RobinsCraftRoom.com

Dimensional Fun!

Aloha, all!

     It's time for another SUO Challenges project- actually we're a bit late because I'm just now returning from my travels and I'm the one who sends the final SUO Challenge blog post on its way!    

     Thankfully, I prepared my project for this week's challenge before I left! 

     On the other hand, I was limited in the Designer Series Papers I could use before I left because I'd not had the opportunity to see – let along order! – any of the new papers that you'll be seeing in a just a few weeks in the new 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog!  I was limited to the other sneak peek preview paper we had available, Summer Smooches.  Yes, this delightful Lucky Limeade Paper is part of the Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper.  I've been so "in love with" the papers with the graphic colors that I've ignored this sheet.  Until this project came along.

     But what a perfect background for a colorful bunch of flowers!  Oh, yes- the challenge was to make a project with 3-dimensional flowers!  On the other hand, the ribbon I've used for these flowers IS retiring soon!  This is one of the last projects involving retired products that I'm going to be showing off, and I thought I'd try to use up some of the retiring 5/8" Satin Ribbon.  ALL of that ribbon is retiring, and I'm going to be so sad to see it go because it makes beautiful ribbon rosettes.  I did sneak in a product from the 2012 Occasions Mini  - the large pearls. BUT they're still available! I hope that means they'll be in the new catalog. The final product (besides the Pretty in Pink, Real Red, and Bashful Blue Card Stock), is the set of leaves, all punched using the leaves from the Bird Builder Punch.

     I had so much fun making these ribbon rosettes that I made a quick video of how to make them and included it in my last newsletter.  If you're not on my newsletter list and sign up for it in the next week or so, I'll be glad to send you a copy.  I'm going to be making another video soon showing off a box for greeting cards – and I'm hoping to have some new products to show off as well – as I demonstrate it.  That will be something just for my newsletter, too!

    And as I rush off to get packed – two weeks before this posts! – here is a quick sketch for this card layout.  Hmmm.  I'm wondering what I'll be using for envelopes for my 5-1/4" square greeting cards now that the Medium Square Envelopes are retiring?  I may know soon! 

     I hope you're all having as much fun this week as I am now that I'm finally back home and enjoying my craft room again!

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The Eighth Stamp!

Aloha, all!

     Over the weekend, I mentioned that there was one of the eight stamps in the Stampin' Up! Stamp Set, Everybunny, that wasn't necessarily related to Easter.  And here it is!

     Are those little mushrooms cute or what?  While I'm hoping that the Everybunny set will stick around in the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog (so I can use it NEXT Easter, too!), I'm going to try to make the most of it while I can – just in case….

     For this card, I used the same set of Designer Series Papers – Just Add Cake – that I used for my personal Easter 2012 Stamp-a-Stack.  I really like the colors in that set, and it's one of the zillion products that will likely be retiring with the 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  The colors in this set include one of the 2010-2012 In Colors that will definitely be retiring, and I have absolutely no reason to believe that this set of papers won't retire, either.  In fact, most of the Designer Series Paper sets do retire each year.  There's one or two that have carried over from one year to the next, but that's all I can recall.

     Oh, and the colors – I used Wild Wasabi (the card base and some ink), So Saffron, Peach Parfait (retiring this year), and Baja Breeze.  And the stamp set – one of my all-time favorite stamp sets is Sincere Salutations, and most people are guessing that this is its last year on the Stampin' Up! stock shelves.  It may also be one of the (very few) stamp sets that I keep around after they retire.

     Of course now that I'm more at leisure to get things done, I've gone back to tying my card up with a ribbon!  I love Stampin' Up!'s coordinating embellishments, and this So Saffron Taffeta Ribbon is just perfect for this card. 

     AND I have a sketch!  Lots of 1-3/4" measurements in this one!  I hope you enjoy it and have fun doing some paper crafting this week.  I'm going to be relaxing for the week because Stampin' Up! will be shaking things up come April 15th.  It may not be tax day this year, but it's the day that Stampin' Up! announces the stamp sets that are going to be retiring.  Your last chance for some of those stamp sets you've been thinking about buying but haven't!

     Have a great week!

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Masculine or Feminine?

Aloha, all!

     One of the groups to which I belong challenged us to use the same stamp set to make both a masculine and a feminine card.  Well, that felt just too easy to me, so I challenged myself a few steps further – use the same colors, paper and layout, too!   The stamp sets I chose – yes I chose TWO stamp sets – are new this year:  Perfectly Penned for the greeting and Raining Flowers for the floral stamps.

