RobinsCraftRoom.com

CASEing Pinterest!

Aloha, all!

     Have you at all paid attention to the fab new online collection of photos of just about everything called, "Pinterest"?  I certainly have, BUT I have to tell you I simply do not have the time to be an active participant in the group.  So you won't find much of me on there.  My time is filled so much with my current online groups, my own paper crafting and classes, and volunteer work not involving stamping (oops – as I write this I'm late for a meeting.  Eeek!!  BRB!).

     And speaking of my online groups, one group for which I've been a Design Team member for quite awhile is the Stampin' Up! Late Night Stampers.  This week the Design Team challenge was to find a card on Pinterest to CASE (Copy And Share with Everyone is my version of the acronym). So I made a quick pass over a few pages of cards (you can do that even if you don't join Pinterest) and picked the one that struck my fancy the most.  Of course it had to be the card of someone who is very active and popular on Split Coast Stampers.  This is another group on which I don't spend nearly enough time, and I'd never run across Jen del Muro because she's not a part of the Stampin' Up! community there.  But she is a fab designer for sure.  What I had to do was copy her card but use only Stampin' Up! products. 

     And that was quite easy, thank you very much (the original from which I copied this is at the end of the blog post).  Since I'm starting to focus on retiring products, as well as on the end of the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, I chose the 2010-2012 "In Colors" for my triangles, and the Stamp Set, Loving Thoughts (from the mini catalog) for this card.  So the triangles are Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Concord Crush, and Poppy Parade.  I punched the triangles with the Petite Pennants Builder Punch – which makes triangles SO very easy!

     I stamped the "Happiness" sentiment using Concord Crush classic ink on Whisper White card stock and hand cut the notch on the left side.  For the background colors, I used Crumb Cake (formerly "Kraft") and Basic Black Card Stock.  Had I been thinking a bit more clearly, I would have used Concord Crush for the dark background color.  But it was already glued down, and this wasn't a big enough deal to start tearing things apart!  I punched the right corners of the card stock, as well as the basic card, with the Corner Rounder Punch.  As the In Colors didn't have buttons to go with them, I used a Pumpkin Pie Button from the Brights Collection of Buttons.  I finished the card off with a piece of Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine (also from the Occasions Mini!).

     Oh, and the most fun products on this card – and also from the Occasions Mini – are the Adorning Accents Edgelit Die and Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.  I know most all of us in Stampin' Up! land are really hoping that these products will continue forward into the 2012-2013 Idea Book & Catalog.  Crossing my fingers!

     Here's the card on which this CASE is based.  It really is a great design that Jen del Muro made, and I wish I'd thought of it myself!!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Spring Colors!

Aloha, all!

     As many of you know, last Sunday Stampin' Up announced over 200 stamp sets that will retire when the current Idea Book and Catalog expires at the end of next month!  The good news is that the stamp set that I'm using on today's card will NOT retire!  Hooray for that, as this is one of my favorite sets to color with markers and blender pens!  But the paper that I'm using today WILL retire, so I enjoyed using it and its colors to make a card with a Spring feeling to it!

     Oh, and there's the little issue of a challenge!  Yes, this card is one I made for a Late Night Stampers Yahoo Group's color challenge.  For this one, we were to use Pink, Green, and Yellow.  Now, no one defined what "Pink" meant, so I took some liberties with the use of a pale version of Tangerine Tango, which is not actually a pink – more of a coral.  But if I showed this to any of the men in my life and asked them what color it was, I can guarantee that a majority would say, "Pink"!  My "out" for this is that the Melon Mambo in the center of the flowers really is a "pink." 

     The yellow – Daffodil Delight – and the green – Wild Wasabi – are definitely what the colors are supposed to be!

     The stamp set for today is called Fabulous Florets, and it really is a fabulous stamp set to use!  For this card, I stamped the flower on the left, and then "masked" it before stamping the second flower.  To make the mask, I stamped the flower image on the top of a Post-It note and then very carefully cut it out before attaching it to the top of the first flower.  Then I stamped the second flower.  Then I said to myself, "Self, you'll certainly be masking this flower again, so why not put the mask away in the stamp set's box."  I did that – and laid it right on top of another such mask that I'd made who knows how long ago!  I have got to use my stamp sets more often!

     The paper that I used for the yellow layer as well as the floral layer is Beyond the Garden.  Yes, it has the same images as the stamp set, and you might wonder why Stampin' Up! would retire it and not the stamp set.  One thing that's happened in the past is that we get the same design in a new set of papers but with different colors.  Wouldn't that be great.  Oh, I can hardly wait to see that new catalog!!! 

     Oh, and the ribbon – I'm always tying cards up with a bow!  It's Daffodil Delight 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, and I've had it since last summer's Stampin' Up! Convention.  You'd think after I spent two years bemoaning the fact that Stampin' Up! didn't have enough yellow ribbon that I'd be on my third or fourth spool of this ribbon.  But no; it's still spool number 1. 

