Club #2 Kick-off

Club #2 began today - what fun! It was good to be with old friends and make some new ones.


This is the first card we made. I did the Smooch Spritz before-hand because I am pretty messy when doing that.
Stamp Sets: Thoughts and Prayers, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Cajun Craze
Punches: Small Oval, Scalloped Oval
Embellishment: More Mustard brads
Ink: Cajun Craze, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz

This is another card we made. It featured the Big Shot and embossing folder Vintage Wallpaper and the Presto Paper.
Card Stock: Bravo Burgundy, Marina Mist, Sahara Sand and Presto Paper
Ink: Sahara Sand
Ribbon: Whisper White Organza

My favorite of the three we made today is this one.
Stamp Set: Hello Again
Card Stock: Pretty in Pink, Concord Crush, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Lap of Luxury DSP
Ribbon: 3/8 inch organza Pretty in Pink
Ink: Basic Gray marker and ink pad, Concord Crush marker


And our project:
Stamp Sets: Batty for You, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant
Punches: Wide Oval, Scallop Oval, 1 3/8 inch Circle, Scallop Circle
Embellishment: Old Olive 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon, Glimmer Brads

And here is the treat inside :-)

It was a great time and hope everyone learned something to take home and use for their own cardmaking and scrapbooking.

Tutorial posted and Blog Candy

First, I have posted the Scalloped Pinwheel tutorial on my Tutorial Blog. Eventually I plan to copy all the tutorials from this blog to that one so they are all in the same place.

Secondly, I am so thankful for each of my followers. I am not at 529 visits so I know you guys are stopping by and checking me out. When I get to 1000 visits I will be offering some sort of blog candy - not sure what yet - but will decide soon and post the details. Meanwhile, keep stopping by to get those numbers rising quickly :-)

Summer Mini Ends Soon

Don't miss out on the chance to order from the Summer Mini Catalog - ends August 31! You can download a copy here Summer Mini

Here are some of my favorites using the Summer Mini products -

Stamp Set: Blissful Bride, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Silver
Ink: Basic Gray, Blushing Bride marker, Silver gel pen
Ribbon: (some I had from pre-SU but would look nice with the organza ribbon from SU)
Tools: Big Shot, Polka Dot embossing folder

Stamp Set: Sweet Scoops
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Garden Green, Melon Mambo
Embellishments: Flower Brad, wooden craft spoon
Punch: Wide Oval, Boho Blossoms


Card Stock: Whisper White, Close to Cocoa (could use any color since that is no longer available)
Stamp Set: Sweet Scoops, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron


Stamp Set: Stampin' Wheel with So Many Stars, Birthday and Candle Crazy wheels, Look Who's Turning
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip re-inkers
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ribbon: 1/4 inch grosgrain Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive

Stamp Set: July Fourth, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: Night of Navy, Green Galore (retired - but could use Pear Pizzazz) Yoyo Yellow (retired but could use Daffodil Delight), Real Red
Ink: Whisper White craft ink, Watercolor Pencils, Real Red, White Gel Pen
Punches: Word Window, Modern Label

Stamp Set: July Fourth
Card Stock: Night of Navy
Ink: Whisper White craft ink, Watercolor Pencils, White Gel Pen

Aren't those great stamp sets? Don't miss out on them! Email me today to place your order.
Email Mary

Elements of Style

One of my favorite stamp sets is "Elements of Style". I played with it this weekend. I have seen many others use the 'sections' of the design and wanted to do some cards with that. I needed 2 birthday cards for some dear ladies at church and thought these would be just right for them.

All are stamped in Basic Gray and then colored using the blender pen and ink pads. I pressed the ink pad together so that when I opened it there was some ink on the inside of the lid. I used that as my ink for the blender pen. It takes a while but looks nice.
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Garden Green, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum
Stamp sets: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Punches: Medium Oval, Scallop Oval
Ink: Perfect Plum, Garden Green, Basic Gray


This one is basically the same - just different colors so a different look.
Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla
Stamp Sets: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Punches: Medium Oval, Scallop Oval
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke, Basic Gray


And this one is turned portrait -
Card Stock: Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla
Stamp Set: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Basic Gray
Punches: Small oval, Medium oval, Scallop oval


And last but not least - this one is a mosaic.
Card Stock: Marina Mist, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Stamp set: Elements of Style
Ink: Marina Mist, Old Olive, Basic Gray



Here they are all together - they make a cute set :-)

It's Halloween today :-)

I have been making little treat boxes for Halloween today. So much fun! I got the idea from Pink Buckaroo Designs. I modified them and made them a little easier (although probably not as sturdy).


