Make a Difference

Quick peek of a swap I sent off to the East Coast today. It’s a slight modification of a make and take from a workshop last week. The whole idea behind this swap was demonstratable samples. I use the small Whisper White notecards A LOT! I like the smaller palette to work with, and it’s easy for customers to visualize using them.  To kick it up a notch, I used Shimmery White (which doesn’t show in the photo) on my layered panel and the circle punch out, Priceless classy brass (see Cambria’s Dry Embossing tutorial here) and the Crafter’s Tool kit. Can’t wait to see what comes back to Missouri!

I’m gone all day today with my oldest at a district wide (read: LONG!) swim meet, but I wanted to share the last of my Thursday night workshop projects with you.

At my workshops, I try to show projects that customers can visualize doing themselves. I also try to make sure that each (usually 3) project focuses on a product, tip or trick that sets it apart from the others. I also make sure I do one card that is simple stamping for any newcomers who might be present. Three goals with this card:

1. Showoff a new stamp set! All of my 3 projects utilized Priceless. I think this shows versatility, and I think customers appreciate that!

2. Showoff our new In Colors: Pomegranate and Soft Sky - with the matching stitched ribbon - paired here with beautiful, under utilized Summer Sun.

3. Showoff our tools…in this case making a corner rounder do double duty for creating a scalloped edge. I use this A LOT, but hadn’t shared it with this group of ladies yet.

Hoping to squeeze in a little stampin time yet this weekend. Lots of ideas roaming around in my head, so little time. Have a wonderful weekend!

This was designed for my workshop last night to show-off our new, beautiful textured cardstock! Jenn suggested this box. I don’t know the name of it, but until someone corrects me, I’ll call it the 2323. The dimensions are 2×3x2×3! It’s the perfect size to hold a sweet little confection or special trinket. The flowers were punched out with our new 5-Petal Flower punch and the smaller 5-petal flower from the Spring Bouquet punch…easy peasy! The flowers are Pomegranate, and the Rose Red Brads compliment it well! Read the rest of this entry »

Every Thursday, Julia Stainton, paper genius, hosts the Ways to Use It Challenge! This week it’s the Stylus. Perfect opportunity for me to play with the new “Priceless” Dry Embossing template that arrived on Tuesday.

The flowers are dry embossed on Shimmery White cardstock, and I think the trick to making your images look random is to run them off the edge of the cardstock. This is matted on Chocolate Chip and then a base of Apricot Appeal. The accent at the top is done with Regal Rose, the Priceless stamp set and the NEW Circle Scallop punch from SU!

This will be one of the projects at my workshop tonight. This is a group of repeat girls, so I think they will appreciate the new technique. I have 2 other projects to show you , so check back in the morning! Thanks for looking!

I have been a part of the Splitcoaststampers Community for over 3 years. What began as a passion for viewing the incredible, second to none, heavily Stampin’ UP! influenced gallery has grown to include very special friendships. I honestly, don’t think I would be stamping anymore without the ideas and instruction that I have gained from being a part of this site. All this, and it’s FREE!

On the site, there is a treasure-trove of art work unveiled the 15th of every month in the Fan Club/Dirty Dozen Gallery. The designers (Dirty Girls) are without exception the most incredible paper crafting, rubber stamping artist on the planet - bar none. Viewing privileges are for paid Fan Club members of the site.

A common misconception is that folks join the Fan Club just to see the special gallery. The reality is that donating to the Fan Club is a way to support the site for reasons listed in paragraph #1 (among others), and the Fan Club/Dirty Dozen gallery is a token of appreciation for that financial support. A community the size of SCS (125,000 members and growing) isn’t free to operate.

I share this with you because something very special is coming the last week in July to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the Dirty Dozen Galleries, and you won’t want to miss it. This isn’t a paid endorsement (I WISH!), just a heartfelt note to let you know you can give back to SCS and be a part of this, too. Check this out: Splitcoaststampers Fan Club! and let ‘em know you want to be a part of the Fan Club! If you have ever been on the fence or are just learning about the Fan Club, you still have time to join and celebrate, it’s totally affordable (less than a magazine subscription!) and it’ll be the best stampin’ money you’ve ever laid out!

So many things I love about this new western set! I love that it’s not all cartoon-y. The mix of Bohemian and Western is just perfect…It’s like an SU! artist was in my head (of course, I can’t draw stick people, but I see things in my head just fine! LOL!). 

I normally wouldn’t use these colors first thing, but today was Color Challenge Tuesday. The colors to use were Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore and Real Red. Perfect for a little pardner’s birthday, don’t ya think?

