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?

Swap Card

Last Saturday was the monthly stamp club with my upline. It's the end of the swapping year, and I won't be continuing next year, so this is my last swap card for the club.  I liked the pink Christmas card layout, and wanted to see how it looked in green. Turned out pretty cute, I think! Since I didn't have any green Scallop Dots ribbon, a button was substituted for the rosette. The addition of a sliver of silver Glimmer Paper added just the right amount of bling.


Stamp: Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Garden Green, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: Garden Green Classic 
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Stocking Accents Die, Perfect Polka-Dots Embossing Folder, Houndstooth Embossing Folder, Certainly Celery Twill Ribbon, Certainly Celery Button, Silver Elastic Cord, Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Stampin' Sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

Another Swap

One of the many swaps I signed up for was for 3x3 cards. They are so quick and easy to make, don't use much material, and are perfect tucked in a gift bag, taped on a wrapped gift, or secreted into a loved one's lunch box or purse. You can get eight of them from one 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock!

Stamps: Gently Falling, Tiny Tags
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Soft Suede
Ink: VersaMark, Old Olive Classic, Soft Suede Classic, Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker
Accessories: Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Linen Thread, Jewelry Tag Punch, 1/16" Handheld Punch, Old Olive 1/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stamps: Gently Falling, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Peach Parfait Textured, White Vellum Cardstock, Spice Cake Designer Series Paper

Ink: VersaMark, Peach Parfait and Soft Suede Classic, Cajun Craze Stampin' Write Marker

Accessories: Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Finial Press Embossing Folder, In Color Glimmer Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Very Merry Stockings

Gosh, I love this time of year.....the days are getting shorter, and the evenings are getting cooler.  The sun takes on a special slant and golden light. That means Fall is right around the corner, and with it all the great holidays through the end of the year. Yup, it is definitely my favorite time of year......right alongside Winter, Spring, and Summer.

More holiday loveliness going to Operation Write Home. And speaking of Operation Write Home, I'm going to have a special post up tomorrow.

Stamps: Stitched Stockings (Holiday Mini), Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Whisper White, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi DSP< Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: Basic Black, Garden Green, and Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pads
Accessories: Snow Burst embossing folder, and Stocking Builder Punch (both in Holiday Mini), Big Shot, Cherry Cobbler 3/8" Quilted Satin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestone Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Swaps On the Grow

Okay, all you club stamp club members, no peeking! This is my swap for the July club meeting. Since I had stamped up a bunch of images to color while my dad was in the hospital (he slept a lot, and I had to keep busy or I'd go crazy), I decided to use these for the swap.  This is the same image from On the Grow that was used for the thank you card sent to Dad's nurses, just colored differently.

Less than a week until the new Idea Book & Catalog goes live! I can't wait!!!

My new catalog is positively bristling with sticky note bookmarks. I have to make my list, and then arrange it into "Things I HAVE to order right away", "Things that can wait a month or two", and "Things I haven't made up my mind about yet". 

Oh, who am I kidding?  They'll all fall into that first category!  I just have to come up with the $$ to buy it all!  Anyone need a kidney? j/k 

Stamps: On the Grow, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise DSP (retired)
Inks: Basic Black Classic, Tempting Turquoise Classic, Lucky Limeade Classic, Pool Party Classic
Accessories: Curly Label Punch, black rhinestones (retired Halloween), Blender Pens

May Swap

This month's stamping club swap theme was "Tulips, in spring colors, with a bow to tie it all together".  I wanted to use some of the Woodland Walk DSP, but there wasn't any pink in it, so out came the brayer and Pretty in Pink Classic ink pad, and ta-daaa.....a lovely pale pink background for the Maidenhair fern patterned paper!

The tiny tags greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  I just inked the words I wanted with a Stampin' Write Marker, stamped them, then punched with the Jewelry Tag punch. It was sheer luck that the font from "Happy Birthday" and "Friend to Friend" was the same!
Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Garden Green, Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Woodland Walk DSP
Ink: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Garden Green, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Framed Tulips embossing folder, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Big Shot, Blender Pens, non-SU also used - 2" circle punch, 1-5/8" circle Nestabilities die, twine

Swappin', Swappin', Swappin'...

....and getting ready for blog hoppin', though my eyes ares poppin'...... from too many late nights. (Sorry, can't make it rhyme, but Billy Crystal singing a modified version of Rawhide in 'City Slickers' comes to mind!)

This is one of the cards make for a 2011 Summer Mini catalog swap over at Stampin' Addicts. It uses the soon-to-be-released Fabulous Florets stamp set, which is - well, FABULOUS!

I love, love, love being a part of Stampin' Addicts swaps, because I know I will always get the highest quality swaps in return!  Of course, when I see the fabulousness of the cards I get back, I have feelings of total failure and inadequacy over what I sent, because everyone else is just so darned good at what they do!

