Window Dressing Card

Here is another card made using one of the new hostess sets from the catalog that will be out next month from Stampin' Up! It's called Window Dressing, and comes with the window stamp and images that can be stamped inside the window along with a few sayings. I had stamped the window with the snowmen inside, but it took me awhile to decide how to finish the card.

Anyway, this is what I came up with. The snowflakes along the side are punched out with the Snow Blossom punch. The dry embossed snowflakes behind the window are made using a scrap piece of cardstock that was punched a couple of times using the Snow Blossom punch to make my own template.

I guess I should also mention that the card base uses Riding Hood Red (one of the new In-Colors), and the blue is Baja Breeze (another of the new In-Colors).

Sneak Peek card

This card was made using one of the new level 2 hostess sets (Serene Spring) from the new catalog that will be coming out August 11th! The card is made using textured Kiwi Kiss cardstock (one of the new In-Colors from the new catalog), and Baja Breeze (another new In-Color) and watercolor paper. The colors don't show quite as vibrant as they are because I scanned this card on my printer.

I had forgotten how much I love watercoloring onto watercolor paper. The colors flow so wonderfully, and blend without effort. The saying comes from the Refuge & Strength stamp set.

Circle of Friendship Card

The summer just keeps moving along, and I've not found a great deal of time for stamping! There have just been too many other things going on. However, I did make some time this morning for a little stamping. There are not too many weeks left before the new catalog comes out, and the current In-Colors and retiring stamp sets are gone (except for my personal enjoyment while my supply lasts).

So, I took some inspiration from a card posted in the SU! demonstrator magazine and tweeked it using the current In-Colors and stamp sets that I owned. I like the results.

I used Soft Sky for the card base, and River Rock and Groovy Guava as the accent colors. For accessories, I used the clear buttons and the Earth Elements buttons, the Three for You punch, 1-1/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, 1/8" circle punchand the Crafter's Tool kit.

I'm really going to miss this group of In-Colors. But, the 2008/2009 colors will be here today. Whenever the UPS man delivers! Reminds me of the old Mervin's commercials....open, open, open.

You're Unfrogettable card

It's been far too long since I've posted. With that in mind, I'm posting a card that I made last year with the Unfrogettable stamp set. This stamp set is one of the stamp sets that will be retired after August 11th.

To make this card, stamp the frog on 3 different pieces of card stock using Basic Black ink. Here I used Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal and Not Quite Navy. Punch them out using the 1-3/8" square punch, and mount them onto a piece of Basic Black card stock (4-3/4" x 3-1/4"). Mount this on a Not Quite Navy 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card.

Time to pre-order your Fall-Winter 2008 Stampin' Up! Catalog!

It's time to pre-order your copy of the Fall-Winter 2008 Stampin' Up! Catalog. I will take pre-orders for the catalogs through July 25th, and the catalogs will ship out or be availabe for pick up in August. You can place orders from the new catalog on August 11th.

Purchase the Fall-Winter 2008 Catalog for $5.00 if you are local and can pick it up.

Do you live out of town and want me to mail it to you? You pay only $10 including the shipping.

Place a single $50 order with me in July (before shipping and tax) and I will give you a New Catalog free! It's a great time to buy those retiring stamp sets before they are gone.

If you are continuing with or joining my hostess clubs, you will receive a FREE catalog.

Emerging Color Butterflies

I saw this technique just recently, and wanted to give it a try. Typically, you would use a larger bold image for the white areas, but I don't have a current stamp to use for that. So, I decided to see if I could make it work with just the stamps that come with the Priceless stamp set. This is what I came up with.

The butterflies are stamped randomly in Perfect Plum ink onto Whisper White card stock. Then heat emboss the rectangular image in VersaMark ink and clear embossing powder, being sure to stamp over some of the butterflies. Using the brayer, cover the entire piece with a lighter color, here I used Pale Plum ink. Finally, wipe any excess ink from the embossed rectangles. That's how to do the emerging color techniqe.

Now to finish the card, I thought it would give more interest to the card if I cut the design area into an oval shape. To do that I used the Coluzzle and the oval template. The oval is raised up using Stampin' Dimensionals. The words "So Kind" are stamped on a small piece of Whisper White card stock in Mellow Moss ink, and adhered to the upper part of the oval with Snail adhesive. The card base is Mellow Moss, and the strip of card stock at the upper third of the card is a piece of Pale Plum. The ribbon is Elegant Eggplant 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Dear Dad Card

I've been wanting to play with some of the On-Board Chipboard since chipboard is the special from Stampin' Up! this month. It's been laying around my craft room for quite awhile, and I finally got around to making something with it! I thought this piece with the circles would work great to make my dad a Father's Day card. The circles were perfect for putting photos behind.

The small heart in the center is also from some chipboard, and done in the faux metal technique. Faux metal is easy to do, just cover the chipboard with VersaMark ink. Next cover it with embossing powder and heat. You repeat this at least 2 more times until the embossing powder seems to "dance" around on the surface. While it's still wet, you can choose to stamp onto it with a stamp that was first inked with VersaMark.