Wedding Cards

This was another set that I got for FREE :) I got this one (and another one, A Flower for All Seasons, which I haven't mounted yet) for recruiting and making my sales quota during Sale-A-Bration. I had been eyeing this set up for a while now because I'm constantly asked to do wedding cards. These two were CASE'd almost directly from the Idea Book & Catalog. That book is so much more than just pages with products on them, you can get so many different ideas! 

Stamps: To Have and to Hold

Paper: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral, Whisper White Cardstock

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral

Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pen, Dimensionals

1. Cut a piece of Close to Cocoa to 8 1/2 x 4, score at 4 1/4 and fold on score line.

2. Stamp the swoopy design twice in each corner and once on the inside right corner using Chocolate Chip ink.

3. Stamp bride and groom onto 3 x 3 1/4 piece of Whisper White. Use blender pen and either Baja Breeze or Cameo Coral to color the flowers in the bouquet and in her hair.

4. Use Stampin' Pastels and blender pen to color the grooms suit and outline the bride's dress with Close to Cocoa. Both of their hair was colored with Chocolate Chip.

5. Mat image onto 3 1/4 x 3 1/2 piece of either Baja Breeze or Cameo Coral. Mat that onto a 3 1/2 x 3 3/4 piece of Chocolate Chip. Adhere to cardbase.

6. Stamp the sentiment on scrap piece of Whisper White and cut by hand, separating the phrase into two parts. Adhere to image using dimensionals.

7. Stamp the hearts onto Rose Red cardstock and cut out. Adhere one directly to image and the other using dimensionals. For the rose, stamp onto scrap piece of Whisper White and color using Stampin' Pastels and blender pen (Cameo Coral and Old Olive). It was also adhered with a dimensional

Full Dahlia Flower

This is another example of the Dahlia Flower folding that I will be teaching at my technique class. We will be making flower buds, however, this is the full flower.

Stamps: Heard from the Heart

Paper: Basic Gray, So Saffron, Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: 1 3/8 inch and 1 inch Circle Punches, Eyelet Punch, White Ribbon. 

May Technique Workshop Projects

These are the projects we will be making at my May 15th technique class. We will be learning how to make dahlia folded flower buds, how to rock and roll stamp, how to use rub-ons on a transparency card, and how to make the "sour cream" treat container. I am super excited about all of these projects! I had originally planned on using more rub-ons for these, but since I only had one person order them ahead of time (and then we found out they were on back order) I decided to only use them as accents so that I would have enough for everyone. As always, my favorite project is the treat container! Wait until you see how easy it is to make :)

Flowerpot Card

Isn't this super cute??? And another great idea for Mother's Day! I decided to take a break from looking at the Walk in the Park DSP (even though I love love love it and am probably going to use the May SU promotion to get more) and go back to my old favorite Sweet Always for this flowerpot card. The flowers pull out to reveal the "inside" of the card (see picture below). I have been wanting to make this sort of card for a while now, but never knew how I wanted my flowers to look...well I got my technique today! In the mail I received a DVD from Meg Loven (I've told you about her before...my up-up-upline) of her April meeting and one of the ladies demonstrated this cute and easy flower technique using the scalloped circle punches. 

1. Punch two scalloped circle out of DSP and punch a hole in the center.

2. Cut down every other scallop to almost the middle (do this on both punched pieces.

3. Fold the little "hearts" in half to give dimension. Adhere together using a brad!

The leaves were just cut by hand and folded in half. I used Kiwi Kiss and Handsome Hunter Cardstock.

You may also be wondering what my flower

centers are... that is simply a brad slipped intoa button (the buttons on this card are non-SU). The greeting is from, what else... GREAT FRIEND! I promise to find a new greeting here soon! It's just so versatile! :)

The tutorial for how to make the flower pot can be found here

I will hopefully have the rest of my Walk in the Park projects done by tomorrow, so I will share them as soon as they are done! :)

May Promotions begin today!

