Some Great Cards from a Swap

Each month I get together with some other local Stampin' Up! demonstrators and we share ideas and swap cards with each other. I'm saving my swap card until after Stamp Club this Sunday since we are making that one at club. But here are the ones I got at my last meeting with the other demos.

This first one was made by Laura Palmer. I love the simplicity especially when using the designer papers. It is shown here in both Certainly Celery and Rose Red. I love the gingham ribbon with it and the use of the Three for You Punch (the flowers). So Cute!

This card was made by Karen Russell. I think it is adorable. I love the bright colors and the use of the Wrought Iron punch as a border punch to make the waves.

This final card was made by Terri Sampson. This is such a cute baby card. The new Year After Year stamp set (the flower image and elephant image) are great and the use of the Word Window punch to reveal the message along with the gingham ribbon and brads makes it really unique.

Great Ideas! I hope you enjoy them.

Theresa

Trying something new - Slide Show of Recent Pictures!

I was trying something new! I will add this slideshow to the sidebar so you can refer back to it anytime.
Theresa

Happiness Card - Coloring with Pastels

This is the final card from our August stamp club meeting. Until recently I had not even taken my Stampin' Pastel chalks out for probably two years! What was I thinking? I guess I just kinda forgot about them! Then after putting together the last card (the poppin' pastels one), I figured as long as I had them out I should use them some more!

This card is simple enough but it uses several different tools. As I put it together I just kept thinking of a few more touches to add to it! The stamp set "Give Thanks" was used for this card. From the name of the set you might think it is a Thanksgiving set, but I was drawn to this set because I saw so many year around uses for it!

The bucket with apples image was stamp with versamark ink, sprinkled with black embossing powder, and then heat embossed. The blender pens were used to pick up the chalks in the Stampin' Pastels to color in the image. A silver brad was placed at the bucket handle (thought of that after making the card, so I had to take it apart and put back together again)! The white strip has the rows of paper piercing which are easy when you use the holes template in the Mat Pack (also comes with the Crafter's Tool Kit). Finally the Real Read card stock punched using the new Scallop Circle Punch along with the 1 1/4" circle punched layer adds a cute design detail. The "happiness" sentiment comes from the Warm Words stamp set.

Somehow the Creamy Caramel base with the Real Red accents and the Whisper White layers remind me of back to school. We laughed at stamp club that one could give this card to their child's new teacher and know the real meaning of the card is happiness for me now that my child is back in school with you!

Theresa

Useful Links:

Fall/Winter Big Ideal Book

Holiday mini catalog - Sept 1-Nov 30

SEPTEMBER SPECIAL: 30% off 6 different stamp sets, see details.

Demo Sign Up special: FREE set of ink pads!

Poppin' Pastels! Colors appear right before your eyes!

Happy Labor Day! I always hate to see summer end, BUT then again the kids return to school tomorrow so maybe the end of summer isn't that bad afterall! And perhaps this fall-themed card will help us ease into the fall season.

This card is another one we did at August stamp club. I love the Poppin' Pastels technique. The name will make sense as soon as you see this technique done. It is like magic with colors poppin' forth right before your eyes.

It is a super easy technique. In this card, the edges of a strip of Natural Ivory card stock were torn. Then the acorn and leaves images from the All through the Year stamp set were stamped on the Natural Ivory in Versamark ink. The images are barely visible in the Versamark Ink but here is where the "magic" occurs. Using the Sponge Daubers, you pick up a little chalk color from the Set of Pastels. Rub various chalk colors over the versamark images. The colors just "pop" as the sticky versamark ink picks up and holds onto the chalk pastels. After rubbing the pastels over the stamped images, you can take a tissue or cotton ball and rub over the whole area to remove stray chalk from the uninked portions of the card stock. The versamark images remain nicely colored. This is a fast and fun way to apply vibrant color to stamped images.

The More Mustard base of the card was stamped in More Mustard ink with the Linen background stamp to give a subtle textured look to the base. "Autumn" from the Season by Season set was stamped in Chocolate Chip classic ink. The Natural Ivory was layered on torn Chocolate Chip card stock. Chocolate Chip Tafetta ribbon was strung through Double Circle Punched holes and tied in a bow.

Enjoy!
Theresa

Three for You Punch Box

This will be real short - catching up on posting recent projects. This little lovenote card is simple, quick, and cute. This size card is great as a card on a gift or as a little note to leave hidden for someone special. I loved the story Judy told us at stamp club about these little cards reminding her of the little cards/notes that she and her husband left hidden around the house for each other and that she has continued finding some even now after he died a couple years ago.

The card was made using the Three for You Punch Box. The punch box comes with a large punch that punches the 3 flowers in a row, a stamp set (9 die-cut stamps - no trimming needed!), 3 ink spots (mini inkpads, 2 of which are new in colors - Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomagranate), and the large tin to hold everything.

Notice the texture of the Wild Wasabi card base. This is the new textured card stock that is available in a 12" x 12" assorted package of in colors. The 12" x 12" size card stock is perfect to use for these 3" x 3" love notes. Or if you like them pre-cut and pre-score with envelopes, the love notes are available also in the regular card stock in some colors.

