Did you know that Christmas is only 96 days away?!? Get a jump start on your Christmas cards by joining me at our MEGA Christmas Card stamp-a-stack on Saturday, November 6th!! You'll have the opportunity to use a variety of stamp sets, accessories and Big Shot items with your cards during this fun holiday stamp camp. Lunch will be included and there will be some great door prizes throughout the day. Contact me ASAP to reserve your spot... seating is limited!
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My Design Team is made up of some very creative business builder demonstrators from my downline and each month we get together to design class and workshop projects. This month our focus was on simple workshop cards featuring a variety of different accessories. Here are the different project ideas:
This first card was created by Sherri Gough. I LOVE the Pink Flamingo DSP, as you have probably figured out if you've been following my blog for any length of time. I also especially love the color real red and Sherri used both so well together - who knew the large flower from Eastern Blooms would match so well with this DSP? I like how she incorporated quite a few punches into this card, too - from the ticket corner punch to the modern label and word window punches. The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set - a GREAT one to own since it includes so many different sentiments. And what a great card for anyone kicking off their new Stampin' Up! business since Eastern Blooms and Teeny Tiny Wishes are stamp sets that are included in the Starter Kit. Remember, you have until the end of March to take advantage of the $30 savings on the Starter Kit AND get an extra FREE stamp set of any price! Want to join my team? Use this link and click on "Join Now" - my password is debstamps.
This next card was designed by Lori Subosits. I believe she saw this idea somewhere online, but I don't know to whom I should give credit - I'll update this post when I get that information from Lori. Anyway, it is super-cute and uses a strip of DSP from the Tall Tales package. She even used the Uniball Signo white gel pen for faux stitching around the edges of the romper. The colors - so saffron and old olive - were pulled right from the DSP. What a great masculine baby shower card idea!!
This card was created by Darlene Crockett and features the Trendy Trees stamp set as well as the crimper - a tool that I don't use often enough. It adds great texture to cardstock! Darlene, like Sherri, used the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set along with the word window and modern label punches. Colors used are bashful blue, certainly celery, close to cocoa and whisper white. This is a great "Get Well" card for anyone feeling under the weather!
I designed this last card, which features the C is for Cat stamp set - one that is a FREE Sale-a-Bration selection with a qualifying $50 order through March 31st. I decided to feature the Big Shot with my card - it was used to create the texture on the chocolate chip piece (Finial Press texture folder) and to cut out the ovals for the focal image (Ovals originals die). The colors include very vanilla, more mustard, chocolate chip, close to cocoa and creamy caramel. I inked up the cat image with creamy caramel and then added the color with various markers. You can't tell from the photo, but I added a sticky-back rhinestone to the cat's collar. Sadly, the Eggcellent Eggs kit that I got that from is no longer available - Stampin' Up! has completely sold out of these fabulous kits in the Occasions mini catalog. I'm really hoping that we'll get these sticky-back rhinestones in the new catalog in July!! I made this a sympathy card because losing a beloved pet deserves a beautiful hand-stamped card, too.
Thank you for stopping by! Until next time, happy stamping!
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After the Beat the Winter Blues joint stamp camp that we put together last weekend, my Design Team got together for our monthly meeting. The project for our swap this month was a 3-d item that we could feature in a gifts class. Wow, was I impressed with the swaps! I see another stamp camp in our near future...
Here is the first project, submitted by Darlene Crockett. She found a pattern for a basket that you make using a square piece of cardstock (not sure to whom I should give credit)- in her case she used a full piece of 12" x 12" pink passion cardstock and embellished it with 2 sheets of the Kaleidocolor DSP and 1/4" tempting turquoise grosgrain ribbon. Stunning!
This next project was created by Gwen Goulder... she found some flour sack cloths to alter with stamps and fabric (they are 100% cotton so great for stamping). Do you know that the butterflies that are appliqued on the cloth were cut out using her Big Shot and the Beautiful Butterflies bigz die? YUP! The stamp set used is Always - one of Gwen's favorites. I love it!!
Here is the next project, submitted by Lori Subosits. I believe she said the pattern was shared by Andrea Walford. She, too, used the Kaleidocolor DSP - these are great colors for Spring! And like Gwen, Lori used her Big Shot to cut out the butterflies and scallop squares. I could see this as a great gift for your favorite teacher, filled with post-it notes and chocolate!!
