BLOG CANDY TIME!!

I got busy for a couple days with stamping and I come back to a ton of hits in one day putting me well past the 500 views mark I have been waiting for. I thank all those who have been visiting and here is my gift to one of you. Some lovely BLOG CANDY!This gift consists of some of my favorites. We can always use something simple to stamp for a quick gift, so we start of with some bookmarks. My club this month is doing lessons in chipboard, so how about some red chipboard letters. With the fall season coming fast, my direction has turned from the summer brights to the earthy tones. We can never have enough embelishments. I love the colors of the leaves as they change on the trees and the ribbon, buttons and flowers I found remind me of the approaching time of year.
To be entered into the blog candy drawing, please comment here and tell me your favorite season and why.
A winner will be drawn randomly on Monday. Good Luck to everyone.

Fabulous Mounting Tip

Before I tell you what it is, I admit to taking no claim on this idea. I was searching thru the SCS forums for something else and came across this great tip.
Do you have a stamp with several sayings on it that you would like to split up? Maybe you have recently aquired the Level 1 hostess set "So Many Sayings" and want to cut it into individual sayings instead of three big blocks. Now the problem....what do you mount all of these sayings to? FABULOUS MOUNTING TIP>>> Mount them on Jenga Blocks or dominoes. Both can be aquired at many dollar stores. The stickers from "So Many Sayings" will fit on the side of the dominoe. Mount the rubber on the large flat side. Then you can stand them up in the box to easily find the one you are looking for. It is advisable to sand the object before mounting the rubber. It is hard to stick things to the slick surface. Just ruff it up with some sandpaper and it should stick better.
Just in case you have not heard this one....Many little quirky stamps come with a cute little saying under the picture. If you commonly find yourself using the pictures and sentiment from a stamp separately, you can mount them separately without needing more blocks. Put the sentiment on the side or end of the block. You can even place the sticker on the other end.
Thank you to reneejul1 for the dominoe tip.

Fall Frenzy Promotion

Stampin' Up! has announced their September Promotion
For every $30 in product you purchase you can select one of the following stamp sets at 30% off. (ie. purchase $60 -select two, etc.)

Item Page # Description Discounted Price
105355 (26) Bitty Boos Too $12.57
109284 (29) Haunting Halloween $13.27
107383 (30) Thoroughly Thankful $16.07
109373 (108) Autumn Fest $16.77
109421 (91) Elementary Essentials $19.57
110366 (17) Stem Silhouettes** $22.37

**Holiday Mini Collection 2007--

This promotion only lasts one month. Book your workshop now to allow your guests to take advantage of this great promotion.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

It was my DH's birthday yesterday. I made him this card. The chipboard piece the truck is attached to gives it some weight. I think the bulkiness of the card makes it a little more masculine and not so dainty. He liked it and commented that it is one of his favorite cards of mine. I also liked the colors and the little details I gave it. I started with a So Saffron card base and stamped it with the "Canvas" background stamp in Basic Brown. I then took a strip of Bravo Burgundy and stamped in it Basic Brown with the "Weathered" background stamp. The large chipboard piece is covered with Always Artichoke cardstock. I then sponged the edges with Basic Brown to give it a distressed/aged look. The trees are from the "Loads of Love" set and also stamped in Basic Brown.

The truck itself was stamped on Very Vanilla and colored in with Blue Bayou ink and a blender pen. The wheels I colored in with a black journaling pen. I cut it out and mounted it on the chipboard with several dimensionals. The ribbon is cream grosgrain. I took a Bravo Burgundy marker and made a series of dots along the length. The ink does blead when you do this so don't make the dots large or too close together.

The tag was fun. The sentiment is from "All Holidays". It is normally in one line, so I used my marker to stamp it in sections on Not Quite Navy and make the words stacked. I punched it out with the designer label punch. I also punched two more pieces out of So Saffron. I then placed the Saffron pieces so they were slightly above and below the Navy piece to form a frame of sorts. It helps the label to stand out. Then the Navy piece was also placed on dimensionals to give it some height.

There you have it, a hefty masculine card for my wonderful guy.