Here is the lot- One is not Halloween as you will see but the others are Halloween themed. These could be made for any holiday or special occasion. If you would like to see how to make mine - I have a tutorial on my tutorial blog.

This is the one that is not Halloween.
Stamp Set : Tart and Tangy, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal (can use So Saffron - that was just a scrap of the retired paper in my scrap box).
Punches: 1 3/8 inch circle, Word Window, Scallop Circle
Ink: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango
Embellishments: Flower Brad

I used the citrus theme because it holds a bottle of Coconut Lime Verbena hand sanitizer.


Paper: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Nite Owl DSP (Holiday Mini Catalog preview)
Stamp Set: Batty for You
Punches: 1 3/8 inch circle, Scallop Circle, 3/4 inch circle, Ticket Corner
Embellishment: Black Glimmer Brad (Holiday Mini Catalog preview)

Paper: More Mustard, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango
Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Batty for You
Punches: Boho Blossoms, Medium Oval, 1 3/8 inch circle, Scallop Circle, Ticket Corner
Embellishments: More Mustard brad, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon


Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Stamp Set: Batty for You, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Punches: Medium Oval, Scalloped Oval, 1 3/8 inch circle, Scallop Circle
Embellishments: Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Glimmer Brads (Holiday Mini Catalog preview)

Using the medium oval punch twice - you can fit in two starburst candy packets

Or a small bag of Skittles. Then I wanted to try one more to see if I could fit in something other than candy.



Stamp set: Batty for You
Paper: Always Artichoke, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Nite Owl DSP (Holiday Mini Catalog preview)
Punch : Scallop Border
Ink: Basic Gray
Embellishments: Basic Black taffeta ribbon.


For this one I decorated the inside - a parade of ghosts:-)



And using the Word Window punch two or three times, I was able to make an opening for the Trident pack of gum.

Holiday Mini Catalog Preview

Here is a preview of just a couple of the new products in the Holiday Mini Catalog which begins on Sept 1.

I love the French Foliage stamp set. I have also enjoyed making my own Designer Series Paper - I can use my own combination of colors and designs :-) This uses Wild Wasabi, Always Artichoke, and Encore gold.



This is a closer shot of the paper. The photos do not do it justice as the gold leaves sparkle and shine.



This card uses the Wild Wasabi and Perfect Plum card stock and a new product called waffle paper. It is like a crumpled heavy weight tissue paper and is great for making ruffles. It comes in packages of two rolls - one gold and the other silver.
The Perfect Plum 'passport stamp' of Paris is also in the French Foliage set. I randomly stamped that on some of the paper but did not get photos of anything made with that sheet.



I have had these 2 Perfect Plum cards laying on my work table since May. I used them to demonstrate some new methods of adding bows and just never finished them. They were perfect for the French Foliage paper I made :-)



Another card - this time I added the waffle paper like a ruffle along the bottom and added the Hello from the Hello Again set. Just a nice little note card.



This is basically the same only I sponged some Perfect Plum around the edges. Just gives it a different look.

I am having fun with this set :-) Can't wait to show it to my customers soon!

Christmas is coming!

Today Christmas came to my work room. I had another mirror workshop and this time the mirror had a Christmas theme. It always amazes me how these mirrors come together. The customer chooses colors and papers, then we just start looking at ideas and put it all together.



Isn't it cute? The paper is from last year (retired). We started with the reindeer in the lower right corner and it just went from there. The customer came up with the tree design on the left and we worked together on the ribbons and sentiment.



This is a close up of the reindeer. I CASED this from Kay Sha (another SU demo) who posted her reindeer on the SU demo website. We made a couple changes ( used a circle of paper on a dimensional for the nose and added the white highlights on the eyes and nose) but for the most part it is like Kay's. I wasn't sure of some of the punches she used but came up with something that worked.



