Thursday, July 30, 2009

Stampers Showcase 109

Thanks so much for playing along and for your encouragement to continue! Stay tuned for Saturday's post, and keep an eye out for some gifts from the operators!

Here are your operator picks for this week!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Good Morning Stampers! On behalf of the Stamping 411 operators, I'm proud to bring you another episode of Sketch Challenge Saturday! There are certainly some GORGEOUS creations from our team this morning with this fun sketch!

I should also tell you that convention is coming in two weeks, and that week, I think ALL of us will be in Salt Lake City taking in the newest products and techniques at the stampin up yearly convention. Please be patient if the post is late that week :)

So ~ Let's get down to measurements! Here is one interpretation of how the measurements could work for this card.

Layer 1: Start by taking a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock, score it down the middle at 4 1/4". Then turn your paper and cut at 5 1/2"
Note: by scoring first, you yield two card bases that are scored. If you're doing a lot of cards this saves you some work by getting half of the scoring out of the way.
Layer 2: Cut your second layer 5 1/4" x 4 and layer it on top of your "base" layer
Layer 3: Try using DSP (designer series paper) for this layer. If you start with a 12 x 12, and cut at 5 1/4" then you can cut at one inch intervals. One piece of 12 x 12 would yield about 26 (1" x 5 1/4") pieces. This is a great value!

For your focal point, the size of layers 4 and 5 will depend on your stamp size. Again, try measuring your block of wood for your top layer, then make a matte for it that's a 1/4" bigger on two sides (to make an 1/8"th of an inch border) For example if your wood measures 3" x 2 3/4". that would be your #5 layer, and then, your 4th layer would be 3 1/4" x 3". I hope that makes sense! :) Here's what our operators are up to this morning.










Saturday Sketch Challenge Participants
1. Tanja
2. Sue
3. Cindy Rio
4. Jennie M
5. Heidi
6. Joyce W
7. Kay Kalthoff
8. Yapha
9. Jaydee
10. Libby
11. Diana Eichfeld
12. Sharon Carr
13. Krista Visser-Driessen
14. Janelle Lavelle
15. Cheri G
16. Ali Manning
17. Paula
18. Tammy Fite
19. Tiffany Bauer
20. Gina

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Your Operator Picks for this week

It's becoming increasingly more difficult to pick just 5 for our stampers showcase. Everyone is so talented. See you tomorrow for another awesome sketch challenge.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Saturday Sketch Challenge ~ 108

It's Saturday AM, and that means another FANTABULOUS sketch from your stamping 411 operators! This week, we've gone ULTRA simple. You should be able to make quick creations with this layout and come back to it over and over again.

Many of our operators have taken liberties with this sketch. However, one possible set of measurements could be:

Layer 1: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" folded in half
Layer 2: 4" x 5 1/4"

For the element(s) on layer 2, if you're afraid to stamp Align Leftbecause you might not come out straight, you could try using a stamp a majig, or apply the three images with glue dots or dimensionals, after using a punch to punch them out! Either way, we hope you have fun with this one... Here's what the operators did.

Patti Chesky




Robin Merriman




Gretchen Barron




Connie Babbert




Selene Kempton




Lee Conrey

Please remember that links will close on Wednesday night! We can't wait to see what you come up with with this simple sketch!

Saturday Sketch Challenge Participants
1. Heidi
2. Cindy Rio
3. Stacy
4. zabou
5. Jenna M.
6. Andrea Thompson~
7. Michelle F.
8. Tory B
9. Kay Kalthoff
10. Sharon Burkert
11. Sue
12. RobynAnn
13. Lezlie Yoder
14. SueB
15. Angi Anderson
16. Jennie Maier
17. Sarah P
18. Carla
19. katou
20. Roxie Nitti
21. Diane-StampinPuppies
22. Robin Messenheimer
23. Kris Sanders
24. Jaydee
25. Yapha
26. Carla
27. Jenn Zinck
28. Krista Visser-Driessen
29. Trish Hughes
30. Cannie Hunter
31. Sharon Carr
32. Rachel Verbrugge

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Stampers Showcase for sketch 107

As our blog becomes a bit more popular, it's becoming more difficult to choose just 5 entries. We have looked at every single entry, and they are all gorgeous! Thanks for continuing to play along and by all means, let us know if we can do anything for you! Here's your operator picks for this week.

