Retiring Items

The Last-Chance List is out. This is a list of all the stamp sets that are retiring at the end of the month. They are sold on a first come first serve basis so if you like any of them you had better get them quick.

There is also a retiring list for the Decor Elements as well that you should check out, these are being sold at a 25% discount to boot. Definitely worth a look!

More Flowers, yah!

Here is the other watercolouring card that we did at the May Technique Club. I chose this card because I wanted to use multiple stamps from one set. So that must mean that this gorgeous flower is also from the Bloomin' Beautiful set. This set has some great detailed flowers, perfect for watercolouring because you can really work with the details to get beautiful results.

This card is done with the watercolour paper instead of the regular cardstock. This paper is better because you can really layer colours and add water without the paper curling and bending. This is good for an amateur like me because it is harder to mess up.

Like I said before I'm not a creative genius but I like the way this card turned out. I added highlights to the flower with the same Summer Sun that I coloured the center with. In later versions of this card I did figure out how to better shade with just the Real Red. It just takes some practice I think. The green of the leaves and stem is Garden Green and then I added some Chocolate Chip to the stem, see shading can be easy.

To finish off the flower I roughed up the edges of the watercolour paper with scissors and then ran the edge along the Real Read stamp pad to get some colour. This adds nice definition against the Apricot Appeal DSP layer underneath.

Spring Flowers

Here is a card I made and I can't believe I didn't show everyone earlier! We made this card at the April Technique Class, just in time for Mother's Day. I meant to post these before Mother's Day but apparently the time got away from me. What I did learn from my mother is that I should have included instructions with this one. Instead of opening like a regular card the flowers pop out to reveal the message. It is really cute but apparently also mildly confusing.

The paper that I used is the sale-a-bration DSP and I used matching cs for the rim - So Saffron or Certainly Celery. The ribbon is Pretty in Pink and it matches the light flowers, the dark ones are Rose Red. Now about the flowers... on the yellow card are brighter because they are covered with clear embossing powder whereas the flowers on the green card are just plain. I added some bling to the center of the flowers with dazzling diamonds glitter, but in order to get it to stick to the embossed flowers I had to use Crystal Effects. It was a learning experience to figure out how to get the glitter to stick, you definitly don't use the two-way glue!

May Technique Club/Class

For the May technique I chose to put the focus on watercolouring with the classic inks. This is a great technique because if you have any artistic flair at all you can really get the creativity going. You will notice that I don't have much in the way of artistic flair but I can still pull off a pretty sweet card, if I do say so myself.

I have 2 pictures posted so you can see the differences that you can get in watercolouring just based on how much water you use. The flowers are both coloured with the Elegant Eggplant ink but one is much darker than the other. This allows you to add shadows and shading with only 1 ink pad, so really, anyone can do it!!

The other item to note is that Stampin' Up! has the Aquapainter which is a really great tool for watercolouring and I totally recommend it. But if you don't have one you can just use a good quality paint brush. The ones with the plastic bristles don't work so you really do need a good quality one.

The rest of the supplies for this card are Old Olive, So Saffron ink (for the flower centers) and Chocolate Chip and Really Rust mixed for the flower pot. The paper matches the inks and I used Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon and DSP as well.

Scrapbook Page #4

I know I haven't been as good with posting lately as I normally am. I apologize for this and hope to have some more posts coming up. The last couple of weeks have been a little stressful as my husband and I have just bought our first house. This is way more stressful that I had anticipated especially since it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision! In my house-buying frenzy I realized that I posted my scrapbook page #5 before #4 so here is page #4.

This page is of my daughter with her first degree. We have been going to UBC and doing studies for the infant development and cognitive development labs and this was her first one (she is a post-doc now according to her degrees).

For the background I found a retired SU! paper with numbers on it, they colours are pretty close to Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze so that is what I used. The stars are made with the new star punches, I love that there are 2 that you can layer. Something to keep in mind too is that you can run the cardstock through the printer for your journaling, that is what I did with the Kiwi Kiss piece at the top. I'm not a fan of my handwriting so I'm always looking for new ways to journal without actually having to write anything.

Scrapbook Page #5

In honour of National Scrapbooking Month I have a new page done of my daughter. This photo was taken last summer by my mom and it is one of her favourite, with good reason I think!

Because I want each scrapbook page to be different from the others I am having to get pretty creative, at least I think I am. For this one I took a sheet of Kiwi Kiss textured cs and added strips of Bella Rose DSP which I think totally matches her little hat. The photo is matted with Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red (lifted both colours from the Bella Rose).

To add a little interest I wove the organza ribbon through the strips, but there has to be a better way than how I did that, it looks nice but was a lot more work than I thought!

Finally I added some journaling that I did on the computer and made the font print in RHR. To carry the strip look through I cut the journaling into pieces and stuck them on.

My goal was met, this page does look different from my other ones so I am satisfied.

Calling all Scrapbookers!

