Fall and Christmas Card Time!

I met with our fun group of Hillsboro Stampers a week ago and we did a little bit of fall and a little bit of Christmas!  I showed a quick Christmas card using Wondrous Wreath that I saw on a youtube video by Brandy.  I love this set and its matching framelits.  Then I showed how to make your own stamp pad with a baby wipe and ink refills to make a gorgeous fall card with this set--it is so versatile!  See this post for a link to a video showing this technique and similar card.

Oops...it looks like my dazzling details got a bit smushed in my travels....=-)

I stamped the greeting a bit crooked....just makes it homemade--right?

The make and takes that we did included the card above which uses the crumb cake notecards and this quick and easy card in lost lagoon that uses Flurry of Wishes.

What I loved most about this make and take was the individual style that each person added to their card.  Some turned it to landscape position, others added rhinestones and no snowflake element....I loved them all!  I got this card design/idea from Sandi McIver.

Our last project is a gift card/money holder made out of a standard envelope.  We used the "Oh What Fun" stamp set and a tutorial that I received from Chic'nScratch in a e-mail.  I believe she has a tutorial for it online also if you search on youtube.

Happy Stamping!   Dawn

Acorns, Fall, and Stamping Fun!

Fall is probably my favorite time of year.  The colors of fall just make me happy!  At the last gathering with my Hillsboro group we made some fall cards using some of my favorite techniques and here they are:

Isn't this acorn just the cutest?  I can't wait to play with it more this weekend.  The "Into the Woods" designer paper is the perfect foil for this set--Acorny Thank You---and you can bundle it too! The technique we used here was faux suede --it's hard to see, but the texture of suede is on the daffodil circle. 

France Martin designed a card a few years ago using this sponging technique and I still think it makes a striking fall card.  I used the Vintage Leaf set for the leaves and LightHearted Leaves for the sentiment.  I have 2 containers of these cute wooden embellishments left over from last year and really need to get them used! 

Our last project was this little cutie--a mint for after dinner.  I think this would be a cute little thing to put at each person's plate when they join you for a fall feast!

and you can crank out a bunch of these very easily!

Have fun stamping!  Dawn

Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set of the Month...

I had a couple of gals join me for my Sprinkles of Life SSoM in August.  There are so many wonderful cards out there that people have made it was hard to come up with the four that we did make! There are a lot of ice cream cards out there so here's what we did:

I cased this from a card I took a picture of at convention--I thought it was a clever use of the leaves stamp.

This card is similar to one that was demonstrated on the stampin' up website.

This card is totally cased from a youtube video by StampinTexasChristi.

Love the apples and the basket!  Here's the inside of the card:

Keep on stamping!   Dawn

Party Catch Up!

I am so far behind in posting and have SO much to share!  I met with the Hillsboro Ladies in early August before I had to go back to school....and the McPherson gang a week later!

First I shared some of the fun tips on making interesting backgrounds that were shared at convention this year....

•using watered down Tombow glue to make glue splatters and then adding glitter
•using the Dazzling Details and a sponge dauber + mask to create a subtle glittery background
•creating a focal point for a card with your DSP with color added using a sponge dauber or spritzer
•coloring glimmer paper with a spritzer filled with 3/4 rubbing alcohol and 20 drops of reinker

Gotta love those bundles!  Merry Everything and Festival of Trees!

Love the sentiments in the Tin of Cards set!

Here are the cards that I either demonstrated or we made!

Use that washi tape to create a fun background!

We used that same tag punch to create the openings you saw on the first 2 cards above and the one below--just make sure you use a 3 1/4 inch square piece of designer series paper.

The large stamp Definitely Dahlia is the focal point for this card--I cased this from a swap I received at convention....but can't find the name of the stamper!  =-(

Isn't this card using the Honeycomb Hello set adorable?  I cased it from Amanda Sevall.

The inside uses Gorgeous Grunge and One Big Meaning.

I've seen so many beautiful cards using the set Timeless Love!  The black paper in the background is from the designer paper Color Me Irresistible.  Yep--this set is a keeper!  I cased this from my DBWS, but no name so sorry to whoever created this--love it!

I've had Wonderful Wings since the new catalog came out and just hadn't had time to mess around with it, wow....it's a great set and you really have to struggle to make a bad looking butterfly! Ha!  This one uses soft sky, lost lagoon and blackberry bliss.

Whew!  That's a lot of cards...hopefully I'm on the way to getting caught up now and hope I can stay up with my posts.  One more and I'm there!

Keep stamping!   Dawn

Last Post about Convention--You're Sublime

So my last day of convention ended at noon....it started out with my participation in a "Kids Themed Swap."  Here were my cards:

This is a "magic card"--when you pull up on the cord the picture of the frog (from You're Sublime) "magically" gets colored!