This fun treat basket was created by Sherri Gough. I believe she said she purchased the instructions from Becky Roberts. I love the colors that she used - pulled from the Sweet Pea stack of DSP. The milk carton containers were all created using the Big Shot die currently found in the Occasions mini catalog and the Easter images are from the Eggcoutrements stamp set (featured in our Fabulous Friday posting this week!).
And my submission is one you've seen previously - it was my Fabulous Friday project a few weeks ago (see that original post here). I liked the project so much that I created it for my swap! I did run out of the red flowered paper from the Pink Flamingo DSP pack so used the one with the summer sun flowers and tempting turquoise on the back. I then had to switch out the colors of my holder to summer sun and the cards to tempting turquoise. Did I remember to take a picture? Of course not! Hopefully someone will do that and email it to me and I'll edit this post to reflect the correct project. ETA - thanks, Lori, for the picture!! Here is my submission below...
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful and unfrogettable day!
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I was doing so well getting blog postings done on a regular basis, but hit a brick wall here over the last week. I apologize for being away since Friday, but my life has been a bit crazy and something had to give - it was sleep or my blog. Sleep won out!!
So, what have I been up to? On Saturday my Design Team and I put on our first ever joint-effort stamp camp and it was a lot of fun! We had originally scheduled it for January 30th but the snow forced us to reschedule it. Everyone who attended our "Beat the Winter Blues" camp received the Very Thankful stamp set (the designated Ronald McDonald House Charities stamp set this year) and used their sets with several of the projects. We also decided to focus on the In Colors, Cottage Wall DSP and accessories in the Occasions mini catalog.
This tea bag holder was designed by Darlene Crockett... I love how Darlene was able to find tea bags that were crushed curry in color! These are so quick and easy to make when you have the Top Note die and a Big Shot. The pocket was formed using one whole and one half of a rich razzleberry Top Note diecut and held together with sticky strip... they gold eyelets from the Vintage assortment are mainly decorative. The image was stamped with basic black craft ink and heat embossed on a piece of crushed curry before being punched out with a scallop oval punch. The melon mambo polka-dotted ribbon was folded over and adhered behind the punch. The perforation marks around the outer edge of the Top Note diecut were drawn on with a Uniball Signo white gel pen to give it the appearance of being sewn. What a great little party favor for a baby shower or something to tuck into a gift basket.
This next project was created by Sherri Gough... everyone made 2 of each of the cards that day. This is a pocket card with a bookmark made from the Two Tags die tucked inside. Isn't it gorgeous?! The colors used were basic black, bermuda bay and rich razzleberry. The hearts were punched out of cardstock using the Heart-to-Heart punch and the card was embellished with a piece of rich razzleberry polka dot ribbon and black brads from the Vintage Brads assortment. You may not be able to see it from the photo, but there is dazzling diamonds on the flowers also!!
This beautiful card, which everyone made 2 of also, was created by Lori Subosits and designed to get a lot of Occasions mini catalog products into the hands of our stampers. The birds were punched out of Cottage Wall DSP using the XL 2-step bird punch and the texture on the whisper white piece was added with the Big Shot and the Perfect Polka Dots texture folder. The sentiment is from the Whimsical Words Sale-a-Bration stamp set and the mat for this was created using the scallop trim corner punch. The colors used were rich razzleberry, orchid opulence, whisper white and old olive.
This last project was my contribution - a quick and easy basket to hold chocolates wrapped in a cello bag and made from the Fancy Favor box bigz xl die cut from basic black cardstock cut to 12" x 5-1/4". The handle is a piece of cardstock cut to 12" x 3/4" so it only takes half of a 12" x 12" sheet of cardstock. I wrapped a piece of Cottage Wall striped DSP around the basket and tied it off with whisper white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon which was tied and knotted around a small strip of rich razzleberry polka dotted ribbon. I believe it was Ann Clemmer who shared this idea at Founder's Circle last fall... I love it! The white brads holding the handle of the basket to the box are from the 5/8" neutral brads collection.
We also had a bonus project which was a small jar candle with a tag made with the Flower for All Seasons stamp set (currently a Sale-a-Bration selection) but I neglected to get a photograph of it. All pre-cut supplies, including the stamp set, were packaged in an altered white gift bag... they turned out so pretty but again I forgot to take a picture.
All in all this was a fun stamp camp and we look forward to holding more in the future!!
Thanks for stopping by... I will be back tomorrow with my Fabulous Friday project so please come back!!!
