You Make Me Happy: February 2015

Posted on February 1, 2015 by mauistamper

Is it February already? Oh, my…time for a new calendar:

I started thinking Valentines, but ultimately just kept the pink color and skipped the holiday. Pink is such a happy color. It’s a different sort of happy from yellow, a calmer, more serene kind of happy – at least to me.

“You make me happy” seems a lot like “I like your face”, but said more subtly.

The first of every month we have a teensy weensy DIY calendar blog hop, so go see what Cheryl and Crystal are doing for February.

And be happy!

I like your face

Posted on January 31, 2015 by mauistamper

I like your face…You know the friend for whom that expression is meant.

I guess I’m a pretty lucky girl, because there were two friends that came to mind IMMEDIATELY when I saw that stamp, and naturally I had to make two cards.

Stamps: Cheerful Critters
Color Palette: Basic Black, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Wisteria Wonder
Accessories: Blendabilities, Bakers’ Twine, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Rhinestones, Polka Dot TIEF, Tiny Triangles TIEF

I used the narrow end of the Blendabilities to color in random squares.

Same card, different layout. The Polka Dot TIEF circles are 3/4″ circles, so you can punch a template in a scrap and place it over the embossed circle so that you can add color with a dauber.

I hand-wrote the “Hey Chick” part. I mean, honestly. What else could I say?

Speaking of liking faces, I had the tremendous pleasure of meeting one of my blog readers. Annette and her husband have been regular Maui visitors for a number of years, and she contacted me late last year to say she would be here. We had breakfast and talked long enough that our server hinted broadly that they needed our table 🙂 We weren’t done, so we took a long walk up and down South Kihei Road. Thanks so much, Annette, for sharing your holiday with me!

DEALS – Embossing Folders and the TEXTURE BOUTIQUE!!!

Posted on January 27, 2015 by mauistamper

Have you been trying to justify buying the Texture Boutique? TRY THIS:

Texture Boutique + any 5 of the DEAL TIEFs = Sale-a-bration!

Who doesn’t love a good sale?

And if you’re a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, refills for the ADORABLE Valentines kit just hit the Online Store. Add a couple of refills to your order and your Valentines are DONE! You need to be a subscriber to purchase the refills. Interested in subscribing? Purchase a 3 month subscription at a discount (#137859 at $54.85) and earn a free Sale-a-bration product.

Want more information? Visit the My Paper Pumpkin website, check the pre-paid Pumpkins page in the Online store, or just watch the January 2015 unveiling video.

Deals this week – do you love In Colors?

Posted on January 20, 2015 by mauistamper

Deals this week include both sets of the In Color Markers!

Love these deals. Twine! Markers! Clothespins! (Or clothes pegs, depending on where you live).

Shop HERE and they’ll be at your doorstep in a heartbeat. Your order of $50 earns a free Sale-a-bration choice!

A Creative Blog Hop

Posted on January 19, 2015 by mauistamper

I love to see great ideas move in new directions, and today I’m delighted to participate in a very different sort of blog hop. I was nominated by the very talented Lisa Young to succeed her in the Creative Blog Hop, and I’ll do my best to live up to the honor.

My project today is another Berry Basket, again using the Best Year Ever DSP. This was our club project this month, and we had a lot of fun with the basket and the Spiral Flower. What is it about the hot glue gun that gets everyone laughing? Are there fumes I’ve been missing???

There was no shortage of creativity with all of that beautiful paper, and I love that every flower comes out a little differently with the spiral die.

Covering a spiral notepad is much easier than you think – just punch a line of 1/8″ circles and snip down from the top of the paper. When you adhere the paper to the front of the notepad (I use Tombo, the Wonder Adhesive) the little lines disappear. It’s magical!

It’s January, so I kept the treats of the paper sort, not the chocolate sort 🙂

We wrapped 3″ by 3″ sticky note pads with DSP and tied them with Bakers Twine. Sometimes a simple treatment really is the best solution!

Different patterns create a totally different look. The Best Year Ever DSP is easy to work with, from single color tone-on-tone patterns to more complex designs that are still uniform.

Part of the hop is to answer a few questions about my creative process. I hope you’re not expecting any deep, earth-shattering revelations here!

1. What are you working on?

Is it fair to say I’m working on the mess in my stamp room? We spent the holidays in Australia with ALL OF OUR FAMILY (yes, I am still smiling about it!) and there are heaps, boxes, baskets and bits of paper wherever you look. It’s a happy mess, though, and in the midst of it all I am working diligently on all sorts of projects featuring new Sale-a-bration and Occasions products.

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?

This is a tough one for me to answer, and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. I like relatively clean design, but I’m not a true Clean and Simple style stamper. I think my approach to color is one of my more distinguishing characteristics: I like tone-on-tone, or neutrals with a pop of color, but I also like fresh combinations. And I really like blues and greens together 🙂

3. Why do you create what you do?

Love this question! There was a time when I tried to create what I thought I ought to be creating, or what I thought others expected me to create. In 2014, one of my written goals was to craft more often for my own pleasure. I’ve been exploring new sources of inspiration and have learned to trust my instincts more, and that’s really changed the way I craft and the end product, as well as my satisfaction in the process.

