stampwithjanhoyt

Sweet stockings!

2011-10-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share a picture of some of the diecut stockings we made at stamp club this past week-end using the new stocking diecut from the Stampin' Up! Holiday mini....so easy and cute, the hardest thing was figuring out which piece was the heel and which was the toe! (hint...the toe is bigger than the heel)

We used Rose Red patterned paper (Designer Paper Stack) and white cardstock to make these....stamped on some of them with the Snow Swirled stamp set and others I embossed the plain parts with the new Snowburst embossing folder. Overall, I was very pleased with how easy it was to make them. They would be great for little Christmas party favors or to "wrap" a small gift or treat like cash/check/gift card or even a lottery ticket (depending on the size of the ticket!), a candy cane or snack size candy bar would also fit inside.

The most important thing to remember is do NOT put adhesive across the top of the stocking opening...please don't ask me how I know this. lol! I will warn you that it could be hard to stuff goodies inside when the top is stuck together...but I'm just guessing on that. ;-)

If you are interested, here is what you need to make these stockings.

Snowburst Embossing folder #124096 $7.95
Bigz XL Die Holiday Stocking #124098 $32.95
Snow Swirled stamp set ##111690 $24.95 (available in wood mount only)

Gently Falling....leaves everywhere!

2011-10-23T13:41:00.001-05:00

Gently Falling is a beautiful new "two step" stamp set from Stampin' Up! and if you follow blogs at all, I am sure you have seen it many times over the past two months. If you don't follow stamping then I will briefly explain that "two step" is not a stamping dance to be performed in special stamping boots...it simply means that each image has a bold stamp and an outline stamp to allow you to apply color and detail for the image. Ink up the "bold" stamp first with color and then ink up the outline stamp and stamp over the previous image to lend details to the final result. Nowhere does this work more beautifully than with fall colors and leaves!

So, naturally, I had to use my current favorite stamp set for the Simply Stampin' 3-4-$5 classes I offered this month. This particular card was a card sample which I saw on Angie Kennedy Juda's Chic 'n Scratch Stampin' Up! blog. I love her clean and simple style so I couldn't resist changing it up a wee bit and using it for my class....nobody seemed to mind even though the card called for a little bit of "fussy cutting" to get the finished leaf attached to the card!

Here's the card we made....I had more than 15 people at my October classes and every single card turned out just great so it clearly qualifies as a fun and easy card! Please take a moment to tell me what you think and if you'd like to visit Angie's blog www.chicnscratch.com I am sure you would enjoy seeing some of her other projects.

The card is simply a folded piece of white card stock with a brown "strip" made from Early Espresso card stock run through the Big Shot with the new Sizzix Houndstooth embossing folder.. The leaf was stamped first with More Mustard ink, then before stamping we lightly tapped a darker color (Tangerine Tango in this photo) around the edges of the leaf directly onto the rubber before stamping it on white card stock. With the matching "detailed" maple leaf stamp, I used Early Espresso to overstamp to get the veins and an outline of the leaf onto the paper. The beauty of doing this is that you can always go back with a stamping sponge or a sponge dauber to fill in any missed spaces before cutting out the leaf. Truly a "no brainer" stamp set! This is one set that makes me VERY thankful for the clear mount blocks and clear mount stamp set...so much easier to "eyeball it" and line up the stamping without requiring a stamp positioner.

The "Thankful thoughts of you" sentiment is from the Grateful Greetings stamp set. To attach the twine on top of the leaf, I just tied a little knot in a piece of natural hemp and attached it with a small glue dot...holds just fine and much easier than trying to tie a knot around a skinny little paper stem! If you click on the photo, you should be able to see the embossed detail on the Early Espresso card strip.

I'll be featuring this card again on the first Tuesday in November at my Scott Air Force base meetup class so it's not too late to join me if you are interested in doing this project plus the Button Buddies vase from my previous post. I will share our final meetup card in my next post.

Here's the info on the stamp sets used for this card:

Gently Falling set of 12 and worth every penny!
Wood mount version #123802 $39.95 Clear Mount version #123804 $28.95

Grateful Greetings (set of 12): Wood Mount only #116511 $36.95

Hey, buddy,,Button Buddy, that is!

2011-10-22T11:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, I have been fighting with my computer for several days trying to get this photo uploaded in a vertical position.....I have never claimed to be good with computers and this certainly proves it! BUT finally I was

able to get the photo editing program to work and SAVE the photo once I had it turned correctly. I hope you appreciate not having to lean sideways to view this photo! ha, ha! So at last here is a very quick and easy card made with Button Buddies, one of my favorite "all occasion"sets from the 2011-2012 Idea Book and catalogue. Cute, quick and versatile...what more could a stamper ask? This card was one of the featured projects at my October session of Simply Stampin' 3-4-$5 cards scheduled through my meetup.com group. If you don't already know about it, just go to www.meetup.com and set up a free profile, then search for my group, Inkerzaway Stampin' and Scrappin' in O'Fallon, IL and surrounding areas. I think if you put in the first few words, it should pop up for you. If you join the meetup group (which is free) then you will automatically get invitations to all of our "meet up"gatherings. You can even RSVP on line and get a reminder a day or two before the class. I currently offer meetups in 3 locations so there is something for everyone. But back to the card sample....this is a real quickie card...simple layers, easy to stamp and a little glitter for bling! I used markers to ink up the stamp in the "direct to rubber" technique style...black marker for the vase, Real Red marker for the flowers and Old Olive marker for the stems. After it was stamped, I colored in the centers of the blooms with Daffodil Delight. I recommend attaching the layers of the base together and positioning it on the red card stock for spacing before stamping the sentiment. This Happy Birthday sentiment in black (which I now realize is a reversed mirror image in the photo...hmmm, how did THAT happen? Must have been something I did went editing and flipping the pic...so sorry!) is from the stamp set Perfectly Penned. I love the font on this script...elegant but not fussy and suitable for anyone without looking "girly" with four all occasion sentiments. Once the sentiment was stamped, I finished assembling the card. And the final touch...saved for the very end for good reason...was to apply a dab of Delightful Details (a new sparkly clear "glitter glue" from Stampin' Up!) to the center of the flowers. I saved that detail for the very last thing because it takes a little while for the glitter glue to dry, so set it aside to dry undisturbed after you finish the card. I have seen people punch out little flowers, accent with pearls or rhinestones or use small colored buttons (hence the name of the set, Button Buddies....every image in the set has a place where buttons could be used for embellishment) but since the meetup group classes emphasize quick, easy and affordable cards I left the card simple. Hope you like it! Please join me at my next Simply Stampin' 3-4-$5 (three cards for $5) class if you are interested in more quick, clean and simple cards! We meet in O'Fallon, IL at the public library, at nearby Scott AFB at the Arts and Crafts Center and at Speedy Scrappers Scrapbook store in Highland, IL and I would love to have you come to check it out if you are nearby.

Both sets are available in clear mount or wood mount.

Button Buddies pg 71 (set of 8) WM #122735 $29.95, CM #122737 $21.95

Perfectly Penned pg 154(set of 4) WM #122890 $16.95 #122892 $12.95

If you would like to see the rest of the images in each set, you can view them online at my webstore

http://www.janhoyt.stampinup.com or click on the "shop now" button on the sidebar of my blog.

Cheery Cherries!

2011-10-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

I am happy to share this card with you today....it's one that I did at my Simply Stampin' Meet Up Group class last month. I liked it so well that I "beefed it up" a little and made several dozen to take with me to swap at the Stampin' Up! Regional event in Louisville, KY later this month.

This card uses a great set called Button Buddies which has a variety of "all occasions" images which are both cute and useful! I got it for free at the Stampin' Up! Convention last July, but it is still available to purchase. Paired with a "thanks" stamp from another stamp set, it makes a quick and cute thank you note. There is a small strip of patterned paper at the bottom of the card to add a bit of color and a knotted ribbon (for this card I used the Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, now retired) to accent the green leaves on the cherry.

This set is ideally suited for using with buttons (you know how stampers are always adding crazy embellishments...buttons are VERY popular for this!) but naturally, I didn't have enough buttons for everyone in the right size and color so I made up some button wannabees using card stock. I punched small holes side by side on a scrap of Riding Hood Red card stock, then used a 1" circle punch and centered it over the two holes to punch out "faux buttons" for the card. See the close up photo below for a better look....I popped them up using a Stampin' Dimensional snipped in half on each end of the button so you couldn't see the white of the foam dimensional thru the button holes, then added some "faux stitching" with a white gel pen. When I stamped the cherries and stem, I used markers to ink up the stamp....having a red spot underneath helped me know where to stick the faux buttons and gave some depth to the card too.

This card was fun and easy to make...in the first card you'll notice an extra "leaf" which I added by inking and stamping just one leaf on the image, while it is cute, I confess the real reason I put it on there was to cover a green inky fingerprint which somehow made it onto the card while I was finishing the project. there are no mistakes in stamping, only opportunities for embellishment!

Here is the "beefed up" version of the same card, for this one I substituted the new ruffled grosgrain ribbon (same color) for the retired ribbon in the original. I changed the decorative paper (designer series paper or DSP) to a current pattern and added another layer of card stock, Lucky Limeade to the bottom of the card.

If you happen to be attending the Louisville regional, please be sure to look for me and swap! If you are interested in learning how to make one of these cards, I would love to teach you and your friends how at a quick and easy card workshop!

Supplies Used:

Button Buddies stamp set WM #122735 $29.95 (set of 8) or CM #122737 $21.95
Thank You Kindly (set of 4) WM only #111700 $13.95

Lucky Limeade 3/8th Ruffled Ribbon #122974 $9.95 (10 yards)
In Color Designer Series Paper Stack (2010-2012 colors 40 sheets) #117158 $21.95 (4 ea of 5 colors)

one card 2 ways

2011-10-10T22:06:00.001-05:00

I attended a class sponsored by some friends while I was visiting out of town last summer and got to make this beautiful card designed by Daryl. It's called a pinwheel card because it looks like a pinwheel once it's finished.. awesome card which seems like it would have hard to make but it's really quite easy. Thanks, Daryl and Carol for inviting me to your class, I had a great time and can't wait to come back and stamp with you guys again! This card used beautiful pinks and pastels and the DSP used was Cheerful Treat, a 12x12 hostess only decorative paper pack which definitely lives up to it's name. The Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder provided the texture underneath along with a strip of Melon Mambo scalloped polka dot ribbon. /The "friend to friend" greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes punched out with the Word Window punch then layered on the Modern Label punch with a tiny little pearl on each side. Cute card, eh?

So, when I got home, I just couldn't resist putting together a pinwheel card to share with my demonstrator group....since I didn't have Cheerful Treat DSP, I opted to go for the spooky spider look with Frightful Sight (or it is Frightful Night? I will have to check on that) but it's a Halloween themed decorative paper. I went with a green card stock, to be perfectly truthful I can't remember which green it is...might be Old Olive but it's hard to tell from the photo, there are so many greens in our Stampin' Up! color palette right now that it's hard to keep them all straight sometimes! At any rate, I used a new embossing folder for the texture in the background...it's called "Houndstooth" and I really like the look of it, a nice pattern for any card but suitable for a masculine card when you need one. I decided not to mess with perfection so I used some scalloped polka dot ribbon, black for the card and the Happy Halloween greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes layered with the same punches and since the greeting was a little bit longer I skipped the pearls on the greeting but did put one in the center on a little bit flower punched out of the Punch trio. Want to know a secret? I used that little flower in the center on purpose...figured it would work well to cover up any little boo boos in aligning the squares for the pinwheel....always good to have a back up plan, right? Hope you liked the card....if you are interested in more details on how to do it, just leave me a note and let me know, maybe I can put together a little tutorial of sorts. Don't go expecting anything fancy videos, just a photo or two but only if there are people interested in seeing how to make this card so leave me a comment, ok?

....and it started with a hot glue gun!

2011-10-08T18:31:00.000-05:00

Ever have one of those nights where you couldn't sleep then ended up staying up into the wee hours in a marathon stamping with crazy ideas which ended up being kind of fun? Well, that's how THIS card came to be! It's totally NOT my usual style as I'm in "quick and easy" mode as a general rule.

BUT one night last month, after having worked on samples all afternoon and evening for my holiday card class, I got into bed-- just as I was dozing off, I realized the hot glue gun was still plugged in downstairs in my craft room. It would never do to start a fire in the basement while we were upstairs sleeping, kwim? What was I to do but crawl out of bed and go down to unplug it.

That's where the craziness began! While I was down there I caught sight of a little fan folded "Medallion" (see photo top left) which I had been messing around with earlier and a smashed bottlecap magnet with a little snowman (also an earlier project) and on a whim I decided to combine the two. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had made
another big mess on the table but had mussed and fussed and ended up coming up with an "interesting" card. All I could think was "my customers will think I have lost my mind if I try to have them make something like this!"

But the next day I took the finished card (photo on the right) to show some friends and they all encouraged me to go ahead and use it.

This explains why I took leave of my senses and included this card in my "Headstart on the Holidays" class. As it turned out, everyone DID like it and even though some were afraid it would be too hard, they quickly realized that it wasn't all that bad. Getting the medallion scored and fan-folded was a breeze thanks to the new Simply Scoring board and stylus (pg 7 of the Holiday Mini, #12334 for $29.96...comes with little "markers" and an awesome stylus that stays in the groove when you are scoring!) To make the "medallion" or "lolly" as some folks are calling them...just take a strip of decorative paper (I used a red polka dot piece from one of the DSP Color packs) and score it every 1/8th inch then fan fold it and stick the ends together with Sticky Strip. I fashioned a "mold" or holder by cutting circles into the flap of an old Stampin' Up! box (easy choice, since I certainly have lots of THOSE around!) to keep the folded piece from springing loose but later saw a tip on a friend's blog to use an old mayonnaise jar lid. How brilliant is that? It easily keeps the fan-folded paper in the proper circular shape while waiting for the hot glue to set up. Plastic lids are better but metal will work, just don't touch the metal as it conducts the heat from the hot glue really well! I stick a punched out circle in the bottom of the "holder" before putting the fan folded medallion in place then squirt hot glue into the center of the hole and top it with another punched out circle.

The bottle cap decoration was added to that using more hot glue. A little tip on the hot glue....it really IS very hot! I keep an old pencil with my hot glue gun and use the eraser end to manipulate and hold things, much better to gunk up a pencil than to singe my pinkie with hot glue...not only does it stay hot for a while, but it really does stick very well which is good on a project but NOT on your fingers!

Anyway, back on track with the project...the card came out OK and everyone liked it. Now, I wouldn't recommend this card for mailing unless you want to stick it in a bubble wrap 5x7 envelope but it is cute. The snowman image is from Jolly Bingo Bits (pg 41 in the main catalog (WM #120857 $37.95 or CM #121187 $26.95....great set to get for FREE with hostess dollars, ask me how I know! ;-) The bottle caps are from an online craft supplier....no, I have not been recycling them after parties! Because they do not have a plastic liner it's easy to glue things inside them. Trust me on this, I bought a bag of bottle caps dirt cheap at a local beer making supply store...those liners do NOT want to come out and nothing really want to stick to them so don't waste your time or money trying.

I ran the Lucky Limeade layer thru the new Sizzix snowflake embossing folder (pg 33 of the 2011 Holiday Mini, it's #124096 for $7.95) and added a bit of our beautiful new style black polka dot scalloped ribbon (pg 195, item #124245, 10 yds for $7.95) underneath the snowman medallion just for interest.

Not the sort of card I would want to make everyday but I did have fun with it...and now I am hooked on bottle caps AND medallions so stand by to see more of those coming soon!

Switching gears to another holiday

2011-10-06T13:22:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am definitely switching gears and skipping forward to a Christmas card...I shared this one today on splitcoaststampers.com and decided that I should go ahead and get it on my blog now. I don't ordinarily get carried away with advance preparations, but I did a Headstart on the Holidays class last month and this was one of my favorite cards from that class. Although totally out of character for me, this card was not copied hook, line and sinker from another blog...it's a very simple design and hardly unique but I did actually come up with it myself! I know, I know...don't faint, just enjoy the moment!

My favorite thing about this card is the awesome Glimmer Paper! It shows up MUCH better in person but that shimmer on the cuffs, heels and toes of the stockings is no ordinary glitter! It's the most beautiful glitter paper you have ever seen! Punches out easily, doesn't shed and shimmers like a shooting star! I love what it did for this card! I used the Framed Tulips embossing folder (#121809 $$7.95) to make an embossed "frame" on the top layer of white cardstock, stamped the holiday greeting from "Heard from the Heart" stamp set (111644 WM for$22.95, 120006 CM version for $16.95 toward the bottom of the embossed frame then used Stitched Stockings to stamp in Cherry Cobbler (Holiday Mini set of 7, # 123782 $27.95 for WM and 123784 $19.95 for CM) and the coordinating Stocking Builder Punch (124095 $16.95) to punch out those cute little stockings. I punched just the heel/toe/cuff portion with Silver Glimmer paper and stuck those onto the stockings which adhesive along with a little rhinestone in the "sparkle" snowflake center of the stocking. Then it was just a matter of layering on a slightly larger piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock and finally onto a Whisper White cardstock base. Even my demonstrator friends have been admiring this card so I was very pleased to come up with a winner all by myself! I might even make up a few of these to take along for swapping at the Stampin' Up! Regional event coming up later this month in Louisville...would YOU swap with me?

Whoooo wishes you a Happy Halloween?

2011-10-05T19:54:00.000-05:00

Well, it's still the first week of October but you just KNOW that Halloween will be here before we know it...did you buy your Trick or Treat candy yet? Or are you like me and need to wait umtil the bitter end so you can be sure there will still be some treats to pass out?

At least I'm not waiting too long to make Halloween type cards. This was one of the cards we did at my Simply Stampin' 3-4-$5 meetup.com class back in September. I try to keep the cards really simple (quite often single layers) and very easy to duplicate. So, I am ALWAYS on the look out for "clean and simple" cards to share with my stampers. This card was inspired by a great card I found here at Dawn Olchefske's blog in either late August or early September. I am a huge fan of Dawn's because of her stamping style and her sense of humor...be sure to stop by her blog to see the original and leave her a little comment to say hi!

Anyway, this cute little guy is part of a hostess set in the current Holiday Mini called Warmest Holiday Wishes....there is a little something for every fall/winter holiday in there and I particularly loved this cute little owl. Nothing could be easier to stamp....and being perched on a spider webbed card base makes him look like a real trick or treater, right? Not only did we do this card at the meetup class, we also did a stack of them for my church's card ministry group....each month we sent a greeting card to our college students and this one was perfect!

The spider web effect was easily created by running a Peach Parfait cardstock base through the Big Shot with the Sizzix spider web embossing folder. For someone who does not "get into Halloween", I have been getting very good use out of that spider web folder! The Peach Parfait polytwill ribbon tied around the bottom of the owl layer gives a nice touch but in the photo, it is partially obscuring the "Happy Halloween" greeting (from Teeny Tiny Wishes). The owl was stamped on a scrap of white cardstock then punched out with the Two Step Owl Build-a-Punch and layered onto the card with Stampin' Dimensionals....I colored in his little trick or treater's mask with a Peach Parfait marker and that was all it took.

Hope you like the card...next session of my Simply Stampin' 3-4-$5 meetup. com classes will be coming up soon. First session at The Speedy Scrapper's, a great little scrapbook store in Highland, IL on Tuesday, Oct 18th at 1 PM and again at the O'Fallon, IL library on Thursday, October 20th at 1 PM. If you would like to attend, just drop me a note at inkerzaway@aol.com or join my Inkerzaway Stampin' and Scrappin' meetup group at www.meetup.com, Membership in the group is free and members are automatically notified of upcoming classes. I would love to see you there at any of the October classes! Just a little hint, we will be doing something "seasonal"!

Here's a Halloween card for you!

2011-10-04T13:07:00.000-05:00

I don't really "get into" Halloween as a big holiday celebration. Oh, I have a few assorted pumpkins, etc. but I really don't even "decorate" for it anymore. (.gasp!) but I do hand out treats for the kids on Trick or Treat night and sometimes I'll get crazy and send out cards to my family. Usually, the ones I make for at stamp club....so here is one I did at my September stamp club gathering. And stand by, family members....you may be seeing something like this in the mail. Eventually. But don't hold your breath, ok?

This card used my favorite image from the Holiday Mini "Gift Givers" set....I love that it is perfectly designed to fit into the Decorative Label punch and made for quick easy coloring. Of cmourse, my inspiration for this card was the fabulous JanTink who shared a great card on Splitcoaststampers and inspired me to make this card. Hey, I never said I was original or creative, just a darn good copycat! The spider web is an embossing folder then I took a sponge dauber and applied white craft ink over the "webbing" to make the web show up, it ended up getting on the rest of the black cardstock so I just smeared it right on there....you can definitely tell that it looks "webby". The black satin ribbon is so easy to use and it fit riggt in with the Halloween theme, don't you think? I adhered the DSP to the black embossed cardstock (only the bottom part of the web shows) then wrapped the ribbon around and tied it before adhering to the white base layer.

The black layer behind the pumpkin image is SO easy to make. Punch-a-holic that I am, I do wish we had a slightly larger coordinating punch but alas, there is none so I had to make my own.. Here's how...use the Decorative Label punch to punch out two pieces of black cardstock, then snip each in half, one lengthwise (horizontal) and one cross-wise (vertical). Then you can layer the pieces underneath the punched pumpkin layer to give the appearance of a larger black layer....snip off any parts that are sticking out if you aren't happy with the overall look then as long as you don't flip it over to see the back side, nobody will ever suspect that you have performed a bit of Halloween punch magic!

At any rate, you can see JanTink's beautiful card right here if you would like to check it out, or just click on the hyperlink in the title of my post, which should take you to straight to her SCS gallery. Be sure to leave her some love in the way of a comment when you go visit her page. And if you want to leave me a comment too, I would love to hear what you think of the card.