The Wild Wasabi base of the card and the Groovy Gauva layer on it were stamped with stamps in the punch box in Wild Wasabit ink. The ribbon is the double stitched ribbon which comes in each of the new in colors.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Theresa

Some Useful Links:

Fall/Winter Idea Book/Catalog.

September Special - starts Sept 1. 30% off 6 different sets!

Holiday Mini - September 1 through November 30.

Recruit Special - Free family of ink pads (up to $57.95 value) ends Sept. 30.

Corner Rounder can be used to Scallop!

Wow! I am way behind posting stamp club samples. This one is the last one from July's meeting. I will also (within the next few days) post the 3 we made this month at stamp club.

Scallops are a big thing lately in papercrafting - scalloped circles, scalloped ovals, scalloped edges everywhere! You can buy individual punches to get scalloped shapes and I LOVE the new circle one in the catty - we used it on a August stamp club card so you will see that one soon! BUT those punches only give you that one particular size. What if you want a really big circle? You either have to buy yet another punch (and they only comes in so many sizes) OR you can learn to use your corner rounder to scallop ANY size shape!

In the card above, the scalloped circle has a diameter of 3 3/8". You can't buy a scallop circle punch that big. So instead you can cut a circle using your coluzzle circle template (the third biggest circle). I will show the procedure with another card below.

One note though - in the sample above and to the right, I used the corner rounder that just retired at the end of June. With the sample below I used the new 3/16" corner rounder that is available in the new catalog. You get a little bit different scallop pattern - scallops that are a little wider with the old one compared to the new one. Both are a nice scallop pattern though, just slightly different.

The first step for these cards was to cut a circle. In both these card samples I used the 3 3/8" circle on the coluzzle which is the third from the largest on the template (that I marked with red sharpie on my template).

Next take the corner rounder punch and remove the corner guard (yes it comes off - some have never realized that)!

With the punch upside down so you can see where you are punching, punch along the edge of the circle. Line it up so the next punched scallop starts right where the last punched scallop ends. It might take a little practive to get the spacing just right.

After you have scalloped your circle, cut the layered circle just one size smaller. Stamp your image, color, sponge the edge if you like and layer it on the scalloped circle. The rest of both cards just involves layering and embellishment with ribbon and stamping a sentiment.

Supply List: (all found in the Stampin' Up! catalog)

Card 1:

Stamps- Year after Year, Hugs & Wishes

Cardstock: So Saffron, Rose Red, Whisper White, Rose Red designer paper.

Inks: Rose Red, markers - So Safrron, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery

Other: White grosgrain ribbon, retired small corner rounder punch, Coluzzle.

Card 2:
Stamps- Year after Year, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: Whisper White, Lovely Lilace, Almost Amethyst designer paper.
Inks: Lovely Lilac, markers - Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery
Other: White grosgrain ribbon, retired small corner rounder punch, Coluzzle.

Card 3:

Stamps: Autumn Harvest (Holiday mini, can't be ordered until after 9/1/07), Season by Season.

Cardstock: More Mustard, Old Olive, Really Rust, Whisper White

Inks and Colors: Basic Brown, Creamy Caramel, Water color crayons - Old Olive, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie

Other: new 3/16" corner rounder punch, Chocolate Chip tafetta ribbon, Coluzzle.

Have fun scalloping!

Theresa

Helpful Links:

Fall/Winter Idea Book/Catalog

Upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog - starts September 1st.

Special for New Recruits - get the demo kit and get a FREE family of ink pads!

August Special - ENDS IN 2 DAYS!!! Get free Love Notes and Envelopes with Three for You punch box.

Shadowing Technique

Wow! Things suddenly got really busy around here and I realized I hadn't posted for a while. Today I will post another stamp club card we did in late July. This card involves a very easy technique called shadowing. It is simple but gives a very striking look to an image.

The card shown here uses the new stamp set, Baroque Motifs. I love this set - I find myself using it for everything lately. It makes fast elegant cards.

The large swirly image is first stamped in Blue Bayou Classsic Ink (one of the new In Colors) on a 5 1/4" x 4" piece Blue Bayou card stock. Some of the little flowers/asterisks are also stamped in Blue Bayou. The large swirly image is then stamped again (cleaned in between) in the Craft Whisper White ink. The white image is slightly offset from the darker blue bayou image. This creates the shadowing effect. Of course getting the white image lined up just slightly offset is really easy when you use the Stamp-a-ma-jig. The sentiment (Cherish from Baroque Motifs set) is stamped in Blue Bayou on white and is then layered on a piece of Not Quite Navy card stock which is a perfect compliment to the new Blue Bayou In Color. The corners of the Not Quite Navy are punched using the Ticket Corner Punch. The whole Blue Bayou card front is layered on a folded 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" Whisper White card stock base (half a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" card stock) which leaves a 1/8" border of white is all the way around (can't really see the white border on the white background here).

Shadowing can be done with many different stamps and even with the Stampin' Around wheels! You can use different colors (try different craft colors and different "shadow" colors). Have fun with it!