Stampers Showcase #183

It's been another fabulous week of stamping and sharing at Stamping 411! Thanks everyone, for playing along with our Saturday Sketch Challenges! Best Wishes to you in the New Year! Here are your Operator Picks for Sketch Challenge #183!

Color Inspiration #147

Hello stampers! It seems like forever since I've put together springy colors for a color challenge.

So, this week I am going to do just that! Now that Christmas has passed, I've been having so much fun playing with my floral stamps again. They truly are my favorite!!!! This week's colors just scream floral to me!!!!

While I was in a creating mood, I also re-designed a new Color Inspiration graphic. My husband gifted me with a brand new Macbook Pro. It's been quite comical learning all the intricacies of the Mac as I've been a PC user all of my adult life. As all my 411 files are on the old Dell, the new Mac allowed me to make this pretty graphic using My Digital Studio.

I also get to show you a sneak peek of a few products from the Occasions Mini Catalog. I love sneak peeks.....don't you?

This card all started with my Rose Red base card.

I added a layer of Wild Wasabi striped patterned paper. It comes from the Brights Patterns dsp stack.

To cover the seam, I used my Scallop Edge border punch along the bottom edge of a strip of So Saffron cardstock.

Now onto my focal image...........it uses a brand new two step stamp set called Baby Blossoms. I used only three colors of ink on this image: Rose Red, Wild Wasabi and So Saffron. To achieve the different layers of color, all you need to do is use the Stamping Off technique.

For example, for the roses.......I inked the bolder rose image with Rose Red ink and stamped off once onto some scrap paper. Then stamp onto the Whisper White focal image. Then I added the more detailed part of the rose....this time stamped full strength with Rose Red ink. For some of the leaves, they are stamped off twice. This gives a real shadowy look!

Can you spot something else new? The two "buttons" in the lower right corner are made of paper. I cut them using the new Sweet Buttons embosslit and my Big Shot. Once they were cut, I sponged the edges with So Saffron ink and adhered them to my card. I then added some Crystal Effects to make them shiny.....just like real buttons! Love this.....the button look without the button bulk!! Woo hoo!

Well....I had a blast playing with my new toys!!!! What would you make with these colors? If you make a project, we'd love to see it!! Use the Linky Tool at the bottom of this post to link your project's web address to our blog!!!

Card Recipe

stamps: Baby Blossoms (available Jan 4th), Thank You Kindly

paper: Rose Red, So Saffron, Basic Black, Subtles Patterns dsp stack

ink: Rose Red, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black

accessories: Wide Oval punch, Scallop Edge border punch, Big Shot, Sweet Buttons embosslit (available Jan 4th), Crystal Effects

Saturday Sketch Challenge 183

Good Afternoon,

It's so hard to believe that it's already Christmas Eve.

No matter what your faith is, I want to wish you health and happiness now and in the upcoming new year. May we all feel free to celebrate in our own way, and rejoice in the freedoms of self expression that we have in this country.

As different as stamping styles, we all choose to celebrate in our own special way. For me, it's a simple day at home, a trip to church and time spent with my family to celebrate the birth of Christ.

With all of that in mind.... I decided to keep my creation VERY simple this week. I'm going to do my measurements to save time. I'm due to the families house any time now.. :D Notice we went square again? Try it out or stick with a traditional layout... it's all up to you!

Measurements for my "merry" card below:
Base 8 1/2" x 4 1/4", scored and folded in half at 4 1/4"
Layer 2: 3 1/4" square
Layer 3: 3 1/8" Square
Layer 4: Punched shape below..

I hope that you have a few moments to play along, and if not, I encourage you to enjoy the below cards and know that we're thinking of you!

Much like any family, each operator has a different style. Each individual operator will be posting blog candy this week. Just go to the blogs via the links below or on the right hand side bar. Each operator will have different candy requirements... Leave a comment, and you'll be entered to win a little gift!

Here are your operator card shares for this week.

Gretchen Barron




Kerin Sylvester





Tiffany Bauer





Selene Kempton




Connie Babbert




Lee Conrey






Patti Chesky




Robin Merriman

Now it's your turn :D Never played with us before?? Well, it's easy! Sky's the limit!

1. Make a card
2. Post it online somewhere to your blog or other online forum
3. Post a link to the free linky tool below (please point the link to your post and NOT just your blog)
4. Have some fun and leave comments for each other (and for the operators if you like their work). ~ Everyone loves comments!

We hope you join us this week and play along with this sketch! But don't delay our links will close at 8AM on Thursday morning Eastern Standard Time.

