More is More

It’s been such a busy week!  I’ve been really missing my regular blogging.  Tomorrow night is my monthly Stampin’ Up! Technique class and I’m really excited about it.  I thought I’d share one of the projects we’ll be doing. Here’s my Valentine Photo Clip.

It’s oh so simple – just a regular black binder clip from the office supply store.  Here’s a side view.

The images from Always are embossed with Real red craft ink and clear embossing powder on shimmer white cardstock.  The designer paper is a long retired SU design.  I wouldn’t normally use a retired paper for class, but I ran across this in my stash and it just seemed too perfect.  The clip really needs a bow or knot at the top to keep it tight enough to hold a photo or card.  In class we will finish up the clip with a piece of red cardstock with punched photo corners.  To photograph this project I wanted to complete it with a picture.  I chose my very favorite photo of Curt and I taken at our rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding (over 16 years ago).  Seemed like a perfect choice for Valentines.  *grin*

I’m just finishing up with hosting a big New Catty Swap so I’ll have those pics to share very soon – stay tuned.   Hope you have a fabulous Friday!  Thanks for stopping by.

Just a quick post before work to share a card I made awhile back but didn’t get posted.  This was for my Mom’s birthday.

Kaleidacolor pads were one of my very first stamping loves.  I have a ton of them!  I don’t use them all that often anymore, but this background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms (designed by Lisa Strahl) seemed like it would be so fun done up multi-colored.  I inked it up with my Royal Satin K-pad and misted it slightly so the image would appear a little hazy – then stamped onto ivory shimmer cardstock.  Cardstock colors are Handsome Hunter and Elegant Eggplant.  Maya Road velvet flowers are from Paper Trey and they were a Christmas gift – they’re so yummy!  It was hard to get a picture of these dark rich colors, but hopefully you get the idea.  IRL the ribbon does match!  Sentiment is retired SU.  Oval dots stamp is Paper Trey.

I’ve gotta run.  Thanks for stopping by.

So sorry, but my Stampin’ Up week was de-railed when I found myself with another nasty cold.  It came on suddenly Wednesday afternoon/evening and I just wasn’t up to stamping Thursday or Friday.  I finally managed to get this card done today.  It is based on the card on page 11 of the new SU catty and we’ll be making this in my SU class next Friday night.

  Card base is Groovy Guava textured cardstock stamped with the Petals Background stamp.  Card size is 6″ x 3″ so that I can get 4 cards out of each 12″ x 12″ sheet of cardstock.  Accent cardstock is Ruby Red with River Rock and Ginger Blossom designer paper.  Flower from Friendship Blooms (upcoming SAB set you can get for FREE!) was stamped with Ruby Red ink on Regal Rose cardstock and layered over Ruby Red cardstock punched with the scallop punch.  Sentiment is also from the same SAB set – I love that it is such a versatile sentiment that would be great for birthdays, valentines, get well and more.  Some Groovy Guava stitched ribbon and a button with some embroidery floss are the finishing touches.  I just have a few spots open for my class next week.  Let me know if you want to come.

People have been asking me about the Sell-a-bration brochures and when they will arrive in our mailboxes.  My understanding is that they have gone out Bulk Mail and should arrive any time.  If you are one of my regular customers who has ordered from me within the past 6 months you should receive one in the mail within the next week.  If you don’t have a Demonstrator and would like to place an order during SAB, let me know and I can get a brochure for you.

Hey if you haven’t already seen it, please head over to Splitcoaststampers and take the member survey (click here).  Whether you’re brand new to the site or an old regular the Admin Team wants to hear your opinion.  The survery is completely anonymous (it does ask for your e-mail to allow only one per person, but that info is not passed on tot the Admin Team) and it only takes a few minutes.  I’m so proud to be a Moderator on the site and love the way the Admin Team is always open to community input.

I’m off to watch the Miss America Pagent on TLC.  I’m dying to see how it goes with the *updates*.  Hope you are having a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

A customer called wanting a gift certificate.  I didn’t have any ready so I whipped up this one using Ginger Blossom designer paper and the cool felt flowers from Flower Fusion.