Stampin' Up! is running a new promotion in honour of National Scrapbooking Month. I think this is pretty cool since I didn't even know there was a scrapbooking month, and now I find out we get our own month-not a day but a whole month-how great is that! But back to the promotion. There are 3 parts to this new deal.

First if you buy 3 packs of any designer 12x12 paper (this includes textured, and specialty paper) you get a 4th for FREE.

Secondly you can sign up to become a demonstrator for just $99 with the new scrapbooking starter kit

Thirdly you can buy the Jumble Alphabet set from the new 2009/2010 catty at 20% off.

You can click the link or send me a message if you want more information on any part of this promotion.

Spring is Sprung

May Technique Club and Class will be held May 17th at 1pm AND as a special bonus on May 24th at 1pm as well. Let me know if you want to attend.

Is spring finally here at last? It is in my cards that's for sure. We made this card for the April Technique Club using the set that I got at the regional convention. Since this class was the day after I thought it was appropriate to use the set. I found this card on Splitcoast, my favourite inspiration site. I changed the colours but other than that I thought the card was fantastic. I realized though that most of my cards are pink so I will endeavor to change that for some of my upcoming cards because I have been informed that not everyone loves pink.

The colours on this card are Really Rust, Pretty ink Pink, Orchid Opulence and Summer Sun. You may be asking yourself "How did she get the Orchid Opulence ribbon, SU! doesn't make that?" The answer my friend is to make it yourself. You use the white ribbon and drag it through the ink pad or stampin spot, both work, with even pressure and speed. It is a fantastic way to make your supplies go further. One this worth mentioning is to make sure your ribbon is super dry, it wans't on this card and you can see a little of the purple bled onto the yellow where the ribbon is wrapped around.

Make 'n' Takes from Seattle

I finally got the photos taken and found the time to show them to you. Here at long last are some of the projects we made at the regional convention in Seattle last weekend. We made more than just cards, the first is a little wallet that holds 3 mini cards with envelopes. It uses the stamp set we got for free (Best Wishes and More) for going! It also uses the metal edge tags with a punch of paper inside for some colour. This is such a great idea, it is subtle yet very cool.

The second picture is a super simple card using a new set (Soft Summer) from the mini catalogue which I have heard will be in the new catalogue that comes out in July. The set has solid images and line images and for this card the solid image is coloured directly on the stamp with watercolour crayons and then misted with water (mine had too much water on it) and then stamped over the line image and it gives a really nice soft look.

The last picture is of a cute basket that you can make with the Big Shot. I particularly love the tag. It is made with the flower

from the Best Wishes and More stamp set

and then the center is punched out in various sizes. It is super simple and super cute.

Swap for Regional

Last weekend Stampin' Up! had a regional convention in Seattle and I was lucky enough to get a ticket. Maybe lucky isn't the right word to use since I was up at 6am the day tickets went on sale to get one, maybe I got one because I'm a keener.

The regional convention was soooo cool though. Everyone who attended got a free stamp set, 6 make n' takes, and lots of presentations. There were also lots of sample cards and other things as well to get new ideas for projects as well as swaps with other convention goers.

This is the card I made for my swap and it seemed to go over really well. I made this while I was still in birthday mode, in fact I did make this card for a few birthdays! This is actually a birthday card, my swaps were with Kiwi Kiss instead of Pretty in Pink but I didn't take a picture of the green cards. Since birthday mode involved the Zoofari stamps so does this card. I chose to go with the filmstip style because it's really cool. Do make the film strip you just need the spiral punch, that's it, super easy.

I coloured the animals with blender pens and inks, then punched them with the 1-1/4 in square. I sponged the edges of the pink with matching ink and stamped the happy birthday (Big Bold Birthday) on the bottom in the same ink again. This is a super easy card that is really cute too. The part that took the longest is the sponging but really, how hard is that?

Happy Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day I have copied a post from my upline Kari that is all about Stampin' Up! and their contribution to the environment. Not only do they make awesome paper and stamps but they are eco-conscious as well, how much better can it get!

Rubber
Rather than dumping their excess rubber in a landfill, they donate it to Courage Reins, a nonprofit organization that provides horseback riding therapy for physically or mentally challenged children. They take the ground rubber and sell it to groups and individuals for use in playgrounds and horse stables. The money that they receive from those sales goes to fund their programs. You can find out more about Courage Reins.

Wood Blocks
The wood blocks in the stampsets are not only created from a renewable resource, but they also engage in a sustainable practice to get them! They work with a tree farm in which the maple trees are grown specifically for the purpose of harvesting wood.

Card Stock and Paper
I bet you already figured out that the paper used for shipping is 100% recycled. But did you know that the card stock included recycled material as well? It's true! SU! cardstock includes recycled paper that's left over from other paper runs, which would otherwise end up in a landfill. The darker the colour of the cardstock, the more recycled material is inside it (who would have thought that Basic Black was their greenest colour?!)

