Thursday, July 29, 2010

LNFI Card Stock Donation

L'etoile du Nord French Immersion School--part of the St. Paul public schools--is the public elementary school where our kids have attended. Jane is a 2009 graduate, Ellie will be in 5th grade coming up this Fall, and Catherine will most likely matriculate in the Fall of 2011.

With public school funding cuts, it seems the supply lists grow every year. This year I noticed that the 5th grade "appreciated but not required" section includes Card Stock--Any Color!

Anyone who would like to contribute to the card stock stock can do so through me, and for every 5 packs ordered ($6.95 per pack, 24 sheets), I'll donate 1 pack.

I'll put the order in on August 13, so please let me know before then if you'd like to take part. Payment ($8.23 total) can be made to me in the form of cash/check/CC. Check out the fantastic color selection at www.stampinup.com.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Shabbycat

I tried my hand at the "shabby chic" style tonight. It is a bit of a stretch for me, but I think I am happy with the result.



One thing I enjoy about card making is that I can spend some time thinking of my friends while I design and create cards for them. Anyone who has had a pet knows how important they are as companions, entertainers and comforters. I'll send this card to a friend whose cat had surgery a little while ago.

The card layout is from the Clean and Simple Challenge 76 over on splitcoaststampers.com. Toni (ravengirl) provided the original, and we were to make a card following her sketch. This, my second submission, is far more complex than my original version, but it still was fairly quick to make.

The card base (Creamy Caramel) is 4 1/4" square. Close to Cocoa mat is 4 1/8", and Naturals Ivory image panel is 4" square.

I used the Rock and Roll technique with Crumb Cake and then Close to Cocoa inks to stamp the cat. The "C" stamp is also in Crumb Cake. Both those images are from SU!'s "C is for Cat" stamp set. I returned to Rock and Roll--this time with Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa--to stamp the heart image (from a long-retired SU! set, Mon Ami).

The heart was trimmed using my Paper Snips, which also works great on ribbon (such as this Bashful Blue grosgrain). I created the paper lace from a strip of Creamy Caramel card stock punched along one edge with the Scallop Trim Border Punch. I used the scoring blade on my paper cutter to make the folds.

I distressed the edges of the image panel, the cut out heart and the paper lace, and then sponged with Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa inks.

I stuck the whole thing together using SNAIL and Mini Glue Dots. I wished I knew how to sew, because I think some stitching along the top edge of the paper lace would have been the perfect touch.

I love playing with different styles, and here is my original card for this sketch challenge. Very different results from the same starting point, as you can see.



I designed this card to use up some more of my surplus retired card stock colors. The Gable Green, Apricot Appeal and Pale Plum have all been put out to pasture by Stampin' Up!.

Can you see what's missing from this card? Not clean, crisp lines and a fabulously easy flower accent, that's for sure!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Dry Embossing



You may have heard me rave on about my Big Shot (or "BS" as I affectionately call it), and here is just one more reason to love it: Embossing Folders! SU!'s Embossing Folders make it super easy to dry emboss the entire card front--no more, no less. I think it's a great look.

This simple card relies on texture for most of the interest factor. The card base (Marina Mist) is embossed with my new Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, and the Wild Wasabi panel is embossed using one of the SU! Texturz plates.

Both the image (stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink on card stock of the same color) and the sentiment are from the Herb Expressions stamp set. I've had my eye on this set since it arrived in the 2009-2010 IBC, and got it in the mail today as part of my Sale-A-Bration Demonstrator rewards.

If you've ever thought about joining my Stampin' Up! team, now is a great time. Give me a call, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about the Starter Kit, Demonstrator Support, Demonstrator Business Web Site--the whole nine yards. No pressure, I assure you! I do this because I really do enjoy it, and if it is for you, I encourage you to give it a try!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Simple Cards for Simple Pleasures

I've been reminded in several ways over the past week what an important role pets can play in our lives. One reminder was from my friend Cav, who hosts a weekly card making challenge for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators over at my favorite on-line destination, Splitcoaststampers.

This week, Cav asked us to make cards that reminded us of beloved pets. I jumped at the chance to use my stamp sets "D is for Dog" and "C is for Cat" from Stampin' Up!. Even though I don't have (and haven't ever had) a dog, I find I pull that set out as often as I do the cat set. Dogs, it seems, are popular amongst my friends and relations.





These cards are super-simple: each successive piece of card stock is cut just 1/4" smaller that the one underneath, and all are adhered using SNAIL adhesive. No fancy trimming, and I even skipped putting on any embellishments. (I actually really wanted to put a little rhinestone on the kitty's collar, but didn't have any.)

Colors are Chocolate Chip, More Mustard (dog), Tangerine Tango (cat), and Very Vanilla. To finish the cards off before sending, I'll attach another piece of Vanilla on the inside with a stamped sentiment, and maybe a paw print or dog bone, too.

Tangerine Tango, in which I stamped the cat image and "C", and makes the middle layer on the cat card, is I think my all-time favorite Stampin' Up! color. It was an In Color from a few years back, and is one of the colors that have been re-introduced as part of the Color Renovation. I am really excited about this!!! If you haven't checked out the new color families (Brights, Subtles, Regals and Neutrals), hop on over to www.stampinup.com and take a look-see. With the fab new Color Coach, it is going to be easy-peasy to make solid color choices every day.

