Tuesday, December 15, 2009

More Christmas Cards

After weeks of computer problems, things are finally running more smoothly here, and I'm able to scan and post a few more Christmas cards. I hope you will enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed making them!

I used SU!'s new Patterned Pines hostess stamp set for both these cards, plus the Grateful Greetings set and a retired Jumbo wheel for the second one.



This blue card is a prototype of a card I'll be featuring at my January Technique Club; it uses the Ghosting Technique. Ghosting is a fun, neat and easy technique that produces a result similar to but slightly less dramatic than Emboss Resist.
Here are the specifics for this card, though I've left off dimensions, because those aren't really too important here.

1) Card base is Bashful Blue, as is the 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon. The dark panel is from SU!'s Rich Regals family: Night of Navy. I've blended these two Classic inks on the snowflake image panel as well.
2) The small snowflake image panel is Glossy White card stock. This is important for this technique. To make the snowflakes stand out on the blue background, simply stamp the images first using VersaMark ink. The VersaMark is a clear, sticky ink, and will resist picking up the Classic, colored inks you put on over it.
3) Add color to your stamped image panel either of two ways: sponge the ink on AND/OR use your brayer to add and blend the inks.
4) Finally, use a tissue to wipe excess ink off of the Glossy card stock. Your VersaMark images will show up "ghostly" behind the colors you added over the top.



This second card was even easier than the first to whip together. The only tricky part here really was using the Sticky Strip to attach the Rose Red Double Stitched Ribbon to the Always Artichoke strip.

I once again owe thanks to Trina for the inspiration for these cards! Both cards are modeled after cards she designed for a Christmas card SAS in November.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Wow! Online Extravaganza

I just checked out the Stampin' Up! website (http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/default.asp) and was wowed by the deals there. Punches 30% off and other products up to 50% off through November 30.

These specials are for on-line orders as well as orders placed through me. There are some really great bundles offered, so please check out the deals!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Technique Club

I'm excited to welcome a new member to my Techniques Stamping Club. Holly will be joining us in January. That brings our membership up to 8 stampers (plus me). It is a fun and laid-back group that I am proud to be associated with. Thanks, Ladies! And special thanks to Trina for bringing Holly to us.

The stamping technique we'll be featuring at our January meeting is Ghosting, sometimes known as VersaMark Resist. As you can tell from its names, this technique uses VersaMark Ink to produce a shadowy effect.

Here is an example of a Christmas card I made last year using the Ghosting Technique.



This card has a couple of special features. Firstly, though it is hard to see in the scanned image, it is a "Tent-Topper" card. All this means is that the actual card base is smaller than normal. If you look closely, you can see that the image panel actually extends above the fold of the card.

Another somewhat unusual aspect of this card is that the main image is on Glossy card stock. When using a brayer to apply ink (as we do with this technique), Glossy is the way to go.

The third thing I really enjoyed when making this card was the doodling around the edge. Those are just freehand dots with a white gel pen. I always feel adventurous when I doodle.

I'd love to hear from you if you'd like to participate in a Stamp Club. I'm quite flexible, and love the opportunities my Stampin' Up! business affords me to meet and relax with lots of interesting and fun people.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Blue Christmas


As promised, I'm posting a sample of the second set of Christmas cards I've finished. This card has fewer parts than the red card (see below), but I did incorporate a special technique for stamping the snowflake image from the Best Wishes & More stamp set.

The card base is Stampin' Up!'s Bordering Blue, and the 4" x 4" panel is Naturals Ivory. The Naturals Ivory is a good choice when using bold images, and especially with the Rock and Roll technique. It is more absorbent than SU!'s Whisper White or Very Vanilla, and is a bit heavier weight.

To use the Rock and Roll technique with the Ballet Blue and Silver inks, I had to wipe the BB off of the edges of the snowflake stamp before inking it up on the Encore Silver pad. (Normally, to use Rock and Roll, you simply ink on the lighter color first, then on the darker color, without wiping any ink off.) While this step added some time to the process, I really like the effect of the silver-tipped snowflakes!

Rock and Roll is one of my favorite techniques to use, because it adds a whole new look to familiar images. I love to play around with different ink combinations, whether different shades of the same color or two contrasting colors. I featured Rock and Roll at my Technique Stamp Club last year. I think it was a hit there, too.

The sentiment is inked with Night of Navy and is from the Grateful Greetings stamp set, which is in the current Holiday Mini Catalog. Night of Navy is a great choice for the greeting on a monochromatic blue card: it is softer than Basic Black, but still dark enough to really stand out.

