7/30/2009

Simple Medallion


I took just a minute tonight to create this card using the new Medallion stamp. The urge to create something overrode the urge to crash!! It really was quick and easy though!

First I stamped the Tres Chic background on Naturals Ivory CS in Basic Black. Over that, off to the side, I stamped the Medallion in Rich Razzleberry. I added the wide Black grosgrain & a Jumbo Vanilla Grommet. Layered onto Basic Black & a Rich Razzleberry card base. Simple & Sweet!

7/29/2009

Winner!

The lucky winner of the Christmas Punch set is:
Cindy Foster (of Minnesota)
Thanks Cindy for stopping by, and enjoy the set!

Drawing & Details later today!

Just a quick note to say thanks to all who stopped by in the last few days! Wow, what fun!

I am working today (currently on lunch break) so will draw and post my winner tonight. Same with the "more details" I promised. I will either update the last post & republish it, or do a separate one.

The winner of the Big Shot has been announced on the Tour Blog, click here to see who it was!

Thanks again, great to meet you all!!

7/26/2009

Royal Blog Tour-Autumn Days WITH Details!

Here is the modified Blog Tour Post with details. New information in RED!

I am featuring the new Autumn Days set, page 92 in the NEW Idea Book & Catalog, as shown here:


It is a very versatile set with a masculine feel that you will want to add to your collection right away!!

My first creation features the Pheasant image and uses several of the new In Colors: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango & Crushed Curry. I used bleach for the background-my Dusty Durango went to a perfect Crushed Curry! The new Modern Label Punch was used for the 'friend to friend' from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. The ribbon is the new Soft Suede Polka-Dot Grosgrain with the dots down. Gold brads on the side are the final accent.

Details: First, a few details on the bleach & how I use it! I have a gladware container dedicated to bleach. It's marked with a Sharpie! I put a piece of felt in the bottom and pour on some bleach. Enough to wet the felt and give you an inkpad feel, not enough that you splatter! You don't want to bleach your shirt or anything else! It is regular house hold bleach straight out of my laundry room! Bleach does lose its effect over time, so if you don't get much change you may need new bleach! Also note that there is no guarantee what color your cardstock will go when bleaching. I've had different dye lots of the same cardstock go different colors! So, test it out and see what matches!

For the background, I used the two stem type images and made a random background. The smaller image across in several rows, then filled in with the longer one. I used the Mat Pack punch guide to apply the brads in a perfect line! The layer on the saying was done by punching a Soft Suede Modern Label, cutting it in half and layering behind the Crushed Curry. The saying was layered on with dimensionals.


The next one features the Wheat image. Note that cool new background stamp on the Creamy Caramel layer-Woodgrain. The wheat is on Glossy Cardstock that was colored using the Polished Stone technique with Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Crushed Curry & Metallic Gold Encore reinkers. The ribbon across the wheat is from the Orchard Ribbon Originals. Behind the wheat is Crushed Curry Polka Dot grosgrain, dots down again. The saying is again from Teeny Tiny Wishes but this time I layered my oval punches together. Vintage brads & a coordinating Mini Library Clip are the final accents here.

Details: In case you can't see, the background also has the wheat image lightly stamped in Creamy Caramel and a light sponging around the edge. Polished stone uses Glossy Cardstock, reinkers & Alcohol. A good tutorial is HERE on SCS. It's really as simple though as applying alcohol to your cotton ball (get it wet but not dripping) then adding drops (one each of the above colors) of reinker. Put a few drops of the metallic ink right on the cardstock then go over it with your dotted cotton ball and work your way across the cardstock. Your drops of ink will blend with the metallic ink. Using metallic ink will require that you spray it with an Acrylic Mat sealer. If you want to see the technique without metallic, click here for two samples. It's faster without the metallic because you don't have to take time to seal it. But, it's REALLY pretty with the metallic in there!


For this last one I featured the Pheasant again, but combined it with the Leaves #2 die for the Big Shot and the Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper. I rounded the corners of the layers on this one, that seemed to go better with the leaves. The pheasant was thumped with markers to give him a variety of coordinating colors. The saying this time was just stamped directly above the pheasant, but is also from Teeny Tiny Wishes. For accents on this one I added a Pewter Build-a-Brad with a leaf punched from the DSP and the Eggplant Rickrack from the Orchard Ribbon Originals.

