Did You Stamp Today?

Sweet Hearts

2012-02-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

Time is running out to get these Valentine's day projects posted. I'm sure all of you have your cards made already but maybe you'll find a few ideas that you can use for next year!

My stamping ladies made this card at our January meeting. I thought it was a cute one for Valentine's Day but it could also be used as a "Thinking of You" card.

The base is Pink Pirouette with a layer of Early Espresso on top. The Whisper White panel is where all the magic is happening! The Heart to Heart punch was punched once and then the cardstock was flipped over and punched again to get the mirror image look of the hearts. A strip of Twitterpated DSP was layered behind the punched hearts.

Since I wanted my stamping ladies to get to play with as many new Occasions Mini items as I could I just kept adding different things to the top portion of the card. First the new Adorning Accents embossing folder was used. How cute are those little hearts!? Next comes a length of Blushing Bride pleated ribbon.

The heart from Take it to Heart was stamped in Baja Breeze and punched out with the Large Heart punch. The sentiment from Petite Pairs was stamped in Early Espresso, punched out with the 1 inch circle punch and then embellished with a Twitterpated button that is jazzed up with one of the new large adhesive pearls. Just stick the pearl right on top of the button.

Wow! That's a lot of new stuff on one card!

Have a great Monday!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Take it to Heart, Petite Pairs

Ink: Baja Breeze, Early Espresso

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP

Accessories: Heart to Heart punch, Large Heart punch, 1 inch circle punch. Adorning Accents e.f., pleated ribbon, Twitterpated buttons, Large adhesive pearl,

Snowman Valentine

2012-02-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

Well I think that our lack of snow or even a real winter so far this year has me out of sorts. I'm wishing for some snow in the worst way. I know a lot of you who are getting snow on a regular basis this winter probably think I'm crazy. I like the changes in seasons and love how snow looks on the ground and of course it's fun to play in! If it's going to be 40 and rainy it might as well be 27 and snowing in my opinion! Since I don't have real snow to look at I've been reaching for my Snow Much Fun set a lot lately.

I held a Stampin' Up! Open House last Saturday and invited people who were new to stamping. I had a lot of fun teaching them about stamping and Stampin' Up! This was one of the projects they got to make. I pulled the colors directly from the Color Coach to make a snowman Valentine (love that tool!).

The base is Bashful Blue and then a layer of Real Red DSP from the Brights collection pack. I had the ladies tie a piece of Whisper White grosgrain around the DSP and added a Vintage Trinket safety pin to the knot.

The snowman is stamped in Stazon and colored with Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake and Pumpkin Pie markers. And since I can't resist using the Glimmer Paper when ever I can I had the ladies punch out Red Glimmer Paper hearts and glued them down around the snowman as if he were juggling hearts. The whole snowman panel is popped on dimensionals.

On the inside they stamped "Be my Valentine" from Delightful Dozen and then added another Glimmer Paper heart.

I think the ladies all had a good time and enjoyed making their own card. They got to see how easy stamping can be and I think a few of them might have even caught the stamping bug! I know you all remember when you caught the bug....I sure do! There's no turning back now! Ha! At least this is a bug that is fun to have right?

Don't forget about the Free 30 day trial of My Digital Studio. See my post HERE for all the details. It's a great way to try before you buy!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Ink: Stazon, markers- Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie & Crumb Cake

Paper: Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Real Red Brights DSP pack, Red Glimmer Paper

Accessories: Grosgrain ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, small heart punch, dimensionals

Winner of the 3 Year Demo Anniversary Giveaway

2012-02-10T07:37:00.000-05:00

I only had 7 entries for my 3 Year Anniversary giveaway so the odds were pretty good. The winner chosen by a random number generator was 5! See HERE for the original post.

This is what Shannon Roberts had to say,

"Congrats!! That is so awesome !! I am sooo loving Fresh Vintage! And the DSP also ooops that's 2 ! Thank you for this opportunity & here's to many more years for you! I have you in my google reader! Thanks for the constant inspiration !"

Thanks for entering Shannon. Please contact me with your address at mandysurovy "at" yahoo "dot" com and I will get your prize mailed out to you.

Thanks so much for everyone who entered. I appreciate all of you reading Did You Stamp Today? I hope to be back later with a project but I'm feeling a bit under the weather so we'll see how much I can get accomplished today!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Twitterpated Quilt

2012-02-07T08:33:00.000-05:00

Good morning! Just a quick post today to show another one of my Creative Crew projects for February. For this challenge we were to use the new Twitterpated Designer Series Paper or the colors that are in the paper. If you'd like to check out all the fabulous projects go over to Splitcoaststampers and search the gallery with the keyword: CCREW0212DF. So many great ideas from this talented group of ladies!

The designs in the Twitterpated DSP are really great for spring cards. The base is Pear Pizzazz.

I made the Top Note patchwork quilt by punching out squares of the Twitterpated DSP and adhering them to a Whisper White base. I then cut the Top Note shape and also embossed the whole thing with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. It's hard to see in the photo but this step gives a nice texture.

   I wrapped some Basic Gray taffeta (retired- Sorry!) around the Top Note and tied a knot.

