Black Magic Fireworks

Okay- I am getting a late start on Fourth of July cards - probably won't get any sent out but wanted to play with the stamp set. I just had to do some black magic with these. This one is on Night of Navy with Real Red and Bashful Blue accents.



So, what to do with the fireworks after this weekend - birthdays or any celebration are a good time for fireworks. This one is on Not Quite Navy with Cherry Cobbler and Sahara Sand.


And this one just screamed Happy New Year at me. I used Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz and Poppy Parade with this one. The fireworks could also be flowers (like dandelions in bloom). Just think of all the things you can do with this set after July Fourth. It is available in the Summer Mini Catalog until August 31.

Color Coach and a New Technique

I wanted to try a new technique using plastic wrap and shimmer paint. Tonight I did - and I like it.


I took Marina Mist and used the white shimmer paint and champagne shimmer paint to make the background. Then I took my Color Coach and looked at the color combination. The first one is the Dynamic Duo of Marina Mist and Bashful Blue. I used Champagne Shimmer Paint.


This one is the Getting Started Combination. It uses Real Red and Old Olive with Marina Mist. I used the white shimmer paint on this one. I would have never combined these on my own but I kind of like it.


This is the Creative Combination of Marina Mist, Cajun Craze and Crumb Cake. I did an applique technique on this one.


Here is a little different angle to try to show off the shimmer paint. Just doesn't do it justice. To apply the shimmer paint I took a piece of plastic wrap, crumpled it up and dipped it in some shimmer paint. Then I dabbed it on the Marina Mist paper. The technique I was used Glossy White paper and used a brayer to add ink after shimmer paint, but I just used colored paper.


And these are some Fancy Favor boxes that I had for the wedding so I put a few little buttons, ribbon or individual stamp in each one and will give these away to anyone who books a workshop. A good way to use up older products.

A few more wedding pictures

Here I am before the ceremony.


A closeup of the beading on her dress.



The dress bustled, still beautiful!


Our family "hee-haw" picture. One of my brothers teaches the little kids to do "hee haw" and wave their fingers during pictures so it has become a tradition to get a picture of the kids doing it whenever we are together - this time we got everyone :-) I think the groom's family was getting a little concerned at this point. Too late now!

Wedding Day

Just a few photos from wedding day.


Actually this one is from the rehearsal dinner. DH told SIL several years ago that when SIL could win at arm wrestling he could marry our daughter. SIL won -and the prize was a wife :-)


Prep begins - getting her hair done.


The dress!


I am lacing her up - if I say so myself I did a great job!


The happy couple!




The best man had them play the Newlywed Game. He would ask them questions and they raised the shoe for which of them was their answer. It was hilarious!


My lovely daughters!

Wedding Eve

Tomorrow is the big day. Daughter #1 is getting married to her best friend! The guest book scrap book pages are all laid out on the tables and the little boxes of kisses at every seat.
The rehearsal went well and hopefully everyone knows where to be when tomorrow - if not, I'm sure someone will tell them :-)

A lady at the church made the wedding cake - beautiful job! We are so blessed to have such a fine young lady as our daughter and now a fine young man as a son. Love them both (and daughter #2 also!)

Color Lab Button

I have added a button on the right hand side for a great site - Color Lab. You can go there and select SU colors and it will show you different combinations for those colors. It is fun to play with. Once you have a color combo you like you can save it to the database and by clicking on the star rating you can vote for that combination.

Just thought some of you would like that to give you color ideas.

May Club projects

Realized I never posted photos of the club projects for May. So here goes....

This was the little project we did using tissue paper and a heat gun. The stamp sets is Seeing Stars and I used Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Encore Silver to stamp on the tissue paper. The ribbon is Real Red 1/4 inch grosgrain and I used the Brushed Silver paper for the star attached.


They all really loved my scalloped pinwheel design. I let them pick the DSP they liked and then the coordinating card stock. It was fun seeing the many combinations. This one used Bella Bleu DSP, Night of Navy and Kraft (Crumb Cake) card stock and the Scallop Border punch. These are so fun to make - I have a tutorial on my blog Scalloped Pinwheel


This card features the Big Shot embossing folder. I demonstrated how to use it but had the pieces already done to save time. They colored the flowers with watercolor pencils or pastel chalks and that took some time. The butterfly is made but lightly wetting a scrap of paper then crumpling it up tight a couple times to wrinkle it. Pull it out flat (do not smooth the folds and creases) and rub a stamp pad over the surface. Punch with the Butterfly punch. To make the antennae, take a piece of twine and tun it along the sharp edge of a pair of scissors to loosen the fibers. That way when you tie it on the butterfly it is more flexible.


The last card featured Rock and Roll inking. The inks used were Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Bashful Blue and Ballet Blue. The stamp set is Four Square and Extreme Elements.

Guest book

I finished up the guest book pages for the wedding today. I had been debating about what to do for the first couple pages where the guests will sign as they enter the sanctuary before the ceremony.


