Tag Archives: Cheep Talk

Just some birds and bees

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It’s been another busy day.  As much as I love to travel, and as much as I love to come home, the first week back always seems so frantic.  It feels like a combination of herding cats and trying to stick Jello to the wall.

The new Stampin’ Up! catalog is just a few hours away from its public debut, and that’s part of the reason my week has been so intense.  There’s a lot of tension between the things I NEED to do and the things I WANT to do!  I already have my Sneak Peak order in house – matter of fact, I had my Sneak Peak copy of the new Idea Book and Catalog shipped to the log cabin we stayed at in South Dakota.  I’ve been through it cover to cover, left, right and forward, but I’m still struggling with what to order when the whole catalog is available.  I’m sure I’ll make good choices when the time comes 🙂

In the meantime, I have a few cards to share with you.  These are all retiring sets, so I’m not going to give you the itemized supply list.  If you desperately need to know something, leave a comment and I promise I’ll respond.

Last Chance for Always

This is the Always stamp set in Pear Pizazz and Marina Mist.

Last Chance for Just Buzzin By

Oh, the sweet bees from Just Buzzin’ By!  I am going to miss these sassy little buzz-bombs.

Last Chance for Cheep Talk

And my silly Cheep Talk birdies are retiring too! I’ve done so many things with this stamp set.  I know it’s time to move on, and there just isn’t room in my studio for heaps of retired stamp sets, but I’ll be sorry to see Cheep Talk go.

Last Chance for Eastern Blooms and All Holidays

Eastern Blooms is yet another set I’ll miss, but there are so many gorgeous new floral sets that I’ll surely find a new favorite.  All Holidays may be another story.  Stampin’ Up! hasn’t created a sentiment anything like “My Dear Kind & Wonderful Friend” at least not one that I’ve seen.  Correct me if I’m wrong!  I may hang onto All Holidays for a while.

It’s a bittersweet time of year, but the longer I’m a demonstrator the more I come to look forward to the change.  I do keep a few retired sets, but I find after a year or so I’m ready to let go of most of them.  Some people enjoy going back to old favorites, but I guess I just have a short attention span.  I love seeing new, fresh ideas!  Check back early in the morning for a link to the new catalog, and sweet dreams.

Baby, Baby, Baby

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A friend had a baby girl recently.  We worked together to come up with a birth announcement, and it was one of the most enjoyable collaborations I’ve done.  It was clear from the outset that this wasn’t going to be a pinky-frou-frou announcement, and so we experimented with a lot of color combinations.  In the end, my friend came up with Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizazz with just a touch of Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight.  I would never in a million years have made those choices, but I was delighted with the way the colors worked together.

I made a samples in her color choices with all sorts of stamps.  When it came down to it, she couldn’t choose just one – so I made three different announcements:

Eastern Blooms baby

Baby announcement #1 uses the Eastern Elegance stamp set with the Bitty Punch pack and a 1/8 inch circle punch…

Cheep Talk Baby

Announcement #2 uses the Cheep Talk stamp set…

I {Heart} Hearts Baby

and Announcement #3 uses I {Heart} Hearts.

Hope you enjoy!

Owl Love You Forever

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Is it me, or has this whole stamping business gone to the birds?

Owl Love You Forever

  • Woodgrain, Cheep Talk and Whimsical Words (retired 2010 SAB) stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Crumb Cake (Kraft), Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and  Shimmer White card stock
  • A scrap of retired Riding Hood Red Designer Series Prints Pattern paper
  • Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip Classic ink pads
  • Two-Step Owl XL punch; Curly Label punch
  • Big Shot;  Scallop Circles #2 die;  Movers & Shapers Curly Label XL Bigz die
  • Crop-a-dile and Kraft taffeta ribbon (retired)

This Two-Step Owl punch is hilarious and addictive.  I sat in my craft room the other night with a basket full of scraps and started punching out bits and pieces.  This is something you could play with for a very long time, mixing and matching colors and crossing and uncrossing the eyes.  Oh, yeah – you better believe I played with those eyes!  (Note to self:  tweezers are required for those itty bitty eye-bubs that go in the middle.)  And it wasn’t until I got everything all put together that I realized you could use the bottom of the heart for a little beak.

The mat on the Curly Label punch is the piece that is cut out when you use the Movers & Shapers XL die with the Curly Label insert.  It works the same way with all the other magnetic inserts – isn’t that tricky?  I made the hole for the taffeta ribbon with the Crop-a-dile since my favorite double rectangle punch is now retired.  I am TRYING to be a good demo and use only current supplies, but I’m tellin’ you, it’s not easy!  Take that kraft ribbon as an example.   Stampin’ Up! is an awesome company and I’m thrilled with the Color Renovation and all the cool new goodies we’ve seen added to the catalog, but what was wrong with leaving us a little bit of Kraft Taffeta ribbon?   They could even re-name it Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon – that would be OK.  There’s a little stash in the ribbon drawer, so you may see it from time to time.

