Work of Art-Wednesday Wow

     Can you believe this scene was made with just the stamps from the Work of Art stamp set?  Where do you think I got my idea for this cards? Your right Pinterest.  Check out this link to see the original card I used for inspiration.  I am blown away by the ideas other stampers come up with from such a basic stamp set. 

Work of Art-Technique Tuesday

     Today's card involves embossing.  I used to avoid embossing because I thought it was too hard.  Have you ever felt that way about some aspect of stamping.  Well, after trying embossing out several different ways, I have found I actually enjoy it for the added dimension it gives cards.  I made this card in under 15 minutes (if you discount the smudged stamping attempts)

1. Use versamark to stamp your image on a background.

2. Emboss the image with whatever color embossing powder you want to use.  I used white.

3. Hear powder until it melts.

   And that is how simple it is to emboss.  I wonder what I was so hesitant to use this technique.  Hopefully you will start if you are not embossing right now.

Work of Art card set-Miscellaneous Monday

Two shades of purple

     I found a card similar to this one on Pinterest and loved how using just 2 stamps from the Work of Art stamp set I could make this lovely abstract flower. So, here is what went through my mind to decide what to do with the card.

1. I needed a good saying and found Feel Goods and thought it worked great with the card design.

2. There were 5 sayings in the set so I thought how about making 5 cards one for each saying.

3.  Once completed I realized this card set would make a wonderful gift for someone.  Now, I have the gift already to go when the occasion arrives.

Could be a Mum

Two shades of the same blue ink

Could be a Poinsettia

Looks like a Sunflower





 

Work of Art-Simple Sunday

     I am glad to be back home, but sad to leave family behind.  So what do I do when I am feeling a little blue, get out some stamps and go to town.
    The featured stamp set this week will be Work of Art.  I will focus on alternate ways to use the stamp set.  Today, Simple Sunday seemed the appropriate day to make a simple watermelon.  I found this idea last summer on Pinterest and made invites to a downline party with the stamp set.  Fast, fun and easy.

Work of Art-Scrappin Saturday

     Is it snowing where you live?  We need some snow in order to make a cute snowman.  But, if you live in a place with little snow, just make a snowman card instead.  We made this card at my last Fill Your Cardbox class a week or so ago.  I found it on Pinterest and chose it because it is another creative way to use the stamp set Work of Art.  I will be featuring this stamp set this week and thought this would be a great card to start the week off. 
    Can you see where the scrap is?  I keep small scraps of ribbon to use on a card just like this one.  

Christmas Through the Year-Festival of Trees

    Now it is time to start a new Christmas Through the Year class and this card designed by Georgeann Manning will be the first one we make in January.  What do I love about this card?

1. I usually do not think of using black for a Christmas card but this card jumped right out at me because it was black and white.

2. The touch of red with the cardinal gives this card the bit of color it needed to be make me think of Christmas.

3. The silver background paper and the silver balls on the tree on the left gave it just the right amount of sparkle.

Thanks, Georgeann for such a great card idea!

If you want to join my Christmas Through the Year card class, just get it touch with me through my email address sue.scheets@gmail.com or by commenting on this posting.

Christmas Through the Year-Gentle Peace

 
  Merry Christmas One and All!  I hope you have a special day with your family and friends.  If you do not celebrate Christmas I send you my wishes for a day of peace with those you love.  
  Once a month Stampin'Up! issues a new photopolymer stamp set often designed by staff members.  I loved this set as soon as I saw it and featured it as our December card.  The card also features the stained glass technique.  Very fitting since the design of the stamp is stained glass.

1. Stamp desired image on Vellum card stock using versa mark. Make sure to dust the card stock with an embossing buddy before using the stamp.

2. Emboss the image using black embossing powder.

3. Turn card stock over to the back side and color in the image using Blendabilities. Flip back over to the front of your card and your design resembles stained glass.