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I had my monthly Design Team gathering yesterday afternoon and when we get together we always swap card ideas. Everyone was given the option to bring their swaps with them or create them during the meeting... some chose option 1, others chose option 2 - either way I loved them all and wanted to share them with you all so you can be inspired, too! There was no theme this month - just that the card had to use something new from the Occasions mini catalog or Sale-a-Bration brochure.
This card was created by Sherri Gough. I love the Love Bandit stamp set, especially this super-cute raccoon image - we were given it free at the Manager's Reception during Leadership and now I have a great card to offer my workshop and private stamp-a-stack classes!
Stamp set: Love Bandit (Occasions mini)
Cardstock: kraft, whisper white, melon mambo, bermuda bay
Ink: basic black, versamark
Punches: full heart, modern label, word window, scallop trim border (SAB item!)
Accessories: Welcome Neighbor DSP (SAB item!), blender pen, Big Shot scalloped heart of hearts embosslit (Occasions mini)
This card was created by Lori Subosits. I believe she said it was CASE'd, but I am not sure who the original designer is. How cute!!! ETA: Here is a link to the original card created by Peggy Sue Stukky (Thanks, Lori!) - it is a resource for Stampin' Up! demonstrators only. What a great reason to sign up - yet another fantastic source of inspiration that Stampin' Up! provides us!!
Stamp sets: Well-Scripted (Occasions mini), ETA: Christmas Punch hostess level 2 (I was incorrect earlier when I listed Serene Snowflakes)
Cardstock: whisper white, ballet blue, basic black
Ink: ballet blue, versamark
Accessories: clear embossing powder, dazzling diamonds, 2-way glue pen, basic black stampin' write marker, white signo uniball gel pen
Punches: ETA - Lg oval, 3/4 inch circle, 1/2 inch circle, 1 1/4 inch circle, 1 3/8 inch circle and 1 3/4 inch circle (Thanks, Lori!)
This card was created by Gwen Goulder. She used the card layout that was in our Stampin' Success magazine this month. One of the awesome perks we get as demonstrators is a full color magazine each month filled with lots of great stamping ideas and inspiration. My camera didn't capture the true vibrant color of this card - I really like it!!
Stamp set: I {Heart} Hearts (Occasions mini), Short & Sweet
Cardstock: whisper white, basic black, pink passion
Ink: basic black
Accessories: Big Shot perfect polka dots texture folder (Occasions mini)
Punches: word window, scallop trim border (SAB item!), small heart (Occasions mini)
Darlene Crockett designed her card based on a CASE out of the Occasions mini catalog itself... just check out page 15. Instead of going with the wider real red grosgrain she opted for the narrower 1/4" and rather than using DSP for the bottom half of the card, she chose to go with texture. This just goes to show that our catalogs really are wonderful for inspiration as well as showcasing our products! Be sure and hold onto your catalogs for those times you have stampers block or are looking for layout and/or color combination ideas.
Stamp set: I {Heart} Hearts (Occasions mini)
Cardstock: whisper white, chocolate chip, old olive, bashful blue
Ink: real red
Accessories: Big Shot perfect polka dots texture folder (Occasions mini), 1/4" real red grosgrain ribbon, full heart punch
And lastly, here is my contribution... it is a CASE of my Leadership swap shown below. I just changed the DSP and matched the colors to it. My brain was fried from the long weekend of Open House sessions and we had been to a UVa Men's Basketball game the night before until midnight so I decided not to reinvent the wheel. If you have a layout that you like, use it again, but change up the colors and you know you'll be happy with the outcome~
Stamp set: Well Scripted (Occasions mini)
Cardstock: pretty in pink, chocolate chip, very vanilla, real red
Ink: chocolate chip
Accessories: clear rhinestone brads, Big Shot perfect polka dots texture folder and beautiful wings embosslit (both in the Occasions mini), stampin' dimensionals, Sending Love specialty DSP
I hope you can see that there is such a good variety of stamps and accessories in our Occasions mini catalog and SAB brochure and I hope you have been inspired by our swap. I know I have!
I thank you for stopping by and leave you with some photos from the game... what a fun night! It's been a long time since I attended a college basketball game and I was so happy that UVa beat Miami! Wahoo-wa!!! Of course, we dropped a small fortune in the bookstore before the game... I had to get my kids some blue and orange gear!!
