The content of this blog is my sole responsibility as an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator and the use of, and content of, the classes, services, or products offered on this blog is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!
And then maybe I'll have time to post. I just don't seem to be able to put it all together when I'm at a Stampin' Up! event to get to my blog. Hotel internet. Iffy. Time iffy. Exaustion definite. Sleep a must!
Attending SU!'s Leadership Conference is non-stop sensory overload. I look forward to reunited with friends from throughout the US and Canada. And this year I got to meet one of my online buddies from Germany. HI again Phyllis!!!
The most important general announcement made by Stampin' Up!, that affects all of us, is an upcoming change in our catalog year and mini catalog strategy.
The 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog, rather than ending on JUNE 30, 2012, will be ending on MAY 31, 2012. The new 2012-2013 Catalog will debut on July 1st. Monday correction! The new 2012-2013 Catalog will debut on JUNE 1st! This change, along with some mini catalog changes, will allow us to get going earlier on holiday season card and project making. (Yes, I know it's only January!)
And the most exciting new product announcement: we are coming out with a Diagonal Scoring Plate, 12" x 12", that will fit right onto Stampin' Up!'s fabulous Simply Scored Tool. Twelve by twelve. Wowsers. The whole shebang! It's awesome and I'll be sharing some projects and techniques during the next few days. It will be available on March 1, 2012.
And what makes it even better??? I won one when my yellow wrist band was called out by Donna Griffith for the PRIZE PATROL!
I can't turn the picture on the diagonal here!
I'll be off to Forbes Norris ALS Clinic in San Francisco tomorrow, but I'll show you a few things you can easily make with this great new tool on Tuesday. It'll be nice to be back home and back to regular blog posting!
And guess what??? It's finally snowing at home. First snow fall since the first weekend in November! We need the precipitation!
This is the 'smooched' card I promised the other day when I talked up the Smooch Spritzes. I love this fairly simple holiday card.........smooched with Gold Glow Smooch Spritz (118770). Just a few spritzes and an already sweet card is all the more special.
Click on the photo to see the color details more boldly. It was quite difficult to get a good sun angle to reflect the Gold Glow Smooch Spray.
INGREDIENTS:
STAMP SET: Snow Swirled (111690)
CARD STOCK: Cherry Cobbler (119685), Whisper White (100730), Brushed Gold Paper (102935)
Need supplies to make a similar card? Click on my name below to go directly to my Stampin' Store where you can place your own order. Or, send me an email, blythe@stampinwithblythe, and I'll be glad to help you myself.
With Autumn, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah coming coming up, shorter days and darker days it's always fun to have a bit of shimmer, glimmer and shine on your projects.
Enter Smooch Spritz. Not only is it cool and fun, it's acid free. Smooch Spritz is a pearlized accent spray that comes in 4 colors:
Gold Glow Smooch, 118770
Silver Foil Smooch, 118771
Vanilla Shimmer Smooch, 118772
Log Cabin Smooch, 119921
And just to keep your table top, carpets, chairs, etc. free of 'over-spray' be sure to always use this Color Catcher. It might look 'cheese-y' but it's really quite efficient. AND if folds flat for travel or storage.
Color Catcher, 121093
A few tips:
The Smooch vials are g-l-a-s-s. Keep them away from the little ones and use caution yourself.
Store Smooch sprays on their side.
Shake thoroughly before using.
Give a practice spray into your Color Catcher before spraying on your card to ensure
the direction of the spray
the intensity of the spray
I always do the above test to see which direction and how light or heavy the spray is on that particular day.
Give Smooch a try out. I'll post a snowflake card in a few days. I need to work with lighting and angles to get a good image of the shimmer.
STAMPIN' UP! just announced that Creating Keepsakes magazine has named Stampin' Up!'s wood- and clear-mount rubber stamps as one of its Top 10 Tools for 2011!
While Stampin' Up! has long been recognized in the stamping and crafting industry for producing high-quality rubber stamps and exclusive images in a variety of artistic styles, being recognized by Creating Keepsakes is just another validation that Stampin' Up! products are the best!
