Unfrogettable Stamping!

Fabulous Father's Day Under the Stars

  This week for Fabulous Friday on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are featuring Father's Day cards... it will be here before you know it!  I decided to use a retiring set that I will miss a lot - Under the Stars.  This little bear is just so cute and I love having him hold a banner, or in this case a pennant.  I paper pieced him, stamping the image on the whisper white card stock panel as well as on soft suede, crumb cake and early espresso and then layering the cut pieces.  The color combination of cajun craze, more mustard and not quite navy was pulled from my Color Coach and I found that this piece of DSP from the retiring Well Worn pack worked great with it.  The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes - a must-have stamp set that thankfully is not retiring!  Do you recognize the ribbon?  I turned the more mustard polka dot scallop ribbon around so that the solid side shows.  I like to embellish masculine cards with metal so I used mini silver brads on the sentiment piece.

  Here are two of the Father's Day cards that my husband received last year - the top one is mine and the bottom one was made by my daughter Kelsey... both featuring this same bear... cute, right?

   And how about this one - I made it at a shoebox swap a couple of years ago.  Don't forget to purchase this stamp set before it is gone if you love it as much as I do!

  Be sure and hop on over to the Sisters in Stamping blog after Noon EST today to find even more inspiration for  Father's Day cards.  Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!!

June 2011 Downline Swaps, part 2

Here are the rest of the masculine card swaps from my team meeting this month... lots of great ideas just in time for Father's Day!

This card was designed by Sherri Gough - I just love the Plant Hope stamp set and being half-Japanese the bonsai tree image is one I especially love.  I love the watercoloring that Sherri did and the added texture from the Big Shot Vintage Wallpaper impressions folder is a nice touch.  The early espresso/white baker's twine is a great embellishment for a masculine card.  I think this one could serve double-duty as a sympathy or thinking of you card, too, don't you?  Nice job, Sherri!

Here is the card created by Gaylyn Pantana.  I love the clean and simple feel of the card... one that was extremely hard for Gaylyn (her words, not mine), who is my resident vintage style expert.  I'm so glad that the First Edition DSP is going to be in the new catalog!!!!  This layout could be used for so many different kinds of cards just by changing out the DSP strip and the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes... great job, Gaylyn!

And last but not least is Kris Sennett's contribution this month... she CASE'd her card design from Karen Leveille on Stampin' Connection.  This is a great color combination - chocolate chip, whisper white, real red and crumb cake... very masculine!  Great card, Kris!! 

I love getting all the ideas and inspiration from my monthly swap and hope that you do, too!  I'm trying to encourage more members of my team to swap with us... hopefully when we start again in August with our new catalog CASE swap we'll have a lot of takers.  Next month is our semi-annual shoe box swap meeting and that is always a lot of fun.  I'll be sure to share those cards with you here on my blog.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

June 2011 Downline Swaps, part 1

For our monthly June swap with  my downline, the theme was "Masculine Cards" in honor of Father's Day, although the cards certainly did not have to be Father's Day cards.  We decided to try a new size for our swaps - 4" x 5-1/4"... that way those of us who are business builders or want the card for inspiration can add a quarter sheet of coordinating card stock to the back for our display boards and those who would rather use their swaps to give away can add a full card base.

I decided to use the Uncharted Territory stamp set lighthouse image for my card (see above) - I wanted to do a sunset scene with stampin' sponges and ink... something I haven't done in a while.  I used jet black StazOn ink to stamp the image on naturals ivory card stock and then created a mask and used so saffron, peach parfait and poppy parade inks for the sunset effect.  I then used an aqua painter with crumb cake and not quite navy inks to watercolor the cliff and water.  The panel is matted with a piece of early espresso card stock and placed on a crumb cake piece and the card base is early espresso.  I embellished the card with a strip of poppy parade DSP from the In Color stack and white/espresso baker's twine - not too feminine, right?!

