Graduation Gift Ensemble

Jun 12, 2010 | Graduation, Simply Adorned Jewelry, Summer Mini 2010 | 1 comment

I don’t think that I shared this yet.  A friend of mine wanted me to make a Simply Adorned charm as a graduation gift for someone.  She wanted the monogram on one side – Click HERE to see my original – and on the other side she wanted an owl.  Since it was a graduation gift I made a card to go with it and then decorated the box to match.

The card is the same as one I made earlier but this one is in the school colors of the gift recipient.  The Simply Adorned box was decorated with a belly band in the same colors and the little graduation owl from the Go Graduate stamp set.  This cute stamp set is in the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini Catalog and also available as a My Digital Studio Download. Digital downloads can be ordered online through my Stampin’ Up! store on my website – www.monika.stampinup.net.

For her Simply Adorned charm the monogram side is black & white just like the one I had made for myself but her initial is “K”.  I didn’t get a close up picture of that side.  On the back side she wanted an owl –

I used the Owl from Forest Friends for this one.  And the leaves are the Little Leaves Sizzlit Die for the Big Shot.

If you want to see more ideas for the Simply Adorned charms I have a bunch.  Just click the Simply Adorned category on my right-hand side bar and it will pull up all the posts I have that are related.

Have a great day!

Hello Bug Card

Jun 9, 2010 | Cards, Stamper's Club, Summer Mini 2010 | 1 comment

This was a fun card that I created for my Stamper’s Club meeting last Friday.  I wanted to use a retiring stamp set and some of the retiring colors and this was what I came up with –

I used the Level 1 Hostess set called Love Bug.  The caterpillar is stamped with Black StazOn ink and colored with Stampin’ Write markers.  I used Green Galore, Pixie Pink, and Summer Sun which are all retiring colors and also Tempting Turquoise which is staying.

Did you notice the background?  Are you looking for the stamp that created that?   Wondering what it might be….. It was another midnight discovery.  I had the card together and decided the back ground was just to plain.  Looking at the little caterpillar I noticed the open circles and thought I wonder if I have a stamp like that – I couldn’t think of one but I did have my Stampin’ Write markers sitting next to me.  And guess what the cap of the marker is?  An open round circle!  Yep – I inked up the cap and used it to stamp my background!  How is that for creative thinking?  Or maybe just midnight madness…..

Another fun element on this card is that the new clear bitty buttons fit perfectly on those little circle! Here is a close up view – I used a mini glue dot to attach a few to give my caterpillar some dimension.  There are two little brads on his antenna.   This card idea started with a card from Heather Summers – i changed the colors, the background and the buttons and added the little popped up bug.  I think she also had ribbon on hers and I left that off.

It turned out to be a fun happy summer looking card!  I normally to make such bright things but the result sure is happy.  Have a happy day!

Stencil Smooch card

Jun 5, 2010 | Cards, Create with Connie & Mary, Decor Elements, Smooch Spritz techniques, Stamper's Club, Summer Mini 2010 | 1 comment

Hey everyone it’s Saturday and no I don’t have another challenge card for Create with Connie & Mary.  The summer session of posting new projects and challenges has ended. But if you are looking for some GREAT ideas on how to use your summer mini stuff, you can still subscribe for $24.95 and have access to ALL the GREAT ideas that were shared.

And guess what Connie & Mary are continuing to do weekly challenges that are open to everyone!   They will be posting on Thursdays – and the first one was this week.  I hope you’ll visit the Create with Connie & Mary blog and try to play along.  I will when I can fit it in.

So on to my card for today.  Last night was my Stamper’s Club meeting – we normally make three projects – 2 cards and a 3D.  This was one of the cards we made – it looks so much harder than it is.  The card was designed by my friend and upline Wendy and uses several products from the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini catalog.

It has a masculine look to but also looks elegant and vintage at the same time.  So i think you could use for a variety of things – Father’s Day, Anniversary, etc.

The card base is Basic Black – which is a little hard to see in the photo because it kind of disappears into the background.

Then you need two Whisper White pieces – one for the front and one for the inside so you have a place to write.  So here is a fun technique that you can do with the Smooch Spritz .  Use a plastic project folder like you use for a school report – spritz inside the folder – Silver Foil  – you could also add the gold if you want.  Close up the folder and smoosh the spritz around  a bit.  Open it up and lay the two pieces of white card stock back to back inside the folder.  Close it again and smoosh the spritz on to the card stock.  Take the card stock out and you have the marbleized looking pieces.  Each person will get a different looking piece.

