VC Rocks--June Blog Hop!

The theme this month is: "Rock Your Creativity Using Stampin’ Up! Punches or Sizzix Dies" and I had a couple of ideas in mind, but not much time.  I'm helping to host a family reunion this weekend for 40 - 50 people (fixing a couple of the meals) so I'm busy, busy, busy!!  The real question probably should be…why did I sign up for this blog hop?  Hmmm….. =-)

Anyway--a looong time ago I bookmarked this page from Shelli Gardner's blog "So Shelli" --I really like some of the ideas on her banner.  I used the new bigz die called "Party Pennants" some of the embellishment ideas from Shelli's banner and a mix of old and new Stampin' Up materials.

Here's a view of my whole banner which just fits under my shelf that hangs on the wall in front of my stamping desk.

And some close-ups of the banner….

List of supplies used:


Bigz L Perfect Pennants
Artisan Label Punch
Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack
Swallowtail
Delicate Doilies (retired)
Apothecary Art
Choose Happiness
Jumble Alphabet (retired)
Keep Calm (retired hostess set)
Pearls
All Abloom DSP
Venetian Crochet Trim
Mossy Meadow Stitched Satin Ribbon
Gold Baker's Twine
Dazzling Details
Paper: Naturals Ivory, All Abloom DSP, Rose Red, Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette, Mossy Meadow
Ink:  Pool Party, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Mossy Meadow

Have fun hopping to all the blogs!  I know I can't wait to see what everyone has created!!
Here's a link back to VCRock's Blog--from there you can navigate to each blog in the hop.
Enjoy!

Mother's Day Card….more than a month later….

I made my mom this concertina card for Mother's Day and forgot to take pictures of it before I sent it….thanks to my daughter I got this set of pictures AFTER the fact….

As always you can click on individual pictures to enlarge them.  If you have any questions over what I used let me know.  

Work of Art….part 2

Whew!  I now know that I like to have my internet in working order….otherwise I get very frustrated!! It's been 3 days since I've been able to get on and make a post….3 long and frustrating days….It's now after midnight on Wednesday evening and FINALLY I have some internet access, so I'm staying up and posting while I can!  Well--you can strike all of the above out--finally went to school so I could get internet fast enough to load the pictures!

When I last left you, I said I'd be back with some more creative examples using Work of Art---so here they are (quickly since I don't know how long my good luck will last)…

#1  Patriotic Work of Art

I saw a number of flag/patriotic cards--I created this one with Night of Navy and Real Red on whisper white card stock.  I did block both the left and right side of my card stock with long post-it notes after looking at the length of the stripe stamp in Work of Art.  I added "celebrate" from Itty Bitty Banners.  I also used the new cotton 1/4 inch ribbon--ooh--it is nice!!


#2 and #3 Polka Dot and Zig Zag Fun case'd from Pinterest (of course).  This first one is from Lisa Curcio and the second from Sylvia Nelson.

Hope you enjoy!  

June Party Fun-- Work of Art!

Oh my goodness….I've been trying to post this for over 2 days…I'm finally online so here  goes….I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

Hi all!  We had a great time at our monthly Stampin' Up party this past week.  It's always fun to get together with my stamping friends!  We had good food and lots of laughs as usual!  I decided to highlight a set in the new catalog called "Work of Art."  I'm telling you there are some demonstrators out there that are so clever and creative!  Here are some of the ideas that I shared:

First--this was a card that was demonstrated during the catalog premiere--so easy and fun.  I call it "artsy splotches."  =-)

This uses last year's in colors and gold embossing powder---and a lot of stamping off!  So easy and fun to make!

Secondly I showed how demonstrators have found ways to creative use this set for…..

Sunsets at the Beach (idea from Marsha Lavoie)

Colors used were pumpkin pie, so saffron, marina mist, and crumb cake….also the stamp set Wetlands for the birds.

The third card I shared is so quick and clever it still amazes me!  I got the idea from this video by Keenan Kreations that I found on youtube here.

I used the new in-colors--Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey--leaves are Mossy Meadow. This card can be done in 5 minus or less!!

Lastly I showed this card -- a chalkboard card (directions found here)  inspired by several demonstrators…

I'll post the rest of the cards that I made using Work of Art tomorrow--as always if you have any questions give me a holler!