This card was designed by first-time swapper Angie Kinzie... she has been a demonstrator in my third level just since November.  Didn't she do a fabulous job?  She created her own DSP using different elements from The Open Sea stamp set from the Summer Mini to create the collaged effect.  And I love how she combined the globe image from that set with the sentiment from Word Play!  Great job, Angie!!!

Jennifer Rawlings created this great card featuring the Totally Tool set and birthday sentiment from the Hostess level 1 Afterthoughts set.  Do you recognize the black strip?  It's electrical tape - how clever!  I'm so sad that the jumbo eyelets are retiring because they are a great embellishment for a masculine card.  Nice job, Jennifer!

Tomorrow I'll be sharing the remainder of the swaps... be sure and check back!

2011 Summer Mini catalog swap samples from Rachel

My friend and fellow Sisters in Stamping design team member Rachel Yurkanin was a guest swapper with us this month.  I loved getting samples from Rachel because I really like her style!

Here's Rachel's first card... lots of coloring, but oh so cute!  This card features the Recess stamp set from the Summe Mini... I love how she used the hopscotch and alphabet images with whisper white ink and made it look like chalk images on a blacktop.  You have to agree that the colors are really fun on this one, too!

And this one is a great card for Father's Day featuring the Best Dad Ever stamp set from the Summer Mini!  I love the doodling that she did around the outside of the stamped panel and isn't it cool that each tie is a different color?  Our stampin' write markers are perfect for this stamp!  Color each image directly on the stamp and then huff on it to re-moisten the ink and stamp - easy-peasey!

Rachel's last card is this bright and cheerful peacock card featuring the Proud Peacock stamp set.  I love it!  The color combination of old olive, daffodil delight, rich razzleberry and pumpkin pie just makes me happy.  Great job, Rachel, on all three cards... thanks for swapping with us this month!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the wonderful designs that my team came up with this month... isn't it funny that no two cards came out too similar.  I hope you fall in love with the Summer Mini as much as we have!

Thanks for visiting... have a great Sunday!

2011 Summer Mini catalog swap samples from Kris

I am sharing the swap cards from my newest downline and business builder Kris Sennett today... I think she did a great job for her first big swap!!

This first card is a great Father's Day card featuring the Set Sail single stamp and sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  She used the coordinating Nautical Expedition DSP with not quite navy, crumb cake and a pop of color from the daffodil delight grosgrain ribbon.  This card could very easily become a fantastic masculine birthday card, don't you agree?

Here is a cute card featuring the new Sunny Fun stamp set - lots of coloring opportunities with this set for those of you who are into that!  The images are so cute and perfect for summertime cards!  I'm still in awe of all the coloring that Kris did for this one!  Nice job!

And this last card features the Flower Garden impressions folder.  I like how Kris first stamped the pretty in pink card stock with the butterflies and then ran it through the Big Shot to add the texture.  The "Just for You" sentiment is from the Ovall All stamp set in the big catty.  This is such a soft, feminine card, isn't it?

Great job, Kris!  Thanks for participating!!

2011 Summer Mini catalog swap samples

I had my May downline meeting earlier this month and the swap theme for this month was to create samples featuring Summer Mini catalog products.  There were only six of us who participated, so we decided to bump it up to 3 samples per person for a total of 18.  I'll be sharing them with you over the next week... mine are first.  I  must tell you that I had an extremely busy couple of weeks leading up to my meeting so I CASE'd all three of my swap cards.

This first card is inspired by one I saw created by Sandi McIver and features the Sail Away single stamp, Nautical Expedition DSP and cherry cobbler/white baker's twine.  The colors include not quite navy along with cherry cobbler and whisper white.  I love how it turned out!  I made mine a Father's Day card but it is certainly a good one for your favorite man's birthday.

