Saturday, June 30, 2012

Ribbon Inspiration/Stamp Simply Style - My Mind's Eye


Hi everyone!!  Welcome to this week's Ribbon Inspiration Stamp Simply Style. This week we are all using my favie favorite My Mind's Eye products!  I chose to use papers from the On The Bright Side TWO 6x6 pad.  I love the colors in this pad, it's full of rich turquoise and oranges!
 I trimmed some of the papers in a banner shape (they almost look like Washi Tape cut this way, right?) and did a zig-zag stitch down the middle.  I accented the strips with a couple flowers from the Prima Laraine Blue Lagoon pack (seriously LOVE this line of flowers) and some Aqua rhinestones. The sentiment is from JustRite's Large Fancy Sentiments.  This is a quick and easy card and with the many variety of sentiments in that stamp set, you can whip up a set of note cards for a little gift with no problem.

Each week we will have fabulous Blog Candy and this week it's a $20 gift certificate to the store!  The winner will be drawn from comments on one of today’s participating blogs, one comment per blog, please.  The winner will be selected at 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday, July 3rd and posted on Sharon's Blog on Wednesday.
You must check back to claim your prize if you are the lucky winner!
 Here is a list of today's participants:

Special Notice
The Stamp Simply Designers are changing their schedule during the summer months.  Rather than having the designers post on Saturdays, the posts will be spread throughout the week, just to allow a bit more freedom to accommodate summer schedules.  Sharon will continue to have a Saturday morning post each week, but it will vary - she may run a special sale, have a mini tutorial, or a give-away.  Flexibility is the name of the game for the next 2 months! 

Thank you so much for your encouragement and support of The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store and to Sharon who works so hard behind the scenes to keep her store stocked and up to date with the latest fabulous products!

 Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!  I'll leave you with a close up picture.
Card Deets:
Stamps - Large Fancy Sentiments (JustRite Papercrafts)
Ink - Pumpkin and Onyx ink (A|Muse)
Paper - white cardstock, On The Bright Side TWO (MME)
Accessories - Orange/White solid center stitched ribbon, Prima Larain in Blue Lagoon, Kaisercraft rhinestones in Aqua, sewing machine

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Love my tapes sketch challenge

Hi everyone!!  I took a little break from my Spellbinders projects to play along with the Loves My Tapes June Sketch challenge.  I thought it was a fun sketch and I just love any excuse to play with my washi tapes!

My card uses a new stamp set I just received from A|Muse called, Hey Cupcake.  I had a little fun with the icing on the cuppy by stamping the outline image in black then outlining it with a copic marker.  Then I stamped the solid icing image over it with versamark and embossed it with Diamond embossing powder.
 Using washi tape makes it easy to decorate the inside of the card too.  Just a couple strips along the bottom and you're done!
 Thanks for stopping by and here is a close up picture of the cupcake "icing".
Here is the sketch:
Card Deets:
Stamps - Hey Cupcake (A\Muse)
Paper - Pure Luxury White cardstock (Gina K Designs)
Accessories - Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Five, yellow buttons, brown/white baker's twine (Stamp Simply Ribbon Store), copic markers, washi tape (Chickydoddle Etsy Store), diamond embossing powder (A|Muse)

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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Sneak Peek: Spellbinders Summer Spectacular Day 4

Hi everyone!!  Welcome to day 4 of the Sneak Peek: Spellbinders™ Summer Spectacular!  I am excited to show you two new dies templates.  The first set is a new limited edition holiday set called 2012 Heirloom Ornaments.
 
**UPDATE: This 10 year old post is getting traction. This die set has long been discontinued! You can find currently sold Ornament die sets HERE.

And the second is a new set in the Cut/Fold/Tuck die series called Diamond Strips and Accents.  This new set of Cut/Fold/Tuck dies is a bit different, they actually have the ability to directly die cut into your paper without cutting a shape in addition to the ability to die cut the complete shape!