In addition, they work with a paper broker who ensures that the mills used for the Designer Paper and Cardstock engage in environmentally friendly practices. The broker is even certified through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Program for the Endorsement of Forestry Certification (PEFC). These certifications help them know that their paper comes from sustainably managed forests and mills that are taking steps to lessen their carbot footprint. One of their mills even generates its own power!Stampin' Up!'s Buildings. You should see the facilities that Stampin' Up! has, that help them to reduce their environmental impact! First, systems in both the Riverton and Kenab buildings filter any pollutants that may result from stamp production. Second, their buildings were designed with energy conservation in mind. Both buildings have geothermal wells, which help maintain building temperature, cutting down on the use of heating oil or natural gas. In additional, all lights are on sensors and timers, so they don't waste electricity when employees are away from the office. In fact, the buildings were built with MASSIVE amounts of skylights to allow natural light to light the spaces as much as possible - you should feel how airy they are!!

In the desert climate of Utah, it's also extremely important that they watch their water usage. So, they incorporated native, water-wise plants in their landscaping. In fact, in the home office they have wildflowers growing in front of their building instead of grass!! Their sprinkler system is timed to minimize evaporation, which helps reduce the amount of water used to maintain the landscape. Indoors, artifical plants mingle in with the live ones in the area around their atrium water feature. That allows a lush garden while minimizing the amount of water used.

Carbon Footprint
Stampin' Up! strives to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible. They try to engage in shipping practices that will requires fewer greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere. First, UPS picks up shipments from the Distribution Center each day during nonpeak traffic hours. This cuts down on gas UPS needs to get orders out the door. You can learn more about what UPS is doing to make their practices moreeco-friendly here.
For stamp shipments from Kenab to Riverton, they 'carpool' with companies who are sending shipments from the Salt Lake City area to Kenab. For example, Sysco delivers food to Kenab and surrounding towns and, normally, their trucks would return empty to Salt Lake City. Instead of driving back without cargo, their trucks return with stamps!

As you know, one of Stampin' Up!'s guiding principles is Change, and with that principle in mind, they are always looking for ways to improve business pactices to do what's right for their demonstrators, employees, community and environment. Aren't you glad that you do business with this awesome company?!

Holly's First Birthday Card

Finally spring feels like it has arrived. The sun is out and the air is warm - this is the weather that I love. This time last year was not nearly as nice (it snowed on the 18th) and I remember this very clearly since my daughter was born this time last year. I thought I would share the birthday card I made for her with all of you. My husband requested that I make a card that he hadn't seen before. He is my behind the scenes "creative assistant" so he sees everything before it is deemed acceptable for use. And since Holly is only 1 and really won't care for the card any further than determining if it is tasty it really is a card for my hubby so I made a new one.

This card, like most of my others, is off Splitcoast. I love that it uses Zoofari and Define your Life. I coloured in the birds with pastels and blender pens, but I wanted the colour to be brigher than the pastels are (I didn't have the colours I wanted in inks) so I used Crystal Effects over the birds after they were coloured. This also adds a bit of shine that you can't see in the photo. The colours of the birds match the brads which are from the Rich Regals.

The ribbon it dyed to match too, I love this technique - using a white ribbon you press it on the ink pad and drag it through with even speed and just like magic you have coordinating ribbon! Easy peasy. To finish the card off I used some pink paper from a previous pattern pack and mounted it all on Kraft cardstock.

Little Bunny

This is the last project that we made at the Technique Club/Class last week. I found the bunnies here on Splitcoast and they were so perfect that I didn't make any changes at all. By the way the next Technique Club/Class will be Sunday April 19th at 1pm. If you are interested in coming there is still room so let me know.

I was saving this little guy since it is also going to make an appearance at my daughter's first birthday party but I couldn't wait. This super cute little bunny holds a peppermint patty inside so it is perfect as a little favour at a party or on place settings for a holiday dinner. I can think up so many uses but I just don't host enough events.

This little guy was made using the scallop punch for the body and the ears were cut out after stamping the Pick a Petal and colouring in the center with Pretty in Pink. The face was drawn on with the Basic Black marker and the nose again is Pretty in Pink.

Second Card from March Technique Club

This is the second card we did at Technique Club last Sunday. We were using the VersaMark pad and with this card we coloured the clear image in with pastels. This is super easy to do because it is a tacky ink when wet so the pastel powder sticks to it. The pastels are my favourite because they are so versatile since you get all 48 of SU! colours so you can totally match any paper that you have.

I have been using pink so much lately that I wanted to branch out so I tried the purples. I liked the soft look of the pastels, I think it works well with the elegant script in the message and I added a double torn edge to the bottom for interest.

Get Connected

From now until April 30 the Get Connected Campaign is underway. Basically if you get $50 of stuff from the new Occasions Mini Catalogue you can pick an "Under $12" item from the very end of the Spring/Summer Catalogue.

Alternatively you can also host a workshop with sales over $200+ and pick an item from that page as well. There are some great stamps and packages too on this page so it totally worth a look.

Is spring finally here?

