Just a Little Ink - Amy Taylor - justalittleink.com

I've been wanting to make this cute little reindeer ornament since the end of February, it just took me awhile to figure out just how I wanted to do it. With the release of the Sizzix Big Shot to Stampin' Up! this summer it made it very easy to do. The tin is a Wilton heart favor tin that can be found at most craft stores. I had some left over from a Valentines' day project. The nose is a small red pom pom, and the eyes are wiggle eyes. The ears are made using the Stampin' Up! exclusive die Birds & Blooms, just using the wings for the bird as ears cut out of Close to Cocoa card stock. The antlers are made using the Swirls Scribbles die cut out of Chocolate Chip card stock. I attached them all with mini glue dots. The ornament is hung by punching a 1/8" hole with the Crop-a-Dile and then threading some elastic silver cord through the hole and tying a good knot to keep it closed. These would be really cute tied onto kids packages with just a little candy i...

The picture really doesn't do this justice. The snowflake is the cut using my Sizzix Big Shot and the Snowflake #2 die. To make it, I took a piece of cardboard backing (like you find at the end of a legal pad of paper). Then I cut 2 pieces of designer series paper, here from the Frosty Day DSP in Stampin' Up!'s holiday mini catalog, and ran them through my Xyron machine to adhere adhesive to one side. I made a "sandwich" of sorts with a piece of paper, the cardboard, and another piece of paper. When this was done, I ran the "sandwich" through my Big Shot to make a snowflake that is 2 sided and perfectly aligned. To finish the ornament off, I used some 2-way glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter to make it sparkle and added a half-pearl (from the Pretties kit) to the center using a mini-glue dot. It's hung using silver elastic cord (also found in the holiday mini catalog) tied around the top.

Stampin' Up! released the retired list from the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog. These stamp sets are available through January 18th, and then they'll be gone. Order yours today! Check them out here: Retired List And......if you order from now through December 23rd, you'll get 10% off all retiring stamp sets. To add to it all, if you order $70 or more between now and December 23rd, you'll get FREE shipping too! Now that is quite a deal!

This is a card I came up with while trying to figure out what my Christmas cards would look like for this year. I didn't end up choosing this one, but I do really like it. It uses the Christ is Born stamp set and Ski Slope DSP as well as the snow embossing folder from Cuttlebug. The base card is Chocolate Chip and the embossed snowflakes are on Baja Breeze. The main image is stamped onto a piece of Shimmery White card stock and embossed with silver embossing powder, then popped-up with Stampin' Dimensionals. The final accent is the 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon tied around and held in place with a silver brad.

I finally tried my hand at a clear card. There is a wonderful tutorial on the splitcoaststampers website. Use acetate (found at any office supply store as overhead projector sheets), and White Staz-On ink. I've had this ink and hadn't even used it! Anyway, here is my card. I used the Season of Joy stamp set and Baja Breeze, Shimmery White, and Brushed Silver card stock. For accessories, I used the Little Felt Flurries from the Holiday Mini Catalog and Whisper White taffeta ribbon.

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This cute little card isn't my original idea. I modified it to use a Christmas tree stamp I had (Wondrous Gift stamp set), and Riding Hood Red Designer Series paper. It's a little tedious to cut out the window openings, but well worth the effect you get. The window and little girl are from the hostess level 3 set, Window Dressing. The window image is stamped onto Sage Shadow card stock in Jet-Black Staz-On ink. I then stamped it again onto Handsome Hunter card stock, and cut out the shutters. The window frame is colored in with a Creamy Caramel marker. The tree is stamped in Handsome Hunter ink onto Whisper White card stock, then use a sponge dauber to color in competely. Just layer the cut-out tree, little girl behind the window, place a piece of DSP behind that and put it all together. Really cute!

I'm finally getting around to loading some pictures from November's stamp club meetings. This cute little guy was a real hit, but I need to give credit to Cambria Turnbow for the box instructions and Kimberly Van Diepen credit for the design of the snowman. The snowman face is made using the Big Shot and the exclusive Top-Note die from Stampin' Up! This die is so versatile! The face base is made using Whisper White card stock, and the hat using Basic Black card stock. To make the box use a piece of Whisper White card stock cut to 10-1/2" x 6". Score along the 10-1/2" side at 4-1/4" and 6-1/4". Turn 90 degrees and score along the 6" side at 1-1/2" and 4-1/2". Cut along the score lines (6" side at the top) down to the horizontal score lines made earlier. I'll load some pictures of the process as soon as I get a chance. Turn the piece around 180 degrees (so the other 6" side is at the top) and repeat the cutting. ...

