Saturday, May 24, 2008

Fresh Cuts Sample

Here is a sample using the new Sneak Peek Fresh Cuts stamp set and Fresh-cut notes and a couple of photos of the new products used. These items will be in the new catalog in August and you have the opportunity to order them during the month of June. The stamp set is $21.95 (item#111634) and the notes are $8.95 (item#111882). During June when you purchase the stamp set you can order a package of the notes for just $5. As an added bonus, hostesses who turn in $400 worth of orders during June will receive both for FREE.









For this sample I backed the die-cut flower with Grooy Guava Designer Series paper. Then I stamped and cut out the small flower and adhered it to the center along with a half pearl from the Pretties Kit. The vines are stamped off so that they are subtle. They also have a teeny bit of glitter on the berries. I back the whole card onto some Certainly Celery Cardstock and finished it off with some white Taffeta Ribbon.

Friday, May 23, 2008

May Club Projects

Here are the projects my May Stamp Club made.

In Honor of the chipboard special this month we did this birthday card with the chipboard flower. The flower is inked in white craft ink. The center of the flower is actually two pieces of chipboard that we covered together with So Saffron Prints paper. We stamped the verse 3 times then punched it out with the 1 3/8" circle punch. Then adhered to the circle piece of chipboard with a glue stick and sanded the edges.


While cleaning my room I found me beloved Watercolor Crayons. I love these things. Then I realized I hadn't used one of my favorite Mini Catalog Sets- For Father. So we watercolored the image after we stamped it in Basic Brown ink on Shimmery White cardstock. Colors used: Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa and Summer Sun. We distressed the edges of the white piece with the cutter kit and then sponges the edges. The ribbon used is the Chocolate Taffeta tied through a piece of our retiring Hodge Podge Hardware. The background is done with the Sanded bg stamp (Close to Cocoa on Soft Sky cs). I have given this card to some of the men in my life.

Our 3D project this month is a cute little photo wallet. The stamp set used is Office Accoutrement. The colors used are Gable Green, Rose Red, Tempting Turquoise and So Saffron. The belly band is two stamped and cut out flowers plus a punched blue flower layered together. The center of the red flower has tiny dots of Crystal Effects. My plan is to add a picture of each on my children from our most recent trip to Hawaii inside and embellish further with a few flowers here and there. I am bad about carrying pictures of my kids with me. So this should solve that problem- at least until next year's school pictures are done.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Invitations Galore

Well I have been busy, with the help of my sister, making invitations. We are hosting a BBQ for my dad who turns 60 today- Happy Birthday Dad. We made just over 60 of these. It took a very long time due to all the pieces. We like how they turned out and we have been getting good feedback.












I used the Crab & Company set. You'd have to know my dad to understand why this is so appropriate. First we created the pocket and embellished it. The crab has slits in it's claws to hold up the sign. Then we created the two tags and embellished them for inside the pocket. All in all it went well and we are sooooo tired of making scallops. Why oh why couldn't SU release the scallop border punch now rather than waiting until August. I am really looking forward to it. *Sorry about the blackouts. Have to be careful on the net you know.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

My Happy Place

Well, I did it. It took far longer than I would've hoped but..... I finally have my happy place unpacked. I still have a few projects to get the room totally complete, but I am happy for now. I have to say the final stretch was the most difficult. I purged lots of stuff, organized, re-organized and organized again. I still have some labeling to do which I actually enjoy so I look forward to that. I just purchased some Provocraft Vinyl, so I plan to add some quotes to a couple walls when I figure out what to say. So this room is definitely a work in progress. My goal is to host my club and downline meetings in my Happy Place, so I don't have to disrupt my family and dining room so much. Many people post pictures of their crafting spaces, so here are lots of mine. It's a large space so there are lots of photos. I have tried to take some close ups of a few things that I get asked about a lot. I look forward to sharing my space with you.

