Unfrogettable Stamping!

Ghirardelli chocolates all wrapped up for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is coming up and it's always fun to take little chocolates and dress them up with my Stampin' Up! supplies.  That is the theme for Fabulous Friday over on the Sisters in Stamping blog this week.  My downline Wendy had shown me a picture of a wrapped up Ghirardelli chocolate and asked me to help her figure out how it was made (sorry, I didn't catch a name so can't give credit to the originator of the design).  Above is my version of it.  This one features baja breeze card stock along with riding hood red - both colors are featured in the strip of DSP from the Twitterpated package found in the Occasions Mini catalog.  The heart embosslit is a Big Shot item and so are the scallop envelope die and the finial press embossing folder.  If you would like to purchase any of these products, please click here.  Remember, every $50 you spend earns you a FREE exclusive Sale-a-Bration item now through March 31st!!

I have taken pictures of how to put it together below... I am working really hard to get ready for my Open House tonight so no time to write up instructions.  Hope you can follow along!!

card stock cut 6-1/2" x 4-1/4" scored at 3-1/4"

Don't forget to visit the Sisters in Stamping blog for even more inspiration!!

Sale-a-Bration is HERE!!!!

Today marks the beginning of Sale-a-Bration - the BEST promotion that Stampin' Up! holds every year.  During Jan. 24th - Mar. 31st you can earn exclusive FREE product of your choice with a qualifying $50 order, by hosting a $150+ workshop or by starting your own business with a $125 starter kit!!  Click here for more details or contact me!

I am hosting an Open House to kick off this fantastic promotion in two sessions this weekend... Friday night from 7-9 pm and Saturday afternoon from 1-3 pm.  If you are local and can attend, please RSVP by Thursday so I have enough time to prep the materials for the make-n-takes.  You'll be able to get your hands on the fabulous new products being offered in the Occasions Mini catalog as well as the great Sale-a-Bration items.  I'll have displays of many of the products along with awesome samples that I brought back from Leadership.  Here are photos of the gorgeous displays that Stampin' Up! put together of the Sale-a-Bration products... enjoy!

 

Angry Bird punch art

One of the most fun things to do while attending a Stampin' Up! event is swapping cards with other demonstrators... I made a few of these Angry Bird punch art cards to trade and wanted to show you how easily you can create this fun angry bird.

It was inspired by my son Brandon's pillow that he got for his birthday recently... Brandon is OBSESSED with this game!  I also used this punch art on the front of the goodie bags that I made for my roommates - it was filled with some fun earrings that I made using our new Sweet Shoppe jelly bean brads, chocolates (a must-have for these events), my swaps and an Angry Bird bag tag. 

Here are the step-by-step instructions for making this punch art...

1) Use the Circle Clear Bigz die and your Big Shot to cut out a circle from crumb cake and poppy parade card stock.  Run the poppy parade circle back through the Big Shot as shown so that you cut away this bottom piece.

2) Use the Heart-to-Heart punch with poppy parade and punch out the middle-sized heart.

3) Use the 1-3/8" and 1" square punches with daffodil delight card stock to cut out two squares.  Use your paper snips to cut them in half diagonally so you have two triangles.

4) Use the modern label and 1/2" circle punches with basic black card stock for the eyes.  Trim off the ends from the modern label punches as shown.  Use the 1-3/8" circle punch with whisper white card stock for the eyeballs (sorry, forgot to take a photo!).

 

5) Sponge the edges of the poppy parade and daffodil delight pieces to give them more depth and dimension (if you want even more contrast use real red and more mustard ink).

6) Begin to assemble your bird by assembling your eyes and attaching using Tombow multipurpose adhesive - be careful, a little goes a LONG way!

7) Attach the heart to the back of the poppy parade and then attach that to the crumb cake base.

8) Create the beak by first attaching the larger triangle half right by the eyes and then the smaller triangle underneath.

9) Add the eyebrow pieces and now he's an Angry Bird!!!

And here is my finished card and gift bag!  Sorry for the weird color on the card - I took the photo in our hotel room and the lighting was off...

