Flashback Friday

It's time again for another Flashback Friday. This week has been Spring Break for my kids, but it's been much more like Winter Break with the snow and cold weather. With the hope of Spring just around the corner, I thought I'd share this card we made at the June '12 Stamp Camp. The bright pink flowers are the perfect reminder that Spring will indeed show up and cover the world again in color.

Stamp Sets:
Mixed Bunch
Whimsical Words (retired)

Paper:
Rose Red
Whisper White

Ink:
Rose Red
Daffodil Delight

Accessories:
Mini Brads
1" Circle Punch
Dimensionals
Eyelit Border Punch
Blossom Punch

Terrific Tips Tuesday

Stampin' Up! has recently started bundling their products. They usually package the bundles in helpful ways, offering 15% off if you buy a certain punch and coordinating stamp set or framelits and their coordinating stamp set. I have loved that Stampin' Up! offers this option since you often end up buying these items together anyhow. So, my main tip today is to look for the bundles and save money! They are clearly marked in the catalogs, so grab a cup of coffee, tea, or in this extended winterspring, treat yourself to some hot chocolate and browse the catalog.

Stampin' Up! took this bundling thing a step further during Sale-A-Bration, offering bundles of items worth around $50. When you spend $50 during SAB you earn FREE items from the SAB catalog! So, Stampin' Up! has taken the guess work out of figuring out your $50 worth of items to buy. And they coordinate, so when you get your order, you'll have everything you need to create some beautiful projects! What's not to love!? 

Don't forget that Sale-A-Bration ends this month, March 31. Check out the bundles HERE today and don't miss out!

Flashback Friday

I am always keeping my eye out for nice, masculine cards. I have many nephews of all ages that I send birthday cards to (along with my own two boys and husband) and sometimes cards can just be too girly for them. This flashback card fits that need perfectly and it's simple enough you can throw it together last minute for that birthday party your son just got invited to! ;)

Having 2 boys (and 1 girl!) I can sympathize with my fellow scrapbooker and card makers that it can be really hard to find "masculine" ideas and products to work with. I am always keeping my eye out for that boy themed card or scrapbook page or stamp set. Well, this next card fits the bill!

It uses:
Stamp Sets:
Word Play
Classic Backgrounds
Paper:
Tangerine Tango
Whisper White
Early Espresso
Marina Mist
Inks:
Marina Mist
Accessories:
2-1/2" Circle Punch
1-3/4" Circle Punch
Star Punch
Brads

Terrific Tips Tuesday

Two of my favorite Stampin' Up! embellishments are the Basic Pearls Jewel Accents and the Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents. They add such a beautiful touch to my cards and scrapbook pages. Sometimes you just need one more thing to bring the project together. Usually the Rhinestones or Pearls will fit the bill perfectly. Sometimes, though, they can be a little tricky to work with. If you are having trouble getting them off the paper backing or positioning them just right, simply use a pointy pair of scissors, opened slightly, to scoop under the Jewel and position wherever you like. This way works best for me, but if you are still having trouble, try using tweezers. Enjoy!

Basic Pearls Jewel Accents

119247 $4.95

Basic Rhinestone Jewels Accents

119246 $4.95

Flashback Friday

Today's Flashback is the card we made in our Stamp Club that coordinates with the 3-D project I shared in this week's Terrific Tips Tuesday blog post:

As I was looking ahead to February's Club I was thinking Spring. I can almost feel the warm sunshine and smell the rain. Almost. With that in mind, I kept the colors for this project bright and happy.

I used Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip card stock with an accent of Daffodil Delight Designer Series Paper. Daffodil Delight and Chocolate Chip ink keep this card simple and subtle. I used the hostess set, Punch Potpourri for the flowers, bird and butterfly. Each stamp works perfectly with a Stampin' Up! punch. Tying Linen Thread around the Butterfly gives the appearance of a body and antennae. How cute! Basic Rhinestones take a simple card up a notch every time. I love them! I also used the Color Spritzer Tool with my Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker for a bit of a vitage feel.

Terrific Tips Tuesday

Today's tip actually comes from a Stamp Club project we did back in February, 2011. I went searching for a tip for the Scallop Circle Punch and I realized the blog I wrote also had a great tip for making a basic box that can be changed up to work for many different types of projects: 

For our 3-D project, I wanted to share a basic tip that can lead to many other projects. This concept is the "2-4-6-8 Box". By taking a piece of 8.5 x 11 card stock and scoring it (in the portrait position) at 2", 4", 6" and 8" and then one more time horizontally 2" from the bottom you have what you need to make a basic box. To keep things simple, this created the perfect shape for a pencil holder. However, just by changing it up a bit, you can make the box the dimension you need for that perfect gift, you can add handles or a lid and turn this basic box into a thing of beauty!

The sunflower is another technique I wanted to teach at this Club meeting. By simply using the Scallop Circle punch, then rotating the punched image just a bit, you have a beautiful Sunflower shape. Add a 1-3/8" circle in Chocolate Chip and you are ready to go! Punches are amazing and they are this card maker/scrapbooker's best friend!

Flashback Friday

Today's flashback highlights an adorable *retired* hostess set. If you didn't get this set when it was available, you may be regretting it after you see this darling card. You can earn hostess sets only by hosting a qualifying party or spending $150 on an order. You can use hostess money on any item in the catalog, but you can only get hostess sets by using hostess money. If you'd like to place an order or ask me any questions, leave a comment, use the contact box on the left, or simply click on the, "Shop Now" button.

The colors I used were Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Wild Wasabi and Poppy Parade. Not Quite Navy and Poppy Parade are now retired. You can do what I did and check out the Color Coach for color combination inspiration. You can also give Night of Navy or Island Indigo a try. I think the 2012-2014 In Color Midnight Muse would be a perfect replacement. Tangerine Tango would be a fun switch-up for Poppy Parade.

I thought I would share this card because it still makes me smile and you can still get inspired even if you don't have the same stamp set. The layout is clean and simple, so it lends itself well to CASEing (Copy And Share Everything). I hope you are inspired today!

It's time for another sneak peak! Are you getting excited? Let me introduce you to the cutest stamp set: Long Fellows. How cute is this little guy? And, he's got friends! Be sure to check them out! And, you can get this set for FREE by hosting a qualifying workshop! Yes, this set is a hostess set and I just *had* to share it!

The card base is my favorite neutral: Sahara Sand. I used the Color Coach to come up with a fun, different color combination. Who knew Not Quite Navy could be so much fun with Wild Wasabi and in-color Poppy Parade?

To give the card just a little more dimension (and allow my customers to pick any animal from the set and not be tied to a color) I used VersaMark and black embossing powder for the image.

To give this card a simple and sweet bit of flair I punched one flower out with the Boho Blossoms punch and added a pearl right in the center.

My favorite cards are simple and sweet, just like this one!

Terrific Tips Tuesday

Do you ever have problems getting a clear image when you are stamping something that has a long, skinny part, such as a flower? Today's tip will help you out! When part of your image is long and skinny it can be very easy to get a blurred image and even get part of the rubber around the image stamped onto your paper. This is so frustrating! Here's a tip to help you out: When you place the stamp down on the paper, push only on the wider part of the image. In the picture below, I pushed evenly on the whole image. It's not bad, but you can see how bold the bottom of the stem came out. In the bottom image I held the stamp block and pressed only over the top part of the flower. The stem looks much  more crisp and clear in the bottom image. Keep in mind that it doesn't take much pressure to transfer ink from the stamp to the paper. You could be getting a blurred image just by pressing too hard. Remember, stamping is easy and fun!