Stamp By the Light of the Moon

Shelli's Creative Challenge: Wings of Friendship

Last year my goal was to participate in lots of challenges, to stretch myself creatively.  I started out great, doing lots of them, and then I got my second job unexpectedly.  My goal had to be shelved for another year.  However, when I saw Shelli's current Creative Challenge on her Soshelli.com blog, I realized that I already had a card that fit the criteria.  She wanted us to do a card that just used Stamps, Ink and Paper, SIP.  My last card for our demonstrator meeting did just that.  Here it is:

 

My card uses the Level 2 hostess set Wings of Friendship, which I love, and the Level 3 Lovely Flowers Designer Series Paper from the bundle.  I used Crushed Curry Textured Cardstock, Always Artichoke Classic Ink and Whisper White for the image and the little knot.  Bravo Burgandy is the matte under the image.  The little "just for you" stamp is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. 

I usually love to put ribbon, buttons and brads on my cards, at least one accessory, but this one seemed perfect just the way it was.  It's a simple card for any occasion that is quick and easy to make. 

Enjoy!

Kids' Stamp Camp Project Specifics

As promised, here is some specific information about each project we created at the kids' stamp camp last week. I'll start with the project that was everyone's favorite, the notebook project.

 

This was the sample that I showed the girls.  I made sure to tell them though, that mine was only a very simple sample and that they could add color to theirs and add other stamps from the Sock Monkey stamp set to make it their own design. This project had an outside and an inside.  Here's the inside:

 

I gave each child a pencil and a notepad for the inside of their folders.  I told them that besides keeping them for themselves, these would also make nice gifts for the first day of school for their teachers.  My girls decided to do both.  They're keeping the ones from stamp camp and they each made an additional one for their teachers.

 

This is Caroline's finished project. This shows how the image looks when it's colored.  The kids used basic colored pencils to color their images in.  The morning group of older girls did some sponging around the edges.  Alexandra, my four year old, over-sponged hers a little, but she loves it and that's what matters.
 

Our next project, my personal favorite, was the paper bag scrapbook.  I used all retired ribbons for this project as well as the above notebook project.  This is the sample I showed the kids. I also used retired Designer Series Paper for my sample so that I could save the Build-A-Bear Designer Series Paper for the kids' projects.

All of the Build-A-Bear products go on sale September 1, which is Tuesday!  If you are interested in purchasing them, please let me know!  You can order through me on my Demonstrator Business Website 24 hours a day!  Just click on the Order Now button at the top of my blog!

 

 

This is what the inside of the book looked like. It has two big pages for pictures and two tabbed, hidden, smaller pages for either additional photos or journaling.  The girls liked the idea that the pages were hidden.

Here's Elizabeth's scrapbook:

 

She ended up using retired paper for hers also.  She didn't want to use the colors we had.  Her book also ended up backwards, but when you're seven, those things don't matter much!

 

This is Caroline's scrapbook and she used all the Build-A-Bear Designer Series Papers for her clothing and accessories.  It was funny how specific a lot of the girls were with their clothes matching their pocketbooks and other accessories.  The bears came out so cute!

The final project was the easiest project but was time consuming enough that it allowed me to pull each child aside to run their card stock for the bears through the Big Shot, and do the accessories too.

We made a set of four note cards using the new Build-A-Bear stamp sets, retired ribbons and colored pencils.  I let the kids do any greetings they wanted for their four cards.  Here are my two simple samples:

That's the outside, here's the inside:

and the back side: 

 

Here are the kids' samples:

 

These were Caroline's cards.  You can see how the girls really took the projects and ran with them.  Each girl worked very hard to make their cards unique and pretty.  They put a lot of effort into their cards.

Alexandra took a very unique approach, making all of her images into one single card:

 

Every project was loved by all of the kids, but their favorite was the note pad, hands down. 

I have the measurements and dimensions for all of the projects.  If anyone is interested in receiving them, just send me an email to jen@stampbythelightofthemoon.com and I will send them to you in my reply. 

My next six posts will be Christmas Card Class posts!  The class was today and it was fabulous! All of the participants already have 30 hand made Christmas cards done and ready to go and it's not even fall yet!!  What a way to get a jump on the holiday season!

I already have five people signed up for an additional session of the class in November.  If you're interested in the class, here are the details:

Sunday, November 15, 2009
1-5 pm
30 cards
$50

There are just a few spots left.  If I have enough interest, I'll start a third session on another Sunday in November.  Please let me know right away if you'd like to sign up.

Be on the lookout for the card samples from today's class to be posted in the next couple of weeks!

Kids' stamp camp: a huge success!

Last Thursday was my Kids' Stamp Camp.  I've done several in the past but the last one was at least a year or two ago, so I really had been looking forward to doing another one.  My kids were really really looking forward to it!!  They literally counted down the days, and when the box of supplies arrived prior to the camp, they cheered!  They were just so excited.