Christmas Through the Year-Santa from some punches

     Doesn't this card just make you smile?  This was a swap I got from my friend Dina Lanzendorf at convention.  Everyone that made this card had such a good time and commented that it was not as hard to make as it looked.  Can you tell what punches were used/

Santa's shoes retired heart punch
Trim on Santa's pants smallest flower of the Boho Blossoms punch
Brick's of the chimney Ticket Duo Builder
Santa's bag Owl punch
Gifts in the bag small ticket from the Ticket Duo Builder

Christmas Through the Year-Choose Happiness

     Sometimes just a touch of color can make a card look elegant.  I received this card as a swap at convention from Becky Achten and immediately knew it would be a card we would make in Christmas Through the Year.  The leaves are colored in using an Aqua painter and Pistachio Pudding ink. The sparkle on the tiny berries is made using some Silver Dazzling Details.  Use caution with the Dazzling Details and make sure to allow plenty of time for the dots to dry.  So, assemble your card first before adding the final details.  The saying was made using Good Greetings.

Christmas Through the Year-Wonderful Wreath

  Wouldn't you love to sit down to send your Christmas cards and find that you had 36 handmade cards ready to go?  Well, last January I started a new class I called Christmas Through the Year.  One time the class met in Jacksonville in my home, and the other time the class met at Godfather's Pizza in Springfield.  I had so much fun creating and finding designs for the cards and the stampers loved seeing their pile of handmade Christmas cards grow and grow.  So, we are keeping it up this year.

   This was the card we made in September.

Supplies used from the Holiday Catalog:

Wonderful Wreath and matching framelit
On Point embossing folder

Supplies used from annual catalog:

Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake and Whisper White card stock
Mossy Meadow, Wild Wasabi, and Cherry Cobbled ink

Anything But a Card, Simple Sunday

     A handmade ornament makes a great Christmas gift topper, or a gift for a special friend.  This is a simple ornament that looks great.

Bow maker Big Shot die
Circle punches, 1 center of bow, 1 1/4 face, 1 1/4 plus 1 3/4 for halo

A Round Array stamp set for the design in the center of the bow

How simple is that!  I think that several of these angels, each one made a little bit different would look elegant on a tree.  What do you think?

Anything But a Card-Scrappin Saturday

     Nothing looks better on a present than a handmade tag.  With your handmade tag your gift wrap paper can be very plain. To help them out, each stamper made 3 simple tags that could easily use leftover scraps.
All 3 tags used our new tag topper punches.  Love how easy it is to make great tag toppers.

Tag 1  Eveyday Wishes stamp set
           Scraps of Silver glimmer paper, Whisper White and Cherry Cobbler

Tag 2 Punches Galore
          Festival of Trees punch, Star punch, 2 1/2 inch circle punch
          Crumb Cake card stock, Nordic Noel DSP, Trim the Tree DSP

Tag 3 White Christmas, So Very Happy stamp set
          Nordic Noel DSP, Real Red, Whisper White, Garden Green card stock

Fix it Friday

     I knew that when I went to Knollwood this month I wanted to create a card that looked like Santa.  The ladies ask me each year for a Santa card and I have no Santa stamps.  I thought this card was so cute and reminded me of the treat boxes I wanted to give the ladies. Punches and a stamp that's all I needed for such a cute card.

I also thought this card would be a cute card to make in my Christmas Through the Year class but knew I needed to step it up a bit.  Can you see what I did?

1. Used the Fancy Fan embossing folder on Santa's shirt

2. Used the Arrows embossing folder on the belt to give it more texture

3. Finally made holes in the buttons and added some baker's twine to make the buttons look real.

Still a really cute card, but the extra texture makes it even better than the simple version.

Anything But a Card 3-D Thursday

     What would you place inside this cute box?  I love the Curvy Keepsakes box and found this idea for a Santa box.  This was one of the items my stampers made in the Anything But a Card class.  I loved it so much that Linda and I made 12 boxes to take to Knollwood this month as a Christmas gift for the ladies I stamp with.

Anything But a Card-Wednesday Wow

     Here it is Wednesday already.  Where does the time go?  This week I am a stamping nurse.  My husband had cataract surgery on Monday and I have to put drops in his eyes and keep him from doing too much.  He is a very active person and when he is not busy he reads.  Well, he can't do either of those things yet but I can't convince him maybe he could cut card stock and help me out. 

