what I've been doing...

Playing with all my new SU! goodies!!  That's right... It's the most wonderful time of the SU! year... the new catalogue went live on July 1st, and I've been playing with my preorder goodies, making up samples for my groups and classes:

This card uses the new taffeta ribbon in Daffodil Delight, and that beautiful hydrangea image is a Level 1 hostess set! The kraft Crumb Cake card front is embossed with our new square lattice embossing folder... I just love the wonderful deep impressions you get with these folders!

Here, I decided to let the gorgeous new designer paper be the star of the show... just accented with a ruffle of Chocolate Chip satin ribbon and a scalloped oval punch.

This card uses the reinker float or reinker spread technique, made popular by Crystal French, that has gone viral on the web.  It's really very simple: emboss your image in white on SU! shimmery white cardstock, then spritz the image liberally with water - the water will pool within the embossed lines of your image. Put a drop or two of reinker (I used Pink Pirouette for this one, but I've seen beautiful combinations of colours if you Google 'reinker spread technique') on a piece of acetate and touch the tip of your aquapainter to it and then touch the inked tip of the aquapainter to the pools of water on your image... Watch the magic happen! I went over a couple of areas again to give the darker colour since I wanted to do a single colour image.

This card is not all SU!... it uses up some of an SEI paper pack that I had was given awhile ago and am just now breaking into.  I thought the shiny patterned paper could be the star of the show (although it was a little hard to get a photo to show it accurately!) with just a little ruffled ribbon and a sentiment from the new SU! level 3 hostess set, Occasional Greetings. I must say that I think this is my new favourite way to add ribbon to a project without the bulk of a knot or a bow - it just adds that little something!

twice in one day...

don't fall over with surprise shock excitement...

Another previously uninked HA background-sized stamp... this time using SU! Close to Cocoa and then misting with water on watercolour paper.

as promised...

I said I'd give you the details as soon as I could, so here you go:

Contact me, or use the link above to shop 24/7 at my online store if you need to stock up on some of your favourites!

ch...ch...ch...changes...

I have a little update for you with some exciting news from Stampin' Up! It's called a Colour Renovation, and it's a little scary and a lot exciting - big changes in the works for the July Idea Book & Catalogue.

If you are anything like me, you probably have one or two (or 10!) colours in your stash that you bought but just never use... or perhaps you bought a whole colour family and find you only use a few of your favourites?  I must admit that while I do try to stick to what I love (& therefore know I will use),  I have a few colours that I bought to 'step out of my comfort zone' but they are, for the most part, sadly neglected... The same is true for some colours that I got as a part of my package when I signed up to be a demonstrator.  Well, as part of the Colour Renovation, the current colour families will be changed up -  there will be 4 new colour collections, combining current colours with previous In Colours, as well as 5 totally new colours! 

Essentially, this means we are losing some (of my favourite) colours (goodbye Mellow Moss, Sage Shadow, Perfect Plum & Really Rust... {sigh}), but getting some old favourites back - hello Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red & Wild Wasabi!

So, here is what I know for sure right now:

The current colour families are changing to colour collections:  Brights, Neutrals, Regals, Subtles with 10 colours in each.

Older, less popular colours are retiring.

The 7 most popular In Colours are returning (unfortunately, Kiwi Kiss is not one of them, but I do get Baja Breeze & Tangerine Tango, so let's embrace the happy changes, eh?!!).

5 new In Colours will also be announced, and In Colours will be available for 2 year terms.

I'll post more information as soon as I can (like the PDF of the luscious new colours!); meanwhile, if you have any questions, please check out the Stampin' Up! website or contact me.

twice in 2 days...

hard to believe, eh - nothing for 2 months, then 2 posts in 2 days?!?!  Here are a few more cards I've been working on, including the ones for my workshop tonight:

This one uses some of the paper from the Sweet Pea paper pad available in the current Occasions Mini, and I saw this idea for making a flower out of circle punches over on SCS... I'm even using some of my pretty buttons (aren't you proud of me?!)!!

This card is using up some scraps of Razzleberry designer paper with some crushed curry cardstock & ribbon.  I used my reinkers and aqua painters to colour the cute flowers from the Happy Moments SAB set... Oh! And how CUTE is that grass?!?! I LOVE that MS punch!

