Red Snowflake Mittens - Stampin' Up! Smitten Mittens

  Sometimes the hardest projects to design are ones intended for new stampers.  I was asked by one of my regular stampers to do a class for her women's group with a few easy projects for them to do at their monthly get together.  I'm used to using everything but the kitchen sink on my regular stamp club cards so to pare it down to just a few supplies for a group of new stampers actually takes a lot of work!

  I took a look at what stamp sets would be good to use to give the ladies a decent amount of stamping but not be overwhelming.  And most importantly still make a cute card.  The Smitten Mittens set fit the bill.  I did pre-cut the mitten shapes with the Many Mittens framelits so that I didn't need to haul the Big Shot with me.  And I was so glad I did as the group met on the 3rd floor of a building without an elevator!  I would have gotten quite the workout carrying the Big Shot that day!

  The card starts with a Whisper White thick base and then we added a strip of Quilted Christmas DSP in one of the Garden Green designs.

  The mittens are Real Red cardstock and the cuff and snowflake are also stamped in Real Red.  The sentiment is stamped in Garden Green in the corner of the card front.

  The mittens are layered with the top one popped up with dimensionals.  For the embellishments we put some adhesive rhinestones in the centers of the snowflake detail and a 3/8" classic weave ribbon knot to "tie" the mittens together.

  The ladies did a great job and seemed really pleased with their cards so that is always a good thing!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Smitten Mittens

Ink: Real Red, Garden Green

Paper: Whisper White thick, Real Red, Quilted Christmas DSP

Accessories: Many Mittens framelits, rhinestones, classic weave ribbon, dimensionals

Snowflake Christmas Wishes - Stampin' Up! Snowflake Sentiments

 I made this Christmas card a few weeks ago for one challenge or another (I can't even remember which one!) and never got around to photographing and entering it into the challenge.  I think the challenge for the layout as I don't think I would have come up with this one on my own!

  I'm really liking these colors together and will have to try some more with this combination: Cherry Cobbler, Tranquil Tide and Soft Sky.

  The card base is Cherry Cobbler embossed with the Winter Wonder embossing folder.  That big snowflake makes such a statement whether on it's own or layered with other elements.

  Next is a triangle of Tranquil Tide with a strip of the retired gold sequin trim.  I just used a length of tear tape to adhere it.

  I used the Swirly Snowflake thinlets to cut some snowflakes out of Soft Sky.  The snowflakes are a strip of three so you can just snip off the snowflakes you want to use individually.  I also used one little snowflake from one of the other dies to layer onto the larger one.

  The sentiment from Snowflake Sentiments set is stamped in Tranquil Tide and then cut out with the Stitched Shapes square framelit.  I added a few loose sequins to finish this card off.

  I hope you're having success with your own Christmas card making!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snowflake Sentiments

Ink: Tranquil Tide

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Tranquil Tide, Soft Sky, Whisper White

Accessories: Swirly Snowflakes thinlets, Winter Wonder embossing folder, Stitched Shapes framelits,  gold sequin trim (retired)

Sweet Mitten - Stampin' Up! Smitten Mittens

  In case you haven't heard the news; Stampin' Up! is offering FREE shipping on orders placed today (Monday) until 11:59pm MT!  How cool is that?  I've been a demonstrator for a long time and I can't ever remember getting free shipping before!  Join in on this great Cyber Monday deal head over to my online store and get started!

  Today's card is another sweet one made with the Smitten Mittens bundle.  I went with a non-traditional Christmas color combination and I like the soft look of it.

  I started with a Pink Pirouette base and stamped the little mittens across the card front in Pink Pirouette ink for a subtle background.

  Heading to the ribbon scraps I pulled out a length of the retired white striped organza ribbon and added my elements on top of it.

  I cut an open circle out of silver Glimmer paper and popped it up with dimensionals.  The mitten, cuff and tree are embossed with white embossing powder on Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  It is also popped on dimensionals.

  An 1/8" silver ribbon makes for a nice bow and adds to the bit of sparkle and that's it for this card!
 