Just how awesome an acknowledgement of the products that I love and use exclusively is this! :)
Do you have Stampin' Up!'s Color Caddy? (104335, p. 226) Do you have trouble remembering which color family is to the right or to the left as you spin it looking for a certain color pad? I store my Classic stamp pads by color family with the In Colors at the bottom of several of the columns. And.....although I *think* I remember which family is to the right or left of the one I'm facing, I'm wrong a high percentage of the time. Short term memory fade??? :)
So, while reorganizing my stampin' studio, I decided to label the families 'around the corner'. I've had each color family labeled for a long time. I'm a happy camper now that I've add step two to my simple labels.
Below: When looking at my Rich Regals pads I now know that by spinning my caddy counterclockwise the next color will be Neutrals, followed by Brights. That leaves it for me to figure out that Subtles will be to the left!
Below: Brights, followed by Subtles and then Regals. Neutrals then must be to my left.
Below: More brilliance. :) And this time the 2010-2012 In Colors are at the bottom of the column.
Below: Finally, the home of the 2011-2013 In Colors at the base of the Subtles stamp pad column.
This little task of adding more labels has really made a different when searching for a color family--is it to the left, is it to the right? Just a little bit of a time saver but it sure makes me happy!
TIP: I keep my caddy on an *old* Rubbermaid turntable for easiest rotation. I also keep my Ink Refills right on top of the caddy and above their proper Color Family.
I love my Color Caddy with it's "extender" (107063, p. 226) on top. Convenient, handy--and I always know where my Classic stamp pads are. Unless they're on the work table, in my tote, in the basket to be put away........ If you'd like to have one for your personal convenience, to keep your stamp pads in one tidy place, click here to go to my Stampin' Store or send me an email so I can help you personally.
When I first began paper crafting in the early 90s I was like a b-b in a boxcar, kind of bouncing all over the place. I'd get a stamp or two from this vender at one of the big regional craft shows, some cardstock from that vendor, markers or maybe a stamp pad from that other vendor. I didn't really know about embellishments yet thankfully! And I also didn't have a clue how to use my purchases with each other!!!
Eventually we moved, met new folks, and I ventured across the street, accepting an invitation from my neighbor Jennifer, to come to a stamping party. Oh man, right up my alley I thought. The leader (I didn't know at the time she was a "Demonstrator") asked what each of us wanted to learn at the party and I told her I wanted to find a way to make use of my non-related stamps, with my non-matched paper (I wasn't even calling it cardstock yet), with my non-matched markers or stamp pads. I ended up making a quite healthy purchase, put my previous supplies in a closet and within a few weeks, signed up to become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. April 1996.
When the new catalog came out in July 1998, Stampin' Up! stepped out with their own exclusive colors, settled into 4 families, each of which was available in cardstock, stamp pads and markers.
When I purchased my first color family--cardstock, stamp pads and markers, my paper crafting definitely became easier. Everything matched! Everything coordinated! Eventually brads, eyelets, ribbon and other embellishments coordinated as well. Today, 13 years later, using items that coordinate is a no-brainer, a common thing, hardly even given a second thought. But........there was a time when matching reds or browns or greens or blue was really a royal pain, a chore, a lucky guess in the right light.
Do YOU operate in color coordination? If you use mostly Stampin' Up! products, you probably do. But if you wander off to pick up a few colors at *M's* or *JoA's* or *HL*, how well do your reds or blues match? Why not consider, when you're starting a new project, with a new stamp set, purchasing an appropriate color family assortment (collection) of cardstock and a few coordinating stamp pads and markers?
For example, say you've just fallen in love with the Baby Blossom stamp set found on p. 14 of the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog. I think the set sort of screams SUBTLES!
Let's just go with that for a starting point. So select a pack of 8-1/2" x 11" Smooth Assorted Card Stock, #119704, $6.95 (20 sheets, 2 each in 10 colors). Stamp pad/s? Hmmmm, what color/s? If you don't have any Subtles pads, how about a Subtle Assortment of Stampin' Spots? #119712, $19.95 (1 each of 10 colors). How about a Subtle Assortment of Stampin' Write Markers for signing your name? #119700, $28.95 (1 each of 10 colors, fine and broad tip on each marker). Just for good measure, and the make creating easier, I would also include an assortment of 8-1/2" x 11" Neutrals Smooth Card Stock, #119707, $6.95.
