Saturday, June 29, 2013

Mystery hostess time!

I'm offering a hostess code for online orders through July 15. Here's all you have to do:

Shop online (with me as your demonstrator) and enter the hostess code SSGZJBQ6 in the appropriate box. Your order can be any amount - and don't forget to check the clearance rack for the new items that were added this week!

If orders placed with the code reach $150, I will pick one customer from the orders placed to win $25 in hostess dollars! I will choose the winner on July 16.

Happy shopping!

What to Washi class and bundle

Our next online class--What to Washi--is now available. Offering seven different sections of Washi wisdom, this class includes everything you need to know to make the most of one of the hottest crafting trends out there. Originating in Japan, Washi Tape has taken the crafting world by storm, offering an incredibly quick, easy way to add a fresh, colorful look to any project. What to Washi explores a myriad of Washi options and provides much more than the basics for you to begin your own Washi adventures.  Divided into seven PDF documents, this class includes written instructions, step-out photos, instructional videos, and supply lists for more than 30 projects.  

The following topics are covered in the class:
  • The Washi Basics
  • Washi--The Next Step
  • Above and Beyond
  • Sharing Washi with Others
  • Memory Keeping
  • Storage
  • Only the Beginning . . .
What to Washi Class:  item 134742
Price:  $14.95
 
And wait, there's more! This class is also being offered as part of the What to Washi Bundle. When you order the bundle you receive everything listed below:
  • What to Washi Class
  • Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape
  • Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape
  • Season of Style Designer Washi Tape
  • Witches Brew Designer Washi Tape
  • 20 Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes
Each Washi Tape package contains three coordinating rolls of Stampin' Up!'s exclusive Washi Tape for a total of 12 rolls. And when you order the What to Washi Bundle, you'll be the first to receive our Season of Style and Witches Brew Washi Tape packages; they aren't available to individual purchase until August 1! 

What to Washi Bundle:  item 134743
Price:  $36.95

PC Instructions
The files will be downloaded as archive files that you can then extract and save on your computer. When you click on the download link, an extraction program will automatically launch. Choose the location where you would like to save the files (be sure to note where you save them). Follow the prompts on the extraction program, then navigate to the location where you saved the files. Click on the file and open.
Mac Instructions
When you click on the download link, the file will be mounted as a drive. Once it is mounted, open the drive and drag and drop the files to the location of your choice on your hard drive. The files can then be opened.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Hello, Dahlia

Hello again! I have card #2 for you. I have always wanted to play along with the Play Date Cafe but hadn't had a chance until today. The idea of black and white with a splash of apricot really intrigued me as a challenge. I decided Crisp Cantaloupe was close enough and went with that color. Such a clean and modern color scheme seemed to pair really well for the new challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch. I'm also considering this a one-layer card (in my mind, dimensionals are required and don't count!) for the Ways to Use It challenge on Splitcoaststampers.




Here is my card featuring the new stamp set called Regarding Dahlias:


This is something very different for me and I'm really pleased with the result. On the white card layer I used the Simply Scored borders plate to emboss the left side, then I stamped the flower and sentiment in Basic Black. Stamping the flower again in cantaloupe on a scrap allowed me to cut out and pop up the center for the splash of color. I felt like the color needed to come in somewhere else, though, so I colored some pearls with a Sharpie and added them as accents to the scalloped border.

I have to say, I have had so much fun this week. It's been such a treat to spend so much time creating. This will probably be the end of my stamping for a few days, but I will be back as soon as I can to keep the creations coming!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Quick tutorial: Layering with Framelits

I was working on some cards for my Etsy shop tonight and stumbled across something I thought was cool and wanted to share. I was using the window Framelits and wanted to layer my image, but the die the next size up was just too big - it didn't fit my 3" card and the border was just too wide for my taste. I started looking through my punches and dies to see if I had something else that would look good as a layer. Here is the final product - can you tell what I did? Here's a hint: we have a brand-new product that made this possible...


Did you guess? It all hinged on the new square Framelits. It happens that the set includes a die that gives a 2" square, and that was the perfect size for my 2.5" stamped image from the Best of Flowers set. Then I just needed some circles to finish it off.







Cutting the circles in half gives the perfect layer for each round side; just attach the square behind the label and then add the half circles. Pretty nifty, eh? This might also work for other sizes of labels/squares/circles - remember we also have the new circle Framelits so I'm sure there must be other sizes you could try.

