Archive for the ‘Punches’ Category:
Thinking of You…
Aloha, all!
Finally – here I am back in my Craft Room and feeling as if I have a little bit of time to really play. I've decided that today the lunch dishes can wait until I've made a card or two.
Thanks to all of you who have sent good wishes, thoughts and prayers our way as my husband has been dealing with his illness. Thankfully, he came through his very extensive surgery well, and is now at home recuperating. I hope you never have the experience of having to be away from home to be with a loved one who is in the hospital as long as I had. Instead of going home each night for a month to rest and recuperate among familiar surroundings to be able to face the next day, I had to go to a hotel room. I realized then how much value there is in one of Stampin' Up!'s programs, which is to support Ronald McDonald houses around the country. So many parents have to travel away from home to be with their children in such a situation. I wish there was something like that for us dealing with an adult.
Meanwhile, I really was "Thinking of You…." I really like sharing what I do with you, and it would have helped if I could have been able to do something creative and then spend some time in the late evening sharing it. Even now, though we've been back home for almost week, it's been a very tiring one as I try to get all the household chores done myself. Yup, those lunch dishes are still there. But today I really got into my craft room and set some crafting goals for myself. Over the next few days, I'll share some of what I've done and really make an effort to get back into my groove.
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As always, I look to my SUDSOL online demonstrator group for some inspiration. Yesterday, I had a challenge to make a card with 8 separate steps. It involved the number of colors of card stock and ink that we had to use, the number of layers to be included, the number of stamp sets to be used and the number of embellishments to finish it all off.
And this is a sneak peek of sorts, too! One of the three colors I used is Stampin' Up!'s newest yellow in the core collection – Daffodil Delight. Such a pretty yellow for summer! and the coordinating Daffodil Delight Ribbon is one of thirteen new 1/8" Taffeta Ribbons. What a nice size for an accent. Finally, I textured the Daffodil Delight layer using Stampin' Up!'s newest Sizzix Textured Impression Embossing Folder, Vintage Wallpaper.
A special thanks to fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Amy Celona, who help me out by getting the list of retiring products posted over to the right. Nothing in this card is going to retire except for the Not Quite Navy brads – part of the Earth Elements collection of brads. This set of brands is still available, but there are other items that are selling out already even though June is just half over!
One thing you may have noticed in the list of retiring accessories is an asterisk in the column "Being Reconfigured." What this means is that some or all of what's being retired is still going to be around. For example, those Earth Elements Brads are going to be "reconfigured." Some of the colors of brads will still be around, just in different groupings. And the brad groupings going forward will be in sets of 6, not just 4. If a color is a retiring color, the brad will definitely be retiring. If you have any other questions about any of these lists, please be sure to let me know!
More creativity tomorrow!
Subscribe to the comments for this postButton, Button, Who’s Got the Button?
Aloha, all!
I made today's card as a challenge to copy something from a Stampin' Up! publication as closely as possible. The fun technique was making the buttons. I made the card and set it aside for sending to someone special someday. When I had a group together to stamp last week, each of them spotted the card on my craft room table and two in a row commented on how closely to the Stampin' Up! colors the foam buttons looked!! That's two exclamation points because these are NOT foam buttons. They're not even buttons at all! They're real Stampin' Up! card stock. But what a great look, don't you think?
Here's the technique: punch six circles from one color of card stock. Glue them together (I used Crystal Effects as recommended by Stampin' Up! and it worked beautifully) and then use the Crop-a-dile to punch two holes so that they look like a button. I had a blast making them (though my fingers did get a bit sticky towards the end). The really cute element in this card is the heart that stands out from the crowd. I punched one of the hearts from the Heart to Heart punch and put the heart together just as I did the buttons.