Have a great day - I am off to the final day of our Leadership event... I totally forgot about submitting my Fabulous Friday project for the Sisters in Stamping blog but go and check it out today if you get a chance... they're featuring projects made with the new Big Shot Framelits.

Greetings from San Antonio, TX!!

I apologize for neglecting my blog for the last few days, but I was busy holding my Diva Day event for my Top 3 downline on Saturday, a birthday party for my son on Sunday and getting ready for my trip to the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference in San Antonio, TX!!  I'm so happy to be here, hanging out with friends that I don't get to see very often.  The photo above is of a sign in the airport and the first of many that I will be taking over the next few days.

Nothing official is starting until tomorrow, so a couple of us (Dawn Rapsas - NJ, Rachel Yurkanin - PA, Kristyne Brandt - Winnepeg and me) went down to the Riverwalk area and walked around.  We heard about a great Italian restaurant so ended up at Luciano's and ate outside because the weather was so nice.

I had a yummy eggplant dish that was recommended by Heather Summers and she was right - it was so delicious!  But, I was only able to eat half of it because the portion was so big... guess what they say is right - things are bigger in Texas!!

Because we were sitting outside, there were a lot of birds coming around and this particular raven really wigged poor Kristyne out... so I had to get a picture for her.  Our waiter said that the birds come and get the sugar packets out of the containers on the table and eat them - it was really weird to see.  I love this picture - it's like he's posing for me!

I can't wait for tomorrow... check-in is at 9 am and then we head to our Make-n-Take session. Tomorrow evening is the Manager's Reception so it's going to be a full day.  I'll share pictures of my swaps with you tomorrow along with step-by-step instructions for the punch art one... be sure and check back! 

Thanks for visiting... have a great day!  And if you're here in San Antonio I hope to see you!!

Sale-a-Bration Sneak Peek... it's Fabulous!

This week our Fabulous Friday projects on the Sisters in Stamping blog are sneak peeks of Sale-a-Bration products that you'll be able to earn for FREE with a qualifying $50 order beginning January 24th.  Are you excited?!  I know I am!!  These stamp sets, designer paper and ribbon/button packs are great... but you wouldn't expect anything less of Stampin' Up! would you?!  If you didn't receive a gorgeous Sale-a-Bration brochure in the mail contact me - I have plenty!  And be sure if you're local to Lynchburg that you join me at my Open House and Kick-Off the weekend of January 27th.

My card above was created using pool party, poppy parade and naturals white card stock - don't the colors just P-O-P?  I love this color combination!!  The main flower image is from the Fresh Vintage SAB stamp set and I colored it with various stampin' write markers - poppy parade, pool party, peach parfait and lucky limeade.  The medallion stamped on the background is also from this beautiful stamp set and was stamped in poppy parade.  Wondering how I got the large heart?  I first stamped the floral image on my card stock and then cut it out using the new framelits for the Big Shot available in the Occasions Mini catalog.  The beauty of the framelits is that you can stamp first and then see what you're cutting out - much like you can with our punches. 

Not sure if you can see it, but I used one of the new border embossing folders across the bottom... these tiny hearts were a bit much for this card, so I flipped it over and used the debossed side.  The fun bow is made out of the pool party seam binding ribbon that I tied in a fork bow and then just scrunched up the ends to give it the textured crinkle.  I made my card an Anniversary card so I could leave it up on my display board a bit longer (good thinking, right?!).

For more sneak peeks, be sure and visit the Sisters in Stamping blog today after Noon EST.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!!

December 2011 Team Shoe Box Swap cards, part 2

Here is my card - I expedited my preorder so that everyone could get a chance to use the new Sale-a-Bration DSP (Everyday Enchantment), stamp sets (Fresh Vintage and Elementary Elegance) and new Big Shot Labels framelits, edgelits and embossing folders.

Are you ready for the rest of the cards from my team's meeting last month?  Here you go...