I decided to use the Bride and Groom specialty papers. The black Groom paper was perfect for the first page. I had some little dove die cuts (Big Shot) from the Bride paper in my stash which worked well with the Groom paper and ribbon.


Here is a closeup of one of the doves. I attached the ribbon using the mini glue dots.


For the next two pages I used the Bride paper and made the little bride and groom hearts that I am seeing EVERYWHERE on the demonstrator website. The groom is made with the Groom paper using the stripes this time. I added a little ribbon tie and a brad for a button. The bride is a Big Shot embosslit mounted on some of the Groom paper. The buttons are half pearls.


This is a closeup of the bride and groom hearts. These pages will be signed and then slipped in the sleeves of the scrapbook to protect them.

Preview #2 and a new technique

Here are some more previews of new products from the catalog that will come out July 1.

This is a jumbo Stampin Wheel called Baby Tees. Aren't they cute? I colored them using the watercolor pencils and a blender pen. The card stock used is Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist.


Here is a sweet card using one of the Baby Tees - cut out and mounted using dimensionals. The colors used are Pink Pirouette (a return IN color), So Saffron and Pear Pizzazz.

And one more - this one has the tees cut out and mounted with a brad as the hook they are hanging on. The colors are Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist.





These are some little gift tags made with the Playful Pieces hostess set. The set contains numerous shapes (30 stamps) and you can make anything you can imagine.

This is a closer shot to see the details. The wings on both started with a tulip type flower stamp. The one on the left has a bow printed over it and the one on the right is 'rock and rolled' in a darker color. These will be hostess gifts or giveaways at my open house next week.


This is a new technique that I have been wanting to try and finally got up the nerve. It is called Black Magic. You stamp the image on black card stock using Whisper White craft ink. When it is dry you color over the white ink using a watercolor pencil. Then the finishing touch is to take a gel pen and add the white highlights. The stamp set is Herb Expressions which I earned free. (If you would like to earn free stamp sets or other merchandise - let me know - it's easy!)

Here is another black magic card. This one uses the border stamp from Vintage Voque (they are holding that over into the new catalog!) I got my set when I attended the regional conference in Milwaukee.

Another card using black magic and images from the Vintage Vogue set. The colors here are Concord Crush and Pear Pizzazz.

This one uses the Herb Expressions and the retiring colors Lovely Lilac and Green Galore. I needed to get some birthday cards ready to drop in mailboxes at church this weekend and expect the rest of my week to be pretty busy - my older daughter is getting married :-)

Speaking of the wedding - here are some things I made related to that
Gift cards for the bridesmaid gifts. The wedding colors are Cornflower Blue and Buttercup Yellow but my DD is not picky about the exact shades. Here I used So Saffron and Marina Mist.

These are the table favors. I made 332 of them and my younger daughter helped put the Hershey's kisses in each one - 4 to a box. I used a variety of So Saffron and Bashful Blue designer series paper for the lids with So Saffron and Ballet Blue card stock for the bottoms.
I printed the labels on the computer and used the Curly Label punch. The ribbon is not SU.

New Colors - New Products - preview #1

The new Stampin Up colors and products come out July 1 and as a demonstrator I have an opportunity to be able to pre-order some to get a head start. I have been having so much fun playing with my new toys.
This card shows the 5 new core colors (Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist) as well as the renamed Kraft which is now Crumb Cake. The ribbon is 1/8 inch taffeta in Early Espresso.

This card uses the Simply Said stamp set - this has been around for a while but it is new for me :-) I used two of the new IN colors. Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade to color the flowers. The other IN colors are Concord Crush, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz.


This card uses all of the IN colors. The squares are mounted on Concord Crush and the card base is Pear Pizazz. The sentiment is from the Herb Expression (another new set for me).

Here is another Simply Said - simply done using Poppy Parade and Early Espresso.

This is another simple card using the Herb Expressions with Pear Pizzazz and Concord Crush.

This card uses the new Designer Series paper, Greenhouse Gala. The colors are Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip and Marina Mist. I colored in the flowers using a white gel pen - also used to do the 'stitching' on the card.
Another Greenhouse Gala card. The sentiment is also from Herb Expression. I used the Scallop Border punch on the Daffodil Delight strip.


This time I used Poppy Parade for the card base. I used the Modern Label punch for the taps on the left edge.

This card uses the 'flip side' of the DSP on the previous cards. The background piece is embossed using the Big Shot - new embossing folder called Vintage Wallpaper which I am really loving! The stamp set is Cute by the Inch - a hostess set in the new catalog. The ribbon again is the 1/8 inch Daffodil Delight taffetta.

This one used the old standby colors of Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive. I used the new trio stampin' wheel from the summer mini occasion catalog (these three will be available in the new catalog too) and the Happy is from the Look Who's Turning stamp set.