Fab Dino Birthday!

  It's another Fab Friday challenge, just in time for the Easter holiday.  Maybe you'll have a few days off to get some stamping done?  Maybe you'll join us over at Fab Friday?  You know you want to!  =)

  Check out this fun sketch!  What can you do with it?

  The possibilities are endless as you can see from the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team!  I was in need of a birthday card for a 5 year old boy so that's the direction I went in.  I took my color combination from the recently retired Sale-a-bration Sycamore Street DSP.  I know I'm not the only one out there with a lot of this paper left; and not because I didn't use a lot of it during Sale-a-bration but because I liked it so much I got a lot of it so I wouldn't run out!  Someone who wasn't a stamper would look at my stamp room and call me that "Crazy Paper Lady".  Seriously!

  Success or no?  I like it for a boy card for sure.  The bold colors, the wacky dinosaurs, the fun dots pattern, what crazy little boy wouldn't like it?

  I stamped the 2 dinos in Stazon on Whisper White and then used my blender pen and ink pads to color them in.  Pool Party and Summer Starfruit (a great dinosaur color if you ask me!).  Then I cut out the winged dude and popped him up with dimensionals.  I also added a bit of Crystal Effects to the underside of the Pool Party dino and the beak of the flying guy.

Check out that shine!

  I made my banner out of Tangerine Tango and heat embossed the sentiment in black embossing powder.  Then I added 2 rows of piercing and one of the awesome Sale-a-Bration Sycamore Street buttons.  I flipped it over to the smooth side because it seemed more "boy" to me that way.  A baker's twine knot keeps the button from looking naked.  The banner is also popped up on dimensionals.

Popped up elements because I can't say no to dimensionals!

One last little element on my card is the little bit of Island Indigo rick rack cut with the Tasteful Trim die at the bottom of the dinosaur panel.  It totally reminded me of sharp little dinosaur teeth and again it was more "boy" than scallops!  It kind of gets lost amongst the dots but it's there.

  I hope I'll see your awesome creation added to our gallery for this sketch challenge.  Don't be shy, show off your hard work!  Remember you have almost 2 full weeks to enter your card at Fab Friday so no excuses!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Dinoroar

Ink: Stazon, Versamark, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, Sahara Sand

Paper: Island Indigo, Sahara Sand, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (SAB retired)

Accessories: Crystal Effects, blender pen, Tasteful Trim die, Sycamore Street button (SAB retired), baker's twine, paper piercer, dimensionals

Color Block Anniversary - Fab Friday 14

  TGIF!!   And what makes it even better is that it is a new challenge at Fab Friday!  Hooray!  I hope you all have a full weekend of fun stuff planned!  Our family is super busy this weekend.  It's our first ever Cub Scout Pinewood Derby tomorrow!  I think Matt is a little nervous but Ryan can't wait to see his car, which he named "No Slow", race down the track.  I have to try to remember the camera so I can get some photos to make a My Digital Studio page.  Then on Sunday we have a bunch of activities at church that will take up a good part of the day.  And last but not least I have to finish preparing for stamp club on Tuesday.  Phew!  I'm tired just typing that out!

  Now on to the challenge and a challenge it was!  I really, truly, like this color combination but it just wasn't pulling together for me.  I have one completed hot mess (don't you love that phrase?  I learned it when we moved to Virginia and it comes in handy in all kinds of situations!) of a card and a pile of card guts to prove it.  Once I talked myself out of some crazy ideas and went with kind of a CAS (clean and simple) design it all started to come together.

  Here are our lovely colors:

 Pretty right?  Makes you want to start stamping Easter and spring birthday cards.

  Here is my card which I am pleased with especially after the "hot mess" of my first attempt!

  This is for my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary which falls on Easter Sunday.  Holy cow right?  And here I was patting myself on the back for my 10 year anniversary coming this summer.  We've got nothing on my grandparents that's for sure!  My aunt is trying to arrange a card shower so they receive tons and tons of card congratulating them on their big milestone anniversary (if you have any anniversary cards laying around that you'd like to send off just let me know! *wink!*).  Since my "job" is making cards this was certainly right up my alley!  And before my grandma's eyesight worsened she was even a stamper herself so I know she will appreciate my effort.

