Vintage Postage

Before I start on today's card, I just wanted to let all my blog readers know that you may see a few less posts from me in the next two weeks or so. Next Friday, we take possession of our new home. This means a lot of packing, including all my stampin' stuff! EEEK! I'm doing it in phases. I've already packed all the things I know I won't use (retired DSP, extra ribbon, some stamps). But my inks, punches, accessories, card stock... they're all accessible. So I can stamp a bit longer. But I'm slowly running out of time and will have to pack soon. So I ask you to be patient with me, I'll be back to posting regularly soon. From my NEW STAMPIN' STUDIO :)

Now, onwards and upwards to today's card. This week, I was very excited to partake in the Friday Mashup Challenge. Their challenge for us this week was to
1) Make a project with a 'stick pin on it';
2) Make a 'vintage' project; or
3) Mash it up and make a 'vintage project with a stick pin on it'.

Vintage? FUN! I love vintage. With a pin? Even more FUN! Mainly because I've never done that before ;) And I do like to sew, so I have lots of pretty pins, perfect for a card.

My card base in this card is Pink Pirouette. But as usual, the color didn't photograph well. So frustrating, but I hope you get the idea. I've tried playing with all the functions in Photoshop and it clearly didn't work. :p

Tips & Tricks:

*Postage Due is such a fantastic vintage stamp set. I love the stamp images and the main image (even though I didn't use it here) as well. So many options with this set!
*The Fan Fair DSP is also great for any vintage project. Best of all it has some very feminine doily patterns, as well as more masculine patterns.

*Doesn't the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder look lovely with the Scallop Trim Punch and Fan Fair DSP? It's almost like they were made for each other!
*What do you think of my pin? It's not SU! because I pulled it out of my sewing kit ;) I just poked two holes in my card stock and threaded it through. It looked a bit plain though so I put a white Designer Button with Linen Thread on top of it.
*I contemplated tearing my card stock for a vintage feel, but I decided to tear it apart instead. I love how SU! card stock is solid right through and thick enough to do this.
*The Victoria Trim Crochet Ribbon is the perfect addition *any* vintage card :)

Hope you've enjoyed this card. I think I'll have to use the pin again! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Postage Due, Tea Shoppe
Ink: Soft Suede
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Fan Fair DSP
Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Postage Stamp Punch, Scallop Trim Punch, Big Shot, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Victoria Trim Crochet Ribbon, Linen Thread, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots,

Two-Tone Wonderful

I'm really loving the challenge that the Dynamic Duos Challenge presents. I tend to use lots and lots of bright colors, and I definitely have my favorite combinations. So this type of challenge that has me use colors out of my comfort zone are great for getting my creative juices flowing :)

I combined this challenge with the Pals Paper Arts Challenge ~ a love sketch by Margaret Moody. With only two colors to play with (other than neutrals) - Daffodil Delight and Basic Black - I had a bit of a tough time coming up with all the layers. The 'Sweet Dessert Option' that the Dynamic Duos offered us was dry embossing. So that was my solution :) I use one of my Edgelit Embossing Folders to emboss the #3 layer.

Tips & Tricks:

*I absolutely love the Seam Binding Ribbon for this ribbon shirring (folding of the ribbon in waves). It fold so easily and stays folded. Use some Sticky Strip to make sure it stays stuck on the card.
*Isn't Gently Falling a lovely stamp set? Well, good news!!! It has made it into the 2012-2013 Catalogue :)
*Although two-step stampin' can sometimes be a bit frustrating if you want your images lined up perfectly, Gently Falling makes it easy. Even if the outline stamp isn't perfectly lined up with the solid stamp, your image will still look great!

*Doesn't the dry embossing look great? Love had it adds that bit of texture to my card.
*I know the 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon isn't part of the sketch, but the leaf needed just a wee extra detail. I really like how the narrow ribbon adds a very subtle extra touch.

I really like how this card turned out, even though I've never used this color combination before. But I do know I will use this combo again :) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Goodbye Gorgeous Medallion

Stampin' Up! is retiring a whole pile of stamps this year. A lot of stamps! On the one hand, I'm sad to see some go. On the other hand, it was needed. There are a lot of stamps in our catalogue that have been around for a very long time. With selling my house, I know how good a big purge feels. And I bet the folks at SU! feel the same way about this purge.

One of the stamps leaving us is the big Medallion. I'm going to miss this stamp a lot, but it has been around for 3 years and I know that SU! will have something even better for us in the new cattie :) I used this weeks Freshly Made Sketch for inspiration.

I'll also be doing this card at my Stamper's Group on Sunday. Do you love how the Medallion stands out on the card? I did the emboss resist technique and layered Soft Suede as well as Early Espresso inks. Hope my stampin' girls love it!

