JULY STAMP CLASS PROJECTS

These are the five card projects we did at last night's Stamp Class. Four of the five are CASEd from various talented artists on SCS, and credit is given to the original designer with links to their original design.

VASES IN VOGUE CARD
This card is a case from Cambria. See her original card HERE.



RECIPE
Stamps: Vases in Vogue (Level 3 Hostess)
Paper: Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky CS, and Soft Sky Prints DP
Ink: Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi and Basic Black Classic Ink Pads, White Craft Ink Pad, Basic Black Marker
Accessories: Groovy Guava Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, White Brad (non-SU)
Tools: Scissors, Paper Piercing Tool, Template & Mat, 1/16-inch punch, Horizontal Slot Punch
Supplies: Stampin’ Dimensionals or Foam Tape, White Gel Pen
Technique: Paper Piercing and Paper Piecing (flower)

BIG PIECES / LITTLE PIECES CARD
This card is a case from scrapperaddict on SCS. To see her original card, click HERE.

RECIPE
Stamps: Big Pieces, Little Pieces, It’s Your Birthday
Paper: Basic Black, Soft Sky, Whisper White, and Brushed Silver Metallic CS
Ink: Basic Black Classic
Accessories: Three Silver Brads, One Black Brad
Tools: Circle Punches - 1/16” handheld, ½”, ¾”, 1”, 1 3/8“, 1 ½”, Scallop Circle
Supplies: Stampin’ Dimensionals or Foam Tape, White Gel Pen, 2-Way Glue Pen, Mini Glue Dots, Medium Square Envelopes
Note: The Medium Square Envelopes measure 5 ½” x 5 ½”, requiring an extra $.17 postage. Card size is 5 ¼” x 5 ¼”.

Below is a guide I made for this card, showing stamped images and punch sizes, making it much easier for attendees to recreate.

3 x 3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARD
I actually designed this one, believe it or not!

RECIPE
Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts, “CELEBRATE” from Fundamental Phrases
Paper: Basic Gray, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Whisper White, and Uptown DP
Ink: Basic Gray Classic Ink Pad and Almost Amethyst Marker
Accessories: So Saffron Brad, Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Ribbon
Tools: Scallop Punch, 1 3/8” and 1 ¼” Circle Punches, 1/16” handheld circle punch
Supplies: Stampin’ Dimensionals or Foam Tape, Mini Square Envelopes (3 1/8” x 3 1/8”)
Note: Finished card size is 3” x 3”.

LADYBUG CARD This card is a case of scrapbookgirl44's original card HERE.

RECIPE
Stamps: Pick A Petal, “for you” sentiment from All Holidays
Paper: Whisper White (12 x 12), Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Basic Black and Purely Pomegranate Classic, and Basic Black Marker
Accessories: Two Black Brads, Black Gingham Ribbon
Tools: Slit Punch, 1/8” Handheld Circle Punch, 1/16” Handheld Circle Punch, 1 3/8” Circle Punch, ¾” Circle Punch, Corner Rounder
Supplies: Stampin’ Dimensionals or Foam Tape, Small Open-End Envelopes (6 ¾” x 3 ½”).
Note: Finished card size is 3” x 6”.

BUD BASICS REVERSE MASKING CARD

This one is another case of scrapbookgirl44. See her original card HERE.

RECIPE
Stamps: Bud Basics, Basics Outline Jumbo Wheel for envelope, Sentiment from Hugs & Wishes
Paper: Whisper White and Cameo Coral CS
Ink: Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Barely Banana, and Basic Black Classic Ink Pads
Accessories: Black Gingham Ribbon
Tools: Photo Corners Punch, Scissors
Supplies: Stampin’ Dimensionals or Foam Tape, Sponge Dauber for Barely Banana, Sponge for Cameo Coral
Technique: Reverse Masking

AUGUST STAMPIN' UP! PROMOTION ... PUNCH A BUNCH

Stampin' Up! continuely offers awesome monthly specials, and this month is no exception! During the month of August, purchase the Three for You Punch Box for $45.95, and receive an exclusive assortment of textured Love Notes for FREE (a $12.95 value)!

The Three for You Punch Box can be found on pg. 183 of the new '07 Fall-Winter Idea Book & Catalog, and contains the exclusive Trio Flower Punch, a coordinating 9-piece Three for You stamp set, and three Stampin' Spots in Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, and Basic Black.

