Another Rescue

Among the many "by-products" of being a SU demo is that I have oodles of leftover materials from years of workshops, make-and-takes, and stamp camps. I store the original cards along with all the cut materials to duplicate it in Ziplok bags. I have supplies cut and bagged for hundreds of cards. Provided I still have the stamps, these are a breeze to put together.

In theory, anyway. Usually, the original is in sore need of an update. Take the one below, which is from at least four years ago (I made it when I was a new demo). Definitely due for an update:










To the rescue -- old faithful Print Pattern, which was still out on my table from yesterday's card. See? Case in point. A little Print Pattern can make anything look better! (And a white gel pen, scallop punch, and a few extra layers, lol!)



I pulled out all the Valentine's Day leftovers last night to make some cards for my friend June, who last month invited me to help her meet the demand for the single cards she sells at two area coffee shops. I met June at one of those shops this morning to do a little trade. I gave her 14 Valentine's Day cards to sell, and she gave me almost $120 for a bunch of cards that have already sold. The best thing is that the ones I gave her back in mid-November were craft show extras that were just sitting in my basement collecting dust, so this was like free money!

Hmmm, a couple more months of this could pay for a nice set of Copics ;)

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Oldie:
Stamps: Have A Heart, Soft Swirl
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Pretty In Pink, Rose Romance, Rose Red
Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pen, southwest corner punch, handheld rectangle punch, rose grosgrain

Update:
Stamps: Have a Heart, Print Pattern
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, Rose Red, Pretty In Pink, Certainly Celery
Paper: Whisper White, Rose Romance, Basic Black, Rose Red
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop punch, dimensionals, black grosgrain, sponge dauber, ticket corner punch, white gel pen

True Bayou Friend

Once upon a time, Print Pattern was my go-to stamp for jazzing up a background. I used to tell my customers it was an instant card medic and could rescue even the ugliest of cards. As with so many wonderful things, something "new" comes along and takes its place. I did a rescue of my own here and saved Print Pattern from further neglect ;)

I owe a friend a make-up class using the True Friend stamp set (how great is it that the set made the new catalog?!). Since I wasn't thrilled with a couple of my cards from the fall class, I'm playing around with new ideas. She won't like the fuss of tying the ribbon through the half-circles or the paper piercing, but I do! (I can leave those off for her.) I used Julee Tilman's awesome Mojo Monday sketch from Christmas Eve. She always has such neat and original sketches ... check her out!

[ETA: I can't take credit for the white gel pen dots on the Print Pattern background. Sorry I can't give credit either ... I don't remember where I first saw it ...]

Supplies (SU, unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: True Friend, Print Pattern
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Paper: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi and Certainly Celery card stock; Blue Bayou prints dp
Accessories: Not Quite Navy marker, Circle and Scalloped Circle nestabilities (by Spellbinders); Blue Bayou double-stitched ribbon, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, white gel pen, paper piercer

Ginger Blossom Meets Spiral Bouquet

This one's pretty straightforward ... a little bit of stamping and lots of Stampin' Up's beautiful new Ginger Blossom designer paper.

Supplies:
Stamps: Spiral Bouquet by Papertrey Ink; Small Talk by Stampin' Up
Ink: Ruby Red, River Rock
Paper: Ginger Blossom dp; Whisper White, River Rock, Ruby Red, and Groovy Guava card stock
Accessories: small oval punch, aged copper hodgepodge hardware, ticket corner punch, Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon, photo corner punch, sponge daubers

Baroque Passion

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas (those who celebrate it, anyway)! Today's project is a short and sweet one. The image is stamped on dp in Chocolate chip craft ink, then clear embossed. I stamped a second image in Old Olive craft ink, clear embossed, trimmed out the flowers and popped them up on dimensionals onto the first image.

Supplies:
Stamps: Passion by Penny Black
Ink: Chocolate Chip craft ink, Old Olive craft ink
Paper: Brocade Background dp, Chocolate Chip card stock, River Rock card stock (for card base ... you don't see any of it)
Accessories: Crystal Clear embossing powder, Ice rhinestone brads, ticket corner punch, dimensionals, Chocolate satin ribbon

Moving Right Along ...

... to the next holiday. Not that I'm tired of Christmas, just tired of making Christmas things. This one is for Jen del Muro's Sketch For You to Try this week.