  So I used our Fabulous Friday colors, the idea of color blocking from another challenge site (CAS-ual Fridays) and my grandparents anniversary and here we are.

  I started off with a Sahara Sand base, then a layer of Whisper White and another slightly smaller layer of Sahara Sand.  Next I made my color blocks and embossed them with the Chevron embossing folder and adhered them to the Sahara Sand layer.

 I stamped the Blue Ribbon stamp set scallop circle in Sahara Sand and then the "Congratulations" flags in Calypso Coral onto Calypso Coral cardstock.  It's hard to see the words in the photo but they are there.

  The circle in the center of the scallop circle looked a little stark so I added a punched circle of Sent with Love DSP.  Next I made my own chipboard numbers with thin cardboard (the kind that backs Stampin' Up! DSP packs is perfect!) and Lucky Limeade cardstock.  They are adhered to the ribbon with Tombow Mono glue.  They aren't going anywhere….hence the kind of crooked 5!  The final touch for the ribbon is what I think is a Blushing Bride button (??) but is totally close enough to Pink Pirouette for me.  And a Lucky Limeaid baker's twine bow.  If course all this is popped up with dimensionals on the card front.

  You know you want to play along with us!  Head over to the Fab Friday site and check out all the fabulous talent we've got on our team.  And we have a new member joining us this week as well.  Welcome to Justin Krieger!  Make sure to visit Justin's blog and say hi.  He's a great addition to Fab Friday!

  Thanks for looking (and reading this giant novel of a post)!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Blue Ribbon

Ink: Sahara Sand, Calypso Coral

Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Lucky Limeaid, Calypso Coral, Pink Pirouette, Sent with Love DSP

Accessories: Chevron embossing folder, 2 3/8" scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Typeset Alphabet dies, button, baker's twine, dimensionals

Sunshine Sunburst

  I saw this adorable card on my buddy Mindy's blog using the sunburst technique and I had been meaning to try it out myself and seeing her lovely card gave me a giant kick in the pants to get started!  It was way easier than I thought….a few tips, 1) cut both side of your DSP at an angle.  I didn't at first and I think my rays didn't line up as nicely.  2) when adhering your rays if you want them to be somewhat centered put one in the center first and then work your way out.  Other than that just adhere angles cuts of DSP to a piece of cardstock, cut the ends/edges off and use it on your card!  Easy!

  I made these 2 cards for my boys.  My oldest was pretty upset when he didn't get a Valentine's card from me….in my defense he got a bag of candy with a handstamped tag but I guess that wasn't enough.  Last year I made cards that just got thrown aside so this year I thought I would save myself some cardstock and go straight for the bag of candy….oh well, that backfired!  I felt really bad after I saw how much getting a card meant to him so I wanted to give him a special "just because" card.  And the little one got one too because lately everything has to be even and fair or it's a giant fuss.  Seriously…I have to count blueberries in yogurt…

Ryan's Card

Stamps: Sunshine

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, assorted DSP

Accessories: Label Framelits, Itty Bitty punch pack, brads, dimensionals, Dazzline Details, Heart edge embossing folder

Alex's Card

Stamps: Sunshine

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, White, assorted DSP

Accessories: Label Framelits, Itty Bitty punch pack, brads, dimensionals, Dazzline Details, Heart edge embossing folder

  I used the new Sunshine single stamp and inked it up with markers.  I got the color combinations straight from the color coach (love that thing!).  I made Ryan's first and definitely started to get the hang of the rays by Alex's card.

  I should have quit while I was ahead but I went and added Dazzling Details to the cut out and popped sun and it kind of made the sun turn a bit cloudy….oh well!

I used various packs of DSP to get my all Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango scheme.  If you want to know about a particular one leave a comment and I'll figure it out.  Some of the packs are retired.


Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Postage in Guy Colors

  I told you all I would share a card with a different color combo than my last few cards.  Well here it is.  Check out these cool masculine colors!  I got the color combination from the last ColourQ Challenge which closed last night.  And another challenge that I used as inspiration is the CAS-ual Friday challenge which is to make your own background paper on your Clean and Simple card.

   Brilliant Blue and Cool Caribbean are old colors and retired a while ago and I didn't have any on hand to use so I substituted Pacific Point and Pool Party.

  I still had the Sent with Love set along with some other supplies used on my last card out on my stamping desk so I used it again for this card.

  I used the cool little postmark/barcode/hash mark stamp and just inked it up in my four colors and alternated stamping down the side of the Whisper White panel.  I just eyeballed it and varied how much of the image to stamp.  I rounded the corners and added 2 Night of Navy brads (they are pretty close in color to the Midnight Muse) to the corners.

  I stamped the heart stamp in Midnight Muse, punched it out with the postage stamp punch and layered it with a Pool Party square.  The new firm foam pads work wonderfully with solid images like this postage stamp.  Just tap tap tap!  I pulled the Summer Starfruit to that side of the card by punching out a little heart with the Owl punch and adding a rhinestone to it.  The stamp panel is popped up with dimensionals over the Pool Party baker's twine that was wrapped around 3 times.

  The Whisper White layer is popped with more dimensionals onto a Midnight Muse card base.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sent with Love

Ink: Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Pacific Point

Paper: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit

Accessories: corner rounder, brads, dimensionals, Owl punch, Postage Stamp punch, Baker's Twine, rhinestone

 

Sent With Love Postage

  I am digging this color combination lately!  I think this is my 3rd card with similar colors.  It must be this dreary weather we've been having here lately.  I need something bright and cheerful I guess.

  I used the sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday for this one.  It's a great one if you have smaller images  that might otherwise get lost on their own if used singly.  Just group them like this sketch!

  I wanted to get my new set Sent With Love inky so I went with the literal translation of the sketch and used the heart postage stamp along with the matching punch to get this one started!

  First I embossed the heart stamp image 3 times using Whisper White embossing powder and just used my 3 colors of cardstock.  Once they were set I punched them out.  I layered them on a piece of the coordinating DSP (which has some great patterns for all occasions!) and popped them with dimensionals.  The sentiment was inked in Island Indigo and then stamped right onto Whisper White and layered on an Island Indigo postage stamp punch.

  I used more embossing for the airplane contrail and just inked it up carefully with Versamark.  After it was dry I inked up the plane with my Island Indigo marker and stamped it directly onto the DSP.

  I rounded the corners and added some white brads for detail.  My final embellshment is the Calypso Coral heart I punched and added a rhinestone to.  It's not quite a perfect match for the heart in the contrail but close enough for me!

  Dont' wait to get the Sent With Love bundle…it's only available until April 30th.  And you get a deal on the whole bundle…savings are always good!

   Maybe tomorrow I'll share a card with a different color combination!  We'll see!  =)

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sent With Love

Ink: Versamark  Marker: Island Indigo

Paper: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Sent With Love DSP

Accessories: white e.p., postage stamp punch, brads, corner rounder, dimensionals, heart punch, rhinestone

A whole lotta Stampin' Up! News!

Stampin' Up! has been keeping us demonstrators on our toes for the last month or so.  If you blink you miss all sorts of interesting news!  As always, if you have any questions don't hesitate to give me a shout….I know it's a lot of information!

  First, Paper Pumpkin is starting to mail soon!  If you sign up by March 10th you'll be in the first mailing for "crafting goodness" delivered right to your door.  Sign up and every month receive a paper crafting kit to make some adorable projects.  How easy is that??  Everything is included in the kit except for adhesive.  And the best part….it's a surprise!  You never know what it will be.  For me that's super exciting since I'm always the one to do the designing.  It's nice to have all the work done for me.  And another thing, if you're tight on space for your crafting Paper Pumpkin is great because you don't need anything else (except adhesive) make to the projects…Fast, Easy and Portable!  And did I mention inexpensive?  Only $19.95 each month!

