Let's take a look at the cards we made at my January Monthly Card Class.

We CASE'd this card by Sherry as featured on Rhonda Morgan's blog.  It features the Petal Passion Suite's stamp set, dies and embossing folder all found in the Occasions Catalog on page 23.

This card features the Happy Wishes set available for FREE with a $100+ purchase during Sale-A-Bration!  Connie Stewart designed this card.

This card is made with the best-selling stamp set in the Occasions Catalog, Waterfront (p. 48).  It is so easy to make beautiful scenes with this photopolymer set by layering the (mostly) abstract shapes.  We CASE'd this card from Mary Fish.  

These Party Pandas are one of the most popular redemptions in the Sale-A-Bration brochure.  They are so adorable!  Here we paired this one with the blue Myths & Magic Glimmer Paper on OC p. 37, and some retired plaid DSP from the Holiday Catalog.  A simple yet striking design from Angie Leach.

We CASE'd this card from Mary Detherdge.  It features the Heartfelt Blooms stamp from the Sale-A-Bration brochure, which is the first of Stampin' Up!'s new, patent-pending Distinktive stamp line that lays down the ink in different opacities to make a very photo-realistic image.  We stamped the image 3 times, cutting out the main flower and leaf, sponging the edges and attaching them over the image stamped on the main panel.  We also stamped the same image tone-on-tone on the Crumb Cake layer.  

Come make your own set of cards!  While I can't show you what we'll be making, I can assure you that there will be another group of fun cards featuring awesome Stampin' Up! products. Perfect for experienced and novice crafters!
$20 - all supplies included
RSVP Deadline:  Sunday, February 4
Tuesday, February 6
6:30 - 9:00 pm at Ellen's House in Peoria (near 75th Ave & Deer Valley Rd)
Wednesday, February 7
9:30 - noon in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
6:30 - 9:00 pm in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale


New! Stamp with Me, Get it Free!
Come make some cards featuring the fun, new Bird Banter stamps (OC p. 42), and take home your own set! Because I need to order the stamp sets, an earlier reservation deadline and prepayment will be required.

Cost is $20 - I will send you a PayPal invoice once you RSVP or you can mail me a check.

​This class is also available by mail...contact me for more information

RSVP Deadline:  Sunday, February 11. 

Wednesday, February 28
9:30 - noon in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
6:30 - 9:00 pm in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale

Yesterday I held a paper crafting retreat day.  I had 3 projects that were more suited to this type of event than my regular 5-project card class format, and I'm very pleased with how it went!  My two participants made lovely projects and enjoyed themselves.

The first project was this Petal Palette sampler, which could be made as a framed 12" x 12" display piece, or mounted onto note cards.  Both of the attendees decided to make note cards.

I set things up so that each basket contained supplies to do the same type of element. For example, there was a basket that had all the dies and card stock to cut out all the Basic Black pieces for the project, and another that had all the small 5-petal flowers in each color.  There was an index card that directed how many of each color/item to make.

Oh, yeah - I made each of my ladies a little tote bag out of Designer Series Paper (DSP) to hold their supplies/finished projects.  You can learn how to make one here.

The next project was String Theory cards.  These are really quick and addictive!

And finally I taught them how to do Stamped Candles.  Really, we're stamping on white tissue paper, cutting out the stamped image, placing it on the candle, covering it with waxed paper and melting it onto the surface of the wax.  There's a great tutorial here.

We also had a yummy soup, salad, bread and cookie lunch...and for once I don't have any pictures of the food!

Fun projects + fun chatting = fun day.  Hope you can make the next one!

February Monthly Class
Make 5 projects featuring a variety of techniques and great Stampin' Up! products.  Perfect for experienced and novice crafters!
$20 - all supplies included
RSVP Deadline:  Sunday, February 4
Tuesday, February 6
6:30 - 9:00 pm at Ellen's House in Peoria (near 75th Ave & Deer Valley Rd)
Wednesday, February 7
9:30 - noon in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
6:30 - 9:00 pm in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale


New! Stamp with Me, Get it Free!
Come make some cards featuring the fun, new Bird Banter stamps (OC p. 42), and take home your own set! Because I need to order the stamp sets, an earlier reservation deadline and prepayment will be required.