  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Smitten Mittens

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Versamark

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Silver Glimmer paper, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories: circle framelits, Many Mittens framelits, white embossing powder, dimensionals, 1/8" silver ribbon, shite striped organza ribbon (retired)

Fresh Pine Sprig - Stampin' Up! Pretty Pine Thinlets - Fab Friday 125

Are you all still stuffed from your huge Thanksgiving feasts?  I hope you can move enough to get to your stamps and inks and join us for the latest Fab Friday Challenge!

  Now that we have Thanksgiving officially behind us we can set our sights on the fast approaching Christmas holiday.  I certainly need to get into gear if I'm going to end up with enough Christmas cards for my lengthy list!  Our challenge this time can easily be worked into a Christmas card.  Check out these fabulous colors!  It's a fresh, fun take on the the traditional red/green Christmas color scheme.

  I went straight for my Pretty Pines thinlets to make a crisp, clean card focusing on our challenge colors.  I tried at first mixing and matching the thinlets with the coordinating stamp set, Christmas Pines but after a few tries I decided I like the look of just the die cuts on their own.

  The card base is Emerald Envy, then a layer of Whisper White embossed with the Cable Knit embossing folder.  Another layer of Emerald Envy and Whisper white is the base for the evergreen sprig and is also popped with dimensionals.  

  I cut 3 pine branches in Emerald Envy, 2 of the smaller leaves in Lemon Lime Twist and then one sprig of the small berries in Real Red Glimmer paper.  I layered them all using glue dots for adhesive and then attached them to the card front.

  The striped real red bow came from my ribbon scraps but I'm pretty sure it was from last years Holiday catalog.  It was just the right length for a little bow.  It always feels good to use up some scraps doesn't it?

  I did actually do some stamping on the inside using the Christmas Pines stamp set; a little pine branch in the corner and then then "may your Christmas sparkle with joy and happiness" sentiment.  So technically I did stamp on this card!

  I hope you'll get some inspiration for your own cards from the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples.  Please share your creations with us in the gallery; we love seeing all different ideas!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none, Christmas Pines (used on the inside)

Ink: Real Red, Emerald Envy (on the inside)

Paper: Emerald Envy, Whisper White, Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red Glimmer paper

Accessories: Cable Knit embossing folder, Pretty Pines thinlets, dimensionals, glue dots, Real Red striped ribbon (retired)

Give Thanks Quilt - Stampin' Up! Christmas Quilt

  Today's card is one that can be used to send out at Thanksgiving or for a general thank you card.  The Painted Autumn Harvest DSP gives this card a nice fall feeling.  I'm sharing this one at the SUO Challenge this week as their theme is Being Thankful.

  The card base is Very Vanilla thick.  Then a smaller layer in Soft Sky is stamped with the little flower shape in Soft Sky ink.

  The quilt panel is put together with the Painted Autumn Harvest DSP and Early Espresso cardstock. I layered it over the top of a piece of jute twine.  The sentiment from Labels to Love is stamped in Early Espresso and then punched out with the 1 3/8" circle punch.  An adhesive pearl finishes off the center of the quilt.

  This isn't a complicated card but does take a bit of time to piece the quilt.  One tip that I think is helpful is that after you get the frame (the Early Espresso piece on my card) glued down is to put the glue inside the frame for each section and press the DSP piece into the glue instead of trying to put the glue on the small DSP pieces...you'll keep your fingers clean and it will help not get extra glue around your frame.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas Quilt, Labels to Love

Ink: Soft Sky, Early Espresso

Paper: Very Vanilla thick, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Painted Harvest DSP

Accessories: Quilt Builder framelits, 1 3/8" circle punch, jute twine, dimensionals, adhesive pearl

Introducing the Stamparatus!

  Check out this fun new tool just unveiled by Stampin' Up!  How easy will making multiples be with this nifty stamp positioner??  And that's just the start of it!

  Why do YOU need one? You’ll fall in love with stamping all over again when you learn everything you can do with it!

• -Make multiples with ease 
• -Consistently stamp crisp, clean images
• -If you want a darker impression, apply more ink and restamp—no need to start over
• -Make fewer mistakes, saving time and money
• -Easily create 2-step, 3-step, and 4-step stamped images using reversible plates
• -Develop new and specialized stamping techniques with adjustable stamping plates and precision placement

     Watch this Video of the Stamparatus in action!

