Nautical Pennants

  Wow!  We had a super busy week doing fun stuff with my cousin and her kids.  We went for a walk in the woods, went to Maymont, painted our own pottery, tested out a frozen yogurt place (good!), went to the new Winnie-the-Pooh movie, went to a bouncy house place, swam at the pool, made our own super bouncy balls, made Christmas ornaments, drew a chalk city in the street to ride bikes on and now it's time to rest!  Whew!  Hopefully I'll get some time in the stamp room this weekend, I think I'm having withdrawl!

  Here is another card that we made last week at my July Stamp Club.  It's another masculine card made with the single stamp Sail Away from the summer mini (Only a few weeks left to order from this catalog.  Don't wait!!).  We used the Clear Block Stamping technique for this card.  This is one of the easiest techniques you will ever use!  Just take your clear stamping block and ink it up.  Yes, just tap, press, or smoosh your clear block onto your ink pad and then press it to your card stock.  It leaves a really cool impression that's a perfect background to stamp right on top of.

  For the clear block stamping here I used Crumb Cake ink and stamped the Sail Away image on top using Not Quite Navy ink.  Cool!  For this card I also wanted to show off some new items from the Idea Book & Catalog.  It might be hard to see but the Early Espresso panel is embossed with the new Houndstooth embossing folder.  This new pattern is very cool and I can't wait to use it on some winter cards.  Houndstooth just makes me think of colder weather!

  Another new item that I used on this card was the new Pennant Punch.  I punched out the straight edged pennant using the Nautical Expedition DSP and mounted them on a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock alternating which way they faced.  I added a silver brad on each end and some bakers twine for more nautical flair.

Stamps: Sail Away

Ink: Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy

Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP

Accessories: Houndstooth embossing folder, silver brads, baker's twine, Pennant Punch, clear block

  There are some fun promotions going on right now at Stampin' Up!  Don't miss out on a great deal!

  The first is, is a Buy 3 get 1 FREE of Designer Series Paper.  This special does not include the specialty DSPs but does include the papers in the Summer Mini.  Now is a great time to get your DSP for holiday projects and gifts!  Order online through my demonstrator website listed on my sidebar.

  The second is; the state of Virginia is having a sales tax holiday for school supplies up to $20.00 per item from August 5-7. Because school supply items are included in this sales tax holiday, the below list of items will be state tax free during the holiday period. Please note that you must place your order with Stampin' Up! during the tax holiday period in order to receive these items tax free.   Now is a great time to stock up on adhesives!  You can place your orders through my Stampin' Up! website listed on my sidebar.  

Item Number Description  Price 100425 2-Way Glue Pen  $    3.50 100902 Dotto Refill  $    6.50 101879 Watercolor Pencils (24)  $   19.95 102845 Blender Pens (3)  $    9.95 103179 Craft & Rubber Scissors  $   19.95 103305 Dotto  $   12.95 103579 Paper Snips  $    9.95 103683 Mini Glue Dots  $    4.95 104045 Anywhere Glue Sticks (2)  $    3.95 104294 Sticky Strip  $    6.95 104331 SNAIL Refill  $    4.50 104332 SNAIL Adhesive  $    6.95 104430 Stampin' Dimensionals  $    3.95 105021 Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen  $    3.95 105394 Basic Black Stampin' Write Journaler  $    3.50 110755 Multipurpose Liquid Glue  $    3.95 Varies Stampin' Write Marker  $    3.50 119801 2010-2012 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (5)  $   14.95 119802 Subtles Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons (10)  $   16.95 119803 Regals Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons (10)  $   16.95 119804 Brights Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons (10)  $   16.95 119805 Neutrals Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons (10)  $   16.95 123002 2011-2013 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (5)  $   14.95
Have a great weekend!  Thanks for looking.  Did you stamp today?

Father's Day Sailboat

  Better late than never with this card.  Maybe this Father's Day card will inspire you for a masculine birthday or for Father's Day next year.  This is the card that I made last minute pulled together for my husband this year.  I was loving the colors and supplies that I used for this card and wanted to stick with them (or they were still out on my desk).

