Stamping with Karen

One Good Thing About Stamping....

.......You don't have to have electricity!!  Some storms finally came through our area today, and after they were gone THEN the power went off for over an hour.  Fortunately, I was still able to work on my swaps for Convention!  Unfortunately, the power came on just in time to cook dinner!

This is the new Lattice Die for the Big Shot, the new Crushed Curry card stock and the new Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper.  I think the Lattice Die has a lot of potential for creativity!

Baby Wipe Stamping

I'm working on swaps for Convention and trying to find the fastest way to get the look I want for a certain card.  It's one thing to make one card or several cards with one technique, but if you are making a stack of 25 or 50 card fronts certain techniques can be slow going.  Today I happened to think of the Baby Wipe Technique.....you use a baby wipe as an ink pad and place drops of ink on the pad.  Then you ink up your stamp on the colored baby wipe pad.  It produces kind of a tie-dye multi-color look.  Very easy and rather fun to see what look you will get!

Making a Swap Card

Finally cut out the paper for a swap card for Convention yesterday!  And last night I used the Big Shot Texturz Plate to make the texture on the Whisper White cardstock and stamped the giraffe from the new set "Animal Stories".  A week from today I will be on the plane to Salt Lake City to the great Stampin' Up! Convention!  If you want to be going next year, you should consider signing up to be a demo, especially right now with the great sign up deal!  Swapping is a big part of Convention.....usually we make just a card front and then trade with all the other demos!  I'll make several different designs (hopefully, anyway!) so I don't get tired of making the same thing over and over.  Sometimes I think bigger deals are being struck between demos and their swaps, especially the 3-D ones (like little gifts and things) than you find on the floor of the stock market!  If you want to see what this card will look like, you should be following me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/karenstamps!  Go to www.twitter.com to sign up!

Playing with the Heart to Heart Punch

Just a fun card, a Pink Passion card base studded with hearts from the Deal of the Week, the Heart to Heart Punch!  I just reached into my basket of scraps and punched out lots of hearts.  Love the Tombow Multi Glue for easy adhering!  The sentiment is from the "Oval All" stamp set, colored with Stampin' Write Markers, punched out with the Scallop Oval Punch and a layer from the Wide Oval Punch.

Deal of the Week: Heart to Heart Punch sale $10.99

You'll love this last Stampin' Up! Deal of the Week.....lots of hearts!  For this week only, July 27-31 buy the Heart to Heart Punch, regular price $15.95, for only $10.99!  You can use these hearts anytime but with Valentine's Day right around the corner......okay, Valentine's Day isn't right around the corner but you know it will get here!!  It's really a cute punch and I'm sure you will enjoy it!  Just be sure to order it by Friday, July 31 to get the sale price.  I love all our punches!

Start Your Own Stamping Business...and Love Your Job!

**When is a good time to start your own business?  Anytime, if you want to be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator!  But if you want some extra-special deals, then from now until August 31 is a really good time!  Want some extra cash to pay a few bills or want to take your own stamping and scrapbooking business to the top levels?  Start off with either of these kits and start enjoying the world of Stampin' Up!

Already have a lot of stamping supplies or just want to get started at a minimum price?  Then the Mini Starter Kit is for you......only $85!

For All You Do stamp set

In Color Classic Stampin' Pads (6)

Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")

In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")

Business forms and tools 

  

   Want a whole slew of supplies that are a great value PLUS the In Colors for free?  Then the $199 Starter Kit is for you!

Five stamp sets 

A Stampin' Around wheel, handle, and ink cartridge

Stampin' Pastels

Card stock

Eastern Blooms Décor Elements and applicator tool

Five Classic Stampin' Pads

VersaMark Pad

Stampin' Scrub and Mist

Blender pens

SNAIL 

Business forms and tools 

  

PLUS all six of the new In Color Classic Stampin' Pads and one pack of In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")--a $43 value! Click HERE to read more about becoming a Demonstrator and then contact me if you would like to sign up or have any questions.  

Razzleberry Lemonade Notebook

 

This is what you can do with a little notebook in the Dollar Bin!  I covered it with the new Stampin' Up! In Colors.....Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo, then some Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper.  Of course the Lovely Letters Alphabet is perfect for a monogram.  For the butterfly, I finally tried out my Big Shot Die "Beautiful Butterflies" with a layered butterfly on top punched out of Sticky Pages with the new Butterfly Punch  and covered with Chunky Sprinkles Glitter plus two little half pearls from the Pretties Kit.  I love the new In Colors Polka Dot ribbon and the Organza Ribbon.

Stenciled Picture Frames

Since I loved doing the picture frame in THIS post, I had to run back to Hobby Lobby and get more frames.  This time I got the light-colored frame.  It gives a whole different look, which of course you can control depending on how much glaze you apply or wipe off.  Here are some photos of the process and the end result. The first stencil is "Kind Thoughts Brocade" and the second stencil is portions of the "Brocade Flourish" stencil.  You can find these in the Definitely Decorative Catalog.

• Just place the Stampin' Up! Decor Stencil where you want it. 
• Lightly tape it down to hold it in place. 
• Smear the embossing paste over the stencil to cover. 
• Place post-it notes over areas where you don't want the paste to go. 
• Then wipe off the paste with your palette knife. 
• Carefully life the stencil up. 
• Clean off your stencil right away.

Let me know which design and look you like the best!

 

 

 

 

 

Tip: Designer Series Paper Coordinating Colors

This is something I have been doing for awhile but just realized it might be a tip worth sharing.  When I go to work with my Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers (DSP), I like to know what colors coordinate with each pack.  Stampin' Up! now provides that information under each DSP item in the catalog (did you notice that?).  Usually I also have a list that another demo somewhere has compiled of all the papers and colors that I try to keep handy.  But sometimes you want it even handier!  So I write the coordinating colors on the back cardboard of the DSP pack, right above the name of the paper.  That way the information is right at hand!

This photo shows the selections for the new "Tall Tales" Designer Series Paper that coordinates with the stamp set "Animal Stories".

 

And when the paper retires, I still have that information handy, as long as I have that cardboard in the back of the package and still have some paper left......and we all know we wouldn't want to use up ALL of our paper!  :)  Better to hoard extras just in case we need it!!

If you need some of the NEW Designer Series papers, please contact me at KSFontinelle@gmail.com or order online at my store at www.karenfontinelle.stampinup.net.  Click the "Shop Now" button!  You KNOW you need it all!

Friends 24-7

 

Here is an easy card using the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware and the "Friends 24-7" stamp set.  You could add lots of different embellishments to cards and scrapbook pages with the pieces in this kit.  Get it while it is on sale!