VC Rocks First Blog Hop of the Year!

Woo Hoo!  Today has been a great (and busy) day!  Last day of school with the kiddos is always crazy and I also needed to make sure I had all my creations ready to go for my first blog hop in quite awhile.  We are featuring tools or embellishments that we love in this blog hop and I sure do love my Envelope Punch Board and Simply Scored Scoring Tool!!

Back in March I saw this adorable concertina card created by Julie Kettlewell a demonstrator from England and I've been enamored with it ever since.  I finally had time to make one for my mom for Mother's Day….but I forgot to take a picture!  So for this blog hop I created a special graduation card for my son's girlfriend who is graduating from college this weekend--yay, Kelsey!

The card base is made with one sheet of 12 x 12 designer series paper cut into 3 -- 4 x 12 pieces.  Use the scallop tag topper punch on one end of 2 of the pieces to create the closure for the card and then score each piece at 2.5", 5", 7.5", and 10"  (make sure you don't start scoring on the scallop end).  You'll have a cut the 2" piece off of the piece that does not have a scallop punch on either end.  Glue them together and decorate!  The black cardstock piece is cut at 3.5 x 2 and the whisper white is 1 3/4 x 3 1/4.  Then the hard part…..deciding how to decorate!  Here is a link to the video that Julie created.

You can't tell from here, but my owl has some crystal effects on his glasses--so cute!

When you have such a special card you need to make sure you also have a special envelope!  I created a box envelope specifically for the measurements of my card by using the "Box Buster" on The Crafty Owl's Blog--this tool allows you to put in measurements and it gives you the size of paper and where you will need to score to create the perfect box using the Envelope Punch Board!  Genius!!  I've linked you to the box buster tool here.

Here's a picture of my box envelope with the card closed. 

Want to keep hoppin'?  Check out our complete blog hop here on the VC Rocks Blog!

Supplies List:

Tools - SU Scoring Tool, Envelope Punch Board, Heat Tool

Stamp Sets - Go, Graduate (Retired), Endless Birthday (new photopolymer), Morning Post Alphabet, Pomp and Circumstance, Blue Ribbon

Ink:  Basic Black, Staz-On black, Real Red

Cardstock/DSP - Basic Black, Whisper White,  Real Red, Silver Glimmer paper,  Polka Dot Parade d.s.p., Quatrefancy Specialty paper

Punches - 2.5" circle punch, 2 3/8" scallop circle, 1 3/4" scallop circle, 1 3/8" circle punch, star punch (from the holiday trio punch pack), decorative label punch, banner punch (SAB and new catty), artisan label punch, scallop tag topper punch

Other stuff:  clear embossing powder, versa mark pad, mini brads, crystal effects

May/June SS of the M--Bright Blossoms and Another Great Year

It's really difficult to pick out the sets to use for this month with so many sets retiring and then the occasions catty coming to a close--also it's a super busy time with graduations etc…

But I chose "Bright Blossoms"  (still available as of today) and "Another Great Year" from the Occasions catalog.  Here's a sneak peek of the cards we'll be doing if you choose to join me!

I'm using up some of my retired or soon to be papers with these projects.  I've always loved the clean look of this stamp set and found some great cards to CASE on pinterest!

Hope you can join me!  June 1 and 2 are the dates--cost is $20 and it includes the stamp set and card makings.  Already own the stamp set?  You have 2 options---choose a comparable set to order or make the cards for $2 each.

I'm off to make a few Mother's Day cards…...

Graduation Time! Pomp and Circumstance...

Hi all!  Just finished up with the gals who wanted to make some graduation cards in preparation for the busy month of May here in Kansas!  We used the stamp set "Pomp and Circumstance" from the Occasions Catalog.  Here are the four cards we did:

First:  A double slider card--directions found here.

One trick I did learn--if you follow Julie's tutorial is that you need to cut the seam part out of the cellophane bag.  I redid my card multiple times before this was figured out--thanks Virginia!

Second card uses the retiring Bigz die 

Our last 2 cards were pretty easy makes…

Sorry--this was the best I could get my camera to do with photos today!  Arghh!  So frustrating!

I'll be back sooner than later!