4. How does your creative process work?

Hmmm….haphazardly??? (If you know me in real life you are laughing hysterically.) Sometimes I have a vision in my head, and once in a while the end result actually resembles that vision. More often, I have an inspiration in either color or image that I want to explore. I keep paper and embellishment scraps nearby when I’m creating, and pull things in and out until I find a combination that inspires me. When I’m finished, there’s generally a lot of “debris” on my countertop – bits and pieces that were considered and rejected. I really, really enjoy crafting with others, sharing opinions (and a few juicy stories). It’s a challenge making our schedules fit together, but when it happens it often results in great projects. And if it doesn’t, they’re REALLY ugly and we have a great laugh.

The final piece of this Creative Blog hop is to nominate two more bloggers whose work I admire, and I’ve chosen my two favorite in-person stamping companions. Next Monday (January 26), stop by HannieJoy and Co to see what Crystal Kondo is doing, and then hop over to Create with Cheryl to see what Cheryl Hamilton has for you.

Mahalo, Lisa, for inviting me to the Creative Blog Hop!

If you’d like to see a few of the past entries to the hop, visit these bloggers:

Robin’s Craft Room

My Stamp Vault

Stress Free Stamping

Stamper Camper’s Corner

Be Creative With Nicole

InkSpired Treasures

Critter Smitten

Posted on January 17, 2015 by mauistamper

I’m kinda smitten with all these Stampin’ Up! Critters!

Stamps: Cheerful Critters, You Plus Me, Best Day Ever 2015 SAB
Color Palette: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede
Accessories: Hello Honey Satin Ribbon, Crushed Curry and Coastal Cabana Blendabilities, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Best Year Ever DSP 2015 SAB

Crystal and I stamped together last week in her new studio. She’s gonna kill me for this…

She’s been stamping in her garage since the arrival of The Littles (her twins) last April. (They came a month early, and she was supposed to be off that month, and We Had Plans for that time. Oh well. I digress.) We had a great set-up out in the garage, but it was chilly by Maui standards and we had to bundle up.

But back to the Critters – we were cracking up over the images and the sentiments. She kept saying “I LIKE YOUR FACE” in one of those all-caps kind of voices. It’s not a sentiment you’d send to your great-aunt, unless you are very fortunate to have That Sort of great-aunt.

I used a Stampin’ Write marker on just the words from the You Plus Me set. Can’t you just see this little guy standing on the side of the road holding this sign? I am truly smitten.

Be sure and stop back on Monday. I’ve been invited to be part of a Creative Blog hop, and in addition to sharing a project I’ll be sharing a little about how and why I craft. I was invited by the talented Lisa Young, who is absolutely one of the dearest, sweetest people you could ever hope to meet. See you on Monday!

RemARKable Love in the Air

Posted on January 8, 2015 by mauistamper

Crafters always seem to be working a season ahead, and the RemARKable Blog Tour is no exception. This month we’re focusing on love as we look ahead to Valentine’s Day, but it’s a sentiment that spans the calendar. Settle back and enjoy the tour – we’ve got some great inspiration for you!

Color Palette: Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Stamps: Best Day Ever 2015 SAB
Accessories: Big Shot and Berry Basket Bigz L die, 2″ Circle, Label Bracket, and Itty Bitty Accents punches, Coastal Cabana Thick Twine, Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon, Dimensionals

Love the combination of fonts in this SAB set! And the colors chosen for the Best Year Ever DSP are fresh and just right for spring and summer!

The basket goes together VERY quickly – I chose to skip the handle so that my big ol’ bag o’ kisses would fit.

This square card uses the reverse side of the Best Day Ever DSP rimming the basket. The corner punch adds a little roundness that echos the Berry Basket. “Be Mine” and the smaller stamped heart are from the You Plus Me stamp set; the larger striped heart is from Hello Life.

Hope you enjoyed this stop on the tour – now head on over to see what Audra has made for you this month!

Nancy Amato
Melissa Bolinger
Tamra Davis
Connie Diebler
Becky Jensen
Anne Matasci YOU ARE HERE!
Audra Monk
Maria Pane
Andi Potler
Michele Reynolds
Pam Staples

Going Ombre with the Blendabilities

Posted on January 7, 2015 by mauistamper

The Irresistably Yours Specialty DSP available as a Sale-a-bration choice was my A-Number-One choice this year – this card popped into my head immediately:

Can I tell you how many things I love about it?

I love the ombre effect with the Blendabilities
I love the Black + White + Color palette
I love the new White Jute Ribbon
And I LOVE LOVE LOVE this paper!!

The white jute…it has a little bit of shimmer…I can envision so many uses for it!!

Color Palette: Whisper White, Basic Black and Coastal Cabana
Stamps: Best Day Ever 2015 SAB
Accessories: Irresistably Yours Specialty DSP SAB 2015, Coastal Cabana Blendabilities, Blendabilities Color Remover, White Jute, Silver Buttons, Soft Sky Twine (Painted Blooms set)

I used the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities. I began at the top with the lightest color, working to about halfway down. I dropped to the bottom with the darkest color and filled up about 1/3 of the card face . I used the middle tone from the middle of the darkest color to blend up to just above the point where the light color began, then switched back to the light color to blend down into the mid-range tone. Clear as mud? Just play with it. And if you have a little ink on the white resist portion of the paper, use the Color Remover to wipe it away. Have fun with this technique! There are so many possibilities.