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A Bit More About Watercolors

Aloha, all!

     In my last post, I talked about how I dragged my watercolors out after they've sat stored away in a dusty (really dusty!) drawer since they were purchased!  Working on that card reminded me why I like watercolor.  For the most part, no matter how badly you bungle a watercolored picture, if you stand back a bit, more times than not it's still going to look good – if you have at least a little bit of an inkling how to use it.

     You can see by the lines on these flowers that I did some of them pretty well and also that I tried to fuss with some of the color just a bit too much, especially with the flower at the far left.  But if you go back and look at the larger picture of the card in the previous post, the whole picture doesn't really look so bad (if I say so myself!)

     So now that I've got that last little bit of a watercolor lesson-ette done, I'm headed back to work on my projects for Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition.

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Something New!

Aloha, all!

     One of my hobbies used to be painting with watercolors.  I took several years of lessons, but that was ages ago, and I probably have forgotten more about how to use watercolor than I remember.  Nonetheless, I have had the Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wonder Crayons in my craft room since back when you could buy all the colors at once in a big tin (awhile ago!).  And even though I hadn't used them in a long time, when the new Stampin' Up! color families came out in 2010, I went ahead and ordered the updated colors of the crayons.

     Yesterday, for the first time since I ordered them, I opened them up.  In fact, when I went to the drawer in which I keep the crayons and the Watercolor Pencils, I was surprised to have to remove the paper from the packaging and then find that there were only 3 or 4 crayons in the boxes I opened!  It took awhile to remember that that's how they came back when we were able just to purchase updates for our collections.  So I think that I'm comfortable with my Stampin' Up! Only Challenge entry for the week!  The challenge was to use a new technique – or one that you've not used in a long while.  Using Watercolor Wonder Crayons with an Aquapainter certainly meets that criterion!

     The stamp set that I used for my card is one that cries out to be watercolored!  It's the set, Bordering on Romance from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, and its line art is perfect for this.  For my stamped image, I combined two of the stamps to make an L-shaped image and then went after the watercolors.  I started the pink flowers with Pretty in Pink and then started adding in a big of Riding Hood Red.  I let the Riding Hood Red bleed into the Pretty in Pink for the start, and then added just a bit more at the centers when the paint had dried.  For the leaves, I laid down a base of Wild Wasabi and then some darker accents with Always Artichoke.  For the blue, I started with Baja Breeze and, just in the larger flowers, accented that color with Night of Navy. 

     It's a lot of fun making card fronts with the new Sizzix Framelits with their wonderful curves and overall shapes!  For this card, I used two of the shapes from the Labels Collection Framelits.  They cut into the Watercolor Paper beautifully – just in case you were wondering!  I accented the card with the larger lable framelit and Riding Hood Red (nice touch to bring out the Riding Hood Red in the coloring). 

     I tied the whole thing together with ribbon (what a surprise), this time Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, and accented that with one of the Trinket Hearts, also from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

     Fun card!  I hope whatever you do with your crafting today, you have just as much fun!  And maybe you can even share a project with the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge Team!

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The New Mini Catalog is Here!

Aloha, all!

     I've been so busy cleaning up after the holiday (we had our last party on the 2nd!) that I've been neglecting my Occasions Mini Catalog projects!  So I'll be making a few today to share with you over the next week so you can really get a sense of all the new products that Stampin' Up! is offering.  Not just new stamp sets.  NEW PRODUCTS!

     I've sent or given catalogs to all my current customers.  If you'd like me to send YOU one, please just send me a quick e-mail, and I'll get one off to you today.

     Meanwhile, here's a link to the catalog for you to use while you're waiting for the paper copy!

Now I'm off to play in my craft room!  I hope you have some fun with papercrafting today, too!

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Whew! A busy holiday weekend!

Aloha, all!

     I am definitely taking a big breath after these last few days of madly working to get my 2011 Greeting Layout eBook done.  And I'M DONE!!

     So why am I showing you a Christmas Card?!  It's because this is one of the NEW cards I made from one of the layouts that's included in the eBooks.  I promised to make new samples for at least a dozen of the layouts/sketches from 2011 – that would be exclusive to the eBooks – and so far I've made 15.  So I've decided to share a couple of them here with you as something of a teaser.  And actually, this card is in the center of the photo collage that I made for the eBook cover, so you'll see it in other places, too. 

