One more Manly Card

Posted on May 13, 2013 by mauistamper

Earlier in May I hosted a Manly Card class. I don’t know about you, but cards you can send to a man, or for men to send to other men, are the most challenging for me to design. I want to add ribbon, or sparkle, or at least a little button. The cards in this class had none of that (well, one of them used that fabulous Natural Trim ribbon, but it’s practically rope.)

This is card No. 5:

Woodgrain, Feeling Sentimental (SAB) and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Island Indigo and Riding Hood Red card stock
More Mustard, Riding Hood Red and Island Indigo FFIP
Fanfare DSP
Bitty Banners Framelits
Stampin’ Dimensionals

This is a super simple layout but it’s a great way to feature textures and colors without getting too busy. While the Fanfare DSP has some very feminine paperes, many of them work surprisingly well on a masculine card.

One last Digger

Posted on June 29, 2012 by mauistamper

There are 3 heavy-duty digging machines in the I Dig You stamp set. I think I’ve mentioned that there was a time in my life – when my son was young – that I knew the name and function of nearly any piece of equipment you might see on a construction site. My son and I checked books out from the library, watched hours and hours of video, and of course made field trips to any job site we could find in order to watch the Diggers Dig.

At one point we would walk past an especially interesting site every day (ok, I walked, he rode in the stroller). The work began with tearing down an old, small beach house, then progressed to grading and preparing the ground for construction. Once the new structure started going up there were different pieces of equipment being used, and we were such frequent observers that the construction crew would stop and chat with us. My son knew the function of every machine and it seemed he could sit for hours watching them work.

Of course, we never saw a loader operated by a giraffe:

I Dig You and Itty Bitty Banners stamp set
Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, Basic Black and Very Vanilla card stock
Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze Classic ink pads
Basic Black, Crumb Cake and Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write markers
Big Shot and Bitty Banners Framelits
Linen Thread
Rhinestone Jewels
Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint
Crystal Effects
Stampin’ Dimensionals
1/2 inch circle punch

Every stamp set needs a bit of whimsey, and small animals ready to drive big construction equipment is nothing if not whimsical.

Make {another} Cake

Posted on June 20, 2012 by mauistamper

This set has so much potential, as does the fabulous Comfort Cafe Designer Series paper:

Make a Cake and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Summer Starfruit and Midnight Muse card stock
Comfort Cafe Designer Series paper
Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse FFIP (Firm Foam Ink Pads)
Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse Stampin’ Write markers
Raspberry Ripple 3/8 inch Stitched Satin Ribbon
Big Shot and Bitty Banners Framelits
Stamp-a-ma-jig
Jewels Rhinestones
Stampin’ Dimensionals

The first card I made with this set felt too busy – a victim of the philosophy “More is More” but not in a good way. I wanted to keep a similar feeling but streamline it a bit.

The first step was to choose the Designer Series paper, and I like the balanced feeling this paper gives. Once I had it in place the rest of the card came together pretty easily. My Stamp-a-ma-jig came in handy; despite the clear stamps, the lines on these stamps really need to be in the EXACT right spot for the best look, and the SAMJ was just the thing. It’s an indispensable tool for me.

Those Bitty Banners Framelits are fast becoming indispensable as well – perfect flags and banners every time! Not that everything always has to be perfect, but when it turns out that way it’s pretty sweet. Speaking of sweet, it’s mango season right now and we have an abundance of sweet, juicy, fragrant mangoes in our house. There’s nothing in the world like fresh fruit, ripened to perfection on the tree. I have orange hands and fingernails from peeling and slicing, but I don’t mind when the reward is fresh mango.

Choosing stamps

Posted on June 11, 2012 by mauistamper

I’m trying to be deliberate in my choice of new stamps. Every time Stampin’ Up! releases a new catalog I have the overwhelming urge to press the “I WANT IT ALL” button on the demonstrator website. (OK, full disclosure: there is no such button. However, demonstrators have been lobbying for this button for years.)

I know that there are people – Stampin’ Up! customers as well as demonstrators – who not only want it all, but buy it all. Perhaps some of them have a large enough business or crafting environment to actually need it all. In all honesty, I have to acknowledge that I neither have time nor space to have it all. That brings me back to the dilemma of making choices.

It’s easy to choose the things that I love. It’s tricky to be sure I have a well-rounded selection. It’s even harder still to choose things that will appeal to a broad cross-section of crafters. Over the years, I’ve gotten better at that last set of choices, but it takes careful evaluation. And just like each of you, I will make a decision and then see something that another stamper has done with a set that I had dismissed as absolutely un-workable and all of my “careful evaluation” goes out the window. Ah well, there’s room for an impulse buy or two in my budget!

Happily, this card was made with a stamp set that was a gift to me from Stampin’ Up!:

Betsy’s Blooms and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Soft Suede card stock
Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper
Soft Suede and Cherry Cobbler Classic ink pads
Summer Starfruit Firm Foam Ink Pads (FFIP)
Big Shot and Herringbone Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
3 and 3 1/2 inch circle Originals Dies
Bitty Banners Framelits
1/2 inch Cherry Cobbler Scallop Dots ribbon
Stampin’ Sponge
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Jewels Rhinestones

I can’t wait to get the rest of my FFIP!! They’re arriving slowly but surely and my, oh, my are they fabulous! Betsy’s little bird will surely SING when she gets inked up with FFIP in Cherry Cobbler.

I have to let you in on a little secret. This is one of those things I wouldn’t have noticed, but I think it’s pretty interesting. I looked at that Comfort Cafe DSP and my mind said “Cherry Cobbler” – and that’s what I pulled out to use. However, yesterday afternoon I was dreaming through the Annual Catalog and I came across the color palette for Comfort Cafe: Cajun Craze!!! Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference until I put the papers together. I’ll have to make this card again and make that adjustment. I’m waiting for that Cajun FFIP though…