    My class last weekend was called Anything But a Card and featured items you could make as small Christmas gifts for others.  Each person that came could pick out one of the 3-D stars featured in the Many Merry Stars kit.  I have to admit that I purchased the kit with the intentions of having a class and time slipped by and that did not happen.

   My downline came last night to our Christmas party and we each made one of these stars.  They are much easier to put together than I thought they would be and fun to display for the holidays.

White Christmas-Surprise Saturday

  What is the surprise?  This set which was intended to be used as a Christmas set, can also be used for a male birthday card. 

Supplies used;
   White Christmas and A Fitting Occasion stamp sets
   Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake, Whisper White card stock
   Memento Black ink pad
   Smoky Slate, Basic Grey, Chocolate Chip markers
   Moonlight designer paper stack
   Fancy Label and 1 inch punches
   Woodgrain embossing folder

  What other uses can you think of for the images in this week's stamp set White Christmas?

White Christmas-Fancy Friday

    Don't you think glitter makes everything a little bit fancier?  For this card I followed the Paper Players challenge.

 This is such a fun challenge because you get to design your card any way you want.  I chose to make my tic tac toe across the board.  Find the tree, the transport and the white.  I added a little glitter because the card needed a little fancy.
This time I have added 2 more stamps from the White Christmas set for a total of 9.  There are still 3 stamps I did not use.  A very versatile set for sure.

White Christmas-3-D Thursday

    
     Gift tags are fun and easy to make and great to have on hand ready to use.  The Scalloped and Angled tag topper punches help making tag making fast and easy. The box the tag is attached to was made using the Gift Box punch board.  The Polar Bear on the tag was made using the White Christmas stamp set. This week so far I have used 7 stamps from this great and versatile stamp set. 

White Christmas-Wednesday Wow

     Can you see what the wow is for this card?  If you look at the corner of the circle you might be able to see some Dazzling Diamonds.  This is a shaker card.  I had really forgotten about shaker cards until I made one during my Paper Pumpkin week.  I found a challenge called Merry Monday which features a Christmas card design each month.  This month the card was supposed to include a bird image.
Great way for me to use the bird stamp from my set of the week.

White Christmas-Template Tuesday

     Have you been keeping track of the number of stamps in this stamp set?  I have used 5 from the set on this card.  Since I have been back posting on my blog, I have been trying to enter some challenges to keep my creative juices flowing.  The challenge for this card was to follow the sketch from Pals Paper Arts.  It was fun to combine the stamp set and the sketch.

 

Stamps used:
    Deer
    Snow
    Snowman
    Star
    Tree

How many more images do you think there are in this set? And the big question will I be able to find a way to use all the images?  Check back each day and see.

White Christmas-Miscellaneous Monday

     Do you love the colors of fall as much as I do?  So for my next card with White Christmas I wanted to create a card that would enable me to use this set year round.  The little circles were snowflakes on yesterday's card, so I thought why not use fall colors to symbolize leaves.  It works for me.

White Christmas-Simple Sunday

I will be entering this card into the challenge for Friday Mashup and Freshly Made Sketches.

     Do you have snow on the ground yet?  We had snow last week, but today it the temperature is in the 50's.  Yep, tomorrow the forecast is for the 20's.  Must be Illinois!
   White Christmas is another set I love.  First of all it is photopolymer which makes it so easy to mount on a block. Secondly, it has so many options.  The title says Christmas but the cards you make with the set do not have to be Christmas.  This card for example could welcome winter. Check back this week for more great samples using this versatile stamp set.
  I have not done a challenge card for quite some time and decided to submit this card for the following two challenges. The Friday Mashup and Freshly Made Sketches.

 

Holiday Home-Scrappin Saturday

     My friend Linda recently moved into a new house and I knew I wanted to use Holiday Home to make her a card.  

1. Since her house was white I chose Soft Sky as the card base color.

2. I wanted the extra houses to fade into the background so I stamped them in Soft Sky also.

3. Next came the scrap paper house.  I stamped it in Memento ink so I could color parts of the house using my Blendabilities.

    I think that Linda and her family will enjoy this card don't you?