   The flower from the Bordering on Romance set is stamped with Stazon onto watercolor paper. I got the gray look by stamping off on scrap paper once before stamping the watercolor paper. I watercolored the flower with re-inkers and an Aquapainter. The flower is cut out using the Labels Framelits. I added some tiny pearls to the points of the label.

   The sentiment from Petite Pairs was also stamped the same way by stamping off once and then mounted onto a larger Blushing Bride circle.

   Both the flower and sentiment panels are popped up with dimensionals.

Don't forget to enter my 3 Year Demonstrator Anniversary giveaway! See the details in this post from last week. I can't believe how few people have entered for a free stamp set!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bordering on Romance, Petite Pairs

Ink: Stazon, Pear Pizzazz & Blushing Bride for watercoloring

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, watercolor paper, Twitterpated DSP, Blushing Bride

Accessories: Top Note die, Vintage Wallpaper e.f., Labels Framelits, circle punches, tafetta ribbon, pearls

Apothecary Birthday

2012-02-06T08:16:00.000-05:00

So were you cheering for the Giants or Patriots? We didn't really care either way but it certainly was a good game all the way til the very end. I'd rather see a close game in the Super Bowl than a complete blow out. But it was fun watching the game with our neighbors and the kids had fun playing together. So a success as far as we're concerned.

Today I'm showing one of the cards we made at club last week. I wanted to make sure my ladies got to see the new Framelits in action. I paired the Labels Framelits with the Twitterpated DSP and Apothecary Art stamp set.

Now that I'm looking at my photo it seems that I adhered it slightly crooked! Oh well...I still think it's a pretty card.

The base is Island Indigo and then a layer of Twitterpated DSP. I love this floral pattern! Then we tied a length of Whisper White organza ribbon around the card front.

To make the focal panel the image was stamped in Island Indigo and then we used the coordinating Label Framelit to cut it out. Next, using the same piece of card stock we used the next largest Label Framelit and cut a narrow border around the opening left from the image. The narrow frame is adhered directly onto the card front and then the image panel is adhered on top of it using dimensionals.

The leaves are colored with the Pear Pizzazz marker (some of my ladies went all out with their coloring and that looked great too!). We used some scraps to stamp the sentiment and then snipped it into a banner. I find this the easiest way even though you could stamp directly onto the frame. To finish this one off the ladies choose one of the Antique brads to add to the left side of the sentiment. These brads are awesome an their style goes perfectly with the Apothecary Art stamp set.

Don't forget to enter my 3 Year Demonstrator Anniversary giveaway. See this post from last week for all the details!

Off to get #2 ready for school!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Apothecary Art

Ink: Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz- marker

Paper: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP

Accessories: Labels Framelits, Antique Brads, Organza ribbon, dimensionals

My Sweet Boys Scrapbook Page

2012-02-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

One of the Creative Crew challenges for February was to make a scrapbook page about someone or something you love. To see all the projects for this challenge search keyword: CCREW0212SF at Splitcoaststampers.

Let me start by saying I am not a scrapbooker. The thought of creating a whole book using large sheets of cardstock kind of overwhelms me. I like cards...you make them, send them out and never think about them again. Really no commitment! Scrapbooks are a real commitment...and pages can be a lot of area to design. I'm worried that if I start scrapbooking I'll always feel that I'm behind and having them right here in the house I think I would be tempted to keep changing the layouts and adding stuff....like a page would never be truly complete! So my solution to this dilemma is My Digital Studio! I love being able to sit down and just play with the different elements and try different layouts without having to commit to cutting into paper.

I made this page while my husband and I were watching a hockey game on TV. I kept changing my mind and adding and deleting things...no commitment! I used a page layout that I saw on some scrap book website but I forgot to save the link. If you know where the layout came from please let me know and I'll update my post.

The digital Designer Series Paper on this page actually came from a free download that Stampin' Up! gave away a few weeks ago to their Facebook fans. The Day in the Life download came with a bunch of DSP, some embellishments, some designer layouts and more.

Since the challenge was to focus on someone/something you love I, of course, chose the boys as my subject. Though I think my title "My Sweet Boys" might be a stretch some days I think the page came out pretty well. I used a lot of the heart punches and then filled them in with various papers to coordinate with the the rest of the page. It's great because you can rotate, resize and layer and just play around until you get the look you want.

Stampin' Up! is offering a FREE 30 day trial of My Digital Studio Express so you can see how easy it is to create scrapbook pages, cards, albums and books using digital versions of Stampin' Up! supplies! The trial version is a pared down version of the actual program so just imagine that there is tons more on the full program with new digital items being released every week that you can download.

Check out my online store HERE to download the FREE software. Just add the trial to your shopping cart and check out...no need to order any other items!

Click HERE for Frequently Asked Questions about the My Digital Studio Trial offer. And of course I'm here to help with questions too!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Supplies: My Digital Studio (MDS)

Sale-A-Bration Post It Note Holder & Happy Anniversary to Me!

2012-02-02T13:20:00.000-05:00

There seems to be so much going on lately. I had my 2 sessions of stamp club so I can go ahead and start sharing those projects. The February Creative Crew gallery is up over on Splitcoaststampers. Go search "CreativeCrew" and see all the awesomeness from the Crew! Sale-a-bration is in full swing...it's a hard life having to choose between so many FREE items!

