I really got into using "Upsy Daisy" the other day and had fun making this card.
It was kind of fun using the Basic Gray paper and the Designer Paper is from the Occasions Mini, Walk in the Park. I stamped the daisies with White Craft Ink and then embossed with Clear Embossing Powder, right onto the designer paper for a different look. The yellow card stock is So Saffron.
Be sure to check the lists of retiring stamp sets and accessories so you don't miss something you want (uh, need!)!
This has been a fabulously popular technique for everyone to try after being demonstrated at the Stampin' Up! Seattle Regional.
You need the Stampin' Up! Shimmery White cardstock for this technique. Just stamp the rose from "Fifth Avenue Floral" with Craft White ink and emboss with clear embossing powder. Now most gals have used a small plastic bottle to mist water over their rose, but not having one handy, I used my Aquapainter (another fabulous must-have tool!), just running the brush over the whole rose to get a fair amount of water within all the embossing. Put some drops of reinker, whatever colors you want to try for your rose, on top of your plastic stamp case. Pick up a color of ink with your Aquapainter and deposit it on your rose. Since you already have a lot of water floating on it, the ink will spread pretty easily. You can use several different colors for your rose….for example, Regal Rose, Pirouette Pink, Summer Sun…. and just place the ink in each little embossed section of the rose. You really can play with it quite a bit, moving the color around, filling in, making something darker, tipping your paper to make the ink run down a little, etc! Don't worry if the color gets outside the lines because you will cut out the rose anyway! Once you have the color filled it, set it aside to dry for awhile. You can pick up excess water with your Aquapainter, wiping it off on your paper towel each time. Once it is dry, just cut out the rose and make your card. You can stamp some leaves, or in my case, I used the Big Shot to make the "Stampin' Up! Little Leaves". Be sure to stamp and emboss more than one rose……cuz I bet you can't make just one!!
If you need any of the supplies to make this card, please contact me! Don't forget about the Designer Paper Buy 3, Get One Free offer for May! Ends this weekend!
Although the stamps used on this card are retired, I hope you enjoy this patriotic card for Memorial Day. You probably have something similar if you wanted to duplicate this card or one like it. The focal point of this card is the "God Bless America" stamp by Stampin' Up! This was a special edition single stamp released by Stampin' Up! in remembrance of September 11, 2001. The entire purchase price of the stamp was donated to the September 11th Fund created by the United Way and the New York Community Trust to provide services for the victims and their families. I wasn't even a demo when the stamp came out, just bought it from my upline as a customer, although it wasn't long until I became a demo. I used my Stampin' Write Markers to ink up the different parts of the stamp. The other stars on the card are from a retired stamp set "In the Stars". I used the Top Note die with the Big Shot, cutting out one in white and one in red and trimming the white along the score lines to fit as a layer on the red. The ribbon is current and is the 1/2" striped grosgrain in Real Red.
This is a pretty easy graduation card to make. I admit to using some retired paper and stamps, but the color, Cranberry Crisp, seemed to match the school colors pretty well. The retired stamp set is "In the Stars" but I thought that words on the star were perfect for graduation. I stamped the star on the ivory cardstock twice, cutting out one image and popping it up with dimensionals. I had embossed the little stars on the card with gold embossing powder, but then added a couple of star punches out of Brushed Gold cardstock. The gold-embossed "Congrats" is from the current Ronald McDonald stamp set, "Say It with Scallops", found on the inside of the back cover of the catalog. Stampin' Up! donates $2 for every one of this set sold to RMDH…..it's a great stamp set and while you're stamping you know you're also helping out a worthy cause.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Stamp Set: Holidays and Wishes
Cardstock: Blush Blossom CS, Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper, Vellum Cardstock, Whisper White CS, Cameo Coral CS
Ink: Cameo Coral
Accessories: Stampin' Up! Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die (you gotta have this!), Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon
A really great thing about stamping is that you don't need electricity to do it (except for embossing, of course). The other day my power went off for the whole afternoon (only going to McDonald's to get a cold drink made it go back on, as soon as I left, I'm sure!) so I just did some stamping. Even the Big Shot doesn't need electricity! What a great feature!