Oh sure, I made a couple of little changes...like using a different DSP (Frightful Sight...or is it Night?), anyway, it's the Halloween Designer Series paper in the 2011-12 Stampin' Up! Idea Book. Despite "not doing" Halloween, I ordered that DSP because I thought I could use it for more than just Halloween. Little did I know those cute little patterns on the paper are bats and spiders...lol! That will teach me to grab my reading glasses when I am ordering DSP out of the catty! I added a layer of white cardstock as well, makes it easier to stamp a greeting inside. But you get the picture....it's still a cute Halloween card without being too "spooky" or creepy....and who doesn't like pumpkins this time of year?

Thanks for looking and I hope you liked the card, I will be back later this week with another Halloween card which was featured at my Simply Stampin' 3-4-$5 class in late September!

aaah, that crisp Autumn weather!

2011-10-01T17:10:00.000-05:00

I believe Fall has finally arrived....don't you just love those cool, crisp mornings and bright sunny afternoons? I think this is probably my favorite time of the year! And who can think about Fall without thinking of leaves? I don't really enjoy raking them but I still love them! Here's a card with some "falling leaves" using Gently Falling, a new set in the Holiday Mini catalogue. The sentiment is from Perfectly Penned, a new set in the "Big Book" (Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue. The clear mount option on both of this sets sure makes it a lot easier to line up and stamp!

The cardstock is a Crumb Cake base with Soft Suede for the embossed layer at the top, I used Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink to stamp and wrapped some of the natural hemp around the top. We made this project at stamp club in September. If you are local and would be interested in "sitting in" on our stamp club classes, just let me know. You don't have to be a member to attend, everyone is welcome!

This set os a "2 step" stamp set which means the bold image is on one stamp then you go back with the 2nd stamp to put in the details. In this case, the color is on the bold stamp and the detail (veins of the leaf) on the second stamp. I don't often go for cutting out lots of detailed images but this one was pretty easy so I made the effort.

I cased this great card from jillastamps on SplitCoast Stampers but changed just a part of it by using the striped Sizzix embossing folder to emboss the dark top layer of the card, everything else is pretty much the same. Thanks, Jill for the inspiration, you can see her card here http://www.jillstamps.com/2011/09/si...-fabulous.html

"The Sounding Joy" Holiday card

2011-09-27T16:57:00.000-05:00

At last, I have recovered from my Holiday Card class held earlier last week-end (Friday and Saturday) and even managed to snap some photos of the projects we did at the class. Neither photography nor speed are ranked high on my list of "strong points" so this really is amazing that I am sharing class projects already! Please don't faint, my friends!

This card looks dark in the photo (remember what I said about photography not being one of my strengths?) but it really isn't dark in person, just very "rich" looking and elegant with the pewter embossing powder....love it!

I think the Top Note die and the pewter embossing really made this card special, and I love the Cherry Cobbler quilted ribbon available in the Holiday Mini! A few other details include Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on the Basic Grey layer and an "underlay"of black cardstock to make the white Top Note die layer stand out a bit. There isn't another die sized larger, I just used a nifty trick picked up from fellow demonstrator Sandy Hancock's blog and cut out two layers in black then snipped one down the middle vertically and one down the middle horizontally to simulate another layer. This is a clever trick eing done with the Decorative Label punch but Sandy's blog is the only place I have seen it done with the Top Note die....I LOVE layering so this is a handy little trick....give it a whirl, if you haven't already been doing it.

I had Session 1 of my Holiday card class last Friday....wow, we had a FULL house! It was great having so much stamping enthusiasm in the room but it was a bit cozy....not usually a problem but I may have to try something a bit different for next time to prevent bottlenecks at the stamping stations. Of course, if I wasn't so addicted to the Big Shot that I feel the need to use it at least once on every card it wouldn't be as bad.. Session 2 was held on Saturday morning and MUCH more relaxed with plenty of elbow room.

If you are in the area and missed out on the class, don't despair...I will be offering it again on October 18th at the Speedy Scrappers Scrapbook store in Highland, IL. Just call Bridget at the store and put your name on the list OR join my http://www.meetup.com/ group (look for Inkerzaway Stampin' and Scrappin' in O'Fallon, IL and surrounding areas" and you can register online. If you can't make that class and would like to schedule a private class for you and some stamping buddies, just give me a call or drop me a note and we can set something up for you and your friends (minimum 6 stampers) to come on over and stamp!

Hope you enjoyed the card, I will be back later this week with more pictures of recent card projects!

no excuses...recap of summer

2011-09-25T13:56:00.001-05:00

Yes, yes...I know, I have been MIA for way too long! No excuses, just a quick apology for being OBE (that's Navy slang for "overcome by events") but I am back for another go at blogging! Because I am sure you are all just dying to know...here is a quick recap of my summer!

Busy, busy, busy just about covers it! Our oldest son and his lovely bride were in town visiting from Japan for a little while in early to mid-July, Bless their hearts, they made a little "sidetrip" to visit my folks in SE Ohio and gave me their blessing to sneak off to Salt Lake City on a "business trip" while they were in Ohio. Visits with family are always over far too quickly but we squeezed in a lot of fun. Before they left, we were able to get the whole gang together for at least one dinner and a rare "photo op". Here's the pic of our original brood plus our two lovely daughters-in-law (added to the group about this same time last summer). Can you say, "Christmas card photo"??? You betcha!

In addition to the great family time, I sneaked in a trip to Salt Lake City for the 2011 Stampin' Up! convention! That is always one of the highlights of my summer and I am so happy that I was able to make it this year! I didn't do much swapping but had a few cards to trade and enjoyed a great whirlwind week with my stamping friends enjoying all of the new Stampin' Up! goodies in the new catalogue, sharing the energy with thousands of other demonstrators and getting so many wondeful ideas from the great folks at SU. This is a picture of the stage at convention just to give you an idea of the fun we shared.

In August, my husband, my youngest son and his charming girlfriend made the drive from St. Louis to Florida for an end of summer vacation. The kids took in a couple of days of Disney World plus a bit of sunshine and shopping while my husband played golf and I found some time to hang out with some local stamping buddies. It's all good when it comes to stamping, right? On the way home we spent the night in Marrietta, GA and by chance visited a very interesting local place called The Marrietta Diner. This interesting dining establishment has been featured on the Food Network from time to time and oh my goodness, what a place! Check out the bakery case with "mile high" desserts and the interesting outdoor decor of this fun diner. If you are ever in that area, be sure to stop in for a visit but be prepared for a bit of a wait.

And finally, the stamping you've all been waiting for....this is a card specially designed for my Customer Appreciation Open House in July, using "My Friend", a fresh set from the new Stampin' Up! catalogue. I love the color combo of Old Olive and Blushing Bride.

I took the leftovers from my open house and worked on them on the plane, in the airport and in my hotel room at convention....stamping swap cards definitely got some looks from non-stampers in the Phoenix airport during my layover there but demonstrators traveling to Salt Lake City for convention easily found each other that way.,,,and yes, many of us swapped on the plane! One older gentleman stared at us with great fascination for a while before he finally gave up and asked that burning question, "WHAT are you people doing???" We told him we were making samples of hand stamped greeting cards to share at convention. He thought about it for a while, then asked why we didn't just get a machine to do the stamping. He definitely didn't "get it" but at least watching the process gave him something to do at the airport! Many thanks to my convention roomie and SU "upline" Patti who helped me complete the remainder of my swap cards in our hotel room. I am already looking forward to the next SU event!

May the bird of paradise fly up your nose....

2011-07-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

Did I get your attention with the blog title? I was going to use something really boring like "CAS Swirls and Curls" but I took a look at that little bluebird and that really old crazy country "Bird of Paradise" song came to mind so I went with it. Can you tell that I grew up in southeast Ohio in the W. VA, KY tri-state area? Our local radio station was definitely a country station but not in the sense of country music today which is more "pop" than the "old style" country stuff and generally quite enjoyable in comparison to songs like Bird of Paradise and Bony Fingers, etc.

Anyway, here is my last card from the library card class...only it's not really the card we did at the library, it's a slightly different one that I did for my brother and SIL for their anniversary which I decided to use for this post instead because the Daffodil Delight (yellow) card from the library did not photograph very well at all. I guess the yellow was too bright for my camera and it squinted so all I ended up with was a blurry yellow spot which I didn't realize until too late.

So the card is very basic indeed but still cute and I love the clean white front with the accent on the stamped image. This card using the "Hello" image from Swirls and Curls, a hostess set in the current summer mini catalogue(available thru the end of August for those who host a party or place an order online which qualified for "stampin' rewards"), it includes a "happy birthday" image with some balloons, a "thinking of you" with a little flower and swirlies, a "congratulations" image with a little butterfly accent and a "thanks so much" image all done is a whimsical swirly font. I think the style and the number of sentiments makes it quite the versatile little greeting set, don't you think? And so easy to just stamp then color in the little accent piece with a marker!

For this particular card, I chose the "hello" card which has the little birdie warbling a few notes and it fits perfectly in the 1 3/4" circle punch which fits perfectly into the 2 3/8" scalloped circle punch. The front of the card is embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and the folded white card is cut down slightly so it layers onto a Tempting Turquoise base.

Hope that you like it as much as I did....quick and cute is just about my favorite when it comes to cards. Thanks for looking and please check the sidebar for a little survey about what sort of things you like to see included in a blog post.

It's a Tropical Party (thank you note!) from guest stamper Connie K!

2011-07-02T15:16:00.005-05:00

      One of my stamping friends, Connie K, showed me this cute and quick card style she was making for her newly married son and his wife , so, naturally I begged her to let me take a photo and share it and she agreed so thanks, Connie!

    I am not sure I have all of the details right but they enjoyed a tropical themed "destination wedding" on a romantic island somewhere with close friends and family in attendance ....that said, what could be more natural than thank you notes made to order with the Tropical Party stamp set!

   This set was featured in the 2010 Summer Mini catalogue and is a perfect example of why you should NOT wait to see if a stamp set will make it into the next big catalogue before you buy it. In other words, if you love it...just get it now! And thankfully, that is what Connie did giving her the perfect set to make cards for that great tropical wedding.

   She used a simple design with beautiful soft island colors and even did a little stamping on the inside of the card. How simple and sweet is that! Some lucky gal just found herself a fantastic mother-in-law, don't you think?

    A big thank you to Connie for sharing the card and allowing me to take a photo of it to share here on my blog. In order to comply with the Stampin' Up! angel policy I needed to have the SU copyright/logo info displayed with the photography so I just grabbed the "Angel Stamp" which I use with my own cards because it has the copyright info but I did not make the card.

    If you have made a special card to coordinate with a particular event using Stampin' Up! images, I would love to see it and maybe even feature it on my blog so I'd love to challenge my blogger friends to share their card ideas with me for future "publication" here on my blog so let me know if you have something to share,

"Clean and Simple" June Simply Stampin' Library class cards

2011-07-01T15:02:00.001-05:00

   Here are some of the cards we did at my most recent "3-4-5" class at the O'Fallon library, the 3-4-5 stands for 3 cards for $5 so I make sure these are quick and cute cards, but still fun!

   The first card uses the same DTP (direct to paper) technique which I featured on a blog post earlier this month...just take ink pads directly to the cardstock and swipe them across the blank cardstock (I used Whisper White) then stamp with black StazOn ink....it's a little spotty here and there but I prefer to think that just adds artistic flair. But what a fun card with the little birds on a branch. I am not usually a big fan of birds but for some reason this months class had a bit of a bird theme...how "tweet"! ok, sorry...I couldn't resist!

   Card #1 uses Clearly for You, a cute little set carried over from the 2011 Occasions Mini

    Card #2 uses a set called Touch of Kindness from the 2011 Summer Mini (available thru Aug 31, 2011) and here we go again with the birds! This is a very simple card, just stamped on a piece of white cardstock which was cut out with the Sizzix Top Note die then layered onto another Top Note diecut only in Basic Black. To allow the edges of the black Top Note to show, I just peeled off the perforated edge on the white piece and sponged some Tangerine Tango ink around the edges to match the cardstock.

The birds in the fountain were stamped with Black StazOn ink and colored in with markers and blender pens. Quick and easy but a cute little card to brighten someone's day. Hope that you liked it! Please leave a comment telling me what you think about the cards...I'd love to hear from you!

Play Ball!"" teacher thank you notes

2011-06-29T14:59:00.001-05:00

Whie there isn't any actual stamping on the front of this card, I did use Stampin' Up! product and actually put my creative mind to work on coming up with a baseball themed card using only what I had available. Amazing, isn't it? And how awesome that my stamping toys can be useful even if I don't have "just the right stamp" for a project! In figuring out the design, I looked at a real baseball and tried to "copy" it as closely as possible. My friend, Cheryl, had asked me if I might come up with a couple of thank you cards for her to use for sending in the "end of year" teacher gifts for both of her kids. I don't make cards on commission for sale because it stresses me out too much worrying that the cards will be perfect, Since Cheryl is a very good friend who has done many baseball related favors for me, I turned down the paid job & told her I would be happy to make them as a favor for her, That took the pressure off for me and she was very grateful to get some baseball themed cards! ;-) I love winning situations, especially when it comes to baseball!

So, for the front of the card, I just figured out what size circle I could use for a "baseball" then cut it out and used my paper piercer to pierce semi-circles on either side of the circle then used a Real Red marker to make a "stitchs" to simulate the red stitch linse of a baseball. MUCH easier than actual sewing, too! I used the large square sallop die for the base of the card (using Night of Navy cardstock) then cut a slightly smaller piece of Real Red cardstock (4" x8" & folded) for the actual card and attached the "baseball" to the front of that. Of course, since we live in "St. Louis Cardinals" territory, I had to use Cardinals colors! The inside of the card was simple, I stamped the bird & "thank you" sentiment from Cheep Talk (item #113204 for@@26.95) in Real Red ink and left some space for a personal note. My friend was thrilled with the result and I was thrilled that I didn't "strike out" when the game was on the line!

Farewell Baskets & Blooms - Chic' n Scratch

2011-06-29T08:34:00.000-05:00

Farewell Baskets & Blooms - Chic' n Scratch

Wow! I have always enjoyed Angie's "Chic 'n Scratch" blog with adorable ideas which are easy to make...and just look what Angie has shared today, a collection of photos using the basket from the Sizzix Baskets and Blooms Big Shot XL die (item # 113484) for various holidays! This die is being retired from the exclusive Stampin' Up! line and is currently being discounted at 25% off the original price making it $29.96 until the end of June (that's tomorrow!) when it will be gone for good. I will be placing my final SU order for the year tomorrow morning (June 30th) so if you decide you want to add this item or any other retiring item to your list let me know today and I can take care of it for you, otherwise you can order online at my webstore which is open for business 24/7 : http://www.janhoyt.stampingup.net

Pun Fun "Love You a Latte"

2011-06-28T14:55:00.002-05:00

I have had this stamp set for quite a long time and hardly ever use it....not sure why because I love this little coffee cup image! The stamp set is called Pun Fun and it has 8 different images (a little corny but cute!) for almost every occasion. My friend Lyssa Z from Watertown, Wisconsin (her amazing blog is called Song of My Heart Stamper") shared this card on her blog and I couldn't think of a way to improve on it so I cased it in almost every detail with one little exception. I didn't have any of the Designer Series paper that looks like newsprint...so I got crazy and found an old newspaper in the recycling bin to cut into strips for the cards. I would rather have used the nice smooth finish of the DSP than the rough textured newspaper but I had to make due. Of course, since the recycling had already gone out I was a little bit limited on the newsprint options...the Dow Jones reports were on one side and the obituaries on the other! We decided the stock market would be the better choice! ;-) I loved the idea of the morning cup of coffee and the newspaper so I had to do it!

The coffee cup image was stamped on Naturals White cardstock using Timber Brown StazOn ink so it could be watercolored with the Aqua Painter and the Natural White cardstock square was distressed around the edges with a distressing tool from the Cutter kit just to give it a bit of personality!

The "ric rac" looking trim is from a great diecut called Tasteful Trim which makes a very nice border on the card. It will cut 4 different ric-rac style trims in a 12 inch length....perfect for 12x12 scrapbook borders or for cards. A little vanilla grosgrain ribbon tied up with an accent of Early espresso Baker's Twine sinishes it off, the Baker's Twine is a new accessory in the Summer Mini and what a cute look...available in several colors, too! Thanks, Lyssa. for sharing the card idea! This set will only be available through June 30th so if you have decided that you would like to have "a cuppa" with your morning paper, don't wait too long!

If you are interested in getting any of these items, they can be ordered online at my webstore http://www.janhoyt.stampinup.net/ and here are item numbers & prices for your convenience.

Pun Fun Wood Mount Only 115054 for $32.95

Vanilla Grosgrain 5/8th inch 109070 $6.95

Newspring Designer Series Paper 117166 $9,95

Early Espresso/White Baker's Twine 123124 $2.95

Early Espresso and So Saffron cardstock, Naturals White cardstock

Cutter Kit (106958 $9.95 (also has a perforating wheel, a scoring tool and a rotary cutter.)

Eastern Blooms one last time!

2011-06-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

I know you probably aren't going to believe this but guess what, this card is one I came up with by myself for my retirement card class...yes, honest! I love the classic layout of the white layers and polka dot embossing and that Eastern Blooms flower sure does look good stamped in Peach Parfait ink, don't you think? The bloom is the only image I used from Eastern Blooms and the "thank you" sentiment is from All Holidays. Both of these sets are on the SU chopping block this month and will be returning at the end of June. They haven't done anything bad...it's just that all stamps have their moments in the spotlight and eventually have to retire. But if you get them now, you can stamp with them forever,, right? So if you like them don't waste time as you only have a few more days!

Stamps used: Eastern Blooms 111626 $21.95 pg112

All Holidays 114916 $34.95 pg 154

Accessories: Peach Parfait 1/2 inch stitched poly-ribbon #119264 $8.95

Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder #117335 $7.95 pg 214

Supplies: Whisper White cardstock 100730 $7.50

Wild Wasabi cardstock 108641 $6.95

my favorite card of the class...Fun & Fast plus a new punch preview!

2011-06-27T22:42:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true...of all the cards we did at my retiring stamps card class last week, this one has to be my favorite. I love pink and I like stripes and when they are combined with the Early Espresso colors it just doesn't get much better! This image from Fast and Fun notes makes a great wedding card but if you omit the "Together Forever" sentiment it could be used for any cake-worthy event. The image was stamped on white cardstock using Timber Brown StazOn ink, then punched it out with the 2 3/8th inch scallop circle punch. Then it was colored in with markers and layered on the 2.5 inch circle punch. I usually prefer to put the scalloped layer on the bottom but the image doesn't quite fit on the next smaller circle so I decided to give the reverse a try and I kind of liked it. What do you think? The 'let's celebrate" sentiment is from On Your Birthday which is not retiring.

Now, are you thinking you noticed something just a little different on this card? Yes, that's right...it's a "sneak peek" of a brand new punch coming soon in the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue. Isn't it great looking? Makes such a pretty lace effect and I can't wait to show it to you at my New Catty Open House on July 9th. If you live in the area and aren't already on my mailing list, please drop me a note and I will be happy to give you more info about the open house.

Stamps: Fun and Notes 113500 $33.95 pg 70

On Your Birthday #111644 $33.95 pg 153

Accessories: Sneak Peek Lace Punch details TBA in July

2.5" circle punch $16.95

Small Oval punch retired & sold out (sorry)

2- 3/8th inch scallop punch 118874 $16.95

In Color Designer Series Paper Stack 117158 $19.95

Rock Star punch card

2011-06-27T15:02:00.002-05:00

So, you wanna be a rock star? Ok, ok...sorry, that was goofy but I just couldn't resist! Anyway, this is one of the cards we did at my retirement card party last Friday....I got the idea from a darling card featured on another blog (Mary Fish at StampingPrettyPals,you can view her card here http://www.stampinpretty.com/2011/06/ppa99-bon-voyage-stampin-up-star-punch.html) but I had to change it up a bit since I didn't have the cool newpatterned In Color brads that she used. What I DID have was the soon to retire Build a Brads so I used those instead. You put can make your own designer brads that way...there is a flat brad where you can stick a stamped image, designer paper or a piece of cardstock and cover it with a little gel pad 'bubble" which makes it into a very cool and unique little brad. What do you think? We just used the 1/2" circle punch to punch out coordinating colors of cardstock for the insides of the Build a Brad. (item # 109128 $9.95). To punch out the stars we used the also soon to retire Extra Large star punch (1198750 at $16.95 and the sentiment was from On Your Birthday (item111664) wood mounted only at $33.95), Of course with the prongs of the brads, you can only imagine how many Stampin' Dimensionals I used to attach the starts to the cardstock but I did like the end result. This card is a little bit of an unusual size but fits easily into the open ended envelopes (item 107286 on pg 171 of the catalogue$7.50 for $20 envelopes), Hope that you enjoyed seeing this card...now to decide who will be getting this one someday!

Wish Big, everyone!

2011-06-26T10:42:00.003-05:00

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/dtp/

This card is so colorful and cheerful, I was inspired by the Splitcoast Stamper (SCS) tutorial of the week taught by "understandblue" earlier this month as well as a sample I saw posted there in the gallery. Of course, as luck would have it, I can't locate that particular card anymore (done with the "Imagine the Possibilities" image from an SU stamp set called "Word Play") to give credit. I looked for the DTP gallery as well as the Word Play gallery and don't find it in either place but this card is pretty much the same as one I saw there with a few minor changes. I used this technique as a sample for one of my June stamp club projects (the one on the left side) but substituted the "my dear, kind and wonderful friend" sentiment from All Holidays since that set is retiring at the end of this week and I won't be able to demonstrate it anymore after that. It's a hugely versatile set and has been one of my "go to" sets for several years so I will certainly miss it but will probably keep it in my "personal collection" to use for family cards and card ministry projects. If you don't have this set already, do not pass go and do not collect $200 until you contact your favorite Stampin' Up! demonstrator and order that set! If you don't have a local demonstrator or if, perhaps, I am your local demonstrator then I would be happy to place that order for you OR you can order it directly from my online webstore at http://www.janhoyt.stampinup.net/, just type in item number 114916 ($34.95) from page 154 of the current 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalogue.

