Happy Father’s Day, Dad

Posted on June 20, 2010 by mauistamper

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.

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 June 19, 2010 by mauistamper

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.

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 June 17, 2010 by mauistamper

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:

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 June 15, 2010 by mauistamper

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.

Using up the Stash Part II

Posted on June 13, 2010 by mauistamper

Are you ready to see the last few clipboards? Ready or not, here they come:

Sweet Pea DSP pack and that fabulous paper that I hoarded…with Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red…you remember!

These are oldies but goodies…I think the front one might be Urban Garden and the back one…well it had River Rock in it and it was all these glorious baroque designs and I really loved it and…

You don’t really need the names, do you?

Using up the stash

Posted on June 12, 2010 by mauistamper

I’ve stashed a lot of DSP in my craft room (that’s Designer Series Paper in Stampin’ Up! shorthand.) Some of it I loved so much I wouldn’t use – flat out hoarding. Some of it I just couldn’t get inspired, and some of it I just plain forgot I had it.

I decided to use some of it up to make clipboards for my club members.

This is the Sweet Pea DSP pack from the Occasions Mini catalog and something else that you will be totally surprised to learn I cannot remember the name of. And yes, that is bad grammar but some days it just goes that way!

These are both from the Sweet Pea DSP, though I’m pretty sure that Saffron paper is from last year’s SAB.

One more Sweet Pea…and the one behind it (the one with the funny light reflection from my camera) was called…hmmm…Afternoon Tea? Not sure, but I remember it has Groovy Guava in it so you know it’s “vintage”.

I’ll share more another day.

My creative friend Cheryl

Posted on June 11, 2010 by mauistamper

My dear friend who lived 5 minutes from my house moved almost an hour across the island (I KNOW! You practically have to drive all the way around the island to go that far!!). It was a huge effort – the house she bought Needed Work. I helped her some, but mostly provided moral support.

A couple of days ago her thank-you card arrived in the mail:

You would have to see her house to know how absolutely perfect this is. It’s such a creative card, with the roof cut out of the card front. The front door even opens – see?

The best part is that she didn’t use DSP inside the door…she used a leftover scrap of the shelf paper I put on every single shelf and drawer in her kitchen. Yes, I noticed right away!! I’ll tell you, I know that paper well. I loved that she included it in the card.

I’ve been out to visit…it’s lovely…out in the country…but it’s pretty far away. I’m not known for my love of driving, but I’ll be making an exception for Cheryl.

Mama’s Got a Brand New Bag

Posted on June 10, 2010 by mauistamper

I’m not going to tell you how long this bag sat in front of my sewing machine, almost completed, while I got distracted with other projects. Honestly, I think there must be something to this adult onset ADD thing. It’s either that or caffeine, and it couldn’t be the caffeine, now, could it??

I used the Big Shot and the Scallop Square Bigz die. These are some of my favorite colors, and I’m the first to admit that the patterns are a little busy…but so am I 🙂 Do you like my button? It’s genuine vintage…from my grandmother’s stash.

Angie Juda has a great video if you need the step by step. My improvement was to add a cell phone pocket and a ring to hang my keys on in the inside of the bag. A bag this deep eats keys for lunch.

Do you have a Big Shot? What are you waiting for? Anne’s Online Store. You’ll wonder why you waited so long.

Monochromatic inspiration

Posted on June 9, 2010 by mauistamper

The new catalog uses a monochromatic theme for the pages that begin each new “chapter” of stamps, and the color theme for the All Natural section is neutrals. It really inspired me when I saw it, and although all the stamps used on that page were new I wanted to recreate that feeling. I looked through my stamps (never mind how many there are, I’m sure I’ll need new ones!!) and found the look I was seeking:

Wood Grain, Elements of Style, Inspired by Life and Define Your Life stamp sets
Naturals Ivory, River Rock, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (Kraft) and Very Vanilla card stock
Soft Suede, Sahara Sand and River Rock Classic ink pads
Crop-a-dile, Jumbo Eyelet and Linen Thread

Did you see that little scrap of River Rock? I have a folder with just a few scraps that I was — you guessed it — hoarding jealously. Now I can use them up! As of July 1st, River Rock is back in the family. I’ll admit that this Color Renovation is taking a little bite out of my stamping budget, but if it means that colors like Baja Breeze and River Rock are back in the palette I’ll work with it. I can make a budget and stick with it. It’s not like I have to have everything all at once. Really. I don’t. Not at all.

Excuse me, I have to go. My hypnotist appointment is soon. I don’t need it all at once…I don’t need it all at once…I don’t need it all at once…

Pink is for girlfriends

Posted on June 8, 2010 by mauistamper

I had that Medium tag punch sitting on my craft table and started playing with it. I’ve been fiddling around with inserts for the Simply Adorned charms (yes, I’ll show them when I’m ready but it’s still a work in progress) and I had a bunch of small images sitting around. I had to punch a couple of things a second time because it took me a while to figure out that it looked better when all the words faced the same way 🙂