Sale-a-bration ENDS TODAY!!

Posted on March 24, 2013 by mauistamper

Time flies when products are free! Today is the last day for a 2013 Sale-a-bration order – and Maui folks, that’s on Utah time so don’t get caught! Your order needs to be in by 7:50pm HST!

The Sale-a-bration exclusives have been awesome this year but I think the Sycamore Street Designer Series paper was my favorite. I have a couple of packages stashed, so I decided to make another clothespin wreath with my extra pieces.

These wreaths are not hard to make. It takes a LOT of time to prepare the pieces, and it takes a little while to put it all together too. But putting the strips on the clothes pins takes no thinking at all, and scrunching up the flower papers is just plain fun!

That brad in the middle of the Island Indigo flower is a treasure I have been hoarding – they were available for only a month about a year ago and I have been very, very stingy using them!

However, I think this wreath is a perfect class – so I’m offering it on Saturday, April 6 at 1 pm. This will be LIMITED enrollment and first-come-first served so that everyone has enough space. Cost is $25 and includes everything you’ll need except for Tombo – and I highly recommend you use Tombo for this project. I’ll have it here if you need a fresh bottle.

Don’t wait to RSVP! We’ll have a lot of fun with this one 🙂 If you can’t make Saturday mornings and would be interested in a week day or evening, please let me know and I’ll see if there is enough interest.

Celebrating birthdays

Posted on March 11, 2013 by mauistamper

My son is away at school for his 19th birthday. I have to confess that his Valentine package was very late – I had a post-wedding failure. But I sent this early so he would have it: it’s spring break, and he is on a geology camping trip in New Mexico. I’m pretty confident he won’t see this post for at least a week, if at all. He’s really busy at school, and his mom’s blog isn’t at the top of his to-do list.

This card should have arrived well before he left. Since I was sending it in a package I didn’t have to worry about fitting it into a USPS-approved envelope:

You Rule stamp set
Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White card stock
Sycamore Street DSP (SAB)
Tangerine Tango FFIP
Versamark ink pad
Summer Starfruit Stampin’ Write marker
Tangerine Tango Embossing powder
Powder Pal and Heat tool
Stampin’ Spritzer
Designer Rosette Bigz XL die
Rhinestone Jewels
a mess o’ hot glue and the Silicone craft sheet

I use bamboo skewers to hold my flags – much sturdier than toothpicks, although toothpicks would have been the right length.

I used a dime-sized blob of hot glue on the Silicone craft sheet to hold my rosette together. It cools really quickly and peels off easily. Then I just hot-glued that rosette into place, added the crown and the flags and my 3-D card was ready to rock and roll!

Sure do love that Sycamore Street DSP – and I have a nice little stash set aside. You’re going to see more of this paper, and having your own little stash will come in pretty handy! SAB ends on March 22: what do you need?

and now…the Pants

Posted on February 25, 2013 by mauistamper

This card is almost entirely ~~stolen~~ CASEd from the very talented Mary Jo Price-Williams : I turned the sketch on its side and used ovals – cuz I have them! – instead of circles. Those two changes left something of a gap on the top, so I added a Summer Starfruit sun: Gotta love those pants. They’re cut by hand, but it’s just straight lines. A glue dot at the waist secures the pants to the Whisper White oval plus it holds the Linen Thread clothesline in place and allows you to curve the clothesline. I’m CRAZY about this new Cloudy Day TIEF – the definition is awesome!

I also changed the sentiment to use the phrase that’s on the Pants Stamp. I know a LOT of Smarty Pantses. (It’s a word, I made it up myself.)

That’s a Pool Party card base, Sycamore Street DSP, Island Indigo oval mat, and Tangerine Tango, Island Indigo and Pool Party FFIP. The sun is made of a 3/4 inch circle punch and heaps of points made from the Pennant Builder Punch – plus enough Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) to stick together all your fingers and toes.

Just for fun, I made a landscape version using the ovals. There’s room for another sun, but I didn’t think it was necessary.

25 Years with Stampin’ Up: Best of Birthdays

Posted on February 16, 2013 by mauistamper

What a fabulous start to the 25 Years of Stampin’ Up! celebration! This Best of Birthdays set ($14.95!!) is a great selection of birthday images and I immediately saw the potential for favors:

Of course, this is a Stampin’ Up! birthday, so the favors have to be Stampin’ Up! favors! And the Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper (DSP) is such a great bundle of designs and colors that I knew it would be a perfect choice for birthday fun.

How about a rosette for your birthday cake – or your cupcakes – or your centerpieces – or your flowers? This rosette was a snap with the Designer Rosette Bigz XL die. I cut the DSP about 1 1/2 inches wide and used two 12 inch strips. A little Tombo (the Wonder Adhesive) attached the ends into a circle, and some hot glue on our Silicon Craft sheet secured the rosette quickly and easily.

The images are embossed in White and Tangerine Tango for an extra pop, and those curly ribbons are from the Sale-a-bration Sycamore Street ribbon and button bundle. I’ve tried curling our ribbon before with limited luck, but I had an idea this time: I wrapped the ribbon around a skewer and taped it down (and by the way, I consider a fistful of skewers an essential tool on my craft desk). Then I spritzed it with a little hair spray – yep! – and gave it a shot with my heat tool. I let it cool down and success!! I had curls 🙂

I love the Petite Pocket die for favors. It’s a fun size and shape for anything from pencils and crayons to Pixie Stix or even Stampin’ Spritzers! This image is also embossed to make it easier to color with markers – I’m a messy, outside-the-lines artist. A few quick accents and these little pockets are done – with our beautiful, two-sided DSP this is an easy project to mass produce.

And here’s my current favorite favor – the Petal Cone die! It just takes one die cut folded over on itself to make this cute ice cream cone shape, and then a pair of fun DSP scalloped half-circles (also on the die) to dress up that cone. Our super-soft seam binding is supple enough to thread through the buttonholes, so that button is tied right onto the favor.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this stop on the tour! There’s much much more to come – skedalddle on over to see what Robin Merriman at http://www.TrinityDesignStudio.com has created or click on the link below to send you over. And check back next month for the Best of Love 25th Anniversary Blog tour!