Kathy Kennedy

Kris Sennett

Heather Palm

Carolyn North

Sherri Gough

Kris Burdeaux

Jaime Penney (mailed in - she is a long-distance team member)

In addition to the card swap, we also had an optional gift exchange.  The only criteria I set was that it couldn't cost more than $10 - some people bought items and others created theirs.  I think next time I will make that a criteria since these were so great...

Angie Kinzie created this fun dry erase board using an inexpensive frame which she added a piece of DSP to and embellished with the same paper.  Love it!

Kathy Kennedy created this fun holiday collage using her Stampin' Up! stash.  What a fun way to alter a photo frame.

Delores Wilson packaged her gift in this gift bag that she stamped and altered... I love the jingle bells hanging down from the handle!

Gwen Goulder showed how easily you can alter a set of decorative notecards with a few stamps and punches.

So what do you think?  Pretty great, right?!  If you'd like to join us for our next shoe box swap meeting in July all you have to do is join my team!  Sale-a-Bration is a fabulous time to become a demonstrator with the Starter Kit on sale for $125.  If you want to find out more great reasons to join my team, give me a call or send me an email and I'd love to discuss the opportunity with you!!

December 2011 Team Shoe Box Swap cards

Well, I had every intention of sharing my team's shoe box swap cards with you this past weekend but we were so busy with a 3-day swim meet that our team hosted that I didn't get it done... so, I want to share those with you now.  I hold a monthly meeting throughout the year for my downline, but twice a year (July and December) we do a shoe box swap where everyone designs a card in advance and then packs all the supplies to make that  card into a shoe box and we get together and stamp and eat and have fun for an entire Saturday.  I was so thrilled that we had a big turnout at such a busy time of year last month and because Christmas was right around the corner I asked that everyone focus on non-holiday themes for their cards.  So here we go...

Julia Miller

Angie Kinzie

Wendy Boothe

Wanda West

Gwen Goulder

Jennifer Rawlings

Delores Wilson

Aren't these cards great?!  I'll share the rest of them with you tomorrow!

Pinterest Try It Tuesday... spotlighted sympathy card

 

How did it get to be Tuesday already?  I was checking out my boards on Pinterest and a card I had pinned really caught my eye - the colors are stunning and the simplicity of it just screams sympathy card to me.  My take on it is above and here is the card below originally created by Heather Telford of Bits & Pieces.

 

Here are my step-by-step instructions for creating it using Stampin' Up! products...

1. Choose a square punch (I used 1-1/4") and cut out a piece of card stock to 5-1/4" x 4" to use as your template.  Line it up with the left side of the card stock and make sure the punch is pushed as far up from the bottom as it can go.  Punch out your first square.

2. Slide the punch over slightly to the right, making sure that you keep the punch pushed up all the way against the bottom (this helps to keep it lined up).  Repeat this step until you have the size rectangle that you want for your card.

3. My punches are very well used so I had some rough edges... I used my sanding block to make sure no stray pieces of card stock would mess up my sponging.

4. Take a 2-way glue pen and scribble the adhesive all over the BACK side of your template - be especially sure to get near the edges of the rectangle that you've cut out on your template.  Allow this to dry so it becomes tacky.

5. Apply some Dotto repositionable adhesive to the back of a piece of 5-1/4" x 4" whisper white card stock and attach it to your grid paper.  This ensures that your paper won't move when you're sponging.  Place your template on top of it (please disregard the fact that I applied the 2-way glue pen to the wrong side of my template the first time!).

6. Choose several colors that work well together - I used more mustard, pumpkin pie and real red.  Beginning with your lightest color, sponge the inside of the rectangle.  Repeat with all your colors, making sure that you don't have all the color concentrated in one spot, blend them around a bit.

7. Remove the template and use jet black StazOn ink with the oak tree image from Lovely As a Tree and stamp image to the right of the sponged rectangle, overlapping it slightly.

8. Use a stamp-a-majig and the sentiment from Vintage Vogue with the StazOn ink at the bottom corner of the card stock.

9. Attach your card stock piece to a crumb cake base card (5-1/2" x 8-1/2") and you're done.

I really love the way this card turned out and think I will play with other color combinations.  What are you pinning on Pinterest that inspires you?

And the winner is...