Stampin' Up! designers suggested "sewing" the buttons on with crochet thread. At the time I didn't have any (do now because I'm going to make some more of these!) so I colored in between the holes with White Signo Gel Pen. I added a bit of texture to the Whisper White Background with a Stampin' Up! Sizzix Texturz Plate, and then added the greeting from the stamp set, One of A Kind. I tied the top of the card with an Old Olive Ribbon from the Elementary Ribbon Originals set.
Retirement Alert: The Kraft Card Stock used for the card base here will be retired, along with 29 other colors as of July 1st. There will be a color to replace it, but I won't know what it looks like until I can order it from the new catalog. I'd suggest stocking up on the Kraft now if you use it a lot! Oh, and the Yo Yo Yellow used for the first row of buttons will also retire July 1st. Nice color and I'm going to miss it! The Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive and Real Red will NOT retire!
I got a bit more specific about placement in my layout for the cards this time. When I was done, I would have liked to have had my buttons spaced a bit differently, and the layout reflects what I will make the next time I do this card. If you like the larger margin of Whisper White around the buttons, then just placed them a bit closer to one another. A good trick no matter which spacing you use is to place the center button first, then line up the buttons to the left and right, then to the top and bottom. You can then line up the corner buttons both horizontally and vertically with those that are already placed.
Have fun with it!
Fun With Flowers!
Aloha, all!
I'm sure that you've noticed a brand new promotion from Stampin' Up! that I've put over on the right under my "Specials" tag. It's the opportunity to purchase one of Stampin' Up!'s newest stamp sets, Awash With Flowers. Or get it FOR FREE with a $350 Hostess Workshop! This is a stamp set with a dozen and a half images to help you create some of the most wonderful Two-Step Stampin' images that I've seen in a long time! Click here for a picture of the stamps available with this set. You can purchase the set with both the wood mounts or for use with Stampin' Up!'s clear acrylic blocks. And here are all the details about the promotion.
If you've been around my Craft Room or reading my blog for long, you know that Two-Step Stampin' is one of my favorite – and easiest! – techniques from Stampin' Up! With this technique, you stamp one stamp that has a solid design with a light or medium color; then you stamp with a darker color on top of it a second stamp that has an outline that complements the first stamp. Up until now, the best way to make a fun two-step design was by using the Stamp-a-ma-jig (or any kind of stamp aligner – but the SAMJ is my favorite!). Now, however, with the advent of the Stampin' Up! Clear Mount Rubber Stamps, it's even easier to two-step on paper (we're not talking the dance floor at this moment).
Once this new stamp was released, I could hardly wait to get my hands on it. Then life got in the way and I've not been stamping much in the past few weeks. But today I had a bit of free time and off I went to grab the new stamp set. My time was limited (got to add in the blog time of course) so this was a quick (not dirty) one. What made this particular design easy was the absolutely fabulous paper that my friend and March hostess, Dana, gave me. She had a terrific workshop last month and was able to choose one of the Level 3 Hostess Sets for her efforts. The set she chose was the Lovely Flowers Bundle. I had been drooling over the papers in this bundle for months. Sigh – and she had it for her very own stash. And – wonderful friend that she is – she offered me a sampling of her great prize. Wow! How could I refuse!!!???
The paper in the background motif of this card is the Lovely Flowers designer series paper that is part of the bundle. I carried the Melon Mambo (Hooray! This color will be in the permanent Stampin' Up! Color Collection starting in July!), Old Olive and Crushed Curry colors from the Designer Series Papers into the stamps, and the Rich Razzleberry color (another color that will be in the permanent Stampin' Up! collection starting in July!) into the mats for both the paper and the stamped image rectangles.
The mother's day greeting is from the stamp set, Well Scripted, that is featured in the Stampin' Up! 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog. I punched it with the Scallop Oval Punch and matted that with a piece of Rich Razzleberry Card Stock punched with the Sizzix Movers and Shapers Die from the Stampin' Up! Punch Windows set. The final touch was a bit of glitz from the Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads in the upper left corner of the card.
