Unfrogettable Stamping!

October 2011 Demonstrator of the Month, part 2

Are you ready to see a few more of the creations submitted by Delores Wilson?  Here is a great 2-page July 4th spread... did you know that July 4th is Delores' birthday?!

And here are some close-ups... if you look closely you'll notice that there is not any stamping on these pages - everything is done with the Big Shot and punches.  She even figured out how to make photo corners using our square punch since that punch has now retired (start with a square of card stock and cut in half diagonally - now notch out the inside using a smaller square punch).

And how about these fall cards - both feature the Spice Cake DSP (my favorite!), Always Thankful, Gently Falling and Hand-Penned Holidays stamp sets and quilted ribbon all from the Holiday Mini catalog.  Which do you like better?  One has a wider strip of the DSP...

Here is a card featuring the Trendy Trees stamp set... check out the background on this card - it was created using the swirl that is supposed to be a tree.

And one more featuring the Pendant Park stamp set.

Thanks for visiting today... I have just a few more cards to share with you tomorrow, all with a Christmas theme so be sure and check back!

October 2011 Scrapbook Club projects

My Scrapbook club met on Tuesday night and everyone made two 12" x 12" layouts, including this Thanksgiving page that my Hostess Kris had requested.  I wasn't sure what to do since we don't have any Thanksgiving stamps and then while searching around on various blogs that I check out I came across a really cute punch art turkey page that had been designed by Chris Galbraith. 

Here's a close-up of the turkey - can you guess how many punches it took to create him?  Let's count them, shall we - Boho Blossoms, Word Window, Large oval, Wide oval, Scallop oval, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle, Butterfly, 2-step Bird, Ornament, Itty Bitty punches (circle) and 5-Petal Flower.  So how many is that?  A dozen!  But so worth the final outcome, right?!

Here is the second layout - definitely a much easier page to put together!  This page was my Fabulous Friday fall project a few weeks ago and you can find more details about it here.

If you are interested in joining a club and are local to the Lynchburg area, please give me a call!  We have a lot of fun.

Thanks for stopping by... enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Happy World Card Making Day!!

Did you know that today is World Card Making Day?  I am celebrating it by holding a Mini stamp-a-stack class.  Everyone who attends is going to make two each of four different designs.

This is card #1 - I wanted to do a masculine birthday card since they're tough ones, at least for me!  I love the Well Worn DSP that I used for this card and you can never go wrong with the Lovely as a Tree stamp set!  The river rock looks very greenish against the not qutie navy and cajun craze, doesn't it?  The "happy birthday" sentiment is one I created from a large text personalized stamp... I really like it and the font is so simple that it works with a lot of different styles.

Here's my feminine card - I had to have one with pink!  It is a CASE of a swap I received from Colleen Magness at the Charlotte Regional and features the Awash with Flowers stamp set along with Curvy Verses.

This card is an all-occassion card and is a CASE of one that my downline member Jennifer Rawlings created for our Catalog CASE swap last month.  I love the colors - they are so rich and beautiful:  tempting turquoise, elegant eggplant, so saffron and whisper white.  The stamp set is Fifth Avenue Florals - one I haven't used in a while so I was glad to dust it off for the class today!

And the last card is this fall-themed one featuring the Gently Falling stamp set from the Holiday Mini.  It is a CASE of one I received in a Holiday Mini swap that didn't have a name on the back so I can't give credit.  I changed the colors a bit but loved the torn layers and collage of the various leaves.  My color scheme is more mustard, old olive, cajun craze, crumb cake, chocolate chip and naturals ivory and I used the Three Little Words stamp set to make this a "Thinking of You" card - I needed some sympathy cards and this fit the bill perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you find the time to stamp some cards today in honor of World Card Making Day!!

Fabulous Well-Worn Fall scrapbook page

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are focusing on Fall-themed projects.  I decided to create a fall scrapbook page for my scrapbook club next month (you know how I love making projects that fulfill several duties).  I decided to use the Well Worn DSP, which I have not opened until now.  I love it!  The colors are so masculine and rich - early espresso, cajun craze, not quite navy, soft suede and river rock. I kept this layout very simple because I'm thinking that my photos will be filled with lots of color from the changing leaves and I want them to really stand out on the page.