 
  Head over to the Paper Pumpkin site and get signed up.  Get your girlfriends to sign up too and have a girls night in to make your projects!  When you sign up it will ask you who your demonstrator is and if you don't have one already I'd be thrilled if you choose me.  Amanda Mertz, Glen Allen, VA.  I'll be joining in on the fun too and making the projects right along with you!  And as always I'm here to help if you have any questions.


  Next up from Stampin' Up! is a whole new kind of stamp!  Stampin' Up! is introducing Photopolymer Stamps.  I know it's a mouthful but these look like they are going to be great!  They are totally clear stamps that were made to be used with the new Firm Foam ink pads.

What makes them so great?

• They're entirely transparent for perfect placement every time! 
• They are durable. The photopolymer material is designed to last. 
• Can you say sticky? (Don't worry; in a good way.) These stamps stick amazingly well to our clear blocks.
• They're age tested. They won't yellow or cloud up over time. 
• They use FDA, food-safe material. How far can you stretch your stamping creativity? 
• All photopolymer will be packaged in cello bag w/insert, but don't forget you can store them in our clear cases.

 These stamps will be offered on a trial basis so if you like this design, don't wait to put it on your next order.  And speaking of orders…this set is priced at just $13.95.  Holy Cow!  If that doesn't get you interested I don't know what will.  You can bet these will be on my next order for sure.  

  Here are the ordering details:  Designer Typeset Photopolymer Stamp Set  Item #132956  $13.95

  To see the whole set head over to my online store! Designer Typeset Photopolymer Stamp Set

 Next is a limited time special stamp set and coordinating Designer Series Paper that also comes in a money saving bundle!  Check out the Sent With Love special offer:

The colors are so fun and bright, I know I am going to be using the DSP and stamp set for many occasions!  

131847	Sent with Love Stamp Set (clear-mount; English only)	$17.95
132182	Sent with Love Designer Series Paper	$10.95
132851	Pretty Bundle Includes the Sent with Love Stamp Set, Sent with Love Designer Series Paper, and Calypso Coral Baker's Twine	$25.50 20% off retail value!

  The Sent with Love Stamp Set and Sent with Love Designer Series Paper are only available during this special offer. After April 30, they'll both fly away!

In addition, you may purchase the Sent with Love Digital Kit (item 132914; $9.95). Please note that the digital kit is not included in the bundle.  

  Check out the whole set at my online store: Sent with Love stamp set  and the adorable coordinating Sent with Love Designer Series Paper.  20% off is a good deal for the bundle so don't wait!


  And the stamping goodness just keeps going!  In celebration of Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary they are releasing a "Best Of" set each month during 2013.  Each month will have a different theme with favorite images from past sets with some new, never seen before images added to the mix!  While a new set will be released each month they will continue to remain available until March 31, 2014.

 
  So far the themes that have been released are:
            -Birthdays
            -Flowers
            -Love

  Check out the full sets here at my online store.  And to make the 25th anniversary celebration even sweeter you can win a free stamp set by collecting 6 of the "Best Of" sets!  As a special incentive to collect the Best of stamps, we're including a collector's card and 25-year proof of purchase sticker with every Best of set. Collect six stickers, and send it in to redeem a FREE set of your choice valued up to $14.95! Free sets must be redeemed no later than April 30, 2014.


  And last but not least is the new online stamping class designed to walk you through 30+ projects with lots of great tips and techniques to get the most out of your stamping supplies.

There are 34 different projects with instructions and complete supply lists, and everything is printable so you can work on them at your own pace and file the sheets in a binder for later use. There are even coordinating You Tube videos!

The online class is divided into six categories:

• stamping basics (seven projects)
• the Stamp A Majigg (four projects, video)
• masking (four projects, video)
• embossing (seven projects, 2 videos)
• markers & watercoloring (six projects, video)
• Big Shot and punches (six projects, 2 videos)

Each section is designed to take you from the simplest, most basic use of the technique or tool and gradually layer on more advanced techniques, with tips along the way. The instructions are simple and precise, and you can view the videos an unlimited number of times, stopping at starting at will.

So whichever way you like to get your inspiration, it's there. And at only $14.95 and downloadable to your computer or laptop, it's easy and affordable to have inspiration at your fingertips wherever you go!