$6.95, $19.95, $28.95, $6.95 = $62.80 And then I could also get a FREE Sale-a-Bration item.
I'll add two more color/mood coordinated elements just to make your paper-crafting even easier:
Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper to vary up your cards. P. 15, Occasions Mini, #121782, $9.95. And, a spool of either Chantilly or Victoria Crochet Trim. p. 190, $6.95 for either one.
You can easily create many many cards from these ingredients. You'll find out which colors are your favorites in the Soft Subtle Collection and then perhaps your next order will include a solid color packet of a new particularly favorite color.
And that's how you begin to make your paper-crafting easier.........by using products that coordinate! Can I help you with your order????? Just click on my name below to be directed to my Stampin' Up! Store or send me an email: blythe@stampinwithblythe.com
My monthly stampin' class tomorrow is going to be focusing on this new punch, the Blossom Petals Punch, as well as its companion stamp set, Build a Blossom. And frankly, a few tips about this very versatile punch can be helpful to any stamper who plans to use it.
As you can see, the Blossom Petals punch design features multiple cutouts within one punch. There are 4 'petals': extra large, large, medium, and small.
Now obviously this punch coordinates with the Build a Blossom stamp set. Traditional punches are desinged so a single stamped mages matches a single punch. This punch is designed to punch each stamped image separately. And some of the punch shapes do double duty by serving as both petals and leaf images.
If you want to punch out only the large, medium and small petal images you can. Hold the Blossom Petal punch with the cutting window face up. Slide a piece of card stock that measures about 2-1/2" x 3" into the left edge of the punch and punch the three smaller petals.
Or, only punch out the large leaf/petal images using a 1-1/2" wide strip of card stock inserted from the sides or top of the punch.
If you're stamping leaf or petal images, stamp them on a strip of card stock with the long side of the stamp lined up with the edge of the card stock. Be sure to have the pointier end of the image facing to the right, along the edge.
If stamping the large petal image, stamp it upright, starting on left left edge, of a 2-1/2" tall strip of card stock. Then feed the card stock into the right edge of the punch to avoid wasting card stock or punching part of your stamped image with the smaller petal cut-outs.
While the stamps and punch shapes are designed to be used separately, you can create a template using a sticky note that will allow you to place four clear-mount stamps of a clear block so that they line up with the punch.
Hold the punch with the cutting window facing up. Slide a sticky note into the punch with the sticky part facing down and punch the sticky note.
Use the sticky on the note to adhere the note to an "E" sized clear block (or larger).
From directly above the block, use the punched holes to line up your desired stamps with the template holes punched in the sticky note.
Because these images all have borders surrounding them, it might take a try or two to get them positioned in the exact spots for the punch. Ink the images, stamp on scrap paper, and punch. If the alignment isn't what you want, reposition the stamp, ink and stamp and punch again, until you get it as you like it.
If this tutorial has enlightened you or helped you, please click the FB LIKE button below the post. And share it with a fellow stamper.
In early September I shared this fishy card I made for my husband for our 13th Anniversary.
And my sister and Stampin' Up! downline liked it enough to make a variation of it for her son and daughter-in-law's anniversay a bit later in September.
She didn't have the same Designer Series Paper but who cares? This retired DSP was the perfect look for under-the-sea seaweed.
We both used the very versatile Ornament Extra-Large punch (p. 203, 119847, $16.95) and the Heart to Heart Extra Large punch (p. 203, 119881, $16.95). Not only is the Ornament punch perfect for ornaments, it's also great for fish, a vase........ What else?
On the card above, the ornament image was stamped and embossed and then punch out with the ornament punch. Then the card front was punched out, revealing the ornament inside. Double duty.
And in the blue card above, simply cutting off the bottom of a punched piece of Designer Series Paper, reveals a modern vase.
Could you use one of these punches in your collection? Well, I can help you get one. Just click on my signature below or on the 'email me' on the left and I'll be happy to help you.
