Sale-A-Bration Time!

It's FREE stamps time! And FREE Designer Series Paper! And FREE Ribbon! Here's a link to this year's Sale-A-Bration catalog. This year's dates are February 1 - March 31st. In addition to FREE products for customers and hostesses, Sale-A-Bration is the BEST time to sign up as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, with additional free stamps, a discount on the starter kit and Sale-A-Bration excitement to kick off your career to a great start!

Customers: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration product for every $50 purchase.

Hostesses: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration product with a $300 or more workshop, in addition to the normal hostess benefits.

Recruits: Choose any retail stamp set (a value up to $47.95) from the current catalog when signing up during the promotion. Plus, get 15% off the regular $199 price of the Starter Kit--that's $335 worth of products for only $169!

Please call or e-mail me with your orders or any questions. If you need a copy of the current 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book & Catalog, let me know! Plus I can show you how to get a FREE catalog as well.

No, YOU Rock!

Having fun playing with my new Bind It All! I made a little mini scrapbook in shades of purple and a bound Post-It Note holder in red. Both books have acrylic covers that are re-mastered pieces from toy packaging or stamp set boxes. Every time I see a piece of that acrylic cover on a toy package, I cut it off and put it in a basket near my Big Shot. My favorite thing to do with those pieces of acrylic is to run them through the Big Shot and create fun die cut shapes. But for these projects, I cut them with my Table Top Cutter to create covers.

For the Just Jawing' mini scrapbook, I made a 5x5 acrylic cover for the front and back. On the front piece of acrylic, I stamped the stars image and sentiment piece from Just Jawing in StazOn Jet Black ink. The inside pages have some layers and punches and Jumbo Eyelets tied with ribbon to coordinate.

This Post-It Note booklet has an acrylic cover with a wrapped piece of stamped and embossed cardstock. The sentiment strip is adhered to the front cover and then another piece of cardstock 'backing' is adhered to the inside cover to hide the adhesive. I rounded the corners of the acrylic cover with the 3/16" Corner Rounder. I covered both sides of a 4" chipboard coaster with some (retired) designer series paper using the Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue and sanded the edges and corners with a Sanding Block. Then the Post It Notes are adhered to the back using the Tombow Mono Multi adhesive. I tied off the binding coil with a few pieces of ribbon. All it needs it a mini pen to finish it off.

Stamps: Just Jawing
Cardstock: Lavender Lace, Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, StazOn Jet Black, Orchid Opulence, Gable Green Marker, Lovely Lilac Marker
Accessories: Star Punch, Scallop Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Jumbo Eyelets, Top Note Die (Big Shot)

Stamps: Just Jawing
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pink Passion, Ruby Red, retired dsp
Ink: Ruby Red Craft
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, 3/16" Corner Rounder, White Grosgrain, Red Gingham Ribbon

Gumball Birthday card

Another Kristina Werner Color Inspiration card. This week's CI#39 is bright and cheery with Basic Black, Real Red, Green Galore, So Saffron and Whisper White. The gumball photo she posted made me pull out this retired set Treat Yourself from a few years ago - one of my favorites!

I stamped the gumball machine in Basic Black ink onto Whisper White cardstock and then used my Blender Pen to pull some shading onto the top and bottom. Then I stamped the gumballs in Real Red, Green Galore and So Saffron inks inside the machine, using a mask to keep them in the lines. I also stamped several more gumballs and cut them out.

The sentiment from this same set is stamped in Real Red ink onto Whisper White Textured cardstock and paper pierced with the Mat Pack. I used the Scallop Edge Punch to edge the Basic Black mat, repeating the gumball shapes. I paper pierced the top edge of the Real Red mat as well. Then I layered this onto the Green Galore card base and added the gumball machine and extra gumballs with Stampin' Dimensionals. When everything was attached, I added Crystal Effects to all of the bouncing gumballs and to several of the gumballs inside the machine. I love the shiny dimension Crystal Effects gives to a stamped image.

The inside is just a few stamped gumballs and left bare so I can attach the gift card to the middle.

Stamps: Treat Yourself
Inks: Real Red, Basic Black, Green Galore, So Saffron
Cardstock: Green Galore, Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Crystal Effects, Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals

You Rock! Valentine

Here is a little Valentine card I made using the colors from Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration #38 - Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White.

The card base is a 6x6 piece of Pretty in Pink card stock, folded to create a 3x6 card, just perfect for our Small Open End Envelopes. I punched squares of Pretty in Pink designer series papers from the Print Pack (retired) with my 1 1/4" Square Punch and then layered my sentiment banner and embossed/cut out cherries over them. The 'Happy Valentine's Day' stamp is from the Holidays & Wishes stamp set. I used Whisper White textured card stock for the background - love the textured cardstock!

