Watercolored Frosty Friends

Isn't this the sweetest stamp? There's just something super cute and adorable about those snow men. They've got cute little hats, scarves and what about the birds? For this reason, I decided to do a class using this stamp. Best of all, your class fee includes the stamp :) It's a watercoloring technique class. Check out the first card that I've designed for the class on November 24th:

My inspiration for this card came from this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge. We had a fantastic, simple sketch to work with and other than the greeting, I stayed pretty true to the sketch. 

Tips & Tricks:
*How awesome is the Snow Festival Designer Series Paper? So many gorgeous patterns all stitched together!
*To change up the look of your favorite punches, use a smaller sentiment and only half (or less) of the punch! That's what I did here with the Designer Label Punch.
*When watercoloring, it's much easier to blend your colors when using our Watercolor Paper. It's 140 lbs cold-pressed high quality watercolor paper.

I'm glad I'm back in the blogging world and see I have a few more followers! Welcome! But I'm still going to keep my posts short & sweet. Hope you've enjoyed this card. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring our your creativity!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Frosty Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Watercolor Paper, Snow Festival DSP
Ink: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: 5/8" Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals  

A Few Christmas Cards

I've taken a little Internet break. It was a much needed break. I've been on Facebook, though not as much, and I've still been in my stampin' room. I've been doing some birthday cards, I made some Hallowe'en projects and now I've been working on cards for my next Crazy 4 Christmas card class next Friday November 16th.

Snow Swirled was one of my first Stampin' Up! Christmas sets and it's still my favorite! There's just something so magical about this tree. For my class, I think I'll add in a bit of Champagne Glimmer Paper.

The Snow Festival DSP in the Holiday Mini is so pretty! Vibrant colors, fun prints. And do you like the silver Merry Christmas? I used the Silver Stampin' Dazzle Marker.

We will be making these two cards and two others! Hope you can make it - it's a steal at $30 or FREE with a $50 order.

'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Freshly Made Anniversary with Evergreen

It's Sunday, and I really should be posting my Sunday Stamps card but I really wanted to participate in the Freshly Made Sketches Anniversary Challenge so I'm mixing things up this week. I also wanted to show off my fave new Christmas stamp set! I just got the Evergreen stamp set last week, love the UPS Brown Truck. ;) It is soooo pretty! I love the words to Silent Night on one of the stamps ~ so pretty! And doesn't Silent Night represent so well what Christmas is all about :)

For this One Year Anniversary Challenge, we could select the sketch we liked best. I kind of did it backwards though, I looked for a sketch I loved that would work with my Evergreen tree. The sketch from Week #40 worked perfectly. I changed it up a bit (because you know, that's what I do ;) ) but it's pretty close.


Tips & Tricks:

*Instead of using a different card stock color or a DSP on the bottom layer, I embossed my Pool Party card stock with the Delicate Designs Embossing Folder. It can look lacy, but works pretty well as snowflakes, too!
*I didn't really want to put my tree in an oval, so I stuck with my trusty rectangle :)
*Did you know SU! was the first stamp company to do 'two-step stamping'? I love this simple technique! I first stamped the solid tree in Pool Party and then the words to Silent Night in Basic Grey. This stamp set is very easy to line up, no need for a 'perfect fit'.
*Aren't Basic Grey and Pool Party lovely colors for a Christmas card? Cool, but I think they work great with the tree!

I especially enjoyed creating this card because we will be making it at my monthly Crazy 4 Christmas Card in October! I can't wait to stamp some Christmas cards with some wonderful ladies soon! I still have a few spots, so be sure to sign up soon.

'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Evergreen
Card Stock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Basic Gray
Ink: Pool Party, Basic Gray
Accessories: 1/4" Basic Grey Ribbon, Adhesive Jewels - Rhinestones, Big Shot, Delicate Designs Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

More Christmas in June with the Star Tree

Yeah, I know. It's June. It's hot out. We're swimming in pools and sunbathing at beaches. We should not be thinking about Christmas... but I am! I love the idea of making a few Christmas cards *before* the season starts. That way when I'm knee-deep in the Christmas rush, I already have some cards made :) That's what the Merry Monday Challenge is all about! This challenge comes out every Monday so I'm sliding in at the last moment! (But... what's new, right? ;) )

I used the new single stamp Star Tree for my card. And do you like the embossing at the bottom? I did that instead of the ribbon. I used the new Delicate Designs Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for this. There are two edge embossing folders in the package. One of them has this snowflake-looking design. I think it's supposed to be more of a doily, but when I saw it I immediately thought CHRISTMAS! lol!