The Big Shot made putting this page together pretty easy - the "FALL" page title was cut out using the Serif Essentials bigz dies with cajun craze card stock.

I saw this piece of DSP in the Well Worn package and thought it looked so much like a leaf so I used my Leaves #2 die to cut out this maple leaf.  I popped it up with a stampin' dimensional.

The other embellishment on the page is this stamped tree image from the Lovely As a Tree stamp set - one of my all-time favorites!!  I inked it up with my river rock ink pad and then thumped with  soft suede and cajun craze markers to get the variagation in the leaves.  I colored the trunk with an early espresso marker, huffed on the whole thing and then stamped it.  Voila - it's gorgeous!

Thank you for visiting me today - please be sure and hop on over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today to see the other fall-themed projects created for this week.  We'll also be announcing the 4 winners of the blog candy give-away to celebrate our two-year blog anniversary.

Have a wonderful weekend!

September 2011 Demonstrator of the Month, pt. 2

Well time sure did get away from me once again... I had my Card Club meeting on Monday night and a workshop last night so I apologize for the lack of posting.  Today I'll share with you the cards that Gwen submitted this month for being my Demonstrator of the Month.

Check out these great punch art pumpkins - perfect for a Halloween card!  I love the way she used the Decorative Label punch two different ways - one "as is" and the other to create the piece that "boo" is stamped on.  We learned how to do this at the Charlotte Regional and I'm so glad Gwen used this technique because I had forgotten about it already.

This is a great card for Fall - lots of texture on the leaves and look at the log cabin smooch spritz that she added to the card.

This is a beautiful card featuring some of the images from the Nature Walk stamp set.  I love how she used the paper daisies to embellish it - how pretty!

And her last project that she submitted is this great tag.  I love this tree and "merry" from the Pennant Parade stamp set.

Nice job, Gwen!  Thank you so much for creating such awesome projects for us.  I hope you've been as inspired as I have. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Mini Catalog swap - Gently Falling

I participated in a Holiday Mini catalog swap with Kelly Acheson recently and will be sharing those with you over the next couple of weeks.  I pulled all the samples featuring the Gently Falling stamp set to share today - this is a stamp set that many of us earned for FREE or at a significant discount as part of a pre-prder bundle... just one of the MANY perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator!  The card above was created by Candy Michael.

This card was submitted by Dianna Richards and features the gorgeous Spice Cake DSP and the colors that are in it - more mustard, soft suede and pool party.

Lori Schuch created this beauty - it features a strip of the Spice Cake fabric.

Here is the card from Ruth Bingle - it has a piece of card stock vellum over the stamped leaves and is gorgeous!

Linda Wiese created this card - I love the three panels of leaves!

This beauty was designed by Sarah Simon.  I love the early espresso quilted ribbon!

And here is one final card... sadly, there wasn't a name on the back of the card.  I love the look of the collage!  If this is your card, please let me know so you get credit!!

Thanks for looking - be sure and check back tomorrow because it is Fabulous Friday on the Sisters in Stamping blog and we'll be featuring fabric projects!!

2011 Fall MEGA stamp-a-stack, pt. 2

Today I want to share with you the remaining six designs that were contributed by Sherri Gough and Wendy Boothe, who helped me put this Fall MEGA stamp-a-stack together.  First up, I'll share Sherri's cards...

This card features the color combination of concord crush, pear pizzazz, wisteria wonder and whisper white and showcases the Precious Butterflies hostess stamp set in the Idea Book & Catalog.

When I think of fall the color combination of cajun craze, very vanilla and soft suede just fit it well, don't you think?  This card features the gorgeous Medallion stamp along with a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I am not sure if you can see it or not, but there is a large rhinestone right in the center of the Medallion that really sets it off nicely.  The birthday sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

This Christmas card design features the Come to Bethlehem stamp set from the Idea Book & Catalog and features a color combination of night of navy, basic gray and whisper white.  It is so elegant with the organza ribbon.  Do you notice the star?  It was stamped with night of navy ink but then painted with an aqua painter and Frost shimmer paint (the paint was lifted from the bottle cap) and embellished with a rhinestone.

These next three cards are Wendy's contribution to the stamp camp...

