Punchy Pig

I love using the SU! punches to make all kinds of creations. Recently I hosted a swap on UDI using punch art. Here is my creation for that swap. I had a lot of fun putting these together, although it did get a little tedious with some parts.

Clouds and Mud Pile-Scallop Punch--Punch out once then flip around and punch again to make it about half the size. Make sure to line up the scallops as much as possible to avoid half scallops.

Sun-1 1/4" Circle Punch; Scallop Punch--Punch once, then rotate and punch again in the middle of the scallops

Fence-Word Window Punch

Pig Body-1 1/4" Circle Punch; 1" Circle Punch

Pig Ears-1/4" Square Punch with a dot of white gel pen in the center

Pig Tail-1/4" Circle Punch with a slice cut out of the center

Pig Eyes-1/4" Circle Punch (cut in half for eyelids), 1/16" Handheld Punch for nostrils and pupils

Pig Feet-Horizontal Punch (cut another one in half for hooves)

I love this little guy!! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Alicia :)

Short and Sweet!

Hello fellow stampers. Welcome to another Friday blog post. I would like to introduce my good friend, Ronette Hunsucker. Ronette lives in Caldwell, Idaho, right next door to me! Boy do we have fun sharing supplies and filling each others "OH MY....I am out of....." moments of panic!

I have been a Stampin Up Demonstrator since Oct 2006. I fell into having a monthly club before I was a demonstrator so things took off very fast and have kept going. I love what I do and love sharing it with others. I just joined the Utah Divas about a month ago and all though I haven't had time to do a lot of posting, I try and read your posts weekly. Everyone is so friendly I am glad that I decided to join. I am looking forward to meeting everyone at Convention.

Here is a sample of Ronettes work:

See you next week! Jennifer

Clearly See-Through Cards

A clear card? How can that be? Is it really see through? The answer is: kinda. By using a piece of acetate, you can accomplish the look of an invisible card.

Here is an example of a wedding card I made. I used a full sheet of acetate as the base, so folded in half the card is 5 x 7. I then cut 4 pieces of card stock all the same size and lined it up exactly on the front, inside front, inside back, and back. When looking at the card, you can't tell there are other layers throughout. I also stamped an image on the inside back with White Stazon ink. This image will be seen throughout the whole card and I only had to stamp one side!



Stamps: To Have and To Hold, Full of Life, Hugs and Wishes
Paper: Acetate, Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Shimmery White
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, White Stazon
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon - Bashful Blue


There are a couple of exciting things coming to Thursdays in June!! Remember those SCIAB's that kept getting mentioned? Well, we had another one! This one is a baby themed one and so far the projects that have come in are FANTASTIC!

Another exciting event coming to Thursdays are Inspiration Challenges!! I have an Inspiration Team who include Bev Williams, Charmaine George, and Tandra Boyer who will be making samples to show for each challenge! I am very excited about this and hope to see you participate in a couple as well!

Stamp happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

Gotta luv Chipboard

And who doesnt?? every paper crafter and scrapbooker I know just loves this stuff and who would think that we could have such fun with stuff they created to makes boxes with??

See a man will create something plain and it take a woman to take that plain thing and make something wonderful with it!

Last month I put out the challenge to the Diva's to create projects using chipboard and I have a couple of lovely projects to show you. I know that in USA you've just had a chipboard special with discounted packs - what a blessing!!

Here is a lovely project that Elizabeth Harris created using the art journal and shapes from the Stampin' Up!® chipboard range - just add glitter and wow!!

What a great way to remember & document a special event like convention or regionals. This would make a great gift for anyone having a special birthday, anniversary or to welcome a new baby!

The next two projects were sent in by Tammy Fite.

Tammy made this gorgeous card with the stars and co-ordinated it with designer series paper & stamps. You can see the detail & nesting of the stars in the close up.












Here is a lovely double layout that Tammy has done using the chipboard stars again and has made her own print paper using the Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel to bring it together.


I love the colours Tammy has used in these layouts and you can see the detail of the chipboard stars on the close up of the left page below.