Before I start my tour I should say I LOVE my space and look forward to spending time here. The pluses of the space are: it's size, storage, light, 10ft ceilings, greenbelt view, locale in my house (next to the playroom), and piped in music from house surround sound. The only downside is that there is no closet, so there is no where to store big awkward things like my large collection of SU bags, rollings totes, display boards and other non-pretty things.


Enter my room here, through the double doors. A quote will be added above the door very soon.







Once through the doors turn left and see my main desk and computer area. My husband will use this space on the nights we decide to hang out together. (Normally he is down the hall in his office). To accommodate this arrangement, I had to add another crafting area.

Once through the door, if you look the other way (right) you see my alternate stamping space, paper storage, ribbon storage and additional built in shelves and cabinets. (Yikes a light bulb is out, just spotted that.)


Here is a closer look at the main desk. I have broken down some the elements of this space into smaller pieces to show. Keep scrolling down. :)



I plan to add another white shelf here and put something pretty on it. The Stack and Store Caddies hold my Stampin' Up! embellishments. The big jars hold glitters, acrylic letters and other cute small embellishments. I have my desk top Ott Lite here as well. Can't live without it.

This is my heat tool holder. I always get lots of questions about this. My husband built it for me a few years ago. Isn't he awesome :) It stays plugged in, so all I have to do is grab and heat.







Scraps- What to do. I get asked this question A LOT!! Here is how I organize mine. I create a pile on the corner of my desk. When it gets too big to handle, I file by color. The files are grouped by color family. Neutral colors have drawers on the shelves, so they don't go here. I also have a basket that sorts the 1/2 sheets by color and a box that hold 1/4 sheets. Hope that makes sense.

Here is the other half of the desk. My non-SU (gasp, I know. I do have quite an assortment of non SU things) embellishments go in the tool box. The card holder on the wall is from Pottery barn. I plan to add a metal bar to hold my favorite punches as well. Just need a trip south to get one.

Next to my desk are some built in shelves and cabinets. They are up-lit which is really nice. Here I store my current SU stamps, Primas, Pretties, etc. The blue boxes all store specific supplies. i.e. Envelopes, Cello Bags, Fibers, Wheel Cartridges, etc. The plastic drawers, store the ink refills, watercoloring tools, beads, neutral scraps etc. In the cabinets I store my alphabet stamps, background stamps, unmounted hostess/SAB/Mini catalog stamps, adhesive refills, tidy trays etc. On the end of the cabinet I have hung my small punch storage system.

This is my business supply area. The printers reside her as well as my office supplies, workshop folders, forms etc. I was also able to fit my ink pad caddy on the end right next to my alternate crafting table.


This is my alternate crafting table. For now it is a folding table we got at Costco. If I end up using this space often, I plan to replace it with a more permanent desk. It stores my Carl cutter, 1/4 & 1/2 sheets of cardstock and a tool holder that spins (by Creating Keepsakes). Next to my table is my two Show on the Go boards. I find these hard to store since I don't have a closet to hide them in.

Next to my craft table I have two sets of shelves I got at Ikea years ago. They happen to match my desk. Here is where I store my cardstock and papers. The literature sorter has all my SU 8.5" x 11" cardstocks sorted by color. Two colors per slot except the neutrals. I am also a big supporter and user of vertical storage. All my 12"x12" papers are sorted in these. I have tons of them. They all store different things and are labelled accordingly. Up above is also where I store my "keep forever" retired SU stamps. I sell off the ones I am no longer in love with. These are the few survivors of 10 years of collecting. I sell about 100 sets a year to make room for new. The cabinets below store all the items I have purchased over the years to alter. Someday I will. :)
Here is my ribbon storage and wheel storage. I have had these for years. My husband made them for me. I get a lot of requests for these as well as my heat tool holder. I store my ribbon by type and status. Current and Retired, SU and Non. The wheel rack is my design that he executed for me. I like it because I can grab, go, and put away without moving anything else. Plus I like that I can see what I have. (This rack also serves as overflow ribbon roll storage at times)