The idea for the houses (Neighborhood Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel) and the lights on the houses (light string from Mr Twigster) I got from artisticavenger.wordpress.com I used different cardstock colors, ribbon, etc. And, I used some white Liquid Applique for the snow. I also added a dog in front of the dog-house. He comes from the Loads of Love Accessories, and I simply colored and cut-out one of the 3 dogs. The "a very merry Christmas to you" stamp is a level 1 hostess stamp set, Best Yet. The houses are watercolored with Classic Stamp pads and an Aqua Painter. I just love those Aqua Painters. The ribbon is Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon.

I was playing around with the Christmas lights from the Mr Twigster stamp set (found in the Holiday Mini catalog), and got to thinking that the bear image from Under the Stars stamp set would look a little Christmasy if he was holding them in his paws. This is the card I came up with. The card base is Riding Hood Red cut 4-1/4"x11" and scored at 5-1/2". The paper is from Ski Slope Designer Series paper (Holiday Mini catalog again). The ribbon is Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon and the snowflake is from the small Felt Flurries (medium size here). After I tied the ribbon into a know, I put the snowflake on top by lifting up the tails of the ribbon and poking them through the hole in the center of the snowflake, and then flattened out the tails on the ribbon again. There's no glue holding it down, it just stays in place with the ribbon!

I had a couple of packets left over from one of my clubs this past month, so I decided to use them to make Christmas cards. Mr Twigster is the only stamp set that I bought from the Holiday Mini catalog. He's fairly in-expensive, and I just love how cute he is. The card is made from Kraft cardstock cut 4-1/4"x10-3/4", scored to fold at the top (5-1/2"). The lower edge of the front is punched using the scallop-edge punch. The designer paper on the bottom edge is Frosty Day from the Holiday Mini catalog. Mr Twigster is stamped onto Confetti White cardstock and then layered onto a piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock. The saying on the front is from one of the Level 1 hostess sets. The ribbon is 1" Chocolate Chipe double-stitched ribbon, tied in a knot. Here is another card made similar, but with different colored ribbon on the top and a different print of the same Frosty Day designer series paper. Mr Twigster is layered onto a piece of Close to Cocoa cardstock and...

This card idea (and all the projects that follow) was cased from an idea presented at Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah this year by Carrie Cudney. The stamp set, matching wheel and the Chocolate Chip double-stitched ribbon were give-aways to some Stampin' Up! demonstrators after her presentation. And, I was fortunate enough to be one of those demonstrators! Anyway, the card is made using Kraft card stock, cut at 10-3/4"x4-1/4" and folded at the top by scoring one end at 5-1/2". The scallops are made using the new scallop-edge punch. The striped paper is a piece of Riding Hood Red DSP (double-sided paper) cut at 1"x4-1/4" and adhered to the lower portion of the inside of the card so it shows through below the scallops. The cupcake stand is stamped using Jet-Black Staz-On onto a piece (2"x3") of watercolor paper. Then it was colored in using Aqua Painters and Classic Stamp pads in Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue and Riding Hood...

This is one of the cards we'll be making on November 1st for my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack class. It uses the Holiday Line-Up stamp set and the Top-Note Bigz Die for the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine. Rudolph's nose is made to shine using some chunky glitter.

A few days ago, I finally had a chance to play with some new Christmas stamps! This set, Holiday Line-Up, is so much fun to color. The image is colored in with Stampin' Write markers, the background is made with the Bold Snowflake jumbo wheel and Whisper White ink onto Ballet Blue card stock. The card base is made using Bashful Blue card stock. These cute little elves were colored in using the WaterWonder Crayons. For a little emphasis, I cut out a second elf, and popped him up using Stampin' Dimensionals. Too much fun. I also like the different use of color for a Christmas card. I used Pacific Point textured card stock for the card base, and the ribbon is Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain.

Okay, I'm finally getting around to showing you the updated look to the Crazy for Cupcakes card I made last month. It needed something, and I decided it was some words on the lower right-hand side.

This is the "spooky jar" after I filled it. Attendees at my All-Holiday Stamp-a-Stack on Saturday had the chance to win it, and it's contents. All they had to do, was be the person with the closest guess of how many pieces of candy were inside. Sarah was the winner. There were 238 pieces of candy inside the jar, and she guessed 232! Way to go, Sarah. Here are the cards we made. Everyone made two of each one. This was the Valentine's Day card we made. It used the Priceless stamp set, and Fine-Cosmo glitter. This was the Easter card made. It used the Serene Spring stamp set (a level 2 hostess set), All-Holidays stamp set, WaterWonder Crayons, aqua painters, Bella Rose DSP, and Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. This was the 4th of July card. It used the Wonderful Words stamp set, the 1" circle and large star punches, and just a little Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon. This was the Halloween card. It used the Autumn Harvest stamp set, All Holidays stamp s...

