Stampin' Write Markers Available For Limited Time......

With the release of the 2013-2014 annual catalog and the Color Refresh, Stampin' Up! offered the Stampin' Write Marker New Color Kit (item 130034, page 163) to help you update your Many Marvelous Marker pack.

Well many of you said “but I only need one marker, not the whole pack”, and Stampin’ Up!® was listening!  They are coming to your rescue with a time limited offer between June 26^th and October 31^st.   That’s right!  During that time period you’ll be able to buy any of the new colors in the pack or on their own!  

Here’s the list of what’s available:

Item#   Price      Description 
130034  $37.95    Stampin’ Write Marker New Color Kit – includes

         Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, 

         Crushed Curry,Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Soft Sky and Wisteria Wonder 

131899  $ 4.50    Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Marker

131264  $ 4.50    Blushing Bride Stampin’ Marker

131902  $ 4.50    Calypso Coral Stampin’ Marker

131901  $ 4.50    Crushed Curry Stampin’ Marker

131905  $ 4.50    Island Indigo Stampin’ Write Marker

131904  $4.50     Pool Party Stampin’ Write Marker

131266  $ 4.50    Pear Pizzazz Stampin’ Write Marker

131398  $ 4.50    Smoky Slate Stampin’ Write Marker

131900  $ 4.50    Soft Sky Stampin’ Write Marker

131903  $ 4.50    Wisteria Wonder Stampin’ Write Marker

Holiday Sets Still Available

Christmas is coming......

Don't you just hate it when we reach June 25th and some cheery person says ".....Christmas is just six months today!"  

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Christmas, but that statement literally makes my heart skip a beat knowing just how much there is to do.  With Christmas just lurking around the corner, I become super excited and get into the "Christmas in July mode".  

When this feeling comes upon me I start pouring through the new annual catalogue, looking for ideas and checking out the seasonal stamps and accessories so I can decide what I'm going to make and what I need to order. I begin talking to my customers and demo friends to see what they're interested in and just can't live without.   Yes, I'm making my lists and checking them twice!  But this year the holiday stamps that I love were missing from my catalogue and I thought what am I going to do?

No fear!  I just recevied a reminder that athough Stampin' Up! has a fantastic holiday catalogue on its way (trust me I've seen it), they also have some of your Christmas season favourites from last year's autumn/winter catalogue still available to satisfy those summer card making urges.  

These carry-overs include the fabulous Ornament Keepsakes Stamp Set and the coordinating Framelits Dies (which were mistakenly added to the Retired List, but are still available).   Yeah.......... I'll be able to do my "Christmas Ornament Keepsakes" class in August!

So, if you're like me and want to take advantage of some of these carry-overs and start your planning then click here to download the pdf and see what's available!   

Label Pop 'n Cuts Die Unavailable

June 21, 2013

Have you been admiring all the cards made with the Label Pop 'n Cuts Die (item 130160), introduced in the 2013-2014 annual catalogue on page 188, well I have too.  

Unfortunately I just learned through Stampin’ Up!®  Demo Updates that this die was incorrectly produced.  Apparently the die cuts instead of scoring across the score line. Sounds like our hockey team doesn’t it?  

 

 The Stampin’ Up!® supplier is currently working to repair this defect and replace the  inventory. In the meantime, until Stampin’ Up!® receives the new dies and ensures they are correct, the item number has been turned off.

Stay tuned. 

I’ll keep you in the know when the new Label Pop ‘n Cuts Dies are available.  Oh and don’t worry if you’ve already ordered one, your die will automatically be shipped to you when it’s available.  

Note:  You can still get the Card Base Pop n' Cuts #130099 and the Dress Form Pop N' Cuts #130100 Dies.........nothing wrong with either of them!  

Great Stamp Sets: Papaya Collage

 

Papaya Collage is part of the "Step Outside" collection in the new 2013-2014 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue and is featured on page 62.  

This seven piece stamp set offers a variety of stamp images that can be used singly or as a "collage" in your creations.  

Papaya Collage is one of those classic great value stamp sets and is offered in Wood or Clear Mount versions. It coordinates with the 3/4" Circle Punch on page 182 and will work nicely with some of the new framelit dies.