To make this card, I used an amazinly simple technique....DTP which stands for "direct to paper" meaning just use your inkpads and "drag" them directly onto the cardstock from one side of the white cardstock to the other, if it isn't dark enough just go back over it again until it suits you. Then choose the next color and drag it across, ok to overlap the previous color too as long as you work from the lightest color to the darkest. It works best on light colored cardstock, of course...I used Whisper White here but it also looks great on glossy white cardstock but takes a little longer to dry.

The secret to getting the sentiment showing up in white is the clear emboss the greeting on the cardstock before you begin to apply the colors. You won't be able to see if on the white carstock but the clear embossing powder will protect the white cardstock underneath and it will show up nicely once you apply the color. One I had the background colors laid down the If you want the specifics including a photo and video tutorial instruction, it's all right there on splitcoaststampers.com There is a "clickable" link at the very top of this blog post or you can copy and paste this line below to get there: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/dtp/

!. I changed the sentiment from the card I was "case'ing" and used Dear, Kind & Wonderful Friend" for stamp club (photo at top left) then substituted the "wish BIG" sentiment from the Word Play set (NOT retiring!) for the card on the right. I had some extra card kits left after class and have some family birthdays coming up real soon so figured why not get ahead of the game for a change.and have cards done BEFORE the birthday. ;-).
2. I left out one of the colors in the spectrum.
3. I layered my DTP's white cardstock on a slightly larger layer of white cardstock and then layered it on a 1/4th sheet of Basic Black cardstock...nothing makes those colors "pop" like a black background!

Quilting with Paper - Stampin' Pretty - My Fun & Chic Stampin' Up! Boutique, Mary Fish, Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Video Tutorials

2011-06-25T18:49:00.000-05:00

Quilting with Paper - Stampin' Pretty - My Fun & Chic Stampin' Up! Boutique, Mary Fish, Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Video Tutorials

I have a soft spot in my heart for "faux" quilts created with paper so I read this blog post shared by Mary Fish with great interest. She had previously shared photos from the display board on the Stampin' Up! incentive cruise on her blog showing a "quilt card" and had a lot of requests for more info so thankfully the original artist sent her some info which she shared. Aren't these beautiful? I think I am feeling another "quilt card" class coming on! I have photos of my samples from a previous class in the archives somewhere, I will have to go and dig them out. Jan

So long, farewell and goodbye!

2011-06-05T09:07:00.001-05:00

No, no...I'M not going anywhere! But Stampin' Up! will be soon be retiring some oldies but goodies from this year's catalogue in order to make way for some incredible new stamps which are sure to be favorites soon!

Here is a link to the list of retiring stamps along with item number and page number.
http://204.228.150.61/docs/lastchance/en-US/LastChanceStamps_0611_US.pdf
If you see something you just can't leave without, be sure to order it no later than June 30th because after that it will be gone forever.

There are two ways to order...either contact me personally at inkerzaway@aol.com or by phone at 618 531 3406 with your wishlist and payment info and I will place the order for you, If you prefer to order online yourself, you can go directly to my Stampin' Up! webstore http://www.janhoyt.stampinupnet/ to place your order. Please be sure to use that link to guarantee you get the preferred customer pricing and shipping options. And remember, you can add items from the "Clearance Rack" and digitial downloads when you order online...you can also qualify for hostess rewards (exclusive sets plus free merchandise) if your order totals $150 or more.

Introducing the NEW 2011 "In Color" colors!

2011-06-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

I have been off line for a few weeks and not because I earned the Stampin' Up! incentive trip (free cruise to Alaska!) , I have been busy then I was away for about a week. When I got back, I saw this great photo (see above) on fellow SU demonstrator Dawn O's blog and I was so excited to see that she granted permission to share the photo since I haven't been home to make up a chart even if I had the skills and talent.

Anyway, if you are interested in seeing how the "new" colors compare and contrast with other similar Stampin' Up! colors (even some old retired friends like Taken with Teal and Soft Sky!) then please check out Dawn's incredible blog to see her charts comparing them to previous colors . Just click here http://dostamping.typepad.com/dostamping_with_dawn/2011/06/dawn-olchefske-2011-stampin-up-in-colors-comparison-chart.html to go to Dawn's blog and please be sure to leave her a comment thanking her for sharing some great info.

Hope and Strength Breast Cancer Awareness stamp set

2011-05-15T20:04:00.000-05:00

I love the way Stampin' Up! is always helping to support causes near and dear to my heart...starting this month and lasting thru August 2011, they are featuring the Hope and Strength stamp set. It's a beautiful set all by itself but even nicer is the fact that Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from the purchase price of each set toward Breast Cancer Research. Way to go, SU! I have far too many friends who have fought the battle against breast cancer and really appreciate the support for research into how to stop this disease. Thankfully breast cancer can be beaten, especially with early detection...I have my annual mammogram scheduled for this month...don't forget yours!

In the meantime, here is a card I made at my "team meeting" with many of my local demonstrator friends. We used the Hope and Strength stamp set with pinks and greys....such soft pretty colors, I love them!

The base of the card was run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder...there is a "slick trick" of leaving the inside of an oval smooth and un=embossed to allow for easy stamping. I will share a link on how to do that at the end of this post. After running the top layer of Whisper White cardstock thru the Big Shot, I masked off an area (a piece of bond weight paper with an oval cut out to leave a space) and stamped the butterfly with Regal Rose ink. I cheated a little bit with my Basic Black marker...after inking up the butterfly in pink I used the black marker to go over the antennae so it would look more like a butterfly.

Leaving the oval "mask" in place, I placed another mask cut in the shape of the butterfly over the pink butterfly then used Basic Grey ink to stamp for the sentiment stamp repeatedly to make a background. base panel. That's pretty much all there is to it....I stamped the "H" for hope in pink and punched it out with a circle then layered it on a scalloped circle punched out of Basic Grey, of course had to use a bit of white gel pen to dot the scallops, how can I resist doing that? Then attached some dimensionals to the back of the scallop and stuck them onto the white panel. Sponged the edges with more Regal rose then layered it onto the 4.25x5.5" Basic Grey layer....that was it!

Ok, I promised to share a link showing how you can recreate the smooth oval shape with embossed area surrounding it so if you are interested in seeing a video tutorial, Dawn Griffith has a great one on her blog Click here to see how Dawn does it (http://www.dawn'sstampingstudio.com

love the drama of black & white and a little bling!

2011-05-13T21:24:00.001-05:00

This is the 2nd card from the April Simply Stampin' library card class and it was "cased " hook, line and sinker (cased is polite stamper talk for "copy and steal everything") completely from a beautiful card made by a Stampin' Up buddy of mine named Lynn Starzl (here is a link to the very same card she shared on her blog back in mid April...http://www.starzlstamps.com/2011/04/m.html ).

I think that probably Lynn put a little more effort into her card than I did but since I was simplifying it for my quick and easy library class, I figured it was ok. She used the Movers and Shapers die to cut hearts out of the top layer of cardstock while I used just the heart shape to cut black hearts out of cardstock and layer over the top of the card base....faster and easier and that way I could have the pieces cut out ahead of time making the class projects go faster. Things sort of bog down when each project requires the use of the Big Shot (what can I say? I don't know how to stamp without it anymore!)

Anyway, we used the heart shape from the Movers and Shapers die to get the slightly larger black hearts and the Heart of Hearts Scalloped Embosslit to make the slightly smaller white hearts..not only do .they have a nice scalloped finish around the edges but they are embossed with polka dots as well and the embosslit does it all at the same time...how fun and easy! More on those later!

The base of the card is Whisper White which has been run thru the big Shot with the Elegant Lines embossing folder (did I mention I am hooked on this Big Shot thing?) to give a lovely swirly textured pattern to the cardstock....love it! The sentiment, "Happy I Do Day" is from a stamp set called Word Play (it's on special for 30% off during the month of May....if I didn't have it already I would be snapping it up for sure this month!), it is stamped on white using black ink then punched out with the XL Heart punch. Then I added a small rhinestone to the engagement ring image in the stamped greeting and layered on one of the black hearts,, the white scalloped heart was then layered onto the other black heart and they were both arranged on the front of the card and adhered with stampin' Dimensionals. A bit of black ribbon tied around the spine of the card completes the look and who wouldn't love to get a wedding card like this?

Thanks, Lynn, for sharing your talent and thanks to the Big Shot for making it all possible!

Birthday Bakery library card class

2011-05-11T20:35:00.002-05:00

I am finally getting around to sharing the cards we created at the april library card class, sometimes it takes me a while but I consider the fact that I am blogging at all to be a bit of a miracle!

Anyway, here is one of the cards we made. This was supposed to be quick and easy but somehow it took a little longer than anticipated...silly me for making them stamp the bakery image twice along that skinny white panel! That's why it looks longer than the actual stamp. We finally made it thru but it was one of those days you are happy that SU makes sure you have two sides to every piece of cardstock! We just colored in bits and pieces of the cake with a marker for the icing and cherries...doesn't it look yummy?

The stamped panel is layered on a strip of black cardstock which was punched on both sides with the scallop trim punch, then layered on another piece of Melon Mambo leaving.just a little touch of pink peeking out underneath. The sentiment says, "this is no day for just a sliver" and it's stamped directly onto a small scrap of Melon Mambo designer series paper then punched out with an oval punch and layered onto the cardstock base.

The white base of the cardstock was run through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka dots embossing folder to give some nice texture and interest to the card without adding another layer or embellishment. And who doesn't love polka dots, right? I used some retired Melon Mambo polka dot ribbon tied around the side for a little accent, it's no longer available but it sure is pretty and it went very well with the pink icing and polka dot embossing, besides it was getting lonely in that basket of retired ribbon under my table.

Birthday Bakery is a Level 1 hostess set in the 2010-11 Idea Book and Catalogue...it will be available until early July when the next catalogue comes out then all of the current hostess sets will be retired, so if you want it, now is the time to get it.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the library card project....I will have another to show you in a few more days then it will soon be time for the next class on May 19th so please come join us if you are interested, just be sure to let me know at least 24 hours in advance so I can get the supplies ready!

Plane and Simple...bye, bye!

2011-05-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

What a simple but fun "manly" card! I love this stamp set from the Occasions Mini, that means the stamp is no longer available but my DH is a retired Navy pilot (he flew helicopters but they all start out with small planes, right?) and my oldest son is an Air Force F16 pilot so I knew this set was a "must have" for my family! Maybe we will get lucky and this set will make it into the upcoming 2011-2012 catty which will be released in early July???

The plane is just stamped in black on a white panel with some Pacific Point sponged around the edges for interest, then the stamped panel is layered onto a slightly larger black panel with the birthday greeting tucking into the corner very nicely.

The stamped panel piece is layered on a panel of Pacific Point with a black strip of "ric rac" trim from the Tasteful Trim Big Shot die underneath the stamped panel. Before attaching the stamped image I ran it through the Big Shot textile-like "square lattice" embossing folder...it is amazing how much better things look when they have been texturized into the cardstock! AND since there was a layer on top of it anyway, I was able to cheat a bit and just put about 1.5" of the ric rac on either side of the top layer....that makes a 12" strip of Ric Rac go a lot farther!

To finish the card, the Pacific Point layer was adhered to a folded black card so that just the slightest edge of black showed underneath....I forgot to take a photo of the inside but I put a white panel inside to provide a place to write and stamped the leather flight helmet with goggles in the bottom corner just because I could...also stamped another birthday greeting on the inside panel.

This card is strongly inspired by a beautiful card I saw online made by Rachel Brumley, a very talented fellow demonstrator, sometime in the last month or two...I printed it out so I would be sure to remember to whom I could give credit. Amazingly I remembered her name, although I can't find the correct link to her blog to share her artwork for the stamp set so I might have seen the share on a demonstrator only email list rather than her blog. Regardless of where I found it, the card was definitely inspired by Rachel's artwork although she used the larger "wavy" ric rac design in a horizontal presentation while I used the smaller and more angular "ric rac" design in a vertical presentation. Thank you, Rachel, for sharing such a strikingly simple card idea!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there...including mine!

2011-05-07T21:59:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms out there...including mine! Now that Mother's Day is almost upon us, I think it's safe to share the Mother's Day card I sent to my Mom and to my husband's Mom as well.   Not that either of them read my blog but you never know, I would hate to ruin the surprise.

I bought the Build a Blossom set and punch when they were first available for demonstrators to preorder and can you believe that it took me until my April stamp club meeting to introduce them both to ink and cardstock? Yes, shameful...I know! but they are now well loved and I don't plan to stop using them now.

The two cards I'm sharing are very similar....I used a brad for the center of the one up top, along with sponging some pink along the edges of the Framed Tulip embossing. It accidentally got a smudge on it while I was stamping and rather than trying to remake the card ...well, why waste? I just "fixed it" by sponging Melon Mambo all around the whole card. I like sponging anyway, so why not? The flower in the sample at the bottom has an Old Olive button for the center of the one below and no sponging.
     Both cards were done using Pretty in Pink cardstock stamped in Melon Mambo with the Build a Blossom stamp set, gives it a nice "two toned" look and I really liked it. The leaves were Wild Wasabi stamped with Versamark and punched out, that is pretty much it. Assembling the petals is really pretty easy...I got some tips from looking at various blogs online and sort of took bits and pieces of several of them to come up with this card....they all sort of merged together and while I got a lot of good tips from various sources, I think the card that inspired me most was one shared on a Splitcoast Stampers gallery done by kyann22, see below for a link to that card and thanks to everyone else who has shared ideas for using this particular stamp set.

     Back on track, to do the assembly of the flower, I followed the online tips and punched out a circle (one of the smaller sized ones, 1 1/4th inch will do) to use as a "base" for sticking down the big petals. Any color is fine, it won't show once the card is done. I found that I liked the uneven number of 5 petals better than a crowded 6 petal bloom. They say odd numbers are more natural so that's what I did...putting the petals so that the sides touched each other gave me the result I preferred. The tips kind of overlap in the center but I didn't like bare spaces in between the petals.

To get the second layer applied, I just stuck them right on top of the first layer centering them up on the larger petals and adhering them with dimensionals. I used a bone folder to sort of curl them just a bit so they would look more natural....not sure what they will look like after surviving a cross country trip in a clear envy but hopefully they were still presentable for my mom and MIL. The Wild Wasabi leaves just tuck in under the petals wherever they seem to fit best and of course, the Mother Day sentiment is from All Holidays. Here is that link I promised http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1942848

My son's GF (an amazing artist who also enjoys stamping the occasional card) came to visit over Easter break and she had a few hours to kill between the time he had to go back and the time her ride was leaving so we forced ourselves to go downstairs and stamp a little bit, she had great ideas on arranging the flowers as she made a similar card for her Mom then we did another card which I will share later.

In the meantime, Happy Mother's Day and God bless you to all the Moms out there. what would this world be like without you?? Hope you all have a great day tomorrow!

Four Frames "Sneak Peek" stamp set & a special sneak peek class!

2011-04-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

I guess I am 'developing a thing" for Tangerine Tango...lately I seem to reach for it as the perfect color to layer with black...those colors just really "pop" when they are together!

Here is a card I made using the new stamp set called Four Frames...it's a "sneak peek" of a set which will be available in the new Stampin' Up! catalogue to be released in July but you can get it now as the April special. And did I mention that it pairs up perfectly with the Designer Label punch?

For this card I stamped in black StazOn ink (so I could watercolor it) and used the Aqua Painter and ink droplets from the lid of my Tangerine Tango inkpad to color the roses, Old Olive for the leaves then stamped "for you" (from a stamp set called Great Friend) inside for a greeting. The thank you sentiment on the bottom is from Occasional Quotes, a Level 2 hostess set in the current catalogue. Like so many other things I have stamped over the last few months, this card uses the Framed Tulips embossing bolder for a background layer. Yes, I am hooked on this folder..what can I say? Then black frame really sets off the Tangerine but it's hard to write on so I put a white layer underneath it.

If you are wondering how you can get your hands on this stamp set (this image is one of four which all layer perfectly with the Designer Label punch) then look no further....with a $20 purchase during the month of April you qualify to purchase the set now so you don't have to wait for the new catty in July, how cool is that? There is a beautiful arrangement of Designer Series paper (Paisley Prints) which is also available early as part of the "sneak peek". Anyone who orders this promotional set from me will automatically qualify for a discounted rate on a class I will be giving in May using this stamp set ....bring your own stamp set and pay only $5 for the class materials. If you can't make it to the class, I will happily make up a kit on the go for the same price for you with full instructions so you can do the projects at home...which will be easy since you'll already have the stamp set. Of course, if you don't want to order the set (or have already purchased it elsewhere) then don't worry, you can still attend the class and make the same great projects for the usual $15 class fee.

For more info on this special, please click on the link for the "sneak peek" special at the very top of my blog...it will be there for the whole month of April so you can find it easily. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email (inkerzaway@aol.com) or give me a call at( 618) 531-3406.

is this the cutest monogram ever?

2011-04-16T20:18:00.002-05:00

I have a new Stampin' Up! buddy in my neighborhood, she is quite a talented artist (Hi Peggy!) and not only that but she has an extremely talented upline named Kimberly Van Diepen who is very well known in Stampin' Up! circles and this is an adorable card which she sent to Peggy. Peggy was kind enough to let me snap a photo of it (which explains why my name stamp is at the bottom...I didn't stamp it but I needed te use the Stampin' Up! copyright image) and I think it's beautiful! The card is very pretty but the real beauty of the card is the simplicity of it....cute, quick and lovely!

This card uses the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and the Broadstreet Alphabet stamp set and whips up a great card in no time flat! The "P" (for Peggy) is punched out with a circle and layered on the Designer Label punch piece...the "ribbon" is Cherry Cobbler seam binding (so easy to tie and you get a lot on a spool for not too much $$$ so that is also a good thing) which makes a soft, pretty bow.

Have a cuppa with me?

2011-04-13T21:04:00.001-05:00

This card is one of the cutest sets in the current Stampin' Up! catalogue....I have been a tea drinker for years and love stamps of tea cups and coffee cups (which can also hold hot water and a teabag!) so this cute little set with coffee and tea cups really appealed to me. It has several great greetings pertaining to coffee, tea, caffeine, etc. and I love the whimiscal style of the stamp art.

Of course if you know me, you know that I am not a clever and artisitic person BUT I have many wonderful friends who are both cleverl AND artistic...lucky me! This card was inspired by my friend Connie Babbert from Worthington, OH...I saw a clever card on her blog where she had used the stacked up teacups image then masked it off and stamped a coffee pot from the Morning cup set behind it. I was instantly in love and had to give it a try! I wanted the image to fit inside the Embossed Tulips embossing frame (have you noticed I am using that on almost every card I've stamped lately? Or you would if you attended my club meetings!) Anyway, things don't always work out as planned and as it turned out the coffee pot and cups took up too much space to fit inside the scalloped circle so I had to change out the coffeepot for the teapot but I still liked it.

This was one of the quick and easy cards we did at my Simply Stampin' class at the O'Fallon, IL library last month and everyone seemed to enjoy masking off the cups and making the pot appear to be behind the teacups. If you have never done masking, it's a very simple trick to make an object appear to be in the foreground with another image in the background behind it.

To get this effect, here's how...
1. you stamp the FRONT image first (yes, I know...it doesn't make sense but bear with me and trust me on this one), in this case the stack of teacups (all one image by the way) was stamped first on the carstock layer
2) you stamp the same image again on a piece of a sticky note or post it note scrap paper. You have to be sure to stamp so at least part of the image is over the side with the sticky but the image is on the front and the stick' um is on the back.
3. trim out the image stamped on the post it note so that it's cut just inside the stamped lines...this prevents creating a "white space" around the masked off image in the finished project.
4. Cover the stamped image (in this case the teacups) with the post it note "mask" then stamp the stamp intended to be in the background(in this case the teapot) right over a portion of the masked teacups. When you lift the stamp and remove the mask you will find a background/foreground effect with the cups in the front and the teapot in the back! How clever is that? I learned that little trick years ago but sometimes forgot to use the easy ideas.

While doing stamping demos at the Open House for the Scott Air Force Base Arts and Craft Center last month, I stamped, maksed and watercolored then and sponged and layered several dozen of these images. I thought they would be cute to send to my son who is in the Air Force and currently deployed to a spot in the Middle East with none of those little Hallmark card stores handy....so I send cards for him to share with his fellow squadron mates or drop by the Chapel for the chaplain personnel to distribute. Not sure what kind of sentiment I am going to stamp on them but whatever it is, I doubt that anyone receiving a card from a loved one deployed overseas will mind if I got the idea from my friend Connie. Try as I might, I couldn't find the post on Connie's blog with her version of this card or I would have shared a link...however please visit Connie's blog at http://www.inkspiredtreasures.com/ and have a look at the wonderful projects she creates!

Build a Blossom quick card

2011-04-11T20:56:00.001-05:00

Have you had a chance to play with the great new Build a Blossom (BAB for short!) punch from Stampin' Up!? I got it when the Occasions mini was first released but really hadn't played with it until I did a couple of workshops last month. Once I started all I could say was, "what was I waiting for???" Talk about a quick and cute card...all I did for this flower was to punch out a few petals and stick them down on the card! Of course, being addicted to the Big Shot and all, I had to run it thru the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder to give it some texture before I attached the petals.