Tips & Tricks:

*I am so glad the the Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die isn't retiring. I love it and the impact it makes on my projects. Fold the butterflies in half, layer them together and voila - a flittering butterfly :)
*I love the strips of the Adhesive Jewels. I don't use them enough but I thought that the strip of pearls would be just perfect for my butterfly ~ isn't it great?

*To add a bit of a vintage look to my card, I teased the edges of my Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock with my Bone Folder and pulled the layers apart. Stampin' Up! card stock is nice and thick so you can do this.

I really hope my stamper's group loves this card as much as I do. And my husband. And my daughter. But they may be a bit biased ;) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Tea for Two?

Today I'm using a stamp set in the 2012 Occasions Mini, Tea Shoppe, which will be leaving us on April 30th when the Mini ends. Though I must say, I have high hopes that this stamp set will carry over to the 2012/2013 Idea Book & Catalogue.

My inspiration for this card was last week's Friday Mashup Challenge. Though I must say, I was clearly more challenged than I expected. Apparently I can't read  ~ they asked us to use the sketch provided and/or use the ghosting/VersaMark resist technique. I misread that to mean that we should use the emboss resist technique, so that's what I did. I guess I only did complete one part of the challenge but my intent was to mash the challenge up and do both ;)

Tips & Tricks:

*Emboss resist is easy! Emboss your image with an embossing powder (I used White Embossing Powder). Sponge over your image with a contrasting ink. I used Pink Pirouette and sponged the edges with Pretty in Pink. The embossing powder is like plastic so it doesn't absorb the ink; it resists it. My tea cup doesn't photograph very well but in real life it looks pretty good ;)
*I love the Basic Grey Satin Ribbon. It has a gorgeous silvery sheen to it!

*Instead of the tag depicted in the sketch, I used the Framelits Labels. Love how classy these look with the pretty tea cup.

I am looking forward to doing the emboss resist technique at one of my Stampin' Technique Classes soon. Hope you've enjoyed my tea card, 'til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Fast & Fabulous Flowers

This Wednesday April 25th, I have my Fast & Fabulous Monthly Card Class. I'm looking forward to stamping some fun cards with the ladies! I've still got room, so if you're in the Ottawa area, I'd love for you to join us!

One of the cards look pretty complex, but is most certainly fast and even more certainly fabulous ;)

My inspiration for this card was this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge. It was a sketch challenge and if you've ready my blog before, you'll know those types of challenges are my favorites :)

Tips & Tricks:

*Instead of the circle in the sketch, I used one of the larger flowers from the Fast Flowers Bigz XL Die.
*I used Vellum Card Stock in a card a few weeks ago and I just love how it looks, especially embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.

*The flowery Island Indigo DSP is from the Twitterpated DSP in the Occasions Mini. I'm going to miss this paper ~ it's so pretty but it's patterns are so versatile. Get it before it's gone on April 30th!
*Who knew that Island Indigo would look so good with Cherry Cobbler?!?! This is one of the things I love about SU!'s Designer Series Papers. They provide stampers with color combinations that sometimes aren't so obvious ;)
*I love cards that look complex but are really quite simple to put together. Some DSP, a few die-cut flower, a stamp and a punch helps put this card together quite easily!

I hope the ladies who come on Wednesday enjoy this card and the others we will be making. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Two Days Left to Sale-a-Brate!!!

Say it isn't so! We only have two days left to get a free Sale-a-Bration item with every $60 in product we order! I always find the end of March so hard. I can't use my gorgeous Sale-a-Bration stamp sets, DSPs and accessories in classes anymore (of course I can for my own projects! ;) ) and my customers don't get a freebie with their orders. After two months, it's easy to get used to, lol!

So using this week's Freshly Made Sketch as inspiration, I made a card full of Sale-a-Bration inspiration. I used the Everyday Enchantment DSP as well as the Ribbon & Brad Pack. I also use the Fresh Vintage stamp set. You'll notice that on the bottom flag I used the Tiny Tags stamp set which isn't part of Sale-a-Bration. But I thought it worked for this card.

Tips & Tricks:
*Love what I did with the Fresh Vintage flower? The technique is called Emboss Resist. I embossed the flower with White Stampin' Embossing Powder and then sponged around it with Soft Suede Ink. The melted embossing powder 'resists' the ink. Don't you love how it just 'pops' out from the card?

*On its own, the Calypso Coral strip of card stock looked too plain so I embossed it with the Lattice Embossing Folder.
*Yes - you see correctly. I have made my own envelope from the Everyday Enchantment DSP using the new Simply Scored Diagonal Board. How awesome is it that we can make our own envelopes with four score lines???
*I have a thing for flagging these days, so I flagged all my DSP strips :) I used my Bone Folder to curl the edges.

