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Fun with a Color Challenge!

Aloha, all!

     Oh, no!  Another color challenge!  Create with Connie and Mary has another color challenge for those of us participating as designers in their Occasions Edition.  You have to know that color challenges in which I am required to participate are my worst fear.  It's like the feat that I had as a kid, worried about coming home with an "F" on my report card!

     And that's what it's felt like all week as I've tried to work the colors Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, and Soft Suede into this week's "Summertime" theme at the Occasions Edition.  I almost had it all pulled together with some ice cream cones on the top of this card – envisioning the lacy bottom as a table cloth.  But at 10 one night I said, "The heck with it," and left it until the next morning.  Then when I got up the next morning and eased myself over to my craft table with cup of coffee in hand, I realized that I had my design all done – because there sitting right next to it was the stamp set, Loving Thoughts, and I could instantly see Wonderful You stamped in Soft Suede as a simple greeting on this card with the paper from the Designer Series Paper Set, Sweet Shop, in the background.

     I whipped out the Wisteria Wonder ribbon and brads and a few more mats and, Voila!  My challenge card was done!  Whew!  The best part was that my husband walked past my desk as I was finishing up the card and said, "Wow – those colors look great together!"  No "F" on this report card!!!

     The most fun I had with this card was with the scallops.  The stamp is from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog set, Bordering on Romance, which was cut with the Sizzix Edgelits Die, Adorning Accents.  There is a Textured Impressions Embossing Folder that goes with this Edgelit die, also.  But, when I tried to add that it to this design, it just seemed to be too cluttered.  I'll try to get that out and play with it a bit later in the month and show it off a bit, too.

     Meanwhile – don't forget that the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition is still available!  The Occasions Mini Catalog will be active for over 2 more months – until the end of April!  There's plenty of time to use the wonderful designs from this subscription using the Occasions Mini products – and even more time to use with with all other kinds of Stampin' Up! products.  For all of the 6 weeks of the program, there are 6 fabulous projects with fully illustrated tutorials to go along with them!  That's 36 great projects in all.  And these aren't just greeting card layouts.  Oh, no!  These are a fantastic variety of 3-D projects and gifts using all of the products in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  I'm just amazed at the creativity of all of the designers.  Even if you start today, you'll still get access to the entire subscription blog, and you'll continue to have access to all the projects for a full year!  I highly recommend it as a great resource for your spring and summer projects!

     I hope you're having a great weekend – as am I as I'm getting ready to post my final project for the Occasions Edition!

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Bringing Back Memories

Aloha, all!

     Do you ever start a crafting project and find that making it takes you back to something in your childhood?  That's what happened to me with this card, and I thought I'd quickly take you through a few of those memories.

     A good part of my childhood was spent at the home of my aunt who was also my Godmother.  Aunt Agnes collected many things, and among them were her teacups.  So I was immediately drawn to this stamp of an elegant teacup, though most of her teacups were white or cream with flowers painted on them.  At some point, I think I'll try to stamp this cup with a lighter color embossed on a base of a darker color.  But by the time I had this idea, I was way too far into this project and I really wanted to finish it.

     A beautiful part of my aunt's household was an amazing collection of African Violets – of every color imaginable; but my favorite were the pale violet flowers that seemed to be (and probably were) so fragile that a touch would turn them into dust.  I could almost see right through them!  The little African Violets that adorn this teacup reminded me of those flowers, and that's why I decided to stamp the cup again in a lighter color and cut out the flowers to adorn this one.

     And then there were the doilies!  Doilies were EVERYWHERE around her house – on the tables, on the chairs, on the piano, on the bookcases.  While the teacups and African Violets from her home are long since gone, I still have a few of her doilies – much more delicate than this doily made of paper, but this doily nonetheless reminded me of them.

     When it came time to pick the sentiment for this card, how could I not choose, "A Cup of Thanks."  Thanks to Aunt Agnes who meant so much to me – and for the wonderful memories she made for me.

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     Back to the here and now and a quick reminder that much of what is on this card is from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog.  And another reminder that there are going to be dozens of fabulous projects using these products – and many, many more! – in the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition, which is now in preview.  I hope you'll take the time to visit the Create With Connie and Mary blog to learn more about preview week, their early bird pricing AND the blog candy that will be available throughout the week – in various places around the blogosphere,

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An addendum.  I just heard from my sister-in-law and downline, Deb, who said that she has some of Aunt Agnes' teacups and that my niece, Margie, will have them one day.  Margie is my goddaughter, so it's wonderful that these will be passed from generation to generation – as will the memories of Aunt Agnes.

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The Start of a Busy Week!

Aloha, all!

     Well, this is the week I've been working towards since before Christmas – the week when I have to have my first Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition projects done AND my sister-in-law and her husband are coming for a 10-day visit.  Can you imagine all the different directions my mind will be traveling this week?!

     For today, the direction is towards the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog and all the scraps of paper that have been flying all over the place as I've been trying to finish projects and challenge cards!  Among the flying papers are the insides of a bunch of windows I've been making with the Sizzix Hearts Framelits (in the Occasions Mini Catalog, of course).  You'll see the fab card I made with those right here on Wednesday.  But today I'm featuring the "leftovers."