Hope you like the cards, and can find some inspiration for your own projects here. Please let me know if you have questions or comments.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Real Red Christmas


Here is a pretty simple card that I mass-produced today (special order for a friend). I made 20 of these in about an hour. The time is a bit hard to judge because of the numerous interruptions from small persons in my home.
The card base is Whisper White, and I cut Real Red card stock (4" x 5 1/4") to form the card front. On the Real Red piece I stamped several different images from the Snow Swirled stamp set, using Encore Silver, Whisper White Craft and Real Red Classic Inks.
I added a sentiment to the front by layering a Whisper White Scallop Circle under a Real Red Scallop Oval. Using the SU! punches and Stampin' Dimensionals is a fast way to create a little dimension on your card front.
I'm half-way through another set of 20 cards in this same order, and I'll post again soon!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Neutrals with a Pop!



I was inspired tonight to make a couple of projects for a co-worker. Actually, for the woman who's job I am taking over, because she got a promotion. Good for her! (Good for me :) !)

After a kind of tiring day, it was so fun to spend some time relaxing and creating. Aaah. I'll post some specifics about these two projects, but I won't go into too much detail, since there are a lot of components. Let me know if you need more information.

For the card, I decided to go with a lot of layers, dimension, embellishments and just plain size. This card is 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square. I have a total of 12 layers of card stock/dsp (including the inside). I used 10 silver brads, 1 mini library clip and 2 pieces of ribbon. On the card front, there are 3 layers that are popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals, too. Good thing I don't have to slide this little guy into an envelope!

The colors I used here were inspired from a Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge (CC243). The challenge was to use neutral tones for card stock, and add a monochromatic color scheme with inks and embellishments. Here I've used Going Gray, Basic Black and Whisper White as my neutrals. I added color with Bravo Burgundy, Rose Red and Regal Rose Classic Inks, and Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon.

This stamp set is retired: Live Like You Mean It. The DSP I used here is also retired. It was one of the Hostess items in last year's catalog.



This photo frame is a project I've made before. I just love the simplicity of it.

Here's what you need: 3 6" x 6" squares of ds DSP (double-sided Designer Series Paper), scoring blade, Slot Punch, narrow ribbon (I used 1/4" grosgrain), 1/16" Punch, 12 Brads.
The steps are simple.
1. Score the squares on both diagonals, then fold the points to the center. Fold each point back out again so it meets the folded edge.
2. Using the Slot Punch, snip out a bit from 2 (opposite) sides of all 3 panels.
3. Thread the ribbon through the holes, so that it runs on the inside of the folded panels. (You should be able to see it, like in the photo.)
4. Hold the ribbon and DSP carefully as you punch small holes and insert the brads. The brads will hold the frames to the ribbon, so that you can hang your frame up easily.

The great thing about this project (besides that it is super easy and quick) is that you don't have to tape or otherwise stick your photos down. You can simply slip the photos under the folded edges of the DSP, and they will hold in place just fine. Switch them out whenever you like. This frame is a great size for school pictures.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Stamping Playgroup

Thanks to all of my friends who were able to make it over this morning for a fun couple hours of stamping, playing and eating scones.
I was sorry that Ann and Anne were ill and unable to make it, but those of us who were here had a great morning. I was really amazed at what everyone accomplished--you ladies are good!
I'd love to post pix here of the cards you are making, so if you e-mail me a photo or scan of your creations, I'll try to put it up on the blog.
Sadly, I won't be able to schedule another morning of fun for a while, but keep on stamping!
I'll post the scone recipe here soon, too.

Saturday, November 7, 2009


As promised, I'm now posting the fourth project from my November 2009 Stamp Club meeting.


This simple, yet elegant, Christmas card features the Snow Swirled stamp set, one of my favorites. In addition to the images you see here, the set also includes several snowflakes of different sizes and a "Season's Greetings" sentiment.
It is easy to switch up the card design a bit by interchanging some of the images or the sentiments. (For exmaple, one of my Club members last night chose to use the "Season's Greeting" on the card front, and save herself the need to write too much inside by using the longer sentiment there. No doubt a wise tactic!)


The color combination is Mellow Moss (from the Soft Subtles color family) and Elegant Eggplant (Rich Regals).


Inks used here include Elegant Eggplant and Encore Silver. We used the distressing tool to rough up the edges of the Whisper White card stock. The ribbon is SU!'s 1/4" grosgrain in Mellow Moss. The embellishments are Silver Brads, which we positioned using the Mat Pack and Paper Piercing Tool.