It is going to be *so* hard to bid all these gorgeous products farewell on Saturday :( I know SU! always has gorgeous new things all ready for us to fall in love with, but this time, the DSP, the ribbon, the printed brads - yep, I'm in premature mourning. But don't you worry, I'll be back with more SAB goodies before it's over ;)

'Til then, keep using your SAB goodies and keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A Yummy Birthday Card

Happy Birthday!!! I'm trying a new challenge this week, the Friday Mashup. Every week, the give us two challenges and we can 1) do one challenge, 2) do the other challenge or 3) 'mash up our creativity' and do both on one card. This week we were asked to make a birthday card and/or use pastel colors on the card. For my first Mashup, I did both :)

I also needed to make a children's card for my Birthday Card Class this Friday ~ so I once again used this challenge to help me along in my class prep :) I'm so busy ~ I can only do so many things at a time so if I can kill two birds with one stone, I will!

After using my cherry-scented embossing powder last week, I was itching to try my melon-scented and vanilla-scented powders as well. I know my ice cream cone is green, but there is no pistachio-scented embossing powder and I wanted to use Lucky Limeade on my card, so vanilla-green it was :) And the melon... mmmmmmmmmm. Think melon-flavored Jolly Ranchers... yummmmmmmy! Love these powders!

Tips & Tricks:

*I used markers to color my stamps and then use my Versamarker overtop the colored images. Then I applied the Scented Embossing Powders and heat embossed them! Super easy to use :)

*Don't you love how the Mouthwatering stamp set coordinates perfectly with the Sweet Shop DSP? Stampin' Up! makes coordination so easy - that's one of the things I love best about their products.
*The Occasions Mini offers Baker's Twine in all of the 2011-2013 In Colors. I love the Twine because it's so cost effective ($3.95 for 25 yards!) and you can wrap it around the card a few times without giving it a second thought :)

Hope you love this card and hope it's tempted some others to join us on Friday at my class! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A 'Tea-rrific' Birthday

Today marks the launch of the Occasions Mini! Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff in there and I have most of it :p One of the best yet, as you've seen from my large multitude of sneak peek samples :) Today's card used the beautiful, simple sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. I have a Birthday Card Class coming up next week (Friday January 13th at 7:30 for those in the Ottawa area) and this sketch is perfect for it. Not only that, but the minute I saw it, the Tea Shoppe stamp set and the 3 cute tea cups stamp immediately popped into my head!

With the stamp set's vintagey but cute feel, I added the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from Curly Cute. I also couldn't resist using the Beau Chateau DSP to add to the vintage feel. Not sure yet who I'll be giving this card to, but whoever gets it will be very lucky, IMO ;) My class card will be a smidge simpler, to save on time, but gorgeous nonetheless.

Tips & Tricks:

*To add to the vintage feel, I sponged the edges of all the card stock, as well as the surface of the Very Vanilla piece, with Soft Suede ink. It's perfect for adding that vintage feel to any project.

*I embossed the Pink Pirouette card stock with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder because it's matches well with the Beau Chateau DSP.
*Since our Stampin' Write Markers contain the same ink as our ink pads, you can stamp with them. I do find, however, that Pink Pirouette is a bit on the light-colored side when stamping with markers, so I use the Pretty in Pink color in its place.
*I curled the edges of the card stock with a bone folder and separated the layers. I meant to do the same with the Pink Pirouette color but it tore - so I decided to go with it and keep it torn. I actually really like the way it looks!

Hope you've enjoyed this fresh, vintage card. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Back in the Saddle with a Little Scratch 'n Sniff

Happy New Year everyone! If you check out my blog regularly, you'll see I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks... Yes - 3 weeks! I took a much needed little break. October and November were so so busy that when my last event of December was over I sat myself down on the couch and just chillaxed :)

After sending out all my Christmas cards - handmade of course ;) - I started to get the kids ready for Christmas. Both my daughter (6) and son (almost 3) were super excited about Santa's impending visit:

To get back into the swing of things, I updated my Class List yesterday and today I made my card for the Mojo Monday Challenge. I also used a new product that I haven't had a chance to try out yet. The Scented Stampin' Emboss Powders. I wasn't sure what they looked like, how they work, how to use them. But I stamped my cherry image from the Mouthwatering stamp set and then colored them with my Versamarker. After sprinkling them with the cherry-scented embossing powder, melted the powder with my heat tool and voila! Nice, shiny, scented cherries. The embossing powder comes out a little glossy, but not like the Clear Embossing Powder.

I used the Sweet Shop DSP from the 2012 Occasions Mini, which debuts tomorrow! So exciting! Two of the colors in the DSP are Lucky Limeade and Calypso Coral, so I colored my cherries with my 2012-2013 In Color Markers. Don't you love the new epoxy brads?

