Simply Adorned, Simply Beautiful!

Have you seen the new Stampin' Up! Simply Adorned chains and charms? What makes this jewelery so special? YOU decide what it looks like! Available in 5 sizes, these charms open up so that you can insert your own hand stamped image! Talk about customizable and versatile. Going to a birthday party? You can go with a bright and cheery insert. Going to a wedding? Use a simple flower. Any event, any outfit, same but different necklace or bracelet!

For my first charm I went with the 1" x 1-1/4" charm - a size that works for me - and turned to one of my favorite and most versatile stamp sets - Vintage Vogue. That small flower is the perfect size for this charm. A little bit of Rock and Roll with Crushed Curry and Rich Razzleberry, a few Old Olive leaves and voila! A perfect casual necklace, just right for any summer event. What I especially love about the charms is that they have beveled glass on the front for a fancier look and flat glass on the back. You can have the same image on both sides, different images, or just an image on the front. Customizable, beautiful, simple, YOU!

The chains are available in two lengths (24" and 34") and are a beautiful vintagey silvery pewter. I got the 24" length because I don't like my chains too long. But this weekend I saw another demonstrator with the 34" chain doubled up and let me tell you, it looked AWESOME! Guess what's going on my next order ;)

Hope you've enjoyed reading a bit about Simply Adorned Charms and what they're all about! I can't wait to make more inserts for mine!

Keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!






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How did I make my project?
Stamp set: Vintage Vogue (wood mount 117690, clear mount 118598)
Card stock: Whisper White (100730)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry (115658), Crushed Curry (115659), Old Olive (102277)
Accessories: Simply Adorned Chain 24" ( 116800), Simply Adorned Charm 1" x 1-1/4" (116798)

Easy Masculine Cards

Sometimes masculine cards are hard to make. We don't always have the right stamp set... let's face it, most men don't want a bouquet of flowers on their card ;) So what about not using a stamp set? How about using punches to make a background? I CASEd this card from Mary Fish - one of my fave stampers out there!

I used the Curly Label Punch to punch out a bunch of labels out of textured Crushed Curry card stock and arranged them in a neat geometric pattern on backing card stock, in this case Close to Cocoa.

Finally I tied a Blue Brocade ribbon around the card and for a little something extra I put a Whisper White Jumbo Grommet on top. To make it a Father's Day card, I used the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes. And voila, a simple masculine card!

You can do this technique with many other punches and shapes! And a masculine card may not be as hard to come up with as you thought :) Or come to my Cards and Cupcakes Stamp Party on June 2nd to learn other fun techniques, including other punch techniques!

Keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

April 2010 Stamper's Group Projects

Last month I decided to focus on mosaic type cards. We did a quilting technique - GREAT for using left over DSPs - and the Brick Wall Technique. Both are fairly simple to do but leave a lasting impression on the receiver of your beautiful card!

The DSP quilting simply involves punching out numerous squares of coordinating DSP using any size square punch. I used the 1-3/8" Square Punch for my card and Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. Then organize and adhere in whatever fashion you like to your card. You can do a accent strip or a full background. Or for added punch you can adhere to cardstock and run through your Big Shot using a die such as the Top Note, Scallop Circle or in my case, the Scallop Square die. I love this die because it's clear so you can see where you're positioning your card stock. And it's so versatile! It's 4-3/8" x 4-3/8" so I made this card 5-1/4" x 5-1/4" so that it fits. But you can cut it in half, 3/4 or whatever dimension you like to use on a standard sized 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" card. The scallops add a beautiful accent to any card quickly and easily. And because this die is a Bigz die, it will cut through various materials including chipboard, metal, wood and fabric!

