Stampin' Success Saturday

Congrats to today's feature Diva, Ann Fitton, for winning the August Stampin' Success contest-Tricks and Treats. Her winning submission will be in the October Stampin' Success. I cannot wait to see what she created for the contest, but until then.....I do have other projects of hers to share with you. She even used the new sets she won*! :)

First, here's a little of what Ann wanted to share with all of you....

I have been stamping for 5 1/2 years now and a demo for 3 years. Like most of us, I went to an SU! workshop to "help" out a friend!!! One time was all it took and I was hooked! While I can't draw a stick figure to save my life, stamping gives me the creative outlet I need. And I'm not a fast stamper either!! Sometimes a card can take me all day until I am happy with it! I don't have one specific style of stamping and I like that. I want people to look at my creations and see differences in all of them, even it's just a little difference. I love to emboss and paper piece images to make them really pop on a card!

Bloom Where You are Planted Card (Above)
Stamps: None!
Inks: None!
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper Whiter, Summer Picnic dsp, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Blooms die cuts, Summer Days rub ons, River Rock stitched (with stitching removed), Fire & Ice circle rhinestone brads, paper piercer, dimensionals, slit punch

Let's Celebrate!
Stamps: On Your Birthday*, Frames with a Flourish*, Flower Fancy* and Canvas
Ink: Blush Blossom, Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Cert. Celery & Old Olive
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom, Ruby Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Coluzzle, scallop & 1 3/8" circle punches, white taffeta, dimensionals, scallop edge punch, piercing tool



Torn Up Love
Stamps: Dreams Du Jour, Frames with a Flourish*
Inks: Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Old Olive text., Riding Hood Red & Bella Rose dsp
Accessories: Scallop edge & 1 3/8" square punches, kraft taffeta, dimensionals, SU! markers, blender pens


Thank you so much for sharing your creations with us, Ann. Looking forward to seeing that winning submission.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend.

Alicia :)

Inspiration Challenge Thursday!!!!

HELLLLLLOoOoooOoo!!

Another Thursday has sprung upon us! I hope you're ready to stretch your creative muscles on this week's inspiration pic! It is a Beaded Clutch from Banana Republic. Now, to be honest with you, this was quite a challenging picture to try and come up with something. After thinking about what possibilities to take from the picture to create on, I came up with a few options:

punch out white circles and put on a white background; use vellum; faux wood; dry embossing; heat embossing; beads; color combo of Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Silver; low layout.

Then there's the the question of stamping or not. I think this card could get away with just using accessories. So, after pondering all of my options, this is what I came up with:

Stamps: Snow Swirled
Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: White & Silver Embossing Powder, Silver Brads, Dimensionals

It is incredibly simple. I kept wanting to go back and add more or change it up. I finally had to say "done" and walk away. The background was stamped in VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. The greeting and the tree were stamped in VersaMark as well, but heat embossed with silver powder. At first I had a silver snowflake at the top of the tree, but it was too much. So, I replaced the snowflake with the greeting. I tried adding the snowflake somewhere else on the card, but it was not meant to be......

To see what my creative team came up with, just click on their name :
Bev
Charmaine
Tandra
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 DivaIC6 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

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

Saturday in Paris

Today I would like to introduce you to Claire, one of our French Divas. Here is what she wanted to share....

Well, my name's Claire and I live in France, close to Paris. I love crafts and have been practising them since I was a child: sewing, knitting, beads, custumizing school items, all kind of things. I like reading, gardening, walking, shopping. I love Nature: landscape, flowers, trees, animals but I love to live close to Paris! I love to meet people to share my passions. Some people say that I'm a dreamer! I work as an air traffic controller so I need to do something "de-stressing". I'm not married, I've no children, but I have a "little" dog King Charles Cavalier. I went to the U.S.A. 6 or 7 times and loved it. I'll probably go one more time next winter or next spring. My favorite places there are San Francisco and Canyonlands National Park + Bryce Canyon National Park (UT). Oh, I'm a Stampin'Up! demonstrater since February 2008, and I'd like to have the same Catalogue as you: what a choice!!!

Claire created these boxes for a double baby baptismal so guests could place their envelopes in them. If you would like to see more photos of both of these boxes, check out her blog at http://stampingclaire.blogspot.com/
For both boxes, she used the Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Write markers and Classic Ink pads. The baby boy box (above), was created using the Wild About You stamp set and the baby girl box, the Unfrogettable stamp set.

Thank you for sharing your creations with us, Claire.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Alicia :)

Thursday Inspiration Challenge

Ready........... Set................ GO! Diva Inspiration Challenge #5 is here! Today's bit of inspiration is a Maggy London trapeze dress from Macy's. I am loving the colors and pattern on this one!

I know for some, school just started this week for their little ones, some were keeping a watchful eye on Fay wondering where she'll end up, and others were keeping busy at work all week. What a great way to unstress by stamping in these gorgeous blues! Blue implies tranquility, trust, and high quality - it says so in September's Stampin Success!! :)

Here is my sample for this week's DivaIC5.

This was another instance of the end product resembling nothing like my first few thoughts......LOL! I do LOVE how this came out though!!! It looks so good IRL (In Real Life)!!

The card base is Basic Black, and then I paper pierced along the sides. I then layered Bashful Blue, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, then White. I took my Trio Flower Punch and punched more flowers to add. Those flowers I then popped up on dimensionals - I even added glitter to the edges of the Bashful Blue ones. Gotta love the glitter - especially the Fine Cosmo Glitter!! The big flower in the bottom corner was cut out and then outlined with crystal effects and blinged up! The 2 Pacific Point flowers in the background were stamped on another piece of cs and then cut out. I figured it would be too easy to mess up on the 2-step part (and then have to start over). They shimmer with crystal effects. I even dotted the middles of the trio flowers with the crystal effects and sponged the edges of the White cs with Bashful Blue to tie it all together!

