Sock Monkey!

In addition to stamping, I also knit and crochet, and because of that I really love the new Sock Monkey set! I made this card for a friend of mine. She loves monkeys, and this was for her baby shower:



I also know that Mary likes purple, and the baby was going to be a girl. I'd crocheted a pink and purple blankie, and those colors were pretty close to our Perfect Plum and Regal Rose, which led to the card's color scheme.

Stamps: Sock Monkey
Ink: Basic Grey, Regal Rose, Perfect Plum stamp pads
Paper: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Watercolor Crayons (Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pale Plum, Regal Rose), Blender Pen, Crystal Effects, rose glitter (SU!, but retired), Elegant Eggplant and Pretty in Pink narrow grosgrain ribbon

Oddly enough, I remembered to take a picture of the card, but completely failed to get a picture of the blankie. Heh.

okay, another Convention swap

I've been almost too excited to stamp this week, because I'm waiting for my Big Shot! I just know that as soon as it comes, I'll want to break it out and play with it, and I don't want to get started on anything and have to pull myself away from that. Oh yeah, and watching Olympics coverage.

So, how about another of the cards I swapped at Convention?



Like I said, I made fairly simple cards to swap, but I just loved the bright colors on this one!

Stamp sets: A Beautiful Thing
Ink: Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Green Galore, Gable Green, Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise classic stamp pads
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals

I crumpled up the Lilac card stock, then flattened it out before adhering the white layer on top, to give it a little extra dimension. The other thing I did to make this go a bit faster is to take a whole sheet of Whisper White card stock, cover it with the flowers and swirls, and then cut it into strips. It means that each card comes out random, but I think that's part of the fun! :)

convention swap!

Quick post, or else it'll NEVER get done...I guess it's been a couple of weeks since I was in Salt Lake City for the Stampin' Up! Convention, and boy, did I have a great time! Lots of new stuff learned, I'm so excited about our new products (especially the Big Shot!!!), and I got some great ideas from swapping there too!

Now, those of you who know me may know that a couple of years ago, faced with the daunting task of making hundreds of swaps, I just said no. I wasn't going to do it, it was too much pressure, I'd let my friends swap and hopefully they'd let me see some of the samples they got, but I just couldn't do it myself. So I didn't. And I have to say, it was a little sad to not participate in all the fun, but at the same time, it was GREAT. No pressure to make the Best Cards Ever, no worrying whether someone would turn up their nose at mine, or whatever. I still had a great time learning stuff in the classes, and I did get to see swaps from my friends, but I didn't have that added stress.

But then this year, I couldn't resist the temptation, and I made 4 different card(fronts), and just a few of each, for a total of about 85 swaps. That was it, it wasn't too much work, I didn't get a repetitive stress injury from too much stamping, I had fun working on them and on swapping, and it was great. Maybe I'll keep doing that, just make a hundred or so and not let it take over my life. Stamping is supposed to be fun, right? :)

Anyway, after all of that, here's one of the cards I made. It was the first one that ran out, so I guess that means it was the one that people liked the most.



Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive Classic Pads; Very Vanilla Craft Pad
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Old Olive, Very Vanilla card stock
Accessories: clear embossing powder, sponges

The word at the bottom was stamped in Very Vanilla Craft ink, then I embossed it with clear embossing powder. I felt like it needed a little more something, so I rubbed in Elegant Eggplant ink around it, to help highlight it a bit more.

Picture taken in my hotel in SLC, because I completely forgot to do it before I left home! I'd even started swapping, and then realized I didn't have pictures of these, so I needed to hold back a few to make sure there was a record of them.

more Time Well Spent

I like this hostess set, and am a little sad to see if go. This time, I went for a simpler look with just one color and some glitter:



I know, I know, I should have adjusted the ribbon before I took the picture, so you can see the WHOLE greeting. Ah well. :)

Stamp Set: Time Well Spent
Ink: Basic Black classic pad; Real Red marker
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, 2-Way glue pen, Black gingham ribbon, Ticket Corner punch

hmm, another easy one

Same stamp set, also an easy card, but a different look. I'm a big fan of cups and mugs, you see, so even though it's a simple image, it just speaks to me:



Stamps: Pun Fun; Sweet Stars Jumbo Wheel
Ink: Basic Black, Lavender Lace, Chocolate Chip Classic Stamp Pads
Paper: Lavender Lace, Whisper White card stock
Accessories: silver eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, white narrow grosgrain ribbon

Tip: The jumbo cartridge doesn't come in the color you want, and you're not quite ready to commit to inking up a blank cartridge just yet? No worries - roll the wheel over the stamp pad, and then roll that across your paper. The jumbo wheels are long enough to go across the long side of a standard size card.

lazy stamper with Pun Fun!