In the fall of 2011 I had the privilege of being asked by Stampin' Up! to be a featured Guest Artist in their May 2012 Stampin' Success Magazine, and my mission was to try out the brand new Papaya Collage stamp set. 

I needed to create at least 5 projects showcasing this set's versatility.  This was such a surprise and honour for me as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator to be recognized in their demo only magazine and I was really looking forward to it.

To tell the truth, the invitation couldn't have come at a better time as I was planning on making a very special present for my mother's upcoming 90th birthday, and my theme was about "remembering life". 

I chose some old wedding photographs that were in a rich old sepia tone with some hand painted peach tones in the skin colouring. I decided to use neutral card stock and designer papers and add just a pop of colour with Calypso Coral to reflect the vintage look I was trying to capture from the picture.  My gift collection included a scrap book picture, a gift bag with matching gift card, a birthday card and a notebook for writing down all those memories.  Papaya Collage was absolutely perfect for this project because it gave me so many elements to play with.

Vintage Scrap Book Page:

This picture shows the layering of the floral image from the stamp set. To achieve this effect I stamped the floral image several times and then fussy cut the layers and assembled them with dimensionals.  It's not as time consuming as it sounds, but well worth the effort.

I used the Adorning Accents Embossing Folder for the small hearts pattern on the Very Vanilla strip. The sentiment "Remember When" is from the now retired stamp set "Word Play".  The Designer Frames embossing folder was used to cut out the beautiful Calypso Coral frame around the picture. 

The Birthday Card and Gift Tag:

I assembled a window frame design for the Birthday Card and stamped the cute little party hat in each of the boxes.  Love that repetition of images. I added lots of layers of DSP and card stock and a cute little lolly for a very festive look as well as three tiny Vintage Trinket brads.  I loved this card so much I redesigned it for swaps at Convention in 2012, using different card stock and designer paper. Everyone loved it.

Isn't this gift tag just the cutest.  It's a 3 x 3 card with a matching envelope which I made with the Simply Scored tool.  The card and envelope were a little fussy but really took very little time to make.  

I love butterflies and so does my mom, so I fussy cut a couple for the cover of the gift card.  I cut a 2 3/4 x 2 3/4" piece of Very Vanilla card stock and inked up the sentiment and flower image from Papaya Collage with Calypso Coral and Soft Suede markers to colour the edges of the leaves before stamping them and then glued this piece to the front of the small envelope. I really liked the soft look this gave to the leaves.

The Gift Bag:  
 I had fun making the gift bag from matching Designer Series Paper.  

Basically I repeated the gift card envelope design for the front of the gift bag only I used a piece of Very Vanilla card stock that was die cut with the Scallops Die.  Again I added butterflies and stamped the two toned leaves.  A splash of Calypso Coral card stock embossed with the Very Vintage Embossing Folder, made the front of this gift bag pop.  Some beautiful striped ribbon in Very Vanilla and Early Espresso and added for the bag handle. 

 The Note Book:

I used a small notebook from the Dollar Store covered with designer series paper for the base of this project.  There is a small pen housed in the side of the jacket cover.  The base cardstock was Calypso Coral. Absolutely every piece of card stock and stamped image was distressed with a sponge dauber for that aged look.

I stamped the scroll image from Papaya Collage using the Stamp-a-ma-jig along a strip of Soft suede and embossed it with Versa Mark Ink.  Once it was heat set, I took sponge daubers with Calypso Coral and Early Espresso inks and rubbed the surface to get a vintage look.  The brads were from the Antique Brads collection.

I stamped the beautiful butterfly images on Crumb Cake cardstock in Early Espresso ink and then fussy cut them out. Three small basic pearls were added to the centers and I curled the edges of the wings with my bone folder and mounted them with dimensionals.

This view shows the inside of the notebook holder.  I covered the small notebook with DSP and stamped the bird image in Early Espresso.  A strip of Soft Suede cardstock formed a binding on the book, covering the edges of the DSP.  A small piece of Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon was tied around the book before it was mounted to the card base with sticky strip.  In this view you can see the small pen in its holder.  I bought the pens at Staples and they were in a variety of colours.  I lucked out with a brown pen to match the card design. 