What a fun card this was to make! Now I just have to figure out which "Wonderful Mother" will get this card for Mother's Day this year! Or I may have to make some duplicates?
Here's a sketch for the card elements. Even if you don't have this stamp set, this is a fun outline for how to use some Designer Series Paper as a small backdrop for a beautiful stamped image!
It’s April Already!!
Aloha, all!
Oh, my! I can't believe that March slipped away from me as fast as it did! I also can't believe that this week has flown by so quickly. Our son and his family are here for Spring Break, and we have been going a mile a minute. Today I was supposed to have some time for some scrapbooking with the boys (ages 7 and 9), but it looks like there will be outings again today. Then they leave (sniff!).
But just before they arrived here, I had a chance to play around in the craft room. I was supposed to be cleaning up – and actually I was! Part of that was putting my stash of Designer Series Paper away. I had four or five DSP packs out, and I couldn't find anything until I got all that 12" x 12" paper put away. While I was in the process of collecting and organizing, I also had to make a design for a "Chat and Challenge" I was hosting for one of my demo groups (SUDSOL.org). The light bulb went off and I started snipping strips of DSP to put into a quick design. This first card is made with strips of papers from the Designer Series Paper Set, Cottage Wall. I added a double bow of Whisper White and Old Olive 5/8" Satin Ribbon and "tied" it all up with a greeting from the very versatile stamp set, Teeny Tiny Wishes.
The next card I made with Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper. I also punched a Scallop Circle and some smaller circles out of the paper to make the faux flower in the upper left corner. I scrunched the paper up into tiny balls, reflattened them out, layered them up and put them together with a Rhinestone Brad in the center. For this card, I moved the strips off to the left side a bit and added some more rhinestone brads (I had to put the brads away, too, so why not use them in the process!?
Here's a sketch you can use to make a card out of Designer Series Papers that you might have lying around! I cut the strips in the following widths, from left to right: 3/4" – 3/4" – 1" – 3/4" – 1/2" – 1/2" – 3/4". I like the variety of widths scatter among all of them for the visual interest. The Cottage Wall card uses these measurements. I varied it a bit for the Razzleberry Lemonade card. Once you have your strips cut and arranged as you want them, use a small bit of transparent tape to anchor them together. Then measure your final arrangement and make a layer 1/8" to 1/2" larger in both height and width to mat it. The Cottage Wall card has a 1/2" larger mat, and the Razzleberry Lemonade has a 1/4" mat.
A Sale-A-Bration Easel Card
Aloha, all!
We are still right in the middle of Stampin' Up!'s great annual FREEBIE promotion, Sale-A-Bration! (Quick note: to save a bit of typing time, I'm going to refer to this promotion in the rest of this post as SAB.)
For today's project, I've made an Easel Card (one of my one-page instructions sheets here!). The best thing about this card is that there are THREE SAB FREE PRODUCTS that I've used in constructing it!
- The Bouquet is made with a stamp from the set, Happy Moments.
- The greeting inside the card is made with a stamp from Wonderful Words
- The sides of the scalloped layer (made with So Saffron Card Stock) is punched with the Scallop Edge Border Punch. Yes, you can get a PUNCH, in Stampin' Up!'s new style, FOR FREE!
And do you recognize the Designer Series Paper? I've only used it here a few times in the last week or so – it's Tea Party, still my favorite of Stampin' Up!'s luscious papers. Peeking out through the scalloped border is a layer of Pretty in Pink Card Stock, and some Soft Subtles Brads set everything off so nicely. For the "stop" inside the card – which helps that easel front stand up and be notices – I punches some small flowers with the Trio Flower Punch.
Here is the layout if you'd like to try this cute little all-occasion card!
My Latest Accordion Album
Aloha, all!