Holiday Home-Fix it Friday

     Does it take you more than one attempt to find your final design?  Well, it sure does that for me.  I knew I wanted to make a card that used the Homemade Holiday framelits with something behind them.  My first attempt needed something but I was not sure what.  I loved the look of the All is Calm designer paper behind the houses, looked kind of like it was snowing.

   I tried adding the a stamp from the set Mingle All the Way, but thought it covered up too much of the house in the middle.

   My final attempt that I liked the best was to add a saying from the That's the Ticket stamp set. I felt like I was on a roll so I decided I needed to make a card and use the cut out houses since I am all about using up every last piece if I can.

  
     What do you think?  I like this version the best.  So, if you get discouraged with a card you have made just don't give up and keep on trying to change things up just a little.

Holiday Home 3-D Thursday

     I found this adorable luminary on the Stampin'Up! website and decided it would be perfect to include in my Anything But a Card class for December. 

     The luminary is made from stamping on Vellum 4 times, making a simple base and then including a flameless tea light inside. I colored my house on the back side of the vellum using my Blendabilities. 

     The matching box is made using the Gift Box Punch board.  The tag is made using the Nordic Noel designer paper. If you love the idea of making this cute gift, then come to my class on December 6th and make as many as you would like to give to friends this Christmas.

    Have you been thinking about buying the Blendabilities have I got a sale price for you.  Monday, December 1st as long as they last, the Blendabilities are on sale for $50 less than they would cost normally.  Need more information , or want to order them, then contact me at sue.scheets@gmail.com.

Holiday Home-Wednesday Wow

 

      Can you tell how I made the sky in the background?  It was made with another Saran Wrap technique and this is my absolute favorite. 

1. Take a piece of Saran Wrap and make a wad of the wrap.

2. Choose 3 colors you would like to see in your sky.  I chose, Soft Sky, Pool Party, and Marina Mist.

3. Dip the wrap into each one of the colors and hop across the card stock with the color without reinking. 

This technique made a great background for this card.

Holiday Home-Technique Tuesday

    When I found this card sample on Pinterest, I knew that I wanted to feature it in my Hooray for Halloween class I had last month.  Each house was stamped in Crushed Curry but only the windows were cut out.  Then each house was cut out using the matching framelit and the windows were added on.  I can imagine making this card seasonal also, by just changing out the colors.  Sounds like a great project for a day with nothing else to do.  Anyone out there have that kind of a day?

Holiday Home-Miscellaneous Monday

    Another card I CASE'd from Stampin Success.  This is a great fall card and would be perfect to send out for Thanksgiving.  I love how one of the hills has been textured using an embossing folder.

I'm Back with Holiday Home-Simple Sunday

 
My stitches are out, and I am walking normally and so glad to be back.  My recovery took a bit longer than I had imagined, but it is so nice to have a straight looking pain-free foot.

This week I will be featuring the Holiday Home stamp set and matching framelit.  I was immediately attracted to this set when I first opened the Holiday Catalog.  I think it was the versatility of the set and the fact it is a photopolymer set.  This card is so simple and CASE'd from Stampin Success the magazine we get each month as a perk for being a demonstrator with Stampin'Up.

Can you see how easy it would be to adapt this card design to different seasons?
  Switch
      cardstock colors
      accent stamps
      sayings

What would you do to change up this card and make it your own?

Blog Break-Prop up the Leg

I will be taking a short break from blogging.  I have to have surgery on my foot, and need to prop my leg for the next 3 days.  I'll be back as soon as I can.
                                Sushi the Stamper

    

Paper Pumpkin Week-Bootiful Bags

   Halloween treat bags ready to go to three great guys I see 4 days a week.  But I was able to make so much more with this cute paper pumpkin kit.

A Sushi Original, yes I designed this one myself.

Created by Rachel Tessman at Stamp Your Art Out.

Boni  Montane cut apart one of the bags to make this cute card.



A bunch of cute cards inspired by cards I found on Pinterest.

 

Finally a new batch of mini cards using up all the wonderful stickers I found in the kit.

 

Isn't this fun!  Tomorrow I will be featuring some cards and 3-D items I made using the Pinwheel Party kit.