Thanks to Elizabeth & Tammy for sending in these projects to share with you and if you would like to see more of their work click on the links to the right.

Organizing Stamps

As I was researching this subject I had fun learning more organizing ideas plus how to properly store wood mounted stamp sets.

One site I came across - http://crafts.lovetoknow.com - has a great article by Dana Hinders, group editor of LovetoKnow about storing rubber stamps. Here are some basic tips she mentions to keep your stamps in good condition.

1.  Whenever possible, avoid exposing your stamps to heat or sunlight.  This will damage the rubber.

2.  Always clean your stamps before putting them away.  Use a specially formulated cleaner or scrub them with soap and water. (Wanted to mention here - this wasn't in the article - Stampin' Up!'s Stampin' Scrub and Stampin' Mist will take care of that quickly and easily).

3.  Don't store wood mounted stamps directly on top of each other.  The added pressure can warp the image and create blurred impressions.

Now on to some ideas on how to organize and store your stamps.  

1.  If you have a small collection of stamps - purchase a shoe organizer to go over a door and instantly you have an organized area for your stamps, which you can easily select the perfect stamp for your next creation.

2.  Purchase a DVD/CD cabinet and place your stamps in there.  

3.  Purchase a 3-drawer or 4-drawer plastic towers to store your sets inside. 

4.  Purchase wired drawers (IKEA or Container Store is good sources) and place sets in each drawer.

5.  A fun "out of the box" storage idea is to take a baby crib, remove the hardware from the side piece of the crib, turn the crib on its end and use the wooden slats as shelves for your mounted rubber stamps.  Hmmm ... never thought to recycle that type of furniture.

Whatever the way you store it, you should have some type of filing system in place, so you can find the set you need or be able to return that one stamp you removed from a set quickly.  Here are some ideas on how to keep track of where you put that set.

1.  Start an index card system.  This is where you stamp each image onto an index card in a dark colored ink, preferably black ink, and write the set it is from, along with the company you purchased it from.   If you purchase large index cards, or use 8-1/2x11 card stock, you can stamp the complete set on one page.  Then store the cards in an index card box or slip the 8-1/2x11 card stock into page protectors and place them into a binder.

2.  If you like to do things on a computer, use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your sets.  This is part of my system that I use, which I will explain my system at the bottom of this article.

3.  When you place your sets in drawers, place them by subject (ie., flowers, kids, holidays, etc.).  This will help when you are trying to find the perfect flower to place on the be

autiful project you have started.

Whatever system you use, just remember to update your system whenever you purchase a new set.  This can be a yearly, monthly, or, for some stampaholics, a weekly or daily thing. 

Now for how I organize my stamps.  I purchased the wired system at IKEA and have each set organized by the Table of Contents found in the Stampin' Up! catalog.  (ie., Holidays, Elements, Growing Up, etc.)  Each stamp set has received a number.  This is where the Exce

l spreadsheet comes in.  I put a number on the outside of the stamp box, along with putting the same number on each wooden block.  This helps me return a single stamp to a set easily.  I list the set in my spreadsheet, along with the name of the stamp set, the order number, which drawer

 to find it and the price of the set.  For those that I keep that have retired, in the order number line I put RETIRED.  

I hope this helps anyone that needs to organize their stamp sets.  I would love to hear how each of you organi

ze your stamps and post pictures, if you have any.  

Have a great day and I'll "see" you next

 week where I

 will introduce you to the Crayon Resist Technique.

Stacy P.

Saturday Designs

Today I'd like to share two projects created by a member of the UDI Design team, Brenda Taylor. Brenda has created a graduation card and great clipboard (make sure to take advantage of the chipboard promo before it's too late). Thanks so much for sharing with us, Brenda. :) Looking forward to seeing more of your creations. Hope everyone has a safe and memorable weekend.

