Stamp By the Light of the Moon

Stampers' Club Project: We used the Big Shot!!

I couldn't wait to share my recent Stampers' Club project with you from this past weekend! But, when I tried posting it on Sunday night, I had trouble with the program and it kept shutting down on me.  So, I had to give up and try again today. Luckily it seems to be working!

Without further ado, here is the project I brought to them for their first club meeting of the season:

 

This card used the Big Shot, and a new product for it that I had purchased recently.  If you look on page 195 in the Idea Book & Catalog, you will find The Textured Impressions Embossing Folders right in the middle of the page.  This card was made using the Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, which is only $7.95!  It makes a stunning dry embossed image in just seconds, with a turn of the handle!  I absolutely loved the image when it came out just the way it was, but I decided to take it a step further by coloring over the embossed image with my Stampin' Pastels.  I had not played with those in probably a year or more!  I used the Always Artichoke and So Saffron chalk colors to lightly color in the images.  I love how the chalks pick up the natural fibers in the card stock!

I also used the Big Shot to add some buttons to the card, using the Sizzlits Die, Buttons #5, which again is super-affordable at just $4.95!  I used the same color paper as the chalks: Always Artichoke and So Saffron so that they'd match the flower colors.

My stamp is from The More the Merrier, a Level 3 Hostess Set found on page 17.  It's such a cute set and has stamps for many occasions.  I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of it!

Finally, I used Melon Mambo, one of our stunning new In Colors, in the textured card stock, for my base of my card.  I love the textured card stock look!  It just adds a little dimension to the card.

I'm going to do a similar card for my workshop this upcoming weekend, but I'm going to mix up the colors and do a totally different color scheme.  I'll be sure to post it when I am done.  In the meantime I have still more Christmas Cards from my class to share, as well as some swaps that I've received, so be on the lookout!

 

 

 

Christmas Punch Hostess Set - one of my faves!

Ever since my new budget plan has come into effect, I have to be extra careful when choosing my free stamp sets from various promotions whether it be hostess sets, Sale-A-Bration sets or what have you.  This summer, when I had my New Catalog Open House, it was July but I was already planning ahead for Christmas, knowing that I'd be running at least one holiday card class, if not more.  So when choosing my hostess benefits I chose them with that in mind.  One of the free hostess sets that I chose was called Christmas Punch.  It's a Level 2 Hostess Set, and it's quickly become one of my favorites.  It has seven stamps in it and each one fits one of our fabulous punches.  For those of you who have seen my collection of punches, you can imagine why it'd be one of my favorites!  One of the coolest things is that the triple snowflake stamp fits the triple flower punch! (#21 p. 187)

Tonight I'm going to show you the first of two samples made with this set.  Even better,  it's the one of them I thought of almost completely on my own with just a little inspiration from a friend. 

    

This card was inspired by a card I'd received in the mail a few years back from my friend Amy.  She'd stamped her snowflakes in reds and oranges. When I was thinking of card designs I thought of Amy's card. 

I mentioned in a past post that I try to showcase a variety of colors in my holiday card classes.  This card is a perfect example of that.  The colors I used are: Rose Red (one of my absolute favorite reds) and Bashful Blue.  I threw in a touch of orange on the snowman's nose.  The accessory I chose to add to this card is a Bashful Blue brad from the Soft Subtles brad pack on page 179.  I was able to use two punches on this card (how exciting!) by using the Small Tag Punch on the snowman and the Large Tag Punch on the Bashful Blue behind it.  

I shared a trick with my class with regards to this card.  If you need more than one of this card, you can use the technique of Double Time Stamping.  That's where you put out a whole sheet of the Whisper White card stock and stamp all of the snowflakes at once and then cut them to size.  If you are making many cards, you could lay out many sheets of Whisper White at once, stamp them all and then cut them all.  It makes your card-making very efficient.

My next post will show you the other card sample that uses this Christmas Punch stamp set, and you'll be surprised at what a different look the next card has from this one, despite coming from the same set of stamps!

Stampin' Up! Card Keeper makes a perfect gift!

