Jan 30, 2014 | Cards, Occasions Catalog 2014 |
We learned about some trends occurring in the crafting world right now when we were at Leadership. This one is gold. Yep, apparently Gold is back in and I know I have been seeing it everywhere. I’m waiting on my order for some of the new Gold items from the Occasions Catalog – right now my order is delayed due to our Atlanta weather – it should have been here on Wed. – no update yet on the delivery – hopefully it will come on Friday so I can have it for the weekend. But in the meantime I did create this card in honor of the Gold trend. This one is based on a swap I received from Natalie Travis – I made minor changes.
This card features the Happy Congratulations stamp set from the Stampin’ Up! Occasions catalog. Here is what I used on it:
- Happy Congratulations, Gorgeous Grunge stamp sets
- Early Espresso card base
- Cherry Cobbler Co-ordinations card stock
- Gold card stock
- Early Espresso Cherry Cobbler classic ink
- Gold Encore Ink
- Gold Baker’s Twine
- 3/4″ circle punch
We still have snow and ice. Although the sun was out today and the temps got above freezing briefly. Schools were closed today and will be again tomorrow. It seems Ryan has hardly been in school this month. I think we will all be ready to get back to a regular schedule on Monday.
Jan 27, 2014 | Cards, class, Valentine's Day |
Each month I have a Card Maker’s Class and the next one is this Wednesday – January 29th. I have a morning session and an evening session. This is a fun flexible class for any level of stamper. You get to choose which cards you make based on what you need. And if you are new to stamping I’ll point you towards the easier ones and show you exactly how to make them. It’s easy and fun and great therapy for everyone – so if you live nearby I hope you will join me.
This month I’ll have some Valentine choices for you – like this one –
I know everyone has a busy life and lots going on but take a couple of hours to make some cards that you can send to brighten someone’s day. Did you know that there are real therapeutic benefits to crafting?
- Strengthening of social skills – being able to connect and interact with others, share ideas and talk can have a huge impact on happiness
- Relaxation and Stress relief – allowing your mind to focus on the activity reduces stress levels and is beneficial to everyone young and old
- Feelings of fulfillment – there is huge feeling of accomplishment when you create something you can proudly display or give to others
from http://blog.jeanhansen.com/three-therapeutic-benefits-of-creating-art-and-crafting/
There are many other reasons to spend time crafting and I hear often from others on how it benefits them. Join me at a stamping class – you can see my full class schedule HERE.
Jan 23, 2014 | Big Shot, Cards, Occasions Catalog 2014 |
At the Leadership conference we had a Stamping Party one night and we had some awesome presentations from the Stampin’ Up! staff. Brandi shared with us about trends and one trend is Geometric patterns. The new Kaleidoscope suite in the Occasions Catalog is right on trend.
This was one of the cards we made in January’s Hands-on Stamping class. What did I use on this card?
- Geometrical stamp set
- Triangle punch
- Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
- Kaleidoscope Designer Series paper
- Banners Framelits dies
- Basic Rhinestones
- circle punch (right now I can’t remember which one and I’m not at home to check – either the 1/2″ or the bitty circle)
This card idea came from one I saw on Pinterest. The stamp set and the punch come as a bundle or individually.
On the inside I added a strip of the Kaleidoscope designer paper. Another option with this would have been to cut a strip off the front of the card and then the paper on the inside would show when the card is closed too. I may just have to make another version like that.
Today has been a long day of walking and apartment hunting. But it looks like a decision has been made. Yeah!
Jan 18, 2014 | Big Shot, Cards, Occasions Catalog 2014 |
You probably hear me talk about making swaps. In case you don’t know what a swap is – it is the sharing of ideas with other demonstrators. So I come up with one card idea – make a bunch and then swap my idea with other demos so that when we are done everyone has a bunch of different ideas. At Stampin’ Up! Events we always swap, but sometimes we do swaps through the mail too. I am part of a swap group called the GoDivas and for each catalog we do a mail in swap.
I created this card using the Perfect Pennants Bundle from the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog. I made 28 cards and put them in the mail. Then decided to use the same card for a Shoebox swap with my team at Leadership. For a Shoebox swap you bring all the parts of the card and the supplies to finish and put them in a box. When you meet each person starts with a box, makes that card, and then passes the box on to the next person. Our group this time was 8 people for the Shoebox swap. I don’t normally use the same idea for two different things but no one in the two groups overlapped so it worked out just fine.
Now I thought I would share with you the process I go through when I’m creating swaps. And I happened to have taken some pictures along the way.
- Design the card you want to swap.
- Figure out how many you need to make and start cutting out the parts.
For this card I had lots of parts – Very Vanilla for the card base – I only did a card front so each piece is 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″. Very Vanilla Circles cut with the Circle Framelits. Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper – I used 3 different prints and cut the strips for each one. Plus a piece of Retro Fresh Designer Series paper cut with the smallest of the Banner Framelits Dies. I stamped hearts in So Saffron and Coastal Cabana on Very Vanilla card stock AND cut them all out – this heart didn’t have a coordinating punch or die. Gold Baker’s Twine bows – cut the twine and then tied the bows. - I finished all my stamping first. Stamping on the circle – “You & Me” in Baked Brown Sugar.
Then adding the Retro Fresh Washi Tape underneath. Then stamping “forever” in Tangerine Tango. 
And yes I did use a Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure they were all straight. - And Gold Baker’s Twine to each of the hearts – I wanted them to look like balloons. So I cut the twine, punched a tiny hole, strung the twine through – yes I used a threader (i.e. a dental flosser), tied a knot. Lots of hearts – 2 per card.