And the most fun for me personally is my Stampin' Up! Anniversary. 3 years ago today I signed up to become a demonstrator! I can't believe it's been 3 years already. Time has definitely flown by that's for sure. So much fun and awesome stamping! I'd like to thank my local customers because without their support I wouldn't have lasted 3 months no less 3 years. Some of them have been with me from the start and they aren't bored with me yet....or they are too polite to say so! =) Thanks also to my blog readers, especially those who leave comments....it's always nice to know that someone besides your 5 year old thinks your stamping projects are cool!

In honor of my 3 year anniversary I'll be giving away the Silhouette Sentiments stamp set, a pack of dimensionals (one of my favorite things to use on a card!) and one of these super cute Sale-a-Bration Post It Note holders. All you have to do to enter the giveaway is to become a follower and leave a comment telling me what is your favorite Sale-a-bration item. If you're already a follower just leave a comment about your favorite Sale-a-bration item. I'll draw a random winner from all entries a week from now. US residents only...sorry I can't mail these items outside of the US.

Here's a close up of the Post It Note holder!

This little cutie is so easy to make! The base is a 6 3/4 x 3 1/4 piece of Lucky Limeade. Score this at 3 1/4 and 3 1/2. I used smaller note pads I found at the dollar store so if you used a full sized pad you will have to adjust your score marks to account for the added depth or pull apart a larger one to fit. I think these smaller ones are a perfect size...not too heavy to lug around in your purse!

On top of the base is a piece of Calypso Coral and then a piece of the Sale-A-Bration paper Everyday Enchantment. I love every single pattern in this pack and I'm having a hard time deciding which one to use on any given project.

Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade markers were used to color directly on the stamp from the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) set Fresh Vintage. The image was punched with the large scallop circle punch and then sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake ink.

Both embellishments are also from SAB. The brad and the ribbon come together as a bundle! In the bundle you get 30 Designer Printed brads and 2 rolls of 1/8" Organdy ribbon, 1 in Lucky Limeade and one in Calypso Coral for 20 yards of ribbon total! Not too shabby! For this holder I wrapped the ribbon around twice, tied it off and then added the brad on top.

Don't forget to stamp on a few pages of the notepad! It's always fun to see a cute little flower at the bottom of your grocery list!

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my 3 year anniversary giveaway! SAB is a wonderful time start your own journey as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. E-mail me at mandysurovy "at" yahoo "dot" com for more information! If you're local and interested in learning more about Sale-a-bration just let me know!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Fresh Vintage (SAB)

Ink: Crumb Cake, markers- Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Whisper White

Accessories: Simple Scored, Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad pack (SAB), scallop circle punch

Thank You Treat Pouch

2012-01-31T07:55:00.000-05:00

I've had this project just sitting here since last Valentine's Day. I made them as thank you for customer orders but never shared it on the blog for some reason. I have lots of projects to show you but will wait until after my stamping ladies see them tonight and tomorrow morning. I also have Creative Crew projects that I will show soon too once the gallery goes live tomorrow!

This fold is called a diaper fold. You can find specific instructions HERE on Splitcoaststampers. I filled my pouches with Dove chocolates.

You can change the DSP and embellishments to suit any occasion. For these I used Pretty in Pink DSP from the Subtles Collection DSP pack. The stamp set is Filled with Love which is retired but you can easily substitute any punched or stamped heart. I used Melon Mambo ink which shows up nicely against the Pretty in Pink. The other little embellishment is the Whisper White grosgrain ribbon which I knotted in the center and secured behind the flap.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Filled with Love (retired)

Ink: Melon Mambo

Paper: Subtles Collection DSP pack, Whisper White

Accessories: Large Heart punch, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon

Framelits Heart Valentine

2012-01-27T17:02:00.000-05:00

Is everyone gearing up for Valentine's day? Our family doesn't make a huge deal of it; no gifts or large ostentatious flower arrangements. A few exchanged cards (of course!!) and a yummy steak dinner eaten in the dining room with the good china and crystal is our big celebration. The boys think it's great fun to decorate the dining room and eat by candlelight! I hope to find the time to make a few decorations but in the meantime here is a card that I made when I was designing the cards for my upcoming club meetings. This one was cute I thought but it didn't make the cut as I wanted to use more of the new products from the Occasions mini.

Isn't this a super fun set of colors? I love the bit of Pumpkin Pie since it's kind of an unexpected color for Valentine's day.

The base is Melon Mambo and then a layer of Basic Gray. The fun comes in on the top panel. I used the new Hearts Framelits to die cut 3 heart shapes in the Whisper White panel (the large heart, the orange heart and the Melon Mambo on on the bottom left). One of the great things about the framelits are that you can place them anywhere on your cardstock....you're not limited like with punches where you can only reach the punch so far or in only a certain direction.

I used some Designer Series paper, textured cardstock and plain cardstock and layered small pieces of it behind the heart cut outs. Then I used the Adorning Accents hearts embossing folder to emboss towards the bottom. I wrapped a piece of 1/8" taffeta ribbon around the embossed part and then topped it with the sentiment punched with the Decorative Label punch.