  Here are some Stamparatus details:

     -Compatible with Stampin’ Up!’s red rubber and photopolymer stamp

• -Foam mat to use with photopolymer stamps
• -Rulers and gridlines for quick measuring
• -2 open sides so you can stamp on larger paper
• -2 reversible plates: a total of 4 surfaces to work with
• -2 magnets to hold the paper in place
• -Magnet storage areas
• -Retail Price–$49.00 USD/$65.00 CAD

  So how do you get a Stamparatus??  

    There will be 3 reservation windows spaced out over the next few month that you can reserve your Stamparatus and as soon as they are available will ship once you've completed the order.  As soon as I have the link I will share but for planning purposes here are the timeframes:

RESERVATION WINDOWS	AVAILABLE TO SHIP
November 16–30, 2017	Approx. February 1, 2018
December 5–30, 2017	Approx. March 19, 2018
January 15–30, 2018	Approx. April 15, 2018

 
  You must create an online shopping account to be able to reserve a Stamparatus.  To get started head to my online store (link in the sidebar) and create an account, including a credit card, if you don't already have one.  Not sure if you have one?  Just ask me and I'll check!  Once the Stamparatus is available Stampin' Up! will notify you to complete your order so you'll go to your online account and it will be in your cart.  You can then add any other items you'd like to order and then complete the order by paying with a credit card and entering any rewards you've earned or hostess codes as necessary.  You won't be charged for the Stamparatus until you've completed the order but if you delete it from your shopping cart once it's available we can't get it back.

  If you miss out on a reservation window or you want to see one up close and personal before ordering not to worry the Stamparatus will be included in the 2018-19 Annual catalog as a regular item and you can order it that way once that catalog is available.

  Please let me know if you have questions about this great new stamping tool!

Warm Mittens Gift Card Holder - Stampin' Up! Smitten Mittens

  We were certainly wearing our mittens and gloves this past Saturday at the JMU football game!  It was a frosty day and luckily there wasn't much wind or we would have been even colder!  I'm glad the Dukes won or I don't know if I would have thought it was time well spent but we did get to spend time with friends so it was worth it on that front.

  This Smitten Mitten card was a big hit at my last class and a lot of stampers ended up getting the Smitten Mittens bundle so they could make more cute cards at home.

  This was a bit of a hard one to photograph but I hope you can see how the card comes together.  I always like to share how to make a gift card holder at one of my classes before Christmas as I know a lot people like to have more of a special packaging for a gift card present.

  For this design it's only 2 scores and a little Tear Tape and you've got a gift card holder!  Really it's that easy!  Cut your full sheet of card stock in half the long way so you have a narrow skinny piece that is 4 1/4" wide and 11" long.  I used Emerald Envy for this design.  Then score at 2" and 5 1/2".  On the 2 inch flap add a little bit of tear tape along each each as close to the edge as you can get on the part that folds to the inside of the card, peel off the backing and then fold over to the inside of the card. This is what it looks like after.  See the slot for a gift card?

 To make a little tab to pull the gift card out of the slot just use the Tabs for Everything set and the circle tab punch.  A little bit of tear tape holds the tab pull to the gift card.

The card front comes together really quickly by stamping the larger greeting mitten in Cherry Cobbler ink on Whisper White paper as well as the lined cuff piece and then the other mitten shape in Cherry Cobbler ink onto Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  Using the Many Mittens framelits we cut out the shapes.  

  One of the overlooked details in the Many Mittens framelit set are the texture pieces.  They are a bit like miny embossing folders without the folder aspect.  They are just little pieces of metal that don't cut (they are smooth without a cutting edge) and you just lay them on top of the cardstock and run them through the Big Shot as if you were cutting with a die and they leave a fun design pressed right into the cardstock like an embossing folder.  We used the little row of hearts down the center of the Cherry Cobbler mitten and then filled them in with clear Wink of Stella.

  The mittens are adhered to the card front overlapping a bit with only adhesive on the edge of the one mitten so it doesn't stick the card closed.  The front panel is embossed with the Cable Knit embossing folder and has a length of Cherry Cobbler double stitched ribbon for detail.