Have a great weekend and be sure to watch for the blog candy coming soon. We are inching closer to 500 views of my blog. I am excited that so many view it and even more pleased that so many return often.

Split Negative

There is a wonderful tutorial on SCS for the Split Negative Technique. I made this card two weeks ago and it is just shy of 1000 views by different people. This is the best any of my cards have ever done. It makes me feel so good inside that people like my work.

I thought I would post it here. I am getting close to my first page view milestone. (I see blog candy coming soon). The favorite things of this card is the diagonal cut and the layered punches for the sentiment. It is Elegant Eggplant and Pretty in Pink. The stamp set is a Level 2 hostess set, "Garden Silhouettes". If you like this set, you should be sure to check out the winter mini catalog for a similar set. The punches are Designer Label and Oval Punch.

I like that by using this technique you get impressive images for two cards. Try one today.

Serendipity

Serendipity is a neat decorative technique. There are several different versions of this technique. The one I used is quick and easy. Stamp some solid images or brayer some colors on your cardstock.....stamp an image in black ink randomly on top of colors......cut the cardstock into strips or squares......switch squares around and finish off card.

I took three stampin' spots ink pads and applied the ink direct to paper. I then took the outline flower from "Heartfelt Thanks" and stamped it randomly on the cardstock. I cut the square into four pieces and turned them around so the images no longer lined up. The also stamped the outline flower on the Designer Prints paper used in the background, cut it out and mounted it on a dimensional. The ribbon ties all the pieces together and ballances the focus.

Try a serendipity square today. Book a workshop and learn another way to make a serendipity square with your friends.

A little "twisted"

Have you ever read something and thought of it a different way than it was meant? I was working on a challenge and had just those thoughts. The challenge was to use pattern paper and piece together an object. I thought it would be cute to use the ever famous "Truck" and piece it together in different colors. I got out my Designer Prints Series Paper in several colors, stamped the truck on each and cut out the pieces to put together. When I looked at the truck in it's multiple colors it reminded me of something you would see on the "redneck" neighbors lawn up on cement blocks. I thought about being 16 and getting ready for your driver's license and the fear that your dad would get you some horrible car that everyone would laugh at.

So here is my "twisted" truck. I cut off the wheels and used them on the side of the card. I drew in the jacks with a journaling pen. The truck is done in Regal Rose, So Saffron, and Almost Amethyst. The mats are Regal Rose and Night of Navy. The card base is Mellow Moss. Stamp sets used: Loads of Love, Headline Numbers, Polka Dots & Paisley.

Look at your stamps in a new way and stamp something "Twisted" today.

Need an idea for a card...

Look in the Idea Book & Catalog, also know as the Fall/Winter Collection. I needed a few quick 3x3 cards. A scan through the catalog and I found several I could copy in a few minutes. I didn't have the stamp sets for them all, but the layouts were simple to duplicate easily. A couple of them were perfect ways to try out the Stampin' Up! special this month. The "Three for You Punch Box" is perfect for quick easy note cards and quick easy embelishments to standard cards. Here are a few quick cards I made from copying ideas in the catalog. Don't be afraid when you are in a hurry or out of inspiration for the day to do the same.

Coordinating Party Items

Do you have a party coming up? Birthday, Baby Shower, Wedding Shower, or just a get together of friends. Would you like to make coordinating invites and such. Here is an example of just that. This is the same box as yesterdays post. The link to the instructions can be found in that post. The box is perfect for party favors or used in a game. The larger (standard) card can be used for an invitation, baby announcement or thank you. The smaller (3x3) card can be used as a gift tag or small thank you note.

All of the colors used for paper and coloring are from the Soft Subtle Color Family. The main stamp sets used are "Greetings Galore" (Box), "Circus Train" (Standard Card), & "Three for You Punch Box" (3x3 note). A little taffata or grosgrain ribbon, some gold brads, and a few dimensionals finishes off the projects.

Enjoy your next party with coordinating items. Check out my calendar page on my demonstrator web site (link on the left) for my upcoming party favor class and learn a few more things you can do to bring it all together at your next function.

