May Stamp Club with a Challenge!

Because of Memorial Day, our club is always moved to the first Monday in June.

These are the projects Kathy had for us.  ADORABLE - and a Challenge!


We used lots of the new products since the new catalog went live the next day.

The Ronald McDonald Charities stamp set has SO MANY possibilities!  I don't usually like them much, but this one will get used OFTEN!  It's called Sprinkles of Life and comes with a coordinating punch which makes life so much easier!

Topping the gift box is the new 'cotton paper'.  I've made many flowers, just as many from our stamp club.  This paper is FANTASTIC!  When you crunch it into shape, it stays!  You don't have to fight with it like we did with our previous method.

This card was the MOST fun!  It's a spinner card!  It took some engineering, and with some technique and know-how it looks SO COOL!

 The flower spins from one side of the card to the other.  I have some videos coming on how amazing this looks in person.

Stampin' Up Club Meeting - July

We have two really beautiful cards from July's Stamp Club!

 This card reminds me so much of a Chinese screen.  It folds to fit easily into a regular A2 envelope.
We stamped the red panels with Versamark ink, then embossed with white, and added Dazzling Diamonds as accents to the center of the flowers.  Black butterflies with either rhinestone or pearl bodies added a very elegant accent to the screen.

We discussed how this could be a really beautiful wedding card, and as I write this, I thought how awesome this would be as a baby card!

This card features the Wetlands stamp set.  We've now used it twice, and I really like it.  There are lots of options for masculine cards, and the sentiments are very pretty with lots of uses on other cards as well.

This card features the new In-Color Lost Lagoon, lots of framelits, the oval punch, and blender pen coloring on the Canada Goose.

I learned something tonight.  As a child we used to go to the Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin (where I grew up) to see the Canadian Geese on their migration flight.  Ms. Vicky at club tonight told me it's actually a Canada Goose!  I understand from her that Canadians get upset when you call them the 'wrong' thing.  SO  it's a Canada Goose - I guess the plural would be Canada Geese.  We see them flying around our neighborhood often, actually!

Stampin' Up Card Club April/May

Our April Card Club date got moved one week later, so Kathy, Robin, and I could attend the new catalog launch event during our regular club time.

It was AWESOME!  New craft items to play with, new stamp sets, new product!  We received our catalogs for 2014, and 2015... and a free stamp set!  I've already had fun using it.  You'll see a post in a few days on that card.

Two amazing cards this month for Card Club!  The top one uses lots of technique!  Sponging the card background with a fade from dark to light, hand-embossing the vellum (which I didn't do very well), some die-cut flowers, and an embossed Happy Birthday.     A very pretty card!

LOVE this card!  This technique is called an Emboss Resist.  We used the Gorgeous Grunge (one of my current favorites) and clear embossed the image on paper, sponged with Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay ink.  Then cut and adhere the squares, stamp the sentiment... punch holes using the templates, and add a butterfly!

A relatively simple card, but so stunning! 

March 2014 Stamp Club

At our February card club, my upline Kathy asked if I would run Club in March!  I was thrilled!

I love the color Bermuda Bay so much, one card just had to feature that color.

 I do love options, so each end of the table had these two card options - landscape, or portrait.  Same elements, just a different look.

 Colors?  Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo.  Stamp Sets?  Six-sided Sampler (and Hexagon punch)  Petite Petals (and small flower punch) and Hello, Lovely for the sentiment which we hand-cut.  A little embossing, some dimensionals and rhinestones - and a cute, springy card!

The 2nd card, Kathy asked if I would feature the thinlits card die.  At first, when I saw them demonstrated, I wasn't so thrilled.  There just wasn't enough room to do any message writing!  After looking at them for awhile, and debating about the price (There are 10 additional dies in each package.), I jumped in.

 You Tube is a wonderful resource for videos, and I found one that showed how to cut the die so you have an extra panel to fold in that leaves more than enough room to write in!

Now, as you've seen, I use them all the time.  In a few posts, I'll show another design using this die with a square card!  SUPER cute!

For this card, I used:  Pear Pizzazz and Whisper White card stock.  Gingham Garden DSP, and Washi Tape.
Stamp Sets: (4)  Flower Shop (and Pansy punch), Petite Petals (small flower punch) Bring on the Cake, and Delighful Dozen, and the 2 1/2" circle punch.

One of the best comments I received:  "This looked hard, but was easy once you got started on it."

February Stamp Club Cards

We made 2 cards, and a pin/flower project for February.

The first one uses DSP to make the candles, and 2 punches to make the flames - the bird punch, and the mini ornament punch!  We stamped and then die cut the sentiment.  This would be a perfect 'guy' card.