I added a few more hearts punched with the Small Heart punch and the Heart to Heart punch. Gave a few of them some rhinestones and called it done.

Go ahead and bust out your heart stamps, heart punches and get going on those Valentine's day cards.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Delightful Dozen

Ink: Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie marker (sentiment is colored in a bit)

Paper: Melon Mambo, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie textured, Subtles Collections DSP pack

Accessories: Hearts Framelits, Small Heart Punch, Heart to Heart punch, Adorning Accents embossing folder , 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Decorative Label punch, rhinestones

50th Birthday Card

2012-01-25T09:48:00.000-05:00

Good morning! First of all I want to apologize for yesterday's post. I tried 3 times to get it to post the way I wanted and it just wasn't happening. So if you tried to read it through a reader and it was totally screwed up I'm so sorry. Sometimes technology just doesn't work! Hopefully this post will go up with out a hitch! There wasn't a project yesterday just details about Sale-A-Bration beginning so you didn't miss any creative genius (Ha!!) or anything. If you want more details about how to earn some awesome Sale-a-bration FREEBIES just let me know or check out this link at my online store.

I made this card last week for a birthday party we attended over the weekend. It was for a guy turning 50. Hard card to make huh? I looked through my stamps hoping to find one that jumped out at me to be used for this occasion and nothing was jumping at all! The birthday guy is a friend of my husband's from hockey so I don't know him terribly well at all so that makes this card even harder to make. When in doubt check the Color Coach and stick with something clean and simple!

You really can't go wrong with a basic, clean layout for guy cards. The base is Sahara Sand and I cut a just slightly smaller piece of Sahara Sand and ran it through the Big Shot with the Stripes embossing folder. I added some really, really old, retired silver diamond shaped brads (cause really, it's a guy and does he care that the product is retired....Nope!). I popped this whole panel up on dimensionals and then went to work on the focal point.

When I consulted the Color Coach it said 2 colors to pair with Sahara Sand are Pacific Point and Cajun Craze. Perfect guy colors! I punched out 2 circles of each color with my 1 3/8" circle punch and lined them up centered on the card front.

I pulled out my Silver Glimmer paper (see, you can use Glimmer paper even for a guy's 50th birthday card! It's all occasions really!) and used my Alphabet Simple Numbers dies to crank out a 5 and a 0. The numbers are also popped up with dimensionals.

I didn't take a photo of the inside but I stamped the "Happy Birthday" stamp from Delightful Dozen for a nice sentiment on the inside.

Done & Done! Super easy for a super cool guy birthday card!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: None

Ink: None

Paper: Sahara Sand, Pacific Point, Cajun Craze and Silver Glimmer paper

Accessories: Stripes embossing folder, silver diamond brads (retired), 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals, Alphabet Simple Numbers dies

Sale-A-Bration Starts Today!

2012-01-24T09:04:00.001-05:00

Good morning stampers! It's a great day when you can earn FREE Sale-a-bration products from Stampin' Up!

For each $50 in orders (before tax & shipping) you can earn 1 FREE Sale-a-bration (SAB) products! There is no limit to how many you can earn! Place an order for $150 and you get 3 FREE SAB products, a free reusable tote (sooo cute!) and $25 in hostess dollars to use any way you want in the catalog!

Joining Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator also gets you a great deal! The starter kit is just $125! It has everything you need to get started stamping! Stampin' Up! will also give you a free pack of Designer Series paper or a Digital Download each month for the rest of year!

If you are interested in learning more about the great deals during SAB check out this link HERE for more details or contact me and I'll make sure you get the most for your order!!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Red Hearts Valentine

2012-01-23T10:52:00.000-05:00

We're well on the way to February 14th and Valentine's Day aren't we?? Our family usually sends cards out to the extended family with a sweet photo of the boys. This year the cards will be done but I'm thinking that the sweet photo might be more of a challenge. I just can't get both of them to 1) look at the camera at the same time and 2) both smile NICELY at the same time. We always end up with one looking cute and the other looking like some alien we picked up on the side of the road. We might have to utilize Photoshop this year and switch heads and bodies to get 1 decent shot!

Anyway on to the card. This is the second project my office stamping ladies did last week at their class. I told them they couldn't hoard the card, that they had to give it to someone for Valentine's day. I even suggested that if they were giving it to a husband or boyfriend they could write the sentiment on the inside with a sticky note and then take the card back to keep for themselves! Anyway, what good is making all these cards if we don't send them out to brighten someone's day?? You can always make more cards when you've given away your stash!

This is a Real Red Valentine don't you think? We used the I {Heart} Hearts and the Delightful Dozen sets to bring this one together.

The card base is of course Real Red with a layer of Whisper White and Real Red DSP from the Brights DSP pack. We stamped the open hearts in Early Espresso on the Whisper White side. Next the hearts trio was stamped in Real Red and punched out with the Heart to Heart punch and the punched hearts were adhered wherever the ladies wanted them.

We added a narrow strip of Real Red to bridge the transition from DSP to Whisper White. "Be my Valentine" was stamped in Early Espresso and punched out with the Decorative Label punch. And the really fun part of the card is the Red Glimmer paper heart that was punched with the Small Heart punch (the perfect size to go with this sentiment!). And of course the sentiment is popped up on dimensionals.