Stamp: Fabulous Florets (available May 1st, Summer Mini)
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Confetti Cream, Crumb Cake, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Whisper White Craft, Pretty in Pink Classic, Rose Red , Old Olive Classic, Early Espresso Classic
Accessories: White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Aqua Painter, Early Espresso 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Naturals brads, Modern Label Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Stampin' Dimensionals

This Friday starts another S.A. weekend blog hop, woohoo! We'll be showing you sneak peeks of what's coming in the new Summer Mini catalog. I'll be featuring the new Flower Garden embossing folder. Ya know I love flowers and gardening, so it's a match made in heaven!!!

Sweet Swaps

This cute little 3 x 3 card was made for a demo swap over on Stampin' Addicts. It would be perfect to tuck in a thank you gift, or a hiding place for someone to discover later (think Easter egg!). The image was stamped using the marker-to-stamp technique with Stampin' Write Markers (Old Olive, Rose Red, and Soft Suede) and stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock.  It was then colored in using a Blender Pen and Classic ink pads (Pear Pizzazz, Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede).

Stamp: Sweet Summer (FREE Sale-A-Bration item!), Tiny Tags
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette Textured, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Lap of Luxury Designer Series Paper
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red, and Soft Suede Stampin' Write Markers plus Pear Pizzazz, Pink Pirouette, and Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pads
Accessories: Chantilly 1/2" Crochet Trim, Basic Rhinestones, Blender Pens

19 for 19

My attitude of gratitude today is being very grateful for my stamp cave.  I can go in and create to my heart's content, letting the worries of the everyday world just fall away.  Kind of hard to put a price on just how precious that is!

Today's card is for a swap coming up.  The theme this time was a real bear.  No, not the ursine animal kind of bear.....I mean there had to be swirls on the DSP, and pearls AND rhinestones.  This turned out okay, I guess.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't!  This is an in-between one for me. ;-)

And I almost didn't get this posted in time!  This is National Blog Posting Month, and the goal is to post something every day for the entire month.  That's not as easy as it sounds!  Anyway, I've been keeping up (barely) so far, but next week is definitely going to be a challenge.  Why couldn't they choose a boring month, like March, with no major holidays that require lots of preparation?

Swappin' Christmas in July

Free at last!!!  While I have barely tolerated greatly enjoyed my time working these past few months, all good things must come to an end, and today was my last day at work.  Here I am, doing the happy dance:

Now, mind you, I will miss the income, and I anticipate that in a couple of months, I'll be griping about the bills.  But for now, I feel free as a bird, and I plan to spend some seriously QUALITY time in my stamp cave for the foreseeable future!!!

This card was made for a demo swap over at Stampin' Addicts.  I hope the other swappers like it!  It was a difficult decision on whether to make it elaborate and WOW them, or keep it fairly simple, so they could show their customers a card they could do without too much stamping experience.  It does use a few basic techniques - heat embossing, dry embossing, and sponging.

By the way, here's a helpful hint: The Cherry Cobbler cardstock that was cut for the dry-embossed band was cut the exact length of the white.  After running it through the Big Shot in the embossing folder, it 'shrank' a little bit, due to the peaks and valleys of the embossing.  You might want to cut your CS a bit long to make up for the shrinkage.  *Snerk* I can hear Elaine saying, "It shrinks?!"  (George, "Like a frightened turtle.")  Elaine, "I don't know how you guys walk around with those things."

Stamp: Gifts of Christmas (115372)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (119685) and Crumb Cake (120953) (why am I hungry all of a sudden?), Whisper White (100730), White Vellum Cardstock (101856)
DSP: Presto Patterns Specialty Designer Series Paper (117175)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler Classic (119669) and Soft Suede Classic (115657), VersaMark (102283), Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker (119681)
Accessories: Big Shot Die-Cut Machine (113439), Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (116824), Gold Brads (104337), Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (109129), Heat Tool (100005), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

December Swaps

I hope you all enjoyed the Dormant Retiring Blog Hop this weekend.  There were some amazing creations from some very talented ladies!!!  I'm looking forward to the next hop in January, featuring goodies from the new Occasions Mini and Sale-A-Bration catalogs coming out.  Woohoo!


This past Saturday was the stampin' club meeting and card swap.  The theme for December was "Time", and I gotta tell ya, that one REALLY gave me trouble.  I have the Sense of Time stamp set, but didn't want to just stamp the clock and sentiment - too plain. 


The Designer Label Punch has always reminded me of a watch case, but I couldn't figure out how to make the watch face to fit it, not having a stamp that small.  My upline, Rosalie, came to the rescue and suggested finding an image of a watch face online and printing it out.  Duh!  I never would have thought of that; I was stuck in stamp mode.