     This uses a simple sketch, but I think it's really effective with the multiple mats of the Wild Wasabi!  So I thought I'd share it with you and hope you can use it for something that YOU make!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Monochrome for a Sketch Challenge

Aloha, all!

     Today I did some work with a sketch challenge from the online group, Stampin' Up! Late Night Stampers.  Lots of history with that group's name, but suffice it to say that the group is made up of stampers who love Stampin' Up! products.  It's not just for demonstrators, either.  So, if you'd love to get some ideas – and share your own! – about using Stampin' Up! products, it's a pretty fun group to which to belong!

     I should show you the sketch first, so you'll know from where I started.  And this is where I stopped, too!  I am so not into blue and orange these days, so I had to get out some color quickly to erase this from my mind!

     The color I chose was Melon Mambo.  And the reason was that I had my Melon Mambo ribbon out because I had considered using it with my last project (cute dragon!).  So I grabbed my Melon Mambo ink and started stamping teacups.

     And boy did I get carried away with the Melon Mambo!  As you can see, it's everywhere in this card.  It started with the teacups from the stamp set, Tea Shoppe (in the current mini catalog, Occasions Mini), proceeded into the rectangular background and just kept going!  And, yes, I finally did get to that ribbon – the Melon Mambo 1/2 Inch Scallop Dots Ribbon.  In between I punched some vertical scallops with the Scallop Edge Border Punch and also used that punch to form the ends of the little strip on which I stamped today's sentiment (also from the Tea Shoppe stamp set).  The Designer Series Paper that I used for this project came from the Hostess Designer Series Paper Set, Cheerful Treat.  And I think that this card is, indeed, cheerful!

     For the most part, I really like to use more than one color in a project.  But I think that I might like doing some more projects with just one color.  Hmmm.

     But definitely NOT blue or orange!

     As always, I had fun with this project, and I hope you're having fun with whatever you're doing today!  And check out the Stampin' Up! Late Night Stampers Yahoo Group!  It's free – and fun!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

A Week for Green Cards!

Aloha, all!

     I can't believe that St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner!  And this year I'm going to make LOTS of St. Patty's Day cards because I completely missed Valentine's Day with being sick.  Not happening with the Green!

     For my first card of this "season," I CASEd (Copy And Share Everything) a card by fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Phyllis Strickland.  Her card was a Valentine's card, and I could just see the shamrock in the shape of the hearts that she made for her central motif.

     The whole layout of the card caught my eye, with the heart layer seeming at first to be off center.  Actually, it's centered between the folded edge of the card and the embossed scallops made with the new Stampin' Up! Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folders from Sizzix.  The scallop isn't just a plain scallop, either; there's some texture throughout the line of scallops – hard to see on this dark color, but it really looks wonderful up close!

     The lighter green in this card is Pear Pizzazz, and the Designer Series Paper that I used for the hearts is from the Twitterpated Papers, featured in the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog.  With the way the paper is displayed in the catalog, all I saw at first were all the pinks and blues.  But there are two papers that are made completely with the Pear Pizzazz color.  On Tuesday, for another challenge, I'll be showing off the other Pear Pizzazz sheet.  Nice to spot that before St. Patrick's Day got past me!

     To make the hearts that form the shamrock shape, I cut the Designer Series Paper with the smallest of the Heart Framelits (also in the Occasions Mini Catalog).  I cut two of the hearts for each overall heart shape, and adhered them to the background squares with the folded edges up against each other.  At first I didn't want the darker blue and red patterned paper to show; but then I realized that it really did a nice job of providing a shadow for the shamrock!  So I didn't glue the hearts shut as I was going to do (good choice, Robin!).  The darker green in the card is Garden Green, and I love how it provides an accent for the Pear Pizzazz color!

     The greeting is from the stamp set, Teeny Tiny Wishes, punched with the Modern Label Punch, and accented with Garden Green Brads.  And here I go again tying a card together with a ribbon – this time with a ribbon I haven't been using much, the Whisper White 5/8" Organza Ribbon.

     Now off to finish up that card for Tuesday.  It will be for the SUO Challenge (that's Stampin' Up! Only).  I'm having so much fun having a crafting weekend, I wouldn't be surprised if I get half a dozen cards done today!  I hope you have as much fun this weekend as I plan to have.

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Hello, Baby! Or is that “Aloha, Baby!

Aloha, all!

     I may have mentioned that I'm going to become a Great Aunt to two babies this spring.  Next month one nephew will be welcoming a baby boy, and in June – for the first time in decades! – my side of the family, courtesy of another nephew and his wife, will be welcoming a baby girl!  My niece, Margie, who is a 30-something, has been the only girl baby in our family since the day she was born.  She indicates that she is more than ready to give up that honor. 

