RobinsCraftRoom.com

So Thinking of You!

Aloha, all!

     One of my favorite Stamp Sets in this year's Sale-A-Bration catalog is So Happy for You!   There are FIVE stamps with greetings/sentiments and FIVE stamp sets with little images to mix and match with those greetings.  What a fun and versatile set for everyone!  As Sale-A-Bration comes to a close, I'm trying to use it as much as possible to show it off to all of you who might be thinking of placing an order that would allow you to get this great 10-stamp set FOR FREE!!

     So when it was time to come up with a card for this week's Divas Coffee Break Design Team, I really wanted to use the set.  My intention was to use the little butterfly in the set as well as the "Thinking of You" sentiment.  But I kind of got carried away and turned to my Sizzix Beautiful Wings Embosslit butterfly for a bit of dimension to the card.

     The colors in this card are Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery.  The stamp set is one of my favorites from the 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog, the Level 2 Hostess (FREE!) stamp set, Fast and Fabulous.  This is 2-step stamping at its best!  Especially with the clear mount set, you hardly even need to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner to layer the "filling" stamp onto the "outline" stamp. 

     I did do a bit of a fun bit of masking for this card.  I first stamped the images for the Pretty In Pink flower, then cut a mask to cover it before I stamped the Perfect Plum flower.  The other bit of fun for this card is that Perfect Plum scalloped border made with the Scallop Trim Border and Corner Punches.  In the sketch that follows, as always the measurements are suggestions EXCEPT FOR THE MEASUREMENTS FOR THE SCALLOP TRIM BORDER!  If you're going to make that border, these exact measurements will allow you to make the corner and border punches to come together well.

     I hope I don't scare you off from making those scalloped borders.  They're so much fun, but they are kind of persnickety about having those measurements just right for the number of scallops you're trying to attempt.  For sure, whatever you do creatively this week, I want you to have fun with it!

     And don't forget to visit the Divas Coffee Break Design Team blog today – and maybe even enter one of your OWN cards in this fun color challenge.

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Fun with Stampin’ Up! Designer Paper!

Aloha, all!

     I love sketch weeks at the Divas Coffee Break Design Team!  When I see a sketch, I almost always instantly see what I'm going to do with it – but not necessarily all the pieces.  In the case of this week's sketch, I knew I wanted to do an assembly of Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers – I just didn't know which papers!  I did decide right off that, though this could easily be a layout for a scrapbook page, I was going to make it a card. 

I could just see me going through a pack of Designer Series Papers with my Scallop Square Punch and just punching away!  Once I got myself under control, I decided that I should probably be a little bit more discerning than that, and perhaps be a bit creative in the way I put this card together.  So I carefully went through all the papers I currently have in the craft room and decided to try to work with some papers that I hadn't had out on my work table for awhile.  Elegant Soiree it was! 

     And here is the card with which I ended up!

     What a treat – and a challenge – this was to make!  At first glance, you might just think that the paper layers and the embossed buttons (the top layer, made with the Stampin' Up! Exclusive Sizzix Embosslit, Sweet Buttons!) were randomly placed.  But they are actually in a very fixed design, and here it is:

     To begin, I selected three designs from the paper set, punched them with the Scallop Square Punch and arranged them with one design running down the diagonal from upper left to lower right, then arranged the other two designs on either side.

     I then selected three OTHER designs from the paper set, cut them to be 1-1/8" square, and arranged them with one design running down the diagonal from upper right to lower left and the other two designs on either side.

      Finally I made the buttons out of coordinating Stampin' Up! Card Stock – Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, and Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft) – using the same layout as with the scallop square layer.  I did mix up the button designs a bit just to make it look a lot more random that it was!

     OK – I'm so finished with this explanation!  I hope you understand it and will maybe even try a card of your own!  Let me know if you do, and I can even feature it here on my blog if you don't have your own!

     But whether you make this design or any other one this week, be sure to have fun with it!

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Get Well Wishes!

Aloha, all!

     As I'm writing this I'm starting to develop a bit of a cold and I sure could use a Get Well Card myself!  But as this gets published for the weekly Divas Coffee Break Design Team challenge, I'm likely all better and on my way to a family wedding!