After finding the image I wanted to use, it was easy to re-size it to fit the 1" Circle Punch.  I also punched a piece of acetate to imitate the crystal covering the face.  Crystal effects was the glue that held the face to the crystal.  I don't know if you can see it, but there is a silver brad glued sideways at the side to look like the winding stem.  Anyway, I'm please with the way it turned out.  It's not your ordinary chronometer. :-)


Off topic: Please pray for my mom and her husband. They were involved in a rollover accident yesterday, and she has a concussion (for the third time in two months) and he has broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Another Swap Card

Swaps seem to be a major part of my life lately.  Here is another card made for a swap (Stampdiculous club members, cover your eyes!).  This stamp is from the Patterned Pines set and is the Hostess Level I set in the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalog. 

Stamped in VersaMark on Old Olive cardstock first, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Stamped again on white CS, and heat embossed with gold, then cut out and "popped" middle tree.  I like the combination of Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive.  Nice, non-traditional Christmas combination!

Stamps: Patterned Pines (Hostess only 116525), Short & Sweet (115060)
Cardstock: Old Olive (100702), Rich Razzleberry (115316), Whisper White (100730)
DP: Old Olive Patterns Designer Series Paper (112160)
Inks: VersaMark (102283), Rich Razzleberry Classic (115658)
Accessories/Tools : Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (109129), White Stampin' Emboss Powder (109132), Heat Tool (100005), Gold Brads (104337), Rich Razzleberry Polka-dot Grosgrain Ribbon (115613), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Holiday Mini Swap

Those of you who know me, know I've had an interesting week.  Someday, when I am at liberty to say, I may explain what's been going on.  I don't want to jeopardize anything by bringing it to a public forum right now.  On a bright note, I've been busy in the craft room for a couple days, and have a few cards to share.  I'll start with the oldest one first:

I can now finally post the card I made for the Stampin' Addicts 2009 Holiday Mini Swap a month ago!  I had to wait until all the swapping was complete.  I loved, loved, loved getting to see the card fronts made by the other demos!!!  Since I'm still new to the whole Stampin' Up! demo thing, it's really nice being able to add different styles of cards to my "inspiration" box, and let me tell ya, there were some AWESOME cards sent back to me!  Thank you, all you crafty women, you!

Stamp: Wandering Words

Inks: VersaMark, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip

Papers: Real Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Christmas Cocoa DSP

Accessories: Texturz plate, Scallop Edge punch, Ticket Corner punch, circle punches, Dazzling Diamonds, White Stampin' Emboss powder, Whisper White ¼ inch grosgrain ribbon

September Swap

This was the card for the swap club part of the monthly stampin' club.  We were to use a retired Stampin' Up! set from 2000-2005.  I was a wee bit disappointed because I have some really cute SU bear stamp sets from the late 90s, but I like this set, too, so went ahead and used it.  (Still want to do teddy bears, though, lol.)

The stamp set is Summer by the Sea.  It was stamped on watercolor paper, and colored with watercolor pencils and an Aqua Painter.  I deliberately left off any sentiment, because I think this card could be used for several different occasions.

Cardstock: SU Very Vanilla (101650), Watercolor paper (105019), Core'dinations

DP: SU Haiku DSP (retired)
Ink: Basic Black Craft (102192)
Accessories/Tools: SU Silver Brads(104336), Shimmerz Spritz

August Card Swap

As a new Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I received the In Color cardstock assortment and Classic ink pads in my starter kit, so I went right to work getting creative! I had this card finished last week, but didn't want to post it here until after the swap on Saturday.

The background is Soft Suede, run through the Cuttlebug with the Pumpkin Harvest embossing folder. The image is from the Stampin' Up! Harvest Home stamp set. I love this set, it is so versatile! You can color the images with Copics or watercolors, or Prismacolor pencils. Or, you can do what I did and stamp the image on watercolor paper (with Stampin' Up! Dusty Durango Classic ink), and use a blender pen to spread the ink around. Quick and easy-peasy, and it looks great, too! The stamp set is #111642 and, as with any Stampin' Up! products, can be purchased by clicking on the Stampin' Up! link on the right, if you'd like.

After punching the corners with the Stampin' Up! Ticket Corner punch, I matted it on more Dusty Durango cardstock, similarly punched. The patterned paper is So Saffron Patterns Designer Series Paper, which coordinated with the two In Colors beautifully, almost like they planned it, or something.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Year-Round Puns set.

Thanks for looking!

Birthday Fishes! (July Card Swap)

I have to make this real quick, because we're on our way to our son and new daughter-in-law's for supper.

This is the card for our stampin' club swap for next month. The theme was "wet", any interpretation, birthday card, with 2 layers and an embellishment.