 I showcased these new dies with a card as well as a scrapbook page.  First up is my card:
Supply List: 
S5-137 Diamond Strips and Accents MSRP $29.99 
S5-116 2012 Heirloom Ornaments MSRP $24.99 
GC-001 Grand Calibur®
Waltzingmouse Stamps: Fancy Phrases stamp set 

Other Supplies: 
Versamark ink, white button, blue and green cardstock, corner rounder

I loved the idea of making the C/T/F strip within my card, so I started out by taping the die template onto the bottom of my card.  I am pretty adamant for things being even, so I lined up the points of the die evenly on my working mat grid.
 Here is what it looks like on the inside after you cut and emboss this die.  You may have noticed that I used cardstock that is white on the reverse side.  I chose this paper specifically so it would show the cool tuck/fold detailing without any work on my part.  
 Before removing the die from the paper, I inked the inside embossed detail with Versamark ink (this is called stenciling).  Then I sprinkled glitter embossing powder over the ink and embossed it with my heat gun.
 The next step is to fold up all the little pieces.  I like to use my ruler for this as it has a pointy edge that slips right under the flap and gives it a crisp folded edge.  A tip is to start from the inside and work your way out.  That way you are not smashing down what you just folded up with your ruler.
 Here it is with all the pieces folded up.  This photo also shows the glitter embossing well.
 Here it is with all the pieces tucked.  I photographed this on dark blue paper, so you could see which parts were tucked and which parts were cut away.
 For my card I used the 2012 Heirloom Ornament dies templates in a different way, I made a flower blossom with the smallest Ornament die!  Here is a picture showing how I did that.  I die cut /embossed 5 pieces for each layer of the flower and 2 for the leaves.  To give the flower some stability, I adhered the "petals" to a small circle as a base.  Next I used my big stylus to cup each petal.  The leaves were made by scoring some "leaf veins" into them with a small stylus and giving them a slight fold.
 There are many other ways you can use these dies.  With the C/F/T dies, you could color the pieces to be tucked to get a custom color combination.  
You could also use double sided pattern paper for a really cool effect, or you can give it a monochromatic look by die cutting regular colored cardstock like I did here in my second project.   
Regarding the ornaments on my page, I made them 3D!  I did this by die cutting and embossing 3 pieces, scoring them down the middle, folding and adhere them together and gluing them flat to the page.  You may not see in the photo, but before I adhered the ornaments to the paper, I threaded some beads to a stick pin and glued it to the ornament along the inside crease.  Then I hung them with some coiled wire to the C/T/F strip.  Lastly, I accented the ornaments with small foil die cut pieces from my stash.
Thank you for stopping by have a great day!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Have a beautiful day

Hi everyone!  I am back again with another card I originally shared on the CardMaker blog on April 30th.  This assignment was to share a favorite tip of mine.  My tip was to show how to color my rhinestones with a Copic marker!  This is a great way to get matching rhinestones for your project every time.
Here are a couple things I have learned over time that may be helpful:
    1. Choose a marker with a darker color than you want it to be. The rhinestone takes color, but it ends up lighter than if the marker is coloring white paper.
    2. Apply the color evenly as the color can come off if you run the marker back over it. I usually smoosh my marker on the top and circle my way down all the way to the plastic sheet.
    3. You can easily change your shade of color by taking another marker and coloring over it.
    4. Let the ink fully dry and then lightly tap the rhinestone with your finger to make sure all the extra ink is off. Otherwise, you can end up with a mark on your paper if you move your rhinestone around like I tend to do.
 
I keep a handy little cheat sheet of colors that I use the most. You can also color pearls and foam Thicker letters!
And here was the card I made.  The flowers are from various Spellbinders dies (listed below), the sentiment is from Unity Stamp Co, Follow Your Own set, and the paper is from My Mind's Eye.
Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day!  Here is a close up picture.

Supplies used: Cardstock from Gina K. Designs; Follow Your Heart “Be Happy” 6 x 6 paper pad from My Mind’s Eye; stamp set from Unity Stamp Co.; ink pad from A|Muse Studios; clear rhinestones from KaiserCraft; #85 Crystal ultrafine glitter from Art  Institute Glitter Inc.; Bitty Blossoms (#S5-086), Bauble Blossoms Two (#S5-104) and Standard Circles SM (#S4-116) die templates and die-cutting machine from Spellbinders™ Paper  Arts; Copic® markers from Imagination International Inc.; Star Dust Stickles from Ranger Industries Inc.; 1/4″ Scor-Tape™ from Scor-Pal® Products

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Always and Forever

Hi everyone!  Over the next couple days, I thought I would share a couple of the cards I posted over on the CardMaker blog from April and May.  On the day my post went live I posted a sneak peek of my card, but I know not everyone has the chance to click over and look, so I thought I would recap them here.  Also, I am knee deep in doing CHA projects and recovering from a stomach bug, so don't have anything new to share!