I finally have time to post some of my most recent cards. I've been so busy lately - that is the professional way to say I've been hopelessly addicted to the lastest book that I picked up. So addicted so that I had to send my husband out while my club ladies came over so he could pick me up the second book in the series and then when he returned, book in hand, I basically ignored him for the rest of the night so I could read.

But enough about that, here is one of the cards that we made at the club on Sunday. This is using the Pick A Petal set which is amazingly versatile. I love the combination of the Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip and Kraft. I think it is uber springy. Since this class was all about the VersaMark I had to show how it make awesome backgrounds so the little flower from the same set was used. For this club I had a request to use a button at this class to it made total sense to make it the flower center and since I had the Button Latte it totally makes it look like a sunflower. I finished it off with the Sincere Salutations greeting and some paper piercing to add interest to the lower right corner.

Sweet Stems in pots

Here is a nice spring themed card to make us all believe it really is coming. I originally saw a card similar to this at my uplines place but she used the Pocket Sillouhettes set and it makes a more sophisitcated looking card because of the style of the stamp. I don't have that set and I'm all for making it work with what you have and if you go on Splitcoast this style of card is all over so I just looked around and made it work.

I did this card at a few workshops that I've had recently and it went over really well. Not only is it quick and easy but it would work for a variety of occasions from mother's day to birthday to sympathy.

To make this card I used the Sweet Stems stamp set and stamped the flowers in basic black ink. Then I coloured in the flowers with Kiwi Kiss, Pretty in Pink and Rose Red and blender pens. The blue is sponged with Baja Breeze and I put a sticky note over the top portion of the card to make the line. The flower pots are probably my favourite part of this card, I used scrap 1in strips of Rose Red, Pretty in Pink and Old Olive (again making it work with what I have) cardstock and my 1-1/4in circle punch. This makes a flat bottom and top to give the flower pot look. Then I clipped the corners with my ticket corner punch and mounted it on the Baja Breeze card.

Lastly the greeting is with the hostess set which I love, it has something for every occasion. I highly recommend it if you have a workshop.

My first swap

Making my first swat was a nerve wracking experience for absolutely no reason. Participating in a swap is a great thing actually, you get lots of ideas for cards, in fact you get cards, in exchange for cards that you have made yourself. The main rule is that the card needs to be an original design. This is what made me self consious since almost all of my cards have been heavily inspired by things I have seen on Splitcoast. This one I can truly say is my own. Ya me!

I used the Eastern Blooms set and inked the branch in Regal Rose then coloured the stem in with a Basic Grey marker. On this card I used a Versamark pen to colour the flowers in as well then embossed with clear embossing powder. I realized that this was more work than I wanted to do so for the other cards I used Crystal Effects on the flowers afterwards (see second picture). I think I like it better with the crystal effects, it adds a little bit more shine and shine is good, almost as good as bling. The patterened paper is Regal Rose from the hostess pack and I paired it with Rose Red and Basic Grey cardstock. I love the new organza ribbon, it adds a touch of class to whatever you add it to. Love it!

Another Purse

I love making purses out of paper. I don't even love them this much in real life but there is something adorable about them when they are made of paper. This is one I made at the Sea to Sky Stampers group that I am a part of. At our meetings we always get to make something super cute to take home and this was what we did this time.

This purse is made with the Big Shot and some coordinating papers. I made mine with the Pacific Point and the Good Morning Sunshine designer paper but had some problems getting the birds going the right way. Next time I'm going to choose something without a direction, like just about any other paper :) On the back I got the birds going the right way and I had intended to make that the front, but then I forgot. I love the motto that you can't make mistakes in crafting you only leave room for embellishment, but I'm having a hard time framing the sideways birds as a sort of embellishment...

As for size it is a little on the smaller side, so you wouldn't want to swap out your regular purse for it :) But it would be perfect for a gift card or a small gift for a birthday or mother's day. Also if you book a workshop with me you may see one of these show up as a hostess gift, you never know.

Now easier than ever!

I know I posted previously how the starter kit was on sale until the end of March and that you get a free stamp set when you sign up until the end of March (full details here) and now you can get all this for a limited time on a payment plan! I almost wish I had waited for this promotion, but if I had I couldn't be telling you about it now so I'm glad I didn't wait.

Here are the details:
the Starter Kit for $209 instead of the regular $249 ($435 in merchandise)
Free shipping
Free stamp set (up to $56.95 in value)
and now you are able to make three payments of :
$66.68 (+taxes ) First monthly payment
$69.66 Second Monthly Payment
$69.66 Third Monthly Payment

It is important to note that this payment option is only available for mailed in applications so if you want to sign up then contact me as soon as possible (applications need to be at Stampin' Up! no later than March 13). The payment plan option (at regular price) is scheduled to end on April 30 so it won't be around forever.

History of the Greeting Card

Card from Stampin Up! website, information from the Postcard and Greeting Card Museum (also from Kari's blog).

