Last month I held my first Mommy & Me class for a client and her 2 daughters.  This week they came back for a second session.  Here's what we made:

Before they left the first session the girls took a look at my stamp sets and picked out the ones they wanted to use in the second class.

Who wouldn't love this adorable teddy bear?  We stamped it in Chocolate Chip (1 layer)  and Crumb Cake (2 layers, one stamped-off).  On a scrap of Whisper White we stamped the bow in Sweet Sugarplum and Blushing Bride.  The girls always impress me with their dexterity, both in lining up the layers of the stamping and in fussy-cutting out things like the bow.

I had the layers (Sweet Sugarplum, Blushing Bride and Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper all cut and punched with the Project Life by SU! Corner Rounder Punch, since it's pretty finicky.  We left the card without a sentiment so that they girls could decide what to use it for in the future.
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This card I CASE'd from Carolyn King.  I used the now-retired It's My Party Designer Washi Tape for the stripes on the larger Whisper White panel.  We stamped the balloon strings from the Balloon Celebration stamp set on the smaller Whisper White panel, then ran it through the Big Shot with the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  

We stamped the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and framed it with this cute stamp from Banners for You, cutting it out with the matching Framelit from the Bunch of Banners set.  Then we stamped our balloons in the following solid/dots color combos:  Soft Sky/Mint Macaron, So Saffron/Crushed Curry, and Pink Pirouette/Melon Mambo.  Once we punched them out with the Balloon Bouquet Punch it was time to assemble.   The final touch was some of the retired It's My Party Enamel Dots.
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"Boy, that card had a lot of steps!" one of the girls said about the balloon card.  Which is why I had planned this one as our final project (CASE'd from Yvonne van Bruggen Onafhankelijk).  Again, the girls had chosen the Painter's Palette set for the class.  After stamping the easel and canvas stamp, the dots, and their choice of 2 sentiments on the Whisper White panel with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I gave them the "swoosh" stamps and all of the 2016-2018 InColors to stamp on their card as they wished.  They enjoyed designing their own pattern, and chose how many swooshes, which colors, their placement, and with how many rhinestones to adorn it.

Once again a good time was had by all.  We're looking forward to finding a time for stamping together again once school starts up in 10 days!

Last week we celebrated our daughter's 17th birthday.   Sometimes I know exactly what card I want to make for a particular occasion, and sometimes I struggle.  I wound up pulling out the June Paper Pumpkin kit.  Since Nicole had just refreshed her collection of pictures on her bedroom walls, I figured she might be happy to have another decorative item to put up:

The Paper Pumpkin kit, called "Banner Surprise," consists of the clear plastic banner pouches, the multicolored sequins to put in them, pre-punched circles to stamp and add stickers to before putting in the pouches, the striped washi tape to seal them, the white baker's twine to thread them, the Tip Top Taupe striped card bases to wind them around and Mint Macaron bags to stamp and put the completed projects in.  Whew!

I chose to add some additional stamping to the card front, using the Number of Years set and coordinating Framelits to say "Look Who's Turning 17".  The kit came with Tip Top Taupe and Mint Macaron ink, but I also added some Flirty Flamingo to pick up on the pink in the sequins and on the washi tape.

Front and back of card with the banner wrapped around it.

I do like having these kits on hand for inspiration and a wide variety of supplies and projects.  I've seen a great range of ideas using these kits, and capture the ones I like the best on my Paper Pumpkin Pinterest Board.  If you'd like to start receiving these kits, simply go to paperpumpkin.com and sign up before August 10 to receive the August kit.  You can cancel at any time...but you never know what you might miss!

p.s. - if you'd like to get your hands on one of the June kits, I have an extra available...just let me know!

Pop-up Cards Class
We’ll make 3 fun, dimensional cards with intricate, unusual styles that ll fold flat and fit into a standard A2 envelope:

• side stair card
• pop-up banner card
• free standing pop-up card

Cost is $20 with all supplies included.

Thursday, August 11
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Nancy’s Craft Room in Scottsdale
​RSVP by Tuesday, August 9.

Friday, August 12
9:30 am - noon
Nancy’s Craft Room in Scottsdale
​RSVP by Tuesday, August 9.

Monday, August 15
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi’s House in Phoenix (I-17 & Greenway)
​RSVP by Tuesday, August 9.