I thought I'd take a break from showing Christmas Card Class samples and show you a gift that I made for my mother's birthday which was on 9-9-09.  I was very pleased with how it came out and my mom really loved it.

 

Stampin' Up! sells these very simple-looking shoebox type of box called a Card Keeper.  It's made of clear plastic, comes collapsed and you put it together when you receive it by snapping the sides to the front.  It's very simple and perfect as is. In fact, I have two of them myself.  They come with tabbed dividers and sticker labels for the dividers so that you can sort your cards into categories.  I sort one box by occasion (get well, congratulations, thank you, birthday, baby and any occasion) and one box sorted by month (all my Valentines cards are in February, St. Patricks in March, Easter in April, Mothers Day in May, Fathers Day and Graduation in June, etc etc.) 

As simple as the boxes are when left alone, I'd seen many a sample that were decorated with our Designer Series Papers and I always loved how pretty they look.  I decided that for my mom's, I'd decorate it using the Tea Party papers.  I chose some I thought she'd like and got started.  It didn't take long at all and before I knew it, I was done.  It was very easy to measure out the sides and top, and I used SNAIL adhesive to adhere the paper to the plastic.  The best part is that our papers are double sided so the effect is just as pretty on the inside as out:

 

Once I had finished the box, I thought to myself that I really couldn't give her an empty card keeper, without any cards in it, could I?  So off I went to design some coordinating and at the same time, very simple all occasion cards so that she could start to fill up her tabbed dividers. 

 

My mom gets a lot of use out of all occasion card sets that I give her, so she really liked receiving this gift.  The Tea Party papers are so pretty and so versatile, everyone loves them! 

This gift is very affordable:  $11.95 for the card keeper itself.  If you don't have paper on hand, the packs of Designer Series Papers are only $9.95 each.  My pack had been used several times already for other projects and classes and yet there was still plenty left to make the box and the cards. 

You can order your card keeper online 24 hrs a day through my business website.

My next post will continue to show off the beautiful Christmas Cards that we made in the August 30 class.  Remember that there are still a couple of spots left in the November 15 Christmas Card Class as well.  It's $50 for 30 hand stamped Christmas Cards and it's a lot of fun!  Your cards will be done well before the holiday rush begins!

Christmas Card Class Samples: Wings of Friendship

I thought that for today's post, I'd show you a card that was created using stamps and colors that you might not think of for a holiday card.  When I plan out my Christmas Card Class I try to mix in a variety of card folds, layouts, stamp sets and colors.  When thinking of colors, I try to do the traditional red/green, some blues, and then a more non-traditional color scheme as well.  Today's card fits the non-traditional color scheme category. 

 

The colors that I chose for this card are Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla and Old Olive.  I love love love this card.  This is a stamp set that is not normally "me," and I love it.  I used the Seasons Greetings stamp from Many Merry Messages and I think it's a perfect match to the style of the stamp from Wings of Friendship.  I added a little vanilla taffeta ribbon, knotted simply, as an accent.  This stamp is so detailed I didn't want anything to take away from its elegance and style. 

To create the detailed look of the two colors, I used our Stampin' Write Markers in Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive.  I colored directly on the stamp and huffed on it, moistening the ink with my breath and stamped it on the card stock.  

I think that the word "elegant" is a perfect descriptor for this card.  The font of the Season's Greetings stamp is elegant, the color scheme is elegant, the bird and flowers are elegant.  It's a gorgeous card, if I do say so myself!

This is a card I created on my own.  I was insipired by a card another card by Ronda Wade, even though the colors weren't the same, it made me think of using a darker color for my own card.  Here's Ronda's card:

 

I have a few more cards to show you this week, so be on the lookout as the week goes on!  I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful long weekend!

Christmas Card Class Samples: Big Shot Snowflake Card

I hope you all loved the Christmas ornament card that I posted earlier this week.  Today I'm going to show you the card that I created using the Big Shot.  Having just gotten the machine in August, I knew I had to use it somehow in the class.  When I was stockpiling Sizzlits along the way during the past year, I aquired the set of four snowflake sizzlits and put them away for future use.  Well, that future use came this weekend!  Here's my Snowflake card:

 

I used Night of Navy card stock for the base of the card and Glossy White card stock for the snowflakes to give them some shimmer and shine.  This card is a very simple card and it's the simplicity that I love.  I used Craft White ink and the Whisper White Satin Ribbon for an elegant look.  A mini glue dot adheres the snowflake to the knot in the ribbon.