Cost is $20 - I will send you a PayPal invoice once you RSVP or you can mail me a check.

​This class is also available by mail...contact me for more information

RSVP Deadline:  Sunday, February 11. 

Wednesday, February 28
9:30 - noon in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
6:30 - 9:00 pm in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale

Over the last few days I've been showing you how I go from ideas to finished cards.  You can see the previous posts here and here.  Today I'll show you how I worked with this colored piece of Petal Passion Designer Series Paper:

The obvious choice for a mat is Basic Black, so I gave it a try.

So far, so good.  How about a Calypso Coral base?

Promising...but how does it look with only a narrow band of Calypso Coral showing?

Hmmm.  Not quite doing it for me. Too many colors competing for attention?  What about a Crumb Cake base?

That's better...but I want to try one more thing.  What about a Night of Navy mat?

It's subtle, but less stark than the Basic Black mat.  Now to dress it up!

Rotating the card so that the Night of Navy flowers are at the bottom, and adding the ⅜" Corduroy Ribbon makes it feel balanced to me.

I'm adding a sentiment from the December 2017 Paper Pumpkin kit, "Flora & Flutter" that I stamped in Night of Navy ink on Crumb Cake, and cut out with the label die from the Petals & More Thinlits.  I think it needs a bit more "weight" so I want to mat it. I cut a second label in Night of Navy and cut it in 2 to layer behind the Crumb Cake piece:

Yes, I think I like that.  This corduroy ribbon has lots of nice texture, but is one-sided so doesn't tie the prettiest bows.  Perhaps a "Billie Moan Messy Bow" out of Night of Navy Baker's Twine? (Named for another demonstrator who does this multi-loop bow on many of her cards).  

Yeah, that's not doing much for me...I like it better without.  But I have noticed that I've gotten a ragged edge on my mat.  Here's how I take care of that:

I've got a foam sponge fine sanding block from the hardware store, and I just drag the rough edge across the block a few times to smooth it out.

And here's the assembled card:

February Monthly Class
Make 5 projects featuring a variety of techniques and great Stampin' Up! products.  Perfect for experienced and novice crafters!
$20 - all supplies included
RSVP Deadline:  Sunday, February 4
Tuesday, February 6
6:30 - 9:00 pm at Ellen's House in Peoria (near 75th Ave & Deer Valley Rd)
Wednesday, February 7
9:30 - noon in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale
6:30 - 9:00 pm in Nancy's Craft Room in Scottsdale


New! Stamp with Me, Get it Free!
Come make some cards featuring the fun, new Bird Banter stamps (OC p. 42), and take home your own set! Because I need to order the stamp sets, an earlier reservation deadline and prepayment will be required.

Cost is $20 - I will send you a PayPal invoice once you RSVP or you can mail me a check.

​This class is also available by mail...contact me for more information

RSVP Deadline:  Sunday, February 11. 

I'm showing you how I go through my creative process when creating cards.  Very rarely does a card spring fully-formed from my head to my crafting table.  

In my last post, I showed you how I colored two pieces of Petal Passion Designer Series Paper.  Today, I will show you how I took the rainbow ombré-colored piece and made it into a card.  

The first thing I did was let the colored piece rest overnight.  This wasn't to let ink dry or any other technical reason...I just wanted to let it sit in my brain to develop an idea of how to make it into a card. 

With so much color and "activity" in the colored paper I knew I wanted to keep the additions pretty bold and simple.  I decided to try a few large sentiment die-cuts.  I wanted to tie in with a color that I'd used, so I chose our Red Glimmer Paper for some additional impact.

Here's a tip for die-cutting the glimmer paper, especially if you want to use our Adhesive Sheets on the back:  Peel off the plastic-y back layer of the paper.  It's the toughest part of the sheet to cut through.  Once I'd done that I did add a piece of Adhesive Sheet since that's the easiest way to affix words.