The base of the card is crumb cake cardstock run through the Framed Tulips embossing folder, I sponged some Early Espresso ink over the embossed portion of the frame to accent the embossing. I punched out a circle (any size will do but I think I used 1 3/8th inch circle punch) because it's easier to attach the petals to a circle than to try to line them up in a circle...what a sweet trick! Before I arranged the flower petals I sponged Delightful Daffodil ink around the edges of each petal and gently sponged a little over the top of the petal to catch the polka dots. The petals were also punched out in Garden Green cardstock then tucked underneath the white petals. So cute...so easy! There are multiple petal shapes in the Build a Blossom stamp set which can be used for flower but the only one I used for this card was the center "stamen" image and then I decided to use one of the antique brads in the center as well so you can barely see the yellow center of the flower but it's in there somewhere. The sentiment "thinking of you" is from the now retired Sale-a-Bration stamp set called "So Happy For You". That set is no longer available but almost any sentiment would fit easily in that space.

Hope that you have enjoyed seeing the card...and now I have a terrible confession to make. Yes, I was a very bad girl! Today is a special day...my husband and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary, but that's not the confession. The "news" is that this year for our annivaersary I bought him an anniversary card (gasp!)...yes, from a store! I only got it because it had the cutest photo of a little boy and girl and a wonderful sentiment that described us perfectly. I love my SU stamps but yes, it's true...I gave him a storebought anniversary card....trust me, he was in shock,too! ;-) He was thrilled and said that was great news because he was sure it meant I have given up stamping and now he could re-appropriate the wonderful table in the basement (currently known as the "darn fine stamping table") back into the pool table it had been in it's previous life. Isn't he a funny man? Yes, that's what I thought too...ha, ha! He's kept me laughing for over 30 years now, if that isn't the secret to a long and happy marriage then I don't know what is....what a guy! Happy anniversary honey!

Are we really related?

2011-04-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

Some of you may already know this, but others maybe not....my sister is a writer and is published in a syndicated column called DeLayed Reaction. Here is a very funny (I think!) article which she wrote after being strong armed into attending a scrapbook crop while visiting me last month. We both thought the article was funny, but apparently for different reasons! Most of my stamping and scrapbooking friends thought it was hysterical even though I'm pretty sure she was making fun of us! Hope you enjoy it...if you want to read more of her work, you can find her website at http://www.susandelay.com/

Croppers, Crimpers, and Crop-a-Diles

Posted on April 3, 2011 by susandelay

Copyright 2011, Susan DeLay

“Want to go to a crap party?” I hadn’t anticipated spending time with my sister, Jan in a game of chance or picking mushrooms for fun.

As it turns out, I heard her wrong. She said crop party. I conjured up visions of horse women in jodhpurs perched on English riding saddles, and riding crops tucked under their arms. Oh, and chips and guacamole because it’s not a party without snacks Wrong again. For blood relatives, Jan and I have very different ideas on a good time.

Apparently it wasn’t even a party—it was just a crop, which is more like a soiree…with pinking shears. Women of all ages (and an occasional token male), drag boxes of photographs and scary looking tools to a crop where they spend time preparing photographs for scrapbooks. By spending time, I mean hours.

Jan assured me this was a short crop—only four hours. Wait. Four hours is short? If four hours is a short time, then what is a long crop? Turns out it’s 12 hours. I kid you not. There are people who can spend 12 straight hours decorating pictures for scrapbooks. Have these people never heard of shoeboxes? (Tossing pictures into shoeboxes is my idea of scrapbooking.) After 12 hours spent slicing and dicing pictures, I would be ready to put a hole in my head. And it wouldn’t be difficult since hole punches are essential crop tools.

I can see why they dropped the word party from this Saturday night event. It’s much easier to justify spending hours with a box cutter or razor blade if you drop the word party. Saying “I’m going to a crop” sounds more like, “I’m off to work an eight-hour shift,” than “I’m off to play with pictures of our summer vacation.”

A crop is a cross between a baby shower and a home demonstration party—the kind where you can buy jewelry, plastic storage containers, skin care, or high-end cheese graters. Croppers seem like people who would let you cut in front of them in line at the grocery if you had nothing but a bag of pre-cut lettuce and a Diet Coke and they had 82 items and a folder full of coupons. Crappers, on the other hand, might not be so nice. But I digress.

Jan supported the rubber stamp end of the crop and her friend Janet was in charge of the scrapbooking part. Together they are Scrampers–a powerful alliance between the rubber stamp confederation and the scrapbooking consortium. I sat between them and added no value whatsoever. Sort of like the peanut butter filling between Nabisco cheese crackers.

To say Jan Hoyt is a rubber stamper is like saying the Pope is sort of religious. Along every wall in her finished basement is shelving stocked with ribbons, markers, card stock, ink pads, glue, and, of course, dozens and dozens of wood-mounted, rubber art stamps. I’m certain I also saw a few one-pound bags of M&Ms–no doubt for medicinal purposes. Jan whipped out a chef’s apron that identified her as a professional stamper who no longer competes on an amateur level. I kept waiting for her to put on special stamping shoes, but those don’t exist—yet.

Wheeling in luggage-sized carriers, half a dozen paper-crimping, bone-folding-addicted women lugged their gear to the crop. All I brought was a pair of nail clippers, but I was only there to audit the class.

I expected to hear a starting pistol signifying the beginning of the four-hour event. Or an incantation like: Romper, Bomper, Stamper Boo. The official launch amounted to nothing more than the “pffft” sound a Tupperware container full of brownies makes when you open the lid. It was good enough for me.

Neophytes to the world of the scramper will gasp at the tools required to do the job right. The most impressive (and frightening) tool of the evening was the crop-a-dile. With pink handles and the jaws of a reptile, it punched eyelets and grommets into the sturdiest of materials—even metal trash cans.

While I have no idea why anyone would need to adorn a metal trash can with eyelets, someone somewhere has convinced crafters that life without the crop-a-dile is meaningless.

I’ll bet it’s the same people who were behind pet rocks.

Rev up some birthday wishes!

2011-04-05T11:37:00.001-05:00

Our church card ministry meets once a month to create a variety of cards to use for church members. At our last gathering, we focused on birthdays. It's SO hard to come up with a nice masculine card....motorcycles are very popular for the young boys as well as the "young at heart" boys on our church birthday list so I used this great motorcyle image which was available as a single stamp sometime over the last year. I don't recall if it's been long enough for the card to be officially 'retired" but suspect it has been...too bad! It's a great stamp but it still makes a quick and easy card! We stamped the bike in black StazOn onto a white panel, sponged some black around the edges and layered it on a black base. The Tempting Turquoise panel was stamped in Turquoise with the Sanded background stamp (109294 $17,95 wood mount only, another great masculine image! item ) to give a little interest and the birthday sentiment from "On Your Birthday" (item 111664 for $33.95 in wood mount only) was stamped in the bottom corner Finally, the turquoise panel was layered onto a folded white base to set off the colors as well as making it much easier to write a greeting inside for the birthday boy. Enjoy! Jan

Back in the saddle again!

2011-04-04T11:35:00.001-05:00

After taking a few weeks off, I am finally back into the blogging saddle again....and I have accummulated quite a few projects to share with you!

This is a beautiful card I made several times last month...I found the lovely card inspiration on Monica Weaver's Add a Little Dazzle website. She does amazing projects with "craft metal", be sure to check out her blog here http://www.addalittledazzle.com/my_weblog/2011/02/good-evening-stampers-i-am-so-glad-to-be-up-and-posting-today-it-has-been-a-veryinteresting-week-in-our-home-this-week-be.html

You will see her Valentine card which inspired the two cards I am sharing today. Obviously, I changed the color scheme and sentiment but other than that it's a very similar card...I used Tempting Turquoise cardstock and the turquoise colored craft metal for this first card on the right. It's a card we made at my March downline meeting as well as at my March stamp club gathering. I think it's safe to say that everyone loved it...including me! Guess who will be getting this card for Mother's Day next month? Sssh, don't tell my Mom...I like to surprise her!

The background for both of these samples was stamped "tone on tone" (using the same color of ink and cardstock)with the flourish image from Bliss, a great stamp set which was available as a free gift with minimum purchase during the recent Sale-A-Bration promotion. I loved this stamp and will miss using it on current projects but I believe this one will remain in my stamping arsenal for personal use long after SAB is over.

The craft metal used for the accent panel is a very thin metal product, a wee bit heavier than a good quality brand of heavy duty aluminum foil but very soft so it runs thru the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder as easily as cardstock...leaves a great embossed pattern and can be sanded to show the plain silver color underneath. Isn't that fun? And such a nice contrast! If you get messed up and run it thru the folder backwards so the wallpaper image is debossed (pointing down) instead of embossed (raised up) then don't worry! The metal is very forgiving. Just use a bone folder (or a Pampered Chef pan scraper will do in a pinch!) and smooth it back out then flip it over and run it thru again to get the color on the raised portion so you can sand it off. Please don't ask me how I know this...ha! ha! When sanding, be very gentle and go in one direction only instead of scrubbing back and forth so the metal doesn't tear. Don't ask me how I know this either! ;-)

To get the "levi tag" look (picture the little tab on the back pocket of your favorite Levi's jeans) I used the Designer Label punch. Because I can punch straight much better than I can stamp straight, I stamped the sentiment first on a scrap of cardstock toward the edge then punched it out using the Designer Label punch. For the Levi Tag look, you don't even need to punch the entire piece, so save a tree and just use a scrap and punch toward the bottom of the label punch so your sentiment will be visible on the bottom edge. I sponged around the edge with black then tucked that piece under the embossed panel. Slick idea, eh? Not mine but I have seen it done quite a lot around the stamping community lately and figured I would try it too.

The cute little butterfly is one of the multiple butterfly shapes on the Beautiful Butterflies embosslit....just crank it thru the Big Shot and you get butterfly images which are not only embossed but also cut out for you! On both of these cards, I cut the butterfly out of the turquoise colored craft metal and sanded it with a sanding block to remove the color and show the silver underneath, Gives it a little more personality, don't you think? The butterfly attaches easily with a snippet of a Stampin' Dimensional...I use the partial pieces along the side edge of the dimensionals for this type of project. they fit perfectly without trimming so I use them down to the last scrap.

Now, some of you may be thinking that I attached the butterfly sideways or posted the photo sideways but keep in mind this is a Levi Tag card so it is supposed to have the writing tacked onto the side (again I refer you to the Levi tag on a pair of jeans, preferably worn by a cute guy with a nice butt?) so really this card wasn't bungled and done sideways. That has happened to me many times, but this time it was intentional!

Here is another version of the same card layout, this time done using cardstock instead of craft metal in the side panel of the card. I wanted to re-create the same look for a workshop of my regular stamping customers who are experienced stampers so I cut everything the same but substituted a cardstock panel which I first ran thru the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, then we inked up a brayer with Black StazOn ink and very gently (using no more pressure than the weight of the brayer) brayered black ink over the panel. The raised portions caught the ink and the flat cardstock was unchanged. Take a little practice to get the "pressure" right but it has a great vintage look and a few black smudges here and there just add to the vintage style, right? Sometimes grunge is good...that's my story and I am sticking with it!

Everything else on the card is essentially the same. Hope you have enjoyed it and I look forward to sharing some more March projects with you later this week. Happy Stamping! Jan

p.s. I forgot to tell you, if you are looking for craft metal product, I have found the craft metals in various locations....it can be ordered online from various places (just do a google search for craft metal) and I have been told that it's available sometimes in some of the Big Box craft stores (hint...usually the ones that carry fabric and share my first initial!) but I did get mine online.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T21:17:00.001-05:00

Just a quick and cute little "patchwork" card....this is the card that our New Creation Presbyterian Church Card Ministry group made to send out to our college students and deployed military members for the month of March. it uses a little shamrock image from a set of "incentive stamps" (cute little single stamps that demonstrators can purchase to use doorprises and hostess gifts) and a Happy St. Patrick's Day greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes. We stamped the shamrocks and greeting in Garden Green on white cardstock and punched out with a square punch, then layered them on a piece of Garden Green cardstock and attached to a white cardstock base. With several people working on the cards, they went pretty fast....hopefully the kids will get a kick out of the card, it's just nice to have something in your mailbox when you are away from home.

Love those Beautiful Wings Butterflies!

2011-03-07T20:59:00.001-06:00

Yes, I will admit it...I am hooked on the Big Shot! It's hard to make a card without using it in some fashion and this card is no exception....the white cardstock was embossed with the Framed Tulip Embossing frame and the butterfly is from the Beautiful Butterfly embosslit...it cuts out AND embosses the butterflies all at the same time.

So the first photos are VERY similar ...ok, they are identical except for the sentiment on the front. The one on the left says, "with love and caring" and the one on the right says "with deepest sympathy", the one on the bottom photo is a birthday card. That's my favorite thing about stamping....you can make the card appropriate for almost any occasion! Thankfully, I am not currently finding myself in need of a sympathy card....these cards were made for my church group's "Card Ministry" . Some of the ladies at New Creation Presbyterian Church get together once a month and make cards for members of our congregation....birthday, thinking of you, sympathy, welcome and even a "seasonal" card to send each month to our college kids so they know we are thinking about them.

The white cards look so elegant....and I love the look of the Framed Tulips Embossing folder! the Happy Birthday image is from Whimsical Words (I think that's the name of it!) which is a retired set from last year's Occasions mini.

As a group, we managed to get quite a lot of cards done....with the help of the Big Shot it's easy to crank them out fast. We did about a dozen of the butterfly cards, another dozen cupckae birthday cards plus about a dozen St Patrick's Day cards ...don't worry, I will share those later. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed seeing our creations.

Happy Birthday, Cupcake!

2011-03-06T20:34:00.006-06:00

Hard to believe it but my baby brother had another birthday this year...how is it that he keeps getting older but I don't? Anyway, I did manage to call him on his actual birthday to wish him a happy day, but it took me a few days longer to get on the ball and get a card in the mail to him. Happily, I did manage to take a photo of it first!

We did a similar card for our church card ministry this month using some of my favorite retired Stampin' Up! colors...this one used Brilliant Blue, I sure love it paired with Tangerine Tango! It also uses the Create a Cupcake stamp set and punch....the cupcake "icing" was stamped in Chocolate Chip and the paper wrapper is punched out of Tangerine Tango retired Designer Series paper with the finished cupcake layered on a punched out scallop. The white cardstock was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder to add a little interest and the sentiment says "there's something fabulous about your birthday (must be you!)" which is stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched out with the Designer Label punch...I backed it with a layer of Tangerine Tango. You may be wondering how I did that since there is no layering punch for this shape....I cheated a little bit. I punched out 2 extra "designer labels" and cut one in half lengthwise and cut the other in half cross-wise and spread them out enough to attach them underneath the punched out sentiment. It would be great to have a layering punch (slightly bigger!...are you listening Stampin' Up!???) but this will have to do in the meantime.

So, Happy Birthday, Baby Brother! Hope it was a good one and I wish you many many more birthdays!

Eat Chocolate….who can resist that???

2011-03-05T20:08:00.002-06:00

Have you seen the great “Eat Chocolate” set from the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Mini yet? It is PERFECT for housewarming gifts especially if  there is chocolate involved!

I spend way too much time on stamping related internet groups and checking out blogs created by fellow stampers, many of whom are also Stampin’ Up    demos….sometimes I get to meet them in person at Stampin’ Up! events but once in a while, I get to welcome them to my little neck of the Stampin’ woods…..which was the case this week.

One of my demonstrator cyber-friends is an Air Force spouse whod has just relocated from Germany to O’Fallon, Il….we have communicated online a few times over the past few months. During my days as a Navy nurse/military spouse myself I have moved around plenty so I was happy to share a few tips about the area …you know, the usual stuff. Good vet for the puppies, the inside scoop on the local schools, favorite placse to shop, where to get a decent haircut, etc.

As the move date grew closer, I was happy to hear that they found a house just around the corner from me and was anxious to meet my cyber friend at last. They finally arrived this week so I decided to surprise her with a little housewarming gift for the whole family….chocolate!!!   I used a new mini-bundt cake pan (recent Sam’s Club acquisition) to make a batch of brownies and sprinkled them with Confectioner’s Sugar ….they are so pretty that you hate to eat them but they are too good to just look at them. Trust me on that....can you tell that I also made a batch for my family? I haven't officially met Kelly yet but I did leave the chocolate welcome on the door step this afternoon and got to talk to her this evening, we even have a stamping rendevous planned for next week.

Anyway, I was happy to be able to incorporate my favorite new Eat Chocolate stamp set to decorate the housewarming gift! A little Rose Red double stitched ribbon to attach a little bow (ok, so it’s a knot…I am “impaired” when it comes to tying a nice bow) and little gift tag...i says Eat Chocolate, Do Laundry, Clean House and there is a check in the box by Eat Chocolate, at the bottom it says, “at least you’ll get something done today!” . On the little gift enclosure card (I even found my 3x3 envelopes!) the stamp has a piece of chooclate with sprinkles and it says…”Everyone needs a friend with chocolate…I am that friend”.
My family enjoyed their little chocolate treat this evening (my youngest son just got home from school for Spring Break so the timing was good) and I'm hoping my friend Kelly and her family are enjoying a chocolate treat, too! Welcome to the neighborhood, Kelly… I hope you like it here!

Tulip Frame with a Twist

2011-02-26T13:41:00.002-06:00

This is a very simple little card...but it uses theFramed Tulip embossing folder with a bit of a twist. I found a blog somewhere (sorry, but I can't remember whose...I will share it later if I remember) where the blogger shared a way to adapt the folder to smaller sizes of cardstock. The folder is designed to accommodate a 4"x5.25" piece of cardstock to make a perfect frame....beautiful and very useful but not versatile.

Anyway, using her trick for the folder it's possible to emboss different sizes of cardstock so I used it to make a 4x4 size card. This was sponged with pink and I stamped the Thanks for Caring sentiment and punched it out then layered it with the Designer Label punch, added a little pink butterfly in the corner and voila, the card is done!

To achieve the framed look in different sizes, you just make sure to cut the cardstock so that one of the sides is either 4" or 5.25". Put it into the folder at one of the corners and run it thru the Big Shot, it will emboss 2 sides of the cardstock. Removed the embossed piece (remember just 2 sides have been embossed) and move it so that the blank corners of the cardstock are lined up with the opposite corners of the embossing folder. Line up the existing embossed pattern so that it slips into the grooves of the folder (you will know when it slips in perfectly) then feed the embossing folder back into the Big Shot, this time just advance it about an inch to avoid flattening out the previously embossed areas.

It sounds confusing but it's really easy to do....and it gives you more options for the Framed Tulip folder! Another great look I have seen is to lay your cardstock across the folder sideways so none of the corners are covered...run it thru the Big Shot and you get a great embossed double border...quick and cute!

ETA: Ok, it was driving me nuts so I went back and did a search for a video tutorial using this technique so you could see it. I have NO idea who originally thought up this clever idea but this particular video was done by a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator known on the internet as "butternutsage" and here is a link to her video, you can also click the hyperlink in my blog title to get there. I think! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlVfP7e7mTw

Read any good books lately?

2011-02-24T18:15:00.001-06:00

I enjoy reading and am currently in the process of reading a very interesting book for a book study group with some friends from church, For our first book we chose “Bad Girls of the Bible (and what we can learn from them)” by Liz Curtis Higgs. It’s a very interesting read and I’m liking the book quite a lot so far. Since I am obsessed with stamping and look for any excuse to stamp, it was no surprise to anyone that I couldn’t resist stamping some cute little bookmarks for the gals in my group… What do you think? Bookmarks are really quick and easy to make as well as a handy little gift for a friend.

I got the idea from a chat “thread” on an online demonstrator only group in a discussion on easy make and take projects for demonstrators participating in craft fairs and since I already had the Two Tags Sizzix diecut and a great alphabet set, I figured “why not?”.

This is a close up of one of the bookmarks….I used the beautiful Broadstreet alpha set to stamp the initials of each friend, the sentiment is from God’s Blessings stamp set, which I thought would be appropriate for a church book study. What do you think?

The ribbon used is a retired Stampin’ Up! product but an exact match for the Melon Mambo cardstock…and I just LOVE the polka dots! I have a hard time getting rid of my favorite stashed items so it’s fun when I can pull them out and use them for personal project. Oh, how I miss the polka dots!

what a cool personalized monogram card!

2011-02-22T21:14:00.001-06:00

I had a great opportunity to get together and chat with some new friends who are very talented Stampin' Up! demonstrators. While chatting, we were sharing some of our favorite cards and I had to take pictures of this particular project. It was a gift to my new friend Peggy from her out of state upline Kimberly ... I loved the simplicity of it along elegance of the embossing folder and the Broadstreet alpha monogram so I thought you might like to see it too. Please disregard the "stamped by Jan Hoyt" image at the bottom of the card, that's the way I include the required Stampin' Up! copyright on the photo...I didn't create this card but I sure plan to make some similar cards using the letter "J"...for me!

Guest Stamper Charlotte Hollingsworth!

2011-02-21T21:03:00.001-06:00

Isn't this a beautiful card? I met a new demo friend earlier this week and in the course of sharing some stamped artwork, she showed me this lovely card done with the Nature Walk stamp set....if I had realized the stamp set had an image of Lilies of the Valley I might have purchased it but the giant bird sort of overshadowed the rest of it for me....yep, not a bird person here, I guess I was scarred for life by the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds when I was a kid. Anyway, thankfully Charlotte does not have issues with birds and made this lovely card which she was willing to share with me. Please disregard the "handstamped by Jan Hoyt" portion of the picture...that's how I put the required Stampin' Up! copyright on my photos, I didn't really stamp this card, it was all Charlotte so thanks for sharing it with me and all of my blog readers, Charlotte!

Mmmmm….chocolate!

