Ella's Name Frame

Here's a Name Frame I made for a new baby girl, Ella Grace. I used a picture of her layette as my inspiration and was happily able to match the color scheme and motifs in her bedding closely. I purchased a cherry wood frame which just matched her crib but sent it ahead with her grandmother because I didn't want to mail the glass. Sadly I didn't get to see it in the frame but the mom and grandmom said it matched perfectly and they loved it.

Sets: Unfroggetable, Small Sayings, Flannel and other background stamps, Warm Words II.

Inks: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Markers.

Paper: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Very Vanilla cardstock

Accessories: Spring flower punch, Blender pen, buttons, assorted ribbons.

All products Stampin' Up!

I wish I still had the picture of the layette to show you , but alas, I don't. It was fun to match the layette and was glad it turned out so well. What a great way to use your stamping and make personalized gifts, meaningful to the recipients.

Have a great weekend! Hope you get to stamp a little! (or a lot!)

Margaret

Welcome Frame Art

Making a Name Frame is a wonderful way to use your stamping skills, to decorate your home as well as make special gifts. I made this name frame over a year ago and taught three or four name frame classes. Several ladies made a number of them for Christmas gifts, and they were reportedly well received. I enjoy making these for gifts because they are personal and the creative process in making them is fun and satisfying. Another great use for your creativity, stamping and those supplies you've purchased! : )

This frame uses a couple of retired items: Recollections Designer Paper and Cranberry ink and ribbon. However, it could be easily modified to use current colors and ribbons. This size frame accommodates a 12" x 5" piece of paper, approximately.

Stamps: Well-Worn Alphabet, a variety of background stamps behind the letters
Inks: Mellow Moss, Old Olive, Cranberry
Paper: Recollections DP, Mellow Moss, Very VanillaAccessories: Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware (retiring in Aug.), Cranberry stitched ribbon, olive organdy and moss grosgrain ribbons, large Oval Punch.

I've been requested to have another class so I'll be teaching one in the future. Hope you can come! Email me at funstampin @ cox. net (remove the spaces when putting the addy in the email) if you would be interested in attending.

I'll post another one tomorrow. Have a great day... it's FRIDAY!
Margaret

Technostamper Challenge #19 Wild Rose

The weekend activities have thrown my stamping time off somewhat but I'm catching up with my challenges now! To the right is the sketch for Technostamper's Weekly Sketch Challenge. This is pretty simple and easy, and a good design for everyone from a beginner to advanced cardmaker.

For my card, I used the Wild Rose Two-Step stamp set and coordinating Porcelain Prints Designer Paper. I love these
together! In last year's catalog we had the Recollections Designer Paper which also coordinated with the Wild Rose set but in a different color scheme of burgundy. This paper uses the In Colors® combo of Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi and River Rock which gives it a totally different feel. This one is great for summer; it looks so cool and peaceful to me.

The card base itself is River Rock, layered with Blue Bayou then the Designer Paper over that. A different layered DP strip goes across the horizontal center. The focal image, the smaller wild rose in the set, was first inked, stamped off on scratch paper then stamped on the cardstock, thus giving a softer shade of Blue Bayou. The second-step stamp was then stamped with the full-strength ink. It's a great way to get varying shades of color from the same ink pad. My Stamp-a-ma-jig was used to line up the stamping. A second flower was stamped the same way, cut out and adhered to the bottom one with Dimensionals. A smattering of green microbeads from the Bead Duos embellish the center, adhered with Crystal Effects.

For the three circles in the design, I punched out three 1/2" circles from one of the other designs in the DP then covered them with Crystal Effects and let them dry overnight. This morning I stuck them down with Mini Glue Dots (can hardly stamp without these!)

Set: Wild Rose
Inks: Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi
Paper: River Rock, Blue Bayou cs; Porcelain Prints Designer Paper
Accessories: Green Bead Duos, Crystal Effects, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Dimensionals, Paper Snips, 1/2" circle punch.

For other projects using this or Recollections Designer Paper, click here or here.

This is such a beautiful set; I hope it doesn't retire. We will soon know, however, as Stampin' Up! has announced the Retiring Stamp Sets will be announced on June 15! Not far away!

Order or book your workshop soon to take advantage of the retiring sets before they're gone!

Be sure to visit http://technostamper.blogspot.com/ to see Mary Jo's card as well as links to other cards created using this sketch, and also make one yourself, just for the fun of it!

Thanks for dropping by! Happy Wednesday!
Margaret

Technostamper Challenge #18

Whew, it's been a busy week! I've not gotten to stamp as I would like but finally got to make a card last night for Technostamper Challenge #18. This week the card has a little different feature which I like a lot! The front of the card doesn't go all the way to the top, so the inside of the card shows... make sense? I do better with pictures myself, so here they are.

