Nov 18, 2010 | Big Shot, Bingo, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Mini Catalog 2010, In Colors, Valentine's Day |
In the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog Stampin’ Up! introduced a new crafting option with the Big Shot machine. They are called Letterpress Plates and let you create an inked debossed impression. I demonstrated these at my meeting Saturday night and had three cards for everyone to make. Here are a few of my notes:
There are four Letterpress Plates
#120980 Trick or Treat
#120983 Lots of Love
#120981 Joyful Season
#120982 Northern Trim
What you need to use your Letterpress Plates:
- Letterpress plate
- Craft ink – pad or spot
- Brayer – optional
- Paper – watercolor paper is best – porous, card stock and textured card stock also work
- One cutting pad – newer is better, no lines
- Multipurpose platform on Tab 1
- Baby wipes
Build sandwich on a flat surface like this – Multipurpose Platform on Tab 1, a shim if needed, LetterPress Plate, Card stock (it works better to use dotto and secure to the bottom of the cutting pad), cutting pad. I tried some other combination’s but this one worked the best. I also think that the bigger plates are thicker – or seem to be than the smaller ones.
Use dotto to adhere paper to cutting pad so it doesn’t slide or move. There are several ways to ink your Letterpress Plate.
- Use a full size Craft Ink pad and apply directly to the plate.
- Use a brayer and apply ink from either the ink pad or an ink palette create with a refill.
- Use a Craft Ink spot
- Ink areas with mulitple colors using the ink spots
- Ink only portions of the plate using ink spots – the uninked portion still debosses
- Use VersaMark ink on all or portions of the plate
I found that for my Big Shot it worked well for me to use a cardboard shim underneath – I used the thin card board that comes in the package of Designer Series paper.
Here are the cards that I created:
This first one used the Northern Trim Letterpress Plate.
I used Watercolor paper and a full sized Craft Ink pad. I filled an uninked pad with Wild Wasabi Craft ink and we used it directly on the pad to get it inked up. 
To finish the card the watercolor paper was layered on a piece of Bashful Blue card stock and adhered to the front of a Wild Wasabi card base. The base was stamped with the Northern Hearts hostess stamp set which matches this Letterpress plate.
The card was finished with pearls in the center of the flowers, a Bashful Blue punched snowflake and “merry” in the center on Whisper White card stock.
You can’t see it in this picture but I finished the card by spraying the whole thing with a mixture of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint mixed with Rubbing Alcohol – it adds a fine shimmer to the whole card – you just can’t see it in the picture.
For this next card I used the Joyful Season Letterpress Plate.
I used Confetti White card stock and Craft Ink spots in Real Red and Old Olive to ink the plate.
The card is very simple – just layered the piece on a Real Red card base. You could dress it up more with ribbon/buttons/etc. But we had a lot to do at the meeting so I kept this one very basic.
The third card used the Lots of Love Letterpress Plate. This one turned out to be my favorite.
The card stock is Blushing Bride and I inked the plate first with a VersaMark pad and then used a Craft Ink spot in Chocolate Chip to ink only the large LOVE. I saw this technique on a video that another demonstrator had created – I think I saw it on Stampin’ Connection. The plate is much larger than the card it is about 8″ x 6″ – so you can position your paper to where you want it on the plate.
To finish the card I tied a piece of the Blushing Bride ribbon around the card stock and then layered it on a Chocolate Chip card base. I punched some hearts using the Heart to Heart punch out of the Blushing Bride Designer Series paper (it is in the In Color stack). I sponged these a little bit on the edges and popped them up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.
From what I heard this was everyone’s favorite of the three. I do like how the VersaMark makes the debossed words pop.
I hope you learned something about using the Letterpress Plates.
I have heard several people are close – needing only one more piece in multiple rows – maybe today will be the day we have a winner.
It’s BINGO TIME! We are playing Round 6 of Monika’s Blog Bingo. I have now filled group 7 and won’t be taking any more names right now – I”ll be taking a Bingo break after group 7 plays – I may play again in the future so I hope you will continue to visit my blog. See this POST for more details on how to play and the previous winners.