When I said "accordion album" to three different people, they each described a different album to me – and I’ve made all three! Today’s album is sometimes called an "explosion album." Explosion albums can be large or small, and today’s is a very small album that I will demonstrate to a group of Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) later this month. They each will have a kit of papers from the Patterns Pack III which is currently a Level 1 Hostess Set, along with some coordinating ribbons and punched card stock for decorations. I’m going to encourage them to mix and match their kits if they’d like – more fun for everyone!
But they have to have a sample so they can see the possibilities for this easy little album, and here’s what I’ve prepared. I have my brand new pack of Tea Party Designer Series Paper and I’m having a blast with it already. I’d used up most of the first couple of packs that I bought when it first came out, and now that it’s Spring, I need MORE!
Above is the cover of the album, made with light cardboard (the stuff that comes with those packs of wonderful Designer Series Paper!) covered with some of the Tea Party papers. I punched a Scallop Circle topped with a circle punched with the 1-3/8" Circle Punch, all sealed together with one of the Pretty in Pink Corduroy Buttons featured in the current 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog. The ribbon I used is a So Saffron Ribbon from the ribbon set Elementary.
Now for the inside of the album. I made this one with three squares of 6" paper, and it holds 4 square photographs inside. I decorated the triangles formed by the diagonal folds with punched imaged using the Boho Blossoms Punch and the Heart to Heart Punch, using So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Pretty In Pink Card Stock. I cut the photos at 2-3/4" square, and the So Saffron Mats at 2-7/8" square.
I also put two photographs on the outside of the album – after all, there are two blank square pages there – why waste them!? Here’s the outside of the album.
Note that I "captured" the ribbon on the back cover of the album under a Pretty in Pink Scallop Circle Punch image, layered with a So Saffron Boho Blossom Punch image. I actually used transparent ("Scotch") tape to anchor the ribbon, then I used Sticky Strip to adhere the Scallop Circle elements to make sure that the ribbon was safely in place. Oh, and that tape was covered nicely by the punched elements, thank you!
Of course, I have one of my "One-Page Tutorials" for this project! Click here for the latest version – updated from years ago when I first made this project.
Have fun with this – and, of course, if you need any of these fabulous papers, ribbons, punches or card stock, you know where you can order 24/7! Right here!!!
Stampin’ Up! a Storm!
Aloha, all!
Well, it was a tsunami, not really a storm. And it had all of us here on Hawaii's Big Island transfixed as we watched the (thankfully!) light tsunami move water in and out of Hilo Bay. Finally we can breathe easily!
Despite the excitement, I had a stamp group scheduled for this afternoon – just a few of us getting together to test out a card and a few other designs I'm planning for some March classes. I got the idea for today's card from two other Stampin' Up! demonstrators, Connie Babbert and Tammy Fite, both of whom are members of an online group to which I belong called SUDSOL. The classes I'm going to be doing are made up of quite a few people who have never made anything with products such as those offered by Stampin' Up! So I had to keep it simple. But I also wanted it to be a nice-looking card, and one that uses some of the newest Stampin' Up! products.
This card fits the bill to a 't'! It uses three products that are in the current Occasions Mini Catalog – the stamp set, Vintage Vogue, the set of designer series papers called Sweet Pea, and a beautiful Pretty in Pink Epoxy Brad. I added in a scalloped edge using the Scallop Trim Border Punch that you can get FOR FREE! from the Sale-A-Bration Catalog if you spend at least $50 on a product order.
Here are the basic measurements for the sketch that I made for this card. Think of papers and stamps and embellishments that you have in YOUR CRAFT ROOM, and I'll bet you'll make a card that's ready to present at a workshop, too!
A Heartfelt Shamrock
Aloha, all!