   I did 3 squares of Nautical Expedition DSP on the right hand side.  I love the different patterns of blues in this pack of paper.  Then I stamped the Sail Away single Stamp in Cherry Cobbler ink.  To make the cool shadow effect use your stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the image again just a tad bit over from the original with Whisper White craft ink.  How cool is that?  The final touch for this card is the "Happy Father's Day" banner at the bottom with a neat little Cherry Cobbler baker's twine bow at the end.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sail Away

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White craft

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP

Accessories: Baker's Twine, stamp-a-ma-jig

Strength & Hope Faux Silk

  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend stamping away!  I didn't get too much done in the stamp room as I was busy with other commitments but I did decide on the card designs for my upcoming Stamp-a-Stack next week.  I also want to give a shout out to those who are new followers to my blog.  I feel like I've had an influx of new followers the last few weeks.  I hope you all find interesting projects and helpful hints here at Did You Stamp Today?  Just leave a comment if you ever have any questions...I can talk about stamping all day!

Here is the last of the 3 project we did at May Stamp Club.  I wanted to teach my stamping ladies the Faux Silk technique as it is pretty cool and very easy to do.  I used the Faux Silk tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers.  All you do is stamp your image on tissue and then crumple it up, use a glue stick all over your cardstock base, smooth the tissue paper over the cardstock and then trim off the extra tissue paper.  It gives a cool wrinkled look just like silk.  Easy peasy!

  For this card we did the Faux Silk technique using the Strength & Hope set.  We stamped in the words in Chocolate Chip then adhered the tissue paper to the Whisper White base, trimmed the extra then stamped the butterfly in Baja Breeze.  You don't want to stamp the butterfly first because it might get trimmed off after you glue it down.  This panel is also sponged around the edges with Chocolate Chip.

  There is Pear Pizzazz seam binding going around the faux silk panel.  We stamped the "Hope" sentiment in Chocolate Chip and then punched it out with the Decorative Label punch and layered it behind the seam binding.  To finish off the embellishment we used the new Triple Layer Blossom Bouquet punch to make the flower and then added an adhesive rhinestone to the center.  And there you have it!

  Just a quick reminder that the Stampin' Up! Last Chance list is only available until June 30.  Don't wait to order if there is something on your wish list that is retiring.  Click on the Shop Online link on my sidebar to get started.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Strength & Hope

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, tissue paper

Accessories: adhesive rhinestones, seam binding ribbon, Decorative Label punch, Triple Layer Blossom Bouquet punch

Masculine Sail Away

  Here is the second project my stamping ladies did for our May get together.  Coming up on Father's Day we all need some masculine cards on hand.  I really love the simplicity of the single image stamp Sail Away in the Summer mini catalog and decided to combine it with the Nautical Expedition DSP.  This is a pretty easy card with some great details.

  The base of this card is Not Quite Navy, a color which I don't use nearly often enough.  Then I layered a piece of the red striped Nautical Expedition DSP on the base.  For the image panel the sailboat is stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla.  I then stamped the sailboat again onto Whisper White and cut out the sails and adhered them onto the Very Vanilla panel.  Does it look so cool with the sails being the crisp white?  I also colored in the little flag at the top of the mast with my Cherry Cobbler marker.  This panel is mounted on a piece of Early Espresso cardstock.

  I used the Cropadile to punch a hole in the corner of the image panel and then set one of the jumbo brads also using the Cropadile.  What guys doesn't like a little bit of hardware??  I looped a length of Cherry Cobbler baker's twine (I think my most favorite item in the Summer Mini) through the jumbo brad and around a few times tying it off in the front.  The sailboat is adhered with dimensionals to the base.

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Sail Away

Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler (marker)


Paper: Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP


Accessories: jumbo brad, Cropadile, dimensionals, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine

Fun Fold Graduation Cap

  Well I think summer is officially here in Richmond.  I woke up this morning and the temperature was already at 73 degrees and the sun wasn't even up yet.  It is supposed to be about 100 today so the dog and got our walk in and now I'm enjoying the relative cool on my front porch before the rest of the house gets moving.  I hope everyone else out there is staying cool today!

  I finally had a chance to take photos of the projects that we did at my May stamp club.  I decided to have one project be a graduation themed since it's that time of year.  And since I don't have any current graduation sets I decided to do a fun fold card.  I had seen a really cool card that Dawn Olchefske showed on her blog last year and thought it would be perfect.  She has a great video tutorial here showing how to do the scoring and make the tassel.  I wrote out instructions for my ladies to follow and they did an awesome job...I think they were intimidated at first but once they saw how easy it was (really just a few score marks!) they jumped right in and made fantastic graduation caps. 