I stamped the cherries image from stamp set Just Jawin' in Ruby Red Craft ink and then covered them in Clear Embossing Powder, melted with my Heat Gun and cut them out. The sentiment is also from Just Jawin', stamped in Ruby Red ink onto Whisper White cardstock, layered onto Ruby Red cardstock. Those layers are each punched with an arrow tip from My Way Punch to create the banner end. The banner piece has a Stampin' Dimensional under one end of it to give it a little lift. My little bit of Pumpkin Pie is 1/2" Circle Punch of cardstock under my Ruby Red button, which is tied with a bit of Pink Taffeta ribbon.

I added a strip of the Pretty In Pink designer series paper to the inside of the card, as well a wrap on the outside of the envelope to tie it all together.


Stamp: Just Jawin', Holidays & Wishes Inks: Ruby Red Classic and Craft Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Ruby Red, Whisper White textured and plain, Prints Pack (retired) Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Pink Taffeta ribbon, My Way Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Baby Thank You's - a gift set

This is a little gift set of Thank You cards for a soon-to-be-new-mama friend of mine.She is having a c-section next week and won't find out if they are having a boy or girl until the baby arrives! Her baby decorating colors are chocolate and cream and she'll add blue or pink after the baby is born. I want to get these in the mail to her before then so I designed them to work with either blue or pink. She will add the strip of pattern paper and be finished with 20 cards. The box set includes 10 each of 3x6 cards (top) with envelopes and 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch note cards (bottom) with envelopes. The strips of Pretty in Pink and Bashful Blue designer series paper are layered below and to the side of the cards, along with the coordinating medallion for the notecards.

I created a sample in each color and boxed them up in this divided gift box, made from a piece of Close to Cocoa card stock and a Vellum lid. I used pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock, strategically scored, to create the dividers and I used pieces of Kraft cardstock, scored and folded to fit, for the 'spacers' to keep everything tidy. I created a simple belly band from Chocolate Chip cardstock and layered a strip of this designer series paper from a retired Simply Scrappin' Kitover it. The circle embellishment is a card stock sticker from that same Simply Scrappin' Kit as well. I just rubbed the adhesive back of it on my Embossing Buddy to remove the stickiness.

The notecards are like a card front - a clean and simple note area to write on. The flourish from Baroque Motif is stamped in VersaMark onto Very Vanilla card stock to leave a subtle watermark looking print. I stamped the 'thank you' sentiment from All Holidays in the lower corner in Chocolate Chip ink and added two strips of designer series paper to the left side. I created the medallion by layering Chocolate Chip card stock, punched with the Scallop Punch, with a 1 3/8" Circle Punch of Bashful Blue card stock, topped with a 1 1/4" Circle Punch of a stamped image from Say It With Scallops, retired, in Bashful Blue ink. This is added with Stampin' Dimensionals to the note card.

The long card is a 6x6 piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock, folded to create a 3x6 card that fits into the Small Envelopes, retired. I used the Baroque Motif stamped in VersaMark again and a few strips of designer series paper. The 'cherish' sentiment is from Baroque Motif set and I finished it with a line of Paper Piercing, using my Mat Pack. The inside of the card is another piece of Very Vanilla card stock, stamped with the same 'thank you' sentiment as the notecard and finished with a Photo Corner Punch piece of the designer series paper.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, All Holidays
Ink: Chocolate Chip, VersaMark
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, Vellum, Patterns Pack DSP (retired) At Home Simply Scrappin' Kit
Accessories: Scallop Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals

New Catalog Sets and Paper!

Mmmmm, I do love playing with new stamps! This card uses a soon-to-be-released set, Game Night, which will be in the soon-to-be-arriving 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book & Catalog. It is one of the stamp sets featured in the Preview booklet, along with the coordinating Designer Series Paper, Jackpot. The Preview booklet is a sneak peek of some of the new stamp sets, papers and accessories. The new catalog will be released on January 19th, which also means that the retiring stamps and accessories will no longer be available after January 18th!

You can't tell in this photo, but the dice from Game Night are embossed with White Embossing Powder over Whisper White Craft ink and then cut out and popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals. I stamped the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from It's Your Birthday in Basic Black ink onto a strip of Whisper White cardstock. then I punched the end of it using the My Way Punch to create the banner tip. (The Photo Corner Punch or many of the Square Punches will also create this banner tip for you.)