This card was my very first blog post with the blog team which was posted on April 13th.  My assignment was to write about my favorite product and I chose to combine my 2 favorites -Spellbinders™ die templates and bling which equals - Want2Scrap Nestabling™!  Here is my card which uses a lovely wedding cake image from the stamp set With This Ring, from Gina K Designs.
Here is a step by step showing my process to adhere the Nestabling.  The first thing I do is take the Nestabling out of the package and lay them over my die cut to get a feel for which size I should use and for exact placement.
A tip for sticking them down is to gently peel one off at the top and stick it to the top of your die cut. Then slowly work your way down lightly tapping it as you go. You can adjust it as you work your way down for a perfect fit.
I love how easy and convenient Nestabling is!  They add just that extra little touch to the Spellbinders Labels shapes you already have!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Supplies used: Cardstock and To Have and To Hold stamp set from Gina K. Designs; Picadilly 6 x 6 paper pad from BasicGrey; Nestabling™ Labels Eleven Silver Rhinestones from Want2Scrap; Memento ink pad from Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko; Nestabilities™ Labels Eleven die templates (#S4-246) and Flowers Impressabilities™ embossing folder (#I2-1004) from Spellbinders™ Paper Arts; red rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty; Copic® markers (R22, R05, R14, G24, W1) from Imagination International Inc.; gel pen from Sakura of America; mulberry flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; corner rounder punch from Creative Memories; E-Z Runner adhesive applicator and foam squares from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L.


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Friday, June 15, 2012

CardMaker blog: VIP remake

Hi everyone!  I have a post over on the CardMaker blog today that shows you how I remade my very first published card with CardMaker!  It's part of the "Outside of the Box" series of articles showcasing older published cards remade using current supplies.  Please check it out if you have a chance and let me know what you think!

Here is the originally published card in the January 2010 issue.  

And here is a sneak peek of my remake.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  Oh and stay tuned, my Blogaversary was a couple days ago and I will be having a nice giveaway here in the next few days!!


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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

CardMaker Blog Hop: He's All That

Hi everyone!  Welcome to today's CardMaker blog hop!  The theme is He’s All That, and the blog team was asked to make masculine cards. With all the graduations going on right now, I made a masculine graduation card! 

Whenever I think of masculine cards I always think of stars and brown tones first.  So it's no surprise I went with both on this card.  I thought I would have some fun with my star die cuts with a sort of peek-a-boo opening at the bottom.  To make this, first I cut off 1.25" from the bottom of the card, next I cut off another 1/2" which would be my opening.  Gluing down the stars was a bit tricky, so I temporarily adhered my card to my grid mat and made sure everything was lining up perfectly.  There is a lot going on at the bottom, so I added some scored lines all across the top to sort of balance things out.
 Check out the other girl's blogs and see what masculine projects they have for you today!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!!
Card Deets:
Stamps - Con-grad-ulations (A|Muse Studios)
Ink - French Roast (A|Muse Studios)
Paper - Latte, French Roast, Cherry and Petite Polka Dot Cherry Cardstock
(A|Muse Studios)
Accessories - S4-092 Stars Five Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Scor-Pal, Red Rhinestones (Want2Scrap)

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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

3x3 mini cards using Gina K stamps


Hi everyone! Today I am spotlighting 3 sets:  The Stamp TV kit, Hello Sunshine, Birthday Greetings and the One Free with Three set, Life's a Beach.
 
ALL of these stamp sets are now retired.

 My next card uses the Birthday Greeting set.  I really love this one.  My sister is always asking me for birthday cards and wants something stamped on the INSIDE.  This set is perfect.

I used the puffy blossoms from the Hello Sunshine kit and the Gina K Designer paper, Petals and Wings.
Last but not least is a card with the Life's a Beach set.  I used the Gina K Designer paper, Pool Side.  I made the banner with Spellbinders S5-095 Tags and Flags die templates (love this one!).

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Card Deets (for all cards):
Stamps - Hello Sunshine (retired)
Ink - white, winter sky, blush, grapefruit, grass, heather and lichen ink (A|Muse all retired)
Cardstock - Pure Luxury cardstock in kraft, white, soft sand
Pattern Paper - GKD Petals and Wings, Pool Side

Monday, June 4, 2012

My day on CardMaker blog -get inspired

Hi everyone!  It's my day over on the CardMaker blog for my U Inspire Me post!  Hop on over there if you have a moment and check it out and let me know what you think.  I was inspired to make some note cards by this fabulous table setting from Martha Stewart!
Thanks for stopping by and come back tomorrow for Day 3 of the Gina K Designs release inspiration blog hop -we'll be showcasing the fabulous Stamp TV Kit!
 
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