2-5-7-10 Box

I made this box/treat bag for my DH for our anniversary. We don't buy gifts for each other for events. I baked him some cookies to put in the pouch. A wonderful tutorial to make these boxes can be found here on SCS. I scored the top and bottom of my box at 1 1/2". It made it easier to punch two holes, using my double hole punch, in the flap.

I used a retired stamp set for the images. We can't own all new things for every occassion. The colors were taken from the color coach. Plum, Ruby, Mustard, and

Cocoa. The Cocoa panel is up on dimentionals. The Ruby is attached to the box with sticky strip. I tied the hemp twine to the mustard ribbon under the bow. It is hard to see in the picture but the box itself is covered with the Background stamp "Sanded" with versamark ink.

Multicolored wheels

Did you know that you can make a multicolored image on your wheel? The same as with a normal flat stamp you can use your markers to color in the images on your wheels. After putting all the colors on just "huff" around the wheel and then roll on your paper.

This is a simple card using the marker to wheel technique. The wheel is "All About Christmas" I inked it with Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Glorious Green markers. It is then wheeled on Whisper White cardstock. The bow was made with the new 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. I simply looped the ribbon back and forth ending with a small circle in the middle. Each loop is held in place with some snail adhesive.

Tri-panel cards

I posted these cards on SCS a week ago and had a number of questions about how I made them. To help you in making your own I have put together this tutorial. I hope it helps you.

Basic Supplies needed: Neutral cardstock (Whisper White used here), large stamp (Baroque Motifs used here), classic ink (Basic Brown used here), paper trimmer (SU!)

The neutral cardstock needs to be 3, 7/8" wide. The height is determined by the size of the image. Stamp the image on the neutral cardstock.

If you feel comfortable with trimming the cardstock at the correct points, each panel is 1, 1/8" wide with 1/4" missing between each. Trim one panel and then the space alternating till you get to the other side. I don't like to trim 1/4" without turning the paper around as it is hard for me to line up.

To keep from trimming from the wrong side, I used the following measurements (Shown with pictures) to cut my panels.

Place the 3, 7/8" cardstock in the paper trimmer and line up to the 2, 3/4" line and cut.

Move the cardstock over, line up at 2, 1/2" and cut again.

Move over and cut at the 1, 3/8" line.

Move over and cut at the 1, 1/8" line.

You should now have 5 sections that look like this.

Discard the two thin panels and finish off your card. The mats for the tri-panels are 1, 1/4" wide. This will give you 1/4" spaces between the panels and on each side of a standard 4.25" card.

Here are my finished cards. They both use the same measurements across. The second card uses "Lovely as a Tree". I embossed the trees before cutting the panels. The sentiment if from "All Holidays"

Monet Technique

The art of Monet has soft lines and blured colors. With the Monet Technique we can get the same effect with our stamping. It works best if you use solid color images so the blured lines still have some sense of shape. Larger images work better than smaller ones.

There are a couple of versions of Monet Stamping. Here are the basic steps for the one I used.

1.) Wet watercolor paper with water spritzer. Be sure to wet thouroughly.

2.) Stamp images using classic ink onto wet watercolor paper. If image is too dry spray with water, if too dry dab with paper towel. (I added a little more water and then dabbed so it didn't run too much)

3.) Cover entire area with thick embossing powder. (I used glassy glaze enamel from SU!)

4.) Heat EP.

5.) Repeat steps 3&4 till entire paper has a think coat of EP. You can use versamark to make the EP stick between layers. Simply drag the versamark pad over entire image and then pour on the EP.

6.) Let cool thouroughly. (You can place into fridge to help cool faster)

7.) Bend the paper to create break lines where you wish to acheive a cracked glass effect.

8.) (optional) sponge dark ink into grooves to help cracks show better. (when I did this it also gave a frosted overcoat effect to the whole piece.

9.) Finish card as desired

I cut my Monet panel into pieces and layered onto contrasting cardstock that was spounged with color on the edges. The ribbon and tag finish it off. My colors are all from the Rich Regal family except for the Mustard ribbon.