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Join me for a fun day of stamping! This stamp camp is for you if you enjoy making cards and 3-D items. You'll get your own "Very Thankful" stamp set (Stampin' Up! will donate $2 from each set to the Ronald McDonald House Charities) to use with your projects as well as pre-cut supplies and materials for the projects. Lunch will also be included. The cost of this stamp camp is $40 and the projects are 4 cards (2 each of 2 designs), a fun Big Shot handled-box as well as a tea bag holder. If you register and pay by January 1st you'll get to make an additional bonus project. Deadline for prepayment and registration is January 10th. Seating is limited so please register right away! I am holding this stamp camp with my Design Team so registration will close before January 10th if all the spots are filled.
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I received several hand-stamped Christmas cards recently and wanted to share them with you because I think they are just fantastic!
Here is a card that I received from my friend and Design Team/downline member Sherri Gough. I love it... real red and old olive is one of my favorite color combinations for Christmas and she used it perfectly with this card featuring the Season of Joy and Christmas Punch stamp sets and real red 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon. Check out how great the "holly jolly..." sentiment works with the curly label punch. Thanks, Sherri!
Here is a card I received today from my friend and Design Team/downline member Darlene Crockett. It is GORGEOUS in real life... the elegant eggplant with whisper white combination is so elegant. Sadly, this photo doesn't nearly capture the true beauty of this color combination but trust me, it is great! The Merry Christmas sentiment from Four the Holidays is heat embossed with silver embossing powder and the snowflake from Serene Snowflakes is stamped in elegant eggplant and highlighted with dazzling diamonds glitter. The corners of the stamped panel and mat are punched with the ticket corner punch which notches the corners... nice touch! And there is texture on the big white panel background piece on the card... it was created using one of the Texturz plates with the Big Shot. Thanks, Darlene!!
Is it any wonder that these talented stampers are on my Design Team? I get inspired by their projects all the time!
I hope you have been inspired, too, and take the time to hand-stamp some Christmas cards this year for your friends and family members! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you back tomorrow for Fabulous Friday... our featured project this week is to make tags.
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I got together with my Design Team members (Darlene Crockett, Sherri Gough and Lori Subosits) on Sunday, Nov. 29th, to give them their Christmas gifts and also to work on details for our upcoming Feb. 6th stamp camp (details coming soon!). Unfortunately, Gwen Goulder couldn't come at the last minute and I didn't want to post any pictures before I was able to give her a gift. Since I'm not sure when I'll be seeing her again due to our crazy busy schedules this month, I thought she wouldn't mind if I went ahead and posted.
This is the Christmas card I created for each of them... it is a CASE of a swap I received from Dawn Olchefske in 2008 at Founder's Circle. Her card used the now-retired Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red, but I substituted old olive and ruby red along with naturals ivory cardstock and it is just as pretty in my opinion. I also added a knot of Sleigh Bells Ring ribbon at the top - my current fave - found in the Holiday Mini and edged the ruby red cardstock with the eyelet border punch.
The gifts that I cherish the most that I have received at the Founder's Circle events that I attended the last two years are the necklaces chosen for us by Shelli Gardner. I know that I am only one of 125 people who own these necklaces and wear them with pride and joy. I wanted to give my Design Team members that same feeling so I purchased sterling silver chains and a pendant made with Swarovski crystals for each of them and packaged them in these chocolate chip boxes cut out with my Big Shot (box #2) and embellished with the Merry Moments DSP. Each box was decorated a little differently, but the contents were all the same. I won't post a photo of the necklace so at least that will be a surprise for Gwen!
During our monthly meetings I issue a challenge and we create a project on the spot and duplicate it so that everyone goes home with one of the samples. It's great for building our display samples for classes, workshops and clubs. For this meeting I purchased the 5"x5" on board art journals and challenged everyone to create an inspiration journal using any of the supplies in my stamping studio.
Since Gwen wasn't able to attend, I took the liberty of creating hers for her. I know she loves chocolate chip, brocade blue and very vanilla so chose the Bella Bleu DSP for her book. I purposely left the cover plain so she could further embellish it if she chose.
Here is Sherri's book - she decided to use the Thoroughly Modern DSP and Beautiful Butterflies Big Shot bigz die.
This is Darlene's book - she used the Tea Party DSP and cut out a flower from one of the sheets. Yes, she cut... no surprise, huh?!
And lastly, here is Lori's book - she chose the Kaleidoscope DSP and die-cut the letter "L" using the Big Shot Serif Essentials bigz die.
I hope over the next few months these talented ladies will be able to fill their books with favorite color combinations, card sketches and class ideas. I need to make one of them for myself, too!
Thanks for stopping by - tomorrow I'll be posting my Scrapbook Club layouts for December. See you then!!
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