Here is one of the cards I made that afternoon:
The Brilliant Blue card base is 4×4. The "grad" letters come from the stamp from "Great Grads" but I cut them apart. Just playing around! The wheel I used is actually retired but very similar to the Jumbo "See You Around" wheel….or you could stamp a little background of something….or leave it plain. I used the two star punches to make gold and silver cardstock stars, the Scallop Circle punch, the Scallop Edge punch for the border and the paper piercing tool in the Crafters' Kit to make the little pokey holes in the Real Red strip. I think it would be a great size card to use the Slit Punch to hold a gift card inside.
A year ago we were looking forward to our son's college graduation and now that first year post-college has really flown by. If I can offer a few words of advice to those of you going to graduation at a large university…..Don't park in the garage! Not that we knew that, but we happened to see a spot on the street as we were dropping him off for the ceremony and managed to parallel park there. That saved us at least an hour of time trying to get out of the parking garage after the ceremony! We know because we were waiting for his friends to join us at lunch and they had parked in the garage!
Another tip would be to make sure your graduate is awake and AT the ceremony before you sit there with the whole family waiting for that glorious moment of seeing your child walk across the stage, only to find out that he overslept and isn't even there! Thankfully that isn't a personal story, but I heard other parents recounting that story while I waited to be seated at a restaurant! Just a college thing, I'm sure!
So here's a sample graduation card made with the "Great Grads" set and a rub on from "A Perfect Day". Gotta love those rub ons! Of course you would want to use your school colors or favorite combination, but I used Brilliant Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black, and Brushed Gold. The cap is stamped twice, cut out, and popped up with a Dimensional. I colored around the white area a little just to help it stand out.
If you need supplies to make a graduation card, hurry and contact me so we can get them ordered and in your hands. You might not think that high school or college kids would care that their card was handmade by you, but they do!
I tried to do some research on what months are the most popular for weddings, but the answer varies between sources. One says the most popular has always been June, but now July and August are overtaking that month. Another lists August as the second most popular, followed by May, July and September. Yet another lists September in the third spot, followed by October and May. So who knows?! All I know is that we all probably need some wedding cards throughout the year! Here is one I made for my friend recently.
Stamps: Fun and Fast Notes
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette (or Pretty in Pink)
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Big Shot Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Aquapainter and reinkers, Adhesives
Today I came across the Valentine card my husband gave me and remembered that I always wanted to use it as inspiration for a stamped card. Here is the Valentine:
Everyone lately has been playing with this gorgeous stamp set, Fifth Avenue Floral, and the coordinating Textured Impressions Die for the Big Shot. Although it isn't how I originally thought I would "copy" the valentine card, this is what I came up with:
I think it was the "glitteriness" of the sequins on the card that made me think about using the new "Fine Supernova Stampin' Glitter" on page 180 of the Idea Book & Catalog. I first embossed with the "Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die" on page 202 (which is pretty enough by itself on any paper!) and then used the "2-Way Glue Pen" to trace all the lines of the embossed flowers (okay, that takes a little patience and you can't do it perfectly, but you can do it!) I sprinkled on the Pink Supernova Glitter, shook it off, and then went back in to touch up a few missed spots. This glitter is very fine, so it is a little difficult to get it completely off your paper where you don't want it. I found a small watercolor brush to work pretty well. As you can see, there are still some specks of glitter. But I think after awhile it will probably drop off. The sentiment is from "Great Friend" in the Occasions Mini.
Here is the inside of the card since the card base is Basic Black:
I just stamped the flower with Pink Passion ink.
The "Manhattan Flower" die was not available until March in the new Idea Book & Catalog, so you may have overlooked it. You will really want to put it on your next order because it is a beauty!
Just a little attempt at stamping humor about a not-very-funny morning in Houston, TX! We had rain last night and more during the night which meant that by morning lots of streets were flooded, mostly on my side of town. Lots of schools are closed…..we don't have Snow Days here, we have Flood Days! We were fine at our house, but my husband had to wait an extra hour to go into work until we could see that the buses were getting through on the HOV lanes into downtown. Any low spots in Houston flood easily, and now we have some parts of highways or feeder roads built below ground level, which really doesn't seem very smart for an area that floods easily on rainy days. It's kind of a joke to see cars flooded in intersections or along streets, people who thought THEY could make it through when no one else could. But in reality they could be people new to Houston, or maybe couldn't see in the heavy rain, or in today's case, maybe it was still dark out when the weather was so bad. Of course there is nothing funny about being in this situation or having your car ruined.