Details: I think the only thing I probably need to address here is the "thumping". If you haven't tried it, grab your markers! I first inked the pheasant with More Mustard on top & Soft Suede on the bottom. Then I took the brush tip of my Elegant Eggplant, Ruby Red, & Always Artichoke & tapped it onto the pheasant, staying more toward the top then bottom. Huff on your stamp to refresh the ink & stamp it!

Please bookmark my site and come back to visit again soon! I will have more details on these projects after the tour, July 29. Leave a comment and let me know you were here!

I am also offering Blog Candy!! If you are a not a demonstrator & in the US, you may enter to win this:

The Level 2 Hostess set, Christmas Punch. This is now closed & a winner has been chosen!

Thank you all for stopping by! I had many comments and email entries! So many that I can't respond to them all, but know that they were all appreciated! LMK if you have any questions or if I didn't explain something well enough! I hope that you sill stop by again soon!!

7/25/2009

Tour Tomorrow!

Hey all! Nothing stamped to share yet today, but I wanted to pop in and mention that the Royal Blog Tour starts tomorrow! You won't want to miss taking this ride! 80 blogs in all, all featuring NEW items from the NEW Catalog! As I've mentioned before, I will be featuring Autumn Days. And I will have Blog Candy, the Level 2 Hostess Set Christmas Punch.

My Princess interview is posted on the Royal Tour Blog HERE. Pop over and take a peak! If you haven't been to the Tour Blog do stop by. Most of the Princesses have been featured, and all have shared projects as part of their interview. Great ideas already-imagine what tomorrow will bring!!

One last thing to note, and its' a Big One! The Tour is giving away a BIG SHOT as Blog Candy! Yep, you read that right, a Big Shot! Read mention of it here on the tour blog and make sure you come back tomorrow for the tour!!

To start your tour tomorrow you will want to go to the Royal Blog Tour Page. Starting here will put you mid-stream on one tour, and you may miss some others! Clicking the Castle at the right will take you to the main page, and I will also have a castle tomorrow as part of my feature post.

LMK if you have any questions! Hope to see you at the Castle tomorrow!

7/20/2009

Open House Sample 2

Here is the second card my guests made this weekend at my Open House. This was a CASE from the catalog page featuring these sets: C is for Cat and D is for Dog. I modified it only slightly! I also gave them the choice between the cat and dog since many people prefer one over the other! Both sets are adorable and a great addition to any stampers collection!

Card base is So Saffron, folded in half the long ways (cut your 8-1/2 x 11 CS in half to be 4-1/4 x 11). Stamped at the bottom on the Dog one is the bone from the set, and on the Cat one the fish. The paw from the Cat set fits perfectly on a Build-A-Brad! Hadn't used those for awhile! The Old Olive is layered across with a Real Red strip under. The cat or dog was stamped in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White and cut out. The paw is punched with the 1/2" circle punch and adhered to the brad. The dog or cat was attached with dimensionals.
Thanks again to all of you who came this weekend, either here or to Beatrice. Two fun days!! I hope to do it again soon!! LMK if you have questions on anything that we did! We did 4 cards in all. The Elegant Eggplant card from this post was the 3rd one, and the 4th is being featured on the Blog Tour next weekend. I will be showcasing the Autumn Days set so make sure you stop by!

A Blog tour is a bunch of blogs linked together, in this case showcasing samples for new sets from the catalog. Details are in my sidebar. You can come here, then click there or bookmark that site as your starting point. There are 4 sets of 20 blogs, so block some time off Sunday, Monday &/or Tuesday to make the rounds!

7/18/2009

Open House Sample 1

Today was the first of my New Catalog Open Houses and it went GREAT! At least from my perspective, I hope all felt that way! Special thanks again to my club stampers who came to help-I can't thank them enough!! It was great to see all the stampers. Some, I hadn't seen for awhile, and some I just met today! Hope to see you all again very soon!

Special thanks too to all who commented on the general good look of our place. I've spent lots of hours lately weeding, watering and generally keeping things up and it's all worth it when people tell you it looks nice. THANK YOU! Especially after a week of flying solo and being very tired of it all!

OK, on to the stamping! Here is one of the cards we made today. I love the colors used here! I was inspired by a page of samples in the catalog that used the new Melon Mambo with Black and White and knew it would be perfect for the new Butterfly Punch and coordinating set-Flight of the Butterfly.