Stamps: In the Spotlight, Holidays & Wishes

The Perfect Time

If you have ever thought about becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, now is the perfect time. If you sign up between Aug. 10th and Sept 30th, in addition to our wonderful basic starter kit you will also receive an entire color family of Classic Stamp Pads. That is a $57.95 value.

What are the benifits of being a demonstrator?

Being a demonstrator is wonderful. You get sneak peaks at new products. You can purchase some products early. We purchase everything at a discount. You get monthly magazines full of new ideas and information. You can earn extra items through special demonstrator only promotions. The best part is the friends you make. There is an instant bond between you and thousands of other demonstrators. We share ideas, projects, tips, techniques and encouragement.

What if I don't want to hold workshop?

Than don't. Stampin' Up! has room for all kinds of demonstrators. You can simply purchase items for yourself at a discount if that is all you want to do. You can share with your family and friends. You can have classes, workshops or events if that is what you choose. Or you can make this a full time business. As long as you are making your quarterly minimum you can run your business anyway you want. Since your own purchases count towards your minimums, you never have to sell to another person.

What do I get in the basic $199 starter kit?

5-stamp sets (You can substitute for equal value)

1-stampin' around wheel (You can substitute)

Stampin' Around Handle and Ink Cartiridge of your choice

Stampin' Pastels

2-assorted packs of cardstock (color family of your choice)

Pack of neutral card stock

Basic Stamping Supplies--craft rubber sissors, stampin' scrub, stampin' mist, & snail adhesive

Versamark Pad

Blender Pens

6-Classic Ink Pads

Business supplies kit- order forms, catalogs, mini catalogs, brochures, Getting Started Packet & DVD, Hostess folders, workshop invitations

Now that I have purchased the kit, what are my obligations?

To remain an active demonstrator for Stampin' Up! you simple need to sell (or purchase yourself) $300 in products before the end of December and than every three months after that. All product purchases count towards this minimum. All products you buy to use in your business count towards your $300 quarterly minimum. All products you buy for your own personal use count towards your minimums. All products you buy on advance promotions count towards your minimums. This minimum can easliy be acheived with 2 standard workshops. So you only have to work a couple of times every 3 months to remain an active demonstrator.

What happens if I don't make my quarterly minimum?

Stampin' Up! gives you a one month pending period if you don't meet your minimum. If by the end of December you don't sell $300 in product than you are pending during January. During a pending month you must make up the rest of your minimum plus $100 towards the next quarter. Example: you sell $225 by December. In January you would have to sell the $75 still needed for the previous quarter and $100 for the next quarter for a total of $175.

If you have any other questions about becoming a demonstrator or would like to sign up please leave a comment with your email and I will send you my personal contact information.

Another Great Layout

This is a classic style layout. The rectagular panel in the middle can be an long image, a series of flowers or other punched object, even a sentiment like here. The circle embelishment can be just about anything. You can even substitute it for a Pretties Kit flower or cut out shape like a butterfly. The strip across the center is a great place for pattern paper or contrasting color.

I chose to use a background stamp on the main card panel. Here "print pattern" is stamped in Wild Wasabi on cardstock of the same color. I also used Wild Wasabi for the stem of the flower and dotted line circles on the circle embelishment. Purely Pomegranate bring in a sharp bold color for both flowers and the mat on the center panel. To make everything POP, I mated everything in Basic Black and addes some black brads to the corner and center of the second flower. The flowers and sentiment are from "Polka Dots & Paisley" and "Polka Dots & Petals" stamp sets.
The ticket corner punch dresses the center panel corners. I used the 1", 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches for the circle embelishment. It is then attached with a glue dot.
Contact me to book your own workshop to see and make more cards with this simple classic layout.

1st Birthday

My son turns 1 on Saturday. I love layout challenges, so when I saw this one during the Dare to get Dirty SCS 3rd year Anniversary Week Challenges I knew I just had to make a Birthday Card for my son.