This card features the gorgeous Nature Walk stamp set, a set first found in the Occasions Mini catalog last Spring.  The color combination used is naturals ivory (a definite for this stamp set!), rich razzleberry, old olive and soft suede.  The hanger for the bird cage was drawn with a ruler and a soft suede marker and it was embellished with a linen thread bow.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

This beautiful Thanksgiving card features the Gently Falling stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalog.  Do you notice the brown rhinestones?  Aren't they cool?  We achieved that look by coloring the rhinestones right on the sheet with a brown permanent marker.  The color combination used here is daffodil delight, very vanilla, chocolate chip and pumpkin pie.  The Happy Thanksgiving sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

And last but not least, here is Wendy's Christmas card featuring the super-cute Thanks Snow Much stamp set and new lace ribbon border punch.  The richness of the cherry cobbler card stock worked great with the brightness of the lucky limeade In Color card stock.  The Merry Christmas sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set... a set you'll notice was used with many of the cards!!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have been inspired to get a start on your fall and holiday card making!!

2011 Fall MEGA stamp-a-stack

On Saturday I held a MEGA stamp-a-stack stamp camp with two of my downline, Sherri Gough and Wendy Boothe.  We wanted to help our stampers get a jump start on their Christmas cards and to replenish their supplies of handmade cards.  Everyone that came received a gift bag full of supplies to make 27 cards (3 each of 9 different designs), a full pack of stampin' dimensionals and rhinestone jewels to embellish their cards plus the opportunity to win one of six fabulous door prizes and lunch.  It was a lot of fun and I thank everyone who attended!  Here are some more photos of the event along with the 3 cards that I designed for the event.  I'll share Wendy's and Sherri's cards with you tomorrow.  We each designed one Christmas card and two other cards so that everyone would have a great variety of cards.

I love the Fabulous Florets stamp set - so glad it made it into the Idea Book & Catalog from the Summer Mini catalog!  The colors I used are two new In Colors - calypso coral and lucky limeade.  The sentiment is from the Everyday Wishes stamp set - one that is sold in the back of the catalog with the Simply Sent kits.

This is my card featuring the Spice Cake DSP and Always Thankful stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalog.  I just love the way the Pool Party new In Color card stock just pops from this gorgeous paper!!  Blender pens made coloring a breeze with this card.

My Christmas card features the new silver glimmer paper - it is so glittery in real life and absolutely a must-have for your holiday projects!  You can purchase some from the Holiday Mini catalog now through Christmas!!  I just love the ornament punch and the background features the new Big Shot snowburst impressions folder, also found in the Holiday Mini catalog.  The "Merry Christmas" sentiment is from the new Petite Pairs stamp set... one any cardmaker will love to own!

Here are some more photos from the day... enjoy!  Thanks, again, to everyone who attended.  Our next big stamp-a-stack will be on Sunday, Nov. 6th and will feature 10 different Christmas designs.  If you'd like to join me to make 30 cards in one sitting, please contact me for more details!

 

Fabulous shaker frames

Welcome to Fabulous Friday!  This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are featuring the new shaker frames found in the Holiday Mini catalog - these dimensionals make it so easy to create a shaker frame accent for your paper crafting projects.  I decided to go with a 4-1/4" square card this week - they still fit in our medium envelopes but don't require extra postage! 

When I first got my Peekaboo Frames bigz die from the Holiday Mini catalog I thought that there were so many more things you could do with this die besides creating an advent calendar.  The rectangular shape reminded me of a big picture window and I thought wouldn't it be neat if you used the openings as hinged wooden blinds... that was the inspiration for my card.  I must admit that this was a collaborative effort and I owe many thanks to my downline Gaylyn Pantana who graciously agreed to stay after our downline meeting last night and help me create the card that was starting to come together in my head.  Thanks so much, Gaylyn!!!  The trees are from the Funky Forest wheel and I colored them with my stampin' write markers in soft suede, cajun craze, garden green, soft suede, always artichoke and pumpkin pie and wheeled it across a piece of scrap whisper white card stock.  I then attached a piece of medium window sheet behind the early espresso card stock "window" with SNAIL and then added the Shaker Frame pieces cut into long strips to frame the opening.  I attached three sides of that to the stamped card stock, leaving one short end open so I could slip in some champagne glass glitter (Gaylyn thought they looked like tiny leaves).  Once they were in, I pulled the adhesive off the short side and secured them inside.  I then trimmed down the whisper white card stock so you couldn't see it any more.  Once that was done I added it to a piece of 4" square DSP from the Nursery Nest package that reminded me of wall paper.

