Mosaic Madness

Posted on June 3, 2013 by mauistamper

I think Stampin’ Up! really is going to drive us to madness with all these Mosaic goodies! The bundle has a stamp set, a punch, a TIEF (Textured Impressions Embossing Folder), and coordinating Designer Series Paper for all of our creative pleasure!

This card was CASEd from the talented Ilina Crouse and simplified for the Open House card class over the weekend. (Were you there? Did you score some fabulous deals? There were plenty to be had!!)

Coastal Cabana and Crisp Canteloupe are really luscious together – a perfect balance that’s not too pastel nor too bright. I’m thoroughly enjoying discovering new color pairings!

The Brand New 2013-2014 catalog is live and kicking! Skedaddle on over to my Online Store and shop your heart out.

June on a wire

Posted on June 1, 2013 by mauistamper

I love birds.

I love hearing the cardinal first thing in the morning; at dawn the male is always at the top of the Cook Island Pine across the street from my house. On a perfect day, it’s his “Good Morning” that wakes me up. If I’m too sound asleep (read: stayed up way too late stamping) then I miss his song, and it’s the shrill, repetitive call of the Francolin that shatters my dreams. Either way, it’s a pleasure to lie in bed for a few minutes listening to all the diffferent bird voices as the day begins.

For the Birds Stamp set
Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight and Pool Party Stampin’ Write markers
Pool Party FFIP
Stampin’ Sponge
Simply Scored
Borders Scoring Plate

The first time I stamped this design, I used the stamp just as is….but the wires that the birds sit on started and stopped in the middle of the calendar page and it bothered me. I added the sponging to make it seem more complete but I was just kidding myself.

Then my Simply Scored Borders Scoring Plate arrived in my pre-order from the Spring Catalog (I LOVE GETTING PRE-ORDERS.) It had the perfect curves to make edge-to-edge wires! I scored them first, then without moving the guides ran the Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write marker in the score lines to further define them.

Every once in a while, I amaze even myself.

Strawberry Crumb Cake

Posted on May 30, 2013 by mauistamper

Doesn’t that sound delicious? I think I’m going to create a Stampin’ Up! cookbook using color names!

Chalk Talk stamp set
Strawberry Slush and Crumb Cake FFIP (Firm Foam Ink Pad)
Very Vanilla, Pool Party, and Crumb Cake card stock
Quatrefancy Foil Specialty DSP
Tea Lace Paper Doilies
Big Shot and Lattice TIEF
Pool Party Seam Binding
Rhinestone Jewels
Stampin’ Sponge

I’m a little late to the Doily bandwagon but I’m on board now! Once I realized how easy it is to add some color with a Stampin’ Sponge I was sold on this flirty embellishments.

This is another card we’ll be making on Saturday (June 1st!!) after the “Out with the Old, In with the New” Open House at the Maui Masonic Lodge.

Sale begins at 9am, class is at 11am. Come see for yourself!

Puddin’ Pistachio on the Pumpkin

Posted on May 28, 2013 by mauistamper

Well, the Maui Stamper is clearly in a silly mood, isn’t she?

The 2013-2015 In Color Collection has such mouth-watering names for each color that I don’t see how I’ll make it through the next two years without gaining at least 10 pounds! Fortunately, these colors are just as yummy looking as they sound, so we’ll have lots of ways to enjoy them.

This card is one of five that Crystal and I are offering at a class to follow our “Out With the Old, In With the New” Open House on Saturday, June 1 at the Maui Masonic Lodge. If you’ll be on the Valley Isle this Saturday, I encourage you to stop by for great deals on retired products, the chance to experience a variety of new products and pick up a new catalog, and a generally great time! Doors open for the sale at 9am sharp and the class begins at 11am. Availability for the class is very limited at this time so check with me if you are interested.

The stamps used on this card include Summer Silhouettes (which will be in the 2013-2014 annual catalog, hooray!), Best of Butterflies 25th Anniversary set and the stamps included in the introductory kit for My Paper Pumpkin. Sign up for your Pumpkin subscription by June 10 and the introductory kit will be on the way to your doorstep in June!

My color palette includes Pistachio Pudding, Early Espresso and Whisper White, and along with a couple of punches and some dimensionals, that’s all it took to put together this card! Hope you’ll stop by on Saturday.

The Best of RemARKable Butterflies

Posted on May 18, 2013 by mauistamper

I hope you’re enjoying these two RemARKable blog tours every month. We’ve just lined up our next few sets for the Stamp of the Month Tour on the second Sunday every month (and NO, I am NOT going to spill the beans – come back and see what they are!). The third Sunday of the month is reserved for the 25th Anniversary “Best of” releases throughout 2013. We are working a month behind so that we have plenty of time to create, so this month we are featuring the April set, Best of Butterflies.