Tips & Tricks:

*I did a simplified easel for this card. I cut a piece of 4-1/2" x 5-1/2" Pool Party card stock and folded it in half lengthwise making a 4-1/2" x 2-3/4" card base. Then I attached the 4" x 5-1/4" piece of Island Indigo card stock.
*I love all the little stars on the tree. I used my Two-Way Glue Pen to put some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on all of them to give it that Christmas-y twinkle!
*I know I've used the Labels Framelits a lot lately, but how could I *not* use them on this card? The tree fits perfectly!
*I really love this color combo for Christmas. I know it's not traditional but I find the Pool Party is quite 'icy' blue and the Island Indigo gives a great contrast. I know the names of the colors don't sound Christmas-y either but you have to admit, it works!

If you love this card and want to get a head start on your Christmas cards, come to my Christmas in July! Class on July 19th. Promises to be lots of fun, using ALL NEW stamps and there was some talk of Christmas music ;) I hope to see you at this class... 'til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Easter Wishes

This week's Mojo Monday Challenge was so lovely. I loved the idea of using two contrasting papers on the background. And the scalloped border. I have a Fast & Fabulous Card Class coming up on Wednesday March 28th and used this sketch for an Easter card.

I also won a new stamp set at a downline meeting last week ~ Heaven Blessed ~ and was super excited to use the image of the cute little girl hunting for eggs. For those who have little boys, there's an equally cute little boy image ;)

Tips & Tricks:

*I used the 2011-2012 Hostess DSP, Cheerful Treat, for my card. I know Easter is all about pastels and this DSP is a bit brighter than typical Easter colors, I think it still works :)
*I colored in the whole image of the little girl, but you could easily spot color a few key details such as the eggs, shoes and little girl's hair bow. Use our Stampin' Write Markers for a perfectly coordinated image.
*I love these Twitterpated Designer Buttons. They are so cute and work so well for a spring or Easter project.

Another quick post for tonight ~ exhausted from all the packing and decluttering. I'm very excited by our new house, but very tired from all this house stuff ;) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

The Open Sea with Summer Smooches

I finally got my Summer Smooches preorder on Thursday! In the preview, I thought it was the DSP was really girly with flowers and such. But there are polka dots, squiggles, blues, red ~ lots of masculine patterns! Since I have a "Man Class" coming up on Friday April 20th I dove right in and used the red polka dot pattern. More info is available on my Facebook Page.

I used my beloved The Open Sea stamp set for this first 'man card'. I haven't used this stamp set in much too long. Love the sketch? I do too! I used this week's Pals Paper Arts sketch for my card. I thought it was a perfect way to showcase the Summer Smooches DSP.

Tips & Tricks:

*I'm loving the flagging technique. I love showing my stampin' friends that they *don't* need every punch and can free-hand a few notches in their card stock. I curled the tips of the flag with my bone folder.

*I stamped my ship and greeting in Cherry Cobbler. But if you look closely, Cherry Cobbler doesn't match the DSP perfectly. Nor does the Real Red. Or Ridinghood Red. Is this a new 2012-2013 In Color?
*I find the Baker's Twine works so well with the nautical theme. I used the Early Espresso here.

If you're in the Ottawa Area, I hope to see you at my 'Man Class'. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Springtime Scrappin'

I took a break from packing, cleaning and decluttering to do some scrapbooking. I must tell you, scrappin' is SOOOO much more enjoyable! As if there was any doubt ;)

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch as the inspiration for my page. The sketch was perfect a scrap page. I love the contrast of Melon Mambo with Basic Grey ~ isn't it awesome? So warm but so cool, all at the same time.

Do you recognize the ribbon? Probably not! It's the Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon. It is a Sneak Peak and available during the month of April. Isn't it *gorgeous*? I just love the richness of the color!

Tips & Tricks:

*New to scrapbooking? Don't fret, use Stampin' Up!'s Simply Scrappin' kits to get you started. They contain 12x12 textured card stock, DSP and coordinating adhesive elements. Doesn't get easier than that!
*Because I've used the card sketch for a scrap page, I wanted to make it a bit more interesting ;) So, I cut six 3x3 squares from the DSP in the Spring Fever Simply Scrappin' kit and used it for the rectangular element. I love the way it stands out but doesn't take over the layout.
*How cute is Mr. Bunny? He's from the Heaven Blessed stamp set. I won him ~ well the whole stamp set ~ at a recent meeting with my upline and picked the set out for my daughter. She LOVES him :)