     The Divas Challenge this week is another color challenge.  For awhile, these color challenges really, well, challenged me!  There were some that I just could not figure out how to do and I wasn't very happy with the results.  But the color challenges of late have been very interesting.  In fact, this very color challenge is the same set of colors that I used last week in my Fun and Fast Notes Baby Carriage card – Baja Breeze, Regal Rose, and So Saffron.  In last week's card there was a bit of Pear Pizzazz, too, which I've left out of this card.  Other connections here are that I'm using the same set of Designer Series Papers – Nursery Suite – and the same Stamp Set – Fun & Fast Notes!

     But it's not a baby card!  It's a Get Well Card!  This is one of my favorite images from the stamp set.  It's fun for all kinds of cards, not just get well cards.  But the flowers in the teacup always remind me of flowers that I send to people who aren't feeling well, so I mostly use it for Get Well Wishes!

     The fun paper here is the Regal Rose Scalloped Paper from the Designer Series Paper set.  This set is called "Specialty" paper because of the two sheets (2 of each included in the set) that have scalloped edges.  This sheets is a large circular sheet, and what you see here is just a small section of one side of the paper.  It's really much more versatile than it looks at first glance.

     To carry through the scalloped theme, I used the Scallop Trim Border and Corner Punches to mat the central stamped image.  To make this work out well, you have to cut your card stock to a very specific measurement.  Once I have that done, I punch the corners first and then the edges.  You'll see the measurements in the sketch at the end of the blog post.

     While I originally had the stamped element square on the card front, it occurred to me – just before I stamped the image – that a diagonal might be more interesting – and so I changed my design in mid-stamp!  It's fun when I'm playing around with something for the first time to adjust my design in mid-stream.  Finally I tied the whole card together with some Baja Breeze Seam Binding – lovely ribbon for this card!

     Here's the sketch for today's card.  Note the exact measurements for the punched mat.  In most cases, my measurements are just a suggestion – you'll have all kinds of reasons for changing the size and shape of my designs – and all good ones!  But not for using this particular punch set. 

     Whatever you're doing for your mid-week crafting, I hope you have fun with it!

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This Diva Loves Blueberries!

Aloha, all!

     This has been a week of using papers and stamp sets that I've not dragged out of their dusty little homes for quite awhile!  For today's project, I've dusted off some Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper and used it for this week's Divas Coffee Break Design Team challenge.  This week's challenge was a sketch challenge, and it was one that was right up my alley.  I just love using strips or blocks of Designer Series Papers to make card fronts!  Stampin' Up! does such a good job of coordinating colors in its paper sets and showing them off in one place is so much fun!

     For this card, I used 4 of the designs in the Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper set.  But, as with most Stampin' Up! Designer Paper collections, there are 12 designs in this set.  There are six sheets of paper with designs on both sides.  And the paper set comes with two of each sheet.  So there's plenty of paper to go around when you're making cards or scrapbook pages.  The two main colors featured in the papers that I used in today's project are Not Quite Navy and Pacific Point.  The accent colors are Very Vanilla and Sahara Sand.  Sahara Sand is the main color on a few of the sheets in this paper set, accented with the blues, and they're very soft and muted sheets.  Nice for backgrounds and central elements as well.

     The Circle Element is made by punching the stamped image from the Artistic Etchings Stamp Set with the 1-3/4" Circle Punch.  I stamped the image using the Rock and Roll Stamping Technique.  For this image, I first inked the image with Pacific Point and then "rolled" the edges in Not Quit Navy.  BUT before I rolled the image in the Navy, I stamped it once on a scrap piece of paper to lighten it up a bit.  Nice touch to go with the colors in the papers!

     The Greeting is stamped using one of the stamps from this year's Sale-A-Bration FREE Sets, So Happy For You!  I stamped it in VersaMark and then embossed it using White Embossing Powder.  The White Embossing Powder has a bit of a Vanilla Tint, so it goes perfectly with this color combination.

     And finally I tied the project together with a strip of Victoria Crochet Ribbon and topped it off with one of the gorgeous Vanilla Ribbon Rosettes found in the Stampin' Up! 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  Wow, three catalogs in one card!

     I hope you have some time to do something creative today, maybe even make a card for the Divas and enter it in their challenge!  And have fun with it!