I used the 1 3/8" Square Punch to punch pieces from Jackpot Designer Series Paper and used a strip of Jackpot DSP to mat the sentiment across the top. These are all layered onto a piece of Basic Black Textured cardstock, then onto Whisper White cardstock and finally onto the Kraft card base. I added a Jumbo Eyelet with my Crop-A-Dile to the left edge of the banner and tied on a knot of Black 1/4"Grosgrain Ribbon. I also put a Stampin' Dimensional under the end of the banner to give it a lift and bit of curl.

The inside of this card is pretty plain with a roll of the dice across the bottom, stamped in Sahara Sand ink. I added a sentiment from It's Your Birthday to the inside that coordinates perfectly with the dice themed birthday card. It reads, "Life is not a matter of counting years. It's a matter of making years count."

Stamps: Game Night, It's Your Birthday
Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White Craft
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Black Textured, Real Red, Jackpot DSP
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Jumbo Eyelet, Black Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 3/8" Square Punch, My Way Punch, Crop-A-Dile


Here is another card I made tonight using the same stamp set, Game Night, and the same Jackpot DSP. It is a 5" square card, which I alway love to make - they just seem so different with the square dimensions. I think this card needs a little tweaking, so I will probably play around with it a little tonight and see if I can change it just a bit. I do like the swipes of Whisper White Craft ink around the edges of the Kraft base. The chess piece is stamped in Basic Black Craft ink and then embossed with Clear Embossing Powder to give it some shine. The sentiment 'game night' is done the same. I used the distressing tool on the Cutter Kit to rough up the edges of the Jackpot DSP and the Whisper White stamped piece. The Word Window Punch with Basic Black cardstock was used to create the three tabs. I tied a piece of Black Gingham ribbon to the corner of the chess piece and popped the sentiment up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

Here's a peek at the inside of the square card - just a strip of the Jackpot DSP and the playing card stamp in Sahara Sand ink. I think I'll used the soon-tobe-created new and improved version of this card as an invite to a Girls Bunco Night at my house next month. I can't wait to play around with this Game Night stamp set and, especially, the Jackpot DSP to create some fun table decorations and dice favors!

Stamps: Jackpot
Ink: Basic Black Craft, Sahara Sand, Whisper White Craft
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Black, Jackpot DSP
Accessories: Word Window Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Black Gingham ribbon, Cutter Kit, Metal brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

I also made a Flip Book featuring the Jackpot Designer Series Paper, using Real Red, Basic Black and So Saffron cardstock. It's so FUN! I need print and add some pictures of my kids playing cards with the grandparents (they're sharks!) and then I'll share.

Glitter glitter glitter

This is a card I made for the Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoast - TLC202. The Technique Challenges are a great way to learn new techniques and to try different techniques on your cards and pages. This week was Tacky Glitter, to use lines of Sticky Strip (red line tape) on your background and then add different colors of glitter to it.

I stamped this beautiful script background En Francais in Rose Red Classic ink onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. Then I lined up the cardstock on the grid lines of my Grid Paper and added 4 pieces of Sticky Strip, using the lines on the Grid Paper to keep them straight. I removed the backing of the two outside strips first and poured some of the Rose Glitter from the Cosmo Ultra Fine Glitter Stack. I pressed that glitter onto the tape a bit and then tap tap tapped it off and even swiped it with my Swisher cloth. I poured that back into the container and then removed the backing off the two inside strips of Sticky Strip and repeated the same process with the Orchid Glitter from the same stack. It's a good idea to wipe your entire background piece with the Embossing Buddy (after stamping and before peeling the tape backings) before you use the Ultra Fine Glitters - it removes a lot of the static on your paper and helps keep the glitter where you want it, instead of sticking to your fingerprints, etc.

I stamped a second generation of the En Francais background onto a strip of Lavender Lace cardstock and sponged the edges with Lavender Lace ink. For the monogrammed piece, I stamped the M from Lovely Letters Alphabet in Rose Red Craft ink, covered it with Heat n Stick Powder, heated with my Heat Gun until just barely shiny and then covered with the Rose Glitter and heat set it one last time. I sponged this a little and then punched it out with the Designer Label Punch and mounted it to the label from the Styled Silver Hodge Podge Hardware. I punched two 1 3/8" circles from Pretty In Pink cardstock and adhered them behind this piece for contrast. This label piece is tied with Pink Taffeta Ribbon and adhered on the Lavender Lace strip with Stampin' Dimensionals and a Glue Dot under each ribbon knot to keep them tight. I used the Ticket Corner Punch in the four corners of the background piece before adhereing all my layers down.

For the inside of this card, I masked off a 1/2" strip, using Post-It © notes and my Grid Paper, then stamped the En Francais background stamp in Rose Red Classic ink, to create a narrow strip of the script matching the front of the card. I also added a Pretty In Pink stamped flourish from the Lovely Letters Alphabet set in the corner. Ticket Corner Punch at each of the four corners and adhered it to the inside of the Pretty In Pink cardstock base.

