So how clever is my "over-achieving" hostess!!!  Phyl Lyons of Seneca Falls, NY, recently had a workshop and she went all out.  This is her invitation to her workshop – on the flip side is all of the information!  Isn't it darling?  The results?  Phyl's workshop closed at over $900 earning her 3 free stamp sets and over $120 in hostess free merchandise!  It really pays to go the extra mile!  You might like to use this idea for an upcoming Christmas party invitation.

Phyl coupled my favorite stamp set of the year, Greeting Card Kids, with Newsprint Designer Series Paper for this gorgeous creation.  The Big Shot along with the Scallop Circle #2 Bigz Die made it a snap to cut out the scallops for the background.  When creating a vintage feel, don't forget to sponge the edges of your card stock and papers.  It really adds to the feel!  In this case, Phyl used Soft Suede Classic Ink along with a Sponge.  Phyl's favorite technique for coloring in her images is to use the AquaPainters with her Classic Stamp Pads.  Just beautiful!  And congratulations to Phyl for hosting a fantastic workshop!

Don't Forget!

To register for the Christmas Bonanza event -  Click Here!
To register for the November Stamp Shoppe – click HERE!
Order Stampin' Up! products online 24/7 — click HERE!

Every year Stampin' Up! designs an exclusive stamp set to help raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Very Thankful is this year's set.  It has four great "thank you" images to choose from.  My color scheme is Kraft, Very Vanilla, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery and Soft Suede.  Of course, the hearts had to add a touch of Real Red!  Within the turquoise block, I stamped tone-on-tone a dotted circle which matches the turtle image; this stamp is found in Thankful Thinking, another great stamp set for sending thank you cards.  The celery block contains circles punched out from Certainly Celery Textured card stock with a 1/2" Circle Punch.  The suede block has three Tempting Turquoise Brads from the Bolds Brights Brads collection.  The main image turtle is stamped in Basic Brown Classic Ink on Watercolor Paper, then colored in with an Aqua Painter and Classic Stamp Pads, mounted to the card with Dimensionals.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED: 
Item No. 116752 Very Thankful $14.94
Item No. 113786 Thank You Kindly $13.95
Item No. 104390 1/2" Circle Punch $10.95
Item No. 106957 Bolds Brights Brads 48.95
Item No. 103954 Aqua Painter $16.95
Item No. 105019 Watercolor Paper $6.95

Order Stampin' Up! products online 24/7 — click HERE!

Don't Forget!

To purchase your April Card Kit of the Month by April 15th!  Click HERE for details. 

I love the way this simple 3"x6" card turned out!  I used textured Gable Green card stock for the base, with Garden Green, Tempting Turquoise and Apricot Appeal accents.  I used watercolor paper to stamp the image from Garden from the Heart stamp set in Basic Gray Classic Ink, then watercolored with Classic Stampin' Pads and an Aqua Painter.  The sentiment is from Well Scripted — a wonderful new greeting stamp in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  Both of these great stamp sets come in the new Clear Mount Stamps; I'm just lovin' them!

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:

Item No. 118601 Well Scripted stamp set   $14.95
Item No. 118568 Garden from the Heart stamp set   $16.95
Item No. 106954 Soft Subtles Brads assortment   $8.95
Item No. 109040 Apricot Appeal 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon   $4.95
Item No. 105019 Watercolor Paper   $6.95

Both of the cards I made use the Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper Pad and Happy Moments stamp set, both FREE with a purchase of $50 or more during Sale-A-Bration.  And both of these cards use the same layout!  I wanted to show you how different a card can look using the same layout with different colors.

The first one uses a base of So Saffron card stock.  I ran a piece of the same color through the Big Shot with the Textured Impressions Folder Perfect Polka Dots and adhered it in place.  Next came a piece of Melon Mambo card stock with Melon Mambo 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon knotted then wrapped around it.  The Bermuda Bay designer paper is from the Welcome Neighbors Sale-A-Bration designer paper pack.  The image is from Happy Moments and is stamped with Staz-On ink on Watercolor Paper and colored in with an Aqua Painter, then punched out with the 1-3/4" Circle Punch and adhered with Dimensionals.  The "thank you" is also from Happy Moments and is stamped in Staz-On Ink.  I really prefer this type of ink over our Basic Black Classic Ink for two reasons.  On any image you're going to use watercoloring, the ink doesn't run, and with sentiments, you get  fine, crisp lettering.

