Second Saturday Stamping

Yesterday was the Second Saturday monthly stamp club, and we have a new memeber! Hi, Becky!!! *waving*

We played a little with the new Envelope Punch Board, just by making envelopes this time. (However, next week it's a whole bunch of non-envelope projects, woohoo!)  Keeping the monthly stamp club projects to something that can be used immediately, we made a birthday card and a thank you card (along with the aformentioned envelope).

The birthday card will be posted later this week, but I wanted to share the Thank You with you today. This is a really easy card to make, yet it looks so elegant.  The Stamp-A-Ma-Jig came in very handy for the 2-Step stamping.

We decorated the envelopes, too. Like Shelli says "No naked envelopes!" After they stamped the image on the card panel, I had them huff on the stamp and stamp on their envelopes. It gives a lovely softer image. It wasn't even necessary to do the second of the 2-Step stamping on the envelope. And to make it extra fancy, we embossed the flaps, too!

All in all, a great day, and new friendships made!

Stamps: Too Kind, Lots of Thanks
Cardstock: Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Baked Brown Sugar DSP (2013-2015 In Color Stack)
Ink: Crisp Canatloupe, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso
Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan folder, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Baked Brown Sugar Ruffled Stretch Trim, Dazzling Details, Stampin' Dimensionals

Growing, Growing, Growing!

Welcome, Lili!

My Stampin' Up! family is growing again! I am so happy to welcome Lili, the newest member of my stamping team.  This is the card that was mailed to her yesterday.

I'm also excited to show her what's new in Stampin' Up!  She used to be a SU demonstrator about a million 20 years ago and I do believe things have changed just a weeee bit since then, lol!

So Lili will come to my downline meeting tomorrow evening, and she'll get a sneak peek at every stinkin' thing in the new catalog (ahem) a few new things I've preordered from the holiday catalog, as well as meet other team members, make a couple of fun projects, and hopefully have lots of questions for me!

If you're curious about the perks of being a demonstrator, or what it takes to become one, or just have a question about it, please don't hesitate to ask or even come and sit in on our meeting! You don't even have to be local to join my stamping family. I strive to make ALL my gals feel appreciated and part of a TEAM, no matter where they are located!
Join my team!
Demonstrator Benefits (Many, many more than listed here!)

Stamp: Chalk Talk, Workshop Words (demo-only set)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise DSP (Brights Stack)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black
Accessories: Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Fancy Fan folder, Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Make it Mailable!

It's "Make it Mailable" day again, so here's another card that will not give the Post Office fits when you send it. This was another from the Masculine Cards class about a week ago. (You really should have been there!)

Even though this stamp retired a while back, I just couldn't part with it because it is so perfect for guy cards. And while I would never demonstrate a retired product at a party/workshop, I'm not against occasionally using something retired in my classes, though I mostly prefer the awesome new things.

This card took me a couple of tries to get right. My first thought was to stamp the image with StazOn, and then use the white gel pen to color in the sails. Truthfully, it looked awful. The coverage wasn't consistent, and it covered up the hatch marks that gave the image depth.

So, Plan B to the rescue! Stamp once on Smoky Slate, then again on Whisper White and fussy-cut just the sails with the pennant on top of the mast. Popped up on dimensionals it looks AWESOME in real life! And the card with envelope is less than 1/4" thick, woohoo!

I love this color combination - Island Indigo, Smoky Slate, and Basic Black (with a bit of Whisper White), on a Basic Gray card base. Very strong and manly looking. ("Strong enough for a man, yet gentle enough for a woman." Name that commercial!)

Speaking of manly cards, too bad you missed the Masculine Cards class, because there won't be another one until next year! Classes have been scheduled through December, and the next class coming up is the Birthday Card class in August, then All Occasion Cards in September...everything else is holiday themed (yes, folks, the holidays will be here before you know it!). Be sure to check out my stamping schedule! Come join the fun with the monthly stamp club, or the monthly Christmas club. Or just take a class or two.

And if you and your friends want to schedule your own private card class, let me know! Better act quickly, though; available time slots are dwindling.

STAMPS: Sails Away (retired), Teeny Tiny Wishes
CARDSTOCK: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White, Island Indigo (Regals DSP stack)
INK: Jet Black StazOn
ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Hexagon Punch (greeting banner end)

SUOC70 - The Theme is Butterflies!

We have another fun challenge this week over at SUO Challenges! I mean, who doesn't like butterflies, right?! They're like little flowers that can fly. And what a timely challenge, too, because the "Best of" stamp set for April was butterflies!

I went with an unusual color combination (for me, anyway), because I really wanted to make the butterfly the focus of the card.  And, because thank you cards always seem to be in short supply around here, I made it a TY card.  Naturally, there was a little bling added, because that's just what it had to have. There are a couple of sneak peeks on there, too, for you sharp-eyed observers!

I hope you'll join us in the challenge this week.....it's so easy to make a card with butterflies because Stampin' Up! has so many products* that are butterfly-related!