Alicia

Great Grad card: Great Grad stamp set, Basic Black & Whisper White card stock, Basic Black ink pad, Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon

On Board Clipboard, Summer Picnic Designer series paper, Real Red grosgrain ribbon, On Board Lots of Letters, Whisper White craft ink, brayer with rubber attachment, tombow glue, glue stick and A Perfect Day day rub ons.

Ta Da! (Sort of...)

So it is Friday again, and my turn to entertain you, or teach you something....or inspire you. Last week I posted a picture of my craft/sewing room, in what I consider to be a disastrous state. My intention was to inspire even ONE of you to tidy your room. Well, wasn't I surprised to get 4 COMMENTS, each of them telling me I am crazy, and how TIDY my room appears to be. What??? Well...that plan sure backfired! Not only are none of you scrambling to tidy your space and posting these amazing pictures of inspirational tidy spaces, but you have convinced ME that MY room is tidy. Thanks a lot. (RME...Rolling my eyes!) I have decided NOT to clean my room. Freedom! But now on to the problem of what to post this week.....

Aha! I took pictures over a year ago of the same room! It was clean then! Now if I can just uncover my computer and find them....hee hee....just kidding, my computer is always handy....got to stay current with the Divas! So here is:

Jennifer's Craft Room: The Prequel

See the nice craft paper covering the table top? Notice there is a dedicated space on the counter for my computer?

All those stamp sets on the shelves are assembled, current and organized by size. (When is the last time THAT has happened?) Oh, and see the Ink Caddy? They are all in order according to the Color Coach AND the re-inkers are all located in the corresponding space above each appropriate color family. Ok, I am starting to see a sickness here....

The closet doors will actually shut! The Designer Series Papers are neatly tucked away. Those star boxes are holding my supplies to make Christmas Cards...AHEAD OF TIME....I was so organized once...where did those days go?

The End

So now back to the reality that is my life today....piles and piles of stuff to move each time I need workspace. (sigh...) Stacks of sets that need assembled. Bags of customer orders that need delivered.....laundry....grocery shopping.....feed the family......bathe....sleep.....

Thanks for stopping by the blog, I hope you enjoyed my fairy tale! Jennifer

Surprise inside.............

Ever try looking for just the right kind of a project to get that "WOW" type of a reaction? This past weekend, a group of friends of mine worked on these awesome little boxes. Not only were they easy enough, but I've heard the most "wow's" out of people since then.

From the outside, it's a pretty little box. Then when you open it, that's when the amazement sparks in the eyes of the one opening it. As you open the box, there are four other little boxes that are all staggered so they fit between each other when you close the box. You can put little treasures in these boxes or even candy.
I went an extra step further and put lids on each of the boxes. I then added two brads to wrap some cord around to keep the boxes closed. I also decorated the bare areas on the inside to dress it up a little more.


My son especially was so impressed with these that he wants to make each of his teachers one (he's in Jr. High, so he's got 8 different teachers). i think that's real sweet of him and that they should like their little boxes too. There is only one more week left in school, so we're going to have to get a jump on these before time runs out!

Stamps: Enjoy Every Moment, Friendship Blooms
Paper: Ginger Blossom DS, Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, River Rock, Cameo Coral
Ink: Ruby Red, River Rock
Accessories: Silver Brads, Silver Cord, Circle Punches, Scallop Punch

If you have a project that wow'd everyone, I would love to hear all about it!!

I hope you all have an enjoyable holiday weekend ahead!!

Stamp happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

Sunshine on a dull day

Well its at the end of Autumn here in Australia and Winter is quickly approaching so I thought what better time to create something to warm yourself or someone else up!

I am sure that you are like me and love to recieve little surprises from friends and for no reason at all other than they were thinking of you! To recieve something in the mail from someone on the other side of the globe makes it extra special.

We call these little blessings RAKs or "Random Acts of Kindness".

This is one of those RAKs that was sent to me when I least expected it and from another diva who has become a special friend since I joined UDI and more so since we both post here each week.

This card was from Maria Williams and it was so lovely to recieve and not only because it meant she thought of me enough to send it but it also included a sachet of hot chocolate and everyone knows there is no better friend than a friend with chocolate!!