     So I'd better start shifting into "pink" mode for some of my cards and projects!  I have plenty of blue stuff in storage, and now I need to get cracking to welcome a baby girl.  She may not want pink down the road a bit.  But for now, this Great Aunt will be making pink!

     The paper with those darling little birds is from the Designer Series Paper set, Nursery Nest.  I cut it with the Circle Scissors Plus, and mounted it on a card made with the Scallop Circle Bigz Die.  But before I did, I attached a piece of the Blushing Bride 3/8" Pleated Satin Ribbon behind it.  This ribbon does so well going around corners!  I love it for a lot of its characteristics, but I think this is my favorite.

     To set off the greeting (from Teeny Tiny Wishes), I included a Scallop Circle punched with the 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, which I then embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  And after I adhered everything together, I added some of the Twitterpated Designer Buttons. Both the Pleated Ribbon and the Twitterpated Designer Buttons are from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, which will be around until the end of April.  I'm thinking that these not only look like baby colors, they look like Easter colors!  So I'm sure you'll be seeing them here again!

     Whoever it is for whom you're creating something this week, I hope you have as much fun – and wear as big a smile – doing it as I had making this card!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

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!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

A Thought on 9/11

Aloha, all!

     I finally have a week where there’s more time for stamping than not. And what a week it is as everywhere around us there are reminders that this is the 10th Anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11/2001.

     I think we all remember where we were that day; I was in Washington, DC, taking care of some business for my mother, and I was supposed to come back home to New Mexico on the 12th. When I finally did get home, many days later, the emotion of where I had been and when was overwhelming. It was one of those moments when I was reminded that life is so very fragile, and that we should do our best to live it to its fullest.

     This sentiment from the stamp set, Inspired by Nature is the closest Stampin' Up! stamp that I could find to remind myself of that day. And it's pretty darned close to perfect.

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Fun and Quick Card to CASE!

Aloha, all!

     Today's challenge at the Late Night Stampers online group was to CASE (Copy and Share with Everyone is my phrase to go with this acronym!) a project from another member of the group.  I chose to CASE a card that fellow demonstrator, Tami Black, posted on her blog last week when she was sharing some cards made with retired stamp sets.  Since 99% of the stamps and 100% of the embellishments in my Craft Room are current Stampin' Up! products,I couldn't copy her completely.  But I was able to enjoy using some current products to make a card that makes me smile as much as hers did.

     I used the brand new stamp set, Simply Soft, which is a hostess set you can get for only 16 hostess dollars using Stampin' Up!'s new hostess benefits program.  This is one of the best bargains in the new catalog! 

     To create the image, I used Stampin' Write Markers to color the outline of the flowers with Rich Razzleberry and the stems and outlines of the leaves with Always Artichoke. The second stamp for the flowers using Stampin' Up!'s 2-Step Stampin' technique, is also Rich Razzleberry.  What I did to lighten it up was to ink it in Rich Razzleberry then stamp it once on a piece of scrap paper.  I stamped it the second time to fill in the flower image with a lighter version of Razzleberry.  I colored in the leaves with Lucky Limeade, one of Stampin' Up!'s newest colors. 

     I used the same Embossing Folder, Vintage Wallpaper, as Tami did, as well as the Scallop Trim Border Punch and paper piercing that she used for the top of the Lucky Limeade panel (Tamy used Old Olive as her panel).  You'll see in a second when I show you Tami's card that she used Rich Razzleberry 5/8" Stain Ribbon for her card.  But that's retired and I have no more of it.  So I cut a 5/8" piece of Razzleberry Card Stock and tied some Lucky Limeade 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon over it.

     And here's Tami's card that I CASEd!

     As this is definitely Tami's layout, I'll forgo sharing a sketch.  But the measurements for my card are easy:  The card is a standard 5-1/2"  x  4-1/4"  card, with the Whisper White layer 5" x 3-3/4" (1/4" mat all around) and the Razzleberry/Limeade layer 4-3/4" x 3-1/2" (1/8" mat all around).  The stamped layer is 3-1/4" h  x  2" w.  Simple!

     One of the fastest and easiest ways to come up with a great card to send to someone is to CASE the card of another stamper!  And it's so much fun to put a little of your own take on the whole design.  Try that sometime soon – and have fun with it!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

White on White Wedding Wishes!

Aloha, all!

     I am finally back from my marathon travels on the U. S. mainland – Portland to Salt Lake City to Phoenix to Minneapolis to Hibbing back to Minneapolis and Phoenix and finally back home two days ago.  Whew!  I'm tired just thinking about it, and still jet-lagged to prove I did it!