Sending greeting cards to friends and family is a tradition that goes back about 200 years. They were mostly sent by the elite and wealthy in the early to mid 1800's. Most of the early greeting cards were hand delivered and many were quite expensive, but they soon gained mass popularity with the introduction of the world's first postage stamp issued in 1840 and a few ambitious printer's and manufacturer's perfecting printing methods, hiring artists and designed both elaborate expensive cards as well as simple affordable ones by the 1850's.

As you visit our galleries you will see that cards of the past were fine pieces of art. Manufacturer's used quality artists and many of the large manufacturer's held "art" competitions to generate interest and to get new ideas for cards. Some of these competitions awarded as much as $1,000.00 to the winner!

The oldest known greeting card in existence is a Valentine made in the 1400's and is in the British Museum. New Year's cards can be dated back to this period as well, but the New Year greeting didn't gain popularity until the late 1700's. The Valentine and Christmas Card were the most popular cards, with Valentine's offering us the most "mechanical", "pop-up" and filigree cards, followed by Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Cards gained their highest popularity in the late 1800's and early 1900's offering us cards with some of the most unusual art. The Victorian age give us the most prolific cards.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, when lovers said or sang their Valentines. Written Valentines began to appear after 1400. Paper Valentines were exchanged in Europe where they were given in place of Valentine gifts. Handmade paper Valentines were especially popular in England. In the mid to early 1800's, Valentines began to be assembled in factories. Early manufactured Valentines were black and white pictures painted by workers in a factory. Esther Howland (see below) known as the Mother of the Valentine made fancy Valentines with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap". She introduced the Paper Lace Valentine in the mid 1800's. By the end of the 1800's, Valentines were being made entirely by machine.

Christmas cards were introduced and popularized by John Calcott Horsley, the artist of what is known as the world's first Christmas Card and Louis Prang, known as the Father of the American Christmas Card.

The rest is History. With the exchange of New Year's, Valentine's, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthday Cards, just to name a few, there is probably no occasion that doesn't have its own greeting card!

Scrapbook Page #3

I thought with putting the scrapbooking tips up I should show everyone my next page. This is the page I made for Holly's baby shower. I am most proud of this page because I made the background paper out of wrapping paper from some of her presents. How did I do this you may be asking? I covered the white sheets that come in the scrapbook with tombow glue (a glue stick would probably work better though) and then layed on my pre-cut pieces of wrapping paper. I used strips of matching cardstock to cover the seams and them just added matted pictures and my journaling block. Super easy and it really means something to me. I think it is pretty too.

Stamping scrapbook titles

Here is another scrapbook page that I liked from Scrapbooks etc., this one is page 10 of the 15 examples. This idea is from their newsletter again but this time tells tips for stamping titles. On this page the happily is stickers but they stamped over the white stickers to give a little more interest. I love this idea and it could totally be done with the chipboard letters if you are like me and are too lazy to cover them with designer paper. You could cover them with craft ink or paint and then stamp them to give them some pizazz.

I am getting so many ideas from just putting up these posts, I think my scrapbook obsession is really coming to light now....

Stamping and Scrapbooking combined

I got this in my inbox since I am a subscriber to Scrapbooks etc. They have a weekly newsletter that comees out with lots of neat scrapbooking tips. I thought this week was especially relevant since it pertained to stamping and scrapbooking. I thought I'd share some of the links in the email so everyone can see how versatile and easy it is to incorporate stamps in your scrapbook. This tip is how to create custom backgrounds for your scrapbook pages with stamps. I liked this one because you don't need patterened paper, even though there are tonnes of great ones out there, sometimes you don't have exactly what you need. I also liked it because it gives you ideas how to use any stamp, not just those specifically designed for backgrounds. There are 15 examples of beautiful pages so there really is something for everyone.

This page was my favourite and it could totally be done with any large flower set. It also uses strips of designer paper that coordinates with the pink in the little girls shirt. I think that is what I like so much about this page, they pulled the colours out of the photo to make the page. I must try that next.

Spring mini-catalogue sneak-peek

The new mini catalogue is out! Yaaa, but technically it doesn't start until April 1. So why I am telling you this you may be asking? Because since Easter is so early in April SU! decided to help you guys out and offer a selection of sets in March so you can get your Easter cards done in time. How fabulous is that. You can see the selection offered here or click on the picture.

Keep in mind that if you order over $60 worth of stamps you can also qualify for the sale-a-bration freebies (see flyer on left). So you can get sneak-peek sets and free sets, how great is that! If you want one for freebie then if you order online for over $25 you get a free catalogue. I'm not sure the pot can get any sweeter, but all this sweetness is only until March 31 so make sure you don't miss out.

Purse Card

Here is one of my favourite cards to make. It is really easy and really cute too. I found it on splitcoast here and modified it slightly. It uses the set Eastern Blooms but could use any solid image stamp. The first picture is of all the supplies that you will need to make this card. If you'll notice there really aren't that many!

