Sketchy Saturday (#15)

Hooray for Saturday! :) Here's the sketch challenge for today.

Check out what the team has created this week.

Adriana

Alicia

Carol

Leonie

Ruthie

Tammy

What will you create?? Show us. Leave a comment with a link to your blog or upload to your SCS gallery using DivaSC15 as your keyword.

Have a great day!

Diva Inspiration Challenge #28

Are you ready for a warmer get away? Hopefully today's Diva Inspiration Challenge picture will help you escape for at least a moment! This tropical paradise is found at a vacation spot in Peru. So before you start to tackle this week's challenge, take a deep breath and indulge in this week's temporary escape!

There are so many colors to pull from this picture that I think any of the Earth Elements would fit perfectly!

To see what my creative team came up with, just click on their name:
Maria
Elizabeth

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

Now it's your turn! Post a link in the comments section with your blog entry or SCS gallery showing us what creation you were inspired to come up with!! If you upload to SCS be sure to put DivaIC28 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

Inspire Stampin' happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

Wacky Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday! Today's projects come to us from Alicia Tomicich-Wiley.


Bookmark
Ink-Chocolate Chip Classic
Paper-Pink Pirouette CS, Pumpkin Pie CS, Sweet Always DSP
Accessories-On Board Something Seasonal, Flower Fusion Too, 1 1/4" Pink Pirouette Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Brad, Trio Flower Punch, Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive, Pop-Up Glue Dot, Sponge Dauber



Calendar
Stamp Set-Simple Serif Mini Alphabet
Ink-Chocolate Chip Classic
Paper-Sweet Always DSP, Chocolate Chip CS, Pink Pirouette CS, Naturals White CS
Accessories-Coaster, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon, Soft Subtles brads, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive, Paper Snips, Sanding Block, Sticky Strip, uni-ball Signo Gel Pen, printed calendar.


Thanks for sharing, Alicia.

See you next week!

Happy Stampin'!
Elizabeth

Fun Valentine's Ideas

If you've stopped by my own blog in the last couple of days, you've already seen these projects, but I was so proud of how they turned out that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share them with all of you!

I hold a class each month that I call Girls' Night Out and we make 2 projects. My goal with each class is to teach at least one technique and to show off some of my favorite products. I think we can all agree that you sell what you demonstrate, so this class is a great way for me to boost sales!

I chose to demonstrate projects with a Valentine's Day theme, so our first project was this card using the Bella Rose DSP. The only thing I stamped was the greeting - but I love it!

Several of my customers had never dry embossed before, and they had a lot of fun learning this simple technique. What a great way to add texture to your project! I also showed them how to cover the chipboard heart accent with some DSP and Tombow adhesive - they loved it! Again, it's such a simple technique, but it makes such a cute accent.


Our next project was this cute bag - I found the idea on SCS and tweaked the dimensions just a bit to work with the supplies I had on hand. I gave my customers a few different choices of paper and they had a lot of fun "designing" their own bag.

We all had a lot of fun and my customers were thrilled when I provided them with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses to put in their treat bags!

Card Recipe:

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Red Riding Hood, Bella Rose dsp
Stamps: Warm Words
Ink: Chocolate Chip classic
Accessories: On Board Essentials, Chocolate Chip double-stitched grosgrain ribbon, tombow adhesive, Floral Frenzy Classy Brass

Genie Bag Recipe:

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Stamps: Best Yet (retired)
Ink: Red Riding Hood, Chocolate Chip craft
Accessories: Circle Scallop Punch, Curly Label Punch, clear embossing powder, Chocolate Chip Grograin ribbon or Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, eyelets, crop-a-dile, paper lunch sack

Love you Much

Isn't this just awesome? I have been a fan of Becky Roberts from Boise ID for a long time now. She is so very creative and always makes the most amazing projects.

Becky is our Blog Manager and does a great job working with our Design Team and our Coordinators to ensure we post some fun projects.

This creation was made using the following:

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Stamp Set: Love You Much
Accessories: Candy Lane DSP, Various Stampin’ Write Markers, Circle Scallop Punch, 1/8” Circle Punch, 1 ¼” Circle Punch, Flower Fusion, Bold Brights Brads, Chocolate Chip ¼” Grosgrain, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Two Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.

Thanks Becky for all you do for our Blog and for sharing your creativity with us.

Happy Stampin'
Max

Sketchy Saturday (#14)

Once again, Saturday is here! Take a little time and create with us. Here's today's Sketch Challenge.

Here's what the team has created.

