Monstermaniacs birthday card

   What kind of a card do you make for a young person?  One of the cards I prepared ahead of time was for my great nephew Ben.  I could not find one that I thought a 3 year old would enjoy so went to my stamping cabinet to look for the perfect stamp set.  I found one I loved and hope Ben loves it as much.  It is the set called Monstermaniacs and was created by one of us, a stamper.  The images are so cute and fun to color.  Because the monster was so detailed I did not think the card needed much else.  The lines of the background paper made it easy to keep my personalized message straight. Who would you send this card to? What would you add to this card to make it your own?

A Whale of a Good Birthday

     Would you love to get a handmade card from someone you care about?  I love making cards for family, stamping friends, and quilt guild members.  I am constantly trying to be a bit more organized about things. My plan for getting birthday cards ready ahead of time is really working.  At the end of each month I prepare the cards for two months ahead.  so, last week I got all my April cards ready to mail.  Instead of putting the stamp on ahead of time, I write the date I want to mail the card in that corner.  It really helps me keep up. I needed a special card for my brother-in-law Pat.  Recently he and my sister took a birding trip to California and Barb told me they had been on a whale watch.  So I decided this card would be perfect for Pat's birthday.

1. I used the whale from the set called Hello Sailor we received at the Manager's reception at the Leadership conference.

2. I wanted something that made me think of waves and the ocean so used two of the stamps from the set called Clockworks.  One of the stamps had swirls and birds flying in the air.

   I liked the end result and hope that Pat does too.

Happenings Simply Sent card kit

     Do you ever need a card and need it quickly?  These Simply Sent card kits are perfect for a situation just like that.  The kit is available in the Occasions Catalog and is just $14.95 for 15 cards.  Everything you need is in the kit except for adhesive.  You can purchase a stamp set that works really well with the cards, or use a stamp you already have on hand.
Here are some closeups of the cards.

 

   Aren't these cute cards?

 

Winter Wreath

     Wouldn't you love to have this wreath hanging in your house?  We made this at a class I had a couple of weeks ago.  It is my plan to have stampers make seasonal wreaths this year.  This fall we made the first one you can see here.
My inspiration for these wreaths is page 184 and 185 in the annual catalog.  Can you see the changes I made to the winter wreath pictured?

1. I used the Festive Flurry designer paper and coordinating colors.

2. I made snowflakes out of the silver glimmer paper using the Festive Flurry framelits.

3. I used several colors of seam binding ribbon together to make the bow.  I got that idea from my friend Lana's winter wreath.

   Can you guess what kit I will be using for the Spring Wreath we will make next month?

Watercolor Batik

     What other way can you achieve a water color look? I call this technique Batiking.

1. Ink the back of a solid stamp with either an ink pad or a marker.

2. Hold the stamp about 6 inches away from you and gently spray water onto the inked part of the stamp. The water should from little bubbles, but not drip.

3. Press the stamp onto any kind of card stock and voila, you have a batik look to your image.

   For this card I used the Hearts a Flutter stamp set and matching Framelit.  The saying is from the Best of Love stamp set, and the designer paper is called Fresh Prints paper stack.
Who would you send this card to?

Watercoloring with ink pads

   I have always loved the look of watercolor.  This was one of the make n takes from leadership and is very easy to duplicate.

1. First stamp the image from the single stamp Vivid Vases on a piece of water color paper.  It is best to use water color paper if you are going to do any kind of coloring.  The regular Whisper White paper tends to ball up with water on it.

2. Squeeze your ink pads together to create a pool of color on the lid.

3. Use an aqua painters to take a bit of the ink and color in the vases and flowers.  Add a bit more ink for a shading effect.

   Can you think of other stamps you would like to use with this water color technique?

Stamping on Wet Watercolor Paper

    My club classes this month and last have been focusing on Watercolor techniques.  This technique today is called Impressionistic Stamping.

1. First spray water on the water color paper until it is wet all over.

2. Next stamp your image on the wet paper.  The ink will spread out and become a little blurred.  I wanted to use a 2-step stamp for my card so I used the Too Kind stamp set.