I’ve made 3 different projects for you. In addition to the 25th Anniversary Best of Butterflies stamp set, I’m featuring 3 Big Shot dies that are on the Retiring Products list. That means that these 3 dies are currently being sold on an “as available” basis – when the last one is sold, it’s gone!

First up is the Bigz XL Fancy Favor Box #115965. (I KNOW.) But we have to trust that Stampin’ Up! has bigger and better things planned for us 🙂 This box has been a FAVORite of mine for many projects. You can easily create a top using another Fancy Favor or (and this is gorgeous) one of our Paper Doilies. It’s a perfect size for favors (duh!) and small gifts, and punching a circle in the front allows you to peek at the goodies inside. (Crystal said I should put something shiny inside: what could be shinier than Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans??)

The butterfly I chose for this project coordinates with the Elegant Butterfly punch. A little TIEF on the box, a couple of circles and leaves, and this project is ready to go!

The Two Tags Bigz die is another favorite I am sorry to see leave our lineup. I’ve used both of these shapes for countless projects. This one is popular at craft shows – two of the fold-over tags adhered with a smidge of Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) to create a gift card holder. This butterfly was embossed with Irridescent Ice and hand-cut.

Again, a couple of flowers, some leaves and a little bling and you are in business!

Finally, the sweet Petite Pocket Bigz die – which I am sorry to tell you is No Longer Available – makes a perfect little dress-up for a girly gift of lip shine. I used Pretty in Pink ink on Pink Pirouette card stock to get extra definition of this third butterfly, which I am grateful not to have cut out 🙂

Don’t miss out on that gorgeous 1 1/4 inch Two Tone Ribbon either – that is not carrying over to the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog. I’m stocking up!!

I did create a little tag with the smallest Soda Pop top and drizzled a little Crystal Effects on top for extra shine.

Time to flutter over to the Trinity Design Studio and see what Robin has created for you!

My Seriously Paper Pumpkin

Posted on May 16, 2013 by mauistamper

I didn’t have my own April My Paper Pumpkin kit in hand when I got a sneak peek of the stamps in the kit. SERIOUSLY. No, seriously, that’s one of the stamps! I was over-the-mango-tree excited.

When my kit hit the front lanai, I was ready. For a warmup, I made the card JUST LIKE THE KIT:

Seriously…I’m crazy about this kit! What’s not to love? It would be easy and satisfying to make all four cards just like this – no extra bits and pieces required – and have 4 great cards to send. But seriously, who would want to read a post about that? And I’m always ready for a little challege – so without further ado, we have cards 2 through 4:

(OK, I lied, there is a little further ado…)

A couple of circle punches, a doily sponged with More Mustard ink, a little snippet of Baja Breeze ribbon and some jewels made this mine. That “FABULOUS” stamp is from an exclusive set we were given last year at Convention and I love the words and the fonts Stampin’ Up! chose for us. (Looking forward to seeing our swag this year for our 25th Anniversary Convention!!)

This one is my second favorite – turned that big panel into flags with a couple of snips, wrapped the self-adhesive tag with the twine, and switched up the button. DId you notice that I used the “splatter” stamp from the My Paper Pumpkin Welcome Kit? Best all purpose stamp ever!

It’s hard to see, but I used my Midnight Muse marker on the edge of that button so that it would be a better match:

I also dragged my Pokey Doodle through the ends of the Linen Thread to make them more whispy.

And now, my FAVE:

SERIOUSLY!!! Who would put an owl in a grass skirt?? (Ummm…me!) There were a number of cards on Pinterest (the biggest black hole on the planet) from this May Paper Pumpkin set that added a person or animal under the thought balloon, and I decided I would add the owl. I kept looking for the right paper/DSP to use with the “clothes” that are on the punch but nothing was working for me. I had the Linen Thread in my hands and before I knew it that poor owl was in Luau mode. Considered a lei, but since s/he doesn’t have a neck that wasn’t working for me.

By now you must be thinking “How do I get my Seriously stamps?”

I’m sorry to tell you this, but My Paper Pumpkin is exclusive each month, and when it’s done, it’s done. Seriously is done.

The good news is, you have plenty of time to sign up for the subscription service and never miss another! Sign up before the 10th of June, and every month, the box will appear on your doorstep with everything you need except adhesive. Your box will have stamps, ink, paper, and/or accessories to complete the project, plus clear, step by step instruction. Just open the box and make the cards!

Your welcome kit will include a clear block, and I’ll post ideas like these for you to play with. Cost is $19.95 and that includes shipping – sign up or learn more at My Paper Pumpkin.