Get out your Real Red and your heart sets and get to work on some fun cards for the loved ones in your life.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Delightful Dozen

Ink: Real Red, Early Espresso

Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Brights Collection DSP pack, Red Glimmer paper

Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, Small Heart punch, Heart to Heart punch, dimensionals

Citrus Birdfeeders

2012-01-22T14:49:00.000-05:00

So if a lot of you are out checking blogs you're probably on Pinterest too (or know what it is). For those of you who don't know what Pinterest is it's a really fun, crazy, sometimes overwhelming online corkboard. You sign up, create your "boards" then start pinning away either from blogs, other online sites or from Pinterest itself. It's an awesome site to organize and store all the ideas you see online. I have boards for food, for the home, stamping ideas, things to do with the kids etc. One of the things about Pinterest is there is so much to look at (you can see what everyone else pins, thus getting even more ideas!) that sometimes all you do is pin instead of make. I've been trying to make an effort to make the recipes I pin, use some of the stamping ideas on my own cards and actually do some of the projects with my boys.

This week Ryan, Alex and I made these Citrus Birdfeeders. The boys like having grapefruit in the morning with breakfast and when I saw this "how to" on Pinterest I immediately pinned it so we could make them for our birds. Here are our results! The boys had a lot of fun pouring in the ingredients and mixing it up.

Hanging up on the shepherd's hook in the backyard

I didn't really measure the ingredients but just eyeballed it based on the recipe in the above link. We added some chopped raisins and craisins to our mixture.

Our Ingredients

I even used some stamping supplies! I used Stampin' Up! hemp twine to make the hangers. Just used a wooden skewer to poke the holes and then tied the twine through.

All mixed up!

Our batch made more than enough for 2 halves of a grapefruit with a bit leftover for a refill for one.

Goobers! And no I don't dress them alike on purpose!

These things were pretty heavy so make sure you pick a sturdy branch or hook to hang them on.


Impossible to get a good photo in this house!

The finished product!

After a few days when we still hadn't seen any birds eating from the Citrus birdfeeders I thought that maybe our little tiny birds were intimidated by the size of these things or they didn't like them on the hooks. I took them down and wedged them into the crooks of 2 trees. Like an hour later the birds were all over these so I guess it tasted good and they were just not digging where they were originally hung.

Super easy fun project to do with the kids. We will certainly be making these as often as we have grapefruit I'm sure.

If you're interested in making some of the projects you've pinned and sharing with the world, my stamping friend Brandi hosts a monthly Pinterest challenge. Get off the computer, make one of your pins, and share it at Brandi's site. It's no use pinning ideas if you never make them!

And in case you're wondering I have been stamping getting ready for my stamp club at the end of the month and for my February Creative Crew projects. I promise I'll post a stamping project tomorrow!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Butterfly Birthday

2012-01-19T08:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday everyone! Where has the week gone? I feel like it was just Monday. No big plans here today...just the usual at home mom stuff...But I do have a cute card to show today.

A few of my regular stamping ladies are co-workers and they bring their club projects into their office and show them off. After seeing the club projects some of their other co-workers got interested in how to do stamping. We've started doing a regular little class at their office making a few quick projects to introduce them to Stampin' Up! and papercrafting.

Last night they made this sweet and simple birthday card.

This is a long skinny card that fits into Stampin' Up's! long open ended envies. We used a piece of the Sale-a-bration Everyday Enchantment DSP mounted right on the Whisper White base. Then we stamped the sweet bench from Have a Seat in Soft Suede and mounted that on a piece of Pool Party.

The sentiment from Bring on the Cake is stamped in Soft Suede and then hand trimmed into a banner. The ladies got to play with the Beautiful Wings embosslit to make some butterflies to embellish the card. The larger butterfly is popped up on a tiny piece of dimensional. Each butterfly is accented with a small adhesive rhinestone. I love how the die cut butterflies go with the little butterflies in the DSP...love matchy matchy! Everything ties together! We even adhered some butterflies to the inside of the card.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Have a Seat, Bring on the Cake

Ink: Soft Suede

Paper: Whisper White, Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Everyday Enchantment DSP

Accessories: adhesive pearls, Beautiful Wings embosslit, dimensionals

It's Never to Early! Merry Stockings

2012-01-18T08:08:00.000-05:00

So I know some of you are going to be thinking, "This lady is crazy. Christmas is just barely behind us. What is she doing making Christmas cards now!??" Well, let me tell you...last year I made 10 Christmas cards a month throughout the whole year and then when the holidays rolled around I was one step ahead. All I had to do was try (really really hard) to get a decent photo of the boys and then address my cards. No hemming and hawing over the design, no waiting for an order of supplies to arrive, no beating the deadline to get them mailed in time. I had enough to send out to my family, friends, customers and to use for teacher gifts. It was awesome! So this year I'm doing it again because I liked being all ready this past Christmas. This card is my first installment for the Christmas Card Challenge 2012 over on Splitcoaststampers.

I got the layout from the current challenge at Create with Connie and Mary which ends today. I decided on these colors after seeing an advertisement over Christmas that used them and I thought it was neat combination so I wrote them down. They are fun Christmas colors don't you think? You could change the stocking to a heart and use it for Valentine's day too!