     As August goes on I'll share some of the wonderful experiences and ideas from the Stampin' Up! Convention (the Salt Lake City stop), as well as (finally) some projects using new products from the Stampin' Up! 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.  But for today, I'm showing off my last-minute entry in this week's Late Night Stampers Design Team Challenge – an all white card.  We were permitted to use a color for our sentiment or greeting.

     I made the flower with petals punched from the Blossoms Petal Building Punch.  I used 8 of the medium sized petals and embossed them using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder after I punched them.  I used 4 of the smaller petals to accent the center of the flower, and added a Whisper White Button from the Neutrals Designer Buttons collection, tied with White Baker's Twine.  I finally added some Whisper White 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon.  Uh-oh!  That's retired ribbon!  I'm not sure how I managed to let that stay in my active collection of ribbon, and I was too jet-lagged to recall what is current and what is not.  As I look at this, though, it occurs to me that the 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon would work just as well – maybe even better!  But no time to redo this card when there are so many other projects on which I'd like to work!

     The greeting is from a new stamp set called "Easy Events."  This stamp set is replacing the retired Fun and Fast Notes set in my collection – it's very versatile, with eight stamps, each including an image and greeting.  What I've done with the set is to cut the stamps apart so that the greetings can be used separately from the images, making the set even MORE versatile!  I stamped the greeting using Marina Mist Classic Ink.

     For the layers, I just cut a sheet of Whisper White card stock 1/4" smaller horizontally and vertically and used my Fiskars Cutter with the scoring blade inserted to add some texture to the edges.  (Ooooh, check back with me later this week as I tell you why I won't be using that much longer!!!)

     No layout today – it's pretty standard; hope not too boring!  I can already feel my creative juices recovering themselves so there will be more fun projects later this week!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Inspiration from a Photo

Aloha, all!

     Here I am on a Monday again, and this Monday I'm already traveling on my way to the Stampin' Up! convention, which begins on Wednesday.  For now, though, I'm in the Portland, Oregon, area visiting my grandson and whichever of his relatives happen to be around while he's with me.  I'm sure you'll see some scrapbook page samples later this year with him in it!

     But Monday also always brings a challenge from the Late Night Stampers Stampin' Up! Yahoo group.  I don't always get it done on Monday, but I have a whole week to do it.  This week (and last), though, I planned well enough ahead to be right on time!

     For this week's challenge, our fearless leader gave us a photo and said, "Be inspired!"  Hmmm.  These are the tough ones.  Unless I, myself, look at a photo and think, "Ooooh, that reminds me of a Stampin' Up! design!" I usually draw a blank.  I did with this one for awhile, too.  Then, when I was working on last week's challenge, I decided to use the same layout to at least get started with this challenge.

     And here is the finished product!  The "live" color of this card is Certainly Celery, and matches the celery color in the photo pretty well.  Sunlight and flashes change colors a bit, and I'm a papercrafter, not a photographer.  So I'm leaving the picture of the card as it is!  For the accent colors I used two of Stampin' Up!'s newest colors, Island Indigo (the blue vase) and Calypso Coral (the flowers).  The other colors in play here are Whisper White, which you see a lot in the photo, and Daffodil Delight.

     Once I had the thought of flowers in a vase, I went to the Ornament Punch which is my favorite punch for making vases.  Just snip a bit of the bottom off, and you have a vase!  To make the Daffodil vase stand out a bit, I texturized it with the Finial Press Embossing Folder.  As I've done in the past, I arranged my punched piece in the embossing folder so that the design is centered on it as I wished.  It's a really easy technique!  For the flowers, I used the smallest flowers in the Boho Blossoms Punch.  To make sure I didn't waste card stock, I just cut a 3/4" strip of the card stock and stuck the end into the punch so that just that flower was punched.  As I punched each flower, I clipped the end clean and started over again.  It's a pretty quick operation, and you could even tear off the end pieces if you wanted.

     To get the flowers' little petals to stand up, I laid each on the soft Paper Piercing Pad and pushed the eraser of a pencil into the center of it until the petals came up to wrap around the earser.  I then laid the flowers where I wanted them, moved each vase a tiny bit, and marked the start and end of each stem with the very same pencil (who knew it was a doubled-ended tool!).  I sketched the stems between the pencil points with a Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Marker and adhered the vases and flowers to the card (the flowers with Mini Glue Dots and the Daffodil Vase with Stampin' Dimensionals. The finishing touch for this card are some Basic Pearls – just right the flower centers, and a nice finishing accent for the Indigo vase.

     You'll almost recognize this sketch from last Monday.  But the measurements for the rectangular layered element are slightly different.  Another difference with this sketch is that the 3 layers in the rectangular element are the same distance apart.  In last week's sketch, the top two layers are closer in measurement than the bottom layer.  Lots of ways to do this, and I'm going to cover this is a section of my new eBook, about which I'll tell you more at the end of the summer!

Subscribe to the comments for this post