I can't wait for my Spring Fever Scrapbooking Class next week. Two more layouts to do but I'm so glad the gals at Freshly Made Sketches helped me out with this one ;) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A Fabulous Floret

Wow - this decluttering business is making me too busy to stamp! Not good ;) But I did have a fantastic private stampin' class yesterday and I wanted to share one of this month's workshop cards. My hostess and her guests loved them and my hostess was very excited to walk off with $70 in FREE SU! product! Doesn't get much better than that :)

I used the Everyday Enchantment DSP on two of my workshop cards, so I thought I'd go in a totally different direction with this card. Also with spring just around the corner ~ it's so warm this week, I can feel it! ~ I wanted to do something that felt 'spring-y'. What's more spring-like than a beautiful Rich Razzleberry flower?

I haven't used Rich Razzleberry in much too long and I especially love it when it's combined with Old Olive.

Tips & Tricks:

*Want a look that is a bit different than the traditional bow? Tie a knot in the 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon. It won't take away from your card but will add that little something extra you may need.
*I love the Flower Garden Embossing Folder. Actually ANY embossing folder, lol! But I wanted to show the ladies at my stampin' parties how much the texture adds to a card. This folder coordinates so well with the Fabulous Florets stamp set.
*As much as I love punches, sometimes it's nice to show new stampers that you don't *need* every single tool right away. I precut small strips of card stock and let the ladies flag and tease it apart to give it more dimension.

Another quick post! I'll be sure to show you my third stampin' class card later on this month. If you want to make this card and two other fabulous cards, you can join my Fast & Fabulous Class on March 28th or book your own private party! Hope to stamp with you soon and 'til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity.

Simply Sent Create & Keep Set

Have you seen the Simply Sent Create & Keep card kit in the Occasions Mini? I love the fact that it comes with cards, adhesive elements, envelopes AND a card holder! For only $17.95 ~ how awesome is that? There are colors that would work for me and there are colors that would work best for women. So you can make cards for all occasions AND for both men and women:

I jazzed these cards up with some Calypso Coral Organdy Ribbon and the Packed for Mom/Dad stamp sets. We'll be using this kit and making these cards at my All Occasions Card Class this Friday March 9th. I made some cards for this class using only the Simply Sent kit:

Okay - so I added a rhinestone, but isn't it lovely? On others I added some ribbon and a greeting:

But those doilies on the left of the card? The cards *come* preprinted that way! How pretty :) On another card, I added a stamp from Happiest Birthday Wishes but the border on it, yes, it comes with the Kit! You really wouldn't need to add anything at all to these cards.

Not only will this card set you up with cards for a few months, but for $25 it's a steal - definitely cheaper than Hallmark! Or get the class to go with all the extra accessories! Hope to see you at the class! You can RSVP at stampingmonica@gmail.com.

A Simple Blossom

I have a bunch of private stampin' classes coming up and we're into a new month so I need some new cards to show off! My most popular stamp set last month was the Mixed Bunch set and coordinating Blossom Punch. I think I sold about 15 sets of them! And I understand why ~ they're easy to use, give stampers many different options in design and they're just so frickin' cute!

What is my next most popular stampin' item in the last month? The Everyday Enchantment DSP! I love all the designs, love the fact that some sheets have a vintage feel yet others have a fresh, clean feel, and I especially love that there are feminine and masculine designs. So... for my first private stampin' class card I used both :) I used a swap I got at Leadership as my inspiration.

Tips & Tricks:

*Use your Paper Snips to clip little slits in your flower. It only takes a few seconds and gives it additional dimension.
*Use your Bone Folder to tease the flower petals to give them even more dimension.
*I love the brads that come in the Everyday Enchantment Brad & Ribbon Bundle. This is a Sale-a-Bration item ~ get 1 free for every $60 you order. Now that's a deal! Order now in my Online Store.

I hope the ladies who come to my private classes love this card and its simplicity. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Christmas in February?

I recently had a hostess who wanted to do a private scrapbooking class with her scrappin' friends. Not only a scrapbooking class, but a Christmas scrapbooking class. In February :) How fun! I have tonnes of Christmas photos so a few extra pages to scrap them could come in handy!