Clear-mount rubber stamps have been a big hit with demonstrators and customers alike. How have Stampin’ Up!’s clear-mount stamps changed the way you stamp? Click here to check them out. HAVE they changed the way you stamp? Share your thoughts with all of us.
I must admit that I was totally prepared to not accept them. Hmmmmmmm. Let me now count how many sets I have purchased now with the clear mount option! As a demonstrator I decided that any stamp set purchase I made from a Mini Catalog would be clear mount for storage purposes. But I wasn't sure how comfortable I would be in using them. Well---I love them! But being a traditionalist, I love the wood mounts as well. And I like the clear mounts for storage. But I'm not wild about not having them all mounted and ready to use at the drop of a hat. I'm adjusting. I just pull out that cute little Clear Block Storage Caddy (120279, p. 192, $16.95, IB&C),
filled with my clear blocks, and I'm ready to go. Just goes to prove that you can teach an old dog new tricks. :)
I'd love to hear some of your experiences and thoughts. Tomorrow: Confused about mounting your clear mount stamps??? Stay tuned for a quick and easy tutorial. :)
I seem to be on a Big Shot roll lately and that could be because Stampin' Up! came out with so many fun raw materials to use with it. Today I'm challenging myself to use the CORK SHEETS (p. 205, 119819, $9.95). Each package has 6 sheets, 6" x 13" and about 1/8" thick.
Before I got started on my project, I messed around, cutting out different shapes from different Bigz dies.
Lattice Bigz Die (115958, p. 206, $21.95)
I'm saving those little punched out pieces from the lattice punched out piece and use them for something, sometime. They're kind of irresistible.
Below is the Top Note Bigz Die (113463, p. 207, $21.95) The Top Note itself is hiding under my Tabletop Paper Cutter (106959, p. 199, $49.95). I wanted to see how it would work in trimming the uneven edges from when I cut out the die. It worked beautifully. And now I have a bunch of skinny long pieces that I'll also be using on a future project.
If I get to it this afternoon, which is beginning to look 'iffy' I'll be making a card with both the Top Note Die and the negative from the die. Should be interesting. :)
Then I wanted to try out the Scallop Square Bigz Clear Die (115950, p. 207, $21.95). I planned to use it for the little message board and, lo and behold, it worked just as I had envisioned. I had no clue which Designer Series Paper I was going to use initially, but Island Oasis came to mind pretty quickly. It is not in the new Idea Book & Catalog and I'm really going to be missing it when the Summer Mini Catalog expires at the end of August.
The DSP was attached, with Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755, p. 197, $3.95), to a cardboard piece of backing from a pack of Designer Series Paper. I always save those.
I used the Big Shot, again, to punch out the letters from the Medium Sizzlit Go Go Boots Alphabet (113450, p. 212, $69.96, set of 12). It was a little tough but------I also used the wrong 'sandwich' the first time I tried to cut the letters. You need to leave Tab 1 of the Multipurpose Platform flat, laying the Standard Cutting Pads and Go Go Boots dies on top of it. I didn't think (and still don't) that the upper case letters would fit in the space available.
For the flower I used the Birds & Blooms Sizzlets 4-pack dies (113485, p. 211, $21.95). I just used different patterns of the Island Oasis DSP with the dies and layered them with Snail Adhesive, attaching them to the message board with 3 Dimensionals. Then I added a large Basic Jewels Rhinestone to the center of the flower. It sure doesn't dazzle and sparkle in the photo!
I love the little cork message board. I put a magnet on the back of it and have it hanging on the metal piece that hangs on the door to my stampin' studio. Final measurements are 6-1/2" x 5-1/2".
Back now to more playing with new products and cleaning up my stampin' tables for the class that's to be held here on Wednesday. I am having so much fun. :) But I'm also having a little method to my madness by cleaning (slowly) along the way.
Do YOU have a Big Shot Die Cut Machine or do you need some of dies I used today? I can help you get yours if your don't. Just email me for personal assistance or click on my name below to be guided right to my Stampin' Up! online store on my Demonstrator website.