I like using the Sticky Strip to adhere the ribbon. The Mini Glue Dots also work well, especially if you want to tie a knot or bow.
I'd love to know what you think of this project. And, please, let me know if you are interested in getting some materials for yourself or as gifts as we approach the gift-giving season.
Clearly, I need a Blogger tutorial! After tweaking my "preview post" layout extensively, I "viewed post" only to find some crazy layout features.

Hopefully, gentle reader, you can glean the important information from my amateurish work. I will try to improve!
My Techniques Stamp Club currently has seven members. Each member hosts our meeting once during the year (June-May), and collects the Hostess Benefits (at least $15 in FREE merchandise plus one or more selections from the Hostess-only products). In order to ensure that each member collects at least the minimum benefits, everyone agrees to a minimum order of $25 at each meeting.
We met last night, and I sure had a fun time. Thanks so much to Ann for hosting us; great job!

Pulled Pastels 6 x 6 Page (background only). At the
meeting, we added step-by-step instructions as well
as a title.
Our topic for this meeting was Pulled Pastels. This is sure a fun and easy technique, and it is a new one to me.


Here's what you need: dark card stock, Stampin' Pastels, VersaMark, bold-image stamp. You'll also need a cotton ball (we used cotton disks, cut into fourths) to apply the Pastels to the card stock.


All you have to do to create this cool effect is to rub the Pastels onto your card stock, and then stamp the image with VersaMark ink. The sticky ink pulls the Pastels off the card stock, revealing the base color.


At our meeting, we made 2 different projects using the Pulled Pastels technique: the 6 x 6 page (above) with title and instructions, and the paneled Medallion card (below).


Our other projects were also cards this month. (Sometimes we have a 3-d project, but not this time.) One was the wreath card I posted earlier, using the Embrace Life stamp set. The other used Snow Swirled with a Mellow Moss-Elegant Eggplant color combination. I'll post that card in another post.

If you think you might enjoy being part of a Stamp Club, please let me know. We welcome guests at our meetings, and I am hoping to start up another Club soon, too. I'd be happy to discuss it with you.

Pulled Medallion card. Base is Orchid
Opulence, image panel is Brilliant Blue.
I also stamped the Medallion on the
base in VersaMark to create a water-
mark.

Hope you like these projects! Let me know what you think, and Happy Stamping!

Sunday, November 1, 2009



Here is a fabulous and super-easy card that my Technique Club will make on Friday 11/6. Follow these simple instructions to make one for yourself.
  1. 1. Supplies: Confetti White cs, Glorious Green cs, Embrace Life stamp set, Grateful Greetings stamp set, Glorious Green Classic Stampin' Pad, Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad, Real Red Stampin' Write Marker, 1/16" Circle Punch, Rhinestone Brads Squares, Stampin' Dimensionals, Grid Paper.
  2. 2. Cut and score a piece of Confetti White to standard card size (5 1/2" x 4 1/4"). Cut Glorious Green to a 4" square, and Confetti White to 3 3/4" square.
  3. 3. Form the wreath by stamping the bamboo branch image in a circle in Glorious Green ink. Use the Real Red Stampin' Write Marker to ink up a few of the blossoms, "huff" on the stamp and add it to the wreath.

4. Add a little bling when you position a few Rhinestone Brads either--as I have--in a clump at the bottom of the wreath or distributed around the circle. Just punch a hole with the 1/16" Punch or use your Paper Piercing Tool and Mat. I've got the Square Brads, but probably the Circle Brads would look better, don't you think?

5. For a final touch, ink up the "Christmas Greetings" sentiment with the Real Red pad, and position it in the center of your card front by aligning it next to your grid paper.

6. I've mounted the colored mat directly on the card front, and then popped the image panel up on Dimensionals. I think that works well, especially because of the somewhat thick backs of the brads.

7. Here are some other ideas, too. How about adding a bow of gingham ribbon, using a different color combination (Ruby Red+Old Olive or Mellow Moss+Rose Red), rounding the corners of the panels and card ... ?

I'd love to hear what you come up with!

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my first blog. Happy to have you here, and please gently let me know what I can do to make my blog more useful to you.

So, "Why is Superglew blogging?" Good question, and I'm glad you asked. I am blogging because I figure it is about time that I leap into the 21st century. Also, I'm hoping to use my blog as a forum for sharing my love of papercrafting with my friends--near and far.

"Why hasn't Superglew blogged before?" Not such a good question, and I'm not sure I have a very good answer. I guess, because I don't really know what I'm doing. Experience being the best teacher, though, I'm diving in.

Here's to some fun virtual interaction. Enjoy!