Unfrogettable Stamping!

Some old favorites...

My 10-year old son Brandon has been invited to two birthday parties lately and I pulled out some old favorites for the cards.  Although most of what you see on these cards is current and available for purchase, the focal images are part of the extreme sports line that was retired last year.  This card is a large one - it measures 4" x 8-1/2" and is designed with a pocket to hold cash and fit in an A10 business envelope.

Here's a close-up of the surfer... I used the splat image from Extreme Elements inked in marina mist and rock-and-rolled in night of navy.  Once stamped, I used my color spritzer tool with bashful blue, marina mist and night of navy markers and then used the direct-to-paper technique on the edges with my night of navy ink pad.

The inside of the card has a small pocket and I stamped this simple "happy birthday" sentiment right on it.  Don't recognize this one?  It's a large-text one line stamp that I had custom made by Stampin' Up!

This is another card I made that we slipped an iTunes gift card into... I pulled the colors from my color coach - baja breeze, cajun craze and basic gray.  Again, I used Extreme Elements and the retired skate board stamp.

Pre-teen boy cards are really hard for me to come up with but Brandon approved of both of these so I was happy.  Speaking of teen cards, that is the theme for my downline swap this month.  I'll be getting those on Thursday night so will be sure to share them with you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sale-a-Bration is coming to a close... which fabulous item(s) did you earn for FREE?

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are sharing projects made with Sale-a-Bration items as our annual promotion is coming to a close... if you like any of these SAB items, be sure and place a qualifying $50 order before Midnight EST on March 31st to earn yours for FREE!!  Some of these items are exclusive and will no longer be available so get yours while you can.

My card above features the Elementary Elegance stamp set - the "Hello" sentiment and frame image are both from this set.  I must admit that this one is my favorite, although Fresh Vintage is a very close second!  I'll be very sad to see these sets retire after Saturday. 

I have been on a butterfly kick here lately and thought this Big Shot die-cut worked great within the frame.  The Beautiful Butterflies bigz die is awesome and running the cut butterfly back through the Big Shot in the Vintage Wallpaper folder added some fabulous texture - sponging the butterfly helped to bring that out I think.  I have to give a shout-out to Renee, who helped me brainstorm this card at swim practice yesterday.  The strip of DSP is from the Attic Boutique pack found in the Occasions Mini catalog and I pulled this color combination of pool party, so saffron and not quite navy from my Color Coach - I love that tool!!  I used this card in my stamp-a-stack last night and it was a hit.

Thanks for stopping by - for even more inspiration with Sale-a-Bration items please be sure and hop on over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today!!  Have a wonderful weekend...

2012 March Simply Paper Design Challenge

My downline Gerin's 13 year old daughter Maddie has been battling kidney stones this month and ended up in the hospital again... she is also my daughter Kelsey's best friend so we wanted to send her a card to lift her spirits.  I've never had kidney stones but understand from people who have that they are extremely painful!  I created the card above using my sister Cindy's Simply Paper Design Challenge this month - she and two other downline members of mine, Michelle Arthur and Debbie Williams, come up with a sketch and color combination each month and I like to play along.

This month's sketch is the one above and instead of a color challenge they decided to feature the Turtle & Co. stamp set that is the designated Ronald McDonald House Charities stamp set this year - Stampin' Up! will donate $2 to RMHC from every purchase of this cute stamp set.

The color scheme I used is whisper white, marina mist, wild wasabi and early espresso which was pulled from my Color Coach.  I decided to add a a pop of color with the regal rose punch flower created using the Triple Layer Bouquet punch.

Don't forget about my swim meet special - it's a great time to pick up some the products used to make this card!

Stamp sets:  Turtle & Co., Three Little Words

Paper:  Subtles Prints Stack DSP; whisper white, marina mist, wild wasabi, early espresso and regal rose card stock

Ink:  early espresso, sahara sand, certainly celery

Punches:  modern label, word window, triple layer bouquet, itty bitty flower, 2-step bird

Accessories:  stampin' dimensionals, Dazzling Details, aqua painter, basic rhinestones, marina mist polka dot scallop ribbon

 

"Kiss them Good-bye" June stamp-a-stack cards

Every June I have a "kiss them good-bye" stamp-a-stack class featuring retiring sets and accessories and this year was no exception.  I normally do 4 cards each of 4 different designs but this time I couldn't decide on just 4 sets so actually changed it to 3 each of 5 different designs with a bonus card thrown in to keep the count at 16.  The card above is one of my go-to cards for teen/pre-teen boys... my kids are at that age now where they either give cash or a gift card to their friends and I love this Extreme Surfboard stamp along with the other Extreme sports stamps for cards for their male friends.  This look was achieved by stamping the main image with jet black StazOn ink and then using a stampin' sponge to swirl bashful blue ink around the surfer.  I pulled the blues from my color coach - the dynamic duo combination is marina mist with bashful blue.

This card features the Friends 24-7 stamp set and is a CASE of one created by user girlogan on Splitcoaststampers' website.  I had received a request from one of my stampers to have a sympathy/thinking of you card and I think this one is perfect.  I used very vanilla, pink pirouette and early espresso for my color palette... it's very soft, don't you think?

I know it's still a long way off, but I had to create one last Christmas card with the very fun Sparkly & Bright stamp set.  There are so many fun images in this stamp set... this card is CASE'd from Joanne Roehm.  Do you notice the background image?  It is the Sanded stamp and I will surely miss it... it is a great one for masculine cards and pairs so well with other background stamps for a neat vintage look.

 

 

These cards feature the retiring Razzle Dazzle stamp set and I used several of the images to create a beautiful black and white background.  I wasn't sure if everyone wanted to make monogram cards or those with a sentiment so I put both the Lovely Letters alphabet set and Sincere Salutations in my supply box for this project.  I will also miss the retiring 5/8" grosgrain ribbon - it adds such a nice texture to cards.  If this card looks familiar, I CASE'd one that my downline Gwen came up with our a downline meeting make-n-take last year (see it here).

The retiring Party Hearty stamp set is a great go-to set for quick and easy birthday cards - I love solid image stamps and this one will be missed!  I saw this fun layout posted by Amanda Mertz and had to CASE it... the scallop square punch makes it so easy to put together and gives you a reason to use up your card stock scraps!  Again, I will miss the 5/8" grosgrain ribbon!

 

This last card was the bonus card - I had a full unopened pack of the retiring Fresh Cut notecards and decided to use them.  While they are still available you can purchase them for 25% off for $6.71... a great price!  You get 15 pre-scored die-cut whisper white cards in a package along with matching envelopes.  These are sized at 4"x4" and require extra postage if you mail them in the square envelopes provided so I decided to trick the post office by putting them on a 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" base of pacific point and using a medium whisper white envelope.  I'll save the 4"x4" envelopes to stick in a gift bag.  These cards come die-cut and this one works perfectly with the 5-petal punch, which was adhered directly to the inside of the card.  I used my Color Coach to get the color combination of pacific point, daffodil delight and rich razzleberry.  The Brights stack has great DSP and I thought the sheet with the words had enough contrast to show off the punch.  It was adhered to the back-side of the card front with stampin' dimensionals.  The front of the card was stamped with the retiring Pretty Petals background stamp and embellished with a rich razzleberry flower from the itty bitty shapes punch along with a rhinestone.

If you'd like to purchase any of the retiring stamps or accessories used on these cards, please be sure and place your order ONLINE via my demonstrator website by midnight on June 30th.  After that, these items will be retired and unavailable for purchase.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!!

April 2011 stamp-a-stack cards

Phew!  Another busy week...

 

I held my monthly stamp-a-stack for April last week and wanted to share the cards with you.  This card features designer paper from the Springtime Vintage DSP pack that was in the Occasions Mini catalog along with the Upsy Daisy and Sanded stamp sets.  The color combination is very vanilla, pear pizzazz, crumb cake and rose red.  Do you see the cute fork bow in the corner?  That is made with the crumb cake seam binding ribbon.. no worries, you are still able to purchase the seam binding ribbon from the Occasions mini catalog as they are carryover items!

Here is card #2 - it features the Paisley Petals DSP and Four Frames stamp set that were part of our sneak peek "Spring is Blossoming" special during April.  I CASE'd this card layout idea from Julie Davison and tweaked it just a tiny bit... using the scallop border and decorative label punches for my card.  The color combination is not quite navy, whisper white and river rock.  If you weren't able to purchase these items last month you'll only have a few months to wait before you can get your hands on them... they'll be back in the new Idea Book & Catalog that debuts on July 1st!

Card #3 is a graduation card - I left the colors neutral because I wanted those who didn't need four graduation cards to be able to change the stamp and make this a wedding or anniversary card.  The stamp set Word Play that was used for this card is part of our May scrapbooking promotion and is on sale for 30% off this month.. be sure and get it while it is on sale because it is a fantastic set!!  The texture on the whisper white piece was added with the Vintage Wallpaper impressions folder for the Big Shot (I love this one!!).

