Happy New Year, Stampin’ Up!

Posted on by
Reply

After working with the new Stampin’ Up! Color Families for a few days, I’ve discovered something:  I like them all.  Prior to the Color Renovation, I almost never used any of the Bold Brights colors with the exception of Real Red.   Our new Brights collection has such gorgeous shades that I think it’s my favorite collection now!

The brand new 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog is available in full glory today and I am thrilled with all the goodies that are available.  In addition to all of the new colors we have available, there are great new accessories and stamps.  I’ve had a really tough time choosing what to get first!

As demonstrators we had the option of purchasing (instead of earning) one Level III Hostess set.  Every year, I struggle with this choice.  Delay my gratification and earn the stamps for free, or pay the money and get them now?  Do you know me?  Yeah, I spent the money!

Four Pretty Packages

  • Playful Pieces (Level III Hostess) and All Holidays stamp sets
  • Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White card stock
  • Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo and Marina Mist Classic ink pads
  • Whisper White craft ink pad
  • Melon Mambo polka dot grosgrain ribbon (retired)

I hope you’ll forgive me for using that retired Melon Mambo ribbon.  #1, I have at least half a roll of it left over and #2, I don’t have any of the new ribbons – yet – and I NEEDED ribbon!  This hostess set has a little bit of everything and the pieces are designed to be versatile and flexible.  It can be yours for free when your workshop reaches $500 in sales, and trust me, with this catalog that will be an easy thing to accomplish.  Send me an email – I’d love to help you earn these stamps!

Hydrangea Garden

Posted on by
6

There’s a part of me that would really love to be a gardener.  The textures and colors of a well designed and maintained garden are so pleasing and soothing, and I especially enjoy seeing the colorful profusion of late spring through summer flowers.  It’s that well-maintained part that causes me problems.  My back and knees scream if I spend too long in the flower beds or behind a shovel.

Fortunately, stamped gardens don’t give me those kinds of problems (I have yet to require a shovel in my craft room, although I can’t say it will never happen.)  The beauty of stamped gardens is that they flourish in any kind of soil or climate.  Hydrangeas don’t thrive here at sea level on the dry side of the island, but they seem to be very happy upstairs on my desk:

Thankful for Hydrangeas

  • Because I Care (hostess) stamp set; Cornelli lace wheel
  • Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum and Whisper White card stock
  • Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, and Perfect Plum Classic ink pads
  • Scallop Trim border punch; hand-held rectangle punch (retired)
  • Bashful Blue 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon

Now, I know you’re thinking that I cheated and used the retired Pale Plum Classic ink pad but you would be mistaken, my friends!  That pale hydrangea was stamped off a second time after I inked up the first image and stamped it.  I did the same with the Marina Mist and Certainly Celery flowers, and I could have gone on forever.

I did cheat a little with the rectangle punch and the Bashful Blue ribbon.  That punch is an old favorite and I just can’t get rid of it – I like the rectangular shape for feeding ribbon.  The ribbon…well, what’s a girl to do while she’s waiting for brand new 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog goodies to arrive?  A girl’s gotta craft with whatever she can find.  I am in a world of hurt looking for accessories that work with all of my new colors.  Soon…soon.

New stamps, new colors

Posted on by
Reply

It’s nice to be home.

I’ve been on the Mainland for a couple of weeks, enjoying the change of scenery and pace.  We spent a week relaxing, hiking and eating in Northern Wisconsin in towns with an average population of 350, and a week charging through the city of Chicago – shopping, visiting museums, sightseeing, eating fabulous food and attending a baseball game (well, once the Civil Defense sirens finished and the tornado warning was lifted and the thunder, lightning and pouring rain stopped.)  It’s funny…when people find out we’re from Hawaii, they always ask “What are you doing HERE?”  It doesn’t matter if “here” is the middle of nowhere or a the middle of a big city.  Somehow, it seems incomprehensible that we would want to leave.  Ever.  We do enjoy leaving – but we also enjoy coming home.  I’m happy to be back, happy to have the laundry done, and happy to spend a few hours in my stamp room.

Happy Father's Day

  • Artistic Etchings, Wonderful Favorites and En Francais stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Early Espresso and Marina Mist card stock
  • Marina Mist and Early Espresso Classic ink pads
  • Piercing tool and mat; Stampin’ Dimensionals; retired enamel brad

I finished this card weeks ago in order to have it with me and ready for Father’s Day giving to my wonderful husband.  He’s a fabulous dad, and I realized he would be very early in our relationship when he did his best to teach me to ski…but that’s a story for another time.

Artistic Etchings is one of my favorite stamps from the new 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  The images are beautiful enough to stand on their own, but they also work well in collage form and I’m finding that style appeals to me the more I work with it.  There are a number of complementary stamps, wheels and papers that follow this style in the new catalog and I’m looking forward to experimenting with all of them very soon.