Then add the Decor Elements stencil to the front – the stencil is called Mostly Vintage and it is in the Summer Mini.  Use a Stamping Sponge and Jet Black StazOn ink and add the stencil to the front of the card.  Remember to pounce the sponge and don’t rub or you will bend the little pieces of the stencil.

To finish add one of the little vintage tags that are in the Summer Mini.  I hope you like it.

You’re Invited

May 29, 2010 | Baby Wipe, Big Shot, Cards, Create with Connie & Mary, Rock 'n Roll, Summer Mini 2010 | 2 comments

The time has passed so quickly and today is the last post for Create with Connie & Mary Summer Edition.   I have had such a great time creating projects for the members and for the challenges each week.  For the last five weeks we have been featuring  some of the new stamp sets and products from the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini Catalog.  This week our featured items are the Sweet Scoops stamp set, July Fourth stamp set, Red/White/Blue jumbo wheel, and the King of the Grill stamp set.  Our last challenge is a special Theme Challenge to create a Summer Invitation.

This week I have been working with the Sweet Scoops stamp set – there are so many little techniques you can do with this stamp set.  In my weekly project I should the Kissing technique and for my challenge card I used two more fun techniques – Baby Wipe and Rock and Roll.

I tried several different things before I finally ended up with this card.  I even debated creating an invitation that matched the Ice Cream kit from earlier this week, but decided I wanted to show you something different with this same stamp set.  I’m so happy with the final result!  I really like how it turned out.

So first of all this is a tall card – one that fits in the small open-end envelopes instead of the medium envelopes.  The card base is Pretty in Pink – a 6″ x 6″ piece folded in half.  The panel in the center is Kraft card stock that was embossed with the new Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  I love this folder and the picture in the Summer Mini catalog does not do it any justice – I never even considered it until I saw samples with it.

The top and bottom of the card are done the same – I used a piece of Kaleidoscope Designer Series paper with one edge torn and layered it on a piece of Close to Cocoa that has one edge torn.

Now some of the fun is making the ice cream and the cones!

For the ice cream I used the Baby Wipe technique – take a baby wipe and fold it into quarters and set it on something plastic – I use one side of my Stampin’ Scrub with the pad removed.  Using reinkers in Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa add drops to the baby wipe.  You are basically creating a multi colored ink pad.  Then use that to ink your stamp.  I stamped on Whisper White card stock.  Each one will turn out a little different as the ink blends together.

For the cones I used the Rock and Roll technique.  To do this I inked the cone in Creamy Carmel ink and then rolled around the edges using Close to Cocoa.  This gives it shading around the edges of the cone.

I cut out all the cones and ice cream and then these are added to the front of my card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The “you’re invited” banner is stamped and punched with the Modern Label punch.  A second Modern Label punch is punched from a piece of Pretty in Pink – cut in half and then each half is layered behind the white one.  I used a marker to add some stitching around the edges.

I added a couple of other fun elements – first of all the Bitty Buttons!  I just love these little buttons.  I used Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack to punch out Close to Cocoa card stock and layered each one behind a clear button.  Pierced with a paper piercer and added linen thread.  I put the whole card together and then the really fun part starts.  I sprayed my whole card with the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz!  So everything is covered in shimmer!

I also stamped on the envelope with the ice cream and cone.  The party invitation information is on the inside of the card.  This would be fun for a back to school ice cream party or summer birthday.  Ryan has a summer birthday but I don’t think he would appreciate the pink invitations!

Check out what the other Create designers did with this theme challenge:

Connie Babbert – Inspired Treasures

Kerin Sylvester – Stamps, Paper, Glitter

Mary Brown – Stamper Camper Corner

Supplies:

Sets:  Sweet Scoops (117078w, 120078c), Family Phrases (114960)

Inks: Close to Cocoa classic (103139), Pretty in Pink classic (101301), Creamy Carmel classic (103220), Close to Cocoa ink refill (102444), Pretty in Pink ink refill (102295), Close to Cocoa Stampin’ Write Marker (100072)

Cardstock: Close to Cocoa (101341), Pretty in Pink (100459), Whisper White (101731), Kraft (102125)

Accessories:  Big Shot Die-Cut Machine (113439),  Square Lattice Embossing Folder (119976), Modern Label punch (116630), Paper Piercing tool (116631), Mat Pack (105826), Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper (115680), Bitty Buttons (118761), Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309), Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (118772), Color Catcher (121093), Linen Thread (104199), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Small Open-End Envelope (107286).