     This card has four of the hearts left over from making windows – all of them from the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper – which is my favorite paper set from the Occasions Mini.  The sentiment is one of the 11 in the Occasions Mini Stamp Set, Loving Thoughts, and it's stamped on the banner from another Occasions Mini Stamp Set, Take it to Heart. 

     The final touch to go with all those hearts is one of the Trinket Hearts from the mini.  I bought them to use with my Simply Adorned Jewelry, but decided this one would be perfect for this card.  I hope you think so, too!

     And speaking of the Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition, today is the start of Preview Week!  There will be projects all week on the Create With Connie and Mary Blog and they're available to EVERYONE!  The whole idea is to show you just how wonderful this Occasions Edition will be so that you'll sign up – with the Early Bird Discount!  Besides that great offer, every day this week someone with the Create team will be offering Blog Candy – a free subscription to the Occasions Edition.  So hop on over to the Create With Connie and Mary Blog to see who's offering the Blog Candy today and get in on the action!

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Lots of Glitter Without the Mess!

Aloha, all!

     We're just finishing up the 4th week of the wonderful Create with Connie and Mary Holiday Edition!  I have been designing and making projects that are very different from those that I usually feature here, even during blog hops.  Connie and Mary encourage – actually require! – original designs and well-constructed projects and tutorials for everything that we do for them.

     For the Saturday challenges, though, we are not held to the original design standard too closely, and I'm sure that you've seen lots of cards in different places that use three stockings made from Holiday Mini products.  But for this one, I wanted lots of glitter to accent the color challenge for the week.  The challenge was to use Real Red, Wild Wasabi and Cherry Cobbler, the colors featured in the Holly Berry Bouquet product suite in the Holiday Mini. 

     I have to confess that there's only the slightest bit of Cherry Cobbler in this card – in the holly berries on the Holly Berry Bouquet Specialty Designer Series Paper at the top of the card and in the card base itself.  OK, I got that out of my system and headed for the "Real" Red as well as the Wild Wasabi green.  (I have to tell you that I was really disappointed when Glorious Green was retired from the Stampin' Up! collection; but Wild Wasabi has grown on me – just wish it had a different name!)  And, of course, I wanted all that red to be glittery!  That was really easy because not only do we have the Real Red Glimmer Brads and Red Glimmer Paper, we also have the glitter designs on two sheets of the Designer Series Paper set.  That's why the word, "Specialty," appears in the product name.  The striped and polka dotted sheets are glittered!

     So now that I had 3 different sheets with glitter, I just punched each of the sheets using the new Stocking Builder Punch and mixed and matched the results.  One trick that I used was to cut up smaller pieces of the designer paper and arrange them in the punch so that the designs fit the shape I was punching, especially with the stripes.  So it's no accident that the large stripe and the one polka dot fit perfectly in the heels of the stockings, or that the stocking and cuff are punched so that the stripes run parallel with the design.  It just took a bit of care and I didn't waste much paper at all.  Love the result, too!

     For the basic design, I wanted this to look like stockings hung "by the chimney with care."  But with no fireplace in my Stampin' Up! collection, I had to make do with a shelf and a plain wall, which is what I have in my house.  So after I created the "shelf" with the Red Glimmer Paper, I embossed the Wild Wasabi "wall" using the Sizzix Stripes Textured Embossing Folder. 

     I wrapped the whole scene with a mat of Red Glimmer Paper, a teensy sliver of Whisper White, and mounted it all onto a Cherry Cobbler greeting card base.

     And after I finished the whole project, there wasn't the slightest speck of glitter sticking to anything or anyone!  Love that Stampin' Up!'s looking out for the welfare of my vacuum cleaner

     I hope you'll check out the other designs for this week's color challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary.  That site is always free, and we're all posting our challenge cards there as well as in the Holiday Edition subscription site.  If you haven't subscribed to the Holiday Edition, you can do so any time and have access to everything in the entire program – for one year!  But, of course, now's the time to subscribe because the 2011 Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog is still in effect for another 2 and a half months!

     Hope to see you there!  And I hope you'll have fun with whatever Holiday Mini products you've already got.  Just 10 more weeks 'til Christmas!

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The “Other” Bow!

Aloha, all!

     Those of you who downloaded my FREE TUTORIAL over at Create with Connie and Mary earlier this week saw that the bow that I used in the tutorial wasn't exactly the same bow that I used in my project.  That's what comes of getting so involved with a project that I forget to take photos for the tutorials.

     And that bow has been sitting around, being moved from place to place in the Craft Room, ever since I wrote the tutorial.  Now, however, it's found a great place to be!

     Today is the birthday of a good friend and I FORGOT IT!  So I quickly made up a card for her, and the bow has a VERY prominent place!  Happy Birthday, Karolyn!