Thanks for visiting my blog! I'd love to hear what you think of these or any of the cards I've posted. If you would like me to feature a particular technique, style, color or image, let me know, and I'll see what I can do!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Faux Tin Ceiling

I was so excited this afternoon when I got home from work and saw a nice package waiting for me! Sure enough, it was my New Color Kit (6 Classic Ink Pads and a selection of card stock), the Belles attentions Hostess Stamp Set (clear mount), the Artistic Etchings Stamp Set (Paris theme, and I got this one in clear, too), and the 5 new In Color Stampin' Write Markers.

I had to pull out some of my new gear and do a bit of stamping, of course, and here is what I came up with.



I wanted also to finish up the WICKED challenges from Splitcoaststampers. The final challenge for July was to use Diana Gibbs' Faux Tin Ceiling Technique. You will love this. I am planning on featuring this card at the August meeting of my Techniques Club.

If you'd like to try out the Club (and make this very cool card along with a few other fun projects), please contact me. We still have room for at least one more member, and we'd love to have you join us--either as a member or as a visitor.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

WICKED Quilt Cards

I must be on vacation. Jane and I stayed up late last night watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark" while I stamped. I got up this morning and did some more therapy.

I am still working on producing cards for Susie Nelson's WICKED Challenges over at splitcoaststampers.com: the Demo Side. This was actually Challenge "A", and I loved it so much I had to make three!

Here are my productions:

Brights Quilt


For this card, I wanted to use one of my favorite stamp sets: Bugs & Kisses. Even though the images (and especially the sentiments) are on the cute side, I think that using them with these rich colors really helps them "grow up".

1) Card base is Rich Razzleberry (standard size); Top Note die-cut is Old Olive, and I ran it through the BS a second time to add the swiss dot embossing with the SU! Texturz Plates. Spritz the card stock lightly with water first to get a deeper impression. Basic Black square is 3 1/8".

2) To make the quilt, I first stamped the ladybug and ant images on Naturals Ivory card stock, then cut several 1" squares. I picked the ones I liked best, and adhered them to the Basic Black mat with 2-Way Glue. I cut two 1" squares of Rich Razzleberry, and then used my paper cutter to slice them in half diagonally. To do this, I simply place the square with points on the blade trough, lower the guide with the blade in the center of the square and cut in both directions. That keeps the corners from getting crunched up. I added an Old Olive button with some Linen Thread for a homey look.

3) You know how much I like the Rock and Roll Technique, and I used a variation of it here. I scraped the dragonfly image over my Old Olive pad, trying to get ink mostly on the center of the image. Then I did the same with the Rich Razzleberry pad, but aiming for the edges of the image. I like the result! I used my Paper Snips to cut this guy out, and adhered him to the corner of my card with a Stampin' Dimensional.

Subtles Quilt


The quilt I made representing SU!'s Subtles Color Family was really simple to put together. I created my own background paper by stamping images from the Simply Said stamp set using Rose Red, Pink Pirouette and Pretty in Pink inks. I think the rest is pretty straightforward. Hope you like it!

Regals Quilt


This is actually the first of these three Quilt Cards that I made.

1) Standard size card base is Elegant Eggplant; More Mustard panel is just slightly smaller (4 1/8" x 5 3/8"); Very Vanilla image panel began life as a 3" x 4" rectangle.

2) To create my quilt squares, I stamped Upsy Daisy (love this stamp set!) using More Mustard (twice) and Elegant Eggplant (centered). If I did it again, I would "stamp off" the Eggplant image, so that it would look a bit more purple. It looks almost black, unless you get it in a very good light.

3) Assembling my card was fun! I knew I wouldn't be able to get all the squares lined up perfectly, so I built some wiggle room into my design: distressing the edges! I ran my fingernail over the edges of all the squares before adhering them with either 2-Way Glue or a Stampin' Dimensional. I also crumpled and distressed the edges of the More Mustard mat. For the sentiment panel, I not only distressed the edges, but I also sponged some Elegant Eggplant ink to help it stand out from the background.

Thanks for checking out my cards. I encourage you to try this fun technique either with stamped images like I've done here, or using designer paper. That's the easy way to go, of course. SU! has a lot of great selections of DSP in the just-released 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog.

You can check out all the new products, including Color Renovation "New Color Kits" online at www.stampinup.com. Order online, but remember to select me as your Demonstrator to get "preferred pricing."

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any and all of your paper crafting questions. I'm here to help! Thanks for your continued support; my customers are the BEST!

Friday, July 2, 2010

WICKED Challenge

I love participating in the monthly WICKED Demo-only Challenges over at Splitcoaststampers.com. This month's featured WICKED stamper is Susie Nelson. She has become a good on-line friend to me in the last couple of years. She is always ready with a kind word and thoughtful comment. Of course, she is a WICKEDly talented paper crafter, too!

One of her challenges for the month was to take a card we'd made and "re-do yourself." I have been wanting to try out SU!'s new "Vintage" color combination that is in the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog: Riding Hood Red, Basic Black and Very Vanilla.

Here's the card after the "re-do":



Sorry that my scan is a bit washed out. The Very Vanilla panel on the left-hand side has been dry-embossed with the SU! Texturz Plates.

Hopefully, this link will work if you'd like to see the card I copied.