Card base is Melon Mambo, stamped in Craft White with the Polka Dot background. The Top Note was cut from Whisper White & backed with a Basic Black layer. The butterfly is a two-stamped image with two layers. You will want your Stamp-a-ma-jig to get them lined up correctly! Because the punch doesn't allow for the head or body, we stamped this butterfly twice. Once on the Top Note, near the top and once on an extra piece of Whisper White. Melon Mambo for the body, Dots/body in Basic Black. On the Top Note piece, stamp the swirl verse & smaller butterflies. Punch the extra butterfly & fold the image in half. Attach it over the direct stamped butterfly with a small glue dot, lining up the body. Bend or curl the wings just slightly for extra effect. Sponge the edges with Melon Mambo, add your Dotted Melon Mambo grosgrain, and layer together. All done!

7/13/2009

Greenhouse Garden swap creation

This is going in the mail tomorrow! What a productive day I've had! Makes all the difference when you get up and moving instead of sleeping in!! I have too many things to do this week to sleep very much! So far, so good. Check one off the list, swap completed!!

Card base is the new In-Color, Melon Mambo, Textured Cardstock. SU! now has In-Color Textured CS in 8-1/2 x 11-YEAH!! That is my favorite, and the easiest size to use when making cards! Background layer is Basic Gray. The flowers are from the new Greenhouse Garden set. Once again, you will need the stamp-a-ma-jig to get the desired look! Remember to just use Vellum Cardstock for your image sheet and save it with the set. The flowers are stamped in Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry (another new In-Color) on Shimmery White CS. I stamped the solid image off once on scratch paper, then came back with the detail image full strength. Stems are Mellow Moss also stamped off once for a subtle look. The "Wonderful friend" is from the Wonderful Favorites set, Wonderful is in Basic Gray, friend in Melon Mambo. I sponged lightly with Melon Mambo around the edge of the Shimmery White & added a ribbon of the Crushed Curry Polka-Dot grosgrain. Lastly, I added some Crystal Effects to the center of each flower & topped it with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

Back to work! I'm staying very busy watering the yard and flowers-it's VERY hot & dry here. But, I almost have the Open House projects all worked up! Don't miss it-details here!!

7/12/2009

Checking In!

Just a quick note to check in with everyone! The good news for me, is that baseball is over for the summer! Not the best of summers for either boys' team, but I think everyone learned something and had some fun, and that is the point!!

Nothing stamped to share today, or recently either I guess! I haven't been doing much stamping with all the baseball we had going on and everything else that needs to get done around here. When it gets this hot and is as dry as it is, I always wonder what makes me think I need to plant sooo many flowers! It takes up lots of my time keeping them alive!

I do have a couple projects in the works that I will be sharing over the next few weeks. Don't forget my open houses that are scheduled for next weekend, July 18 & 19. More details here. Please do RSVP if you are planning to attend!! Hope to see you there!

Also, mark your calendar for The Royal Blog Tour coming up on July 26, 27 & 28. I am one of the princesses and will be featuring projects made with the Autumn Days set. You won't want to miss all the wonderful ideas that will be shared-using NEW items from the SU! Idea Book & Catalog! Stop by the blog frequently, all the princesses are being featured before the tour. I will let you know when mine is up.

Off to stamp!

7/10/2009

New Catalog Open House

I have TWO Open Houses scheduled to celebrate the New Catalog! Choose the one that works best for you!!

New Catalog Open House I
When: Saturday, July 18
10 am to 2 pm
Where: My House, Crete NE*
What: Create 4 cards AND see the new products SU! has to offer this year!
New Catalogs!!
Door Prizes!!
Goodies to Eat & Drink!!
Fun with Friends!!


**************************************************

New Catalog Open House II
When: Sunday, July 19
2 pm to 5 pm
Where: Holiday Inn, Beatrice NE*
What: Create 4 cards AND see the new products SU! has to offer this year!
New Catalogs!!
Door Prizes!!
Pizza & Drinks!!
Fun with Friends!!


Please RSVP so I can have enough supplies ready! Thanks, & hope to see you there!!

*Contact me for the address/directions to either location

7/04/2009

3rd Club Card

This card used a variation of the Polished Stone, actually it's more like a combination of Polished Stone & Emboss Resist! The official name is Magic Snowflake, and a great tutorial is HERE on SCS.