And now for today’s piece – Here is piece #15 –the cat from All in the Family stamp set (stamped in Peach Parfait). 
Anybody have Bingo? Make sure you send me an email when you get your 5 in a row. 
Nov 17, 2010 | Bingo, Blog Tour, Christmas |
This was the favorite project among everyone that left comments on the Royal Blog Tour. It is the Scrapbook in a Box – and I didn’t even have any pictures in it yet. I have them printed and will try to get them all on today and update this post later with a box filled with photos.
This is the box open with the lid off – and no pictures inside of it yet. Actually this would be pretty (I think) with all the pictures in the Sepia tones – I may have to come back and do that later.
Here is the box all closed with the lid on.
My featured stamp set was the Winter Post stamp set – so all the stamping is done with that set. Around the outside of the box along the bottom edge I decided to stamp the reindeer – there are 3 on each side and then there are snowflakes in the background. All my edges are sponged and the whole thing is spritzed with the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. The base is Crumb cake and the lid is Always Artichoke.
Here is a close up of the top of the lid. There is a Crumb Cake layer on the Always Artichoke lid. It was stamped with the snowflake image using Crumb Cake ink. I stamped the snowflake image on Very Vanilla card stock and punched it out with the Ornament Punch. It was sponged on the edges with Crumb Cake ink. A piece of Linen Thread tied around the top and a pearl added to the center. I put this on the top of the box with Stampin’ Dimensionals over the top of a bow made from the Always Artichoke Seam Binding. And the top has the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz on it too.
+The close up of the inside of the box has a Crumb Cake layer stamped with the snowflake image. Then I stamped the Ice Skaters on it. And I stamped them again on Very Vanilla card stock, colored them and cut them out – then used Stampin’ Dimensionals to put them on top of the ones I stamped. It gives it a 3-D look and has a “shadow” underneath from the other stamped image. I used a little bit of the pearlized smooch to add some accents on the girl and for the ice patch under the skates.
By the way their faces are colored in with the Blush Blossom Stampin’ Write Marker – which did not retire even though the ink and card stock did. It is in the back of the catalog.
This box is much easier to create than you would think. You basically have three layers – 12″ x 12″ (Crumb Cake), 10-1/2″ x 10-1/2″ (Always Artichoke), 9″ x 9″ (Very Vanilla). Each layer is scored into a tic-tac-toe board – so the 12″ layer is scored at 4″ on all sides creating three 4″ squares across and down. Then you cut away the four corner pieces – reserve those for mats for the lid and the center. The 10-1/2″ layer is scored at 3-1/2″ on all sides creating three 3-1/2″ square across and down. Then cut away the four corner pieces – reserve those for layers on the inside panels of the 12″ layer. The 9″ layer is scored at 3″ on all sides creating three 3″ squares across and down. Then cut away the four corner pieces – reserve those for the layers on the inside panels of the 10-1/2″ layer. You end up with three layers shaped like a ‘+’ and you glue them all together in the centers by stacking them from largest to smallest. Decorate the inside and outside of the layers.
For the lid you use an 8-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ piece – score all four sides at 1″ and 2-1/8″. Cut slits ONLY on TWO opposite ends from both of the 2 1/8” edge scores to the 2 1/8” interior scores. See Diagram and cut on the dotted lines. Fold over the 1” edge. Fold over the 2 1/8” score. Fold the long sides over first and overlap with the short sides. Use sticky strip to adhere the sides. This makes a clean edged sturdy lid.
To close the box – fold up the panels on all four sides and slide the lid on the top. I added pictures to the inside panels of each layer – but you could add them on the outsides and the center too. I made these as Mother’s Day gifts with a different color scheme and stamp set a few years ago. This one I plan to put pictures of my boys from past Christmases. I’m hoping to add the pictures today and get it photographed and posted.
To order Stampin’ Up! Supplies to make this project click here.
I’m looking for a Bingo winner – I hope we get one before my vacation starts…..anybody….anybody…..
