Shimmery Ornimental Christmas

Another great find that looked so fun and simple I had to make myself.  The original was done by Rhonda Griffin and can be found here.  It was voted most popular by her group, I can see why!  This would be very easy to make 20-30-40...for this years Christmas card!

I made a few changes to the original but not the color scheme, I love that Pacific Blue!  I used one of the ornaments from Delightful Decorations.  I tied the 1/8" Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon into a little bow and attached with a Glue Dot.  I scallop punched the edge then attached a quarter piece of cardstock to the back.  I like using a piece that covers completely so it looks attractive on the inside as well as the outside.  You can also use the Pacific Blue as your card base and overlay the Whisper White.

Using the Frost White Shimmer Paint I created a shimmer spray.  Just take a small spray bottle (maybe an old Stampin' Mist bottle) and fill it 3/4 the way full with rubbing alcohol.  Add 5-6 drops of Shimmer Paint and shake well to mix.  Hold the card about arms length from the spray bottle and spray a couple times to coat the card.  It will look wet at first but the rubbing alcohol evaporates and leaves a beautiful shimmer!

I like adding a stamped image to the inside of the card that matches.

You can always step it up a notch by adding an adorable Basic Rhinestone to the middle of the ornament!  Love that Bling!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Delightful Decorations, Four the Holidays
Card Stock - Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink - Pacific Point
Accessories - Scallop Trim Punch, Frost White Shimmer Paint, 1/8" Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon, Glue Dots, Basic Rhinestones

Back Into the Swing of Things and Color Renovation

I am back to blogging!  And just in time too.  Stampin' Up! has announced a Huge change!  But more on that in a minute.  Thanks for all the support with my layoff!  I am still job hunting but now that things have settled down and I have actually finished working at my previous job, I am able to get into my stamp room a little more!  The last couple of days I have been working on cleaning and rearranging my stamp room.  I will post pictures of that "renovation" later this week. 

(Making you wait another minute on that big announcement.) 

Yesterday I was able to go and hang out with a couple of my stamping girls during the day!  That was a first for me and we had So Much Fun!  We made two cards that were modifications of cards that I have done in the past.  Yes, we were together for half a day and only made two cards!  We were having so much fun talking and teaching that we didn't accomplish as much as we originally thought we would.  Here are the two cards we made.

This is the same card as here; however we used Vintage Vogue for the flower top instead of Awash with Flowers.  The only reason we made this change is because when I was grabbing stamp sets to take I grabbed another set instead of the solids part of Awash with Flowers.  I was so mad at myself but we recovered nicely.

This card is using a retired set one of the girls was playing around with.  I just think it is a beautiful card!  The dimensions are 5 1/2" x 2 3/4".  We used Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, and Kraft paper.  The background is stamped with White craft ink and the flower is stamped with Basic Black.  We then used Bravo Burgundy and Blender pens to color in the flower.  Just varying the amount of ink on the blender pen and mixing in the white craft ink that wasn't quite dry, we were able to get the different shading.  It is hard to tell from the picture; however, on the Bravo Burgundy we stamped a retired background stamp with Basic black to give the card a nice texture.

Color Renovation
Okay I held out long enough, now for Stampin' Up!s big announcement!  We are going to have a color renovation in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog released on July 1st!  I love that Stampin' Up keeps things fresh!  Colors and styles are constantly changing and cycling—and Stampin’ Up wants to stay on top of current trends.
First, for the very sad news; to accomplish these great changes some current colors will retire as of June 30. Everyone has their favorite colors, and I am no exception. If some of your favorites are retiring, you will definitely want to stock up on them before they’re gone. You can place orders for retiring colors through June 30, while supplies last. Click here to see a list of the retired colors.

The good news is that there are some beautiful colors being added. Our core color line will be reorganized into four color collections of ten colors each for 40 core colors. And then each July 1st 5 additional "In Colors" will be released and best of all, they will last for two years each time instead of just one as they do now! (so that will be 45 colors in the 2010-2011 catalog and then 50 in the 2011-2012 one.)

Within the new four core color collections we will be getting 6 brand new colors (including a great one called Crumb Cake that is an ink version of our current Kraft card stock) plus 10 former In Colors that were very popular are returning! Click here to see the new color families.

Now I know you're wondering about things like pastels, markers, watercolor crayons, etc. that you may have in your stash. Stampin' Up is going to be offering lots of great kits to retrofit lots of existing color tools you may already own. I will have more on that soon.

I am so excited about the new colors and I can't wait to share them with you soon!!!

Two-Step into Spring-Awash with Flowers-My Birthday

I had my birthday this weekend!  I had such a great time!  It was very relaxing.  We saw several movies and for my birthday dinner my husband took me to a sushi bar and we ate until we were stuffed.  Wonderful!  I wanted to share my birthday card from my husband.  The thing I look forward to most is the card from him.  He is SO sweet!  Though the present wasn't too shabby either, he got me the netbook I have been drooling over!  Now it is even easier to be mobile and connected to all of you!

Now for today's project and April's special.  I hinted in a previous blog that in April Stampin' Up! was offering a special stamp set that will be in next year's catalog.  Well here it is!