LOVE this Happy Birthday card!  The stamp comes from the current Sale-a-bration catalog, and is colored with blender pens.  

No, it's not paper - it's fabric!  We die cut it on the scallop border die, layered it onto a piece of circular sticky strip, and added a brad to the center.    This could be an embellishment on a project, or a pin.

January 2014 First Stamp Club Meeting of the Year!

It was so good to see the members of our Stamp Club again!  I call it "Card Club" at work, and sometimes I think my co-workers think I go play Poker, Blackjack, or Sheephead.  That doesn't happen - just card making!

 This is a nice card for Valentine's coming up VERY soon!  Lots of details - embossing, a rhinestone, and lots of hearts.

  We used the hexagon embossing folder for this card - it was actually really quick!  You'll see in just a moment why.  Love the Gray and Strawberry Slush together!

Did you say WOW! ?  We had 2 samples of this card - Going Gray, and Basic Black.  The black card was really something to see!  Our group made the Gray, and I'm not upset with that at all... it really is so elegant in person!  I made the flowers dimensional, and when I got home, I added glass glitter to the centers.  We used the cut-out hexagon pieces to do the card just above.  It's a great way to use all our materials with very little waste.

What a fantastic way to start 2014's Stamp Club! 

September 2013 Stamp Club Cards

Our word of the day this stamp club for September was.... Chevron!

Chevron in many different forms... chevron in different applications....  chevron, chevron, chevron!

 Our first card was just a fun, quick card - and my first opportunity to use the Core 'dinations cardstock!  Love how you only need to lightly sand it for an awesome visual effect!

 For the bow card, we used the large background chevron stamp to make the backing piece, and spent some time playing with the bow dies as well.


Can you say - Gift Card Holder!!!     Kathy always comes up with WONDERFUL ideas for gift card holders!  We have so many different types she's shown us, we could make these for the family for Christmas, and not duplicate for anyone! 

 This gift card holder is a matchbox fold, and uses the 'new' Envelope Punch to make the tabs to keep the top closed!  BRILLIANT idea for multitasking a seemingly one use item!

Here's the inside view of the card again using the pennant stamp set to make a party hat!  You can just see the flap in which to slide the gift card.

Fantastic idea!!!

Please enjoy!

August Stampin' Up Club Cards

Well, one card, and one project this month.  :)

NEW framelits card die sets aren't even in the catalog - but they're available.  There is the one shown - the Label Framelits, and a Circle Framelits die set.

Click HERE to see more information about these really CUTE card options!

  Three colors on this card - Black, Vanilla, and Bermuda Bay.

The way the framelits cut, it makes a flip card!  You can see the front image at the top, and when you pull the front panel, the label flips around to the back for a sentiment or handwritten message option.

 These framelits card dies are so versatile!  So so many options!  I'm working on one myself, and will show it here on the site soon.


These muslin bags show up in the Holiday catalog this year, and we used the Banner kit dot stencil and the sponge daubers to color these really adorable bags!

Colors?  Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, and Tangerine Tango.  We broke out our "old" ink pads for inking up the bag.  I really like the stencil effect of the lighter center, and darker edges.

They didn't take long at all, and are so cute!  While we were working on these, we came up with a list of things to do with the bags.... color ideas, stuffing items...  so many options!

I used a diagonal design on the bag, one of the ladies used only two colors and alternated them... one of the girls used a random design, and our sample used a horizontal design with the dots. 

This could be a really cute design for a card front.... muted background colors - polka-dot background.  And - the Banner kit has 2 other stencil options, so polka dots aren't the only way to go!

Please enjoy!

Stampin' Up Card Class

Tomorrow night I'm having my first Stampin' Up card making class.

One of my teacher friends asked if I would do one, and these are the 3 card designs we are making.

 Here's another version of the Sunburst card technique!  I REALLY love it!  This is one of those things when you see it, it just makes you happy!

I used the Gingham Garden DSP, and Pear Pizzaz, Melon Mambo, and Daffodil Delight as the solid colors to compliment the DSP.  Papillon Potpourri and butterfly punch - A Round Array and its coordinating punch to complete this card.

This card (in different colors) I received while at the Dallas Regional this past February... I was looking for a simple, stunning card for these ladies...

Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, and Baked Brown Sugar are the main colors.
A few punches - scallops, a circle, and a border punch; a little polka dot paper, and some ribbon to match the main card color.  Oh yes!  A rhinestone for sparkle!

Usually in a card making class there are two cards to make, but my friend asked for 3.  I wanted something that would be awesome - and super-simple!  After you make 2 cards, generally you're about 'done'....  so we'll see how this third card goes.

I got out my Polka Dot DSP, the punch templates, the butterfly punch, and one of the hostess stamp sets for this card.  With the addition of a button, and rhinestone.  That's all you need!!