Today starts the Stampin' Up Scrapbooking promotions and there are three different ones to take advantage of! (1) For every 3 packs of Designer Series Paper and/or 12x12 cardstock you purchase, you get one pack FREE! (2) Buy the new Jumble Alphabet stamp set--a sneak peek from the upcoming 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog--at 20% off! (3) Become a demonstrator for only $75 with the limited-time Scrapbooking Starter Kit!

I am super excited about all three of these (especially the limited time demo kit)! So if you've been thinking about joining this amazing team of demonstrators, now's the time to do it!!! Contact me with any questions! You can order anytime from my Stampin' Up website. Just click the link on the right panel!

Another Flower Fancy Mother's Day

This is the fourth in my set of Mother's Day cards...it was very easy and fun to make! It's hard to tell from the picture, but it also uses vellum like two of the other ones in the set. I am still working on cards for my May 15th technique class as well as a project for my mom for Mother's Day, so I will have pictures of those projects soon! 

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Great Friend

Paper: Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Natural Ivory Cardstock

Ink: Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Old Olive

Accessories: Vellum, Brads, Twine, Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pens

1. Score 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece of Perfect Plum at 4 1/4 and fold on score line.

2. Cut Baja Breeze to 5 1/4 x 4.

3. Cut both Natural Ivory cardstock and vellum to 5 1/4 x 2 and tear together.

4. Stamp the small flower image three times down the Natural Ivory in Baja Breeze ink. Use Old Olive to stamp the leaves.

5. Lay the vellum over the stamped flowers and punch a hole in each corner. Attach with brads.

6. Using Basic Gray ink, stamp the detail for the flower and leaves on the vellum, over the flowers. Heat set to dry.

7. Stamp the flower with stems detail on the right side of the Baja Breeze. Stamp two more times on scrap pieces of Natural Ivory. Color just the flowers (one with Baja Breeze and the other with Perfect Plum) using Stampin' Pastels and blender pens. Cut out and attach. Color the leaves with Old Olive.

8. Stamp outline and sentiment from Great Friend onto Natural Ivory and cut out along inner dotted line. Stamp outline again on scrap piece of Perfect Plum and cut along outer solid line. Adhere together.

9. Adhere vellum layer and sentiment to Baja Breeze.

10. Wrap a long piece of twine several times around Baja Breeze layer and tie on the left side. Adhere to Perfect Plum card base.

May Scrapbook Workshop Projects

Here they are!!! I am super excited to show you how to make these albums at my workshop on May 8! The tall one is a 5 x 7 1/2 accordion album and the small one is a key chain album (more pictures below). They would be great Mother's Day gifts! :) 

There are still spots available so let me know ASAP if you want to sign up! You can either bring pictures with you (I'll email you sizes once you sign up) or just create your layouts and add them later. Both of these were super easy to make and the hardest part was picking out what pictures I wanted to put in them!

Accordion Album Open

Accordion Album Top View

Keychain Album Open

Vellum Spotlight with "Rock & Roll" Butterfly

Well, I decided to fix this one up so that I could share it with you tonight. At first I had just punched the hole in the vellum and the spotlight effect wasn't as dramatic as I was hoping. I really didn't realize that until I went to photograph it and the spotlight didn't show up. I originally was just going to re-do it using vellum the whole way across, getting rid of the spotlight technique, but I'm really glad I decided to put a scallop around it instead because it really makes the spotlight stand out! I wish I had saved the "before" pictures so you could see what I mean.

Anyway, this is the second of my Mother's Day cards. I've actually decided to re-create the "For You" card with the Flowers in Silhouette stamp that I made a few days ago as the third in the set, so I only have one more to go!

Stamps: Great Friend

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Baja Breeze Cardstock

Ink: Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Old Olive

Accessories: Vellum, Summer Love Rub Ons, Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon, Twine, 1 3/8 Circle Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch, Corner Rounder Punch

1. Score 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Basic Gray at 5 1/2 and fold on score line.

2. Stamp stems and butterflies on 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Whisper White. The stems are stamped in Old Olive (stamping twice before re-inking) and the butterflies are Basic Gray and Baja Breeze.

3. Cut a piece of vellum to 4 x 5 1/4. Lay over Whisper White to decide where you want to punch your hole for the spotlight effect. Line up your 1 3/8 circle punch and then remove the Whisper White so you are only punching out the vellum.