I am a big fan of quick projects, and the idea of using "templates". What is a template? Simply put, it's kind of like a sketch - take the shape of a card, and make substitutions as desired.

Take a look back at this card. It's a landscape-oriented card, with an image in the middle, and a horizontal band, halfway down, across the card. This card takes that same template, but changes it up a bit:



Different, but the same, yes?

Stamp sets: Pun Fun; Sweet Stars jumbo wheel
Inks: Basic Gray classic stamp pad; Pretty In Pink and Almost Amethyst Markers; Ballet Blue jumbo wheel cartridge
Paper: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Whisper White carad stock
Accessories: Twill Tape, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, Jumbo Stampin' Around Handle, Blender Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

Quick little card

Need a way to jazz up a little gift? Our Scallop Notes are a way to add a fast note to a gift. You can easily whip up a pile of them and have them ready for last-minute gifts...you know the ones, where husband comes home and says "hey, we're having dinner with the Smiths, and did you know it's his birthday next week?" Grab a nice bottle of wine, or pick up something on the way to the restaurant, add one of these, and they'll never be the wiser!



Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Ink: Soft Sky, Certainly Celery classic pads
Paper: Chocolate Chip cardstock
Accessories: Scallop Notes, 1" circle punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, Paper Snips, Twill Tape, Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots

one more Heartfelt Thanks

I don't know what I'm going to do when this set retires!



The colors won't be available for long though - they're part of SU!'s current In Colors, and after August 10th, it's out with the old, and in with the new!

Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Ink: Wild Wasabi pad; Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke markers
Paper: Bayou Blue, River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Accessories: Word Window punch, Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon

Tip on the Word Window punch - the opening on that is actually about 2" wide, I think. To make it smaller, just punch out the piece, then align that within the opening and punch a second time, making a custom-sized smaller oval.

Heartfelt Thanks

Hey, look - a purple card!

Okay, I honestly have no idea where this card came from, but I'm pretty sure it's not mine. I just found the picture when looking back in my images, and thought I'd post it. It's definitely my colors though!



Stampin' Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace, Whisper White
Accessories: Vintage brads, Elegant Eggplant 1/4" grosgrain ribbon

Time Well Spent

Really, I need to start stamping every day.



Stamps: Time Well Spent (level 3 hostess set - soon to be retired!)
Ink: Basic Brown, Ballet Blue, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Ballet Blue
Accessories: Crafter's Tool Kit, Stampin' Sponges, Natural Hemp Twine, 1" and 1-1/4" Circle Punches, Stampin' Dimensionals

The most difficult thing on this card is probably the assembly - lots of pieces all put together, Tip for the circle piece in the lower right corner - stamp the image, then flip the punch upside down to center it in the circle.

Sending happy thoughts!

I bet you thought I'd forgotten about this blog, huh? The truth is that I haven't, I've just been busy with a lot of stuff, and had hardly any time for stamping. I dusted off the ink pads today though, and have two treats for you. I started with SU!'s Simply Sent kit, Sending Happy Thoughts:

The materials are easy to list in this one, because it's just that kit! ;-) In case you're curious about the specifics, we've got Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive card stock and ink, plus a little Very Vanilla card stock. There's a little Dazzling Diamonds glitter in the middle of the flower, and the brad is a pewter one, which is also available in the Vintage brads set, or as part of a Hodgepodge Hardware. The ribbon is also available in the Jersey Ribbon Originals.

But if you know me, you'll know that those aren't really my favorite colors. So what happens if we pull out some other cardstock and inks?

Ah, much better! I'm not sure I've ever made a card with this color combination, but I gotta say, turquoise has really caught my eye a lot lately, and I love it with purple! So, Lovely Lilac and Tempting Turquoise card stock and inks, and of course Whisper White works a little better than vanilla here. Tie a little Tempting Turquoise 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, and that's a card I'd probably make a BIG pile of, just to have on hand.

I'm pretty confident that the Simply Sent kits will all get switched out when the next catalog comes out in a couple of months, so if you love this idea, be sure to order one now!

I'd also say that I'll post more frequently, but whenever I do, it seems to have the opposite effect. So...see you in a few months? ;-)