Connie's blog

Good Neighbors

Hi Stampers,

It is still Sale-a-bration time - so I wanted to share one of the cards I made with the sale-a-bration supplies.   This season I found the Good Neighbors stamp set to be the most popular item in the brochure.   You can make really cute cards with this set, but I found I really needed to use my stamp-a-ma-jig with it.   When I preordered the stamp set I accidentally ordered it in wood, but in retrospect I am glad I did.  When you have a set that is mounted on wood, you can make a stamp-a-ma-jig guide for your stamps using a piece of vellum CS.  Just stamp a different stamp on each corner of the vellum, and the you can keep it in the box with the stamps.   

Supplies:

• Stamps: Good Neighbors
• Ink:  Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive
• CS: Crushed Curry Textured CS, Bermuda Bay Whisper White and Dusty Durango
• DSP: Hello Neighbor Paper Pad
• Punches: Trio Flowers
• Big Shot: Scallop Circles #2
• Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Circle Scissors

Stamping Tips:

• The first thing I did when making this card was to cut the piece of Old Olive DSP so that it would look like a hill.  Then I traced the hill onto the white circle, so that I could line up my houses and trees.    The rest is pretty simple.

There are just a couple of weeks left in Sale-a-bration - don't miss out!

 

Worn and Weathered

Hi Stampers!

I cannot believe this but over 250 people have visited my blog since yesterday.  Thank you all for coming to visit and I hope you will keep on coming back!

The card I am going to share today is one of my favorite cards.  I actually designed this back in December when the new Occasions Mini catalog came out.  Whenever we have new stamps to work with I host the swap for my upline/downline groups and I have to say - I am really lucky to be connected to a group of amazing stampers.  When we do this swap the pressure is always on to create something that will hopefully impress the other participants.  Here is my card:

Supplies:

• Stamps: Well Scripted
• Cardstock: Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive
• DSP: Sweet Pea Paper Stack
• Ink: Soft Suede
• Punches: Two Step Bird, 1 1/4 inch square, corner rounder
• Ribbon: Pretty In Pink Taffeta
• Accessories: Sweet Pea Stitched Felt

Stamping Tips:

• This card is pretty easy to make but I will mention that I did adhere the pieces of DSP to Whisper White CS before I punched them- just to make them a little sturdier.  Then I just rubbed the edges of the squares along the Soft Suede ink pad to give it that worn and weathered look.

I hope you all enjoy today's card!

Let's see if I can do this!

Okay stampers - here we go - I am going to attempt to get this blog going - post a picture and try to reach the outer world with it.   Wish me luck!

I am so excited to get started on this - and can hardly wait to share all of my stamping ideas with you.   When I became a Stampin'Up! demonstrator 12 years ago - my favorite thing about stamping was designing  cards and teaching others how to do the same while using all of the fantastic products that Stampin'Up! has to offer.  It is really exciting to be starting a blog - and have the opportunity to share my stamping ideas with you!     Today I spent the entire day in my stamp room getting ready for an upcoming class.  The first card I am going to post is actually one of the cards that we will be making at class next week so for those who are lucky enough to attend the class - here is your sneak peak!

Supplies:

• Cardstock:  Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay and Whisper White
• Stamps:  Inspired by Nature, Tiny Tags
• Ink:  Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
• Punches: Medium Jewelry Tag
• Big Shot:  Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Texture Plate Kit #4
• Accessories: Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread

Stamping Tips:

• If you have ever tried to use the Texture Plates - you have probably had a hard time getting a good image with them. We have gotten used to the fantastic embossing folders - and the plates just don't give that deep of an impression - but the designs are great - I own them, so I had to figure out a way to use them.  I had heard that if you got the paper wet first, it would give a better impression.   I was a bit perplexed as to how I would sprinkle this cardstock with water in an even way - without saturating the paper.  After trying a few different things - I finally came up with an idea - I took a baby wipe - cut it to fit the cardstock, and lay it down right on top of the cardstock - then ran it thru the Big Shot with the appropriate plates (as shown on the Big Shot Multipurpose Platform) and I added one sheet of the white cardboard that comes in our packs of DSP - just for a little extra thickness.  It came out great!   The paper is a bit wet, but it is nice and flat and if you lay them out on a table to dry - they dry well enough that you will just need a little extra adhesive when applying this to your cards.  In case you are wondering -  I tried to reuse the baby wipe to do a second sheet - and it didn't work.  There just wasn't enough wetness left.   I did end up saving all of the used ones - they were nice and flat and I will try rewetting them and see if they are reusable.  I will let you know!  

Okay - I think I did it!   That is all for now but I will be back tomorrow with more fun cards to share.