Visiting Paris (in my dreams)

Posted on December 19, 2010 by mauistamper

I’m not quite sure what got into me, but I had a “Springtime in Paris” sort of moment the other day:

Artistic Etchings and Fabulous Phrases stamp sets
Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, and Chocolate Chip card stock
Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, and Chocolate Chip Classic ink pads
Big Shot and Elegant Bouquet Textured Embossing folder

Paris seems like the perfect city for a special celebration. It’s on my list, that growing list of places I hope to visit. I have a very romantic vision of Paris in the spring, but something tells me it’s not a tropical destination. I think perhaps I would need to visit in the late spring when the weather turns warm. And bring a scarf and gloves, just in case.

In case you were wondering, yes, I did mask the Eiffel Tower. It wasn’t that difficult to cut the mask, and I like the look of that narrow white “shadow” that the mask creates. I was thinking about the moon when I stamped that ornate circle, but later when I looked at the image I thought of fireworks. You would need to add a couple more circles to get that effect, but I think it could work. Maybe Versamark…hmmm. I’ll get back to you on that.

Button Parade

Posted on December 12, 2010 by mauistamper

I’ve had the new Button, Button stamp set from the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog for a couple of weeks, but Christmas projects kept it off my work table. Last weekend I had some new members of the Maui Stampers team come by and we made this Clean and Simple (CAS) card:

Button Button and Fabulous Phrases stamp sets
Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze Classic ink pads
Whisper White card stock

Ta da! That’s it!! It doesn’t get much simpler than that. We had a great time lining up those clear mount button stamps on the blocks and playing with the patterns. I considered adding a little bit of ribbon to this card but finally decided to leave it simple. This is not to say I won’t try it again with more embellishment!

It was my husband’s birthday this weekend. I used to tell my beloved Mother-in-Law that she did EVERYTHING right with him…except for the day she gave birth. With three children, many of my husband’s birthdays have involved Christmas programs, holiday parties, or watching one of the kids at a sporting event. This was no different – our son had a soccer game on Saturday afternoon – and it POURED rain on Friday.

We have a lot of micro-climates in Hawaii, and some areas get a lot of rain, but we live on the dry side. South Maui typically gets about 11 inches of rain a year, so when a big wet storm comes through we notice it! It was nice to hear the rain coming down and to have all the dust washed off the plans in the garden, but the Captain said he’d had enough after a couple of hours and went to sleep on my desk.

Neither the weather or the game dampened our spirits (oh, I do crack myself up sometimes!!) and we had a lovely weekend together. Ray was in Guam all last week so I was just happy to have him home. His birthday gives us a little family oasis in the midst of all the holiday preparations. Hmmm… Berna, maybe you did it just right.

Care for a little Espresso with that?

Posted on November 30, 2010 by mauistamper

What could be more delicious than Cherry Cobbler combined with a little Espresso?

Fast and Fabulous, Aviary, Vintage Vogue and Fabulous Phrases stamp sets
Whisper White, Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler card stock
Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler Classic ink pads
Cherry Cobbler ink refill and the Aqua Painter
Whisper White Taffeta and Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding
Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint

The photo doesn’t pick up the shimmer paint, but it’s applied over the little red bird in the cage. You just can’t beat shimmer paint for quick and easy sparkle that doesn’t violate the No Glitter Here Treaty. I’m big on quick and easy, although I’ve been known to do some kind of ridiculous detailing from time to time. This time of year the focus is on completion!

Speaking of completion, today is The Last Day of the Stampin’ Up! Online Spectacular. If you haven’t placed your order yet – and saved up to 50% on some very cool products – head on over to my Online Store and check out the savings! Everything goes back to regular prices on December First – and Hawaii folks, pay attention – that’s December First Mountain Standard Time! Get your orders in by 8pm locally to be safe.

A Happy Birthday Lei

Posted on August 26, 2010 by mauistamper

Women of a certain age don’t tell their ages anymore, but we still celebrate our birthdays. First of all, we’re worth it, and second of all, considering the alternative we’re happy to be around to have those birthdays!!

Today is Robbie’s birthday and I made her a special lei. What you may not realize is that I don’t have the Candy Wrapper die – yep, you guessed it – it’s hers and I borrowed it. But I came up with this goofy idea all by myself (you can certainly tell, can’t you?) It was actually one of the first things I thought of when I saw the little box.

As you can imagine, lei are a very important here in Hawaii. There are many beautiful and more traditional lei made from plants and flowers, shell, or feathers, each invested with cultural significance. This is not one of those lei. This is a crazy-cousin-who-really-doesn’t-quite-belong-in-the-family-but-we-love-him-anyway lei. We have many variations on that too – some time I’ll have to do a post on some of the more creative versions. This one is made from Melon Mambo cardstock rolled with the cupcakes wheel, spritzed with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint spray and embellished with words from the Fabulous Phrases set. The boxes are attached to one another with some retired ribbon. I know, I know…maybe next week when my schedule frees up I’ll post another Un-Tutorial.

If you look closely you’ll see a couple of slightly amusing things in this photo. The first is Owlie Eyeballs drying on the side of my desk. The second is my pathetically warped cutting pad from the Ribbon Flower episode (And yes, I’ve gotten my hands on some Sticky Pages and I intend to try again. But first I need a 2×4 to hold the ribbon securely so I don’t melt anything else in my craft room.)