But I thought for today's post, I would make a little card representative of the day in Houston…..where the cars are caught on the flooded streets and where you should really be in a boat!
I used some dotted paper (to represent the rain drops!) from the beautiful Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper, the "water" is Baja Breeze paper with the waves punched out with the Key Tag Punch (unevenly) and the "white caps" drawn in with the Signo Gel Pen (rather sloppy, but this floodwater isn't pretty). The boat is stamped and cut out from "Nursery Necessities". The cars are Sizzix die cuts (not sold yet by SU) cut with the Stampin' Up! Big Shot. The sentiment I just printed on the computer and punched with the large oval punch layered on the NEW Scallop Oval Punch (yes, you've gotta have it!) from the Occasions Mini.
The rain has stopped now and the sun is trying to come out, but the rain may come again this afternoon. Rush hour this evening could be a repeat of the morning commute!
Have a beautiful baby in your life to whom you need to send a card? This stamp, "Beautiful Baby", is one you can get free with a $40 order on the "Get Connected" Stampin' Up! Promotion from the Occasions Mini. This selection of stamps can be found on the last page of the Idea Book & Catalog.
This card is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 but you could make it any size. Even smaller with just the words would be fine, perhaps a 3×3 with just the words stamped for a gift card. The cute elephant is from "Nursery Necessities", cut out and adhered with Dimensionals. I thought about putting little stars on the sides of the elephant or little blue buttons, but decided I liked the plain and simple look. You could also just stamp the elephant on the card and not have to cut out. Our paper snips scissors are perfect for intricate cutting like this.
This is the last few days for this promotion, so contact me soon if you want to place your order and get something FREE with "Get Connected"!
Happy Arbor Day! This just shows that any holiday is a good day to make a card! And with Stampin' Up! a "tree" holiday is an easy one because we have some great stamp sets with trees. "Lovely As A Tree" is an old one but still very much loved. A new stamp set I think is very fun is "Branch Out"….you can stamp any color leaves and it comes with the cutest little accessories to place on or around the tree if you want. "Thoughts and Prayers" has a beautiful tree in it. "Trendy Trees" is another cute set!
Today I chose to play with the new "Bright Delights" rub ons on page 172 of the Idea Book & Catalog. You will notice that they are the only set in color! Rub ons are so much fun you can hardly stop with one once you get started! I made this card using only rub ons, no stamping. It only took about ten minutes. So easy!
Bright Delights Rub Ons
Cut out the rub on you want to use from your sheet.
Remove the backing sheet, place the rub on on your cardstock and rub with the "tool" (popsicle stick!). You can almost see the image change just a tiny bit. Peel rub on off carefully peeking underneath to make sure you didn't miss a spot.
Trendy Trees and Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper
Today, April 22, is Earth Day, a day to think about how we take care of the planet. If you would like to celebrate Earth Day with some paper crafting and stamping, here are some ideas:
Recycle a tin can by covering it with Designer Series Paper and using it for a desk accessory. (See page 151 in the Idea Book & Catalog!)
Use some soda cans as the cutting material in your Big Shot and see what kinds of projects you can come up with. Yes, you can cut open Coke cans (use your Craft and Rubber Scissors) and flatten and run through your Big Shot with the steel rule dies.
Have fun with this! You're bound to think of many other ideas.
These "Clearly Thanks" Printed Window Sheets in the Occasions Mini on page 10 are so popular right now! You must get yours so you can play, too! You get two sheets with four printed images……just cut them apart in fourths for cards or smaller pieces for whatever kind of project and you're set to go! Here is my version of the card shown in the mini:
Recipe:
Stamp sets: Oval All and Great Friend (both Occasions Mini)
Ink: Baja Breeze, So Saffron
Paper: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Walk in the Park Designer Series Paper (Occasions Mini)
Accessories: Scallop Oval Punch (Occasions Mini), Large Oval Punch, Printed Window Sheets, Button Latte Designer Buttons
Tip: Purchase the Oval All stamp set, the Scallop Oval Punch, the Walk in the Park Designer Paper, and the Printed Window Sheets from the Occasions Mini and you will have a $40+ purchase from the mini with which to take advantage of the "Get Connected" Promotion and choose a free stamp from page 208 of the Idea Book & Catalog…..and those are great stamps!