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Many Happy Returns; Paper: Basic Black, Night of Navy, Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Whisper White; Ink: Bashful Blue, Pacific Point, Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss; Accessories: Paper Piercer, Crystal Effects, Fine Cosmo Glitter, Dimensionals, White Gel Pen, Sponge, Blender Pen, Punches - Trio Flower, Photo Corners.

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

Charmaine

Tandra

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 DivaIC5 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

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

There's a New Big Shot in Town!

It's the Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin' Up! The Big Shot is a sturdy manual die cutting machine used to die cut materials for use on crafts, home décor projects, and even clothing--it's a big deal! You'll love what the Big Shot machine, a 6-time winner of Creating Keepsakes Reader's Choice Award for best die cutting equipment and dies, can do for you.

Design your own custom pillow appliqués using the Tulipe Bigz die or make custom fabric flowers to embellish a quilt. From sewing to quilting to home décor, the Big Shot is the perfect tool for many types of crafting. Use our Stampin' Up! exclusive dies to create die cuts and stencils with our artwork and designs for all your craft needs.

Planning and preparing projects is fast and economical with the Big Shot machine. Cut out eight of the same chipboard letter or 20 scalloped pennants in just a few minutes. You'll be able to cut and score 3-D items in seconds, and the projects will be ready for you to enjoy. Or create embellishments for cards, scrapbook pages, or any other type of project by cutting multiple images at once.

Cut through the following 50 materials using steel rule dies and your Big Shot machine. Please note the maximum thickness of several materials.

Brass (.055) Light weight steel Aluminum (.016) Tin (.008) Aircraft plywood (1/64") Basswood (1/16") Balsa (3/32") Paperwood Mat board (adhesive or none) Chipboard Fabric Silicone Foam with chipboard (.1) Corrugated pad Adhesive-backed cork Fine sandpaper (.00) Strene Extra thick template plastic Template plastic Plastic canvas (7 mesh) Bubble wrap Sheet foam Friendly (jewelry) plastic 100% pure beeswax (cut with parchment paper on top & bottom of beeswax) Adhesive and non-adhesive rubber Ruffleboard

Static cling vinyl Warm & natural batting Fusible fleece Quilt batting Adhesive and non-adhesive flexible magnet Heat n' shrink plastic Adhesive and non-adhesive felt Pop-up sponge Shiny self-adhesive and non-adhesive paper Iron-on fabric Poly foam adhesive and non adhesive 3-D illusionary plastic Glow in the dark adhesive and non adhesive Suede paper Funky fur Personal Embossing Plastic (PEP) Shaggy plush felt Canvas Vinyl flooring Shelf lining Placement Embossing rubber Thin leather Gasket material

One cute project you can do quickly and easily is a little girls outfit and matching bookbag.
SUPPLIES

• Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
• Pewter Jumbo Eyelets
• Flower Layers w/Leaf Bigz die
• Flower Layers Originals die
• Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin' Up!
• Buttons
• Fabric
• Felt
• Sewing machine and thread
• Shorts
• Tank top
• Black crochet thread

Hope you will have fun with Stampin' Up!'s newest product - The Big Shot! Post your projects and what unusual material you have tried with The Big Shot!

Have a great week! Stacy P.

Saturday Swaps

Today I'd like to share the Convention swaps that Adriana created using new items from the 2008 Fall-Winter Idea Book and Catalog.

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red and Bella Rose DSP
Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, StazOn Black
Tools: Mat Pack and paper piercer (from Crafter's Tool Kit), Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Blender pen


Here's what Adriana has to add about her creation....
"It's a little difficult to see here, but I cut out a second flower and attached it with dimensionals above the original image. It didn't take long and it gives the card a nice little special touch. Also, I've read a few posts about adding a light blue around your images to make the "pop" off the background - it really works!"

Thank you for sharing, Adriana.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Alicia :)

Diva Inspiration Challenge #4

It's that time of week again to get your creative spark going! You up for the challenge today? Today's inspiration comes from a picture I found on Flickr. I really like the colors and the upclose image.

I pulled out colors such as Black, Bravo Burgundy, Riding Hood Red, Almost Amethyst, and White. I was a little stumped trying to figure out which stamp set to use and what inspired me from the picture. At first I was going to create something based on the color combination, until I came across the Doodle This stamp set. Immediately I had ideas coming to mind.

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I start working on a card the end product looks nothing like the image I had in my head! I was originally going in a different direction with this card, but there seemed "something missing". I slowly started adding one thing at a time until I ended up with this:
You can't tell really well from the picture, but I added Crystal Effects in the middle of the flower, around the petals, and all around the black parts in the doodle leaves in the background. The white petals of the flower were highlighted with Almost Amethyst while the Red petals behind were outlined in Bravo Burgundy. What do you think of all the dots? The dots I have picked up from my mil, BevW. What a fantastic addition it makes! To finish it all off, the flower itself is popped up on a dimensional.
Now, the base of the card is 4"x 4". I don't normally do square cards, but this size as well as shaped seemed to have fit the bill this week.

To see what my creative team came up with, just click on their name :
Bev
Charmaine
Tandra
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 DivaIC4 (no spaces) as the keyword. Have fun!!

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