Second Saturday Stamp Club (& Tutorial)

First of all, Happy St. Paddy's Day, you all! Don't drink too much of that green beer, lol!

Things have been kind of crazy here - the grand kids are in town for a couple of weeks (our youngest grandchild just turned 13 - a milestone!), my husband's sister got married last weekend, and through it all we've been adjusting to the new fur kid. But I have managed to make a few cards in between the chaos, and even had the SSSC make a couple of fun-fold cards!

This is one of them, a variation of LeeAnn Greff's step-out card. I changed the measurements slightly because I had trouble making it work for me. If you'd like the complete, illustrated instructions, just CLICK HERE! Here's a pic of it open. It's sooo cool in real life!

And here's the one I made for our grandson!

Hope you try making one of these cards.....they really have a lot of "wow" factor!

Cheerful Get Well

This is another commissioned card for my client. She wanted an assortment of bright, cheery get well cards, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try out the Versa Shadow Technique.  It's a quick technique that can turn an ordinary card into a WOW card!

It works best on medium- to deep-colored cardstock. Stamp and heat emboss the image with light-colored embossing powder and a heat tool. (Don't forget to use an embossing buddy first to eliminate static!) Then take a VersaMark pen, and trace around the image to make the "shadow". Easy-peasy!

Actually, there are two techniques on this card.  I did the "rock & roll" technique on the flower.


Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Mixed Bunch
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Old Olive
Ink: VersaMark pad, VersaMark pen, Peach Parfait Classic, Pumpkin Pie Classic, Basic Black Classic
Accessories: White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Blossom Punch, Oval Punch, Paper Crimper, Summer Sun Corduroy Button Brad (retired), Lucky Limeade 1/8" Organza Ribbon (retired)

Team Meeting & a Sneak Peek

This is the card we made at my downline meeting last night. We used the Summer Smooches DSP, which is so bright and cheerful - I just LOVE it!  If you join Stampin' Up!, you can pre-order this paper (and a bunch of other stuff) now; if you are a customer, you'll have to wait until April 1st for the promotion to start. (For more details, click on the top button on the left.)

This is a Joy Fold card, with the top flap option. (If you scroll down the SCS tutorial, you'll find the measurements for this option right under the YouTube video.) The top flap is held in place by a 1" circle, stamped, popped up on a dimensional, and barely peeking out from under the blossom.

There are actually two sneak peeks on this card - the Summer Smooches DSP and the Summer Smooches Fabric Designer Brads!

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Perfect Punches
Cardstock: Island Indiso, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP
Ink: Island Indigo, and Daffodil Delight Classic
Accessories: Blossom Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon, Summer Smooches Fabric Designer Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Muchas Gracias!

Many thanks! These are a few of the Thank You cards I made to tuck in customers' bags. They are much prettier than the picture shows. I am so grateful for the friends I've made through stamping - such a lovely, creative, diverse group of people!!!


Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Day of Gratitude
Cardstock: Whisper White
Ink: Concord Crush, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler and Wisteria Wonder Baker's Twine, Buttons, Big Shot, Perfect Polka-Dots embossing folder, Blossom Punch

Stampin' Addicts 2012 Occasions Mini Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to the latest Stampin' Addicts blog hop! We are featuring items from the new Occasions Mini catalog that starts January 4th, and boy oh boy are there some fabulous new goodies to showcase! If you started at the beginning, you just hopped here from Rhonda's blog, where she showed the Bordering on Romance stamp set. That hinged card was cute, wasn't it? I am stop # 5 on the hop. You can find a complete hop list here, in case you need it.

I chose the Mixed Bunch stamp set, which has a lovely Blossom Punch to match! The first card has a 3-D blossom made by stamping and punching the flower image three times, then moistening them with water and "scrunching". I think red, black, and white look so sophisticated together, don't you?

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Thank You Kindly
Cardstock: Whisper White, Poppy Parade
Ink: Basic Black Classic
Accessories: Blossom Punch, Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper folder, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Basic Black 5/8" Satin Ribbon

The next card is kind of a cute, funky little thing, using one of the smaller stamps in the set. These flowers were punched using the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch.

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Bring On The Cake
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, and Lucky Limeade, Berry Blossoms DSP, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, and Lucky Limeade In Color DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, and Old Olive Classic
Accessories: Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, and Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine, In Color Designer Printed Brads, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch, lollipop sticks (non-SU)

And the last project is a gift set of 3x3 cards (and envelopes) in a Scallop Envelope box. The butterfly was made by trimming down the punched flower and adding pearls for the body. Cute, huh? Glad you think so, because that gift set is blog candy! Just leave a comment and you're entered to win (US addresses only, please). Winner will be announced Monday.

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Petite Pairs
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Island Indigo, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP
Ink: Island Indigo
Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Envelope Die, 1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp Punch, Pool Party Baker's Twine, Pearls Basic Jewels, Island Indigo 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon, Calypso Coral 1/8" Organdy Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Decorative Label Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Blossom Punch

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you were inspired. :) Your next stop is Heidi's tea-riffic blog. (Teehee!)

When you have a chance, be sure to check out Stampin' Addicts, where the motto is "Positively creative! Positively Stampin' Up!"  Positive attitudes AND creativity abound there, and all Stampin' Up! fans are welcome, whether you're a stampin' newbie or a seasoned demo.

SA Swaps

In addition to an open forum for anyone who loves Stampin' Up!, Stampin' Addicts has a section that is just for demonstrators. (You can't get in unless someone tells you the super-secret handshake.) 

And one of the thing we demos like to do is swap card fronts with other demos, when we get to pre-order from the upcoming catalogs.  Being a swap junkie, naturally I signed up for a couple swaps that were due the week before Christmas.  The. Week. Before. Christmas.  What was I thinking?!

Thankfully, I only signed up for two swaps this time (I've been known to commit to 6-8 swaps, plus blog hops), so I managed to get them done without too much stress. This card is for the 2012 Occasions Mini Swap.


Stamps: Mixed Bunch (available 1/4), Word Play
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Twitterpated DSP (available 1/4)
Ink: Island Indigo Classic (I know - I need to re-ink my pad)
Accessories: Blossom Punch (available 1/4), Big Shot, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Old Olive 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Lucky Limeade 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon, Tempting Turquoise button (Brights Collection)

Next year, would somebody please come kick my behind if I sign up for swaps during the holidays?

A Technique & a Sneak Peek!

Today's card uses the Double Embossed Enamel technique, as featured in this week's Weekly Inkling on Splitcoast Stampers. The video tutorial for this technique can be found here on You Tube. It's a fun, easy technique, yet it has a lot of wow factor.

This is also another sneak peek at two more 2012 Occasions Mini catalog items. The flower is from a set called Mixed Bunch, which coordinates with the new Blossom Punch! The flowers in this set are gorgeous; each one is completely different!

Stamps: Mixed Bunch (available 1/4), Word Play
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka-Dots embossing folder, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Basic Black button (Neutrals Designer Buttons Collection), Calypso Coral 1/8" Organdy Ribbon (FREE Sale-A-Bration item, available 1/24)