     You may have noticed that I've used the plural – eBooks.  That's because there are two different versions of the 2011 Greeting Card Layout eBook available.  The first is in the same form as last year's collection – it's a .pdf file that I send to you on a CD.  The second is an actual eBook that you can download from Amazon.com for any of your Kindle applications, whether they're on an actual Kindle or a Kindle application for a PC, tablet computer, or even your smart phone (I tried it on mine, and I prefer something a little larger!).  You can click here or on the picture/link up at the top of the column on the right to find out more about the difference in these two products and how you can order either one – or both!

     One big benefit to buying the CD is that you can buy it as a gift.  I had several people who purchased last year's layout book who ordered second and third copies just for that!  In fact, I'll be giving it as a gift to several people, including my best customers!  If you're not already one of those (and you know who you are!) you can become an instant "best customer," if even for a short while, if you place at least a $50 online order of Stampin' Up! products from my website by December 3rd.  That should be easy if you're getting ready for that big Christmas Card-making push as December begins!  And I'll send a CD right off to you.

     For now, I'm going to go read a good book on my Kindle – no, not my Card Layout eBook – no more crafting tonight!  But I'll be back at it tomorrow and having a lot of fun with it!  I hope you have some fun crafting time this week, too!

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Quilt Block Christmas Tree

Aloha, all!

     As I was putting the finishing touches on the content of my new Card Layout eBook, I decided that I wanted to group together the few cards that I've made using "quilt blocks."  I haven't made one since earlier this summer, so off I went to make one with a Christmas Theme!

     Once I got the squares figured out, I had to decide what to do as far as my quilting paper for the designs.  After a few tries at some of the current Designer Series Paper sets, I retreated to my tried-and-true paper from the Patterns Stacks, this time from the Regals collection, using Garden Green and Robin Hood Red. 

     As an aside, I just got a couple of new books of the Patterns Stack papers and found that the papers are arranged in the stacks in a delightfully different way.  Instead of each of the two identical sheets placed in the book both facing the same way, the second of each sheet is turned around.  This way you can see all four patterns right away without having to go back and forth among the 4 sheets to see all of them.  Great change, Stampin' Up!

     So, back to the tree.  I actually did use a little piece of the Early Espresso patterned paper from the Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper.  It was a small scrap that I had left on my work table from an earlier project.  In fact, that's what these little "quilt" patterns are great for – making use of all those otherwise nearly useless scraps left over from fine-trimming some squares and rectangles.

     I've matted up the tree motif onto some Riding Hood Red and Garden Green Card stock, with a layer of brushed gold on which I stamped the Merry Christmas from the Holiday Mini stamp set, Christmas Lodge.  The two Christmas Greetings in that set are so very versatile, and I think I would have bought that set just for the greetings – if I didn't like that tree so much!

     I have the layout for the "Quilt Block" and the card itself all done and safely tucked away in my 2011 Greeting Card Layout eBook – to be published soon!  Keep an eye out her for the publication date announcement!

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Punch Pals for One More Year?

Aloha, all!

     You might recall that, last year, I did quite a few of my Christmas cards for this blog – including a big blog hop – using the stamp set Punch Pals.  It's a favorite of mine, and I was so sure that it would be retiring this past summer because of its age.  But no!!! Punch Pals did not retire and it's lived for at least one more Christmas season, and I'm going to take advantage of it while it lasts.

     Actually I made the card for today based on a layout that's going to be featured in my upcoming 2011 Greeting Card Layout eBook.  I'm still plugging away at it and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, very likely before Thanksgiving – cross my fingers and toes for that one!

     The Punch Pals set has quite a few stamps that can be punched out with Stampin' Up!'s fun punches.  But those penguins do NOT have a punch so I just stamped them on the horizontal strip.  The colors that I used for these little guys – after I colored in their little black feathers – were Marina Mist and Pumpkin Pie.  Orange and blue make a classic color combination because they're complementary colors – opposite to each other on the basic color wheel.  If you get into details, Marina Mist is off to the side a bit, but this is paper crafting, not high-powered art!

     Back to my 2011 eBook – I said that I would have a dozen cards in the book this year that are EXCLUSIVE to my eBook, all of them remakes of layouts that I shared earlier in the year.  This is not one of the dozen; but it and its layout will definitely be in the book, along with the original card.  I just know you're going to like this year's book as much as you liked last years!

     Also, I'm going to be offering an early-bird special (an appropriate announcement when I'm showing off penguins!) for those of you who bought my 2010 eBook or are on my Newsletter mailing list.  If you'd like to be one of the first to know when I'm ready to mail them out, be sure to sign up for my Newsletter (up on the left column of this blog) – or better still, buy a copy of last year's book while it's still available!  More information about that at the top of the right column!