 

  Start with a 9 3/4" x 4 1/4" sheet of black cardstock.

1)   Score the black cardstock at 5 ½”

2)   Fold at the score mark

3)    Put the folded edge in to the 2 1/8” mark and just make a tick mark at the top and bottom of the cardstock – DO NOT SCORE ALL THE WAY DOWN

4)   Flip the cardstock over so the fold still goes in to the 2 1/8” mark and do the same tick marks at the top and bottom – DO NOT SCORE ALL THE WAY DOWN

5)   Unfold.  Line up tick marks along the scoring bed - right hand top tick mark with left hand bottom tick mark – SCORE

6)    Line up tick marks along the scoring bed - left hand top tick mark with right hand bottom tick mark – SCORE (This makes an X across the center of your cardstock).  Fold along the score marks)

7)   Turn cardstock long ways and make a mark at the top at 2 1/8”

8)   Using the CUTTING blade, line up the top mark with the previous score and cut off the corner.  Repeat on the opposite side.  This makes the square part of the hat

9)   Embellish!

  Hope that all makes sense when you sit down to make this card.  Definitely check out Dawn's video for more of a visual. 

  I gave my ladies 4 or 5 different choices of colors for their stamping, numbers and tassel.  I figured one would match the school colors of whichever graduate they were making it for.  For my sample I used Real Red.  We made the tassel by tying an 8 inch piece of 1/4" grosgrain ribbon in half.  Keep the knot way up close to the fold so you don't end up with a short stumpy tassel.  Then taking really sharp scissors, cut off just one edge of the ribbon.  Do it again with the other ribbon piece.  Now you can begin to fray the ribbon making the long silky strands.  Once you have all the the ribbon frayed, cut off up close to the knot the two little comb-like piece of ribbon.  Now add your tassel to the top of your hat with a brad.  We used either gold or silver.

  Here is what it looks like when you open the the hat.  For the class year on the inside of the card we just chose our cardstock color and ran the numbers through the Big Shot with the Simple Numbers die.  Of course we needed a sentiment so I went with Happy Greetings from the Summer Mini catalog. 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Happy Greetings (Summer Mini)

Ink: Real Red


Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red


Accessories: scoring/cutting blade, grosgrain ribbon, brad, Simple Numbers Big Shot die

Strength & Hope Birthday

  Here is the card that I sent to my aunt last week for her birthday.  It's a fun shimmery girlie kind of card.  I don't usually make girlie cards....having 2 messy little boys kind of keeps me away from anything pretty since it will probably get grubby handprints on it anyway!  But this butterfly from the Strength & Hope set in the Summer mini was just calling for some girlie colors, ribbon and Smooch Spritz.

  The base is Perfect Plum that was embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  I also used vanilla Smooch Spritz which I hope you can see in the photo.  For the butterfly layer I stamped the swirl accent stamp in Crumb Cake onto Very Vanilla.  I rounded the corners and sponged the edges with Perfect Plum.  I stamped the butterfly on Very Vanilla and then used my paper snips to cut it out.  The Smooch Spritz found it way onto the butterfly.  I added a small strip of adhesive pearls for the body and then adhered a little snippet of linen thread to the back for the antennae.  I slightly bent in the wings before adhering the butterfly with a dimensional so the wings stick out a bit more, though after going through the mail who knows what the wings look like!

   The Rose Red layer is a little piece of Sweet Pea DSP that I had left over, rounded those edges too (a great current product to try instead would be the DSP Stacks on page 175 of the Idea Book & Catalog, they come in each of the color collections so you get a great variety).  Then for the top and bottom I punched out a strip with Scallop Trim border punch in Very Vanilla.  The final touch was a ruffled ribbon seam binding bow (Click here for a ruffled ribbon tutorial) with a gorgeous Vintage brad.

  Don't forget to check out the Hope & Strength set in the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini catalog on page 27.  For each Hope & Strength set sold, Stampin' Up! is donating $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to help support their efforts of prevention and finding a cure in our lifetime.  What a great cause to support!  Think about adding this stamp set to your next order or click HERE to begin shopping.

