April 27, 2016

Washi Label Punch Project

Hi all,

By now you likely have checked out the list of retiring products. Stampin' Up! has told us they will continue to produce stamps that are on the retiring list until May 22nd. All other items on the list are available only while supplies last, so check out the list HERE and make your purchase now!



One item that I learned has already sold out is the Washi Label punch, which is a bummer because I cased a great card from fellow Pal Susan Itell. I decided to share it anyway because you could use the word window punch or simply cut strips of paper.

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The beauty of this card is the ability to use those snips and strips of DSP that are leftover from other projects. I've been on major campaign this year to USE my DSP - what a concept, don't you agree? I know I'm not alone in my love for the beautiful papers that SU! creates, but oohing and ahhing over them as they sit in my craft room is just not fair to those 12 x 12 guys.They want to be decked out and shown off! That being said, I was down to the last snippets of this vintage DSP when Susan posted a sample of her card in our Pals Facebook Gallery and I fell in love with it. I even CASEd her signature 'dots'.




The most time consuming part of this project was laying out the DSP into the pattern I wanted. 

TIPS:  
I cut a piece of cardstock onto which I adhered my punched DSP and sentiment.

I then added a 'cheater bow', popped the piece up with dimensionals and added it to my card base. To create a cheater bow, cut a length of ribbon 1" to 1 1/2" wider than your cardstock. Add adhesive to the ribbon ends, place it onto your project and attach to the back of the card stock. Next, grab your spool of ribbon and tie a knot around the ribbon you just placed, trim the ribbon ends and you're set! The folks in my classes LOVE cheater ribbons!

The card base is a piece of Whisper White cut to 4 1/4" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4". The next layer is colored card stock cut to 4" x 4" and that is topped with a piece of 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" Whisper White card stock that is stamped in a complimentary color. I'm thinking I'll give the 6 cards that I made to my mom as she enjoys sending notes to friends.

REMINDERS:

  • 2014-2016 In Colors will be retiring. If there are products from this suite that you love, order here now before they're gone!

  • Interested in learning some embossing techniques? Save the date of either Saturday, May 21st or Monday, May 23rd. In class I'll be teaching several different embossing techniques that you can easily replicate at home.

  • Like what you see here? Have a question? Please leave a comment. I love hearing from you.
Thanks so much for stopping. Happy stamping!!

Sue










April 24, 2016

A Spring Challenge!

Hi all,

You'd never know I've been stamping like a crazed cricket based on what I've been posting! I've had several special orders to complete and have also held 4 stamp nights in the past 10 days. I figured it's time I start sharing!

It's been awhile since I participated in the Pals Paper Arts challenge. Challenges are a great way to stretch your creativity, to be provided with colors and layouts and make them your own. This week the Pals Jackie Diediker came up with a beautiful color challenge that forces you to think spring, no matter the weather in your area!



My first thought when thinking of spring is butterflies and with Stampin' Up's Butterflies Thinlits creating a WOW is a (spring) breeze!



One of my all time favorite stamps sets is Work of Art. The first year this set came out, we received it at a catalog premier. I'm happy to say it will be in the 2016-2017 catalog - woo hoo!

To create this little beauty, I cut a piece of Whisper White to 4" x 4". For a bit of an accent, I used my Simply Scored tool to add some textured lines. Using my trusty Stamp-a-ma-Jig, I inked up my 'swoosh' stamp with Wisteria Wonder positioned it and stamped, cleaned the stamp, inked it with Daffodil Delight and postioned it under my first image. I followed suit with Pool Party.

Next I centered my butterfly thinlit onto my stamped image and ran it through my Big Shot. 

TIP: When using intricate dies like this a must have is the precision plate. The resulting clean cuts are incredible. Even with the precision plate, I do recommend running your die through the Big Shot twice.

Before placing the butterfly into the card opening, I used my gold Wink of Stella pen to spatter some gold flecks onto my card stock.

Using dimensionals strategically placed on the back of the 4 x 4 piece, I layered it onto a piece of Whisper White that measures 4 1/4" x 8 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4".

I couldn't catch this on my camera, but I did cover the butterfly with clear Wink of Stella to give it some sparkle.

I used Tombow glue to adhere the body of the butterfly into place, allowing it's wings to fly. I debated adding rhinestones or pearls to the body of the butterfly, but decided to let the color and shimmer stand on its own.



This was a quick and easy card to create and is oh so pretty! 

Comment below to let me know what you think of it!

I encourage you to play along with the PPA Challenge, click here for details. 

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Some Important Notes:

*  Click here to shop the retiring items - get them before they are gone!

