Tag Archives: Word Play

The first cut is the tricky part

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What’s it gonna be today?

You're in my heart

  • Word Play, Creative Elements and Simply Soft stamp sets
  • River Rock, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White card stock
  • Paisley Petals Designer Series paper
  • River Rock, Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist Classic ink pads
  • Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satin ribbon
  • Big Shot, Scallop Circles 2 and 3 inch Circle Bigz dies
  • Scallop Border punch
  • Stampin’ Sponge

I love this specialty cut, but I have a confession to make.  Every time I run this through the Big Shot, I make a mistake (or two) and ruin two or three pieces of paper.  The placement of the cutting pads on the Big Shot is a little tricky and I always goof it up.  I got that Sheryl Crow song stuck in my head – you know – “The first cut is the deepest, Baby I know!”

THIS video tutorial does a great job of demonstrating how to make this cut, and I’ve bookmarked it so I can review it every time!  I used a card with the fold on the narrow side instead of the wide side, but it’s the same principle.

Those little smudgy bits around the edge of the circle are one of the two-step “filler” stamps from the Simply Soft stamp set.  Just the right amount of texture!  You could do a lot of different things with those smudgy bits.

A little mermaid

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Today it’s yet another Convention 2011 WOW Swap CASE.  Honestly, I need to get crackin’ and come up with some original cards, don’t you think?  Jeri Holm of Overland Park, Kansas made this irresistable card and honestly, I didn’t change much.  It was an enormous hit at our class over the weekend, even if it was the most detailed card we made.  Not hard!!  DETAILED.

Jeri Holm's Mermaid Side Step card

  • Word Play stamp set
  • Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy, So Saffron and Blushing Bride card stock
  • Sahara Sand textured card stock
  • Paisley Prints Designer Series Paper
  • Simply Scored
  • Not Quite Navy and So Saffron Classic ink pads
  • Oval, Small oval, 1 inch circle, 1 3/4 inch circle, 5 petal flower, Scallop Circle, Triple heart and Scallop Border punches
  • Scallop and heart Bitty punches
  • Champagne Mist Shimmer paint
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Stampin’ Sponges
  • Pearl Jewels
  • Big Shot and Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing folder
  • Googlie Eyes (non-SU)
  • Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Write markers

I got a little carried away with the Champagne Mist Shimmer paint.  Initially I used it mixed with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to mist the card and give everything a little sparkle, but then I got the brilliant idea of dusting her little mermaid face and her “shells” with the paint.  The shells, not so bad.  The face, well, it looks like a 5 o’clock shadow to me.  Next time we’ll leave it off.  In class, we used the Shimmer Mist for the whole card but the new Dazzling Details glitter glue to give her shells some pizazz.  Perfect!

One of the questions everyone had putting this together concerned crumpling the little flower stack for her hair.  I used a bamboo skewer (the kind you use for kebabs) but the point of a pencil or even your snips would work – just poke a point into the center of the flowers and fold everything up around it.  The only trick is to be sure you don’t press so hard that you punch a hole in the flowers.

There are loads of tutorials on the Side Step card.  It’s a fun, it’s unusual, and it meets the “one-44-cent-stamp” criteria.  That’s a plus in my book!

Trend watch

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Have you noticed a lot of pennants lately?  Me too…

Wish Big Pennants So Saffron

  • Pennant Parade and Word Play stamp sets
  • Whisper White, So Saffron, Garden Green and Pool Party card stock
  • Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper
  • Garden Green, So Saffron and Pool Party Classic ink pads
  • Petite Pennants Builder and Scallop Edge punches
  • Silver brads
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals

Truth?  Those brads were supposed to be the new silver mini brads, but my order didn’t arrive in time and OH BY THE WAY I AM IN SALT LAKE CITY!!!

And why would I be in Salt Lake City, you ask?  Well, just in case you’ve been out of the country for an extended period of time…

it’s the Stampin’ Up! Annual Convention!!

Nothin’ in the world like it…throngs of demonstrators gathering to learn and share (and eat a lot of chocolate, truth be told) and have a whole lotta fun.  It has become my annual treat to myself – a chance to energize my business, reconnect with old friends and make some new ones, and feel like a kid again.  If you’d like to be here next year, check out that little button at the top of the right hand side bar and learn about the $99 Demonstrator kit available only for the month of July.

Imagine the Possibilites

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It’s a new Stampin’ Up! year, and I LOVE a fresh beginning.  What could make a better start than this?