Just click on the images to be transported to our showcase blogs this week.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Saturday Sketch Challenge ~ 107

Notice something new? We added a chat box in the upper right hand side of this page, so that if you have questions for any particular operator, or you just want to chat you can use the chat box up top to let us know what's on your mind. As time moves forward, we may offer a virtual crop/card night, but for now we're just trying it out.

This weeks sketch is a beauty. It seems very simple, but some of the measurements can be a little tricky for this one. I will first suggest that you check out this past post on how to read a ruler, for guidance.

Although i'm going to give you exact measurements for each of the layers. I think it's important to bring up, that, in this sketch, layer 3 is 1/8" smaller on two sides (so a 1/16" border) all the way around. In past weeks we have only dealt in quarter inch intervals, so we're stepping it up a bit! This challenge is still super simple.

So here's the measurements:

Layer 1 = take a piece of paper and cut it in half (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") then score that in half or fold it with your bone folder at 4 1/4"

Layer 2- cut your cardstock to 5" x 3 3/4" (so you get 4 from a standard piece of computer paper.

Layer 3. Cut at 4 7/8" x 3 5/8" (tricky tricky! ~ not so ~ Just cut 1/8" smaller on your paper cutter. If you get confused with this step refer to Lee's post on reading a ruler. We all got confused in the beginning, so don't feel like you're alone!

finally, embellish to taste. Change it up, use different shapes and accessories! Lets see what you've got!

Speaking of, here are some samples from our very own operators.


Lee Conrey



Patti Chesky















Now it's your turn to play along! Thanks so much for your support and for playing along. Links are closed for tonight. Please join us Saturday morning for a new sketch challenge!

Saturday Sketch Challenge Participants
1. Lezlie Yoder
2. Ruthie Burkey
3. Tory B
4. Tammy Fite
5. Janelle Lavelle
6. Judy D.
7. Michelle Hoffman
8. Jennie Maier
9. Robin Messenheimer
10. Ilse Vargas
11. Donna R.
12. Jennifer Jones
13. Sherri
14. Deb S.
15. Jenn Zinck
16. Natalie S. Meyer
17. Heidi B.
18. Tami Black
19. Sharon Carr
20. bonnie32002
21. Loni H
22. Rachel Brumley
23. isabelle
24. Rachel Verbrugge
25. Monika Davis
26. Sue
27. Joyce W
28. Germaine Ferrao
29. Karen Bernier
30. Ali Manning
31. Michelle F.
32. Tiffany Bauer
33. Kay Kalthoff
34. Andrea Thompson~

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Stampers Showcase for sketch 106

What a difficult decision it is to pick just 5 when there are so many wonderful designs. Only ONE of these cards was unanimously voted on by each of the operators.

Please join us tomorrow morning for another cool sketch!

On behalf of the operators, thanks for visiting and playing along!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Stamping 411 ~ Sketch Challenge

Happy Independence Day! Many of our operators are away on vacation, so this post is going to be short and sweet.

Here are the card measurements (that you could use for one scenario to make this card.

Layer 1: Cut your cardstock in half so that it measures 8.5 x 5.5”

Layer 2: Cut some DSP at 1” and again at 5.5” (note: you’ll get 26 strips from one 12 x 12 piece)

For the three elements, you can use any shape Squares circles hearts and three images.

Tie some ribbon on if you like and you’re done! Super simple, super fast, SUPER FUN!

Please enjoy your holiday; we hope you have time to play along!


Selene Kempton


Lee Conrey


Patti Chesky


Robin Merriman



Gretchen Barron




Connie Babbert



Thanks so much for playing along this week. Come and visit us bright and early Saturday AM for a brand new Stamping411 sketch challenge!

Saturday Sketch Challenge Participants
1. Angi Anderson
2. Angélique
3. Sharon Maranich
4. Nancy Dawson
5. Heidi @ Blue Eyed Blessings
6. Erna Logtenberg
7. Diana Eichfeld
8. Rachel Brumley
9. Cindy Rio
10. Diane Klieger
11. Donna R.
12. Germaine Ferrao
13. Janelle Lavelle
14. Sharon Carr
15. Janice Rosenthal Rock
16. Michelle F.
17. Brenda Rose
18. Jennie Maier
19. Deb S.
20. Joan Ottevanger
21. Judy Dodson
22. Tiffany Bauer

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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Here They Are!! Stampers Showcase

Here's your top 5 picks from the operators! See you Saturday morning.