So Grateful Birthday

I had a slew of birthday cards to send this month, so I made a large group of this pretty card featuring So Very Grateful stamp set.  It was super easy putting it together when you have pretty designer paper like Sweet Sorbet Sale-A-Bration paper to use!  Color scheme is all set for you – Basic Black, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Pool Party and Summer Starfruit – yum!

• So Very Grateful has several coordinating images.  I stamped the tone-on-tone flower image with one stamp then used the larger stamp to create the main image using VersaMark Ink, Black Embossing Powder and heat setting it with my Heat Tool.
• Watercoloring is a snap with the Aqua Painter and stamp pads.  I love watercoloring inside heat-embossed images.  It's kinda like embroidering or cross-stitching when you add the black around the image and it comes to life!
• My very favorite corner rounder?  The Envelope Punch Board!
• The black zig-zag edge is from the Tasteful Trim Bigz Die – I use this all the time!  (If you follow my blog you know what I mean!)
• "Happy Birthday" is from a hostess-exclusive stamp set called Express Yourself.  And what better month to host a workshop than March – earn $30 more hostess dollars with a workshop over $300!  Or get together a few friends and host your own online workshop to qualify.
• A Black Candy Dot is my only embellishment so as not to detract from the embossed and watercolored flowers. 
   

Don't Forget!

• The Sale-A-Bration countdown has begun – less than a week left to receive your FREE gift for each increment of $50 you spend.  View the Sale-A-Bration flyer HERE. 
• Also, I just added the hostess code for the April Stamp Shoppe free card kits.  Use hostess code JTFSHDYB when checking out to receive April's Stamp Shoppe card kits FREE!  I've posted the cards for April – check them out HERE.

Order these and all your favorite Stampin' Up! products at my Online Store HERE. 

THINGS YOU'LL NEED – Just click on the photo below to view more details or to add them to your shopping cart in my Online Store. 

Product List

133053	120893	130934	102283
109133	103083	129053	131294
121045	100730	131298	133521
131177	131176	126991	126982
101406	133774

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So Very Grateful for Sale-A-Bration!

Okay.  I admit it.  I LOVE to color.  In fact, I actually received a brand new beautiful box of crayons for a Christmas gift when I was 20 years old!  And so my addiction hasn't strayed too far, since I can now do "grow-up" coloring with my Stampin' Up! products.  You can imagine that So Very Grateful was one of the very first stamp sets I purchased from the Occasions Catalog this year.  I definitely saw the "coloring" possibilities!  Here I used my stamp pads in Crisp Cantalope, Pistachio Pudding and Pool Party along with an Aqua Painter to color in the pretty flower image and punched the image out with a 2-1/2" Circle Punch.

And Sale-a-Bration is in full swing with a beautiful brochure of free items you can choose with each purchase of $50 from now until March 31st.  I'm highlighting two coordinating products you can receive free – the Sweet Sorbet Designer Paper and the Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack.  In the accessory pack, you'll receive three spools of special twine in Crisp Cantalope, Pool Party and Summer Starfruit, plus fun printed adhesive-backed cork pieces.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Item No. 133050 So Very Grateful wood $22.95 OR
Item No. 133053 So Very Grateful clear $16.95
Item No. 118764 Vintage Trinkets $5.95
Item No. 103954 Aqua Painters (2) $16.95
Item No. 120906 2-1/2" Circle Punch $16.95
Item No. 133521 Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper – SAB free gift with order of $50
Item No. 133522 Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack – SAB free gift with order of $50

So Very Grateful stamp set

Click here to view the SAB flyer.

Order these and all your favorite Stampin' Up! products at my Online Store HERE. 
 

WEEKLY DEALS are ready for you for the week of Feb. 11 – 17th! 
If you follow my blog regularly, you'll know how excited I am for you that the Tasteful Trim Bigz Die is on the Weekly Deals!  I use this die ALL THE TIME!!!  There are lots examples of projects I've made with it HERE.  Grab this die – you won't be sorry!

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Vivid Vases

You're going to love Vivid Vases, a brand new single stamp featured in our 2014 Occasions Catalog!  And there are several other brand new products featured in this card, too! 