Stamps: En Francais, Lovely Letter Alphabet
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, Lavender Lace
Ink: Rose Red Classic and Craft, Pretty in Pink, Lavender Lace
Accessories: Cosmo Ultra Fine Glitter, Heat n Stick Powder, Styled Silver Hodge Podge Hardware, Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Ticket Corner Punch, Designer Label Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch

Scrapping Hawaii

Here's another page of our vacation in Hawaii - no journaling here because this page will be one of several in my Vacation Album.

For this page, I punched a narrow strip of Cameo Coral cardstock with the Scallop Edge Punch and then layered that onto a piece of Orchid Opulence cardstock to cover the edge of the Cameo Coral piece of Ginger Blossoms Designer Series Paper. I stamped a few flowers from Embrace Life in Orchid Opulence ink and again in Whisper White Craft Ink onto So Saffron and Groovy Guava cardstock and cut them out. I layered the flowers onto a circle of Cameo Coral and adhered that with Stampin' Dimensionals - also curled the edges of the flowers and the edges of the DSP.

The title is stamped in Orchid Opulence ink using Typeset Lower Alphabet, Collage Alphabet (ampersand) and Contempo Alphabet. Then I stamped some texture using the sand stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds along the right side. Also, some sponging with Creamy Caramel ink. The Jumbo Eyelets are set using the CropADile and then threaded with a knot of Rope Twine, which is taped onto to the back of the page using Scotch Tape.

Stamps: Contempo alphabet, Typeset Lower alphabet, Collage alphabet, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Cardstock: So Saffron, Orchid Opulence, Cameo Coral, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink: Orchid Opulence, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Jumbo Eyelets, Rope Twine, Scallop Edge Punch, Sponge, Mat Pack

Another Thank You card done

This card is also inspired by one of the Holiday Extravaganza Challenges on Splitcoast - this one was to create a card using a tag. I CASE'd the gift tag from the back of the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini catalog using the largest Spellbinders Curved Rectangle die in my Big Shot machine. All the stamps on this tag are from the Winter Post set, stamped in Sahara Sand or Chocolate Chip onto the Kraft cardtock tag. I set a Jumbo Eyelet in the corner with my CropADile and tied on a piece of the Rope Twine from the Holiday Mini Catalog and then used this tag as my main image. I only added a strip of Ruby Red cardstock to a Chocolate Chip card base and then added my tag on dimensionals. For the inside of this card, I cut a Top Note die from Kraft cardstock and then stamped the snowflake from Winter Post in Sahara Sand ink. I die cut two Top Note pieces from Ruby Red cardstock and then moved them off the edge of the die a tiny bit and ran them through my machine again to create a narrow band of color for each side of my Top Note Kraft cardstock. The 'thank you' sentiment is from the Much Appreciated stamp set, stamped in Chocolate Chip ink.

Stamps: Winter Post, Much Appreciated
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Ruby Red
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Top Note die, Spellbinders, Rope Twine, Jumbo Eyelet

Voila chef - for a cooking friend

Another challenge card - Splitcoast has daily challenges, but during the holidays, in addition to the regular daily challenges, they also hosted Holiday Extravaganza challenges every day between Christmas and New Year's. The Holiday Extravagana Challenge one day was Paper Tole - simple paper piecing.

I love to paper piece this chef from the Voila set - his uniform and hat look so cute in different designer series papers!

The paper I used is a Level I hostess set, Patterns Pack, a 6x6 pad of six different colors of designer series paper in a variety of patterns.

I first stamped the chef in Basic Black ink onto a piece of Very Vanilla card stock. Then I stamped him again onto two different pieces of Sahara Sand dsp and a piece of Real Red dsp. I cut out his uniform, hat and scarf, keeping just on or inside the black inked image - this is a time when it's nice to have super sharp little scissors! Then I adhered the cut out pieces to the original stamped piece with Tombow Mono Multi, a liquid adhesive.

I used an AquaPainter and some ink squeezed onto the lid of my Basic Black ink pad to watercolor the platter he is holding. Matted him onto Basic Black cardstock and then folded a narrow strip of Basic Black cardstock around the corner and finished with a knot of Red Gingham ribbon. A piece of the Sahara Sand dsp is on the edge of my Sahara Sand cardstock base and the chef is added with Stampin' Dimensionals.

For the inside, I adhered a strip of the Real Red dsp and stamped only the platter. I inked up the chef image in Basic Black and then masked off his head and arm with Scotch Tape, so that only the platter would stamp.

Stamps: Voila
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Patterns Pack DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Red Gingham ribbon, AquaPainter