     Now back to work so I can get my writing done!  I'm having a lot of fun with it, and I hope you're having as much fun with something in your craft room this weekend!

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A Quick and Easy Christmas Card

Aloha, all!

     I first have to tell you that my card for today was inspired by terrifically artistic fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Mary Brown.  Mary is the "Mary" of Create With Connie and Mary, and has a fabulously unique ability to make clean and simple cards that make me say, "Wow!" then I first see them.  I really like her style – can you tell?

     When Mary made a similar card she used the Pool Party color as the accent for the Whisper White Card Stock and Silver Glimmer Paper.  Somewhere along the way between then and now, I saw another card that used Island Indigo for an accent, and that caught my eye, too.  So why not combine the two ideas!

     The Christmas Tree is one of the die cuts that you can make with the new Sizzix Die, Stocking Accents, which is in the Stampin' Up! 2011 Holiday Mini Catalog.  I initially decided not to purchase this die, but now I'm in love with all the little pieces – that aren't really so little!  There's a Candy Cane, some Ornaments and Holly pieces that are all just perfect for CARD accents – the heck with stocking accents!  The greeting is from the new stamp set, Petite Pairs, and there is a second part to this greeting that you can stamp inside the card – thus the "Pairs" part of the stamp set's name.  Every one of those has two stamps that go together so you can put one on the outside and one on the inside – or both of them on different elements on the front – of your card.  Pretty neat!!

     Now here's the fun part for those of you who have been waiting for my new 2011 Greeting Card Layout eBook!  I'm making a card with these very same colors to include in the card and layout collection using one of the layouts I shared with you here earlier in the year.  And I'm going to be doing that with a dozen or so of the early layouts!  I'm going to show you how easy it is to use different products with the same layouts – which is why a book of layout suggestions is so helpful to have when you need some inspiration to get something done!  Last night in no time at all I had 5 brand new cards made and ready to photograph!

     The best part?  I'll only be sharing the photos of those cards with those of you who purchase a copy of the new eBook!  I'm well into its preparation and I only have to make a few more cards and do what amounts to a couple of days worth of editing.  So it's going to be available in time to have it for your Christmas Cards – or for giving as a Christmas gift!

     Now back to getting those last few cards made – and for preparing for Saturday's class!  I hope you'll have as much fun with whatever you're doing this week as I'm planning to have with my projects!

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Warmest of Wishes

Aloha, all!

     The title of this post is also the name of the Hostess Set in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  It features five stamps related to fall and winter and their holidays, four of which go perfectly with five of Stampin' Up!'s punches.  For today's card I used the one related to fall because there is a challenge at the online group called Stampin' Up! Late Night Stampers. 

     This is a "gatefold" card and I've used a technique for it that I've not used for awhile – making my own shapes for embossing with the Sizzix Big Shot.  I've been making lots of cards this week using fall colors, and this seems to be my favorite combination of the moment:  Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Peach Parfait.  I colored in the wreath with those colors and punched some leaves for the corners with the Bird Builder Punch using four of the colors of card stock. 

     Punching the wreath takes a bit of practice, but I've written up some instructions for making that 1" Circle Punch centered in the wreath.  The instructions also include instructions for embossing card stock with punched shapes, not just with the texturz plates and embossing folders provided by Sizzix!  No, the instructions are not here.  But they are yours FREE if you subscribe to my newsletter.  There will be a new newsletter for my subscribers on October 3rd, featuring a great new offer by Stampin' Up! as well as an offer from me personally for those of you who place an order with me while I'm off on vacation – now through October 15th!  So don't miss out.  Getting my newsletter and the FREE tutorial doesn't cost a penny (well, if it did it wouldn't be free, would it!)

     And let me tell you a bit about the Late Night Stampers Group.  This is a group that's FOR EVERYONE who uses Stampin' Up! products – NOT just for demonstrators.  We have a Design Team and some group leaders who do a fantastic job making everyone welcome and providing hints for all kinds of Stampin' Up! products.  No matter whose customer you are, you're welcome there and no one's going to try to get you to buy Stampin' Up! products from them.  If you haven't tried them out, please do!  It would be fun having you there!

     No sketch today either – it's in that FREE TUTORIAL that you'll get with my newsletter on October 1st!  I hope you have fun with it when you get it!

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Hybrid Trick or Treat?

Aloha, all!

     Those of you who read my blog posts regularly know that most of what I share with you are greeting cards made exclusively with Stampin' Up! products – stamp sets, inks, papers, embellishments – everything in the current Stampin' Up! catalogs!