Stamps: Best of Butterflies, Simply Sketched (greeting from Hostess set in 2013-2014 annual catalog)
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso Core-dinations, Basic Black, Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP, Champagne Glimmer
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Soft Suede, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso
Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Modern Mosaic embossing folder, Stampin' Sanding Block, 1-3/8" Circle Punch

*A sampling, and this doesn't even include all the digital stuff!
Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die
Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die 
Bitty Butterfly Punch
Elegant Butterfly Punch
Swallowtail
Papillon Potpourri 
Serene Silhouettes
Papaya Collage
Nature Walk
Kindness Matters
Creative Elements
Collage Curios

SUOC62 - New Toys!

Sorry for the week-long delay for the new SUO Challenge; Robin was very ill, but is feeling a bit better, so we're off and running again. We are going back on our regular two week schedule as of today. And what a great way to start anew, with new toys from the Spring Catalog (and Sale-A-Bration, too)!

The roses are in the Artisan Embellishments Kit, along with all kinds of tasty morsels for dressing up a card. I swear I nearly swooned when I saw them in the catalog, and then again when I actually had them in my hands. Well, maybe not swooned exactly....more like hyperventilated. It's true! Would I lie to you?

The Very Vanilla lace and Primrose Petals seam binding ribbon are in the kit, too, as well as the button (that is practically hidden by the bow - poor planning on my part). Love the new Oval Framelits, too. So many fun ways to use them!

Stamps: Bloomin' Marvelous (leaves, greeting - SAB item), French Foliage (spatters)

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Primrose Petals

Ink: Crumb Cake, VersaMark

Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Framelits, Fancy Fan and Perfect Polka-Dots folders, Designer Frames folder, Artisan Embellishments Kit, Vintage Trinkets

And now, if you've scrolled all the way down here, I'll tell you why I used the spatters from French Foliage on the card. I was eating pizza at my craft table, you see, and a sausage decided to hop off the pizza right onto my just-finished card. Once again, instead of a shining example, I am a horrible warning! Let that be a lesson to ya!

Is It The New Year, Yet?

I'm about ready for 2013, how about you? Of course, I'm not even ready for Christmas yet, but I am already looking forward to the new year. It's got to be better than this one, right?

I think so because for one thing, right after the new year starts, the Spring Catalog starts (Jan 3), and then on January 27th Sale-A-Bration begins. And then right after that is my birthday, when I will officially be pushing a milestone birthday I'd rather forget. Let's just say it will begin my last year of the nifty fifties, and leave it at that, okay?

Today I made several New Year's cards, which is a first for me! Yup, can you believe it? As many hundreds of cards as I've made, not a single one one of them was specifically for New Years! And today I made THREE. I saw a card that had a year ticking over, and thought that was a clever idea, so I tried it. The Silver Glimmer paper really doesn't show up well in the photo, but IRL it looks snazzy.

I love picking out the colors in our Designer Series Paper for card making. It's so easy to coordinate things!

Stamp: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Basic Black, International Bazaar DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan folder, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlets (retired), Decorative Label Punch

I Was "Spied"! ISSC33

Kim Teasdale, the admin for iSpy Sketches contacted me about a month ago and asked if I minded if she used one of my convention swap cards for a sketch challenge today. Um, let me think about that for a nanosecond......heck, NO, I don't mind - what an honor! This was the swap card that caught her eye, so today I decided to make another using that sketch, and stick with the holiday theme.

It's amazing what a completely different "feel" this card has, compared to the original. Cute versus elegant, I guess (kinda like me, haha).

I just had to add that strip of Champagne Glimmer - seems I've been on a Glimmer binge lately.  Can't help it! Adding a bit of bling just takes a card to a whole new level, don't you agree?

I hope you'll play along with the sketch challenge this week at iSpy Sketches. I can't wait to see all the various interpretations of the sketch from other crafty folks!

Thanks, Kim, for choosing my card for your inspiration sketch this week (and inspiring the card for my next Christmas Club)!

Stamps: Greeting Card Kids, More Merry Messages
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Shimmery White, Gumball Green DSP, Champagne Glimmer
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Real Red, Gumball Green, Baja Breeze, and Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pads, plus Blush Blossom and Pink Pirouette Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan folder, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1" Square Punch (banner ends), Gold Lame Smooch Accent Ink (retired), Blender Pens, Stampin' Dimensionals

I Am....Tickled

And this is the card I sent to congratulate my other downline that just recruited.

Stamps: I Am... (free stamp set for Convention attendees)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe DSP
Ink: Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, and Primrose Petals Stampin' Write Markers, Midnight Muse Stampin' Pad
Accessories: Big Shot, Framelits Labels Collection, Fancy Fan folder, 1" Square Punch (banner ends), Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Stampin' Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas in June

Just a quick post to get the cards we made in the Christmas club last week posted. This is the stamp I used for the Father's Day card previously posted.

Still working like a crazy woman on Convention swaps. Those will be posted during Convention week, because I don't want any sneaky peeks from the recipients! :-D


Stamps: Christmas Deer, More Merry Messages
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: VersaMark, Early Espresso, Real Red
Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Modern Label Punch, Embossing Buddy, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Real Red 5/8" Satin Ribbon (retired)