This morning I was in the grocery store and I could not believe that I was seeing a bag of GREEN M&Ms! Oh, no! I had to have them for some kind of St. Patrick’s Day project! But I couldn’t see Stampin’ Up! coming up with a shamrock treat cup (although, if they did, I’d be first in line to buy them). What to do, what to do. Just about everyone who knows me knows that, while I can take someone else’s idea and jazz it up to make it my own, I managed not to be in line when they handed out the genetic make up for true creativity. So it took me awhile to figure out how I was going to make the Heart Treat Cups into a Shamrock. Believe me, there’s lots of scraps of various green card stock all over the craft room, most from failed efforts to punch hearts into shamrock submission.
Finally – voila! I had my Shamrock Treat Card! Not only that, I used THREE products that were meant to be either for Valentine’s Day or for something related to engagements/weddings. For this card, I used the Heart Treat Cup, the Stampin’ Up! Heart of Hearts Embosslit, and the Sweetheart Stamp Set that’s advertised in the Heart Treat Cups flyer. I used the Full Heart Punch to make the opening for the treat cup, and also to make the shamrock stem.
The small shamrock that I used for the background stamp is from the stamp set, Holiday Blitz, and the small greeting at the bottom right is from the set, All Holidays.
The colors I used for this project are Garden Green (for the darker background and Sweetheart stamp), and Green Galore.
The instructions for making the treat cup card are in (as always) a one-page tutorial!
Thank You, Lucy!
Aloha, all!
Yesterday I posted about an address booklet I made for my friend, Lucy. When I stopped by her home this morning to deliver the little gift, she had a gift for me. A Valentine gift! It was a jar of freshly made Lilikoi-Guava Jam, all packaged up in a box made with the Sending Love Designer Series Paper, sealed with hearts punched with the Heart to Heart Punch. Whoa! The best part of all of it was that my husband felt like he had to taste the jam and made himself some toast. He’s been feeling so sick for the last few days that I was thrilled that he had an appetite for something with some flavor.
So a big "Thank You" to Lucy – and, of course, a Thank You card will be on its way with Tuesday’s mail pick up.
What better way to make a Thank You note for a Valentine’s Gift than with some of the same Sending Love designer series paper. And this fit right in with a challenge for one of my online Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator groups, SUDSOL. The challenge was to use Red, White and Blue in a design. The colors for this card are Real Red, Not Quite Navy (my favorite Stampin’ Up! blue) and Very Vanilla. The ribbon is one of the new 5/8" satin ribbons, and the stamp set is from the Sale-A-Bration catalog, Happy Moments.
Once again, I used the new Scallop Trim Border and Corner punches to make a border around the whole central motif. I can hardly wait for an excuse to use this punch set!
Valentines for the Grandkids
Aloha, all!
After I finally got the craft room back in shape, I started tearing it apart again to make these cards for our grandchildren. The bears are from the Build A Bear Workshop set, Beary Best Friends (118052) and the greeting is from the set, Beary Nice Wishes (118050). While these sets were introduced in the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalog, which has expired, they're in the 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog, too! If it's in the Build a Bear collection, it's still current!
NOT ONLY THAT – THERE'S A SPECIAL DEAL RIGHT NOW! For any $20 you spend on the Stampin' Up! Build A Bear collection, you'll get a certificate for $5 off a $25 purchase at any product at a Build A Bear Workshop store.
Now back to my cards. I had so much fun cutting out the "paper doll" bears and the little girl bears' dresses that I felt like a little girl again myself!
Each of the dresses is made from a different one of the glittery papers from the Designer Series Paper set, Sending Love, and I used Crystal Effects to make their patent leather shoes and accent the heart in the "I {heart} You Beary Much." I stamped "Happy Valentine's Day" from Teeny Tiny Wishes inside each of the cards.
I used the new Scallop Trim Border and Scallop Trim Corner punches for the girl cards, and the Pinking Hearts Border and Corner punches for the boy cards. This is the first time that I used the Pinking Hearts to make a square, and I found it to be a lot easier than the Scallop Trim punches. But I think I've got the Scallop Trim punches down now, and I'm ready to write my own tutorial on it. I've read tutorials and still had to figure it out my own way. 