First the sketch from Mary Jo; the white part is on the inside of the card.

I used the five-point flower from Stitched Exotics set and two prints from the Real Red Designer Paper for my card. The flower is mounted on the top of the front outside with the second Designer Paper print inside. Two pieces of Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain form leaves of a sort. A red Rhinestone Brad placed over a small flower of Celery center the large flower.

Two corners done with the Corner Punch then pierced with the Mat Pack accent the corners. The sentiment from Hugs and Wishes is stamped with Real Red on white cs then overstamped with Certainly Celery with the stitched swirl from the set. This is layered onto Certainly Celery.

The smaller picture shows the card standing open.

Stamps: Stitched Exotics, Hugs and Wishes

Inks: Real Red, Certainly Celery
Papers: Real Red from Prints Pack (Level 1 Hostess), Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Real Red
Accessories: Corner Punch, Corner Rounder, BoHo Blossoms (small flower), Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Circle First Rhinestone Brads, 1/8" punch, Mat Pack and paper piercer from Crafter's Tool Kit, Bone Folder, Paper Trimmer.

Be sure to visit http://technostamper.blogspot.com/ to see the listing of TSSC team members who participated in this challenge! Try out the sketch yourself and have some fun creating!

Thanks for dropping by! Happy Thursday!
Margaret

Spring Fling with Friendly Flowers

The current Occasions Mini Catalog has so many things in it that I like! I had resisted this set for some time, but you know how it goes, I finally caved when I saw a card a friend had made! Yesterday I finally got to put some ink on mine and use it! I paired it with the Spring Fling Designer Paper which is just perfect for this time of year! I just love these colors!

The striped paper provided the palette of colors for the card. I used markers to ink the largest flower stamp in the set, stamped it on white and cut it out. I stamped the center again on banana cardstock and punched that out then added a pink Rhinestone Brad to the center.

The "friend" word was stamped in Regal Rose, which I stamped off once before stamping it on the white so it wouldn't be too bold for the color scheme. This was layered on Sage Shadow after rounding the corners of both layers. I ran the Lots of Dots jumbo wheel, inked in VersaMark, over the pink stripes on the lower part of the designer paper for more visual texture.

Stamps: Friendly Flowers, Lots of Dots Jumbo Wheel
Papers: Spring Fling Designer Paper; Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Barely Banana, Sage Shadow cardstocks.
Inks: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow markers; Regal Rose pad, VersaMark.
Accessories: Corner Rounder, Paper Snips, 3/4" Circle punch, Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals.

I used Wednesday's Splitcoast sketch challenge SC176 for the layout of the card.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend! Now I'm going to go plant some flowers...

Margaret

"HOME" Garland Project

When we went to the Tulsa Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar in March, one of the displays was a home decor garland made using CDs.
We decided then that this was one of the projects we wanted to do for the Spring Demonstrator Retreat! The "garland" is best displayed using a decorative pole or bar, and I'll be looking for one to display mine in the future. But right now, I wanted to show this project to you.

We used the Simon Uppercase Chipboard Asst. for our letters, (Don't forget that chipboard is on sale this month from Stampin' Up!) and embossed them with Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and clear embossing powder. We rolled the Neighborhood wheel in Basic Brown on Naturals White Cardstock then colored them with inks applied with AquaPainters and cut out the houses we needed. Several SU products were used for embellishing the project.

Stamps: Neighborhood Jumbo Wheel, Canvas Background stamp.
Paper: Bali Breeze Designer Paper, Whisper White,
Inks: Chocolate Chip Craft Ink; various colors for WatercooringAccessories: Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, 5/8" Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Fresh Favorites I buttons, Rhinestone Brads, AquaPainter, BoHo Blossoms Punch, Tombow Multipurpose Glue.

The ladies seemed to enjoy making these and they weren't hard. They took awhile for the glue to dry on the CD but we did that on Friday evening so they dried overnight then they finished the project on Saturday!

Thanks for coming by. Happy Stampin' this weekend!

Margaret

Priceless in Plums

Seem we can always use Thank You cards! This card was inspired by one I received in a swap from a someone named Gwyn (no last name). It is sparkly in person as the swirlies are embossed in Iridescent Ice embossing powder. It is a pretty simple and straightforward card but conveys the message of gratitude nicely. And, it goes together rather quickly, which is nice when you are pressed for time.