This is another of the projects we made at the September stamp club in Thornton. The picture on the 6x6 scrapbook page is my youngest neice. I have to brag. The picture was taken last year with her wearing the pink flamingo costume her Aunt (that would be me) made her. The bottom of the page is made using the new Haunting Jumbo wheel from the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog. The pumpkin is from the Autumn Harvest stamp set. The idea is one given to demonstrators on the demonstrator website, but I made it into a 6x6 page instead of a 8-1/2"x8-1/2" page. This card was the final project from club. It uses the same jumbo wheel as the scrapbook page above, but is rolled in Basic Black ink. The color comes from inking a sponge dauber with Classic ink and applying it on top of the image. The card is finished with some torn Basic Black cardstock, a card stamped with the Canvas background stamp inked in Kiwi Kiss ink. The "Happy Halloween" is stamped from t...

These cute little boxes were one of the projects made at one of my stamp club meetings last night. The original idea is not mine, I just expanded on it to include the ears and the "bolts" at the side of Frank's head. There are no stamps used to make him, just a paper trimmer with scoring blade and punches. I'll do my best to explain the process. You will start with a piece of Old Olive cardstock that measures 8-1/2"x5-1/2". With the cardstock placed into the paper trimmer horizontally along the 8-1/2" side, use the scoring blade to score at 2", 4", 6" and 8". Turn the cardstock around vertically along the 5-1/2" side, and score at 1". Hold the cardstock horizontally once again, with the 1" side at the bottom. Trim off the lower 1/2" tab on the far left only with paper snips. Place the piece back into the paper trimmer, having the cutting blade in place, the 1/2" tab along the left side and the top ...

I'm not sure if I'm done with this card yet. It seems like it still needs something. However, I am very pleased with how the stamped image of the cupcakes turned out. I watercolored it, and then used the Tombow Multi-purpose glue and the pink chunky glitter. It really gives the cupcakes some glitz! The lace edge was made using the new scallop edge punch and the 1/16" punch.

This HUGE candy jar uses a new Decor Elements that will be available sometime later this fall, but was available to all demonstrators who attended Stampin' Up!'s convention in Salt Lake this year. It's yet to be filled with all that tasty candy that is available for Halloween, but it will be soon! This candy jar (with all it's future contents) will be in the hands of one lucky person who attends my stamp-a-stack on September 27th.

Before convention, I had time to play around with the Serene Spring stamp set (a level 2 Hostess set this fall). It's the perfect size stamp to use on the tumbled 4x4 tiles. The image is stamped with Staz-On Jet Black ink, and colored in with the Water Wonder Crayons and a blender pen. It is sealed with Krylon Workable Fixatif found at any craft store. The last step was to adhere a piece of cork to the back. Here is second tile with the remaining stamp in this set:

I had a chance this week to play around a little bit with a new stamping technique. You can find it here on Andrea Walford's blog Brayered and Sponged Sunset Background Andrea has done a wonderful job putting together this tutorial (as well as many others). The Inspired by Nature stamp set seemed perfect for this technique. I think it makes for a very manly card.

I finally got some time to play a bit with a few of my new sets. This card uses Eastern Blooms and Refuge & Strength. The colors are Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip. They look less vibrant than in person. The Kiwi Kiss has been inked direct-to-paper with a Kiwi Kiss ink pad. The flowers were stamped in Tangerine Tango (repetively inking off color so each one is lighter than the one before). The leaves are made using the small oval punch, folded in half, then rolled through the crimper at an angle. It's a little different, but I like it.

This was the card I made for swaps at convention this year. I only had time to make 21 of them. 20 to swap with others to get new ideas, and one to give to SU! I'd never swapped a 3"x6" card front before, so I wasn't sure what the response would be. But, with this size being so popular right now, I wanted to give it a try. It went very well. This stamp us Heard from the Heart, one of the new sets from the catalog that will be out next week! The red and green textured papers are 2 of the new In-Colors for this year: Red Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss. The designer series paper is Bella Rose, and is also from the new catalog.

Today was another full day. It started with classes, which for Jen and I included another round of make and takes. I'm excited to show some of them with you very soon! The afternoon included our last general session to wrap everything up. There were more wonderful demonstrations with great samples and more give-a-ways. I won a really cute birthday cupcake set and matching stampin' around wheel as well as a roll of the new 1" wide double stitch chocolate chip ribbon. It'll be fun to play with that one very soon. The now famous game show was today also. This year it was "Stamptionary". Just like pictionary, but with Stampin' Up! terminology. Players were randomly selected from the demonstrator's in attendance. The first round was East vs. West, with the West winning. The second round was Rookie vs. Veteran. That round ended with the Veteran's winning. The final round was a showdown between the winners, and the West won. It's always ...