     Oh, and here's the sketch for today's card!  I've got to get started on next year's eBook!

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Free As A Bird!

Aloha, all!

     All kinds of new stamp sets around these days that include bird cages.  What's with that when what we frequently want is to be "free as a bird"?  Well, as my good friend, Janet, would tell you, it's hard to have a bird as a pet unless there's a cage involved.  And the little critters do make good pets and chirp away happily when their humans are around, as does her little friend, Ike.

     Nonetheless, the phrase, "Free As A Bird," comes to mind when I think of finishing up a period in my life that has had me tied down (caged?) for a long time.  In the case of today's card, I'm thinking of school.  Yes, I loved to learn when I was in school.  But almost from the very beginning I could hardly wait to get out and get on with life.  The little gal in the middle is standing tall and finally free from the class schedules and assignments and is ready for what comes next!  Congratulations to her for getting through it!

     I do have a good friend, Helen, who has just finished a long set of classes and I was thinking of her when I made this card, which is made with the color scheme from a recent challenge.  Today's colors were Blushing Bride, Early Espresso and Rose Red (all Stampin' Up! colors, of course).  The stamp set is Stampin' Up!'s Aviary, and is a delight to use, especially when I have my Stamp-a-ma-jig available.

     As I'm sitting here writing this at my home in Hawaii, the birds are outside signing up a storm.  I wish I had a digital recorder available to capture the happy sounds for you.  If you watch my latest video showing how to make the Never-Ending Card you'll hear a bit of what I hear in the background.  Maybe tomorrow morning I'll make another video when the birds are in full chirp!

     Meanwhile, I hope you'll have some fun crafting today!  Try out these colors on a project of your own and share it with all of us!

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Colorful Card for the Diva’s Sketch!

Aloha, all!

     This week is a sketch challenge over at the Diva Coffee Break Design Team blog.  What a different kind of sketch this week, and so much fun to try out!  I try my best not to be influenced by the actual shapes on the sketches, but this time I couldn't get those little tags over at the left out of my creative brain.  So use them I did.

     Here's the sketch, and then my take on the sketch.

     I just love this Designer Series Paper Set – it's called Sweet and Sour, and is a Specialty Paper Set.  The "specialty" part of this is that each sheet has some glossy accents on one side of the paper.  Truly luscious!  And I am amazed at how much I like the color combination – Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie.  Add a bit of Very Vanilla to it, and you've got some gorgeous papers!

     The fan-like elements on the left of the card are all made from the Jewelry Tag Punch, and the greeting is from the Stamp Set Tiny Tags.  I also used another image from the Tiny Tags Stamp Set to make the floral design in the smaller of the two Oval Punched Images.  As I am frequently known to do, I tied the whole project together with some Stampin' Up! Ribbon, in this case Pumpkin Pie 5/8" Satin Ribbon. 

     Now to send out this lovely Thank You note!  I've received a couple of nice gifts this week, and this will go out to one of the senders!  Now I just have to find another Thank You card to make!

     Whether you're making a Thank You card or any other kind of paper-crafted gift, think about using Stampin' Up! products for your project!  They're the best, and you can always have fun with them!

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Gotta Get Those Valentines in the Mail!

Aloha, all!

     Not much time left for me to get my valentine cards in the mail!  In fact, to be assured that mine get to the east coast by Valentine's Day, I'll have to mail them today!

     So today's card, a challenge by the Diva Coffee Break Design Team (of which I am one!), will be my last Valentine to be mailed out! 

     And is this one ever different from anything that I've shared with you in recent memory.  The images are made up entirely from Rub-Ons!  Yes, here sits a Stampin' Up! demonstrator who absolutely despises rub-ons.  Yes, I bought some when Stampin' Up! first came out with them.  But I had such a hard time with them that I decided that I could do without, thank you very much.   Now two recent events have brought change to that attitude.

     First, Stampin' Up! must have known that there are those of us who hesitate to buy and use rub-ons.  So they sent each and every demonstrator who placed on order in January a FREE sheet of the Love Impressions Rub-Ons from the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  Um, let's see, that would have been back on January 4th when I placed my first Occasions Mini Catalog order.  And the pack of rub-ons has been sitting there on my craft table, being moved from one place to the next, ever since.