     But today you might not recognize at least one of the items on the card as being in a catalog.  But it is!  Can you guess what I'm talking about?

     Of course it's the skeleton!  If you look at the Holiday Mini Catalog, you'll see that the skeleton on my card is a lot smaller than it appears in the Piece of Poison stamp set AND it's facing the other direction!  No, I didn't shrink the stamp and work some fancy magic to get it this way.  I used My Digital Studio and the Piece of Poison Digital Download found on page 8 of the mini catalog.  That is one of the thousands of fantastic things that you can do with My Digital Studio.  I made my card look exactly as I wanted without being tied down to the stamp in the catalog!  So my card – with Stampin' Up! stamps, ink, papers and embellishments (love that ribbon and those brads!) is a hybrid – a mix of digital and 3-dimensional products!

It's a Create With Connie and Mary Challenge – with PRIZES!

     I made this card for the Create With Connie and Mary Weekly Challenge this week.  This week's challenge and those for the next 5 weeks are special because they're a part of the Create With Connie and Mary Holiday Edition subscription – BUT we get to share them with everyone, not just those who've purchased the subscription.  Fun for me since a lot of projects on which I've been working this month are limited to subscribers.  I know a lot of you have already subscribed (because you've told me!) and I hope some more of you will think about it, too!  The projects this week have been so much fun (when I have time I'm making at least one of them from another designer for sure).

     The Create with Connie and Mary challenge this week is a sketch challenge, and you are invited to submit your very own project, too, by commenting on the Create with Connie and Mary Blog.  If you are a subscriber to Create With Connie and Mary – Holiday Edition, you'll also have a chance to win a prize!  Here's the sketch.  I would be SO happy to have one of you win that prize at the end of the Holiday Edition!

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More Fun with the Accordion Fold Album!

Aloha, all!

     Last weekend one of my online Stampin' Up! groups – SU! STARS – hosted a Blog Tour, of which Robin's Craft Room was a part.  I showed off a Mini Accordion Fold Album that I'd made for some friends who have a brand new baby.  As a bonus for visiting my blog, I offered anyone who made a comment the opportunity to win an album of their own.  Actually, the comment challenge had a little twist.  I asked that those who commented make suggestions for how such an album could be used. 

     Well, did I ever get the comments!  I was amazed at all the suggestions, and I am posting the list following this blog post so that YOU can get some ideas for using this terrific little quick-and-easy album.  And, of course, I have a tutorial for it right here on my blog!

     The winner of the "Blog Candy" suggested that this would be a good album to use to show off pictures of Stampin' Up! projects to highlight classes that she's offering.  What a fabulous idea!  In fact, not only did I make an album for her, I made one for myself to do the very same thing!

     Making this project gave me the chance to use two of my favorite Stampin' Up! Stamp Sets that I rarely show of here on my blog!  One of them, however, is only available to Stampin' Up! demonstrators who attended the Stampin' Up! convention this year, and that's the set, Workshop Words, which includes the greeting, "I LOVE being your Stampin' Up! demonstrator."  But the other set – Tote-ally Tess – is available for everyone to purchase from the Stampin' Up! Catalog.  Even if you're not a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, if you're reading this blog post, you probably are a stamper, and that stamp set has lots of cute stamps for you to use especially when you're scrapbooking about yourself!  Of course, if you ARE a demonstrator, you probably use it for hostess gifts and customer thank you notes.  I just love the set. 

     Speaking of hostess gifts, the paper that I used for the cover of this album is ONLY available to hostesses or anyone who spends at least $150 on Stampin' Up! products in one order.  It's a whole set of Designer Series Paper called Cheerful Treat, and the colors from it that I featured in this album are Melon Mambo and Lucky Limeade.

The Winner of the Blog Candy!

     Oh, and you'd like to know who the winner is!  She is Julie Camell, who has a delightful blog, Camell's Creative Cafe!  Thanks for the comment on my blog, Julie, and good luck with your craft fairs!

The List of Uses for the Album!

     Now here's the list of ideas for using this fun little album:  Christmas; Weddings and Engagement Parties; Senior Birthdays; "Firsts" such as Halloween, Day of School, Sporting Event; Adoption; Day Trips, for example to the Beach or Zoo; Pets; Anniversaries; Memory Books featuring special people; New House; Get Well, featuring pictures of tea, bandages, tissues, etc; Teacher Gift; Stampin' Up! Hostess Gift; and, of course, Stampin' Up! projects!

     Now, with all those ideas, why don't you try one of these albums yourself!  I guarantee you'll have fun with it!

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