Mistakes are a girl’s best friend

So, I am still busy scrapbooking, but this time for my nephew and godson. I am making him a 6×6 album for his first birthday. I know not every scrapper does them, but I love title pages in my scrapbooks. And, this one I made without a single picture.

Recipe:
stamp set: Word on Word, Nursery Necessities
paper: bashful blue, very vanilla, barely banana, and wild wasabi textured
ink: real red craft, fashful blue craft, handsome hunter craft
extras: large star punch, slit punch, sponge daubers
(all images © Stampin’ Up)

I started this design knowing I wanted to use my hostess set, Word on Word, from last fall and make a scallop with the slit punch. I decided to combine the two into the title for this page. The title of this post begins right there. I mount the paper to my page, and I find that I had a smudge of red in the corner so I stamped the small star in each corner, which I think adds more visual interest to the page. Without the mistake I may have missed the opportunity to add something a little extra. My mistakes continued as I carefully punched each star, and inked a letter from the Nursery Letters wheel, and stamped it on to each star. I got each individual letter to stamp by putting masking tape on the area around it and just putting ink on the letter I wanted. But, I must have had a pit of residue on the stamp, because I had a slight watermark of the other letters on my page. I fixed that by sponging (with a sponge dauber) bashful blue craft ink around the star. I didn’t think to do that until I was trying to get rid of the smudge, and it added so much to the page.

And, one more mistake increased my creativity. I went to place the stars on the page, and found they didn’t fit! I had taken all that time and for nothing. Then I thought to line the stars up and overlap them, and cut off the edges of the a and the n. It worked oh so perfectly, and gave me the space to put the little elephants on the bottom of the page.

This page looks nothing like I had originally planned, but I love it so much more. You can earn Nursery Necessities for free by hosting a qualifying workshop in January.

More fun with Nursery Necessities

A friend of mine and my fiance’s cousin are both having babies so I’ve been having fun making baby cards for them. I’m quickly falling far the Nursery Necessities set I received in my spring catalog preorder. It is such a fun set to play with, and could easily be used for more than just baby cards. The boat, for example, fits in great with Stampin’ Up’s Crew Classic style watch that will be featured in the new catalog.

Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Bundle of Joy, Nursery Necessities
Ink: Versa Mark, Regal Rose, Lovely Lilac
Paper: Regal Rose, Very Vanilla, Lovely Lilac
Extras: Sponge daubers, Stampin’ dimensionals, large star punch
(all images © Stampin’ Up)

I created the first layer with regal rose cardstock, and gave it a background with the small star from the nursery necessities stamp set in versamark ink. I then cut out an additional layer in lovely lilac, and stamped the sweet heart stamp from Bundle of Joy and the little star again in versamark. I placed the greeting for the card in the lower right corner in black, and used my sponge daubers to create more visual interest to the card by sponging on some lovely lilac around the edge of that layer. Finally I stamped the star letter stamp onto very vanilla paper, punched in out with the large star punch, and mounted it to the cards with a stampin’ dimensional. I chose to pop the star up, because I thought the card would look too flat without it. You could add even more dimension to the card by adding addtional punched stars (maybe in lovely lilac?) to the regal rose layer. If I were making this for a boy baby I would probably use brillant blue, real read, and yo-yo yellow.

I’m having so much fun playing with all the new catty stamp sets I preordered, and from the looks of the new catty I’m going to be ordering plenty of stamps in the new year as well.

Never Say Never

When I first saw the watercolor paper in the SU catalog I said, “Why would anyone buy that? Confetti Cream should work great for watercoloring. I will never buy that.” Then I heard the siren call of the watercolor paper, and that it was supposed to work well with the SU markers. I had to try it. And, so I ordered it with all my preview stamps–that’s right I get stamps early just for being a demostrator. I love it! Here is one of many cards I made using it and my markers today.

Recipe:
Stamp Sets- Bundle of Joy, Nursery Necessities
Ink- Timber Brown Staz On, Versamark
Paper- Regal Rose, Lovely Lilac, Watercolor Paper
Extras- SU Markers, Aqua painter
(all images © Stampin Up)

The Bundle of Joy set is just one of the many retiring stamps sets, and I new I had to get it before it was gone for good. I took the sweet heart stamp from that set and the star from Nursery Necessities (one of my new preview stamp sets), and stamped them in versamark on the Regal Rose cardstock for the base of my card. I then stamped the giraffe from Bundle of Joy onto my water color paper, and colored it in with the following SU markers: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Lavender Lace, and Lovely Lilac. The watercolor paper is perfect for the markers, because the ink really soaks in showing no streaks. I backed the giraffe on lovely lilac cardstock, and with just a little coloring and paper I had a lovely card for a new mommy.

If you love the Timber Brown Staz On ink pad or the Bundle of Joy stamp set make sure to place an order for them before the end of December as they will be retired in the new year. And, if you already have a timber brown staz on pad remember to order a refill.

Say Goodbye to the Outlaw

That’s right, the Outlaw Designers Series Paper will be no more after December. This paper works so well to create cards with the BOHO/Western look that is so popular right now. And, since my fiance lives in Texas you can believe I have had a lot of fun with this set.

Recipe:
Stamps- Bronc Buster
Ink- Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Paper, Groovy Guava, Sage Shadow, Confetti Cream, Close to Cocoa, Outlaw Designer Series paper
Extras- SU brads
(all images © Stampin Up)

This card was all about recreating the dusty and aged appeal of western style. I chose groovy guava and sage shadow, because they both brought me to the southwestern color scheme. And, the striped paper from the Outlaw Designers Series Paper which is slightly aged looking went perfect. I stamped the star and flourish stamp from Bronc Buster in groovy guava ink onto the cardstock, and sponged close to cocoa ink onto the sage shadow paper to age it as well. I then added brads to add a hard, more masculine element to the card. And, finally the main image. I used a split negative technique (if you would like to learn more about split negatives be on the look out for my class on them in the new year) in close to cocoa on the confetti cream and whisper white on the close to cocoa. I didn’t emboss the split negative, because I wanted it to have a more dull aged appearance instead of shiny and new.

This card was so much fun to make, and this stamp is a perfect set for cards and scrapbooks.
But, remember you want to stock up on the Outlaw paper before the end of December or it will be gone forever.

Wedding Card

I made this card for my fiance’s parents, and gave it to them on their anniversary. I had so much fun making it, and got to use lots of fun stamping toys.

Recipe:
Stamp- Fairy-tale Wedding, Baroque Motifs
Paper- Designer Series Paper from old Sellabration kit, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Pale Plum
Ink: Certainly Celery, Basic Black
Extras: Soft Subtles Watercolor Crayons, Hodgepodge Hardware, Paper Crimper, Priceless Classy Brass Template, Apricot Appeal Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin Dimensionals
(all images © Stampin’ Up)

This card was so fun to make. It was all about layers. I started by using my trusty light table (yep there are still some of die hards that don’t use Cuttlebug) to make my heart cardstock. If you don’t have the Empressor Stylus I would recommend you get it as it makes dry embossing so much easier. I then put my strip of Certainly Celery through the paper crimper, added a smaller layer of pale plum, and then used the apricot appeal to attach the hodgepodge hardware in antique brass to the card. The cherish was stamped on whisper white paper. To continue the layering idea I started by using the large stamp from the baroque motif set, and applied it to the whisper white in certainly celery. Putting a lighter color under a darker word or image is just one way to create texture without adding paper.
And, finally I stamped the flowers from the fairy tale wedding set onto whisper white, colored it with the watercolor crayons (so I could have layers of different colors), and mounted onto designer series paper. I then applied the image to the pretty in pink card stock with a stampin dimensional to finish off the layered look.

I think the overall effect was very pretty and delicate despite layer after layer of stamping fun. On the inside I posted the message from the fairytale wedding set: And, they lived happily ever after. I thought that was the perfect sentiment to celebrate such a wonderful marriage.

Frugal And Elegant Cards

The splendid Meredith at Merchant Ships recently wrote about Christmas gifts and budgeting. I love her blog, because she combines a frugal mindset and simple elegance with beautiful results. She expressed that while handmade gifts can indeed be frugal they don’t do anyone any good if they go unused in the person’s closet. I couldn’t agree more. While I love making homemade gifts it is important that you make items that speak to the person you are giving them to. No point giving someone who lives in Florida a hand knit scarf for example. It may be beautiful, but it won’t get worn.

Now I’m not going to pretend that stamping is a frugal hobby. I’m sure many that preach the frugal lifestyle would be horrified by my stamp collection, ink pads, and countless designer papers. But, for those that have already been bitten with the stamping bug a hand crafted gift card set can make a wonderful and frugal gift for someone you know that loves to send out cards. I actually made card sets for both of my grandma’s for Mothers’ Day last year, because they are always in need of cards, but aren’t always able to run to the store to get them.

Now, how do you make a frugal card set? You don’t do it by opening the stamping catalog and picking out paper, ink, and stamps just for that one project. That is a great way to start a stamping collection and build up supply, but it isn’t a way to stay on budget during the Christmas season. Instead, look at the stamp sets you already have, and pick out one that would make a nice elegant blank note card. Then look through your cardstock, and find a color that will work with the stamp set and you have five 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of (or mix up colors for more variety). You can make two cards with each of those sheets. Finally look through your ink pads, and select a few colors to stamp with.

Here is a simple note card I made.

Recipe:
Stamps- All I Have Seen
Ink- Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace, Basic Black
Paper- Certainly Celery, Confetti Cream
(all images © Stampin’ Up)

So what’s the total price of each card? Well, since I used cardstock I already owned and scraps from other projects for the confetti cream the cost of the paper was only twenty-five cents per page for a total of $1.25 for ten cards. I already had the ink pads, and have already used these pads for a year without a need to reink so I didn’t include that into the cost of the cards. I used our SNAIL adhesive to put the confetti cream onto the card, but you could also use a glue stick you already own. Include another dollar or so for ten envelopes and some extra ribbon from decorating, and you have a very personal and beautiful gift for under three dollars.

Be warned: Stamping is very addictive. I love it, but if you get started you will most likely find out about all the fun of glitter, brads, buttons, pretty flowers, and other things to add to your cards. They are beautiful, and add to the hand crafted feel of a card, but they also make the frugal gift card set a little less frugal Of course, you could be really frugal and earn those items for free by hostessing a party with a Stampin Up demonstator.

For your kindhearted friends

I designed this card to work as a note card that could be pulled out for a “hey, how are you” card, thank you card, or just a note to let a friend know how special they are to you.

Recipe:
Stamps Sets: Year after Year, Friendship Flowers
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Rose Red Prints Designer Series Paper, Confetti Cream
Extras: Aquapainter
(all images are © Stamping Up)

This card takes advantage of Stampin Up’s matching ink and papers to create an elegant monochromatic look. Because, the Prints Designer Series Paper does not come in Purely Pomegranate I used the Rose Red as it provides an almost perfect match. I then took the heart stamp from the Year after Year set, and stamped off the page onto Confetti Cream. To color the hearts in I used the Aquapainter to create a watercolor look.

The quote on the card is from one of Stampin Up’s retiring stamp sets, and will be gone at the end of December.