Happy Congratulations

Posted on February 3, 2014 by mauistamper

The name of this stamp set cracks me up – it makes me think of one of those “close but not quite” translations. You know the ones. In any event, I used a sketch from the Paper Players to get started:

Stamps: Happy Congratulations and Petal Parade (SAB)
Color Palette: Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Pool Party, Whisper White and Black Staz-on
Accessories: Sweet Sorbet DSP, Big Shot and Decorative Dots TIEF, Pool Party Seam Binding, Oval punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Rhinestone Jewels, Stampin’ Dimensionals

It’s a fun sketch because it includes a pull-out tag:

The little paper lanterns are very easy to (Two Step) stamp – I just gave ’em the Maui Stamper eyeball – and that panel is lifted on Dimensionals. I think EVERY card should use Dimensionals.

Here’s the sketch. You can see I took a little creative license with it, but that’s all in the game:

Speaking of games, congrats to all you Seahawk 12th Men out there – but what a horrible game. The Super Bowl is supposed to be competitive. I feel for all of you Denver fans. Go read Alexander and Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. You’ll feel better. Bad days happen. (I’m a 49er fan – we already had our Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.)

All righty then! A quick little detour and we are adding things to the book list! (Not that I’m above adding to my book list – please feel free to share.) But let’s have one more look at Happy Congratulations (which would be a fine name for a Chinese Restaurant, if you ask me):

Enjoy!

DIY calendar – February 2014

Posted on February 1, 2014 by mauistamper

Do you speak the Language of Love?

My own DIY calendar this month combines banners and pennants from the Language of Love stamp set featured in the Occasions catalog. I’m not a huge fan of hearts, but there’s something different about this set – I {heart} it! (I can hear you groaning…)

Clear #133077 $12.95 Wood #133074 $16.95

There’s a punch for the pennant and a framelit for the banner too – but the truth is I hand cut them both. I know some of you refuse to acknowledge that is an option, but I enjoy it. I wouldn’t want to do loads of them, and I draw the line at curves, but these are pretty straight forward and I can handle them.

Colors are Melon Mambo and Soft Suede. I added some Gold Baker’s Twine and a little tiny Diah-mund to sparkle it up. The pennants are on dimensionals too. Just because.

We’re running a mini-blog-tour the first of every month to share different versions of the DIY Calendar concept. Go visit Crystal and Cheryl to see what their February calendars look like, and be sure you give them a little blog-loving; (comments!). And although we’re one month into the New Year, it’s not too late to make your own. Click HERE to order your own DIY calendar kit – they’re $8 with the easel and $5 without (plus shipping.) Pull down those stamps, pull out that ink, and have a little calendar fun!

Time to Sale-a-brate!

Posted on January 29, 2014 by mauistamper

It’s the Most-Wonderful-Time….of the Yeeeear!!!!

Ah yes, Sale-a-bration. Spend $50 in merchandise and earn exclusive product absotively, posituvely free! (Say it out loud, it works.)

The Sweet Sorbet DSP is one of the Sale-a-bration choices that has made my day! The patterns are fresh and trendy and every single one of them is a winner – Stampin’ Up! has been rockin’ the DSP boat during SAB. The color choices might surprise you – they did me – but as I’ve worked with them I have become quite smitten 🙂

And just in case you don’t have a wish list ready, Stampin’ Up! has come to the rescue with a sweet new offering.

It’s embossing made easy. The Texture Boutique Embossing Machine is a compact and portable tool to add texture to cards, tags, embellishments, and more. Use it with our Stampin’ Up! exclusive Textured Impressions Embossing Folders (see why I call them TIEFs?) The initial supply of The Texture Boutique is limited, but it will be making a permanent appearance in the next annual catalog that debuts in May.

Just so happens that the purchase of the Texture Boutique (#132657 – $29.95) and any 3 Embossing Folders will earn you a free Sale-a-bration item – including the brand new Embossing Folder Decorative Dots (#133520). You’ll be ready to rock and roll!

Visit my Online Store to order, or contact me and we will find the perfect solution for your crafting needs. Need a refresher on the TIEF options? Here you go!