Here is the card we made.


You start this by embossing the flowers from Upsy Daisy with White Craft ink & White Embossing powder on the Glossy Cardstock. Then you do the Polished Stone ink technique OVER the embossed image. You will see the ink pool on the embossing. You can heat it again as the instructions say, or just let it dry a bit and dab the extra ink off with a tissue. I would suggest using a tissue even if you do heat it, just to make sure there isn't any ink to smear!

The colors used here are Rose Red & Regal Rose. Card base is Regal Rose stamped with the OLD favorite, Itty Bitty backgrounds. I used the bolder dot in Regal Rose and
alternated full strength & stamping off once all around the edge. I then came back around with the splatter image in Whisper White. The image is layered on Whisper White & Rose Red. A taffeta ribbon is attached with a glue dot and the sayings with dimensionals. The girls used Rose Red ink on their saying, mine is Whisper White. Theirs popped a little more!
Happy 4th of July! I need to go finish a little cleaning so hopefully I can find some time to stamp today!!!

7/03/2009

Polished Stone Club Cards

I had a request to do this technique, so we did all three cards with it! It isn't near as complicated as the result looks!! You need reinkers, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, glossy cardstock & Stazon Ink.

The official technique is documented HERE on Splitcoaststampers. Note that all my samples are done WITHOUT using metallic inks. I do NOT like having to seal something, especially in a group setting so I left out the metallic! The look is still great!!

Other things to note: all my samples use similar color tones. You can use contrasting tones but be careful not to "muddy" the colors with too much blending. Every one of these will come out different! Every stamper has a different touch, and it will vary with how much ink, how much alcohol, and how many times you go over it!

The technique in simple form: Get your glossy cardstock. Take a cotton ball and wet with rubbing alcohol (not saturated & dripping). Using the reinkers, put ink on the wet cotton ball in 3-4 places. So, if you use 4 colors as I did, do a dot of each color. A significant dot so that you have ink to blend around. Then, dab the cotton ball onto the cardstock. Your first few dabs will leave dots of color. Keep dabbing, going back over the ares you did previously until you've colored all the glossy and have the color look you like. Let dry (doesn't take long) & stamp as desired with Stazon Ink.

I'm going to share two samples now, and the third in a later post!

This is the first one I did, using the Upsy Daisy set. I knew it would be great with this technique. You can use bold image stamps with this, or outline stamps (as below).

Card base here is More Mustard and is wheeled with the Friendly Words jumbo wheel. The colors used for the background were More Mustard, Summer Sun, So Saffron & Mellow Moss. The Black Gingham ribbon was tied around the front of the card. The 'stone' image is layered on Basic Black and then over the ribbon onto the More Mustard. The Wide Oval punch is Basic Black is layered behind the Scallop Oval punch of More Mustard and the Large Oval used for the saying. The ovals were attached with a Dimensional.

This is the second card I did, chosen to show how an outline image stamp works. I was afraid it was a little too dark, but all my ladies loved it! I really like the richness of Elegant Eggplant and this card really showcases that!! This MAY be one of the cards for YOU to stamp at one of my New Catalog Open Houses! RSVP today!!!

The colors used for the "stone" were Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum & Pale Plum. I think I had 2 dots of Eggplant & 1 each of the Plums. The card base is Elegant Eggplant and is stamped with the Tres Chic background in Eggplant. The image has the 5/8" Whisper White Satin ribbon knotted around it and is layered on Basic Black. That's it! Simple, but elegant! and perfect for any occasion!

7/02/2009

New Look, New Catalog!

I've spent some time today changing my look! Well, my blog look anyway, I now have a sidebar on each side, with the main posts in the middle. LMK if something doesn't look right on your end! I've checked on the browsers that I have, but all are different.

On the left side you will find new buttons which are links to new catalogs and specials. Check them out!

I have new catalogs!! Do you need one?? If you are in the area (South East Nebraska), check out the next post for Open House details.

If you are out of the area and would like a catalog, you may pay $5 through PayPal below to cover shipping and I will send you the new catalog.





Have a great day all!

ETA: I corrected the PayPal button. If you tried before and it didn't work, please try again! Or, let me know if it isn't working! Thanks! 11pm 7/2/09