So this got me in the mood :-) Kay had done all 8 of Santa's reindeer and since I started with a red-nosed one, I decided to make 9 for a scrapbook layout. It took me most of the afternoon but I punched out all the reindeer body pieces then worked on them one at a time. Each one is unique - just like people :-)



Here is the first page. You can see Rudolph leading the way. Then I guess we have Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer.





And this would be Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. I was very pleased with all of them.




Here are close ups of them so you can see more of the detail.

Hello Again!

I opened up a new stamp set today - Hello Again. This is one of the free stamp sets I got during Sale-a-bration in the spring and I have not used it yet!


This was my first card with this set. I was using up some scraps of the ribbon punch and needed something to fill in the blank space on the right hand side. The Hello Again flower and butterfly were just right.
Stamp Set: Hello Again
Card Stock: Tangerine Tango, Sunny Garden DSP, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango
Punches: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch



I saw one similar to this by another demonstrator, Pam Staples, and tried it with the Lap of Luxury DSP.
Stamp Set: Hello Again
Card Stock: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Concord Crush, Lap of Luxury DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Concord Crush
Ribbon: 3/8 inch taffeta Pretty in Pink
Punch: Modern Label


I liked that one so much I decided to try it with a scrap of Celebrations DSP that I had left from some other cards.
Stamp Set: Hello Again, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Old Olive, Celebrations DSP
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Pacific Point
Punch: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, Word Window, Modern Label


A card by Pamela Browne gave me the idea for this one.
Stamp Set: Hello Again
Card Stock: Sunny Garden DSP, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Ink: Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait
Ribbon: 3/8 inch taffeta Daffodil Delight
Punches: 1 3/8 x 5/8 Oval, 1 3/4 x 7/8 Oval, Scalloped Oval

Don't know why it took me so long to break open this stamp set. I sure enjoyed playing with it today.

Ahhhh - That feels so good!

The guests are all gone and my craft room is mine again! It was fun having a house full but I have missed my stampin' therapy. I got busy and did the grocery shopping this morning, put supper in the crock pot, and fixed myself a large vanilla diet coke - then headed for the craft room. Here are some of the cards I made today. I wanted to feature some of the new designer series paper (DSP).
I cased (Copy and Share Everything) from cards posted by other SU demos on a shared website - although some of these are so different from the original they don't even look similar) A great part of being an SU demo is all the inspiration you get from others through the demo web site.



Celebrations DSP is great for children's birthday cards or scrapbook pages.
Card Stock: Old Olive, Bashful Blue
Ink: Real Red, Pacific Point
Stamp Set: Look Who's Turning
Embellishments: Bitty Buttons
Punches: Itty Bitty Shapes set



I also played with the Lap of Luxury DSP.
Card Stock: Basic Gray, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla
Stamp Set: Vintage Vogue
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Elegant Eggplant (the smaller flowers are 'stamped off' to make them a lighter shade)
Embellishments: Pearl jewel accent, 3/8 inch Basic Black taffeta ribbon.
(By the way, I still have shares available of the taffeta ribbons. )



This is the inside of the card. Since the card base is so dark I added this vanilla piece to write a note.




This is more of the Lap of Luxury DSP (I also have DSP shares available - want to try some but don't want the whole package - try a DSP share. )
Card Stock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Stamp Set: Vintage Vogue
Ink: Elegant Eggplant ink
Embellishment: Concord Crush poly ribbon
Punches: Word Window, Modern Label, 1 3/8 inch square, 1 1/4 inch square



And another one using Lap of Luxury.
Card Stock: Basic Gray, Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink
Punches: Scalloped Circle, 1 3/8 inch circle, Word Window, Modern Label
Embellishments: Pretty in Pink brads, Concord Crush poly ribbon
Stamp Set: Simply Said, Teeny Tiny Wishes



Sunny Garden is used on this one. These are colors that I would not normally use but it is like the retired Cottage Wall that I loved!
Card Stock: Poppy Parade,Peach Parfait
Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Blissful Bride (this is from the summer mini catalog and will not be available after August 31 so let me know soon if you need this set!)
Ink: Basic Gray, Poppy Parade marker, Peach Parfait marker
Embellishments: Poppy Parade poly ribbon
Punches: Pinked Hearts Corner,