3. Once the ink and paper are dry ink up the smaller image in a darker color and stamp on top of the blurred image. You should have a bright and clear stamped image. 

  This effect resembles some of Monet's paintings.  What stamp would you use to make a card using the Impressionistic technique?'

Watercolored Background Stamps

 
    Do you like the look of watercolor?  It is my favorite medium.  My monthly club is a technique club so the 2 cards the members make each month are based on the same technique.  January and February the technique was water color.  Here are the steps for this card.

1. Ink up an acrylic block.

2. Gently spray water onto the inked up block.

3. Stamp the block onto a piece of cardstock.  It does not have to be water color paper.  This is just a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

4.  These blocked pieces create the background for the solid flower image.

   What stamp would you place over these background blocks?

Dress Form Birthday

     Do you ever forget about something you enjoy using?  I was that way with this dress form framelit.  When I started looking for female birthday card ideas, I found one using the framelit and that made me realize how much I really like using this. But, to make the card my own, I knew I needed to change a few things from the original card design.

1. I wanted a delicate looking Designer paper design and found this one in the DSP called Etcetera.  Most of the designs in this set are big and bold, but this design was just what I was looking for.

2. The dress form is stamped in Versamark with the flower from the Happy Watercolor stamp set.

3. The ribbon, saying, and flower accent are made using Pool Party color.

   What female would not love getting this card for her birthday?

Stepping up a card

     When I went to Knollwood assisted Living this month I created a card that would look nice but not be too hard to create.  I like to use designer paper because then the ladies choose which side they want to use.  I liked the card. but thought it needed a bit of stepping up before I could use it in a class.

 

1. I added a scalloped border trim on the top and the bottom of the designer paper.  I chose this trim because of the scalloped look of the DSP.

 

2. I cut out the stamp which is one of the stamps from the Everyday Occasions card kit.  I then glued it onto one of the colors from the DSP Coastal Cabana to add some contrasting color to the card.

 

   Sometimes adding a little bit to a card can kick it up a notch.  What would you do to change the first card? 

 

 

 

 

Changing a Design

The original card design
 



Amanda's design



      Do you like to look at a design and change a few things to make it your own?  At my open house a new friend, Amanda decided to do just that.  Can you see what she changed on the original design?

1. The card went from being  horizontal to vertical

2. The Washi tape is now located on the right side instead of in the center

3.The flower image is a different flower from the stamp set called Happy Watercolor.

4. The sequin accents pieces are kept as a strip and also attached to the washi tape/

   And that's what I love about stamping.  Each person can put their own touch to a design to make it his or her own.  I tell everyone at my classes that my card design is just an idea that they can change any way they like.  What do you love about stamping/
    

Sale a Bration card for a birthday

     Don't you love getting free items? This stamp set called Petal Parade is one of the free stamp sets you can receive with a $50 order during February and March. Here's why I love this set.

1. All the stamps coordinate
2. Easy to use
3. Doesn't need much added to it to make a complete card.

     What would you order so that you could receive this stamp set for free?  Come to my Fill Your cardbox class and make this as one of your cards.

Coordinated card

    Have you ever stressed over how to coordinate items to make a card?  I have in the past but do no longer because of how the Stampin'Up! products coordinate so easily. 

1. I chose the designer paper first, and it is called Retro Fresh.

2. There is a piece of cardboard at the back of each stack of designer paper and the colors that coordinate with the paper are listed in ABC order.  So after checking the colors out for this paper, I chose to use Coastal Cabana as an accent color and Baked Brown Sugar as my card base.

3. The Washi tape coordinates with the colors and design of the paper and are conveniently called Retro Fresh.

4. The arrow embossing folder coordinated with the arrows in the paper and gave the card a little extra texture.

4. Finally, I felt the style of the Perfect Pennants stamp set matched the style of the paper. 

  So, you can see once I found the paper I wanted I could easily coordinate the other components of the card. This card is one of the featured cards in this month's Fill Your Card Box with Female birthday cards class.  Sign up online at my website.  www.sushi.stampinup.net

Gold Looks Good

  Everyone loves Gold.  And at Leadership in January we learned that all things gold is one of the new trends.  So, I found this card on Pinterest and CASED most of the parts.
How many gold items can you find on this card.