You’ll be seeing more of these owls, too.

A Splitcoast Sketch Challenge

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It seems I haven’t done a sketch challenge in weeks.  The challenges I’ve seen recently haven’t inspired me, and the few that I’ve tried ended up in the circular file (it’s only paper!)  Last week I was looking through the Splitcoast Stampers challenges and this sketch spoke to me:

Cheep Talk SC283

  • Cheep Talk and Wood Grain stamp sets
  • Texturz Jumbo Wheel
  • Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss (retired), Not Quite Navy and Bashful Blue card stock
  • A scrap of retired Designer Series Paper (I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, don’t ask me this)
  • Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss(retired) and Not Quite Navy Classic ink pads
  • 1 and 1 1/4 inch circle punches; Clear Circle button
  • Not Quite Navy brads, piercing tool and mat
  • Kiwi Kiss Striped ribbon (retired)

Time to clear our some of these retired papers, accessories and ribbons!  I have a heap of them and I have challenged myself to do SOMETHING with them.  You maybe seeing some very interesting projects in the next few weeks!  I had a lot of fun piling them on for this card, and I really enjoyed the sketch – thanks, Roxie.

I’ll be back soon with more goodies from the new catalog 🙂

Steppin’ up

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I’m working on projects for workshops coming up and I’m struggling.  My personal card-making style tends to be in the “More is More” category, and not so much in the KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie) department.  All of my workshops are totally hands on – I don’t demonstrate anything, I just pass out the paper, stamps and ink and let everyone play.  If there are too many steps or the steps are too advanced, new stampers get overwhelmed.

My solution is to make two versions of a card.  There’s one for everyone to make, and another to let them see where they can take the card.  Here’s the starter version:

Cheep Talk Four Square

  • Cheep Talk and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Taken with Teal, Barely Banana and Pink Passion card stock
  • Taken with Teal and Pink Passion Classic ink pads
  • 1 1/4 inch and Scallop Square punches
  • Bitty Buttons, Itty Bitty punch pack and Tombo All-Purpose Adhesive

Do you see the peek at the inside of the card?  Taken with Teal is too dark for correspondence so I include a Whisper White panel inside, and the little heart from Cheep Talk is stamped in the corner just for fun.

Here’s Version 2 (and it’s the same card stock – operator error with the camera is responsible for the color discrepancy):

Cheep Talk Four Square Version 2

Same supplies as above PLUS:

  • Wood Grain stamp
  • Whisper White Craft ink, Heat tool and White Embossing powder
  • Paper Piercing tool, template and mat
  • So Saffron striped grosgrain ribbon and Linen Thread
  • 1/8 inch hole punch (non-SU) and Crystal Effects
  • Corner rounder and Modern Label punch
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals

Perhaps you prefer the first card – a lot of people like a simpler look.  Every now and then I get into a Clean and Simple kind of mood, but I don’t think this first sample even qualifies there — too many layers.  Either way, the cards are bright and whimsical and get the message across:  I’m thinking of you!

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!!

A Fond Farewell to Sage Shadow

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A lovely color, Sage Shadow, but somewhat out of style.  It’s not usually quite this difficult to work with, but there were three of us stamping together and we all thought Arielle’s Colour Q Challenge 30 looked interesting.  Interesting?  More like INSANE!!

Cheep Talk Stampin Up Colour Q Challenge 30

  • Cheep Talk and A Note of Thanks stamp sets
  • Sage Shadow, Cameo Coral, Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke and Whisper White card stock
  • Bravo Burgundy and Always Artichoke Classic ink pads
  • Stamp-a-ma-jig, Big Shot and Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Piercing tool and mat
  • Linen Thread, Bitty Buttons and Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (Summer Mini preview); 1/4″ circle punch

This color challenge was tough – the three of us sat at my kitchen table shuffling cardstock around trying to figure out what to do for a long time.  The colors work together, but I’ll confess I would never think of putting them together on my own.  It took a lot of shuffling to come up with this card.

Bitty Button Linen Thread Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack

I hope you noticed that Bitty Button…you’ll be able to purchase buttons and matching little punches starting on May 1 when the Summer Mini catalog debuts.  Stampin’ Up! has done it again – lots of very cool new products to keep our designs fresh and interesting.  These clear buttons come in an assortment of four shapes, and there are coordinating punches for all four shapes.  Let your inspiration run wild!