One thing I really like about Wanted and Bronc Buster is that the bronc rider is going a different direction than the mustang in Wanted, Kind of like he’s buckin’ the system.

I’m sure that there are folks who don’t care for this set…well, to them I say: I have endured lots of squiggly looking fish, perfume bottles, dump trucks, odd looking pets, soccer balls and tons of folksy, folksy things over the years. Indulge me this one catalog season of something that has always been and forever will be ‘my style’.

This set, Fabulous Flowers, seemed to ‘call me’ from the pages of the 2007 Fall/Winter Collection. I planted a lot of dwarf dahlias in my flower bed this year, and they are so incredibly pretty. I love images that are large enough to stand alone, makes for quick cards.

Here the blossom is stamped in Pomegranate ink on Shimmery White, the card base is Shimmery White, too. I stamped Pomegranate ink on Pomegranate cardstock. The Pomegranate strip of paper is trimmed with new smaller SU! corner punch to make a scallop border. A little paper piercing and Kraft Taffeta ink holds that down. I’m impressed with the taffeta ribbon. It is very shimmery and light-weight, it ties easily and lays very flat. The brown layer is from the Close to Cocoa designer series paper…luscious! The ribbon is a good match for the polka dots in the designer paper.

It’s Tuesday, and I am off to check out the color challenge. Thanks for looking!

I love it when a plan comes together, even if it’s Plan B. I was disappointed when a girlfriend wasn’t able to make a visit in from Atlanta this morning (flight problems). So, I went to Plan B….

Like any good mom, I arranged play dates for both my girls from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and waited for Brown. Here he is coming up my sidewalk, right on time, at 2:46 p.m.  I told him that all over the United States there were lots of smiling women waiting UPS today! I’m off to play!

As Mr. Brown starts delivering new catalog orders across the country, I thought I would show a few tips about how I use the Happiness Background set from the Fall 2007 Collection. When I first got my set, I felt like I could do more with the images cut apart, but I wanted to maintain the integrity of my wood mounted stamps, KWIM? I got an extra wood block from a friend (I don’t have another source, sorry) and asked my husband to cut the wood into specified widths. If you want to try this, you will need an extra block of wood. SU! will send you one block which is just enough for the rubber, as is. When you start cutting the wood, the width of the saw blade eats up some of your wood surface. Hence, the 2 wood blocks pictured. I ended up with about half of one block left over.

 This is the set after my husband had cut the wood, and I trimmed and mounted the set. This is the only way that I have used it. (click thumbnail to enlarge)

 I have often wondered if I did the right thing by cutting this set apart because I found it difficult to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig with the long, skinny images. I had been putting the stamp in the ‘jig’ right angle horizontal. Only today, did I realize that I could have been using the stamp long ways on the ‘jig’. The stability of the ‘jig’ arm makes all the difference. Yep, another ‘blonder than I pay to be’ moment! So, hope that helps you.

While I use Classic ink 90% of the time, with this set (especially with the word, Happiness, I have had the best success with Craft ink because it reduces the chance that I will need to make a repeat impression. It just seems to cover the solid, reverse image art better, in my opinion. 

 One last tip: This is the Happiness word block. I have marked on the side of the block where the “H” starts and the final “S” ends. This really helps me position the word center on a 4″ card strip. I can eyeball the placement more easily this way.

Hope these tips have help you.  Knowing what has worked for others, helps me so much when it comes to stamping. Fun images and beautiful font for ‘happiness’ make this what is sure to be a customer favorite. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Did I mention I love this set? Can I tell you how luscious this Outlaw paper is? Think CRATE! You’re gonna *love* it. I needed a card for this week’s Sketch Challenge 131 at SCS! Here I paired the Outlaw Designer Paper with Wanted to create a masculine birthday card. Until now, this has often a difficult task for me, but this theme fits so many of the people we care about…it’s easy peasy.

The horse was stamped on Vanilla cardstock in Close to Cocoa, overstamped lightly with the Sanded Background in Creamy Caramel. Then I used the label punch to create this fun shaped layer. After that, I did the Cracked Glass technique (see Beate’s awesome how-to tutorial here!) to give it an aged look. Used a little natural hemp and linen thread to make my ‘rope’. The stars are from the new chip board pack, Blossoms and Basics. I sponged Close to Cocoa over the tops with a dauber.

Lastly, I stamped the accent pieces from Wanted and ‘happy birthday’ from Think Happy Thoughts on the sage piece of Designer Paper, layered with Really Rust and Close to Cocoa. 

Thanks for looking!