It is quite simple and can be used for many other things. I matted all of my panels, interchanging the colors to tie it all together. Any of the panels would be a great place to use Designer Paper. I chose to use a background stamp for my main card layer. I stamped "Sanded" in Blue Bayou on the Blue Bayou paper to give a color on color subtle look. To add something to the feel of the card I used Textured Cardstock on the Wild Wasabi and Soft Sky panels.

The Blue Bayou "1st" is from the "Headline Numbers" & "Rough Edges Alphabet". They could easily be replaced by any number for a birthday or anniversary. You could also replace them with an image to go with your sentiment.

The ribbon is River Rock double stitched ribbon to go with the River Rock mat behind the Wasabi panel. The button is mounted on a piece of Blue Bayou and has a short piece of hemp twine tied through the holes.

The "Birthday" sentiment is from "Sincere Salutations". The stamp actually says "Birthday Wishes". By using my black marker I was able to color only the part I wanted to stamp.

Consider this color combination for your next Masculine Card. (Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Soft Sky) For More examples using this layout, join the Fan Club at SplitCoastStampers.com. If you are not already a member, you will not regret it.

Making your own

Last week I gave you a few examples of how to use pattern paper. You can always just make your own. A few different size stamps, a few different colors and a couple of minutes and you are done.

Here I used the Level 2 hostess stamp set "In the Spotlight". By stamping the images randomly on the cardstock you can easily create your own pattern paper. Start with the largest image first. Then the next size down. Finally fill in all the little areas left with the small stamps.

The images are stamped in several of the In Colors; Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi, and Groovy Guava. I actually stamped a large sheet of this and then cut it into pieces to use on several cards. The image strip is matted on Purely Pomegranate and adhered to the Wild Wasabi card front. The sentiment from "Warm Words" is stamped in Basic Black. To add a little bling I used a two way glue pen to dot the center of each flower with Irridecent Ice Glitter.

More tent topper cards...

As promissed here are two more examples of tent topper cards. They use some of my favorite stamp sets and color combinations.

The card on the left uses the Hostess Level 3 stamp set Vogue Vases. It is a 2 step stampin' set with various vases and flowers to choose from. The card colors are basic and bold with the Basic Black and Real Red off set with a little Soft Sky Textured Cardstock. The black gingham ribbon ands just a little to the title tag at the bottom.
The right card uses one of my all time favorite and most versatile stamp sets, "Heartfelt Thanks". It is also a 2 step stampin' set. The flower is stamped in Groovy Guava also used as one of the matting and bottom scallop strip color. The main card color is River Rock. The outline of the flower and the "thanks" were stamped with Basic Brown Classic Ink. To add just a little more I stamped on the bottom scallop strip with white craft ink using the "Itty Bitty Backgrounds" stamp set. I also added a small flower and rhinstone center from the Pretties Kit.
I hope you have enjoyed making a few of these for yourself.

Tent topper cards

These are really fun. They are simple to make, yet look extra special. The idea is that they fit into a standard size envelope, but stand with a different cut.

Start with an 8.5"x4.25" pices of cardstock. Score at the 4.25" line and fold in half so you now have a 4.25" square. When you adhere the image panel to the top, place it so the total height of the card is 5.5" tall. Now you have a 5.5" x 4.25" card with a fun cut.

The card on the left above was made with the "Lovely as a Tree" stamp set. The image was stamped in Basic Brown and layered onto Old Olive. The main card is Always Artichoke. The strip in the middle is Old Olive with a band of Chocolate Chip Taffata Ribbon.

The second card is made with "Garden Silhouettes" from Hostess Level 2. You can earn this stamp set for Free with a $300 workshop. I stamped it in versamark and then sponged it with various Bold Bright Green Pastels. The image is layered onto So Saffron and Gable Green Cardstock. The image panel has decorative corners made with the ticket corner punch and gold brads adorn the main card panel. The print on the So Saffron panel is from the designer prints collection. The wheel at the bottom was also done in versamark with sponged pastels. It is the baroque border wheel.

These cards are simple to make and have a nice flair to them.

Small note cards

Not every card has to be 5.5"x4.25". Sometimes just a small note is all you need. I made this for a friend of mine who moved away a couple of years ago. She has been through some tough times and I wish I could reach through the computer and give her a big hug.