I cut 2 different sentiments to try:  "celebrate" from the Celebrate You Thinlits in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure (FREE with $100+ purchase), and "friend" from the Lovely Words Thinlits in the Annual Catalog.

A Basic Black card base seemed most appropriate, and a strip of Basic Black for behind the sentiment. 

I liked where it was going, but it needed something more.  A layer of Real Red cardstock might just do it:

Too much Real Red, so I cut it down ⅛".  That's more balanced, and I chose to use "celebrate".  No design reason per se, I just liked it better in that moment.  Here is a design tip:  I cut the Basic Black strip to fit between the horizontal stripes of the paper design...again helps it keep balanced.

 Once I'd glued it all together I thought it needed just a touch more bling to dress it up, so I pulled out my Rhinestones.  I tried coloring them with my Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends Alcohol Markers, but the Light was too light and the Dark wasn't bright enough.  So I went for my Sharpies, and the red one was just right!

Here's the final version:

In my next post I'll show you what I made with the flower patterned paper I colored.

Today I'm starting a series of posts about how I often work when creating a card.  If you've followed my blog for any length of time you know I'm not shy about CASE'ing cards from other artists (CASE = Copy And Share Everything), but I do also create my own designs.

Have you taken a good look at the Petal Passion Designer Series Paper on p. 23 of the Occasions Catalog?

These striking black-and-white designs are great as-is, but they also provide opportunities to color with different techniques.  Here are two pieces I chose to color:

The floral design I colored using the new Stampin' Blends alcohol markers.  If you feel like you're still failing Coloring for Kindergartners I highly recommend you try these markers!  Different effects I love to be able to get from these include

• coloring the background I was able to get a smooth application of color without worrying about overlap marks like with water-based markers
• layering multiple colors for the desired effect. The large yellow and orange flower has Daffodil Delight - Light as a base, some strokes of Pumpkin Pie - Light for added color, then I used Daffodil Delight - Dark to blend everything together.  The purple flower is Rich Razzleberry -Light with streaks of the Rich Razzleberry - Dark in the center of the petals.  The Calypso Coral Rose uses a base of Calypso Coral - Light over the entire flower, then a second coat over the middle petals and Calypso Coral - Dark over the outer petals.  Pink flowers are Pink Pirouette - Light all over, then a streak of Pink Pirouette Dark on each petal and blended with Light.  Centers are highlighted with Smoky Slate - Light.

For the more modern, graphic piece I decided to do a rainbow ombré using sponges.  I started in the middle with Daffodil Delight, then worked my way out on each side with Pumpkin Pie and Real Red on the left, and Garden Green, Marina Mist and Elegant Eggplant on the right.  I simply dabbed my sponges on the ink pads and rubbed them in circles on the DSP until I obtained the intensity of color I wanted.

Here's how I use our Stampin' Sponges.  I cut each round sponge into 6 wedges and punch a tag of cardstock in the same color as the ink I want to use with that piece of sponge. Then fold that over the skinny end of the wedge and secure with a staple. I do write the ink color on the cardstock since sometimes it gets confusing.

I used to just wash out the sponge wedges after using them and didn't have a separate one for each color.  This works really well...I am fortunate enough to have space to store all the wedges and find it easier.  Some colors will stain the sponges but as long as no color is coming out when you've finished rinsing it won't transfer the next time you use one.  ​

Check out future posts to see what I created with each of these colored papers!

The past few days I've been showing you how much fun it is to create with the Tutti-Frutti Suite in the Occasions Catalog (pp. 28-29).

Here's why I love this suite for new or casual stampers:  

• Stamp set with coordinating punches means you don't have to own a Big Shot to make amazing cards.  $35 bundle price saves you 10%.
• Tutti-frutti Cardstock Pack has 6 sheets of 4 colors that coordinate perfectly with other products of the suite...an easy way to get what you need without a huge investment in paper...just $8!
• Tutti-frutti Classic Stampin' Spots - get the colors that coordinate with the suite for just $9.  
• If you purchase the 3 products above before the end of Sale-A-Braton on March 31, your merchandise total will be $52, and you'll qualify for the FREE Tutti-Frutti Cards & Envelopes I'm using in today's projects.
• Choose which of the other products in the suite you want to add (or not) and make cards suitable for everyone!