Adriana

Alicia

Carol

Leonie

Michelle

Ruthie

Tammy

Show us your creation. Leave a comment with a link to your blog or upload to your SCS gallery using DivaSC14 as your keyword.

Have a great weekend.

Finally Friday Double Time!!

Hello Divas, Dude and all our stampin' visitors!! Sorry for the slacker I was last Friday and completely forgot to post!! And, I almost forgot today! Time sure flies when your having fun!! LOL!! This week we are showcasing 2 wonderful Divas, Adrianna Benitez and Stephanie Gittins! You are just going to love what they have for us!!

First up is Adriana and and is what she has to say:

Here's a card to bring some of the warm Florida weather to those who might be dealing with freezing weather today. Hope you enjoy it!

recipe:
stamps: Take Three (Retiring!), Flight of the Butterfly
ink: Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Apricot Appeal
paper: Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP
punches: horizontal slot, corner rounder
other: paper piercer & mat pack, stampin' sponge, build a brad (I used the clear bubbles from this kit), white organdy ribbon (retired)

Thanks Adriana for bringing a little bit of sunshine to those of us in the cold north!

Next up is Stephanie with an awesome collection of designs for us to drool over!! Here is what she has to say:

This bag is simply a smaller version of the "Perfect Bag" Linda taught us to make at Convention! Instead of starting with a 12x12 piece of paper, I started with 6x6 pieces. This is a great way to use those cute 6x6 paper pads you can earn as a hostess! I scored 1 1/2" around three sides, so the finished bag is 3 x 4 1/2, and 1 1/2" deep. It's the perfect size for small but special gifts!

Recipe:

Mini Gift Bag

Paper: Riding Hood Red Prints Designer Series Paper.

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pirouette Pink, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

Stamps: None!

Ink: Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, 1/8" Handheld Punch, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Crafter's Tool Kit (paper piercing), Gold Brad, Sizzix Big Shot, Birds & Blooms Sizzlits

Enjoy and Happy Stamping everyone!!!

Ann

Diva Inspiration Challenge #27

Happy Thursday Everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the SU Spring - Summer Idea Book and Catalog! I am loving the new sets and papers!!!

Ready to be challenged? Today's piece of inspiration is Buttons Pillar Candle found at Kohl's.
I love buttons and don't get to use them enough! The colors are very inviting and happy too. The colors I pulled from this picture are Green Galore, Bashful Blue, More Mustard, and Riding Hood Red.

To see what my creative team came up with, just click on their name:
Maria
Elizabeth

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

Now it's your turn! Post a link in the comments section with your blog entry or SCS gallery showing us what creation you were inspired to come up with!! If you upload to SCS be sure to put DivaIC27 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

Inspire Stampin' happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

It's Wacky Wednesday!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far! Here in Tampa, I am freezing! I don't know how you northerners do it every year! Thankfully, tomorrow is the last day of lows in the low 30s (wind chills are in the 20s!) and highs in the low 50s! Friday we should be back to normal with high temps in the low 70s! WooHoo! :)

Today's projects come from Courtney Carpenter of Clay Center, KS.

This is a folder to hold two 3x3 cards with coordinating envelopes.

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Whisper White, Candy Lane designer paper. Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red. Stamps: Love You Much. Accessories:stampin' dimensionals, white grosgrain ribbon, 1/8" circle punch.

Thanks for sharing, Courtney!

See you all next week!

Happy Stampin'!

Elizabeth

Love You Much sample

Check out this cute card from Ruthie Burkey:

Here's what she had to say about her design:

"I discovered the border on this card by accident when I was punching hearts for another card. The punch fits perfectly three times across the bottom of the card."

I love it - thanks so much for sharing this cute design Ruthie!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Love You Much

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Candy Cane Lane DSP

Ink: Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Stitched Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Heart to Heart Punch

Introducing our New Design Team Member : Gretchen Barron

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for the delay in posting today. My Father passed away this past Friday and my mind is elsewhere. I just posted to the blog I created to honor him and I realized I hadn't posted here. SO glad I didn't forget fully :))))

Gretchen Barron is one of our newest members of the Design Team. She is a very talented and creative stamper. Take a look at this cute, cute project.