2011-02-20T18:54:00.001-06:00

Yes, who doesn’t love chocolate? And the “Eat Chocolate” set from the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Mini really hits the spot when you have a chocolate craving…the best part is that it’s totally fat free and calorie free. Yum!
This was one of the cards we made at a workshop the other night hosted by Georgia…we had over a dozen people there and lots of chocolate in addition to the card. This one used the Eat Chocolate set…the chocolate image says “I would give up chocolate, but I’m no quitter” and it was inked up in Early Espresso then a blender pen was used to remove the ink from the top of the candy pieces and the “icing” was added with a Melon Mambo marker. The stamped image was punched out with the Decorative Label punch (one of many of my favorite Stampin’ Up! punches!) and layered onto a piece of Blushing Bride/Pretty in Pink polka dot patterned paper from the In Colors Designer Series paper pack. The Early Espresso cardstock piece was run through the Framed Tulip embossing folder (don’t you love that new folder?!) then a length of Pretty in Pink satin ribbon was wrapped around that piece and knotted before attaching it to Pretty in Pink card base. Inside was stamped another of the chocolate images from the same set which says “all you need in life is a friend with chocolate….I am that friend”.
This set will be available through the end of April while the Occasions mini is active….after that, who knows? So if you like chocolate like I like chocolate, don’t let this one get away!

Happy Birthday, Susan!

2011-02-19T20:48:00.000-06:00

Yep, my OLDER sister celebrates a birthday today....not sure if she got her b-day card in time or not but at least I managed to get it in the mail several days ahead of schedule. Not my usual "modus operandi"...but I guess that's what happens when your maiden name is DeLay.

Anyway, here is my sister's card....coincidentally it also happens to be very similar to the card we did at my stamp club meeting this month, but please don't tell her that. ;-) I got the inspiration for this card from a very talented Stampin' Up! demo, Mary Fish of Stampin' Pretty Pals fame. I loved her brilliant idea of using the free Designer Series Paper from the Ice Cream Parlour paper pack with the Tasteful Trim Sizzix XL die to make the colorful background for the card. The strips of DSP were diecut with the smallest "ric-rac" option and then glued onto the background with a 2 way glue pen....easier and less messy than a Snail or a gluestick.

The Create a Cupcake stamp set and matching cupcake punch make the focal point for this card so easy and fast ....the cupcake wrapper was punched out of pink striped DSP and the "icing" was stamped in Tangerine Tango and punched out, it fits just fine on punch out of the 2.5 inch circle punch which layers nicely with the 2 3/8th inch scallop circle. Layered on Pacific Point and then a base layer of folded white cardstock, it makes a nice colorful birthday card...sure hope that my sister thinks so, too.

Vintage Butterfly Bliss

2011-02-19T17:14:00.002-06:00

I don’t usually do the “vintage” thing but when I saw this stamp set I had a hard time resisting it…I just love the flourish/curli-que thing from the stamp set “Bliss” which is one of the FREE sets you can earn with a $50 Stampin’ Up! purchase during “Sale-a-Bration”.

Don’t you love the gathered ribbon at the bottom? I have seen a lot of examples of this on various blogs but hadn’t tried it until yesterday. It’s easy! And looks great on a vintage style card, don’t you think? The trick is using the right kind of ribbon….the seam binding in the Occasions Mini works great! Just measure the length of the card you’re putting the ribbon on and then double that length. Tie a loose knot in one end of the ribbon (to keep the gathering from sliding out the end, I guess?) then pluck a thread from the other end and start pulling the thread until you see it “wrinkling” up, keep pulling the ruffles/gathering down to the end until you’re happy with the look of it then lay a line of adhesive along the edge where you want the ribbon. You can adjust the ribbon as you stick it down the adhesive until you have it to your liking…thankfully it will pull back up if you need to re-arrange it and it will still stick to the adhesive when you put it back down. Be sure to apply some adhesive on the back of the card so you can hide the ends of the ribbon. The top layer of Crumb Cake cardstock was cut slightly smaller than the base and sponged around the edge with Early Espresso then attached to a standard size crumb cake base.
Please bear with me, I am experimenting with Windows Live Writer for my blog post and have never used that program before. So far, so good…at least it seems so!
Details for the rest of this card as follows:
Crumb Cake cardstock, Early Espresso Ink, Crumb Cake seam binding and a little self adhesive pearl in the center of the stamped image. The butterfly is stamped with Tangerine Tango….sure wish there was a punch for this butterfly but no such luck, so I had to trim it out with scissors and attached it with a Stampin’ Dimensional. This was the first time I used the self adhesive pearls…they are awesome! Here is a close up view of the pearl...it doesn't show up as well as I had hoped but maybe it's easier to see in this photo.

I demo’ed this card at Georgia’s workshop last night… hope she and her guests liked it as much as I did! Below is a simplified version of the card which we did at the Simply Stampin’ 3-4-5 library class earlier this week. This card has the same elements, just done in a more simplified fashion... the Crumb Cake seam binding is tied at the top of the card and there's a Get Well sentiment on this one.
Now, let’s hope that I can figure out how to load this blog post with the new program…if you are reading this you’ll already know the answer!

"Thanks for Caring" butterfly sympathy card

2011-02-16T21:36:00.000-06:00

Here we go! I am getting back to my blog after two weeks...where does the time go? Apparently it flies even faster than this little butterfly! But I am back and I have a new card to show you...this is a VERY easy and fast card but I love the elegance of the white on white coupled with the Framed Tulip embossing folder...does it get any easier? The little butterfly was made using the Beautiful Wings embosslit (a great little Sizzix die which cuts out the same and embosses a pattern into the paper at the same time) which I embossed on pink Designer Series paper (Pink Pirouette from the In Colors Designer Paper Pack) then sponged around the edges and over the embossed portions using Regal Rose classic ink. The "with deepest sympathy" sentiment is from Thanks for Caring, an elegant new set in the Occasions mini. I ordered that at the first opportunity because I knew this beautiful set would come in handy...there are several other sentiments included, not all are sympathy only, some would be suitable for thinking of you or get well cards but are definitely appropriate for sympathy as well. Inside is a nice verse and I stamped a little butterfly from the set on the back of the card instead of my "handstamped by" stamp.

This is one of the three cards we'll be making tomorrow afternoon at my Simply Stampin' 3-4-5 (3 cards for $5) "meetup.com" group library class at the O'Fallon, IL library. I appreciate RSVP's in advance but I usually bring a couple of extra packets to class....if you are local and decide you'd like to attend please drop me a note at inkerzaway@aol.com to let me know and I will bring a packet for you. Just bring your own adhesive to use at class, I provide everything else. If you can't make it tomorrow, plan to join us next month at class. We meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month...next time is March 17th. You never know...we might stamp something green!

Coaster Calendar project

2011-02-01T17:04:00.002-06:00

Here it is....the final project from my Filled With Love valentine class. this particular project doesn't even have any stamping on it, but it didn't need it. Of course, you could always stamp a little heart or two in the corner if you wanted to but I tried to keep this more on the generic side since it's not just a Valentine project.

To make this quick and easy calendar, all you need is some great Designer Series patterned paper (I used the polka dot pattern from the Filled With Love bundle, a little ribbon, 4 jumbo eyelets and a mini calendar. I got this from a bulk buy put together by a friend but if you do a google search for mini calendars, you should be able to find some easily. The coasters I used were rectangular (approx 4" x 6") which cost a little more than square ones but they are worth it because this is so cute! This would work with standard 4" square coasters as well.

The jumbo eyelets (they show up a little bit better in the second photo) act as the "hinge" holding the two coasters together like a tent so it is freestanding. I saw this style of calendar on the blog of Angie Juda, a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator a few months ago and thought it would be a fun project. I was right...so cute and easy, who can resist it? You can see more of her beautiful projects on her blog , she even has a little video if you are a "visual" person. There is a link to her site below if you want to have a peek. http://www.mychicnscratch.com/2010/12/rectangle-coaster-calendar.html

So, to make this project, measure your coasters and cut the DSP to size, round the corners and grab your gluestick to adhere the paper to the coasters. I found that putting glue on both the coaster and the back of the DSP helped the paper slide a bit and gave me a little "wiggle room" when adhering the paper, if you end up with any edges overhanging the coaster you can buff them off with a sanding block once the glue is thoroughly dry. Use the CropADile (CAD) to punch your eyelet holes (punch the first hole then go back and punch another half a hole to enlarge the hole just a smidge...it ends up being about 1.5 holes if you want to be technical) then set the eyelets. The CAD makes it easy to set a thick eyelet and you don't even have to squeeze it very hard. Once you have your eyelets in place thread your choice of ribbon (I used Old Olive for the one in the picture) thru from the front eyelet to the back eyelet (to keep from popping the eyelet out of the coaster) and tie the ribbon off in a little knot then do the same on the other side. Now your coaster will stay upright without needing a stand.

The calendar is first attached to a black cardstock mat and then adhered to the front of the calendar. If you want this to last all year, be sure to use Sticky Strip to attach it. So, that's the last project from my class..hope you have enjoyed them. Please stop by again later, I am going to be showing some of the cards that I made to swap at the Leadership conference earlier this month.

A "kiss" for you!

2011-01-31T21:07:00.003-06:00

This card was one of my favorite swap cards from the Stampin' Up! Leadership conference earlier this month....who ever would have thought to punch out a hole for a Hershey's kiss to poke through? So as soon as I saw this darling 3x3 card I knew it would be one of the cards in my Valentine card class. It uses the "Filled With Love " stamp set and Designer Series Paper included in the Filled With Love bundle pack. SO clever!!! I wish I knew who made this card but there was no name on the back of the swap so I am clueless. If this was your card or you recognize the card and know who came up with this idea, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

Here is a close up of the card with the partially opened so you can how it was done...there are several layers. A strip of Very Vanilla then a slightly larger strip of Basic Black which was layered on Designer Series paper with a base of Very Vanilla cardstock underneath.

First you stamp "LOVE" on the vanilla strip. This is one time when the clear mount stamps come in very handy....makes it so easy to line up the image on the narrow strip of cardstock. After stamping, I used the 1" circle punch to punch the center out of the letter "O". Since you can't punch thru very many layers at once I did them one at a time. I used the first layer as a template and laid it in place (without adhesive at this point) and drew a circle around the inside of the opening with a pen. There is still an edge of the black ink remaining after you punch so you don't need to worry about the ink showing and believe it or not the black ink shows up on the Basic Black cardstock. After punching the black piece, I used that as a template for the next punch. The Designer Series Paper is pretty thin so I went ahead and attached it to the Very Vanilla base and punched those together.....but I made sure to avoid getting adhesive in the area I was punching. You'll understand why soon enough, I promise!

Once all the circles have been punched out, you can go ahead and assemble the card then add some Red Satin Ribbon tied in a knot around the top of the card. Don't forget to put a mini glue dot or a Stampin' Dimensional on the bottom of the Hershey's Kiss so it will stick on the cardstock, the card front will open and close over the kiss...how cute is that? I love it!

On the inside, stamp the little tiny image with Feb 14th and a tiny heart in black. Since there is a one inch circle of the red double sided paper leftover after punching, it is perfect for punching out a little tiny heart with the Small Heart punch which then fits perfectly over the heart image in the Feb 14th sentiment. Brilliant! Choose whichever side of the DSP you like and adhere it over the little stamped heart. Isn't that the cutest thing? I love it! I am hosting some friends for a little gathering during the week before Valentine's day and I think I have enough of the DSP left to more of these cards as little table favors for my gathering...maybe I can work on them in between loads of laundry this week, wish me luck?

Glimmer hearts just for you

2011-01-30T20:18:00.002-06:00

Here is the second card from my "Filled With Love" Valentine class....when I first saw the new Red Glimmer paper from Stampin' Up! I wasn't sure what, if anything, I would do with it. I hadn't planned to buy any but SU took care of that...when we attended the Leadership Conference in Nashville earlier this month they gave EACH of us a free package as a
"prize patrol" gift (yes, really....about 1000 squealing demonstrators, just try to imagine that scenario! I'll see if I can find a photo of that to share..but don't hold your breath, I am not know for setting speed records) Anyway, once I had my own Glimmer paper, that was the end of it. Usually I am a bit of a "hoarder" with paper with or without glitter but once I started playing, it was just like they say in the SciFi movies, "resistance is futile". What great stuff! It's shimmery like normal glitter but unlike my favorite Dazzling Diamonds glitter (or the dress I wore at my son's wedding last summer!) it doesn't shed sparkles all over everything. Isn't that great? A little bit goes a long long way but oh my, does it ever brighten up a card!

This particular card was orignally designed by Mary Fish of Stampin' Pretty Pals ( http://www.stampinpretty.typepad.com )

but I changed it up a bit to suit the tools I had available. In the first photo, the sentiment had slipped off a bit and I didn't notice it until after I had uploaded all of the photos to my blog. I only point that out because I didn't want you to think I am a sloppy stamper. But I realized before the class that more than just regular adhesive was needed to keep the sentiment attached to the Glimmer Paper so I tried Stampin' Dimensionals which did the trick nicely, there is a close up of the card to the right. This card used just the right amount of Glimmer Paper....a little rectangle here and a few punched hearts there provided the perfect touch of sparkle. Do you see it all? A rectangle in the middle, a small heart inside the "O" of LOVE and a teeny tiny little heart in the top corner of the punched out XL heart. Rather than waste a square of Glimmer Paper for nothing but punching, I got sneaky and punched the hearts out of a corner of the Glimmer Paper rectangle then hid the punched out portions under the scalloped shape. Pretty sneaky trick. eh? Once in a while my thrifty Welsh heritage comes out and I just can't help myself!

Over here on the right side of the page you can see the inside of the card....I couldn't decide what to use and then I remembered the Word Play stamp set. Sure enough, this little sentiment is the perfect fit for the glitter heart card, I stamped it on the inside with Real Red ink and now this little card is good to go.

Please check back later to see the rest of my projects from the Filled With Love Valentine class...I would love to hear what you think about them and thanks for looking!

Be My Valentine?

2011-01-29T20:08:00.002-06:00

Are you feeling it? Filled With Love, I mean? It's almost February and Valentine's Day is just around the corner so it's time to start working on those hand stamped Valentines. Yesterday I had a great class....afternoon and evening session were both "Filled With Love" and stamping fun. The Filled with Love stamp set, that is. There was a great Stampin' Up! Valentine bundle offered in January which included the "Filled With Love" stamp set, a package of clear buttons and a special pink and red pack of Designer Series paper just begging to be made into a class. So of course, I surfed the web frequently in search of the perfect valentine inspiration for the class and I think I found exactly what I needed.

Thankfully, the Stampin' Up! demonstrator forces were busy making beautiful valentine samples with this great stamp set. This is one of the 4 projects we did at the class and it was "stamplifted" hook, line and sinker from the very talented Angie Juda of "Chic 'N Scratch" fame...thanks so much, Angie for the inspiration. You can check out her great blog at http://www.chicnscratch.typepad.com/ and enjoy her clean and simple style of stamping.

I love the contrast of pink and black, it's so striking! This card used the Filled With Love stamp set and the Heart of Hearts embosslit...a cool little Sizzix toy which cuts and embosses cardstock all in one swipe of the Big Shot as well as the Full Heart XL punch and the small heart punch. I love it when stamp sets are perfectly designed to coordinate with a punch. ..makes it so easy to create quick cards.

Here's the inside of the card ...a little layer of Whisper White cardstock so you can see the stamping and write a little message if you like, or just sign it "Your Secret Admirer". That always gets people wondering! ;-) I chose the Thoughts of you warm my heart sentiment then used the little heart to stamp on either corner of it.

Please check back later for more pictures of the Filled With Love stamp class projects!

Whoooo loves ya?

2011-01-24T20:22:00.001-06:00

While I'm on a roll of posting to my blog, I thought I would share the 3rd project from our January stamp club meeting....this little owl is just too cute! Again, I used the Framed Tulip embossing folder from the new Occasions Mini (I am addicted to embossing folders, I tell ya!) and of course a little snippet of Red Glimmer paper on the large red heart. What a great combo! This card looks like it has a lot of pieces but it actually goes together really fast! Stamp the little owl (from Punch Bunch-- one of our free SAB sets available this year) and punch him out with the 2 step owl punch (118074 for $16.95) then stick him right on the card. I snitched the layout idea of the heart within a heart with the little owl from another talented demonstrator friend, Sarah Wills (aka willsygirl on splitcoast stampers..be sure to go check out her amazing gallery on splitcoast) and then made a few little changes of my own. The owl is doing a bit of a highwire balancing act on a string of hearts from a new Occasions Mini set called Valentine Defined and the Be My Valentine sentiment is from Filled With Love , from the Holiday Mini available as a special bundle for only a few more days. Of course, this little guy ended up framed by tulips (the new embossing folder) The measurements for this card are the same as the embossed hearts card I posted on the 22nd...white layer is 3"x 4 1/8th " and the black layer is 3 1/8th" by 4 1/4th ...makes them nestle down perfecting into that tulip frame..ya gotta love it! The red panel is 4" x 5.25" so it fit perfectly into the tulip folder then layered onto a folded white card....quick and easy!

Valentine treast, anyone?

2011-01-23T19:43:00.001-06:00

Wouldn't you love to get a sweet treat like this for Valentine's Day and in one of these cute little packets? Even better! I received this as a swap at a stamping conference earlier this month Barbara Faulkner, another Stampin' Up! demonstrator. Isn't this adorable? Well, I thought so and so did my stamp club ladies....most of the treats even managed to leave my house with the Ghiradelli chocolate treat intact! To make the treat holder, I had to take it apart to figure out what Barbara had done....she altered the large tag from the Two Tags Sizzix diecut (115954 for $21.95) by folding the cardstock in half and lining the folded edge up with the score line on the diecut to get the tabbed end on both ends of the diecut. Pretty sweet little trick! Folded in half and tied up with a bit of White Taffetta ribbon and after that, it was easy! For the decoration on the outside, I stamped the three hearts image from I Heart Hearts and punched it out with the Heart to Heart punch...easy peasy! I did make a little substitution by punching out a small glittery red heart using the Small Heart punch (117193 $5.95). I love that red glitter paper....didn't plan on getting any but received a package as a gift from Stampin' Up! at the Leadership conference so thank you, SU! It's officially called Glimmer Paper and oh my, does this stuff sparkle! It's in the Occasions mini on page 5 and it's perfect for Valentine's! (121790 , two 12x12 sheets for $3.95) The best part, besides the sparkle, is that it doesn't dull your cutting blade nor does it shed sparkle all over everything. To finish off the project, she made a cute little pennant "banner" using the Happy Valentine's Day from Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370 $36.95) for a set of a bazzillion ! Ok, so officially that would be a set of 24 but honestly, that set has a stamp for every occasion! I use it all the time and it makes a great little pennant! Thanks, Barbara for the inspiration!

January stamp club...great start of SAB!

2011-01-22T19:43:00.001-06:00

Anyone interested in the world of Stampin' Up! stamping probably already knows that Stampin' Up!'s biggest promotion of the year will be kicking off in a matter of days so, when my stamp club ladies met yesterday, they opted to hold their order for just a few days to allow anyone who wanted to get a free Sale-a-Bration set with this month's order. With every purchase of $50, you can select a free exclusive limited time set from the SAB mini OR one of the alternative sets from the big catalogue listed on the back of the SAB book.

So, how about a little peek for those of you who aren't in my stamp club or are in my club but didn't make it this month? Well, ok...if you must! We did three projects this month...with Valentine's Day coming I had to squeeze in an extra little candy wrapper, what can I say?

Anyway, here is project #1...it uses an interesting technique with the Big Shot and the Square Lattice embossing folder. I love it....and must confess that lately I seem to have trouble making a card without using my Big Shot in one way or another, I guess it's a sickness? ;-)

For this card we used a lot of white cardstock but I think it has a nice bright effect. First we used scrap cardstock (Whisper White) and stamped the three heart image from the I Heart Hearts stamp set several times, then used the 3 heart punch to punch them all out....easy enough so far, right? Using a piece of white cardstock as a base, we used a gluestick to adhere the hearts randomly onto the front panel. I'll share the measurements at the end of this post, I promise! Don't be afraid to let some of the hearts hang over the edge, you can trim them off before you run it thru the embossing folder and it will add to the natural look of the finished project. If it seems a little empty, you can use the tiny little heart stamp to fill in any holes...you won't be able to tell on the finished card. Once you have finished attaching the hearts and have them where you want them, pop that layer into the embossing folder and run it through...you will be amazed at how different it looks after it's been texturized...as though the punched out pieces are part of the original paper! After the embossing, we finished off the card by adhering it onto a panel of black cardstock then tying a bit of Poppy Parade ribbon around the whole layer before attaching it to the front of a folded white card. But wait, are you noticing something a little different about this particular white card? Yes, I thought so...it has been run through another embossing folder...this one is new in the Occasions mini catalogue and it's a beauty! The tulip embossing folder is my new favorite folder....right up there with the Perfect Polka Dots and the Square Lattice folders, of course! I love the way the stamped panel fits perfectly into the tulip frame, don't you? For a little extra detail, I added a Valentine sentiment from a new stamp set, Valentine Definied from the Occasions Mini ..it says "love" stamped in black on Poppy Parade, punched out with the large oval punch and popped up on some Stampin' Dimensionals (sometimes known as "pop dots"!) but you could use any Valentine sentiment you prefer. So, I hope that you liked this card...now here are the details!

stamp sets:: I Heart Hearts (117010 wood mount $26.95 or clear mount 118571 $18.95)

Valentine Defined (121941 wood mount $26.95 or clear mount 123057 $18,95)

Square Lattice embossing folder 119976 $7.95

Framed Tulips embossing folder 121809 $7.95 (new in the Occasions Mini!)

Heart to Heart Extra Large punch 119881 $16.95

Large oval punch 119855 $15.95

Poppy Parade 1/2" stitched poly twill ribbon 119263 $$8.95

Poppy Parade (In Color) cardstock 119793 $6.95

Poppy Parade classic ink 119782 $5.95

stamped/embossed white panel 3" x 4 1/8th "

black panel 3 1/8th " x 4.25"

White cardstock 5.5" x 8.4" (scored and folded in half)

Stay tuned for some of the other projects coming to you soon! Now, if you are interested in finding out where I learned about this interesting technique, here is a link to a project made by Lyssa, one of my stamping buddies ...here is a link to Lyssa's blog with another great sample of the inlaid embossingm she even included a photo tutorial of how to do this on her blog....go check it out and tell her I sent ya!

http://songofmyheartstampers.typepad.com/song_of_my_heart_stampers/2010/09/photo-tutorial-inset-embossing-folder-technique.html

Snow Day!