I LOVE THIS GOOD NEIGHBOUR SET & PAPER PAD... I've been dying to use some of my not-so-new anymore, but unused goodies that I got when SAB first started! Hero Arts sentiment on this one...

And, last but not least, more of my hoarded Wild Asparagus stash... I absolutely adore this paper - the bright orange with the lime green dots!  So springy! Prima flower, Making Memories brad and Hero Arts sentiment here.

For the 1 or 2 people who still check out the old blog, thanks for sticking with me!!! Maybe we'll go for another post on the weekend and really knock your socks off with 3 in a week!! (but don't hold your breath!)

understatement...

 

 

 

27 POUNDS of stampin' excitement to be exact!!

a few cards...

This is a sample of the Acetate & Tissue technique from SCS that we did for our club night on Friday. Tons of examples in the Acetate & Tissue gallery! Love SCS!

I am so not a pink lovin' girly-girl, but I love LOVE love these Sweet Pea stitched felt flowers that are new in the SU! Occasions mini catalogue - I bought 2 packages and we used most of one for class on Friday - the girls loved them too!

 

I CASE'd this idea from Jen - it's been in my Inspiration folder on my computer for awhile.  Since I'm still mostly missing my stampin' mojo, I was going through the folder over the weekend & 'found' it again.

 

This one was in my Inspiration folder as well, but done in a paler pink with black.  I changed it to use rose red & chocolate chip.  The photo that I CASE'd it from is not watermarked or labeled with the designer's name, so if it is you, please leave me a comment so I can link to your original!

a bunch of cards...

and a few other details, but first, the cards:

I'm teaching a birthday card class this evening and I wanted to try something a little different than your "standard" card fold - this type of card fold is called an easel card, and there is a whole gallery of easel card inspiration over at SCS. I used SU! Cottage Wall DSP, and kind of CASE'd myself from an earlier Mother's Day card I'd made.


I don't know about you guys, but I struggle constantly with masculine cards - here's a simple masculine birthday card. I've used something similar for a sympathy card as well - Lovely As A Tree is just such a versatile set and it is my "go-to" set for masculine cards! Contrary to what it looks in the photo, the ribbon is Always Artichoke (not Old Olive!) and does, in fact, match the card base!


I've only done a couple of acetate cards before, but I love how they look, and when I saw this card by Michelle H., I knew I'd have to CASE it! I just love the blue, black & white combo, and the filigree brad is the perfect embellishment! Thanks for the inspiration, Michelle!


According to my mother, my cards are "beautiful, but bulky" and she wanted some non-bulky Christmas cards to mail out this year. I struggle with that because that limits my use of my favourite embellishments - ribbon tied in bows (yes, I know you can make a flatter bow, but I don't like it the same!) & rhinestone brads! I mean, it hardly seems like a Christmas card without bows and a little bling, right?!? I don't mind this one - the divine flocked paper sort of makes up for the plainness of the card overall, maybe?


This card is another complete CASE... this time from this gorgeous card by Jaydee. It is just so elegant in its simplicity!


This SU! paper was a favourite the moment I saw it (I love all things snowflake!) - it's slightly shimmery and it's in more of a non-traditional, neutral colour. I stamped the snowflake from Patterned Pines in Sahara Sand and then outlined it with my glue pen and added some bling with Dazzling Diamonds. I just love this one - I think this will be our card for this year!


Finally, a card I did with my Stampers Group this month, featuring the Split Negative technique that I learned about on SCS.

In other news, I got a little happy mail from Angie L. yesterday, saying that she'd like to feature not 1, but 2 of the cards I submitted on the Ella Publishing Co. blog on Monday! Woot!!!! How totally cool is that?!?!?

Moxie Fab World: Plum Crazy!!

Check out this challenge on the Moxie Fab World Blog here - you have until midnight on Monday, November 16th to play along! I like plum (purple, eggplant, aubergine)... it's a colour I don't reach for nearly often enough. And using purple for snowy glittery Christmas cards makes me Plum Happy!!

challenging myself...

to use up paper that I've bought and never used. Like this pretty Cottage Wall DSP. Not my usual go-to colours, but I like it!