Monthly Card Class
Come make a variety of 5 cards/projects with fabulous current Stampin’ Up! products.  Appropriate for new and experienced paper crafters.

Cost is $20 with all supplies included.

Monday, August 22
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi’s House in Phoenix (I-17 & Greenway)
​RSVP by Friday, August 19.

Wednesday, August 24
9:30 am - noon
Nancy’s Craft Room in Scottsdale
​RSVP by Friday, August 19.
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Thursday, August 25
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Nancy’s Craft Room in Scottsdale
​RSVP by Friday, August 19.

Here's the rest of the projects we made at my team meeting this month:

Mimi brought this layout with lots of stamps for us to create what we wanted.  This is my version!  

Renée wasn't able to come, but sent along her project - stamped tiles with magnets.  So fun to make!

This was my contribution, which I CASE'd from Dena Rekow. The black stamping in the background was done with a homemade stamp using the Botanical Builder Framelit that's featured in the center of my Tempting Turquoise flower.  I had used it to cut out a sheet of fun foam, then glued the shape to a circle of fun foam for stability.  A layer of Tombow Mono Multi-purpose glue on the back and allowed to dry gave it the ability to stick to a clear block and then release easily.  So fun!

• Your $99 starter kit includes YOUR CHOICE of $125 of products, with free shipping!

• Earn at least a 20% discount on all future purchases.  What’s not to love about that?

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• Demonstrators get an early look at new catalogs, and can order a full month earlier than customers - with the discount!  If you join this month then in your first quarter you'll have access to the still-new Annual Catalog and the brand-new Holiday Catalog starting August 2!

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• If you decide to never order again, that’s ok - you don’t owe Stampin’ Up! (or me) anything.

• You do not have to hold any events, workshops, classes or sell anything to anyone, ever!  

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• To remain a demonstrator you will need to have $300 of sales/purchases per quarter (before your discount - that means it’s really $280 of products). 

• Demonstrators earn Flex Points that can be redeemed for catalog product, incentive trips or other SU! swag.  These points are earned automatically through your purchases/sales, tenure and other promotions.  Free stuff - just for doing what you’re already doing!

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• You’ll be part of MY team, and get special events, tips, and gifts from me.

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• You don't need to be in Arizona to be part of my team...talk to me about ways we've found to make it work for long-distance members!

Let me know if you have any questions I can answer.  If you decide to take the plunge, simply click on this link to go directly to my sign-up page.​

Every 2 months members of my team (downline) gather to discuss Stampin' Up! and share projects.  Here's what we did this month:

Ellen brought this fun sponging and masking card.  The flowers are from Wild About Flowers, and the inks are Early Espresso, Bermuda Bay and Tangerine Tango.  The stamping and sponging are on Very Vanilla, and then it's mounted on Tangerine Tango and Bermuda Bay.

Diana share this card featuring 3 of the new In Colors and the Botanical Builder Framelits.  Emerald Envy, Sweet Sugarplum, Dapper Denim, Whisper White and Basic Black card stock, embellished with some Dapper Denim Ruched Ribbon make a very striking card.

• Your $99 starter kit includes YOUR CHOICE of $125 of products, with free shipping!

• Earn at least a 20% discount on all future purchases.  What’s not to love about that?

​

• Demonstrators get an early look at new catalogs, and can order a full month earlier than customers - with the discount!  If you join this month then in your first quarter you'll have access to the still-new Annual Catalog and the brand-new Holiday Catalog starting August 2!

​

• If you decide to never order again, that’s ok - you don’t owe Stampin’ Up! (or me) anything.

• You do not have to hold any events, workshops, classes or sell anything to anyone, ever!  

​

• To remain a demonstrator you will need to have $300 of sales/purchases per quarter (before your discount - that means it’s really $280 of products). 

• Demonstrators earn Flex Points that can be redeemed for catalog product, incentive trips or other SU! swag.  These points are earned automatically through your purchases/sales, tenure and other promotions.  Free stuff - just for doing what you’re already doing!

​

• You’ll be part of MY team, and get special events, tips, and gifts from me.

​

• You don't need to be in Arizona to be part of my team...talk to me about ways we've found to make it work for long-distance members!

Let me know if you have any questions I can answer.  If you decide to take the plunge, simply click on this link to go directly to my sign-up page.