This is another 6.5″ x 3.25″ card (6.5 square folded in half) – I’m just loving working with that size right now.  The gift certificate is printed inside and I wrapped a belly band around the card to make it feel more like a *gift*.  The base and band are River Rock and the stamped images are from the upcoming SU Sale-a-bration set Friendship Blooms.  Once again I veered off from SUO only slightly with the use of my Marvy punches.  The felt flowers are finished off with a Fire rhinestone brad.  I just had to stamp a matching envie to make the gift complete.  *grin*

When I got Flower Fusion (p. 177 of the Spring/Summer Collection 2008 catty) I wanted to know if I had enough of any one piece to use them on swaps or in a class, so yep – you guessed it – I sorted and counted them all.  I thought I’d share with you what I found in case you might also be curious about this.

 Click this thumbnail to see it larger.  As you can see, each flower shape/size comes in three colors – Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and in the catalog what looks like Rose Red seems much closer to Pink Passion IRL.  The number you see handwritten is how many you get of that particular shape/size in each color (i.e. if you see the number 3 by a flower, you get 3 pumpkin, 3 olive and 3 pink of that shape/size). I’ve also included a Quarter, dime and nickel in the photo for size reference.  I hope that some of you will find this helpful – let me know if you do.

I had a bunch of running around to do today and last night the news said that it would be raining hard all day – ugh.  I like rain, but I’d rather not be out in it.  Fortunately it didn’t start raining until I was about 5 minutes from home this afternoon all finished with my errands.  Perfect timing!  Got in and changed into my flannel PJ’s the perfect rainy weather wear!  I have to toot my own horn just a little – I attended a Jazzercise class this morning.  This is the first time I have done any type of workout in a really long time – probably a couple of years or more.  I was actually supposed to go on Monday, but I chickened out.  *eye roll*  Anyway I got there today and I made it through the whole hour and signed up for a month!  *high five*  I’ve been trying to get back into some sort of exercise for a long time, so I’m just proud of myself for taking this first baby step.

Thanks for stopping by.

I managed a quick card after I got home from work tonight.  When I saw the SCS Color Challenge this morning I pulled out the cardstock and left it on my stamp table hoping to get back to it tonight.

Real Red

Blue Bayou

Bashful Blue (actually Bashful Blue is the secondary substitute for Soft Sky, but somehow in my haste this morning I missed that and just pulled out Bashful Blue)

I love doing the Color Challange because it’s fun to figure out what stamp sets *feels right* with the colors.  Tonight I went through all my new sets and decided One of a Kind would be just the ticket.

I was really trying to go SUO (Stampin’ Up! Only) here, but I did break down and use a couple of Marvy punches and an A Muse red Twinkle Dot.  Isn’t that ribbon cool?  It’s the new SU striped grosgrain.  I only bought the red to start, but I’m pretty sure I’ll need the other colors too.  *wink*

I’m hoping to have a good block of stamping time in the morning before I get going on a busy day.  Thanks for stopping by.

I am so ready to play with all my new Stampin’ Up! stuff that I’m planning (hoping) for this to be a Stampin’ Up! week.  🙂  My first card uses the set Always and it’s so much prettier in person that I could capture in the photo.

 It’s another mini tall card (3.25″ x 6.5″) to fit in a SU small open ended envie.  The card base is Purely Pomegranate layered with Pretty in Pink and then Berry Bliss designer paper. That Berry Bliss is heaven – I love it!  The bird was stamped onto a piece of the BB dp and embossed with two layers of clear embossing powder.  I wanted the bird to be Pomegranate and of course we don’t have craft ink in that color so I used a neat trick I learned a long time ago on SCS.  I inked my stamp first with Versamark and then immediately with Pomegranate classic ink. I stamped the image and covered it with the clear ep.  Works like a charm.  When I first heard of this trick I was sure the Versamark would ruin my classic ink pad, but I have tried it several times and not had any trouble.  I still woudn’t do it all the time, but it works great in a pinch.  I wish you could see the wonderful glossy dimension on that bird.