And this card was inspired by one created by Julie Davison that I saw on Stampin' Connection - a demonstrator-only site (a GREAT reason to join my Stampin' Up! family!!) featuring the Bold Blossom stamp set and brand new Blossom Bouquet triple layer punch.  The colors include whisper white, melon mambo, pretty in pink and old olive.  The colors are so bright and cheerful and make me long for hot summer days!!

This last card was one I saw somewhere, but I can't remember where, so cannot give proper credit.. I apologize!  It was sooooo easy but it is stunning, don't you think?  I used tempting turquoise DSP from the Brights Stack and ran it through the Big Shot using the Flower Garden impressions folder and then sanded it lightly with my sanding block revealing the white core of the DSP.  I finished it off with a knot of organza ribbon... ta daaa!  This could easily be done with any of the DSP from the stacks... what a great set it would make to give as a gift!

Want to purchase any of the products used with today's post?  Don't forget that I've got my Debbie's Stampin' Bucks promotion going on... give me a call, send me an email or use my online store (click Shop Now) to place your order and earn your Stampin' Bucks!!! 

Thanks for looking... be sure and check back over the next few days as I share the rest of the swap samples with you!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers out there!  We have had a major stamping session in our household this morning, making cards for our favorite Dad - my husband Joe. 

This card was created by my son Brandon, who is 8.  I asked him what stamp sets he wanted to use and he chose the colors and did the stamping and coloring - all I did was cut for him.  Didn't he do a great job?  The stamp sets used are Cheers to You and Under the Stars.  I asked him what he wanted to make and he said a card with beer on it since Daddy likes beer (no, he's not a lush - just likes drinking an occasional beer with friends when getting together to watch sports on tv).

This next card was created by my daughter Kelsey, who is 11.  She wanted to use the Sweet Scoops stamp set from the Summer mini catalog along with the Big Shot.  I didn't have to do anything to help her - she did it all on her own!  She chose the colors using my Color Coach and cut out all the cones and ice cream scoops... phew!  Kelsey decided to use this set since she knows Daddy loves ice cream!

This card was made by my daughter Amanda, who is 12.  She used the retired Have a Ball and All Year Cheer II stamp sets to make this baseball-themed card for her Dad.  He played baseball in college and is a huge Red Sox fan.  I love that my kids can create these personal expressions of love for others all on their own!

I love how my kids all chose different aspects of their Dad to create their cards!  My card is above - I wanted to use the Totally Tool stamp set and had an idea of the bear from Under the Stars holding some.  The scale's a little off, but it turned out kinda cute, didn't it?!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you had a chance to create a hand-stamped Father's Day card for your favorite Dads.  We're off for a family barbecue later this afternoon and some pool time - hope you have a wonderful day!!

A Fabulous masculine card!

This week on the Sisters in Stamping blog we are focusing on masculine cards... I decided to go a step further and create a Father's Day card since that holiday is right around the corner.

The Totally Tool set is such a fantastic set for making masculine cards and I am so happy that it is returning in the new catalog!  I used the saw image for my card today - I just love the words.  Do you recognize the DSP?  It is from the Travel Journal DSP in the Summer Mini catalog.  I liked the colors - it seemed very masculine to me.  I went with very vanilla for my card along with kraft (soon to be known as crumb cake) and I pulled the garden green and pumpkin pie from the tiny stripes in the DSP for accent colors.  The saw blade was colored with my aqua painter and basic gray ink and the handle of the saw is chocolate chip ink applied with the aqua painter.  The studs in the handle are actually gold brads.  The Happy Father's Day sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes - my favorite go-to set for sentiments.  This is a simple card, but I think masculine cards tend to be more on the simple side, right?

I hope you are inspired to make a masculine card this weekend - why not get your Father's Day cards made early?  For more inspiration, be sure to check out the Sisters In Stamping blog after Noon EST today to see what everyone else created this week.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a fabulous weekend!  Please visit this weekend as I share the swap from my downline meeting this month.  The theme was watercoloring and there were some terrific cards submitted!

Products featured in today's card: