Whoooo are you waiting for?

Posted on August 22, 2010 by mauistamper

These owls make me giddy. I have a bunch of little jars on my craft table with Owl Bits in them…bodies, vesties, and eyeballs. I punched out a bunch of the medium circles in white and the bitty eyeballs in Espresso and Chocolate and Black. I discovered if I put that part together in a big batch that it saved a lot of trouble when it was time to finish my owls – I just reached into the eyeball jar and poof! there they were. Now when I finish a project I check the scraps of paper before I brush them into the trash – anything big enough for Owl Bits gets punched and put in the jars.

Word Play and Wood Grain stamp sets
Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and So Saffron card stock; Playdate Designer Series Paper
Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake Classic ink pads
Old Olive Stampin’ Write marker
Two-Step Owl and Bird XL punches; Large oval punch
Big Shot and Top Note Bigz die

There are a couple of little punchy tricks in this card that you might not notice. One owl is sitting on branches that come from the Bird punch, but if you look carefully, the other owl is sitting on a little green patch that happens to be the wing from that Bird punch. I’m sure all of you are much smarter than me and had this figured out already, but I recently discovered that the little heart that you get from the Owl punch makes a great owl-beak. I’ll bet the punch geniuses did that on purpose.

You could make this card over and over again in so many colors…just keep an Owl Bits jar on your craft table and you’ll have Owls-in-a-Flash!

Monochromatic inspiration

Posted on June 9, 2010 by mauistamper

The new catalog uses a monochromatic theme for the pages that begin each new “chapter” of stamps, and the color theme for the All Natural section is neutrals. It really inspired me when I saw it, and although all the stamps used on that page were new I wanted to recreate that feeling. I looked through my stamps (never mind how many there are, I’m sure I’ll need new ones!!) and found the look I was seeking:

Wood Grain, Elements of Style, Inspired by Life and Define Your Life stamp sets
Naturals Ivory, River Rock, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (Kraft) and Very Vanilla card stock
Soft Suede, Sahara Sand and River Rock Classic ink pads
Crop-a-dile, Jumbo Eyelet and Linen Thread

Did you see that little scrap of River Rock? I have a folder with just a few scraps that I was — you guessed it — hoarding jealously. Now I can use them up! As of July 1st, River Rock is back in the family. I’ll admit that this Color Renovation is taking a little bite out of my stamping budget, but if it means that colors like Baja Breeze and River Rock are back in the palette I’ll work with it. I can make a budget and stick with it. It’s not like I have to have everything all at once. Really. I don’t. Not at all.

Excuse me, I have to go. My hypnotist appointment is soon. I don’t need it all at once…I don’t need it all at once…I don’t need it all at once…

Steppin’ up

Posted on May 23, 2010 by mauistamper

I’m working on projects for workshops coming up and I’m struggling. My personal card-making style tends to be in the “More is More” category, and not so much in the KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie) department. All of my workshops are totally hands on – I don’t demonstrate anything, I just pass out the paper, stamps and ink and let everyone play. If there are too many steps or the steps are too advanced, new stampers get overwhelmed.

My solution is to make two versions of a card. There’s one for everyone to make, and another to let them see where they can take the card. Here’s the starter version:

Cheep Talk and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
Whisper White, Taken with Teal, Barely Banana and Pink Passion card stock
Taken with Teal and Pink Passion Classic ink pads
1 1/4 inch and Scallop Square punches
Bitty Buttons, Itty Bitty punch pack and Tombo All-Purpose Adhesive

Do you see the peek at the inside of the card? Taken with Teal is too dark for correspondence so I include a Whisper White panel inside, and the little heart from Cheep Talk is stamped in the corner just for fun.

Here’s Version 2 (and it’s the same card stock – operator error with the camera is responsible for the color discrepancy):

Same supplies as above PLUS:

Wood Grain stamp
Whisper White Craft ink, Heat tool and White Embossing powder
Paper Piercing tool, template and mat
So Saffron striped grosgrain ribbon and Linen Thread
1/8 inch hole punch (non-SU) and Crystal Effects
Corner rounder and Modern Label punch
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Perhaps you prefer the first card – a lot of people like a simpler look. Every now and then I get into a Clean and Simple kind of mood, but I don’t think this first sample even qualifies there — too many layers. Either way, the cards are bright and whimsical and get the message across: I’m thinking of you!