 I hope you've enjoyed the preview of my cards for this class.  :)

July Stampin' Up Club Cards

Club tonight was GREAT!
We had some excellent card designs (Thanks, Kathy!) as always, and it was just great to see everyone.  I think it's because I'm off for the summer - and needed some crafting interaction!!  :)

Here they are -  I'm posting the 3 options we had for color choices on this first card, just because they all looked so fantastic!

First, Tangerine Tango.

This is the new In-Color for 2013-2015  Coastal Cabana.  I really love this color!!

Here we have the card in Real Red.  

 These cards also use the Black/Vanilla DSP called Modern Medley - I think we'll use this patterned paper a lot!  I know Kathy is in LOVE!  :)


Now - can you say Washi Tape!!??   (Wash - ee) Tape

This card is super-cute and a WOW in person!!
The main colors - Island Indigo and Melon Mambo.  It uses the new Artisan Label punch and the coordinating stamp set, as well as an inset of the sentiment from another set.
Label Love, and A Round Array.

We used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, cut the strip in half, using it to frame the Washi Tape from the Gingham Garden suite.

SO SO cute!!!!!

June Stamp Club Cards

Our May club was interrupted - and the first card was one I made this month instead of the June 1st event.


It was actually pretty quick to put together, and I had some help with the bows from my friend Robin. :)  She and Kathy have a talent for those little bows.
LOVE the Versamark effect on the background.  

 The Stampin' Up 2013-2014 catalog has hexagon stamps and punch available...  They look so awesome and are so versatile!  For this card, I thought there was a special trimmed background... but no!  It's the edges of the stamps making the nice border....  :)

 This little project has a BIG impact!  It's SO SO cute!  I made a purple one - we had a choice of purple, blue, and orange.  Everyone's looked different because of the patterned paper and they all looked so fantastic! 

It took time and a little know-how - but turned out really awesome looking!  In hind-sight, I should have taken a pic of everyone's circle box.  :)

Here's a color-corrected picture showing a side view.  It's a cute little trinket type holder... just perfect for little treasures!

Can't wait to see what's next.

June 1st New Catalog Event!

This post has LOTS of pictures!!!  Click on the pic to get a better view.

Our upline, Kathy Douglas runs our Stamp Club once a month, and another club that meets every other month, as well as these events.  New Catalog Events, Christmas Events, Stamp Camp in October.  She always has some awesome projects to make!

Sometimes I'll join her with our other Demonstrator Robin Smith to put these events together.  This time because of time constraints, I helped with the food and supplies if they needed something.  I also took my camera!  I'm so glad I did!

Here are just some of the pictures.

Lorraine (l) Kay walking past, and Dee (r) making a Mosaic card.

We get to see Lorraine at Events.  She's always fun to talk with and craft with.

Dolores just recently joined our Club and had on the cutest top - lace and beaded fringe. 

In the center you see Robin with Donna (l) and Kay (r) giving a tutorial on her flower making.  We did one of these flowers at Stampin' Up Regional in February but she's been making these for a LONG time! 

The next 7 pictures are some of the flowers Robin's been working on.  They were so cute, and she has some awesome ideas!  Enjoy!!

Washi tape works GREAT on the rosettes too!

Do you see the Pool Party gingham on the rosette in the back?  Stamp it with the new wheel, score, and use adhesive.  AWESOME!!!

Need a gift bag?  Decorate and add a paper flower.  Any color you need!!

I really LOVE this idea! What a great way to showcase pictures.  Customize to the background, outfit, occasion....  GREAT idea, Robin!!

 Next couple of pictures everyone's focused and concentrating!  We were there from about 10 a.m. to about 3.  Everyone worked at a pretty leisurely pace and got lots of cards completed.

     

    

     

Here are a few of the cards I made.  We chose 9 cards... and I made some duplicates.  There were also designs I didn't choose.  

 When I got home, I fixed my tablecloth background... looks MUCH better than what I had to start with!  LOVE the Strawberry Slush ink and technique to make the watermelon slices. :)

 These two cards show Robin's paper flowers.  I also added a bow and the pull tab on the white sheet.  The Wisteria Wonder is slowly growing on me.  SLOWLY!

Pool Party cardstock, Pool Party DSP, and the new Label punch to make this gift card holder.

Pennant card using some of the new In-color colors - Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding.  There was also a version of this card with Baked Brown Sugar and Coastal Cabana - so cute!!!  The Baked Brown Sugar really goes with everything!!

Kathy had these all prepared for us when we arrived - along with the directions!  YAY Kathy!  They looked pretty cool all lined up the table.  

It's always so much fun when we get together...  Crafting, Lunch, More Crafting....  Perfect Day!!