I loved the layout of this card and the gesture of it and including the sachet of chocolate showed just that extra bit extra love and care.

I loved it so much that when a fellow demonstrator & friend was going thru some hard times with her family I decided to make her one and send it to her. I thought now was such a great time with our cooler Autumn weather - although some days do feel like winter - it was perfect to send to warm up those winter chills.

I used the "Like it a Latte" set for this one which is perfect for this type of card. Even down to the chocolate saying inside!

Recipe:
Stamps: Like it a Latte, Short and Sweet
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla, Vellum
Inks: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Crimper, Pink Grosgrain, Horizontal Slot punch, Sachet of Hot Chocolate.

I am sure you too have recieved a RAK when you least expected it - so today I am putting the challenge out to you to get stamping and send someone a RAK for no reason at all other than to say hello and you're thinking of them.

How special will that person feel when they open that envelope?

So what are you waiting for? go send a RAK or two today!

Have you been stuck on Sticky Cut Letters?

Good morning,

Today we are going to look at Stampin' Up!'s Sticky Cut Letters.  Some of you might be saying "What in the world are Sticky Cut Letters?"  They are double-sided acrylic adhesive letters that are die-cut into letters, shapes and numbers.  If you've every used sticky strip, you will like the ease of these letters.  It's like a LARGE strip of sticky strip that's been cut into something.

Some of you might be saying "I saw those in the catalog and just don't know how to use them".  All you have to do is peel off one side of the liner, place it on your project, gift or work space, peel off the other side of the liner and sprinkle with Bead Duo or glitter (chunky glitter is lots of fun!)   Here's are some fun cards that focuses on Sticky Cut Letters.

 

TIP - these Sticky Cut Letters, Shapes and Numbers are pressure-sensitive adhesive material.  Be sure to apply pressure to the image to properly adhere the project before removing the red transparent liner.

All this information was found on the Stampin' Up!'s Demonstrator Website under the Product Guide.  I hope you have learned something new or sparked an interest to order some Sticky Cut Letters and glitter to add to your next project.

CHALLENGE - I'd like to see what you've done with Sticky Cut Letters.  Post them on this thread for all to see!

Have a great week!  Next week I'm going to share some ways to organize your stamps and ink pads.

Stacy P.

Designing Divas

Hi Stampers! Welcome to another week of Stampin' Up! with the Utah Divas.

You may have noticed that the UDI bloggers have settled into their new roles quite comfortably and they have even developed regular features for us to look forward to each week, such as Stacy's Tips & Technique Tuesdays and Maria's Stampin' Challenges. In addition to our bloggers' special features, Max & I invited several Divas to serve on the UDI Design Team. The Design Team members will be faced with a different challenge each month using Stampin' Up! stamp sets, papers, ribbons, embellishments, etc.

I am happy to tell you that several of the Divas accepted our invitation, including Adriana Benitez, Andrea Walford, Barbara Dykhouse, Selene Kempton, Brenda Taylor, Jill St. Angelo, Christine Rebbert and Becky Roberts. This is a talented group of stampers and we are very lucky to have them as our very own Designing Divas. We hope to add more Divas to this list of special ladies in the very near future, so keep checking back to see who is new to the team.

This month, the UDI Designers were asked to create projects using On Board Chipboard, Hodgepodge Hardware & anything currently available in the Occasions Mini. The challenge rules are simple in that the Designers may use any current Stampin' Up! stamp sets and products, but must use at least one of the items identified in the challenge.

In response to our first challenge, Becky Roberts created this Chipboard Bouquet using various pieces from the On Board Blossoms and Basics which she covered with the Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper. Becky made the flower centers using the Scallop Circle punch, 5-Petal Flower punch, Boho Blossoms punch, and ¾”, 1-¼”, and 1-3/8” Circle punches. She embellished these long-lasting posies with Rich Regals & Soft Subtles Brads and fashioned leaves fro Certainly Celery, Old Olive & Regal Rose 5/8” Ribbon. The vase is an Ice Cream Sundae glass filled with Cotton Candy Jelly Belly’s.

