Back to Watercolor Reinker Splash

Ok, I wasn’t going to post this because it’s similar to the card I made my parents’ for their anniversary, but I just ♥ this card.  This is my favorite color combo for this technique so far.  And the little leaves made with the Big Shot add just the right touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up!©):
Stamps – Fifth Avenue Floral
Paper – Shimmery White, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Summer Sun
Ink – Whisper White craft
Accessories – Big Shot die cutting machine, Manhattan Flower embossing folder, Small Stems sizzlet, white embossing powder, half back pearls (from the Pretties Kit), Regal Rose 5/8″ grosgrain ribbon, heat tool

Build a Bear!

Stampin’ Up!© has partnered with Build-A-Bear to bring you a whole new line of stamps and dies!  When you get your mini catalog in the mail shortly (what?  You didn’t get one?  Email me for your copy of the Holiday Mini catalog at stampinstuff@gmail.com) you’ll see new stamps and new Big Shot dies.  Adorable!!!

In honor of the BAB partnership, SU had special BAB’s available at convention.  Isn’t it cute?   It comes with an exclusive “Life Without Stamps… UNBEARABLE” stamp and black Stampin’ Up! demonstrator apron. You could only get this teddy bear if you were at convention, but thanks to some pretty mad negotiating skillz Stampin Addicts was able to acquire a couple of these bears to give away. So to celebrate the Sept 1. release of the Holiday Mini catalog and the Build-A-Bear Workshop collection they’re putting one of these bears up for adoption.  So run on over to Stampin Addicts (see the link there on the top left of the sidebar?), join the forums and upload some cards for your chance to win.

Spotlight Class Card #1

I’ve been on total overload this week.  We’ve spent the week running around doing stuff for the Bar Mitzvah.  We went to Restaurant Depot, did some baking, went to a couple of bakeries to taste test yummy pastries.  And I had to get ready for class today and to start my new job tomorrow.

This month’s technique was Spotlighting.  I ♥ this technique.  It can really make a wow! 

When I saw the new set Courage (item #115330, pg 67),  this technique just screamed at me.  How cool would it be to spotlight the flag?  Spotlight technique is all about bringing a small portion of the focal image to life.  On this card, we used watercolor wonder crayons and a blender pen to do the coloring.  When you color over black ink, it’s best to dab instead of rub.  Even though the black is permanent, well…  Trust me, dab instead of rub.  We also used the WWC to spotlight a couple of the words in the sentiment.

 

Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up!©):
Stamps – Courage
Paper – Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink – Basic Black
Accessories:  Watercolor Wonder Crayons – Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Always Artichoke; 1 1/4″ square punch; 1 3/8″ square punch; blender pens

Convention Swap – Thanksgiving Cardfront

So here is the last of my convention swaps.  I had a hard time cranking out 3 of them.  Some people I know did dozens!  Some were organized (like the ones I did), and some were just general.  Picture this, there are thousands of people in line to get into the events.  Everyone in line and inside is swapping!  Total craziness!  I would think some demos had 50 lbs in just swaps alone!  My convention buddy Teresa shipped all her swaps to the hotel ahead of time so that she didn’t have to worry about packing them.  Was probably a lot cheaper than hauling another suitcase.

The theme of this swap (obviously) is Thanksgiving.  The requirements were only current Stampin’ Up!© merchandise, at least one new thing from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog, and at least one embellishment (ribbon, brad, eyelet, hardware, etc).  I had done this technique for a Father’s Day card last year and just loved the colors and the card layout.  So I used new In Color reinkers and a texturz plate, and the tree from Thoughts and Prayers.  Just because the sentiment in the set is for sympathy cards, doesn’t mean that it can be ONLY for sympathy cards.

See the “brads” on the side of the sentiment.  They’re faux brads.  I used the scrap edge of the shaving cream layer that I tore of and used my 1/8″ punch to make my brads.  Looks awesome!

Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up!©):
Stamps – Thoughts and Prayers, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper – Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink:  Soft Suede
Accessories:  Reinkers – Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Old Olive; Shaving cream, Hemp Twine, Word Window Punch, Modern Label punch, 1/8″ hand held punch, Big Shot, Texturz Background #1, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Convention Swap – Suspension Card

I joined a couple of Stampin’ Up!© convention swaps hosted by some fun folks at stampinaddicts. com.  How can I do swaps?  Well, my convention buddy Teresa (paynete at SA and on Twitter) is swapping them for me.  She’s also doing s a little shopping for me too. Yay! 

This swap is a Cards That Move Swap.  I’m really excited to get some awesome samples back.  In my group there is a suspension card (mine), a waterfall card, a shaker card, a diorama card, a swing card, a view master card, a hinge card, a free standing pop up card, and a double slider card!  I’ve never made some of these so I can’t wait to see them and play with them.  I ♥ interactive cards.