The heart image is from Time Well Spent. The block of sentiments is from the soon-to-be-retired So Many Sayings hostess set. I tried to get a picture that shows all the sparkle, but the dreary, overcast sky in Virginia isn't helping a whole lot. I used a clear Spica to add sparkle on the heart outline, the flower on the heart, on the tiny line of hearts in the sentiment block, and again on the letters L O V E in the sentiment block.

For the background, I ran Very Vanilla through the Cuttlebug using the Textile folder. (I did this in two pieces - the seam is under the ribbon.) I sponged Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, and Chocolate Chip lightly on the raised portions, then added VersaMark to the raised portions and heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder.

Do not laugh at my attempt at adding faux stitching with the All in a Row set!

I'm suffering some serious blog withdrawal ... from my own as well as everyone else's. Can't wait for some normalcy to return after the holidays, so I can get back to daily uploads and so I can see what everyone else is up to as well!

Supplies (all Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: So Many Sayings, Time Well Spent, Linen, All in a Row
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, Chocolate Chip, VersaMark
Paper: Whisper White, River Rock, Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: Pomegranate satin ribbon, clear Spica pen, sponge daubers, dimensionals, scallop punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1/16" circle punch, Cuttlebug textile embossing folder, brayer, iridescent ice embossing powder

Quickie Color Challenge

Sweet! I finally got to stamp for fun last night! The color combo comes from this week's Color Challenge on SCS -- Wild Wasabi, Elegant Eggplant, and So Saffron.

I needed to keep it quick, so I pulled out Sweet Shapes for its simple, but fun images. I also kept the stamping to a minimum. For no particular reason, the card is an unusual size -- a diminutive 4 3/4" x 3 5/8." I didn't set out with that size in mind. It just happened that my elements looked a little better on a sligthly smaller canvas.

On a different note, does anyone have a paper cutter they absolutely love? I feel like I've been around the world looking for just the right cutter. I want something ACCURATE (of course), something with measurements marked at least to 1/8" inch increments, even better if it's to 1/16" inch increments, and something a full 12" x 12" (i.e. no portable things with swing-out arms). It needs to be safe and it needs to be heavy-duty. I'd like to cut through at least 3-5 sheets of 80-pound card stock at a time (with only one pass). It needs to handle a full-size sheet of card stock and a tiny 1" x 1" piece with equal aplomb. Is there such a one-stop cutter?

My favorite Fiskars desktop rotary cutter has always left a few things to be desired. I tried the Carl rotary cutter a few years ago, and maybe I just got a bad one, but I can make a straigter cut blindfolded and drunk. And my most recent acquisition, a heavy-duty Martin-Yale guillotine-style cutter (which just arrived a few days ago), isn't working out either, for various reasons. Sue, if you're reading this, ya want it? (You mentioned wanting to replace yours.)

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Sweet Shapes
Ink: Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant, VersaMark
Paper: Wild Wasabi textured, Elegent Eggplant, Whisper White
Accessories: silver brads, paper piercer, Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon, dimensionals, white embossing powder

Magnet Tins

I'm still working on Christmas cards and teacher gifts ... anyone else feeling the pinch? Christmas is NEXT WEEK. Ack!!

I'm pulling out an old project to show you today. I made a bunch of these little magnet tins a couple of years ago for a craft show. The little snowman comes from the old Tags & More stamp set, and is still one of my favorite individual images ever. He's too cute and just seems to be the pefect size for so many projects. There's a piece of dp in the back of the tin, the snowman is popped up on at least three of the old double-thick dimensionals, the "snow" is from the Department 56, wide organdy is tied around the perimeter, and last a button magnet is adhered to the back.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tags & More
Designer Paper: Stampin' Up! (a retired pattern)
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Brocade Blue marker, two-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter, navy wide organdy ribbon, dimensionals, round tins (from Oriental Trading Company, in pack of 12), button magnets.

Here are some of the other designs I did for the craft show:

Stamps: Looks Like Spring

Paper: Spring Showers

Ink: Pretty In Pink, Mellow Moss, Barely Banana

Accessories: dimensionals, chocolate grosgrain ribbon, spring bouquet punch




Stamps: It's a Girl Thing (retired hostess appreciation set), Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Whisper white
Accessories: rose grosgrain ribbon, silver cord, dazzling diamonds glitter, gable green and pretty in pink markers, rhinestone gem

This last one was my favorite. I made three of them, using the different images from the It's a Girl Thing set. The other two were shoes and purses (I think?). Anyway, they were so cute and I thought would be perfect for a tween/teen locker.