2011-01-20T10:38:00.002-06:00

Old Man Winter came to visit in O'Fallon, IL overnight....about 8 inches of snow when I woke up and it's still coming down. The outside scenery is beautiful BUT it makes it hard to get to stamp class so my Simply Stampin' 3-4-5 class at the library was cancelled for today, I am going to call the library tomorrow to see if I can reschedule the classroom for a day next week so we can make our Valentines. If you are on my meetup.com group, watch for updates there!

As you can see, my dogs love romping in the snow...here's one of them checking it out, but for an 80 lb dog she sure looks small in all that snow!

Before I shoveled the snow off the desk, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the table piled high with snow...the ruler shows only 6 inches but it sure seemed like more from my end of the shovel!

all done...and it's only Dec 18th!

2010-12-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

Yes, believe it or not, I have managed to finish the Christmas cards early this year....it's only December 18th! Of course, we still have to iron out the Christmas "family gram" and update the addresses but having the cards finished is a very good start! Have I ever mentioned that I am a bit of a procrastinator?

I started the cards back in September during a 'girls' getaway" week and finally pulled them out and got them finished up this week. With any luck they will be in the mail and postmarked by Christmas Eve but as far as I'm concerned anything postmarked in December is still way ahead of my usual schedule.

Here is a picture of all 93 cards I made....had to let them stand and dry for a bit because I used metallic ink on them and didn't want them to smear. Isn't this a magnificent sight?

Of course, I cased the card idea...it's been so long that I can't even remember where I saw the original but I think it was from a Founders Circle swap which someone shared on a blog or maybe on the Stampin' Connection (demonstrator only Stampin' Up! web gallery ), I tweaked it a little bit here and there but it sure is a pretty card done with the metallic gold cardstock!

The card uses the Tags Till Christmas set, the Northern Flurry and Perfect Polka Dot embossing folders and the Decorative Label punch. Merry Christmas, everyone! .

Thank you, Stampin' Up!

2010-12-14T14:14:00.001-06:00

Stampin' Up! Rocks! Yesterday, our very own Shelli Gardner (co-founder and boss at Stampin' Up!) appeared live on the Today Show and presented some awesome crafting supplies as gifts for the Today Show's Holiday Toy Drive. I think this is the 6th year Stampin' Up! has participated...hats off to Shelli and SU! Here is a link to the video for anyone who missed it yesterday.

Click here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/40641296#40641296

Button, Button...who's got the button? (sneak peek preview from Occasions Mini)

2010-12-14T06:56:00.012-06:00

Do you love "sneak peeks" of cards as much as I do? This card was one I made over the week-end using some of my new stamps from the upcoming Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini. The only kind of stamps I like better than sneak peek stamps are free stamps and I earned this set for FREE from Stampin' Up! for participating in a "book-a-thon" in November. I can't explain why but for some reason, it's hard for me to pick up the phone and call people to ask if they are interested in hosting a party so I was pretty thrilled to end up booking not one, not two but THREE workshops during the "book-a-thon". Stampin' Up! was pretty happy with the overall results achieved by demonstrators because we hit our collective goal and as a treat any demonstrator who booked at least one workshop/home party earned this set for free.

This card is from the upcoming new Occasions mini catalogue making it the perfect choice to use for a card swap with my Inkerzaway stamping team members when we met this past weekend for our December team meeting. I went with the old standby of the "one sheet wonder" (OSW) for this swap....I started out thinking I would "case" (copy and slightly edit!) a card I saw online but it ended up evolving into the OSW card which you see below. I love the color combo of Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie and Pear Pizzazz. I layered the stamped sheet on Night of Navy cardstock,embellished it with a "ribbon" of Pumpkin Pie cardstock created with the ribbon border punch and added a sentiment from Word Play stamp set. This was punched out with the wide oval punch and layered it on a piece of Night of Navy cardstock diecut with my favorite tag from the Sizzix Lots of Tags set. The nice thing about a paper ribbon is that you can make it any color you want and it won't add bulk to your card and require extra postage...how great is that?

As you can see from the above pictures....I made a batch of the cards for this swap but they went pretty fast because they are very simple cards....amazingly I even finished the cards a whole day ahead of swap time, a rare accomplishment for this procrastinator! I chose the "get well" sentiment because I wanted to use the wide oval punch and it fit that punch to a tee. Any other sentiment would work just as well and turn it instantly into a b-day, thinking of you or whatever kind of card you prefer.

I'm feeling the butterflies....OR do you color coordinate postage stamps with your cardstock?

2010-12-13T06:53:00.001-06:00

I know, I know....you probably think I'm crazy! But seriously, I didn't do this on purpose and no, I don't USUALLY color coordinate my postage stamps with my cardstock but when serendipity happened I couldn't resist taking a picture of it! The Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie cardstock colors are perfect Fall colors and what you are seeing in this picture is my Thanksgiving cards stacked up and ready to mail out....now, don't worry, I did mail them BEFORE Thanksgiving and when I had them stacked on the kitchen counter ready to mail I couldn't help but notice how perfect the butterfly stamps were with the cards. These are 64 cent stamps which is the amount of postage required to send "non-machineable" cards with clear envelopes, bulky "embellishments" or both...and I love the butterflies!!!

I went to bed early last night (totally unlike me!) so when I spontaneously woke up at 0430 this morning (also totally unlike me! didn't want you to worry that I had lost my mind and actually set my alarm for that outrageous hour) I figured that I would just get up rather than staying in bed. So, I shoveled off the clutter on the kitchen counters and island (does that stuff just grow there overnight?) then figured I would update my blog and upload photos I took yesterday. When I uploaded the photos, I stumbled across this pics taken just prior to Thanksgiving so that is why you are just now seeing this. Scroll down to the next post if you want to see the front of these cards.

Are you tired of raking leaves?

2010-12-07T21:17:00.002-06:00

We live in the Midwest in an nice well established neighborhood with lots of trees. 11 months out of the year, that is a very good thing....but this time of year it means we are raking LOTS of leaves! My house is at the bottom of a hill at a 3 way "T" intersection so quite often we find leaves in our yard which don't even match any of our own trees...just one of the unavoidable joys of living at the end of the street in beautiful O'Fallon, IL. Maybe I am just noticing it more now that our 3 boys are all grown up and I can't make them go rake the leaves?

Since we have raked the yard several times already this year, it may seem odd that I picked this particular card with images of falling leaves for one of my November stamp club projects but it was fun looking at the colors of the fallen leaves in my front yard and using them as ideas for coloring these great leaves. I snitched this card hook, line and sinker from my friend Connie Babbert's blog...she is one of those talented people who seems to come up with ideas and makes it look effortless. I am merely a good copycat but the end result is the same...a beautiful card done with the Autumn Splendor stamp set and a sentiment from Grateful Greetings. I also used the Sanded stamp tone on tone with Pumpkin Pie ink to give a little interest to the background. The leaves were stamped with bleach (yep, plain old Chlorox laundry bleach...just make sure it's fresh!) then colored with Stampin' Pastels (chalks) for a nice soft look on a dark background. Thanks Connie, for inspiring this CASE...not only did I use it for stamp club but I made up a few extras and sent them out to family members for my Thanksgiving card this year.

And now, for those who think I was exaggerating about the leaves....here are a few photos of our early Nov leave raking adventures! The handsome gentleman in the photos is my charming husband who doubles as the yard /cabana boy on occasion. The day we took these pictures the yard was full of leaves and by the end it was lookin' good...we had a brisk wind come up overnight and by the next day you couldn't tell we had done a thing! lol!

Oh Dasher, my Dasher! OR who's YOUR favorite reindeer?

2010-12-06T08:00:00.001-06:00

When I was a kid, Rudolf always seemed like the star of the show for Santa's reindeer but lately Dasher has become my favorite. Could it have anything to do with this cute little Stampin' Up! single stamp called Dasher? He is the cutest reindeer in town!

Here he is stamped in Soft Suede inside an embossed oval frame. Isn't this cool? By using my Petals a Plenty embossing folder and a little trick shared with me by fellow demonstrator Patty Bennett, I learned how to "omit" the embossing on the center of the card leaving a nice smooth surface for stamping. Couldn't resist accenting the embossed flowers arund the outside of the frame with some little Cherry Cobbler dots then layering it on Cherry Cobbler before attaching to a folded white card. with a bit of Cherry Cobbler seam binding wrapped around the bottom and tied in a nice masculine reindeer knot. Ok, so it's just a regular old knot...but they seem more masculine than tying a bow and that is so much easier anyway since I am "bow impaired" and have a hard time tying a nice bow most of the time...or would that be all of the time?

Anyway, I will be featuring this card at my meetup group's Simply Stampin' class at the O'Fallon, IL library on Thursday, Dec 16th. I would love it if you would like to join us, just RSVP at least 24 hours in advance, we will make 3 simple cards with envelopes for $5. Just try beating that at the local card shop, eh?

Happy I Do Day wedding card

2010-12-05T20:14:00.001-06:00

My best friend's daughter is getting married today so who could resist making a wedding card in her wedding colors of pink and silver to go with the gift. It's a winter wedding, so why not a few snowflakes? I used a tiny rhinestone to accent the engagement ring in the sentiment then couldn't resist adding some more bling to the centers of the snowflakes.

The card was VERY easy to make...I put it together yesteday after I finished getting ready for a class and before anyone arrived to get started. I had intended to do a much more complicated card with the Sizzis pop up cake die altered to be a wedding cake but, in my usual style, I completely ran out of time so, this card is simple but at least it's an original which doesn't happen all that often. ;-)

Love the extra shine you get with glossy white cardstock so I embossed the Northern Flurry Sizzix embossing folder on a 4"x5.25" piece of glossy white and sponged some Pirouette Pink ink around the edges and over the popped up snowflakes. The pink background layer was diecut using the Sizzix sizzlet from Lots of Tags then I stamped the Happy I Do Day sentiment (from Word Play) in silver and punched it out with the wide oval punch. The white embossed cardfront is layered onto Pirouette Pink cardstock. Inside if another lyaer of white with a wedding wishes sentiment stamped in silver and a little room for a personal message. This card was really fun and fast to make, hopefully the bride and her groom will like it.

Love this Medallion stamp!

2010-12-04T20:58:00.000-06:00

I must confess that I bought this Medallion background stamp when it first came out in the 2009 Stampin' Up! Idea book and catalogue but never really used it that much. However, lately I have fallen in love with it due to the versatility of this great image.

Now I ask you, did you see a Christmast wreath when you looked at this stamp? Well, neither did I...but my Canadian Stampin' Up! "sister" Jackie Topa saw it and shared the idea with me so I had to give it a try myself. How fun and easy is this card? All you do is punch out the middle of the wreath with the 2.5" circle punch (hint, stamp the image a little bit off the edge so you can get the punch in far enough to punch out the inside) then stamp a sentiment on the flip side of the cardstock circle you punched out and stick it back into the punched out space.

Of course, you could be like Jackie and use the empty space to hold a photo for a Christmas cards. Click on the link below to see an example of this on her blog Granted, she dressed it up a little with the perfect red bow but you will still see the resemblence. http://jackietopa.typepad.com/addicted_to_stamping/2010/11/photo-card.html

The wreath was stamped in Always Artichoke and a few of the little holes were colored in with Cherry Cobbler marker to resemble berries. The little Merry Christmas sentiment at the bottom right corner is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. My meetup group ladies at the November Simply Stampin' Class at the O'Fallon,IL0 Library really enjoyed making this cute and creative card. If you are interested in finding out when we meet at the library, you can join our group at http://www.meetup.com/.. just search for Stampin' and Scrappin' in O'Fallon, IL, SAFB and surrounding areas and you will automatically be notified of our stamping events. Or just contact me at inkerzaway@aol.com and I will be happy to send you an invitation. We meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 1 PM and make 3 cards for $5, I just need an RSVP at least 24 hrs in advance so I can be prepared with enough supplies. Please check back later this week to see one of the cards we'll be making at the December library class!

They are back and they are bigger!

2010-12-01T22:14:00.000-06:00

Remember the puppy picture I shared back in early September when my son and his wife brought the grandpuppies home to visit? Well, guess what....we saw them again over Thanksgiving and yes, they have definitely gotten bigger! Couldn't resist sharing a picture or two!

They are still stinkin' cute and not fully grown but have picked up one bad habit, apparently they believe the couch is for everyone to sit on. Our two adult labs looks very confused when the puppies were racing around on the couch when they are not extended the same honors. Hard to explain that one! Note the smaller black dog sitting on the couch while the two larger black dogs are wagging tails hopefully? Please disregard any clutter on the table, this is about dogs not my housekeeping skills!

This dog is Lucy being held by my son in hopes that I can get a photo. She looks much bigger when you pick her up then when she is on the floor, or even on the couch. The puppies are a little more than 6 months old now and weigh about 25 lbs each, my son is hoping they won't get too much bigger. We'll see about that!

And the last photo (below) is a picture of me with both pups when they first came to visit over Labor Day week-end.
Thanks for looking!

a little early Christmas gift...

2010-11-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

I was having a little bit of trouble with the lighting but had to go with what I got for this project. In my usual fashion, I thought of something just before it was needed...in this case, I wanted to wrap up a silly little early Christmas gift for my son and his wife to give them when they visited over Thanksgiving week-end. They are newlyweds as of this summer so this will be their first official Christmas together and I found a cute little personalized ornament for their tree this summer. Seemed silly to wait and give it to them after they got home for Christmas because this way they could put it on their first Christmas tree and enjoy it before the holidays.

Anyway, I was on Dawn O's blog (dostamping...there is a link to her blog in the post just before this one if you don't already have it bookmarked) and saw a great video tutorial on how to make a double Fancy Favor box....you simply omit the bottom "flaps" and turn the box upside down. With the tag on the front, it's hard to see but you still get the little scalloped line showing in the middle of the box. I really need to go back and look at that video again, I may have oversimplified...but I was in a pinch to get it done and to be truthful it's a bit of a miracle that I had it finished in time to take a photo before they arrived. I put it on their bed as a little surprise "pillow gift" and hoped they would like it. Better than an Andes mint, right? For the tag I used the pinecone spray to/from tag from Tags Till Christmas which is in the Holiday Mini and still part of a special package bundle, comes with the decorative label punch which is my absolute favorite new punch! Thanks for lookin'!

Fall Foliage...just in "CASE"!

2010-11-27T21:09:00.000-06:00

Finally, I am catching up with some photos of past projects. This awesome card was not only inspired by but completed "cased" (a stampers acronym for "copy and share everything" from Dawn O, a very talented Stampin' Up! demonstrator. You can see her card by clicking on the title of this post (or scroll down to the bottom of the post for a hyperlink). It's hard to see in the photo without squinting but I used one of the clear acrylic blocks as a "shadow stamp" to create a subtle background on the card. It uses Fall Foliage (a great set from the Holiday Mini!) and antique brads as part of the embellishments. I used natural hemp twine on this particular card but I used twill on the cards we did for stamp club, I just ran out before I got around to taking the photo.

So, hopefully you liked my card AND Dawn's....I am still in "thankful mode" and sent these cards out to my family for Thanksgiving. Well, some of my family...I alternated with another card we did using bleach stamping but I'll save that for another day. Thanks for stopping in & be sure to swing by Dawn's blog.
(http://www.dostamping.typepad.com/dostamping_with_dawn/page/3/ It's the Oct 22nd entry if this link doesn't take you directly to that page.

Belated Thanksgiving greetings and some extreme stamping!

2010-11-27T00:13:00.001-06:00

Yes, it's been a crazy month and other than posting some of the great Stampin' Up! specials I have been remiss in sharing any actual artwork. But don't think that means I haven't been stamping because I have had a couple of classes and a club meeting and I actually took photos of some of our projects! As I may have mentioned before, I am not technologically minded and get frustrated with the photography, watermarking etc. Anyway, I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday...we have your youngest at home from school for the holiday and we're looking forward to our "middlest" son and his wife dropping in to join us tomorrow before they head back to Oklahoma. You might remember that I mentioned they visited back in September along with their adorable puppies so we are looking forward to seeing them all for a little bit. Our oldest son and his wife are getting the Reader's Digest condensed version of military life as they returned from their honeymoon this summer, moved to Japan and he deployed to Iraq almost immediately so they are spending their first holidays separated by miles but together in spirit. We even got a little Thanksgiving video clip from him this morning so this homesick mama felt blessed to hear from and see him. That said, here is a new sample!

So, without any further adieu....this is a really simple card I made with some friends to be sent overseas for Operation Write Hom which is very much like another organization I have mentioned previously called From Our Hearts, both organizations accept donations of blank handmade greeting card then send them overseas to be used by our troops in remote assignments (and I do mean remote!) to send mail home to friends and family.

Don't you think this card would be great for masculine birthdays? I'm thinking of the Jr Hi crowd and maybe even a little older. And definitely perfect for a skateboarding fan!

Does a card get any easier than this? I think not! Working together with two other stampers, we cranked out about 25 of these plus 25 of another card style in less than 2 hours plus had time to work on an additional project. All told,I think that our group made almost 100 cards that morning. And here we are, the whole motley crew (see photo below) working hard on the cards! My friend Lori (in the white shirt, second from the left) volunteers at the community center in Mascoutah, IL so on her volunteer day, she really volunteers! She is standing by to answer the phone, greet the very occasional guest AND stamp cards...she even brings more volunteers! Other volunteers are members of the Scott AFB OSC and a local meet up group of paper crafters.

Clean and simple is my favorite thing when it comes to mass producing cards! This one uses a single stamp called Extreme Skateboarding (#115179 for $8.95) It's a bold image so you have to ink it up good but if you are stamping and it doesn't come out perfectly that's when you pull out your handy dandy matching SU marker and patch it right up...ahh, the joys of matching inkpads and markers! I used up part of my stash of retired textured cardstock from last year's "In Colors"...it's Dusty Durango (sort of a cross between the retired Really Rust and the brand new Cajun Craze) and it looks so sharp with black! Since the textured cardstock has a nice...well, textured finish (duh!) I didn't think it needed anything else other than a layer of black cardstock to make that color pop so I kept it simple. Sponged some Dusty Durango around the edges then layered it on black before attaching to the Dusty Durango base. Of course, you've gotta have a sentiment so I went with a nice birthday phrase from On Your Birthday (item number 111664). This stamp set is $33.95 for a set of 12, but if you have this set I promise that you will never be hurting for an appropriate birthday greeting when you need one!

If you really love a BARGAIN...

2010-11-17T11:16:00.000-06:00

Ok, by now you've all heard that the Starter Kits for joining Stampin' Up are HALF PRICE from November 15-30, 2010. My demo friend Lyssa's friend Stella crunched the numbers and shared what a truly outstanding deal this is! I still can't quite believe it!

Here’s what is in the CUSTOMIZABLE Standard Kit and the value of each:

1. Any $33.95 or lower Stamp Set
2. Any $28.95 or lower Stamp Set
3. Any $18.95 or lower Stamp Set
4. Any $9.95 or lower Stamp Set

Before we go on, note that the $87.50 kit cost has already paid for the 4 sets above valued at $91.80. That means EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IS FREE!!!!!!

5. $19.95 Brights Patterns Designer Series paper stack (OR color of your choice) FREE
6. $16.95 Stampin’ Scrub® FREE
7. $8.95 Whisper White 5/8" satin ribbon (OR ribbon at the same or lower price) FREE
8. $8.95 VersaMark® pad (OR ink pad at the same or lower price) FREE
9. $8.50 Card stock 8-1/2" x 11" (Whisper White OR color of your choice) FREE
10. $7.95 Small Chocolate Songbird Tile Décor Elements® (OR Décor Elements item at the same or lower price) FREE
11. $6.95 Assorted color card stock 8-1/2" x 11" (Getting Started OR assortment of your choice) FREE
12. $6.95 Clear Block C (OR clear block at the same or lower price) FREE
13. $6.95 SNAIL Adhesive® (OR adhesive at the same or lower price) FREE
14. $6.50 Fast Flowers Stampin’ Around® wheel (OR standard wheel of your choice) FREE
15. $5.95 Stampin’ Around Self Inking Handle (standard) FREE
16. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
17. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
18. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
19. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
20. $5.25 Uninked Cartridge (standard) FREE
21. $4.50 Stampin’ Mist® (OR StazOn® Cleaner) FREE
22. $3.95 Stampin’ Dimensionals® FREE
23. $3.50 Stampin’ Write® marker (color of your choice) FREE
24. $3.50 Stampin’ Write® marker (color of your choice) FREE
25. $3.32 Blender pen (single) FREE
26. $2.95 Marina Mist Classic Ink Refill (OR color of your choice) FREE
27. $1.95 Décor Elements Applicator Tool FREE
28. $1.17 Stamping sponge (single) FREE
29. Catalogs ($29.95 for 8), business forms, and other printed materials to get your business off to a great start! FREE

And were you thinking about getting My Digital Studio, maybe for Christmas? Here’s what is in the CUSTOMIZABLE Digital + Kit and the value of each:

1. $79.95 My Digital Studio™ software* (see description of this product below)
2. $8.50 Card stock 8-1/2" x 11" (Whisper White OR color of your choice)

Before we go on, note that the $87.50 kit cost has paid for the My Digital Studio software & card stock above. That means EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IS FREE!!!!!!

