Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mother's Day Workshop Samples!

It's always nice to have a few different ideas for use with the same stamp set, right?
Here's another way you can use your "Garden from the Heart" set! It's such a great set for use in a Mother's Day card that I couldn't resist teaching it this past weekend to a lovely group of ladies. They also learned a quick and easy candy holder and how to make a neat 3-D flower to adorn their holder!
Hope you are inspired! :-)




The ladies learned how to use their water pens/aqua painters to color in the hat (using the ink from their ink pads pressed into the lid of the ink pads). Just like watercoloring!
When using your water pens it's best to use watercolor paper, which Stampin' Up! does sell.

All Stampin' Up! items used:
Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Whisper White cardstock, Watercolor paper, Aqua painter, Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch, "Garden from the Heart" stamp set, Old Olive and Rose Red Stampin' Write markers, Eyelet Border punch, Perfect Polks Dots embossing folder and Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon.

 

This holder was made using a 3 x 12 piece of  Old Olive cardstock, scored at 4 3/4"  and 7 1/4". Used the 1 3/4" Circle punch to cut the center circle and the Scallop Circle punch to create the border.
The flower was made by punching out 7 pieces of Whisper White cardstock with the Scallop Circle punch. I use a dauber to ink the edges (front and backside) with whatever color I'd like to accent my flower with. You then will wad all the pieces up and then open back up. Stack them, secure through the center with a brad and then start to wad EACH layer straight up over each other. This will create your flower! Just pull the edges back out to the desired look you want. 
 Have fun making them!! ;-) 

Stampin' Up! Items used:
12 x 12 Old Olive cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, "Fifth Avenue Floral" stamp set, "Tiny Tags" stamp set, Medium Jewelry Tag punch, Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch (for the leaves), Pretty in Pink satin ribbon and Old Olive and Pretty in Pink ink pads.   

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Mother's Day!

Have you started on your Mother's Day cards? No? Well, no worries....here's an idea for one! 

Mom, don't look!! :-)

In case you've never tried 'wrinkling' your ribbons, let me try and explain how to do it.
The hardest part is trying to separate the fibers at the end of the ribbon piece.
Once you've been able to do that, then work on getting a firm grip on one of them in the center.
When it's firmly held, begin pulling on the thread while pulling down the rest of the ribbon in the opposite direction. This will cause the ribbon to start to buckle and curve to the side. Keep doing this until you have your desired length. Be careful that you don't pull too hard and break the thread, or pull the thread out. I have been able to successfully use this technique on satin, taffeta and grosgrain ribbons! So, pull all those ribbons out and see what you can do! :-) Have fun!


Now, do you notice the fluffy looking flowers on the hat? Those were made taking styrofoam balls and rubbing them together to create the fluffy substance. Take the shaved styrofoam and put it in a sandwich baggie. Put a few drops of re-inker in the bag and 'mush' (don't you like that word?) the styrofoam shavings into the ink. You will need to work it in for a bit, but eventually you'll have some nice uniform colored 'fluff' to glue onto your stamped images once it's dry! :-)


Stampin' Up! Items used:
Garden from the Heart #118568 (cling-mount), Well Scripted #118601 (cling-mount), Vintage Vogue #118598 (cling-mount), 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon #111368, Signo gel pen #105021, Eyelet Border punch #113692, Blender pens #102845,
Kraft, Whisper White, Old Olive and Pink Pirouette cardstock.




Sunday, April 11, 2010

Two-Step Bird Punch!

I LOVE this Two-Step Bird punch! It's got so many possibilities. You'll love working with it!
The following card was made using this punch. I have posted this card done in other colors, but this was my first one. I couldn't post it because I had made one similar for a girlfriend of mine for her 50th Birthday and she hadn't received it yet! I couldn't spoil the surprise, could I? :-)
I hope both cards inspire you!







Don't forget to use your Sissix Die Cut numbers and incorporate them on your cards. These were cut from chipboard and I used my SU Classic ink to color them, and then spritzed them with a mixture of SU's pearlized paint and alcohol to add a bit of shimmer! The Taffeta ribbon worked beautifully with the look of this card. I used one of my favorite stamp sets, "Friends 24-7", to stamp on this card with.

Hope it's given you more color combo ideas to run with!

Stampin' Up Announces....

Okay, so I always eagerly await the new In-Colors each year....but this year is even more exciting! I have to admit there is a little disappointment in some of the news....but as a whole, it's great!!

Stampin' Up! is bringing in 6 new In-Colors and re-vamping all the other color groups!! They are bringing back some of our favorite In-Colors from the past as well as getting rid of some of the standard colors they've always had. It's a very nice change-over and I think you'll like it when you take a good look. I have to admit, there's a few colors I will miss....so, I will be stocking up on paper and ink re-fills on those colors!! We'll have to get our orders in ASAP before they start to run out! So, start making your lists! :-)

So glad to see River Rock in the neutrals and Crumb Cake (which is the new name for Kraft)!


Above are the colors you need to go through your stash with and see what you need to stock up on! I'm going to miss the blues and yellows....but LOVE the new colors coming back! Baha Breeze was always a favorite and looks so good with Real Red and Chocolate Chip. Marina Mist is gorgeous and so is Daffodil Delight. And I'm soooo thrilled to have Riding Hood Red coming back!!
Yes, we have MUCH to look forward to! :-)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Rachel's Win...Digital Image!

As you all know, Rachel was lucky to win first place in Karen's Doodles contest! She was able to pick out what she wanted Karen to design on one of her images. Rachel picked the picture I took of her and her dog Maggie and she named the digital stamp "Maggie and Me". Karen has posted it on her blog, so you can go there to see it and all her others. Here's the image and the scrapbook page photo she designed it off of. It's sooooo adorable!



If you have children, I encourage you to get them to participate in the contests! See what you can look forward to them winning! :-)

The scrapbook pages I designed using Stampin' Up's "My Digital Studio". It's a fantastic program and so easy to use! You will LOVE it!
Just click on the "Shop Now" button (to your right) to order the program....you won't regret it!

Spring Break in Florida

Rachel and I scooted down to Florida for her Spring Break. It's been a great trip! I got to finally see my little sister and her adorable pregnant belly....unexpectedly re-connected with a family friend from Highschool...and got to hang out with my parents, middle sis and niece and nephew. All-in-All....it's been a great trip so far! Haven't done any stamping lately, but will post another challenge and some ideas for you when I get back! For now, I thought I'd share some pictures of our time down here:
             
How do you like this beach! Isn't it gorgeous! Look at clear the water is....

Look at that cute 'bump'!! Kristy was such a trooper on that warm beach...and she looked adorable! I tried to talk her in to putting on a 2-piece bathing suit....that was out of the question she said! :-)
The cousins! Jonathan, Rachel and Ashlyn...                                                                                               

The Sisters....Penny, Myself, and Kristy!


My Mom took the kids Go-Cart racing....it was Rachel's first time. She went around the track with me and then my sister, Penny, before trying it herself. She was quite a bit nervous for her first time by herself (as shown in picture) but quickly caught on and had a blast! She went out one more time, and the final pic is the cousins crossing the finish line and coming in to park. LOTS of fun!