One of my long-time customers asked if I would do a class for herself and her two daughters, who are entering 1st and 3rd grades.  I was happy to!  Here's what we made:

This design was strongly influenced by Sue Wdowik.  On an earlier visit to my craft room the girls had picked out this set, No Bones About It, along with the next two, as one they wanted to use.  When designing/selecting cards for these ages I try to make them interesting, but yet reasonably forgiving if stamping isn't 100% precise.  It turns out it's much easier to stamp the skeletons and then overlay the solid colors, so the girls did a great job.  The footprints, leaves and dots were placed a bit more freeform, which was perfect.  They totally giggled about the birthday hat on the inside stegosaurus (and totally knew the names of each type of dinosaur).

They also picked out the Bear Hugs set as being "really cute."  We had fun making this card as a bear version of their family - mom, dad and 2 girls.  Since the bears, skirt and bows were stamped and then cut our with the coordinating Framelits, it was easy for the girls to get good results.  They also enjoyed punching out the girl bears' dresses (Owl Builder Punch) and the little red wagon (Decorative Label Punch, Owl Builder punch for the wheels).  Fortunately they weren't too upset when I told them they'd have to snip off one of mom bear's arms to layer in front of dad bear, LOL!

Finally, they'd requested butterflies for their third card.  Since we were going to do this one last, I really wanted it to be something quick, easy and the most free-form.  I gave them this one as an example, but the placement of the Work of Art (and one Timeless Textures stamp - can you figure out which one?) stamps didn't have to conform strictly to where I did.  In fact, one girl mixed up a couple of colors, and with a quick stamp cleaning we just changed which color went with which stamp and it was just as beautiful.  I had pre-cut the Butterfly Thinlits image, and to make placing the gold sequins easier I had pre-mounted them on a strip of Mini Glue Dots.  "This was quick and easy!" the girls said, happy to be going home to lunch!

The 3 cards seemed to be just the right amount for the attention span and patience of these girls.  They enjoyed it so much we picked out another 3 stamp sets to use in our next class! 

If you are interested in a private class for your small group (friends, family, co-workers, bridal parties, etc.) just drop me a line and we can discuss the possibilities!

I needed a baby card for the first time in a while this week.  I CASE'd this one from Lisa Ann Bernard.

This is a fun-fold card known as a side-step card.  It features images from Something For Baby and was a lot of fun to make.  

I will be featuring the same fun fold in a different card as part of my Fun Fold Class in August...stay tuned for details!

I also decorated the gift bag that went to the new mom.  Anyone who knows me can guess that in the bag is a collection of books to be read to the new baby and big brother.

Here's the final project from my class in June.  Don't miss out on July's class...scroll down to RSVP for your preferred date and time!

While I usually do 5 projects per class, this one made for an almost-instant bonus card!  We cut out the swirly flower motif from the Flourish Thinlits in Whisper White, and layered both the positive image (right) and the negative image (left) on colored card stock and Whisper White Note Cards.

The negative image is layered on Island Indigo and stamped with a sentiment from the coordinating Flourishing Phrases stamp set.  The positive image is on Smoky Slate, with a pair of different sentiments from the same set on the inside.  On mine I used the wedding-themed pair, some used sympathy or something else.  It's very versatile.  Both cards were embellished with Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Beat the heat and get a jump start on your holiday cards!  Come make 4 different Christmas cards and pretend that it's not over 100° outside.  $20, all supplies included.
RSVP by Noon on Sunday, July 10.

​Monday, July 11
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi's in Phoenix (I-17 & Greenway)

Hope you had a great Independence Day weekend!

Today I'm bringing you more of the cards we made in my June class:

This features the new Detailed Floral Thinlits and its coordinating stamp set, Floral Phrases.  You may have seen a lot of these projects in Night of Navy and Whisper White, since another part of this product suite is the Floral Boutique Designer Series Paper, which is a beautiful collection of navy and white designs.  But I wanted to use a different color scheme for this card.   

We took a piece of Melon Mambo card stock (4.25" x 11") and placed the larger Thinlit at one end, along with the separate Edgelit that cuts the coordinating edge.  Then we lined up the paper in the Simply Scored Scoring Tool with the cut end against the left bar, and scored at 3.25".  Once we had folded that end over, we placed the card stock back in with the folded edge agains the left bar and scored at 5.25".  