3. Any $26.95 or lower Stamp Set FREE
4. Any $18.95 or lower Stamp Set FREE
5. Any $7.95 or lower Stamp Set FREE
6. $16.95 Stampin’ Scrub® FREE
7. $8.95 Brights Designer buttons FREE
8. $7.95 Small Chocolate Songbird Tile Décor Elements® (OR Décor Elements item at the same or lower price) FREE
9. $6.95 Clear Block C (OR clear block at the same or lower price) FREE
10. $6.95 Assorted color card stock 8-1/2" x 11" (Getting Started OR assortment of your choice) FREE
11. $6.95 SNAIL Adhesive® (OR adhesive at the same or lower price FREE
12. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
13. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
14. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
15. $5.95 Classic Stampin’ Pad® (color of your choice) FREE
16. $4.95 Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (OR ribbon at the same or lower price) FREE
17. $4.95 Glue Dots® FREE
18. $4.50 Stampin’ Mist® (OR StazOn® Cleaner) FREE
19. $3.95 Stampin’ Dimensionals® FREE
20. $3.50 Stampin’ Write® marker (color of your choice) FREE
21. $3.50 Stampin’ Write® marker (color of your choice) FREE
22. $1.95 Décor Elements Applicator Tool FREE 23. Catalogs ($29.95 for 8), business forms, and other printed materials to get your business off to a great start! FREE

Seen enough? Call me today--do not wait--(618) 531-3406--and I'll get you started and answer any questions you have about being a hobby or business demo, our low quarterly minimums, and what happens if you don't decide to stick with it. Please keep in mind that you are not required to do a single thing but enjoy your bargain after buying the kit but why wouldn't you want to take advantage of the continued discount as a demonstrator or maybe even share stamping with a few friends? If you are already convinced, just go to http://www.janhoyt.stampinup.net/ and click on Join Now. My authorization password is stamper56 and the whole process will only take you about twenty minutes total if you already know what you want in your kit. If you are a military spouse overseas, you are still eligible for this offer but you can't sign up online, you have to mail in your application. Let me know if you are interested and I will get one out to you today via priority mail.

my new stampin' buddy!

2010-11-09T20:34:00.000-06:00

Yep, even though I spend more time talking and reading about stamping on the internet but sometimes I actually get a chance to get together and play with my friends and their stamps!

Today was one of those days....this is my friend, Pam aka pamelak on splitcoaststampers (otherwise known as SCS). We "know" each other from a Stampin' Up! demonstrator only forum on SCS and today we had a chance to get together and hang out for a bit, stamp a bit and generally just get to know each other. I also met Pam's very sweet husband and daughter...but had to leave before I could met her adorable grandson showed up. However, we squeezed a lot of fun into the time it took my husband to finish 18 holes of golf at a near by golf course! I brought some stamp sets that Pam didn't have (yet!) and she stamped them while I brought some blank cardstock and stamped up a few sheets of images of hers which I don't have. Yet! lol!

Altogether a very pleasant afternoon...I wish I could get together and stamp with ALL of my SCS buddies bu that could take a while...luckily I will get another chance to do just that in January when Stampin' Up! hosts the annual "Leadership Conference" this time in Nashville. You can bet I will be there and looking forward to a chance to hook up with more of my SCS pals as well as some of my SU "family" while I'm there. Don'tt you wish you could join us? Well, it's not too late....let me know if you are interested! Jan

You're Invited...won't you please come?

2010-11-09T12:50:00.000-06:00

I work at a great Family Practice doctors' office in my little (well, maybe not so little?) town in O'Fallon, IL and for the last couple of years I have helped out the staff volunteering to organize the office Christmas party...this year was no exception. This is the "prototype" of the card we'll be sending out this year....I made up a couple of sample cards and took them in for the others to "vote" and we decided on something along the lines of this card. Except we switched it up a little bit and used Concord Crush (a nice rich purple!) for the cardstock layer underneath the silver.

Since we needed to make about 60 cards and fast, I stayed with something easy to mass produce. We used a great silver metallic cardstock for the top layer and embossed that in the Big shot with the new Northern Flurries snowflake embossing folder. the "you're invited' image is from an old SU set long ago retired (I think it was one of the 3 styles of All Year Cheer but can't recall exactly which...I just know that we use the same image year after year on our office Christmas Party invitations). The image fits perfectly in the wide oval punch (anything that can be punched out is a huge timesaving plus for me!) then layered it on one of the tag images in the Sizzix Tag set (it's a set of 4 and this particular one matches the wide oval very nicely) before mounting it onto the silver metallic layer. The You're Invited for this sample was stamped in black then layered onto the black tag, but for our holiday invite we stamped and layered with Concord Crush. After that, the silver layer was adhered to the colored cardstock and finally layered onto a 1/2 sheet of white cardstock scored and folded in half for a standard "invitation size" (A2) card and envelope.

I will snap a photo of the actual invite from this year once they are finished and share it with you later...thanks for looking! And too bad you can't come to the office party...it's always a lot of fun and this year we are back at the Cardinal's clubroom at Busch Stadium in STL. Those nice folks at the Cardinals' stadium really know how to throw a great party!

On Dasher!

2010-11-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

Is this little reindeer not the cutest Christmas stamp you've ever seen? I love him and stamped and embossed in gold, he is just that much cuter! So, when I was thinking of a project to demonstrate the "embossed frame" technique how could I NOT use Dasher?

This embossing folder is called Petals a Plenty and it's great for the embossed frame look,,,I didn't think up this technique but I sure do love it! I got the idea from Patty Bennett, an awesome (and extremely giving) demonstrator in California who got the idea from a swap card she got who got the idea from another crafter somewhere along the way. At any rate, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not sure who thought this up originally but I sure am glad that was lucky enough to see it along the way.

So this particular Dasher? Stamped with Versamark and embossed in gold embossing powder but in a pinch you could get by with stamping him in Soft Suede classic ink and he still looks great! I prefer to stamp first and emboss the floral frame afterward using my Big Shot and the Petals a Plenty embossing folder. That way I can "line up" the oval around the stamped image instead of having to use my Stampamajig (SAMJ) or blinding stamping the image. I cut the white cardstock down a few notches so I could layer it easily...it's on Cherry Cobbler cardstock and then layered again on a folded piece of Whisper White cardstock. Before adhering the Cherry Cobbler down to the white base I attached some Real Red taffetta ribbon around the lower part of the card. For my workshop, we used the Cherry Cobbler seam binding...it matched the Cherry Cobbler cardstock better but we ran out of it at the workshop so when it came time to take photos...well, that's the way it goes.

Anyway, I hope that you like Dasher as well as I do! He's the "Rock Star of Reindeer"!

Finally! I can get my act together!

2010-10-28T21:46:00.000-05:00

Well, no guarantees that it will help me be more organized but at least I finally found a 2011 calendar/planner that I like which fits easily into my purse! I had been ISO a new calendar for some time but couldn't find one like my favorite from two years ago. Apparently they quit making them and last year I re-purposed another planner and stuffed it inside the binder from my old favorite but that poor binder was not going to make it through another year so I had to find a replacement.

Of course, I had been looking since early September with no luck...everything was either too big to fit into my purse, had daily page entries too small to actually write on legibly (as if anything I write is legible!) or didn't allow me to decorate it up a bit to make it my own. Finally, I was browing around in the office supply section at Target this week and decided to sneak a peek into the Dollar Spot area at the front of the store. I have found that it's usually best for me to avoid the bargain bins because I find way too many bargains which then hibernate forever in my "I could stamp on that" stash in the closet of my stamp room. But this week was different, I found the perfect pocket calendar...it has a clear vinyl protector sleeve and BIG spaces inside for me to overschedule myself....and for only $1. As a bonus, I also found a large desktop calendar to hang on the wall in the kitchen for...you guessed it, only $1! That is much better than what I paid last year and now I can start planning my life!

Naturally, that clear plastic sleeve on my pocket planner was just begging to be decorated and since I do my best work in the wee hours of the morning (one of many reasons why I love being in the "Late Night Stampers" group) I went downstairs to play with it when I should have been heading for bed.

Anyway, this is what I came up and I love it! What do you think? I used a sheet of my favorite pattern from the tropical themed decorative paper from this past Summer Mini and stamped the "share what you love" image from the limited edition SU stamp I bought at convention to put on the front. I colored it in with markers to get the birds different colors then punched it out with a Decorative Label punch and backed it with a similar looking "punch"...a little trick I picked up from some demo friends. I'll try to practice until I can enlarge the punched piece a little bit and then maybe I can show you how to do the same. This is that great punch that is in one of the Holiday Bundles for 20% off along with the cute tag set from the Holiday Mini. Gotta love a new punch and a sale! If you haven't checked out the sale yet, just click on the link at the very top of my blog and you can see all of the deals...the sale ends on December 18th. Jan

Rejoicing in Christmas--last card from my Headstart on the Holidays class

2010-10-23T16:42:00.001-05:00

Finally, this is the last card to share from my Headstart on the Holidays class. This card was inspired by a beautiful card made by fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator Jen Timko, I have changed a few of the small details but overall I love the simplicity of this card and the way that puts the focus on Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus instead of on techniques and embellishments. Simple and plain, just like the manger...hope you enjoy the card and thank you, Jen Timko for the inspiration! Rejoicing in Christmas is available in the Holiday Mini, I stamped the image of the Holy Family on Confetti white cardstock using Basic Brown ink then watercolored in their clothing with muted shades of Crumb Cake and Not Quite Navy then went over the coloring with a diluted amount of Frost White shimmer paint using a wet AquaPen to give it a faint shimmer. The star was stamped in More Mustard. I layered the confetti white onto a slightly larger layer of Crumb Cake then mounted it all on a folded halfsheet of Not Quite Navy cardstock. I can hardly stand to leave a card without at least a little bit of embellishment so I tied a strand of natural twine around the spine of the card and voila, consider it done!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the cards that I featured in my 2010 Headstart on the Holidays class....I am planning to offer the class again in November if there is enough interest so if you are local to the O'Fallon, IL area and would like to attend just send me an email or leave me a comment to let me know!

What a great deal!

2010-10-22T20:35:00.000-05:00

Stampin' Up! Holiday Bundles. Save 20%!

Announcing the ABC's of the Perfect Handmade Holiday. Starting TODAY, Stampin' Up! is offering an opportunity to purchase select products--perfect for Amazing cards, Beautiful packaging, and Cherished gifts--at a 20 percent discount!

Click on the link in the title of this post to go to my website if you see something you would like to order. I have info about this special posted in the permanent header just below the title of my blog if you want to see photos and details of the special.

CLICK HERE to open and print the Holiday Bundle List. Includes French and Spanish options.

Things to Remember:

Additional products from current catalogs may be purchased on the same order.

There is no minimum purchase required to participate in this promotion.

You must use the bundle item codes provided. The 20 percent discount will not be applied if individual bundle item numbers are entered separately.

Delightful Decorations....another Christmas card from my Headstart on the Holidays class

2010-10-22T19:17:00.002-05:00

This card was so easy....such a tiny bit of stamping that it almost seems wrong to call it "handstamped" but with just enough ink to qualify. In this case, a punch helped "perk" this card up a bit. This card combines Cherry Cobbler cardstock and ink with a layer of Whisper White cardstock run through the polka dot embossing folder to make a quick and easy card. The greeting is stamped wtih Grateful Greetings (a very useful set!) and the ornament was stamped first with Delightful Decorations then punched out with the ornament stamp set. Incidentally, this punch is being featured in one of the 20% off Holiday Bundles in the current Stampin' Up! special...and no, I didn't plan that! At any rate, if you need a quick and easy card, this is it! The ornament has an "Ice" flavored (colored?) rhinestone brad in the center and is popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional. The hardest part of the whole card was tying a little snippet of white taffetta ribbon around the neck of the oranment. Yes, seriously! So that's it. This card was inspired by a card made by Claudia Perry. I don't have a link to her blog because I saw her card posted on a demo only website . I changed it up somewhat but I still think I was inspired by Claudia's card so I wanted to give credit where it was due.

Sunrise or sunset? You decide! (Plant Hope stamp set)

2010-10-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

Here's the last card sample from my brayer class. As you can see, I am fond of tropical scenes...but at least this one is daytime. Well, not sure if it's sunrise or sunset but in my mind, it's the North Shore of Oahu which definitely makes this sunset! When we lived in Hawaii, we loved to drive over to Jamison's at the North Shore, a nice restaurant right across the road from Sunset Beach which was the perfect place to have dinner and enjoy watching Mother Nature paint a perfect sunset. Little did I know back then that someday I would be stamping up sunsets like crazy .Of course, back then I thought rubber stamps were only used to stamp your hand for re-admission to a concert. Silly me!

For this card I started by masking off the sun with a punch out from the 1 3/4" circle punch. I punched it out of a sticky note and just used the adhesive on the back to keep it in place.   Also applied sticky notes with the adhesive about halfway up the card (so they would stay put and mask off the space for the ocean/island). Then I started out brayering Delightful Daffodil from the top down so the color became gradually more faint but still yellowish at the "horizon" where the water would meet the sky. After I had just enough intensity of the yellow, I went back with a clean brayer inked in Pumpkin Pie (Tangerine Tango would also work) and brayered that down over the Daffodil but not all the way, I still wanted the lighter yellow showing as well. At that point I took a sponge a lightly applied some Rose Red ink along the bottom of the sky (with the post in notes still in place so the water didn't get "polluted") then removed the mask over the sun and grabbed the post it note with the 1 3/4" hole in it to apply over the sun and mask off the sky. I first sponged the "sun" lightly with Pumpkin Pie then went over it againg with Rose Red to give me that nice "fireball" sinking into the ocean.

At that point I removed the masks and turned them around so they would make off the sky and leave room for me to do the ocean and island. I used Not Quite Navy (although in the picture it sure looks like Pacific Point) and brayered the ocean from the post it masks in the middle down toward the bottom of the card, reapplying ink to the brayer and letting the color fade out toward the bottom. When I was happy with the coloring, I removed the mask and got some clean post it notes. To get the island I tore away a "shoreline" from the post it and stuck it down on the card so that the torn edges pointed to the card bottom, then I used black ink (direct to paper initially) to create the island.

When I was started designing the card I put in a LOT of ocean so when it was time to plant the trees (theoretically speaking...don't worry, I do know that I was really only stamping the trees!) I realized my trees were all going to sink below the horizon and I thought it looked funny not to have at least one sticking up above the waterline soooo....it was Stampin' Sponges to the rescue! I just sponged in a little more real estate and built up the landform/island far enough on the right hand side to allow my tree to peek up into the sky line. The next time I did this card I did more sky and less ocean so the trees would stick up higher....it just seemed more appealing to me that way.

Anyway, once again, this is the Plant Hope stamp set. You may be wondering why I haven't stamped any sentiments or greetings on the front of the card. Well, two reasons....first we were focusing on the technique rather than creating a specific type of card (birthday, anniversary, etc) so we just left them all "blank" of sentiments. That way it could be used as a notecard or stamp anything desired inside and suddently you have any type of card you want!

If you live in my local area and would be interested in joining me for my next brayer class, please let me know and I will put you on the for the next class, I don't have it scheduled yet but due to my existing class schedule and the fact that the holidays will be upon us before we know it, most likely it won't happen until February or March. Would love it if you could join me then!   Jan

Plant Hope....tropical night

2010-10-10T08:00:00.010-05:00

Can't you just smell the ocean and hear the surf when you look at this picture? Ok, so maybe I have a more vivid imagination than most but this definitely takes me back to the mid-1980's when we lived in Hawaii for 3 years and when I look at it I can almost smell the plumeria and pikake flower leis and hear the Brothers Casimero singing in the background! ;-)

So...back to reality! This is the second card we did at my Brayer Class the other day. It's actually pretty much "cased" from a class sample we did a wonderful Michelle Zindorf class I took back in February, the difference being I substituted the Stampin' Up! "Plant Hope" stamp set and followed the same card layout.

One of the "perks" of teaching a brayer class is each time I taught the class I did another sample card leaving me with a few extras! That's a very good thing since my middlest son will be celebrating his 24th birthday on Tuesday, yes...Columbus Day. He was born on the actual holiday so that makes it even easier to recall such a memorable day! (the oldest was born on Father's Day and I'm a Mother's Day baby...sort of a family tradition) He's a real sweetiepie and is serving in the U.S. Army so he and his new bride now live in Oklahoma so we won't be celebrating with him in person but we will still be celebrating him. Thankfully, I had an extra sample of this nice 'beach scene" so I popped it into the mail for him. He and his wife took a honeymoon trip to Kuwai in July after the wedding so hopefully this will bring back memories for him.

To make this card here's what you need:
Plant Hope stamp set #112042 wood mount option at $20.95 (clear mount option 120540 for $15.95) a brayer102395 for $12.50.
Not Quite Navy classic inkpad (item 103008 at $5.95)
Black Staz On ink pad (101406 $7.95)
Uni-ball Signo white gel pen (105021 at $3.95) ( to doodle in the starry starry night!)
Stampin' Sponges 101610 $3.50

Thanks for stopping in to have a look at my blog....please take a minute to let me know what you think. If you decide you "need" these items you can order them online right now on my webstore and click on shop now once you get any of there. Don't forget to check out the hot bargains on the clearance rack while you're there! http://www.janhoyt.stampinup.net/

Hey, get your brayer on! (Plant Hope stamp set)

2010-10-09T00:36:00.001-05:00

Ok, I've been sitting on this card and a couple of others for a while but now that my Basic Brayer class is over, I can share the pics. For anyone who recently started following my blog, I had the rare pleasure of attending a brayer class given by Stampin' Up! demonstrator and practically world renowned brayer expert, Michelle Zindorf in late February. It rocked and I learned so much from her that I've been looking forward to doing my own version of a brayer class ever since. When this stamp set, Plant Hope, came out in the new catalogue last July I knew this would be a great set for brayered scenery so I scheduled this class and started sign ups in July at my Open House. Finally, today was the day! I was a little nervous....no way am I as comfortable and confident as Michelle Zindorf, Master Brayermeister! Thankfully I have great customers who are quite patient with me and I think we all enjoyed the class.

This is the first of the three cards that we made at class...the pine tree image from Plant Hope was just made to order for this great winter snow scene. And it's a surprisingly easy card to make...everyone sailed right through it at class. In fact, once they got the hang of using a light touch and letting the brayer "drift" the color down the card on their first practice brayer run, they did just great.

The colors we used were Baja Breese and Sahara Sand to brayer the sky, that gave it a nice dusky look and toned down the brightness of all that cold white stuff! Of course the trees were stamped in black and then a bit of Baja sponging around the edge before mounting the card on first a layer of Sahara Sand cardstock then a layer of Basic black and finally a folded card base of Baja Breeze. I love the way the stars twinkle in the night sky, this was done with a white gel pen. A little glitter on the snow would've been a plus but we were there to brayer not sparkle so I tried to stay focused on the brayering.

I will share the other two cards later on this week....if you are local and would be interested in learning this awesome brayering technique (it's really not hard!) please let me know as I am considering offering another one after we get past the holidays. My class schedule is already set thru the end of 2011 and I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze in another session of the Headstart on the Holidays class somewhere in November. Wouldn't this be a great winter class? Shoot, it's a great class for ANY season!

wow, that clearance rack is smokin'! & "D Is For Dog"

2010-10-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

According to Stampin' Up! the Clearance Rack is going crazy...the servers were dragging yesterday so they had to boost the power as there was so much activity on the good deals. I checked this afternoon and there are still tons of bargains to be had so if you haven't visited yet, go check it out. There are far more than 5 or 6 pages, just keep scrolling to the left. The most amazing thing I saw was the retired Watercolor Crayons (in the old configuration with some retired colors) for less than $8 a pack! and the last time I looked they still had all of the old color families. I keep sitting on my hands to keep from ordering just because it's such great product and such a good deal....only because I try to stick with current Stampin' Up! product only.

In the meantime, last night I managed to get some photos taken of some recent projects....of course, I didn't set up my "usual" photography area and had to snap pics on the kitchen counter instead of setting up a "light box" but I did get pictures.

This set is D is For Dog, item 115784, it's on page 74...not available in clear mount but the wood mount version is $15.95 so that doesn't take too big a bite out of the budget. We have two dogs...Black Labs as it happens so I made this card as a thank you note to enclose a check for dogsitting for one of my son's buddies who dogsat for us recently. I'm sure he thought it was pretty dorky but his Mom is a stamper so hopefully she got a kick out of it. It was fun to make and pretty fast...I masked the dogs which gave the illusion of one standing slightly behind the other. To do that, you stamp the image (in this case, the dog) on a piece of thin scrap paper (not cardstock....a post it note works just fine) then cut it out, trimming a bit inside the edges of the stamped image. Now you're ready to stamp! With masking, you want to stamp the front image first, then cover it with the "mask" and stamp the back image second. Of course, you can stamp more than one image behind the front but in this case we are down to 2 dogs so I stopped with 2. Our dogs are pretty much inseparable so stamping them side by side is pretty reasonable. After that, it was easy enough...I colored one color red and one blue to go with our dogs and scattered a few doggie footprints around before I tossed out a few bones. I stamped the bones in Sahara Sand and then I used the "frame" from Just Believe stamped in red with "thank you" then used the "thank you" sentiment from the same set and stamped it inside the frame. Usually that would require either lots of talent or a Stamp-a-ma-jig" stamp positioner but since I have the clear mount version of Just Believe, it was relatively easy to stamp the words inside the box.

I neglected to photograph the inside of the card but inside I added a few more footprints tracked along the bottom since our dogs are very good at leaving footprints. ;-) It's always nice when you can finish off the card on the inside and carry thru the theme.

The Just Believe stamp set was one that demonstrators received as part of our registration package at convention this year...I LOVE it! The item number is 116948 for wood mount at $33.95 or clear mount item number 120453 for $25.95...it's on page 109 in the Stampin' Up! Catalog if you want to take a closer look. If you decide that you can't wait another minute and need to order this online, be sure to take a few minutes and check out the Clearance Rack too. Happy stamping!

Run, don't walk to the SU Clearance Rack!

2010-10-05T15:37:00.003-05:00

Seriously, folks....they added a ton of new product to the Clearance Rack, some of it at VERY low prices. I am sure things will go fast....after all, they are priced to sell. So don't wait, check out the Clearance Rack now! Click on the title of this post or go over to the sidebar and click on the Clearance Rack icon similar to the one shown below. Once you arrive at my Stampin' Up! web store look at the top toolbar and select "products", when you click or highlight that tab the next option will be shop. After that, look for the clearance rack info inside. There are LOTS of pages with items are listed alphabetically so be sure to scroll thru all of the pages to avoid missing anything.