     You might be able to tell that I was kind of stuck on what kind of Designer Series Paper that's already in my stash had a prayer of being considered masculine.  I decided on one of the designs from the Well Worn set and then I set out to feminize it a bit.  I actually gave this card to a friend who needed a get well card this week, and when I wrote my note in it I felt the femininity in the lace and pearls, and a bit in the roughed-up edges.

     To make this a bit more masculine, I switched out the pearls for some Crumb Cake Brads and left off the lace.  I also just tied a plain knot; substituted Soft Suede for the Not Quite Navy Card Stock, Ribbon and Ink; and left the edges of the Designer Series Paper alone.

     So if you've got a limited selection of papers and stamps from which to choose, just a little bit of changing things around can turn a masculine card feminine or the other way around!

     The layout of this card is pretty simple.  It's a sketch that can work with so many different designs and is pretty stress-free.  It's good to be stress-free when you're supposed to be having fun making cards!

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Get Well Wish!

Aloha, all!

     I hope that everyone who's reading this today is feeling just wonderful!  On the other hand, it seems that on any given day of the year there's someone I know who could use a little bit of a pick-me-up card, and quite of few of those could sure use Get Well Wishes.  I always try to have at least one Get Well Card around for just those occasions so I can send it out right away if I find that my friend is feeling bad.

     When I first started out to make this card, I decided that I wanted to do something that had a bit of a distressed look.  I have to tell you that this is not a design technique with which I have a lot of experience.  For one thing, I really do like clean cut designs with very clearly-defined edges.  So I sometimes try too hard when I try something new (for me) like this.  But I've seen so many beautiful distressed or vintage style cards lately that I decided this was a good time to try it out. 

     I spent a lot more time on this card that I usually do.  The first card that I made just had too much sponging and distressing.  So I tore it apart (all pieces can be used for other projects – just not all together!) and put a different combination of designs together into this card.  If I wasn't so pressed for time today, I would probably have kept fussing away at it.  Any and all comments and suggestion are welcome!

     The colors that I used for this card are Wisteria Wonder (one of Stampin' Up!'s newest and most luscious colors, IMHO!) and Certainly Celery (an oldie-but-goodie subtle color). I stamped the outline stamp from the Hostess Set, Simply Soft using Concord Crush, and I sponged the embossed design of the layer made with the Embossing Folder, Framed Tulips, as well as the edge of the card itself, with the same Concord Crush ink.  I used Wisteria Wonder card stock for the embossed layer and the Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin' pad to stamp the light solid color of the flowers.

     The ribbon that ties this all together is Certainly Celery 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, one of the few ribbons I have left over from the last Stampin' Up! catalog that are still in the newest 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog.  (I still haven't placed an order from the new catalog because I've been so busy getting ready for and going on my July travels!)  I also used a thin mat of Certainly Celery card stock behind the stamped layer, and filled in some of the stems and little leaves on the stamped image with some Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Marker.

     The Get Well Soon Stamp is from the stamp set, Sincere Salutations, which is my go-to stamp set for so many greetings!  I punched it out with the Decorative Label Punch, the edge of which I sponged a bit, again with Concord Crush ink.

     Here's the sketch for this card.  While I'm not so sure how I like the finished card for this project, I definitely had fun working with it!  It feels very refreshing trying something new.  I hope that you're able to have this kind of fun with something new before long yourself!

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A Busy Day in the Craft Room!

Aloha, all!

     This week is just another that is packed full of places I have to be and meetings I have to attend.  Yesterday was no exception, but I didn't have to get out of the house until 3 pm.  So I worked my best at getting as many projects as possible done before then.  I had four cards that I HAD to make – three for my husband to use for some of his correspondence and one for a customer who needed a wedding card as soon as possible.  Besides that, I am in the middle of trying to get ready for a blog hop (this weekend – don't miss it!), I needed to make a card for a challenge, and I had to get a bunch of swap projects done (swaps as in I have to make 5 or 10 of each project and I swap with an equal number of people so we each have a variety of projects to show off in our respective craft rooms).  Whew!  But that means I'll have lots to share with you as the month goes on!

     The first card I'll share took care of two projects – my husband needed a Get Well Card and I wanted to participate in this week's Create with Connie and Mary Summer Edition Color Challenge.  Not only that, as I was looking for ideas, I remembered that one of my online groups had a sketch challenge last week, and that's where I got the idea for this layout.  Nice when I can kill three birds with one stone (sorry birds – I need to update that platitude, don't I?!)