1. The flower stamp is from the set called Happy Watercolor from the Occasions catalog.  It was stamped with Versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder. The Thanks stamp is from the photopolymer stamp set called Another
Thank You.

2. The accent cardstock is called Brushed Gold

3. The Washi tape is called Watercolor Wonder and is gold.

4. The sequins were taken off the roll of golden sequins also found in the Occasions catalog.

  I have not always been a fan of gold, but love how all these products look together.  What would you use to make a golded card?

Celebrate with a Banner

     What would you celebrate with this banner?  I decided to make up the banner kit that is pictured in the Occasions Catalog  to celebrate our new catalog and my Open House.  I was not exactly sure what I wanted to do with the banner since making a banner is out of my comfort zone. So, I went to my friend Lana's blog because I knew she had made one and I wanted to see what she had done.  Check hers out here. I did not want to copy Lana's directly so I made some changes.  That is what CASing is all about right!

1. I wanted to use the word Celebrate instead of create for my Open House.

2. I liked Lana's idea of putting something behind each letter so I made a circle with the Circle's framelit behind each letter instead of the scalloped circle die she used.

3. I also liked the idea of stamping on each letter to make the colors blend into the banner.  I used the colors from the DSP that came with the kit and the stamp set Gorgeous Grunge for the stamping.


4. The great thing about this kit is that there are 15 banners included.  Well, I only needed 9 to make the word Celebrate and had 6 leftover.  So, I decided to make a banner with the word Create that I can keep up all the time in my stamping studio.  For these letters I did not have enough of the DSP to make another circle so I used the Banners Framelit set to cut out banners to place behind each letter.  And the letters, well check out the word Create and the word Celebrate and they have the same letters in each word.  So, I just traced around the letters I needed and cut them out of Whisper White cardstock.

 

 

 

     I still have not used up all the supplies from the banner kit and  accessory kit.  I think I see some cards and matching gift bags in a future posting.

Fringe Scissor Flowers

     Would you like to know how easy it was to make these flowers?  I used the new Fringe Scissors that are in the Stampin'Up! Occasions catalog. 

1. Each flower has two layers of cardstock.  The inside layer is about 1/2-1 inch shorter than the outside layer.

2. The hint for using the scissors most effectively is to open them up as far as you can and then slide the paper until it touches the v of the open scissors.  That way you only have to make one cut for each fringe.

3.  The brown paper inside each jar was also made with the scissors.  I folded the old packing paper into 4ths so that when I cut the paper the scissors cut through the entire piece of paper.  Then I just opened each cut piece and bunched them together in the jar.

    I think I could easily be a flower making fool using these scissors. What would you use them for?

 

Sale a Bration Good as Gold

     Do you love getting things for free?  During Sale a Bration this card kit is one of the items that you can get free with a $50 purchase.  I think the card is really cute and very easy to put together since all the items needed are a part of the kit.  But, I like to find alternate ways to use the kits.  Come by the Open House today and make a cute little box out of the Good as Gold card kit.

Geometric Tags

     Do you like the new geometric look featured in the Occasions Catalog?  These are some tags we made at the Leadership Conference that feature a lot of new goodies.

1. Geometrical stamp set- I love the shapes in the sayings

2. Kaleidoscope designer paper- love the brightness of the papers

3. Triangle punch.  Notice the triangle frames.  We punched the shape first then cut around the empty space to make the little frames

4. Scalloped tap topper punch-great for tags of all kinds

5. Essentials wooden elements-perfect accent piece

   Come by my house tomorrow and make one of these cards for yourself. If you can't think of a great gift to attach these tags to, then they would look great attached to the front of a card.  What is your favorite thing you like about these cards?