Here’s my suspension card.  The Thank You circle in the middle twirls around.  I made a suspension card last Chanukah with a die cut dreidel in the middle.  DH suggested I spin it before I put it in the envelope so that when the recipient took it out, the dreidel would spin.  Brilliant!  Think I’ll keep him.  Got lots of great comments on that one.  The pumpkin layer is from the Razzleberry Lemonade paper.  I embossed it with the Texturz plate and then sanded the top.  Isn’t it cool-looking?  I hope the other swappers like it.  I always get nervous that my cards aren’t good enough.

 

Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up!©):
Stamps – Wow Flowers, Circle Circus
Paper – Basic Gray, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry
Accessories:  Lots of circle punches, silver brad, scallop circle punch, Big Shot die cutting machine, Texturz Background #1, Sanding Block, Sticky Strip

Non Convention Goers Swap

Today was the first day of the annual Stampin’ Up!© convention.  I’ve never been to one, but it sure sounds like a lot of fun!  Maybe someday.  I have a swap buddy who will do some swapping for me.  What in the world does that mean, you ask?  Well a swap is just what it sounds like.  You make one card or card front for each person participating in the swap.  They each get one of yours and you get one of each of theirs.  Angie, our wonderful hostess at Stampin’ Addicts, held an NCG Swap (non-convention goers).  We all mailed them to her and she sorted them all out and sent them all back.  I got mine today. So I got to do some swapping during convention, even though it’s not at convention.  The cards I got back are fabulous!  I’ll have them out for display at my next class if you want to see them.

This is the card I sent.  The requirements were current items only and there had to be something new from the 2009-2010 catalog.  I used all new In Colors.  I’m really pleased with how they came out.   I stamped the tree first, then cut into 3 strips.

 

 

 

Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up!©):
Stamps – Thoughts and Prayers
Paper – Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Accessories – Markers:  Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede; Large Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

New use for ribbon

Who knew Stampin’ Up!©’s Dusty Durango and Bermuda Bay ribbon were so comfy!  After the pic was taken, he got up, did the Halloween kitty stretch, turned around, and laid right back down with his head on the “pillow.”  Too funny!

Watercolor Reinker Splash without Flowers?!

Oh my!  Really, you did this technique without using a flower stamp?!   Why yes, yes I did!  This is an awesome coloring technique, but it’s not just for flowers.  Well, ok, many people really like it best with flowers, but have they tried it with other stamps?  All you need is an open line art image with plenty of open space to color.

For this card, we used the heart from Stampin’ Up!’s Always stamp set (item #113620).  Isn’t it purty?  In an effort to make sure we had enough time in class to finish all the cards, I opted to skip the background stamping on this one.  Yeah, it looks kinda plain.  Yeah, I got a complaint.  Lesson learned!    Next time I’ll gussie up the background too!  After the reinker dried, we cut out the heart, mounted it on the black, then cut the border.

Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up!©):
Stamps – Always
Paper – Orchid Opulence, Bashful Blue, Shimmery White, Basic Black
Ink – Orchid Opulence, Bashful Blue, White Craft
Accessories – Reinkers (Orchid Opulence, Bashful Blue, Lavendar Lace), Aquapainter, Modern Label Punch, clear Embossing Powder, Bashful Blue brads, 1/16″ hand held punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Enough already with the Christmas Cards

Ok, I know I said I would post each of Christmas in July cards, but really, it’s summer (well at least it is on the calendar).  The weather has been so weird.  Cold and rainy one day to hazy/hot/humid the next .  So I thought today I would step away from the Christmas cards and show you what we made at our monthly technique class last week.  It was fun! 

The technique is called Watercolor Reinker Splash and was first introduced at one of the Stampin’ Up!© regional seminars.  Since then, there have been many online tutorials about it.  You will recall the card I made for my parent’s anniversary used that technique.  One of our cards was very similar to the anniversary card because I ♥ that color combo.  But here’s another color combo that is just stunning with this technique.  It’s Night of Navy, Brocade Blue (a Stampin’ Up!© dynamic duo), and Blush Blossom.  Yumm!  Isn’t this a great layout?  Found it online and just knew I had to use it.  The flower is cut out and popped up on dimensionals.  And underneath we stamped the flower in white craft, so when you see it from the side, it really enhances the 3D look.

Supplies Used (all Stampin’ Up!©):
Stamps – Fifth Avenue Floral
Paper:  Shimmery White, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue Prints series, Blush Blossom
Ink – Night of Navy, White Craft
Accessories:  Reinkers – Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Blush Blossom; Aquapainter; Clear EP, Paper Snips, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Final Deal of the Week

Final Deal of the Week!
July 27, 10 AM (MT) through July 31, 6:50 PM (MT)
Heart to Heart Punch (Item #113694 pg 187)  Regular Price $15.95
Sale Price $10.99   That’s 31% off!