Don’t tell her…I’m counting on her being too busy to look…but I had to post this photo – her outfit coordinated with the lei!! Happy 29th birthday, my friend.

Circling around the Mojo

Posted on August 10, 2010 by mauistamper

It’s been ages since I’ve played a challenge. I’ve had a lot of specific projects on my inspiration board and there wasn’t room for anything else. Last night I finally had a chance to browse through some of my favorite blogs – talk about a pleasure! – and when I got to Mojo Monday I decided I’d done enough looking and headed up for some ink-to-the-paper stamping!

There’s a lot going on here, so bear with me:

Circle Circus and Fabulous Phrases stamp sets
Cornelli Lace Jumbo Stampin’ Around Wheel
Whisper White, Real Red and Basic Black card stock
Real Red and Basic Black Classic ink pads
Real Red 1/8″ taffeta and 5/8″ satin ribbon; Basic Black 5/8″ satin ribbon
1 3/4″ Circle, Modern Label and Scallop Edge Border punches
Big Shot and the Square Lattice and Vintage Wallpaper Embossing folders
a small hand-held circle punch and Stampin’ Dimensionals

I’m sure I forgot to list something!

I’ll tell you the truth: that greeting is adhered with Dotto repositionable adhesive. I’m not certain I like it, but time will tell. The stamped Real Red image from Circle Circus is hand cut (gasp! I know…) because I wanted it to fit Just So on the black circle. It had to be done. I used tiny black circles of cardstock for the faux brads on the sentiment because the real thing overwhelmed the project. There are a lot of discarded bits and pieces on my craft table left over from this project, but it was satisfying to finish.

I didn’t buy Circle Circus when it was released as a preview set a year or two ago. Because it was a sneak peak, there were Circle Circus cards everywhere and I grew weary of it. I finally gave in and bought it with this year’s new catalog because I saw something really creative and had a brilliant inspiration to make that idea better. (It’s coming, it’s just not done yet – Mojo Monday got in the way.) I’m glad it’s on my shelf now. You’ll see it again soon.

Thanks, Friends

Posted on August 5, 2010 by mauistamper

Here’s the final card in my “Friends Never Fade/Greenhouse Garden” suite:

Friends Never Fade and Fabulous Phrases stamp sets
Whisper White, Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip and Pear Pizazz card stock
Greenhouse Garden Designer Series Paper
Pear Pizazz and Chocolate Chip Classic ink pads
Pear Pizazz, Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist and Pumpkin Pie Stampin’ Write markers
1 3/4″ circle, 2 3/8″ scallop circle, and scallop trim border punches
Pumpkin Pie 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon

I love that artichokey-pineappley-image and I especially love seeing it repeated in the paper and the stamp. What a perfect example of Stampin’ Up! coordination: paper, stamps, colors…everything works together. Back in my BSU (Before-Stampin’-Up!) days I would have gone crazy trying to put something like this together. Oh, and I really love the font used for Fabulous Phrases.

A friend and I were talking about Thanksgiving the other day. She reflected on how wonderful it is to set aside a day to be grateful for your blessings. Although I’ve always thought of Thanksgiving in that way, something about our conversation put me in a different frame of mind about that concept of gratitude. Our family focuses on our blessings at Thanksgiving, but I can’t really say I’ve made an effort to personally express my gratitude. That seems like a very appropriate way to celebrate Thanksgiving. I need more “thanks” cards.

Friends Never Fade, Baggy

Posted on August 3, 2010 by mauistamper

Yesterday I had a short window of time to make some cards. It seems like it’s been ages since I’ve had the opportunity to sit and let the mojo have its way. I didn’t want to do a challenge or make a card for a specific purpose, I just wanted to stamp. It felt really luxurious to begin that way.

I decided to play with the Friends Never Fade stamp set and Greenhouse Garden Designer Series papers. Using the papers gave me a general color palette to work with but it wasn’t as restrictive as a challenge. My time was limited but my results were very satisfying:

Friends Never Fade and Fabulous Phrases stamp sets
Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, and Early Espresso cardstock
Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie Classic ink pads
Early Espresso and Pear Pizazz Stampin’ Write markers; Blender Pen
Pear Pizazz 1/2″ ribbon, Linen thread and Crop-a-dile
Big Shot and Elegant Lines Embossing Folder

I love the look that hand-coloring a stamp gives, but it does get a little tedious. This time I inked the flower image in Pumpkin Pie and then used the blender pen to remove the ink from the stem bits so that I could add Pear Pizazz with a Stampin’ Write marker. I added the Espresso accent in the middle of the flower right over the top of the Pumpkin Pie because I’m lazy like that. There are little bits and edges of Pumpkin Pie ink on the stem and I like the feeling that creates…a little edgy.

If you don’t have a Big Shot, please don’t pay any attention to the Elegant Lines folder because it will just make you flat-out crazy. If you do have a Big Shot, I hope you’ve already ordered this folder – if you haven’t, what are you waiting for???

That funny little not-knot on the ribbon has been popping up on samples all over the place and I decided it was time I got with the program. Do you remember Baloo telling Bagheera “Get with the beat, Baggy!” in the Disney version of Jungle Book? That’s the phrase that always comes to mind when I’m trying to update myself. (Can you tell how old my children are by the Disney movies I have watched so often they are committed to memory? I can sing all of the songs, too.)

Enough silliness. Time to get with the beat.