To start this card you use the Pretty in Pink cs and fold it like a regular card, then I took 1/4" off the top and cut the sides on an angle to make the base. From there you just stamp in PIP ink with the big flower all over. I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen to the sides. The base is now done, how easy was that?

The handle is Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon that is fed through the top and taped to the back. I tried knots but then the card was too bulky and wouldn't close nicely. The flower is stamped in Chocolate Chip and then cut out, I popped it up on a dimension too. To close the card I used a bit of sticky velcro, so it really is a closing purse.

For a bit of extra bling I used shimmery white paper for the top and put some crystal effects in the center of the brown flower.

Here is another example of the same card but I used bleach instead of PIP ink. Also my faux stitching here is done with the help of my mat pack. I added a greeting to this card to with the hostess set, Sweet Little Sentiments. Does it really get any cuter than this card?

Classic ink vs. Craft ink?

I felt it was time for a little Q&A session with 'Dear Jodie, the Stampin' Lady'. Not because I've gotten a lot of questions but because this was something that confused me for sometime when I first became a stamper and to make myself feel better I thought that maybe others were confused by this too. So the question I'm going to answer today is "What is the difference between classic and craft inks?"

Here is the low down straight from the souce (Stampin' Up! product guide for demonstrators)

Classic Ink - good for day to day stamping and the only ink most stampers will need (note: this is my comment).
■ Water-based dye ink
■ Basic Black and Basic Brown are made with waterproof dye ink and will not bleed on Stampin’ Up!’s card stock
■ Slightly raised fabric pad
■ Cannot be used on vellum or plastics

Craft Ink - takes longer to dry so more patience is needed. Craft ink does have its place but you will probably only ever need to get the stampin' spots to fulfill your needs (note: this is my comment).
■ Pigment ink
■ Slightly raised foam pad
■ For use in scrapbooks as well as on wood, fabric (see below), and other craft items (ie, plastics, vellum)
■ Opaque look on coloured card stocks
■ Great for embossing

This ink is thicker than our dye-based ink (classic ink), so you use more each time you stamp; we recommend keeping an ink refill handy so you can re-ink the pads.

Let Craft ink dry for a bit or heat set before adding photos or other embellishments.

You’ll get better results on fabric if the pad is well inked. Be sure to hold the inked stamp on the fabric for at least 30 seconds. For best results when stamping on fabric, use a tightly woven or smooth finished fabric and heat set. Line dry stamped fabrics to avoid fading. Always pretest the ink on a small swatch of fabric, as fabric finishes vary greatly. Be sure to prewash all of your fabrics before stamping.

The following colours do not work well on fabrics: Only Orange, Really Rust, More Mustard, and Whisper White.

We do not recommend Craft ink for stamping on walls; we recommend that you use acrylic paint.

Painting with Bleach

This is another card that uses the bleach technique but not one we did at club night. I thought that not pre-warning people about this card may be a bad idea. It is not that messy to do but there is the potential for disaster. To get the petals of the flower (from Doodle This) bleached you need a paint brush and some bleach in a bowl then you just paint the petal with bleach. To make this a little easier I embossed the petals with black embossing powder to make raised lines to paint inside, I was never very good at staying inside the lines so I thought I should give myself a little help. I finished the card off with some Twill Tape that I stamped the birthday greeting on with black craft ink. The craft ink takes awhile to dry so keep that in mind - I ended up with Birthday Celebrations on my hand by not waiting long enough.

We have decided on the next club date as well as a technique - Sunday March 29 at 1pm. There is still some room available so if anyone new wants to come out just let me know.

No better time to join!

If you had ever been thinking of signing up with Stampin' Up! there is no better time than now. They have a great promotion on the starter kit (which is a good deal anyways). You can get the kit for 15% off AND you get a free stamp set of your choice. That is basically a $100 value.

In the starter kit you get 5 classic ink pads (you can choose your colours) and a VersaMark pad, 4 stamp sets and the bonus free one (there is some choice in which stamps too), 3 packs of cardstock, stampin pastels, blender pens, stampin scrub and a variety of other goodies. It really is over a $400 value and until March 31 you can get it for $209. Check out the Stampin' Up! website for more details on this promotion or you can sign up using my recruiting password "Stampin' away".

If you want more information about this excellent opportunity just let me know.

Scrapbook Page #2

Here is my next scrapbook page. On this page I had more than just pictures to incorporate, I had 3 hospital bracelets and the tape measure that they used when she was born. I decided to split the page in two and put pictures on half of it and the bracelets on the other half. It was a bit of a challenge to get the tape measure on there with the little tears visible but I managed in the end. I love that this page has both yellow and pink, my two favourite colours. That makes it extra special :)

Inquisitive minds...

I had to show everyone this picture. My daughter has just perfected the art of pulling herself up to standing and will do it whenever the opportunity presents itself. She has recently realized that if she pulls herself up on my crafty bag there are goodies inside with which she can play. In this shot she got my Sweet Stems set and sat down to examine it. She has, on other occasions, found that if she throws a stamp pad on the floor it will open and also that the bag of sponges is a great thing to chew. I just thought this was the cutest and that everyone should see it.