4. Punch out a scalloped circle ring from Baja Breeze by punching a 1 3/8 circle and then lining the scalloped punch over the punched out hole. Adhere scallop to vellum.

5. Tie knot in Baja Breeze ribbon and adhere around vellum and Whisper White. I also took a small small SMALL amount of Tombow adhesive and dabbed it in the corners to help hold the vellum in place. If you use too much, you can see it, so be cautious.

6. Adhere Whisper White/vellum piece to card base.

7. Ink the butterfly with Baja Breeze and then lightly roll the edges of the stamp in Basic Gray for the rock and roll effect. Stamp the butterfly onto scratch piece of Whisper White. Cut out and adhere to vellum, only placing adhesive down the center so the wings can "fly".

8. Stamp sentiment onto scratch piece of Whisper White and trim down so that it is the size you want. Use corner rounder to round corners. Punch hole in upper left corner.

9. Cut out two of the flowers from the Summer Love Rub Ons and apply to your "tag"

10. Thread twine through hole and tie it around the knot of the Baja Breeze ribbon. Snip off the excess.

I also think I'm going to make this card for my technique workshop on the 15th...depends on what other creations I can come up with. I just like how many techniques you can show with one card....so this could be a sneak peek! :) 

Found It!

Phew! I think I redeemed myself from last night's stamping nightmare. And it was all because Kim, one of my customers and fellow YMCA employee, stopped by to see me today and gave me some of her old cardmaking magazines. I took a peek at one while I ate my lunch and saw a card made with vellum. I've never really experimented with it and actually forgot that I had bought a piece a few months ago. I decided that's what I was going to use on my cards and I busted out two cards in about an hour and half! I'm only sharing one with you today because as I was getting ready to take a picture of the second one I realized I want to change one thing...and I've already put everything away (see how much I miss my attic stamping room!! haha). But I did use my trusty Flower Fancy set just like I said! :) I also used my newest favorite set Great Friend for the sentiment. I've decided it's going to be the sentiment for all of the Mother's Day cards. It felt so good to look at my card and feel good about it...hopefully I don't have another night like last night ever again!

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Great Friend

Paper: Baja Breeze, Perfect Plum, Whisper White Cardstock; Walk in the Park DSP

Ink: Basic Gray

Accessories: Vellum, Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pens, Baja Breeze Ribbon, Brads, Eyelet Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Embossing Gun, Dimensionals

1. Score 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 piece of Baja Breeze at 4 1/4 and fold on score line.

2. Mat 5 x 3 3/4 piece of DSP to 5 1/4 x 4 piece of Perfect Plum. 

3. Stamp flower onto vellum using Basic Gray and emboss with clear embossing powder. Color with blender pens and Stampin' Pastels. 

4. Cut to 3 x 4 1/4. Tear off bottom of vellum. Punch two holes in the top corners.

5. Lay vellum over 3 x 4 1/4 piece of Perfect Plum and punch holes through cardstock. Attach with brads.

6. Use the eyelet punch on a 4 1/4 x 1 1/2 piece of Baja Breeze and attach to Perfect Plum/vellum piece. Adhere entire piece to DSP.

7. Tie a knot in a piece of Baja Breeze striped ribbon and wrap around all the layers except the card base.

8. Stamp the sentiment and border from the Great Friend set in Basic Gray on Whisper White. Stamp small flower from Flower Fancy using Baja Breeze ink (stamp off once). Cut out at dotted line.

9. Stamp border on Baja Breeze cardstock and cut out along outer line. Adhere to Whisper White sentiment. Adhere to card using dimensionals.

Help Me Find My Mojo!

Ugh...that's all I can say about my evening of stamping last night! First off, I think my "stamping brain" was confused because I'm back to working off the dining room table instead of my little studio in the attic because of the heat, so now everything is stored away until I pull it out. I guess my creativeness works better when everything is set out where I can see it.