The Love Notes are only available during this promotion. They measure 3" x 3", and are pre-folded and textured. Each package contains 10 each of Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, and So Saffron Love Notes, along with 30 Very Vanilla envelopes.

Click HERE and HERE for more details.

LOOKIE WHAT I GOT!

Last week, my dear friend and fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Lorri Heiling gave me this awesome gift set for my birthday! I have been so anxious to share this with you but had to wait until now. You see, Lorri is at the Stampin' Up! Convention in Denver, CO this week and she made these mugs for the gals from our local demo group who are also attending convention. We wanted them to be surprised too. I think I'm safe to post these now, as they have probably received their mugs and are too busy to read my blog! Lorri even called me today from Convention and they're all having a great time! Visit Lorri's blog, Confessions of a Stamping Addict for inspiring ideas!

So what's in this fabulous gift set? In the below photo, on the left is a really cool tri-fold birthday card with a window using the Polka Dots & Paisleys stamp set. It is so cute ... I must CASE it as I've never made a card using these folds. The front center item is a personalized pen which I call "ME ON A PEN". Lorri actually inserted a photo of me inside the pen with a Petals & Paisleys DP background, and ribbon accents on the clip. The back center item is a personalized coffee mug. (see below for details). The item on the right is a magnetic photo holder made from a chipboard coaster. THANK YOU, LORRI !!!

ME ON A PEN!

This cool coffee mug is like a "scrapbook page on a mug"! I love that Lorri stamped my name with Big Deal Alphabet, added prima flowers & brad, and a tab with the word "special". I added a family photo after I took these photos.

Lorri is the Queen of Altering! She is always coming up with brilliant altering ideas! She is one of the most creative people I know!

ANOTHER SCS FS25 CHALLENGE LAURALY CARD

I love lauraly's SCS gallery so much, I decided to case one more card before going to bed last night. Her cards are so inspiring! See previous post for challenge details and links to Laurie's SCS gallery and blog. Here is lauraly's CARD I chose to case this time.RECIPE
Stamps: It's Your Birthday, Riveting
Paper: Uptown DP, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst and Whisper White CS
Ink: Basic Gray, Wild Wasabi
Embellishments: So Saffron Brads, Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Ribbon, Purple Spiral Clip (Target?)
Tools: Cuttlebug & Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, 1/16" Handheld Punch, 1/2", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" and 1 1/2" Circle Punches
Note: Card size is 5 1/4" x 5 1/4"

SCS FEATURED STAMPER CHALLENGE FS25 LAURALY

This week's SCS Featured Stamper (FS25) is Laurie Schmidlin, aka lauraly on SCS. I was so excited to see Laurie chosen as Featured Stamper! I have several favorites stampers on SCS, and have often wondered when they would be chosen as FS... Laurie is one of them! Day after day, Laurie produces fabulous cards that just make your mouth drop! Here are the links to Laurie's artwork: Lauraly's SCS Gallery, Laurie's Blog, Just Give Me Stamps... and HERE is Laurie's card I chose to CASE.RECIPE
Stamps: Office Accoutrement, "THANKS" from Fundamental Phrases
Paper: Notations No. 2 DP, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Embellishments: More Mustard Brads, Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Ribbon, Little Reminders No. 2 Accents & Elements
Tools: Tag Corner Punch, Double Circle Punch
Notes: The More Mustard Center Flower and the circle inside of it are die-cut accents from Little Reminders No. 2 Accents & Elements. It's hard to see in the photo but the word "THANKS" from Fundamental Phrases is stamped in Wild Wasabi on the More Mustard color DP square. Card size is 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".

DAILY NOTES ALTERED NOTEBOOK

Last night, I altered a noteboook I had picked up a few months ago at Michaels for a dollar or two. I always have a notebook at my computer for my To Do Lists and notes. My old one had seen better days. I probably would have made this notebook a little more elaborate if I was giving it as a gift, but needed it to be simple since it will get lots of use! The Stampin' Up! products that make this such an easy project are the Spiral Punch, Round Tab Punch, Notations No. 2 DP, and Little Reminders No. 2 Accents & Elements.The photo below left shows the inside front cover and the first tab marked "THINGS TO DO". The front cover uses stickers from Little Reminders No. 2 "This Belongs To"". The tab sheets are CS cut to the size of the pages inside the notebook, punched with the Sprial Punch, and simply inserted! No need to take the whole notebook apart! Slick!