     Then on my online Stampin' Up! group, SUDSOL, a fellow demonstrator said that her secret was heating up her paper before she applied the rub-on.  OK, so I was game.  But I kept moving that sheet of rub-ons around to keep it out of the way, but still in sight. 

     Until today, when I saw that the color challenge from the Divas included the colors that are in this very set of rub-ons, and the game was "on."  Wow!  Was that easy!  I just got out my heat tool (the one I used for embossing), warmed up my paper just before applying the rub-on, and there was magic!  Woo-hoo!!  This card was not perfect by all means as I had not practiced on a scrap at all.  But I think it's quite good enough to show off both here and at the Diva Website.

     Just having the rub-ons, even with a few layers to make the card more interesting, didn't seem enough for me.  First I added some bling in the form of Stampin' Up! Basic Rhinestones, and then I added a bow, tied together with a Clear Rhinestone Brad.  Those are some other Stampin' Up! goodies you haven't seen me use in awhile, either!  So this is a Red Letter Day (and Pink Pirouette and Basic Gray Day, too) in Robin's Craft Room.

     If you haven't used the rub-ons, give them a try.  The little set in the Occasions Mini Catalog is probably too much in the way of a Valentine Design for ordering now.  But there are other rub-ons featured in the Stampin' Up! 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog on page 184 – I just may have to buy some of those Play Date Rub-ons for myself on my next order!

     Whether you use rub-ons or just stamp away, have fun with some paper crafting this week!

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A Pretty Sketch from the Divas!

Aloha, all!

     What a fun sketch the Diva Coffee Break Design Team has for you today!  I wasn't at all sidetracked by the four-petal "flowers" in this week's sketch.  It's February, and everything for me right now is Valentine's Day related (well, there's a birthday or two, and I'll be sharing those with you, too – but later).  So those "flowers" turned into hearts in my mind, and on my card share for today!

     Today I thought I'd share the actual sketch with you so that you can see how I interpreted it for my own card. 

The sketch:

     And my take on the sketch:

     What's fun about a sketch is that it's meant to inspire you, not something that you copy element for element.  You can still see that this has the same layout ideas as the sketch, but it's definitely not an exact copy. 

     The Designer Paper that I used on the top part of the card is one of the sheets from the Ice Cream Parlor Paper and Quick Accents pack in the 2011 Sale-A-Bration Catalog.  That means that you can get this paper and die cut set FOR FREE! with just a $50 purchase of Stampin' Up! products – from any current catalog, including the Occasions Mini and the Decor Elements catalog.  Nice!  And that's how I got this set, too.

     The Melon Mambo sheet has one edge with a scallop border print, and that punches up perfectly with Stampin' Up!'s Scallop Edge Border Punch.  To firm up that thin element across the middle of the sketch, I added a strip of Old Olive Card stock – also punched with the Scallop Edge Border Punch.  Then I placed the greeting (from the Stamp Set Teeny Tiny Wishes) in the lower right corner of the card and added two Old Olive brads to it which somewhat approximates the challenge for three brads down there.

     The hearts were fun to make!  I punched all three hearts with the Stampin' Up! Exclusive Sizzix Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit, and then matted the middle heart with the Heart Element from the Punch Windows Set that goes with the Movers and Shapers Sizzix Die.  The lighter color throughout this card is Pretty in Pink.

     Fun card to make!  Why don't you head on over to the Diva Coffee Break Design Team Challenge page and upload one of your own cards using this sketch.  I just know you'll have fun with it!

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Love Birds for the Divas!

Aloha, all!

     It's Wednesday again, and time for yet another color challenge for the members of the Diva Coffee Break Design Team – and I would be one of those!  You know how much I "love" the color challenges.  But this week, well, I really did like the color scheme!  The challenge colors are Melon Mambo (luscious new pink in the Stampin' Up! collection); Old Olive (a really old favorite of mine); and Peach Parfait (talk about luscious – I can just taste that smooth dessert!). 

     My first thought was of a bold bright card.  But once I got started, I found that my card really has muted colors.  Go figure!