I found the tutorial on youtube--posted by Dawn Griffith.

My second card featured the new dino set, No Bones About It....

Here's the inside:

There were some great presentations on the last day and I got a ton of ideas to share during this coming holiday season.  Since I wasn't heading home until Sunday morning, I went out to eat with a group of demonstrators to this place located up in the mountains east of Salt Lake City...the back patio where we ate was just a beautiful setting....

I'm so excited to put into practice some of the things I learned this year!

Inspire Create Share Day 2

Wow--sorry I'm so behind getting this posted...we traveled to Indiana for vacation right after convention and then there was a sudden death in my family so I haven't been on the computer much.
Day 2 of convention was filled with classes about communication, how to be a salesperson when you aren't one, a class that highlighted one of the new Christmas collections that is reminiscent of the illustrations in the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer book from the late 50's or early 60's, and time spent in the Gathering Center with new products to try out.  =-)

I participated in a punch art swap on this day and oh, my did I get some cute cards!  I might have to have a few punch art classes just to share the ideas!!  Here are my two swaps:

My base is garden green with 2 layers of pool party--the top one embossed with the honeycomb embossing folder.  The tree branch and leaves are from the new tree builder punch and I made the hive using the wide oval and large oval punches.  The hanger part on top is the word window punch.  I think I used hello honey for this.  My bees were the trickiest part.  I started with the 1/2" circle punch and cut it down.  Then I punched the rest and cut them with the same angle using the first as my "pattern."  Then I glued them together and added the details with my basic black marker.  The wings are from the small heart punch in cardstock vellum.  My sentiment is from the set: A Dozen Thoughts.

My inspiration for this card came from a card I saw on pinterest by Heather Klump. 

My second card is a Volkswagen Beetle....sort of....I just couldn't get the side mirrors on without it looking very strange!

The card base is basic black and the grass (I just handcut it) is in old olive.  This is mounted on soft sky.  The clouds are from the tree builder punch and the sun is one of the Flower Fair framelits.  The bug is made using the wide oval and small oval punch.  I can give specific details if anyone wants them (just let me know).  The bumper was done with 2 of the word window punches with the ends trimmed a bit more bluntly.  I hand cut the curves on the skinny bumper piece and rearview mirror.  The heart on the car is from the confetti hearts border punch.  My tires were done with the Handpicked framelits (the one that looks like a pencil).  To make my pennant I punch a 1" square, marked the center on one side and then hand cut to the corners to make the triangle.  I then just glued them on some melon mambo paper and cut them out.  The sentiment is from the set Banner Banter.

I have a funeral tomorrow so I doubt if I'll post Day 3 then--probably be Wednesday.

Sweet Stack Swap & Day 1 of Inspire Create Share 2015

So..if you truly know me you know that I'm always looking for a bargain.  There was no way I was going to fork over big bucks for my hotel room so I Hotwired it an got a huge price cut (which made me oh, so happy).  However that meant I had to do a lot of walking since I was 5 blocks from the convention center.  If I was a step counter I would have been in "step heaven!"

On Wednesday before convention began I participated in my first of 4 organized swaps---a new stamp set swap.  I had to make 41 of these babies.  When I signed up I forgot to pick a stamp set from the catalog and by the time I remembered there weren't many sets left to pick from.  As I looked at Sweet Stack, which is the set designed to go with the Cutie Pie thinlits and Sweet Stack kit, I thought I could come up with some kind of banner with the triangular piece.....yep....easier said than done.

I can't tell you how many ways I tried this and just couldn't get it to my liking.  Finally ended up with this:

I used the Cherry on Top paper to get my theme and went from there!  Daffodil Delight (it's supposed to be crushed curry, but it's just not bright enough for me), bermuda bay with the zig zag embossing folder, Then I stamped and cut out the watermelon wonder banners, mounted them on whisper white and cute again.  I stamped the banner again in pool party and cut out the "of" and added it to the watermelon wonder banner piece.  Add your whisper white baker's twine and then tie a ton of bows (which I added with 1/2 of a glue dot).  Final touch was 3 rhinestones in the corners of the banner.

The inside looks like this:

I used the set Fabulous Four and punched a couple more banners from glimmer paper and Cherry on Top paper (love this design--so bright and cheery) then stapled them on.  Swap #1 Done.

Here is a picture to give you and idea of the chaos that you see when you come into the convention center (especially the first morning).  Trying to find friends in the midst of all this is crazy!

Then we are herded (a bit like sheep) into the area where we have general sessions-- and controlled, fun chaos ensues:

The highlight of the morning session was the reveal of our awesome new Holiday/Fall Catalog!  There is so much in there you are going to want!  I can't wait until I can show you starting Sept. 1!

