Thursday, June 30, 2011

Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla?

I was super excited to figure out how to make an ice cream cone with the new Pennant Punch and the Cupcake Punch!  My stamp clubs did this card in June...I let them have a sneak peek of some new stuff!


They got to try out the new Pennant Punch, the hostess birthday set and the yummy new polka dot scallop ribbon!  Love it!

So, are you a chocolate, strawberry or vanilla fan?

Have an inspired day!


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Teachers are Special


Today is the last day of school so I sent the boys with a little something for their teachers to thank them for a wonderful year.  Both boys had great teachers this year and enjoyed their time with their teachers.

I started with one of the Note Cards with Envelopes and trimmed it down a bit so that I could mat the whole card with some Poppy Parade cardstock.  I used the retiring Tart & Tangy set (time is running out to get this great set!) and colored the apples with Poppy Parade, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers to get the multicolored images.  They are stamped across the bottom of the cards.  Then I tied a piece of Poppy Parade ribbon around the card and finished it off with a Thank You which is from the Short & Sweet set (one of my favs!).


The boys each wrote a little note to their teachers thanking them for a fun year and telling them what their favorite part of the year was.  No surprise...both of their favorite parts had something to do with gym!

Have an inspired day!



Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Happy Summer!

Yahoo!  Today is the first day of summer...and it's a BEAUTIFUL day!  The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and I can hear the frogs at the pond.  The only downside is the mosquitos right now...they are vicious and blood thirsty.  It needs to get super hot so they all die!

In honour of the first day of summer, I thought I would share the summer frame I did for a recent class.


It is so bright, fun and summery!  Are you wondering what color my background and letters are?  I used the new Island Indigo.  It's like a lighter, richer version of Not Quite Navy.  I love it!  My letters are on Sahara Sand cardstock and the fun summery elements are on a variety of bright polka dot DSP.  I used the Patterns Stack DSP for this in Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant.


What's a summer frame without a sun?!?!  I used Daffodil Delight sponged with Tangerine Tango to make my sun.  The middle is the 2 1/2" Circle Punch and the rays were punched with the new Pennant Punch...lovin' that punch!!!


More summer stuff...watermelon (YUM!), grape popsicles (YUM!) and a beach ball (Fun!).  All are made with punches.  The watermelon is the 1 3/4" circle and the seeds were made with the new Triple Layer Blossom Punch.  They are the little pieces that get punched out from the middles of the flower petals...perfect watermelon seeds, don't ya think?  The popsicle is a Tag punch with a Word Window for the stick.  Did you notice the bite?  I love the bite...even though I never bite my popsicles!  The bite was made with the Scallop Oval punch.  And, the beach ball is some more circle punches.


FLIP FLOP SEASON is here!!!!  Summer isn't complete without flip flops, so we had to have a pair of those included in the frame!  My flip flops are Tangerine Tango with Daffodil Delight ribbon to make the part that goes over your foot.  If you look really close, you can see they have a little bit of a design on them.  That was done with a new jumbo wheel called Starburst.  It's a great wheel for backgrounds and, like most of our wheels, it coordinates with a great stamp set!


Who wants lemonade?!?!?!?  This little beauty is my favorite part of this project!!!  I've seen lemonade cards floating around the web for a few years now, but had never tried it my self...until now!  The cup is made from Cardsock Vellum which was sponged with Daffodil Delight.  Then I folded in the two long sides and glued them down so that the middle popped up a bit forming a glass shape.  Before I glued it down, I ran a bit of glue along the top and dipped it into Dazzling Diamonds glitter...the perfect sugared rim!  My little lemon is a circle punch (3/4" in Daffodil Delight) which was embellished with more of those watermelon seeds...only this time I punched them from So Saffron cardstock.  Perfect lemon segments, don't you think?  The whole thing is completed with a bendy straw which I trimmed down to fit into my cup.  It's the perfect touch...and is making me want a glass of lemonade!

Here it is hanging in my front entry...


There you have it!  Happy first day of summer...hopefully the weather is super summery where you live and you can get out and enjoy it!

Have an inspired day!



Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Birthday Chocolate

I have another sneak peek for you today...this time some hostess product. 


I made a Box #2 in Concord Crush and stamped a Happy Birthday from the new Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess set.  I am lovin' this set...it's a GREAT birthday set, that I know is going to be a popular one!  I made a belly band with the new Cheerful Treat hostess DSP...again, lovin' this DSP and I know it will be popular too!!!