Stamps: Priceless
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Inks: Perfect Plum, VersaMark
Accessories: Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Dimensionals, Paper Snips

I've used my Priceless set quite a bit since I got it and found it to be quite versatile...plus I love those swirlies, and the butterfly, and the dots and... : )

Thanks for dropping by! Happy stamping today!
Margaret

Technostamper's Challenge #17

It's week 17 of Technostamper's Monday Sketch Challenge! How enjoyable this has been to work with Mary Jo's sketches to come up with a card. Here's the sketch:

This week I used the Noble Deer set which, even though I really like it, has been sitting on my shelf neglected for awhile. It makes great cards for guys, and with Father's Day coming in June, it's a great time to pull it out. It will be a happier stamp now that it's had some ink! : )


I sponged the edges on all layers and distressed them to give the card a rustic vintage feel. The Sanded background was used on the Old Olive strip and the Canvas background was stamped in Bordering Blue for a subtle background on the Brocade Blue background. Some very subtle color was added to the main image using Watercolor Pencils and a Blender Pen.

Stamps: Noble Deer, Sanded background, Canvas background
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, Old Olive, River Rock
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bordering Blue
Accessories: Watercolor pencils, Blender Pen, 1/16th hole punch, 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches, Notched corner punch (retired), sponge, Vintage brads, Chocolate Chip 1/4" twill ribbon, Distressing Tool from the Cutter Kit.

Be sure to visit http://technostamper.blogspot.com/ to see the listing of TSSC team members who participated today! Try out the sketch yourself and see what you come up with too!

Hope you enjoy! Happy Monday!
Margaret

Inspiration Challenge

One of my yahoo stamping groups issues an optional weekly project challenge; this week it was to use the brown rug here as the inspiration for a card to make and send to another member. We could use any part of it, such as colors, design, layout, etc. as our inspiration.

Here is the card I made for Leigh using Time Well Spent, a current Level 3 Hostess set, earned for hostessing a Stampin' Up! party of $500. or more. My first view of the rug brought to my mind this set, which all demonstrators were sent as a surprise free gift from Stampin' Up! this past Christmas! (Love free stamps!)

I loved the deep chocolate background of the rug but also wanted to use the bright rich colors so I stamped and cut out my leaves and smaller flower on colored cardstock. The large flower was stamped and colored in with markers, inks and a blender pen. The word was embossed in white. Both flowers are raised on Dimensionals and a circle Ice Rhinestone Brad centers the larger one.

Stamps: Time Well Spent, Happy Everything

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Sage Shadow, Brocade Blue, Regal Rose, Rose Red

Ink: Basic Brown, White Craft, inks same as cardstock colors

Accessories: Signo White Gel Pen, Blender Pen, 5/8" Regal Rose ribbon, white EP, Ice Round Rhinestone Brad, Dimensionals

This was challenging (as was the intention, lol!) for me but I am liking the finished card; hope you do too.

Have a Happy weekend!

Margaret

Life is Good

I received this lively card in the swap at the Spring Retreat at the end of April. I have admired this set in the catalog and wished for it but haven't bought it (I can't have them all, can I?), so I was tickled to get this card made with Text and Texture while swapping. Jaycene Morgan is the paper artist who made this, isn't it great-looking?

Stamps: Text and Texture
Inks: Old Olive
Papers: Old Olive, Real Red textured, Whisper White; Summer Picnic Designer Paper (one of my faves)
Accessories: Jersey Ribbon Originals, Mini Glue Dots, stapler.
All products (except staples) ©Stampin' Up!

Thanks Jaycene, for such a great card!
Happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend!
Margaret

Essence of Love

In the current Occasions Mini Catalog is found a lovely stamp set with silhouette images titled Essence of Love. It has turned out to be a very popular and versatile set, useful with any number of interesting techniques.
I received a beautiful card using this set from an online friend, Judy Di Scipio, in a PSCubed Swap, a small group of swappers started by Pat Huntoon (Technique Junkies). Judy and I have been in several of the same online stamping groups for years and she is a very talented stamper.

The silhouette image of flowers and stems is embossed with in white onto Bashful Blue cardstock and the edges sponged with more blue. This is layered onto white then Brilliant Blue cs. The large Bashful Blue layer has been stamped with the Posy background stamp in the same blue color. All this is layered onto a Whisper White card and embellished with three white flowers punched with the Three For You punch.

When I showed this card at my last workshop, my customers were very interested in how Judy did the beautiful glittery butterfly. I asked Judy and here's what she shared: She first stamped the butterfly with Brilliant Blue CRAFT ink, then poured on Heat and Stick Powder, heated that until melted, then added the Dazzling Diamonds glitter. It is a beautiful look as the glitter reflects such gorgeous colors. Thank you Judy for letting me share your card!