  And finally the inside of the card is stamped with the greeting and a little Christmas tree in the corner using Emerald Envy ink.  

  I hope you see as many possibilities for this adorable set as I do.  I am already planning some Christmas thank you cards, winter birthday and even Valentines Day.  There are hearts and the word "smitten" in the stamp set which I think would work wonderfully for Valentine's!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Smitten Mittens, Tabs for Everything

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Emerald Envy

Paper: Emerald Envy, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Accessories: Many Mittens framelits, Cable Knit embossing folder, double stitched ribbon, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Circle Tab punch, circle punch, Tear Tape

  

Quilted Christmas Tree - Stampin' Up! Christmas Quilt - Fab Friday 125

  How does 2 weeks go by so quickly??  One day I'm looking at the calendar and it seems I have oodles of time before the next Fab Friday Design Team deadline and then it seems I blink and all that time I thought I had is gone!  I wish I could say that time has been flying because I'm having so much fun in my stamp room but I actually haven't had a lot of time lately to play.  I guess I need to make time or I won't have enough Christmas cards to send out!

  Here is the fun sketch challenge this time around at Fab Friday!

     I took those 4 rectangle panels literally and dove into the awesome Quilted Christmas 6x6 DSP pack.  This is a great way to show off multiple coordinating patterns!

 Nothing too fancy on this card.  Just some layering with the circle dies and the red mini Tinsel Trim between the circles for some pop.

  The tree is a 2 step stamped image using Garden Green and Lemon Lime Twist with Real Red for the tree stamp.   I added gold glimmer paper star at the top.

  I made the little holly leaf and berry tag using the tiny tag die from the Bouquet Bunch framelits.  The holly leaves are made with dies in the Quilt Builder framelits set and the berries are rhinestones colored with the Cherry Cobbler dark Stampin' Blends marker.  the tag is tied onto the tinsel trim with a bit of white baker's twine.

  Check out the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team samples and then play along with us in using this great sketch!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas Quilt

Ink: Garden Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Garden Green, Quilted Christmas DSP, Gold Glimmer paper

Accessories: Layering Circles framelits, Stitched Shapes framelits, Quilt Builder framelits, Bouquet Bunch framelits, mini tinsel trim, rhinestones, dimensionals, white bakers twine, Cherry Cobbler Blends marker

Dapper Snowflakes - Stampin' Up! Snowflake Sentiments

  The card I'm sharing today seems appropriate since we have a freeze warning for Friday night into Saturday.  Yikes!  It was 80 degrees last week and now we're going to have freezing temperatures!  Welcome to central Virginia weather folks!

  We made this card at my last stamp club and it was fun to show off a mix of products to make this easy card.

  The base is Dapper Denim stamped with the Snowflake Sentiments snowflakes in Dapper Denim ink.  Then we have an embossed piece of vellum.  The Winter Wonder embossing folder makes such a great bold image to layer other card elements over or to stand alone as the main feature on a card.  

  A tip to remember when dry embossing vellum is to test out a few scrap pieces first to get just the right sandwich for your Big Shot.  If I used the regular embossing sandwich with my machine it tears through the vellum so I had to adjust my layers and use a shim to get the right amout of pressure without the tearing.   

  The Year of Cheer washi tape was a fun detail to add to the vellum to help hold it down to the card front as the only other adhesive is directly behind the layered tags.

  A Whisper White Everyday Label punch and then the sentiment embossed in copper and punched out with a circle punch makes for the main element.  A little Champagne foil flag adds to the bit of metallic glam.  The snowflake peeking out is from the Year of Cheer Specialty DSP...it's punched out of the snowflake pattern and then sponged with Dapper Denim ink.  A white bakers twine bow is the final detail.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snowflake Sentiments

Ink: Dapper Denim, Versamark

Paper: Dapper Denim, Whisper White, vellum, Year of Cheer Specialty DSP, Champagne foil sheets

Accessories: Everyday Label punch, circle punches, Winter Wonder embossing folder, Year of Cheer washi tape, copper embossing powder, white bakers twine, dimensionals

Soft Embossed Snowflakes - Stampin' Up! Snowflake Sentiments

  It's election day here in Virginia so my schedule is all thrown off as the boys are home from school.  My plan was to get up at the same time as I usually do, go vote and then take my morning walk.  Yeah that didn't happen....sleeping in seemed like a better idea! I figured since I have to mow the lawn later I'll get my steps in that way! So until I can get my act together to get out of the house to vote and do errands I'll share a card I made a few weeks ago.