 Another great product from Stampin' Up!  Again, you can see it in my online store HERE.  It's item # 133385.

  If you have questions about any of these special offers, new products or how to order just leave a comment or send me an e-mail (mandysurovy@yahoo.com) and I'll get right back to you.  If you made it this far you should get a prize! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Summer Seahorse

  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  It was a relaxing one for our family as we didn't have many plans other than having friends over for dinner on Saturday night.  We made ribs and mac and cheese.  Yummy!  Good food tastes even better when you get to share it with friends.  And the brownies sundaes for dessert weren't too shabby either!

  This card was one my stamping ladies made at my stamp-a-stack last week.  I didn't have a good summer beachy stamp set so when I saw By the Tide in the spring catalog it made its way onto my pre-order (great perk of being a demo!) very quickly!

  The color combination was not one that I would have done if not for seeing it some place else.  I saw it on Pinterest while I was poking around looking for something else entirely.  Turns out it was a card made by a fellow design team member over at Fab Friday, Amy O'Neill!  Small world huh?  She makes beautiful cards and she has a winner in this card.  I liked these colors so much I used the same ones when designing for my stamp-a-stack and this is what I came up with…

 A Pool Party base with the coral stamped in Pool Party ink and then Crumb Cake ink spritzed with the color spritzer tool all over the base.  There are score lines on either side of the Calypso Coral DSP which has some linen ribbon wrapped around it.

  The seahorse is stamped in Crumb Cake, punched out with the wide oval punch and spritzed.  I used the new mini scallop circle punch and punched out 1 in Summer Starfruit.  I cut it in half and put one at the top and bottom of the oval.  2 silver mini brads finish off the accessories.  The seahorse is popped up with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: By the Tide

Ink: Crumb Cake, Pool Party

Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White, Summer Starfruit, In Color Calypso Coral DSP

Accessories: Spritzer tool, oval punch, mini scallop circle punch, linen ribbon, mini brads, Simply Scored, dimensionals

Blue Bird Love

  Is everyone else as excited for the weekend as I am?  We don't even have any plans other than dinner with friends but I am ready to just relax.  I've felt like I've ben running to and fro all week and accomplishing very little for all my effort.  We need to do some work around the yard and I have piles of stamping stuff to put away after my stamp-a-stack on Tuesday but other than that there is nothing on the "to do" list which is grand in my book.  Once the stamp room is back in order I would love to sit down and create.  

  If you're planning to stamp over the weekend your first stop should absolutely be at Fab Friday to check out our awesome sketch challenge.  This is a fun one for sure.  Think of all the possibilities for that butterfly element….it can stay a butterfly or you can make it into anything at all!  

  Here is my interpretation of the sketch.  I've been in the mood for some fun bright spring/summer colors since we've had some rain and cold weather here in Richmond lately.  We get teased for a day with sunshine and warmer temps and then the next day is cold and rainy…  I'm not against cold weather but it's the back and forth that gets me!

  I used a lot of different things on this card but it's not a difficult card by any means.  It took me longer to decide on the ribbon/button element than to do the rest of the card.  It's all in the details isn't it?

  The image is watercolored with an Aquapainter and ink pads and then cut and layered with Oval Framelits.  Isn't that bird just the sweetest?  The rest of the supplies are pretty basic so I won't bore you with the details.  If you have questions just leave a comment and I'll get back to you!

  Head on over to the Fab Friday site to see all the design team samples.  I always get so many ideas from looking at the ways others interpret a challenge.  And don't forget that you have 2 weeks to enter the challenge; mull it over and then get some ink to cardstock and then share it with us!  Can't wait to see your creation!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: For the Birds

Ink: Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Soft Suede

Paper: Pool Party, Pool Party Core'dinations, Sycamore Street DSP, Calypsp Coral, Sent With Love DSP, watercolor paper

Accessories: Oval Framelits, Window Framelits, Woodgrain e.f., corner rounder, oval piercing template, Sycamore Street button, large rhinestone, linen ribbon, dimensional, aquapainter