Tips & Tricks:

*You can mix your scented embossing powders with the colored embossing powders or just use your Versamarker to emboss with the scented powders. They're thin enough that even if the coverage isn't perfect (like with regular embossing powders) your image will still be fine.

*Love the curled ribbon? It's the new Organdy Ribbon, available during Sale-a-Bration (starting January 24th). My cousin Patti came up with this technique... curl it just like you would curl gift wrap ribbon with the dull side of a blade. Easy peasy and the result is great :)
*I used the hearts Edgelit to emboss the Wisteria Wonder strip in the middle.
*I love the Seambinding Ribbons, and I especially love the fact that it's now available in Pool Party!

I'll be back soon, getting back into the swing of things. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A Cup of Thanks

You may have noticed I'm not posting as often. I would really love to post atleast 3 times a week, but with the holidays fast approaching, time is at a serious premium. I'm aiming for 1-2 times a week right now and hope to update my class list for the winter soon, too! Thanks for hanging in there with me :)

Today's Pals Paper Arts Challenge was a sketch challenge ~ my favourite type of challenge! I have been itching to try out my Tea Shoppe stamp set, another sneak peek from the Occasions Mini. I have recently become a very avid tea drinker but what I really loved about this set was the mug - it's so pretty! Look at the little flowers on it, which I strategically adorned with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. :)

I also used a new DSP ~ Sweet Shoppe. It is a specialty DSP with two embossed designs. The Wisteria Wonder Polka Dot paper has debossed polka dots :) It is so cute, so beautiful. A great variety of designs that work so well together and I love the idea of tea and cakes!

Tips & Tricks:

*Sometimes the right DSP can add a lot to your card. Even though the tea cup is the focal point of this card, the cake DSP adds a whole other element to the card.
*Love the ribbon? It's the new Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon.
*The Tea Shoppe stamp set comes with a myriad of lovely greetings, it's a great everyday stamp set :)
*Do you have trouble inking big stamp sets? Usually we put our ink pads on our work surface and ink our stamps by pushing them into the ink. For bigger stamps, try putting the stamp on your work surface upside down and pushing the ink pad down on the stamp.

Hope you've enjoyed this 'tea card'. I know atleast one person who will love it! You know who you are ;) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Snowflake Shaker Card

I just love shaker cards. They are super fun for kids and adults. Who doesn't like shaking a snowglobe. Well, this is the same idea but in a card :) I had to design a project for my Stamper's Group on Saturday and knew we would be using SU!'s new Shaker Frames and Mica Flakes. But I had no idea what my card would look like. Then I saw this week's lovely Mojo Monday Sketch. And my card materialized.

I've been using the Sweet Snowglobe so much this year, I wanted to do something different. So I used the gorgeous big snowflake from the Snow Swirled stamp set. I also wanted to show my ladies how to emboss ~ many of them haven't done it before. Our embossing will be done using the gorgeous new Pewter embossing powder.

Tips & Tricks:

*I love the new Shaker Frames. They make making shaker cards a snap! I've had a lot of questions on how to use them. I will be back with a tutorial next week, after my ladies have done their class. 
*Use SU!'s Window Sheets to create the window on your shaker. They can be punched with punches, cut with a paper cutter or die-cut with the Big Shot.
*To create interesting dimension, I embossed both the Whisper White layer and Marina Mist 2-1/2" circle with the Snowburst Embossing Folder. I love the look!
*The Shaker Frames are about 1/8" high whereas Stampin' Dimensionals are about 1/16" high. To adhere my top Marina Mist layer, I doubled up on the Dimensionals - one on top of the other!
*Yes, I used retired ribbon. It's the 1-1/4" Early Espresso Ribbon. But it worked so well with this card :)

Hope you've enjoyed my card and love my little 'snow flurry'. I also hope my ladies will love it on Saturday. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A 'Fresh' Flower

I love the sketches at Freshly Made Sketches. They are fun, modern and 'fresh' :) After doing a Christmas card on Monday and prepping a few Christmas classes I needed to do something different.

Even though it's fall, I wanted to do something bright and cheery. So I pulled out my Melon Mambo Embossing Powder, one of my fave stamp sets Just Believe, our lovely Hostess Cheerful Treat Designer Series Paper and made this fresh, flowery card. Don't you just love the Limeade DSP with Melon Mambo polka dots? I love this DSP ~ so many fabulous patterns to choose from!

Tips & Tricks:
*Love the new colored embossing powders? Rub some Embossing Buddy over your card stock before embossing to avoid little flecks of embossing powder in places other than your image.
*When using a lot of the same colors for bases and backgrounds, use Stampin' Dimensionals to pop up your images a bit and to add contrast.
*Sometimes I make a card without an intended recipient. So I leave it blank and then it can be anything I want it to be :)

Can't wait to stamp something a bit more seasonal again tomorrow but I've gotta mix it up sometimes. 'Til then, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!