The stamped image is another one from the Happiest Birthday Wishes set.  It was colored with markers (Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade...a new In Color!..., Melon Mambo and Basic Gray), stamped on Whisper White and punched out with the widest oval punch.  It is layered with a piece of Melon Mambo that I cut with my Big Shot and one of the dies from the Lots of Tags sizzlits set (you need this set of sizzlits...it's so versatile!).  You'll notice that I embellished with two little Pretty In Pink brads and some Pretty In Pink Grosgrain ribbon.  This little medallion is put on the belly band with some Stampin' Dimensionals.

So, ya wanna know what's inside my pretty little box?  Here's a little teaser...tee, hee!!!


Ok, here's a better look...


I wrapped 12 little chocolates with DSP from the Cheerful Treat pack.  Twelve chocolates fit in the box, so it's a great way to show off ALL the patterns from the DSP pack!  And, because I know you're going to ask, the chocolates are from Costco.  They're swiss milk chocolates and they come in a HUGE pack...I know, shocker!

So what do you think?  Do you love this new DSP and birthday set as much as I do?  If you do, you're going to want to book a workshop with me so you can get it FREE!!!

Have an inspired day!


Monday, June 13, 2011

Flower Notes

At the last meeting I went to, I participated in a Summer Mini Catalogue swap where we each made projects using something from the Summer Mini.  One of the projects I really loved was this (made by my friend Donna!).


Isn't is great!  It's a little notepad...between the decorated flowers are sheet of copy paper cut in the same flower shape as the covers.  And, of course, it has my new favorite punch...the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch, which you can find here.

I loved this project so much, I re-created it with my stamp clubs in May using the Sunny Garden DSP...and my club girls all loved it too!

Have an inspired day!


Friday, June 10, 2011

A Pool Party Birthday

Do I have a treat for you today!  I received my pre-order of stampin' stuff from the new catalogue and I've been playin' with some new colors, stamps and tools...and today I have a fun card to share with you!


Fun, fun, fun!  I used one of the new In Colors, Pool Party, for the base of my card and the stamped part of my pennants.  I paired it with Not Quite Navy and Whisper White.

Check out those perfect pennants...


All year long I've been wishing for a pennant punch to go with the Party Your Way set, and guess what?  My wish was answered!  We now have a pennant punch, which punches both the scallop pennant and the straight edged one, as well as a new stamp set called Pennant Parade!  I love it!  The Pennant Parade set comes complete with a few different pennants, some sentiments and some images to decorate your pennants.

Notice the birthday sentiment?  That's from a new set too!  It's the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set, which is a hostess set.  Did I mention that the hostess plan is changing?  I know you're gonna love it and the flexibility if offers...I do!!!

Back to the pennants!  I strung them together with a piece of the Baker's Twine (which you can find in the Summer Mini).  I just ran some snail across the top of the pennants and stuck the twine on, then tucked it around the back of my embossed (Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder) cardstock.  It looked a little sparse where I tucked the ends around, so I added some little bows (attached with a little drop of Tombow...emphasis on little!).


I also added a little bling to the middles of my flowers that are stamped on each pennant with some little Rhinestones!

Now, that you've seen a little teaser, lets talk about the Cover Color Contest and the Catalogue Club!  I have seen the cover of the new catalogue (soooo pretty!) and the colors are as follows (note, these are my best guess since I can't see the actual supply list until July)...
  • Main color-Peach Parfait
  • Accent Colors-Poppy Parade, Soft Suede and Pink Pirouette
Based on that, the winners of the Cover Color Contest are...
  • Main Color-Nobody!
  • Accent Colors-Lacey M (Pink Pirouette) and Elaine H (Poppy Parade)
Congratulations you two!  Your prizes will be available in July.


And, finally, Catalogue Club!  This year Catalogue Club will be $15 to join.  Your $15 gets you...
  • a coil bound catalogue (coupons and an envelope for Mini Catalogue storage will be coiled in)
  • a clear plastic protective front and back cover will also be coiled in
  • a sheet of fabulous coupons to use throughout the year
  • class registration discounts
  • Free project Friday (once a month)
  • all Mini Catalogue throughout the year (Holiday, Occasions, SAB and Summer)
The 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalogue will go live on July 1 and we can start ordering from it then.  I can't wait!

If you're interested in joining the Catalogue Club, please contact me (Canadians only please)!

Have an inspired day!




Thursday, June 9, 2011

Butterfly Explosion

In my last To Die For class I featured the Lattice Die, and the ladies made this card...


It's pretty, but the real fun is inside!  Have a look.



Isn't that fun?  The lattice makes a pop up for the butterflies!  Now, I can't take credit for this idea...I've seen a lot of this type of card floating around on blogs and Stampin' Connection (the online Demonstrator only community).  So, to those crafters who've shared their creations, THANK YOU for your inspiration!