Flowers & candy all in one! I love it. Thanks for sharing Becky. And, thanks to all of you for stopping to visit UDI. Happy Stampin'! EdieB

Tea Time

It is with great pleasure that I am able to share some creations from a very special person. Michelle is such an amazing and talented person and I admire her so much. She has definitely been an inspiration in my life. I am so blessed to be able to call her one of my closest friends. Although I enjoy being a demonstrator, I enjoy the friendships I have made through Stampin' Up! much more. Michelle is one person I know I will be friends with for the rest of my life. Thank you, Michelle, for your friendship and support. I hope you realize how much it means to me. Hugs!!

Hi! My name is Michelle and I live in Minnesota but am originally from Canada. I moved to the States to be with my husband. I have been interested in stamping since I was a child. When I learned about Stampin’ Up!, I jumped at the chance to be a demonstrator. I have been a demonstrator for 3 years and I love every minute of it. I love to create projects that will put a smile on someone’s face and I enjoy teaching others how to do the same. I find a lot of inspiration and many techniques on a variety of crafting web sites and personal blogs. Since I received so much valuable help on-line, I decided to start a blog of my own in order to hopefully help others in return. View my blog at http://mhoffman-atimetostamp.blogspot.com/ If there is a particular technique or project you would like to see, please ask me!

I have been a member of UDI for about 2 years now. I enjoy being part of a group of stampers who are positive and have great ideas and are willing to help one another out. I am the Spiritual Sunday coordinator, Baby Closet coordinator, and Tutorial coordinator for the group. It keeps me busy but I very much enjoy it.

Now, on to the projects...

This first project is a coaster box. I bought the chipboard coasters online at http://www.eclecticpaperie.com/. I adhered “Afternoon Tea” Designer Series Paper from the Occasions mini catalog onto both sides of 5 coasters. I applied a thin coat of ModPodge overtop of the paper to protect it from moisture and oils. Using the crop-a-dile tool, I punched five holes along two sides of 4 coasters, leaving the 5th coaster intact. The 5th coaster is for the bottom of the box and does not require holes in it. Once I had punched all the holes, I took an 18” length of ribbon and laced it through the holes of 2 coasters lying side by side. I repeated this step until all 4 coasters were laced together, then using a strong adhesive, I glued the 5th coaster to the bottom of each of the 4 coasters, creating the completed box. If you’d like to see a tutorial on how to create a coaster box, click on this link for the tutorial posted on Splitcoast Stampers by Taylor VanBruggen.

To create the paper flowers, I followed Sharon Field’s directions on her blog, Created By U. For the center flower, I folded a 1 1/4” circle not quite in half. Then I took one end of the folded circle, and rolled it loosely to get the “bud” look. I snipped off a tiny portion of the bottom of the bud to make it flatter so it would lay straighter when I glued it to the rest of the flower. I used a 1 1/4” circle punch to create the leaves by punching a complete circle and then punching only a portion of the original circle to get an oval type shape for the leaf. I used my paper snips to cut slits on both sides of the leaves to create more interest and dimension.

Paper: Afternoon Tea DSP, Ginger Blossom DSP, Wild Wasabi CS
Accessories: Chipboard coasters, ModPodge, glue dots, Crystal Effects, foam brush, bone folder, crop-a-dile, 1 1/4” circle punch, paper trimmer, scissors, double stitched ribbon- River Rock

This next project is a mini accordion album we created in my last stamp class. The butterfly is two dimensional but it didn’t show up very well in this picture.
To create this 9 page album, I used one 12 x 12 sheet of card stock. Cut a line along the length of the paper at 3 3/4”, 7 1/2” and 11 1/4”. Discard the left over narrow strip. Turn your strip horizontally and score at 3 3/4”, 7 1/2” and 11 1/4”. Score the other two strips identical to the first. Take one of the strips, and cut off the 3/4” portion at the bottom and discard it. Do not cut off this portion on the other two strips. Apply adhesive to the two 3/4” portions. Attach one strip at the 3/4” portion to the first square on the second strip. Then attach the second strip at the 3/4” portion to the first square on the third strip. Fold all 9 squares accordion style on the score lines. You now have the base for your album!