 The Snowflake Sentiments bundle is a great mix of images and sentiments paired up with a great detailed thinlets set.  So many directions to go with this suite of products!  I kept this card pretty simple and used some non-traditional Christmas colors to do a watercolor wash.

  The card base is Whisper White thick.  Using a piece of Shimmery White cardstock I rounded the edges and then embossed the snowflakes with clear embossing powder.  After lightly misting the cardstock around the snowflakes I used an Aquapainter to brush on Bermuda Bay, Sweet Sugar Plum and Marina Mist ink slightly overlapping the colors so that they blend.

  After drying the panel with my heat tool I stamped the sentiment in Marina Mist ink.  The last detail of this card is the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper layered snowflake cut using the Swirly Snowflakes Thinlets.

  I'm off to try to be somewhat productive today!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snowflake Sentiments

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Sweet Sugar Plum, Marina Mist, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Shimmery White, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper

Accessories: corner rounder, clear embossing powder, Swirly Snowflakes thinlets

Teen Congrats - Stampin' Up! Sunshine Wishes Thinlets

 We were honored to be invited to a family friends bar mitzvah last weekend and of course the occasion had to be marked with a card!  So a teen card for a religious occasion....wow!  Talk about a challenging card to make!

  I decided to do a straight up congratulations card in some guy colors.  I figured some texture and angles would fit the bill.

   The card base is Basic Black, then a layer of Whisper White.  I cut a piece of Island Indigo on an angle and embossed it with the Hexagons embossing folder.  I adhered the embossed piece to a panel of Sahara Sand that I stamped some speckles from the Swirly Bird stamp set and then embossed some gold stars.  The stars are in the Tabs for Everything set.

  I cut 2 "congrats" with the Sunshine Wishes Thinlets, and layered the Whisper White one behind and slightly offset from the black one.  I popped it up with very small pieces of dimensionals.

  The smaller sentiment from Sunshine Sayings was stamped on Whisper White cardstock with Versamark and embossed in gold.

  Since the card was for a 13 year old boy I couldn't add any ribbon so I went with some retired candy dots in black and Island Indigo sprinkles on both parts of the card.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sunshine Sayings, Tabs for Everything, Swirly Bird

Ink: Sahara Sand, Versamark

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Island Indigo

Accessories: Hexagons embossing folder, gold embossing powder, Sunshine Wishes thinlets, dimensionals, candy dots (retired)

Traditional Christmas Quilt - Stampin' Up! Christmas Quilt

  You can't get any more traditional than Real Red and Garden Green and a quilt to celebrate Christmas!

  The Quilted Christmas bundle in the Holiday catalog is fantastic and it gives you so many options for designing all kinds of cards.  I've enjoyed using these products and and I'm looking forward to making even more Christmas designs with this bundle.

  The card base is Garden Green and then a piece of Quilted Christmas DSP.  I layered several Quilt Builder framelits elements over each other for the focal point.

  I used a bit of Classic Weave ribbon in Whisper White to anchor my sentiment which I embossed in Copper embossing powder.  Once the ends were flagged and it was popped on dimensionals I added a few holly berries and leaves.  Are you searching your catalogs to try to figure out where the little red berries are?  I made them using the Silver Metallic shapes (page 196 Annual Catalog) and colored them with my new Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends alcohol markers!  Not only can you color stamped images with them you can color embellishments too! 

  Stampin' Blends are available starting today for customers so check them out in my Stampin' Up! store (link in the sidebar).  If you have more questions about them just let me know and I'd be happy to help!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas Quilt

Ink: Versamark  Stampin' Blends: Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Garden Green, Whisper White, Quilted Christmas DSP

Accessories: Quilt Builder framelits, copper embossing powder, dimensionals, metallic shapes