This is a great layout for using up some scraps with your punches. I got rid of a lot of Very Vanilla and Old Olive pieces with this one. The base is Real Red with a layer of Very Vanilla that has the edge cut with the new Edgelits scallops and then embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

I wrapped a length of Real Red stain ribbon around the Very Vanilla layer and then added a Blushing Bride Glimmer Brad.

I stamped the stocking from Snow Much Fun in Stazon and then punched it out with my 1 1/4" circle punch. I colored the stockings with Old Olive, Real Red, Regal Rose and Blushing Bride and layered them with a 1 3/8" circle punched from Old Olive. I alternated the colors of the stockings and adhered them to the base.

And last but not least I stamped "make merry" from the retired set Berry Christmas in Stazon in the bottom right corner.

10 down 90 to go! Take some time throughout 2012 to make some of your Christmas cards so you can enjoy not being rushed in December.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Berry Christmas

Ink: Stazon, Markers: Old Olive, Real Red, Regal Rose, Blushing Bride

Paper: Real Red, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Accessories: satin ribbon, glimmer brad, circle punches, Perfect Polka Dots e.f., Edgelits scallop die

Birthday Roar!

2012-01-16T12:52:00.001-05:00

Did everyone have a good weekend? Get lots of stamping done? I did a little bit, mostly to get ready for my upcoming classes. The boys and Matt have off today so my usual quite Monday morning is not to be. Maybe tonight I'll get into the stamp room after it quiets down.

Today I'm sharing a birthday card for a little boy. A friend of ours turned 5 so here is the card I came up with for him. I saw this pillowcase in Pottery Barn kids and I thought, "Hey, that would kind of look cool as a card!" We get inspiration from everywhere don't we?

I wanted to use the Dinoroar set to do the same idea. I love these little dinosaurs!

I used Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade since I thought they were pretty close to the inspiration piece and perfect for a boy. I stamped the T. Rex and the sentiment in Stazon so the outline wouldn't run when I colored it in with a blender pen and reinkers. Then I stamped the Triceratops in Lucky Limeade all around the T. Rex. You can't really see it in the photo but I used Crystal Effects just on the green stomach part of the T. Rex.

I used the Crop-a-dile to punch a hold through the layers and set the jumbo eyelet (retired). I wrapped some twine through the hole and tied a knot. I frayed the edges a bit just because.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Dinoroar

Ink: Stazon, Pacific Point, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Pacific Point, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Accessories: Jumbo eyelet (retired), hemp twine, blender pen

Tall Snowman Thanks

2012-01-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's already Friday! Where has the week gone? I hope you have have exciting plans for the weekend! We have some plans but nothing too crazy. I'm planning on spending some time in the stamp room to finish designing the projects for my January Stamp Club. Local ladies- I need your RSVPs by Jan. 21 to reserve your spot!

Today's card is another one I designed for after Christmas thank yous for family and online order thank yous for customers. I used the Creative Crew January Sketch challenge for the layout. You can see the challenge sketch here.

Sorry for the weird photo on this one. I couldn't seem to get it at the right angle. I feel like lately my camera hasn't been cooperating with me. Or most likely user error!

The base of the card is Bashful Blue. Then the Wild Wasabi layer that I cut with the new Edgelits dies for the cool scallop edge and then embossed it with the Houndstooth embossing folder.

The snowman is stamped in Chocolate Chip and then colored with Bashful Blue, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi and Chocolate Chip markers. I added Dazzling Details to the scarf polka dots and the band on the hat.

The sentiment is from Petite Pairs and is punched out and layered with circle punches. I used a jeweled rhinestone brad on the sentiment since I hardly ever use them and they were just gathering dust. Why buy something if you're not going to use it right? There's no point in hoarding stamping supplies!

Now please don't take this as a desperate plea for more comments but I was wondering if anyone has had trouble lately leaving comments on my blog? Something isn't quite right and I can't figure out what might have changed. If you've encountered a problem in the last month please let me know. I can be contacted by going into "view my complete profile" under my photo at the top of the sidebar and then clicking on "contact me". I want to be able to answer questions about projects but if people can't even leave the question in the first place that's a problem. Thanks for your help!

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Petite Pairs

Ink: Bashful Blue, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Accessories: jeweled rhinestone brad, circle punches, scallop Edgelit die, Houndstooth embossing folder, Dazzling Details

Fresh Vintage Clean & Simple Thank You

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

I needed yet another thank you card the other day. It seems that I send more thank you cards than any other...birthday comes in second but definitely thank you is at the top of the list. I guess that makes me lucky that I have so many things to be thanking people for!

I wanted to play along with the Splitcoaststampers Clean & Simple (CAS) challenge this week which is to use die cuts. I choose to use a lot of white along with Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush and Perfect Plum.

The base is Whisper White, then a layer of Concord Crush. And it's hard to see but the top layer of Whisper White is actually textured. The flower image was inked up with markers and then stamped on smooth Whisper White. I used the Labels Framelit to cut out the image. It's popped up with dimensionals.