Imagine the Possibilities Island Indigo

  • My Friend, Fabulous Florets and Word Play stamp sets
  • Island Indigo and Whisper White card stock; White Vellum paper
  • Island Indigo and Basic Black Classic ink pads
  • Black 1/8 inch Taffeta ribbon
  • Rhinestone jewels

 

I’m warning you, I’m on a vellum kick for some reason.  There are things stamped on vellum all over my desk!  I’m a little over-stimulated right now with all the new goodies, and as a result I’m big on starting but not so very big on finishing projects.  I’ll get there, though.

I’m looking forward to sharing the new catalog with you, and to dreaming new dreams together.  I CAN imagine the possibilities!!

A Jolly Holiday tree

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Crystal sent me an email the other day that started out “Look at this!”  I knew it would be good:

Jolly Holidat folded tree

  • Word Play stamp set
  • Whisper White, Soft Suede, Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler card stock
  • Jolly Holiday Designer Series paper
  • Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler Classic ink pads
  • Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint; Aquapainter
  • Big Designer Series buttons; Linen Thread
  • Big Shot and Petals-a-Plenty Textured Embossing folder

The concept comes from Connie Babbert who was generous enough to include a template for folding the tree.  I made a few changes although I really LOVED the card she did – but it wouldn’t do for me to copy it exactly and then post it for you now, would it?

I wish I could say that the tree in my house looked this pretty.  Well, it is a pretty tree…pretty crooked!  And it’s ARTIFICIAL!!  I thought when you bought a sustainable (fake) Christmas tree you were making an ecologically friendly statement and would at least avoid the Charlie Brown Tree syndrome.  Apparently I managed to select the box (and by box, I mean coffin – these trees come in ginormous boxes) that had a tree with a bent top.  When I called Costco to ask them what they suggested, they told me they were out of those trees, but I could return it and get my money back or keep it til next year and exchange it for a new one at that time.  (And by the way, that is pretty fine customer service!)   Since my husband is currently off-island and I have no intention of wrasslin’ a coffin-sized box by myself, we are opting for Plan B.  I just hope Ray can bend the top portion enough that I don’t get a permanent crick in my neck from looking at my beautifully lit, 7 1/2 foot tall Kirkland Charlie Brown tree.

 

Remembering when

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The two beautiful little girls in this photo are big grown up girls now.  I was inspired to put this page together when I created a card with a similar theme, and I spent a wonderful afternoon sorting through old photos.  It’s so much easier for me to choose pictures when this much time has gone by.  I don’t have the same emotional attachment to every single event I thought was worthy of documenting and it’s easier to edit and choose the memories that really stand out.

Carol and Sara - Worth the Wait

  • Word Play, Elements of Style and Wonderful Favorites stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Pirouette Pink, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive card stock
  • Retired Designer Series Papers
  • Chocolate Chip Classic ink pad and Versamark pad
  • Chocolate Chip and  Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write Markers
  • XL Two Step Owl, XL Bird, Scallop Trim Border and Corner punches
  • Big Shot and Top Note and Serif Essentials Bigz dies
  • Timeless Type and Birds and Blooms Sizzlets

This page could be an 8 1/2 x 11 page (the pink section) if you prefer that size, but most of my pages are 12 x 12.  I’m notorious for not completing scrapbooks but I’m inspired now.  Besides, I really enjoyed looking through those photos.  The memories are sweet, and help me feel better when I miss having my girls at home.  The good news is that I’ll see them soon as we are celebrating a special family birthday next month together in California.  I’m counting the days!

Whoooo are you waiting for?

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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.

Who Owl You Waiting For?

  • 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!

Bubbly Circles Under the Sea

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I am fascinated with color.  I love to explore the moods of individual colors and color combinations, to mix and match different tones and hues of the same colors.  You know where this is going, don’t you?  Yep – blues and greens.

Circle Circus Blues and Greens

  • Circle Circus and Word Play stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi and Rich Razzleberry card stock
  • Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi Classic ink pads
  • Whisper White Craft ink pad and White Embossing powder
  • Big Shot and Elegant Lines Embossing Folder
  • Scallop Border and XL Decorative Label punches
  • Brights Designer Buttons and white crochet thread

Don’t you love the Razzleberry with Baja and Wasabi?

The bubbly circle cracks me up.  No particular reason, it just makes me laugh.  Maybe I watched the Little Mermaid with my daughters too many times, but I keep thinking of all those undersea creatures talking underwater.  It seemed to me at the time that they needed little bubbles floating up when they talked, but that could just be the effects of being a SAHM with three active kids.

I love our Linen Thread, but I couldn’t bring myself to use it with all the crisp white on this card.