Convention Swap: Over the Top Tags

Posted on August 14, 2013 by mauistamper

I forgot to share my last organized Convention Swap project!

Postage Due and Loving Thoughts stamp sets
Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, and Sahara Sand card stock
Vellum card stock
Silver Glimmer paper
Calypso Coral and Sahara Sand FFIP
Big Shot
Dress Up and Window Frame Framelits
Fancy Fan TIEF
Bitty Punch pack, Word Window and 1 inch circle punches
Pearl and Rhinestone Jewels
Stampin’ Sponges
Calypso Coral Bakers Twine

This tag measures 3 1/2 x 6 inches. The two base layers were shaped using the Window Frame framelits – just cut your card stock to the width of the framelit, place the framelit at the top of the panel and run into your Big Shot just far enough to cut the top, then back it out.

Love that glimmer paper – I haven’t used it much lately, but Sparkle Season is coming!!

This swap produced absolutely gorgeous samples – thank you, ladies in Group 1- and a special thanks to my swap angel, Lynn Marshall, who stepped in to actually swap my tags when I developed a time conflict.

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!

RemARKably Mad Mosaics

Posted on June 8, 2013 by mauistamper

Welcome to the first Stamp of the Month tour for the Brand New Deliciously JUICY 2013-2014 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog!! Are you as excited as I am about this fabulous assortment of paper crafting goodness?? I hope so!

The June Stamp of the Month is Mosaic Madness. It’s especially juicy because of all the coordinating products that carry the Mosaic theme: the Mosaic punch, the Mosaic TIEF, and the Quatrefoil Fancy DSP.

(If you are not a regular reader at the Maui Stamper, I apologize. You should know that I am a very lazy girl and I get tired of typing things like TEXTURED IMPRESSIONS EMBOSSING FOLDER (TIEF), DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (DSP) and FIRM FOAM INK PAD (FFIP). Please make a note of these abbreviations.)

I’ve done a number of projects using the products from the suite, but for our blog tour I wanted to try using the images in new ways. First up – le card:

If SOMEONE used her SAMJ (oh, all right, Stamp-a-ma-jig) that “beautiful” would have been straight. Instead, it is beautifully hand made 🙂

The Mosaic punch fits perfectly along the scallop border from the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die! There are 7 of them, with the top and bottom trimmed to fit the card.

Got a little pierce-happy but it was worth it…and the little holes made a perfect place to run some Linen thread through to balance the opposite side.

If you need a box to go with that sassy card, I’ve got just the thing:

I was feeling a little continental…don’t know if this is more Scandinavian or Swiss, but when I started playing with the long stamps from Mosaic Madness I started seeing ribbon and it didn’t take much to put together a belly band. (Hint: if you are adding paper layers to a belly band, I recommend you score the plain belly band first, then add the trim on top for a smoother fit.)