TOTALLY & shamelessly CASE'd...

from Maren Benedict's card on pg. 32 of Holiday Cards & More Vol. 4:


I absolutely adore this combination of kraft, chocolate & white!

Week 2 Deals of the Week

Item	Description	Special Price
115961	Perfect Setting Bigz XL die	$34.99
114515	Flower Burst Embosslits die	$7.49
116760	Pop-Up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die	$34.99

Week 1: Deals of the Week

Item	Description	Special Price
109183	Trio Flower punch	$15.99
109041	5-Petal Flower punch	$15.99
110709	My Way punch	$16.99

Dates: October 1-31, 2009

Promotion Details:

During the month of October, Stampin' Up! will offer several discounted products as "Deals of the Week." No limits and no minimum purchase required.

Customer Weekly Deal Announcements:

• Deal #1: Thursday, October 1, 2009; 12:01 AM (MT)
• Deal #2: Monday, October 12, 2009; 10:00 AM (MT)
• Deal #3: Monday, October 19, 2009; 10:00 AM (MT)
• Deal #4: Monday, October 26, 2009; 10:00 AM (MT)

Click here now to shop 24/7 at my Stampin' Up! website, or contact me to purchase!

My Digital Studio...

NEW from Stampin' Up!

My Digital Studio Software

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Professional Printing

With the My Digital Studio software, you have the option to have your work professionally printed and delivered straight to your door! Professionally printed projects are ideal for layering with traditional Stampin' Up! products to make unique, multidimensional hybrid projects.

Digital Downloads

Want digital images only? You can download images of our exclusive stamps, Designer Series papers, colors, or accessories for use with the design application of your choice!

Gotta have it? Click here to purchase My Digital Studio NOW in my online store!

Happy Digital Stampin!

September = return to routine...

and that means stamper's groups begin again, and fall card classes start! I've been working on a few things for upcoming groups and classes. Fall, for cardmakers, means Christmas is just around the corner!!

This is a colour combo that was sitting on my desk in scraps, so I thought I'd try to use them in a card... not too bad, eh? You can click on the pic to make it larger, but in case you can't tell, the colours are: bordering blue, certainly celery & perfect plum. The stamps are from the Christmas Punch hostess set. I used the Dazzling Diamond Dust technique over the snowflake panel of the card for that shimmery snow!


This card uses some of my very favourite colours for Christmas: real red, old olive and chocolate chip! The paper is SU! Merry Moments and the ornament stamp is from the Delightful Decorations set... love that it has a coordinating PUNCH! Woot - no fussy cutting here!!! The ornament is blinged up with irridescent ice EP. Oh, I also super love the 3/4" polka dot ribbon... hope it will come in more colours!

a little late night crafty...

a few things I was working on last night...

this one is to accompany a little surprise that I have for a friend...



a couple more Thank You cards...


commissioned sympathy cards for work...


a special Thank You for a friend who made my beautiful veil...

a little production line stamping...

This card was a CASE of a CASE... the original card was by Dawn McVey and was published on the Stamp It! Cards cover, and then Earleen McDaniel CASEd that card here.




3 slightly different versions of the same card... CASEd from this card by Lisa Echerd.

just getting a little start on some Thank You cards for the wedding...

Christmas Stamp - A - Stack #1...

last night was my first Christmas Stamp - A - Stack for 2009. They're popular, so I offer several, usually starting in June or July.

I totally CASEd this card by Annette Stewart for the card above... love her stuff!



The card above was inspired by this card by Sharon Johnson.


This sparkly purple creation was a reworking of sorts of a card I did last year... I like purple, and I like sparkle!

a few cards...

that I've made lately:

I was so tickled with this one for my Dad's birthday! I think it's so cute! The idea for a peg board or tool wall was totally CASEd from many similar examples over on SCS - I so love that site for inspiration!


This one uses the new SU! In Colour, Rich Razzleberry, and one of my new sets, Circle Circus.


More Circle Circus, this time with Soft Suede...

And a couple of emboss resist cards for my Stamper's Group from last night:

I'm trying to embrace pink, really. This Melon Mambo is beyond pink though - it's SO bright!


Crushed Curry brayered on and then sponged with Dusty Durango...