Tag Archives: Stamp a ma jig

Sheltering Tree: You Warm My Heart

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I’m slightly obsessed with Sheltering Tree:

Maui Sheltering Tree You Warm My HeartThis idea came from Alison Stachera – you can see her card HERE.  Her concept was to show the transition from winter to spring.  On Maui, that takes a different form, so I chose to soften the colors.  (I’m not going to talk about how much I will miss the 2013-2015 In Color collection since it is largely unavailable, but still.)

Maui Sheltering Tree You Warm My HeartWill you cross your fingers with me and hope that Sheltering Tree makes it into the 2015-2016 Annual Catalog?  I am not finished with this stamp set.

Maui Sheltering Tree You Warm My HeartAllison’s card was also constructed differently – I chose to allow the heart to be open to the inside.  The two trees are aligned with the Stamp-a-ma-jig, an essential tool for lining up images.  I don’t often use it, but when I do, nothing else will serve the purpose.

Maui Sheltering Tree You Warm My HeartIf you’re not a gambler, then I would hustle on over to the Online Store and order this stamp set now.  Because if it DOESN’T make it into the next catalog, you could be very sad to have missed it.

This card also uses the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set (still available) and the Hearts Framelits (retired and sold out).

Maui Stamper Sheltering Tree

Ah, Medallion!

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If I had to choose only a few stamps to work with, Medallion would be very near the top of the list.  It’s elegant, it’s symmetrical, it’s layerable, and it looks great even if you cut part of the image off.  There are so many ways to embellish it, and it looks wonderful all by itself with no embellishment.

I felt the need to step away from Christmas.  This is the week to give thanks, to remember, to be grateful.  I looked for a color combination that I hadn’t worked with lately, and pulled out a sheet of Bravo Burgundy.  What a wonderful, rich color…a perfect Autumn color…but I wasn’t necessarily looking for an Autumn card.  It wasn’t until I had this card put together with Brocade Blue that I realized these were the colors from my oldest daughter’s high school.  I really like the medium blue with the burgundy.

  • Medallion and Thank You Kindly stamp sets
  • Brocade Blue, Bravo Burgundy and Very Vanilla cardstock
  • Brocade Blue and Bravo Burgundy Classic ink pads; Versamark ink pad
  • Clear embossing powder, heat tool, 1/8″ circle hole punch (retired), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon, Wine Organza ribbon (retired)

Those little burgundy dots are just holes punched from cardstock and attached with the indispensable Tombo All purpose adhesive.  I apologize for using a retired ribbon, too….it used to be a regular product in the catalog, and I happen to have a stash of it because I’d used it for a custom invitation a few years ago.  Seems like organza has fallen out of favor, but I enjoy using it as a layer.

I found a great use for the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  Sometimes I can’t decide what image, especially sentiment, I want to use to finish a card.  I was goofing off one day and realized I could put the options on different corners of the SAMJ and layer them over my project to see how each would look – like this:

“Thanks” on the Stamp-a-ma-jig

“A Note of Thanks” on the Stamp-a-ma-jig

I think it looks good with either choice, but I liked the more ornate font on the “Thanks” stamp to dress up the simple layout of this card.

The added bonus of this trick is that your SAMJ is all ready to go when it’s time to add your sentiment, so you’re less tempted to wing it – and end up with a crooked sentiment.  Not that I ever have crooked sentiments.

 

 

 

I don’t get it.

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Who makes up the Dormant List?  Some of the stamps that are on the dormant list break my heart.  How about Wonderful Watercolors?

Wonderful Watercolors 113688

Wonderful Watercolors 113688

This set has such a soft, soothing style that caused me to move towards a more vintage look.  I had a “dyed with tea” sort of theme going on in my head as I stamped and moved things around.  The card started looking a little dark, but when I created a background out of the stem image I was satisfied with the color balance.

Vintage Watercolors

Vintage Watercolors

  • Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede and Naturals Ivory cardstock
  • Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, and Mellow Moss Classic Ink
  • Wonderful Watercolors and Sincere Salutations Stamp sets
  • Wide Oval and handheld rectangle (ret) punches, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon
  • Aquapainter, Stamp-a-ma-jig and Stampin’ Sponges

You can link to the Dormant List from the sidebar of the blog or by just clicking here.  A word of warning though – the link to the Dormant List is a link to the general Stampin’ Up! customer website and not my Demonstrator Website.  They’re two different places.

Indispensible tools

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Sometimes the best tools are the ones you never see.  Oh, I love that Big Shot.  I love the shapes and letters and boxes.   I really love the textures it creates. But the tools that I love are the ones that make me look good.  Tools like the bone folder that give me smooth creases.   Tools like the piercing tool and template that give me nice, straight lines of evenly spaced holes.  Tools like the Stamp-a-ma-jig that enable me to put images and words (especially words!) right where I want them.  I especially love to pick out just a couple of words or a phrase to personalize my message and the only way to do that is with the SAMJ.   What’s even better, each of these tools can fill in for a number of outside-the-box purposes and none of them take up a whole lotta space.  So there’s my commercial for the un-sung heros of the Stamping Universe.

Embossed_Embrace_Life_crop

  • Embrace Life, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Best Wishes and Teeny Tiny Messages stamp sets
  • Pumpkin Pie, Dusty Durango and Mellow Moss Classic Ink
  • Very Vanilla, Dusty Durango, Mellow Moss, and Pumpkin Pie cardstock, So Saffron DSP (patterns have changed)
  • Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder and Big Shot
  • Piercing tool and template, Linen thread, Stamp a ma jig
  • Fresh Favorites Buttons, 1/2″ circle punch