Tag Archives: Big Shot

A Really Big Deal

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I have been cranking in the stamp room the past week or two.  I had a new catalog Open House last weekend, two classes this week, and a sack full of swaps to get ready for the Stampin’ Up! convention this week in Salt Lake City.  Imagine throngs of stampers, mostly women but accompanied by a few brave men, sharing inspiration, laughter, and swaps – for four days!  I leave tonight on the red-eye and I am pumped up.  Packed?  Well, no, not yet…

Kellie's fabulous card


Isn’t this fabulous??  My dear friend Kellie made it for me.  Since I’m not packed, you’ll have to forgive me but the list of supplies will have to be an addendum later on.

Mama’s Got a Brand New Bag

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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??

Big Shot Scallop Square bag

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.

CASE-ing the new catalog

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There are lots of great samples in the new Idea Book and Catalog coming out July 1, and the other day one caught my eye.  The designer added some Itty Bitty punch flowers to this image from Pocket Silhouettes, and they were a perfect fit.  Here’s my version:

Dotted Silhouettes

  • Pocket Silhouettes and All Holidays stamp sets
  • Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Lovely Lilac card stock
  • Old Olive and Almost Amethyst Classic ink pads
  • Pretty in Pink, Lovely Lilac and Old Amethyst Stampin’ Write Markers
  • Tombo adhesive, Blender Pen and White Gel pen
  • Itty Bitty punches; Horizontal Slot punch
  • Pretty in Pink striped ribbon; Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Big Shot and Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder

This card falls in the simple and sweet category – an easy card for beginners.  After inking the image with Old Olive, I used a blender pen to remove the Olive color from the buds and replaced it with the Stampin’ Write markers.  I punched the bitty flowers out, attached them with Tombo, and added white centers and coordinating petal lines.  Add a sentiment and a ribbon and you’re done!  The image panel is adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals to provide a little, well, dimension, and also to leave a little room for those Big Shot Polka Dots and the ribbon.

Have you looked at the Last Chance Lists?  Stamps, accessories and Decor Elements are clearing out – some of them very quickly – and some of them at a discount!  Be sure you check my Online Store for all the information.  One of the punches that is retiring is the Horizontal Slot, and I am sorry to see it go – it’s just the thing for ribbon!

It’s gettin’ kinda Birdy around here…

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Don’t know what it is about me and birds recently…I must be picking up Bird-Vibes from the cat.  He sits at the sliding glass door in the kitchen and watches the birds.  When they get too close to the door he barks.  Seriously.  He has this goofy sound he makes that sounds like a bark.  We refer to it as his “Birdy Bark”, and that should tell you all you need to know about how wacky this household is.  I think we’d better move onto the card before I  reveal any more deep, dark family secrets:

Elements of Style Ruby Throated Hummingbird

  • Elements of Style and Vintage Labels (SAB) stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry and Garden Green card stock
  • Thoroughly Modern Designer Series Paper
  • Sahara Sand and Garden Green Classic ink pads
  • Bermuda Bay, Tempting Turquoise, Garden Green and Rich Razzleberry Stampin’ Write markers
  • Rich Razzleberry and Garden Green Classic ink refills; Aquapainter
  • Big Shot and Lattice Impressions folder
  • Scallop Trim border punch; Piercing tool, template and mat
  • Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon

I really threw the tool box at this card!  I used the Sahara Sand ink pad to lay down the beautiful roses on the Vanilla card stock and then watercolored them with the Aquapainter and the ink refills.  I used markers directly on the stamp to color the hummingbird  and although the colors aren’t perfectly true to life I’m happy with the result.  Just in case you’re wondering, that’s not a new taffeta ribbon – I folded it in half – OK, the truth is I brought it downstairs and IRONED it in half.  It wouldn’t stay when I folded it.  The things I do to get a card just right!

Uh-oh.  Somebody’s barking again.  One of these days those sassy Mynah birds are gonna let him have it.

Cheery and Cheep

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a color challenge – I’ve made notes about at least half a dozen of them but that’s as far as they’ve gotten – until today.  So many challenges, so little time!  Fortunately, the Color Dare 67 challenge was a winner and the card practically made itself:

Cheep Talk Color Dare 67

  • Cheep Talk stamp set
  • Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant card stock
  • Melon Mambo, Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant Classic ink pads
  • Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Write marker
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • 1 1/4″ and 1 3/8″ Circle Punches
  • Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Bitty Buttons and linen thread
  • Big Shot and Lattice Impressions folder

I’m very proud of myself; ANOTHER one-stamp-set-card!  Stampin’ Up! really does a great job of assembling complementary images in a stamp set – I’ve done so many very different cards using just Cheep Talk.  It’s a great value, in my humble opinion.  And as long as I’m running a commercial, have I mentioned how much I love this Lattice Impressions folder?  The two sides, front and back, have a very different look, and the texture is so deep and condensed that it really creates something entirely different from the original sheet of paper.