The pineapple card is pretty straightforward stamping on the Whisper White banner.  The bowl of strawberries uses the masking technique I described for the pears in this post.  In fact, I used 2 masks to get the berries "behind" the ones in front.

Here's the entire Tutti-Frutti Suite...just click on the items you want to go straight to my online store.

This is it - I need to know if you're attending so I can prepare all your materials!
Click HERE to get all the details and to sign up.

Todays projects feature the bounty of the Tutti-Frutti 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper.  They are so dynamic that it takes little more to make a striking set of cards.  For these I used our Whisper White Note Cards and Envelopes, which are so handy and cost-effective!

So simple, yet striking, I think.  I used the same sentiment in the same ink on each one.  3 out of 4 have a single embellishment on the strip, and on the strawberries and blueberries I decided to cut the paper a bit smaller and layer it on a panel of Night of Navy as well.

I've got one more set of Tutti-Frutti cards to show you next time.

Have you seen the Tutti-Frutti Suite in the Occasions Catalog (pp. 28-29)?  It is a fun and fresh set of coordinating products.  Here are some of the things I've made with it so far:

At OnStage Live in November we made the little tag elements pictured above.  The tags are pieces of the vibrant Tutti-frutti 6" x 6" Designer Series Paper.  We stamped the fruit images using the Fruit Basket stamp set, and punched them out with the coordinating Itty Bitty Fruit Punch Pack.  This set of punches includes the "half-moon" punch (designed to punch the slice of watermelon image) that we used to punch out the hole for the  Lemon Lime Twist ⅜" Mini Striped Ribbon.

Once I got home and received my pre-order I mounted them to Whisper White Thick card bases layered with more of the Tutti-Frutti DSP.

This card I CASE'd from Carolynn Sander, who created it for an OnStage display board.  I really like how all of the elements work for a balanced composition.  

To make the stamped pears look like one is behind the other I stamped the Lemon Lime Twist pear first, then stamped the image on a post-it note and cut it out just inside the edge of the image to make a mask.  I layered the post-it cut-out on top of the Lemon Lime Twist pear, then stamped the Daffodil Delight pear, overlapping it onto the post-it.  When I removed the mask, the Daffodil Delight image looks like it's behind the Lemon Lime Twist pear.  Be sure the mask is to the inside of the stamped image it's masking, or you will have white space between the two stamped images.

In my next post I'll show you some more projects made with this suite.

January is always a great month for cleaning, organizing and de-cluttering it seems.  While you're taking a break from re-organizing your linen closet (LOL), take a few minutes and give your paper trimmer some TLC!  

This video was published by Stampin' Up! demonstrator France Martin (a.k.a. Frenchie) last summer, and has been touted as the solution to blades not running smoothly, paper having ragged cuts, and other annoyances that come with our wonderful trimmer.  I just did the 2 trimmers in my collection that see minimal use (since I have the now-retired Stampin' Up!  guillotine cutter that I use 95% of the time) and was amazed at the amount of dust and gunk I cleaned off, and how smoothly my blades run on the track.

So sit back and enjoy Frenchie's sense of humor and colloquialisms, and get your paper trimmer running in top shape.  

Note:  while this is specifically about the Stampin' Up! trimmer, I think many of these ideas will work well on whatever brand of sliding track trimmer you own.

Do you have the winter blahs?  If you can't soak up the Arizona sunshine with me, perhaps you can stamp some bright and cheerful cards.

The Beautiful Peacock set is one of the FREE Sale-A-Bration sets available with a $50 purchase. Since it's a photopolymer set, it's really easy to line up the different parts of the peacock image to make this card, which I CASE'd from Pamela Pick.