For the front cover, I cut a piece of Groovy Guava 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”, then a piece of Afternoon Tea DSP 3 1/4” x 3 1/4”. I stamped the butterfly from Garden Whimsy twice, and cut both out. I attached one butterfly cut out to the CS layers, using dimensionals. I made a score line in the middle of my second butterfly, folded the left side, then adhered the right side to the first butterfly. To get a 3-D effect, you will want to cut out a total of 3 butterflies and attach them accordingly. Then, I applied Crystal Effects randomly on the top butterfly, creating raised dots for dimension.

For the inside pages, each layer of CS is 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”. The rest is self explanatory, but if you have any questions, please post your questions in the comment area of this post.

Enjoy creating either of these two projects, or both! Happy stampin’ and creatin’!

Stamp set: Garden Whimsy, Warm Words, It’s All Good
Paper: Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper, Whisper White 12 x 12’, Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White 8.5 x 11” CS
Ink: Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa, Wild Wasabi Classic Ink
Accessories: Photo corner punch, 1/8”, 1 1/4”, 1 3/4” circle punches, scallop circle punch, tag corner punch, stampin’ dimensionals, Crystal Effects, SNAIL adhesive, scissors, sticky strip, paper cutter, double stitched ribbon- Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, button, mini envelope template

Thank you for sharing your works of art with us, Michelle.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Alicia :)

Look familiar?

Holy cow....has this ever happened to you?

Do you ever feel like you will NEVER get this mess tidied up?

Where do you even put it all?

I just wanted to post this week a sight that many of us are familiar with. And would you believe that I am an OCD personality? Sometimes things just get in the way of keeping up with your stamping (and cleaning) time! It was my intention to post a before and after picture, but time got away from me AGAIN! (Dont act like this has never happened to YOU!) So maybe you can at least get a good laugh from it, or maybe you will be afraid, very afraid, that this might be a picture of your room?

So, anyone up for a good challenge? Go take a picture of your stamping room/area RIGHT now, and then clean it up and post your before and after pics. I will be posting my after pic next Friday. (I hope!) LOL. Do you think you have MORE room for improvement than I? Lets see what a week will do.... Good luck, and see you next Friday....as long as that room doesn't swallow one of us up!

Jennifer

What a Stinker!

Hello my Thursday stampers! Today's been such a busy day and I don't see the night slowing down much either! Sorry to be posting so late, but I'm sure you understand! :)

Today I am sharing with you a card that I made a couple of weeks ago for one of Beate's weekend sketches. When I saw this sketch, I knew immediately that I had to jump in and play! Pun Fun has become a fast favorite! Something else I am venturing out and trying is watercoloring. I admire those who can watercolor beautiful creations! I know there are many ways to watercolor an image, and this one was done with a BlenderPen and Ink Refills. If anyone out there knows an easy way to watercolor or the secrets to it, please share your wisdom!! I know I would be most appreciative! :)

Stamps: Pun Fun
Paper: Bali Breeze, Basic Black, Taken With Teal, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Black Stazon, Taken With Teal
Accessories: Black Brads, Pastels, Stampin Write Markers, Word Window Punch, AquaPainter, Sponge

I really like the bold black outlines in this card! I sponged Taken with Teal around the base of the card, added the black brads and also a doodle around the skunk.

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL week!!

Stamp happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

Stamp A Stack's

Firstly let me apologise for the lateness of this post. Or you could say that you will be doubly blessed for getting two posts today (Thursday!)

I thought for a change of theme for my posts I might tell you about Stamp-a-Stacks. I just love doing these with my customers and they all love them too! Well they must as I seem to do more Stamp-a-Stacks than regular demonstrations! Maybe this is why my upline calls me the Stamp-a-Stack Queen?

Its a great way to introduce your friends to stamping and showing them just how much fun it is and how easy it is to make a nice card.