This card starts with a base of Rich Razzleberry card stock and is stamped tone-on-tone with the Pretty Petals background stamp.  Next comes a piece of Crushed Curry Textured card stock wrapped with a knotted piece of Crushed Curry 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon.  I added a 1/2" piece of Pumpkin Pie card stock because it just looked like it needed a bit more color.  The designer paper is again from the Welcome Neighbors Sale-A-Bration paper pack.  I haven't used this terrific sentiment set in a long time — it's Heard from the Heart — but it was exactly the right size and the right saying for my birthday card.  It's stamped in Whisper White Craft ink and heat embossed with White Embossing Powder.  I stamped the image from Happy Moments on Watercolor Paper with Staz-On ink, but this time, I colored in the image with various stamp pads and a Blender Pen. 

Using Watercolor Paper really makes a difference!  It's a little pricey, but when you're using just a bit for an image, it's still economical.  And the results are fabulous!  I wanted to show you the images up close and also to show you the difference between using the Aqua Painter and the Blender Pen.

Here are the flowers colored in with an Aqua Painter.

And here's the birthday cake colored in with a Blender Pen.  Both use the ink from the Classic Stamp Pads.  There isn't a big difference, but people seem to definitely prefer one over the other.

Leave me a comment and let me know which tool you like to use!  It'll be fun to see the results!

Here's our seventh U Pick 2 card.  As we enter into the spring months, this beautiful stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog, Garden from the Heart, is just perfect for those of you who love to color!  We'll us watercolor paper and Aqua Painters, along with stamp pads, to get this soft watercolor look.

Click HERE for more details about U Pick 2 Private Stamping Classes, and contact me to get your class on the calendar!

Don't Forget! o register for the Valentines (and more!) Class — click HERE!  Registration is due by January 22nd.

This card got its "wow" from cutting the frame and oval from the Big Shot using the Scallop Frame Die.  We stamped a beautiful tree from the Thought & Prayers stamp set in Old Olive Classic Ink and added a sentiment from that same set.  We punched a few flowers using the 3 Flower Punch and Perfect Plum card stock and attached them to the card with some Gold Brads.  A piece of Old Olive 1/2" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon completes this easy yet effective card.

The next card is a bright, fun birthday card showcasing several of the In Colors — Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry and a bit of Soft Suede.  We used the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set and colored in the main image with Blender Pens and Stamp Pads.  A dash of Bermuda Bay 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon coordinates so beautifully!

It's the middle of November, so no card class this time of year would be complete without making a Christmas card.  We used several products from the Holiday Mini Catalog to create this card — Delightful Decorations stamp set and coordinating Ornament Punch, Four the Holidays sentiments stamp set and Silver Elastic Cord.  Colors used are Bordering Blue and Rose Red.  An extra bit of glitz comes from the 2-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter on both of the ornaments.  The Eyelet Border Punch was used to complete this elegant card.

I like to show my students that stamping isn't just for card making and scrapbooking, but you can make wonderful gift-giving items as well.  And 80% of the students voted this their favorite project out of the four the completed!  Here's a simple pouch with topper using our Small Cellophane Bags.  I showed how to ink up the rubber stamp from Holiday Best (Level 1 hostess exclusive stamp set) with markers to get a multi-colored image and brought in the colors from the Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper that's wrapped around the chocolates.  A bit of Elegant Eggplant Rick-Rack from the Ribbon Originals Orchard packet gives an added bit of interest.

I spent some time yesterday making a special birthday card for a very special son-in-law.  I discovered I didn't have many masculine stamp sets to choose from, but Brad's the "outdoors-y" kinda guy, and I thought this beautiful tree image from Branch Out stamp set might make him smile.

I absolutely love the new designer series paper called Nouveau Chic.  It's a very unusual paper with an interesting color scheme — Basic Black, Basic Gray, Sage Shadow and Apricot Appeal.  For some added interest, I paper pierced the edges of the Apricot Appeal card stock and added a couple of black brads to the corners of the triangles that overlap the main image.

Here's a close-up.  After stamping the tree in Basic Gray, I discovered it needed a little "grounding".  I used my Aqua Painter and some Sage Shadow Classic Ink to paint in a little "grass".  The final touch was to stamp "happy birthday" from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set in basic black ink, then punch it out with the Curly Label Punch and tuck about 2/3 of the tag up under the main image.

Hope he likes his birthday card this year!

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Item No. 113200 Branch Out stamp set (on dormant list; not in catalog)   $22.95
Item No. 115370 Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set   $36.95
Item No. 115670 Nouveau Chic Designer Series Paper   $9.95
Item No. 112208 Curly Label Punch   $15.95
Item No. 103954 Aqua Painter   2/$16.95