A whale of a time

Posted on by
2

We’re a long way from whale season in Hawaii…the humpbacks won’t return until late this year.  In the meantime, I found this funny stretched out fellow to keep me company:

a whale of a time

  • Longfellows Hostess Stamp Set
  • Basic Black and Baja Breeze Classic ink pads
  • Baja Breeze ink refill; Not Quite Navy Stampin’ Write marker
  • Certainly Celery, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock
  • Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss Designer Series Paper (retired)
  • Black Gingham Ribbon; Aquapainter
  • Itty Bitty Buttons and Itty Bitty punch

I have an enormous stash of retired papers and I am trying very hard to use some of them up.  The return of some of our previously retired In Colors as part of the new Color Renovation is helping…but there’s still a lot of paper.

The Bitty Buttons are returning in the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog – and I’m thrilled – but Gingham Ribbon is going to that giant craft desk in the sky, so if you want to keep some earth-bound, you’d better get it soon.

I’ve had a few requests for information on the clipboards and I’ll try to post some details next week, but I have to tell you that they are embarrassingly simple.  The biggest issue is the product you use to adhere the paper to the board.  You want something that will dry quickly, but not instantly – you need a little time to work.  I’ve given up trying to cover the paper with a decoupage-style finish on top as I have yet to find a product that will dry sufficiently hard to keep papers on the clipboard from sticking to it.  It may be trial and error for some of you, depending on your climate and the products you have available.

I’ll be home from my travels soon and will have some new stamp sets to share 🙂

How much is that doggie?

Posted on by
Reply

My husband grew up with dachshunds.   By the time I joined the family, they’d had quite a few.  The pair in residence when we were married were named Max and Ginger.  My dear Mother-in-law warned me about Max – he’d been abused as a young dog before they adopted him from the shelter, and he was unpredictable.

One of Max’s notable characteristics was LOVING to play ball.  He was incessant.  You’d throw the ball, he’d bring it back.  Throw, bring back, throw, bring back.  If you didn’t throw the ball out right away when he brought it back, he would bark at you.  If you ignored too many barks, he might nip your ankle.  My husband and his brother would tease him with the ball, pretending to throw it or hide it, but Max was too smart for them and wouldn’t play that game – he’d let them know he wasn’t kidding.

Once when we were visiting, someone rolled the ball under the TV.  (For any readers under 20, there was a time when a TV was a piece of furniture – a screen built into a wooden cabinet on legs.  Yes, I am old enough to remember that.)  When Max got to the TV, he was sure it had his ball.  He barked at the TV…no ball.  Barked again…no ball.  The TV was apparently playing games.  Max started to nip at the wooden legs on the TV, and at that point my mother-in-law gave orders to the brothers to get that ball out from under her TV before the dog chewed up the leg.

What does that have to do with cards, anyway?  Just this:

How much is that doggie?

  • Longfellows Hostess Stamp Set and Itty Bitty Backgrounds
  • Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, and Soft Sky (retired) card stock
  • Retired Halloween DSP from a year or two ago and Thoroughly Modern DSP
  • Early Espresso and Soft Sky Classic ink pad
  • Early Espresso Stampin’ Write marker
  • Pumpkin Pie corduroy button; Linen thread; Photo corner punch
  • Piercing tool, mat and template; Aquapainter

This little doggy is not an ankle nipper 🙂  One of the things I love about the Longfellows Hostess Stamp set is that the stamps all have a little sentiment included underneath those long bellies.  These are stamps for quick cards!  I just stamped this fellow and used a marker to color in his spots, then took the Aquapainter and gave him a little ground to stand on.

Those corduroy buttons are on the Last Chance list and you’ve got until the 30th to bring them home from the Online Store.  The thread I tied the button on is our Linen thread dragged through the Early Espresso stamp pad.  If you are patient, you wait until it’s dry – if you’re me, you hit it with the heat gun a couple of times and then get your fingers inky.

An elephant never forgets

Posted on by
Reply

These long critters crack me up.  Somehow I just knew this Ellie wanted to have pink ears.  She seemed like a pink-eared kind of girl:

an elephant never forgets

  • Going Grey, Melon Mambo, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock
  • DSP from the SAB paper pack: 2 3/8 inch Scallop Circle Punch
  • Basic Black Classic ink pad
  • Pirouette Pink ink refill and the Aquapainter
  • Pretty in Pink striped grosgrain ribbon
  • Filigree brads and Pretty in Pink brad

Yep, I’m playing with more of my Sneak Peak items from the 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  The new ginormous scallop punch is absolutely awesome – lots of big scallop circles in a hurry!