It’s BINGO TIME! We are playing Round 6 of Monika’s Blog Bingo. I have now filled group 7 and won’t be taking any more names right now – I”ll be taking a Bingo break after group 7 plays – I may play again in the future so I hope you will continue to visit my blog. See this POST for more details on how to play and the previous winners.
And now for today’s piece – Here is piece #14 –the sparkle/jack from Hello Again stamp set (stamped in Concord Crush). 
Anybody have Bingo? Make sure you send me an email when you get your 5 in a row.
Nov 16, 2010 | Big Shot, Bingo, Christmas, Holiday Mini Catalog 2010, UDI Color Challenge |
Today is Tuesday and it is time for another Utah Diva’s Color Challenge. Here is our inspiration for this week:
These colors were easy for me to work with – in fact I had already a made a project on Saturday that used three of these four colors for my swap at the demonstrator meeting I had at my house Saturday. I had the best time Saturday night – there were 17 demonstrators at my house (well one isn’t official yet but will be signing up with the new promotion that started on Monday – see more about it by clicking the special on my right hand side bar – an Amazing Offer from Stampin’ Up!). Since I basically had something already created with these colors I just made a slight modification to add the missing color for the challenge. And wah-lah (is that how you would spell that?)…..
For the meeting we had a Cookie Swap – and the cookies had to be packaged in a Stampin’ Up! style container – bag, box, or whatever creative idea everyone could come up with. And let me tell you the ideas that everyone brought were awesome and the cookies look good – I’ve tried a couple already – Yum! Yum! I’ll be sharing all the ideas with you so check back.
But to start with here was my idea (well slightly modified). It is the new little paper sacks from the Holiday Mini – I ran the bags through the Big Shot with the Northern Flurry Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. It you don’t want the impression to be too deep (as in you don’t want it to tear your bag) then open the Multi-Purpose Platform so there are no tabs – just the platform – it still leaves the embossed impression but not quite as deep. Then I used a sponge dauber and the Frost White Shimmer Paint to add some shimmer to the snowflakes.
At the bottom of the bag I added a piece of the Candy Cane Christmas Specialty Designer Series paper. I used the Baja Breeze print with the snow flakes. Then I stamped the snowman tag from Tags til Christmas stamp set – I used Soft Suede ink on Very Vanilla card stock. It is punched out with the 1-3/4″ Circle punch and sponged on the edges with Soft Suede ink. I used the Baja Breeze Stampin’ Write marker to color in his scarf and hat. For the UDI Color Challenge I added the large Scallop Circle punched out of Not Quite Navy card stock to the back of the snowman circle. I didn’t have that on my original bags for the Cookie swap.
At the top of the bag I punched two holes with my Crop-A-Dile and tied some Very Vanilla Seam Binding through it to hold the bag shut. I added a tag from the Tags til Christmas stamp set. I inked the whole thing with Baja Breeze ink and then used Stampin’ Write Markers in Soft Suede and Not Quite Navy to color in some of the words. It is stamped on Very Vanilla card stock – punched out with the Scallop Square punch and the edges are lightly sponged. Add a hole in the corner with the 1/16″ circle punch and some crochet thread to tie the tag to the bag.
Here are my original bags for the Cookie Swap – just slightly different. These bags are similar to the one I made for the Royal Blog Tour – I just used a different stamp set for these.
Oh – do you want to know what I had in my bags for the cookie exchange?
They are called Homemade Heath Bars – here is the recipe:
Line a cookie sheet with foil. Cover bottom with saltine crackers. Melt 2 sticks real butter and 1 cup brown sugar. Boil for 5 minutes. Pour over crackers. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Cover top with milk chocolate morsels (about 12 oz). When softened, spread with knife and allow to cool and harden; break into pieces. A Note: soak butter/sugar pot immediately (or suffer the consequences!)
Now it is your turn to play with these colors – then go to the UDI blog and add your creation to the linky section. These are perfect winter colors or spa colors!