The last card of the night was a CASE of one I created last year featuring the Flores Suaves stamp set from our Spanish catalog.  I absolutely love this stamp set!  The color combination is one that I have used over and over and found it in our Color Coach - pretty in pink, rich razzleberry and early espresso.  The pretty in pink card stock is stamped with the Teahouse background stamp and the script that is on the panel behind the flower is actually from the Flores Suaves stamp set and is just stamped twice.  It looks very similar to our retired FrenchScript stamp set that I loved!!

Thanks for visiting.. I'll be back tomorrow for Fabulous Friday with a project featuring products from our Summer Mini catlog.

March 2011 Stamp-a-Stack

On Thursday night I held my monthly Stamp-a-Stack class... everyone who came made four each of four different designs for a total of sixteen cards.  It was a cold and rainy night and I appreciate everyone who came out for the class!  This was my final event during Sale-a-Bration and it was my last opportunity to focus on some of the wonderful offerings this year as well as feature some products from the Occasions Mini catalog.

This card was my favorite - I just {heart} the Baby Blossoms stamp set!!  A few weeks ago I designed a card with a pink palette for my two-step stamping technique project for Fabulous Friday but this time I decided to go with some blues... isn't it pretty?  The color combination is baja breeze, not quite navy, crumb cake and pear pizzazz with a little chocolate chip for the sentiment.  Adding the Sanded stamp with crumb cake ink over the focal piece made it appear to be a vintage piece of fabric.  I also put the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set in the box of supplies for this card so everyone could make whatever themed cards they wanted. 

Because Easter is right around the corner I wanted to have an Easter card for this stamp-a-stack... I just had to use the Easter Blossoms stamp set from the Occasions mini catalog because the little girl silhouette image is one of my favorites.  The colors are so soft - pink pirouette, sahara sand, always artichoke and very vanilla - I pulled it right from my Color Coach!  I think the crochet trim just makes the card - it is so beautiful!  You may not be able to see it very well because it is so subtle, but the pink pirouette mat piece is stamped with the Pretty Pattern background stamp using pink pirouette ink.

For more bold color, here is a great Spring card... there is so much yellow all around with forsythia and daffodils in full bloom here in Central Virginia so I had to go with a daffodil delight card.  I also wanted my stampers to have an opportunity to play with aqua painters and the stamp-a-ma-jig, perfect for lining up the sentiment!  I must say that watercoloring with aqua painters is something that I love to do.  The flower image is from Flower Fancy and the sentiment is from Word Play.  I added a bit of whimsy to the real red card stock mat by running it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots impressions folder.  And because my glitter queen Carolyn was in attendance I had to have some dazzling diamonds on this card!

Here's the last card of the night - I absolutely love the First Edition specialty DSP and have featured it a lot on cards the last couple of months.  Here it is paired with very vanilla and basic black with a hint of certainly celery in the satin ribbon.  Did you know that Engraved Greetings (the Happy B'day sentiment) was a Sale-a-Bration selection - it was listed on the last page of the SAB brochure.  If you left off the butterfly, this could be a masculine card, don't you think?  The butterfly was punched out from a quarter sheet of basic black card stock that I had run through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper impressions folder.  Added a basic pearl and ta-da... a quick and easy embellishment!

If you'd like to join me at my monthly stamp-a-stack this month on the 28th, contact me to reserve your spot.  I limit my class size to 8 and these fill up quickly!  Thanks for stopping by - enjoy the rest of your weekend!  I am looking forward to my private Mom & Me Easter class with a church group tomorrow and I'll be sharing those projects with you soon. 

October stamp-a-stack cards

Oh my - where has the time gone?  It has been a super-busy week and I apologize for the lack of posts.  I held my October stamp-a-stack this week and wanted to share the cards with you.

This first card is a CASE of one I received from my new friend Akemi Geary at the Stampin' Up! Baltimore Regional recently.  I changed the basic black of her card to concord crush and made my card a sympathy card using the sentiment from Thoughts & Prayers, which fit perfectly inside the open image from the Just Believe stamp set (thanks to my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig tool).  I really like the crispness of the certainly celery, whisper white and concord crush color combination.