The “a” was inked with Chocolate Chip craft ink and heat embossed with one layer of clear ep onto the same BB dp.  Then I punched it out with a 1 1/4″ circle punch and layered it onto a Pomegranate 1 3/8″ circle.  The top  corner of dp was folded back and I attached a square pink rhinestone brad – just the touch of bling  I needed.

Sometimes working with a card size other than the standard 4.25″ x 5.5″ is just what I need to get out of my rut.  I encourage you to try it more often.

Thanks to everyone who played our challenges over at the eclectic Paperie Forum over the weekend (see posts below).  I haven’t heard exactly when they are drawing the winners, but it should be really soon.  You are welcome to upload to the eP gallery anytime you have projects using products they sell.  If you ordered the new cupcake set (and seriously, who didnt?) please upload some samples over there as soon as you can!

Girls just wanna have FUN!!! It’s time for another Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni Reunion Day.  This time our theme is GIRLS!  Think Bella, Hanna, Ronnie, Elzy, Rubber Romance, etc. etc.  There is always one required element and one restriction to make it a little more interesting.  Today’s requirement is “something sweet” and the restriction is no standard (4.25″ x 5″) cards.  I can hardly wait to see what everyone came up with.  Here’s mine.

Ummmm…do you think I went a little crazy with ribbon?  LOL!  Just living up to my motto – More is More!!!  This cute little notebook came from the Dollar Bin at Michael’s and started out looking like this –

I just loved that pink old fashioned wall paper background, but move over Mary Engelbreit I had some decorating to do!  My Girl image comes from Denami Designs – Mimi & Maddie.  I have loved Denami for many years and can never understand why we don’t see more of them.  Of course the sentiment is tongue in cheek (so don’t get offended!) “If we can’t laugh at ourselves, let’s make fun of someone else!”  I have a really sweet sentiment that goes with this image, but I came across this less-than-sweet one in some stamped images from one of our stampin’ buddies get-togethers and I just had to use it. It cracks me up.  I can’t for the life of me remember who owns this stamp or what company it’s from – so friends, if this is yours please leave a comment and let me know.

The main image was stamped with Palette Hybrid Noir Black ink on shimmer white cardstock and colored with Copics.  I was so thrilled that I was able to color this with my very very limited number of colors.

I just have to show a picture of the colors I used like all the pros do…like anyone will look at my incredibly amateur job and think “How’d she do that???”  LOL!!!  I crack myself up!!!  Pearls in the corners are by K&Co and are available at eP, as are the Stampendous Dot Sparklers used for the girls’ jewelry.  Cardstock colors used are Rose Red, Black and Purely Pomegranate. Obviously I didn’t make a standard size card so I followed the restriction and for the “something sweet” you can see the girls are enjoying a tray of sweet treats with their tea.  🙂

You’ll want to see all the DD/DDA offerings for this challenge – click here to see them in the SCS gallery.

Speaking of girls, have you seen the new Elzybells Friendship release?  Oh my goodness…once again I am in love!  I think I actually like these even better than the Winter and Holiday releases.  I want them all!  Did you see the one called “Bossy”?  That is so me!  LOL!  Of course with my huge pile of brand new SU sets plus the new eP Cupcake set I soooooo do not need to be buying stamps right now.  Hmmm….maybe I’ll ask for some of them for my birthday next month (Honey – are you reading this?)

Also on the subject of girls – have you been watching “Miss America – Reality Check” on TLC?  I am completely hooked on this show!  I’m somewhat of a reality show junkie anyway (currently hooked on Celebrity Apprentice and Project Runway too), but Reality Check is such a surprising show – the actual Miss America contestants having their pagent world turned on it’s ear.  A genius idea really.  People who have had no interest in Miss America for many years (like me) will certainly be tuning in to the pagent this year!  If you get a chance check out the show.

Don’t forget that you have until 4pm Pacific today (Sunday) to upload entries for my eP Birthday Enesemble Challenge (see below) and Taylor’s Cupcake Challenge.  It’s a super fun and easy way to get your name entered for a fabulous prize!

Happy Sunday and thanks for stopping by!