Tag Archives: Stampin' Up!

How do you choose?

Posted on by
Reply

I love this bird from the Always set.  It caught my eye the first time I saw it.  The other images in the set complement it well, and are especially useful when you need to give some texture or design to a solid piece of cardstock.

Plant your feet firmly and let your heart have wings

Plant your feet firmly and let your heart have wings

  • Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Naturals Ivory cardstock; Retired Designer Series Paper
  • Always and Hope Happens stamp sets
  • Soft Suede and Bermuda Bay Classic Stamp pads
  • Embossing powder and heat tool

Over the years, I’ve learned to be more critical when I select a set for myself.  If it’s for me, of course I have to love the images, but I also look for versatility.  I’ve bought my share of “one hit wonders” and to be honest, I begrudge the room they occupy in my little bitty stamping space (known to the rest of the family as the laundry room…sigh).  As my style develops, I have to watch that I don’t select the same thing again and again- natural images like birds, flowers, and trees.  Sure, I have some holiday stamps, and a few that would work as baby or wedding items in a pinch, but maybe it’s time to branch out to something new.  Ha.  Maybe I’ll get Season of Friendship.  I’ve been looking at that tree for the longest time.

Deal of the Week is Back!!

Posted on by
Reply

Stampin’ Up! is bringing back a customer favorite – the Deal of the Week! Deal #1 is only available through Monday, October 12 at 9:50am (mountain time) – that’s 6:50am Hawaii Standard Time.  Go to my Demonstrator Website to take advantage of these great prices on 3 Stampin’ Up! punches.

triopunch

  • Trio Flower Punch 109183 page 186 IBC
  • Special $10.99 (regularly $15.95)

5petal

  • 5 Petal Flower Punch 109041 page 187 IBC
  • Special $10.99 (regularly $15.95)

my-way_punch

  • My Way Punch 110709 page 187 IBC
  • Special $11.99 (regularly $15.95)

Come back on the 12th to see the next great Deal!

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Posted on by
3

Look familiar?  I wanted to take the same images and do a simpler layout.  I love these flowers, whatever they are.  They have to be wildflowers – they just have that La Dee Dah look about them.  Bloom where you’re planted and all that.  Clearly for the First of October they had to be pink.

Pink Wildflowers for October

Pink Wildflowers for October

  • Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Whisper White, and Kraft cardstock
  • Soft Suede, Always Artichoke, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Summer Sun Classic ink
  • Wonderful Watercolors stamp set
  • Big Shot and Texturz plate
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals, Aquapainter, and Dazzling Diamonds

I love to watercolor.  It’s relaxing to me and for some odd reason I can let go of my otherwise obsessive need for perfection.  Perhaps that’s because I really don’t know anything about the technique, and so I just dive in with my aquapainter and my ink refills and play.  We should all play more.

One more thing: it’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   Check your breasts.  Do it once a month.  Don’t make excuses.

Happy Watercolors

Posted on by
Reply

Have I mentioned that I don’t understand the Dormant List?

This is a happy card.  It’s a happy birthday card.  It’s a sunny yellow card.  And it’s a Dazzling-Diamonds-sparkle-your-heart-out card.  How could it not be happy?

Working with the various shades of Stampin’ Up! yellows – Barely Banana, So Saffron, Summer Sun, even (once in a great while) Yo Yo Yellow always lifts my heart.  This year we even have Crushed Curry, an intense, saturated, Smell The Spices kind of yellow!  A card like this shouldn’t wait to be sent.  It needs to be on its way in a hurry.

Sunny Banana Watercolors

Sunny Banana Watercolors

  • Naturals White, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Soft Suede and Barely Banana cardstock
  • Soft Suede, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, and Barely Banana Classic ink
  • Wonderful Watercolors, Teeny Tiny Wishes and En Francais stamps; Textures Wheel
  • Aquapainter, Dazzling Diamonds, Stampin’ Dimensionals, and Stamp-a-ma-jig

I fought this layout for a while – it’s a Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge.  I couldn’t figure out what to use for the back panel – everything was too dark or too light – nothing was Just Right.  The Texture wheel by itself was too light, but when I grabbed the paper and sponged the dickens out of it I decided it would work.  The cardfront also has the Texture wheel, but you may have to trust me on that.

Why don’t you pick up some yellow and brighten your day?

Maybe I’m not cut out for Mojo…

Posted on by
4

I dunno…I’m finding these Mojo sketches really challenging.  I guess that’s the idea, but sometimes it’s a little tough on my ego.

I confess, that’s Wild Wasasbi Designer Series Paper from a couple of years ago.  It’s true:  I hoard paper.  Scraps, sheets, even the odd package or two.  I’m trying to use it up, so when you see it, think creatively!

Mojo 106

Mojo 106

  • Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Very Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip cardstock; retired Wild Wasabi Designer Series Paper
  • Summer Sun, Wild Wasabi, and Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin’ Pads and Stampin’ Write Markers
  • Wings of Friendship and Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp sets
  • Champagne Mist shimmer paint
  • Clear Embossing powder, heat tool, Fire Rhinestone Circle brads, double rectangle punch
  • Big Shot and Scallop Circle #2 Bigz

Maybe I’ll give the Mojo another week.  Can’t hurt.

Stretching in new directions

Posted on by
Reply

Trying something new is almost always a good thing.  (Let’s be reasonable here – some things should never be attempted – like the stuff with the caption “professional driver on closed course”.)  Sometimes the result isn’t what I expected, but in the process I invariably learn something.  It’s easy for me to continue doing the same thing – another time I’ll torment you with the trials and tribulations of growing out the haircut I’ve worn for oh, 30 years – but you shouldn’t have to do something the same way for 30 years before you try something new.