I’m hooked on Bitty Buttons, too – another “nah, I don’t need it” product when I saw it in the Mini Catalog, but then Robbie brought some over and I couldn’t resist them.  I love that they’re clear, that there are little bitty punches that match them, and that they’re small enough that they don’t overwhelm a project.  I REALLY hope they make it into the 2010-2011 catalog…but I feel that way about a lot of mini catalog products.  Carpe diem and all that.  Use the buttons today!!

Fond Farewell to Summer Sun

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You know, I’m actually going to miss Summer Sun.  I didn’t use it a lot, but its deep, rich color was sometimes just the shade I needed.   When I saw Riley’s choices for this week’s Color Dare Challenge I started thinking about that yellow.  For me, the key to using bold color is getting the Goldilocks dose – not too little, not too much, but just right:

Mojo135 Awash with Flowers Color Dare Challenge Stampin Up!

  • Awash with Flowers, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Flight of the Butterfly, Wings of Friendship and Linen (retired) stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, Summer Sun, Certainly Celery and Old Olive card stock
  • Summer Sun and Olive Olive Classic ink pads
  • Summer Sun and Certainly Celery Classic ink refills and the Aquapainter
  • Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder and the Beautiful Wings Embosslit
  • Scallop Border and Corner Rounder punches, White Gel pen, and Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon

This sketch is number 135 from Mojo Monday (yes, I am aware it is Thursday – sometimes life gets in the way.)  I wasn’t sure if I would like it but once I decided to skip the fancy shape for the focal point it was an easy sketch to use.  I stamped the larger flowers first and then made a mask to cover them before stamping the smaller stemmed flowers.  Masking is an under-rated technique!

As if two challenges weren’t enough for one post, I’ve also been given a Sunshine Award from my blogging friend Lisa.  The rules of the award state that I need to pass it on, and that’s a tough choice for me.  Lisa awarded one of the people I regularly follow – Melissa Huie – so in no particular order, here are a few other stamping bloggers whose work I admire:

I hope you’ll enjoy the work of these talented artists as much as I do.  They each have a different perspective, but the one thing they have in common is uncommon creativity.

And thanks, Lisa!  You made my day.

Sweet home for a cardinal

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Cardinals are nest builders, not house dwellers, but if your imagination can tolerate a little stretching  I think you’ll enjoy this:

Stampin' Up! milk carton die Two Step Bird punch Bird House

  • Vintage Vogue and I {Heart Hearts} stamp sets
  • Naturals White, Soft Suede, Real Red, Mellow Moss, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie and Always Artichoke card stock
  • Real Red, Soft Suede and Always Artichoke Classic ink pads
  • Black Stampin’ Write Journaler and White Gel pen
  • Big Shot and Bigz L Milk Carton die
  • Two Step Bird, Heart to Heart and Scallop Edge punches
  • Stampin Sponges, Sponge Daubers, Tombo adhesive and Stampin’ Dimensionals

I need to send you to see two special ladies to thank them for their part in this project.  The first is the Amazing Kim Bolzenthal, who generously sent me a RAK of pre-cut milk cartons.  If you know Kim at all, you’ll know she is a thoughtful, giving person who has a passion for stamping and stampers.  Please leave her a comment and tell her how fabulous she is!

The second person I’d like you to visit is Marie whose charming Goldfinch Birdhouses were my direct inspiration for this project.  I loved her concept and tweaked it just a little to suit my purposes, but she’s the genius behind the design and she deserves the credit.  Please leave her a comment and let her know how brilliant she is!

The cardinal and the little heart are both attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals, but the heart is so small I snipped off a little piece from the strip around the edge of the dimensionals.

Here’s the 411 on the cardinal’s face:  It’s a pain in the, um, tailfeathers but I think it makes a big difference.  After you punch the bird’s body in Real Red, go back and insert a right angle corner of black cardstock into the face portion of the punch at the beak.  The farther in you insert that black corner, the bigger your mask will be.  Punch it and set it someplace you can find it, because it’s not very big.  Do the same thing with a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, but only insert that corner in to the point where it makes a tiny diamond shape with the beak.  Punch this very carefully, because as soon as you punch it is so small it will disappear into the litter on your workspace.  Take a pair of tweezers (yep, I really did that) and use a teeny tiny dot of Tombo to put the Pumpkin Pie beak on the Black mask.  Use a tiny dot of Tombo to attach the mask to the cardinal’s face and use a white gel pen to add an eye.

Go ahead – give it a try – you can do it!

Fond Farewell to Blush Blossom

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When I look at the list of colors retiring in June, I feel ambiguous about Blush Blossom.  It’s not a very trendy color.  It doesn’t inspired me on its own.   But Blush Blossom plays well with others.

