Friday, October 29, 2010

Veteran's Day Stamping

Please let me know if you can join me for stamping and scones on Thursday November 11--Veteran's Day!

We'll meet at my house (contact me if you need directions) from 9:30-noon for stamping, sipping, snacking and schmoozing. Please bring a few cards to donate to a package in honor of the brave men and women who have served or are serving in our Armed Forces. Marilyn and I are exploring options--there are many--for where to donate our cards.

Please bring your own consumable crafting products (adhesives, card stock). Everyone is welcome to select from my--may I say?--WIDE variety of stamps and inks. Little ones are also welcome, but please plan on supervising your own small person. My house is marginally baby-proofed.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

SAPUMC Artist Guild

Silva and I had a fun time today, womaning the Artist Guild card sales table at the St. Anthony Park United Methodist Church Fall Festival. We made over $25 while doing a relaxed but steady business. Thanks to all who stopped by and who bought cards! We'll use the procedes to purchase the card stock, embellishments and adhesives to make Christmas cards.

Here's a card I threw together from a few extra pieces of card stock I had at the table with me!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Happy Halloween!



Clever use of the Top Note die converted scraps of Perfect Plum and Old Olive into a frame of sorts for the cat image from C is for Cat.

Letting 2-way glue dry (until no longer blue) on a punched mask (1 1/4" Circle) and then sponging is my favorite way to make a spooky sky. Here I used Pumpkin Pie (to match the card base) as well as Perfect Plum and Old Olive to create the mood.

I made four of these, and they'll be for sale at the SAPUMC Fall Festival tomorrow! I think I'll make some more for my own use.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

NOEL

At the risk of ruining the surprise, I'm now posting the third project that my Techniques Club will complete one week from tonight. This is also a Christmas card--I really need to get working on my stash if I plan to have any to send out this season!



I just had to find a way to use the Jolly Holiday double-sided Designer Series Paper that is in SU!'s 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog. I love the vintage-y colors (Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla) and the crisp, bold patterns. I'm always thinking ahead, and had ordered some of tne new narrow tafetta ribbon (Old Olive--I love these coordinating products) a few months ago. I just knew I'd need it for this project, right? ;)

Even though this card looks pretty complicated, using the Tag and Small Tag punches to create the "ornaments" on the front took hardly any time. I simply used Mini Glue Dots to adhere the ribbon ends behind the dsp panel, and there are my ornaments!

Here's the inside:



More dsp in here (I hope you can see it)! Plus, I used another of my punches, the Spiral Punch, just to add some charachter. Since this card was a bit of a diversion from my normal style, I offset the mat behind my sentiment panel (also stamped with a tag-shaped image from the Grateful Greetings stamp set), rather than having the mat show evenly on all sides.

One final note: Inspired by Marilyn, I folded the striped dsp on the card front over the fold, so that it shows evenly on both front and back. That's the great thing about stamping with friends!

Are you inspired to make your own Christmas cards? I'd love to help you earn some FREE product! Let's set up a workshop date--drop me a line.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Plaid Silhouette Hearts

The Plaid Silhouette technique that I'll be using for the October meeting of my Technique Club has become one of my favorite ways to use bold images. I love the cool, multicolored effect that gives so much texture, and the technique is also very forgiving.



For this Joy Fold card, I paired a card base of Wild Wasabi with a Cajun Craze inner card and Very Vanilla for the inside liner.

To stamp the heart images (from J'taime stamp set, clear mount), I used Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Wild Wasabi Classic Ink pads. I was going for the look of a pile of leaves in Fall. For these hearts, I used my Paper Snips to trim each "leaf." There is another heart in this set that fits to the Full Heart Punch from Stampin' Up!, if you're looking for a quicker option.

I would love to demonstrate this technique for you at a workshop sometime soon!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

VSN Mini

Thanks to Trina, I was able to participate in one of the challenges for this weekend's Virtual Stamp Night over on Splitcoast Stampers.

The theme is "Cloud Nine." This challenge was to use the Spotlight Technique, like a ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds illuminating a bit of the world.

I need to start thinking about Christmas cards, and my Technique Club meeting is coming up NEXT week (thanks for helping me out with my calendar, Ann), so I killed three birds with one stone.



This card uses the Snow Swirled stamp set. I wanted a crisp, elegant look, so chose Real Red, Basic Gray and Concord Crush (such a rich In Color), and paired them with Whisper White card stock. I kept all the lines clean, punched the edge with the Scallop Trim Border Punch and then added a Whisper White panel to the inside to show off the lacy border a bit more.

The trick to stamping this card is using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the images. If you have the stamp set in the clear-mount option, you could probably get by easily without the SAMJ.

With the VSN challenges, you are limited to 45 minutes to complete each card. I took about an hour to make this card and cut all the pieces for my Club ladies (I made 9 copies).

Monday, October 11, 2010

In Search of ...

... a Hostess:

Someone who wants to enjoy time with friends, relax and create, and earn FREE stuff!

I have two dates open in October, and would love to bring some stamping fun to your house on either Thursday evening October 21 or anytime on Saturday October 23.

If you're interested in a traditional Workshop, invite 6-12 people for an introduction to Stampin' Up!'s high quality products, complete with hands-on projects as well as demonstrations. An total order of just $150 qualifies for the reduced s/h rate and earns the Hostess one Hostess-only stamp set (or paper pack) plus $15 in catalog merchandise. A 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog is yours free for hosting ($9.95 value).

Want to try something a little different? Contact me for details on a Stamp-a-Stack or Technique Night.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Act 2

I am excited to be at the start of an exciting journey in my Stampin' Up! Demonstrator career. I've been invited to join the Recruit Crew (Act 2), and I'm pretty excited about having some strong guidance from the parent company for building my business.

Now's a great time to join Stampin' Up!, and I would love the opportunity to discuss the benefits and challenges of having your own Demonstratorship with you. Please contact me if you would like to learn about what it takes to be a Stampin' Up! Demo.