I waited to post the photos from the event because I wanted to make sure it was alright with the other moms to post their children on here. Today you'll be able to get a glimpse of the projects as the kids are doing them, but with my next post I'll start showing specific project photos and the instructions for them.

 

Here's Natalie.  She and her sister Emily were in the morning session.  I used the Big Shot to make name tags for every girl.  We also used the Big Shot for one of the projects, the paper bag scrapbook.  I decided that the best way to let each girl use the Big Shot was to do it with them one at a time while they were working semi-independently on an easier project.  I set up the four cards project at the table (behind Natalie, got them started stamping and then let them stamp while we ran the card stock through the machine for the next project.  We used the Build A Bear products that I pre-ordered from the holiday mini for the two projects and a different set of products from the new catalog for the third project.  The girls liked using the Big Shot, and really who can blame them, it's so easy and so much fun!!

Here they are working on their cards.  My Caroline looks a little startled here.  (There's another Caroline sitting right next to her, which is why I say "my".)  They did a great job with their cards. 

 

Here are the morning session girls posing with their paper bag scrapbooks.  They were all very fashion-specific when dressing their Build A Bears in the clothes.  Luckily all of SU's Designer Series Papers coordinate well together and luckily they created a set of papers specifically for the Build A Bears.  Don't they all look so pretty?

 

Here's Madison and Jordan from the afternoon session, working on the third project, a notepad in a stamped two pocket card stock folder.  They were very serious about their work, all of them.  They all did a good job cleaning their stamps, not mixing inks, etc.

 

 This photo shows something funny.  Emily, sister of Natalie above, had made a mistake on her cover of her notepad folder.  I said something about correcting it, and she asked if I had a sponge, so that she could do some sponging over it and then sponge around the edges.  I laughed because that was totally a question that only a child of a stamper would ask!  I went down to my office and got some sponges, and they sponged away, and they really did a good job with it! 

Hope you've enjoyed the photos!  Be on the lookout for more specifics soon!

More cards in the mail!

I received several cards in the mail around the time of my Open House.  Here's another one from one of my EWG Stampers' Club members, Lauren Davis.  Lauren is also a very talented stamper, like her counterparts in her group and I really  enjoy my time with them.  We eat, we stamp, (did I mention we eat???)  It makes for such a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  I always go home in such a happy mood afterwards (and a full belly!)  I'm happy to love my job so much!

 

This card uses such beautiful summer colors, you can't help but be cheery when you look at it!  Thank you so much, Lauren for sending me a card in the mail!

Be on the lookout over the next couple of days.  I'll be uploading my photos from my Kids' Stamp Camp which took place today.  I had a total of 16 kids, including my three, making three projects today.  It was fantastic!  I have great photos to share so check back soon!

Cards in the mail...

Every so often I receive hand stamped cards in the mail, someone either paying for a class or event, or else just sending a card to send a card!  Recently I've received several so I thought I'd share them here.

The one I'm going to share first is by Sue La Perriere, one of my stampers' club members and a very talented stamper.  She sent this to me around the time of my Open House and I just love the colors.

 

Besides the perfect color coordination that Sue did, I also love the use of the scallop edge punch and the scallop oval punch.  I do not have any of the oval punches and every time I see them used, I want them even more.  This card really focuses on curves: ovals, circles and scallops and I just  love it!

Thanks, Sue for sharing your card with us!

Sharing my Stampin' Up! Excitement!

I have some exciting news!!  (And no, don't even ask, it's not that!)  It's stamping and scrapping news!  Let me give you some background before I share, and let me tell you now, be sure to read to the end of this post, there's a very funny story at the bottom...

When I first started with Stampin' Up!, I had slightly more disposable income.  If I wanted something, I bought it.  However, with the change in the economy and the increase in the cost of everything else over the past two years, I've had to be very, very careful with my Stampin' Up! money and make sure that my business not only pays for itself, but contributes as much as possible to our family's budget. 

Therefore, if I want something now, I have to earn it for free, or else use class fee payments from class participants to purchase it as part of a class project that they're making.  It's been almost two full years of my business operating on such strict terms, and it's been hard, but I've been doing it.  I try to choose my hostess benefits wisely, getting more of what I need, and less of what I want.  In fact, there was a whole class on this subject at Convention last summer, and it hit home that week because, what I really really wanted, was Stampin' Up!'s new Sizzix Big Shot machine that came out last summer.  And I really really wanted a bunch of SU dies to go with it!  But, the machine was very expensive.  And, I already had a Sizzix machine from the Christmas before, with Sizzix dies to go with that.  So, even though I wanted it so badly, I had to wait. 

This summer though, when the Build A Bear products came out in the Holiday Mini (which you don't have yet, but I do!) and they were stamps and Sizzix products, now I really really REALLY wanted that machine.  I decided to use all of my hostess benefits for it from my Open House in July, if I had enough sales to get to $95 in free merchandise.  I knew I had a children's stamp camp coming up in August and could use the Build A Bear sets for the camp as well. 