Stampin' Up! Awash with Flowers Splitcoaststampers challenge

  • Awash with Flowers and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • French Script, Inspired by Nature, and Flight of the Butterfly stamp sets
  • Blush Blossom, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral and Whisper White card stock
  • Ruby Red, Blush Blossom and Mellow Moss Classic ink pads
  • Cameo Coral and Ruby Red Stampin’ Write markers
  • Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, and SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz plate
  • Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel, Stampin’ Pastels, and Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon

The new Awash with Flowers stamp set is a winner, my stampin’ friends.  I inked the solid stamps in Blush Blossom and used the Cameo Coral and Ruby Red markers to add a little extra color to the rubber before I stamped the images.  If you want to see a mind-boggling beauty of a card with this set, peek at Lisa’s Add Ink and Stamp.  She is one amazing artist.

This card was a project for my stamp club last night.  I’m not sure if it was the profusion of stamps or all of the steps or just the fact that we were crazy enough to schedule stamp club on Tax Day, but it was a wild and crazy kind of club!  Lots of hootin’ and hollerin’  and crazy farmin’ talk, especially when we were finished stamping.  Teresa brought some of her Auntie’s home made wine – a bottle of cherry and a bottle of lilikoi.  Yes, I was wrong – there ARE cherry trees on Maui!  The cherry wine was sweet and refreshing and and the lilikoi was tropical and somewhat mystical and both were absolutely delicious.  I think it’s fair to say a good time was had by all!

One last thought:  If you haven’t tried a challenge card yet, I enthusiastically recommend that you do.  This card uses Color and Sketch Challenges from Splitcoaststampers and there are loads of other challenges out there to try.  Find one that inspires you and give it a shot!

Cheery and Bright

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Time for a break from all these farewells!  Today’s card is very simple and cheerful and the colors are NOT retiring!

Petal Pizazz Stampin' Up! Melon Mambo Certainly Celery

  • Petal Pizazz and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Certainly Celery and Melon Mambo card stock
  • Certainly Celery and Melon Mambo Classic ink pads
  • Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 Bigz die and Stampin’ Up! Backgrounds 1
  • Melon Mambo Polka Dot grosgrain and double rectangle punch

Hard to see that texture from the Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate but trust me, it’s there.  I’ve become accustomed to the sharp definition of the Impressions Embossing folders and forgot to adjust for the more subtle look of the Texturz Plate with my sophisticated photographic set-up.  (Ha!  One of these days I’ll show you same photo set-up and you will have a Very Good Laugh.)

We need a cheery card because today is Tax Day.  I’ve been an April 15th filer before and it’s no fun.  In truth I don’t find anything fun in taxes at all, and that’s why I have my wonderful Tax Man figure out the whole mess.  I still spend the better part of a day gathering records (generally spread over an entire week in order to optimize the irritation factor) but at least I don’t have to figure out all the forms.  I just write the check.  Ugh.

Back to cheery cards!  Each year when the In Color collection is announced there is always at least one color that I look at and say “hmmph” in that I-don’t-think-so sort of way.  Melon Mambo was that color for me this year, but it has grown on me.  Good thing, because it’s going to be part of the new Color Collection.  I’m looking at it with new eyes, realizing it won’t retire the end of June like In Colors in the past have done.  I can’t wait to try it out with Early Espresso…there’s an Espresso that will really wake you up!

Looking for a quick card?

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I think I finally “get” clean and simple.  Truth is, I was just looking for simple when I came up with this idea, and the clean part just followed along:

Happy Easter, Forest Friend

  • Forest Friends, Inspired by Nature and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • So Saffron and Whisper White card stock
  • Soft Suede and Sage Shadow Classic ink pad; Pretty in Pink Classic ink refill
  • Big Shot and Movers and Shapers XL Bigz die
  • Curly label and Scallop Trim Border punches; Aquapainter
  • So Saffron striped grosgrain ribbon and Stampin’ Dimensionals

The Movers and Shapers die is SO easy to use.  It took me a long time to spend the money – I kept thinking I could do the same thing with one of our punches.  You can get close with the punch, but you are limited to punching within a short distance of the side of the card.  The big difference, though, is that beautiful pierced border that the Bigz die puts around the opening.  That embellishment really makes a difference – and did I mention it’s quick?  You put a piece of paper on the die, run it through the Big Shot, and out comes a trimmed, scored and punched card, ready to roll.  This is the thing to use when you have a lot of cards to make.

I’m having an absolutely fabulous Saturday.  My son is driving himself all over the island to his many activities today – Scout work day, youth group project, lunch with friends (we’re meeting him there), then up to the harbor to go on a whale watch with his friends as a belated birthday celebration, and finally to the track meet (we’ll go watch him compete).  Did I mention he is DRIVING HIMSELF?????  You don’t know how happy that makes me.  I know he’s happy to have his license, but I’m telling you, I’m the one who is truly thrilled.  We’ve had some very serious discussions about maturity, responsibility, and the consequences of abusing the privilege of driving.  Each time as we wrap up, I remind him that if I have to take the keys away because he has abused his privilege, we are both going to be unhappy.  And if Mama ain’t happy, honey, ain’t nobody happy!

Happy Saturday!