I sponged VersaMagic Ocean Depth on the background and stamped the swirly seaweed in VersaMagic Hint of Pesto on Neenah Solar White cardstock. The little bubbles were stamped in CTMH Heavenly Blue.

The fish were stamped and reverse stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers. The glued-on party hats were also colored with Copics. Little "Sun" Swarovski crystals are their eyes. I just had to add some bling, lol. After they were cut out, they were "popped" from the background with Stampin' Dimensionals.

The sentiment was printed on my computer (the font is called Curlz), cut with a small Nesties Deckled Rectangle die, inked on the edge, and "popped", like the fish. The ribbon is supposed to be seaweed (or maybe a sea urchin, lol). I just knotted it and then cut the end to make it fray a bit. It's held on with little Glue Dots under each knot.

I found the crushed shells in the floral department at Michael's - I think they're used in the bottom of vases, but as soon as I saw the bag (and a good-sized bag, at that!) I knew what I was going to use them for! The blue-green "coral" was cut with a Martha Stewart punch and glued down with JudiKins Diamond Glaze.

Cardstock: Neeneh Solar White
Designer Paper: Sandylion
Stamps: Fish & Seaweed-SU Ocean Commotion, Party hat- SU Favorite Teddy Bear, Bubbles- Hero Arts Sea Life
Sentiment: printed on computer
Inks: Memento, VersaMagic, CTMH
Embellies: Offray ribbon, Swarovski Crystals, crushed shells (Decor Sand), Martha Stewart punch, Nestabilties Small Deckled Rectangle

March '09 Card Swap

I tell ya, this card swap branch of the stamping club is about killing me. We have to make 24 cards to swap every month. But for once, I'm not frantically trying to finish the swaps the night before we meet!

Because I do have to make 24 cards, I try to keep it simple...no elaborately colored images (which takes too much time) or embellishments (which gets too expensive). I did choose to cut out all the flowers this time, instead of stamping and matting like I usually do. ;-)

The theme for the swap for March is to use SU Cameo Coral, Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss, with either white or vanilla for the base. We can't use any other color, even black to stamp the sentiment!

Stamped the large flower from SU's Embrace Life set in Cameo Coral Craft ink on Pink Pirouette CS and cut it out. Edged the Bella Rose DP with more Cameo Coral. Also punched a tiny flower from Cameo Coral CS to put in the center of the larger flower and topped it with Stickles. Ran the Kiwi Kiss thru the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. I didn't have enough Kiwi Kiss ribbon for a larger bow on all the cards, so I decided to use a little snippet on each for faux leaves. The Martha Stewart ribbon matches the PP and CC perfectly!

The sentiment (WoJ General Sayings) was stamped in Cameo Coral, as well, and matted on Cameo Coral CS.

Oh, I almost forgot....I stamped the smaller flowers (from the same SU set) on the white card base in Pink Pirouette. I thought it needed "something" because it looked kind of plain.

Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette
DP: SU Designer Series Paper Bella Rose
Stamps: Images- SU Embrace Life, Sentiment- Whiff of Joy General Sayings
Ink: SU Cameo Coral, Pink Pirouette
Embellishments: SU Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon, Martha Stewart seam binding ribbons, Stickles, tiny flower punch

Happy New Year!

Adios 2008, and hellooooo 2009! I think this is going to be an exciting year of card making adventures. My resolutions are to try to make several cards per week and post them here, improve my photography skills and (I hope, I hope!) be on a design team and/or get published. Not too ambitious, am I? Tee hee!

To start, I want to share the card I made for my stamp club's swap. I so much enjoy being a part of the swap, because I get inspiration from other people's works of art, and I learn about new tricks or must-have tools. (Pam, I found the tiny scallop scissors, woohoo!)

This month's theme (thanks, Linda!) was flowers, flowers, flowers, with a rhinestone or brad embellishment. I started with Stampin' Up!'s Artfully Asian set, stamped in Old Olive on Very Vanilla cardstock. The rectangle was cut/embossed with my Nesties long rectangle set, and backed by Kiwi Kiss. I colored the leaves with an AquaPainter and Old Olive ink, and the berries with a Copic Sketch marker. The Prima flowers were glued on, with a dot of Ranger Gold Pearl in the center of each, except the one with the clear rhinestone.

The lovely green pattern paper is from a 6x6 stack by Black Market Paper Society, called "Letters From Paradise". It matched the Kiwi Kiss perfectly, and added more flowers to the card. The edges were inked in Old Olive, as were the edges of the lighter green textured background cardstock from DCWV.

The yummy red pattern paper is from Stampin' Up!, called Bella Rose, and the ribbon is from Stampin' Up!, as well. It's the Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla 3/8" satin ribbon.