  Thank for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps:Strength & Hope

Ink: Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake


Paper: Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Sweet Pea DSP (retired)


Accessories: Very Vanilla seam binding, Vintage brad, Vanilla Smooch Spritz, adhesive pearls, linen thread, dimensionals, Scallop Trim border punch, Elegant Lines embossing folder

Happy Bird Day Challenge Card

  Just a quick post today before I have to go get the boys at school.  I was actually able to play along with the Clean & Simple Challenge (CAS) over on Splitcoaststampers today.  This is one of my favorite color combinations as you might have figured out by how often I use the Elegant Soiree DSP!

  Since this is a clean and simple challenge the card is pretty basic and self-explanatory.  I did use some of the new Baker's Twine that just came out in the new Summer mini.  It's a great lightweight option to the linen thread...and you get a lot of it so you don't have to feel like you need to hoard it!  The banner is hand cut and I added a little heart bitty button with some more of the Baker's Twine threaded through and a Whisper White punched heart backing it.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Aviary, Bring on the Cake

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake

Paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Baja Breeze


Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, bitty button, Baker's Twine, corner rounder punch, dimensionals, Heart to Heart punch (for the small white heart behind the button)

New Color Coach Combination

  I just LOVE the new color coach that Stampin' Up will have available in the new catalog.  It is like a deck of cards with the combinations on the back and a really good sized sample of the color on the front.  When I was designing the projects for my last Stampin' Tuesday event I decided to check out some of the new combinations and make a card with them.  I wanted to use the Sweet Scoops set (Summer Mini) so I decided to use a combo that would work for ice cream.  This is certainly not a combination that I would have come up with on my own but I do like it and I'm looking forward to playing with a lot more of the suggested combinations.

  First, I inked up my ice cream with Pumpkin Pie ink and then stamped it directly on the "texture" stamp which takes some of the ink from the ice cream leaving little lines that makes it look just how a scoop of ice cream looks (very cool).  After stamping on the texture stamp I stamped it on the paper and then used a mask over it to then stamp the cone.  Add the cherry on top and put a little drop of Crystal Effects on it.

  Another fun thing on this card is the vanilla Smooch Spritz that was applied to the Rich Razzleberry layer.  It's kind of hard to see but it really does sparkle.


Stamps:  Sweet Scoops

Ink: Creamy Caramel (retiring), Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Accessories: Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon (retiring), Crystal Effects

Tropical Sunset Pocket Card

Happy Saturday!  Here is the 3rd and last project we made at my last Stampin' Tuesday class.  As soon as I saw the Tropical Party set in the Summer Mini I knew it was one that I would get.  I didn't have any fun summer images and I just love the palm tree, coconut drink and the flowers in this set.  I had recently gotten the 2 Tags Die for my Big Shot so I wanted to make a bookmark card using the scallop tag and the Tropical Party set.  I thought this card would be great to give to someone who is a reader that has a summer birthday (with a new book!)...or you could change the sentiment for someone going on vacation.  Everyone needs a new bookmark for those beach reading books!

  The base of the card is Pink Passion (almost retired!). To make the pocket, center your word window punch in the center of your top layer (my top layer is from the Kaleidoscope DSP) and slip the paper down as far as it will go into the punch.  Punch out the shape and then line up the punch again with the hole and move it slightly to the right so just a bit of paper is showing in the back of the punch and punch then move over to the left and punch out another small amount of paper.  This makes the opening for the pocket wide enough for the bookmark to slide into; just a single word window punch isn't big enough.  Then stamp the palm tree in Pink Passion at the bottom of your DSP.  Make sure when you adhere the DSP layer to the base that you only put adhesive around the outer edges so your pocket doesn't get closed up.

  To make the book mark just run a strip of Pink Passion through your Big Shot with the scallop tag die and stamp the smallest flower in Pink Passion ink.  Use your markers to color the coconut (I used Only Orange, Pink Passion andClose to Cocoa) and huff on it to re-moisten and then stamp on Whisper White.  Punch it out with the scallop circle punch.  It's hard to see in this picture but the rim of the coconut and the umbrella are covered in Dazzling Diamonds.  Pop your scallop circle up on dimensionals and adhere it to the bookmark.