The little bird is cut using the Big Shot and the Birds and Blooms Sizzlets die. He was cut from Creamy Caramel cardstock and shaded with Riding Hood Red Ink on all sides of the bird and wings. The heart was stamped and then punched twice and then the heart applied to the bird so you can view it from both front and back. The nest was made by cutting the largest circle from the Coluzzle template. Smash it, wad it, roll it and crumple it and then spray it with water and smash, wad, roll and crumple again. Form it loosly over the bottom of a small jar and let it try (it took about an hour for mine to dry completely and then I hit it with a couple shoots from the heat tool just to be sure). Cut very narrow slices of cardstock (about 1/16 - 1/8") and run them through the paper crimper. Form them together in a loose ball. Fill the bottom of the nest with Crystal Effects (probably about 1 teaspoon full) and then push the nesting strips into the nest. Wad up another small scrap of Chocolate Chip cardstock into a ball and fasten the bird to that using a Pop Up Glue Dot. Put another Glue Dot on the bottom and press down into the Crystal Effects.

The box and lid are very simple construction. For the box base, cut a 7 1/4" square of Close to Cocoa cardstock. Score at 1 5/8" " on all sides. Cut on the fold on two parallel sides. Apply Sticky Strip to the cut flaps. Fold up and stick together. The lid is a 6 1/8" square of Riding Hood Red Cardstock, scored on all sides at 1" and assembled in the same way as the base.

Decorate as you like. I cut a 1" strip of DSP (14 inches total), punched with the Scallop Edge Punch and adhered on all sides of the box lid with Sticky Strip. I also applied Riding Hood Red 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon with Sticky Strip, leaving long ends on the center front so that you can tie a bow. Trim ends as desired. I applied squares of Chocolate Chip and Pink Pirouette to the top and fastened the assembled nest/bird using Pop Up Glue Dots.

The six Valentine Cards inside the box were all made with a 3 x 6" Whisper White card base (folded to make a 3" card). I used the Love You Much Stamp set, Heart to Heart Punch and Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette and Chocolate Chip cardstock. Other punches used include the Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch and 1 1/4" Circle Punch. I colored in the images with Markers or Blenders Pens/ink. Additional embellishments include Riding Hood Red 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon and Stampin' Dimensionals. Mini Envelopes are included in the set.

Thank you Gretchen. I have been a fan of your blog for a long time now. So happy you joined our Design Team. We look forward to seeing your future creations.

Happy Stampin'

Max

Sketchy Saturday (#13)

It's Saturday! Time for a sketch challenge. Today's sketch is a layout that I've used for various cards. Check out what everyone came up with using this sketch.....

Alicia

Carol

Leonie

Michelle

Show us what you can create with the sketch. Leave a comment with a link to your blog or upload to your SCS gallery using DivaSC13 as your keyword.

Hope you have a terrific weekend. I'm hoping to get some organizing in my craft room done...and then be able to do some creating!!! :)

Diva Inspiration Challenge #26

I hope life has already started to get back to normal after the holidays! I know it usually takes me a little while to shift back to pre holiday life.
I hope you are ready to conquer today's Diva Inspiration Challenge! Today's image is baby bedding found at Kaboodle.

Some colors I pulled out of this inspiring piece are Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Pale Plum, Always Artichoke, and Chocolate Chip.

To see what my creative team came up with, just click on their name:
Maria
Elizabeth

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

Now it's your turn! Post a link in the comments section with your blog entry or SCS gallery showing us what creation you were inspired to come up with!! If you upload to SCS be sure to put DivaIC26 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

Inspire Stampin' happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

Wacky Wednesday!

Today's projects come from Kristine Memmott. They are perfect for Valentine's Day which is right around the corner! Don't forget...the Love You Much bundle is available until January 31st! Don't miss out on the savings!

Stamps: Love You Much
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Key Tag Punch, Corner Rounder Punch

Stamps: Love You Much
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Candy Cane DSP, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Three Heart Punch, Word Window Punch, Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, Silver Brads

Thanks for visiting today! I'll see you back here again next Wednesday!

Happy Stampin'!

Elizabeth

Love You Much cards

Oo0h - Don't you just love pink? I wasn't really a fan of Valentine's Day until I became a Demonstrator and now I just can't get enough. I mean, look at all the adorable things you can make!

These samples are from Brenda Taylor:

Card Recipe:

Love You Much stamp set

Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette & Whisper White card stock

Candy lane designer series paper

Basic Black & Pink Pirouette ink pad

Riding Hood Red & Pink Pirouette re inkers & blender pens

Trio flower punch, 1/4" circle punch & pop dots, riding hood red striped ribbon

Card Recipe:

Love You Much stamp set

Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette & Very Vanilla card stock

Candy Lane designer series paper

Basic Brown ink pad

Riding Hood Red & Pink Pirouette re inkers & blender pen

Crystal effects, dazzling diamond glitter, 1" circle punch, scalloped circle punch, riding hood red satin ribbon.

Brenda - thank you so much for sharing your cute ideas!

Stampingly,

Amber

Love You Much

Happy Monday Everyone,

It was wonderful to see Adriana at the Orlando Regionals and she is the creator of the fabulous project today. The Love you Much bundle is in full swing, so be sure to order it and create your own fabulous projects or CASE them of course :)

The box is based on a video tutorial at mylifesart.com. I followed her directions with the addition of adding DSP as a liner to the inside of the box. This is a great gift project - it fits 4 cards plus their envelopes and was quick and easy to put together.

Supplies (box and cards): Stamps: Love You Much, Dias Felices ink: Close to Cocoa paper: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Close to Cocoa, Candy Lane DSP punches (went crazy here): Scallop Circle, Scallop Edge, 1" and 1-1/4" circles, handheld 1/16", Ticket Corner, Corner Rounder, sqare other: White grosgrain, Riding Hood Red tafetta

Card notes: The dog's face was made using hearts punched out with our new heart trio punch. The banner-style label on the one card was made of a strip of cs; I used a small square punch to cut out the notches on each end. (I've seen baggies of these for sale at a craft store; they are easily made with scraps at home!)

By the way, "Te Adoro" is "I Adore You" in spanish. This box and cards will go to my grandmother, so she needs some in both languages! Enjoy!

Thanks Adriana! I miss you and the Florida sunshine :)

Happy Stampin'

Max

Sketchy Saturday (#12)

Time for this week's sketch challenge.

Here's what the team has come up with. Enjoy. :)

Adriana

Alicia

Carol

Michelle

Ruthie

Tammy

Want to play?? Leave a comment with a link to your blog or upload to your SCS gallery using DivaSC12 as your keyword.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love You Much!!

Hello all!!! It's time for another Finally Friday posting!!! This Friday we are showcasing the awesome Love You Much bundle available now for our customers!!! Can you believe Valentine's Day is just around the corner??

Our samples this week come from Selene Kempton!! Wonderful samples and easily reproducible for us to show our customers!!

Both of these were made with the love you much bundle.
Stamps: love you much

Paper and Ink: (same colors)
close to cocoa
Pink Pirouette
Riding Hood Red
Love u much bundle DSP

Card 1 I used crystal effects to paint the vase and punched holes on either
side of the flower to run the ribbon

Card 2 I used crystal effects and dazzling diamonds for the bling.

Happy Friday and Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Diva Inspiration Challenge #25

It's still wintertime and this snow covered forest brings out the beauty of the cold and snow. Snow is something you really miss when you don't have it anymore.
This year for Christmas, my family headed up to Denver to see family, but also to play in the snow. We came prepared with snow suits and snow boots ready to get some serious snow play in. Wouldn't you know that we didn't get to roll in the snow like the kids looked forward to?!? Go figure. My in-law's front yard had some snow, but not enough to do the serious play we had in mind. We even ventured up to Estes Park, but the park where we were going to go sled riding didn't have much snow. We tried! The kids did enjoy their visit even though the snow play was a no go. :)

To see what my creative team came up with, just click on their name:
Maria
Elizabeth

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

Now it's your turn! Post a link in the comments section with your blog entry or SCS gallery showing us what creation you were inspired to come up with!! If you upload to SCS be sure to put DivaIC25 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

Inspire Stampin' happiness wherever you go!! :)
~~Maria~~

It's the 1st Wednesday of 2009!

Happy 2009 from Florida!

I am so excited! Stampin' Up!'s Leadership Conference starts today in Orlando! I hope my UDI sisters who are attending have a ball! I know they will enjoy the weather. Aside from some rain today, it's supposed to be sunny and in the 70s every day! I will be joining them on Saturday for Regionals! Yay! (I hope one of them will let me drool over the new catalog! LOL)

Today's projects are from another UDI sister in Florida, Adriana Benitez.

Take it away, Adriana!




















The layout is from splitcoast's weekly layout challenge (SC206). The first card is very basic making it a good choice for a stamp-a-stack or beginner stamper. The second one is good for a SAS also, but has a couple more steps with the additional use of the ticket corner punch and some grosgrain ribbon.

For both cards, the card base is creamy caramel cs. I've rubbed barely banana ink (direct to paper) on the edges - it doesn't really show in the photo but adds some interest to the card IRL. Other paper used is our Autumn Vine DSP (gonna miss this paper!), Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Baja Breeze, and Naturals White. Creamy Caramel ink was used for mr. monkey and the heart, chocolate chip for the main images and sentiment. I love the coffee cups on the 2nd card (this is one hostess set I will not be giving up!) so I'll be making up a bunch of these cards for my private use. I always look forward to a good cup of coffee with a friend so this card is very "me". lol.

Hope you enjoy these cards :)

Thanks for sharing with us, Adriana!

Until next week,
Happy Stampin'!
Elizabeth

Always Card

Oohhh - how cute is this??

This card is from Kristine Memmott and I just love the color combo (brown is one of my current favorite colors). Isn't it great how the Filigree Brads coordinate so well with the stamp? And I just have to comment on how much I love the Chocolate Chip Double stitched ribbon. The wider ribbon is so darn cute I have a hard time going back to the skinny ribbons!

Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Always

Paper: Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow

Accessories: Silver Brads, 1/2" Circle Punch, Chocolate Chip Double Stitched Ribbon, Filigree Brad

Kristine - you did a beautiful job, thank you!

Stampingly,

Amber

Scrapbooking Christmas

Hello Everyone,

Tomorrow many demonstrators will be going to Florida for our annual Leadership Conference. For me I am just way excited for the warm weather. I dread the Utah winters.

Speaking of the cold, I am sure you have plenty of Christmas pictures to scrapbook. Here is a cute idea created by one of our design team members, Stephanie Gittins.

Stamps: Happy Everything

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White cardstock

Ink: Riding Hood Red Classic Pad, Basic Black Stampin' Write Journaler

Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot, Scribble Sizzlit, Snowflakes Sizzlits, UniBall Signo White Gel Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

With three little boys, I don't have a lot of time to scrapbook! So while some of my pages are intricate and detailed, most of them are pretty quick and simple. This page is a good example. I took the colors for this page from the toy power tools in the bottom photo. I triple matted the photos to add some subtle color and impact. The title was stamped on scraps, and it didn't stand out enough so I doodled a border around each piece. I masked the "s" on holiday because this page is just about one Christmas and I thought it was kind of a fun play on a common phrase.

The journaling is just handwritten with a white gel pen. (Although I know many of us hate our own handwriting, I think in years to come our children and grandchildren will really enjoy seeing it on our pages.)

Finally, I used my Big Shot to cut out some snowflakes and a swirl. I doodled around the swirl with my gel pen, and then added a little glitter to the die cuts for some shimmer. The whole page took less than half an hour!

Thank you Stephanie for sharing your creativity with us

Happy Stampin'

Max

Sketchy Saturday (#11)

Another Saturday, another Sketch Challenge. The sketches for the next couple of weeks were ones that I drew up by looking at cards I liked. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Here's what members of the team have created:

Adriana

Carol

Ruthie

Tammy

Show us what you create using this fantastic sketch. Leave a comment with a link to your blog or upload to your SCS gallery using DivaSC11 as your keyword.

Have fun creating!

Perfect Plum Moments!

Hello all!!! Ann back again for another Fantastic Friday posting from Adriana Benitez. Adriana has made an awesome tray for added home decor!!

Here's what she has to say about her project:

This tray is something I made for our coffee table. Whenever I get a chance to sit down and relax with my afternoon coffee I'm usually looking for a coaster or something to protect the table. Seems like they are always laying around 'til I need one. Then there's the tv remote - does the thing have legs? (Think this is all a conspiracy of the males in my household...lol) My hope is that this tray will provide a place for our stuff so we can find it.

(Well, it's a thought...) If you already have this dilemma figured out at home, I think this project would work well as a gift. It was not expensive to put together or difficult and also makes a great kid friendly project.

The tray itself is a plain wooden tray from Michael's. My son helped me to prime and paint it a deep plum color. Once the paint dried, I decopauged Perfect Plum DSP onto it. In the first photo, you can see where I've just gotten started adding the glue. It's important to take your time and get those bubbles out. Just add a little glue to your fingers or sponge brush and slowly press them toward the edges. Takes patience, but it'll work! After the glue dried I used swirls from a Decor Elements kit ("Flourishes") and rub-ons from our "Greatest Moment" set. I sealed the whole thing with a matte acrylic sealer.

At this point the tray is on the table, but has yet to get used. I think the kids and the hubby are afraid to hurt it. LOL. But I have notice the remote tends to stay near it.....;-)

Wonderful project and ideas Adriana!!! Thanks for sharing!!

Happy Stamping!!!

Ann