After the general session we had lunch and 4 different informational classes--mine were on building the business with kits, demonstration theater, making videos, and the compensation plan.  I got great ideas from all!  

I had my second swap that evening before supper--a WOW card swap.  So I made 51 of these gems (and stayed up until 2 a.m. the night before to get them done):

And the inside of the card:

Very vanilla, blushing bride and gold embossing powder added to the butterfly framelits and Cottage Greetings brought this all together!  I really intended to put gold thread under each butterfly, but it was too time consuming to get done for all 51 in the time that I had to work on them.  

The day finished with Awards night and the after party--but to be honest, I was so pooped from staying up late to finish the swap that I couldn't enjoy this like I wanted to!

Inspire Create Share 2015 (aka Stampin' Up Convention) Pre-Day 1

Whew--I got into Salt Lake City which is nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains on Tuesday evening.  I was lucky enough to meet several ladies from the Wichita area on my flight and had fun talking with them during our 4 hour layover in Las Vegas!  Convention doesn't start until Thursday but I got up fairly early on Wednesday, worked on some swaps and then headed up to the convention center to see if I could catch a bus out to Riverton to take a tour through the SU offices.
Riverton is about 20 - 30 minutes south of Salt Lake City and the SU building is beautiful!  The famous stone is at the end of a long drive (there are actually 2 of them). Of course I had to take my picture there!!

Then I headed into the building--here's what I saw when entering!

Yes-the center atrium on the lower level has a waterfall area surrounded by tables for people to sit and work or eat at--so calming and relaxing!

SU had a little walking tour set up for us so we could see many of the areas of the facility.  First we went to the Legacy Room which has vignettes set up using SU product--a bedroom with a wall of flowers, a wall of chalkboard sayings, and so on .... so much beauty....I couldn't take enough pictures! Here's a sample of what I saw:

This was from 1 of probably 7 or 8 scenes.  Next we headed into demonstrator support offices where they had all the cards donated for Ronald McDonald house set up for us to see and workers were there to chat with us as we went through.

After that we went to a balcony overlooking the floor where orders are filled.  This was so fascinating to me as much of it is automated/computerized.  Here's a quick video of what I saw:

The gal putting the boxes together slaps on 2 computer generated bar codes that tell what to put in the boxes.  So interesting!  I always was a lover of Mr. Roger's "how it's made" videos so this was right up my alley.

I was lucky enough to meet up with Shelley and Molly from Wichita on this tour which made it so much more fun!  I'll be back later tonight or tomorrow with details from the first (official) day of convention!

I Think You're Great!

At our last party I messed around a bit with this stamp set intended for "kissing."  We tried inking up the solid stamp and then "kissing" it to a dry stamp with no ink on it....here's what we got:

It just seemed very undefined and although there is a pattern in there on the background, it looks like I squiggled the stamp around and blurred the image (which I didn't--I don't think).  

When we inked up one stamp in a darker ink and one lighter we got this--which I turned into this card using the Cherry on Top wash tape:

I like it much better!

Right now I'm sitting in the LasVegas airport waiting for my connection flight to Salt Lake City, Utah.  I'm heading there for the Stampin' Up Convention.  I have been working like crazy on all of my swaps--I don't know how people have time to create 300 or 500 swap cards.  I've been working non stop on my 160 cards that I'm making for the swaps that I joined.  I didn't make any to just do general swapping with--thought I'd be less stressed this way.  Hmmm....  Here's what I've been doing as I sit in the airport--working on my WOW swap of 51 cards....

I'll post reports of what's happening at convention this week as well as photos of my swaps!  I'll be sending out an e-mail with the info. for weekly deals when I get into my hotel room tonight!

Thoughts & Prayers and some sweet Kissing....

Although the two groups I stamped with met just two days apart there were a couple of projects that weren't the same.  Sally the hostess for my first group requested a sympathy card idea.  I've always loved Thoughts & Prayers--its sweet tree and lovely sentiments...here's the idea that I got from several different cards on Pinterest...

Punch your circle out of a post-it and then place it where you want your moon to be.  Then sponge with soft sky before adding your tree and sentiment out of soft suede.  You may not see it very clearly, but we added some details with the scoreboard on the piece behind the main image on the card.  The soft suede piece is embossed with woodgrain (love).  

Since the McPherson group had already done the in color card with butterfly basics and the new lace ribbon I showed them the new set, "I Think You're Great" which was intended to use tie the technique of kissing.  I messed around a bit with the kissing and will post that in my next post...but I loved this card that was featured on Pink Buckaroo's blog and I think she got it from one of her friends Krista Jensen.

First card is tip top taupe and daffodil delight and the 2nd is watermelon wonder and tip top taupe.

I'll be back soon with some kissing!