I have a group of ladies that hold a Stamp-a-Stack once a month and when we first started there was one lady that told me that she didnt make cards and another who said that she doesnt make many cards but only used stickers. Now there is nothing wrong with using stickers if thats what you like to do but you need to keep buying them and there is only so much you can do with a sticker. Well since that day back in June last year they have both been converted to stamping and one comes to every Stamp-a-Stack and has now got her daughter involved in them too!

A Stamp-a-Stack differs from a standard demonstration in that each person gets to make 10 cards for a set fee whereas a demonstration is usually free and there is one make n take with a couple of other cards or products demonstrated by the demonstrator. The 10 cards made are usually 5 each of 2 different designs although this can be adjusted to what you and your friends like - sometimes i do a scrapbook page and 5 cards of one design or mix it up and do 3 of 3 different designs.

I suite the class to what they want to do - whether they want a particular theme or stamp set used or sometimes they want a colour combination. I have had ones where the hostess has picked a couple of cards out of the Idea Book & Catalogue - this is a great way of showing how easy the cards in the catalogue really are to do and they are very impressed that they can re-create these themselves.

The cards I have included in this post are some that I have done with Stamp-a-Stack's and if there are any here that you would like the recipe for then please dont hesitate to email me or leave a comment on this post with your email address and I will send you the recipe.

So why not ring your demonstrator today to book in for a Stamp-a-Stack or maybe you are a demonstrator and would like more information about running a Stamp-a-Stack then please either contact your upline or myself.

Now go and get your friends and book your Stamp-a-Stack today!

blessings,
Leonie

Tips & Technique Tuesday

Hi Everyone,

I am starting a new series -- Tips & Technique Tuesday.  I will alternate each week with great tips and techniques that I have done or from other sources.  To start out this week I'm going to focus on THINGS TO STAMP.  This comes from Kiley Athanasiou on Splitcoaststampers.com. 

THINGS TO STAMP

1.  Ribbons

2.  Frames

3.  Lamp Shades

4.  Puzzles

5.  Gable Boxes

6.  Flash Cards

7.  Ornaments

8.  Awards

9.  Calendars

10.  Bulletin Boards

11.  Memory Pages

12.  Coupon Books

13.  Book Covers

14.  Gifts

15.  Magnets

16.  Christmas Cards

17.  Paper Plates

18.  Wrapping paper

19.  Gift Sacks & Bags

20.  Baskets

21.  Napkins

22.  Tablecloth

23.  Bookmarks

24.  Marshmallows

25.  Business Cards

26.  Bookplates

27.  Birth Announcements

28.  Boxes

29.  Thank you notes

30.  Cookies

31.  Easter Eggs

32.  Invitations

33.  Pictures

34.  Bank Checks

35.  Trick or Treat Bags

36.  Tissue paper

37.  Change of Address

38.  Clay Pots

39.  Post Cards

40.  Pins

41.  Aprons

42.  Stickers

43.  Lunch Bags

44.  Jewelry

45.  Memos

46.  Post-it notes

47.  Advent Calendars

48.  Streamers

49. Cups

50. Shrinky-Dinks

51. Recipe Cards

52. Birthday Cards

53. Labels

54. Gift Tags

55. Flyers

56. Stationery

57. Placemats

58. Place Cards

59. Walls & Borders

60. Pop-up cards

61. Party Hats

62. Balsa Wood

63. Hot Pads

64. Coasters

65. Tennis shoes

66. Date Books

67. Balloons

68. Journals

69. T-shirts

70. Vases

My challenge to you is to stamp on something new this week and post what you've done on this thread.  Have a great week and I'll "see" you next Tuesday!

Stacy P.

Kickin' It Up A Notch!

Hi Stampers! Would you like to kick your stampin' up a notch? It is easy to do if you take it one step at a time.