This next card is a Christmas card which is also a CASE of one I received at the Baltimore Regional.  I thought the penguin needed wings so I used the 2-step bird punch in addition to the owl punch to create him.  The Big Shot was used to cut out the Top Note die shape as well as the bashful blue snowflake (Northern Frost snowflakes decorative strip sizzlit die) and add texture with the polka dot impressions folder.

This thank you card is one based on my scrapbook club layout from earlier this month (see, there's no need to always come up with an original idea!).  I loved the colors and texture of the medallion image and used the idea again.  I really like this Day of Gratitude stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalog!

The last card for the class was a masculine birthday card featuring the Autumn Days stamp set.  I tend to keep my cards for men pretty simple - no froofy ribbon or glitter on these cards!  The colors were pulled from my Color Coach - a very valuable tool, especially with all of our new colors.  I really like the pop of the baja breeze against the warm very vanilla, riding hood red, so saffron and soft suede color combination.

Next month I'm holding a MEGA Christmas card stamp-a-stack with my Design Team featuring 10 different designs and I can't wait.  We've got 28 stampers attending and it's going to be be so much fun.  If you weren't able to get in on this stamp camp but want to make Christmas cards, I will be having my last stamp-a-stack of the year on Tuesday, November 30th from 9 am - noon.  There will be 4 different designs so you'll go home with 16 cards.  I still have space in this class if you're interested - just send me an email and I'll get your more details.

I'll be back tomorrow with my Fabulous Friday project for the week.  Be sure and come back!

Crazy for September birthdays

I have quite a few friends and family members with September birthdays and this is the card I designed to send to them this month. 

I used a color combination that I fell in love with a couple of weeks ago from my color coach:  early espresso, rich razzleberry and pretty in pink.  I just got A Word for You stamp set and wanted to use the birthday sentiment from it.  It has the words "with a cherry on top" so I knew I had to use a birthday image that included a cherry.  What better one to use than the tier of cupcakes from Crazy for Cupcakes?  I colored the pedestal with my blender pen and early espresso ink pulled from my ink pad and then colored the cupcake liners with my pretty in pink stampin' write marker and cherries with a rich razzleberry stampin' write marker.  The icing of the cupcakes were done with my 2-way glue pen and dazzling diamonds glitter because who doesn't love a little BLING on their card - especially when it's a birthday card!  The base of my card is made with pretty in pink card stock and I ran my early espresso card stock strip through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper texture folder for added texture.  I finished the card by adding a strip of rich razzleberry 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. 

This was a fun card to make and I hope the recipients appreciated the hand-stamped thought and love that went into the making of it.

Products used with today's card include:

 

Quick and easy birthday card for your favorite child

Remember how I told you I loved my new redesigned color coach?  Well, my daughter Kelsey was looking at it the other day and I asked her to pick a color combination for me to try.  She decided that she really liked tangerine tango and said the Sweet Set combination looked fun - tangerine tango, so saffron and pacific point.  Those colors just screamed "kids card" to me.

 

I have had the Look Who's Turning set for a while but haven't used it so decided to pull it out and give it some love.  Don't you just think the ostrich image is too funny?!  It just cracks me up to look at it!  I grabbed my 2-3/8" scallop and 1-3/4" circle punches along with some card stock scraps and this card came together in about 10 minutes!  The tangerine tango designer paper is from the Patterns Stack brights collection - I love these, lots of DSP in these stacks!!  Super fast and super quick... my kind of card!  All I have to do to personalize it is add the age and voila - done!

Products used with today's project include...

Loving my new Color Coach!

 

I tend to get in a color rut, do you?  That is why I love my new Color Coach!!  I choose a main color that I want to use and then check out the color combinations on the back of the swatch of color.

 

It is really that easy!  For my card above, I wanted to use my new rich razzleberry satin ribbon that I just got so I checked out the combinations for rich razzleberry and really liked the "Getting Started" combination:  rich razzleberry, pretty in pink and early espresso.  I also wanted to use my gorgeous new Teahouse background stamp and Flores Suaves set - a stamp set in the Spanish Celebrando Creatividad catalog that I just LOVE and haven't used in a while.  The only other colors I added to the finished card were whisper white card stock for my base card and stamped panel along with pear pizzazz and crumb cake ink.

I really like how this card turned out and will be offering it as one of the cards at my September stamp-a-stack.  I purposely left it blank so that my stampers could make it any type of card they wanted by adding a sentiment to the inside of the card... what a great feminine card for a birthday, thank you, thinking of your, congratulations, get well, etc.

Products used with today's project include...