Have A Great Week!

Stampers Showcase 182

Good Morning ~ Can you believe it's already Christmas Eve? On behalf of the operators, we'd like to thank you for visiting week after week, for playing along, and for all your supportive comments and encouragement.

From our family to yours ~ wishing you a very happy holiday. Here are your operator picks for this week. They are all so beautiful! Enjoy.

Technique Thursday - How to Paper Piece

This week I thought I'd share with you a fun technique I hardly ever use, paper piecing. It's a great way to add some pizzazz to a pretty simple card!

First, stamp the image you will be paper piecing on your card stock, then again on the designer paper or colored paper of your choice. Stamp it enough times to have one piece for each cut out section:I've stamped the bear from the Under the Stars set once on Whisper White, and 3 more times, each on a different brown designer paper...Crumb Cake, Early Espresso & Soft Suede.

Next, cut out each piece in the color desired, I'm using the Crumb Cake for his belly, the Early Espresso for his body, and the Soft Suede for his snout:
Adhere each portion to the stamped base image as shown, I've used my 2-way Glue Pen.Add your paper-pieced image to your card and done! For this card I stamped the "grrrreat" on a piece of Whisper White card stock, punched it out with the Modern Label punch, and turned it into a flag with the addition of a toothpick. The "to my" and "friend" are from the Wonderful Favorites set.

Here's another sample using paper piecing:


For this card I used the Love You Much stamp set, and each letter of "Love" is cut out of a different color dsp, Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Pretty in Pink & Rose Red. I added a Real Red button with some Rhinestones for a little extra bling since this card was a little plain. Some Real Red Satin Ribbon and a punched border finish this card off.

We'd love to see what you make with the paper piecing technique! Just post a sample to your blog or online gallery and link back below!

Clean and Simple - Christmas!

It's definitely the time of year when we all need a little Clean and Simple EVERYTHING in our lives! I'm sure you're like me and the rest of the Operators today, making that final Christmas List and checking it twice, maybe three times to make sure it's ALL done for this very special holiday!

Hopefully by now, you've had a chance to make at least a few Christmas cards - even if you haven't gotten them all in the mail yet! :) (Guilty!)
But, if not, then not to worry, today's Clean and Simple Card is just the thing to make you and your card recipients smile wide!

Having been awfully sick for over a week, I was a bit behind on my card making and sending, so I decided to combine two tasks into one - creating the card for this post and creating the card for my downline team. Here is the final result:

Yes, Virginia, it doesn't get much simpler than that.

I started with just one stamp set - Christ is Born, one cardstock - Very Vanilla and two ink pads - Versamark and Cherry Cobbler. The only adhesive on this card is Stampin' Dimensionals behind the center panel.

Let's me share what I did. The card base itself is simply a half sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock, cut in half to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and folded to make an A2 sized card (4 1/4" x 5 1/2").
The center panel is cut at 2 1/2" x 4".

I inked up the focal image with Versamark and using my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line up the image, I stamped it then heat embossed it with my Heat Tool and Gold Embossing Powder. (Note - for the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, I'd stamped the image on the plastic imaging sheet in Cherry Cobbler so it would show up, then cleaned my stamp before using the Versamark.)

For the card base, I inked up the poinsettia stamp with Cherry Cobbler and stamped in opposite corners to frame the center panel. The poinsettia was also stamped once on the inside of the card in the lower left corner for an accent and I used the inside greeting stamp from the stamp set as well.

Once the card base was done, I simply added four Stampin' Dimensionals to the back of the focal panel and mounted it to the card base. Simple, elegant, done!

Well, not quite.......
Once I created my sample card, I wanted to add just a touch of shimmer, so I removed the center panel and found my Gold Glow Smooch Spray and added a couple of spritzes to the card base only. You can barely see it in this photo here:

Trust me - in real life, that Smooch Spray makes the card!

Here's the best part - I was able to make from start to finish in just three hours, 40 of these cards. Yep, 40. That included cutting, embossing and smooching!

I really like Clean and Simple, don't you?! :)

I hope today's post has inspired you to try the less is more side of stamping. It can be very freeing to create this way, not to mention time saving and economical for you too. If you decide to create a card based on how this post inspired you, be sure to share it with us here! Just leave a comment with a link to your creation - we love to see your handiwork!

Happy Stamping and Merry Christmas!

Saturday Sketch Challenge 182

Good Evening Friends!