• I'm loving the soft colors of Watercolor Wonder Designer Paper; I used the Island Indigo zig-zag paper here.
• Make way for one of your soon-to-be favorite embossing folders – the Scallops Folder!
• I used two pretty fibers on this card – the Island Indigo Baker's Twine and the Calypso Coral 3/4" Chevron Ribbon, which is held in place with  a Hardware Clip.  Don't like the image on the clip?  (This one was the "&" symbol.)  Then just put that to the back.  You still get the cute metal clip on the front and a place to tie your ribbon.
• I added a strip of Garden Green cardstock run through the Big Shot with the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die to coordinate with the Garden Green leaves and stems in the flowers.

These sweet little flower vases are the perfect stamp to try your hand at watercoloring.  Remember to stamp in Black StazOn Ink, then use your Aqua Painter and stamp pads to do the rest.  I used Pool Party ink for the "watery" look in the vases.  To get the shading, just go over the entire vase lightly with Pool Party, let dry, then apply more ink in the shaded areas.  I like using Naturals White Cardstock because it absorbs the water much better than our Whisper White and Very Vanilla cardstocks.  Of course, you can also use Watercolor Paper for optimal results.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Item No. 133818 Vivid Vases – wood only $11.95
Item No. 132971 Scallops Textured Impressions Embossing Folder $7.95
Item No. 132994 Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper $10.95
Item No. 125575 Island Indigo Baker's Twine $2.95
Item No. 130018 Calypso Coral 3/4" Chevron Ribbon $8.95
Item No. 129964 Hardware Clips Essentials $5.95
Item No. 120893 Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die $42.95
Item No. 102316 Naturals White Cardstock (40) $7.50
Item No. 103954 Aqua Painters (2) $16.95

Don't Forget!
The first few 2014 Occasions Catalog Shares are going out soon!  If you haven't gotten in on this great way to sample all of the new products, do it today!  I have just 2 spots left for the third round of shares and will be ordering them this week!  Click here for all the details on this year's Occasions Catalog Shares.

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Christmas Sled

This pretty stamp set has been so popular with my customers – it's Winter Memories and comes with 3 beautiful images and 2 sentiments.  At just $19.95 for clear, it's a terrific value!

• For the very best results with watercoloring, use Stampin' Up! Watercolor Paper.  At $4.95 for 5 sheets of 6"x9" paper, it may seem a little pricy, but I guarantee you'll love the results.  And when you're using it for a smallish image like this one, it goes a very long way.
• Stamp in Staz-On Ink so that your outlined edges won't smear.
• Use an Aqua Painter along with the ink from your stamp pads to pick up color.
• This pretty designer paper is Candlelight Christmas Specialty paper – yummy!
• The Woodgrain Embossing Folder is a must for all those "woodsy" looking pieces!
• Don't forget the darling little Vintage Trinkets – tiny brads that look like buttons.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
Item No. 127934 Winter Memories wood $27.95 OR
Item No. 127937 Winter Memories clear $19.95
Item No. 127821 Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder $7.95
Item No. 119275 Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch $15.95
Item No. 122959 Watercolor Paper $4.95
Item No. 118309 Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack $16.95
Item No. 118764 Vintage Trinkets $5.95
Item No. 103954 Aqua Painter (2) $16.95
Item No. 126901 Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper $12.95
Item No. 101406 Jet Black StazOn pad $7.95

WINTER MEMORIES STAMP SET

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My Creative Hostess

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!

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Thankful Turtle

Had just a few minutes this morning to be creative!  Here's what I came up with.

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. 

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Spring Hat

Had just a little time this afternoon between office work and a workshop, and I really felt the need to be creative just for fun!  Here's what I came up with.

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

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Caution: New Toys

I got some new toys the other day, and I've just gotta show you what Stampin' Up! is putting on the outside of their boxes — ain't that the truth!  Too funny!

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!

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U Pick 2 — Gardening Hat

Today's the last day to register for the Valentine's (and More!) Rubber Stamping Class in either Webster, NY, or Middlesex, NY.   Click HERE! to view details and to register.  It's going to be a great class, and I'd love to have you there!

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.

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Stamping 101 Library Class

I've had so much fun teaching two sessions of a beginner rubber stamping class at both the Naples Library in Naples, NY, and the Wood Library in Canandaigua, NY.  Thought I'd share the projects from these classes with you.

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.

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