I’ve seen these Tri-fold (or shutter, or whatever-you-want-to-call-it) cards in a number of galleries and went looking for a starting point.  Bonnie at the Craftiblog posted a beautiful tutorial with a number of adaptations, and though I’m not sure she was the first to do so she has certainly done an outstanding job.  This format has infinite variations and goes together much more easily than you would imagine by looking at it.

Thoroughly Modern Tri Fold

Thoroughly Modern Tri Fold

I prepared this card for my hostess club last week.  When I showed them the sample of our project, I got the reaction I expected – half  “oooh, ahhh” and half  “you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me!”  The cardstock was cut and scored and they all had a little package of pieces.  By the end of the evening, the cards were all finished and everyone headed out to solicit their own “oooh, ahhh” reactions.

  • Sahara Sand 12×12 Textured cardstock; Whisper White, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay and Rose Red cardstock; Thoroughly Modern Designer Series Paper (and yes, a teeny scrap of Cool Caribbean – my precious stash)
  • Bermuda Bay Classic Ink pad; Rose Red, Bermuda Bay, and Soft Suede Stampin’ Write Markers
  • All Holidays, Oval All, Wings of Friendship, and Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Sets
  • Big Shot, Daisies #2 Bigz Die, SU Little Leaves Sizzlet
  • Butterfly, Large Oval, 3/4″ circle (base for daisy), 1/2″ circle, Word Window and Modern Label punches
  • Build-a-brad, Aquapainter, Stampin’ Sponges, Pop-Up Glue dots, Bone folder

Try something new today!

I think I can…

Posted on by
Reply

I love this little train.  Must be in my blood.  My dad has been a model railroader since he was a teenager.  Growing up, we never had a garage like all the other families in the neighborhood.  We had an HO scale model railroad.  The garage was enclosed and carpeted complete with stereo, phone service, and a workbench.  And we were NEVER allowed to call it cute.  It was True To Scale.  Lifelike.  Authentic.  On vacations, we would visit the places my dad’s layout represented in true-to-scale, lifelike authenticity.  One year, I noticed that the station on the layout at home didn’t look exactly like the real thing.  Not the first time I should have learned to keep my thoughts and observations to myself.

Anyway, I love trains.  This one seems like a little boy train and would be perfect for a baby card, but I was actually thinking more along the line of Little Engine That Could.  Not exactly true-to-scale and lifelike but absolutely authentic.

Happy Choo Choo

Happiness Train

  • Choo Choo and Hope Happens stamp sets; Right on Track wheel
  • Real Red, Old Olive, Brocade Blue and Basic Black Classic Ink pads and Stampin’ Write Markers
  • Real Red, Old Olive, Kraft, Whisper White and Naturals White cardstock
  • Brocade Blue 5/8″ grosgrain ribbon, Natural twine, and Playground Designer Buttons
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals and Pop-Up glue dots

And yes, my dad still runs trains.  The garage is still home to the HO layout, but there’s now a Garden Railway winding it’s way in and out of my mom’s beautiful flower beds.  Everyone in the family has a business along the railway, too.  You’ll know which one is mine.  Yep.  Anne’s Stampin’ Up!  Only brick and mortar  Stampin’ Up! business outside of Kanab, Utah.

I don’t get it.

Posted on by
1

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.

Why you should invest in Ink Refills Part I

Posted on by
1

Remember this card?  When I started stamping, I began by embossing the cupcakes with clear embossing powder over Chocolate Chip Classic ink with a little Versamark thrown in to make it sticky.  When I was finished with the heat tool, I looked at the image and thought it seemed a little, well, wimpy.  So I pulled out my Ink Refill and gave my Chocolate Chip ink pad a li’l nip.  Same process – Chocolate Chip Classic ink, Versamark, clear embossing powder and heat gun – and WOW.

Which one got the li'l nip? (Actual Unretouched Photo!!)

Which one got the li'l nip? (Actual Unretouched Photo!!)

Next time you sit down to stamp, take a look at your images.  It might be time to take your ink pads out for a drink!

My First Mojo

Posted on by
1

Card challenges can be addicting.   They stretch you to try new techniques, layouts, and colors.  Sometimes they go together so easily that you are exhilarated.  Sometimes you push and pull and struggle and end up throwing the whole thing away (well, I do anyway.  It’s just paper.)

I’ve been following the Mojo Monday blog and challenges for a while but haven’t taken the leap.  This week I jumped – just couldn’t resist those scallops along the bottom.  The Mojo bloggers have such awesome samples that it’s a little tough to get started, but it was fun to play with this sketch.

Mojo Monday 105

Mojo Monday 105

  • Blush Blossom and Whisper White cardstock, retired Stampin’ Up! DSP
  • Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink
  • Champagne Mist shimmer paint and sponge daubers
  • Crazy for Cupcakes and Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Sets
  • Wide Oval, Scallop edge and 1/16″ circle punches
  • Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon and Gold cord
  • Stamp-a-ma-jig, crewel needle, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I keep pulling out that darn Kiwi Kiss paper and ink.  I really loved last year’s In Color collection from Stampin’ Up! and I’m having a hard time letting go of it.  Eventually I’ll run out of scraps…but then there will be this year’s In Color collection to deal with.  If it’s not one challenge, it’s another!