 

Here it is: my lovely Sizzix Big Shot machine from Stampin' Up!  It took me a year to earn it, but I earned it!!  I love it! 

 

Even though I did not yet own the machine over the past year, I did something that I think was pretty smart.  Any time I did have some little bit of extra hostess benefits, I would order an inexpensive die from the catalog that would eventually go with my machine.  It kept me motivated to buy the machine and it allowed me to get a small stockpile of dies ready to go.  I'm glad that I did this because now, besides having the Build A Bear dies from the upcoming Holiday mini, I have several others that I can use for future workshops and stampers' clubs.  I do try to think ahead of what I have got coming up that I need to buy supplies for.  Now I know we can play with the Big Shot for several upcoming events because I have the machine and the dies.  And now, I can continue to slowly build my collection over the coming year(s) because I finally have the machine.  HOORAY!!

Before I end, here's a funny story (I can laugh now) about my Big Shot's arrival for you:

My Open House order arrived late Friday afternoon as we were coming home ourselves.  It was three huge boxes and very heavy, so I asked my UPS guy to just leave the order at the bottom of the stairs for me.  I went about my business for the rest of the day and into the evening, forgetting the boxes had arrived.  Around 11pm my husband returned from a baseball game and he and I were chatting when I suddenly realized I'd forgotten to open my order, and my Big Shot was in there!  By now, it was midnight, but my husband, patient man that he is, carried the order up the stairs for me and into the living room where I tore them open and found my machine.  I opened the box and saw that the handle does not come attached to the machine itself and had to be put together.  There was a little screw, a little washer and a little screwdriver all in a bag together. 

I said to my husband, "Ugh!  I have to put this together!  Can you please help me?"  He said he would, and to bring it over to him where he was sitting on the couch.  He put out his hand, I handed him the tiny pieces and one of them proceeded to roll right out of his hand and into the crack of the couch. 

"Now that can't be good," my husband said. 

He put his hand into the side of the couch and said, "Huh.  That screw must've gone into the lining of the couch.  It's not here." 

I wanted to die.  I now was the one trying to be patient, trying to be calm.  I knew that nothing would be accomplished by me losing my mind, which was what I really wanted to do. 

It was now 12:30 am.

My husband goes down to his workroom and comes up with two empty milk crates.  He lifts the couch up and I prop the milk crates underneath the end the screw had fallen into.  He gets a pair of pliers and begins slowly taking out the dozen or so staples that are keeping the lining attached to the couch. 

 It was a slow, painful process, literally, because at one point he bopped himself in the face with the pliers as he laid under the couch pulling out the staples.  I asked him if he wanted to stop, but he said no, he'd keep going, but "boy that's going to hurt tomorrow," he said.

Finally, all of the staples were out, he reached in, found the teeny, tiny screw, and went downstairs to get the staple gun to re-staple the lining to the couch.  First though, he went over to the dining room table where my handle-less Sizzix sat waiting, and he sat and put the handle on for me. 

It was now 1:00 am and I could play with my Sizzix, while he re-stapled the couch. 

The moral of the story is this:

1) Put your handle on your machine yourself

2) Do it on a table

3) Don't wait til the middle of the night to get started, just in case.  You just never know what can happen...

Last Open House Show and Tell: Watercolor Wonder Crayons Technique

As promised, here's my last post about my Open House projects!  This project was taken directly from the catalog itself. 

During one of my Stampers' Clubs, I was looking through the new catalog right with my customers.  On page 52 I saw a beautiful gift idea:  a mug wrapped in twill tape.  The twill tape was stamped on using the Watercolor Wonder Crayons (page 154.)  It was such a beautiful look, I had to try it out for myself. Here's how it came out:

 

The technique is tricky but if it comes out right, it's a beautiful look, as you can see here.

To do the technique, according to the catalog directions, you need to:

1) Choose your stamp.  I chose the flowers from one of my favorite sets: Eastern Blooms.

2) Choose your colors of crayons and color directly on the stamp.  I chose Bravo Burgandy and Always Artichoke, one of my favorite color combinations.  I colored the flowers in Burgandy and the stems in Artichoke.

3) Lightly mist the twill tape using water.

4) Stamp directly on the twill tape. 

The part of the process that is tricky is the spraying with water part, believe it or not.  The twill tape can't be soaked or the crayon will run.  The twill tape can't be too dry though or the crayon images won't come out at all. 

I did the front and then spritzed the back as well and repeated the process.  I decided to tie my twill tape into a bow when I was done.  I'll add it to something at some point.  For now though I like just looking at it, it's such a neat technique!

The responses to the technique were mixed.  Some people had success on their first try, some did not.  When I practiced it took me a couple of tries also.  I encourage you to try it too!  I like that it gives you something new to do with the twill tape. 

I'll be sharing some excitement in my next post, so be on the lookout!