     And speaking of

Create With Connie and Mary

it's time for the

LAST PREVIEW PROJECT

for their Holiday Edition and it's Connie's very own project that's featured!  So be sure to go to Create With Connie and Mary to learn more about it, download a FREE TUTORIAL FOR THE PROJECT, and comment on Connie's blog for a chance to win a subscription to their Holiday Edition!

     Tomorrow is the last day of preview!  So don't miss this!

     Oh, and that wreath that I added to the bow:  It's from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog hostess set, Warmest of Wishes! 

     I hope you have as much fun crafting this weekend as I'm planning to have.  And I hope you'll take advantage of the Create With Connie and Mary Early Bird Pricing – it ends September 17th!

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Christmas in Fall Colors

Aloha, all!

     There was a "Fall" color challenge over on Split Coast Stampers this week and it looked like a lot of fun – Cajun Craze, So Saffron and Always Artichoke!  When I started looking around at my stash of Designer Series Papers for something that had at least two of the colors, I found Well Worn Designer Series Paper.  Hmmmm.  It had the So Saffron and Cajun Craze.  But what about the Artichoke?  Then I remembered that I had mentally connected the "Well Worn" name of the papers with the new "Denim Jean Ribbon" line in the 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! Catalog.  And there it was – Artichoke Denim Ribbon! 

     The next challenge for me was to figure out what I wanted to do with it.  I looked around the craft room and there was the new Stocking Builder Punch sitting where it had landed when I unpacked my Holiday Mini Catalog order last week – unopened and unused.  Poor punch!  I had been itching to get my hands on it, but the opportunity had just not presented itself.  And now here I was with these fun colors and that light bulb went off.  So I took some time off from making my projects for the Create With Connie and Mary Holiday Edition program and played with those papers and that punch.  (Hold that Create with Connie and Mary thought – there's free tutorials and blog candy over there!)

     The greeting on this card is from the Holiday Mini Stamp Set, Christmas Lodge.  I decided not to fuss too much with the stockings (no heel and toe accents for them this time around) because the paper had lots of interest in itself and I did add some Victoria and Chantilly Crochet Design Trim for the cuffs.

     Bottom line for this card?  You can make Christmas Cards with lots of different color combinations! 

There's a New Preview Over at Create With Connie and Mary!

And that means a new FREE TUTORIAL and BLOG CANDY!

     Just click on over to the Create With Connie and Mary Holiday Edition blog to find out what our latest Preview Designer has for you in the way of a FREE TUTORIAL, and then go on over to her blog to comment for a chance to win a FREE SUBSCRIPTION to Create With Connie and Mary!

And Don't Forget to Check Back Here on

Monday, September 12th

for my own PREVIEW PROJECT!

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Fun with an “Old” Stamp Set

Aloha, all!

     This is the time of the year when I start looking at all my Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper sets and try to get them all used up before Stampin' Up! retires them at the end of June.  Stampin' Up! also retires lots of stamp sets with each new annual catalog. They retire stamps based on business decisions unknown to most of us, which means that, just because a stamp set is "old" doesn't mean it's going to be retired.  Still, as we get closer to the end of the Stampin' Up! catalog year, I start to worry that some of my favorite old-timers might not be around after July 1st.  So I try to get them out and use them a lot – just in case!

     So when I saw this week's sketch challenge from Create with Connie and Mary, I was ready to use some of those papers and an older stamp set.  One set of Designer Series Papers of which I still have quite a few sheets is Pawsitively Prints II, which was made to go with the Build-A-Bear Workshop collection of dies and stamps.  I really like the prints, plaids and stripes in that set, so you may be seeing a bit more of them over the next 7 or 8 weeks.  The paper that I chose for today's challenge has flowers in Poppy Parade, So Saffron and  Tempting Turquoise.  Actually, the solid colored paper immediately behind the print is also part of the Designer Series Paper set, in a light shade of Poppy Parade. 

     Then I had to go looking for a stamp set.  I bypassed the fabulous new stamp sets from the Stampin' Up! 2011 Summer Mini Catalog and went rummaging through my stash of "old" stamp sets. It wasn't long before I happened upon the stamp set, Simply Said.  And don't those flowers in the heart shape look like they were just meant to go with that paper?!  I stamped them with Poppy Parade ink, then colored the flowers in with the three colors in the paper, along with some River Rock to fill in some of the smaller shapes (looks like that's what they did with the Designer Paper, too).

     For the final touches, I tied a bow with some Poppy Parade 1/2" Poly Stitched Ribbon over a strip of Tempting Turquoise Card Stock cut with the Tasteful Trim Sizzix Die.  It will be fun to write a note to a friend this weekend and enclose it in this card!  That's always a fun thing to do, and I hope you take the time to send off some of your own pretty cards to your friends and family – I certainly hope you're not one of those people who makes cards and then just stores them away to use "some day"!

     The sketch for today is based on the sketch from Create with Connie and Mary.  Both Connie and Mary are two of my very favorite Stampin' Up! artists and I hope you'll take the time to join in their challenge this week, too.  So here is the sketch from the Create with Connie and Mary blog, and another sketch with the measurements that I used for my own card based on their sketch.  Have fun with whatever you do with them!

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