Here's the inside of the card:

 

The inside greeting is from Many Merry Messages, a great, great stamp set for holiday cards.  It has several stamps for the outside of the card and several messages for the insides of your cards.  I get a TON of use out of this stamp set during the holidays and it's very popular with my customers.  You can find it on page 33 in the Idea Book and Catalog.  It's $34.95 for a set of 8 and well worth every penny!

My inspiration for this card was found on Stamper's Showcase on the SU Demonstrator Website.  It's also a simple card, and you'll see the similarity in my layout.

I really need something to spark my creativity and when I saw this card I thought of the snowflakes up in the top corner of a card and thought to myself "If I just make my ribbon going vertical instead of horizontal...." and there was my card. 

Be sure to order your supplies to create your own cards early on, in order to give yourself enough time for them to come in and for you to make them all!  Click the Order Now button in my sidebar to place your order 24 hrs a day!

My next Christmas Card Class is going to be held on Sunday, November 15 from 1-5 pm.  The cost is $50 for 30 cards.  I already have five people registered for this class, so if you'd like to join us, register asap!!

In a couple of days I'll be sharing another card sample with you from this class, so be sure to check back soon!

Christmas Card Class Samples: Ornament Punch Card

I hosted an early Christmas Card Class on Sunday, August 30 for people who were interested in getting a jump on their holiday cards before the madness of school and the holiday season began.  I know that my September is already booked solid, so I took the opportunity to host this class early and I'm glad I did!  Over the next week or so I'll be sharing the cards we made in the class.  Here is the first one, one of my favorites (okay, they're ALL my favorites!)

 

This card uses the brand new Ornament Punch found on page 25 in the Holiday Mini Catalog, which begins September 1.  As soon as I saw this punch, I knew I had to have it, I loved it right away.  I already know that I'm going to use it for my own Christmas cards, but that design is TOP SECRET!  The punch is $15.95 and has several products that coordinate with it in the catalog: a stamp set, rub ons and a wheel. 

I used Twill Tape (I have a renewed love for Twill Tape after using it at my Open House in July, see my earlier posts for samples,) on the top of the ornament and on top of the Designer Series paper.

The Designer Series Paper is found on p. 160 in our Idea Book & Catalog, and it's gorgeous!  Each piece and design is as beautiful as the next!  I also used this DSP on another card that you'll see in a future post.

I used Very Merry from Short and Sweet, one of my favorite and most used stamp sets, with the Word Window Punch.  I often forget I have the Word Window Punch, and I'm glad I thought of it for this card, as it made a perfect accent without being too huge.  I wanted something pretty, and the rounded edges coordinate well with the roundness of the ornament.

Finally, everyone asks me all of the time how I come up with so many gorgeous cards at once for a class.  The truth is, I don't come up with them all on my own!  I make no secret about the fact that I copy other people's designs; we all do!  I thought I'd share the designs that served as my inspiration for my cards.

This card combines two designs that I found and used for inspiration.  The first card is by Ronda Wade, one of our top Stampin' Up! demonstrators in the company.  I've had the pleasure of meeting Ronda a few times and I am always amazed by both her talent and her business sense.  Here's her card:

 

Once I saw Ronda's card, I couldn't picture my ornament card in any other colors but reds and greens.  I also loved the ribbon on top of the ornament.  Thanks Ronda!!

As I continued searching for inspiration, I moved to the Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Website and onto the Stamper's Showcase portion of it.  I found this card there by a fellow demonstrator:

 and I knew I'd found my card layout!  If you put together the layout of this card with the colors of Ronda's card, add in the ribbon on top and there you have it: my first Christmas Card design for my class! 

Stay tuned in a day or so for my next Christmas Card sample.  You'll be singing Christmas Carols in no time!!

The ornament punch is for sale in our catalog beginning September 1!  Be sure to click the Order Now button to place your order!