*  Be sure to sign up for my newsletter in the column to the right. This edition highlights 3 of       my favorite tools that cost less than $10!

*  If you're in the area, save the date - May 21st or May 23rd. I will be holding a technique      class. If you've wanted to learn about embossing - this is the class for you! More details        will be coming soon!

Thanks so much for stopping. Have a wonderful week!

Sue




April 18, 2016

RETIRING!!



Retiring List


Hi all,

The demonstrators who attended OnStage live in Salt Lake City last week received a copy of the new catalog - I am so looking forward to seeing what is new. That being said, in order to have new, we need to move out some of the old. The link below will take you to my store where you can check out what stamp sets and accessories will be retired as of June 1st.

If there is anything on the retired list that you would like - PURCHASE IT NOW! The items are available only while supplies last.

If you have ANY questions, please contact me. I'm happy to help you with whatever I can.


Happy shopping!

Sue



April 9, 2016

Baby Block Card

Hi all!

My sweet baby great-nephew is now over a week old and doing well! The newborn photo shoot has been completed and the Beckers are learning the rhythm of a family of 5.

Due to not knowing the gender of our newcomer, I hadn't worked on a card prior to Ezra's birth, but now have one ready for the post - I still need to pick up a gift card to include!



Have you ever made a block card? They really are quite easy to cut and assemble. The time consuming part is figuring out the embellishments!

For the base I used a piece of vintage 12x12 pre-embossed paper. I brought out my trusty brayer and Soft Sky ink pad to add color. Using a vintage alphabet set, I stamped the letters in Soft Sky onto Whisper White card stock, punched them out with my 1 1/4" square and mounted them on pieces of 1 3/8" square Marina Mist.

The punch art teddy used the following punches:
Body: 1 3/4"  and 1 1/4" circle
Head: large oval, retired small oval
Nose: 3/4" circle repunched with the retired small oval
Arms: retired small oval
Ears: 3/4" and 1/2" circle
Feet: 1" circle, heart from Itty Bitty punch pack
Heart: owl punch
Eyes: heart from the Itty Bitty punch pack - I cut it in half and shaped it a bit
I used Soft Suede and Crumb Cake card stock.

I think he looks like a happy little bear, don't you?

So we have a cute front, but what about the other side of this card?


For this side, I brought out my Something for Baby stamp set and coordinating framelits. My color combo included Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Whisper White, So Saffron and a few scraps of retired Certainly Celery. The numbers were created using the File Tab framelits. To top it off, I found some thick white baker's twine in my stash and used it to create a pom-pom.

I cut a piece of Whisper White to attach to the bottom of the card, stamped and signed it and attached it to the card. There's an opening on the side of the card where I can tuck in the gift card.

So, do you think my nephew and his wife will like this card? Leave a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for stopping.

April 4, 2016

Baby, baby, baby

Hi all,

The big news for me this week was the birth of my new great-nephew. Ezra Allen Becker entered this world on March 30th. My nephew and his wife chose not to know the gender of the baby, so it was pretty dog gone exciting to get the news. Ezra joins big brother Jaxon and big sister Christina. The sad part is that they live in Louisiana and I'm in Wisconsin! I feel a road trip coming on! Here's a photo of big brother with his baby - love the cheeks on both of them!


Baby Love!!!!



Saturday I woke up to lots of blowing and snowing.


You have to love spring in Wisconsin. By the end of the day, the sun was shining and most of the snow was melted. The best part was the ground being warm enough to melt what was on the walkways and drive way!

So, what did I do while Mother Nature was out mixing it up! Worked in my craft room! I'm headed to Hudson, WI next weekend for the baby shower of my bestie's DIL. They know they are having a boy, so I am prepared!


I finished the afghan last week. Saturday I worked on the shower treats. This is a pattern from Brenda Quintana; she has lots of patterns for Hershey treats. I used Soft Sky and Marina Mist paper. I pulled out my vintage Top Note die to create the topper for the packaging.

The card is a block card and very easy to put together. The challenge was finding 12 x 12 card stock in my stash. I have lots of DSP, but not a wide variety of  CS in that size. Due to the color of the afghan in the background, it's difficult to tell that the base color of the card is Soft Sky. When the new daddy was a baby, his room was decorated with bears, so I had to incorporate that theme into the card.

This week I'll be working on samples for my upcoming classes. You can see my class schedule here. Give me a call or send an email if you're interested in joining the fun.

What are your favorite baby color combos? Leave a comment below; I love hearing from you!

Hope your week is a good one - happy stamping!

Sue