 2011.  Hold onto your hats!

Just Believe

Posted on by
Reply

One of the free stamp sets we received at convention was Just Believe.  I have to tell you that I had mixed feelings when I saw the notice on the Demonstrator Website that told us that set would be part of our convention package.  Part of me was really excited because I fell in love with that stamp set the first time I laid eyes on it, and part of me was terribly disappointed because I fell in love with that stamp set the first time I laid eyes on it and I didn’t want to wait until almost the end of JULY to get to stamp with it!

The set is worth the wait, believe me.  (Get it?  Believe?  Ok, I know, you get it.)  We did some beautiful projects during our Make and Take session at convention, and since then I’ve continued to experiement with this set.  If you like this style at all, this set should be your very next purchase because you will reach for it over and over until it’s paid for itself ten-fold.

Here’s the swap we did:

Some things have to be believed to be seen

This is a simple, one layer 3 x 3 card and envelope.  We used the negative image from the Sizzix Originals Circles #2 die as a reverse mask to sponge the circle, then stemped the two images in Early Espresso.  I decided to step it up just a little for one of my hostess club projects this week:

Believed to be seen step-up

  • Just Believe stamp set
  • Pear Pizazz, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White card stock
  • Pear Pizazz, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight Classic ink pads
  • Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, Hemp twine, Designer Brights Buttons
  • Stampin’ Sponges, Hobby blade

The ribbon is threaded through a slit in the side of the card so that I could wrap it all the way around.  The Chocolate Chip ribbon is retired, but you should use the Early Espresso ribbon, ink and cardstock because that new color is absolutely gorgeous.  Never mind that coffee is my nectar of life…that deep dark brown is luscious.

I can’t wait to spend some more time with this set.

Embarassing the kids from 2,440 miles away

Posted on by
1

You know that feeling when you’re on information overload and your brain is bouncing ideas and pictures and emotions around the inside of your head like countless superballs ricocheting around?  That’s what my head has been like this week.  It’s an exciting, crazy, even frightening place…but of course the inside of my head is almost always in one of those states.  Having all three co-existing at once is…well…exciting, crazy and even frightening!

Convention was an amazing, inspiring and highly memorable experience on many levels.  Personally, I had a wonderful time meeting so many other talented demonstrators and spending time with my friend Robbie.  You learn a great deal about someone when you travel with her.  We laughed and explored and learned and celebrated and ate and drank and fell into bed exhausted every night, only to jump up early the next day in order to do it all over again.  I took her on some mis-guided adventures – she kindly referred to them as “walkabouts” – and we made the best of a miserable airline delay on the way home.  Better than that, we found our alter-egos.  Yes, we were children of the 70’s and the Stampin’ Up! Flower Power party was one groovy blast from the past.  I even managed to embarass my son from 2,440 miles away.

Groovin'

Every day there was new inspiration.  Our fellow demonstrators submitted astonishing artwork for display, the Stampin’ Up! Creative Genius department had ideas that knocked our socks off, and we swapped with some of the most talented and innovative paper-crafters in the world.  That’s a lot of inspiration!  I’m hoping to share with you some of the incredible swaps I received at convention, but I won’t publish them here until I have the permission of the artist.  In the meantime, I can share with you some of the Make-and-Takes we did at convention.  Our M&T session wasn’t until the morning of the third day of convention, and by then you’d better believe my hands were itchin’ to stamp!

Thanks Make and Take

This uses the single stamp So Many Thanks with Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Real Red cardstock and ink.  The little package tied with ribbon is an envelop for a 6×6 card folded in half and made into a portfolio for the cards.  Quick and easy and very cute…this is a project I’ll do again with a variety of colors.  Wouldn’t you like to be my hostess and receive a hostess gift like this?  Call me and we can make it happen!

Stepping up to a challenge

Posted on by
1

I signed up for a “Wow” swap.  I should have known better.  A swap like that causes me to pull out all of the stops.  I drive myself crazy coming up with an idea, and then spend hours putting it together because in my wisdom I decided to cut out a zillion little pieces.  Of course, once I finish I think of dozens of additional little touches I should have added:

Double Pocket swap

I actually did most of the construction for this swap at Boy Scout camp last week.  My son’s troop needed some extra adult supervision during the day, and since they didn’t need me to do anything but be there in case of an emergency, I was pretty free.  I spread out my project on one of the big picnic tables at their campsite and cut, scored, stamped, trimmed and punched the day away.  The boys would come and go between activities and check out my progress.  Some of them were curious and a couple seemed entertained by this mom working away in their camp.  The site was so beautiful – and peaceful as long as they were away – that I really enjoyed myself.

Here’s another look at the card:

Double Pocket Swap opened

There’s a tutorial for this card at Splitcoast Stampers under Resources – look for the Diagonal Double Pocket card.

Jewel bird

Posted on by
2

I love these deep, rich colors – Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo – colors to dream in.  This last swap was the most fun just because the largest Simply Adorned charm holds a 1 1/2″ x 2″ insert so there’s more room to work.  I love all the new floral stamps we have in the 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog, and I’m especially fond of that hummingbird.  It made me really happy to bring them all together in one creation:

Large Simply Adorned Charm

This is the style I really enjoy.  I’m not sure what to call it, but I like all of the layers and the jewel tones.  It almost became a contest with myself to see how many different stamp sets I could incorporate!  If you really want to know what I used, leave a comment.  I’ll do my best to update these after I get home, but it could be a little while.

Sparkling Simply Adorned

Posted on by
Reply

These inserts are for the 1″ x 1 1/4″ Simply Adorned charms.   I designed these straight from a card I found in the catalog and cased here on this blog.   They should really have rhinestone gems on each of the flowers, but I used up most of the small ones on another swap and had to stretch out the ones I had!  I can’t wait to see the swaps I get in return for these – that’s really the fun of participating.  (And here you thought I loved pulling out my hair until all hours of the night finishing these things.)

Sweet Stem Simply Adorned

The flowers are punched with our new Bitty Punches and sprayed with Smooch Spritz – and I challenge you to say that five times as quickly as you can!  You get a beautiful shine on something small with the Spritz.  I’m pretty sure it’s not intended for skin, but it’s awfully tempting.  (I’m sure that statement should be accompanied by all sorts of legal caveats and “DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME” kinds of statements.  So don’t try it, ok??)

One Square Inch

Posted on by
Reply

I can start to show you some swaps now, because I’ve started swappin’ them.  Oh yeah, I love the auto-post feature!  Not a lot of info here, just some fun stuff to see.  I’ll have more details for you next week (that is, if I don’t end up being selected for the Jury Pool.  That would be a fine welcome home from convention!)

1" x 1" Simply Adorned Insert

These are inserts for the 1″ x 1″ Simply Adorned charms.  They are so much fun – since they’re small, you can spend a little more time coloring stamps and cutting things out.   I love that kind of detail and it’s easy to do in such a tiny format.  The butterfly image is meant to be worn on the back side of the charm but you could wear them either way.  I just love that goofy owl!