Define Your Life

I got the Define your Life stamp set when I signed up to be a demonstrator because of the promotion at the time where you got a free set (same promotion on now too). I had coveted this set for some time but because of the price had never gotten it. But now that I have it I have yet to really use it. So sad really.

I decided to get some inspiration from my favourite source. I found this card and loved the simplicity of it, and the fact that it used embossing too. The flower and definition are embossed and then I used my blender pen and Pretty in Pink and Rose Red inks along with a little Kiwi Kiss to colour in the flower. I finished it off with a little Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon and a scallop edge. I absolutely love the way it turned out.

Upsy Daisy

I was playing around with the Upsy Daisy stamp set and I made this card. I found the inspiration from Splitcoast (surprised?) and changed the colours a bit. I used Chocolate chip and Bordering Blue.

The bordering blue gives it a bit of a sophisticated look since it isn't a bright as some of the other blues. I didn't have any wide ribbon so I used a strip of Bella Rose DSP and the dots are actually Pirouette Pink, but they are so light that you can't tell. As for the flowers I stamped them in Whisper White and embossed in clear.

I have just recently gotten my heat gun and I love it. It is so much easier than trying to emboss large areas on the stove or with an iron. It is one of my best purchases so far. You will be seeing a lot of embossing in the cards to come as I play with it.

February Club/Class card

The last club meeting went really well, there were a few more ladies there this time and we had a blast again. Aside from the fact I can't make coffee everything went really well. Here is one of the cards we made using this months technique - bleaching.

It really isn't a messy technique at all and the bleach doesn't get everywhere. To do it just get a folded up paper towel on a plastic lid or paper plate and carefully pour some bleach on it and you've made your own bleach pad. Just like with stamping in general make sure your fingers are clean, if there is bleach OR ink on them your project won't turn out quite like you had hoped :)

I would love to be able to take credit for coming up with the idea for this card but I can't, I found it on the demonstrator portion of the SU! website then tweaked it a little and thought it would be perfect for this months club. We used the Upsy Daisy set and stamped first in Chocolate Chip ink on the Baja Breeze cardstock. Then we stamped in bleach overtop of the image. There is no need to line the images up because you want them to be off a little to get a shadow effect. This one ended up a bit sploched but the ladies cards were more bleached, the way I had intended. The difference was that I didn't have as much bleach on my papertowel as they did. We finished the card off with a strip of So Saffron cs, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon and a ticket corner punch for the top corners.

Scrapbook page #1

I have jumped on the scrapbook bandwagon with both feet now. I have completed my first page and I am quite happy with the results. This page is what really sparked my scrapbooking desire. We got these cute ultrasound pictures and I knew I needed to keep them forever but couldn't think of anything else to do with them than scrapbook them.

I matted them with red and blue paper that matched the flowers in the paper I found. Then I added some scallop circles and the title. For interests sake the scallop border around the title I did with my scallop edge punch, a little tricky but I had all sorts of time to perfect it.

I think I may be an addict now but oh well. I can't wait to get the next page done!

Baby Card and onesie

Here is a Welcome baby card that I just love making and giving. I have a friend who had a baby a few weeks ago so I made this card with a matching onesie and wrapping paper to boot.

I found a onesie card awhile back on Splitcoast and couldn't resist making one myself. The template that I used can be found here but there are lots to choose from if you do a little searching. I have made a few of these cards in the past but this time I decided to take it one step further and make the whole emsemble.

For the card I used retired soft sky paper and then sponged the edges with Baja Breeze and added faux stitching with the white gel pen. I stamped the birds in black and coloured them with regular markers (I don't have the SU! ones yet). I found a few white buttons in my stash of stuff and glued them to the bottom of the onesie and called it done. If I had textured cardstock I would have used that for a more cloth-like look, but you have to use what you have, right?

The wrapping paper is just the stuffing paper SU! uses in their packages and coloured with regular markers.

The onesie took a bit if research on how to do. I first washed and dried the onesie, then stamped in black craft ink which takes awhile to dry. I then heat set the ink with my iron but I read you can also do it with the heat tool. Next I coloured the birds in with fabric markers and then I think I had to heat set it again, whatever the markers said to do is what I did. Then I washed it and dried it again, so it is super clean now.

I think it is super cute and can't wait for another friend to have a baby so I can make another set. Did you hear that guys, get on it!

Scrapbooking

So I've finally decided to venture into the world of scrapbooking. It is something I said I'd never do because I thought you needed lots of supplies and I just wasn't into spending that much. I changed my mind when my daughter was born and I had all these hospital bracelets that were just asking to be scrapbooked. I now know that you don't need to spend a lot to make a nice scrapbook, you just need to have pictures and treasures that mean a lot to you and a scrapbook will just come together.