Start by designing a basic card layout like the one at the right. I designed this pretty but simple Thank You using a Spring-like color scheme of Certainly Celery, Taken with Teal and Tempting Turquoise. The card base is Certainly Celery and it is layered with a Taken With Teal and a Certainly Celery mat. I stamped "Thank You" from the Wonderful Word stamp set in Tempting Turquoise directly on the Certainly Celery mat and tied off a length of 5/8 inch Certainly Celery Grosgrain ribbon around that.

I then stamped the flower blossom from Fabulous Flowers in Tempting Turquoise on Whisper White card stock and trimmed it out leaving a bit of Whisper White shadow at the flower edge. I adhered the flower directly to the card base for an additional layer.

The next sample shows background stamping added to the basic card design above. You can achieve this look by stamping the coordinating flowers from the Fabulous Flowers set with Certainly Celery directly to the card stock mat and in a random pattern. The addition of background stamping gives the card an entirely new feel and it is a very easy technique to add to your stampin' repertoire if you are a new stamper.

Many of Stampin' Up's sets include several stamps that coordinate nicely together and nicely with other SU sets. This is one of the many advantages over purchasing one stamp at a time from your local craft store where you often find one stamp you really like only to take it home and see that it doesn't coordinate with any of your other stamps. Loose stamps generally cost the same as an entire set of Stampin' Up stamps too which is a bonus.

To really give your stampin' a Wow! effect, add dimension and embellishments as in the final sample here. This is a little more time-consuming, but you will be pleased with the results. For this card, I actually stamped the flower three times: twice in Tempting Turquoise and once in Taken with Teal. I cut out one entire flower in Tempting Turquoise, one of the inside layers of petals from the Taken with Teal, and then inner most layer of petals from the second flower stamped in Tempting Turquoise. I also stamped one of the coordinating flowers in Certainly Celery on Whisper White card stock and cut that out. I layered the three smaller pieces and connected them with a Square Ice brad and popped these up on the base flower using Stampin' Dimensionals. This last photo is an attempt at a side view
of the result so you can see the embellishment popped on the flower.

So, give this a try and see how you can easily kick your card designs up a notch by adding a bit more stamping, a couple of more layers and maybe some bling or hardware.

Have a great week! EdieB

It's the Weekend!! :)

Today I would like to introduce you to Carol H. She has created four projects to share with us. Carol is a very creative woman and her work is wonderful.

Here's what she has to share....

I have been a Demonstrator since Sept 2004. I have been to convention 3x's Regionals 2x's and Leadership once. I am a Senior Supervisor with 3 ladies in my down line. I have been a member of this group (since 2005), thanks to Carol M. & Adrian G. I belong to a few other Yahoo groups for SU Demos. I met Selene K. another Diva, who lives just 6 miles from me. She has included me in her team meetings which I must say are fabulous!!! She has quite a lot of talented stampers too! I am married and have one daughter, Alexandrea. I am a grandmother of one absolutely beautiful granddaughter named Natalia who is 2½ and the most precious person in my life. I have a Masters degree in Criminal Justice. I work a full-time job (in Education) in addition to my Stampin' Up! business. I love life and I love to scrapbook.
Have a great day!
Carol H

Carousel Notes Tote (pictured above):
2 Carousel Notes
1 Carousel Envelope
Afternoon Tea DS paper
Groovy Guava Ink
Pretties Kit
Chocolate Chip gross-grain ribbon
Double stitched groovy guava Ribbon
Cuttle bug 'Swiss Dots' embossing folder
Jumbo eyelets

Acetate Card Baroque Motif:
Window sheet
Gold, Basic Black, Whisper White Card Stock
Encore Gold Ink
Gold embossing powder
White Staz-On

Peaceful Wishes Starburst:
White Mulbury paper
Whisper White, Night of Navy, Ballet Blue Card Stock
White Craft ink & White Staz-On
Star Punch, Tag Punch
Dazzling Diamonds
Cutter Kit

Pop Up Baroque Motif:
Le Jardin DS Paper
Groovy Guava DS Prints
Basic Grey, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla Card Stock
Versa-Mark
Gold embossing powder

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and Mother's Day. :)
Alicia