I used the Beautiful WIngs embosslit to make the butterflies out of Perfect Plum cardstock. Perfect Plum is the Dynamic Duo for Concord Crush according to my trusty Color Coach. I popped the butterflies up with little tiny pieces of dimensionals as well. I added an adhesive rhinestone to each one as well as a row of three next to the sentiment.

I hope everyone has a great day! Big day of housework and swimming lessons ahead of me! Maybe I can squeeze in some stamping somewhere!
Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Just Believe

Ink: Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Whisper White smooth & textured, Concord Crush, Perfect Plum

Accessories: Labels Framelit, adhesive pearls, dimensionals

Chubby Snowman Thanks

2012-01-11T17:13:00.000-05:00

Dinner is all prepped and ready to cook, the boys are watching their one show before dinner and I have a few minutes of quiet to post this card I made the other day for the Mojo Monday Challenge 223.

I needed a few more thank yous for customer online orders as well as for Christmas so I made a few of these up using a color combination I had written down to try a long time ago....Baja Breeze, Regal Rose and Not Quite Navy.

I used up some retired DSP too, the Baja Breeze is from Elegant Soiree from and the Regal Rose is from Sweet Stitches.

The snowman and sentiment panels are cut with the new Labels Collection Framelits. I sponged the edges lightly with Baja Breeze. The snowman is stamped in Stazon and colored with markers.

The little embellishments I added are brads, white baker's twine bow and the snowflake punch.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Petite Pairs

Ink: Stazon, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, markers- Not Quite Navy, Regal Rose, Baja Breeze

Paper: Baja Breeze, Sweet Stitches DSP (retired), Elegant Soiree DSP (retired), Whisper White, Not Quite Navy

Accessories: Snowflake punch, brads, baker's twine, dimensionals

Creative Crew Twitterpated Romance

2012-01-10T09:12:00.000-05:00

We had a good lesson in our house yesterday afternoon...every 5 year old boy should know how much toilet paper is "too much". Ryan came running out of the bathroom with a panic-y look and said, "Mommy, there's something wrong with the potty!!" Sure enough when I went to look the water was rising close to the edge. Out came the plunger and a fair amount of plunging ensued. Once the situation was under control I looked at the "brand new that afternoon because I put it there because you can't trust a house full of boys to do it roll of toilet paper" and sure enough there was enough missing from it that I could definitely notice! I think Ryan will be much more careful now....at least I hope he will!

On to the fun stamping stuff! Here is another one of my Creative Crew projects. This one was to make a non-traditional card using our newest stamp set. Now this was a bit of a challenge for me as since I had just received my Occasions Mini pre-order (one of the awesome perks of being a demo is to get to order new stuff a month before the catalog goes live to the public) and had about 5 sets to choose from! The difficulties of my life right? I chose the Bordering on Romance set since that's a little different than my usual style and the whole idea of a challenge is to get us out of our ordinary tendencies.

I used a lot of new products on this card besides just the stamp set. The DSP is Twitterpated, the ribbon the new 1/8" organdy ribbon that will come out for Sale-A-Bration, the die cut is the labels collection for the new Framelits and the detail at the bottom of the card is made with the new Edgelits dies.

I embossed the small flowers on the Basic Gray with Whisper White embossing powder. Then I embossed the larger flower stamp also in white on Whisper White cardstock. I cut it out using the Label Framelit and then colored it in with a blender pen and reinkers. I kept the heavier color to the center of the flowers and worked my way out. I sponged the edges with Island Indigo and then popped it up on dimensionals the card base.

Remember, if you'd like to play along with this Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew challenge be sure to add the keyword CCREW112CF when you upload. We'd love to have you join us!

Thanks for looking. May all your toilets stay unclogged today! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bordering on Romance

Ink: Versamark, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Twitterpated DSP

Accessories: Labels Collection Framelits, white EP, Adorning Accents Edgelits, 1/8" Lucky Limeade organdy ribbon, Whisper White satin ribbon

Sweet Gnome Congrats

2012-01-09T08:35:00.000-05:00

I made this card the other day combining the Mojo Monday sketch challenge and the ColourQ color combination. I can't decide if I like this one or not....I love the sweet little paper pieced gnome but I think there might just be too much other stuff going on. I also got to play with some new accessories so that was fun.

The Colour Q challenge was to use Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Cameo Coral (retired) and Cool Caribbean (retired). I never had any Cool Caribbean and have long since sold the Cameo Coral when it retired so I used the next 2 closest current colors; Pool Party and Calypso Coral. I've been using those 2 a lot lately so I hope you aren't tired of the same old thing here on Did You Stamp Today?

The back panel is embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and uses a length of Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon to bring that color to that side of the card which was looking a little bare before. The banner strip is one of the new Twitterpated designs from the new Occasions Mini catalog. I added the Congratulations banner and adhered it with a Sale-a-bration (SAB) designer printed brad. I needed a congrats card but you could easily change it out to a birthday or Valentine's day sentiment.

The Calypso Coral scallop circle is paper pierced on each scallop and I added a layered heart using the heart from the owl punch and the smallest heart from the Heart to Heart punch. I added a small rhinestone as well.

The gnome is stamped in Stazon on watercolor paper. I paper pieced her hat and dress with Everyday Elegance DSP from the upcoming SAB catalog. Have I said how much I love every one of the Everyday Elegance designs? Her hair, skin, the grass and mushroom are all colored in using a blender pen and re-inkers.