That leaves just enough room at the far end to place the smaller Thinlit and Edgelit and run through the Big Shot.  2 things to note:  

1. be sure to place the card stock face down before aligning the 2nd Thinlit (you can tell by looking and feeling the first cut side, and by noting that the large flowers should be at a diagonal from each other.
2. only run the card stock part way through the Big Shot, then back it out again.  You don't want to get the first end caught and mangled in the rollers.

​ Clear as mud?  Scroll down and watch Stampin' Up!'s video about the Detailed Floral Thinlits...maybe that will help!

For the inside stamped the floral image from Floral Phrases in Melon Mambo, and added the sentiment from Build a Birthday.  In this picture I used a piece of Whisper White 4" x 10", scored at 5" for a left hinge.  However, for class I cut it 5.25 x 8" and scored at 4" for a top hinge.  Both worked nicely.  

To finish we simply threaded a length of Melon Mambo ⅛" Stitched Ribbon through the lattice of the front and tied it in a bow.  Thick Baker's Twine in either Melon Mambo or Whisper White would also have worked well.

​Come make 5 cards and learn about new products and techniques.  A fun way to add to your card stash!  Perfect for new and experienced paper crafters.  $20, includes all supplies.

3 sessions to choose from, RSVP by noon on Friday, July 15.

​Monday, July 18
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi's in Phoenix (I-17 & Greenway)

​Tuesday, July 19
9:30 am - noon
Nancy's in Scottsdale

Thursday, July 21
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Nancy's in Scottsdale

So many fun projects we make in my classes...don't miss out on my next 2 opportunities to stamp together in July!  Scroll down for details and to RSVP....​

This card was inspired by an Austrian demonstrator named Claudia. She was using some colors and items to fulfill a challenge or two, and I made one the way she had, but decided that for my class I would make some changes.    I kept the same layout and most of the colors, but used Sweet Sugarplum embossed with the Elegant Dots embossing folder for the left panel, and Rich Razzleberry for the sweet sentiment.  

The Sweet Cupcake is a 3-step photopolymer set, and I used Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum and Pink Pirouette for the icing.  The base is stamped with Tip Top Taupe full strength, then layer #2 is Tip Top Taupe stamped off once, and the 3rd layer is Sahara Sand, stamped off once.  The candle is Pink Pirouette and Sweet Sugarplum (it only has 2 layers).  The awesome new Cupcake Cutouts coordinate perfectly with the stamp set and make assembly a breeze!

The Tip Top Taupe card base is cut at 4.25" x 11", and scored at 2.75" and 5.5".  The Whisper White Strip is 1.25" x 11" and scored exactly the same way.  Have you figured out the trick yet?  Fold the card in half, then fold back the 2.75" flap and put it to the left.  Do the same for the strip, but put the 2.75" section at the right.

We used the Happy Birthday sentiment from Cottage Greetings (yes, the kit was retired, but the stamp set is carried over - yay!) in Rich Razzleberry because it is the perfect size for the 2.75" section at the end.

Once you've glued down the 4" x 5.25" piece of Pink Pirouette, adhere the stamped end of the Whisper White strip.  Fold both the card and the strip closed, with the longer section of the strip resting on top of the 2.75" section of the card base.  Snip off an inch or so of the Whisper White strip and adhere to the 2.75" section of Tip Top Taupe.  Add the Sweet Sugarplum panel and the sweet sentiment.

Glue the candle to the Pink Pirouette panel, being sure to butt it up to the strip and to center on the Happy Birthday sentiment.  

Then close the card and adhere just the top edge of the cupcake bottom to the strip, centering it on the candle.  Put 2 Stampin' Dimensionals on the strip above the cupcake bottom and adhere the icing on top, again aligning with the candle. 

We opted to color over our icing with Clear Wink of Stella for a subtle, shimmery finish that just made the card!

I love this fancy fold because you can put a huge amount of dimension and wow factor into a card that displays really well and yet folds completely flat for mailing.

​Come make 5 cards and learn about new products and techniques.  A fun way to add to your card stash!  Perfect for new and experienced paper crafters.  $20, includes all supplies.

3 sessions to choose from, RSVP by noon on Friday, July 15.

​Monday, July 18
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Mimi's in Phoenix (I-17 & Greenway)

​Tuesday, July 19
9:30 am - noon
Nancy's in Scottsdale

Thursday, July 21
7:00 - 9:30 pm
Nancy's in Scottsdale