Weekly Deals January 28 to February 3, 2014

Posted on January 29, 2014 by mauistamper

Have you been updating all of your old style ink pads for new FFIP (Firm Foam Ink Pads) with these weekly deals?

Order ONLINE!

Cheery Ellies for a Grey Day

Posted on January 27, 2014 by mauistamper

Crushed Curry is a perfect antidote for grey!

Stamps: Zoo Babies and Happy Hour
Color palette: Crushed Curry, Basic Grey, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Stampin’ Dimensionals, Basic Grey Striped Ribbon (Clearance Rack!), Kaleidoscope DSP

Yes, even on the Valley Isle we have the occasional grey day. The cheerful Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper was the inspiration for this card, and the super-simple layout encouraged me to take an extra step with the elephants.

The two background Ellies are stamped using the “stamping off” technique – ink your rubber, stamp lightly on scrap paper, and then stamp onto your project. The featured Ellie is stamped with all the glory that a Firm Foam Ink Pad (FFIP) offers, then trimmed out with my paper snips and lifted up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I stamped the ear a second time with Crushed Curry, trimmed it out and adhered it to the card with another Dimensional. Dimensionals are like Magic Wands!! They make all sorts of fabulous things happen. However, this ear looked a little funny flying off Ellie’s head.

The solution was a super-thin line of Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) to make the front side of the ear stick to Ellie’s head just as God intended!

If you had told me when I began stamping that I would absolutely NEED all of these different adhesives I would have probably laughed in your face. What did I know then? Adhesives make the paper crafting world go round.

Hope your day is sunny and bright!

Just a few more Sweet Sayings cards…

Posted on January 24, 2014 by mauistamper

I may or may not have become addicted to these pre-printed card bases:

I shared a few of these on Monday but they kept on calling me…so I made a few more!

The sentiment for this card is from Hip Notes, certainly one of my absolute favorites from the Occasions Catalog. If you look at that twine, you’ll realize it’s a little heavier than our Baker’s Twine. It’s a Sale-a-bration choice and includes 3 colors – Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party and Summer Starfruit. It also includes die-cut cork embellishments, so stay tuned for those! And look twice – the dots on that TIEF are a new, exclusive pattern called Decorative Dots – another SAB Freebie!

Change up the sentiment and you could have a Valentine, but I needed thank you notes! The heart image is from Language of Love in the Occasions catalog, and though it’s hard to read it features a whole bunch of translations of the word love.

The Sweet Sayings card and envelope kits are available through Monday, January 27 although supplies are limited. You can order HERE #134609 $5.95 for 12 cards and coordinating envelopes (4 each Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe and Coastal Cabana).

Tomorrow morning (Saturday, January 25) I’m having a 2-5-10 class (2 hours, 5 cards, $10). You’re welcome to join on a space available basis. I’ve featured a couple of our projects this month:

Hope to see you!

Weekly Deals January 21 to 27, 2014

Posted on January 21, 2014 by mauistamper

Some sweet deals this week, including the Epic Day Washi tape.

Order ONLINE!

Simple and Sweet

Posted on January 20, 2014 by mauistamper

The Sweet Sayings Cards and Envelopes are Grrrrrrrrrreat!!(I think my demographic may be showing…does anyone else remember Tony the Tiger?)

Stamp sets: Too Kind and Wetlands
Color Palette: Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana and Real Red
Accessories: Sweet Sayings card and envelope set

And now for something completely different…

Change the font (this is from Oh, Hello) and create my own DSP with the Dictionary background set and it’s a Manly Card – even with those cute squiggles and tiny hearts at the bottom.

Yet another look – very girly – with a sentiment from Four You and the fabulous little blooms from Petite Petals. It’s hard to see in the photo, but the Coastal Cabana panel is embossed with Perfect Polka dots and carried through with the pierced line on the Whisper White oval (love those piercing guides!!)

Click Maui Stamper Whole Lot To Love 2014 to view the PDF with all the details on these Sweet Sayings Note Card sets. They’re only available until January 27 – or until supplies run out.