Stampin’ Up! Supplies:
- Card stock: Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy
- Ink: Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy
- Stamp sets: Tags til Christmas
- Accessories: Mini Lunch Sacks, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Crop-A-Dile, 1/16″ Circle punch, 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/4″ circle punch, Scallop Square punch, Stampin’ Sponge, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Frost White Shimmer Paint
To order Stampin’ Up! Supplies to make this project click here.
It’s BINGO TIME! We are playing Round 6 of Monika’s Blog Bingo. I have now filled group 7 and won’t be taking any more names right now – I”ll be taking a Bingo break after group 7 plays – I may play again in the future so I hope you will continue to visit my blog. See this POST for more details on how to play and the previous winners.
And now for today’s piece – Here is piece #13 –the cupcake block from Cute by the Inch stamp set (stamped in Chocolate Chip). 
Anybody have Bingo? Make sure you send me an email when you get your 5 in a row.
Nov 14, 2010 | Bingo, Cards, Christmas, class, Holiday Mini Catalog 2010 |
November 2010 Class Reminder
Holiday Stamp-A-Stack class
We will make four different Christmas Cards and you will be making 4 of each with envelopes.
I also have a slight change to the date – the evening class will be THURSDAY NIGHT at 6 not Friday. I will still have a Friday morning class at 10. Because we are making a large number of cards the class fee is higher.
This will hopefully help you get a stack of cards that you can have ready to send out to friends and family.
6:00 pm on Thursday Nov. 18th
And
10:00 am on Friday Nov. 19th
Come join me for this class and get a jump start on your Christmas cards.
The class fee is $25.
Please bring snail adhesive and paper snips.
RSVP by November 16th so I can have materials ready for you.
Last night I had a downline/demonstrator meeting at my house – it was so much fun and the swaps were awesome, the make&takes wonderful and I was so thankful for everyone that helped me and everyone that came. I’ll be sharing more about the make&takes and swaps next week. I spent the day getting ready for the meeting and it was late when we were done so my post today is late – but here is the next Bingo piece…………
It’s BINGO TIME! We are playing Round 6 of Monika’s Blog Bingo. I have now filled group 7 and won’t be taking any more names right now – I”ll be taking a Bingo break after group 7 plays – I may play again in the future so I hope you will continue to visit my blog. See this POST for more details on how to play and the previous winners.
And now for today’s piece – Here is piece #12 –the gift box from Family Accessories stamp set (stamped in Pear Pizzazz). 
Anybody have Bingo? Make sure you send me an email when you get your 5 in a row.
Nov 13, 2010 | Bingo, Blog Tour, Christmas, SU Ribbon |
Here is another look at the JOY Banner that I created for the Royal Blog Tour. I decided to make this after I finished my BOO banner for Halloween. I was happy with the way that one turned out and I remembered that I had purchased these wooden letters one year and never used them. It was a good thing I had two sets of them because my first try on a couple of them did not produce the results I wanted. I started with one of the letters being red and it didn’t look as good as these do with just the brown, green and vanilla.
These are store bought wood letters but you could make a similar project using Chipboard letters or cut them with the Big Shot – they would be smaller. Basically I used Craft Ink to “paint” the wood. And what I learned with the BOO banner was that the craft ink took a long time to dry on the wood. So my solution was to cover the whole letter after I finished stamping on it with Clear Embossing Powder and heat set it with my Heat Tool. Then I decorated them.
Here are some more details on each letter.
The letter ‘J’ was covered with Chocolate Chit Craft ink and then Clear Embossed. Then I used the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz to spray the whole thing with a fine mist so it looked like a starry night sky. I stamped eight of the Reindeer from the Winter Post stamp set on Very Vanilla card stock with Chocolate Chip ink and cut each one out. Then I used Linen Thread to tie them together like they would be on the front of Santa’s Sleigh. So these are the Reindeer flying through the night sky. I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach them to the wood letter so they would have air behind them like they were flying. To finish the ‘J’ I used some Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon tied around the neck of the letter, a punched Snowflake and a little button tied with Linen Thread finish it off. The hanger is a piece of Very Vanilla Seam Binding tied at the base with a Very Vanilla button and Linen Thread.