It's time for another Saturday Sketch challenge! This week I decided to go square... Now.. you can alter this sketch in any way you like.. If you don't want to be square, check out Kerin and Tiffany's cards below...

There are a few things to think about when you're making a square card..

#1 ~ Do you have an envelope to fit? Well, SU makes a square envelope which fits a 5 1/4" square card perfectly.

#2 ~ If you dont have that, I suggest trying to go 4 1/4" square, and just use the regular medium envelope...

Tip ** I suggest using a regular medium envelope (even though it's not a perfect fit) so that you can still mail your cute square creation without paying extra postage. If you mail a square card, it's going to cost you at least 20 cents extra. :D

You can check out the measurements of of each operator card on their own site, but since Patti is on top, and I'm running late I STOLE, I mean borrowed her measurements... Thanks GF!

Base: Elegant Eggplant 4 1/4" square.
Layer #2 is crumb cake 4" square
Layer #3 3 3/4" x 2"?
Layer #4 is a 3" square of Pink Pirouette cardstock.
Layer #5 is a 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch.

Last but not least ~ Operator Robin is feeling under the weather tonight.. If you think of it, go and leave her a comment so she knows that we're all missing her.

Now, here is what the design team came up with....

Patti Chesky







Gretchen Barron







Kerin Sylvester






Tiffany Bauer






Selene Kempton







Connie Babbert






Lee Conrey

Now it's your turn :D Never played with us before?? Well, it's easy! Sky's the limit!

1. Make a card
2. Post it online somewhere to your blog or other online forum
3. Post a link to the free linky tool below (please point the link to your post and NOT just your blog)
4. Have some fun and leave comments for each other (and for the operators if you like their work). ~ Everyone loves comments!

We hope you join us this week and play along with this sketch! But don't delay our links will close at 8AM on Thursday morning Eastern Standard Time.

Have A Great Week!
Selene~

Stampers Showcase #181

Keep the great cards and projects coming! Just look at the talented folks who play along at Stamping 411 every week! Here are your Operator Picks for Sketch Challenge #181!

Color Inspiration #146

Howdy friends! Are you ready for a new color challenge? I kept it pretty easy this week. You know.......a no stress kinda color challenge!!! I don't know about you........but I am kinda stressing about the holidays. I feel REALLY behind!!!

When I am stressing out, I try to head to my Stampin' Studio to stamp just for fun. Not for my Christmas cards......not for a specific person.......just to play and get lost in my own thoughts!!!



This week's colors are Bravo Burgandy, More Mustard and Night of Navy!!! The colors are rich and regal. You could definitely make a holiday card.......but it would work equally as well for a fabulous "guy" card!!

I hope these colors send you off to your stamping area and inspire you to create.....not for a specific occasion.......just for fun!!!!

I know things are crazy busy this week, but if you can find the time to share your project on the Stamping 411 blog, we'd LOVE to see it.

Just use the Linky Tool below to link your project's web address to our blog.

Until next time.....Happy Stamping everyone!

How To Wednesday

Welcome to “How To” Wednesday!!

Today I’d like to share a cute little Gift Bag that is fun, fast and easy!! …and it doesn’t take a lot of time.

I had these snowflakes sitting on my desk so decided to make a Gift Bag with them. They were cut with the Big Shot Snowflake Die and one of the Snowflake Sizzlets. I used one of my large Rhinestone brads to hold them together.

Step #1 Cut your Card stock…I sued Shimmery White as I thought it matched best with these little white bags I had. I cut the card stock for the front of the bag to 4 x 5- 7/8 and the back of the bag at 4 x 7 1/2…I then cut a piece of Crumb Cake card stock to 3/4 x 4 and used my scallop punch on the edge. Then punch out two 1/2 inch circles and have your paper piercer and two smaller Rhinestone Brads ready.

I then ran the top of the back piece (scored at 1-1/2 )through the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder using your Big Shot.

….run the front piece through as well.

Sponge the edges with Crumb Cake Ink using a wedge of Sponge. Do the front and the top fold over of the flap.

Using your snail tape around he edges of the bag making sure to open the bottom flat when adhering the card stock fronts.

This is what it will look like……

Take your 1/2 inch circles and poke a hole in the center….put your small Rhinestone Brads through…snip off the ends

Add Dimensionals to the back of each

Cut a length of Linen Thread

…and loop around the top circle tying a knot to secure.

Wrap around the second circle

Glitter up your snowflake using your 2-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Dimonds

Attach to bag with Glue Dots and there you have it!! A cute Holiday Bag!!! Enjoy!