Love the dress!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by mauistamper

Don’t you love that dress?? The one from the Dress Up framelits?? But you don’t have the framelits???

Get ready for E-Z!!

All the work is done – you just put together the cards! There’s even envelopes and a Happy Birthday sentiment. All you need is a clear block (D or H) and some adhesive!

Order kit #133913 at my Online Store and you’ll have the sweet pleasure of putting together these 6 beautiful cards without any of the measuring, cutting and organizing. Even better, you’ll have the Birthday stamp, Soft Suede ink spot, and sponge dauber to use again and again! When was the last time you got 6 cards for $16.95?

One more Manly Card

Posted on May 13, 2013 by mauistamper

Earlier in May I hosted a Manly Card class. I don’t know about you, but cards you can send to a man, or for men to send to other men, are the most challenging for me to design. I want to add ribbon, or sparkle, or at least a little button. The cards in this class had none of that (well, one of them used that fabulous Natural Trim ribbon, but it’s practically rope.)

This is card No. 5:

Woodgrain, Feeling Sentimental (SAB) and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Island Indigo and Riding Hood Red card stock
More Mustard, Riding Hood Red and Island Indigo FFIP
Fanfare DSP
Bitty Banners Framelits
Stampin’ Dimensionals

This is a super simple layout but it’s a great way to feature textures and colors without getting too busy. While the Fanfare DSP has some very feminine paperes, many of them work surprisingly well on a masculine card.

It’s RemARKable By the Tide

Posted on May 11, 2013 by mauistamper

Welcome to another Stamp of the Month RemARKable Blog Tour! If you’re starting the tour here at the Maui Stamper, our featured set this month is By the Tide. We hope you’ll enjoy the creative expressions of this talented group of stampers.

Not sure what it was that inspired me to start embossing but I nearly burned down the studio with my heat gun, I embossed so many images! This seashell was embossed with Irridescent Ice embossing powder on Very Vanilla cardstock and was then sponged with Island Indigo. The sparkle is hard to see in the photo, but it’s there in real life.

A Baja Breeze card base (say au revoir to Baja Breeze!), a little 1/8 inch Very Vanilla ribbon and some stamped – and stamped-off – coral branches are all it took to finish this card off. The sentiment is from Loving Thoughts, with those beautiful script capital letters.

I tried over and over to capture this card, but my little camera was having nothing of it. Trust me when I say that the embossed coral image – again in Irridescent Ice – is sparkley and elegant and would be perfect to attach to a wedding gift.

There. Can you see it now? At least you get the idea, right? And Best Wishes is from Petite Pairs, a very useful little set to have on your stamp shelf.

I got a little bit giddy with this last card. I used clear embossing powder for the coral image (have you guessed which image I like the very best in this set?). I stamped some sea horses and cut one of them out, and then I started playing with my ink pads and some Stampin’ Sponges. The results surprised me – this is Lucky Limeade and Baja Breeze ink:

The yellow and green tones were much stronger than I expected, but I liked the finished card all the same. I think they call that serendipity 🙂

Time to sail on over to the Trinity Design Studio and see what Robin is up to. I’m sure she has a briny treat in store for you. Thanks for making the tour with us today!

One of a Kind

Posted on May 10, 2013 by mauistamper

In case you were wondering, I’m pretty sure God broke the mold when I was born. One of my little character quirks is that I like things to be Just So.

As a result, I’ve spent WEEKS fiddling around with my first This ‘n That journal. I finally settled on the “One of a Kind” theme, but kept going around and around with colors, papers and embellishments. Last weekend, while the stampers were working on their Manly Cards, it finally clicked in place for me. I’m not going to list every product I used on this, but many of them came from the April This ‘n That bundle and will be available in the 2013-2014 Annual catalog.

Love that Epic Day This ‘n That DSP. Every side is awesome. And I also love the little dots stamp that came with My Paper Pumpkin Welcome kit. It just stays on my craft table. It goes on everything!

There might be some retired stamps in this photo…couldn’t help it. But look at those tiny flags! And one of the DSP sheets has hexagons printed on it so you can just cut them out and add them to your project.

Washi tape is my new favorite embellishment. You can just tear it off. It’s kinda like a sticky note, so you can peel it off and re-position it. And I am using it for everything! I wrapped some around my iPhone charger so my son (who will be home from college TOMORROW) will know it is mine.

Now to fill the pages….

The Maui Stamper

papercrafts, my stories, and the occasional insight

Mosaic Madness

June on a wire

Strawberry Crumb Cake

Puddin’ Pistachio on the Pumpkin

The Best of RemARKable Butterflies

My Seriously Paper Pumpkin

Love the dress!

One more Manly Card

It’s RemARKable By the Tide

One of a Kind

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