     The Create with Connie and Mary Challenge (CCMC-SUM03) asked that we use the Stampin' Up! colors Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight and Wild Wasabi.  Nice challenge because one of the sets of Designer Series Papers in the Stampin' Up! 2011 Summer Mini Catalog – Beyond the Garden - includes just these colors (and a few more, too).  But this sheet just has the colors in the challenge.  For the layout, I made three equal size squares, and put the greeting on the topmost of the squares.  The sentiment is from the old but goodie (and still alive in the new catalog!) stamp set, Sincere Salutations.  The little flower that I used to accent it is from the Summer Mini Catalog Hostess set, Love & Care.  The printed paper on the square to the left is also from the Beyond the Garden paper set, and the ribbon that ties it all together is Daffodil Delight 5/8" Satin Ribbon.  Unfortunately this ribbon will be retiring with the new catalog.  So if you want to have some for your stash, be sure to order it now!  When retiring accessories are gone, that's it! 

     Here's the sketch for this card.  I have to tell you that, even though I was under the gun, so to speak, with all these projects, I really did have a lot of fun with them all!  I hope that, no matter how busy you get, you can still have lots of fun with your own paper crafting projects!

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Paper Ribbons – “Sage” Green

Aloha, all!

     One of the best moments of every month is the day I receive my copy of Card Maker Magazine in the mail.  I can only hope that I've gotten the mail early in the day so that I can sit right down and go all through it.  This WEEK I've had TWO best moments.  Not only did I get the June issue of the magazine (on schedule because we get things late here in Hawaii) I received the July issue, too!  And it was the July issue that showed off the card I'm CASEing today (CASE = Copy And Share with Everyone; my interpretation).

     The first thing that caught my eye with this card were those strips of paper all lined up and notched so prettily.  The second feature of the magazine card that caught my eye was that those were Stampin' Up! papers on the sample!  And the Square Lattice Sizzix Die had been used for the background.  But what was the color green they used?  What they called it was "Sage Green."  At first I thought, oooooh, a new color!  But then I realized that the papers were from this year's Paper Pack designs.  Since I'm pretty sure that Stampin' Up! will change those designs out for the new year (starting July 1st!!!), I had to figure out which green they used.  I finally decided that it was Certainly Celery.  Now that I see my own card photographed, I'm at about 98% sure.  I should have been a detective!!

     Then I looked at those notches and at how well they mimicked the notches at the end of the ribbon (Certainly Celery 5/8" Satin Ribbon).  How was I going to get them to be so nicely matched?  This is how I decided to do it:

I lined the strips all up so that they were all even at the top.  Then I laid a ruler (could be any straight edge as we're not measuring here) across at about the point at which I wanted the notch to end.  Finally, I made a pencil mark in the center of each strip, which you can see just below the ruler in this picture.

I removed the ruler and cut each strip individually.

     Now the best news for this type of project – and a bit of a hint about a new product that will be in the new catalog – starting in July we'll be able to use a PUNCH to make those notches!  Stay tuned for more details as our Demonstrator pre-order period starts.  I hope that we'll get that punch as part of our pre-order offerings!!!  (Addendum to this post:  The new Pennant Punch won't work for this kind of project because of the way that the punch is configured.  Oh well, one can always dream!)

     The stamped images on the magazine card were not from Stampin' Up!  But I think that the flower and stem from Fabulous Florets (in the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini Catalog) and the greeting (from the stamp set, Simply Said) fit this card just beautifully!

     Here's the sketch for this card.  I used the finished measurements for the top two layers.  For these two layers, stamp the images on a larger piece of card stock and use the Tearing Edge tool to make the "torn" edges.  Slip the side piece of card stock just under the top layer.

     This is definitely a card you can have fun with!  Think of all that paper you have lying around just dying to be cut into little strips!

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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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A Fun Class Project!

Aloha, all!

     Today and tomorrow I'm going to share the greeting cards that we made at my Stamp-A-Stack class session last week.  For this class, we all made 6 copies of each of the cards, and got them done in record time!

     My group had asked for some Valentine Cards and also for some Thank You cards (very much needed after the holiday gift-giving season!).  I decided that this card could serve as a card for many different occasions, not just as a Thank You card.  So everyone stamped quite a few different greetings, and put them in a baggie to have available when a card is needed.  All you have to do is add a bit of adhesive and you've got yourself a birthday card, get well card, thank you card, or even just a "thinking of you" card!

     The papers that I used for this card are both from the Designer Paper Set, Springtime Vintage, in the Stampin' Up! 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog.  They remind me of the papers on my grandmother's dining room wall – really a very vintage look!  There's plenty of different designs in this paper set, and plenty to make up a lot of this particular design.  The ribbon is the Rose Red 1/2" Seam Binding, which is a new Seam Binding color featured in the Occasions Mini Catalog, and the bow is another effort at making the design perfected by Mary Brown, a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator who shared a tutorial on how to make these non-tied bows. 