But I have one other little thing to show you. I still had my 3" brown label that I'd cut earlier, so in the interest of using scraps, I cut my first square from the inside of that label. Look at the result:





I'm not sure what I'll do with this little piece, but it was too cute not to save for something! Now I'm very curious what other combinations of dies might create even more shapes. If you try this out, I hope you'll share. Happy crafting!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

CAS, day 2

Last night my husband asked me if I had a Father's Day card I could send to his dad. I said I didn't, but of course I could make one! The challenges for today: CAS(E) this Sketch and Pink Elephant (Father's Day). Here is my card:




Clean and simple was the style of the day again today - my weekdays are usually jam packed. This new stamp set called Wetlands seemed perfect for the sketch and the occasion - my father-in-law spends a lot of working outside at his house by a small lake. I used generation stamping for the wheat background and stamped the goose twice so I could pop up the top layer. For colors I chose some masculine stand-bys: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla. The sentiment is retired, and I used the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to fit the three words inside the tag punch. I made the border between the stamped panel and the DP with thin strips of card stock that were left over from cutting. I added some linen thread to my tag and that was it! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Short and Sweet

Happy Monday! I decided to squeeze in time for a quick card today, and the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge was the perfect thing. It's a color challenge this week: Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake and white. For me this is a small amount of colors, LOL. I also took a peek at the Mojo Monday sketch and decided I could make it work for CAS. It doesn't have a lot of white space, but I would call this card CAS because it doesn't have much layering and it came together really quickly. You could say it was the opposite of my card from Saturday!


I'm still having fun playing with all my new stuff. This card features one of the images from Flower Shop, along with the coordinating pansy punch. Just a heads-up: it can be tricky aligning this punch with the image since it's not symmetrical - but I kept turning my flower and eventually I got the right spot. It's definitely worth the effort - gorgeous stamp set and punch. I also used the new hostess set called Banner Greetings, the Gingham Garden DP (again), and the candy dots. These are perfect if you put your card together and realize that a corner needs a little something (ahem). Super cute and easy! The rest of the card uses Crumb Cake card stock with embossed dots, punched melon borders (one strip from the ribbon punch, cut in half), and retired pear DP - oh, and I made quick little leaves with the wing on the bird punch and embossed those with the houndstooth folder.

This is one of the things I love about stamping - I can spend a long time crafting something elaborately detailed, or I can quickly put together an adorable card that still packs a punch! (Pun intended!) I hope you'll pull out your supplies and stamp something today. Have a great week!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

My happy place

Twice in one weekend - crazy, right? I posted my card yesterday, even though I wasn't super happy with it - you spend enough time on something, you figure you'll just throw it out there anyway. But today I felt like I needed to boost my stamping confidence a little. I spent all afternoon on this card - never mind that one of my Copics blobbed all over the image when I was almost done coloring it, and I fussed a lot over just about every decision I made. It's been a long time since I devoted that much of my day to one single project, and looking at it now I feel happy.


There are three challenges at work here: Color Throwdown (I used Melon Mambo, Crisp Cantaloupe, Kiwi Kiss, and a mix of Daffodil Delight and Barely Banana), CAS-ual Fridays (banners) and Deconstructed Sketches. The featured stamp set is brand-new and called Backyard Basics - these stamps are gorgeous, and how great that we have dies to go with them. I did the large group of pink flowers and three tulips, then "tied" them into a bouquet with a bit of ribbon. Here are the Copic colors I used:


It's been a long time since I did much with Copics, but I had a blast using them (apart from the aforementioned blob incident). There are a bunch of products used here: Delicate Doilies sizzlit with DP from Birthday Basics, Window Frame framelit (I cobbled together my own piercing "template" since the one that goes with these framelits doesn't include the teeny tiny die), A Round Array stamp set for the sentiment, banners from Gingham Garden DP (pink and yellow) and one from my stash (green), and retired melon DP for the background.

My life is crazy right now, and I don't know what lies ahead - there could be some big changes for me in the coming months. For the time being I think I'm going to try to do more challenges and post more often, because like I said, it makes me happy. Thanks for visiting and enjoy the weekend!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Cute Zoo Babies

Oh my, I've been so busy lately - but yesterday my order of goodies from the new catalog arrived, and today I just had to crack something open and make a card just for fun. I don't even know when the last time was I did that. Is there seriously any better therapy? This one is for two challenges: colourQ and Create with Connie and Mary's sketch.


I loved the color combo the colourQ team came up with:


I substituted the new Smoky Slate and the recently returned Pear Pizzazz, plus I added Early Espresso just to give more depth. These colors seemed like great matches for the animals I chose from the new set called Zoo Babies. I don't know what it is - I'm not a big cutesy stamper, but I can't resist animal sets like this one! I tried my hand at cutting hexagons to go on the embossed banner - and I'm joining the ranks of people who are hoping we get a mini hexagon punch soon! The DPs are a mix of old and new patterns. The sentiment from Label Love seemed like the perfect choice, and I added one of the new neutrals buttons threaded with a tiny piece of the pear DP. Now all I need is someone to have a sweet baby boy so I can send this card out - I seem to be past the era of friends having babies, but I still love to make baby cards!