The second tab is labeled "Don't Forget" for miscellaneous notes. I also covered the back of the notebook, and the inside of the back cover.

RECIPE

Stamps: None (gasp!)

Paper: Notations No. 2 DP, Wild Wasabi, More Mustard, River Rock

Ink: None (gasp again!)

Embellishments: Pewter and More Mustard Brads, Wild Wasabi and River Rock Double Stitched Ribbon

Tools: Spiral Punch, Round Tab Punch

Other: Little Reminders No. 2 Accents & Elements

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY RAK (Random Act of Kindness)

I received this gorgeous hand stamped card in yesterday's mail from my new cyberspace friend, Corie Foster of Creations by Corie! Corie is one of the first bloggers I met when I started my blog a little over a month ago. Not only is Corie a very sweet, kind and encouraging person, she's also a FABULOUS artist! Her blog is so inspiring!

I don't know if Corie knew how much I love autumn colors when she created this card, but these colors are so ME! I especially like her use of the slit punch ... she folded the tab back and added a brad. The chocolate ribbon is looped through the hole created by the slit punch. I love that look! Great scalloped borders on this card too!

THANK YOU, CORIE!!!

GRAND CANYON July 2007

No stamping for me yesterday. My family and I did something we've been meaning to do for a very long time .... now, don't laugh .... this is too weird .... I've lived in Phoenix for over 20 years, and had never been to the Grand Canyon ... until yesterday! Can you believe it? I'm embarrassed to admit that! Isn't it funny how we don't see the things in our own backyard?! It was an easy four hour drive up north ... why hadn't we done that sooner??? Of course, the Grand Canyon did NOT disappoint. God is quite an artist, isn't he?

DARE TO GET DIRTY '07 Brad Bathed

Splitcoast Stampers is celebrating their 3rd anniversary by offering a special forum, created just for this event, The Dirty Dare, where the Dirty Dozen Designers, past and present, are hosting four stamping challenges every day throughout this week, with eight each on Saturday and Sunday. They've created a special gallery just for this event, Dare to Get Dirty '07 for Fan Club Members to upload their completed challenges into. Anybody can view the gallery and comment!

Today, I had the chance to participate in one of yesterday's Dirty Girl challenges, BRAD BATHED CARDS by texasjodylynn. The general idea of the challenge is to use up those Brads!

This stamp set, Born To Ride, is retired and is one I just won't part with yet. The metallic background was achieved by wrapping aluminum foil around CS, placing it inside a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and running it through the Cuttlebug. The "happy birthday" sentiment was stamped with Silver Encore ink, then embossed with Silver Embossing Powder. The Aqua Painter was used to add a Basic Gray shadow on the "road".

RECIPE Stamps: Born To Ride, Riveting, It's Your Birthday
Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Silver Encore
Embellishments: Silver Brads, Silver Star Eyelet
Tools: Ticket Corner Punch, 1/2" and 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder & Cuttlebug, Paper Piercing Kit, Aqua Painter
Other: Silver EP
Note: The Paper Piercing Tool, Mat & Template were used to punch the holes for the rows of brads.

SCS SKETCH CHALLENGE 134

Today's SCS Sketch Challenge 134 was a TENT TOPPER Card. The guidelines are as follows: Cut the CS 4.25" x 8.5" ... Fold to make a 4.25" square ... Use any shape and size you wish for the topper ... Construct your card (topper to 4.25 square base) so it's 4.25" x 5.5".

This is what I came up with. It's difficult to see in the photo, but there is paper piercing along the width of the card above and below the sentiment on the Purely Pomegranate CS, and on the Bashful Blue Circle. The butterfly image is stamped in Purely Pomegranate, then stamped again on another piece of Whisper White ... cut out, and mounted with stampin' dimensionals near the center of the butterly for a three-dimensional appearance.

RECIPE
Stamps: Garden Whimsy
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, and Whisper White CS, and Cutie Pie DP
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Embellishments: One Bashful Blue Brad, Three Certainly Celery Brads
Tools: Paper Piercing Tool, Mat & Template, 1/16" Handheld Punch, Circle Cutter, 1" Circle Punch
Note: The flower left of the sentiment is punched out from the Cute Pie DP with the 1" Circle Punch