I cut two tags with the Two Tags Die Cut in Very Vanilla to add to the notebook. The one on the front has the sentiment "Remember When" stamped on it and the second tag is stamped with the rose image.  Both tags were antiqued with a sponge dauber around the edges using crumb cake ink.

The Two Tag die cut on the inside actually covers the backside of the one used on the front of the notebook jacket and it's layered below the Papaya Collage Frame image.  I hand cut the center of the frame away with an X-acto knife and glued it in place over top of the photo.

I hope you liked this post on my gift set.  Although it's a year after the fact and many of the items used for this gift set have since been retired the one nice thing about vintage is "it's timeless".  Here are the products I would use to re-create this project today:

DSP:  Neutrals Designer Series Paper stacks Item #130132
Card Stock: Baked Sugar, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Cantalope Crisp & Pear Pizazz
Inks:  Baked Sugar, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cantalope Crisp & Pear Pizazz
Ribbon:  Calypso Coral or Chocolate Chip Chevron Ribbon, and Crisp Cantalope 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Ribbon.
Accessories: Label Collection Framelits, Finishing Touches Edgelits, Butterfly punch, Beautiful Baroque Embossing Folder instead of Vintage one.

Michelle Zindorf CASE - Happy Birthday

My sister celebrated a milestone birthday at the end of May and because she is such a wonderful sister and inspiration I wanted to make a card that would show her my love and how very special she is to me.  

Some time ago I ran across a card tutorial by Michelle Zindorf that featured the stamp set "Elements of Style" which includes a hummingbird and floral image that I love.  Since hummingbirds are very special to me and my family , and this ethereal image was so awe inspiring, I knew I wanted to try my hand at a similar card for my sister's birthday. 

Here is Michelle's card and if you click on her name you can visit the tutorial on her blog site.

Michelle Zindorf's Card:

I think you can see why I fell in love with this picture. Isn't it just magical?

My Rendition:

For my card I decided to do a double card that included a full back card and a gate fold front with a holder for a gift card.    I followed Michelle's excellent tutorial to create the 3" circle with the stamped images.  This was mounted on a piece of Night of Navy card stock cut out with the Scallop Circle die.

 

This is a closeup of the detail on the flowers.  I added small basic pearls to the centers of some of the flowers and a piece of 1/8" satin ribbon which matched the blush blossom marker used to colour the darker parts of the flowers.  I also added some dazzling details to give it some dazzle and sparkle.  The sentiment "Life is a Matter of Moments" from the Elements of Style stamp set was stamped in Basic Black ink.  It seemed to be a really appropriate sentiment for a milestone birthday.

 

I cut a 5 1/2" by 11 piece of Night of Navy card stock for the card base and scored it at the center.  I stamped the Elements of Style flourish image in Night of Navy ink across the front of the card and on the inside right panel.  I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock using the Top Note die and stamped the sentiment "Not just a year older but a year better" from the Bring on the Cake stamp set. 

Inside view of the full card.

For the gate fold card I started with a piece of Bashful Blue cardstock that measured 4 1/4" x 8 1/2" scored at 2 1/8" and 6 3/8".  Two pieces of Old Olive card stock measuring 1 7/8" x 4" were cut and embossed with the Fancy Fold Embossing Folder before adhering them to the front panels of the Gate Fold.

This view shows the layers of the Gate Fold and the card front. The ribbon ties you can see at the side hold the card front closed so the gift card can't slip out. 

Here's a view of the Gatefold card when it's opened.

Two scalloped circles were cut from Blush Blossom card stock. A 3" circle from Whisper White was adhered to the bottom scallop circle.   The front scallop circle was scored and folded in half.

I stamped the hummingbird in basic black ink and then mounted this piece to the base with dimensionals. I used the paper piecing tool and the Festive Pack to add a design to the front of the scallop to simulate flight.  The small sentiment "for you" from Elements of Style was stamped in Basic Black ink on Blush Blossom and then punched out with the 1" circle punch and adhered with dimensionals.  Three small basic pearls were spaced out across the center.

This view shows the gift card inserted in the holder. 

Hope you enjoyed this post.  My sister loved her card, and I hear they just recently used the gift card for dinner at Earl's.