Have an inspired day!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Wonderful Watercolors


One of the techniques I love is watercoloring.  I find it so relaxing to just sit and color in images!  And, there are so many ways to watercolor with Stampin' Up! products!  Last night I had my Wonderful Watercolors class, where I taught my ladies 4 different ways to watercolor.  Here, you can see the four different ways I taught at the class and what they all look like side by side.


Each class participant got to make a card using each of the 4 ways I taught.  And, just so they could see the differences, I made the cards the same...same layout, same stamp set (Fast & Fabulous, Hostess Level 2)...I just changed up the colors!


And, here's a close up of one of the cards!


The blue one and the yellow one were my favorites!  Go watercolor something...it's relaxing!

Have an inspired day!



Sunday, June 5, 2011

Simply Baby Girl

I've decided to bring back Simple Card Sunday.  Partly because I need a lot of cards in the next little while and I've super busy and partly because I know you love the simple card ideas!  So, today I'm starting with a simply simple and sweet baby girl card.


Recently a friend/customer of mine had her 4th child and after 3 boys she finally got her bundle of pink!  Now, ya' all know I don't do pink very well, so while this was a pretty quick and easy card, I struggled a bit!  I even stamped the main panel twice!


I used Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette and Rich Razzleberry for my card.  and, the stamp sets I chose were Every Little Bit, Tiny Tags and Fundamental Phrases.  The main panel is a stamped piece of Whisper White.  I punched two strips of Soft Suede with the Pinking Hearts punch for the top and bottom and finished it off with a scrap of Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon.  Once that was done, I stamped a simple Congrats along the bottom and I was done.  Easy peasy...and this would be super simple to make into a baby boy card by just changing the colors to shades of blue!

Have an inspired day!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Glam Rock!

Did you hear that?  That sound was me squealing with delight when this card was finished!!!!!!


My very special niece is turning 13 TOMORROW!!!!  I can't believe that she's 13...although I'm sure her mom is having a MUCH harder time believing that than I am!  I wanted to do a really special card for this momentous occasion.  I know that she plays the guitar, so I wanted to incorporate guitars into the card somehow.  Since I don't have the Grunge Rock set (was my first choice for the card), I went with the Extreme Guitar set.


My color scheme for this card is Eggplant Envy, Melon Mambo and Old Olive.  I added some of the music paper from the Newsprint DSP (man, I'm gonna miss that DSP pack!), which I scrunched and crumpled and tore a bit.  It's layered with a piece of embossed Old Olive which I cut with the Tasteful Trim die.

I added a Melon Mambo scallop circle which is layered with a Very Vanilla circle which I collage stamped with the Extreme Elements set. 


Now the focal point...this is the part that made me squeal!!!!  I mean, what 13 year old, guitar playing girl wouldn't LOVE a pink glittered rock star...right?  I stamped the rock star with Versamark ink and then used some Heat & Stick Powder on it.  Once it was heated and good and sticky, I dumped some fine pink glitter all over it, shook off the excess and then cut it out!  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!  After it was cut out, I added it to the card with some a lot of Stampin' Dimensionals.

I even decorated the inside of this card!


I'm thrilled with the way this card turned out and I hope she loves it as much as I do!  My friend Sherri brainstormed this card with me, so I have to say a HUGE thank you to her.

What do you think?

Have an inspired day!


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Too Cute Not to Share

So, I know I said I would be back with some stamping tomorrow, but this super cute invitation came in the mail today.  It's just too cute not to share today (don't worry, I will still have some fabulous stamping tomorrow!)...


My sweet little nephew, Addison, turned 2 and his awesome mommy (and my sister-in-law), Amanda, made these cute invitations to his party.  Isn't it adorable?  Sadly, we can't go to his party (they live too far away and we have a baseball tournament), but we will be there in spirit!

Have an inspired day!


Last Chance Lists

The Last Chance Lists are out and it's time to say good bye to some stamps, accessories and decor elements!


Click HERE for the Last Chance Stamps List.  These stamps will be available until June 30.

Click HERE to see the Last Chance Accessories.  These items will be available while supplies last.  To avoid disappointment I would recommend that you place orders for retiring accessories through my online store.

Click HERE for the Last Chance Definitely Decorative List.  The Definitely Decorative line is going to be in the Idea Book & Catalogue starting July 1, which means it will be a smaller line of product.  This is why there is a HUGE list for the retiring Definitely Decorative products.  Please make sure you go through it and order what you can't live without!

Back tomorrow with some stampin'.  Have an inspired day!