Last but not least I used the Stampin' Up! Big Shot adhesive sheets to make my own glitter heart sticker. I added the adhesive to one side of the Calypso Coral heart so that the Dazzling Diamonds glitter would be evenly applied and I wouldn't have to mess with glue. All I did was stick a small piece of cardstock to one side of the adhesive sheet, used the Hearts Framelits to cut my heart shape, peel off the backing on the adhesive and then smoosh (yup, that's the technical term!) the sticky heart into the Dazzling Diamonds.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Gnome Sweet Gnome, Delightful Dozen

Ink: Stazon, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede (for hair and mushroom base)

Paper: Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, watercolor paper, Calypso Coral, Twitterpated DSP, Everyday Elegance DSP

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, SU adhesive sheets, ruffled ribbon, Designer Printed brad, Heart to Heart punch, Hearts framelits, Owl punch, rhinestone, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, scalloped circle punch

Slow Snail Belated Birthday

2012-01-07T21:55:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! We are enjoy quite the warm spell here in central Virgina. It was in the 60s today and we enjoyed an awesome walk with my in-laws down in Virginia Beach. We had 2 very tired little boys on our way home this evening. There was a lot of snoring coming from the back seat!

I hope to get some more stamping done tomorrow so for now I'm sharing another Creative Crew project for the January challenges. The challenge was to use a color combination that we had never used before along with this sketch.

So how do you think I did? I flipped the sketch on its side and stamped the snail as if he's coming onto the main panel.

The images are stamped with Stazon on watercolor paper and then colored in with a blender pen and reinkers. I outlined the gifts and snail with a bit of Sahara Sand for some added detail.

I rounded opposite corners, used brads, new 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects on the snail shell, and a banner for the sentiment. But by far my favorite is the Dazzling Details snail trail wandering around the bottom of the card. It's no wonder that this snail is late for a birthday!

Remember if you'd like to play along with this Creative Crew Challenge use a color combination you've never used before with the above sketch and upload it to Splitcoaststampers using the keyword: CCREWDF112.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Turtle & Co.

Ink: Stazon, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Sahara Sand

Paper: watercolor paper, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Black

Accessories: Aquapainter, black brads, SAB designer printed brad, 1/8" Calypso Coral organdy ribbon, corner rounder, Dazzling Details

Valentine Enchantment

2012-01-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

Lots of great stuff happening with Stampin' Up! today! Today is the first day of the new Occasions Mini catalog....soooooo much great stuff in this one, especially for the Big Shot! If you're one of my local ladies and didn't receive your mini catalog in the mail last month let me know and I'll get one to you. If you're not local to me check out my sidebar to see the mini. You definitely want to have this to browse through before we meet for January club. Believe me your wish list will be a mile long!

Also, check out Stampin' Up! on Facebook...they are giving away a FREE Digital Download until January 10th. All you have to do is become a fan of Stampin' Up! on Facebook. Check out their wall post from yesterday to get the link for the download. This can be used in My Digital Studio or any other photo editing software. Try out digital paper crafting today for FREE! Gotta love free. Thanks Stampin' Up!

Today's project is another one I made for the Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew. We were to use hearts in a new way to us on a Valentine's Day project. My card isn't the traditional colors for a Valentine's Day but it's a sweet one nonetheless! The way I used hearts in a new way to me was to punch out the hearts with my Heart to Heart punch and then fold them in half the long way. I adhered one side of each heart down to form a flower.

How cute are those flowers?? And the sky's the limit with the size of hearts you use to make your flowers....bigger hearts = bigger flowers! I want to make a 12 x 12 shadow box heart flower for spring.

You can see a few new Occasions mini products as well as upcoming Sale-a-bration (SAB) products used on this card. The Designer Series Paper used on this card is a SAB offering this year. Let me tell you...I LOVE this paper. Every single design in the Everyday Enchantment assortment is awesome...I'm having a hard time deciding which side to use! Guess I'll just have to get another pack! The stamp used on the card base is also and SAB choice. It's called Fresh Vintage and works great with the Everyday Enchantment DSP. I stamped off the floral stamp twice before stamping the cardstock to get the faint image.

Now check out some of these cool mini products...the big DSP label that the flowers are mounted on...that is made with the new Labels Collection Framelits. They are awesome. You get a set of thin dies that nest inside of each other so you have a variety of sizes that all layer together. You can get this label shape as well as hearts!

The center sentiment banner comes from a new set called Take It To Heart. I just stamped my sentiment in it and then cut it out. It's great for making a sentiment the highlight on a card.

The last of the new items are these 8mm adhesive pearls. You all know how much I love my adhesive pearls and rhinestones so you'll be seeing a lot more of these showing up on my projects in the future!

If you'd like to play along with the Creative Crew get out those hearts and do something new to you with them and upload them to the Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew gallery by using the keyword for this challenge: CCREW112HF.

Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Take It To Heart, Delightful Dozen

Ink: Soft Suede

Paper: Pool Party, Everyday Enchantment DSP, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral

Accessories: Heart to Heart punch, adhesive pearls, Labels Framelits