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 16, 2014 | My Digital Studio, Occasions Catalog 2014, Punch Art |
I wanted to share one of the 2014 calendars that I made this year. This one was created for a fun group of ladies that I stamp with each month. Every year I create a small desk calendar for them. They all work at a local university whose mascot is an owl. So this year I decided to feature the Owl punch along with the Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper from the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog. Here is the result:
Each panel represents one quarter of the year. I used My Digital Studio to create the calendar strips and printed them at home with my printer – then cut them to the size I wanted.
For each quarter I created a different owl – I didn’t want them all to be the same. The 1st one is a little girl owl with a bow on her ear – the bow is made from 2 of the little hearts.
The 2nd quarter is on the flip side of the first quarter. And at the bottom there is a little piece of card stock that slides under the calendar strip on each side to keep the calendar standing up on your desk top.
For the second owl I pulled out the Two-Step Bird punch to create the branch for him to land on. And the 1-1/4″ Scallop Circle to create the wings. Just punch one scallop circle and cut it in half – glue one half to each side of the owl. Ta-da flying owl! You know this reminds me that one year I made an owl costume for one of the boys. It was out of felt and for something going on at school. I wonder if I can find pictures of that – something to add to my to-do list.
Once you are half way through the year – the calendar gets flipped inside out and the last two quarter of the year are there. Slide out the little holder and put it back in once you do the flip. I probably should have taken pictures of that part. Basically its a little piece that keeps the calendar standing up – without it the sides slide it falls flat on your desk.
For the 3rd quarter I added this little studious owl. The calendar was after all for a university – and school starts in the fall – I thought it was the perfect choice. His wings are the wing from the two-step Bird punch ( I already had it out anyway). The glasses – I think they are cool – first punch out a circle with the little circle from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack, then use the 1/2″ circle punch and line it up in the same spot to punch the ring around the punched out circle. You aren’t using the little circle that you punched to begin with. For the book I used the tiny postage stamp from the Itty Bitty Labels Punch pack – and just trimmed it to a rectangle to look like a book.
For the 4th owl – I decided to give him a little hat. I used the little tree punch from the Merry Mini’s punch pack. I trimmed off the trunk and then trimmed the sides to make the triangle. I actually think this one looks like the Tootsie Roll Pop owl from the old commercials – “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?” What do you think?
I used the Gold Baker’s Twine on each panel – the bow is tied on one side. If you wanted you could add a bow to the back side as well but I didn’t to that this time.
I hope you like this fun little seasonal owl calendar!
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 3, 2014 | Occasions Catalog 2014, Stampin' Up! Events |
It’s a fun new catalog with lots of things to LOVE! I know my wish list for this one is really long. I got a handful of things in over the holiday (yes Demonstrators get to pre-order!) and have recently started playing. Sorry for not posting much on my blog. I did get some time today to take pictures of a few projects so I hope to get those on here in the next day or so. Plus I have to get out a January newsletter to my customers. And I’m finishing my prep for Stamper’s Club – that’s tonight and tomorrow morning. I probably didn’t mention this yet but I do have some exciting news to share!
Next week is the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference in Houston, TX. I leave Wednesday morning and on Thursday afternoon I am going to be one of the Share Fair Presenters! OMG! What was I thinking? I will try my best not to shake and turn bright red – but just so you know that is very likely to occur as I will be extremely nervous the whole time. I still have to finish preparing for my display board and go over my presentation a few more times. There is an on-site rehearsal as soon as I get to Houston on Wed. – I sure hope my flight isn’t late.
I still have lots to do for Leadership – like get some swaps ready including a shoebox swap, friend gifts, roommate gifts. Yikes! I better keep moving and not sit still until I get on that airplane next week.
You can start ordering from the new Occasions catalog by visiting my store – GO HERE.
Happy New Year!