Next to my ribbon rack is another window and set of built-ins. This is where I store my bigger tools and scrapbooking supplies. My Cricuts both reside here along side my Cuttlebug, Xyron, Zutters, and scissor sharpener. My reference books and old catalogs live here as well. I have a gazillion packages of chipboard that take up a whole shelf. Each blue box has things like cutting tools, adhesives, coasters, powders, eyelets etc. The one small cupboard and the left is what is left of my non-paper crafting art supplies. My candle making, soap making, cross stitch, bead making etc. The other cupboard hold miscellaneous stuff. I have hung my large punch holder on the end facing the door. One fun fact, I have two secret cupboard in the room. The corners of both my built in shelves have false fronts. So, I can store my wrapping paper and other small things I don't want people to see or find in here.

So that's it. I apologize if I don't schedule a stamp camp this quarter. I really needed to do this for me. Now, hopefully my creative juices will start flowing and I can bring you new and exciting ideas and samples. Please contact me if you have any questions about how I store something.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Meeting Projects

Here are a couple projects from my most recent Stamp Club Meeting and Downline Meeting. Interested in stamp club? Let me know. I have one now forming.

This is a simple card with the Blooming with Happiness set. I just got this set and love it. It's so cute and easy to use. The background paper is Spring Fling with Pretty in Pink cardstock. I stamped the images onto Vellum cardstock and colored them with markers on the back side of the vellum. The vellum is attached with Pretty in Pink eyelets. The ribbon is the pink taffeta ribbon attached with a Mini Glue Dot.


This is a lollipop turned upside down and secured with eyelets in folded cardstock shaped as a pot. I saw these at convention last year and thought they were cute. I was going to create a template for the pot myself, however I found the newenglandstamper blog and she had already done it and posted it for all to see. The flower is a diecut bloom with layered stamped and punched flowers. I added faux stitching on the flower. The ribbon is double stitch Wild Wasabi. The tag is done with the tag punches. The stamp sets used were Big Flowers, Little Flowers and Blooming with Happiness. BTW- the pot is designed to stand up so these would work great for place settings, party favors, treats for desks etc.

This is a card I completely copied off of SCS (by JennD). I love how the designer broke up the background but the focal point remained focal. This cards uses River Rock, Blue Bayou and Purely Pomegranate. A great combo of the current In Colors. The background stamps used (inked in River Rock) were Tres Chic and Canvas.

My stamp club did these top loading lunch box tins. The tins are the perfect size to fit cards and envelopes in. Everyone was given pre-measured and cut Summer Picnic Designer paper and matching ribbons. The paper and ribbon was adhered with Sticky Tape. We didn't embellish the tin although I encouraged everyone to when they got home. These are cute gifts when filled with something being cards, recipes, chocolate.....

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Stamp Camp Projects Finale

I think this is the last of them from camp. This gift card holder is made with a circle folded in to create a pouch. The circle was done by tracing the large circle from the Ginormous Pieces Chipboard set. The belly band is Pink Passion cardstock with faux stitching around the top and bottom. The flower on the belly band is a Diecut Bloom with the flower rubbed on and layered with a Felt Fusion Flower and flower ribbon slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. The Olive Polytwill wraps around the belly and and through a hole in the flower and then tied to keep the flower pieces together. The inside piece slides out and has a pocket to hold a standard gift card.

I like to intermingle some simple projects into the camp. This card using the Priceless set is super simple. I cased it directly from our monthly demonstrator magazine we get. The ribbon is white grosgrain with the edges colored Certainly Celery. The colors used are Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava, Barely Banana, and Certainly Celery. The base of the card is done with Textured Cardstock. If you have tried this cardstock yet you should try it soon. It's wonderful to work with and looks very finished.

This is one of my favorites. It is always hard not to design all pink and brown projects. I used the Boho Backgrounds and Priceless sets. The card is highlighted with lots of sponging and distressing. Whisper White, Close to Cocoa and Purely Pomegranate Inks, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretties Kit, Scallop & Circle Punches, Berry Bliss Designer Paper and Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip Cardstocks were used to complete this project. Wish I had more beads and hairpins so I could do a bunch more of these. Boho is growing on me :)




This is the same as a previous card I posted with the greeting change. Rather than a rub-on we used the HB stamp from a Birthday Greetings set.