     The reason that the colors seem muted is because that's the way they showed up in the Patterns Papers for all three colors.  The Old Olive and Melon Mambo Patterns Papers are part of the basic products offered in the Stampin' Up! 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog.  The patterns paper for Peach Parfait is a bit different and is offered as one of the colors in a Level 1 Hostess Set in the catalog.  But all of the papers seem to go so well with the idea for this card!

     Two of the products that I used to make this card are new in the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog:  The "Love" stamp is from the new stamp set, Valentine Defined.  And the Framed Tulip Border is a new Sizzix Embossing Folder that is exclusive to Stampin' Up!  That means that you can only buy this beautiful embossing folder from Stampin' Up!

     And boy does this card use the punches!  The main punch, of course, is the Two-Step Extra Large Bird Punch.  I punched all three colors of the patterns papers and then mixed and matched the Melon and Peach colors on the birds, and punched two branches with the Olive.  For the heart, I used the Heart to Heart Punch, and punched both the Melon and Peach again.  I laid one on top of the other and cut through the middle.  This way if the cut was a bit crooked, the two sides would still fit together perfectly.  For the background for the "Love" greeting, I used the Curly Label Extra Large Punch, and then punched "love" with the 1-3/8" x 5/8" Oval Punch.  To get the variations in the colors on the stamp, I used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the individual letters on the stamp and then stamped the whole design onto Whisper White card stock.  Finally, the card front was tied together (literally!) with some Old Olive 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, and layered on some Melon Mambo and Old Olive Patterns Paper before adhering all the layers to a card of Whisper White. 

     Fun card to make!  I hope you'll stop on over at the Diva Coffee Break Designs website this week to see what the other Divas have done with this color combination.  And you're more than welcome to join in the fun!

     Whether you join the Divas or just do some of your own crafting at home, have a great time with it!

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An Elegant Valentine Card

Aloha, all!

     It certainly is in the eye of the beholder whether a card is elegant – or not.  I felt that this card had a touch of elegance that is not typical in the kind of greeting card that I usually make.  Most of that feeling as far as I am concerned comes from the elegant products that Stampin' Up! has available for all of us as we get ready for Valentine's Day 2011.  And, of course, the design provided by the Diva Coffee Break Design Team added to the sense of elegance!

     Two of the products that I used in this card are new products in the Stampin' Up! 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  The first and most visible because of its sparkle is the brand new Red Glimmer Paper.  This paper comes in a pack of two 12" square sheets, and is a breeze to use with Stampin' Up!'s punches and Sizzix Dies.  The scallop trim border punch went right through this paper beautifully, as did the Sizzix Ovals Die, which I purchased from Stampin' Up!

     The main color in this card is Pink Pirouette, in the form of one of the embossed sheets in the new Love Impressions Specialty Designer Paper set.  This paper is card stock weight, and is filled with teeny embossed polka dots.  There is also a large motif of embossed hearts, and that is a part of the sheet that I also cut with the Sizzix Ovals Die.  I think it's so lovely with the embossed white hearts against the Pink Pirouette background!

     I'd also like to highlight the stamp on this card, which is from the stamp set, Filled with Love, that was featured in the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog.  And, yes, it's still available!  But it's only availalble as part of the Filled With Love Bundle, which is only available until next Monday, January 24th!  There is more information about this bundle here.  This bundle includes papers and buttons as well as this fun Valentine Stamp set.  So don't delay purchasing it if you've been thinking about it!

     The final touches are the bow based on a tutorial by fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Mary Brown, on which I still need lots of practice!  It's held together and down onto the card with a Real Red Glimmer Brad.  The Glimmer Brads were also featured in the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog, but they, too, are still available as part of the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  The only expiration of which I'm aware at this point is the expiration date for the Occasions Mini, which is April 30, 2011.  I'm waiting to see if these become a part of the Stampin' Up! regular line up of products!

     Today's card is based on a sketch at the Diva Coffee Break Design Team blog.  But I'm providing the measurements for my card to help make it easier for you to copy if you'd like to be a part of this week's challenge.  Or even if you just want to make a card!  If you'd like a whole book full of all the sketch layouts I provided for you in 2010, it's now for sale as an eBook on CD.  Just click on the picture at the top of the column to the right for more information!

     And whether you decide to join us at the Diva Coffee Break sketch challenge, or decide just to make a card for yourself – have fun with it!

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