New products available in a new Summer Mini should be our cue to review the Occasions Mini catalog.   Some items from the Occasions mini – punches and Big Shot dies – will continue to be offered, but stamps, paper and accessories will not be available after April 30 – that’s Friday!  Check the Online Store and place your order if there’s something you know you’ll need.  There are a number of products that are already sold out – including the Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Stack and Stitched Felt.  Don’t miss out!

More Kitchen Sink Stamping

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I kinda like this Kitchen Sink business.  Today’s card isn’t as busy, but I used just about every stamp set I could put my hands on.  I’ve just realized that at the end of the month, all of the Sale-a-bration stamp sets will become collector’s items!  It’s time to put them to work before that deadline:

Birthday Stack

  • Cheep Talk, Happy Moments and On a Pedestal stamp sets
  • Summer Sun, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery and Whisper White card stock
  • Rich Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay Classic ink pads;  White Craft ink pad
  • Summer Sun, Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo Stamp n Write markers
  • Stamp-a-ma-jig; White embossing powder and heat tool; blender pen
  • Scallop Trim and 3/4 inch square (retired) punches; hand-held rectangle punch (retired)
  • Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon; Big Shot and Perfect Dots embossing folder

I got a little carried away with the colors, didn’t I?  It’s tropical 🙂

Don’t miss the Sale-a-bration set Happy Moments.  I wasn’t taken with it when I first saw the SAB offering, but once I had it and started to play with it I changed my mind.  The images lend themselves to a lot of different occasions and techniques.  You heard it here, OK?

There are a couple of tricks I used here.  First, to make that Happy Birthday Banner you just stamp your message, cut it into a strip, and trim the corners with a square punch to make perfectly even points.  And no, I forgot to use the embossing buddy,  so yes, it has white “freckles”.    The other trick is to use a blender pen to selectively remove ink from a stamp.  I stamped the entire bird from Cheep Talk with Bermuda Bay ink, then used the blender pen to remove the color from his beak and legs.  I added the color I wanted with a marker.

It’s kind of a wild card, but I like it.  Hope it makes you smile.

Cheery little birds

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We’re staying positive here…working with cheery colors and cheery subjects!  I spent the afternoon with my oldest daughter on Saturday culling through heaps of papers, books, photos, and other accumulated mementos.  I also ended up with the challenge of reuniting a huge box of cd cases with the discs that belong inside.  It’s amazing how many cd’s have nothing more than a photo on the front – no band, no songs, no disc title.  I did very well, all things considered.

OK – now on to a card!  These chubby little birds really sing in bright colors.  I don’t think either one of them has met a shocking hue they didn’t love.

Bright Little Birdies

  • Cheep Talk stamp set
  • Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry and Whisper White card stock
  • Garden Green Prints Pack 6×6 Designer Series Paper
  • Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry and Garden Green Classic ink pads
  • Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry markers and a Blender Pen
  • Crushed Curry Polka Dot ribbon

I was feeling oh-so-confident and I stamped this WITHOUT the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  I know.  Can you believe it???  That Crushed Curry bird is floating a little, but if it was any closer to the branch those leaves would be tickling its tail feathers. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we??

Cheep Love

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Is it just me, or is anyone else having trouble un-sticking the concept of Christmas cards from her brain?  Hmmm…maybe I don’t want to hear the answer to that.

I played with the Color Challenge at Splitcoast yesterday and really liked the combination.  The challenge was to use Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay and Handsome Hunter together, with an option to add pink – but not pink cardstock.  The Hunter was something of an issue at first, but when I decided to make it a minor accent and bring the pinks to the forefront, everything fell into place.

Cheep Talk Color Challenge

  • Cheep Talk stamp set
  • Whisper White, Handsome Hunter and Certainly Celery cardstock
  • Thoroughly Modern Designer Series paper and an ancient DSP I can’t for the life of me recall
  • Pretty Ink Pink, Certainly Celery, and Bermuda Bay Classic Ink pads
  • Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay and Handsome Hunter Stampin’ Write Markers
  • Big Shot and SU Perfect Details texturz plate
  • Double rectange punch, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, and the Blender Pen
  • A retired Pretty in Pink button (substitute Sherbet Designer Buttons) and  Mini glue dots
  • the Stamp-a-ma-jig

Kinda used a lotta stuff, didn’t I?   More is more…

I used the markers to add highlights – details on the leaves and a little grid on the birdie wings – and to marker the stamps after removing ink with the Blender Pen.  It’s much faster than trying to color larger areas of a stamp.

My craft desk was kind of a mess after this card but it was worth it.  I don’t mind picking up after my own messes, but everyone else’s?  Well, there’s an obvious answer to that.