But I got an order for 4 Mother's Day cards yesterday, so I decided to work on those last night instead of my workshop projects since I need to get the Mother's Day cards in the mail to her by the end of the week. Well 3 hours later and this was all I came up with. I don't have any sets that say "Happy Mother's Day" so I was just sort of improvising. I decided to pull out the retired Love Ya Bunches set since I hadn't used it in a while. At first I really liked the wheelbarrow card, but now I'm not sure...that card actually came together really quick and I thought I was on a roll. But when I went to start the next card, I just kept changing my mind and running out of ideas. I wasn't leaving my table until I had SOMETHING, and this is it. It's okay, but not for Mother's Day, and definitely not one of my best...so back to the drawing board! I'm thinking about busting out my tried and true Flower Fancy set! It never lets me down!

Anyway...here are the cards. Let me know what you think...I seriously am disgusted by them! haha I'm going to hit it hard this evening, so hopefully my "Stamping Mojo" returns!

(Sentiment is from the Great Friend set)

Sorry I don't have instructions for these cards...I changed them so many times I would have to go back and re-measure everything to get the measurments. I used Sale-A-Bration DSP on both as well as Sage Shadow for the card bases.

Jolene's Make-and-Take

As promised, here is the card we made at Jolene's workshop! I think it's super cute. Everyone made either a green or a pink one and I was excited to get green because it's outside of what I would normally choose (I'm a "pinky" haha). I was also nervous about using the wheel. I got one with my kit and still have yet to use it...honestly, it scares me a little! But I was very excited to see how easy it really was to use. The flowers that go up the spine of the card were made using the wheel. I might have to buy some additional wheels with my next order now!

I think Jolene did a great job at her first workshop and everyone's cards looked great! 

Great Friend

I know I said I was going to start working on workshop projects today, but I had to get this one made. This card was made for one of my really great friends at work who did an amazing job with planning our annual Healthy Kid's Day event that was held yesterday. I'm off to Jolene's here in a little, so look for an upload of our make-and-take later today!

Stamps: Great Friend

Paper: Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral, Whisper White Cardstock and Walk in the Park DSP

Ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Cameo Coral

Accessories: Eyelet Punch, Whisper White Ribbon, Twine, Dimensionals

1. Score 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece of Baja Breeze at 4 1/4 and fold along score line.

2. Use the Eyelet Punch on a 1 1/2 x 5 1/4 piece of Whisper White and adhere to 5 1/4 x 2 piece of DSP.

3. Tie Whisper White ribbon around DSP.

4. Stamp the butterfly from Great Friends three times in Baja Breeze. 

5. Adhere DSP to left side of card base.

6. Stamp the outline once onto Whisper White and once onto Cameo Coral using Basic Gray Ink. Stamp the sentiment onto the Whisper White piece using Cameo Coral Ink. Cut out the Cameo Coral cardstock along the outer black line and the Whisper White with the sentiment along the inner dotted line. Adhere the two together. 

7. Punch a hole in the sentiment and lace twine through. Adhere sentiment to DSP using a dimensional.

8. Loop the twine under the ribbon and tie a knot right above the punched hole. Snip off the excess so you are only left with a knot.

Square Birthday Card

I saw a layout similar to this in the newest issue of the Stampin' Up demonstrator magazine I get each month and decided to try it out. Of course once I got started I changed some things, but I really like how it turned out. I used one of my favorite sets "Crazy for Cupcakes" as I'm using this for one of my customers' birthday. Starting tomorrow I will only be working on samples for my May workshops, so you will be seeing a lot of Walk in the Park DSP and Great Friend/Summer Love Stamps and Rub ons. I also will be going to Jolene's first workshop tomorrow, so I will post our make-and-take too :)

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Barely Banana Cardstock; Sweet Always and Sale-A-Bration Designer Series Paper

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: 1 1/2 inch Circle Punch, 1 inch Circle Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 Die, Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Liquid Applique, Embossing Gun, Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pens, Dimensionals

1. Score 8 1/2 x 4 1/4 piece of Pink Pirouette Cardstock at 4 1/4 and fold on score line.

2. Cut a 4x4 square of Sweet Always and Sale-A-Bration DSP. Cut one in half diagonally and adhere to the other. 

3. Wrap Chocolate Chip ribbon diagonally across DSP where the two designs meet. Adhere DSP to card base.

4. Run a scrap piece of Pink Pirouette through the Big Shot using the Scallop #2 die. Stamp cupcakes directly onto scallop and color with Stampin' Pastels and Blender Pen.