I’m sorry to see Going Grey leave the Color Collection.  It’s clearly “Elephant Grey” and I’ll be getting creative when I look for a substitute.  But having seen the Color Collection new colors and the new In Colors as well, I am convinced we’re going to have plenty of inspiration in the color department.  It’s all good!

Happy Father’s Day, Dad

Posted on by
Reply

I won’t be spending Father’s Day with my dad this year…most years I don’t.  We’re on the road, mid-way between a week of total R&R in Door County, Wisconsin and conference-plus-Big-City-fun in Chicago.  My dad’s on the West Coast, and though I’m not there, I’ll be sending my son to spend a couple of weeks with him and my mom when we leave Chicago.  It’s a fabulous time for everyone – Grandma and Grandpa enjoy my son a great deal, and my son is a big fan of his grandfather’s very specific diet:  Ice cream daily, twice if you can get it.  My dad and my son are a well-matched pair.

Happy Father's Day

  • Sense of Time, Sentimental Journey and All Holidays Stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, Dusty Durango and Handsome Hunter card stock
  • Dusty Durango and Handsome Hunter Classic ink pads
  • Dusty Durango polka dot ribbon; Stampin’ Dimensionals

This card is simple to make.  I stamped the big clock face image first, then just filled in with the images from Sense of Time and Sentimental Journey.  Some of them I stamped off (ink, stamp once on scrap paper, then stamp on project) and some I used “full strength”.  The “Happy Father’s Day” image is stamped onto a scrap of Very Vanilla and trimmed to fit – trying to stamp that squared image perfectly on a piece of cardstock would make me crazy.  (OK.  Crazier.)  That image is lifted on Stampin’ Dimensionals to help it to clear the ribbon and to add some, well, dimension.

Whenever I make a card base with a deep color like Handsome Hunter, I always cut a panel of light cardstock to insert on the inside.  If my card is 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ I cut my panel to 4″ x 5 1/4″ – you get the idea.

Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there.

Longfellows

Posted on by
1

The Stampin’ Up! 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog is outstanding in many ways, but one of the things that I am really excited about is the quality of the exclusive free Hostess sets.  Demos get to purchase a limited number of those sets during our Sneak Peak period, and I have a few cards to show you.

See ya later, Alligator

  • Longfellows Hostess stamp set
  • Whisper White, Crumb Cake (Kraft) and Always Artichoke card stock
  • Retired Designer Series Paper
  • Always Artichoke Classic ink pad
  • Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Write Marker
  • Wild Wasabi ink refill and Aquapainter
  • Barely Banana button and Linen thread
  • Big Shot and Lattice Embossing folder

Doesn’t this crack you up?  I love the stretched-out gator…and wait til you see some of his friends.  If I was you, I would be signing up to hold a workshop first thing in July so that I could earn this set for my own!  (hint, hint)

Isaac is here!

Posted on by
Reply

My upline had a baby boy a couple of months ago.  He was a little boy then, but he’s grown an awful lot in just 8 weeks!  She was very prompt in sending out her announcements.   I didn’t want to take the chance of posting before everyone got theirs in the mail, but by now all the recipients should have gotten them.  They wouldn’t mind if I shared mine with you:

Isaac is here

I don’t have all the details on the products she used, but I can tell you that the colors she used perfectly matched the little outfit that Isaac was wearing in his photograph included inside the announcement – such attention to detail!!  She cut two squares of Night of Navy with the Scallop Square Bigz die and attached them at the top left corner with a brad so the announcement slides open. Cute, no??

Embossing Boxes

Posted on by
Reply

You won’t believe how simple this is.  The WOW factor is huge – at least I think so!

  • I {Heart} Hearts, Teeny Tiny Wishes, You and Moi stamp sets
  • Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery and Whisper White card stock
  • Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery Classic ink pads
  • Bashful Blue, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon
  • Medium Jewelry Tag punch
  • Big Shot, Matchbox die and Vintage Wallpaper Textured Embossing Folder

Check out that ribbon!  It won’t be available much longer – and for sure it won’t be available after June 30 – so if you like it, order it now!  That Embossing Folder is a 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and catalog Sneak Peak and it is very, very cool.  Every embossing folder that comes along is more awesome than the last one and this Vintage Wallpaper is no exception.

These little boxes are perfect favors – you almost don’t need the ribbon.  The depth of the embossing folder is enough embellishment, so these would go together very quickly.  I’ve only embossed the band that wraps around the box base.  A few quick tips:

  • crease the fold lines heavily BEFORE embossing
  • insert the band with the wider of the two end pieces in first
  • apply adhesive to the narrower end which remains outside the embossing folder

The box base doesn’t need any adhesive, and the white panel is cut to fit inside.  You could cut all these pieces and then have an assembly line to make a lot of little favors in a very short time.