The ‘O’ is covered with Old Olive Craft Ink and then stamped with the images from the Winter Post stamp set in Chocolate Chip Craft Ink. Then I covered the whole thing with Clear Embossing Powder and heat set it.
I stamped the snowflake image in Old Olive and punched it out with the Ornament Punch – it fits just perfectly. I sponged the edges and then tied Linen Thread around the top and added a pearl in the center. The Wide Striped Old Olive ribbon was cut in half which causes the edges to fray and adds a distressed look. I tied a piece around the ‘O’ and into a bow and then added the stamped ornament to it.
For the hanger – by the way the letters already had holes in them for hanging – I pulled some Vanilla ribbon through and then tied an Old Olive button around it. There is a punched snowflake behind the button.
The ‘Y’ is covered with Chocolate Chip Craft ink. Then I stamped the snowflake in Whisper White Craft ink. Then the whole thing was covered with Clear Embossing Powder and heat set. I added the basic pearls to the center of each snowflake.
I stamped the Ice Skaters on Very Vanilla card stock and water-colored the skaters. Then I punched them out with the 2-1/2″ Circle punch. I sponged the edges of the circle and then punched a hole in each side with the Crop-a-Dile. I used Old Olive Satin Ribbon and pulled it through each of the holes and tied it around the ‘Y’ and in a bow on the side.
The hanger at the top is the same as the ‘O’ – except the ribbon was pulled through the two holes that were in the ‘Y’.
Here are a few more pictures.
That’s it. I hope it all made sense to you. It looks really pretty in person. I think I may add some shimmer to the ‘O’ – it looks a little plain still.
I know we have some people that are close to a Bingo. Is it you? Will there be a winner today?
It’s BINGO TIME! We are playing Round 6 of Monika’s Blog Bingo. I have now filled group 7 and won’t be taking any more names right now – I”ll be taking a Bingo break after group 7 plays – I may play again in the future so I hope you will continue to visit my blog. See this POST for more details on how to play and the previous winners.
And now for today’s piece – Here is piece #11 –the dog bone from Friends Fur-ever stamp set (stamped in Chocolate Chip). 
If you have Bingo – 5 in a row – make sure to email me.
Nov 12, 2010 | Bingo |
I was trying to get a post out on my next Blog Tour project but I have a 100 other things I need to get done. So I’m going to wait. Instead today I’m just posting the Bingo piece. Is anyone close to winning?
We played last night at one of my card classes – it was fun and then Ann and her daughter decided to buy the Bingo stamp so they could make cards and play with the kids. Maybe I’ll make up a Thanksgiving game next week……
It’s BINGO TIME! We are playing Round 6 of Monika’s Blog Bingo. I have now filled group 7 and won’t be taking any more names right now – I”ll be taking a Bingo break after group 7 plays – I may play again in the future so I hope you will continue to visit my blog. See this POST for more details on how to play and the previous winners.
And now for today’s piece – Here is piece #10 –the heart from the Things I Love stamp set (stamped in Poppy Parade). 
If you have Bingo – 5 in a row – make sure to email me.
This first one used the Northern Trim Letterpress Plate.
For this next card I used the Joyful Season Letterpress Plate.
The third card used the Lots of Love Letterpress Plate. This one turned out to be my favorite.
To finish the card I tied a piece of the Blushing Bride ribbon around the card stock and then layered it on a Chocolate Chip card base. I punched some hearts using the Heart to Heart punch out of the Blushing Bride Designer Series paper (it is in the In Color stack). I sponged these a little bit on the edges and popped them up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.
It’s BINGO TIME! We are playing Round 6 of Monika’s Blog Bingo. I have now filled group 7 and won’t be taking any more names right now – I”ll be taking a Bingo break after group 7 plays – I may play again in the future so I hope you will continue to visit my blog. See this POST for more details on how to play and the previous winners.
