Blackberry Silhouette

Posted on June 14, 2014 by mauistamper

I’m pretty sure Blackberry Bliss is going to be my favorite 2014-2016 In Color, although when I first saw the colors I would have bet on Lost Lagoon (blue, you know.) I’m working on ideas for an In Color swap at convention, and this was my first take:

Stamps: Summer Silhouette, Petite Pairs
Color Palette: Baked Brown Sugar, Blackberry Bliss and Naturals White
Accessories: Gold Bakers Twine, Dazzling Details, Honeycomb TIEF, Stampin’ Dimensionals

You know, I should have used this design with Very Vanilla – it would have been good enough to eat!

The Gold Bakers Twine has a stinky little habit: the metallic threads untwist rapidly from the twine when it’s cut. I’ve solved the problem for the most part by tying a pair of quick overhand knots and cutting between them. It takes just a moment and it saves a lot of frustration.

Do you add a little extra on the inside? It’s one of the things that sets a hand-made card apart:

You’re likely to see more Blackberry Bliss before we get to convention. I have more ideas to work out. It’s just a month away!!!

Convention Swap: Top Notch Swap

Posted on July 31, 2013 by mauistamper

Too Kind was one of my first “Must Have” stamp sets from the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog. It was an easy choice for a swap:

Too Kind, Petite Pairs and French Script stamp sets
Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Very Vanilla and Crushed Curry card stock
Soft Suede, Old Olive, Crumb Cake and Crushed Curry FFIP
Versamark ink pad
Clear Embossing Powder
Heat Tool
Embossing Buddy
Linen Thread
Big Shot
Lattice TIEF
Window Frames Framelits
Paper Piercing Tool (aka Pokey Doodle)
Piercing Mat and Festive Paper Piercing pack
Stampin’ Dimensionals

I was surprised to see how much depth of color I achieved by using clear embossing powder for the second part of the two-step stamping. That’s just Versamark with a dunk in the Crushed Curry ink and embossed with clear. (Do you know that technique? If you don’t have embossing powder in a color you want to use, take a clean stamp and ink it with Versamark. Before pressing onto the paper, press your stamp into your colored ink pad. When you stamp, the color transfers onto the paper first and the Versamark sits on top. Quickly cover your image with clear embossing power and heat emboss!)

This card is the other candidate for my Swap Cards class on August 24th. Your vote will help me to decide!

I only made 20 of these cards and I’m glad that’s all I signed up for. This Top Notch swap yielded another set of gorgeous swaps, and everyone really did put their best effort into creating for their fellow demonstrators. Thanks to all the Top Notch swappers!

It’s RemARKable By the Tide

Posted on May 11, 2013 by mauistamper

Welcome to another Stamp of the Month RemARKable Blog Tour! If you’re starting the tour here at the Maui Stamper, our featured set this month is By the Tide. We hope you’ll enjoy the creative expressions of this talented group of stampers.

Not sure what it was that inspired me to start embossing but I nearly burned down the studio with my heat gun, I embossed so many images! This seashell was embossed with Irridescent Ice embossing powder on Very Vanilla cardstock and was then sponged with Island Indigo. The sparkle is hard to see in the photo, but it’s there in real life.

A Baja Breeze card base (say au revoir to Baja Breeze!), a little 1/8 inch Very Vanilla ribbon and some stamped – and stamped-off – coral branches are all it took to finish this card off. The sentiment is from Loving Thoughts, with those beautiful script capital letters.

I tried over and over to capture this card, but my little camera was having nothing of it. Trust me when I say that the embossed coral image – again in Irridescent Ice – is sparkley and elegant and would be perfect to attach to a wedding gift.

There. Can you see it now? At least you get the idea, right? And Best Wishes is from Petite Pairs, a very useful little set to have on your stamp shelf.

I got a little bit giddy with this last card. I used clear embossing powder for the coral image (have you guessed which image I like the very best in this set?). I stamped some sea horses and cut one of them out, and then I started playing with my ink pads and some Stampin’ Sponges. The results surprised me – this is Lucky Limeade and Baja Breeze ink:

The yellow and green tones were much stronger than I expected, but I liked the finished card all the same. I think they call that serendipity 🙂

Time to sail on over to the Trinity Design Studio and see what Robin is up to. I’m sure she has a briny treat in store for you. Thanks for making the tour with us today!

A RemARKably Curious Day

Posted on February 9, 2013 by mauistamper

Welcome to the Collage Curios RemARKable Stamp of the Month tour! Whether you’re just beginning the tour here with the Maui Stamper or have been halfway across the USA with our many talented paper artists, I hope you’ll enjoy yourself today. Those of you in New England deserve a blog tour after strugging through all the weather that has come your way this weekend!

The Collage Curios set is made up of primarily small images, and my first inclination would be to go small – 3×3 cards, milk carton favor boxes, or even jewelry crossed my mind. The more I thought about it, the more I felt challenged to make a card that would still spotlight those small images but somehow find a balance. Tell me what you think:

DO YOU GET IT? There’s a little joke here…

Collage Curios and Delightful Dozen stamp sets
Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Primrose Petals card stock
Crumb Cake and Primrose Petals FFIP (Firm Foam Ink Pads)
Dazzling Details
1 inch circle and 7/8 inch scallop circle punches
Big Shot, Delicate Designs TIEF and Delicate Doilies Sizzlet
Primrose Petals 3/8 inch stitched satin ribbon
Stampin’ Dimensionals and Sponge

I love that little bee…my Valentine…

I couldn’t stop at just one card!

Collage Curios and Petite Pairs stamp sets
Calypso Coral and Chocolate Chip FFIP
Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake card stock
Chocolate Chip and Calypso Coral Stampin’ Write Markers
Linen Thread
1 inch circle punch
New distressing tool!
Color Spritzer
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Stampin’ Sponge
Dazzling Details
Rhinestone Jewels

You know, I kept going with that “More is More” kinda thing here. The little hot air balloons just naturally floated across the page, but then the Color Spritzer wanted in, and the Crumb Cake card base wanted a little bit of spongin’ texture, and before I knew it there were jewels and Dazzling Details and we were off to the races! Kinda fun, though…

Now float on over to Robin Merriman’s Trinity Design Studios and see what she has come up with….she’s a talented stamper and I’m sure you’ll love wht she has done! Don’t forget to leave a little blog love (comments) as you do – all of these hard-working bloggers will thank you!