A RemARKable Sale-a-bration

Posted on January 19, 2014 by mauistamper

What a way to go out – our last Best of 25 Years Anniversary Blog Tour features stamps from Sale-a-bration. Everyone is an SAB fan!

These images shouted “Tags” to me – as so many of the 25th Anniversary sets have done. Making tags is even more fun with our two new tag punches – I’ve used the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (#133324) on these tags, along with a generous helping of Washi Tape.

Don’t you think Pale Pistachio and Blushing Bride are a pleasing combination? Say yes 🙂

This was one of my favorite images when it came out the first time and I was a happy stamper to see it again. I had the oh-so-brilliant idea to add speckles to the flowers with my white gel pen:

Super simple – just dots – but I love the pop. Did you know…if your gel pen gets fussy, open it up, push a slim bamboo bbq skewer down the ink chamber and give it a stir. Works like a charm!

Those smudges on my ribbon are not really there – I just checked. So much for photo editing! I had loads of fun combining ribbons for these tags. Sometimes you need to step back and just LOOK at your stash instead of go forward with a purpose.

One of my favorite people in the UNIVERSE is expecting a baby girl this spring, so I have babies on my mind. (She’s also expecting a boy – twins! But baby boys don’t want flowered tags.)

The new gold Washi tape in the Occasions catalog looks fabulous with Soft Suede. It’s a burnished gold rather than a bright gilt, and that makes it a lot more versatile. Versatile, just like each of the 25th Anniversary Best of stamp sets!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour as well as the entire year of tours. The 25th Anniversary Best of Stamps are all available through March 31, 2014, and each set is priced at $14.95 US. If you want to go back to revisit the entire “Best of” series, you’ll find it on the third Sunday each month beginning February 2013 – I’ve listed the links below. You’ll notice that my posts appear a day early – that’s because our tour begins each month at midnight Eastern time. I usually got the math right!

Now head on over to see what Maria has created for you, and thanks for stopping by.

http://www.stampinandscrappinwithriri.blogspot.com/

February 17, 2013 Best of Birthdays

March 17, 2013 Best of Love

April 21, 2013 Best of Flowers

May 19, 2013 Best of Butterflies

June 16, 2013 Best of Brides and Babies

July 21, 2013 Best of Greetings

August 18, 2013 Best of Shelli

September 15, 2013 Best of Halloween

October 20, 2013 Best of Autumn

November 17, 2013 Best of Christmas

December 15, 2013 Best of Snow

Love These Fresh Prints!

Posted on January 16, 2014 by mauistamper

My Crystal Ball says there’s going to be a lot of Coastal Cabana, Real Red and Crumb Cake in my future:

It’s not often that I find a Designer Series paper pack that I love so thoroughly, but Fresh Prints is that pack. The colors are – wait for it – so FRESH! (Had to be said. I’m not sorry.) The designs are really easy to use, and there’s a good balance of white-based patterns versus color based patterns, so they mix well.

And do you love that brad? I love the candy dots, but I was looking for something else. This little bitty button-brad is a Vintage Trinket and I think it has a low enough profile to slide past the USPS Fat Envelope Fighters. (I know, they have a job to do – but I’m still gonna try!)

Stamps: Hip Notes, Dictionary
Color Palette: Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Real Red and Soft Sky (card base)
DSP: Fresh Prints pack
Accessories: Big Shot and Circles Framelits, Vintage Trinkets, Banner punch (Sale-a-bration)

When I first saw the little banner punch in the 2014 Sale-a-bration catalog, I though “meh”. I mean, I can cut a banner. It’s easy! Whoa man, not as easy as punching…and there’s a stamp set that coordinates with this punch too. Start planning your SAB orders, my friends, because you will find yourself with a big case of the “Gimmees” when January 28 rolls around. Need a catalog? Just let me know!

The Maui Stamper

papercrafts, my stories, and the occasional insight

Happy Congratulations

DIY calendar – February 2014

Time to Sale-a-brate!

Weekly Deals January 28 to February 3, 2014

Cheery Ellies for a Grey Day

Just a few more Sweet Sayings cards…

Weekly Deals January 21 to 27, 2014

Simple and Sweet

A RemARKable Sale-a-bration

Love These Fresh Prints!

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