CLEARANCE RACK - NEW ITEMS JUST ADDED TODAY!

NOW, From October 5 - 18 we're, adding over two hundred more discontinued items -- some at up to 80 percent off -- to help us make room in the Distribution Center for new products!

Orders for Clearance Rack items must be placed online

Qualifying orders are eligible for hostess benefits/Stampin' Rewards.

While the BLITZ lasts from Oct 5-18, some items, depending on availability, may be made available in the Clearance Rack in the future.

All discontinued items are available only while supplies last.

All sales of discontinued items are final.

What are you waiting for? Go see what kind of great deals they have! Jan

Come to Bethlehem

2010-10-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

Wow, I keep doing this....posting consistently and then dropping off the grid! But I have finally managed to get an organizational grip on myself and will share another photo from my Headstart on the Holidays class back on Sept 17th. I had quite a few people who wanted to attend that class but the timing wasn't good so I am considering offering it again before Christmas. If you are in the area and are interested in coming, I would love to hear from you and know which of these alternate dates you prefer....Friday, Oct 29th or Friday, Nov 12th (yes, I know that is Veteran's Day week-end) and please tell me if you prefer an afternoon class or an evening class. Thanks!

Now back to stamping....this card is one of my favorites and it was inspired (which is a nice way of saying I pretty much copied it!) by one of my most highly admired stamping friends, Sandi MacIver. She has a knack for making beautiful creations without involving too much work and for that I thank her so let's all give Sandi a big salute! She shared this particular card in the Splitcoaststampers.com card gallery so I don't have a specific link to her website with this photo but I assure you that it's Sandi's work through and through, I just changed up a few of the details. If you care to visit her blog, click on this link (after you read my post!) and enjoy! http://www.sandimaciver.com/ So that's enough chatter
...here's the card!

Using Night of Navy cardstock, the image of the wise men (complete with start and scenery in the background...it's all one stamp, what could be easier?) was embossed using Versamark ink and gold embossing powder. The sentiment is an individual stamp also included in this set. When you emboss, don't forget to use your embossing buddy...a little pouch of magical anti-static powder which removes static from the cardstock so the powder sticks where it's supposed to be and nowhere else. This is especially helpful when embossing on darker cardstock.

There is a little panel on the left side of the card....that's where I actually changed it up a bit. Yes, me...being ever so slightly creative, what a concept! ;-) Anyway, in the original card Sandi included a panel of cardstock embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I did the same thing, cut a small strip of Night of Navy the same size as the card base and ran it through the Big Shot with the elegant Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder then layered in on a slightly larger piece of white cardstock so just the edges showed on each side. But it wanted something more...I finally settled on sponging some Encore Gold embossing ink over the dry embossed portions to highlight the pattern and that did the trick. I just love this card! I didn't take a photo of the inside but I put a smaller panel of white cardstock inside and stamped the Christmas sentiment included with the set there. Very pretty, very simple but elegant...hats off to Sandi for the inspiration!

Before I close, I just want to make a comment about creativity and "caseing" cards (that stands for copy and slightly edit). I know that I am not a talented and artistic person BUT with the help of rubber stamps and my very talented friends who share freely, I come across looking ok. Isn't that amazing? There is an old saying that "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery" so I want everyone to know how easy it is to create amazing cards and flatter the talented folks at the same time! I do occasionally come up with an original thought however the wonderful thing about sharing within the Stampin' Up! community is that you don't have to be artistic to make great cards! The wonderful artwork of the Stampin' Up! design artists makes it very easy and the inspiration of those who ARE creative and enjoy sharing their work makes it even easier. I try to always give credit where credit is due because I want my creative friends to know how much I appreciate them but I also want my customers and friends who think they aren't creative to know that it's ok to just get ideas from others. Sometimes they come out exactly the same, sometimes they are just a starting point and you can go on to create something entirely different but either way, it's all about creativity, right? So I challenge you to go out there and create something today!

What? who are these guys?

2010-09-26T08:42:00.001-05:00

These are my little seagull friends....they have been keeping me company for the past week while my friend and I have enjoyed a "girls week" retreat in Myrtle Beach, SC. Yes, seriously...I have been here goofing all week and sneakily posting pictures of stamped projects so you would have no idea where I really was! But all good things must come to an end and I had to bid my little birdie friends goodbye and head home. By the time you read this, I will be back home and unpacking my bags. I don't want you to worry about me being stampless all week while I was gone...I brought my Christmas cards with me & I did manage to squeeze in a little bit of stamping time in between walking on the beach, catching a few rays & keeping up with my friend at the mall.

Can you believe this? A NEW toy from Stampin' Up!

2010-09-25T08:00:00.004-05:00

Usually I like to stamp on my cards but for this card I had to make an exception. This is a super simple card made using the new Letterpress plates from the Holiday Mini. This one is called Joyful Season, item 120981 and at $5.95 it's one of the least expensive toys I have ever bought. This is a hard plastic plate (similar to the Sizzix Texture Plates) with a thick raised image which you coat with craft ink and then lay the cardstock on top and run it thru the Big Shot. voila! The difference is that the raised image is a little big higher than the Texture Plates so the embossing is a bit deeper plus it comes thru with whatever color of ink was applied. Of course, you could run it thru without ink and have a dry embossed image instead if you want but I was playing with the color so color is what I got. I used a Real Red craft spot (easier than using a full size pad) and patted the color onto the raised portion but I got a little messy so I grabbed a baby wipe to clean up the boo boos before I applied the cardstock. After that, I just added a Real Red cardstock base and that was it.

Check out page 42 of the Holiday Mini to see all of the new Letterpress plates available....there's a little something for everyone! Jan

Lovely as a Tree Christmas Card from Headstart on the Holidays Class

2010-09-24T08:51:00.029-05:00

Here is a beautiful but sinfully EASY Christmas card inspired by an almost identical card (minus some photo corner embellishments) created by a Stampin' Up! demo cyber friend of mine named Erika Martin aka Sunshine Mama. I think that Lovely as a Tree (LAAT for short) is one of those stamp sets that just keeps on giving....great for masculine cards and everyone else too, also awesome for Christmas cards. This card is no exception. A folded white card with a layer of Night of Navy underneath the white stamped panel and that's just about it. Stamp the trees in Night of Navy, use a sponge to tap a bit of Bashful Blue ink around in the trees and on the snowy ground then stamp the greeting (Heard from the Heart on page 156 of the "big book" item 111644 wood mounted version at $22.95, item 120006 clear mount version at $16.95)) in Night of Navy and don't forget the glitter! Yes, glitter....no holiday card is complete without it unless you are sending it overseas for a "Cards for the Troops" donation in which case glitter is bad. But I digress! Apply a bit of the 2 way glue pen on the branches and on the ground area then sprinkle Dazzling Diamonds over the glue. Voila...that's all there is to it!

Now, if you look closely at the photo you may notice a lttle extra something....nope, the card isn't bleeding, but somehow my sample card took a header into the Cherry Cobbler inkpad on the project adjoining it at my Holiday card class and well, you get the idea. I needed to get photos snapped and posted and no time to make another sample so hopefully you will still enjoy the card.

Just Believe (Sept stamp club project)

2010-09-23T09:06:00.001-05:00

Isn't this a beautiful card? I fell in love with this set as soon as I saw it in the new catalogue and was thrilled that we got it for free at the Stampin' Up! convention back in July. We made some beautiful but simple projects with it at convention and then I must confess my new stamp set was just gathering dust until last week when we did a this stamp club project. I am an avid "CASE'er" (copy and slightly edit) so when I saw this project shared on the Stampin' Up! demonstrator share page by fellow demonstrator Lauri Randolph I decided it was time to dust off Just Believe and use it!

The secret to this layout is to brayer the color onto plain white cardstock first, stamp the images in black and then run the white cardstock thru the Big Shot with the lattice embossing folder, then attach it to the remaining cardstock layers and tie on the ribbon. Each card came out a little bit different but all were equally beautiful....hard to miss with this stamp set.

I brayered Daffodil Delight on the bottom of the card and Not Quite Navy on the top of the card and just let the open space in the middle remain.
Just Believe page 109 of 2010-11 Idea Book and Catalogue
Clear Mount version 120453 $25.95 OR Wood Mount version 116948 $33.95
Square Lattice Embossing folder 119976 pg 214 IB&C, $7.95

Clean and Simple cards from "Simply Stampin' class at O'Fallon, IL Library

2010-09-22T23:31:00.000-05:00

Clean and simple...so what does that mean exactly? It means a quick and easy card that is pleasing for both the new and experienced stampers as well as to the person receiving it. So, what better tool than the Sizzix Big Shot and the Elegant Lines embossing folder? The curly cue lines of the embossing folder are so cool....I love the look of it!

The sentiment is from the Level 3 Hostess Set Occasional Quotes stamped in Rich Razzleberry classic ink on white cardstock, punched out with the large circle punch (2 1/2" circle...item number 120906 for $16.95 new in the Holiday mini!) and layered onto the XL 2 3/8th inch scalloped circle punch (item 118874) punched out of Rich Razzleberry cardstock. The scallop is adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals to give it a little lift. So, a quick and easy card...clean and simple!

This was one of three quick and easy cards we did at the meetup.com group (Inkerzaway Stampin' and Scrappin' in O'Fallon, IL) at the library earlier this month. We meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the O'Fallon Library. Both meetup members and guests are welcome but if you want to get the class reminders, go ahead and sign up for the meetup group so you won't miss anything. You must RSVP a day ahead of time and the class fee is $5 paid at the door for 3 cards plus envelopes. Would love to have you join us next month. Jan

"Headstart on the Holidays" Card class (Jolly Old Saint Nick)

2010-09-22T08:53:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Has it really been more than two weeks since I have posted? Wow, how time flies when you are having fun stamping,...or just having fun period. Sorry to have gone underground, but I actually was busy stamping and have some great samples as a result!

Let's start with a card we made at my "Headstart on the Holidays" class on Sept 18th. We did 6 cards, I will share them with you over the next few days but let's start with Santa! I had a great turnout for this class but quite a few people who were unable to attend so I may try to offer the same class again in late October or early November so if you are in the local area, I would love to have you join us at my next class, please let me know if you are interested.

This is a new stamp set from our great Holiday Mini brochure (item 121711 wood mount $24.95 OR item 121321 clear mount version at $17.95) and I love the classic look of this particular Santa image. There is also a cute little snowman imge in this set, a full size Santa with a bag full of Christmas loot, the Wishing you a Merry Christmas!" sentiment, a "to/from" stamp and a little snowflake background. I am going to give the little snowman a chance to shine on a coaster tile...and hope for the best, I am definitely in need of a favorite new snowman!

Anyway, for the above card I used our new core color, Cherry Cobbler for the cardstock base and to color in Santa's hat, stamp the sentiment, etc. The white background was embossed with the polka dot embossing folder and I layered Santa on a Basic Black panel to make him "pop" a bit. The ribbon shown isn't really ribbon....it's the Cherry Cobbler seam binding tape. That sounds like a sewing basic...and it probably is but it ties nicely and works very well for card embellishments too. The sentiment was stamped in cherry Cobbler then punched out with the large oval punch and attached with Stampin' Dimensionals to add a little interest.

You can't really tell from the photo but I guarantee that I added a bit of sparkle to old Mr. Claus...what's a Christmas card without glitter? So I used my two way glue pen and my Dazzling Diamonds glitter to add some interest to his Santa cap (the furry brim and the white pom pom on the end of the cap). So yes, we were a dazzling bunch at class by the time everyone rotated thru the "glitter station"! Hope you will decide to come and shine with me at my next Holiday card class!

Puppies! and a Uncharted Territory lighthouse crimper card

2010-09-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

I have been neglecting my blog but for a very good reason! I'm working this holiday week-end plus we have had some VERY special guests visiting us! My son and his new bride adopted two darling little ones shortly after returning from their honeymoon.....they are 4 legged cuties from the local pound and we got to meet them this week! Josh and his wife Kelsey were in town for the holiday week-end in honor of her Dad's birthday and a surprise party for him but stopped over to see us and take in a Cardinal's game enroute to the party and they brought the puppies! We are dog lovers from way back so it was so much fun to meet the pups while they were little and we have been making the most of it. Because they would be busy most of the week-end and because Kelsey wasn't sure how well the puppies would get along with the cats at her parents home, we were delighted when they asked if we could "puppy sit" for the week-end. What a question! We have really enjoyed having them around...puppies are so cute, who could resist them? They will be heading home tomorrow so we'll have to give them back but we sure have enjoyed having them around...not entirely sure that our two 9 year old Lab mix dogs would say the same but it has been interesting watching them interact and they are getting along nicely as long as the puppies steer clear of their food bowls at feeding time. ;-)

Here is a picture of me with the puppies....they will probably be much bigger the next time I see them but I'm glad we got to meet them as little ones and here is a picture to prove it. Lucy is the black dog and Daisy is the yellow dog with the white patch. Gotta love that puppy breath! It's a better picture of the dogs than it is of me...I was smiling but the camera caught me with my eyes shut.

This card was done the same way as the crimper card with the owl I posted a few days ago, I was messing around with the lighthouse image and thought I would just give it a try and see how it fit. I was pleased with the way this card turned out....love lighthouses and am always looking for new ideas for them. The image still showed up pretty well despite the crimping on the card. What do you think?

This card was stamped on confetti white cardstock with black StazOn ink and watercolored with Bashful Blue for the sky and Marina Mist for the ocean, a little Crumb Cake for the cliff and Old Olive for the grasses. I colored in the tip with Real Red and shaded just a bit on the lighthouse with Basic Grey, although it's hard to see it in the photo. Later I realized that the top of the lighthouse should have been colored yellow...that's where the light would be, right? I fixed that on subsequent cards but wanted to show how nice the lighthouse looked on the crimper style card so I didn't mind the boo boo. I sponged Real Red all around the edges of the confetti layer and around the scored edges around the center panel, layered it all on a layer of Night of Navy cardstock then adhered it to a folded white card. Have a wonderful Labor Day holiday!

school days, school days, dear old "Golden Rule" Days

2010-08-27T20:46:00.001-05:00

Yes, that crazy old tune keeps running thru my head tonight as we are packing my youngest up and getting ready to send him back to college...it's been a great having him home this summer and I am so thankful that he was able to get the time off of work to be at both of his brothers' weddings in late June and early July (yes...that's right,at 6 days apart they were pretty close together) but it was wonderful having our family all together for both wonderful and joyfilled events. He just returned from a final visit to his GF's home in Wisconsin last night and it's time for him to get organized and back into school mode. He'll be returning for his 3rd year at school and even though I'm not sure he'll be able to finish in 4 years I know that it won't be long until he is also graduating and heading off on his own.  Funny how I can feel so young and have such old kids....I am sounding a LOT like my mother. Scary!

Anyway, after all that rambling, I do have something stamping related to share as well...what a relief, eh?  This is a picture of the Designer Print photo album that I'll be sending to our oldest son and his beautiful bride, Danielle, for some favorite photos from their honeymoon trip to Oahu enroute to their new AF assignment in Japan. This is the polkadot 6x6 album which was featured in the Summer Mini....it was SO popular that it sold out in a matter of weeks but they did get some more in stock in mid August so if you missed out on them, you can still order. And at $10.95, the price is definitely right! It's only 10 pages so they'll have to be selective on their favs but refills are available if she really really needs room for a few more photos. ;-)   I will confess right up front that I was inspired by the photo on page 26 of the Summer Mini when I came up with this idea....it came out quite different but I loved the idea of the chipboard letters and the pumpkin pie striped ribbon. I was very pleased with how it turned out and our new daughter-in-law seemed to like it or at least was smart enough to pretend that she did. lol! She is a sweetheart and enjoyed a brief afternoon of stamping with me when they were home visiting over the Christmas holidays so I'm pretty sure she was sincere. Inside I used the Island Oasis Designer Series paper and before I send it to them I will stamp a few palm trees and coconuts (from Tropical Party stamp set) and put some dimenstionals on them so that she can stick a few embellishments wherever she wants them.

Ok, so are you finally ready to see the album?   Here it is and I hope that you like it, too! I used the chipboard backing from the Designer Series paper packs and Island Oasis Designer Series paper for the letters on the front and the extra wide pumpking pie striped ribbon to wrap around the spine and jazz it up a little. I had thought about copying the Spring Mini sample and adhere a coconut tropical drink image over the "o" in aloha but haven't remembered to try it just yet....what do you think? Fine "as is" or should I serve up a coconut beverage to go with it? I would love to hear your feedback!    Jan

And before I forget, here's a last minute reminder that the Summer Mini along with this album and many other wonderful items will expire soon, August 31st is the last day to order from the mini so if there is something you have been thinking about ordering now would be the time. Online ordering is available 24/7 on my "store front" at http://www.janhoyt.stampinup.net/ or call me if you need help entering the order!

Crimper Card Fun

2010-08-24T19:59:00.000-05:00

If you made it to my Open House in late July, then you have already seen this card but for those who weren't there, I thought it was about time that I shared pictures of the projects we made.

This is a technique that I first saw on a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator's blog a few months ago. She even has a great tutorial! You can check it out at the link I will share below.   I was further inspired to try one of these "crimper fold" cards when I saw a card done with the same technique featured on my very good Stampin' Up! friend Lyssa's blog a while back, I will include the link to her card below the link to the tutorial.

Anyway making this card is so easy and it definitely looks like more layers than it really is. Instead of doing a lot of stamping, I used a bit of "punch art" from the new SU owl punch and the sentiment is from a new set called Word Play. Just a little hint, it's much easier to stamp the greeting BEFORE you do the crimping even though it is possible to stamp the crimped paper as long as you press really hard.
Ingredients for this card:
2 step owl extra large punch #118074   $16.95
Word Play Stamp Set (set of 12)
Wood mount: 120308 $41.95
Clear mount:  120651 $28.95
Tempting Turquoise ink and cardstock along with Whisper white
Crimper 101618 $19.95

Here is the link to Dawn O's blog with her great tutorial for this "fun fold" using the crimper.
http://dostamping.typepad.com/dostamping_with_dawn/2010/04/video-crimped-diamond-background-technique.html

Here is the link to Lyssa's blog where I saw the crimper fold used again.
http://songofmyheartstampers.typepad.com/song_of_my_heart_stampers/2010/03/a-very-unlike-me-kind-of-card.html

Please take a moment to visit each of these great blogs and gain some more stamping inspiration!

Stamp club project #2...a "Fast and Fun" card

2010-08-23T21:05:00.000-05:00

I shared my August stamp club project the other day, here is the second project that we did at club. Since the easel card was a little more complicated, I kept this one pretty simple. I struggled a bit with what colors I wanted to use but in the end, I was pleased with the color combo on this one. Ever have one of those days when you THINK a particular combination will work but when you are done you just can't get happy with it? Well, that was me on the Thursday night before stamp club! I finally put it away and decided to get up early the next day and CASE (that stands for copy and share everything) another card from the Stampin' Up! Stampin' Connection group. So Friday morning, there I was...messing around with my project but a little voice inside my head said, "wait!...why don't you add a little chocolate?" Of course, a little chocolate helps everything so I peeled the scalloped medallion off of the Baja Breese cardstock I used initially and held it up against Chocolate Chip. YES! that did the trick! And was I ever glad....it was a lot easier cutting some extra Chocolate Chip cardstock than it was doing a whole new card, even if I was copying it.

Anyway, here is the final card and I was pleased with it. I used Fast and Fun Notes, the Sanded Background (love it!) and diecut the large scallop with the Sizzix Two Scallop diecut. I did goof a bit because I used the new 2.5" circle punch on the project and it won't be available to order until Sept 1st but my stamp clubbers will probably forgive me eventually...at least I hope so!

Here is one version done with the teacup image and the other done with the little bird. I'm glad that I switched to chocolate chip...I can always use the Baja Breese on another project.
I would love it if you would leave me a comment and tell me what you think! Happy stamping! Jan

teacup get well wishes

birdie thank you

Ahoy, matey!

2010-08-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

Well, convention is over and the summer is coming to a close, that means that it's time for Stamp Club to start back up again which is just what happened yesterday. My monthly stamp club ladies started meeting again and here is one of the cards that we made at our club meeting. Don't you love this great lighthouse set? I will confess that I am partial to lighthouses so I was very happy to see a new lighthouse set in the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalogue. This month we made an "easel card" for our big project...it's a technique taken straight out of the Split Coast Stampers Resource tutorials. The beauty of this project is that it looks like a regular card, folds like a regular card (well, a 4"x4" regular card) and best of all fits into a standard envelope with regular postage...but it's also designed to be freestanding so it can be displayed on your desk or wherever you want to put it. The little red scalloped edge is popped up a little to act as a "stopper" and keep the card standing up. Pretty cool! I stamped this one with a Happy Anniversary greeting and plan to send it to my parents as a belated anniversary card. I did call them, don't worry....just didn't get my 'stampin' mojo" kicked into gear in time to get the card there for their actual anniversary so they are expecting it and besides which they are my parents and they are used to me always being a little bit behind schedule.

This is a photo of what the card looks like when it's closed..just a sweet little 4x4 square card with a little surprise inside! I'd love it if you would leave a comment and tell me what you think. ;-)

Stamps Used:

Uncharted Territory pg 116 (wood mounted 116952 $$19.95 or clear mounted 1204565 $14.95)

Teeny Tiny Wishes (for the sentiment) pg 157 item #115370 $36.95 wood mounted option only

Cardstock: Real Red, Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White

Designer Series Paper:Island Oasis #117173 $9.95 pg 27 of the Summer Mini

If you are in the area and would like to join us for our monthly club projects, please contact me at inkerzaway@aol.com and I'll fill you in on the details. Guests are always welcome or I would be happy to put together a monthly club for you and your stamping friends at my place or yours!