I have started a lot of pages started but none are quite finished yet. It turns out I really like to start them which involves picking out colours and embellies but not finishing them which involves cutting the pictures. I don't know why I have a problem with this, they only cost 29 cents at the store and I can always get another printed but still, it makes me hesitate.

I wanted to share where I've been getting most of my inspiration for my pages that I am starting (but not finishing yet). I have been checking out a friends blog for ideas. Sandra has the best scrapbook pages and I love how simple they are, these are the kinds of pages that make me think that I can do that too! I will be posting some of my finished pages just as soon as I manage to finish them. I have given myself a goal of at least 1 per month so keep your eyes open for February's :)

My Best Valentine's card

So I was going to wait until closer to Valentine's day to show this card but I'm just so excited I couldn't wait. This is the card I'm going to give to my husband and I'm pretty proud of it. Like I said in an earlier post I won't be in the dog house this year.

I used the new Sweet Stems set and coloured them with Pretty in Pink, Rose Red and Kiwi Kiss inks with blender pens. I added antique brads to the center of the flowers for a bit of glitz. I had to use some ribbon because I'm a ribbon junkie but I didn't do a bow or anything because that's not manly. But somehow I've convinced myself this amount of pink is OK though.... The other colours I used are Cameo Coral cs, Whisper White cs and Raspberry Tart DSP.

February Club Date

It seems as though I have forgotten to post the date of the next class. We decided at the last meeting that Feb 15th at 1pm works best. I know this may cause some problems being the day after Valentine's day and some ladies having full romantic weekend plans. But for some of us it seems fine (I wonder what that means???).

Just so you know I have some a cute project planned already but if anyone has a suggestion for another project, like an occasion they need something for, I can incorporate it.

Sale-A-Bration is almost here

This is the biggest sale of the year for Stampin' Up! and it runs from Feb 1-Mar 31 and is full of FREE stuff. Let me say that again, FREE stuff. It is based around a gift with purchase strategy. For every $60 you spend from the new catalogue you can choose 1 item from the sale-a-bration flyer for FREE. But wait, there's more. If you hostess a workshop and your sales total $350 or more you get to choose one item as well as your regular hostess benefits. This couldn't be a better time to plan your workshop.

Feel free to browse the sale-a-bration flyer now and pick out your favourites.

Class Project #2

Here is the second project we made the other night. I decided to step outside the card realm and do a 3D project. I got the idea for this when I went over to my upline (stampin boss') house to pick up some brochures and asked her for some ideas. She must have had this on the brain because she quickly pulled out a template for this little heart box and let me copy it.

I decided to decorate it simply with the Bella Rose DSP and a tag using the Define Your Life set. Of course the finishing touch was the bag of candy inside. It turns out candy is really heavy so if you make this be careful not to fill your bag like I originally did :(

Here is the template for the box, I hope this works for you.

To use this cut the solid lines, score and fold along the dotted lines and then fold all the pieces in one direction and voila, you will have a box!

Class Project #1

I had my first club/class yesterday and it went great. I had a small group come and we had a blast, lots of snacking and chatting. Here is one of the projects that we made. I don't have a lot, or to be honest, any, Valentine's day sets so I had to get a little more creative with what I do have. This card uses the Echos of Kindness hostess set from the NEW CATALOGUE and the cherish from the Baroque Motifs set.

So here is the quick and dirty explanation of how to make the flowers stand out on this card:

1. Stamp your image in either Craft ink (takes 2 hours to dry) or Stazon (takes minutes to dry) onto vellum CARDSTOCK
2. When dry turn your paper over into a foam mat (like that come in the mat pack or a mouse pad would probably work too) and using the embossing stylus rub in a circular motion over the parts that you want white - you may need to use quite a bit of pressure
3. Flip the paper over and attach to your card!

The rest of the supplies for this card are the Raspberry Tart DSP, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red and Whisper White CS and Rose Red and Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, silver brads and Rose Red ink.

Class update

So I have been crafting up a storm to get all my project for my class ready for tomorrow. In the midst of all my crafting I came up with the perfect card for my husband for Valentine's day! I won't be in the dog house (or the wife equivalent) this year! Now I just have to see about getting a Valentine's day appropriate gift - challenge #2. I will post a picture of the card in a few days, after I make sure he doesn't check here.

On another note there is still room to come by tomorrow if you want to see what it is all about. If you don't want to commit to the club you can still come by and see what it is all about, I would love to have you here. Like I said I've been crafting up a storm and have come up with some really cute projects. I will post them here next week as well so everyone can see what we made.

More Dry Embossing

Here is another Valentine's day card that I came up with. I did the same dry embossing with vellum cardstock that I did on the last card but this time I wanted to see if I could add some colour to the flowers by painting the backside of the vellum with the ink. It kinda worked but I think I should have used a darker colour, I used Regal Rose but I think Rose Red would have worked better.

On this one I used clear embossing powder on the background which is really cool. I love the way it looks, all glossy and shiny. I'm going to have to use this on more cards,since it's super easy and really pretty.