  I really like the little "Happy Birthday" banner since it uses up some of those smaller scraps that I can never bear to throw out.  If I think I can get even the smallest punch out of a piece of cardstock I don't throw it out and it shows in my scrap binders which are over flowing.  If you have a great layout or project that uses scraps I'd love to hear about it! Anyway back to the banner....Just stamp your sentiment and then use your paper snips to cut the end into points.  Since I didn't design this card with ribbon (I know!!  No ribbon???!!) we used a Build-A-Brad and another design from the Kaleidoscope DSP for the center.  If you haven't used the Build-A-Brad it's a really great item to have on hand for those cards that just need 'something' and ribbon or a smaller brad just won't do.  You can stamp a small image and then punch it out or just use a piece of DSP and adhere it to the brad base and then cover it with the clear bubble to make an embellishment that will perfectly match whatever project you're working on.

Stamps: Tropical Party, A Little Birthday Cheer

Ink: Pink Passion, Only Orange (marker), Close to Cocoa (marker)

Cardstock: Pink Passion, Whisper White, Kaleidoscope DSP


Accessories: Word Window punch, Scallop Circle punch, 2 Tags Die (Big Shot), Build-A-Brad, Dazzling Diamonds

Jeanne's Sweet Birthday

  This past Saturday was my dear friend Jeanne's birthday.  We had her and her family over to celebrate so of course I had to make a card.  Jeanne is a super sweet person so I wanted to make her a card that went with her personality.  Sweet Scoops was just sitting on my stamping table begging for some ink.  What could be sweeter than ice cream??

 This is a quick and easy layout inspired by last week's Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge over on Splitcoaststampers (CAS66).  I have a lot of Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper left so I went for this pink stripe pattern.  I added a layer of Pixie Pink punched with the scallop border punch.  I paper pierced each scallop and then highlighted them with my white gel pen.  I pierced again above my DSP.

 The Sweet Scoops set comes with a cute texture stamp so you can make your ice cream look like it was just scooped with the little wavy lines and everything! Ink up the ice cream stamp and then stamp it directly onto the un-inked texture stamp then stamp your ice cream on your cardstock. The texture stamp will pull just a bit of ink from the other stamp making it lighter when you do your final image on cardstock. Super cool!  Then I made a quick mask for the ice cream with a sticky note (stamp your image at the top of the sticky note, cut the image out and then use it to cover up the image you want to make).  I wanted to make sure my cone looked like it was underneath the ice cream and not just floating on top.  Once my ice cream was masked I stamped the cone with Creamy Caramel (soon to be retired color).  The small tag punch fits perfectly with this ice cream cone and then layered with Pixie Pink using the large tag punch.

  The tag is finished off with a Whisper White grosgrain knot (I don't do bows--they always look crooked!) and popped up on dimensionals.  I stamped the sentiment with Creamy Caramel. I have Sweet Scoops in the clear mount option and I think it makes it really easy to see where you are lining up your scoops and cones.  Yay clear mount!

Stamps: Sweet Scoops

Ink: Pixie Pink, Creamy Caramel

Paper: Whisper White, Pixie Pink, Kaleidoscope DSP

Accessories: paper piercer, Signo white gel pen, grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Tropical Party Good Friend - Happy New Mini!!

Check out this great set that was just released today in the new Summer Mini.  It's called Tropical Party.  I love it's tropical island summer feel.  I don't have another set like this so as soon as I saw it I knew what would be making it's way to my stamp room!

I combined a little old with a little new here.  Again, I'm trying to use up some of my soon to be retired colors as well as Designer Series paper that will be retiring also (because it contains retiring colors). The Tempting Turquoise strip was run through the Big Shot using the also new Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (also new in the Summer Mini!).  The sentiment is from the "Good Friends" set in the Idea Book & Catalog.  I stamped the flowers on scrap paper and cut them out with my paper snips (love those!).  The 2 larger flowers have brads in the centers and are raised on dimensionals.

Definitely get your Stampin' Up Summer Mini as soon as you can to see all the great new products that are being offered!

Stamps: Tropical Party, Good Friend

Ink: Temping Turquoise, Green Galore, Pink Passion

Paper: Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Kaleidoscope DSP


Accessories: Grosgrain ribbon, brads, Square Lattice embossing folder