Chrtistmas Through the Year-A New Card

     Why am I showing you a Christmas card in February?  This is the card sample that stampers will be making in my Christmas Through the Year card class in February.  How does that class work?  I create one design, you make 3 cards that are like the design.  I hold the class once a month and anyone can attend any time.  This month I will be holding the class in Springfield for anyone who wants to attend there.  We will be making the first card I designed this month in Springfield. Contact me if you are interested in attending either class this month. 

A Golden Birthday card

     Can you tell what kind of ink I used to make this card? If you thought gold, then you were correct.  I love the simple elegance of this card that I found on Pinterest.

1. I used Gorgeous Grunge for the paint splatters

2. The stamp set is Mosaic Madness with the matching punch.

3. The ribbon and cardstock are Crushed Curry which is a good match for gold don't you think/

4. The saying was done using Label Love and the matching punch.

    This is one of the cards I am featuring this month in my birthday card classes. Check out the different places I will be stamping on my website.

March framed art-Not a Leprechaun

     What do you think of when you think of March?  Usually, people think of St. Patrick's Day and I have done layouts for my scrapbooking using leprechauns and the work lucky for years.  This time I wanted to do something different. An idea was in the back of my mind, but I was not sure how to get it to reality.

1. I knew I wanted to use some kind of a poem or saying about March so I googled the words March sayings and found one I liked.

2. Next, I knew I wanted wind symbolized some how so once again I googled Wind Art.  I saw the swirls I had imagined  and first tried to cut them free hand.  Big mistake.  The swirls I saw in my head did not appear on paper.

3. Finally, I went to my old reliable stamp set Everything Eleanor because I knew the swirls in the stamp set would be perfect for the wind I wanted to use. If you remember I used the swirls for tree limbs on the December framed art.

4, The lion from the stamp set Zoo Review helped me put the finishing touches on the March frame.

   Here's what I learned.  You CAN take something you imagine and make it happen.  And there is a stamp set out there that will help you, it just takes a little bit of imagination to make it happen.

February Framed Art

     I love decorating for each month of the year, do you?  Back in October I started a framed art class and have continued it each month.  This is the frame for February.  You might ask yourself who would want black for a Valentine themed picture, but I personally love the combination of black and red.  Here are the different items that I used for this picture.

1. Owl punch for the tiny heart in the pennant banner

2. Bird punch, pretty obvious where I used that one

3. Heart framelits- I used two at the same time to make the frame for the linking hearts

4. Envelope punch board-I made my own envelope size to create a 2 by 2 envelope.  I started out with a piece of paper that was 4 1/4 by 4 1/4 and made my first score line at 2 1/8.  The rest was so easy using the punch board.

5. Language of Love stamp set

6. Modern Medley designer paper and Real Red cardstock

   It's not too late to join the frame art class.  Just RSVP on my website and I'll have your supplies ready for you.

Occasion Catalog Bundles

 

    Do you love things that match? Well, this card was made with lots of things that match.  One of my favorite things Stampin'Up! has been offering in all their catalogs are Bundles.  When you buy specific objects that are similar, Stampin'Up! has grouped them as a bundle and discounted them if you order both items at one time. This card uses  the 2 items that were offered in the Starburst Bundle. 

1. Starburst Sayings stamp set

2. Starburst Framelits dies

     And to tie everything together in this card is a piece of washi tape from the Retro Fresh This and That designer washi tape. It looks like a piece of cardstock, but that is because it was mounted on a piece of white cardstock to show it off. All the other colors in the card reflect back to the colors in the washi tape.  It was so easy to coordinate everything in this card.  Now what happy day would you want to celebrate with this bright and cheerful card inspired by Justin Krieger?

Mini File folder

     Have you seen the file folder cards that seem to be the rage at the moment?  Well, I found this cute file folder candy holder on Becky Robert's blog called Inkin Idaho.  She has a video with great directions.  Come by my Open House on Saturday, February 8 and make one for yourself.  Email me at sue.scheets@gmail.com for more details and to RSVP.