Thanks for dropping by! Happy Wednesday.
Margaret

Wonderful You

We did this card at a workshop last week; it was designed by Amy Celona and I thought it was so pretty I wanted to make one myself so I "cased" it. (case=Copy And Share Everything). The background uses the Stems and Silhouettes Jumbo wheel that was part of the April special when purchasing this Wonderful You set.

Stamps: Wonderful You, Stems and Silhouettes jumbo wheel

Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Kraft, Very Vanilla

Inks: Brocade Blue, Always Artichoke, Brocade Blue jumbo ink cartridge, Brocade Blue and So Saffron markers.

Accessories: Dimensionals, Natural hemp twine.

I think this would make a beautiful Mother's Day card or a great card for a friendship, birthday, thank you or thinking of you occasions.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great day today!

Margaret

Technostamper Challenge #15

I'm trying to catch up on Mary Jo's Technostamper Lunchtime Sketch Challenges again! We've been out of town, preparing to go, or so totally busy for so many weekends recently that it has cut into my participation. Hopefully I can now get with the program again!

This sketch is #15, even though the posted sketch for today on Mary Jo's blog is #16.

For the first time I took the liberty of turning the sketch on it's side because I could just see the Bronc Buster in that center oval. The Sanded background stamp makes a great backdrop for the image which was cut out with the Coluzzle oval template, as was the layer of Chocolate Chip behind the image. I distressed all the layers with the distressing tool from the Cutter Kit. The Brocade Blue layer was stamped with the Paisley from the Wanted set, then sponged and the corners clipped with the Ticket Corner Punch. The edges of the Kraft card had the Close to Cocoa ink pad dragged across them to give an aged look.

The words are part of the "Genuine" stamp which is in the BB set; they were inked with a Chocolate Chip marker, punched out then layered. Silver brads throughout and Chocolate Chip grosgrain finish off the card.
I think I'll give this card to my DH (dear hubby) for Father's Day. : )
Stamps: Bronc Buster, Wanted
Cardstock: Kraft, Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Punches: Small Star, Word Window, Ticket Corner, 1/16" hole. Silver Brads, Cutter Kit Distressing Tool, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon.
Now it's your turn to try the sketch and meet the challenge! You may post the url in a comment on this posting.
Thanks for stopping by. Happy Monday!
Margaret

Enjoy Every Moment

Stamps: Enjoy Every Moment, Daisy Dash wheel
Ink: So Saffron, Garden Green, Groovy Guava
Cardstock: So Saffron, Gable Green, Groovy Guava
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Guava Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, Jumbo Wheel Handle

We did this simple and easy card at a workshop this week. I enjoyed working with the spring colors; they seemed to brighten my mood. Spring is definitely here in Oklahoma. Flowers are blooming and the grass is greening up!

Thanks for coming by!

Margaret

"Kind" Wall Art

Simon Uppercase On Board Chipboard letters were embossed with Chocolate Chip Craft Ink for this piece of wall art. The plaque is MDF; a piece of Bali Breeze Designer Paper was applied with Glue Stick then the letters were applied with Mini Glue Dots. The plaque was embellished with punched out flowers, corners and circles in coordinating colors. Moss Taffeta Ribbon and a Rhinestone brad are the final touches.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Always, Define Your Life, So Many Scallops (SAB).
Inks: Rose Red, Real Red, Old Olive, Certainly Celery Classic; Chocolate Chip Craft
Papers: Bali Breeze DSP; Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Old Olive, Certainly Celery cardstock
Accessories: BoHo Blossoms, 1 3/8" circle, 1/2" circle, Photo Corner, Scallop Punches; Moss Taffeta Ribbon, Fire Rhinestone Brad, Clear ep, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Glue Stick. All products Stampin' Up!

I designed this project for the Spring Retreat last weekend.

Thanks for coming by!
Margaret

Carousel Notes Tri Fold Card

The tutorial this week on Splitcoast Stampers featured a Tri-Fold card. This is a version of that technique using a Carousel Note. This is a lovely presentation for small handwritten notes or other small items such as gift cards. With graduations and weddings coming in this summer, this can be a useful technique. And easy to mail also!

Set: Embrace Life
Inks: Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose, Staz-On Black,
Cardstock: Wasabi Carousel Note; Regal Rose, Whisper White Cardstock
Accessories: Pick-a-Petal Classy Brass Template, 1/8" hole punch, Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Blender Pen.

Smaller picture on left shows it with a gift card inside.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Wednesday.

Margaret