For this card, we also used the Stained Glass Technique to add the flower to the card without taking away from our beautiful DSP background. We didn't emboss the flower, just stamped in Basic Black Ink. But it worked very well regardless! I love the way this card turned out and will be giving it to my Mom and Mother-in-Law for Mother's Day :) Stampin' Up! materials used on this card include
*Stamp sets: Asian Artistry (Hostess Level II set) and Teeny Tiny Wishes, Awash with Flowers
*Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Vellum Card Stock, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
*Ink: Basic Black Ink, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Markers
*Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Square Die, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1-3/8" Square Punch, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Soft Subtles Brads, Scallop Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch

Our second card used the Brick Wall technique. I altered it a bit by stamping directly on Whisper White card stock, not patterned paper. We also drew the grid on the back of the card as I didn't want to see it on the front. We stamped using the beautiful 2010-2011 IB&C Sneak Peak stamp set, Awash with Flowers! It's a gorgeous 2-step stamp set that will surely be a hot seller from the new cattie. A little tip - when you cut apart your card front make sure to keep it organized on a dark piece of card stock or mat so that you don't have a crazy puzzle to deal with later ;) And don't worry if you don't cut your card apart perfectly straight - I didn't and I think it still looks pretty good ;) Lastly, the bricks on my card are 1" x 0.5". So I had to make sure that my 'brick wall' measurements prior to cutting were a multiple of 0.5" (in this case 4" x 3.5"). Make sure you do the same or it won't look right when you draw your bricks. The Stampin' Up! products we used for this card include:
*Stamp set: Awash With Flowers
*Card stock: Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
*Ink: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Old Olive Stampin' Write
*Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Eyelet Border Punch, Bashful Blue 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

These stamper's groups are so much fun and you get to learn so many new techniques! I'll be starting new groups in August and/or September. Be sure to let me know if you'd like join one. You can contact me anytime at stampingmonica@gmail.com! Hope to see you at a group, class or workshop soon and keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

It's a Garage Sale AND YOU can Earn SU! product!

Okay, so it's not 'til July! But I've gotta start planning sometime right? So here are the important dates:

Saturday July 10th - Sneak Peak Garage Sale for Consignors - 7-10
Sunday July 11th - Retired Product Garage Sale - ALL day
Monday July 12th - Retired Product Garage Sale - 1-9

Thursday July 15th - New Cattie Open House #1 - 7:30 - 10
Saturday July 17th - New Cattie Open House #2 - 1 - 4

WHY am I talking about this stuff now? Because it involves YOU! This isn't just a garage sale for MY retired product. I know I'm not the only one who hoardes DSP like nobody's business. And I KNOW I won't be the only one who has retired card stock, ink, markers, etc. to sell when the new colours start with the 2010/2011 Catalogue. So here's the deal!

*You can consign your RETIRED SU! product (stamp sets, punches, card stock, DSP, ribbon and other accessories) with me. You can also consign any non-SU! products you'd like to sell. You must submit a list of everything and the products to me by June 30th (so that I have time to price and organize everything). I will be setting the prices for all product.

*You get a SU! Credit Voucher from me for the 100% of the product sold redeemable towards SU! product by December 31st, 2010 OR 40% of what you make in CASH to use as you please! If you choose the Credit Voucher option this is how it will work:
1) You MUST redeem your Credit Voucher by December 31st, 2010.
2) Your Credit Voucher will go towards SU! product. So if you earn a Credit Voucher for $20, this will go towards your purchase+shipping+taxes. Any amount exceeding this can be paid as per the usual methods (cash, cheque or credit card). Please e-mail me for any clarification :)
3) You cannot purchase a Gift Certificate with your earnings. You must use it for current SU! product by December 31st.

*You have two options for unsold items.
1) Keep them consigned with me for a period of THREE months for sale at my Open Houses and online afterwards. You can again keep 100% of the earnings to use towards SU! product (I'll give you a Credit Voucher valid for 6 months from issue) OR take 40% of what you make in CASH.
2) I can give them back to you.

You may be wondering WHY you'd consign with me and not just sell it yourself. There's power in numbers. This will be a BIG event and that will draw many people. It's also much easier to do it through me than list everything yourself. I've done it and between all the photos and then the no-shows when you set up appointments, it can be a frustrating and lengthy process. So consign your things with me and let me do all the work!

Hope this all makes sense! E-mail me at stampingmonica@gmail.com for your Consignment Contract and let's make this a success for you AND me!

Keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!