 

The banner was Gaylyn's idea - I used a sentiment from the Falling Leaves stamp set along with a partial leaf image and anchored it to a scallop circle punched from pumpkin pie card stock that mimicked the shape of one of the tree foliage from the stamped image.

Thanks so much for visiting me today!  I hope you'll stop by the Sisters in Stamping blog next to check out some other great ideas for the Shaker Frames.  We are offering blog candy this month to celebrate our two year blog anniversary so please leave a comment to be entered in the drawing!  You can even go back and leave a comment on last Friday's blog post to enter a second time.  Leave a comment each week and you'll get four chances to win!!  We are giving away four different prizes so make sure you enter.

Products used with today's project include:

 

August 2011 monthly stamp-a-stack cards

Wow, the wind is howling outside!  But thankfully since we're about 4 hours from the coast we aren't going to feel the effects of Hurricane Irene as badly as other parts of Virginia today.  I pray for the safety of those in her path!!  This past Thursday night I held my monthly stamp-a-stack class and pictured above is one of the cards everyone got to make.  It is a CASE of one I saw on my friend Jen Sannes' blog.  I absolutely love her clean and simple style... I did change the colors to a brighter palette (calypso coral, poppy parade and whisper white) based on the piece of the Berry Blossoms DSP used (aren't these strawberries so cute?!).  The flower is from the Button Buddies stamp set and works perfectly with the 1-3/8" scallop circle punch - how great is that?!  I wanted to feature the hostess set Swirls and Curls Verses from the Summer Mini catalog one last time before it is gone at the end of the month... I think this set is so cute!  I embellished the card with a piece of the calypso coral ruffled ribbon... if you don't have any of these yet, buy one because they are so beautiful and add so much texture and interest to a card.  Don't forget that you only have a few days left to take advantage of the "buy 3, get 1 free" designer paper sale!!  I took advantage of it and stocked up on some Berry Blossom paper!!

This next card is a CASE of one I saw at the Charlotte Regional last weekend... I did not get this card but took a photograph of it so do not know who designed it to give credit.  If it is yours or you recognize it and know who made it please let me know!!  The swap card had a different sentiment... I decided to feature the Strength & Hope stamp set because it is going away at the end of this month when the Summer Mini catalog ends.  The color palette used is from the Color Coach and is a dynamic duo - great for monochromatic cards:  wisteria wonder, elegant eggplant and whisper white.  Don't forget that Stampin' Up! will donate $2 from the sale of each of these stamp sets to the Breast Cancer Research Fund.  For more ideas, check out the projects from my Stamping Out Breast Cancer stamp camp a few months ago and other samples here.

This card is another CASE of a card that my downline Delores got - again, I did not get it so took a photo of it.  If it is yours, please let me know... I love it!!  I started offering one Christmas card at my stamp-a-stacks last month and will continue to do so through November so that my stampers can get a nice variety of Christmas cards to send out in December.  It's never too early to start working on them!!  This card features the fun color palette of blushing bride and baja breeze.  The two stamp sets are Serene Snowflakes and Snow Much Fun.  The focal embellishment is one of the tags from the Big Shot Two Tags bigz die.  I love that there is very little coloring on this card but it still makes such a big impact!

I wanted to feature a Summer Mini catalog set and decided to use the On the Grow stamps because I love watercoloring!  I had seen some samples by Lisa Young and thought her idea to keep the flowers white by coloring around the image with sahara sand was brilliant!  The First Edition specialty DSP works great with crumb cake, too!!  I have to say that using water color paper along with an aqua painter is so much fun!!

The final card of the evening was a sneak peek of upcoming Holiday Mini catalog items... I really liked the swap card I made for the Charlotte Regional so that is the card everyone made.  The Gently Falling stamp set and coordinating Spice Cake DSP were ones I got for FREE from Stampin' Up!, so cool!  I also got to show my stampers how to use the color spritzer tool... it is so much fun!

If you would like to attend my stamp-a-stack next month, please contact me to get your spot reserved!  Thanks for stopping by - stay safe and dry this weekend if you live on the east coast!  I'll be keeping you in my prayers.