     The one element on this card that I've not shared with you in a very long time is the Build-A-Brad which holds the bow and the ribbon together.  This is a great little embellishment, and allows you to make a brad out of anything that you can punch out with a 1/2" Punch.  In this case, I took a small flower from another piece of paper in this designer paper set and made that the center of the brad.  As the class needed all the Pewter colored brads for their projects, I only had a brass colored one available to use for the card pictured, and that color is no longer available.  I much prefer the pewter colored brads, and have more on order!

     The stamp set that I used for the greetings is the oldie-but-goodie set, Sincere Salutations.  All the greetings in this set are easily punched with the Oval Extra-Large Punch. 

     This card has a very common card layout, and one that I featured in my 2010 Greeting Card Layout eBook, and which I first published in my June 30, 2010, blog post – and here it is again!

     If you haven't used this layout, it really does help you make a quick and easy card!   And I always have fun with quick and easy – hope you do, too!

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Stampin’ Up!’s Oh Sew Suite

Aloha, all!

     I love Stampin' Up!'s cute title for the group of products in the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog that includes all kinds of sewing images.  The group is the "Oh Sew" suite.  Sweet!

     Today I got my first package of the Designer Paper Set, Sweet Stitches, and went right to work on it.  I wasn't sure it was something I'd like until I got my hands on it.  It's got so many colors in the set and they're all bright and cheery.  We need that during the gray days of winter.  And, yes, we have gray days of winter here in Hawaii where I live because it's our rainy season.  Need the rain because we live in a rain forest.  But the gray gets to me sometimes so I have to go to the other side of the island to get a sun fix!

     There are several products from the Occasions Mini Catalog in this Get Well Card.  The background is from the Designer Paper Set, of course.  But then there's the Pompon  Trim that comes in three colors to coordinate with the paper set.  That was so much fun to work with!  Just a bit of Sticky Strip and the trim was on the card.  The stamped image is from the Mini Catalog Level 1 Hostess Set, A Slice of Life.  There are some darned cute images in that set, and I'll be sharing them with you from time to time over the four months of this Mini Catalog.

     Speaking of Mini Catalogs – there is an updated list of products that have been carried over from the Holiday Mini Catalog, and the fabric fat quarters that were featured in that catalog are still available. 

     And speaking of fabric – there is fabric in the Occasions Mini Catalog, too!  One set matches three sheets of papers from the Sweet Stitches paper set and the fabric is also called Sweet Stitches.  I'm just going to have to get that sewing machine out and show off some of that before long, too!

     Have a great weekend everyone!  I hope you get some time to do something creative!

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One More Flower Fancy Card

Aloha, all!

     You may recall that a couple of days ago I shared a card that I made for the Divas Coffee Break Design Team that used the stamp set Flower Fancy.  I was grumbling because I really wanted to be focusing on Christmas Cards.  Well, maybe not grumbling, but….

     Well, contrary to my recently made resolution to put everything back when I'm finished with a project, I left Flower Fancy sitting out on the Craft Room work table.  And there it was when I found a SUDSOL Chat & Challenge going on.  Guess what I used?  If you guessed a Christmas stamp set you'd be wrong of course.  Why take something else out when everything was still there!  OK, those who've crafted with me know that wouldn't usually make a difference to me either because I just take new stuff out of the drawers and pile it on top of the old.  But I firmly believe in breaking only one resolution at a time.

     This time, though, I wasn't limited to a set of colors.  But what DID limit me was a discussion going on in the chat room about using Stampin' Up! Watercolor Pencils.  You know when you hear a tune and you just can't get it out of your head?  Well that's what happened when they started talking about Watercolor Pencils.  So I just had to go pull them out, dust them off and USE them!  But I had limited time, so had to be quick about it.  So I stamped up the Flower Fancy flower in Jet Black StazOn, and picked up two red/pink pencils for the flower, a green one for the leaves, and a yellow one for the background.  Out came the Aqua Painter and presto, a watercolored flower! THEN I had to go find Stampin' Up! papers that matched.  The Real Red and Regal Rose fit the bill nicely, and off I went with the sketch provided.  I didn't have any second thoughts about this card – it's a nice Get Well Card, and I'll gladly send it to someone who's ailing!

     Here's the layout as I used it – it probably doesn't quite match the layout as provided by the challenge leader.  But I'm not noted for using sketches exactly either.

     If you'd like to learn more about Stampin' Up!'s Watercolor Pencils, give me a call (808.854.6145) or send me an e-mail.  I'll be glad to chat with you about them!

     Whatever you do with this sketch or colors, have fun with it!

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