Here is a card with one of my favorite new sets: Embrace Life. It is such a pretty set and so easy to use. We watercolored the background images and added a little Apricot Appeal color to the edges of the big flower for definition. Notice the Polytwill? Can I say love it again? The white cardstock is Shimmery white which is my favorite white to work with. Very elegant. The bottom of the card is wheeled with the Jumbo Wheel Rough Edges and the sentiment is stamped and punched with the Word Window Punch.

Here is a cute project I cased. We used the new Diecut Blooms featured in the Occasions Mini Catalog along with Summer Picnic Designer Paper, Build-a-Brads, Real Red Striped Ribbon, Circle Punches, Pretties Kit and Colored Brads. The stamp sets I used were Big Flowers and Little Flowers. I love the Diecut Blooms and am crossing my fingers that they make the new catalog in August- or at least something similar.

Some More Stamp Camp Samples

As Promised- Here are a few more Stamp Camp Samples











We made these fun paint cans. We altered them with the East Coast Prep papers, spiral punch for the film tape, lots of punches, Heat and Stick Powder, Turquoise Glitter, etc. I love the bright colors of this can. We added a bag of microwave popcorn and candy to the inside.











This is a Z-Fold Card that we did. Here are pictures of the card closed and open. We used the So Many Scallops Sale-a-bration set along with the new Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Mat Pack, Flowers For You Designer Paper and Ticket Corner Punch. We also used the SAB set Lots of Thoughts in Tempting Turquoise ink on the inside of the card.


This is different from my standard style. Here I used the new Carousel Notes (love these, did I mention they come with yummy Chocolate colored envelopes?) featured in the Occasions mini. In addition we used the Pick-a-Petal Brass Template, Vellum, Hugs & Wishes Set, Carte Postale, Circle Punches, Tool Kit and Chocolate Chip ink. I love these Carousel notes, I just need to come up with more ideas to use them. The come in a mixed pack of Groovy Guava, Soft Sky & Wild Wasabi.

Here is a small box I saw at the SU Leadership conference in January. I took a picture of it and created my own so we could do them at camp. I have to admit, at first I thought this set (One Smart Cookie) was ridiculous. However, it has grown on me. I guess I need to be a little cheesier. Anyway, we also used the new Summer Picnic Designer Paper and PolyTwill from the Occasions Mini. The PolyTwill comes in Chocolate and Olive. LOVE this stuff. It is a must have for sure. Inside the box there was 5 cards all made with the same layout using an assortment of the Summer Picnic Paper and One Smart Cookie Set. The last photo is a close up of one of the cards.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

I Think I MIGHT be Making Progress!!!

Aloha-
I have finally had a smidge of time to play with Photoshop. Primarily on the airplane to Hawaii. So, hopefully I will be able to get caught up on my postings. Here is a few photos from the most recent stamp camp I hosted. We had a lot of fun, I hope you join us for the next one. We did a total of 12 projects. I will continue to add pictures over time as I get them all copyrighted. Here's I what I have done so far, enjoy.


This is a double pocket bag created with some of the Bali Breeze Designer Paper. These were featured at the Portland SU Regional Seminar last fall. This is my take on them. I walked everyone through the scoring and folding. it's pretty easy once you've done one. Email me for directions if you want them. There are two pockets. One for a card or two and the other for envelope(s)- or whatever else you want. We used the new beads, new Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Double Stitched Ribbon, Jumbo Eyelets and Sticky Tape.


This is a cute gift bag created with the Spring Fling Designer Papers. We used two 6" x 11" Pieces of paper to adhere to the front and back of a white lunch bag. Then we layer it up with some scallops, brads and fun elephant. The elephant is stamped on textured Charcoal Gray cardstock and then cut out and layered onto the white piece. The ball is a Build-a-Brad.