5. Apply liquid applique to "ice" cupcakes and heat with embossing gun.

6. Adhere to card base. Use a white marker to put dots on each scallop.

7. Cut a piece of Chocolate Chip and tie into a bow. Adhere on top of ribbon line, overlapping scallop.

8. Stamp cupcakes on scrap piece of Whisper White. Color and apply liquid applique. Cut out.

7. Punch a 1 1/2 inch circle from Whisper White and stamp sentiment twice in a circle pattern. Punch a 1 inch circle from Barely Banana and adhere to center of sentiments. Adhere cut out cupcake to center of Barely Banana circle.

8. Cut a 2 x 1 1/8 piece of Chocolate Chip and punch the corners with the ticket corner punch. Adhere to back of circles.

9. Adhere sentiment to bottom left of card using dimensionals.

Flowers in Silhouette

Well it was Christmas at my house today! My newest box of SU goodies came. What all did I get?...more like what DIDN'T I get! haha I was super excited to use the eyelet punch and some of my new paper. I also got everything for my May workshops, so look for those projects within the next week or so.

This card was really easy to make and I'm really pleased with the outcome. I used the Flowers in Silhouette as well as the Great Friend (for the sentiment) Stamp Sets...both of which I got FREE! The Flowers in Silhouette is from the Get Connected Promotion and the Great Friend I got for getting a recruit during Sale-A-Bration! Gotta love SU! It's also hard to tell from this picture, but the corners of the Whisper White are pierced in a "photo corner" sort of way.

Stamps: Flowers in Silhouette, Great Friend

Ink: Bashful Blue, Basic Gray

Paper: Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Whisper White Cardstock

Accessories: Eyelet Punch, Twine, Paper Piercer 

1. Score 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Basic Gray cardstock at 5 1/2 and fold on score line.

2. Use eyelet punch on 5 1/4 x 4 piece of Barely Banana and adhere to Basic Gray.

3. Place 5 x 3 1/8 piece of Bashful Blue on top of Barely Banana.

4. Lightly sponge Bashful Blue ink over a 4 3/4 x 2 7/8 piece of Whisper White. Stamp Flowers in Silhouette stamp in Basic Gray, stamping twice before re-inking. Stamp the sentiment from Great Friend in the corner. 

5. Using your paper piercer, pierce 3 holes 1/8 of an inch apart going across and down to form "photo corners" --sorry you can't see this well in the picture.

6. Cut two pieces of twine 6 inches and wrap around Whisper White. Tie a smaller piece around the two.

7. Adhere Whisper White to Bashful Blue. 

8. The inside of the card has a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Bashful Blue.

Stationary Box

This might be my most favoritest (is that a word) thing I've made--I say that a lot though! hehe But seriously...I got the idea for this stationary box from Amy Celona's blog and decided it would be a great idea to make one for our Administrative Assistant at work as Wednesday is Administrative Professional Day. It took me about 5 hours to make the whole thing...but that included coming up with how I wanted the cards and notebook to look like--trust me, I changed my mind 5000 times! Not counting "creative" time, it probably only took 3 hours.

Here is a picture of the Stationary Box, along with the matching notebook:

This is what it looks like when first opened:

And the whole kit and caboodle (2 standard size cards with envelopes, 4 little note cards, 4 matching gift tags, a Post-It note holder, and matching pen):

Closeup of the note cards:

Closeup of the gift tags:

Closeup of the Post-It note holder (minus the mini pencil that will go in the little slot on the left) and pen:

Instructions for the box itself can be found here. Instructions for the Post-It note holder can be found here.

Stamps: Fun and Fast Notes, Pocket Silhouettes

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White Cardstock and Sweet Always Designer Series Paper

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pen, Ribbon, Junior Legal Pad, Post-Its, Pen