It is a 3x3 card. I used watercolor pencils to color the images. I outlined one side of the image with the pencils and then used my blender pens in a circular motion to soften the pencil and spread the color. The sentiment is hand written with a black journaler.

The images are from the "Unfroggetable" stamp set. The background splatter is made with one of the stamps from "Itty Bitty Backgrounds". I stamped it in basic black on the Green Galore cardstock. The snail image is then matted on Handsome Hunter. The sentiment was punched out with the small tag punch and layered onto Ruby Red cut out with the tag punch. A 1/16" hole and a small piece of hemp twine to finish it off.

Sometimes it's just the small thoughts that count the most. Try some small cards of your own this weekend. Attach them to simple gifts, stick them in flowers, or just sent them by themselves to let someone know you were thinking of them today.

Wanna Swap??

Have you been thinking about joining a swap online? Here is a swap I just finished (scanned in crooked-sorry) and some information for those of you thinking of joining a swap.
This is my contribution to a 6x6 scrapbook page swap for new stamp sets in the Fall/Winter catalog. The image and sentiment are from "Jolliest Time of the Year". The sentiment is tied to the photo corner with hemp twine. The striped paper at the bottom is from my favorite "Dashing" Designer Series Collection. I colored the tree in with markers. Cardstock, marker and pattern paper colors include Real Red, Old Olive, River Rock, Very Vanilla, and Basic Black. The ornaments on the tree are Summer Sun.

The first thing to know about swaps is that you make one project several times. You DO NOT make 10 different cards. You send all of your alike cards to the hostess and they send you back one from each person in the group. Sometimes you get one of your own back and sometimes you don't so check the rules.

If you have never joined a swap before I suggest starting small. Look for one with a 6-10 person limit. I made 45 of these and it took my the better part of three days to finish. The little steps add up time when you have to make so many. Once you have made one you are happy with, work in an assembly line format. Cut all your cardstock, then stamp and color all the images, finally assemble your swaps.

You can always ask for advice on your swaps. If you are worried that they are too simple ask someones opinion. The biggest things to watch is that the image is stamped clearly and not smudged. Be sure all of your layers are straight when you put them together.

Make sure they are protected when you mail them. Most swaps ask that you put them in ziplock bags when they are mailed in a box. I would also advise that you lightly rubber band them. The cards will shift in the box and the layers can be pulled off. Packing some extra paper in the box can help also. Be sure the label your bags with your name and address. It makes it easier for the person hosting the swap and helps if something happens to the box.

If you have joined a large swap consider adding something to the box for the postman. Imagine your postman bringing 30 boxes to your door over the course of a week or so. The swap above is part of a MEGA swap. 46 scrapbook pages and 112 cards. That is a lot of boxes for this postman to deliver to one house.

Read the rules and requirements very carefully before you join a swap. If you don't understand something contact the hostess. Swaps can be a lot of fun. You can get some great ideas. You can finish a scrapbook easily without having to design all the pages. You can stock up on cards for any occassion easily.

Be careful to not join too many at once. Time is precious and noone likes a flaker (person who signs up and then doesn't make their swaps) because they ran out of time. Make sure you have all the products you need or enough time to get them. If for some reason you cannot complete your swap obligation on time, notify the hostess as soon as possible. This gives them time to find an "angel" to replace you or work out a way for you to have more time.

More Pattern Paper

Another way to use pattern paper is simply as your background. Most pattern paper is lighter weight than cardstock. Therefore, I would advise matting the pattern onto a heavier cardstock. In this example I matted the pattern paper from the Brocade Background DSP onto Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip. Using a large area of pattern paper, balances the larger image. All of the edges for all mats and images are distressed with the cutter kit. The main image is from the "Lovely as a Tree" Stamp Set. I stamped the image in Versamark and then dabbed it with various earth element chalks using my sponge daubers. (Again the scan takes away part of the image) The image is then layered on Old Olive and Chocolate Chip cardstock. The chocolate chip taffata ribbon and vintage brads finish off the card.