It is called Awash with Flowers.  I am just in love with this set!  The black lines are one stamp and the color images are another stamp for a total of 18 stamps.  It will only be available in April then you have to wait until the new catalog to get your hands on this beauty.  Along with this stamp set there will be some other current Two-Step Stamp Sets on sale but you will have to wait for another post of those ;)

I got to finally sit down and play with it and it is GREAT!  My stamping helper likes it too. :)  My four girls are always available to "help". 

Here is the first card I made with the set.  I am doing this card as a shoebox swap at my Demonstrator meeting this Thursday.  I pulled this layout from a card I made YEARS ago.  I am so glad that I kept pictures of almost every card I made!  I had a lot of fun playing with this design.  The flower is more than meets the eye at first glance.  See the second picture to see what I mean.  First I stamped the Basic Black outline.  Then I mixed Frost White Shimmer Paint with Rose Red reinker (just one drop).  I used a Sponge Dauber to sponge the mixture on to the stamp.  I stamped it right onto the card (be careful not to let it slide around).  For the leaves I just used Certainly Celery ink.  The Scallop Oval/Ovals Punched saying is attached with Dimensionals.

Look at that Shimmer!  So cool!  This is a great card for many different occasions.

Don't forget that all these great items from the Holiday Mini Catalog are still available (including the Shimmer Paint)!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Awash with Flowers, Short & Sweet
Card Stock - Rose Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink - Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Rose Red reinker
Accessories - 3/16" Black Gingham Ribbon, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Scallop Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

Ornament Punch Christmas Card

Sorry I didn't post yesterday! This week has flown by so quickly! Happy Halloween!! I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am planning to enjoy Halloween with my nieces, very much looking forward to it.

On to the card. Even though it is Halloween I am completely in Christmas mode. Here is another Christmas card using Delightful Decorations and the matching punch. I just LOVE this set/punch combo! I used the shimmer paint as a spray again as I described in this post. I sprayed the entire card after I finished with it. You can kind of see the shimmer but it is much prettier in person. The Shimmer Paint is the most fun to play with and add to cards! Hope you enjoy!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Delightful Decorations, Sassy Sparkles Jumbo Wheel, Four the Holidays
Card Stock - Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Ink - Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Basic Black
Accessories -Shimmer Paint, Silver Elastic Cord, Dimensionals, Ornament Punch

Extravagent Christmas Card Stamp-A-Stack

I had a GREAT Stamp-A-Stack this weekend. I just LOVE the women, we had so much fun. Now that I have had the class, I will post the cards! I had a lot of fun creating them. The first two, if you are a Demonstrator, were CASED from the Stampin' Successes. I called it an Extravagant Christmas Card Stamp-A-Stack because the cards are a little more time consuming and are usually saved for family and close friends.

Best & Brightest Card

Multiple techniques are used in this card. I am going to mention two. The first is the saying which was done by using Rub-Ons. It is perfect on the Bashful Blue, it keeps the card soft. The second is the glittering on the Blissful Blue Ornament. After it is stamped and punched out, I rubbed 2-Way Glue onto parts of the snowflake and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds Glitter onto it. It gives it a great look!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Delightful Decorations, Sassy Sparkle Jumbo Wheels
Card Stock - Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink - Bashful Blue, Ruby Red
Accessories - Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter, Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone Brads or Pretties Kit, Merry & Bright Rub-Ons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Ornament Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Jumbo Wheel Handle, 2-Way Glue

Merry Christmas Card

This is a simple card, however, I got to show off the Shimmer Paint! I used it in two different ways. First, after I folded the Old Olive I sprayed it with Shimmer Spray. I created the shimmer spray by filling an old Stampin' Mist bottle 3/4 the way full with rubbing alcohol and then added approximately a teaspoon of Shimmer paint. It is hard to see in the picture but creates a nice soft shimmer to the card. Then on the the ornaments I sponged Shimmer Paint directly onto it after the ink had dried to create a bold shimmer look.


Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Delightful Decorations, Four the Holidays
Card Stock - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories - Silver Elastic Cord, Stampin' Dimensionals, Ornament Punch, Frost White Shimmer Paint, 1/16" Punch, Sponge Dauber

Sweet Treat Ornament Card

I showed my customers how to create a Sweet Treat Cup card with an access on the inside to retrieve the treat. I CASED this from this card. It is hard to see in the picture but I used one of the circle designs from Delightful Decorations in versamark along the edge of the Real Red underneath the Merry Christmas. I chose bells for the cup and it makes it a lot of fun!


Tape a piece of Cardstock partially over the hole leaving enough room to fill the cup. Make sure you do not tape a space for a tag to slide in. (see next picture). I taped with sticky strip the short side and the top then I set the slider piece down to measure and taped on the other side of it so the slider will fit.


The piece of cardstock will then slide in covering the hole but can be removed to access the treat without destroying the card!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Sweet Centers, Four the Holidays, Delightful Decorations
Card Stock - Whisper White, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories -Sweet Treat Cups, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Mistletoe Ribbon