Grey Texture Masculine Card

May 26, 2010 | Big Shot, Cards, Masculine, Summer Mini 2010 | 1 comment

Here is one more card I wanted to show you from my Masculine Card class last week.

This is my Grey Texture card.  It uses a couple of the retiring colors – Going Gray and Sage Shadow.

The card stock base is Sage Shadow which unfortunately is now sold out.  If you have other retiring colors that you might want card stock for please don’t delay in ordering – colors are starting to sell out.

And now back to my card.  The next layer is Basic Grey and then on top of that is a layer of Going Grey that has been embossed with the new Square Lattice Embossing Folder that is in the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini catalog.  If you are wondering how to get the dark ink in the embossing there is a trick that several demonstrators have been sharing.  My sister-in-law saw this at a class and said everyone thought it was the coolest thing.  I had seen it but not tried it until this card and it was for sure the perfect addition to this card.  The trick is to use a brayer to ink one side of the embossing folder – I used Basic Grey ink on mine.  Then put the paper in and run it through the Big Shot.  This embosses the paper and pushes the ink into all the debossed sections.  Very cool – indeed!

The Designer Series Paper used here is the Nouveau Chic paper.  I added the Corduroy Button because I think of it as a masculine accent.  I debated on what to do with the button – adding thread seemed to make it more feminine so I decide to add a silver brad to it.  The perfect little touch – don’t you think.

I hope you like it.  Have a great day!

I’m a Guest Designer at  Create with Connie & Mary: Summer Edition going on now – come join us for daily projects featuring items in the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini Catalog.

Cogs Masculine Card

May 23, 2010 | Big Shot, Cards, Masculine, Summer Mini 2010 | 4 comments

On Friday I had my monthly hands-on class and this  month we made Masculine Cards.  For many stampers the masculine, manly cards are the hardest ones to make.  I guess because we are girls we like pretty things with flowers, and butterflies and pretty colors.  But I have 3 boys, a husband, a brother, a father, 2 brother-in-laws and 2 nephews – so I have a lot of need for masculine cards!

Here is one of the cards that I designed for my Friday class.

I really liked how it turned out.  I used the new Cogs punch in the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini catalog and decided it would work perfectly with the Sense of Time stamp set with the clock and the gears.  The colors are two that will be retiring – Close to Cocoa and Bordering Blue.

To create this card I did random stamping on the Bordering Blue panel using the clock image and the gears image.  I also stamped on the inside of the card.  I punched out the cogs and also stamped the gears on those to add some texture to them.  I sponged the edges of all the pieces.  I cut a piece of a top not and used the Wonderful Favorites stamp set.  I stamped “father” on a scrap of Close to Cocoa, punched it with the Word Window punch and then shortened it to fit the word.  To shorten it use a bit of adhesive and attach to your grid paper or scrap paper – then line it back up inside the Word Window punch and punch again to make it shorter.

I put the whole card together including the ribbon.  Then I put the card in my Color Catcher – against the back fall lying flat on the bottom.  I used the Log Cabin Smooch Spritz  and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.  What I did was aim the sprayer against the back wall and let the spritz fall over my card so it would be a finer mist across.  You do need to spray inside something and make sure you know where you are aiming!!  Ask me – I know – I have some very pretty punches and ink pads now that are beautifully decorated with vanilla shimmer!

I have a couple of other masculine cards I will share later this week.  I also created a full set of masculine cards – 10 total – using the Travel Journal Designer Series Paper – for Create with Connie & Mary.  If you would like to have those ideas too  – head on over there and sign up for your own subscription – it’s not too late.  You can access all the projects and tutorials (16 so far) we have already posted and we have more coming this week.  Play along with our weekly challenge and have a chance to win some great prizes!

And I almost forgot to tell you the exciting news – Tyler got his Driver’s License yesterday!  He scored a 100 on the road test!  The ladies in the office were surprised apparently the tester that he had doesn’t give a lot of 100s.  We were all excited!

Have a great day – thanks for stopping by!