I had never met this lovely lady and her friends so I inquired a bit about their style. She told me that they were quite varied in style, and easy to please, but she wanted to WOW them! Well now ~ how do I wow them? And what materials should I use? I wanted to use a DSP that wasn't strictly Christmas but that still looked festive. I've seen the Mocha Morning DSP used with Cherry Cobbler and with the metallic colors in the DSP, I thought it was perfect for Christmas. Turns out I was right :)

I love the Soft Suede with Cherry Cobbler as well. I sponged the wreath from Welcome Christmas with Soft Suede as well as the 'Memories' flag. I free-handed the DSP flags behind the photos with my Paper Snips although you can use any square punch as well. Since these ladies weren't familiar with SU! and our fantastic products, I wanted them to see how we have coordinating stamp sets and punches. No stamp set and punch show this off better than Delightful Decorations and the Ornament Punch

Tips & Tricks:

*Love the way I weaved the DSP? It's very easy ~ just follow the tutorial at this link.
*As much as I like doing bows, especially cheater bows, sometimes a simple knot ~ such as the one I made on the first page ~ is enough and doesn't take away from the rest of the lovely page elements.
*On the second page, the photo mat is 6-1/2" x 9". This way I can either fit a larger photo (such as a 5x7) or I can split the mat in two and put in two 4x6 photos. 
*I know my Scalloped Square mats don't seem to be very practical ~ photos are usually 4x6. But I always have so many photos that have 'dead space' that can easily be cropped off. I love using this Big Shot die to make mats for photos that can be cropped to 4x4 or 3-3/4" x 3-3/4".

If you're loving these pages, come make them! I'm doing my Fast & Fabulous Class as a scrapbooking class this month on Wednesday February 29th @ 7:30! Hope to see you there... 'til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A Masculine, Elegant Birthday Card

Masculine cards are hard to come by. So every so often I like to challenge myself and go in the masculine direction with my cards. Who's kidding who, many stamp sets are flowery or just very feminine. So when I can come up with a nice masculine card, I'm a happy girl :) I absolutely love the Everyday Enchantment Sale-a-Bration DSP. It's got some awesome feminine patterns, but it's also got some really awesome masculine patterns.

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch for inspiration. Such a simple but lovely sketch. I loved the idea of the little pennant and crowns to make the card even more regal. And because of the color palette (Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede and Pool Party), it works for both men and women. I'm excited to be doing this card at my March Private Classes and at my Fast & Fabulous Class on February 29th. Interested in either of these classes? Drop me a line ~ I'd love to stamp with you!

Tips & Tricks:

*I love how SU! coordinates their stamp sets with their punches. The inside of the elegant frame matches perfectly with the Curly Label Punch.
*Although the Pennant Parade stamp set coordinates with the Petite Pennants punch, I like using the punch to punch out DSP shapes. I love making festive little pennants on my cards.
*As much as I love ribbon, sometimes the Baker's Twine adds that perfect extra touch. Especially on a masculine card.

I also used the sketch to make two cards for my All Occasions Card Class, coming up on March 9th. I love the Create & Keep Simply Sent Card Kit. Makes making cards so easy!

Hope you've enjoyed these cards and my take on this week's sketch. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Packed for...

... Mom & Dad. Or Packed for Masculine & Feminine cards. Have you seen the four Packed for... stamp sets in the Occasions Mini? They're full of images perfect for men, women, baby and birthdays. I was prepping for my All Occasions Card Class on March 9th. I'm using the Create & Keep Simply Sent Kit for this class and I LOVE it! It has a card box, envelopes, card dividers and everything you need to make the cards! Of course, you can add a little extra ;)

Using this week's Freshly Made Sketch, I came up with my first two cards for my class. I love this week's sketch, it so simple, but makes it so easy to add a few special touches to a card. I used the Packed for Mom and Packed for Dad stamps.

In the center of the two cards is the card box which I embellished a bit (and you can embellish even more!). The kit comes with 10 designer cards, 2 each of 5 designs. I used the Early Espresso cards for my creations today.

Tips & Tricks:

*Love this Simply Sent kit but not sure what colors to use? SU! makes that easy - they tell you that the color palette is Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzazz.

*When I first saw the Packed for stamp sets I wasn't sure how to use so much line art. But the possibilities are endless! Spot color with our Stampin' Write markers (like I did), punch out the elements you like best or color the elements you like best. I'm sure you can think of many other things to do with these great stamps!
*Do you have a tough time making masculine cards? The Packed for Dad stamp offers many possibilities!
*The greetings and scalloped edge on the feminine card are both from the Simply Sent kit. I love all the options this kit offers.
*I love the ease of the adhesive die-cuts in our card and scrappin' kits. But sometimes I want to put them on Stampin' Dimensionals and the tackiness of our die-cuts actually gets in the way. To reduce tackiness, stick the die-cuts to your clothes a few times and then put them on Dimensionals.

Hope you've loved these class previews and you'll join me at my All Occasions Card Class. Not in Ottawa? Get the class to go! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!