- Now that all the parts are ready it was time to put things on the front of the card – I added two of the Retro Fresh Paper Strips first. Then added the Circle with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I trimmed the third strip at an angle on the end and added it over the circle. Next add the two heart balloons with dimensionals.
- Finally add the finishing touches – attach the small banner over the balloon strings with Stampin’ Dimensionals and finish with the Gold Baker’s Twine bow attached with a mini glue dot. ALL DONE!
This card had a lot of parts but I do like the way it turned out. I used the Perfect Pennants Bundle which includes the Perfect Pennants stamp set and the Banner Framelits dies – giving you a 15% discount when you get them as a bundle. I do love that Stampin’ Up! has added the bundle offerings to the catalog.
I’ve got to get back to the laundry and paperwork….have a great weekend!
Jan 14, 2014 | Cards, Occasions Catalog 2014, Paper Pumpkin, Stampin' Up! Events |
When we arrived at the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference there was a new surprise for us (well they always have surprises for us). This year we were having Paper Pumpkin Craft Wars!
The details from Stampin’ Up!:
We’re going to put your crafting skills to the test! Paper Pumpkin kits are great on their own,
but what happens when you mix the exclusive stamps with brand new occasions catalog products? Well, that’s what we want you to show us! At the end of the weekend, 20 winners will be selected and each will receive two free past Paper Pumpkin kits and exclusive bragging rights. Plus, the winning projects will be highlighted on the Stampin’ Up corporate blog after leadership! Enter to compete by signing up at the Paper Pumpkin booth.
So of course I signed up (and signed up my roomies Linda and Diane too). We went Friday afternoon to make our creations. We had about 15 minutes. And this is what I came up with –
So do you want to know some of the details –
- The card base was Crumb Cake (we could choose that or Whisper White).
- I used a piece of Whisper White for some stamping – I used the stamps from the July Paper Pumpkin Kit – it was the one with the birthday cake banners. There were 3 background stamps in the kit so I stamped one in each color – Coastal Cabana, So Saffron, and Tangerine Tango.
- I punched two flowers from each stamped image using the new Petite Petals Punch. I ran a marker along the edge of each flower.
- I looked all around for a paper piercer – no luck – we didn’t have one of those to use. So I had to make do with what I had – a paper of paper snips – I folded my flowers in half and cut a tiny slit – then pushed through a piece of the new Gold Baker’s Twine through each pair of flowers – I tied a knot in the front. And also tied at knot at each long end.
- I added the flowers to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
- I tied all the flower “stems” together with another piece of the Gold Baker’s Twine.
- My stamped greeting is from the June Paper Pumpkin Kit – it was the one with the Hexagon cards.
- At the last minute I decided to add a few of the gold sequins from the Occasions Catalog. Tricky part was getting them to stick – snail and itty bitty bits of Stampin’ Dimensionals was what I ended up using.
Stampin’ Up! picked 20 winners from all the entries. I don’t know how many there were but I would assume a few hundred. As I understand it they will have a corporate blog post featuring all the winning cards. So look for that on Stampinup.com.
And speaking of Paper Pumpkin – we got to see a sneak peak of the upcoming kits and they were really good! You are going to want them and if you have opted out lately you may want to opt in to get February and March kits – just sayin’.
If you haven’t previously joined Paper Pumpkin there is a special for new memberships – join between now and February 10, 2014 and you will get a free pack of 2012-2014 In-color Markers with your welcome kit!
JOIN TODAY – just CLICK HERE – to go to the sign up. And you can see ideas with past kits by visiting my Paper Pumpkin Idea Pinterest Board and I’ll be adding new ideas along with the winning cards from the Craft Wars as they get posted.
And if you want to order from the Occasions Catalog – SHOP HERE.
Thanks for visiting today!
Jan 4, 2014 | Big Shot, Cards, Christmas, Stamper's Club, Weekly Deals |
Living in Georgia it doesn’t really get that cold here – I like it that way. It’s cold already and getting colder. I suppose most of the country is the same. Here they are saying the coldest temps since 1986! Monday a low of 6 degrees – yikes! Ryan should be going back to school on Monday but I have a feeling they may not have it. I guess we shall see.
I realized I didn’t share this card earlier – it was actually one of my November Stamper’s Club projects! I completely forgot to take photos of the projects we made in November.
It’s actually pretty fitting to share this now – since it is so cold. It’s my telescoping snowman card! He is all twisted up to fit inside an envelope but when you stretch him out – he looks like this –
I used the Circle Framelits to make this fun card! And guess what – the Circle Framelits are part of the weekly deals this week – so you can get them for $20.21 – regular price is $26.95. And I used Bermuda Bay ink which is also on the weekly deals – $4.46 for the classic ink pad. To see all of this weeks deals or place an order – CLICK HERE.
Here are a few more notes about this card –
- Circle Framelits to create all 3 pairs of circles – Bermuda Bay/Whisper White, Real Red/Whisper White, Pool Party/Whisper White
- The bottom two sections were stamped with the Endless Wishes stamp set
- The buttons in the center are punched from Basic Black using the Itty Bitty Circle punch
- The nose is punched from Tangerine Tango using the Itty Bitty Ornament punch
- The eyes are rhinestones that were colored black with a sharpie
- The hat is a 1-1/4″ square punch with two corners rounded and a word window punch at the base – all in Basic Black.
- A piece of Real Red ribbon around the hat.
- A white flower is from the Boho Blossoms punch with a Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine bow added to the center of the flower.
- The arms are the retired snowflake punch.
- The circles are connected with the Silver Mini Brads.
Stay warm!!
This card features the Happy Congratulations stamp set from the Stampin’ Up! Occasions catalog. Here is what I used on it:
