Sketchy Saturday (#32)

Wow....is it really the end of May?!! Almost time for the retiring list and preorder stuff! Woohoo!! :o) Don't forget to get your order to your demo now for anything that has the current In-Colors in it. Order now or you may miss out. I know I will miss some of those colors, but can't wait to see what the new ones are. :)

Now...on to the creations made using today's sketch....

Adriana

Carol

Ruthie

Tammy

Have a wonderful weekend full of blessings.

Finally Friday - Parisian Style!!!

Hello All!!! Welcome to another Finally Friday on UDI!! This week our lovely piece of artwork is courtesy of Courtney Carpenter!! And she is using that oh so lovely, Parisian Breeze dsp!! If you love as much as I do you best stock up now, or it will be gone!!

Here's what Courtney had to say:

This stamp set is soo pretty! I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this designer paper!!

paper: chocolate chip, whisper white, and Parisian breeze designer paper

Ink: chocolate chip

stamp: Thoughts and Prayers

Acces: Kraft corduroy brad, scallop oval punch, large oval punch, and stampin dimensionals

I have to agree with Courtney on how pretty this stamp set is and how versatile!!

Have a great weekend and Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Diva Inspiration Challenge #45

I love all the bright colors in today's inspiration picture! This picture is a screen saver I found while searching through the internet. Not only are the bright colors appealing but tropical fish are also eye catching! My choice of colors would be those in the Bold Brights color family.

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

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

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 DivaIC45 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

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

It's about that time.

It's almost time for the end of the school year...here in Florida, at least. My kiddos' last day of school is next Thursday. Today's project comes to us from Alicia Tomicich-Wiley. It is just in time for graduations here. My youngest is "graduating" from elementary school. :)

I had a customer request that we make a graduation card at my Stamp-A-Stack this month. I don't have any graduation specific stamp sets, so I needed to come up with something using what I do have. I wanted to make sure I used all SU! products, although one used is retired. I have seen cards making a square into a graduation cap but most used embroidery floss for the tassle. I decided to use grosgrain ribbon and fray it. Although I have seen frayed ribbon used before, I haven't seen it used this way. My customers were impressed with how it was made, as was I when it all worked out. :)
Stamps- Hugs & Wishes
Ink--Basic Black
Paper--Basic Black CS, Natural White CS, Urban Oasis DSP
Accessories--Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Brad, Silver Cord (retired)





Great idea, Alicia! Thanks for sharing!

Until next week...
Happy Stampin'!
Elizabeth

Thoughts and Prayers

Hello Everyone,

I must apologize. My assigned day to post is Monday but as I was not at home for most of the day yesterday enjoy the holiday, I didn't post. So double posting for today and SORRY!

These cute cards designed by Kristine Memmott are so cute. This happens to be one of my very favorite stamp sets. The Pretties kit....wow these embellishments make everything look so wonderful.

Kristine used these Stampin' Up! products to make these cards.

Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers Paper: Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa Ink: Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Close to Cocoa Accessories: Pretties Kit, Dimensionals, Pink, Chocolate Chip and White Taffeta Ribbon, ½: Circle Punch

We have many women in our online group who have had to deal with so much lately. One of our members, Kay Mespelt lost her husband this month. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers :)

Happy Stampin'

Max

Baskets and Blooms

Check out this adorable basket from Gretchen Barron! I love the color combo and the flower and the corduroy buttons...ahhh, so cute!

I've seen some of these little baskets around and I don't know how other people have put them together but I discovered an easy, quick way to make these that doesn't require figuring out complex angles and fancy cutting! You begin with the Big Shot and the Baskets & Blooms Die and cut just the two Basket images. I used the fabulous Sweet Slumber Specialty Designer Series Paper for this project. It's textured, cover-weight cardstock that has a different design printed on each side. It's perfect for this type of project and makes it an even easier and faster project to put together! For more pictures and a complete Tutorial, see my blog post at http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/a-tisket-a-tasket-a-cute-little-may-basket.html

Thanks Gretchen - this looks like so much fun! Now I've added a couple more dies to my wish list :)

Sketchy Saturday (#31)

Here's the sketch challenge for today. Take it literally or use it as a stepping stone to create something new. Here's what others have created.

Adriana

Ruthie

Tammy

Take some time to create something this weekend. If you decide to use this sketch, leave a comment with a link to your creation.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend. Remember those who fought and continue to fight for our freedom.

Diva Inspiration Challenge #44

What can be better than a field full of pretty flowers? Having that field full of pretty flowers be our inspiration to create this week! Isn't it just so happy?!? When I saw this pic on Triangle.com, I immediately knew what I was going to do. I can definitely pick out many colors of the Earth Elements color family for my choice of colors.

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

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

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 DivaIC44 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

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

Wednesday again!

Here we are at Wednesday again. Today's card comes to us from the oh-so-talented Gretchen Barron. Make sure you check out her blog (the link is in the sidebar along with all our Divas' blogs) for more fantastic creations!



I just love the Bella Blossoms Stamp set! And, although it's on the Dormant List (but still available for purchase), I'm hoping it's not going to retire this summer. I think there is so much more that can be done with it! I began with a Rose Red Card Base and a 2nd layer of Cameo Coral. The Designer Series Paper is Raspberry Tart, and I used two different patterns from the DSP. The Kiwi Kiss print was punched with the Eyelet Border Punch. The ribbon is 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain in Rose Red.



I stamped the flower image three times -- once (just the leaves) on the Whisper White layer. Once (on a scrap of Whisper White) in Rose Red and another time in Cameo Coral. I carefully cut out the Rose Red flower, applied Crystal Effects to the inside white part and dipped it in Clear Micro Beads, and then adhered it to the stem using SNAIL adhesive. Next, I cut out just the inside of the the Cameo Coral flower, sponged the edges with Rose Red ink and mounted it on the other layers with Stampin' Dimensionals.


Not to feel left-out, the inside of the card is stamped as well for a nice little surprise when you open the card!

I really love the way this card turned out!. For more pictures and details, see my blog post at http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/one-sketch-three-cards.html.


Thanks for sharing with us, Gretchen!

Until next week...
Happy Stampin'!
Elizabeth

Got some Spare Rubber?

Divas - you'll go wild when I show you this idea from Adriana Benitez! I never would have thought of it on my own, and I can't wait to try it!


I had some spare pieces of rubber from a stamp set (what's left after you remove your stamps). It was a large enough piece that I was able to make my own small star stamp.


I ran the rubber through the Big Shot with my Stars #2 die, just once, and it cut a very clean image for me.


Now I'll just attach it to a spare block or double mount in on the back of a stamp from my Starring You set.




What did I tell you? This is seriously cool! Thanks for sharing your idea with us Adriana - I love it! It's your turn Divas - let us see what you come up with. You can leave a comment with your blog address or post a picture in the Yahoo group.

Buy 3 get 1 FREE - Designer Series Paper

Hello Friends,

Gretchen Barron, one of our fabulous Designing Divas created a cute project to share!

Here's a great project for you during National Scrapbooking Month! Make your own album!

The 8 1/2" On Board Chipboard Album is the perfect size for most scrapbooking projects. Your purchase the Chipboard album and decorate to suit your own tastes and color schemes using Stampin' Ups! beautiful Designer Series Papers (now on sale, by the way -- buy 3 packs and get one free!). For this project, I used Parisian Breeze Specialty Textured Designer Series Papers, 1" Baja Breeze Double Striped Grosgrain ribbon, the Big Shot and Top Note and Dasies #2 Dies, a Chocolate Chip Corduroy Button, the Pretties Kit and the Chauteau Bella Rub-ons.

For the opening page in the album, I created this layout again using Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP, Valet Ribbon Originals, the Chateau Bella Rub-ons, the Big Shot and Scallop Circle Die and the Circle Scissor Plus! You can view more pictures and read all the details on my blog at http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/may-is-national-scrapbooking-month.html

Just a couple of weeks left for you to purchase 3 packs of Designer Series Paper and get 1 FREE.

Ask your demonstrator for more details.

Have a fabulous week

Max

Sketchy Saturday (#30)

It's that time of the week again....here's your sketch.

Here's what the sketch team member came up with this week.

Adriana

Carol

Michelle

Ruthie

Tammy

Try it out. Leave a comment with a link to your project.

Have a good weekend!

Diva Inspiration Challenge #43

Anyone have a sweet tooth? If so, satisfy that craving with this week's inspiration picture! Candy, candy, candy - I bet this is what kids dreams about at night! heheheee

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

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

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 DivaIC43 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

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

It's Wednesday again!

I have no idea where the time goes these days. I can't believe it is Wednesday again already!

Today's card comes to us from Brenda Taylor of MN. Brenda was my Stampin' Sister (a fabulous program in UDI!), and I received many of her beautiful creations! I received this one just the other day! :) Thanks again, Brenda!

Supplies:
Thoughts and Prayers stamp set
Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip & Whisper White card stock
Parisian Breeze paper
Chocolate Chip ink pad
5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon and pop dots

See you next week!

Until then...Happy Stampin'!

Elizabeth

How embarrassing that I almost forgot to post today! I'm so sorry Divas - I'm not usually so flaky, I promise!
Anyway, I really like these cards from Stephanie Gittins. My favorite part is that she was using her leftovers. I always save my scraps - even projects that are partially done, but I'm not so great at remembering to use them.

Upsy Daisy Cards:
I actually made these cards with "leftovers" from another project. I had been working on designing a pocket card, but I didn't want to make more of those, so I just glued the insert on a card front and decorated it from there. On one card I stamped the flower image in Not Quite Navy ink on Baja Breeze paper. On the other, I inked the image in Kiwi Kiss first, and then used Sponge Daubers to apply Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy to the flowers.

Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Oval All
Inks: Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze Classic Pads
Paper: Urban Garden Designer Series Paper. Whisper White, Basic Gray, Not Quite Navy & Baja Breeze Cardstock
Accessories: 1/2" Circle Punch, Crop-a-dile, Scallop Oval & Large Oval Punches, Sponge Daubers, Blender Pens, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon

Steph - I love how your cards turned out!

Sketchy Saturday (#29)

Here's the sketch for today and the creations of the members of the team. Enjoy.

Adriana

Carol

Michelle

Ruthie

Tammy

Have a great Mother's Day!

Finally Friday - Beachy Style!!

Hello all!!! This week our finally Friday project comes to us from Adrianna Benitez.

Here is what she has to say:

One of my favorite sets from our Occasions Mini Catalog is the set, Just Beachy. Summer time is fun-time around my house and, with only 5 weeks of school, it's coming up quick! I'm looking forward to using this set for beach scrapbook pages, but for today I have a card to share with you. I was thinking of the phrase "so many fish in the sea" and thought about how lucky I am to have my hubby. Think I'll surprise him with this card and see if I can coax a smile out of him after a stressful day at work.

The card base is made with Whisper White card stock, layered with Taken with Teal and Brocade Blue. I used those same colors in our Classic Ink to stamp several of the fish images from this set. To isolate the one fish (visually, at least!) I punched out a window with our 1" circle punch. I stamped the fish onto a scrap of whisper white card stock, used a blender pen to pick up ink from the lids of the pads mentioned above and then colored him in. I then mounted this piece behind the window and framed it with a piece our Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. ( I also added some Crystal Effects to the fish - he was looking a little dull!)

To finish the card, I used this sentiment from our Smarty Pants stamp set and stamped it with Night of Navy Classic Ink onto our card stock weight vellum. I ripped the edges before adhering it to the card just 'cause it looked better to me that way!

And that's it - my one good fish in the sea of many. Hope you enjoy the card!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Diva Inspiration Challenge #42

FROGS!!! This week is frogs. I love how they just seem to pop against the black background!

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

To view the submissions on SCS click here.

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 DivaIC42 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

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

Wonderful Wednesday!

Hello everyone! I hope your week has been spectacular so far! Today's blog project comes from Adriana Benitez, a fellow Florida Diva. It is just gorgeous! Adriana, I'm sure your mom will LOVE it!!

Without further ado...

I'm trying to be ahead (for once) and work on cards before I need them. Amazing how I can make cards nearly every day, but never have the birthday and special occasion cards I need for what's on my calender! So today, I decided to work on a card for my Mom. Her birthday is coming up next month, and I wanted to make a card for her that truly reflects her style. She loves our flowers and swirly-type images and anything classic looking. With that in mind, I put on some soft music and got to work! The card base is made from our Sahara Sand cardstock. Using Versamark ink, I rolled images from our Watercolor Vine jumbo wheel across the front of the card. Stampin' Pastels applied with sponge daubers allowed me to swirl a few different colors of chalk in different areas but still keep it soft. I also stamped a portion of our En Francais background stamp onto the bottom right corner of the card. Next, I rolled the wheel across vellum (again with the Versamark), and then heat embossed the images with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. Then I inked up the same roller with Perfect Plum Classic Ink and rolled it just once over the vellum. I attached this vellum piece to the top of the card with a glue dot in each corner. The top two dots are covered by the half-back pearls (part of our Pretties Kit); the lower edge is covered by the addition of ribbon and two additional dots. The main image from our Bloomin' Beautiful was stamped with StazOn onto watercolor paper. I used my Aqua Painter and ink from the lids of Pale Plum, Perfect Plum and Mellow Moss Classic Ink pads. I trimmed the flower down using our very sharp Paper Snips then mounted the flower onto a scrap of watercolor paper using Stampin' Dimensionals. Voila! A card for my Mom :) I can't wait to give it to her and see what she thinks. I hope you like it, and thanks for stopping by!

Adriana B.

Until next week...

Happy Stampin'!

Elizabeth

Sketchy Saturday (#28)

Saturday??? Again???? Here's the sketch for today.

Adriana

Carol

Michelle

Ruthie

Tammy

Join in on the fun. Leave a comment with a link to your blog.

Have a great weekend.